of Jordan when the Holy Ghost at his Baptism descended upon him 'T will be easie now to understand what Christ imports For that word denotes the offices of our blessed Saviour to which he was appointed by God and enabled to discharge by the Holy Ghost which was plentifully poured out upon him And as of old publick persons were set apart to their respective offices and dignities by being first anointed with a certain Oil prescribed for that purpose so was our Lord sanctified and fitted to teach and govern the Church of God to be the great mediatour between God and man and the redeemer of mankind by the Holy Ghost which he plentifully received Joh. 3.34 And he that confesses that Jesus is the Christ does thereby acknowledge him to be his Prophet Priest and King and is consequently obliged by virtue of that profession to obey his laws and give himself up to his government as well as to hope for pardon from his bloud God hath made it very plain that our Jesus is the Messias that was promised Who is a Liar says St. John but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ 1 Joh. 2.22 This was that great truth that the Jews opposed vehemently They agreed that if any man confessed him to be Christ he should be put out of the Synagogue What hath been said will be of use to the better understanding the words of St. John Ye have an unction from the holy one and ye know all things 1 Joh. 2.20 He puts Christians in mind of that affusion of the Holy Ghost which he calls the Vnction from the holy one which God hath bestowed on them according to Christ's promise This Holy Ghost did lead them into all truth and the plentiful effusion of this Spirit did bear a clear testimony that Jesus was the true Messias and that the doctrine which he taught came from God This Holy Spirit was the defence which those Christians had against being seduced As it follows These things have I written unto you concerning them that seduce you But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you and ye need not that any man teach you but as the same anointing teacheth you all things and is truth and is no lie and even as it hath taught you ye shall abide in him 1 Joh. 2.26 27. I shall onely add that from Christ we are all called Christians and that blessed name ought to influence our practice 'T is a great thing to be a Christian 'T is a dignity and honour to the greatest among us and the best of all our titles We may well glory in this blessed name and value it above all our other titles and properties But then we must remember what this name requires at our hands When we name the name of Christ we are obliged to depart from all iniquity Let us consider how well this name becomes us Are we like our blessed Saviour have we that unction from the holy one Does the spirit of Jesus dwell in us If that Holy Spirit be not in us ' we have a name to live and are dead we may fondly conceit what we please of our selves but if any man have not the spirit of Christ he is none of his Rom. 8.9 CHAP. II. The CONTENTS It is agreed between Jews and Christians I. That there was a Messias promised and II. That there was such a person as our Jesus and III. That there was at that time when Jesus lived a general expectation of the Messias That hence it was that there appeared so many Impostours about that time An account of some of them from Josephus Of the promises of the Messias and the gradual revealing of them A Passage in Maimon concerning the Afternoon-Prayer misrepresented by a late learned writer Several particulars relating to the Messias predicted THus having shewed what is meant by Jesus and what by Christ I come next to shew you that our Jesus whom the Jews crucified is the Christ or Messias And before I proceed to consider the several arguments that do confirm this truth I shall premise the following particulars First that there was a Messias promised in the old Testament is not onely affirmed by the Christians but granted by the Jews There is no dispute about this matter Secondly that there was such a person as Jesus that he lived at such a time as we say he did and died as the Gospels report is not denied by the Jews They often mention him in their writings though with scorn and disdain they speak of the time and manner of his death and the names of his Disciples and they are far from denying the matter of fact Thirdly that when Jesus did appear in the world there was a great expectation of the Messias among the Jews Thus we read of Simeon's waiting for the consolation of Israel Luk. 2.25 And that Simeon was no mean person he was the Son of Hillel the great and a man of great place among the Jews Again one Anna a Prophetess a devout and aged Widow who served God with fastings and prayers night and day spake of him to all them that looked for redemption in Jerusalem v. 38. The Woman of Samaria had heard of this fame and general expectation of the Messias among the Jews at that time and that he should be a great Prophet I know says she that Messias cometh which is called Christ when he is come he will tell us all things Joh. 4. 25. Hence the Jews at that time being under a general expectation of the Messias were very prone to take others for him that did then appear And because John Baptist was a man of great vertue and fame and that was greatly followed by the people and that in the very time when the Messias was expected Casaubon Exercit. ad Apparat Baronii Annal. n. 5. they sent Priests and Levites to know who he was Joh. 1.19 That is to know whether or no he were the Messias as appears from what follows And he confessed and denied not but confessed I am not the Christ v. 20. And there have been those that have thought that Herod was by some taken for the Messias also by them who upon that score are called the Herodians in the Gospel I shall not need to dispute that so much is certain that the Jews did expect the Messias at that time And I shall afterwards shew what ground they had so to doe It shall be enough at present to add that as there was a general expectation of the Messias about that time so there were a great number of Impostours that took that occasion to delude the people and draw followers after them Gamaliel names two Theudas and Judas of Galilee Act. 5.36 37. Josephus gives us a farther account of these men He tells us that under the government of Fadus Antiqu. l. 20. c. 2. a certain Magician called Theudas perswaded a great number to follow him to the river Jordan pretending himself
had in confirmation of it Men are not commonly so fond of truth as to confirm it with their bloud Can we imagine that men should persist in a lie to the loss of all things At the close of chap. VI. But of this matter I have discoursed before and shall not need to pursue it now 7. That the Resurrection of the Messias was foretold in the old Testament as well as typified and therefore the Evangelists are not to be rejected by the Jews for reporting this matter The first preachers of the Christian faith did confirm this truth from the holy writings which the Jews owned They proved from them that this was foretold and they do it beyond all exception because they argue from those principles which the Jews allowed To this purpose belong those words Thou art my Son this day have I begotten thee That that Psalm did relate to the Messias we are able to prove from the Jewish Doctors who do acknowledge it And therefore when it was alledged to this purpose they cannot say that it was an allegation out of a place which did not belong to the Messias The Apostle applies those words to this sense He assures us that God hath fulfilled his promise in that he hath raised up Jesus again as it is also written in the second Psalm thou art my Son c. It being confessed by the Jews themselves that the Psalm out of which these words are cited is to be understood of the Messias I need not go about to justifie and make good that it belongs to the matter for which it is alledged Psal 2.5 Act. 13.33 I shall onely consider how fitly these words are applied to the resurrection of the Messias For thou art my Son this day have I begotten thee seem rather to relate to the birth than to the Resurrection of the Messias For the clearing of this matter it is to be considered That it is no unusual thing to call the earth our Mother as well as our Parent from whom we are born it is very common to call each of these by the same name The earth out of which we are taken and to which we return is our Mother as well as our Parent from whom we spring and our grave to which we return is our Womb as well as that of our Mothers When Julius Caesar dreamed that he had offered violence to his Mother Sueton. Jul. Caesar there were those who did interpret it arbitrium orbis terrarum portendi i. e. that he should conquer the earth quae omnium parens haberetur i. e. which is the common Mother of us all Id. Tiberius And when Tiberius died the people out of hatred prayed Terram Matrem the common Mother the Earth to give him no reception but among the wicked Philo the Jew tells us that the earth seems to be a Mother Phil. Jud. de Mundi Opificio and that thence it was that among the Ancients it was called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by a word that at once signifies the Earth and Mother and that according to Plato 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. the earth does not so much imitate a Woman as a Woman the earth He tells us farther that nature hath given her breasts viz. the chanels of rivers and fountains After this manner do the writers of the old Testament speak with whom the grave which receives the dead is called the Womb and therefore a Resurrection from thence may well be called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or a new birth Naked came I out of my Mother's womb says Job and naked shall I return thither What we render thither the Chaldee Paraphrast expresseth by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. to the grave Again on the other hand when the Holy Scripture speaks of the Mother's womb it does it after such a manner as refers to the Earth the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Mother of us all When the Psalmist speaks of his being formed in the Womb he expresses the Womb by the lowest parts of the earth which the Chaldee Paraphrast on the place interprets of the Womb of his Mother And the Virgin 's Womb seems to be meant by the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Vid. Paulum Fagium in Gen. 37.35 i. e. the lowermost parts of the earth And to my present purpose into the innermost parts of the belly in Solomon is by the Targum rendred in profundum Sepulchri i. e. into the depth of the Grave And we find among the Jewish Writers that the Mother's womb is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a sepulchre Oholoth c. 7. m. 4. He that is born and dies and is buried does but pass from one Tomb to another And he that rises out of the Womb of the earth or his grave may be said to be born anew and therefore it may well be said of our Saviour when he rose from the dead that he was then begotten And when the Apostle applies those words this day have I begotten thee to our Saviour's Resurrection he does but speak the language of the Hebrew writers and the Jews who own this Psalm to belong to the Messias have no reason to complain that those words of it should be applyed to his Resurrection Job 1.21 Ps 139.15 Eph. 4.9 Pro. 18.18 And this manner of speaking is very agreeable to the type of our Saviour's Resurrection I mean the Prophet Jonas who was three days and three nights in the Whales belly to which the heart of the earth in which Jesus was and from which he rose answers Matt. 12.40 Jonas is not onely said to have been in the belly or bowels as it is in the Hebrew of the Fish Jonah 1.17 But when he prayed unto the Lord his God there and God heard him he is said to have heard him out of the belly of Hell or as the Marginal reading hath it and the Hebrew word signifies out of the belly of the grave Jon. 2.2 And when he acknowledges his deliverance he does it in these words Yet hast thou brought up my life from corruption O Lord my God Jon. 2.6 compare Ps 16.10 Act. 2.31 Jesus came from the Virgins Womb and the Womb of the earth The first birth was natalis Imperatoris the second natalis imperii The Prince was born when the Virgin brought him forth at Bethlehem but his Resurrection was the birth day of his Kingdom and of his entrance upon his everlasting Preisthood Upon both accounts he is justly called the Son of God as he was conceived by the Holy Ghost in the Virgins Womb and as he was raised by the Holy Ghost from the grave Augustin de Tempore Serm. 133. Virgoerat adhuc terra nondum opere compressa nondum sementi subacta Tertull. de carne Christi And there is a great cognation between the Womb and the grave The Womb of the Virgin which had received none but the Holy Jesus and the Sepulchre which Joseph had provided wherein never
been perverted by some men and scoffed at by others In all that I have done I have sincerely pursued after truth if I have any where mistaken I shall most readily and thankfully hearken to him who shall shew me my Error I do intend a second part in which I design to examine the objections which we find in the Jewish writers against the truth which I have defended in this first and against the Religion which Jesus taught I shall in that particularly consider their pretenses for their unbelief And they are such as these viz. That their law is of perpetual obligation that the promise of the Messias was conditional and the time of his coming not fixed that there are some Prophecies relating to the Messias and his times not fulfilled in Jesus c. I do very well know that there are in the Church of England a great number of men who are better sitted for such an undertaking than I am I should be so far from esteeming it a disappointment if any of them would prevent me in what I design farther that it would be matter of rejoycing to me And if what I have done already may be but an occasion to excite some other person to doe better I shall think my time well spent and be very well content that what I have here offered should be laid aside or overlooked The Contents of the several Chapters contained in this Book CHAP. I. Of the name Jesus That this name by which our Saviour was called and distinguished from other men is no objection against the Prediction Isa 7.14 The importance of the name Jesus In what sense our Lord is said to be a Saviour His Salvation compared with the deliverances mentioned in the Old Testament Of the word Christ Of anointing things and persons and the design of it Of the anointing of Jesus Some account of the Jewish constitutions about anointing with their holy Oil. pag. 5 6. CHAP. II. It is agreed between Jews and Christians I. That there was a Messias promised and II. That there was such a person as our Jesus and III. That there was at that time when Jesus lived a general expectation of the Messias That hence it was that there appeared so many Impostours about that time An account of some of them from Josephus Of the promises of the Messias and the gradual revealing of them A Passage in Maimon concerning the Afternoon-Prayer misrepresented by a late learned writer Several particulars relating to the Messias predicted pag. 42. CHAP. III. Of the birth of Jesus Of his lineage and kindred Of the place of his birth The seeming difference in the account of Bethlehem by the Prophet Micah and St. Matthew reconciled Of his being born of a Virgin A particular explication of 1. Tim. 2.15 She shall be saved in Child-bearing The time of his birth agreed with the predictions and general expectation of some great Person Several testimonies to this purpose The miserable shifts and evasions of the Jews pag. 58. CHAP. IV. That the Messias was to be a Prophet Deut. 18. v. 18. considered That our Jesus was a Prophet like unto Moses shewed in sundry particulars That the Messias was to converse much in Galilee according to the prediction Isa 9.1 2 3. That place more particularly considered That our Jesus did so Several other Characters of the Messias belonged to Jesus That the Messias as was predicted was to doe stupendious works pag. 87. CHAP. V. The works of Jesus Mat. 11.4 5. considered Of the miracles which Jesus did The vanity of the Jews in attempting to disparage them The opinion of Maimonides that the Messias would not work miracles considered and the Authour of Tractatus Theolog Polit. What a Miracle imports That the Messias was to work miracles proved against Maimonides That they are a good argument of the truth of a Doctrine That Jesus did work true miracles This proved at large pag. 105 106. CHAP. VI. The Miracles which Jesus did compared with those which were really wrought by the hands of Moses with the pretended ones of the Church of Rome and with those storied of Apollonius Tyanaeus and some other Heathens Of the sufficient assurance which we have that Jesus did those works which are reoprted of him pag. 161. CHAP. VII That the Messias according to the predictions of him was to suffer This proved against the Jews Of the vanity of their twofold Messias the Son of Joseph and the Son of David The reason why the Jews make use of this pretence That Jesus did suffer That he suffered those things which the Messias was to suffer Luk. 24.26 46. and Act. 3.18 considered Zech. 9.9 to be understood of the Messias this proved against the Jews at large Of the kind of Christ's death Crucifixion was none of the Jewish capital punishments Of the Brazen Serpent Numb 21. St. John ch 3.14 considered The Jewish Writers acknowledge that the brazen Serpent was symbolical and spiritually to be understood Of the time when Jesus suffered that it did exactly agree with the type of the sufferings of the Messias A large digression concerning this matter Exod 12.6 considered Castalio justly censured for his ill rendring that place Of the two Evenings among the Jews The ground we have for it in the Scriptures The testimony of R. Solomon Of the practice of the Jewish Nation as to the time of offering their evening Sacrifice and the Passeover This shewed from their best Authours An objection from Deut. 16. v. 6. answered Jesus died at that time when the Paschal Lamb was to be slain Of the place and many other particulars relating to the sufferings of Jesus Of the great causes and reasons of the sufferings of Jesus Of the Burial of Jesus pag. 191 192. CHAP. VIII Of the Resurrection of Jesus That we have sufficient evidence that Jesus did rise from the dead That we have the most unexceptionable humane Testimony Why the same number of men are called the eleven and the twelve elsewhere when they were but Ten John 21.14 Explained This confirmed by the Testimony of an Angel and by Divine Testimony That Jesus removed all cause of doubting of the truth of his Resurrection That there were a select number of Men chosen to be witnesses of the Resurrection of Jesus That these witnesses as also the Evangelists are worthy of belief That it was foretold that the Messias should rise from the dead The words Ps 11.5 This day have I begotten thee are justly applied to this matter This proved against the Jews at large That Jesus rose from the dead is an undeniable proof that he is the Messias and of the greatest importance to us Of the time when Jesus rose from the dead Why on the third day And how he could be said to rise on the third day who was but one whole day in the Sepulchre and how this agrees with Matt. 12.40 where Jesus said he should be three days and three nights in the heart of the
the Messias shall come among them This is the natural and unforced sense of these words Now we know that forty years after the death of Jesus the Jews were overcome by the Romans their City and Temple burnt since which time they have been dispersed and scattered and are not at this day nor have they been for many ages any distinct Polity or Commonwealth Let them in this confute us if they can Let them tell us where their Nation dwells where it is that they are either a Kingdom or Republick or Body Politick Let them shew us their Sceptre their marks and ensigns of government and authority We know they are a scatter'd people that their City and Land are in the possessions of strangers and that they live under the laws and government of the several Countries in which they are The Prophet is more particular and precise in this affair Dan. 9. Gabriel informs that Prophet of the time of the Messias For there we shall not need to be beholden to the Jews to grant us that Gabriel speaks of the Messias for he calls him Messiah and Messiah the Prince His words to Daniel are these Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city to finish the transgression and to make an end of sins and to make reconciliation for iniquity and to bring in everlasting righteoâ—sness and to seal up the vision and prophecy and to anoint the most holy Know therefore and understand thâ—t from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks And threescore and two weeks the streets shall be built again and the wall even in troublous times And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off but not for himself And the people of the Prince shall come and shall destroy the city and the sanctuary and the end thereof shall be with a floud and unto the end of the wars desolations are determined And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate even untill the consummation and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate v. 24 25 26 27. That the time mentioned by Gabriel hath a particular reference to Christ must be granted it being express And then let men but compute the time and they will soon find that Gabriel's words give an account of a time that is long since past and that they are words that give such a description of time as must have its expiration about that time when our Jesus was in the flesh Another testimony we have from the Prophet Haggai chap. 2. It is well known that the second Temple came very much short of the glory of the first and yet there we find a promise that the glory of that second Temple should be greater than that of Solomon's which could not be otherwise true than that the Messias a greater than Soloman was to come into it and honour it with his presence Let us consider the words I will shake all nations and the desire of all nations shall come and I will fill this house with glory saith the Lord of hosts The silver is mine and the gold is mine saith the Lord of hosts The glory of this latter house shall be greater than of the former saith the Lord of hosts and in this place will I give peace saith the Lord of hosts v. 7 8 9. The glory must be with reference to the Messias or upon some other account Upon other accounts this house was so far from exceeding the glory of the first Temple that the Jews mention several particulars in which this second Temple fell short of the first And therefore the promised glory must refer to the coming and presence of the Messias And thus we reade in Malachy chap. 3. The Lord whom ye seek shall suddenly come to this temple even the messenger of the covenant whom ye delight in behold he shall come saith the Lord of hosts v. 1. It will appear by what hath been said that the time is lapsed long ago in which the Messias was to come For Daniel's weeks they are expired whatever Epocha we frame for their beginning And the people of the Jews have been vanquished and dispersed and their City and that very Temple into which the Messias was to come were committed to the flames above sixteen hundred years ago But then our Jesus lived when the Jews were a Polity and while they lived by their own laws and in their own land He went into that Temple which the Prophet mentions and did appear among the Jews before their Sceptre was departed and at an age and time when there was a great expectation of the Messias among the Jews and of some great person among the Gentile world That there was at that time when Jesus appeared a great expectation of the Messias among the Jews I have shewed already And I shall now observe farther still that there was even among the Heathens an expectation of some great person that should appear in that age in which our Jesus lived And of the truth of this we have very good testimonies from sundry Authours I shall not insist upon the predictions of the Sybils which were among the heathen people Thus much is certain that there was in that age a great expectation of some extraordinary person When Augustus in whose time our Saviour was born sent to the Oracle to know who should reign after him he received an answer to this purpose That an Hebrew Child had commanded him whom Augustus consulted off from his seat and remitted him to his sad doom and that therefore he should forbear making any farther addresses to him I will not lay any great stress upon this testimony There have been those that think that Virgil hath some passages that iusinuate the perfections of this person that was expected in that age Virg. Eclog 4. and that his words point at our Saviour however they were applied by him or others to the Son of Pollio And indeed there are some parts of his Poem that seem to look that way viz. Jam nova progenies coelo demittitur alto Te duce si qua manent sceleris vestigia nostri Irrita perpetua solvent formidine terras But be all this as it will we have other testimonies from approved Authors among the Heathens of the truth of what I have said Sueton. in vita Vespasiani Suetonius tells in the life of Vespasian to this purpose of a great expectation of some eminent person from Judaea about that time that should come into the government and administration of affairs His words are these Percrebuerat oriente toto vetus constans opinio esse in fatis ut eo tempore Judaeâ profecti rerum potirentur This agrees very well with what I
was predicted was to doe stupendious works I Shall now pass on to the Life of Jesus and see whether that agree with what was predicted of the Messias And under this head I shall insist upon the following particulars First that the Messias was to be a Prophet like unto Moses To this purpose we read what God said unto Moses I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren like unto thee and will put my words in his mouth and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him Deut. 18.18 This promise is deservedly applied unto Jesus Act. 3.22 7.37 Maimonides lays it down as a rule Maimon fundam leg c. 10. Sect. 9. that the Prophet of whom another Prophet hath testified is to be presumed a Prophet and needs not to be examined And then this testimony of Moses their greatest Prophet must needs be very worthy of regard since it can belong to none as will appear afterwards so peculiarly as to our Blessed Saviour who made it appear that he was that Prophet which was promised in those words And we find our Saviour appealing to the writings of Moses when he preached the things concerning himself Luk. 24.27 44. And he lets the Jews know that the writings of Moses will condemn them Do not think says he that I will accuse you to the Father there is one that accuseth you even Moses in whom ye trust For had ye believed Moses ye would have believed me for he wrote of me But if ye believe not his writings how shall ye believe my words Joh. 5.45 46 47. It is very evident that the Jews looked for a Prophet at that time Joh. 1.21 And the woman of Samaria intimates no less Joh. 4.25 And the Jews confess that he was of a truth that Prophet that should come into the world Joh. 6.14 And this general expectation of a Prophet at that time must be grounded upon the promise of God Juchasin fol. 14. for so it was as the Jewish writers confess that after the death of Haggai Zechary and Malachy Prophecy ceased And that it should revive again among them they had no ground to believe but what they had from the divine promise And these words Deut. 18. are a very express promise of it when Prophecy had ceased so long a time yet they are assured that God would raise them up a Prophet Now our Saviour was that Prophet And he gave great proofs that he was a Prophet He taught the will of God and spake as never man spake and did mightily exceed the Scribes in his discourses who were a sort of men that came the nearest to the Prophets Mat. 7.29 We find our Lord preaching his Sermon on the Mount Matt. 5. declaring the acceptable year of the Lord Luk. 4.19 He spake to the wonder of his hearers with great authority and assurance with a mighty power and great conviction And whereas the Prophets were wont to say Thus saith the Lord Our Saviour hath it I say unto you not like an ordinary Prophet but like the great Shepherd and Bishop of our souls 1 Pet. 5.4 Heb. 13.20 1 Pet. 2.25 He farther shewed himself a Prophet as he foretold things to come And this he did frequently and the things came to pass and he appeared to be a true Prophet Thus he foretold the denial of Peter Matt. 26.75 the treachery of Judas Joh. 6.70 71. his own death and resurrection Matt. 16.21 Aye and after that the destruction of the Temple and the Jewish Nation with the calamities that should go before it Mat. 24. And the false Christs that should arise of which there have been considerable numbers from time to time He tells the Jews that though they did not receive him who came in his Father's name yet says he If another shall come in his own name him ye will receive Joh. 5.43 The poor Jews have wofully experimented the truth of those words of our Saviour having been imposed upon by Impostours from time to time to their great loss and mischief as I shall have occasion to shew more at large afterwards Thus did our Saviour make it appear that he was a true Prophet in that his predictions were answered by the event of things Maimon fundam leg c. 10. Sect. 2. And Maimonides himself lays this down as the test of a true Prophet that what he foretells comes to pass But he was not onely a Prophet but a Prophet like unto Moses also whose great Anti-type he was Moses is greatly magnified by the Jewish writers Maimon fund leg c. 7. and placed above the other Prophets And it is expresly said that there arose not a Prophet since in Israel like unto Moses whom the Lord knew face to face Deut. 34.10 And therefore it is a vain thing to look for this Prophet that was to be like unto Moses among the Prophets that succeeded Moses while the spirit of Prophecy continued in Israel But our blessed Saviour was like unto Moses in very many particulars If Moses were to be put to death as soon as he was born by the command of Pharaâ—h so was our Saviour by the command of Herod If he were forced to fly his countrey to save his life so was Jesus also If Moses fasted forty days and nights so did Jesus also If he were meek Jesus was meek and lowly in heart If Moses appeared when the Israelites were under the bondage of Egypt so did Jesus when they were under the Roman power If Moses gave his law from a Mountain our Saviour preached his Sermon on a Mount If Moses had his seventy Elders Jesus had his seventy Disciples If Moses were rejected and murmured at by his own people our Saviour came unto his own and his own received him not If Moses trampled on Pharaoh's Crown and despised the pleasures of his Court our Saviour refused to be made a King and despised all the glory of this world As the face of Moses did shine so did the face of Jesus Compare Ex. 34.35 with Matt. 17.2 And as Pharaoh designed the death of the males among the Hebrews that he might destroy the deliverer of that people so did Herod destroy them about Bethlehem As Moses returns into Egypt upon the death of those who sought his life so does Jesus into his Countrey upon the death of Herod But there are other things in which our Jesus was like unto Moses Viz. In his more clear and open converse with the divine Majesty Vid. Abravenel in legem fol. 417. col 3. Thus one of the Jewish writers tells us that Moses saw clearly 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 not parabolically and aenigmatically And God tells the Israelites thus If there be a Prophet among you I the Lord will make my self known to him in a vision and will speak unto him in a dream My servant Moses is not so with him will I speak mouth to mouth even apparently and not in dark speeches and the similitude of
preached unto them Matt. 11.4 5. He did such works as none could doe without the divine assistance and those very works also which the Messias was to doe according to the predictions of him when he came into the world But this argument requires a more particular consideration CHAP. V. The CONTENTS The works of Jesus Matt. 11.4 5. considered Of the miracles which Jesus did The vanity of the Jews in attempting to disparage them The opinion of Maimonides that the Messias would not work miracles considered and the Authâ—ur of Tractatus Theolog Polit. What a Miracle imports That the Messias was to work miracles proved against Maimonides That they are a good argument of the truth of a Doctrine That Jesus did work true miracles This proved at large THE words which I named before Matt. 11.4 5. deserve a farther consideration as they do very much confirm the truth which I am now insisting upon And to that purpose it will be well worth our while to consider the occasion of those words as well as the design of our Saviour in speaking them at that time We find that John Baptist the forerunner of our blessed Saviour who was himself confined to a prison sent two of his Disciples when he heard of the works of Christ to know whether or not he were the Messias who was to come or whether they were to expect some other Art thou he that should come or do we look for another v. 3. It is not to be supposed Hieron Epist Algasiae Quaest 1. that John Baptist was ignorant whether Jesus were the Christ or not for he knew him before this time and knew him to be the Messias also He had seen the spirit descend from heaven like a Dove and abiding on him He saw and bare record that he was the Son of God Joh. 1.32 34. He baptized Jesus in Jordan Matt. 3.15 And it is expresly said Joh. 3.24 that John was not cast yet into prison And we find him presently after those words testifying of Christ v. 28. John Baptist knew him well even before he baptized him Joh. 3.14 It could be no new thing to hear of the fame of Jesus he himself having foretold that his fame would spread Joh. 3.30 He had been questioned who he was and had confessed that he was not the Christ but his forerunner Joh. 1.20 23. And when he saw Jesus walking he called him the Lamb of God Joh. 1.36 From all which it is abundantly evident that John Baptist did not send to inform himself but upon the score and for the sake of his Disciples His Disciples wanted confirmation in that truth which their Master was well assured of There was among the Jews a fond expectation that their Messias would appear like a Temporal Prince Act. 1.6 and deliver the Jews from servitude and slavery they expected to be great men and no longer in bondage to any foreign power That their Messias should sight their battels and vanquish their enemies round about them Maimon H. Melach c. 11. This was the expectation of the Jews then and the later Jews have been of the same belief Now was John Baptist the forerunner of Christ in Prison and would shortly be beheaded there His Disciples might hereupon be tempted to doubt whether Jesus were the Christ or not for they that expected a temporal Prince would hardly believe that he would suffer his chief Minister and forerunner to be not onely detained in Prison but cut off by the hands of violence Hence John Baptist sends his Disciples when he himself was in Prison v. 2. He sends them when they most needed to be confirmed in the faith for the imprisonment and following death of their Master would be apt to make them question whether Jesus were the Messias or they not still to look for another It is likewise to be considered that John Baptist lays hold of the fittest opportunity of sending his Disciples for their greatest satisfaction His being in Prison implies that they needed a confirmation in the faith but then the tidings of the works which Christ did seems to be the occasion of sending the Disciples at a time when they were like to receive the utmost satisfaction which could be desired And no less seems to be implied in the second verse of this Chapter Now when John had heard in the prison the works of Christ he sent two of his disciples And for the message he sent them on it was of the greatest moment Art thou he which should come or do we look for another v. 3. i. e. Art thou the Messias that was promised to come among us or must we expect him to come still It is very usual to express the Messias by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he that was to come For he was promised long before under this expression of one that should in due time come among them The Sceptre shall not depart from Judah untill Shiloh come Gen. 49.10 Again Be strong fear not behold your God will come Isa 35.4 Again Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord Matt. 21.9 Joh. 12.13 Heb. 10.37 And agreeably hereunto the time of the Messias is called the kingdom and the world to come Mark 11.10 Hebr. 2.5 and chap. 6.5 Christ was the great hope and expectation of Israel They promised themselves very justly glorious things from his manifestation The woman of Samaria could say I know that Messias cometh which is called Christ when he is come he will tell us all things Joh. 4.25 Let us now consider the answer which Jesus returned unto this question of John Baptist's Disciples He refers them to his works for satisfaction It was upon the occasion of the works which Jesus did that John Baptist sent his Disciples v. 2. and when they come we find that Jesus refers them to the works which he did Jesus answered and said unto them go and shew John again those things which ye do hear and see The blind receive their sight and the lame walk the lepers are cleansed the dead are raised up and the poor have the gospel preached unto them v. 4 5. John Baptist had born witness of Christ before he does not send them back to their Master but refers them to his works Ye sent unto John says our Saviour to the Jews and he bare witness unto the truth Joh. 5.33 but then our Saviour adds v. 36. But I have greater witness than that of John for the works which the father hath given me to finish the same works that I doe bear witness of me that the father hath sent me His works then were a good proof that he was what he professed himself to be the Christ the Son of God Nicodemus could not but confess that no man could doe the miracles which he did except God were with him Joh. 3.2 And many of the Jews could not but say When Christ cometh will he doe moe miracles than these which this man hath done Joh. 7.31
by Our Lord used no Arts to deceive the people He does his works in an open and clear light And when it so happened that he did them more privately he forbids the divulging what he had done that there might be no shadow of any artifice or secret contrivance For our Lord did all things with a great 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and though he desired not the praise of his works yet he did them at least so openly that there could be no suspicion of fraud and imposture This was an argument of our Lord's sincerity He wrought miracles that men might believe and therefore he did that which did most of all tend to beget this belief in them For Miracles are for the sake of unbelievers and therefore had need be wrought and that openly also among them Thus Moses wrought his miracles among the unbelieving Egyptians The Prophet goes to Bethel and shews his sign in the sight of Jeroboam Elijah works a miracle in the sight of the Priests of Baal and our Lord does his before the multitude The Church of Rome talks much of miracles wrought within the verge of her own Communion She maintains doctrines that need confirmation And if she work miracles she should send some of her Children hither to work them among us that we might be convinced or left without a plea. They of her own Communion who believe her doctrines do not need her miracles If there be any need of them at all it is among us who cannot believe her Tenents till we see them better confirmed than yet they are It is to be suspected that they want that power which they are not able to make appear For it is but reasonable they should be done where there is need of them 5. Our Lord's works were perfect and complete It appeared by the effects that the work was completely done Matt. 8. chap. 9. When the Paralytick was restored it did appear to be a perfect cure by his taking his bed and walking It is said that the dumb spake who was restored by our Lord. Mar. 5.42 When he restored the Damosel to life Luk. 7.15 she arose and walked And of the Widow's Son of Naim it is said Joh. 11.44 chap. 9.7 Joh. 2. Luk. 8.35 Joh. 5. Mat. 14.20 that he that was dead sate up and began to speak And of Lazarus it is said that he came forth with his grave cloaths about him When he cured the man that was born blind he came seeing from the pool of Siloam And when he turned the water into wine the effect was discerned by the company Of the Demoniack that was dispossest it is said that he was found sitting at the feet of Jesus cloathed and in his right mind And the poor man that lay helpless at the pool of Bethesda takes up his bed and walks When Jesus fed the multitude he did not delude them with shadows and phantastick food and with the bare accidents of bread and fish but they did all eat and were filled The effect was very discernible they were not imposed upon by Spectrums and Collusions and pious frauds CHAP. VI. The CONTENTS The Miracles which Jesus did compared with those which were really wrought by the hands of Moses with the pretended ones of the Church of Rome and with those storied of Apollonius Tyanaeus and some other Heathens Of the sufficient assurance which we have that Jesus did those works which are reported of him BEfore I proceed to consider what may be objected against what hath been said before I shall for the farther confirmation thereof shew that the works which Jesus did were greater works than ever were done by any other person whatsoever And to that purpose I shall compare our Saviour's Miracles with those true and divine Miracles which Moses wrought with the pretended Miracles of the Church of Rome and those which are storied in the writings of the Heathens and more especially such as are told of Apollonius Tyanaeus I shall consider the Miracles which were wrought by the hands of Moses There arose not a Prophet since in Israel like unto Moses whom the Lord knew face to face Deut. 34.10 11 12. In all the signs and the wonders which the Lord sent him to doe in the Land of Egypt to Pharaoh and to all his Servants and to all his land and in all that mighty hand and in all that great terrour which Moses shewed in the sight of all Israel Upon the account of the Miracles which Moses did he was mightily famed among the Heathens as among his own Countrey men the Jews The Jews magnifie Moses above the rest of their Prophets Menasseh B. Israel Conciliat And one of their late Writers summs up the Miracles of Moses and those of the other Prophets from the beginning to the destruction of their first Temple and does affirm that the Miracles wrought by Moses or upon his account exceed the number of those which were wrought by all the Prophets together For whereas as all the Prophets for the space of above three thousand years wrought but 74 Miracles the Miracles of Moses alone were 76. I shall not examine his account let it be as it will but I shall shew that his works are not to be compared with those which our Jesus did I shall especially consider the Miracles which were wrought in Egypt these miracles which were then done in order to the bringing out the Israelites from the bondage in which they were And I must needs confess they were mighty works and such as did plainly speak a supernatural and Divine power And I ought not by any means to disparage those mighty works I shall before I proceed any farther shew you that those miracles were such as did indeed give sufficient credit to the mission of Moses and abundantly confirm the truth of his words And that will appear if we consider seriously these three things First the plagues themselves which were miraculously inflicted These were such works as were above the power of any Creature The works themselves declare a divine power It is true they were not all alike and the Magicians did the same works which Moses did for a while Exod. 7.12 22. ch 8. v. 7. They turned their rods into Serpents and water into bloud and brought frogs upon the land of Egypt as well as Moses These Magicians went as far as they could And it amounts to no more than this that they were able to inflict some evils upon their Countrey but not able to remove them For though it be said that the Magicians brought the Frogs upon the land of Egypt yet it is also said that when Pharaoh would have them taken away he applied himself to Moses and Aaron Exod. 8.7 8. which he would never have done if the Magicians could have done it for him nay more than this these Magicians were out-done by Moses after this They attempted to follow him but could not doe it they were
and bruises due to them fell upon him The chastisement and stripes were his the peace and healing thereby procured belong unto us In a word though we finned and were liable to suffer upon that account yet he suffered for us If this be not plain enough let us proceed All we like sheep have gone astray we have turned every one to his own way and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all v. 6. The plain and natural sense of which words is this that whereas we had sinned and had made our selves obnoxious to punishment yet God did not punish us as we deserved but the Messias in our room and stead To the same purpose we read afterward He was cut off out of the land of the living for the transgression of my people was he stricken v. 8. And after those words we read that his soul should be made an offering for sin v. 10. It is certain that a sin or trespass-offering under the law of Moses was expiatory and piacular and the beast was offered instead of the offender and God did accept the bloud of the sacrifice in the room of the life of the person who had sinned Let us now consider what we read in the New Testament to the same purpose Our Blessed Saviour in his solemn prayer a little before his passion hath these words For their sakes speaking of his Disciples I sanctifie my self that they also might be sanctified through the truth That is Christ did offer up himself as a victim or sacrifice for them as the Greek word is observed to signifie And that sacrifice also is to be looked upon as a piacular and expiatory one And to that purpose it is well observed that the prayer Joh. 17.1 2 c. by which Christ consecrated himself unto his death is like unto that which the Jewish High Priest used when he consecrated or offered up the victims of the day of expiation before the Altar Joh. 17.19 Agreeably to what hath been said St. Paul speaking of Christ tells us that God hath made him to be sin for us who knew no sin Of which words I can give no other sense but this viz. that though Christ were innocent himself yet God thought fit to give him up to death as a piacular sacrifice for our sins And to the same purpose St. Peter tells us that Christ bare our sins in his own body on the tree 2 Cor. 5.22 1 Pet. 11.24 The divine Authour of the Epistle to the Hebrews tells us that Christ did by himself purge our sins And that he was once offered to bear the sins of many And that he offered one sacrifice for sins Heb. 1.3 c. 9.28.1.10.12 And we find that the expiation of our sins is imputed to the death of Christ in the Holy Scriptures We have an altar whereof they have no right to eat which serve the Tabernacle For the bodies of those beasts whose bloud is brought into the sanctuary by the High Priest for sin are burnt without the camp Wherefore Jesus also that he might sanctifie the people with his own bloud suffered without the gate By sanctifying the people nothing less can be meant than the expiation of their sins and as this was done under the law of Moses by an expiatory sacrifice so was it done by the bloud of Jesus the anti-type of those sacrifices which he speaks of in that place who suffered without the gate St. John tells us that the bloud of Jesus Christ cleanseth us from all sin Heb. 13.10 11 12. 1 John 1. v. 7. And this is farther confirmed to us from this that our Saviour's bloud is said to be a price paid for us by which we are bought and redeemed For this cause he is the Mediatour of the New Testament that by means of death for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first Testament they which are called may receive the promise of eternal inheritance To which I shall add those words of the Apostle to the Ephesians where speaking of Christ he saith In whom we have redemption through his bloud And to the Colossians In whom we have redemption through his bloud even the forgiveness of sins Heb. 9.15 Eph. 1.7 Col. 1.14 To what hath been said very much may be added to the same purpose viz. that our Lord himself hath said that he came to give his life a ransom for many Matt. 20.28 That of St. Paul to the same purpose 1 Tim. 2.6 And those words of our Lord This is my bloud of the New Testament which is shed for many for the remission of sins Matt. 26.28 Again these words of the Apostle Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law being made a curse for us Gal. 3.13 Christ is elsewhere said to be the propitiation for our sins 1 Joh. 4.10 I shall not need to add any more Testimonies to those already named For though there are many others yet these are sufficient And indeed they do so plainly acquaint us with the end of Christ's death that he must use great art that can strain them to another sense For what the Socinians object against this doctrine viz. that it renders God's kindness less which yet is greatly magnified in the Scripture in giving his Son This objection I say can be of no force at all For though God thought fit for the honour of his justice that sin should not altogether go unpunished and gave us his Son to make our peace and redeem us from misery with his pretious bloud yet is this no diminution to the free grace and mercy of God 'T was the infinite mercy of God which moved him to find out this way in which we can claim nothing 'T was intirely the mercy of God that provided us this remedy Our pardon is free to us whatever it cost our Lord to procure it We have great cause to adore the love of God and the unparallelled charity of our Blessed Saviour Our free pardon and Christ's redemption the infinite mercy of God and the satisfaction of his justice are not things that are inconsistent The Apostles words teach us this truth with which I shall conclude this particular Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption which is in Jesus Christ whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his bloud to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past through the forbearance of God To declare I say at this time his righteousness that he might be just and the justifier of him that believeth in Jesus Rom. 3. v. 24 25 26. And thus I have considered the death of Christ as a sacrifice for sin and consequently as a great instance of the love of Christ who was content to dye that we might live And therefore when we are exhorted to love one another we are pressed to it from this consideration Walk in love as Christ also hath loved us and hath given himself for an offering
that he should not onely die but be buried and not onely buried but honourably interred also And what was foretold of him was fulfilled in our Jesus though it were very unlikely to have come to pass That the Messias should be buried is foretold by the Psalmist Thou wilt not leave my soul in Hell or in the grave neither wilt thou suffer thine holy one to see Corruption We have no dispute with the Jews about the burial of Jesus for they who grant that he died will not deny that he was buried it being the custome of the Jews to allow burial to all men even to the greatest malefactors whatsoever Psal 16.10 with Act. 2.31 and Chap. 13.35 But it was likewise foretold that the Messias though he were to suffer an ignominious death should be honorably buried This was foretold of the Messias and was eminently fulfilled in our Jesus Of the Messias it is said that he was cut off out of the land of the living And then it follows And he made his grave with the wicked and with the rich in his death because he had done no violence neither was any deceit in his mouth That is his enemies designed him the burial of a malefactor and he who dies among such is likely to be buried with them also but the Messias having done no violence would be rescued by the providence of God and honourably buried Isai 53.9 We have another Eminent prophecy of the Messias which cannot be denyed to belong to him by the Jews themselves where among other things it is foretold that his rest shall be glorious which words may well be allowed to predict the honourable burial of the Messias Abravenel upon the 53. of Isaiah brings these words as a proof that what is said Isa 53.9 he made his grave with the Wicked cannot belong to the Messias because it is said that his rest shall be glorious In which he grants two things First that the 11th Chapter of Isaiah is to be understood of the Messias and we find him accordingly expound it of him Secondly that these words his rest shall be glorious may well be expounded of the honourable burial of the Messias For else what cause had he to say that these words are opposite to those if they do not belong to the same matter Isa 11.10 Abravenel on Isa 53.9 And as this Jew hath justified those Christians who understand this place of the burial of the Messias so it is very certain that the place hath been understood to belong to this matter by the Ancient Writers of the Church The Vulgar Latin renders these words his rest shall be glorious erit sepulchrum ejus gloriosum And we find the Greek interpreters elsewhere render the word rest to this sense Just Mart. pro Christian Apol 11. Erit in pace Sepultura ejus Cypr. adv Judaeos l. 2. v. Hieron Epist ad Marcell as signifying burial Thus he shall enter into peace they shall rest in their beds which words Justin Martyr understands of the Messias is by the Greek rendred 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e his burial shall be in peace And this place we find was understood of the honourable burial of the Messias by the Ancients I shall now shew that these things were fulfilled in our Jesus Though he were crucified under the Roman power yet was he buried contrary to the custome of the Romans who left those that were crucified to the injuries of the air and Voracity of the fowls Again though Jesus died between two theives and died as a malefactor and though his enemies designed nothing more but an ignoble grave with the wicked yet it was brought to pass by the providence of God that his dead body was buried with the rich and that great honour was shewed him in his burial The body of Jesus was begged by a rich man named Joseph 't was lapped in clean linen and laid in his own new Tomb. Nicodemus a Ruler of the Jews and a Master of Israel brings a mixture of Myrrh and Aloes The good Womans pretious Ointment was poured out for the burial of Jesus And when the Sabbath was past several Women brought spices that they might anoint him In a word great care was taken about his burial by the rich by the honourable and the devout It was done with care and with cost and by Persons of the greatest rank and quality Not to say that in after times the place where his body had lain was visited frequently and greatly adorned But I shall not need to insist any farther upon this but shall proceed to consider the Resurrection of the Messias Matt. 27.57 Joh. 5.1 10. with ch 19.39 Matt. 26.12 Mark 16.1 CHAP. VIII The CONTENTS Of the Resurrection of Jesus That we have sufficient evidence that Jesus did rise from the dead That we have the most unexceptionable humane Testimony Why the same number of men are called the eleven and the twelve elsewhere when they were but Ten John 21.14 Explained This confirmed by the Testimony of an Angel and by Divine Testimony That Jesus removed all cause of doubting of the truth of his Resurrection That there were a select number of Men chosen to be witnesses of the Resurrection of Jesus That these witnesses as also the Evangelists are worthy of belief That it was foretold that the Messias should rise from the dead The words Ps 11.5 This day have I begotten thee are justly applyed to this matter This proved against the Jews at large That Jesus rose from the dead is an undeniable proof that he is the Messias and of the greatest importance to us Of the time when Jesus rose from the dead Why on the third day And how he could be said to rise on the third day who was but one whole day in the Sepulchre and how this agrees with Matt. 12.40 where Jesus said he should be three days and three nights in the heart of the Earth The third day on which Jesus rose considered as the first day of the Week IF the sufferings and death of Jesus will afford us any arguments to prove him to be the Messias the Resurrection of Jesus from the dead and his exaltation to God's right hand will much more afford us pregnant and unexceptionable proofs that he was the Christ the Son of God and that his Religion which he hath taught us came from God And for the better speaking to this matter I shall First shew that we have sufficient evidence that Jesus did rise from the dead Secondly that this is an unexceptionable proof that he is the Christ Thirdly I shall consider the time when Jesus rose from the dead viz. the third day I shall shew that we have sufficient evidence that Jesus did rise from the dead By sufficient evidence I mean such as is enough to satisfie any honest and inquisitive mind as much not to say much more as we have for any matter of fact which we were not the eye-witnesses of As
man before was laid The Virgin and the Sepulchre were both undefiled And however a several Joseph were related to each yet they had not made any use of either Our Lord was miraculously born of the Virgin and raised from the dead Without the help of a man he was born at first and was raised from the grave without humane assistance and maugre all the endeavours used to prevent it He received life upon the first conception and a new life when he rose from the dead They were both effected by the H. Ghost and published by Angels Heb. 5.5 Luk. 1.35 with Rom. 1.4 chap. 8. v. 11. Luk. 23.53 But we have another prediction of the Resurrection of the Messias that cannot belong to the person of David at all viz. Thou wilt not leave my soul in hell neither wilt thou suffer thine holy one to see corruption This must belong to the person of the Messias for David dyed and was buried and his flesh consumed and it is therefore an unexceptionable proof of that truth which it is brought to Confirm Ps 16.10 Act. 2.29 We have another Prophecy that assures us that the Messias after his resurrection shall dye no more viz. The promise of the sure mercies of God which we find the Apostle applying to this matter and inferring from it that Christ who rose from the dead was no more to return to corruption Isa 55.3 Act. 13.34 If what hath been said be duly considered we shall find that God hath given us sufficient assurance that Jesus did rise from the dead For what greater assurrance can we desire of this matter of fact unless we think Our Saviour should have dyed in every age and Country and risen again to satisfie our unreasonable infidelity What is there that the Jew can object against this doctrine thus confirmed will they undertake to prove a negative against so many positive proofs and witnesses what possible ways are there left them of doing this They cannot deny the possibility of the thing who believe a Resurrection to come or that God made the world Or will they say as once they did who watched his Sepulchre and were hired to say it that his Disciples came by night and stole him away while they slept Is it probable that this should gain any belief among men what temptation could they have to do this Or is it likely that they who for fear forsook him when he was living should adventure upon the Guard to retrieve his dead body which was honourably interred If these Souldiers knew this to be true why did they not hinder it if they knew it not how could they Testify what could hinder them who had power that they did not prevent it Or what reason have we to believe those Competent witnesses who confess that they were a sleep when it was done Thus having shewed that we have sufficient Evidence that Jesus did rise from the dead I shall now proceed to shew That this is an unexceptionable proof that he is the Christ and consequently of the truth of the Christian Religion I need not enlarge upon this head For it is very evident and plain and the Jews themselves cannot deny it And for that reason they who deny not that he lived and dyed do what they can to stifle the belief of the Resurrection This they do because they are sensible that his Resurrection from the dead is a proof beyond exception that he is the Messias They Endeavoured what they could to hinder his resurrection and when they could not doe that they laboured to hinder the belief of it And that which makes the Resurrection of Jesus so unexceptionable a proof that he is the Christ is this that Jesus did in his life time not onely profess himself to be the Christ the Son of God but also foretell the manner of his own death and that he should not onely rise again but rise again the third day and does referr the unbelieving Jews to his Resurrection as to the great sign and proof of his being sent from God When the Scribes and Pharisees asked Jesus for a sign He answered and said unto them an Evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a Sign and there shall no sign be given to it but the sign of the Prophet Jonas For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the Whales belly so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the Earth Our Lord had done many miraculous works among the Jews and still they require a Sign or a more plain and clear proof that he came from God Our Saviour referrs them to his Resurrection as that which would be a most unexceptionable one and sufficient to remove any but a perverse and incurable unbelief And this he calls the Sign of the Prophet Jonas That Prophet was sent to call the Ninevites to repentance and was successfull in his undertaking and his miraculous escape from the belly of the Whale was a Competent proof that he was sent by God and very fit to gain him credit with the Ninevites And very probable it is that the fame of what had befallen the Prophet had come to the men of Nineveh and that it made way for the reception of the doctrine which he preached The Resurrection of Jesus was a greater sign and that which made way for the Entertainment of his doctrine in the World For it did confirm the truth of his Doctrine Matt. 16.21 Joh. 2.19 ch 3.14 ch 12.32 33. Matt. 12.39 40. There have been those who have been raised from the dead besides Jesus And many besides him have professed themselves to be the Christ also But none in the world but Jesus professed himself to be Christ and confirmed it by his Resurrection Maimon Epist ad Judaeos Marsilienses Maimon tells us of one who deceived the poor Jews under a pretence that he was at least the forerunner of the Messias who having boasted vainly that he would rise again after his death in token that he came from God was indeed beheaded by a certain Arabian King but returned not to life again He was not able to give the proof that Jesus did who rose from the dead And though there have been others who have been raised from the dead yet none of them ever professed to be the Christ the Son of the living God as our Jesus did This being a truth upon which the truth of the whole Christian Religion depends no wonder that the belief of this Article should be accounted for a faith in the whole Religion That is the word of faith says St. Paul which we preach that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead thou shalt be saved For he that believes that Jesus rose from the dead does believe the other Articles of Religion which are all confirmed by this He that believes that Jesus is risen does at
the same time believe him to be the Christ and consequently that his precepts are divine that his promises are certain and his power and authority uncontrollable This is indeed the faith peculiar to Christians The Jews and the Heathens believed some other points relating to Religion That Jesus rose that he is the Christ the Son of God this is the great Article of the Christian faith Hence it is that so much is imputed to this faith and to the confession of this truth in the New Testament Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God God dwelleth in him and he in God And afterward whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God Whoever believed this believed all the Christian Religion and he that when those words were written did believe and profess this truth when 't was greatly dangerous so to doe as he gave proof of a sincere faith so he might be truly said to dwell in God and to be born of God Ro. 10.9 1 Joh. 4.15 2 Joh. 5.1 Had not Christ been a man he could not have died and had he not been Christ the Son of God he could not have risen from the dead Had Jesus been a deceiver he must have lain in the grave till the general Resurrection Nothing less than a divine power could raise him to life again it was the Godhead which raised the humane nature and then Christ raised himself as he foretold he would and gave a great proof of his Divinity Joh. 2.19 21. It is an easie thing to destroy life but to restore it again speaks an almighty power It is nothing short of Omnipotence which can bring so great a thing to pass The Key of the grave is one of those which God keeps in his own hand The Apostle in very Emphatical words expresseth the power by which Jesus was raised from the dead for speaking of the exceeding greatness of God's power to us-ward who believe he adds according to the working of this Mighty power which he wrought in Christ when he raised him from the dead The words are very great as a learned man hath well observed on the one hand there is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and on the other there is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Here 's 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 two words to express power and that the power of God and as if these were too little 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is added to the one and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to the other and still as if this were too short there is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and to this is added 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 all this mighty power is actuated and exerted also And who can now believe that God would have shewn such a power in raising up Jesus from the dead if he had not been the Christ But I proceed to consider the time when Jesus rose from the dead viz. the third day The death and Resurrection of Jesus were necessary toward our redemption and the belief of both these is necessary to our Salvation It is therefore fit we should be well assured of the truth of them both and to that purpose that there should be some distance between the one and the other For as he could not have revived if he had not first died so it was fit that we should be well assured of the first before we could be obliged to believe the second If Christ had revived as soon as he had been taken down from the Cross it might have been questioned whether or no he were really dead But for the better speaking to this matter I shall First enquire into the reasons why there was this distance of time between the death and resurrection of Jesus Secondly that Jesus did rise the third day after his death Thirdly I shall consider the third day as it was the first day of the Week I shall enquire into the reasons of this distance of time between the death and Resurrection of Jesus And we may take them in the following particulars 1. It was very fit that there should be some competent distance between the death and resurrection of Jesus that men might be assured that he dyed without which they could not be obliged to believe him risen from the dead 2. It was not fit that the body of Jesus should lie so long as to be corrupted It was enough that he was so long a time dead as might give assurance that when he did appear he was really risen from the dead Had he lain any longer in the grave he had continued so long there as would have brought corruption and putrefaction upon his body Martha tells Jesus concerning Lazarus By this time he stinketh and for a proof of it she adds for he hath been dead four days This long stay in the grave would have made too great a change in the body of Jesus Besides there was a Prophecy of the Messias to this purpose that though he should dye and be buried yet his body should not lie so long in the grave as to putrefie Thus St. Peter applies that prediction Thou shalt not leave my Soul in hell nor wilt thou suffer thine holy one to see corruption to the resurrection of Christ Joh. 11.39 Act. 2.27 31. 3. That this precise time of the resurrection of Jesus is according to the Scriptures or writings of the Old Testament 1. Cor. 15.4 Among those persons who in the Old Testament were types of the Messiah Isaac was an eminent one He was born against the laws of nature the Son of the Promise called the onely Son and the beloved Son and the Heir He was given up by his Father to death and he bore the Wood which was to bear him and in these things he was a remarkable type of Christ And the Bereshith Rabboth expresseth his carrying the wood by his carrying his Cross upon his Shoulder Bereshith Rabb in Gen. 22. The same Authour upon those words on the third day c. reckons up a great many places of Scripture which mention the third day and many particulars for which the third day was remarked viz. the giving of the law c. and then tells us it was remarkable for the Resurrection of the dead and cites to that purpose the very words of the Prophet which we Christians alledge to the matter in hand After two days he will revive us in the third day will he raise us up and we shall live in his sight The same Authour in the same place mentions the third as remarkable upon the score of Jonas who was three days and three nights in the belly of the Whale Than which nothing could have been said more appositely to our present purpose that being an express type of the Messias as hath been noted before And 't is enough in this matter that we can shew the express prophecy of Hosea and the eminent type of the Prophet Jonas
into Heaven and to be concerned there in behalf of his people Secondly that our Jesus did ascend into Heaven and is there concerned on the behalf of his people Thirdly I shall shew that the divine Authour of the Epistle to the Hebrews does chap. 9.24 and elsewhere infer this truth from the avowed principles of the Jewish Writers Fourthly I shall make it appear from the effects following upon the exaltation of Jesus in Heaven that he did ascend thither and was there concerned on our behalf and that therefore our Jesus is the Christ I shall shew that the Messias was to ascend into Heaven and to be concerned there in behalf of his people This was foretold in the Old Testament Thou hast ascended on high thou hast led captivity captive thou hast received gifts for men Psalm 68.18 These words are not onely applied by St. Paul to this purpose Eph. 4.8 but with great reason they are so applied The occasion of that Psalm was the removal of the Ark Psal 68.1 1 Chron. 13.5 which of a long time had been separated from the Tabernacle of the congregation which Moses had made for it And as this Ark was an eminent type of the Messias so the place assigned both by Moses and afterward by Solomon for the reception thereof was a type of Heaven as shall be shewed afterwards And therefore it shall not need to seem strange to any man that those words which were at first used with reference to the Ark should be applied to the ascension of the Messias And this may be the more reasonably presumed to be implied in those words of the Psalmist if we compare them with the words of another Psalm relating to this matter Psal 24. where we find the Ark the symbol of God's special presence called the King of glory and it's reception into the place prepared for it represented in such words as do serve to express the reception of a glorious King into his Palace and Throne Lift up your heads Vid. The Dean of Peterburgh's Argument to Ps 24. O ye gates even lift them up ye everlasting doors and the King of glory shall come in Who is this King of glory The Lord of hosts he is the King of glory Besides what hath been said to justifie the Apostle's application of those words to the Ascension of the Messias into Heaven I may add farther that the words themselves cannot so properly be applied to any person as to the Messias when he did ascend up into Heaven Psal 7.8.93.4.71.19 For what we render on high is observed in the Psalmist's phrase to signifie Heaven and to be applied unto God And the following words thou hast led Captivity Captive c. do very fitly agree with the conquest which Christ obtained over death and over the Devil whom he triumphantly led Captive when he went up into Heaven and he did as those who triumphed were wont to doe upon this Ascension of his into Heaven bestow great gifts upon mankind the bestowing of which was an argument that when he was exalted into Heaven himself he did not forget his followers but did by the gifts which he bestowed make it appear that he was concerned there in behalf of his people Another prophecy to this purpose we find in Micah Mic. 2.13 The breaker is come up before them They have broken up and have passed through the gate and are gone out by it and their King shall pass before them and the Lord on the head of them I will by no means enter into a particular explication of this place See Raimund Pug fidei par 3. dist 3. c. 18. and D. Pocock on Micah 2.13 nor shall I need to prove that it belongs to this matter for which it is produced because the Jews themselves grant that these words are to be understood of the Messias and the latter Jews confess that this was the opinion of their Ancient writers I shall name but one more but that is a very eminent and conspicuous one The Lord said unto my Lord Ps 110.1 sit thou at my right hand untill I make thine enemies thy footstool Now these words do so belong to the Messias that they cannot be applied to any other person And whereas several predictions which concern the Messias had also a reference first to some other eminent person who was a type of him The words of this Psalm throughout do immediately belong to him and cannot in any tolerable sense be applied to Abraham or David Ezekiah or Zorobabel or any other person whatsoever And though the Jews have exercised their wits in perverting the sense of this Psalm and applying it to some other person P. Galatin de arcan Cathol veritat is l. 8. c. 24. yet as they have been very unhappy in it so several of them have been forced to confess that these words are to be understood of the Messias And without all doubt the ancient Jews did with one consent interpret this Psalm of the Messias who is said not onely to sit at God's right hand but also to be a Priest for ever after the order of Melchisedeck which words can not be with truth affirmed of any other person whatsoever And Jesus did apply these words to the Messias and so far stopped the mouths of the Pharisees that they were not able to reply Matt. 22. v. 42 43 44 45. What think ye says Jesus to them of Christ Whose Son is he They say unto him the Son of David He saith unto them how then doth David in Spirit call him Lord saying the Lord said unto my Lord sit thou on my right hand till I make thine eâ—emies thy footstool If David then call him Lord how is he his Son This put them to silence which it would not have done if these words had not been confessed to belong to the Messias Had it not been the sense of the whole Nation that the Psalm belongs to him they could soon have answered our Saviour in this place And as this place was made use of by Jesus so it was by his followers also to the same purpose and to the same persons viz. the Jews also Act. 2.34 St. Peter tells them that David is not ascended into the heavens but he saith himself The Lord said unto my Lord sit thou on my right hand c. To the same purpose are these words justly applied by St. Paul 1 Cor. 15.25 in his Epistle to the Corinthians and the Authour of the Epistle to the Hebrews mentions this as a peculiar belonging to the Messias and not to the Angels those excellent Ministers of God To which of the Angels said he at any time sit on my right hand untill I make thine enemies thy footstool Heb. 1.13 with ch 5.6.10.12 13. Now this sitting on the right hand of God does denote the exaltation of the Messias and not onely that but his great power and authority and his being concerned
weak and very unlikely means This He did and none but He could doe and and therefore this is a sufficient proof that the Gospel comes from God and that that Jesus whom we Preach is the very Christ 2. Nor yet was the Gospel propagated by force of Arms as the Religion of Mahomet hath been which has made its way in the world by the dint of Sword But Christianity was not thus planted it denounced no War to those that refused it it gave out no menaces to that purpose This it neither did nor would nor could it do The Senate of Rome shall not need fear the Galileans Sword Jesus sent abroad no fighting men there is no Horse prepared for this battel no Spears or Bows These are the Servants of the Prince of peace who are so far from War that they come to require the nations to learn War no more and to beat their Swords into Plough-shares and their Spears into Pruning hooks The Gospel had no potent Princes or States that favoured it that stood up for its defence and maintenance there were none of these powers that took upon them the Title of Defenders of the Faith Nay and they were so far from doing it that they were its avowed enemies and drew their Sword against it So that the first Preachers came naked and unarmed into a furious and potent and idolatrous world Preaching the Gospel of peace and the severe Religion of a crucified Jesus The armour they had was Spiritual and an Armour of light an armour which the victorious Romans had neither used nor yet feared They were girt about with truth that was all their military girdle They put on the breast-plate of righteousness the shield of faith and the helmet of salvation and the sword of the spirit which is the word of God and had their feet shod with the preparation of the Gospel of peace Eph. 6. These were the armour of the first Preachers of the Gospel and who could expect that they should with these overcome mighty Kingdoms and Provinces And yet with these preparations did they succeed and overcome the greatest nations and brought them into the obedience of the Gospel Let us hear what the Apostle says to this purpose We do not War says he after the flesh for the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds casting down Imaginations and every high thing that exalteth it self against the knowledge of God and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ 2 Cor. 10.3 4 5. This is evident then that they did not force the Gospel upon the world they did not convey it by the Sword or Battel-bow they neither did nor could do this and yet for all this it succeeded and conquered aye and triumph't also over all the power the policy the strategems of the Devil and all his instruments And got that ground without blows and force which it had never gotten with it To what then must this victory be imputed Not to the Pike and Sword but to the energy and force of Truth and to the mighty blessing and miraculous providence of God It was God that brought this to pass which men could never have done And this is a sufficient Evidence that this Religion comes from God Had it been a lye it could never have had that success by these unlikely means had it been from the Devil or the World sure it would have made use of the instruments and strategems of War to have made room for it in the world But that which is from God needs none of these assistances and helps And this doubtless is a very good argument of the truth of the Christian Religion that it did not make its way by the power of the Sword nor was it preserved that way The Religion of Mahomet indeed spread far but it was by the help of these carnal weapons To the instruments of War and the dissensions and back-slidings of Christians under God's permission it own much if not most of its success Nay what was it else that did uphold Idolatry but the instruments of War and slaughter False Religions are forced to use this force and violence which the truth which comes from God and hath his blessing does not need The pure and undefiled and primitive doctrine of the Gospel did not use nor yet need these aids Indeed the Apostatized Church of Rome which hath falsely called her self the Catholick Church since she left the true Faith of the Gospel hath betaken her self to these carnal weapons And 't is easie to know the cause of it also For when she wanted the evidence of truth she then was fain to run to the power of the Sword By this Sword she cut asunder those knots she was not able to untie And whom she could not confute she would condemn to the fire and fagot The Secular Power must be called in to uphold her grandeur and power St. Peter's Keys are not sufficient unless she unsheath his Sword she is now bolstered up by the powers of this world and when she wants aid from the sword of the Spirit she will derive it from the Sword of Princes Her proceedings shall need to be no objection against what I have said Who though she call herself the Catholick Church is very far from deserving that name and hath rather shewed herself by these her actions the Synagogue of Satan than the Church of Christ she hath declared her cause to be bad which could not be maintained and upheld without the assistance of Secular force The first planters of the Gospel used none of these weapons We read of none they burned for Hereticks no Common-wealths interdicted for hindring their worldly greatness no Navies or Armies raised against those that would not acknowledge them as their Superiours These have been the pitifull arts of that unclean Church of Rome which is an argument that however she vainly boasts her self Catholick yet she does not shew her self in these things at all Christian For the Church of Christ never got its growth by these carnal weapons 3. It was propagated by sufferings by patient enduring of tribulations Prayers and Tears were the onely weapons of the Primitive and undefiled Church of Christ The Bloud of Martyrs was that fruitfull feed that did so strangely increase and multiply Which is an argument that Jesus was the Christ and this Religion came from God Had it been otherwise it had not been possible but those first persecutions had quite rooted it out of the world Had it not been of God it must needs have so fallen out We see in the greatest Rebellions how soon they are stopped when the chief Heads and Leaders are taken and punished This puts an end to any Insurrection or Confederacy And so would it have done by Christianity also had it not been from Heaven and been accompanied with truth and righteousness So that fire and sword cannot vanquish it prisons and
chains and death it self cannot stop its course It must needs be a good cause that bears up against all the malice the meanaces the punishments that a wicked world could devise or inflict Aye and that persons of all sorts and degrees should seal this Doctrine with their Bloud too young as well as old rich as well as poor people as well as their Teachers women as well as men those that were remote and far distant from one another Nemo gratis malus It cannot be imagined that so many persons of all sorts and so remote from one another should conspire and consent together to bear witness to a lye That they should venture their lives and all that which the world calls good upon an untruth Certainly no man can be so fond as to believe this This Martyrdom of Christians and the growth of Christianity under it is a good proof that Jesus is the Christ and that the Religion of Jesus came from God For certainly had it not been from God it could never have born up from so small a beginning against so mighty an opposition And therefore it was a wise speech of Gamaliel to the men of Israel who were so forward to persecute the first preachers of the Gospel I say unto you says he refrain from these men and let them alone for it this counsel or this work be of men it will come to nought But if it be of God ye cannot overthrow it lest happily ye be found to fight against God Act. 5.38 39. And this he well perswades from the destruction of Theudas and his Complices and also of Judas the Galilean and those that obeyed him To which may also well be added this that whoever since hath pretended himself to be the Messias or his forerunner hath been so far from perswading it that he hath indeed come to nought and miserably cheated and abused his credulous followers Thus we know that about two and fifty years after the destruction of the Jewish Temple by the Romans Buxtorf Lexicon Rabbime in 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 there did arise a certain man that pretended himself to be the Messias and was called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Son of a Star alluding 'tis like to the prophecy Num. 24.17 but this man was destroyed by Adrianus with many thousands of the Jews besides So that now the Jews are not ashamed to call him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or the Son of a Lye Maimon Epistol ad Judaeos Massilienses Maimon tells us of another who deceived the poor Jews under a pretence that he was the forerunner of the Messias who having boasted vainly that he should rise again after his death in token that he came from God was beheaded by a certain Arabian King and so perished and left the Jews that gave him credit in great calamity and distress It were a very easie thing to give in an account of the cheats and impostors who have arisen in the several ages of the world Euseb Eccl. Hist l. 4. c. 6. Hieron Catal. Scrip. Eccl in Agrippa Origen contra Cels p. 44. Vorstii observat ad Gantz p. 292. Juchasin fol. 38. Zemah David p. 150. under a pretence of being the Messias or his forerunner by whom the Jews have been miserably imposed upon and deluded from time to time This is reported not onely by the Christian writers but by the Jewish also The Jews have often been frustrated in their expectations and the cheat hath quickly been discovered And they have for many Generations expected their Messias in vain There hath appeared no man under pretence of the Messias or his forerunner but he hath soon come to nought And no wonder for a lye though it may prevail for a while will not obtain long The heat of persecution will fetch off its paint and false colours 'T is truth alone that can endure a Trial. Facile res in suam naturam recidunt ubi veritas non subest A lye may for a little while out-face the truth and prevail upon the easie and credulous part of mankind especially where it meets with no severe and potent opposition but when once the Authours of a forgery are discovered when they are brought to punishment who contrived the cheat and were the abettors of it then it falls to the ground and spreads no farther It hath not power enough to stand up against so great a violence But Christianity prevailed in spight of all the malice and force and combined endeavours of the Devil and all his instruments to root it out CHAP. X. The CONTENTS What was predicted of the Messias was fulfilled in our Jesus This appeared in the birth of Jesus in his Office and Character in his Works in his Sufferings and Resurrection and the spreading of his doctrine The adoreable providence of God in bringing Events to pass This shewed in very many particulars This is a farther proof that Jesus is the Christ IF what hath been said before be duly considered we shall upon sufficient evidence conclude that our Jesus is the Christ and that the Christian Religion came from God Not that I have said all which might have been said in so weighty an argument but that which hath before been insisted upon is sufficient to convince a lover of truth That there was a Messias promised and described in the old Teslament is not contested between the Christians and the Jews nor do the Jews deny that Jesus lived and that he suffered by the hands of their forefathers as we say he did We believe the writings of the old Testament which the Jews themselves acknowledge to be Divine Neither they nor any man living hath any just cause to call in question the authority of the books of the New Testament which give us an account of the birth and life of the miracles and doctrine of the death and Resurrection of the Ascension and intercession of Jesus Here 's nothing reported in these books in it self incredible nothing that is light and trifling nothing unbecoming God nothing against good manners but we have the same reasons to believe the truth of these things which we have for any other History which we do believe without doubting The same we have and much more Allowing then but the truth of the matter of fact which we have no shadow of reason to call in question it will abundantly appear from what hath been said that Jesus is the Christ For there was not a word that fell to the ground which was predicted of the Messias but it was fulfilled in our Jesus There was nothing so minute or small but it was accomplished and fulfilled Let us to this purpose recollect those particulars mentioned before and consider their exact accomplishment in our Jesus I will begin with his birth We find that the first promise which was made of the Messias was under the Character of the seed of the Woman Gen. 3.15 And this Woman was to be a Virgin also according to
Jews every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins And presently after that he added save your selves from this untoward Generation 1 Pet. 3.21 The same Apostle elsewhere speaking of the Ark of Noah wherein they were saved who entred into it adds the like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us c. And the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper is also a pledge of God's favour and our reconciliation We are admitted to feast upon the great Sacrifice which was offered upon the Cross This was not allowed in Sacrifices under the Law that were expiatory to the People We partake of the body and bloud of Christ of that body which was offered upon the Cross and of that bloud of the New Testament which was shed for many for the remission of sins Matt. 26.26 6. Our Lord Jesus sent forth his Messengers into the World to declare pardon to the penitent He took care that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all Nations Luk. 24.46 They were entrusted with the Power of the Keys to bind and loose to let into the Kingdom of God and to exclude from it It were easie to shew that the Christian Religion does upon other accounts besides what have been named excell the Law of Moses It had a better Mediatour and was better confirmed It was more succesfull and farther spread and affords both more and more conspicuous Examples than are to be found under that Law It is attended with greater motives to obedience as well as greater motives of Credibility The Jews are pressed to obey God because he brought them out of Egypt The motive had great force but 't was peculiar to that People We are constrained by the Love of God in Christ Jesus We are moved by the love of Christ which passeth knowledge His death and passion the comforts of the Holy Ghost the unspeakable love of God and hope of pardon and of Eternal life these are our motives to obedience These are great enough to thaw and unlock the most obdurate heart to work upon the most benummed minds I proceed to consider The usefulness of the foregoing discourse And that is very great where it is duly weighed and considered It would be of great use to the Jew would he but consider it and lay it to heart And is of very great use to the Christian to awaken him to the greatest regard to his holy Religion and to a very hearty embracing of it I shall at present onely consider this one advantage which it will afford us viz. that it gives us a fair occasion of inquiring into the grâ—at Ends and Causes for which the Law of Moses was given I will not here undertake to insist upon all the Causes of the Law of Moses Much less will I goe about to inquire into the reason of the particular Precepts of that Law I make no doubt but that God gave the Jews that Law to keep them from Idolatry and to that purpose to preserve that People separate from the neighbour Nations Many of the rites appointed I doubt not were therefore prescribed because they ran Counter to those rites which did obtain among Idolaters then in being I will onely consider the ends of this Law as far as my present argument is concerned And that I shall doe in the following particulars 1. The Law was given to restrain the Jews and keep them from a loose and licentious Course of sinning The promise of the Messias was made to Abraham above four hundred years before the giving of the Law But though the Messias were then promised God did not think fit to send him presently In the mean time the Jews the Children of Abraham whom God had chosen for his Church were to be restrained from living as they list They were very prone to wickedness and needed a restraint in the mean time Therefore was the Law given and given with great solemnity and terrour It denounced many evils against transgressours and left them liable to a curse the more effectually to oblige them to obedience It was not given as God's last revelation nor to give life and to justifie them Gal. 3.19 Wherefore then serveth the Law It was added because of transgressions God did not think it fit that they should be left unrestrained 1 Tim. 1.9 with Gal. 5.22 The Law is not made for a righteous man but for the lawless and disobedient 2. The Law was given as that which contained types and shadows of good things to come and was therefore given that they might have among them a pledge of those spiritual good things to be bestowed in the days of the Messias The great promise which God made to Abraham was the promise of the Messias this promise was renewed afterward when Isaac was born it was repeated by Jacob to his Sons before his death The Messias was the desire and expectation of the more wise and devout Israelites They receive a Law in the mean time full of types and shadows of what they were to expect in the latter days or the days of the Messias Hence it is that the Gospel as it is distinguished from this Law is called truth not as truth is opposed to falsehood but as it is opposed to types and shadows and as it speaks the substance of what was but symbolically represented before Thus it is said that the Law was given by Moses and that grace and truth come by Jesus Christ John 1.17 And the Gospel is called the word of truth Eph. 1.13 Joh. 14.6 Joh. 4.23 Heb. 8.2 Our Saviour tells us that he is the way and the truth and tells the Woman of Samaria that the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth They that obey the Gospel are said to walk in the truth and obey the truth And Heaven is called the true Tabernacle Heb. 10.1 ch 8.5 The Law had a shadow of good things to come and not the very Image of the things The Priests under the Law are said to serve unto the example and shadow of heavenly things Coloss 2.17 Heb. 3.5 That Law was a pledge of a better and the things therein commanded were but a shadow of things to come Moses was faithfull as a servant for a testimony of those things which were to be spoken viz. by Jesus and his followers For so the Syriack hath it for those things which were to be spoken by him 3. To dispose men for the reception of the Gospel of Christ It was well fitted for this end And that this was the end of it is very evident from the words of the Apostle Gal. 3.22 23 24. The Scripture hath concluded all under sin that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe But before faith came we were under the Law shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed wherefore the Law was our