the evil things which it threatens to deterr us from Sin are as to the Matter of them the greatest that we are capable of enjoying or suffering and consequently the most probable to raise our Hopes and to excite our Fears to the highest Pitch For the Arguments that do most strongly persuade us to any thing are from Interest from the Profit and Advantage we shall reap by doing it from the Tendency it has to make us happy and Happiness consists in being perfectly free from all Pain and Trouble and Vexation and in the full and free Enjoyment of whatsoever is pleasing and delightful to us But now both these the Gospel gives Assurance of to all those that believe and obey it that is that they shall thereby be freed from that intolerable Pain and Misery which the Wicked and Unbelievers shall be condemned to and also that they shall thereby be instated in the perfectest and compleatest Happiness both of Body and Soul In a Happiness far greater than any they do or can enjoy now nay in a Happiness much greater than any they can now have so much as a Conception or Idea of in their Minds 1 Cor. 2.9 For Eye hath not seen nor Ear heard neither have entred into the Heart of Man the Things that God hath prepared for them that love him But there is besides a remarkable Circumstance which does much enhanse the Value of any Good and likewise much aggravate the Evil of any Pain or Misery viz. its Duration For how great soever the Good or Evil proposed to persuade us to any thing are in themselves yet if they be but of short Continuance if they will soon expire and be at an End we reckon it not worth while to be at much Pains to obtain such a short-lived Good or to avoid such a transient Evil But in this Respect also the Motives both of Hope and of Fear which the Gospel proposes to us do far surpass all those Persuasives or Inducements which Sin can offer for the most we can hope to escape by the Commission of any Sin is the Pain and Suffering of a few Weeks or Years or a temporal Death which last yet we cannot be so vain as to hope to escape clearly for we can at most but delay it for a short Season And on the other side the greatest Good we can propose to our selves or so much as hope to obtain by any Sin is the Pleasure of a short Life In which Hope Men are likewise very often most sadly disappointed their sinful Gratifications commonly bringing with them or drawing after them much more Trouble and Vexation even in this World than the little Pleasure they can reap from them is sufficient to compensate for But if it were not so If the Pleasures of Sin were certain and sincere yet they are but for a Moment They can be but short because our Life its self is but short Jam. 4.14 being as St. James says a Vapour which appeareth for a little time and then vanisheth away But the Motives of both kinds which the Gospel proposes have in this Respect also that is in Respect of the Duration of the Good or Evil proposed all the Advantage that is possible For the Misery we shall escape and the Blessedness we shall attain by yielding Belief and Obedience to the Gospel are both of them Mark 9.46 48. Matth. 25.46 Mark 3.29 Matth. 18.8 2 Thess 1.9 Jude 13. Rev. 20.10.14.11 of eternal and endless Duration A Worm that never dieth a Fire that never shall be quenched Everlasting Punishment Eternal Damnation Everlasting Fire Everlasting Destruction The Blackness of Darkness for ever A Lake of Fire and Brimstone where they shall be tormented Day and Night for ever and ever and where the smoke of their Torment ascendeth up for ever and ever These are the Evils which the Gospel threatens to Sin And if these be not sufficient to deterr Men from it what can be sufficient What Evil can that Man be supposed to be afraid of who is not afraid of everlasting Burning A greater Evil cannot be threatned and he who is not scared by this would certainly be less scared by the Threatning of a less Evil. And on the other side Everlasting Life a Crown that fadeth not away a Kingdom that cannot be moved an eternal Weight of Glory Fulness of Joy in the Presence of God and Pleasures for evermore at his right Hand these are the good things promised to Obedience And could greater things be promised than these could we our selves if we were put to desire what we would desire more and if the Promise of unspeakable and everlasting Blessedness be not sufficient to prevail with us to undertake a Godly and Christian Life certainly nothing can be sufficient If God should make never so many Revelations of his Will to Mankind he could not propose greater Encouragement to Obedience than he has done already in the Gospel And if those good things which he has promised do not move us 't is not because they are not great enough to move a wise and considering Man but because we are so bent upon Sin that we will not give way to any Considerations that might serve to restrain us from it In a Word The Gospel Motives to Repentance and Obedience comprehend all that we can fear or hope for so far therefore as Fears or Hopes can work upon us there is plainly nothing wanting in that Standing Revelation that God has made of his Will by Moses and the Prophets and especially by Christ and his Apostles to make it successfull that is to persuade Men to Repentance if they will but hear what they say and give Credit to it But 't is not perhaps the Infidels will say a better Rule that they Want than the Scripture is or better Motives to persuade them to lead their Lives according to it than the Scripture proposes but what they chiefly want is some better Evidence some greater Certainty of the Truth of the Scripture This therefore was what I propounded to do in the next place viz. To shew that we have sufficient Reason given us to convince us of the Truth and Authority of the Holy Scripture and consequently of all the Doctrines which are taught by it But because the handling of this Point would take up too much Time I shall chuse to deferr it and conclude this present Discourse with an earnest Exhortation to all those that do sincerely believe the Gospel to consider often and seriously of those great Motives which it proposes to persuade Men. For tho' we live in an Age of great Infidelity wherein some are bold enough to strike at the very Foundation of all Religion and to dispute at least if not deny the most evident and undeniable Truths of it and others think they pay Respect enough to the common Reason and Judgment of Mankind if they do but grant themselves to be Deists and wherein even among those that
infinite Difference is there between these two States And how well must we needs think it worth all the Pains and Labour that we can take in this World to secure to our selves a Portion in that better Sort of everlasting Life in that Life in which there is no Pain tho' there be but little Pleasure But still our Thoughts are short we have not yet a just Notion of the Difference between these two States For if we believe the Scripture and I speak now to those that do believe it that everlasting Pain which the wicked will be condemned to is not a light or gentle Pain but the sharpest the acutest the most tormenting that can be endured and that eternal Joy which we have a good Hope of by the Gospel is â—ikewise the greatest the fullest the compleatest that we are capable of for in representing the former to us the Scripture all along expresses the Torments of Hell by such Pains as are here most afflicting to us â—s the Biting and Gnawing of a Worm the being â—eaten with Stripes the noysomness of Brimstone and â—he Burning of Fire And on the other side when it would represent to us the Happiness of the Blessed â—t does it by resembling the heavenly Joys to such Pleasures as do here upon Earth most sensibly delight â—s such as are the Pleasures of a spacious rich and â—ommodious Dwelling of the choicest Delicacies to â—lease the Tast of the rarest Melody to delight the Ear of a Crown and a Kingdom and an exceeding Weight of Glory and of whatever else can gratifie or â—lease any of our Senses Now tho' these Representations or Descriptions of Hell and Heaven are not perhaps to be understood liâ—erally the Scripture herein speaking not according â—o the Strictness of Truth but according to our preâ—ent Capacities and Apprehensions who have now very â—ittle Notion of any Pain or Pleasure but what affects â—he Senses of our Body yet thus much may most certainly be concluded from those Descriptions of these two States which we meet with in Scripture that both the Torments of Hell and the Joys of Heaven are as great as they can possibly be far beyond any thing that we now feel or enjoy or can have any Notion of And in a Word that as the Pain of Hell is endless so it is likewise intolerable and that as the Joy of Heaven is perpetual so it is likewise unspeakable and full of Glory And now after this short tho' very imperfect Representation of these two vastly different States of Men in that other and everlasting Life that will begin when this is over I think I may fairly ask again What God could have done more either to deterr us from Sin than to threaten Hell torments to those that live in it or to encourage us to Obedience than to promise to those that continue in well doing the unspeakable Happiness of Heaven Certainly if these Motives will not prevail upon us no other can be proposed that would prevail Nay further Tho' I have hitherto spoken to you as to Christians which believe the Scripture and that there will certainly be another Life after this even such a Life as I have been speaking of an everlasting Life of perfect Happiness or extreme Misery yet if you have at all attended to and are any whit affected by that Representation that I have made to you of the Pains of Hell and of the Joys of Heaven and of the Eternity of both I should now dare to address my self to you even tho' I thought you believed very little of these things and methinks I should not doubt but that I might prevail with you and persuade you to Repentance by these Gospel Motives of Heaven and Hell even altho' the Revelation thereof were not certain and undoubted altho' there were some just Reason to question the Truth of them For put the Case that it is very uncertain whether there will be an eternal Life or no Nay put the Case that it is ten to one that it is much more probable that there will not be any such Life after this Yet when we consider what Eternity is and what a vast Difference there is between living in perfect Joy and in everlasting Burning and when we consider withall the Shortness of this present Life and how little we can lose in it by abstaining from Sin and how little we can suffer in it by the strictest Holiness and Virtue even the bare Possibility that there will be an eternal Life tho' we had no certain Revelation and no other very good Assurance given us of it would be abundantly sufficient to deterr us from Sin and to stir us up to well-doing For if we live well here and there be really an eternal Life it will be happy for us that we have made this Preparation for it but if there should indeed be no other Life after this we shall be then no Losers by what we have done we shall be then in as good a Condition as others will be in who did not believe it nor live in Expectation of it And all that Trouble which the Exercise of Piety and Virtue now costs us is not worth speaking of it is no more than we ought in Reason and Prudence to be at altho' at the same time we believed it to be very uncertain whether there would be any such eternal Life or no. For this is what we call and account Wisdom in all other Cases viz. to provide not only against Certainties or high Probabilities but when it may easily and conveniently be done even against Possibilities too We reckon him an unwise Man for the World who being in a good Way of getting spends all as fast as it comes in when he has no present Need to spend so much and lays up nothing against old Age when if he lives to it he will be past his Labour and not in a Capacity to get enough to support himself And yet of all those that do wisely make some Provision for old Age not one in ten perhaps lives to it But nevertheless the bare Possibility that a Man may live to old Age and the very great Inconveniences that he will suffer if he shall have nothing then to live upon make it very adviseable for every one of the ten to lay up somewhat if he can do it against that time And he of the ten whose only Lot it will be to live to be old is not a wiser Man for making such Provision than the other nine are who yet in the Event will be never the better for their Labour Put case therefore that there is the same or even a much greater Vncertainty whether there will be an eternal Life after this yet when we consider what an eternal Life is when we consider that if there be a Heaven and we can procure our Portion to be there we shall be happy infinitely and unspeakably happy to eternal Ages And that if there be a Hell
no Suspicion of what was done nor any Sense of that great Alteration that had been made in the World by these Books nor any Remembrance afterwards when they awoke and found themselves Christians that they had been of some other Religion before when they were first taken with that Lethargick Fit But if these things may be what is there of this kind that may not be If the World be so much mistaken in this Matter it may be as much mistaken in any other Matter of the like Nature And then It may be that there never was such a Man as Homer or Virgil or Coesar or Cicero or Plutarch or any other of those Persons as whose Writings we now receive the Books that go under their Names but that all the Books pretended to be written by those Authors and likewise all the Books of later Date whereby the Authority of those former Books is attested were in like Manner contrived and made and dispersed by such another Gang of crafty and designing Knaves who took a Pleasure in abusing the rest of the World or hoped to make a Gain to themselves â—hereby Nay then for why should we stop here It may be that not only the Laws of our Religion but the Laws of our Civil State too are all forged and counterfeit It may be that once upon a time The Keeper of the Publick Records having by much and long Observation attained to good Skill â—n the ancient Ways of Writing for many Ages backward and being a compleat Master of his Pen and having also gotten an Art to make a fresh Writing seem just as old as he had a Mind it should be thought to be did compose and deposite in â—heir proper Places those Original Acts of Parliament which are now taken to be the Laws of some of our former Kings and that to confirm and establish his Fraud he procured some other Persons at the same Time to Write or Print and to convey into all Shops and Libraries several Books of Reports and Pleadings wherein these counterfeit Acts were cited and referred to and it may be that while as this was doing none else had their Eyes open to see it nor had ever after the least Suspicion of what was done Or if they had yet that they were so well pleased with the Cheat which they thought would be a good Means of preserving Peace and Justice in the Nation as to be willing it should pass to Posterity undiscovered These May be 's are I am sure every whit as possible and as likely as the other Either therefore let those Men who upon this Account doubt of the Authority of the Books of the New Testament Or who would make others doubt of it only by suggesting that it is a thing possible in Nature that they may be all forged and counterfeit let them I say either entertain and suggest the same Doubt concerning all other ancient Books of the Antiquity and Authority of which there is not greater Evidence than there is of these And then they will render themselves so justly ridiculous to the World that there will be no Need to expose their Folly for then they must call in Question the Authority of all Books and the Truth of all History Or else let them fairly own that the true Reason of their making a Doubt concerning these Books rather than concerning others is because they do not relish the Matter of them because they find it easier to resist that strong Evidence that is given of the Authority of these Books than they do to govern their Lives according to those strict Rules of Holiness and Purity that are therein prescribed and to bring their Wills to the Obedience of Faith And if they will but own this which I believe is the Truth their Prejudice and Partiality will be so evident to all that it may be reasonably hoped their impious Suggestions will do but little Harm in the World and that few Men of any Sense or Reason will be so fool-hardy as to venture their Souls and run the Hazard of a miserable Eternity upon so many and such very improbable I had almost said such impossible may be 's as must be supposed to have been if indeed these Books are forged and counterfeit if indeed they were not written by those Persons whom they are commonly ascribed to But yielding this Point may the Atheist or Infidel farther say viz. that the Gospel called St. Matthew's was written by St. Matthew and that of St. Mark by St. Mark and the Rest of the Books which are ascribed to any other certain Authors by those Persons to whom they are severally ascribed yet the Authority of the whole New Testament will not by this Concession be sufficiently established For of some Books of the New Testament the Authors are not known of others they are doubted Some Parts of this Book that are now received have been rejected in ancient Times and â—thers not universally receiv'd And besides 't is cerâ—ain that in the early Times of Christianity there were several Counterfeit Gospels and Epistles some of which may possibly have slipped into the Canon unawares And lastly If it be granted that all the Books of the New Testament were originally written â—y the Apostles or other Inspired Men yet however the Books that we now have are but Copies in which many Alterations may have been made by designing Men or careless Transcribers These Objections or Cavils rather for such I am sure they would be accounted in any other Case against the Authority of these Sacred Books have been urged by some Men both anciently and lately But they have been also so well and fully answered by those learned Persons that have written in Defence of the Canon that I once thought to have taken no Notice of them and I believe had not done it but that I considered on the other Hand that when an old Objection that has been answered an Hundred times is urged afresh a great many may take it for a new one and if it be not quickly answered may be apt to think it unanswerable so that in this Case it may be better to repeat the same Answer if it be a good one that has been often formerly made to it than to say nothing And besides in this degenerate Age in which any wild or Atheistical Discourse passes for Wit it may be the Hap of some Persons who have not much Mind or Leisure or Opportunity to read Books to hear these things in Conversation and not knowing readily what Answers to make to them to be somewhat staggered in their Belief thereby Especially if they be such whose loose and licentious Way of Living makes them easie to receive without Examination any Notions that may give them Ease or Encouragement in Sin For these Reasons therefore I thought it would not be amiss especially because it is a Matter properly belonging to the Subject I am now upon and because I have some time left for it to
Evidence of his own Senses But the Gospel of St. Luke it must be granted is not of this sort He himself does not pretend that the Matters by him recorded were of his own Knowledge he only says Luke 1.2 3. He had perfect understanding of them from the very first from those who from the Beginning were Eye-witnesses and Ministers of the Word And of some few Matters recorded by the other Evangelists the same must likewise be granted particularly of the things that were done before they were called to be Apostles of these things I say it must be granted that 't is most probable they were not Matters of their own Knowledge that they recorded them only upon credible Information from others But when 't is consider'd on the other hand that there are very few things related by St. Luke which are not to be found in some of the other Gospels his Testimony that he had perfect Information of the things he has recorded from several Eye-witnesses adds a Degree of credibility even to the other Gospels and is a good corroborating Evidence of their Truth And all the Matters recorded by him or the other Evangelists only upon Information of others must be granted to be more credible than the Matter of most other ancient Histories of good Credit is if we reflect upon what was said in the former Discourse concerning the Nature and Circumstances of the things recorded particularly that they were such things as might be most certainly known and were capable of the best attestation and that they were things done in the same Age and in the same Countrey in which they lived who have written the History thereof And what hath been said is I hope sufficient to shew the good Capacity the Authors of the Historical Parts of the New Testament were in to know the Truth of the Things they have recorded most of them being such as 't is probable three of the Evangelists as Two of them without all Dispute were Eye witnesses of and the rest such as they might have certain Information of from several Persons then alive and well able to witness the same Of the Ability then of these Authors to write a true History of these Matters I think there can be no reasonable Doubt And that there is as little Reason to doubt of their Honesty and Faithfulness will in part appear if we consider in the third place 3 The strong Obligations they were under to write nothing but the Truth according to the best of their Knowledge or Information Now the Obligations that Men are under to speak or write Truth may be reduc'd to two Heads Honour and Conscience By both which the Evangelical Writers were more strongly obliged to Truth in their Relations than commonly other Historians are 1. One Obligation that lies on all Men to speak or write nothing but what is true is Honour For there is nothing that is generally accounted more base or dishonourable than to tell a Lye there is nothing that by those who stand most upon their Honour is thought more reflecting and disparaging and more necessary to be resented as an high Affront than to have the Lye given them What therefore is generally thought to be a great Reproach it may reasonably be presumed unless the contrary appears a Man will be careful to avoid by not giving any just Occasion to have it cast upon him And this is one Ground of that great Credit that is generally given to ancient Histories 't is presum'd unless there be evident cause to think otherwise that the Authors of them were Men of so much Honour and that they had such a sense of the Reproach and Discredit that it would be to them to be found out in a Lye as made them careful not to record any thing as a certain Truth but what they had good Knowledge or Information of But that this Obligation to Truth was stronger on the Authors of the Evangelical History than on most other Historians is abundantly evident from what was noted the last time concerning the Nature and Conditions of the things by them related and of their History of them For the Matter of most other ancient Histories is such that the Historians might report many things untruly or upon slight Information and yet be pretty well assur'd that they should not be reputed Liars because the Matters recorded by them being things either done in some Places a good way of or in some time long before or in the Presence of but few Persons they might know that none of those into whose Hands their Histories would fall would be in a Capacity to contradict them tho' they were false Or they might reasonably suppose that their Readers would rather acquiesce in their Report than travel so far or take so much Pains as they must have done to disprove it especially if it was a Matter of no great Consequence to their Readers whether their Report was true or false But in the Gospel History the Case was quite otherwise and the Historians themselves could not but know that it was so For there were a great many concern'd to find out some Falsity in it and there were a great many that would have taken any pains to have done it and yet the Matters related by the Evangelists and their Manner of relating them were such that their History if it had been false in any particular might have been disprov'd with the greatest ease without being at any Pains to do it because most of those into whose Hands it first came would either have known it to be false or would readily have been told that it was so by abundance of Persons that could of their own Knowledge have contradicted it So that if it be supposed that the Evangelists had any Regard at all to their own Reputation it can't be imagin'd either that they did record any thing contrary to their Knowledge or that in Matters that were not of their own Knowledge they neglected to get the best Information and Intelligence that could be had because if they had done either of these they could not have been so vain as to hope to escape being Censured as the most notorious and shameless Liars that ever wrote But 2. The strongest Obligation that lies on all Men to speak or write nothing but the Truth is Conscience And the sense that all Men are supposed to have of the natural Turpitude of a Lye is the chief ground of that very great Credit that we give to humane Testimony in Cases of the greatest Concern and Consequence But this Obligation to Truth was likewise stronger on the Authors of the Evangelical History than on most other Historians 't was indeed so very strong that nothing less than an evident Proof of their Falsity can justifie the entertaining so much as a suspicion of it For to speak and write the Truth was what they were obliged to not only by the Law of Nature to which all Men are alike
gratifie Men in this unreasonable Desire working every Day new Miracles before their Eyes or sending their deceased Friends to them from the dead to assure them of a future State and to warn them to prepare for it 't is highly probable that very few or none of those who do not believe and are not brought to Repentance by the Preaching and standing Revelation of the Gospel would be perswaded by this Means If they hear not Moses and the Prophets nor Christ and his Apostles neither will they be perswaded though one rose from the dead I. I shall endeavour to shew that the present standing Revelation of God's Will contained in the Books of the Old and New Testament is abundantly sufficient to perswade Men to Repentance if they are not unreasonably blind and obstinate They have Moses and the Prophets Christ and his Apostles let them hear them And I think that if the standing Revelation which God hath made of his Will in the Holy Scriptures can upon any account be thought insufficient to effect this Design it must be upon one of these two Accounts viz. Either 1. Because no standing Revelation can be sufficient for this Purpose Or 2. Because there are some particular Defects in that standing Revelation which we have in the Holy Scripture which render it not so sufficient for this Purpose as 't is possible a standing Revelation might be 1. It may be pretended that no standing Revelation can be sufficient for this Purpose I am now therefore to enquire with what Reason this can be pretended And in speaking to this Point it does not lie upon me to prove that God could not reveal his Mind afresh to every Man in every Age of the World if he so pleased for there is no question but that the same God who in divers manners spake in times past to our Fathers by the Prophets could if he pleased speak to every one of us their Children in such Manner as he then spake to the Prophets themselves so that we might be all immediately taught of God as they were But every thing that may be done is not expedient to be done And whether this Method would be expedient or not will be hereafter enquired Neither does it now lie upon me to prove that this Way which God hath thought fit to take to instruct the greatest Part of the World viz. by a standing Revelation is the best Way and the most like to be effectual of any that could be used Of this I shall likewise have Occasion to speak somewhat hereafter But what lies upon me at present to make good is only this That a standing Revelation of God's Will may be so well contrived and so well attested as to be sufficient to perswade Men. And if there be any Ground for the contrary Pretence I think it must be either 1. Because all Matters necessary to be known and done by Men at all Times cannot at once be committed to Writing Or 2. Because there cannot be sufficient Evidence given to satisfie a Rational Man that any Writing that is said to be of divine Inspiration and Authority is indeed so 1. It may be said That all Matters necessary to be known and done by Men at all Times cannot be at once committed to Writing Because every Age of the World produces new Opinions which whether they be erroneous or not cannot be judged by a Criterion that was given many Ages before these Opinions were broached And as the World grows older in Years it likewise improves in Wickedness which cannot be restrained and suppressed by an old Law which was made before several Instances of those Wickednesses that are now practised were either known or thought of And if it were not so what need would there be of such a number of Books as are written in every Age to direct Men how to distinguish between Truth and Error and what Opinions to fix upon in that great Variety of Opinions that are offered to them Or what need would there be of so many new Laws as are daily made in every Commonwealth to restrain the growing Extravagances of Mankind and to keep them within due Bounds So that if there be any Necessity at all of divine Revelation to teach Men the Belief of Truth and the Practice of Righteousness it is necessary that there should be a new and fresh Revelation made at least as often as any new Error is broached or any new Piece of Villainy is practised in the World But to this Objection against the Sufficiency of a Standing Revelation I suppose a full Answer will be given in these two particulars 1. That there is no Arguing from the Wisdom and Power of Men to the Wisdom and Power of God It may be granted to be impossible for a Man to write such a Book as shall be sufficient to confute all the Errors that can possibly at any time afterwards spring up Or to compile such a Body of Laws as shall be sufficient to prevent or punish all future Crimes But what is impossible with Men may be possible with God who has a perfect Foresight of all the Errors that will ever be broached and of all the Wickedness that will ever be practised by Men to the End of the World To a Being of infinite Wisdom and Knowledge it may be not only possible but very easie so to contrive a Revelation designed by him for the Direction of future Ages that no Addition shall ever after need to be made to it Nay indeed 2. The Thing it self that is That a standing Revelation should be thus perfect that it should be so contrived at once and at first as to be sufficient to answer all the Ends of a divine Revelation as long as the World shall last is not very hard to be conceived For tho' Error be infinite Truth at least all Truth necessary to be believed is finite and limited And after a divine Revelation is once given no more is necessary to be believed in after Ages than was at first nor will there ever be more things necessary to be believed to the End of the World unless God shall please to add some new Revelation to the former And this Revelation of all necessary Truth once made being given to Men that are endued with Reason nothing more is or ever will be needful for the Discovery and Confutation of all Errors that can possibly spring up in after Ages but only a right Understanding of the Truths already delivered and a right Use of Reason in making Inferences and drawing Consequences therefrom And this is all that is pretended to by the Books of Controversie that are written in every Age The Design of them is not to declare new Truths or to establish new Articles of Faith but only to shew that those Opinions which they represent as false and erroneous are either in themselves or in their true Consequences contrary to some Maxims that are already receiv'd as true And it is no
of Books as written by such and such Authors without sufficient Assurance thereof But I believe the Truth is There are some Men who for Reasons best known to themselves but which may some of them be easily enough guessed at will not allow that to be sufficient Evidence that a Book was written by a Prophet or an Apostle which they must and do allow to be sufficient Evidence in any other Case of the like Nature For in other Cases we make no Doubt to receive a Book as written by such an Author if he owns himself to be the Author of it or if it be shewn written with his own Hand or if they that are the Publishers of it declare that they had it from him as his own or that they transcribed or printed it from a Copy which they knew to be of his Hand-writing or if it passes current in common Fame and Report to be his and his most intimate friends believe it so and he himself does not disown it and there be none else that pretend any Claim or Title to it Where these or most of these Circumstances do concurr we never doubt but that the Person said to be the Author of such a Book is so indeed unless there be some very clear Reason grounded upon the known Incapacity of the Person to write in such a Language in such a Stile concerning such a Subject or the like whereby it may be demonstrated that whoever was he could not be the Author of it The truth is Now adays and I suppose the Case was much the same formerly whoever is the true Author of any Book finds very little Difficulty to make Men believe that the Book is his the greatest Difficulty is for a Man to conceal himself in case he be not willing to be known to be the Author of it And when once a Book is generally receiv'd as written by such a Person when I say 't is thus receiv'd in that Age in which it was first publish'd and by those that were in the best Capacity to inquire and to judge who was the true Author of it they that live in after times never think it reasonable to question the Authority thereof unless there be evidently something either in the Language Dialect or Stile or else in the Matter of the Book as in the Relation of some Piece of History the References to some ancient Customs the Citations out of other Authors or the like by which it may be clearly made out that the Book cannot be of such Antiquity as it pretends to or could not be the Writing of that Person who is reported and has been commonly taken to be the Author of it Upon such Reasons as these a great many Books are every Day received as written by such and such Authors and tho' we cannot be so sure of a thing that we believe upon these Inducements as we are of what we see with our own Eyes yet such Reasons as these are by the general Consent of Mankind judged to be sufficient in a Matter of this Nature which is hardly capable of better Proof And for a Man to disallow in one Case that same Evidence of the Truth of a Matter of Fact which in other Cases of the like kind he allows to be sufficient for a Man to receive a Book as written by another Person and not to receive a Book as written by a Prophet or an Apostle when he has as much Reason to receive one as the other and no more Reason to reject one than the other is not Judgment or Discretion or reasonable Caution but manifest Prejudice and Partiality But 2. It was further said That tho' we might be well enough assured that a Book was written by the Person who is said to be the Author of it there is no Way to be sufficiently assured that who he was the Author of it did not design to impose upon his Readers It seems then there is no Way to be sufficiently satisfied that any Man is an honest Man and fit to be credited that he does not lye in every thing he says and intend a Cheat in every thing he does For if a Man may be believed in what he says he may as well be believed in what he writes And if he may be trusted in one Concern he may be as safely trusted in another unless good Reason can be shewed to the contrary But in judging of humane Nature in general Men commonly judge of others by themselves What they are inclined to they think is the Inclination of Mankind what they allow themselves in they think others whatever they may pretend make as little scruple of as they do what they freely practice they make no Doubt other Men would practise as freely on the same Occasions and upon the same Inducements So that when any Man is so very suspectful of the Honesty and Veracity of other Men it gives but too just Ground to think that the Reason of his Aptness to distrust all others is his Consciousness of his own evil Designs and of the little Regard that he himself has to Truth in his own Assertions And if those he has to deal with should refuse to give any Credit to any thing that he affirms because according to his own declared Opinion very little Credit can reasonably be given to the Report and Affirmation of others I do not see with what Reason he can blame them for so doing Not but that after all 't is possible that a Man may 't is doubtless what has been done by some give out a Report or write Book on purpose to deceive Mankind But nevertheless I say that it ought not without very good Reason to be suspected that this is any Man's Design and that we may have Assurance enough that a thing is not which yet we must grant was possible to have been Particularly as to the Matter we are now speaking of First In case the Author of any Book or of any Report relates a Matter of Fact of which there are not nor well could be any other Witnesses but himself as if he says that he has received from God such a Revelation with order to publish it to the World or that he himself was an Eye or Ear-witness that such a thing was privately done or spoken by another the Credibility of such a Report whether written or spoken depends Partly upon the Nature of the Report its self Partly upon the Credit of its Author And partly upon the Proofs that he gives of his Honesty and Veracity in that particular And where there is a full Concurrence of all these that is When the Matter of the Report is credible in its self when its Author is a Person of Credit and when he gives the best Proofs that can be of his Veracity in that particular there is no Reason to reject his Testimony there is sufficient Reason to give Credit to it 1. If the Matter of his Report be credible in its
by so many different and far distanâ— Nations without some good Grounds is not conceâ—vable because it can neither be imagined that thâ— Christians of the present Age dispersed in all Countriâ— should combine together to say that they receiv'â— these Books from their Fathers as the genuine Wrâ—tings of the Apostles if they had not so receiv'd them nor that their Forefathers in any of the Ages paâ—â— should have all agreed together to put a Cheat upoâ— their Posterity by delivering down to them theâ—â— Books as written by the Apostles when they themselves had no good Reason to believe them so or whâ—â— they knew the contrary It is a further Satisfaction to us to observe and consider that the Authority of these Books is as well proved as it can be not only by oral but also by the best written Tradition The Christian Writers of all Ages citing them as they had Occasion as the genuine Writings of the Apostles And that as well before the Canon of the New Testament was defined and declared by Councils as since And lastly It gives us very good Satisfaction that these Books are the genuine Writings of the Persons to whom they are ascribed that we do not find they were ever excepted against as spurious and counterfeit in those times when it would have been most proper to have made the Exception and by those Persons whose Cause and Interest it would have served very much to have proved them Spurious if it could have been done For the proper time to have made this Exception to these Writings was when or soon after they were first published when it would have been easie to have proved them Spurious if they had been so and no less easie to have brought positive Evidence of their being Genuine if indeed they were Genuine either by the living Testimony of the Authors themselves or of others that knew their Writing or by producing the original Copies under their own Hands And therefore their being then received as the Writings of the Apostles by those who were best able to know whose Writings they were and their being not for ought appears excepted against upon this Account at that time â—s a very good Argument that there was no just Ground for any such Exception And the most likely Persons they whose Cause and Interest it would have served most to deny that these Books were written by the reputed Authors thereof were the Enemies of our Religion The Jews or the Heathens who neither of them wanted either Malice or Wit to alledge any Fact that they could have justified the Truth of in Disproof of the Christian Religion It is therefore no small Satisfaction to us to observe that they never argued against the Christian Religion from this Topic that they never denied that the Books which the Christians received as written by the Apostles were genuine Nay that Julian himself one of the subt'lest as well as of the bitterest Adversaries of the Christian Faith did yet expresly own that the Books read by the Christians as the Books of Peter Paul Matthew Mark and Luke were indeed theirs After all indeed it must be owned that we have not such Demonstration that the Books of the New Testament were written by the Apostles as is self-evident and cannot possibly be contradicted for the Matter it self is not capable of such Demonstration But we have such Demonstration of it as cannot be contradicted with any Reason We have as good Assurance of it as we have or can have of any Matter of that kind We have as good Evidence of the Truth of it as supposing it to be true we could have of it and more than this cannot be desired We are as morally certain that these Books were written by the Authors to whom they are ascribed as we are that any other ancient Book was written by the Person who is said to be the Author of it There being no Argument by which it is or can be proved that any ancient Book was written by the Person who is said to be the Author of it which does not prove the Authority of these Books rather more strongly than it does the Authority of any other Book And there being no Argument that is or can be urged against the Authority of these Books which may not with as good Reason be urged to disprove the Authority of any other Book of the like Antiquity nay indeed of all the Books in the World ancient or modern the Authors of which are not now living or of whose Writing the Books ascribed to them no living Evidence can be produced For what is there that can be said to disprove or to render suspected the Authority of these Books but only that there is a Possibility that Things may not be as we believe them to be It may be the Atheist or Infidel will say that these Books were not written by the Persons under whose Names we receive them but by some others It may be he 'll say for Instance that there never was such a Man as Matthew the Publican afterwards an Apostle of Christ Or if there was yet it may be that the Gospel that goes under his Name was not of his Writing but is a Book of a much later Date It may be that it was written by some crafty Priest no longer ago than the last Age And that he and some others in Confederacy with him at the same Time that they forged this Gospel in the Greek Tongue did likewise make and contrive all those Translations of it into several Languages that are now extant some of which pretend to very great Antiquity and which are all made with such an Appearance of Truth and with such Congruity to the several Times in which they are said to be made that none of the Learned Men of the present Age have been able to discover the Fraud And It may be also that when they forged the Gospel it self they forged likewise all the other Books that are pretended to be written by several Historians and Divines in divers Languages and in several Ages of the World for Sixteen Hundred Years past in which this Gospel is either testified to be written by St. Matthew or is cited or commented upon as his And it may be likewise that at the same Time that they trumped up all these Books in one Countrey they had their Confederates and Correspondents that did the same in all the other Countries where they are now found not only exposing them to publick Sale as Books of ancient Date and venerable Antiquity but likewise slily conveying an infinite Number of written and printed Copies of the same into all Libraries both publick and private unknown to the Keepers and Owners thereof And it may be that all these things were done so secretly that none of the Confederacy did ever confess nor any besides ever discover the Cheat And it may be that all the rest of the World was so much asleep at that time as to have
Matters of Fact which they have recorded And 3. That if the Matters of Fact related in the New Testament are true they are sufficient Proofs of the Truth and Divine Authority of all the Doctrines that are therein taught And I hope enough was said the last time to shew that we have sufficient Reason to believe that the Books of the New Testament were written by those Persons who are said to be the Authors thereof What I am next to do is 2. To shew that there is sufficient Reason to give full Credit to these Authors in their Relations of those Matters of Fact which they have recorded And I hope none of you that hear me whom I presume to be all Christians will take Offence at it if now while I am arguing this Point I sometimes speak of the Holy Evangelists with the same Freedom that might be used in speaking concerning any other Authors and if I sometimes Plead for no more Credit to be given to them in their Relations than is fit and reasonable to be given to any other Historian that was naturally as well furnished and qualified to write a true History as they were and whose Fidelity and Veracity is as well attested and confirmed other Ways as theirs was For you will consider I hope that my Business is now with Infidels with whom we can argue only upon the Principles of common Reason And tho' we who are Christians already do believe as one of the first Principles of our Religion that these Sacred Writers were divinely and supernaturally assisted in their Work and that upon that Account they deserve much greater Credit in what they have written than other Historians do yet this is what those who are yet Infidels will not allow And in Disputation nothing is to be presumed on one side but what will be readily allowed by the other Party So that the divine Inspiration of the Evangelical Writers and the supernatural Assistance which we believe they had in their Writing cannot as yet be regularly insisted upon as an Argument to gain them Credit But it is what will easily be granted afterwards when the Truth of their History shall be well established upon other Grounds as I hope it will be in the following Discourse and 't is what may then serve to procure a religious Respect and Reverence to these Sacred Writings 1 Thess 2.13 and to ingage us to receive them not as the Word of Men but as they are in Truth as the Word of God But this one thing nevertheless I suppose I may presume viz. that if the Books of the New Testament the Historical Parts of it in particular were written by those Authors to whom they are ascribed which has been already proved the Matters of Fact recorded by the Evangelists in Writing are the same which they and the other Apostles testified by Word of Mouth in their Preaching For it cannot I think with any Reason be suspected that their Preaching and Writings were disagreeable to each other because such Disagreement would most certainly have utterly destroyed the Credit of them both And this being supposed I hope it will clearly appear that there is abundantly sufficient Reason to give full Credit to these Writings if these following things be considered 1. If we consider the Nature Conditions and Circumstances of the Matters that are recorded in the Historical Books of the New Testament and of the History its self 2. If we consider the good Capacity that the Authors thereof were in to know the Truth of the things they have related 3. If we consider the strong Obligations they were under to write nothing but the Truth according to the best of their Knowledge or Information 4. If we consider the good Evidences that we have of their Honesty and Faithfulness And 5. Lastly If we consider the Confirmation that was given to the Truth of their History by God himself 1. I say the Evangelical History will appear to be highly credible if without any Regard as yet had to the Ability and Integrity of its Authors we only consider the Nature Conditions and Circumstances of the Matters therein recorded and of the History its self Concerning which there are two things especially that may be observed 1. That the Matters recorded by the Evangelical Writers are such as might be certainly known And 2. That they are such and in such manner related by the Evangelists that if their History of them had been false it could never have gained Credit in the World 1. First I say the Matters recorded by the Evangelical Writers are such as might be certainly known I mean either by the Historians themselves or by those from whom they had their Information For 1. They are for the most part plain Matters of Sense which those who were present at them could have no doubt of without Distrusting their own Faculties of Hearing or Seeing and which those who testified them might be as certain of the Truth of as we can be of any thing that we hear with our own Ears or see with our own Eyes For thus whether our Saviour gave out himself to be the Messias foretold by the Prophets whether he said that he was the Son of God and whether he uttered those other Speeches which the Evangelists have recorded as spoken by him could not but be certainly known by the People who often heard him and especially by his Apostles who constantly attended him And so likewise whether he did those many wonderful Works which the Evangelists have recorded of him could not but be known by those that were present with him They might be certain either that he did them or that he did not do them Thus for instance it might be certainly known to those that first affirmed that he gave Sight to the Blind whether those Persons had been once blind and whether afterwards they â—aw and to those that witnessed that he gave Strength â—o the Cripples whether the Men whom they said he wrought this Cure upon had been Lame or disabled â—n their Feet Hands or Body before and whether â—fterwards they walked and had Strength like other Men and to those that testified that he raised the Dead whether the Persons said to have been raised by â—im had been truly dead and whether afterwards â—hey lived But above all his own Resurrection which the preâ—ent Season as well as the Wonderfulness and Imporâ—ance of the thing obliges us to have a special â—egard to was a thing that might be most certainly â—nown to those that pretended to be Witnesses of it This Sermon was Preached on the Monday in Easter Week â—hey might be certain whether he had been once dead â—nd whether he shewed himself alive after his Passion â—y many infallible Proofs and was seen of them forty Days Of this they might be rather more certain than â—f any other of his Miracles because it was a thing â—ot to be judged of by one sense only as some of the â—est were
recorded could be worn out nay if we further suppose as I think we may do very reasonably that the Things recorded by the Evangelists are the same which they and the other Apostles and Disciples of our Lord testified by word of Mouth in their Preaching we may truly enough say that the History of the Gospel was begun to be published on that same Day on which the Apostles began to preach viz. on the Day of Pentecost ten Days after our Lords Ascension and that it was fully published in a very short time after So that most of the things recorded in the Gospels are things that had been done or haâ— happened in the compass of less than four Years before the History thereof was first published for it was noâ— so long from our Lord's Baptism to his Ascension and the earliest things of all that are therein recordeâ— which are but few and make but a small part of the History viz. the Birth of St. John Baptist and oâ— our Lord and the things that happened about thâ—â— Time were things done not above thirty five Yearâ— before at the most And the History of the Acts of the Apostles whicâ— because it ends with St. Paul's Imprisonment at Rome we may reasonably think was published about thaâ— Time comprehends a History of some very remarkable things the very first and earliest whereof had noâ— been done thirty Years before And this Consideration affords another very probable Argument of the Truth of the Evangelical History because by this it still further appears how very easie it would have been to have disproved it if it had been false for it being an History of things done so very lately it must needs be that several of those into whose Hands it first came must have certain Knowledge whether some of the things therein related had been so or not And they who had not this Knowledge might easily have had certain Information from others I mean besides the Apostles and Disciples of our Lord whether the Relations therein contained were true or falfe Especially if it be considered further in the 4th Place 4. That the Facts related in the Evangelical History are commonly related with all the Circumstances that were needful or proper to be noted in order to the rendring an Enquiry into the truth of them exceeding easie to such as had any distrust thereof For in the Account which the Evangelists give us of our Saviour's Speeches they commonly tell us not only his Words but likewise when where to whom â—nd upon what Occasion they were spoken and in the Account that they give of his Miracles they usually note the Places where they were done and very often â—he Names or Characters at least of the Persons they were wrought upon and sometimes they mention â—lso who were by and Witnesses thereof and what Discourse concerning him was thereby occasioned And in relating the things that were done or happened before our Saviour's Baptism about the Time of his Birth they carefully note the Time the Place and other Circumstances whereby their Readers were as it were challenged to make Enquiry and desired not to â—ake things only upon their Credit and were also directed readily whither to go and to whom to apply themselves to obtain the fullest satisfaction whether the things they reported were so or not The same may be observed in the Acts of the Apostles And if all the Circumstances of every particular Story which they relate are not always so punctually set down the Omission thereof sometimes is not of much Consideration because it was so very easie by enquiring into the Truth of those many other Stories which are related with all Circumstances for any Person to be satisfied whether their History in general deserv'd Credit or not And whoever had found any one Story falsly reported by them would hardly have troubled himself at least not for his own satisfaction to have examined further into the Truth of the rest 5. It may be further consider'd that most of the things recorded by the Evangelists are related by them as things that were done very publickly as things that were well known to a great many For very few in Comparison of those Discourses of our Lord that are recorded by the Evangelists were address'd in private to his Apostles only but most of them were spoken in publick his set Sermons commonly to great multitudes gathered together on a Mountain on the Sea-shore or in a Synagogue and the rest more commonly in Places of Resort in populous Towns or Cities in Jerusalem or the Temple when many were by to hear what he said And his Miracles were done for the most part in the best Inhabited Cities of Judea and Galilee or if in other Places yet in the open Day-light and commonly when there was a great croud of People about him Or if at any time the Miracle its self was done privately in an House or a Chamber the Effect of the Miracle was usually very visible and such as could not but be taken notice of by a great many And even of those few things which were spoken or done by him most privately there was no want of Witnesses there being except very rarely no fewer than twelve in constant Attendance upon him and several others besides that Companied with them all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among them Acts 1.21 And this Circumstance of the Facts recorded by the Evangelists as it made them capable of better and more certain Attestation being true so it contributed no less towards the rendring it easie to disprove that Relation which they had given of them if it had been false For when a Man witnesses a thing of his own private Knowledge there may be no way to invalidate his Testimony but either by shewing that the thing which he testifies was not possible or by offering some just Exception to the Credit of the Witness But when neither of these can be done and they cannot always be done altho' the thing testified be false yet in case the Matter was done publickly it is the easiest thing in the World to convict a false Witness by the contrary Testimony of several others that were present and as capable of knowing the Truth of the thing as himself or by the Clashing of the Witnesses among themselves Nothing therefore could have been more easie than to have disproved the Evangelical History in almost every particular of it if it had not been true For most of our Saviour's Speeches and Miracles are related as spoken and done in the Presence not of his Disciples only but of a great many others that happened to be by by Chance or that followed him not for any Liking that they had to his Person or Doctrine but only out of Curiosity or for the Sake of the Loaves and very often they were done before such as came on purpose to watch what he said and did with a Design to lay hold on any
alone presently reject either of them but we enquire which of them was in the best Capacity to know the Truth and which of them is the least liable to the suspicion of falshood and which Story is the most probably related and to the Belief of that we encline If therefore there be any Man that thinks there is any truth in History and who does give Credit to other Histories and I believe there is no Man but does so and yet will not be persuaded to allow that the Gospel History is very credible which contains a Relation only of such Matters of Sense as it was morally impossible there should be any Cheat or Deceit in and in which if there had been any Deceit or Mistake it was morally impossible that it should not be discover'd and disprov'd and which yet neither is now nor ever was contradicted by any History of competent Antiquity and good Credit I think we may very well conclude that 't is not Reason or Judgment but Prejudice or Interest or the Love of some Vice or Lust that makes him an Infidel The End of the Fourth Sermon THE Fifth Sermon St. LUKE XVI 29 30 31. Abraham saith unto him They have Moses and the Prophets let them hear them And he said Nay father Abraham but if one went unto them from the dead they will repent And he said unto him If they hear not Moses and the Prophets neither will they be persuaded though one rose from the dead THE Subject I was upon in my last Discourse on these Words and which I left unfinish'd was to shew That there is sufficient Reason to give full Credit to the Authors of the Historical Books of the New Testament in their Relations of those Matters of Fact which they have recorded For the Proof of which I proposed these following things to be considered 1 The Nature Conditions and Circumstances of the Matters they have recorded and of the History its self 2 The good Capacity they were in to know the Truth of the Things they have related 3 The strong Obligations they were under to write nothing but the Truth according to the best of their Knowledge or Information 4 The good Evidences that we have of their Honesty and Faithfulness And 5 Lastly The Confirmation that was given to the Truth of their History by God himself The last Discourse was spent in the Consideration of the first of these things I proceed now to the Second viz. 2. The good Capacity that the Writers of the Evangelical History were in to know the Truth of those things which they have related Now the Matters of History which are related in the Epistles are but few and those for the most part such as had been done by or had happened to either the Persons that wrote them or the Churches or Persons to whom they were written so that of these we shall not need to say any thing For the Bulk or Body of the Evangelical History is contain'd in the Four Gospels and in the Acts of the Apostles And of the Authors of these Books there is no Controversie in the Christian Church And if they were written by the reputed Authors a few Words will suffice to shew that they were in a very good Capacity to know the Truth of the Things they have recorded much better than most other ancient Historians whose Relations nevertheless are generally thought worthy of Credit For St. Matthew and St. John two of the four Evangelists were of the number of those Twelve who were in constant Attendance upon our Lord from the Time that he first began to preach and to make Disciples until he was taken up into Heaven so that they were themselves Eye or Ear-Witnesses of most of the Things which they have recorded Of St. Mark and St. Luke indeed the same cannot be said neither is it certain that they were of the Number of the Seventy Disciples tho' that be affirmed by some of the Ancients But this I think is agreed to by all that St. Mark was for some part of his Life a constant Companion of St. Peter who was not only one of the Twelve but most probably the First that was call'd to be an Apostle and who was also one of the three with whom our Lord was most intimate and familiar for we often read that Peter Matt. 17.4.26 37. Mark 5.37 and James and John were singled from the rest to be Witnesses of some of the most private Transactions of his Life And it was generally believed in the Ancient Church that St. Peter was more truly the Author of the Gospel called St. Mark 's than St. Mark himself He being only the Scribe or Amanuensis and St. Peter the Person that dictated the things written by him whence also this Gospel is by some of the Ancients stiled the Gospel of St. Peter And of this there seem to be some Tokens even in the History its self particularly in that Relation that is therein given of St. Peter's Denial of his Master and of his Repentance for it for his Denial is there told with some more Circumstances than in the other Gospels such as the Person himself chiefly concerned was best able to know and might best remember And the Account that is given of his Repentance is by this Author expressed more modestly as it best became a Person to speak who spake of himself than it is by the other Evangelists for St. Matthew and St. Luke say that he wept bitterly but St. Mark or rather St. Peter himself dictating those Words only says that when he thought thereon he wept It is likewise agreed on all Hands that St. Luke if not one of the Seventy Disciples which 't is most probable he was not was however a very early Convert to Christianity that he conversed frequently with the Apostles and immediate Disciples of our Lord and was a constant Companion of St. Paul for a good while in his Preaching and Travels so that of almost all the Things which he relates in his History of the Acts of the Apostles he might be and of much the greatest part of them 't is most probable and of some 't is certain he was an Eye or Ear-Witness So then There are three of the five Historical Books of the New Testament that were written by those who were present at most of the things which they have related viz. the Gospels of St. Matthew and St. John and the Acts of the Apostles and another of them tho' it bears the Name of St. Mark the Person by whom it was penned yet if it was as has been generally believ'd dictated by St. Peter may be added to that number and be likewise reckon'd the Testimony of One who was an Eye Witness of the things he has related In this Respect therefore the Gospel History is manifestly as credible as 't is possible any History should be for no Historian can record any thing upon better Assurance of its Truth than the
well be accounted a Martyr for the Testimony of Jesus no less than the other Apostles altho' he did not actually expire under his Sufferings as they did Now if it be supposed that a Man especially one who stands much upon his Credit may be willing after he has told a Lye to suffer a great Deal rather than own himself a Lyar tho' I think it cannot reasonably be supposed either that any Man would suffer so many other great Evils as the Apostles did only upon a Point of Honour or that the Apostles did stand so much upon their Honour yet when it is brought to this that a Man who has told a Lye must either retract it or die for it and that he may in all Probability save his Life by retracting it it is not to be supposed that any Man will be a Martyr for a known Falshood for it is a very true Saying and to which there is hardly any Exception tho' it was spoken by the Father of Lyes Job 2.4 that Skin for Skin yea all that a Man hath he will give for his Life 'T is not credible therefore that so much as one Man should be found so foolish as to sacrifice his Life to a known Lye and that too an unprofitable Lye to himself to his Family and to all The World and this only to save his Reputation It is much less credible that so many Men viz. all the Apostles and Evangelists and most if not all the rest of our Lord 's immediate Disciples should be guilty of such prodigious and unheard of Folly and it is least of all credible that among so many as there were that bore Witness of the Facts recorded in the Evangelical History not so much as one Man should be found that was honester and wiser than the rest not one that could be persuaded to give Glory to God by the Confession of his Fault and satisfaction to the World by a publick owning of the Cheat he had been engaged in not one that wou'd chuse to undergo the Disgrace of a Lyar rather than the shameful Death of a Malefactor These are in short the Evidences we have of the Honesty and Faithfulness of the Evangelical Historians those Evidences I mean which they themselves have given thereof and they are plainly as good as could be desired they are the best that could be given by Men. And putting together all that hath been said on this and the foregoing Heads now and in my last Discourse for the Proof of the Truth of the Evangelical History I think we may truly and confidently affirm that altho' we consider it only as a meer humane History we have much greater Reason to give Credit to it than to any History in the World besides But if we receive the witness of Men and who is there that does not 1 Joh. 5.9 the Witness of God is greater And therefore in Order to shew further that there is sufficient Reason to give full Credit to the Evangelical Historians in their Relations of those Matters of Fact which they have recorded I proposed to be considered in the Fifth and last Place 5 The Confirmation that was given to the Truth of their History by God himself For what St. Paul says of his own was likewise true of the Speech and Preaching of all the other Apostles viz. That it was in Demonstration of the Spirit and of Power 1 Cor. 2.4 5. that the Faith of their Hearers should not stand in the Wisdom of Men but in the Power of God And so St. Luke says Acts 4.33 With great Power gave the Apostles Witness of the Resurrection of the Lord Jesus For at the same Time that they Witnessed the Miracles of their Master they gave Assurance to Men of the Truth of their Testimony by doing the like Miracles themselves healing the Sick casting out Devils raising the Dead c. just as Jesus himself had done And at the same time that pursuant to their Commission they preached the Gospel to Men of all Nations and Languages they plainly demonstrated both that they had such a Commission from God and that it was the Truth of God which they preached by speaking to every Man of every Nation in his own Tongue Thus as the Author to the Hebrews says Heb. 2.4 God did bear them Witness both with Signs and Wonders and with divers Miracles and Gifts of the Holy Ghost according to his own Will And he might well say that God did hereby bear them Witness because that Power wherewith they were endued was so evidently from on high that none that saw their Works Luke 24.49 and considered withall the Purity and Excellence of the Doctrine of Christianity that was thereby establish'd could have any reasonable Doubt whether they were done by the Power of God or no. We know Joh. 3.2 said Nicodemus to our Saviour that thou art a Teacher sent from God for no Man can do the Miracles that thou doest except God be with him Joh. 14.12 But the same Works that Jesus did did his Disciples also after he had sent down the Promise of his Father upon them on the Day of Pentecost yea and greater Works than those did they do so that whoever beheld their Works might so far as Miracles are Evidences of a Divine Power be rather more certain that God was with them than Nicodemus could be that he was with our Lord himself For tho' their other Miracles that were of the same sort with those which our Saviour had done were such Proofs of Divine Assistance as could not with any Reason be gainsaid yet I think it may truly be affirm'd that the Gift of Tongues which was peculiar to them and wherein they did as we may say excell even our Lord himself was more convincing than any of them For he that saw one of their other Miracles might possibly entertain some little Doubt whether the Effect that appeared to him to be Miraculous might not yet be done by some secret Power of Natural Causes that was unknown to him But we all know the Power of Nature so well that we are sure the Knowledge of a Language cannot possibly be attained Naturally even by a Person of the quickest Parts and faithfullest Memory but in so much time at the least as it will necessarily take up to be told by Tutors or to learn from Lexicons what every particular word of the Language to be learnt is by the People of that Language designed to signifie because Words have not a Natural Relation to the Notions or Things thereby expressed but are meer arbitrary Signs thereof So that whoever knew the Education of the Apostles and that they were before altogether ignorant and unlearned and yet saw them every one on a sudden on the Day of Pentecost able to speak readily in all the Languages of all the Nations under Heaven from whence had come some of the Jews that were present at Jerusalem at that
is enough in all Reason and as much as could be expected in this Case supposing there Facts to be true that they are not by any Historians that were of another Religion contradicted or attempted to be disprov'd more than this would have been too much And should we now in some ancient Manuscript History new brought 〈◊〉 Light and bearing the Name of some Jewish or Heathen Author find a large and formal Account of any of those Facts relating to the Christian Religion that are recorded in the Gospel this would give very just ground to suspect that the whole History whatever other Appearance it had of Truth was forged and counterfeit or at least that those Passages speaking honourably of the Christian Religion or the Author of it were knavishly foisted into the Book by some Christian Transcriber For this is indeed the best Argument that is brought to discredit some Passages of this kind that are now to be found in some Heathen or Jewish Historians and particularly in Josephus viz. that they say more than was proper or likely to be said by Heathens or Jews that if those Passages are genuine and the Authors had believed what they themselves wrote they must have been Christians Now this I 'm sure is not fair Dealing that the Paucity and slenderness of those corroborating Testimonies to the Truth of the Christian History that are to be met with in other Historians and that the Multitude and Fulness of such Testimonies should both be urged as Arguments against Christianity And therefore when they are both urged as they are and have been by our Adversaries we may reasonably conclude that the Truth is in the Mean and that there are indeed no more nor no fewer Testimonies of this kind to be met with in other Writers and that they are not either more or less to the Purpose than supposing the Christian History to be true might fairly be expected It only remains then that we enquire whether there be in the Gospel History any intrinsick Evidences of Falshood And 't is pretended by the Adversaries of our Religion that there are many such For there are they say some things related in the Gospel History that are altogether incredible and there is they say oftentimes great Difference in the several Relations of the same Story by the several Evangelists And not only so but there are they say besides in their several Histories compared together some flat Contradictions and Repugnancies I intended therefore at the End of this Discourse if I had had time for it to have spoken largely upon this Subject But because I have not must referr you to those Books that have been written on purpose to give an Account of the difficult Texts of Scripture and to reconcile those that are seemingly repugnant Or for want of such Books to any good Commentary on the Bible in which you will hardly fail to meet with Satisfaction in any Difficulty of this kind if you read it with a Mind disposed to receive satisfaction And I shall conclude this Discourse with only observing in General 1. That the pretended Impossibilities that are said to be related in the Sacred History are only Difficulties They are indeed Events above and beyond the known Power and common Course of Nature but they are such as are easily Credible when they are ascribed as they must be to the Almighty power of God 2. That the Difference that may sometimes be observ'd in the several Relations of the same Story by the several Evangelists is very inconsiderable consisting only in this That one perhaps relates the Story in a different Order of things than another does Or that One tells it briefly another more at large Or One with a few another with more Circumstances Or that some Circumstances are mentioned by each of them which the other had omitted So that this Observation is so far from being a just Objection against the Truth of the History that it is rather a Proof and Confirmation of it For 't is an Argument that the Evangelists did not conferr together in the Writing of their Histories and that they did not Copy or Transcribe from one another but that every one of them reported the Story he wrote in such manner as he himself remembred it to have been and with such Circumstances as he himself took most notice of And 3. As to the Repugnancies and Inconsistences that are said to be in the Evangelical History These we absolutely deny I have not time now to consider or attempt to reconcile all the Places that are pretended to be contradictory to each other but those Passages which seem most liable to this Exception are I think the Relation of Judas's Death and the Account of our Saviour's Genealogy But as to the first There is plainly no Impossibility no Contradiction in it if we should say that after he had hanged himself as St. Matthew Mat. 27.5 Acts 1.18 says he did fall down and his Bowels gush'd out as St. Luke affirms Or it may be that he did not hang himself but only was * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 choaked or suffocated by the violence of his Grief and that the same Passion by which he was strangled made him also fall down headlong and burst assunder in the midst so that all his Bowels gushed out And as to the other when 't is remembred that by the Jewish Law the next of Kin was to raise up Seed to his near Relation that died without Issue Deut. 25.5 by Marrying his Widow and that the First-born of the Woman after such second Marriage was reputed in Law the Son as well as he was the Heir of the Deceased so that consequently the same Person might be the Legal Son of one Man and the Natural Son of another Man tho' it may be difficult perhaps impossible for us at this Distance of Time to say with certainty which of the two different Lines by which our Saviour's Pedigree is deduced from David is the Legal and which the Natural Line it is very easie nevertheless to believe that one is the Legal and that the other is the Natural Line and if so there is plainly no Contradiction between the two Evangelists altho' St. Matthew Mat. 1.16 makes our Saviour to be descended from Solomon and St. Luke from Nathan altho' St. Matthew says that Joseph the Husband of the Blessed Virgin was the Son of Jacob and St. Luke Luâ—e 3.23 that he was the Son of Heli. And now the Truth of the Gospel History being as I hope by what hath bâ—en said sufficiently established I should proceed to shew That if the Matters of Fact related in the New Testament are true they are sufficient Proofs of the Truth and Divine Authority of all the Doctrines that are therein Taught But I am sensible that I have trespassed too much upon your Patience already and so shall reserve this for the Subject of my next Discourse FINIS ERRATA IN
Sermon III. Page 25. Line 1. for once read now for those read these ADVERTISEMENT THE Three remaining Lectures for this Year are to be at St. Paul's on the first Mondays in September October and November But the first Monday in September being the Fast-Day for the Fire of London when there will be in the Morning a Sermon suitable to that Occasion Preached before the Lord Mayor Aldermen and Companies of the City Mr. Boyle's Lecture on that Day is Order'd to be Preached in the Afternoon THE SUFFICIENCY OF THE Scripture-Revelation As to the Proof of it PART III. A SERMON Preach'd at the CATHEDRAL-CHURCH of St. Paul September 2d 1700. BEING The Sixth for the Year 1700 of thâ— LECTURE Founded by the Honourable Robert Boyle Esq By OFSPRING BLACKALL D. D. Rector of St. Mary Aldermary and Chaplain in Ordinary to His MAJESTY LONDON Printed by J. Leake for Walter Kettilby at the Bishop's Head in St. Paul's Church-Yard 1700. St. LUKE XVI 29 30 31. Abraham saith unto him They have Moses and the Prophets let them hear them And he said Nay father Abraham but if one went unto them from the dead they will repent And he said unto him If they hear not Moses and the Prophets neither will they be persuaded though one rose from the dead IN Order to shew that we have sufficient Reason given us to convince us of the Truth and Authority of the New-Testament and of all the Doctrines that are taught by it I have formerly propounded to shew 1. That we have sufficient Reason to believe that the Books of the New-Testament were written by those Persons who are said to be the Authors thereof 2. That there is sufficient Reason to give full Credit to them in their Relation of those Matters of Fact which they have recorded And 3. That if the Matters of Fact therein recorded are true they are sufficient Proofs of the Truth and Divine Authority of all the Doctrines that are therein taught And the two first of these Points I have I hope already made good I proceed now to the third viz. 3. To shew That the Doctrine of the Gospel is well grounded upon the History of it That if the Matters of Fact recorded in the New-Testament are true they are sufficient Proofs of the Truth and Divine Authority of all the Doctrines that are therein taught And Here by the Doctrines of the Gospel I understand both the Articles of Faith which it proposes to our Belief and the Rules which it prescribes to our Practice Many of the former of which are themselves Parts of the Gospel History as the Incarnation Life Sufferings Death Resurrection and Ascension of our Saviour and the rest of both sorts are taught in the New Testament either by our Saviour himself or by his Apostles And I suppose it will be readily granted that all their Doctrines are true and also of divine Authority if it shall appear that they were commissioned and sent by God to instruct the World for he whom God hath sent speaketh the words of God Joh. iii. 34. The single Point therefore to be consider'd at this time is whether there be sufficient Evidence from the Matters of Fact recorded in the History of the New Testament that our Saviour and his Apostles were commissioned and sent by God to instruct the World And first Whether there be sufficient Evidence from thence that our Saviour himself was a Teacher sent from God Now that he said he was sent from God is a Matter of Fact and a part of the Gospel History Joh. xii 49. See Joh. 5.37 38.8.38.14.10 24. I have not spoken of my self but the Father which sent me he gave me a Commandment what I should say and what I should speak And that he said that he was the Messiah which had been foretold by the Prophets is likewise Matter of Fact and a Part of the same History Joh. iv 25 26. The Woman of Samaria saith unto him I know that Messias cometh which is called Christ Mat. 16.16 17. Mar. 9.41 Luke 24.46 Joh. 9.47 when he is come he will tell us all things Jesus saith unto him I that speak unto thee am HE. The Question therefore is whether from the things which are recorded of him by the Evangelists there be sufficient Ground to believe the Truth of either or both these Pretences I say of either or both of them because either of them is a sufficient Reason to receive his Doctrine as True and Divine for which cause therefore I shall not in speaking to this Subject distinguish between the Evidences which the Gospel-History affords of his being a Prophet and those which it affords of his being the Messiah but shall propose them promiscuously as they come to mind And here I shall consider First The Credibility of our Saviour's own Testimony concerning himself and Secondly The Confirmation that was given to this Testimony by God grounding all that shall be said on both these Heads upon the Gospel-History the Truth of which I now take for granted as being I hope already sufficiently prov'd First then I shall consider the Credibility of our Saviour's own Testimony concerning himself when he said that he was sent by God and that he was the Christ the Son of God And I know 't is commonly said that a Man is not to be believed in his own Case And this very thing was objected to our Saviour by the Jews Joh. viii 13. Thou bearest Record of thy self thy Record is not true But this Saying is not without Exception When indeed what a Man witnesses is for his own Benefit his Testimony if it be single may reasonably be rejected especially if any Proof be made that at other times he hath told a Lye or done any other ill thing for his Advantage But otherwise a Man's Testimony concerning himself may be credible nay in some cases it may be more credible than another Man's because he may sometimes be surer of what he says concerning himself than another Man could be And therefore our Saviour who in Joh. v. 31. allows of the Reasonableness of that Saying If I bear witness of my self my Witness is not true yet when this very thing was afterwards objected to him by the Pharisees in the Place before-cited makes answer in the following words Tho' I bear Record of my self Joh. 8.14 yet my Record is true for I know whence I came c. And that the Testimony of our Lord concerning his own divine Mission was such as we might rationally give Credit to tho' we had no other Evidence of it will I suppose sufficiently appear if these following things be consider'd 1. That his whole Life according to the Account that is given of it by the Evangelists which we now build upon as true was in all Respects spotless and unblameable 1 Pet. 2.22 1 Pet. 1.19 He did no Sin neither was Guile found in his Mouth He was a Lamb without blemish and without spot
And this he himself urges as a Reason why his Testimony ought to be credited Joh. viii 46. Which of you convinceth me of Sin and if I say the Truth why do ye not believe me And a very good Reason it was for it could not justly be suspected that a Person of whom no other ill thing could be said was yet indeed in the whole Course of his Life guilty of a Crime of the greatest Magnitude viz. of Lying in the Name of God of saying that the Lord had sent him when indeed the Lord had not sent him nor spoken by him 2. It may be also consider'd that this Testimony of our Lord tho' it was concerning himself yet was not for himself I mean it was not for his own worldly Advantage And this Consideration he himself likewise offers to the Jews as an Argument of the Truth of his Testimony Joh. vii 18. He that speaketh of himself seeketh his own Glory but he that seeketh his Glory that sent him the same is true and no unrighteousness is in him Had the Doctrine of our Lord which he pretended was what God had commanded him to teach been contriv'd to advance the Worldly Honour and Greatness of himself or his Followers this would have been a just Prejudice against it and a reasonable Ground of suspecting that he spake of himself but when it was evident to all that heard his Discourses and is no less so to us that read them that he sought not his own Glory in any thing but the Glory of him that sent him and that his whole Doctrine tended to advance the Honour of God and to promote the Practice of Piety and Virtue in the World this rendred his Testimony very credible when he said he was sent by God to teach it to the World for when a Doctrine is plainly worthy of God and according to Godliness 1 Tim. 6.3 it may reasonably be presumed that God is the Author of it 3. It may be further considered that this Testimony of our Lord concerning himself was so far from being to his own Benefit that it was as much as any thing could possibly be to his Worldly Disadvantage exposing him to the Envy and Malice of the Jews and to the Jealousie of the Romans and to all the cruel Sufferings which he endured from both of them And certainly a Man's Testimony concerning himself may be allow'd to be credible if it be against his own Interest if he himself be a great Loser or Sufferer by what he Testifies for it can't be imagined what else but only the Evidence of Truth and an Obligation to declare it should ever induce a Man to say such things concerning himself as will procure his own mischief And I know not what can be said to avoid the Force of this Argument for the Truth of our Saviour's Testimony that he was sent from God and that he was the Messiah unless it be that he was disappointed in his Expectation and that he hoped to make himself Rich and Great in the World by these Glorious Pretences tho' in the Event it prov'd otherwise But the Gospel-History furnishes us with a very clear and full Answer to this Objection in those many Predictions of our Lord therein recorded concerning his own Sufferings Mat. 16.31.20.17 whereby it clearly appears that the Sufferings which befel him for giving this Testimony concerning himself did not happen to him unexpectedly but that he knew long before all that afterwards came to pass And therefore I say again that no Reason can be imagin'd why he should say that he was sent from God but only because he knew it was true and had receiv'd a Command from his Father to declare this Truth to the World Especially if it be consider'd further 4. Lastly That he continu'd to testifie the same at his Death which he had done before in his Life giving thereby the best Assurance that a Man can give of the Truth of his Testimony For the main Matter of his Accusation to Pilate was that he had given out himself to be the Messiah and the Messiah was according to the Expectation of the Jews to be a great Temporal King had our Lord therefore but denied this Charge had he but granted that he was not the Messiah he might have saved his Life But this he would not do he disowned indeed the false Notion that the Jews had of the Messiah my Kingdom John 18.26 Mat. 27.11 Joh. 18.37 Mat. 26.63 64. Mar. 14.61 62. says he is not of this World But that he was a King and that he was the Messiah he boldly owned as well when the Question was put to him by the Roman Governor who had Power of Life and Death as when it had been put to him before by the High-Priest This therefore is a strong Confirmation of the Truth of this Testimony of our Lord and is alone sufficient to make it credible that he witnessed the same good Confession before Pontius Pilate 1 Tim. 6.13 which he had done before his own Nation and Sealed his Witness with his Blood For 't is not to be supposed that any Man tells a known Lye for nothing and it was plainly then too late for him to hope for any good to himself in this World by persisting in this Testimony his only Hope had been in retracting it and 't is not credible that any Man should be so foolish as to expect to better himself in the other World by dying with a Lye in his mouth Thus I hope it appears that the Testimony of our Lord concerning his own divine Mission was credible in it self so that we might rationally believe that he came from God and that he was Christ the Son of God altho' we had only his own Word for it But we have more than his own Word for it I am not alone says he Joh. viii 16 c. but I and the Father that sent me It is also written in your Law that the Testimony of two Men is true I am one that bear Witness of my self and the Father that sent me beareth Witness of me And this was the other thing I proposed to consider in order to shew the good Reason that we have to believe that our Saviour was sent from God and that he was the Messiah viz. Secondly The Confirmation that was given to this Testimony of our Lord by God himself And this was given several ways 1. God bare him Witness by the Testimony of ancient Prophets And to this our Saviour frequently appeals Joh. v. 39. Search the Scriptures for in them ye think ye have Eternal Life and they are they which testifie of me And again v. 46. Had ye believed Moses ye would have believed me for he wrote of me And this St. Peter comparing it with that Voice from Heaven testifying him to be the Son of God 2 Pet. 1.18 19. of which he himself had been an Ear-witness calls a more sure word of
Tit. 2.12 who made Heaven and Earth and by teaching them to deny Ungodliness and Worldly Lusts and to live Soberly Righteously and Godly in this present World Now the Devil is certainly as subtle as he is powerful and therefore if he has indeed any power to alter the course of Nature and to do a real Miracle he would not however we may be sure make use of this Power against himself he would not thereby assist another to destroy his own Kingdom And by this Argument our Saviour himself clearly confuted this Calumny in Mat. xii 25. When the Pharisees had said that he cast out Devils by Beelzebub the Prince of the Devils he answer'd Every Kingdom divided against it self is brought to Desolation and if Satan cast out Satan he is divided against himself how then shall his Kingdom stand And 3. Lastly As it is not credible that the Devil has such power or if he has and was let alone to himself that he would make use of this power to destroy his own Kingdom so neither is it credible that Almighty God who has all power in his Hands and can controul and limit the workings of the Devil and all created Beings as he pleases would ever permit the Devil to out-do himself in such wonderful Operations so that more and greater Miracles should be done by an Impostor than ever had been done before by any true Prophet which yet is manifestly the Case if indeed our Saviour was an Impostor 2 Tim. 3.8 He suffer'd indeed Jannes and Jambres to withstand his Servants Moses and Aaron for some time and to do or seem to do some wonderful Works like to theirs Ex. 7.10 12. for Aaron cast his Rod upon the Ground and it became a Serpent and so did they And Aaron stretched out his Hand over the Waters Ex. 8.6 7. and the Frogs came up and covered the Land and the Magicians did so with their Inchantments and brought up Frogs upon the Land of Egypt But tho' he suffer'd the Magicians thus to contend with his Prophets the Victory was clearly on his Prophet's side Ex. 7.12.8.18 for Aaron's Rod swallowed up their Rods and when the Magicians endeavour'd by their Inchantments to bring forth Lice as Aaron had done they could not but were forced to own before Pharaoh that it was the Finger of God and from that time forward strove no more for Victory And thus it may be consistent with the Wisdom and Goodness of God Deut 13.1 c. at any time in order prove his People and to know whether they love the Lord with all their Heart Mat. 24.24 to suffer the Sign or Wonder foretold by an Inticer to Idolatry to come to pass and to distinguish his Elect from Reprobates to permit false Christs and false Prophets 2 Thes 2.8 9 10. to shew great Signs and Wonders and in just Judgment upon such as will not receive the love of the Truth that they may be saved to let them alone to be deceived by that wicked one whose Coming is after the working of Satan with all Power and Signs and Lying Wonders and with all Deceiveableness of Unrighteousness in them that perish But it cannot I think be reconciled to these Attributes of God that he should permit greater Wonders and more clear and undoubted Miracles to be done by a false Prophet than ever were done by any true Prophet because this would be too great a Trial for Humane Nature such Signs and Wonders would be sufficient to deceive even those that enquire after Truth with the greatest sincerity of Heart And I cannot conceive it consistent with the Goodness of God to permit that such as are of honest Minds and sincere Lovers of Truth should after a fair Examination of the Proofs on both sides have greater reason to embrace Error than Truth which yet they plainly have in case the Miracles done by false Prophets be more and greater than have been done by any true Prophet unless the Falseness of the Doctrines which they would thereby establish be more evident than the Truth of their Miracles So that upon the whole I think we may well conclude this Head with those Words of Nicodemus to our Saviour Joh. iii. 2. We know we are assured of it we have no Reason to doubt of it that thou art a Teacher come from God for no Man can do these Miracles that thou doest except God be with him 6. Another way by which God himself bare Witness to the Truth of our Saviour's Testimony was by Raising him from the dead Joh. 2.19 Mat. 12.40.16 4. To this great Miracle he himself often referred those that had any doubt of the Truth of his other Miracles as what could not but be satisfactory to all that were capable of receiving Satisfaction And this was the chief Subject of the Apostle's Sermons Acts 2.24.32.3.15.4.10.10.40.13.30 the main Proof that they insisted upon to convince Men that Jesus was the Christ And they seem to have no doubt upon them that if they could but persuade Men of the Truth of his Resurrection they would readily own that he was the Christ and without further scruple receive every thing that he had taught them in the name of God as a divine Truth Acts 17.30 By this say they God has given Assurance unto all Men that he has ordained him to be the Judge of the World By this say they he was declared to be the Son of God with Power because it was a thing evident to all Rom. 1.4 that no Power less than God's could raise the dead When therefore this was done and it was done if the Gospel-History be true this was a plain Seal set by God himself to our Saviour's Testimony a Seal not possible to be Counterfeited and wherein the Divine Power is so clearly and deeply engraven that whoever looks attently upon it must be satisfied whose Seal it is So that to grant the Resurrection of our Saviour and yet to doubt whether he was the Person he gave out himself to be is to doubt of the Truth of God himself for granting our Saviour's Resurrection it can't be suppos'd that he was an Impostor without supposing that God himself did consent to the Imposture and work the most evident Miracle that ever wâ—s done on purpose to perswade Men to believe a Lye I shall mention at present but one way more whereby God was pleas'd to confirm our Saviour's Testimony of himself And that was 7. By the Witness of the Holy-Ghost which witness was given to him at his Baptism Joh. 1.32 c. when the Holy-Ghost descended in a visible manner as a Dove and rested on him It was also given to him during the whole Course of his Ministry for the Holy-Ghost not only descended but abode upon him and therefore St. Peter speaking of him Act. 10.38 c. says that God anointed him with the Holy-Ghost and with Power But that
Witness of the Holy-Ghost which I now chiefly design was that which was given to him after his Ascension into Heaven and was an evident Token that all power in Heaven and Earth was then committed to him I mean those Gifts of the Holy-Ghost which he showred down on his Apostles on the Day of Pentecost when being met together Acts 2.1 c. there came suddenly a sound from Heaven as of a rushing mighty Wind which filled all the House where they were sitting and there appeared unto them Cloven Tongues like as of Fire which sat upon each of them whereupon they wre all filled with the Holy-Ghost and began to speak with other Tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance And this Testimony of the Holy Ghost our Saviour promis'd before should be given to him Joh. xv 26. When the Comforter is come whom I will send unto you from the Father even the Spirit of Truth which proceedeth from the Father he shall testifie of me And the Testimony indeed was very plain and full for by this it clearly appear'd that all his former Miracles had been true and had been wrought by a divine Power when even after he had left this World he was still able to make good this Promise to his Disciples and to empower them to do greater Works in his Name than he himself had done while he was living upon Earth This was a clear Demonstration that he was the beloved Son of the Father and was as St. Peter says Act. 2.33 exalted at God's right hand when he did shed forth that wonderful power upon his Apostles of which all that then dwelt in Jerusalem or had come thither from all parts of the World to Worship were Eye and Ear-Witnesses And this Testimony of the Holy-Ghost was given to our Saviour not at that time only not one Day and no more but was continu'd to be given to him all the time of the Apostle's Preaching who were also enabled to communicate to others by laying on of Hands Act. 2.38.8.17.10.44.19.6 the same Miraculous Gifts of the Holy-Ghost which they themselves had receiv'd until they had finish'd their Ministery and planted Christian Churches in all the Countries of the then known World Thus I have briefly mention'd the great Evidence that the Gospel History affords of the Truth of our Saviour's Testimony of himself the Matters of Fact I have taken for granted as being parts of the Gospel-History the Truth of which has been I hope already sufficiently prov'd and the Evidence it self is so clear and full that I thought it needless to open it in more Words than I have done for that the Testimony which God did by all these ways give to our Saviour is a rational Inducement to believe the Truth of what he said concerning himself is what I think can't be doubted by those that allow themselves any time to consider things This I 'm sure I may say that if this strong Evidence that the Gospel-History affords of our Saviour's divine Mission be not sufficient to prove it there never yet has been sufficient Evidence of the Truth of any divine Revelation I had almost said nor ever can be but that I know it is not for us to say what Infinite Power and Wisdom can do But as some Jews in our Saviour's time said Joh. 7.31 when Christ cometh will he do more Miracles than these which this Man hath done So I may ask and I believe it will be very difficult to make answer to it when Christ cometh if indeed he be not already come if indeed that Jesus on whom we believe be not he how shall we do to know him What greater Assurance can he give us that he is the Christ than Jesus hath given What better Reason can we ever have to believe any Messenger that shall be sent from God than we have to believe our Saviour For we have as much Reason supposing the Gospel-History to be true to believe him to be sent from God as we have to believe any thing we are as secure that we are not deceiv'd in him as we are that we are not deceiv'd in the plainest Matters of sense For the best the only security that we have that our senses do not deceive us and that every thing in the World is not quite otherwise than it appears to us to be is the Goodness of God and this same security we have that we are not deceiv'd in our Saviour's divine Mission Nay we are more secure of this than we are of that because it is more plainly inconsistent with the Goodness of God to deceive us in a Matter on which our everlasting Welfare depends than in Matters only of this Life which are the chief things for which our bodily Senses are of use to us And if indeed we are deceiv'd in our Saviour it must be said that God himself has deceiv'd us having given us all the Reason imaginable to believe him to be as he said he was the Son of God And now having been so large in shewing the Evidence that there is from the Matters of Fact recorded in the History of the New Testament that our Saviour himself was a Teacher sent from God I shall not need to spend much time in shewing that his Apostles were likewise Commission'd by God to instruct the World and consequently that we ought also to receive all the Doctrines taught by them whether in their Epistles or in their Discourses interwoven by St. Luke with his History of their Acts as true and divine for 1. There is plainly no Reason why we should not receive them as such because they are the very same that our Saviour taught and no other Some Points of Christian Doctrine are indeed more largely explain'd and handled by the Apostles in their Epistles than they are in those Discourses of our Saviour that are recorded by the Evangelists but between the Doctrines taught by our Lord himself and those taught by the Apostles there is such a perfect Harmony and Agreement that if we had only their own Word for it that they spake and wrote by the Inspiration of the Spirit we might securely believe them for tho' one Man may without Inspiration say the same thing which another before him has spoken by Inspiration yet if the second says that he also is inspir'd there can be no Hurt tho' there may be a Mistake in believing him seeing whether the Man was Inspir'd or no 't is certain that the Doctrine was But 2. If there be any Doctrines taught by the Apostles which we do not see were taught before by our Saviour I say there is however from the History of the Gospel Evidence enough of their divine Mission also so that we may very securely take upon their Credit as true and divine any Doctrine which they have instructed us in For 1. That they were sent by our Saviour is past all Dispute if the Gospel-History be true Joh. xx 21. As
my Father hath sent me so send I you and again Mat. xxviii 19 20. Go ye and disciple all Nations Baptizing them in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you And that he had Authority to grant them such a Commission he shews in the words before All Power is given unto me in Heaven and in Earth Go ye therefore and teach all Nations c. And 2. That they were taught by God and enlightned by his Holy Spirit is what can't be doubted if we believe the power of our Saviour and the Truth of the Gospel for before our Lord went from them Joh 20.22 he breathed on them and said Receive ye the Holy Ghost And to what Purposes the Holy-Ghost was to be given them he had told them before Joh. 14.26 The Comforter which is the Holy Ghost whom the Father will send in my Name he shall teach you all things and bring all things to your Remembrance whatsoever I have said unto you And when he the Spirit of Truth is come Joh. 16.13 he will guide you into all Truth being thus therefore taught by the Spirit of Truth our Saviour might well say as he does Luke x. 16. He that heareth you heareth me and he that despiseth you despiseth me and he that despiseth me despiseth him that sent me And 3. Lastly We have all the reason in the World to receive them as Messengers from God and to believe that all that they have taught is the Will of God because they had the same Attestation of God to the truth of their Doctrine that our Saviour himself had to his I do not mean that God did bear them Witness all those ways by which he bare witness to our Saviour for that could not be but he bare witness to them all those ways by which it was proper for him to do it and by which he had born witness to any former Prophets For he bare witness to them that they were sent by him Joh. 13.22.20 21. by the Testimony of our Saviour as he had done to our Saviour by the Testimony of John And if the Testimony of a Prophet was credible concerning our Saviour much more is the Testimony of the Son of God highly credible concerning a Messenger sent by him He bare witness to them also by enduing them with the Gift of Prophecy Joh. 16.13 for when the Spirit of Truth is come says our Saviour he will shew you things to come And lastly he bare witness to them by that which is the most plain and sensible proof of a divine Mission Mar. 16.20 viz. By the Power of Miracles and manifold Gifts of the Holy-Ghost The Lord worked with them and confirmed their word with Signs following says St. Mark And with great Power says St. Luke gave Acts 4.33 the Apostles witness of the Resurrection of the Lord Jesus And the greater part of the History of the Acts of the Apostles is spent in relating the wonderful Works that they did by the Name of Jesus and the Power of the Holy-Ghost in confirmation of the Truth of their Doctrine But St. Paul perhaps it will be said of whose Writing are most of the Epistles was not one of them not called by our Saviour to be an Apostle as they were nor so much as an Eye and Ear-witness of our Lord's Miracles and Doctrine what Reason then have we to receive his Writings as Portions of Holy Scripture I answer as good tho' not in every particular just the same that we have to receive the Writings of the other Apostles as such For he was Converted and Ordain'd to be an Apostle in a more wonderful manner than they were as you may see in Acts 9. And as our Lord himself gave witness to their Divine Mission so he did also to his Acts ix 15. He is says our Lord a chosen Vessel unto me to bear my Name before the Gentiles and Kings and the Children of Israel To him also as well as to them Act. 20.22 25.27.10 22. 2 Th. 2.3 c. 1 Tim. 4.1 c. 2 Tim. 3.1 c. the Spirit foreshew'd things to come several Proofs of which we may observe in the History of the Acts and in his Epistles And Lastly His Speech and his Preaching was 1 Cor. 2.4 2 Cor. 12.12 as theirs in Demonstration of the Spirit and of Power In him all the Signs of an Apostle were seen no less than in them viz. Signs and Wonders and mighty Deeds And of him with Barnabas in Company Acts 14.3 it is that St. Luke speaks when he says that the Lord gave Testimony to the word of his Grace and granted Signs and Wonders to be done by their Hands And the latter part of the History of the Acts from the 10th Chapter to the End contains little else but an account of St. Paul's Preaching and of the Miracles that were done by the Power of God to confirm the Truth of his Doctrine So that if we believe the Gospel-History we can no more doubt of his divine Mission and Inspiration than we can of theirs we must conclude that if they were Apostles so was he that if they were Ministers of Christ 2 Cor. 11.23 2 Cor. 11.5 2 Cor. 12.11 so was he too forasmuch as in nothing he was behind the very chiefest Apostles so that consequently we have as much Reason to believe his Writings to be Inspired as we have theirs And now by all that hath been said I hope I have fully made good the Point I was to prove viz. That if the Matters of Fact recorded in the New Testament are true they are sufficient Proofs of the Truth and divine Authority of all the Doctrines that are therein taught whether by Christ himself or by his Apostles For if it be true that they were sent by God to instruct the World and to declare the Will of God to Mankind and that they were is sufficiently prov'd by their Credential Letters which we have now perused and examin'd we can no more doubt the truth of those things which they as the Messengers and Ambassadors of God have deliver'd to us in his Name than if we had heard God himself uttering the same by a Voice from Heaven So that I cannot but perswade my self that the Proofs which have been offer'd in the foregoing Discourse of the Truth of all the Doctrines that are taught in the New Testament are sufficient to convince any Rational and Considering Man of the Truth of any Doctrine the Falsity whereof is not Notorious and Self-evident And therefore this I think is the only thing that can with any shew of Reason be pretended by any Person to justifie his not receiving the Gospel as a divine Revelation viz. That the Matter of it in some Particulars is such as will not admit of any Proof at all because no Arguments can make a
Power of working Miracles should cease too at least till such time as God should think fit to make some Alteration in or Addition to his former Revelations which we have good Reason to think he will never do or 'till he should please to undertake the Conversion of those Nations to the Christian Faith to whom the Knowledge of the former Miracles that had been wrought for its Confirmation could not be so well communicated by credible History as it is to us For as was hinted before Credible History is all the Proof and Evidence that we ever think reasonable to require in other Cases of the like Nature As for instance When a new Law is made concerning any Matter it is requisite according to the Custom of our Country that it should pass both Houses of Parliament and that the King should ratifie and confirm it and that afterwards it should be some way so published and promulged that all the Subjects that are then alive should have sufficient Assurance given them that such a Law is made But after this Law has been once so passed and ratified and promulged it is passed and ratified and promulged for ever and no Man is so unreasonable as to expect that every Parliament that is called afterwards should read and pass over again all the Laws that have been made before their Time or that every King that succeeds to the Throne should afresh ratifie and publish all the Laws that were made by all his Predecessors But all the Proof that we ever require of the Authority of any ancient Law is a true Copy of it and a good History or Record of its being made at such a time by such a King confirmed by the Tradition of all the intermediate Ages to our Time which have allowed of its Authority by citing it as a Law of the Land by Pleading from it and by giving Judgment according to it And he who will not allow of the same Proof and Evidence of the Authority of the Christian Institution so many hundred years ago established but would needs have new Miracles and new Revelations to confirm the former is every whit as unreasonable as that Criminal would be who being Indicted upon some Ancient Statute should refuse to plead to his Indictment upon Pretence that he knew not whether there was any such Law or not it being made if ever it was made long before his Time and there being none now alive that were present at the making of it Shew him the Law in the Statute Book why how does he know he 'd say but that the Printers had a mind to put a Cheat upon the Nation by Printing a Law of their own making as a Law made by some of our ancient Kings nay shew him the Original Record still he 'd say There have been abundance of Forgeries in the World and how does he know but that this is one The Record he 'd own perhaps looks like an Ancient Deed and has all the Marks of such Antiquity as it pretends to but after all 't is possible it may be and therefore he cannot be sure it is not a Forgery and 'till he is assured of this he will not plead to an Indictment that is grounded upon it But if the King and Parliament that now are will be pleased to declare that this is a good Law and if he himself may be allowed to be by when they shall declare it or if at least two or three Witnesses that he can trust shall testifie upon Oath that they were present when it was passed into a Law then he will allow it to be a good Law and after that will be content to suffer the Punishment of it if he shall ever again be a Transgressor Now what Man is there that would think this a reasonable Demand Or what Judge or Court would ever allow of such a Plea And yet as unreasonable as it is it is just the same with theirs who pretending to be more wise and cautious than their Neighbours will not allow of the same sort of Proof tho' indeed much better in its kind of the Truth of the Christian Religion but tho' we have as Authentick Histories as any are in the World such Histories as the greatest Adversaries of Christianity have not been able to say any thing to invalidate the Truth of which declare that Christ and his Apostles taught such and such Doctrines and wrought such and such Miracles to confirm the Truth of their Doctrine yet will not believe that the Doctrine of Christianity is true and Divine unless they may have special Messengers sent to them to declare a-fresh all the same things which the Apostles once did and those endued with a Power of working in their sight and presence the same Miracles over again that are said to have been formerly done by Christ and his Apostles to confirm the Testimony that they gave 2. The Unreasonableness of that Request which the Rich Man here makes in the Behalf of his Brethren viz. That God would make a new Revelation for their particular Conversion or in general The Unreasonableness of our now desiring fresh Revelations new Miracles or Apparitions of Men from the dead to confirm the Truth of those things which are already sufficiently proved to us by the Standing Revelation of the Gospel will further appear if we consider That to us who live now in Christian Countries other Grounds of Faith or stronger Motives to Repentance than we have already in the standing Revelation of the Gospel might be inconsistent with the Excellency of Faith might destroy the Virtue of Believing and might be too great a Force and Constraint upon us such as would in a manner take away our Liberty of Choice For there is no Virtue at all in Believing what we see there is no Praise or Thanks at all due for doing what we are driven or forced to do and for us who have already abundantly sufficient Grounds to believe and embrace Christianity to have fresh Miracles wrought every day before our own eyes such Miracles as we could not possibly doubt the Truth of to confirm those Doctrines which are already sufficiently confirmed would not be to persuade us but to force us to be Chistians so that then the State we are now in would not be as God designed it should be a State of Trial for the Trial of Wisdom is when there are some Reasons on both sides and he is the Wise Man who in that Case gives Judgment on that side on which the Reasons are strongest But against what I have now said perhaps it may be objected That the Evidence which we desire of the Truth of Religion is no more than we are told has been already given to some Men particularly to those who lived in our Saviour's and his Apostle's times and we can't see why it would be more inconsistent with the Nature of Faith and Religion now than it was then or how it would more destroy our Freedom
happy Number they are sure they should not only have believed but also willingly have suffered as much as the Apostles themselves did for Bearing their Testimony to the Truth of those things which they had seen and heard And what now must be done for the Satisfaction of these Men For these have as much Right to a full Satisfaction as any others and by the same Reason that others do expect to be gratified in what they desire these may do so too And therefore in order to their Satisfaction it is necessary that our Saviour should be Born into the World in every Age of it or indeed much oftner and that in every Country at least if not in every Town and Village he should live and Preach and do Miracles and be Crucified and Rise again for that these things have been once done they can't they say believe only upon the Testimony of other Men who say they did see them And therefore by the same Reason if they themselves should see them other Men that should come after or live in other Countries would have as little Cause to believe their Testimony So that for the full satisfaction of all such Doubting Men as these our Saviour must have suffered often since the Beginning of the World and must continue to do so very frequently as long as the World shall last because with some Men nothing but seeing is Believing But that this should be is what I presume none besides themselves can think it reasonable either for Men to ask or for God to grant 4. Lastly The Unreasonableness of desiring any further or additional Proof of the Truth of Religion besides what is already afforded us in the Standing Revelation of the Holy Scripture will farther appear by considering our own Interest in being convinced and persuaded of the Truth of Religion by such Arguments and Motives as are in themselves sufficient for that purpose altho' they be not so very strong and forcible as we could wish they were And this Argument I shall handle in the way of Reproof and a just and seasonable Reproof I think it to such bold and presuming Persons as I have been now speaking of who will needs stand upon their Terms with Almighty God and will not be persuaded to Believe and Repent but just by such Reasons and such Motives as they themselves shall be pleased to require Tell not us say they of Moses and the Prophets and of things that were done a great while ago we know not when We 'll have fresh Revelations and new Miracles or Messengers from the Dead or else we will not Believe and Repent that we are resolv'd on Very well Then I say you may if you will continue still in your Unbelief and Impenitence Nevertheless I would advise you before you fully determine to persist in this Resolution to take a little time to consider seriously whose Interest and Concern it is either that you should Believe or that you should not Believe consider who it is that will be a Gainer or a Sufferer either by the One or by the Other For let me tell you if there be really a Heaven and a Hell and a Judgment and a Life to come 't is not your not believing them that will make them not to be and if these things are true 't is your own Life and Soul that is at Stake and if you are resolv'd to lose both unless you may be Saved your own way you your selves will be the greatest nay you your â—elves will be the only Sufferers And this is a Consideration that affects the Case very much and makes it very unreasonable to insist â—pon having such satisfaction in this Case as in some other Cases might not so very unreasonably be desired For if any Man tells me a Story which it is for his Interest I should believe it is his Concern to give me such Assurance of it as I shall require even altho' less than I require would be in all Reason sufficient And therefore if I will not believe one or two Witnesses tho' it may be unreasonable in me not to believe them yet it is his Business and what it behoves him to do to produce if it be possible ten or twenty Witnesses or as many more as I shall ask for And if one sort of Proof tho' in it self it be never so good will not satisfie me it is his part and what he ought in Reason to do if he be able to bring other Proofs of it and so to go on multiplying his Witnesses and his Proofs 'till such time as I shall declare my self fully satisfied And the Reason is because the Loss or Inconvenience will be his and only his in Case he cannot convince me of the Truth of his Relation But now on the other side if the Story which he tells me be true and it be for my Interest and Advantage only not at all for his that I should believe it to be true If I say he will be neither a Gainer nor a Loser whether I believe his Report or whether I do not believe it then if he gives me such Evidence of the Truth of it as is sufficient to convince a Man of Reason he has done enough he has done all that belonged to him as a Friend to do And if after this I make it my Business to cavil at and to except against his Evidence and go about to prescribe to him what sort of Proof he should give me of the Truth of what he relates declaring withal that less or other Proof than just that which I require shall never satisfie me he may justly reject my Suit as unreasonable and condemn me for a Fool that will not see my own Interest nor know when a Friend has done enough And this is exactly our Case God has sent his Son to us with the Promise of Eternal Life and has given us sufficient Assurance of his Divine Mission and thereby of the Truth of that Revelation which he made Now if we will believe this well and good the Profit will be all our own we shall save our own Souls alive But God will receive no Advantage to himself by our Believing his perfect Happiness being not capable of any Increase But if we will not Believe this Testimony that God has given of his Son if we except against his Witnesses and cavil at his Evidence and will not Believe but just upon that very sort of Proof which we our selves are pleas'd to pitch upon why then we may e'en take our own Course we may be Unbelievers still but 't is we only that shall suffer by our Unbelief the Infinite and Essential Happiness of God being as little capable of Diminution as of Advancement And as if we Believe and Repent God will be Glorified in our Salvation so if we will not Believe and Repent he will be no less glorified in our Destruction Seeing therefore whether you Believe or whether you do not Believe God
already given Reasons why if it might it should not be so but it is as clear as such a Matter is capable to be And I dare be bold to say that there is no other Proof of Religion fit to be offered or reasonably to be desired to which a Sceptick might not make as just and plausible Exceptions as he can to the Standing Proofs of Christianity For one single Miracle done in his own Presence would be nothing near so convincing as the many Miracles wrought by Christ and his Apostles were of some or other of which there were more than ten thousand Witnesses and if he can suppose that so many were deceived in plain Matters of Sense he may much rather suppose that he a single Man may be imposed upon And an Apparition of a deceased Friend would be a Matter wherein any one Man might be more probably Cheated or be more easiy persuaded that he was Cheated than the Apostles could be in the Resurrection of our Lord when he was seen by them very frequently and sometimes by a great Company of them met together by the space of forty Days And a single Miracle that is over as soon as done could not make such a deep and lasting Impression upon a Man's Mind as that constant Power of working Miracles and especially the Gift of Tongues which lasted a whole Life must needs do upon the Apostles and those that lived in their time who were either Partakers of these Gifts themselves or constant Witnesses thereof in others In short whatever Miracles we can desire may be wrought for our Conviction either they must be seen by us with our own Eyes or else they must be receiv'd by Testimony from others And tho' they should be seen by us with our own Eyes yet so long as 't is against our Inclination or inconsistent with that Love which we bear to the World or to our Sins to believe that they are true Miracles we should easily be apt to fansie that they were only melancholy Delusions or Tricks put upon us by Designing Men which our first Fright or Amazement hindred us from discovering the fraud of and so they would probably have no effect at all upon us longer than till our Fright or Amazement was well worn off But if we should only have an Account of them by Testimony from others they would be yet less likely to persuade us because there can be no Testimony concerning any such Matters of Fact more clear and unexceptionable than that which we have already of the Truth of our Saviour's and his Apostles Miracles so that if we believe not this we should hardlier believe any other Testimony because we can scarcely have so good Assurance of any Man's Truth as we have of the Sincerity and Veracity of all those who are the present Witnesses to our Religion and we can hardly be surer that we hear any Man whom we know speaking to us than we are that we hear the Apostles speaking to us in the Books of the New Testament And therefore I think it plainly follows as I farther noted that the same Temper and Disposition of Mind and the same Unwillingness to believe the Truths of the Gospel which now dispose Men to Infidelity and prompt them to study and make Exceptions to the Proofs already given us of the Christian Faith would work the same Effect if other Proof and Evidence were given of it and that Men would then quickly make as good Exceptions to that as they do now to these For from what has been said I think 't is plain that if Men do not see the Truth when 't is placed in so clear a Light as 't is in already the Reason must be because they wilfully shut their Eyes or else are so blinded by a Love of this World or of their sinful Lusts that if the Light were ten times brighter than it is they would see no more than they do now And it would be to as little Purpose in order to the Conviction of such perverse and obstinate Men to add an more or stronger Proofs of the Truth of Religion as it would be to light up abundance of Torches to a Man that is quite blind For this is indeed the true Cause why Men will not hear Moses and the Prophets why they will not believe Christ and his Apostles testifying the certainty of a future State and other Truths of Religion 't is not I say because there is any just Exception to their Testimony but because they do not like the Matter of it and so are resolved not to believe They love their Sins so well that they can upon no Account be persuaded to part with them and being so resolved it is an easie thing to cavil at any Motives or Arguments that are urged to persuade them to it Seeing they will not see and hearing they will not hear nor understand and to Men so obstinately resolved against Conviction no Proof can be convincing enough And this is the sad effect of Love to Sin it Viciates the Judgments of Men so that they can't distinguish between things that differ most vastly it darkens their Understanding so that the plainest Proposition or the clearest Consequence in the World if it be against the Interest of Sin seems dark and obscure to them and it renders their Minds so averse to Religion that they can't with any Patience so much as hear the Arguments that are offered to prove it And be a Reason never so good 't is not to be hoped it should be convincing to a Man who will not hear it or who will not allow himself calmly to consider it From all that hath been said therefore upon this Head it plainly appears That the proper Cure of Infidelity is not the Addition of more Proof of the Truth of Religion but a right Prepaartion and Disposition of Mind to consider well the Proof thereof that is offered which is sufficient to convince and persuade all those that have a Love of Truth and a Will disposed to Virtue The Causes of Infidelity must be first removed and then the Cure of it will be easie by those Means which God has provided and directed us to use and there will be no need of his Working Miracles for Men's Conviction But 'till the Causes of it are removed 't is hardly to be Cured even by a Miracle But it will be said perhaps that tho' fresh Revelations and new Miracles might not be sufficient to convince all they might however convince some because there are several Degrees in the Perverseness and Obstinacy of Men Some indeed there may be whom no such Proof of Religion as is fit to be given us in this State of Trial would persuade whose Case therefore must be given over as desperate but then there are others Acts 26.28 who as King Agrippa was are almost persuaded to be Christians and when the Scales are already near even a small weight put into the lightest will make it
his Grave and appear to them which was the very thing that the Rich Man here desires in the behalf of his Brethren as being in his Judgment the most powerful and so like to be the most effectual method to reclaim them when I say this was done by our Saviour in the presence of a great number so that the Truth of the Miracle could not be doubted and was not denied by any of them all the Effect that it had upon those obstinate and incredulous Men was only that it made them enter presently sooner perhaps than otherwise they would have done into a close Consultation to put to death both Jesus and Lazarus too Some Examples indeed it must be granted there are on the other side For we are told in Acts xi 41. of a great number about three thousand that believed upon the first Preaching of St. Peter and sight of that great Miracle the Gift of Tongues wherewith the Apostles were endued But then it may be considered that it was not the Miracle that convinced them I mean not that alone for many that were then present Verse 13. and heard the Apostles speaking with Tongues were so far from being persuaded thereby that they most falsly blasphemed that as they had done all our Saviour's Miracles before attributing the fruit of that most evident Power of the Holy Ghost to new Wine And it may be further noted that those who were persuaded by it were such as before they saw the Miracle were in a good Disposition to embrace that pure Religion that is taught in the Gospel or else that Miracle would not have persuaded them for the Persons convinced thereby were not of the Pharisees or unbelieving Jews that had rejected our Saviour before Verse 5. but they were Devout Persons Jews or Proselytes who had come at that Feast of Pentecost from other Parts of the World to Jerusalem to Worship and who had probably never heard of our Saviour before more than by uncertain Report but being well read in Moses and the Prophets and giving good heed to them were Converted more by the manifest Accomplishment of all the ancient Prophecies concerning the Messias in the Person of our Saviour than by the sight of that great Miracle This therefore being Matter of Fact and Experience what has been done and come to pass already that new Miracles have been generally unsuccessful upon such as have not regarded a Standing Revelation of God's Will we may reasonably infer that 't is highly probable if not certain that the same Experiment tried over again would have no better success The Summ of all therefore is this such as are as St. Luke says they were who were Converted by the Preaching and Miracles of the Apostles * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Predisposed or fitted for Eternal Life Acts 13.46 that is such as are modest and teachable who hear without prejudice and judge without Partiality and have no Interest of Sin or the World that stands in competition with their Desire to obtain everlasting Happiness such as enquire out the Truth with the same Indifference that a Traveller does his Way who has no Inclination to one Way more than to another but only desires to be directed right and is resolved to take that way which he is persuaded is the right tho' it should not prove so very clean and smooth and pleasant as he hoped it would such I say as are of this honest and docible mind will be persuaded by a good Reason especially if it be as good as the Matter is capable of tho' it falls short of Demonstration and if there be Reason or appearance of Reason on both sides they will judge on that side on which the Reasons seem most weighty and for the Conviction of such as these the Standing Revelation of the Gospel being so well proved as it is is abundantly sufficient so that such shall not need new Miracles or new Revelations And on the other side such as only do need them that is such as being of perverse Minds and stubborn Wills and devoted to Sin will not hearken to Moses and the Prophets nor to Christ and his Apostles speaking in the Scripture would very probably receive no Benefit from new Miracles or new Revelations For nothing will serve to convince those who will not be convinced at all no Arguments can be sufficient to persuade a Man to that which he is strongly prejudiced and fully resolved against And this being the Case of all those who do not hear Moses and the Prophets and Christ and his Apostles preaching to them in the Holy Scripture or are not persuaded by them we may well conclude with Abraham in the Text that any other means that might be used to reclaim them would most probably prove as ineffectual as this has been and that they would not be persuaded tho' one rose from the dead And now having shewn that the present Standing Revelation of God's Will in the Holy Scripture is sufficient to convince and persuade Men having also shewn that more Proof and Evidence than we have of the Truth of our Religion cannot reasonably be desired And having likewise shewn that any other Proof or Evidence thereof would probably be ineffectual upon those who will not hear Moses and the Prophets and Christ and his Apostles preaching to them in the Holy Scripture I have finished all that I proposed to do in discoursing on these Words I shall conclude all with an useful Exhortation first to Infidels who will not by all that has been said be persuaded to admit this divine Revelation and secondly to Christians who do receive it 1. To you who are yet Infidels if there are any such here as I hope there are not or if these Discourses shall happen to fall into the Hands of any such I beg leave to address my self in a few words And I would desire you in the first Place to prepare and dispose your Minds to hear gravely and without prejudice the Reasons that are offered to prove the Truth of Christianity by considering seriously the great Importance of Religion if it be true And if you do but consider this you will quickly see that it is well worth your while to be at some pains to satisfie your selves fully whether Religion be true or not For if Religion be true and you can't be sure it is not till you have well examined the Grounds and Proofs of it you have a great Concern at stake and in a Matter of such Moment it becomes not a Wise Man to be determined by a Jest or a Quibble And if you seriously consider the great Importance of Religion you will likewise readily see that of the two you had much better be mistaken in believing the Truth of Religion tho' it be false than in disbelieving it if indeed it be true so that consequently if it can ever be reasonable for a Wise Man to be under a Prejudice it would be most
may be if you propound them seriously you may convince us that we are in a mistake but we are now in too grave an Humour to be wrought upon by a Jest and how strong soever your Objections against Religion are by a light and trifling way of expressing them you will make them lose all their Force But indeed 3. To what purpose is it for you to make it your Business any ways or by any Arguments to endeavour to proselyte Men to Atheism and Infidelity For whether our Religion be true or false it is better for you as well as for all the World besides that it should be generally believed and that Men should think themselves obliged to live according to the Rules and Precepts of it You can't surely be so unacquainted with the World if you have lived any time in it or read any thing of History but that you must needs know that before the Principles of Atheism and Deism prevail'd so much as they have done of late Years there was a great deal more Truth and Justice and Honesty and fair Dealing in the World than there is now So that if you should succeed in your Endeavour if you should be able either to reason or to laugh Religion quite out of the World the most probable nay the most certain Consequence of it would be that when the Godly Man ceased Ps 12.1 2. the faithful would also fail from among the Children of Men that then they would speak Vanity every one with his Neighbour with flattering Lips and with a double Heart would they speak That then Strength would be the Law of Justice Wisd 2.11 and that which is feeble would be found nothing worth If therefore you have as you think perhaps you have found out the Cheat of Religion 't is your best Prudence however to keep your Discovery to your selves Delight your selves as much as you will with the Contemplation of your own Happiness above other Men in that you are now freed from the Terrors of Conscience and the Fears of another World by means of that notable Discovery which you have made of the Vanity of Religion please your selves as much as you will with thinking that are not now as others are tied to speak truth when 't is to your disadvantage to suffer any thing in this World for Conscience sake or to be just and honest in your Dealings when you can get considerably by Fraud and Oppression and can order the Matter so secretly as to safe from Discovery and consequently from all Shame and Punishment from Men But be the Advantage which you have gained to your selves by discovering the Cheat of Religion never so great yet the greater it is and the greater you think it so much the more cautious you ought to be not to make known to others what you have so happily discovered for when once others shall come to know as much as you think you do viz. That all Religion is a Cheat all your Advantage above them will cease they will then be all upon the same Terms with you they will then be all as much at Liberty to defraud oppress or otherwise injure you as you are now to defraud oppress or injure them You ought not therefore in Prudence to try to convince them of their Mistake tho' you were sure it was a Mistake for why should you make it your Business to cut in sunder those Cords of Religion by which they are now tied up from doing you mischief In a word either Religion is true and well grounded or it is not and which soever it be it is better both for them that do believe the Truth of it and for you also that they should continue in the Belief of it why then should you be at Pains only to do mischief For put Case first that Religion is vain and groundless it must be confessed however that it is of some present Advantage to them that do believe it because it serves to bear them up under the unavoidable Pains and Troubles and Misery of this Mortal Life with the comfortable Hope of a blessed Immortality and it will be no Disadvantage to them hereafter for when they are dead if indeed there be no Life after this they will be as if they had never been they will not be then in a Capacity of grieving for their Disappointment And it is also for your present Advantage that they that are mistaken in believing the Truth of Religion should continue in their Mistake because it makes them better to you in every Relation than they would otherwise be more Just and Merciful Governours more Loyal and Obedient Subjects more Loving Parents more Dutiful Children more Gentle Masters more Faithful Servants and more Just Honest and Loving Neighbours why then should you be at any Pains to Cure that Mistake if it be a Mistake which does them no harm but rather good and which is likewise so profitable for you Especially when you can't be so vain as to expect to merit Heaven if indeed there be no Heaven by your Zeal for the Truth of Atheism But if indeed Religion be true and you can't be sure it is not how deficient soever you may think our Proofs of it are as I shall not need to say that it will be better for them that believe it that they should persist in their Belief of it so I shall not need to say much to shew that it will in the Event be better for you that you should not endeavour to pervert them for certainly if there be a Hell they will be condemned to the hottest place in it who not only withdrew themselves from their Subjection to Almighty God and would not suffer him to reign over them but made it also their Business to corrupt others to form a Party against Heaven and to raise an Universal Rebellion against God These things and more to the like Purpose I would say to the Atheists if I thought they were here to hear me And I should not be without Hope that altho' what was said before in the foregoing Discourses was not sufficient to cure their Infidelity what has been now said might serve to convince them that it is the wisest Course to keep their Infidelity to themselves that how little soever they believe of the the Truth of Religion it is not Prudence to tell the World that they are Men of no Principles and consequently not fit to be employed or trusted that 't is not good Manners to make a Jest of Serious and Sacred things and to affront the common Reason and Judgment of Mankind and that 't is not for their Interest to endeavour to bring other Men over to their side because if none had more Religion than themselves they could not be near so safe and secure in their Rights and Possessions and in their Lives the only things they value as they now are But I do not think there are any here present concern'd in this
Body into some one Country remote from Judea and there with concurrent Testimony born Witness of the Things they had seen and heard yet who would have believ'd their Report The Report of Strangers coming from a far Country and of whose Honesty and Truth they could have no Assurance but only from themselves vouching for one another Who would have given Credit to a Relation of such incredible Stories told with a Design to introduce a Religion that was unknown to their Fathers and such a ridiculous Religion too as this at the first Proposal wou'd probably appear viz. the Worshipping as God a Man who by their own Confession was rejected and set at naught and at last Crucified as a wicked Malefactor by his own Countrymen Or if it can be supposed that the Apostles by the Boldness of their Speech and the inticing Words of Man's Wisdom might after some time have prevailed upon some few to become Proselytes to their Religion yet the multitude of their Disciples could not have been very great before the Government of the Country would have taken the Alarm and have called in Question these Setters forth of new Gods these Movers of Sedition among the People as they would certainly have been accounted and as in fact the Apostles were accounted in every place where they came And this would quickly have put a stop to a growing Sect They that liked the Religion well enough before because it was new would quickly have left off to like it when they saw it would be dangerous to profess it 't is not likely their Followers would have continued to stick to them when they perceiv'd the Government and the whole Nation in general engaged on the other side and resolved by all means possible to extirpate the Belief they had entertained and when they saw their Preachers Imprisoned and Scourged tortur'd and put to Death they would quickly have deserted the Service of a Master who they would then readily think was not of Power to save either himself from the Cross or his Disciples from Suffering And after this had the Residue of the Apostles who might possibly have escaped Martyrdom in this Country gone into another there they must have expected the like Reception and Usage and not better in a third and so in a few Years their Lives would have spun out in doing nothing and their Religion would have perish'd with themselves And if their united Testimony would have had so little Credit much less can it be supposed that the single Witness of One Apostle only could ever have gain'd any Credit at all And yet unless the Testimony of some single Witnesses had been believ'd 't is impossible there should have been in so short a time so great a Conversion of Men to Christianity in all parts of the World by the Preaching of so few Men. So that whoever believes that Christianity could make so swift and so great a Progress as 't is certain by all History it did only by the Preaching of the Apostles without any Miraculous Gifts or Supernatural Assistance wants not Faith enough to be a Christian if he had but a Will to it for he believes already a much greater Miracle than any that is recorded in the Evangelical Story And now by all that hath been said in this and the last Discourse I hope it appears that there is sufficient Reason to give full Credit to the Authors of the Historical Books of the New Testament in their Relations of those Matters of Fact which they have recorded This I 'm sure I may say that there is not so good Reason to give Credit to any History in the World besides of the same Antiquity And that a History so well confirmed as this is cannot reasonably be rejected nor indeed any ways be discredited but either by some other more credible History contradicting it or by some intrinsick Evidence of Falshood But better or more credible History contradicting it I have already observ'd there is not nor indeed is there any History contradicting it that is of sufficient Antiquity to disprove it Nay there are many very considerable things of those recorded in the Gospel-History that are occasionally mentioned by other Historians of those or the succeeding Times who had no Design thereby to do any Service to Christianity as namely that there was such a Man as John the Baptist that he was a Person of great Piety and Austerity and a Preacher of Righteousness and that he was put to Death by Herod That there was also a Man named Jesus who called himself and was owned by many to be the Christ that he did many wonderful things and was at last Crucified by the Jews The Names of some other Persons likewise spoken of in the Gospel-History are mention'd under the same Character in some other Histories as Pilate Felix Festus Caiphas Agrippa c. In other Histories also we find notice taken of the Cruelty of Herod in slaying the Infants at Bethlehem and among them as 't is thought his own Son which made Augustus when the Story was told him to say that it was better to be Herod 's Swine than his Son and likewise of that remarkable Eclipse of the Sun when the Moon was at the full which the Evangelists say happen'd at the time of our Saviour's Passion and of that violent Earthquake that was at the same time and lastly of the prodigious Increase of Christianity in all Parts of the Roman Empire soon after its first Publication And if upon this Occasion it should be said that the Facts recorded in the Evangelical History and the Events that follow'd thereupon were so very wonderful and remarkable that if they had been true they must in all probability have been more taken notice of than they are in other Histories I answer that supposing them to be true it could not be reasonably expected that more mention should have been made of them by other Historians than there really is because they were plainly foreign to their purpose or else such Stories as tho' they had heard of them they did not believe having perhaps never taken any pains to examine into the Truth of them For what was it to the Purpose of an Author that was writing the Life of one of the Roman Emperors or the History of some famous War or giving an Account of the Affairs of the Civil State to make a large Digression concerning a Religious Sect begun in Judea by a Person that was despised in his own Country and carried on and continued by mean and contemptible Persons who made no Figure in the World Or how could it be expected that an Historian who was not himself a Christian should yet give a large Account of the Miracles of our Saviour and his Apostles and other Facts upon which our Religion is grounded which had he believ'd as he must be supposed to have done if he had deliver'd them to Posterity as Truths he must have been a Christian 'T