the spectators of his Death All that see me laugh me to scorn they shoot out the lip they shake the head saying He trusted in the Lord that he would deliver him let him deliver him seeing he delighted in him His words spoken in the heighth of his distress My God my God why hast thou forsaken me The Prophet Isaiah represents the Ignominy and Torments of his Passion I gave my back to the smiters and my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair I hid not my face from shame and spitting and by the eyes of his mind saw him crucified between two Thieves He was named with Transgressors and as present at his most affectionate dying prayer for his enemies Father forgive them they know not what they do observe that he made intercession for Transgressors Thus as several Painters that would draw divers Copies from the same excellent Original are intent to view its various Aspects some directly some on this and the other side so the Prophets as if they had been the Spectators of his cruel Sufferings copied from the life every one that part that the Holy Spirit assigned to them Now how was it possible if not instructed by Omniscience that being so distant in time and place and so long before the Accomplishment they should concur in such an exact description of what should befal the Messiah Men are not Prophets by the light of Reason as Nature is not subjected to their power to work Miracles neither is Futurity open to their view to compose an History of things to come The Death of Christ depended on several Causes Men Devils and God himself concurr'd for divers Ends in the same Event The two prime Conspirators against his Life Lucifer and Caiphas were moved both from Reasons of State to secure their own The Devil to maintain his cruel Empire which for so many Ages he had usurp'd in the World For our Saviour having with Authority cast out Legions of his ministring Spirits from those who were miserably possest by them he was in fear of losing his Power Besides he foresaw that if Christ were the Son of God the killing of him would bring such a crimson guilt upon the Jews that no less punishment than their Rejection would follow And so God should lose his peculiar People Caiaphas excited the Council to devote him as a Sacrifice to preserve their Nation from ruine for their safety depending on their homage to the Romans to prevent the jealousies that might arise by the fame of his mighty Works and by the Peoples attendance on him that were fed by his Miracles they concluded on it as a necessary expedient that Christ should dy and all suspicions be removed with him Thus Men and Devils were the instruments but God appointed that great Event The storm fell from Heaven upon Him for our Sins 'T is therefore expresly said He was delivered by the determinate Counsel and foreknowledge of God who over-ruled the train of disorders the work of their cruel malice for contrary ends than were design'd by them For the Devils were cast out of their Kingdom the Jews depriv'd of their Liberty and the Kingdom of Christ establish'd for ever Now who could read in the Mind of God his free Decrees even the Angels of Light that always see his face cannot without a revelation of them None but the Spirit that searches the deep things of God could make the discovery And who could foresee that the Messiah so often promised to the Jews so impatiently expected and ardently desir'd should be so fiercely rejected by them that his Death should be the effect as of his own love so of their hatred None but God to whom all the periods of time are equally present and who is more intimate with the Counsels and Passions of Men than their own Souls are could predict it He communicated some rays of his Prescience to holy Men who foretold that obscurest Contingency From hence it follows that the clear Testimonies of the Prophets exactly fulfill'd in Jesus Christ are an unanswerable demonstration that He was the expected Deliverer to restore the World 2. The universal and irreparable Destruction of the State of the Jews foretold as the just punishment of their rejecting the Messiah is another illustrious proof of the Divinity of his Person and Doctrine To represent all the Characters of that Vengeance as they are set down by Josephus an Eye-Witness and Historian of it would lengthen this Discourse beyond the limits intended It is sufficient to observe 1. That all the severe Scourges of God met in a direful conjunction against them The most affrighting Prodigies were his forerunners A flaming-Sword brandish'd in the Heavens and Monsters born on the Earth And War Famine Pestilence and Fire were his Attendants Those who escap't the Sword were consum'd by Famine and those who were preserved from cruel War and Famine were swept away by the Pestilence or devour'd by the merciless Flames Wherever they turn'd their eyes Death in terrible shapes appear'd 2. All these Judgments were inflicted at once upon them in the heaviest degrees The Sword never made a greater destruction of Men than in Jerusalem here were Rivers of Blood there Mountains of Carcasses In some places nothing but silence and horrour amongst the dead in others the crys and groans of the dying Innumerable were massacred by the rage of Sedition amongst themselves And when the mild Conquerour would have spared them yet by an unparallel'd fierceness they would rather perish in an obstinate resistance The Famine was so extreme as compell'd even tender Mothers to eat the flesh of their miserable Children The Fire consum'd the City from one end to the other without leaving any part entire The Temple the Sanctuary of Religion and Image of Heaven where God so long had dwelt had been serv'd and prais'd and rendred his Oracles was not exempted from the fury of the Fire 3. Their Calamity was extreme and irreparable The first Desolation by the Chaldeans so compassionately recorded by Jeremiah was not comparable in the degrees and continuance to this second by the Romans of which CHRIST himself was the Chief Mourner and made lamentation Then they were transported together and not to a very rigorous nor perpetual servitude in Babylon After seventy years they recover'd their Liberty and were restored to their Native Land But in the last the Captives were dispers'd among divers People a sad Prognostick that they should never be joyned again in one Society The Ruines of the Nation were so great that the pieces of it are scatter'd all over the World Where ever a Jew is found there is a stone of ruin'd Jerusalem never to be rebuilt In short that wretched Nation is rent into innumerable parts and expos'd to the contempt and hatred of all As the Body of a Traitor is quarter'd and the parts hung up in several places of publick view to signify the horrour of his Crimes in the severity of his
to servitude imports only a continuance to the Jubile so that those Rituals were to continue in their vigour during that intire period and to be determin'd after the coming of the Messiah the great Jubile of the World And that Jesus Christ is the promised Messiah is most evident in that his coming was exactly as he was designed and was to be expected that he had the power of working Miracles to authorise him to change the externals of their Worship and Service Briefly Judaism now is but the Carcass of a dead Religion and the obstinate adherers to it are become so sottishly blind as to believe the most prodigious fables as divine Revelations Their Talmud so reverenc'd by them contains intolerable follies nay Blasphemies against God It regulates his hours in the day It relates that he spends three in studying the Law and three more in the instructing Children that dyed in their minority and that he employs three in taking the accounts of the World and in the three last diverts himself with Leviathans and that the night being come for they imagine that the Sun sets in Paradise he ascends a Chariot drawn by the swiftest Spirits the Cherubims and visits the eighteen thousand Worlds he created I shall not instance in any more of their extravagant tales not to be defended by the pretence of solemn Mysteries and by strained Allegories This is sufficient to shew that by the Righteous Judgment of God for their rejecting the Truth of the Gospel they are given up to believe Lies Since the comeing of Jesus Christ Mahumetanism has overspread a great part of the Barbarous World But this carries in it such apparent and certain marks of falsity that it can be no temptation to any person in whom there is but a spark of good Hence whether we consider 1. The Authour from whom it was derived a robber one drencht in sensuality and therefore utterly unqualified to be the revealer of the Will of the Holy God to Men. 2. The quality of its doctrines some are ridiculous and extravagant above the vanity of a feaverish dream some are pernicious flattering both the lower Appetites the concupiscible by loosing its natural restraints from exorbitant fleshly pleasures the irascible by commending the violent oppression of others for the advancement of Religion 3. The means by which it had its rise and was propagated It sprang from imposture Mahomet erected an Oracle in his own Fancy and pretended that the Holy Ghost descended there to give his inspirations Thus he seduc'd at first but having got a strong party Force succeeded Deceit The Sword cut its way through many Countries And is it strange that the People so fiercely taught should follow the Religion of the cruel Conquerour Thus it was planted thus it increas'd and is still maintain'd by the same causes 4. The quality of those who received it They were Barbarous Nations and absolutely forbid to make an inquiry into the matters of Religion And how easie is it to make an impression on the rude lump of the multitude what wonder is it that pleasant follies should usurp the belief of the ignorant vulgar 5. It promises in the future life a Paradise fit for Swine most unworthy the glorious Rewarder God and the excellence of Man This is so evident that Avicen a Saracen Philosopher and Mahumetan in profession speaks with abhorence of those dreggy low delights and on the contrary asserts that the heighth of happiness is in the perfections of the Soul united to God and thus vertually condemns their Faith as repugnant to the dictates of clear Reason CHAP. II. The Christian Religion directly considered Previous Considerations That there was such a person as Jesus Christ who converst in the World and instituted that Religion is most credible from the uniform testimony of Christians in all Ages 'T is equally certain the Books containing the Doctrine of Christ are transmitted without material alteration The proofs of Christian Religion though not equal in clearness to sence or science yet are sufficient to convince unprejudiced minds of its truth The intrinsick Excellencies of the Christian Religion considered The Doctrines of the Gospel illustrate Natural Truths concerning God and reveal what is further necessary for his Glory and Man's Happiness The intire Agreement between them The Gospel discovers the misery of Man in its causes and degrees and the means of his recovery It represents a full and glorious Image of God's Perfections in the manner of our Restoration Therefore 't is worthy of all acceptation The Christian Religion sets before us a Rule pure and perspicuous in nothing superfluous or defective The Promises of the Gospel are worthy of God and suitable to the wants and desires of Men. They offer the pardon of Sin upon the condition of Repentance and Faith The supernatural Assistance of the holy Spirit The supply of our temporal wants and support under Afflictions The reward of Eternal Life I Will now consider the Christian Religion directly in it self It has this noble prerogative above the rest the more one searches into it the more its Divinity appears Whereas other Religions may please a sudden Eye but cannot endure a serious tryal Some things are to be premised 1. I shall suppose it as a Principle above all doubt there was such a Person as Jesus Christ who conversed in the World consign'd the Christian Doctrine to the Apostles and by them 't is conveyed to us in the New-Testament For in asserting it we have the uniform deposition of all that profess this Religion from its rise till the present Age and in all parts of the World Though in other things of different opinions yet they agree in this that Jesus Christ was their Founder Now who can better know the Author of an Institution Ecclesiastical or Sâ—cular than those who were admitted into its beginning and those who have succeeded in that order from age to age without interruption Besides we have the consenting and constant testimony of Jews and Heathens the obstinate opposers of the Christian Religion that its name as well as original was derived from Christ. We may with more Reason suspect there were never such Philosophers as Plato and Aristotle or that the Books which from their times by universal persevering fame have been attributed to them were made by others and put forth under false titles than to question what is so generally receiv'd concerning the Author of the Gospel 'T is the perfection of folly and madness to oppose such evidence 2. 'T is equally certain that the Books of the New-Testament are transmitted to us in their original purity without any material alteration For it is incredible that the societies of Christians should neglect the preserving incorrupt and intire those Writings which they esteemed a most sacred treasure on which they built their hopes of eternal blessedness It cannot be suppos'd they would transmit them to their Children whose Salvation must have been dearer to them than the
the mournful remembrance of his lost felicity and harden'd in dispair 1. The Christian Religion gives a full account of the depravation and misery of humane Nature in its first Causes The Heathens felt an insuperable permanent discord in Man between the upper Faculties and the lower Appetites but were utterly ignorant of the Cause of it Now the Scripture reveals that Man in the original frame of his Nature was regular and holy a piece of workmanship worthy the Perfections of his Creator but he abus'd his liberty to break the first Command which was given for the tryal of his Obedience He yeelded to the inticements of a fallen Spirit who was a Liar that he might be a Murderer and by his revolt from God lost his Holiness and made a forfeiture of all the priviledges of his happy State Thus the Fountain was tainted and who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean By the offence of one Judgment came upon all to condemnation Every Man is now born a slave of Sin a tributary of Death From hence it follows that the most deformed Monsters in villany the most fierce enemies of Religion serve to confirm its Truth as well as the most eminent Saints These shew the vertue of Redemption by the sanctity of their Lives the other the corruption of Nature by their obstinate wickedness 2. The Christian Religion instructs us that God sent his own Son into the World in the humane nature that he might offer up himself an expiatory Sacrifice for the Sins of Men to restore them to his Favour This is a Mystery above the flight of any created understanding yet 't is so temper'd and fram'd there is such an uniformity of Wisdom in all its parts it presents such a full and glorious Image of the Deity in all his perfections that it causes the highest admiration and commands belief in those who duly consider it The whole oeconomy becoms the Majesty the Goodness the Holiness and Justice of God His supreme Majesty appears in his pardoning the guilty for the sufferings of another For this is an infallible proof that he is above Law And his inconceiveable Mercy is the only principle and fountain of our Pardon For Man was absolutely uncapable to merit the Favour or to repair the Honour of God so injur'd by his inexcusable disobedience Repentance cannot produce such great effects What merit can there be in the sorrowful sense and confession of that which deserves Eternal Death Besides an extream hatred of Sin an ardent love of Holiness serious Resolutions to follow it what ever it costs which is the best part of Repentance was due to God before the commission of Sin therefore cannot be satisfaction So that pure Mercy is the cause of our forgiveness Moreover God to glorifie his Holiness in declaring his vehement and irreconcileable hatred to Sin and to preserve the Rights of Justice was pleas'd to appoint an all-sufficient Mediator capable to offer himself an expiatory Sacrifice for Sin and to give an infinite value to it This was done by the Incarnation of the Son of God The Flesh and Bloud he took of our humanity was made Divine by union with him and offer'd on the Cross was full payment for our offences Thus Justice and Mercy triumph with equal Glory being equally Victorious For what is more honourable to Justice than satisfaction equal to the offence And what can more commend Mercy than the most free and undeserved bestowing the high price requisit for it Thus the Gospel affords to us a just and compleat Idea of the Divine excellencies in the Redemption of Man The design manner and the effect are most worthy of God Where might such a contrivance of Wisdom be fram'd but in the Divine mind where could such an excess of compassion be found but in the heart of God Thus it became God who is Love to magnifie his Love to advance his dearest Glory and overcome our guilty disaffection to himself For while terrible apprehensions of the Deity possess the heart 't is frozen with a stony rigor which the hope of Mercy only can dissolve Thus it appears that the Doctrine of the Gospel is worthy of all acceptation 2. The Christian Religion sets before us a rule of life pur and perspicuous in nothing superfluous or defective but comprehending the intire duty of Man This was necessary in order to his recovery For in his fallen state the Law of Nature is active in some things but dormant in others The best Morals of the Heathens are dasht with impure permissions But the Grace of God that bringeth Salvation teaches us that denying ungodliness and worldly lusts we should live soberly righteously and godly in this present World It forbids all Sin in all its degrees not only the consummation of it in the act but the first conception of it in the thoughts and desires Which argues that the Lawgiver was more than a Man having an inspection into the heart which is only visible to God and only accountable to him It teaches us to worship God the supream and purest Spirit with the highest esteem and with purity of affections It enjoyns all relative duties to Men in a most perfect manner What things we would have others to do unto us supposing our selves in their circumstances we are obliged to do to them This one Law of Christ eminently contains all others that respect society This is the primitive rule of commerce and directs our carriage towards all persons with justice and equity kindness and decence The Gospel also with respect to our selves gives a perfect rule to make us holy and blessed It teaches us the contempt of the World the valuation of Heaven the restraint of corrupted sense and the Angelical exercise of our affections In short it commands the practice of all Vertues and that we should aspire to the most eminent degrees in them But especially it enjoyns humility and love to God the foundation and perfection of all vertues of which the precepts of Philosophy take little notice Humility that is a lively deep sense that nothing is properly ours but sin and misery arises from the consideration of our absolute dependance upon God for our being and all the benefits we enjoy in Nature or Grace From hence gratitude springs 'T is most reasonable that our lives should be a continual expression of Obedience from a noble and free principle of love to God and be design'd for his Honour and that for all our advantages temporal or spiritual we should only glory in him In this Philosophers were very defective They consider'd Man with respect to himself or to other Creatures without him and accordingly the product of their Precepts was a certain moral honesty to do nothing unbecoming the reasonable Nature nor to break the civil Peace But they did not consider duly his relation to the Creator in whom he lives moves and has his being from whom proceeds every good and perfect gift And by
neglecting him all their glittering actions were but a weak counterfeit a dead resemblance of real vertue In their most eminent publick works the praise of Men was their ultimate design and as some appear bold from Fear they were Vertuous from Vanity If God be not the Principle the Motive and the End of what we do there are wanting the essential Ingredients of moral Goodness Now all these Precepts shine with their native light and carry such evidence of their rectitude that our obedience may come from an ingenuous filial spirit satisfied with the reasonableness of our Heavenly Fathers Commands and not be servile only perform'd to the absolute will of a Master And can there be a more convincing proof of the truth of Christian Religion of its Divine descent than the Image of Gods Holiness so clearly imprest upon it Add further these Precepts are deliver'd with that plainness and so proportion'd to the capacity of all and yet with that soveraign Authority that 't is reasonable to believe that God himself speaks and it becomes Man to hear with reverence and submission The Gospel is without the ornaments of Art yet its sweet facility is temper'd with that Majesty that 't is a sensible caracter that Divine Wisdom compos'd it 3. The Promises of the Gospel are so worthy of God and sutable to the wants and desires of Men that 't is perfectly reasonable to assent to their truth and goodness This will appear by a particular consideration of them 1. The Promise of Pardon to penitent Believers And in this we are to consider the conditions and the ground of its assurance to us The conditions are Repentance and Faith 1. Repentance is a peculiar Command and Priviledg of the Gospel The Law consider'd in it self did not admit of it nor give the least hope of pardon for it supposes Man in the integrity of Nature and accordingly directs him how to please God and preserve his Love but propounds no means of reconciliation after an offence There are no seeds of Grace to temper its rigour But the Gospel is the Declaration of Mercy to the guilty and miserable upon such terms as God may be capable to give Pardon and Man qualified to receive it 'T is not more true that God is the Judge of the World and that all Men shall appear before his Tribunal than that Sin without Repentance shall not escape Punishment To forgive the unreformed sinner would stain his purest Perfections the inviolable beauty of his Holiness the incorruptible rectitude of his Justice Such Lenity would have a pernicious influence on the corrupt World by encouraging Men to Sin without fear and outragiously to break his Laws in confidence of Pardon Therefore in the Evangelical Promise Repentance and Remission of Sins are inseparably joyn'd Repentance is a preparative in order to our receiving Divine Mercy and a strong preservative against Sin for time to come The Remembrance of those sorrows and fears the anxieties and indignation against himself that Sin caus'd in a true Penitent will make him jealous for the future of his Heart and ciâ—cumspect against all Temptations that may betray him As one that has narrowly escaped consuming by Fire retains the idea of his danger so deeply imprest on his mind that upon any new occasion his antient fears revive and make him very watchful Besides the apprehension of Just and Eternal Vengeance makes the Mercy of God so admirable the sense of his tender compassion so sweet that an humble Believer cannot forget or neglect it The forgiveness of Sin in this way is not only an engagement but an infallible cause of fearing to offend a God so great and good And Faith is a qualification as requisit for the obtaining pardon that is a cordial entire receiving Jesus Christ as he is presented to us in the Gospel to resign our minds to his Doctrines as our Prophet to have reliance on his Sacrifice and Mediation as our Priest to yeild universal chearful and constant Obedience to him as our King And how congruous is it that all who receive so unvaluable a benefit as forgiveness of Sin should thus honour him who procures it And the Gospel affords the strongest assurance that God is most willing to pardon humble and contrite sinners This is necessary for the relief and ease of true Penitents For when the enlightn'd Conscience reflects upon the number and enormity of its Sins the presumption in committing them 't is ready to be swallowed up with despair of recovering the lost favour of God It cannot devise any means how to appease his incensed Majesty and satisfie violated Justice how a Rebel should become his Son how one condemn'd to everlasting Punishment should be restored to the unfading inheritance of Life The case is most intricate and hopeless Now the Gospel propounds means of Universal Sovereign efficacy to reconcile God to us The most precious Blood of his Son offer'd up a Sacrifice to expiate Sin This sprinkles all Nations and in all Ages retains an undecaying vertue This affords solid and everlasting comfort to all sensible returning Sinners 2. The sending of the holy Spirit of God to renew us according to his Image and to confirm us against temptations in this mortal life is another Promise of the Gospel and most requisit to make us capable to serve and enjoy him A happy temper of Nature the Precepts of Philosophy vertuous Examples the severity of humane Laws are not powerful to regenerate a Man and transform him into a new Creature They may restrain the exorbitancies of carnal appetites but cannot throughly change the mind and affections Were there any vital spark within any seed of Holiness in Mans corrupted Nature such assistance might cherish it but he is dead to the truly Spritual Life tho not to the merely Moral and no less than an Omnipotent efficacy can produce a new spring of life a divine Nature the principle of willing Obedience to God And after conversion while in the state of tryal here the best are subject to innumerable surprises by their own frailty and exposed to new dangers every hour by temptations that foment and heighten the reliques of Sin in them so that without supernatural assistance they would be quite discouraged and foild by the enemies that war against the Soul Now in the Gospel God has promised to give the holy Spirit to those that ask it in the most hazardous and difficult conflicts he assures those who ardently address themselves to him for help that his Grace shall be sufficient for them 3. The Gospel contains many gracious promises with respect to supplying the wants and giving support and refreshment under the troubles of the present life Temporal blessings are in the lowest rank of good things and are promised as they should be desir'd subordinately to our chief good First seek the Kingdom of Heaven and the Righteousness thereof and all other things shall be added saith our Saviour And to relieve us
shall we goithou hast the words of Eternal Life CHAP. III. The External proofs of the truth of Christian Religion considered Miracles are only perform'd by God Why Christianity was confirm'd by them The number of Christs Miracles the manner of his performing them and their certainty consider'd The Miracles done by Christ to confirm his Doctrine are an authentick Testimony that God approved it The pretence of Libertines that the Heathen Religion was confirm'd by Miracles clearly disprov'd The rational assurance we have that the Apostles were sincere and certain of the Miraculous things related by them of Jesus Christ. His Resurrection attested by sufficient evidence VVE are next to consider those external proofs of the truth of Christianity the works of God himself that seal our full assurance of it I shall instance in two Miracles and the accomplishment of Prophecies 1. A Miracle is a supernatural work that requires an extraordinary Divine Power to effect it For none can derogate from the Universal Laws of Nature prescribed from the beginning of things and time but the Author of it Indeed we do not exactly know the compass of that Circle wherein the spirits of darkness excercise their power They may by the application of natural means unknown to us produce things that may astonish or by lying Wonders deceive Men but a true Miracle is a work reserv'd to God and possibly to no less than Infinite Power Whether it be a first or second Creation the forming a new Eye or the giving a visive power to that that was naturally blind it can only be done by his hand If we respect Omipotency there is the same facility if the thing done there is the same difficulty in the performance If the Devils had such a power they might create a separate Kingdom and reign there Now Miraculous Testimonies were given to confirm Christianity that there might be a just correspondence between its Doctrines and their Proofs The mysteries of the Gospel in their existence are above all natural power and in their belief above the natural understanding All that Nature can do or know does not make them credible Therefore 't was requisit those things should be confirm'd by the Divine Power that transcend the comprehension of humane Reason Besides as the Mysteries of the Gospel are sublime so the Rewards are future and that the Gentiles might not pretend that the Preachers of the Gospel feign'd another World and a Heaven and a Hell wherein the Souls and Bodies of Men shall be glorified or tormented according to their actions in this life supernatural Evidence of the truth of those Promises and Threatnings was necessary In short herein the Divine Goodness appeared That as the true Religion is necessary to the Salvation of all Men so 't was discernible by such signs as may convince all For upon the sight of those Divine Works the simplest people were led by the outward Sense to an inward firm Faith in Jesus Christ. These things being premised I will take a brief view of the Miracles wrought by our Saviour to give Faith to his Doctrine 'T is recorded of Moses who was a type of Christ that after his familiar converse with God as a Man with his Friend descending from the Mount his Face shone with such an excessive brightness as it were by reflection from the Face of God that coming to the Israelites to deliver to them the Divine Laws he was fain to cover it with a vail yet some rays of that miraculous splendor were visible through that mysterious Vail to assure them it was Moses himself that directed and govern'd them according to God's Will Thus when the Son of God came down from the Heaven of Heavens to instruct the World he shaded the light of the Deity with a vail of Flesh yet he was not so absolutely concealed under his humanity but that from time to time some beams of the Divine Nature appear'd in works so proper to God that the Apostle says We saw his Glory as the Glory of the only begotten Son of God In the representation of our Saviours Miracles by the Evangelists we may consider their number and variety his manner of performing them and the certainty of them 1. Their number and variety He went about all Galilee healing all manner of sicknesses and diseases even the most incurable the Blind the Deaf the Lame the Paralitic the Hydropic the Leprous the Lunatic were cured He rais'd the Dead and cast out Devils Besides his miraculous feeding so many thousands his commanding the enraged Winds and Seas to be still and a great calm followed His Transfiguration before his Disciples when the Beauty of Heaven descended on his Countenance to be there more beautiful discover'd the sensible Presence of the Deity in him 2. The manner of his performing them is very considerable They were done in an instant by absolute dominion over Nature Thus when he said to the Leper I will be thou clean immediately his Leprosy was cleansed Thus when the faithful Centurion addrest himself to him only speak the word and my Servant shall be healed He answered Be it done unto thee as thou believest and his Servant was healed c. both expressions of Command and Empire And his words to the Blind-Man Receive thy Sight had the same creating efficacy with those Let there be Light and there was Light Thus with Authority he commanded the unclean Spirits even the most furious and obstinate and they were expelled from those Mansions wherein they had revelled a long time Thus by the mere Act of his Will he revers'd the order of Nature When the Widows Son was carrying to the Grave He only said Young Man I say unto thee Arise and he that was dead sate up and began to speak Now in this respect the power of Miracles in Jesus Christ was transcendent above that that either Moses or the Prophets or the Apostles had 'T was derived to them by favour and commission from an extrinsick superiour principle the Omnipotence of God but 't was inherent in his Person the natural proper Attribute of his Deity and prov'd Him to be the Son of God the Lord of Nature visible in humane flesh In all places this blessed Vertue proceeded from Him 3. The certainty of his performing them was so great that no shadow of suspicion could remain about it Vitruvius the Master of Architects gives advice to those who built Temples to Aesculapius or any other of the Heathen Deities that were invocated by the Sick that they should choose such places as were open to the most favourable Aspects and Influences of the Heavens where there was a well-temper'd Soil clear Air pure Springs of Water that Diseased-Persons coming from unhealthyplaces might obtain Recovery and what was the benefit of Nature might be attributed to the Divine Vertue of Aesculapius Thus that Idolater counsel'd for the honour of his false Gods But in this he judged aright that the power of the Deity was believed
and honoured by Men proportionably to the Cures that were received from him How much more when done by an undoubted Miracle Of this the People the numerous spectators were so convinc'd that they said When Christ cometh the expected Deliverer will he do more Miracles than these which this Man has done The Pharisees themselves could not deny the Effects but would not acknowledg the true Cause Envy was more powerful in their breasts than the clearest Evidence Therefore to invalidate his Authority they ascrib'd some of his wonderful works to the Prince of Devils But this pretence was so void of all Reason and full of impiety that nothing but inveterate malice could suggest it For would the Devil destroy his own Kingdom is he such a lover of Holiness as to authorise the most perfect Master of it by a compliance with his Will Those proud Spirits are servile only in appearance and when they suffer themselves to be commanded by Men 't is always with design to establish and increase their own Dominion Therefore the most famous Sorcerers observe some Rites by the Devil's prescription and in the using of them acknowledg his power But our Saviour had a soveraign Empire over them and ejected them not only from the Bodies but from the Souls of Men subduing by his holy Doctrine the power of Sin wherein the Kingdom of Satan consists From hence he argues If I by the finger of God cast out Devils then is the Kingdom of God come unto you And hence it was that he charges them with self-condemning obstinancy For if the Gentiles were inexcusable for not acknowledging and honouring God so clearly manifested in the Works of Nature The Jews were as inexcusable for rejecting Jesus Christ so powerfully declared to be the Son of God by supernatural Operations Add further that in his lowest state when he seemd to be utterly forsaken of God yet then his Innocency and the Divinity of his Person were miraculously testified For at his Death even insensible Nature as if it had been capable of Knowledg and Affection was in the most astonishing disorder as resenting the Passion of its Lord. The Sun was eclips'd in a time and place against all possibility of Nature For the Moon was then in opposition to it and in its Full and in an instant past a half Circle of the Heavens to interpose between the body of the Sun and the Earth that the Air at noon day was darkn'd as at midnight This compell'd the Roman Centurion to acknowledg that he that suffer'd was the Son of God And his Resurrection from the Grave was a visible Argument to confirm his Doctrine for that God would not exert his extraordinary power to confirm a false Doctrine in a matter of infinite moment that so nearly concerns his own Glory and the Salvation of Men there is sufficient assurance from his Wisdom Truth Goodness Was there ever any Prince that would permit an Usurper in his own Presence to make use of his Royal Seal to authorise by Commission his Subjects to rebel against him And would God have suffered a Deceiver to work Miracles and thereby obtain Divine Honour from Men the incommunicable Right of the Deity Nay it had not been a bare permission but a positive Act of God himself it being impossible that any other should do them Or would God who is the prime Verity work Miracles to give credit to a Lye and violate the Honour of his Eternal most perfect Veracity Or is it consistent with his Infinite Goodness to make a Delusion so strong that the most sincere would be in great danger to be overcome by it Therefore the Apostle urges it as an uncontroulable Argument of our Saviour's Divine Mission Ye Men of Israel hear these words Jesus of Nazareth a Man approved of God among you by Miracles and Wonders and Signs which God did by him in the midst of you as you your selves also know These were proofs of the greatest vigour to induce the World to believe that he came from God to make known his Counsel for the recovery of lost undone Mankind 'T is said by Libertines that the Heathens tell miraculous stories to confirm their Religion that their Hero's descended in a right line from some Deity and not to instance in many particulars they boasted of Apollonius Tyanaeus as one that vied with Christ himself in wonderful works But this Objection is easily refuted for if Paganism had a miraculous Power attending it why did it not make use of it to discredit that Power that authoris'd Christianity in the time it made fierce War against it If equal to it in Divine Power and incomparably superiour in humane aids how came it to pass that the weaker prov'd victorious and the stronger was put to flight 'T is evident therefore the pretended Miracles of Paganism were works of the Devil not to be compar'd with what was done by an Almighty Hand If it be again objected That the relation of the Miracles as perform'd by Jesus Christ is from his Disciples who favoured his Person and Cause and therefore may be justly suspected I answer The vanity of the Pretence is apparent for if they had artificially fram'd a Narrative of extraordinary things as done by him in that time wherein they wrote and in the view of many how easy had it been to expose them to the just scorn and hatred of all for their notorious falshood and infatuated Impudence but they were never accus'd of this Nay such was the number clearness and greatness of his Miracles that the uncontrouled fame of them forc'd his Enemies in after-Ages to acknowledg their truth The Jews in their Talmud confess he did Wonders but give such a ridiculous Account of the Means by which they were done as betrays the weakness of their Reason and the strength of their Malice against him And his Apostles with their Successors in preaching the Gospel wrought Miracles so frequently in the face of many Nations that those who were most obstinately averse from submitting to it could not deny what was visible to thousands and that Miraculous Power they always ascribed to the Name of CHRIST So that there is no colour for jealousy as if his Miracles recorded in the Gospel were not true But because the Resurrection of Christ is the great Principle upon which all Christian hopes depend I will shew that we have all the rational assurance of it that it is capable of This being a matter of fact done many Ages past is to be proved by Testimony And first 't is worthy of Observation that the Providence of God is concern'd to authorize this manner of proof that is absolutely necessary for the preserving humane Societies 'T is of little importance whether the truth of things be discovered in speculative Sciences or the appearance of it deceive the Inquirer 'T is no wrong to the Commonwealth that an Astronomer mistakes in his dimensions of the magnitude of the Sun for his
and the Redeemer of the World This I will briefly open There are three that bear record in Heaven the Father the Word and the Holy-Ghost and these three are one And there are three that bear witness in Earth The Spirit and the Water and the Blood and these three agree in one All the Divinity gave testimony of this important Truth The Father not only by the Miracles wrought by his Power to confirm the Mission of Christ but which is here principally intended by a voice from Heaven First at his Baptism This is my well-beloved Son in whom I am well pleased And at his Transfiguration before some of his Disciples a Shining Cloud the sign of the Divine Presence encompast them and a voice came forth of the Cloud This is my well beloved Son hear him Upon this glorious Voice they were struck with such an impression of fear that they fell on their faces And when our Saviour near his Passion prayed Father glorifie thy Name a voice came from Heaven I have glorified it and will glorifie it Now can there remain any doubt after such an high attestation from the most Soveraign Authority The Son also besides the perfect holiness of his life the exquisite Wisdom of his Doctrine the Wonders of his Works his Resurrection from the dead that were authentick proofs of his Celestial Person and Calling after his Ascension gloriously appear'd from Heaven in diverse Visions to the Preachers of his Gospel To Saul in his Journey to Damascus calling to him Saul Saul why persecutest thou me It is hard for thee to kick against the Pricks This is an unexceptionable testimony that he is the Son of God being risen from the dead and returned to Heaven from whence he thus discover'd himself Now that this was real and no fantastick illusion is evident by the marvelous effects of it Those who were companions in the journey were seiz'd with great terror and himself struck blind by the overpowering splendor of the Apparition But especially the effects of it upon his Soul are convincing who it was that spake to him For Saul was by Sect a Pharisee that of all others most passionately adher'd to the Jewish Religion by Temper hot and violent by Profession a persecutor of the Christians One that breathed forth Threatning and Slaughter that excited the Fury of the High-Priests sollicited their Cruelty In short a fierce spirit that envied Nero the title of the first Persecutor of the Church Yet this Man by this Vision and Voice from Heaven of a furious Persecutor in an instant became a zealous Apostle of a Wolf became a Pastor He presently exprest his entire submission Lord what wilt thou have me to do There is nothing so hard to do nothing so dreadful to suffer but I will readily undertake for thine honour and the propagating thy Truth Now from whence came this Change so strange so new in a person confirm'd in the opposite party from whence this resignation of will so entire and perfect so unexpected and sudden What gave him courage to contradict to their faces the High-Priests whose instrument he was and declare that Jesus whom they called a Deceiver was the Son of God and their Judge What animated him to appear before Kings and Emperours to testifie this dangerous Truth What made him with unparallel'd activity with the most ardent affections propagate the Gospel and after a thousand perils by Sea and Land a thousand disgraces and injuries at last to confirm the Faith of Christ with his Blood It is therefore past all contradiction that he had the greatest assurance that the Son of God spake to him Another Vision of the WORD from Heaven was to St. John when he was pleas'd to reveal to him the future state of his Church its Combats and Victories He then appear'd in a form expressive of his Majesty Power and Providence requisite for the ordering all the great Events that should befal it And said I am the first and the last I am he that liveth and was dead and behold I live for ever and have the Keys of Hell and of Death wherein he appropriates to himself the incommunicable titles of the Deity and then declares those two astonishing Miracles that the Prince of Life that had an Eternal Principle of it in himself was dead and that one who had been dead was alive This Riddle the Gospel unfolds The Son of God was made Man and by that admirable union allied Eternity and Time Life and Death together As 't is a common form of speech that a Man dies when the Body is depriv'd of Life though the Soul be immortal So it was true the Son of God died when his Body was crucified though he was uncapable of the least diminution of his Divine life And after three days he rose by the Divine Power to enjoy an Immortal Life And have the Keys of Hell and Death The irresistible force of Death all Men must yield to and from the Grave there 's no redemption by finite power But Jesus Christ has Soveraign Authority and Power to open the Grave and raise the Dead to an happy Immortality This glorious Appearance made St. John to fall as dead at his Feet and could not recover himself till assured by the reviving words of his favour The Spirit also appear'd from Heaven to give Testimony concerning the divine Person and Office of Christ First by descending as a Dove on him when he was baptised This was the completion of the Prophecy The Spirit of the Lord is upon me He has anointed me to preach the Gospel to the Poor to publish Deliverance to the Captives And in the second of the Acts the Spirit descended in the form of Fiery Tongues upon the Apostles to qualifie them for preaching the Gospel to the World And 't is worthy of observation that the Apostles were before this very defective in Wisdom and Courage so that their Divine Master though Goodness it self yet tax'd them for their stupidity and in his Sufferings they all forsook him But after the effusion of the Spirit upon them they were endowed with that admirable Wisdom and Resolution that nothing could gainsay and overcome They presently spake in various Languages the things concerning Iesus Christ that the World was astonish'd and many converted by this Testimony from God for the honour of our Saviour and others confounded in their obstinacy Now since this miraculous descent of the Spirit was to ratify the Promise that he made to them If I go away I will send to you another Comforter What more clear and valuable Testimony can we have that Jesus Christ is the Saviour of the World If Infidelity should reply If we had heard these Voices and seen those glorious Visions we should be convinc'd but what assurance have we there is no deceit in these Relations I answer There never was clearer Grounds of the belief of any thing done without the compass of our own senses than of what
the Apostles testify as hath been evidently proved before And certainly as those who saw and heard those things were by the Divine Characters in the external Objects and by their efficacy on their Spirits fully perswaded they were not deceived so we have as strong proofs that they did not deceive us in their Reports I shall briefly consider the other Testimonies And there are Three that bear witness in Earth the Spirit and the Water and the Blood and these Three agree in one The Spirit is to be considered in two different manners in the Testimonies attributed to him either in respect of those Representations by a Dove and Fiery Tongues or in respect of his Vertues and Influences communicated to the Christian Church The first was his Testimony from Heaven The second his Testimony on Earth And these were his Extraordinary Gifts so liberally dispens'd at the first preaching of the Gospel To one was given by the Spirit the Word of Wisdom to another the Word of Knowledge to another Faith that is extraordinary confidence in the Divine Power for the producing Miraculous Effects to another the Gift of Healing to another the working of Miracles to another Prophecy to another Discerning of Spirits to another divers kinds of Tongues to another the Interpretation of Tongues Now because these Operations more eminently declare the Presence and Power of the Spirit than his ordinary Graces they are called by that name For understanding the second Witness the Water two things are observable 1. That in the Rituals of Moses's frequent Washings were enjoyned for the purifying of the Iews from Legal Pollutions contracted by them And as those Corporal Stains were Resemblances of the vitious habits of the mind so the cleansing by Water was typical of sanctifying Grace that purifies the heart And for this Reason under the New Covenant to represent the sanctification of Christians by an outward sign Baptism in Water was appointed 2. The Apostle John in the Narrative of the Sufferings of Christ tells us that a Souldier pierced his Side with a Spear so that Blood and Water came out This is not recited by S. John merely as a circumstance of the History or as a certain proof of his Death but the following words He that saw this testifies it and his Testimony is worthy of belief and he knows that he says true that you may believe declare it to be of singular consequence And accordingly he says that our Saviour came by Water and Blood with respect to that which was done at his Crucifixion which was so ordered by Divine Wisdom for high ends that is the Water issuing out of his Side was a fit Emblem of that Sanctifying Grace that is given to all that have Communion with him in his Death 3. For the Testimony of the Blood 't is also to be observed that by the Mosaic Institution daily Sacrifices were offered up and a most solemn one by the High-Priest in the day of Atonement to expiate the guilt of Ceremonial Uncleanness and to restore those who for that were excluded from external Communion with God in the Sanctuary Now as that legal guilt arising from those outward pollutions and the separation of those who were so polluted from the Service of God was a representation of the Moral Guilt and Punishment that follows the vitious habits and actions of Men so the shedding the Blood of the Sacrifice and Offering was typical of the true Propitiation that was to be made by the Blood of Christ. And this is peculiarly remark'd by the Apostle that Iesus came not only by Water but by Water and Blood and 't is the Spirit that testifies of it and the Spirit is the Truth By which we must understand something distinct from the former i. e. that the flowing of his Blood signified the reconciling efficacy of his Death by satisfying Divine Justice and consequently the remission of Sins given to those who believe in him Now briefly to shew the force of their conspiring Testimony that Jesus is the Son of God and our Redeemer These things may be considered absolutely in themselves or as the accomplishment of the Prophecies concerning the Messiah In the last respect they affor'd us a great assurance of this Truth For all was expresly foretold And it shall come to pass in the last days saith God I will pour out of my Spirit upon all Flesh and your Sons and your Daughters shall prophesie and your young Men shall see Visions and your old Men shall dream Dreams And on my Servants and Hand-Maidens I will pour out in those dayes of my Spirit and they shall prophesie This promise was universally acknowledged to refer to the coming of the Messiah For that of Water that is Sanctification not only the washing under the Law were figures of it but 't was also clearly prophesied of in many places and most expresly in Ezekiel I will sprinkle clean Water upon you and ye shall be clean from all your filthiness will I cleanse you A new Heart also will I give you and a new Spirit will I put within you and I will put my Spirit within you and cause you to walk in my Statutes And for the third Testimony besides that the typical Blood of the Messiah ran down from all the Sacrifices it was also foretold expresly by Esaiah what his Sufferings should be and the Benefits accruing from them Now if we compare the Oracle with the event who can justly doubt that the Messiah is come But if we consider the things themselves they afford an uncontroulable Testimony of Christ's Divine Mission Compare the Primitive Church either with the Jews or the Gentiles and see the difference between them The Spirit that was communicated but as it were in a few drops to the Jews after the Ascension of Christ fell in a main showr upon the Christian Church inriching them with supernatural gifts some favoured with Revelations of Sublime Truths above the discovery of the human Understanding some foretelling things to come that were beyond the discovery of the most sharp sighted Reason some speaking diverse Languages wherein they had never been instructed some having such an extraordinary Faith in the Divine Power and Goodness that innumerable Miracles were done by them in the name of Christ. If we look into the state of the Gentiles how thick and prodigious was the darkness that overspread that Chaos of Impiety In the Roman Empire that compriz'd the flower of Wit and Learning what foolish and extravagant opinions of the Deity were cōmonly received What Idolatries what Impurities what Abominations were freely practised But by the preaching of the Gospel how clearly were the minds of Men instructed in the true Knowledg of God And what a change was made in their Lives ' The World that was as a barren Desart was suddenly chang'd into a Paradise fruitful in all good works Innocence Humility Purity Justice Charity Love to God Resignation to his Will were eminently visible in all
David by the same Inspiration in many Psalms celebrates the Kingdom of the Messiah In Psal. 22. he is introduc'd speaking My praise shall be of thee in the great Congregation all the ends of the World shall remember and turn unto the Lord all the kindreds of the Nations shall worship before thee And in the 67 Psal. God be merciful to us and blessus and cause his Face to shine upon us Selah That thy way may be known upon Earth and thy saving health among all Nations Let the people praise thee O God let all the people praise thee The Prophet Esay in his Revelations clearly speaks of the great design of God to bring the Gentiles to his service Thus in the second Chapter 't is prophesied And it shall come to pass in the last days that the Mountain of the Lords House shall be established in the tops of the Mountains and shall be exalted above the Hills And many People shall go and say Come ye let us go up to the Mountain of the Lord to the House of the God of Jacob and he will teach us his ways and we will walk in his paths for out of Zion shall go forth the Lord and the Sword of the Lord out of Jerusalem And among all the rest none is more clear and express than what is recorded in Isa. 49. There first the Messiah is represented as declaring his Commission from God to go to the People of Israel The Lord hath called me from the womb from the bowels of my mother hath he made mention of my Name and he said unto me Thou art my Servant in whom I will be glorified And after complains of the obstinacy of the ingrateful Synagogue Then I said I have laboured in vain I have spent my strength for nought in vain yet surely my judgment is with the Lord and my work with God And immediately after 't is added And now saith the Lord that form'd me from the Womb to be his Servant to bring Jacob again to him though Israel be not gather'd yet shall I be glorious in the eyes of the Lord and my God shall be my strength And he said it is a light thing that thou shouldst be my servant to raise up the Tribes of Jacob and to restore the preserved of Israel I will also give thee for a light to the Gentiles that thou maist be my Salvation to the ends of the Earth This Oracle is precise and full for it speaks of the Nations in opposition to the Tribes of Israel and directly foretels that the Jews would neglect the instructions of the Messiah and that upon their Infidelity God would by the Messiah give saving knowledge to all Nations And in the same sense he speaks in the 54th Chapter Sing O Barren thou that didst not bear break forth into singing and cry aloud thou that didst not travel with Child for more are the Children of the desolate than of the married saith the Lord. Who is the desolate and barren but the Gentiles without God in the World whiles the Jews were honour'd and blest in the Mystical Marriage with him And who are the Children of the forsaken that should be far more numerous than those of the married but the Believers of the Christian Church in opposition to the Jewish Church And the other succeeding Prophets concur in this prediction Malachy the last speaks of it in such express terms as are capable to convince any that does not wilfully renounce the use of his Eyes and Understanding After God is introduc'd rejecting the Jews and their Temple Service I have no pleasure in you saith the Lord of Hosts neither will I accept an Offering at your hands He adds to signifie the calling of a new Church for from the rising of the Sun to the going down of the same my Name shall be great among the Gentiles and in every place Incense shall be offer'd to my Name and a pure Offering for my Name shall be great among the Heathen saith the Lord of Hosts Thus that great wonder was clearly foretold by the Prophets and as a work to be performed by the glorious Power of God And accordingly it is accomplish'd For who but God could have inspir'd the Apostles to undertake an Enterprise so contrary to Humane Prudence being equally dangerous and impossible And who else could have made it successful beyond all imagination When the Pride of Pharoah was humbled and his Strength broken by the most despicable creatures even the Magicians were compelled to acknowledge it to be the Finger of God but his Arm was revealed when the Spiritual Pharoah with all his Powers of Darkness were overcome by such weak Instruments What furious Winds from all parts of the World conspir'd to extinguish the first springing Light of the Gospel The Heathen Emperours destroyed innumerable Persons presuming to drown the Memory of Christ in the Blood of the Christians But such were the Faith and Love of Believers of all conditions to their Crucified Redeemer that with the same joy they ran to suffer the most terrible punishments as if they had been to receive Crowns In vain the strongest Combinations were made against the Truth For the knowledge of the only true God and his incarnate Son Jesus Christ overcame Impiety with all its Idols and Ignorance with all its numerous Masters What is become of all the Heathen Deities so honour'd so fear'd so obstinately defended Where are their Altars their Statues their Sacrilegious Priests and Sacrifices They are buried in the ruines of their own Temples in the darkness of eternal oblivion Where are all the Sects of Philosophers the Platonists the Peripateticks the Stoicks the Epicureans and the rest that fill'd Greece with their Fame and so many Volumes with their Fancies and Errour Like a Torrent that rouls down with great noise from the top of a Mountain so for a time the Speculations of their lofty Minds poured along in a floud of swelling froathy Eloquence but now and for how many Ages since the very channel is dryed up wherein they ran so that scarce any visible ruines remain in Athens it self of the Schools where they taught The greatest among them Plato adorn'd with the title of Divine could never see his Commonwealth fram'd by him with so much study to be establish'd in one City Whereas if we consider the Gospel of Christ 't is hard to determine whether the Doctrine be more simple or the Apostles the first Masters of it to outward appearance Yet without Learning or humane strength in a short space they triumphed over the Eloquence of the Greeks the Power of the Romans the Rage of Barbarous Nations They abrogated Laws chang'd Customs and renewed the face of the World In this the Prophetick Parable was fulfill'd The Kingdom of Heaven that is the dispensation of the Gospel is like to a grain of Mustard-seed one of the smallest grains but of that spirit and quality that it suddenly springs up and
spreads abroad This happy and stupendous success of the Disciples of Jesus Christ consider'd in it self is an unanswerable proof that the Christian Religion came from Heaven For it was only possible to the Divine Power 'T is no wonder the Religion of Mahomet extended and establish'd its Conquests in many Countries For that Seducer perswaded the barbarous People by force of Arms they must be his Disciples or Slaves And can the Mind form a clear Judgment or the Will make a free Choice when under a tyrannous necessity of Compliance or losing all the Comforts of Life Can Violence and Cruelty produce a Rational Faith That may force them to a counterfeit complyance but cannot make Men sincerely believe 't is apt to breed Form without and Atheism within Now that a Persecuted Religion should live and flourish in the midst of flames is as truly admirable as if a little Stream should pass through an Arm of the Ocean retaining its Freshness and Purity in the midst of Salt and Turbid Waters That when the Minds of Men were prepossest with inveterate Opinions contrary to its supernatural Mysteries and their Wills over-ruled by Carnal Affections utterly averse from its Holy Precepts the World was captiv'd to the belief and obedience of it is the most noble effect of Omnipotence For other Miracles though above the Laws of Nature yet were on the lower order of creatures without life and sense but this internal Miracle was wrought on the Minds and Hearts of Men. To raise the Dead to calm a Storm to suspend the force of Fire to change Waters into Blood is not so glorious a work as the converting Rebellious Souls to God and making them a willing People to his holy Laws And if we further consider the Prophecies so many Ages before concerning it and observe the Harmony betwixt the Works and Word of God there results a Demonstration as clear and strong as is possible The Prediction and Accomplishment are equally divine The success justifies the truth of the Prophecy and the truth of the Prophecy justifies the Divinity of the Christian Religion For by the Apostles and their Successors the Heathens were turned from Idols to the Service of one God the Creator of the World which was foretold by the Prophets not only as a thing that should arrive but to be performed by the Power of God To ascribe then this glorious Work to humane Artifice as if his Providence had been prevented by others from doing that that he promised should be done by his own Power is so directly contrary to his Wisdom and his Truth that common Reason abhors the thoughts of it Therefore the Christian Religion is Divine having God for its Author Thus the Truth of the Gospel is victorious over the Jewish or the prophane Infidel It may be argued against the Jews that their God foretold his Messiah should convert the Nations No other but one authorised from above could do it Iesus Christ has done it therefore he is the Messiah And consequently they are either blind with prejudice or maliciously deny the known truth To prophane Infidels it may be urged none but the Divine Providence could foretel so great and marvellous a change of the World none but the Divine Power could effect it therefore 't was the true God that made the project and event so exactly to correspond in all things Add further that by comparing the Prophecies of Christ and his Kingdom with their accomplishment the two sorts of enemies against the Gospel are made useful to convince one another The Pagans by the Jews that these things were foretold the Jews by the Pagans that these things were fulfil'd St. Austin relates that the Heathens seeing the exact agreement between the Prophecies in the Old Testament so clear in words and their accomplishment in the New so clear in the Effects had nothing to reply but that they were written after the things were done and feigned to be Predictions of antient date As Virgil weaving Fables of Aeneas feign'd him to be in the Elisian Fields and to receive from Anchises a Prediction of his Descendents in a long succession and order of Men and Times which was the story of what was actually past when he wrote it In answer to this pretence he breaks out with wonder and joy O Gloria Regis nostri the Cause is gain'd and the Victory of Truth could not be more glorious For whereas the many Nations in Europe Asia Africa subdued by the Arms of the Romans were compelled to observe the Rites of their Religion The Jews only were permitted to enjoy their Sacred Books and their own Worship and were dispers'd into all Countries And thus by the admirable Counsel of God they give credit to the Gospel among the Gentiles For if we consider the reverence they bore to the Writings of the Prophets that with the greatest care they have preserved them as the most precious Inheritance left by their Fathers and their mortal hatred of Jesus Christ and his Gospel that willingly they would spend their Blood to deface the Memorials of it it is an invincible Argument that the Predictions concerning the state of the Christian Church recorded in their Scriptures are sincerely delivered and of Divine Authority This their Malice is an advantage to the Faith of the Gospel and by constraint they are the great Confirmers of it This is sufficient to reduce the Heathens to silence and confusion And the Pagan being convinc'd by the Books of the Jews the Jew may be convinc'd by the Testimony of the Pagans for if the Records so jealously kept by that Nation were from Divine Inspiration if they contain Antient Prophecies which the Heathens see verified in the Gospel and the Christian Church why do not the Jews acknowledge Jesus Christ to be the promised Messiah If the Vail were not taken from Moses's face and laid on their hearts they must clearly see that the Light of the Gentiles is the Glory of Israel 'T is equally unreasonable to doubt with the Atheist that the Messiah was ever promised or to believe with the Iews he is yet to come CHAP. V. The Testimony produc'd by St. John for the proof of Christianity briefly consider'd The Witness from Heaven the Father Word and Spirit The Witnesses on Earth the Spirit Water and Blood conspire in declaring JESUS CHRIST to be the Son of God and Saviour of Men. An Answer to Objections against the Doctrines of the Trinity the Divine Incarnation and the mean State and Sufferings of the Son of God in the World The Conclusion The Gospel so proved deserves our firmest Assent and Adherence to its Doctrines Carnal or spiritual Lusts hinder the belief of it It sets before us the most powerful Motives to love God We are obliged by the strongest Reasons to obey its Precepts THe Sum of all that has been said is comprised in the Testimony that St. John produces to prove that Jesus Christ is the Son of God