that the generality of Mankind should be all Slaves to a few and be perpetually chained to the Oar or condemned to the Mines There are many times as bad Consequences of good things as of bad but yet there is a great difference between good and bad for all that As Knowledge and Liberty so likewise the Christian Religion is a great Happiness to the World in general though some are so unhappy as to be the worse for it not because Religion is bad but because they are so 4. If Religion be a matter of Mens free Choice it is not to be expected that it should necessarily and constantly have its Effect upon Men for it works upon us not by way of Force or natural Necessity but of Moral Persuasion If Religion and the Grace of God which goes along with it did force Men to be good and virtuous and no Man could be so unless he were thus violently forc'd then it would be no Virtue in any Man to be good nor any Crime and Fault to be otherwise For then the reason why some Men were good would be because they could not help it and others bad because the Grace of God did not make them so whether they would or not But Religion does not thus work upon Men. It directs Men to their Duty by the shortest and plainest Precepts of a good Life it persuades Men to the Obedience of these Precepts by the Promises of Eternal Happiness and the Threatnings of Eternal Misery in case of obstinate Disobedience it offers us the Assistance of God's Holy Spirit to help our Weakness and enable us to that for which we are not sufficient of our selves But there is nothing of Violence or Necessity in all this After all Men may disobey these Precepts and not be persuaded by these Arguments may not make use of this Grace which God offers may quench and resist the Holy Ghost and reject the Counsel of God against themselves And the Case being thus it is no wonder if the Temptations of this present World prevail upon the vicious Inclinations of Men against their Duty and their true Interest and consequently if the Motives and Arguments of the Christian Religion have not a constant and certain Effect upon a great part of Mankind Not but that Christianity is apt to bring Men to Goodness but some are so obstinately bad as not to be wrought upon by the most powerful Considerations it can offer to them 5. It cannot be denied but that Christianity is as well framed to make Men good as any Religion can be imagined to be and therefore wherever the Fault be it cannot be in the Christian Religion that we are not good So that the bad Lives of Christians are no sufficient Objection either against the Truth or Goodness of the Christian Doctrine Besides the Confirmation that was given to it by Miracles the Excellency of the Doctrine and its proper Tendency to make Men holy and virtuous are a plain Evidence of its Divine and Heavenly Original And surely the Goodness of any Religion consists in the sufficiency of its Precepts to direct Men to their Duty in the force of its Arguments to persuade Men to it and the suitableness of its Aids and Helps to enable us to the Discharge and Performance of it And all those Advantages the Christian Religion hath above any Religion or Institution that ever was in the World The reasonable and plain Rules of a good Life are no where so perfectly collected as in the Discourses of our Blessed Saviour and his Apostles No Religion ever gave Men so full Assurance of the mighty Rewards and Punishments of another World nor such gracious Promises of Divine Assistance and such Evidence of it especially in the Piety and Virtue and Patience and Self-denial of the Primitive Christians as the Doctrine of God our Saviour hath done which teacheth Men to deny Vngodliness and worldly Lusts and to live soberly and righteously and godly in this present World in contemplation of the blessed hope and the glorious appearance of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ who gave himself for us that he might redeem us from all Iniquity and purify to himself a peculiar People zealous of good Works 6. and lastly After all that hath or can be said it must be acknowledged and ought sadly to be lamented by us that the wicked Lives of Christians are a marvellous Scandal and Reproach to our Holy Religion and a great Obstacle to the spreading of it in the World and a real Objection against it to prejudiced Persons with whom it doth justly bring into doubt the Goodness and Efficacy of the Institution it self to see how little Effect it hath upon the Hearts and Lives of Men. It is hard for a Man to maintain the Reputation of an excellent Master in any kind when all the World sees that most of his Scholars prove Dunces Whatever Commendation may be given to any Art or Science Men will question the Truth and Reality of it when they see the greatest part of those who profess it not able to do any thing answerable to it The Christian Religion pretends to be an Art of serving God more decently and devoutly and of living better than other Men but if it be so why do not the Professors of this excellent Religion shew the Force and Virtue of it in their Lives And though I have sufficiently shewn that this is not enough to overthrow the Truth and disparage the Excellency of the Christian Doctrine yet it will certainly go a great way with prejudiced Persons and it cannot be expected otherwise So that we have infinite Reason to be ashamed that there is so plain a contrariety between the Laws of Christianity and the Lives of the greatest part of Christians so notorious and palpable a difference between the Religion that is in the Bible and that which is to be seen and read in the Conversations of Men. Who that looks upon the Manners of the present Age could believe if he did not know it that the holy and pure Doctrine of the Christian Religion had ever been so much as heard much less pretended to be entertained and believed among us Nay among those who seem to make a more serious Profession of Religion when we consider how strangely they allow themselves in Malice and Envy in Passion and Anger and Uncharitable Censures and evil Speaking in fierce Contentions and Animosities who would believe that the great Instrument of these Mens Religion I mean the Holy Bible by which they profess to regulate and govern their Lives were full of plain and strict Precepts of Love and Kindness of Charity and Peace and did a hundred times with all imaginable Severity and under pain of forfeiting the Kingdom of God forbid Malice and Envy and Revenge and evil speaking and rash and uncharitable Censures and tell us so plainly that the Christian Religion obligeth Men to put off all these and that if any
him to shew them a Sign from Heaven It seems they expected that God should give some immediate Testimony to him from Heaven as he did to Elias when Fire came down from Heaven and consumed his Enemies And particularly they expected that when he was upon the Cross if he were the true Messias he should have come down and saved himself And because he did not answer their Expectation in this they concluded him an Impostor Now what could be more unreasonable when he had wrought so many other and great Miracles perversly to insist upon some particular kind of Miracle which they fancied As if God were bound to gratifie the Curiosity of Men and as if our Saviour were not as much declared to be the Son of God by rising again from the Dead as if he had come down from the Cross Fourthly As to his Conversation they had these three Exceptions 1. That he used no severity in his Habit or Diet took too much Freedom as they thought came Eating and Drinking that is he freely used the Creatures of God for the end for which they were given with Temperance and Thanksgiving and did not lay those rigorous Restraints upon himself in these matters which many that were esteemed the most Religious among them used to do But he plainly shews them that this Exception was meerly out of their Prejudice against him For if he had come in the way of Austerity they would have rejected him as well They were resolved to find Fault with him whatever he did Matth. 11.16 Whereunto shall I liken this Generation John the Baptist came neither eating nor drinking and they say He hath a Devil He lived in a more austere and melancholly way he came in the way of Righteousness used great Strictness and Severity in his Habit and Diet and this they took Exception at Our Saviour was of a quite contrary Temper and that did not please them neither The Son of Man came eating and drinking and they say behold a Wine-bibber and a Glutton So that let our Saviour have done what he would he could not have carried himself so as to have escaped the Censures of Men so peevishly and perversly disposed 2. That he kept Company with Publicans and Sinners To which Exception nothing can be more reasonable than our Saviour's own Answer that he was sent to be a Physician to the World to call Sinners to Repentance and therefore they had no Reason to be angry or think it strange if he conversed with his Patients among whom his proper Imployment lay 3. They objected to him Prophaneness in breaking the Sabbath and that surely was plain that he could not be of God if he kept not the Sabbath-day The Truth was he had healed one on the Sabbath-day To this our Saviour gives a most reasonable and satisfactory Answer that surely it was lawful to do good on the Sabbath-day that that was but a Positive Institution but works of Mercy are Natural and Moral Duties and God himself had declared that he would have even his own Institutions to give way to those greater Duties that are of natural and eternal Obligation I will have Mercy and not Sacrifice And then from the End of the Sabbath The Sabbath was made for the Rest and Refreshment of Man and therefore could not be presumed to be intended to his Prejudice The Sabbath was made for Man and not Man for the Sabbath Fifthly Another great Prejudice against him was that Persons of the greatest Knowledge and Authority among them did not embrace his Doctrine John 7.48 Have any of the Rulers or Pharisees believed on him So that here was the infallible Rule and Authority of their Church against him There is no doubt but the Example and Authority of our Guides ought to sway very much with us and over-rule us in doubtful Cases but not against plain and convincing Evidence there we ought to follow and obey God rather than Men. There is sometimes a visible and palpable Corruption in those who are to lead us they may have an Interest to oppose the Truth And thus it was with the Pharisees and Rulers at that Time and so it hath been among Christians in the great Degeneracy of the Roman Church The Christian Religion was never more endangered nor never more corrupted than by those who have been in greatest Authority in that Church who ought to have understood Relegion best and have been the principal Support of it Men may err but God cannot So that when God sends a Prophet or by his Word does plainly declare his Will to us Human Example and Authority ceaseth and is of no force The last Prejudice I shall mention which the Jews had against our Saviour and his Doctrine was that it did abolish and supercede their Religion as of no longer Use and Continuance though it was plain it was instituted by God This had been a very specious Pretence indeed had not this been part of their Religion and had not their own Prophets foretold that the Messias should come and perfect what was wanting and defective in their Institution It was expresly said in their Law That God would raise unto them another Prophet like to Moses and that they should hear him when he came So that in truth it was the Accomplishment of all those Revelations which were made to the Jews and did not reprove the Jewish Religion as false but as imperfect And did not contradict and overthrow but perfect and fulfil the Law and the Prophets And thus I have gone over the chief Exceptions and Offences which the Jews took at our Saviour and his Doctrine and I hope sufficiently shown the Unreasonableness of them I have not now time to proceed to what remains But by what hath been said you may easily see upon what slight and unreasonable Grounds Men may be prejudiced against the best Person and Things and yet be very confident all the while that they are in the Right For so no doubt many of the Jews who opposed our Saviour and his Doctrine thought themselves to be Therefore it concerns us to put on Meekness and Humility and Modesty that we may able to judge impartially of things and our Minds may be preserved free and indifferent to receive the Truths of God when they are offer'd to us Otherwise Self-Conceit and Passion will so blind our Minds and biass our Judgments that we shall be unable to discern and unwilling to entertain the plain est and most evident Truths We see here by the sad Example of the Jews that by giving way to Passion and cherishing Pride and Self-Conceit Men may be so deeply prejudiced against the Truth as to resist the clearest Light and reject even Salvation it self when it is offer'd to them So that it is not in vain that the Scripture saith let every Man be swift to hear and slow to Wrath for the Wrath of Man worketh not the righteousness of God and exhorts us so earnestly to receive with
Man seem to be religious and bridleth not his Tongue that Man's Religion is vain Do men read and hear these Things every day and profess to believe them to be the Truths of God and yet live as if they were verily persuaded they were false What can we conclude from hence but either that this is not Christianity or the greatest part of us are no Christians So that if one of the Apostles or Primitive Christians should rise from the Dead and converse among us how would he wonder to see the Face and Complexion of Christianity alter'd from what it was in their Days and were it not for the Name and Title which we bear would sooner guess us to be any thing than Christians So that upon the whole Matter there is no Way to quit our selves of this Objection and to wash away the Reproach of it but to mend and reform our Lives 'Till this be done it is unavoidable but the vicious Manners of Men will affect our Religion with Obloquy and Reproach and derive an ill Conceit and Opinion of it into the Minds of Men. And I cannot see how Christianity can ever gain much ground in the World 'till it be better adorned and recommended by the Professors of it Nay we have just cause to fear that if God do not raise up some great and eminent Instruments to awaken the World out of this stupid Lethargy that Christianity will every Day decline and the World will in a short Space be over-run with Atheism and Infidelity For Vice and Superstition and Enthusiasm which are the reigning Diseases of Christendom when they have run their Course and finish'd their Circle do all naturally end and meet in Atheism And then it will be time for the great Judge of the World to appear and effectually to convince Men of that which they would not be persuaded to believe by any other Means And of this our Saviour hath given us a terrible and fearful Intimation in that Question of his When the Son of Man comes shall be find Faith upon Earth Our Saviour hath not positively affirmed it and God grant that we may not make it and find it true And thus I have by God's Assistance given the best Satisfaction I could to the most material Exceptions I have met with against our blessed Saviour and his Religion The II. Thing remains briefly to be spoken to viz. How happy a Thing it is to escape the common Prejudices which Men are apt to entertain against Religion Blessed is he whosoever shall not be offended in me And this will appear if we consider these Three or Four Things First That Prejudice does many times sway and biass Men against the plainest and clearest Truths We see in daily Experience what a false Biass Prejudice puts upon Mens Understandings Men that are educated in the grossest Errors and Superstitions how hard it is to convince them that they are in a wrong Way and with what Difficulty are they persuaded of their Mistake Nay they have hardly the Patience to be told they are in an Error much less to consider what may be offer'd against it How do the Passions and Lusts of Men blind them and lead them aside from the Truth and incline them to that side of the Question which is most favourable to their Lusts and Interests How partially do Men lean to that part which makes most for their Advantage though all the Reason in the World lye on the other side Now Ignorance and Mistake are a great Slavery of the Understanding if there were no worse Consequences of our Errors and therefore our Saviour says excellently that the Truth makes Men free Ye shall know the Truth and the Truth shall make you free Secondly Prejudice does not only biass Men against the plainest Truths but in Matters of greatest Concernment in things that concern the Honour of God and the Good of others and our own Welfare and Happiness Prejudices against Religion occasion Mistakes of the highest Nature and may lead Men to Superstition and Idolatry and to all manner of Impiety nay many times to Atheism and Infidelity The Prejudices against the Doctrine of our Saviour are of another Concernment than the Prejudices which Men have against the Writers of Natural Philosophy or Eloquence or any other Human Art or Science If a Man's Prejudice make him err in these Matters the Thing is of no great Moment but the business of Religion is a matter of the greatest and weightiest Concernment to Mankind Thirdly The Consequence of Mens Prejudices in these things prove many times fatal and destructive to them Men may upon unreasonable Prejudices reject the Counsel of God against themselves as it is said of the Chief Priests and Pharisees among the Jews Men may oppose the Truth so obstinately and perversely as to be Fighters against God and to bring certain Ruin and swift Destruction upon themselves both in this World and the other as the Jews did who by opposing the Doctrine of the Gospel and persecuting our Saviour and his Disciples fill'd up the measure of their Sins 'till Wrath came upon them to the uttermost It is easy to entertain Prejudices against Religion and by considering only the wrong side of things to fortify our Prejudices to such a Degree and entrench our selves so strongly in our Errors that the plainest and most convincing Truths shall not be able to have any Access to us or make any Impression upon us but all this while we do in truth undermine our own Happiness and are secretly working our own Ruin and while we think we are opposing an Enemy we are destroying our selves for who hath harden'd himself against God and his Truth and prospered The Principles of Religion are a firm and immoveable Rock against which the more violently we dash our selves the more miserably we shall be split and shatter'd Our Blessed Saviour and his Religion have been to many and are to this day a Stone of stumbling and a Rock of Offence but he himself hath told us what shall be the Fate of those who are offended at him Whosoever shall fall on this Stone shall be broken but upon whomsoever it shall fall it shall grind him to Powder And therefore well might he say here in the Text Blessed is he whosoever shall not be offended in me Fourthly There are but few in comparison who have the Happiness to escape and overcome the common Prejudices which Men are apt to entertain against Religion Thus to be sure it was when Christianity first appeared in the World And though among us the great Prejudice of Education be removed yet there are still many who upon one Account or other are prejudiced against Religion at least so far as not to yield to the Power of it in their Lives Few Men are so impartial in considering things as not to be swayed by the Interest of their Lusts and Passions as to keep the Balance of their Judgments even and to
The Scepter shall not depart from Judah till Shiloh come For the resolution of this difficulty it is very probably said by Interpreters and I think there is no Reason to doubt of it that John the Baptist did not send this Message for his own satisfaction but to satisfy his Disciples who were never very willing to acknowledge Jesus for the Messias because they thought he did shadow and cloud their Master From whence we may take notice how Men's Judgments are apt to be perverted by Faction and Interest and that good Men are too prone to be swayed thereby for such we suppose the Disciples of John to have been they will not believe their own Master when they apprehend him to speak against their Interest for they knew that they must rise and fall in their Reputation and Esteem as their Master did They believed that their Master was a Prophet and came from God yet for all that they could not digest his Testimony of Christ because that set him above their Master which they were sagacious enough to perceive that it tended to the diminution and lessening of themselves And that this was the thing which troubled them appears plainly from the Complaint which they make to their Master John 3.26 The Disciples of John came to him and said He that was with thee beyond Jordan to whom thou barest witness behold the same baptizeth and all men come to him This troubled them to see him invade their Master's Office and that he began to have more Followers than John had he baptizeth and all men come to him This prejudice John had endeavoured to root out of their minds by telling them that he had always declared that he was not the Messias v. 28. You your selves bear me witness that I said I am not the Christ but that I am sent before him But when he perceived it still to stick with them and that they observed all his Actions and the Miracles that he wrought as if they had a mind to pick a quarrel with him for St. Luke who relates the same Story tells us that when our Saviour had healed the Centurion's Servant and raised from the dead the Widows Son at Naim the Disciples of John shewed him all these things I say John Baptist perceiving that they watched him so narrowly sent two of his Disciples to him that they might receive full satisfaction from him And St. Luke tells us that upon their coming to him he wrought many of his Miracles before them to convince them that he was the true Messias Luke 7.21 22. And in that same hour he cured many of their infirmities and plagues and of evil spirits and to many that were blind he gave sight and then said to the Disciples of John Go your way and tell John what things ye have seen and heard how that the blind see and the lame walk the lepers are cleansed the deaf hear and the dead are raised and to the poor the gospel is preached and blessed is he that is not offended in me So that you see that the Reason why John Baptist sent to our Saviour to know whether he was the Messias was not to satisfy himself for he had no doubt of it but perceiving his Disciples to be ill-affected towards our Saviour and hearing them speak with some envy of his Miracles he sent them to him that by seeing what he did and hearing what account he gave of himself they might receive full satisfaction concerning him I have been the longer in the clearing of this that Men upon every appearance of contradiction in the Evangelical History may not be too forward to suspect the truth of it but may be convinc'd that if they would but have patience to examine things carefully they would find that the Story does sufficiently vindicate it self and tho' it be pen'd with great simplicity yet there is sufficient care taken to free it from being guilty of any contradiction to it self The Occasion of the words being thus cleared there are in them these two things considerable First What it was that John the Baptist sent his Disciples to be satisfied about and that was whether he was the Messias or not Now when John had heard in Prison the works of Christ he sent two of his Disciples The Circumstance of his being in Prison seems to be mention'd to intimate to us the Reason why he did not come himself along with them he sent two of his Disciples to him who said unto him Art thou he that should come or do we look for another And then Secondly The Answer which our Saviour returns to this Message Jesus answered and said unto them Go and shew John again the things which ye do see and hear the blind receive their sight the lame walk the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear the dead are raised up and the poor have the Gospel preached unto them and blessed is he whosoever shall not be offended in me So that these words contain First the Evidence which our Saviour gives of his being the true Messias Secondly an Intimation that notwithstanding all this Evidence which he gave of himself yet many would be offended at him and reject him blessed is he whosoever is not offended in me First The Evidence which our Saviour gives of his being the true Messias And to prove this there were but two things necessary 1. To shew that he was sent by God and had a particular Commission from him 2. That he was the very Person of whom the Prophets foretold that he should be the Messias The first of these he proves by the Miracles which he wrought and the second by the correspondency of the things he did with what was foretold by the Prophets concerning the Messias the Prophecies concerning the Messias were accomplish'd in him First By the Miracles which he wrought the blind receive their sight and the lame walk the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear and the dead are raised up Here is a brief enumeration of the several sorts of Miracles which our Saviour wrought and these were a testimony to him that he came from God and was sent and Commissioned by him to declare his Will to the World So he himself tells us John 5.36 I have a greater witness than that of John for the works which the Father hath given me to finish the same works that I do bear witness of me that the Father hath sent me Upon the Evidence of these Miracles Nicodemus a Ruler among the Jews was convinced that he was sent by God John 3.2 We know that thou art a teacher come from God for no man can do these miracles that thou dost except God be with him Nay his greatest Enemies were afraid of his Miracles knowing how proper an argument they are to convince men John 11.47 when the Chief Priests and Pharisees were met together in Council against him they concluded that if he were permitted to go on and work Miracles he
would draw all men after him What do we say they for this man doth many Miracles if we let him thus alone all men will believe on him This they said upon occasion of the great Miracle of raising Lazarus from the Dead And in Reason Miracles are the highest Attestation that can be given to the Truth and Divinity of any Doctrine and supposing a Doctrine not to be plainly unworthy of God and contrary to those natural Notions which Men have of God and Religion we can have no greater Evidence of the truth of it than Miracles they are such an argument as in its own nature is apt to persuade and induce belief All Truths do not need Miracles some are of easy belief and are so clear by their own light that they need neither Miracle nor Demonstration to prove them Such are those self-evident Principles which Mankind do generally agree in others which are not so evident by their own light we are content to receive upon clear demonstration of them or very probable Arguments for them without a Miracle And there are some Truths which however they may be sufficiently obscure and uncertain to most Men yet are they so inconsiderable and of so small consequence as not to deserve the attestation of Miracles so that there is no reason to expect that God should interpose by a Miracle to convince Men of them Nec Deus intersit nisi dignus vindice nodus Inciderit But for such Truths as are necessary to be known by us but are not sufficiently evident of themselves nor capable of cogent Evidence especially to prejudiced and interested Persons God is pleased in this Case many times to work Miracles for our Conviction and they are a proper Argument to convince us of a thing that is either in it self obscure and hard to be believed or which we are prejudiced against and hardly brought to believe for they are an Argument à Majori ad Minus they prove a thing which is obscure and hard to be believed by something that is more incredible which yet they cannot deny because they see it done Thus our Saviour proves himself to be an extraordinary Person by doing such things as never man did he convinceth them that they ought to believe what he said because they saw him do those things which were harder to be believed if one had not seen them than what he said Miracles are indeed the greatest external confirmation and evidence that can be given to the truth of any Doctrine and where they are wrought with all the advantages they are capable of they are an unquestionable demonstration of the truth of it and such were our Saviour's Miracles here in the Text to prove that he was the true Messias here are Miracles of all kinds the blind receive their sight and the lame walk the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear and the dead are raised up For the nature of them they are such as are most likely to be Divine and to come from God for they were healing and beneficial to Mankind Our Saviour here instanceth in those things which are of greatest benefit and advantage and which free Men from the greatest miseries and inconveniencies the restoring of sight to the Blind and hearing to the Deaf soundness and health to the Lame and the Leprous and life to the Dead And then for the number of them they were many not one instance of a kind but several of every kind and great multitudes of most of them and for the manner of their operation they were publick in the sight and view of great multitudes of People to free them from all suspicion of fraud and imposture they were not wrought privately and in corners and given out and noised abroad but before all the People so that every one might see them and judge of them not only among his own Disciples and Followers as the Church of Rome pretends to work theirs but among his Enemies to convince those that did not believe and this not done once and in one place but at several times and in all places where he came and for a long time for three years and a half and after his death he endowed his Disciples and Followers with the same power which lasted for some Ages And then for the quality of them they were Miracles of the greatest magnitude those of them which in themselves might have been performed by natural means as healing the Lame and the Leprous and the Deaf he did in a miraculous manner by a word or a touch yea and many times at a great distance But others were not only in the manner of their operation but in the nature of the thing unquestionably miraculous as giving of sight to those that had been born blind and raising up the dead to life as Lazarus after he had lain in the grave four days and himself afterwards the third day after he had been buried which if there ever was or can be any unquestionable Miracles in the World ought certainly to be reputed such So that our blessed Saviour had all the Attestation that Miracles can give that he came from God And this is the first Evidence of his being the Messias The Jews acknowledge that the Messias when he comes shall work great Miracles and their own Talmud confesseth that Jesus the Son of Joseph and Mary did work great Miracles and the History of the Gospel does particularly relate more and greater Miracles wrought by him than by Moses and all the Prophets that had been since the World began so that we may still put the same question to the Jews which they did in our Saviour's time to one another when Christ cometh when the Messias whom ye expect comes will he do more Miracles than these which this Man hath done But Secondly this will yet more clearly appear by the correspondency of the things here mentioned with what was foretold by the Prophets concerning the Messias Not to mention innumerable Circumstances of his Birth and Life and Death and Resurrection and Ascension into Heaven together with the success and prevalency of his Doctrine in the World all which are punctually foretold by some or other of the Prophets I shall confine my self to the particulars here in the Text. First It was foretold of the Messias that he should work miraculous Cures Isa 35.4 5 6. speaking of the Messias he will come and save you then the eyes of the blind shall be opened and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopp'd then shall the lame man leap as an Hart and the tongue of the dumb sing this you see was fulfilled here in the Text. 'T is true indeed the Text mentions another Miracle which is not in the Prophet that he raised the dead but if God did more than he promised and foretold this is no prejudice to the argument if all that he foretold was accomplish'd in him Besides the Jews have a Proverb that God is not content to perform
before Few are so impartial as to quit those things which they have once laid great weight upon and kept a great stir about because this is to acknowledge that they were in an Error and mistaken in their Zeal which few have the ingenuity to own tho' it be never so plain to others and therefore it is no wonder that our Saviour's Doctrine met with so much resistance from those who were so much concern'd in point of Honour and Reputation to make head against it And this account our Saviour himself gives us of their Infidelity John 5.44 How can ye believe which receive honour one of another and seek not the honour which cometh of God only And Chap. 12.43 For they loved the praise of Men more than the praise of God And besides the point of Reputation those that were Rich were concerned in point of Interest to oppose our Saviour and his Doctrine because he call'd upon Men to deny themselves and to part with Houses and Lands yea and life it self for his sake and for the Gospel's which must needs be a very hard and unpleasant Doctrine to Rich Men who had great Estates and had set their Hearts upon them Upon this Account it is that our Saviour pronounceth it so hard for a Rich Man to enter into the Kingdom of God and compares it with those Things that are most difficult and Humanly impossible I say unto you it is easier for a Camel to go through the eye of a Needle than for a Rich Man to enter into the Kingdom of God But now the Poor were free from these Incumbrances and Temptations they had nothing to lose and therefore our Saviour's Doctrine went down more easily with them because it did not contradict their Interest as it did the Interest of those who had great Estates and Possessions Secondly Another Reason of this is that those that are Poor and enjoy little of the good things of this Life are willing to entertain good News of Happiness in another Those who are in a state of present Misery and Suffering are glad to hear that it shall be well with them hereafter and are willing to listen to the good News of a future Happiness and therefore our Saviour when he had pronounced the Poor Blessed Luke 6.20 He adds by way of Opposition v. 24. But wo unto you that are rich for ye have received your Consolation They were in so comfortable a Condition at present that they were not much concerned what should become of them hereafter whereas all the Comfort that Poor Men have is the hopes of a better Condition non si male nunc olim sic erit that if it be bad now it will not be so always and therefore no wonder if the Promises and Assurance of a future Happiness be very welcome to them Thirdly If by the Poor we do not only understand those who were in a low and mean Condition as to the Things of this World but such likewise as had a Temper and Disposition of Mind suitable to the Poverty of their outward Condition which our Saviour calls Poverty of Spirit by which he means Meekness and Humility there is no doubt but that such a Frame and Temper of Spirit is a great Disposition to the receiving of Truth And that this is included in the Notion of Poverty is very plain both from the Words of the Prophecy I cited before Isa 61.1 The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good Tidings to the meek and to bind up the broken-hearted and likewise from our Saviour's Description of these Persons in one of the Evangelists Matth. 5.3 Blessed are the Poor in Spirit for theirs is the Kingdom of God So that by the Poor who are so nearly disposed to receive the Gospel our Saviour intended those who being in a poor and low Condition in Respect of outward Things were likewise meek and humble in their Spirits Now Meekness and Humility are great Dispositions to the entertaining of Truth These Graces and Virtues do prepare the Minds of Men for Learning and Instruction Meekness and Modesty and Humility are the proper Dispositions of a Scholar He that hath a mean Opinion of himself is ready to learn of others he who is not blinded by Pride or Passion is more apt to consider things impartially and to pass a truer Judgment upon them than the Proud and the Passionate Passion and Pride are great Obstacles to the receiving of Truth and to our Improvement in Knowledge Passion does not only darken the Minds of Men but puts a false Biass upon our Judgments which draws them off many times from Truth and sways them that way which our Passion inclines them A Man of a calm and meek Temper stands always indifferent for the receiving of Truth and holds the Ballance of his Judgment even but Passion sways and inclines it one way and that commonly against Truth and Reason So likewise Pride is a great Impediment to Knowledge and the very worst Quality that a Learner can have it obstructs all the Passages whereby Knowledge should enter into us it makes Men refuse Instruction out of a Conceit they need it not Many Men might have known more had it not been for the vain Opinion which they have entertained of the sufficiency of their Knowledge This is true in all kinds of Learning but more especially as to the Knowledge of Divine things For God loves to communicate himself and bestow his Grace and Wisdom upon meek and humble Minds So the Scripture tells us Psal 25.9 The Meek will be guide in Judgment and the Meek will he teach his Ways And 1 Pet. 5.5 Be clothed with Humility for God resisteth the proud and giveth Grace to the humble And thus I have shewn in what Respects the Poor were more disposed for the receiving the Gospel than others I proceed now to the Second Thing namely What those Prejudices and Objections are which the World had against our Saviour and his Religion at their first Appearance as also to enquire into those which Men have at this Day against the Christian Religion and to shew the Weakness and Unreasonableness of them I begin First With those Prejudices which the World had against our Saviour and his Religion at their first Appearance Both Jews and Gentiles were offended at him and his Doctrine but not both upon the same account They both took Exceptions at him especially at his low and suffering Condition but not both upon the same Reason I shall begin with the Exceptions which the Jews took against our blessed Saviour and his Religion and I shall reduce them all or at least the most considerable of them as I find them dispersed in the History of the Gospel and in the Acts of the Apostles to these Six Heads First The Exceptions which they took against him upon account of his Extraction and Original Secondly At the Meanness of his Condition contrary to
Sum and Abridgment of the Christian Religion and there is nothing of all this that can reasonably be excepted against 4. God considering the Prejudice of the Heathen against Christianity by reason of their Education in a contrary Religion was strong and violent was pleased to give such Evidence of the Truth of Christianity as was of proportionable Strength and Force to remove and conquer this Prejudice He was pleased to give Testimony to the first Founder of this Religion by mighty Miracles and particularly by his Resurrection from the Dead But because the Report of these things was only brought to the Heathen World and they had not seen these things themselves therefore he enabled those who were the Witnesses of these Things to the World to work as great Miracles as he had done And when they saw those who gave Testimony to our Saviour's Miracles do as great and strange things themselves as they testified of him there was no Reason any longer to doubt of the Truth of their Testimony So that though the Prejudice of the Heathen against Christianity was very great yet the Evidence which God gave to it was strong enough to remove it The Doctrine of Christianity was such as might have recommended it self to impartial Men by its own Reasonableness But meeting with violent Prejudices in those to whom it was offer'd God was pleased to give such a Confirmation to it as was sufficient to bear down those Prejudices Secondly Another Objection against Christianity was the Plainness and Simplicity of the Doctrine They expected some deep Speculations in Natural or Moral Philosophy they made full Account a Teacher sent from Heaven would have instructed them in the profoundest Points and discoursed to them about the first Principles of things and the Nature of the Soul and the chief end of Man with a Subtilty and Eloquence infinitely beyond that of their greatest Sophisters and able to bear down all Opposition and Contradiction But instead of this they are told a plain Story of the Life and Miracles of Jesus Christ and of his dying upon the Cross and rising from the dead and ascending into Heaven and a few plain Precepts of Life and all this deliver'd without any Ornaments of Art or Insinuation of Eloquence to gain the Favour and Applause of those to whom they related these Things But now this truly considered is so far from being any real Objection against the Christian Doctrine that it is one of the greatest Commendations that can be given of it For matter of Fact ought to be related in the most plain and simple and unaffected manner and the less Art and Eloquence is used in the telling of a Story the more likely it is to gain Belief And as for our Saviour's Precepts how plain soever they might be I am sure they are a Collection of the most excellent and reasonable Rules of a good Life and the freest from all Vanity and Folly that are to be met with in any Book in the World And can any thing be more worthy of God and more likely to proceed from him than so plain and useful a Doctrine as this The Language of Law is not wont to be fine and persuasive but short and plain and full of Authority Thus it is among Men And surely it is much fitter for God to speak thus to Men than for Men to one another Thirdly It is objected that the Doctrine of our Saviour and his Apostles wanted Demonstration they seemed to impose too much upon the Understandings of Men and to deliver things too Magisterially not demonstrating Things from Intrinsical Arguments but requiring Belief and Assent without Proof This the Apostle St. Paul readily acknowledgeth that in preaching the Gospel to the World they did not proceed in the way of the Heathen Orators and Philosophers 1 Cor. 4.4 My Speech and my Preaching was not in the enticing Words of Man's Wisdom but in Demonstration of the Spirit and of Power that is they did not go in the way of Human Eloquence and Demonstration but yet their Doctrine did not want its Evidence and Demonstration though of another kind They did not go about to bewitch Men by Eloquence nor to entangle their Minds by subtil Reasonings the Force of which very few are capable of But they offer'd to Men a sensible Proof and Demonstration of the Truth of what they delivered in those strange and miraculous Operations to which they were enabled by the Holy Ghost And this was a sensible Evidence even to the meanest Capacity of a Divine Assistance going along with them and giving Testimony to them I appeal to any Man whether the Resurrection of Jesus Christ from the Dead and his Ascending into Heaven be not a clearer Demonstration of another Life after this and more level to the Capacities of all Mankind than the finest and subtilest Arguments that can be drawn from the immaterial Nature of the Soul its power of Reflection upon it self and Independency upon the Body as to some of its Operations which yet are some of the chiefest Arguments that Philosophy affords to prove the Immortality of our Souls Fourthly The Heathens objected that the low and mean Condition of our Saviour was unsuitable to one that pretended to be the Son of God and to be appointed by God to be a Teacher and Reformer of the World This to the Heathen Philosophers did not only appear unreasonable but even ridiculous So St. Paul tells us 1 Cor. 1.23 We preach Christ crucified to the Jews a stumbling-block and to the Greeks Foolishness To think that a Man who appeared in such mean Circumstances should be fit to reform the World and one who himself was put to Death should be relied upon for Life and Immortality This Objection I have heretofore considered at large and therefore shall now speak but very briefly to it Besides those excellent Reasons and Ends which the Scripture assigns of our Saviour's Humiliation as that he might be a Teacher and Example to us that he might make Expiation for our Sins that by suffering himself he might learn to commiserate us that by Death he might destroy him that had the Power of Death that is the Devil and might deliver those who through fear of Death were all their lives subject to Bondage I say besides these it was of great use that he should live in so mean and afflicted a Condition to confront the Pride and Vanity and Fantastry of the World and to convince Men of these two great Truths That God may love those whom he afflicts and That Men may be innocent and virtuous and contented in the midst of Poverty and Reproach and Suffering Had our Blessed Saviour been a great Temporal Prince his Influence and Example might possibly have made more Hypocrites and servile Converts but would not have persuaded Men one jot more to be inwardly good and virtuous The great Arguments which must do that must be fetch'd not from the Pomp and Prosperity of
this World but from the Eternal Happiness and Misery of the other Besides had he appeared in any great Power and Splendor the Christian Religion could not have been so clearly acquitted from the Suspicion of a worldly Interest and Design which would have been a far greater Objection against it than this which I am now speaking to Add to all this that the wisest of the Heathen Philosophers did teach that Worldly Greatness and Power are not to be admired but despised by a truly wise Man that Men may be virtuous and good and dearly beloved of God and yet be liable to great Miseries and Sufferings and that whoever suffers unjustly and bears it patiently gives the greatest Testimony to Goodness and does most effectually recommend Virtue to the World that a good Man under the hardest Circumstances of Misery and Reproach and Suffering is the fittest Person of all other to be the Minister and Apostle and Preacher of God to Mankind And surely they who say such things which the Heathen have done had no reason to object to our blessed Saviour his low and suffering Condition As to that part of the Objection that he who promis'd Immortality to others could not save himself from Death and Suffering considering that he who was put to Death rescu'd himself from the Power of the Grave It is so far from being ridiculous that nothing can be more reasonable than to rely upon him for our hopes of Immortality who by rising from the Grave and conquering Death gave a plain demonstration that he was able to make good what he promised I have done with the Exceptions which were made against our Saviour and his Doctrine at their first Appearance in the World I proceed in the II. Place to consider the Prejudices and Objections which Men at this day do more especially insist upon against our Saviour and his Religion And they are many First Some that relate to the Incarnation of our Saviour Secondly To the Time of his Appearance Thirdly That we have not now sufficient Evidence of the Truth of Christianity the main Arguments for it relying upon Matters of Fact of which at this distance we have not nor can be expected to have sufficient Assurance Fourthly That the Terms of it seem very hard and to lay too great Restraints upon Human Nature Fifthly That it is apt to dispirit Men and to break the Vigour and Courage of their Minds Sixthly The Divisions and Factions that are among Christians Seventhly The wicked Lives of the greatest part of the Professors of Christianity In answer to all which I do not propose to say all that may be said but as briefly as I can to offer so much as may if not give full Satisfaction yet be sufficient to break the Force of them and to free the Minds of Men from any great Perplexity about them As to the First which relates to the Incarnation of our Saviour and the Second to the Time of his Appearance I know that these and most of the rest I have mention'd were urged by the Heathen against Christianity But they are now more especially insisted upon both by the secret and open Enemies of our Religion The Objections against his Incarnation I have elsewhere consider'd Joh. 1.14 Serm. III. And therefore shall proceed to the next viz. Secondly As to the Time of our Saviour's appearance it is objected If he be the only Way and Means of Salvation why did he come no sooner into the World but suffer Mankind so long without any Hopes or Means of being saved This was objected by Porphyry of old and still sticks in the Minds of Men. To this I answer 1. It is not fit for Creatures to call their Creator to too strict an Account of his Actions Goodness is free and may act when and how it pleaseth and as God will have Mercy on whom he will have Mercy so he may have Mercy at what Time he pleaseth and is not bound to give us an Account of his Matters This is much like the Objection of the Atheist against the being of God That if there were such an Infinite and Eternal Eeing he would surely have made the World sooner and not have been without all Employment for so long a duration Such another Objection is this against our Saviour That if he had been the Son of God he would have begun this great and merciful Work of the Redemption of Mankind sooner and not have delay'd it so long and suffer'd Mankind to perish for four Thousand Years together But it seems in the one as well as the other God took his own time and he best knew what time was fittest The Scripture tells us That in the fulness of Time God sent his Son when things were ripe for it and all things accomplisht that God thought requisite in order to it In judging of the Actions of our Earthly Governours those who are at a distance from their Councils what Conjectures soever they may make of the Reasons of them will nevertheless if they have that Respect for their Wisdom which they ought believe that how strange soever some of their Actions may seem yet they were done upon good Reason and that they themselves if they knew the Secrets of their Counsels should think so Much more do we owe that Reverence to the infinite Wisdom of God to believe that the Counsels of his Will are grounded upon very good Reason tho' we do not see many Times what it is 2. It is not true that the World was wholly destitute of a Way and Means of Salvation before our Saviour's coming Before the Law of Moses was given Men were capable of being received to the Mercy and Favour of God upon their Obedience to the Law of Nature and their sincere Repentance for the Violation of it by virtue of the Lamb that was slain from the Foundation of the World Men were saved by Christ both before and under the Law without any particular and express Knowledge of him There were Good Men in other Nations as well as among the Jews as Job and his Friends also seem to have been In all Ages of the World and in every Nation they that feared God and wrought Righteousness were accepted of him The Sacrifice of Christ which is the Meritorious Cause of the Salvation of Mankind looks back as well as forward and God was reconcileable to Men and their Sins were pardon'd by Virtue of this great Propitiation that was to be made In which Sense perhaps it is that Christ is said to be the Lamb slain from the Foundation of the World Heb. 9.25 26. the Apostle intimates to us that if this Sacrifice which was offer'd in the last Ages of the World had not been available in former Ages Christ must have often suffer'd since the Foundation of the World but now hath he appeared once in the Conclusion of the Ages to put away Sin by the Sacrifice of himself 3. He did appear at that Time in
and gave Testimony to themselves by Miracles yet at present I desire no more but that they be looked upon as knowing and honest Relators of what they heard and saw and that the same Credit be given to them which we give to Livy and Arian and Q. Curtius for plain Events and matters of Fact But yet I must add withal that besides the Miracles which they wrought they gave greater Testimony of their Integrity than any Historian in the World ever did For they willingly suffer'd the greatest Persecution and Torment yea and Death it self in Confirmation of the Truth of what they deliver'd And for the propagating of the Christian Religion through so great a part of the World it is evident by the Effect beyond all Denial So that for the matters of Fact upon which the Truth of Christianity does depend here is greater and more advantagious Evidence of History than for any other Matter of equal Antiquity whatsoever 3. As to the substance of these matters of Fact we have the concurring Testimony of the greatest Enemies of the Christian Religion That there were such Persons as our Saviour and his Apostles that they preached such a Doctrine that they wrought such Miracles for this we have the Acknowledgment of the Jews and the Testimony of the Heathen Historians and particularly of Celsus and Porphyry and Julian who were the particular and most learned Adversaries of the Christian Religion So that as to the Matters of Fact there is no Objection against them whatever use we may make of them or whatever Consequences we may draw from them And I presume it agreed by all Objectors that if these matters of Fact be true they are a sufficient Foundation of the Truth of our Religion and we are very unequal to our Religion if we make a doubt of these things which the greatest Enemies of Christianity never had the Face to deny 4. And besides all this to recompence the Disadvantage which we have of those who saw the Miracles of our Saviour and his Apostles we have the Testimonium rei the Evidence of the Effects of these things to confirm our Belief of them and this is an Advantage which the first Ages of Christianity could not have We see our Saviour's Predictions of the Success of his Religion in the World in the propagating and establishing of it fully accomplisht notwithstanding the fierce Opposition and Resistance that was made against it by the greatest Powers of the World We see the Dispersion of the Jews in all Nations and the Misery and Contempt which they every where suffer and that now for above Sixteen Hundred Years they have continued a distinct People and a Spectacle of the Divine Justice and Severity for rejecting and crucifying the Son of God and for a lasting and standing Testimony of the Truth of our Saviour's Prediction and of the Christian Religion So that though we live at this distance from the first rise and beginning of Christianity yet we have the Relation of those Things which give Confirmation to it conveyed down to us in as credible a manner as any ancient matter of Fact ever was and the Effects of things remaining to this day do give Testimony to the Truth of it Fourthly It is objected that the terms of Christianity seem very hard and to lay too great restraints upon Human Nature It commands us to mortify our Lusts and subdue our Passions and deny Vngodliness and to live soberly and righteously and godly in this present World to be holy in all manner of Conversation to have respect to whatever things are honest and true and just and virtuous and of good report and to deny our selves and to part with the dearest Enjoyments of this Life yea and with Life it self for the sake of Christ and his Gospel Now these seem to be very hard Terms to forego all the present Pleasures and Injoyments of this Life in hopes of a future Happiness which we are less assur'd of To this I answer 1. That this is a greater Objection against Religion in general than the Christian Religion For Natural Religion requires of us all the main Duties that Christianity does and gives us far less Assurance of the Reward of our Obedience Natural Religion requires Piety and Justice and Charity the due Government of our Appetites and Passions as well as Christianity does but does not discover to us the Rewards of another World by many Degrees so clearly as our Lord and Saviour who hath brought Life and Immortality to Light by the Gospel and by his Resurrection from the Dead and Ascension into Heaven hath given us full Assurance of another Life after this and of a glorious Immortality So that though we have not nor can have the Evidence of Sense for a Future State yet we have all the Rational Evidence for it that can be wisht or expected and much more than Men have for those Adventures of their Lives and Fortunes which they frequently make in this World and think themselves reasonable in so doing 2. The Restraints which Christianity lays upon Men are in the judgment of Mankind so far from being an Objection against it that they are highly to the Commendation of it Nay it were the greatest Objection that could be against our Religion if it did set us at Liberty from those Restraints What can be more to the credit of any Religion than to command Men to be just and charitable and peaceable And what more to the Advantage of the Professors of it And on the contrary what can reflect more upon any Religion than to indulge and allow Men in any Vice contrary to these It shews Men are glad to make any thing an Objection against Christianity when they lay hold of that which if it had been otherwise they would have made ten times more Clamour against it for the contrary 3. As for most of those Restraints which Christianity lays upon us they are of that Nature so much both for our Private and Publick Advantage that setting aside all Considerations of Religion and of the Rewards and Punishments of another Life they are really good for us and if God had not laid them upon us we ought in Reason in order to our Temporal Benefit and Advantage to have laid them upon our selves If there were no Religion I know Men would not have such strong and forcible Obligations to these Duties but yet I say though there were no Religion it were good for Men in order to Temporal Ends to their Health and Quiet and Reputation and Safety and in a word to the private and publick Prosperity of Mankind that Men should be temperate and chaste and just and peaceable and charitable and kind and obliging to one another rather than the contrary So that Religion does not create those Restraints arbitrarily but requires those things of us which our Reason and a regard to our own Advantage which the Necessity and Conveniency of the Things themselves without
any Consideration of Religion would in most Cases urge us to 4. As to the case of Persecution for Religion besides that it does not now happen so frequently as it did in the beginning of Christianity nay very seldom in comparison if all things be consider'd it cannot be thought unreasonable both because Religion offers to us in Consideration of our present Sufferings a Happiness unspeakably greater than that which we forego for the sake of Religion and because when it happens God does extraordinarily enable Men to go through it with Courage and Comfort as we see in the Examples of the primitive Christians who in great Numbers of all Tempers and Ages did voluntarily chuse to give up themselves to these Sufferings when there was no necessity laid upon them but fair terms of Retreat were offer'd to them by their Enemies It is one thing when a Man suffers by the Law and cannot help it and another thing when Men may avoid suffering In the former Case Men submit to necessity and bear it as well as they can in the latter Case if Men suffer it is a sign they firmly believe the Reward of it and if they suffer chearfully and with Joy as most of the Martyrs did it is a plain Evidence that God affords them extraordinary Support in their Sufferings and then the Case is not very hard when Religion puts them upon nothing but what it gives them cause and enables them to rejoice in the doing of it Fifthly It is objected That the Christian Religion is apt to dispirit Men and to break the Courage and Vigor of their Minds by the Precepts of Patience and Humility and Meekness and of forgiving Injuries and the like This Objection hath made a great Noise in the World and hath been urged by Men of great Reputation and a deep insight into the Tempers of Men and the Affairs of the World It is said to be particularly insisted upon by Machiavel and very likely it may though I think that elsewhere he is pleased to speak with Terms of Respect not only of Religion in general but likewise of the Christian Religion and which seems very much to contradict the other he says in the first Book of his Discourses upon Livy Ch. 11. That the Greatness and Success of Rome is chiefly to be ascribed to their Piety and Religion and that Rome was more indebted to Numa Pompilius for settling Religion among them than to Romulus the Founder of their State and the Reason he gives is much to our present Purpose For says he without Religion there can be no Military Discipline Religion being the Foundation of good Laws and good Discipline And particularly he commends the Samnites who betook themselves to Religion as their last and best Remedy to make Men couragious nothing being more apt to raise Men's Spirits than Religion But howsoever this Objection be I dare appeal both to Reason and Experience for the Confutation of it 1. To Reason and that as to these two things 1. That the Christian Religion is apt to plant in the Minds of Men Principles of the greatest Resolution and truest Courage It teacheth Men upon the best and most rational Grounds to despise Dangers yea and Death it self the greatest and most formidable Evil in this World and this Principle is likely to inspire Men with the greatest Courage for what need he fear any thing in this World who fears not Death after which there is nothing in this World to be feared And this the Christian Religion does by giving Men the assurance of another Life and a Happiness infinitely greater than any is to be enjoyed in this World And in order to the securing of this Happiness it teacheth Men to be holy and just and to exercise a good Conscience both toward God and Man which is the only way to free a Man from all inward and tormenting Fears of what may happen to him after Death This makes the righteous Man to be as Solomon says bold as a Lion Nothing renders a Man more undaunted as to Death and the Consequences of it than the Peace of his own Mind for a Man not to be conscious to himself of having wilfully displeased him who alone can make us happy or miserable in the other World So that a good Man being secure of the Favour of God may upon that Account reasonably hope for a greater Happiness after Death than other Men Whereas a bad Man if he be sober and have his Senses awakened to a serious Consideration of things cannot but be afraid to dye and be extremely anxious and solicitous what will become of him in another World And surely it would make the stoutest Man breathing afraid to venture upon Death when he sees Hell beyond it Possibly there may be some Monsters of Men who may have so far suppress'd the Sense of Religion and stupified their Consciences as in a good Measure to have conquer'd the fears of Death and of the Consequences of it But this happens but to a very few as the Poet tells us in the Person of an Epicurean Felix qui potuit rerum cognoscere causas Atque metus omnes inexorabile fatum Subjecit pedibus strepitumque Acherontis avari There are very few that attain to this Temper and but at some times So that if Vice and Wickedness do generally break the Firmness of Men's Spirits it remains that nothing but Religion can generally give Men Courage against Death And this the Christian Religion does eminently to those who live according to it our blessed Saviour having delivered us from the fear of Death by conquering Death for us and giving us Assurance of the glorious Rewards of another Life 2. Meekness and Patience and Humility and Modesty and such Virtues of Christianity do not in Reason tend to dispirit Men and break their true Courage but only to regulate it and take away the Fierceness and Bruitishness of it This we see in Experience that Men of the truest Courage have many times least of Pride and Insolence of Passion and Fierceness Those who are better bred are commonly of more gentle and civil Dispositions But yet they do not therefore want true Courage though they have not the Roughness and Fool-hardiness of Men of ruder Breeding So in a true Christian Courage and Greatness of Mind is very consistent with Meekness and Patience and Humility Not that all good Men are very couragious there is much of this in the Natural Tempers of Men which Religion does not quite alter But that which I am concerned to maintain is that Christianity is no hindrance to Mens Courage and that caeteris paribus supposing Men of equal Tempers no Man hath so much Reason to be valiant as he that hath a good Conscience I do not mean a blustering and boisterous and rash Courage but a sober and calm and fixt Valour 2. I appeal to Experience for the Truth of this Did ever greater Courage and Contempt of Death appear
in all Ages and Sexes and Conditions of Men than in the primitive Martyrs Were any of the Heathen Soldiers comparable to the Christian Legion for Resolution and Courage even the Heathens themselves being Judges The Religion of Mahomet seems to be contrived to inspire Men with Fierceness and Desperateness of Resolution and yet I do not find but that generally where there hath been any equality for Number the Christians have been superior to them in Valour and have given greater Instances of Resolution and Courage than the Turks have done So that I wonder upon what Grounds this Objection hath been taken up against Christianity when there is nothing either in the Nature of this Religion or from the Experience of the World to give any tolerable Countenance to it And surely the best way to know what Effect any Religion is likely to have upon the Minds of Men is to consider what Effects it hath had in the constant Experience of Mankind There remains the other two Objections which I mention'd but I must reserve them to another Opportunity SERMON III. The Prejudices against Jesus and his Religion consider'd MATTH XI 6 And blessed is he whosoever shall not be offended in me FROM these Words I proposed to consider these Two Things I. The Prejudices and Objections which the World at first had and many still have against our Blessed Saviour and his Religion II. That it is a great Happiness to escape the common Prejudices which Men are apt to entertain against Religion Vol. V. I have considered those Objections which the Jews and Heathen Philosophers made against our Saviour and his Religion And II. Those which at this Day are insisted upon by the secret and open Enemies of our Religion And I mentioned seven the two last of which I shall now speak to Sixthly It is objected That there are many Divisions and Factions among Christians This I confess is a great Reproach and Scandal to our Religion but no sufficient Argument against it And 1. To lessen and abate the Force of this Objection it is to be consider'd that a very great part of the Divisions that are among those that are call'd Christians are about things that do not concern the Essentials of Christianity and therefore they are no Argument that Christianity is not true because they bring no Suspicion of Doubt and Uncertainty upon the Fundamentals of Christianity which all agree in though they differ in other things 'T is true indeed they are very undecent and contrary to the Nature and Precepts of the Christian Religion Ser. 3. which above any Religion in the World does strictly require Love and Unity They take off much from the Strength and Beauty of our Religion but do by no means destroy the Truth of it 2. How many and great soever they may be yet they can with no Colour of Reason be imputed to the Christian Religion as giving any Cause and Encouragement to them however by Accident it may be the Occasion of them For no Man doubts but that the best thing in the World may be perverted by bad Men and made an Occasion of a great deal of Mischief in the World and yet be very innocent of all that Mischief No Man can deny but that Christianity does strictly enjoin Love and Peace and Unity among all the Members of that Profession and so far as Christians are factious and unpeaceable so far they are no Christians So that a Man may as well except against Philosophy because of the Differences that were among the Philosophers and say there was no Truth among them because they were not all agreed in all Things as call the Truth of Christianity in question for the differences that are among Christians Nay a Man might every whit as well except against Laws and Government because notwithstanding them there are frequent Seditions and Rebellions infinite Suits and Controversies occasion'd even by the very Laws But no Man was ever so unreasonable as to think this a good Reason against Laws and Government 3. The Divisions of Christians are so far from being an Argument against Christianity that on the contrary they are an Argument that Men should embrace Christianity more heartily and make more Conscience of obeying the Precepts of it And if they did this the greatest part of those Contentions and uncharitable Animosities which are among them would presently cease If the Christian Religion were truly entertained and Men did seriously mind the Precepts of it and give up themselves to the Obedience of its Laws Differences would not be easily commenced nor so vehemently prosecuted nor so pertinaciously continued in as they are Men would not upon every slight Reason and little Doubt and Scruple rend and tear the Body of Christ in pieces and separate themselves from the Communion of the Church they live in and in which they were baptized and received their Christianity If Men seriously consider'd and truly understood what they do when they divide the Church of Christ upon little Scruples and Pretences they would hardly be able to think themselves Christians whilst they continued in these unchristian and uncharitable Practices If Men would but be or do what Christianity requires there would be no occasion for this Objection and if Men will not Christian Religion is not to be blamed for it but those that act so contrary to the plain Precepts and Directions of it I proceed to the Seventh and last Objection The vicious and wicked Lives of a great part of the Professors of Christianity This is a heavy Objection indeed and such an one that though we may justly be ashamed to own the Truth of it yet can we not have the face to deny it 'T is so sad a Truth that it is enough to confound us and to fill all our Faces with Shame and Blushing But yet it is an Objection not so strong against Christianity as it is shameful to Christians And notwithstanding the utmost Force of it we have no cause to be ashamed of the Gospel of Christ but the Gospel of Christ may justly be ashamed of us For whatever we be The Gospel of Christ is the power of God unto Salvation The Natural Tendency of it is to reform and save Men and the wrath of God is therein revealed against all Vngodliness and Vnrighteousness of Men however they may detain the Truths of God in Vnrighteousness and not suffer them to have their due and proper Influence upon their Hearts and Lives But that I may give a more clear and particular Answer to it I desire you to attend to these following Considerations 1. It cannot be denied but that Christianity hath had once very great and marvellous Effects upon the Hearts and Lives of Men. And for this I appeal to the Lives and Manners of the Primitive Christians for which we have not only the Testimony of our own Books and Writers but even of the Adversaries of our Religion What Reformation Christianity at first
wrought in the Manners of Men we have clear and full Testimony from what the Apostles wrote concerning the several Churches which they planted in several Parts of the World What hearty Unity und Affection there was among Christians even to that Degree as to make Men bring in their private Estates and Possessions for the common Support of their Brethren we may read in the History of the Acts of the Apostles The City of Corinth by the Account which Strabo gives of it was a very vicious and luxurious place as most in the World and yet we see by St. Paul what a strange Reformation the Christian Religion made in the Lives and Manners of many of them 1 Cor 6.9 10 11. Be not deceived neither fornicators nor adulterers nor idolaters nor effeminate nor thieves nor covetous nor drunkards nor revilers nor extortioners shall inherit the Kingdom of God And such were some of you But ye are washed but ye are sanctified but ye are justified in the Name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God And surely it is no small matter to reclaim Men from such a profligate course of Life The Apostle instanceth in Crimes and Vices of the first Rate from which yet he tells us many were cleansed and purified by the Name of the Lord Jesus and the Spirit of God that is by the Power and Efficacy of the Christian Doctrine together with the Co-operation of God's Holy Spirit After the Apostles the Ancient Fathers in their Apologies for Christianity give us a large Account of the great Power and Efficacy of the Christian Doctrine upon the Lives and Manners of Men. Tertullian tells the Roman Governors that their Prisons were full of Malefactors committed for several Crimes but they were all Heathens De vestris semper aestuat carcer Their Prisons were thronged with Criminals of their own Religion But there were no Christians to be found committed there for such Crimes Nemo illic Christianus nisi hoc tantùm c. There were no Christians in their Prisons but only upon account of their Religion Or if there were any Malefactors that had been Christians they left their Religion when they fell into those Enormities And afterwards he adds that if Christians were irregular in their Lives they were no longer accounted Christians but were banish'd from their Communion as unworthy of it And they appealed to the Heathens what a sudden and strange change Christianity had made in several of the most lewd and vicious and debauched Persons and what a visible Reformation there presently appeared in the Lives of the worst Men after they had once entertained the Christian Doctrine And these Testimonies are so much the stronger because they are Publick Appeals to our Adversaries which it is not likely they who were so persecuted and hated as the Christians were would have had the Confidence to have made if they had not been notoriously true even their Enemies themselves being Judges And that they were so we have the Confession of the Heathen themselves I shall produce two remarkable Testimonies to this Purpose and one of them from the Pen of one of the bitterest Enemies that the Christian Religion ever had Pliny in his Epistle to Trajan the Emperor gives him an Account That having examined the Christians setting aside the Superstition of their way he could find no Fault and that this was the Sum of their Error That they were wont to meet before Day and sing a Hymn to Christ and to bind themselves by Solemn Oath or Sacrament not to any wicked Purpose but not to steal nor rob nor commit Adultery nor break their Faith nor detain the Pledge So that it seems the Sum of their Error was to oblige themselves in the strictest manner against the greatest Vices and Crimes Which methinks is a great Testimony from an Enemy and a Judge one who would have been ready to discover their Faults and had Opportunity of enquiring into them My other Witness is Julian the Emperor and Apostate who in one of his Epistles tells us The Christians did severely punish Sedition and Impiety And afterwards exhorting the Heathen Priests to all Offices of Humanity and especially Alms towards the Poor he tells them they ought to be more careful in this particular and to mend this Fault Because says he the Galileans taking advantage of our Neglect in this kind have very much strengthned their Impiety for so he calls their Religion by being very intent upon these Offices and exemplary in their Charity to the Poor whereby they gained many over to them And in his 49th Epist to Arsacius the High-Priest of Galatia he recommends to him among other Means for the Advancement of Paganism the building of Hospitals and great Liberality to the Poor not only of their own Religion but others For says he it is a Shame that the impious Galileans should not only maintain their own poor but ours also wherefore let us not suffer them to outdo us in this Virtue Nothing but the force of Truth could have extorted so full an Acknowledgment of the great Humanity and Charity of the Christians from so bitter an Enemy of our Religion as Julian was If he owned it we may be sure it was very great and exemplary So that you see that the Christian Religion had a very great Power and Efficacy upon the Lives and Manners of Men when it first appeared in the World And the true Spirit and Genius of any Religion the Force of any Institution is best seen in the primitive Effects of it before it be weakned and dispirited by those Corruptions which in time are apt to insinuate themselves into the best things For all Laws and Institutions are commonly more vigorous and have greater Effects at first than afterwards and the best things are apt in time to degenerate and to contract Soil and Rust And it cannot in Reason be expected otherwise So that though it be a thing to be bewailed and by the greatest Care and Diligence to be resisted yet it is not so extremely to be wonder'd at if Christianity in the space of Sixteen Hundred Years hath abated much of its first Strength and Vigor Especially considering that there were several Circumstances that gave Christianity mighty Advantages at first especially the miraculous Powers which did accompany the first Publication of the Gospel which must needs be full of Conviction to those who saw the wonderful Effects of it The extraordinary Operation of the Spirit of God upon the Minds of Men to dispose them to the receiving of it The persecuted and suffering State that Christians were generally in which made those who embraced the Profession to be generally serious and in good earnest in it and kept up a continual Heat and Zeal in the Minds of Men for that Religion which cost them so dear and for which they suffer'd so much And the fury of their Enemies against it did naturally inflame their Love and Kindness to one
suffer nothing but Truth and Reason to weigh with them We generally pretend to be Pilgrims and Strangers in the World and to be all travelling towards Heaven but few of us have the Indifferency of Travellers who are not concern'd to find out the fairest and the easiest Way but to know which is the right Way and to go in it Thus it should be with us our End should always be in our Eye and we should chuse our way only with Respect to that not considering our Inclination so much as our Design nor chusing those Principles for the Government of our Lives which are most agreeable to our present Desires but those which will most certainly bring us to Happiness at the last and that I am sure the Principles of the Christian Religion firmly believed and practised by us will do Let us then be persuaded by all that hath been said upon this Argument to a firm Belief of the Christian Doctrine I hope you are in some Measure satisfied that the Objections against it are not such as ought much to move a wise and considerate Man If we believe that God hath taken so much care of Mankind as to make any certain Revelation of his Will to them and of the way to Eternal Happiness let us next consider whether any Religion in the World can come in Competition with the Christian and with half that Reason pretend to be from God that Christianity is able to produce for it self whether we consider the Things to be believed or the Duties to be practised or the Motives and Arguments to the Practice of those Duties or the Divine Confirmation that is given to the whole And if we be thus persuaded concerning it let us resolve to live up to the Laws and Rules of this Holy Religion Our belief of it signifies nothing without the Fruits and Effects of a Good Life And if this were once resolved upon the Difficulty of believing would cease for the true Reason why Men are unwilling to believe the Truths of the Gospel is because they are loth to put them in Practice Every one that doth Evil hateth the Light The true Ground of most Mens Prejudice against the Christian Doctrine is because they have no mind to obey it and when all is done the great Objection that lies at the bottom of Mens Minds against it is that it is an Enemy to their Lusts and they cannot profess to believe it without condemning themselves for not complying with it in their Lives and Practice SERMON IV. Jesus the Son of God prov'd by his Resurrection ROM I. 4 And declared to be the Son of God with Power according to the Spirit of Holiness by the Resurrection from the dead ST Paul in the beginning of this Epistle according to his Custom in the rest stiles himself an Apostle particularly call'd and set apart by God for the preaching of the Gospel the main Subject whereof was Jesus Christ our Lord Who as he was according to his Divine Nature Vol. V. the eternal Son of God so according to his Human Nature he was not only the Son of Man but also the Son of God According to the Flesh that is the Weakness and Frailty and Mortality of his Human Nature he was the Son of David that is of his Posterity by his Mother who was of that House and Line Made of the seed of David according to the Flesh v. 3. But according to the Spirit of Holiness that is in regard of that Divine Power of the Holy Ghost which was manifested in him especially in his Resurrection from the Dead he was demonstrated to be the Son of God even according to his Human Nature Declared to be the Son of God with Power according to the Spirit of Holiness by the Resurrection from the dead All the Difficulty in the Words is concerning the meaning of this Phrase of Christ's being declared to be the Son of God The word is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which most frequently in Scripture does signify predestinated decreed determined but it likewise signifies that which is defined declared demonstrated Ser. 4. put out of all Doubt and Controversy And in this Sense our Translation renders it As if the Apostle had said that our Lord Jesus Christ though according to the Frailty and Weakness of his Human Nature he was of the Seed of David yet in respect of that Divine Power of the Holy Ghost which manifested it self in him especially in his Resurrection from the Dead he was declared to be the Son of God with Power that is mightily powerfully demonstrated to be so so as to put the matter out of all Dispute and Controversy And therefore following our own Translation I shall handle the Words in this Sense as containing this Proposition in them That the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ from the Dead by the Holy Ghost is a powerful demonstration that he was the Son of God And it will conduce very much to the clearing of this Proposition to consider these Two things First Upon what Account Christ as Man is said to be the Son of God Secondly In what Sense he is said to be declared to be the Son of God by his Resurrection from the Dead The Consideration of these Two Particulars will fully clear this Proposition and the Apostles Meaning in it First Upon what Account Christ as Man is said to be the Son of God And for our right Apprehension of this Matter it is very well worthy our Observation that Christ as Man is no where in Scripture said to be the Son of God but with relation to the Divine Power of the Holy Ghost some way or other eminently manifested in him I say the Divine Power of the Holy Ghost as the Lord and Giver of Life as he is call'd in the Ancient Creeds of the Christian Church For as Men are naturally said to be the Children of those from whom they receive their Life and Being so Christ as Man is said to be the Son of God because he had Life communicated to him from the Father by an immediate Power of the Spirit of God or the Holy Ghost First at his Conception which was by the Holy Ghost The Conception of our Blessed Saviour was an immediate Act of the Power of the Holy Ghost overshadowing as the Scripture expresseth it the blessed Mother of our Lord And then at his Resurrection when after his Death he was by the Operation of the Holy Ghost raised to Life again Now upon these two Accounts only Christ as Man is said in Scripture to be the Son of God He was really so upon Account of his Conception but this was secret and invisible but most eminently and remarkably so upon account of his Resurrection which was open and visible to all 1. Upon Account of his Conception by the Power of the Holy Ghost That upon this Account he was called the Son of God St. Luke most expresly tells us Luke 1.35 where the
in the more notoriously he contradicts his Profession and falls off from Christianity and the nearer he approacheth to the Sin in the Text and the danger there threatned but yet for all that this is not that which the Apostle speaks of 4 thly But it is a total Apostacy from the Christian Religion more especially to the Heathen Idolatry the renouncing of the true God and our Saviour and the Worship of false Gods which the Apostle here speaks of And this will be evident if we consider the occasion and main scope of this Epistle And that was to confirm the Jews who had newly embraced Christianity in the profession of that Religion and to keep them from apostatizing from it because of the Persecutions and Sufferings which attended that Profession It pleased God when Christianity first appeared in the World to permit the Powers of the World to raise a vehement Persecution against the Professors of it by reason whereof many out of base fear did apostatize from it and in testimony of their renouncing it were forced to Sacrifice to the Heathen Idols This is that which the Apostle endeavours to caution and arm Men against throughout this Epistle Ch. 2.1 Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard lest at any time we should fall away And Chap. 3.12 it is call'd an evil heart of Vnbelief to apostatize from the living God Take heed Brethren lest there be in any of you an evil heart of Vnbelief to depart from the living God that is to fall from the Worship of the true God to Idolatry And Chap. 10.23 Let us hold fast the Profession of our Faith without wavering not forsaking the assembling of our selves together that is not declining the Assemblies of Christians for fear of Persecution and v. 26. it is call'd a sinning wilfully after we have received the knowledge of the Truth and v. 39. a drawing back to Perdition And Ch. 12. it is call'd by way of Eminency the Sin which so easily besets the Sin which in those times of Persecution they were so liable to And I doubt not but this is the Sin which St. John speaks of and calls the Sin unto Death and does not require Christians to pray for those who fall into it with any assurance that it shall be forgiven 1 John 5.16 There is a Sin unto Death I do not say that he shall pray for it All Vnrighteousness is Sin and there is a Sin not unto Death We know that whosoever is born of God sinneth not that is does not fall into the Sin of Apostacy from Christianity to that of the Heathen Idolatry But he that is begotten of God keepeth himself and that wicked one toucheth him not And then v. 21. he adds this Caution Little children keep your selves from Idols Which sufficiently shews what that Sin was which he was speaking of before So that this being the Sin which the Apostle design'd to caution Men against throughout this Epistle it is very evident what falling away it is he here speaks of namely a total Apostacy from Christianity and more especially to the Heathen Idolatry 5 thly We will consider the Reason of the difficulty of Recovering such Persons by Repentance If they fall away it is extremely difficult to renew them again to Repentance and that for these three Reasons 1. Because of the greatness and heinousness of the Sin 2. Because it renounceth and casteth off the means of Recovery 3. Because it is so high a Provocation of God to withdraw his Grace from such Persons 1. Because of the greatness and heinousness of the Sin both in the Nature and Circumstances of it It is a downright Apostacy from God a direct renouncing of him and rejecting of his Truth after Men have owned it and been inwardly perswaded and convinced of it and so the Apostle expresseth it in this Epistle calling it an Apostacy from the living God a sinning wilfully after we have received the knowledge of the Truth It hath all the Aggravations that a Crime is capable of being against the clearest Light and Knowledge and the fullest Conviction of a Man's Mind concerning the Truth and goodness of that Religion which he renounceth against the greatest Obligations laid upon him by the Grace and Mercy of the Gospel after the free Pardon of Sins and the Grace and Assistance of God's Spirit received and a miraculous Power conferr'd for a Witness and Testimony to themselves of the undoubted Truth of that Religion which they have embraced It is the highest Affront to the Son of God who revealed this Religion to the World and sealed it with his Blood and in effect an expression of as high Malice to the Author of this Religion as the Jews were guilty of when they put him to so cruel and shameful a Death Now a Sin of this heinous Nature is apt naturally either to plunge Men into hardness and impenitency or to drive them to despair and either of these Conditions are effectual Barrs to their Recovery And both these Dangers the Apostle warns Men of in this Epistle Ch. 3.12 13. Take heed Brethren lest there be in any of you an evil Heart of Vnbelief to apostatize from the living God but exhort one another daily whilst it is call'd to day lest any of you be hardned through the deceitfulness of Sin Or else the Reflection upon so horrid a Crime is apt to drive a Man to Despair as it did Judas who after he had betray'd the Son of God could find no ease but by making away himself the guilt of so great a Sin fill'd him with such Terrors that he was glad to flye to Death for Refuge and to lay violent hands upon himself And this likewise was the Case of Spira whose Apostacy though it was not total from the Christian Religion but only from the Purity and Reformation of it brought him to that desperation of Mind which was a kind of Hell upon Earth And of this danger likewise the Apostle admonisheth Ch. 12.15 Looking diligently lest any man fail of the Grace of God or as it is in the Margine lest any Man fall from the Grace of God lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you and then he compares the Case of such Persons to Esau who when he had renounced his Birth-right to which the Blessing was annex'd was afterwards when he would have inherited the Blessing rejected and found no place of Repentance though he sought it carefully with Tears 2 dly Those who are guilty of this Sin do renounce and cast off the means of their Recovery and therefore it becomes extremely difficult to renew them again to repentance They reject the Gospel which affords the best Arguments and Means to Repentance and renounce the only way of Pardon and Forgiveness And certainly that Man is in a very sad and desperate Condition the very nature of whose Disease is to reject the Remedy that should cure him And
this the Apostle tells us was the Condition of those who apostatized from the Gospel Chap. 10.26 27. For if we sin wilfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth there remaineth no more Sacrifice for Sin but a certain fearful looking for of Judgment and fiery Indignation which shall devour the Adversary The great Sacrifice and Propitiation for Sin was the Son of God and they who renounce him what way of Expiation can they hope for afterward what can they expect but to fall into his Hands as a Judge whom they have rejected as a Sacrifice and a Saviour And then 3 dly Those who are guilty of this Sin provoke God in the highest manner to withdraw his Grace and Holy Spirit from them by the Power and Efficacy whereof they should be brought to Repentance so that it can hardly otherwise be expected but that God should leave those to themselves who have so unworthily forsaken him and wholly withdraw his Grace and Spirit from such Persons as have so notoriously offer'd despite to the Spirit of Grace I do not say that God always does this he is sometimes better to such Persons than they have deserved from him and saves those who have done what they can to undo themselves and mercifully puts forth his Hand to recover them who were drawing back to Perdition especially if they were suddenly surprized by the violence of Temptation and yielded to it not deliberately and out of choice but merely through weakness and infirmity and so soon as they reflected upon themselves did return and repent This was the case of St. Peter who being surprized with a sudden fear denied Christ but being admonish'd of his Sin by the signal which our Saviour had given him he was recovered by a speedy and hearty Repentance And so likewise several of the Primitive Christians who were at first overcome by fear to renounce their Religion did afterwards recover themselves and died resolute Martyrs but it is a very dangerous State out of which but few recover and with great difficulty And thus I have done with the five things I propounded to make out for the clearing of this Text from the mistakes and misapprehensions which have been about it I shall now draw some useful Inferences from hence by way of Application that we may see how far this doth concern our selves and they shall be these 1 st From the Supposition here in the Text that such Persons as are there described namely those who have been baptized and by Baptism have received remission of Sins and did firmly believe the Gospel and the Promises of it and were endowed with miraculous Gifts of the Holy Ghost that these may fall away this should caution us all against Confidence and Security when those that have gone thus far may fall let him that standeth take heed Some are of opinion that those whom the Apostle here describes are true and sincere Christians and that when he says it is impossible if they fall away to renew them again to Repentance he means that they cannot fall away totally so as to stand in need of being renewed again to Repentance But this is directly contrary to the Apostle's design which was to caution Christians against Apostacy because if they did fall away their recovery would be so exceeding difficult which Argument does plainly suppose that they might fall away On the other hand there are others who think the Persons here described by the Apostle to be Hypocritical Christians who for some base ends had entertained Christianity and put on the Profession of it but not being sincere and in good earnest would forsake it when Persecution came But besides that this is contrary to the description which the Apostle makes of these Persons who are said to have tasted of the Heavenly Gift and to have been made partakers of the Holy Ghost by which if we understand Justification and Remission of Sins and the Sanctifying Virtue of the Holy Ghost which in all probability is the meaning of these Phrases these are Blessings which did not belong to Hypocrites and which God does not bestow upon them I say besides this there is no reason to imagine that the Apostle intended such Persons when it is likely that there were very few Hypocrites in those times of Persecution for what should tempt Men to dissemble Christianity when it was so dangerous a Profession or what Worldly Ends could Men have in taking that Profession upon them which was so directly contrary to their Worldly Interests So that upon the whole matter I doubt not but the Apostle here means those who are real in the Profession of Christianity and that such might fall away For we may easily imagine that Men might be convinced of the Truth and Goodness of the Christian Doctrine and in good earnest embrace the Profession of it and yet not be so perfectly weaned from the World and so firmly rooted and established in that Persuasion as when it came to the Trial to be able to quit all for it and to bear up against all the Terrors and Assaults of Persecution so that they might be real Christians and no Hypocrites though they were not so perfectly established and confirmed and so sincerely resolved as many others They were not like St. Paul and those tried Persons whom he speaks of Rom. 8.35 37. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ shall tribulation or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or peril or sword Nay in all these things we are more than Conquerors They had been tried by all these and yet had held out upon which he breaks out into those triumphant Expressions I am persuaded that neither death nor life nor angels nor principalities nor powers nor things present nor things to come nor height nor depth nor any other creature shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. They might not I say be like those and yet for all that be real in their Profession of Christianity and no Hypocrites In short I take them to be such as our Saviour describes him to be who received the seed into stony places namely he that heareth the word and anon with joy receiveth it yet hath he not root in himself but dureth for a while for when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word by and by he is offended This is no description of a Hypocrite but of one that was real as far as he went for he is said to receive the word with joy but was not well rooted and come to such a confirmed State as resolutely to withstand the assaults of Persecution So that tho' we have truly embraced Christianity and are in a good degree sincere in the Profession of it yet there is great Reason why we should neither be secure nor confident in our selves Not secure because there is great danger that our Resolution may be born down one time or other by the Assaults
both in Jerusalem and in all Judea and in Samaria and unto the uttermost parts of the earth But see the strange power of Prejudice to blind the Eyes even of good Men in the plainest matters The Disciples of our Saviour for all they had entertained a new Religion yet they retained the old Pride and Prejudice of their Nation against the rest of the World as if none but themselves had any share in the favour of God or were to have any part in the Salvation of the Messias Our Saviour did so far consider this Prejudice of theirs that he never in his life time acquainted them with this matter so as to make them fully to understand it because they were not able to bear it And it is very probable that this is one of those things which our Saviour meant John 16.12 13. I have yet many things to say unto you but ye cannot bear them now Howbeit when the Spirit of truth is come he will guide you into all truth That is he should lead them into the knowledge of those Truths of which they were not then capable And tho' our Saviour after his Resurrection seems to have declared this sufficiently to them yet by their practice after his Ascension it appears that they understood all this only of the Jews namely that they were to preach the Gospel first to the Jews that were at Jerusalem and in Judea and then to those that were dispersed in other Nations for 't is clear from the History of their first Preaching recorded in the Acts that they preached to none but to the Jews and the Proselytes of the Jewish Religion So strong was their Prejudice that they had not the least suspicion that this Blessing of the Gospel was intended for the Heathen World nor were they convinced to the contray 'till St. Peter had a special Vision and Revelation to this purpose and the Holy Ghost came upon the Gentiles in miraculous gifts as he had done before upon the Jews that were converted to Christianity And thus the Spirit of God led them into this Truth and then they understood this Command of our Saviour's in a larger Sense And to this St. Peter plainly refers Acts 10.42 where he tells us how that Christ after his Resurrection appeared to them and commanded them to preach unto the People So likewise do Paul and Barnabas Acts 13.46 where they speak thus to the Jews It was necessary that the word should first be preached to you but seeing you put it from you lo we turn to the Gentiles for so hath the Lord commanded us Now he no where commanded this but in this Commission which he gave them before his Ascension Secondly You have here a particular declaration how they were to manage this work of making Disciples to the Christian Religion 1. By baptizing them into the Chrstian Faith 2. By instructing them in the Precepts and Practices of a Christian Life 1. By baptizing them into the Christian Faith which is here call'd baptizing them into the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the holy Ghost Baptism is a solemn Rite appointed by our Saviour for the initiating of Persons into the Christian Religion But it was a Ceremony in use before both among the Jews and Gentiles The Heathen observed it at the initiating Persons into their Religious Mysteries and the Jews when they admitted Proselytes to their Religion at which time the Males as Maimonides tells us were both circumcised and baptized the Women were only baptized One Circumstance of the Baptism of grown Persons was that standing in the Water up to the Neck they recited several Precepts of the Law And as the Jewish Writers further tell us this Ceremony did not only belong to them that were of grown Years but to the Children of Proselytes if it were desired upon condition that when they came to Years they should continue in that Religion Now tho' this was a religious Ceremony used both by Jews and Gentiles and without any Divine Institution that we know of our blessed Saviour who in none of his Institutions seems to have favour'd unnecessary Innovations was so far from the superstition of declining it upon this account that it had been in religious use both among Jews and Gentiles that he seems the rather to have chosen it for that very reason For seeing it was a common Rite of all Religions and in it self very significant of that Purity which is the great design of all Religion it was the more likely to find the easier Acceptance and to be most suitable to that which he intended to be the universal Religion of the World As for the form of Baptism into the name of the Father of the Son and of the Holy Ghost it plainly refers to that short Creed or Profession of Faith which was required of those that were to be baptized answerable to the reciting of the Precepts of the Law at the baptizing of Proselytes among the Jews now the Articles of this Creed were reduced to these three Heads of the Father Son and Holy Ghost and contains what was necessary to be believed concerning each of these And this probably is that which the Apostle calls the Doctrine of Baptism Heb. 6.2 viz. a short Summary of the Christian Faith the Profession whereof was to be made at Baptism of which the most ancient Fathers make so frequent mention calling it the rule of Faith It was a great while indeed before Christians tied themselves strictly to that very form of Words which we now call the Apostles Creed but the Sense was the same tho every one exprest it in his own Words nay the same Father reciting it upon several Occasions does not confine himself to the very same Expressions A plain indication that they were not then strictly bound up to any form of Words but retaining the sense and substance of the Articles every one exprest them as he pleased So that to baptize in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost is to perform this Rite or Sacrament by the Authority of and with special Relation to the three Persons of the blessed Trinity Father Son and Holy Ghost as the chief Objects of the Christian Faith whereof solemn Profession was then made So that upon this form in Baptism appointed by our Saviour compared with what is elsewhere said in Scripture concerning the Divinity of the Son and the Holy Ghost is principally founded the Doctrine of the blessed Trinity I mean in that simplicity in which the Scripture hath delivered it and not as it hath been since confounded and entangled in the Cobwebs and Niceties of the Schools The Scripture indeed no where calls them Persons but speaks of them as we do of several Persons and therefore that word is not unfitly used to express the difference between them or at least we do not know a fitter word for that purpose By baptizing then in the name of the
thought fit to gratified the perverse Curiosity of Men by affording to every Man a particular and immediate Revelation of his Mind and Will but he hath given us a standing Revelation which at first had the greatest and most miraculous Confirmation and he hath still left us sufficient Means of being assured of the Truth of this Revelation and of the Confirmation that was at first given to it and we tempt God by demanding extraordinary Signs when we may receive so abundant Satisfaction in an ordinary way This being admitted I shall proceed in the Second Place to shew That it is upon the whole Matter and all Circumstances consider'd very improbable that those who reject this publick Revelation from God should be effectually convinced tho' one should speak to them from the dead And this is that which is expresly asserted here in the Text If they hear not Moses and the Prophets neither will they be persuaded tho' one rose from the dead Not but that any Man would be very much startled and amazed if one should come from the dead to warn him of the Danger of his wicked Life but yet for all that it is very unlikely that they who obstinately and perversely refuse to be convinced by Moses and the Prophets would be effectually persuaded that is so as to be brought to Repentance and Reformation of their Lives tho' one should rise from the dead And that for these Reasons 1. Because if such Miracles were frequent and familiar it is very probable they would have but very little effect and unless we suppose them common and ordinary we have no Reason to expect them at all 2. Men have as great or greater Reason to believe the Threatnings of God's Word as the Discourse of one that should speak to them from the dead 3. The very same reason which makes Men to reject the Counsels of God in his Word would in all probability hinder them from being convinced by a particular Miracle 4. Experience does abundantly testifie how ineffectual extraordinary ways are to convince those who are obstinately addicted and wedded to their Lusts 5. An effectual Persuasion that is such a Belief as produceth Repentance and a good Life is the Gift of God and depends upon the Operation and Concurrence of God's Grace which there is no reason to expect either in an extraordinary way or in an extraordinary degree after Men have obstinately rejected the ordinary Means which God hath appointed to that end 1. If such Miracles as a special Messenger from the dead to warn and admonish Men were frequent and familiar it is very probable they would have but very little effect upon Men and unless we suppose them common and ordinary we have no reason to expect them at all For it is unreasonable at first sight that the worst and more obstinate sort of Sinners should expect this as a peculiar Favour and Priviledge to themselves and that God should not do as much for others who have deserved it more and would probably make better use of it and if these things were common it is very probable that Men would not be much moved by them It may be while the Apprehension of such a thing were fresh upon them they would take up some good Resolutions as Sinners usually do while they are under present Convictions of Conscience and the Hand of God by some great Affliction or Sickness lies heavy upon them but still they would be apt to defer their Repentance and put it off 'till the present Amazement were a little over and the terrour of their first Apprehensions were abated and worn off by degrees and after a little while they would return to their former Course And this is too too probable from what we see Men do in other cases not very much remote from this It is a very terrible and amazing thing to see a Man die and solemnly take his last leave of the World The very Circumstances of dying Men are apt to strike us with horror to hear such a Man how sensibly he will speak of the other World as if he were just come from it rather than going to it how severely he will condemn himself for the Folly and Wickedness of his Life with what Passion he will wish that he had lived better and served God more sincerely how seriously he will resolve upon a better Life if God would be pleased to raise him up and try him but once more with what Zeal and Earnestness he will commend to his best Friends and nearest Relations a religious and virtuous Course of Life as the only thing that will minister Comfort to them when they come to be in his Condition Such Discourses as these are very apt to move and affect Men for the time and to stir up in them very good Resolutions whilst the present Fit and Impression lasts but because these sights are very frequent they have seldome any great and permanent effect upon Men. Men consider that it is a very common Case and Sinners take Example and Encouragement from one another every one is affected for the present but few are so effectually convinced as to betake themselves to a better Course And if Apparitions from the dead were as common as it is for Men to die we may reasonably presume that the Discourses of dead and dying of those that are going and those who come from the dead would have much the same effect upon the generality of Men. But if we suppose this a singular Case which there is no reason to do in that case the Effect would probably be this a Man that were strongly addicted to his Lusts and had no Mind to leave them would be apt when the Fright were over to be easily persuaded that all this was merely the work of Fancy and Imagination and the rather because such things did not happen to others as well as to himself 2. We have as great or greater Reason to believe the Warnings or Threatnings of God's Word as the Discourses of one that should come to us from the dead For the Threatnings of God's Word against such Sins as natural Light convinceth Men of have the natural Guilt and Fears of Men on their side the particular Testimony of every Man's Conscience and the concurrent Testimony of Mankind to the Probability of the thing and to give us full Assurance of the Truth and Reality of them we have a credible Relation of great and unquestionable Miracles wrought on purpose to give Testimony to those Persons who denounced those Threatnings that they came from God So that here is a very publick and authentick Testimony given to the Threatnings of God's Word more suitable to the generality of Mankind and of greater Authority than a private Apparition or a single Miracle and if that will not convince Men why should we suppose that this will 3. The very same Reason which makes Men to reject the Counsels of God in his Word would in all probability hinder
barely what he promiseth but he usually doth something over and above his promise That the Messias should heal the blind and the deaf and the lame Isaiah Prophesied and God makes good this Promise and Prediction to the full the Messias did not only do these but which is more and greater than any of these he raised the dead to life Secondly It was likewise foretold of the Messias that he should preach the Gospel to the poor Isa 61.1 the spirit of the Lord God is upon me because he hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to preach the Gospel or good tidings to the Poor so the LXX render the words and they are the very words used by our Saviour here in the Text. 'T is true indeed this was no Miracle but it was the punctual accomplishment of a Prophecy concerning the Messias and consequently an evidence that he was the Messias But besides it had something in it which was very strange to the Jews and very different from the way of their Doctors and Teachers For the Rabbies among the Jews would scarce instruct any but for great Reward they would meddle with none but those that were able to requite their pains The ordinary and poorer sort of People they had in great contempt as appears by that slighting expression of them John 7.48 49. Have any of the Rulers or of the Pharisees believed on him but this People who knoweth not the Law are cursed And Grotius upon this Text tells us that the Jewish Masters had this foolish and insolent Proverb among them that the Spirit of God doth not rest but upon a rich man to which this Prediction concerning the Messias was a direct contradiction The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me because he hath anointed me to preach the Gospel to the Poor In old time the Prophets were especially sent to the Kings and Princes of the People but this great Prophet comes to preach the Gospel to the Poor None have so little reason to be proud as the Sons of Men but never was any so humble as the Son of God our Saviour's whole Life and Doctrine was a contradiction to the false Opinions of the world they thought the rich and great men of the World the only happy persons but he came to preach glad tidings to the Poor to bring good news to them whom the great Doctors of the Law despised and set at nought and therefore to confound their pride and folly and to confute their false Opinions of things he begins that excellent Sermon of his with this Saying Blessed are the Poor for theirs is the Kingdom of God Thirdly It was foretold of the Messias that the World should be offended at him Isa 8.14 He shall be for a stone of stumbling and for a rock of offence to both the houses of Israel And Isa 53.1 2 3. Who hath believed our report and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed he hath no form nor comeliness and when we see him there is no beauty that we should desire him he is despised and rejected of men and we hid as it were our faces from him he was despised and we esteemed him not and this likewise is intimated in the last words of the Text and blessed is he whosoever shall not be offended in me Intimating that notwithstanding the great works that he did among them which testified of him that he came from God notwithstanding the Predictions of their Prophets concerning the Messias were so clearly and punctually accomplish'd in him yet notwithstanding all this they would take offence at him upon one account or other and reject him and his Doctrine but even this that they rejected him and would not own him for their Messias was another Sign and Evidence that he was the true Messias foretold by the Prophets for among other things this was expresly Predicted concerning him that he should be despised and rejected of men And thus I have done with the First thing I propounded to speak to namely the Evidence which our Saviour here gives of his being the true Messias First The many and great Miracles which he wrought prove that he came from God And Secondly The correspondence of the things he did with what was foretold by the Prophets concerning the Messias declare him to be the true Messias I now proceed to the next thing I propounded to speak to namely Secondly An Intimation in the Text that notwithstanding all the Evidence Christ gave of himself yet many would be offended at him and reject him and his Doctrine In speaking to which it will be very proper to consider First How the Poor came to be more disposed to receive the Gospel than others Secondly What those Prejudices are which the World had against our Saviour and his Religion at its first appearance as also those which men have at this day against the Christian Religion and to endeavour to shew the unreasonableness of them Thirdly How happy a thing it is to escape and overcome the common Prejudices which Men have against Religion First How the Poor came to be more disposed to receive the Gospel than others the Poor have the Gospel preached unto them Which does not only signify that our Saviour did more especially apply himself to them but likewise that they were in a nearer disposition to receive it and did of all others give the most ready entertainment to his Doctrine And this our Saviour declares to us in the beginning of his Sermon upon the Mount when he pronounceth the Poor blessed upon this account because they were nearer to the Kingdom of God than others Blessed are the Poor for theirs is the Kingdom of God So likewise St. James Chap. 2. v. 5. Hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith and heirs of the Kingdom which he hath promised to them that love him So that it seems the Poor were upon some account or other in a nearer disposition to receive the Gospel than the Great and Rich Men of this World And of this there are three Accounts to be given First The Poor had no Earthly interest to engage them to reject our Saviour and his Doctrine The High-Priests and Scribes and Pharisees among the Jews they had a plain worldly Interest which did engage them to oppose our Saviour and his Doctrine for if he were received for the Messias and his Doctrine embraced they must of necessity lose their Sway and Authority among the People and all that which rendred them so considerable their pretended skill in the Law and in the Traditions and Observances of their Fathers together with their external shews of Piety and Devotion would signify nothing if our Saviour and his Doctrine should take place And there are very few so honest and sincere as to be content for truth's sake to part with their Reputation and Authority and to become less in the esteem of men than they were