the Disciples for a time such Prejudices had they on their minds that they could not conceive the meaning of our Lord and they durst not ask him concerning those things It was not as yet reveal'd to them by what means the Messias was to deliver them they dreamt of an Earthly Kingdom as the blinded Iews at this day they promis'd themselves much temporal Prosperity and Grandeur in the World Neither could the Doctrine of Christ's Resurrection gain assent with them for we read that when he spake of it to the three Apostles before whom he was transfigured they questioned one with another what the rising from the dead should mean Mark 9. 10. And afterwards when he told the other Apostles as well as these that he should rise again the third day they understood not that saying Mark 9. 31 32. That our Saviour's Friends believ'd not his Resurrection appears from their dressing his dead Body with Aromatick Gums and Spices which were design'd to preserve it It had been vain to use these glutinous Gums and Persumes if they thought he was in a short time to rise again And when he was risen they would not believe it as appears too plainly from that Speech of Cleophas one of those whom Jesus talk'd with presently after his Resurrection tho then he pass'd incognito We trusted saith he that it had been He who should have redeemed Israel Luke 24. 21. Still he doubted tho he had heard of the Lord's Resurrection in saying we trusted he discover'd his distrust and impli'd that Iesus could not be the Messias who was to redeem Israel Tho the Apostles were certified of Christ's Resurrection by those that saw him yet their words seemed to them as idle Tales Luke 24. 11. and they would not be perswaded till they themselves saw Christ among them Nor did they know that he was to ascend for just before he left them they put this question to him Wilt thou at this time restore the Kingdom to Israel Acts 1. 6. Wilt thou repair the Iewish State and recover its pristine Splendour yea raise it to a higher Dignity than ever it arrived to as we expect should be done by the Messias So likewise it might be proved that some of them were in an Error about the End of the World for they believed it would be about that time By these and other Instances their Ignorance and Mistake were apparently discovered they had very false apprehensions and conceptions of things and some of the chief Articles of the Christian Belief were not credited by them Here I might add that in our Blessed Saviour's time there was not such an effusion of the Holy Spirit as there was afterwards Iohn 7. 35. The Holy Ghost was not yet given because that Iesus was not yet glorified For this Reason several things were not disclosed to them but were reserved till a further communication of the Spirit for tho Christ had said All things which I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you yet he adds I have yet many things to say unto you but you cannot hear them now Howbeit when the Spirit of Truth is come he will guide you into all Truth John 16. 12 13. As much as if he had said there is no new Truth or other Doctrine to be preach'd to you than what you have receiv'd from me already but the time is coming when there shall be a greater Manifestation of those things to you tho the Truths as to the main shall be the same yet your Understandings and Capacities shall be greater you shall then comprehend those matters which before you could not as the calling of the Gentiles the Spiritual Kingdom of the Messias c. And moreover the Holy Spirit shall increase your Love and Zeal to God and all Truth so that you shall be enabled not only to preach it to all Nations but undauntedly to suffer Persâ—cution and even to lay down your Lives in the defence of it By this it is evident that Christianity was revealed by degrees as well as the other former Dispensations of Religion Their knowledg in the Christian Institution was gradual they were not to know all together neither were their Zeal and Courage of the same proportion that they were afterwards Secondly in the Times and Ages immediately succeeding our Saviour's being upon Earth the Church was but yet in its Childhood and State of Infirmity It is true they were much increased and advanced in their knowledg of spiritual Truths this being the Accomplishment of our Saviour's Promise as well as Prediction that the Holy Spirit should guide them into all Truth By a more immediate and special Directioâ— of this Holy Guide the Evangelists and Apostles indited and pen'd the Books of the New Testament so that there are no Errors and Mistakes in them of any kind Therefore what a Learned Writer saith on 1 Cor. 15. 51. and 2 Pet. 3. 11. and other places in St. Paul's and St. Peter's Epistles viz. that these Apostles verily believ'd the day of Iudgment was at hand and consequently were under a mistake is not to be admitted is by no means to be credited for these Persons as well as the other Penmen of the New Testament being immediately inspired by that Infallible Guide and Director could not possibly commit any Errors in their Writings whatever their misapprehensions were at other times When therefore they use those Terms with respect to the last Day We and Ye as if they of that Age should survive to see that Day we must remember that they speak not of themselves particularly and definitively but of the whole successive Body of Christians in several Ages who will be expecting the last Day This is the meaning of those Expressions as is plain from their using them on other occasions We have no Reason then to think that the Apostles were deceiv'd about the Day of Judgment or any other matter that they writ of and deliver'd to the World Here is no weakness no defect as to any thing of this nature Nay there was a great Advance and Accession in respect of what there was before in the foregoing part of this Dispensation viz. in the time that our Saviour lived upon the Earth For the Doctrines of the Gospel of which I speak now were gradually deliver'd and consequently the Apostles attain'd now to more than was discover'd in Christ's time he having not thought fit then to communicate all in so evident and plain a manner as we find it was afterwards done Therefore that late Writer is under a great mistake who declares that the Apostles Epistles are only occasional and that we can find no necessary Points of Divinity deliver'd there which were not deliver'd before in the Gospels and Acts whereas the Truth is the Epistles contain the most perfect and complete Doctrines of the Gospel for by degrees the Evangelical Truth display'd it self All the necessary and fundamental Articles of Christianity are explain'd
cogent Reasons to perswade us that they truly and faithfully delivered down to us those things This I will make good from the Consideration 1. Of the Persons that transmitted these things 2. Of the Evidence of the Cause First as to the Persons I will consider both their Lives and their Deaths Their Lives are sufficient proofs of their Integrity in delivering the Scriptures of the New Testament to us and of their confident belief of the Truth of all that is contain'd in them The Primitive Christians lived after another rate than we do now They did not wrangle and quarrel as we do they did not â—ight and devour one another as the manner of too many is of latter times but they were remarkable for their mutual Love and Concord for their Humility Meekness and Condescension to one another and they were admired for their Gravity Sobriety Self-denial and Patience they were eminent for their Piety towards God and their Innocent and Righteous dealing with all Men. The Ministers practised what they preached and the People were ambitious to imitate their Preachers and both were singularly Good and Virtuous This was it which gain'd so many Proselytes to Christianity in those first times this brought them to a perswasion of the Truth and Reality of Christ's Doctrine Therefore when Origen had excellently proved the Truth of Christianity to Alexander Severus that noble Emperor ingenuously confessed that he was more convinced of the Truth of that Religion by the humble and loving carriage of Christians than by all Origen's Arguments The exemplary and blameless Conversation of those Primitive Professors argued that the Doctrine and Principles of their Religion were real and certain For how can it enter into any sober Mans thoughts that such holy and upright Men true followers of the Apostles and Disciples of Christ would have constantly confessed and owned the Christian way unless they had been throughly convinced of the Truth of it and that it was the very same which was confess'd and acknowledg'd by the Apostles themselves These Holy and Godly Men made Conscience of a Lie and counted it a heinous Crime to falsify yea they esteem'd it no less than a damnable Sin to disbelieve or misreport those things concerning Christ and the Christian Doctrines They were really perswaded in their Minds that their Salvation lay at stake that their Eternal Welfare or Everlasting Ruin were concern'd in these things And can you imagin then that they would report them falsly and impose upon the World by delivering things which were counterfeit Again as the Lives so the Suffering and Death of the Saints in the Primitive Days and in the succeeding Ages are an undeniable Argument of the Truth of what was deliver'd to them and of what they conveyed to us They underwent the most exquisite Pains and Torments with ineffable Courage and Constancy and nothing could prevail with them to renounce the Christian Religion insomuch that when the Pagan Adversaries in those days would express any thing to be impossible they did it thus Ye may sooner make the Professors of Christ quit their Mastersâ— Doctrine This was a thing not to be effected for those Persons first of all forsook their worldly Goods and then parted with their Lives to hold fast their Religion This patient Suffering and undaunted Dying of so many thousands is an unquestionable Proof of the Truth of Christianity For those enlightned and sanctified Men would never lay down their Lives to maintain a Falshood and to perpetuate a Lie No they knew whom they believed in and for whom they suffer'd and that made them so couragious We may conclude then that the Christian Doctrine is confirm'd by the Blood of those Worthy Men those expiring Saints did testify the Truth of Christianity and therefore they are stiled Martyrs Secondly The Evidence of the Cause is an impregnable Argument of the Reality and Truth of these things which I am speaking of There is this following heap of Evidences 1. A great Presumption arising from just Causes and Circumstances yea and from a multiplicity of them which in all Courts of Judicature is of considerable weight and value with understanding Judges This first but lowest sort of Evidence the Christian Church since our Saviour hath not been destitute of for there were never higher Presumptions in any Cause under Heaven than there were in this But we need not mention this when we have 2. The Notoriety of the Facts i. e. when the things in trial are openly and commonly known when they are avouched by publick Fame and the universal Vogue of Men. And that this was the case of Christianity ever since Christ left the Earth cannot be denied by any Man of Modesty and Truth 3. The Succession of Christians and Churches in the World is a plain Proof that they verily believed those things which made them Christians and Churches Hereupon they deliver'd to us those Writings which they receiv'd from the Hands of the Evangelists and Apostles by their transmitting them to Posterity they shew that they believe them to be sacred and certain Verities 4. The Succession of Bishops and Pastors is an other Evidence for it was their Office to read publickly the Scriptures of the New Testament and to preach the Doctrines contain'd in them and consequently to own them to be Truth which is a good Motive to us to do the same 5. The frequent Disputes which Christians in all Ages have held with those who opposed the Scripture and Christianity are no mean Testimony in this Cause 6. To these may be added the famous Writings of the Christians in the several Centuries their Apologies Dialogues Sermons Homilies Orations Commentaries Histories All which proclaim their serious and firm Belief of what they have convey'd down to us 7. All Christian Churches have deliver'd to us certain Symbols or Articles of Belief which they reckon'd to be the Standards of Evangelical Faith and Truth 8. The Constant Communion of the Church and the publick Worship of God in the solemn Assemblies of Christians ever since the days of the Apostles the setting apart a Day for that Worship the reading of the Scriptures at such times the instructing the People out of them the celebrating the Lord's Supper the constant custom of openly rehearsing and proâ—essing the Christian Belief the Prayers and Praises offer'd to God in the name of Christ the yearly Commemoration of the Birth Death and Resurrection of our Saviour the Sacrament of Baptism which acknowledgeth the Father the Son and the Holy Ghost 9. The sundry Decrees and Canons of Synods and Councils held in the Christian Churches Lastly the many Laws and Edicts of Christian Emperours and Princes in defence and confirmation of our most holy Religion These and all the rest before-named are clear Proofs and Evidences that the Evangelical Writings which contain the Doctrine and Actions of our blessed Lord were rightly and truly convey'd to us and that we are in possession of the same Faith and
Loretto and by St. Iames at Compostella I could shew that the Miracles of the Papists are question'd by themselves their Truth is doubted of by Cajetan de Concept Virg. Espencaeus in 2. Tim. 4. and others of that Communion 9. We may with Reason suspect the Roman Miracles because our Religion was proved and confirmed by Miracles long before It is not requisite they should be repeated and reiterated afresh There is no more need of New Miracles than there is of New Revelations They were wrought to confirm the Truth which we hold at this day therefore since we have the same Truth that was confirmed by those Miracles of old what need is there of any farther Confirmation Lastly the Popish Miracles are no True Miracles because they are exerted to maintain a false Religion for such is that of the Church of Rome consisting of damnable Doctrines Superstition Idolatry and all manner of Ungodly Lewd and Prophane Practices We cannot think then that God will by Miracles attest and allow of such Abominations If then they still insist on the Miracles wrought by some of them among the Indians as they pretend I say this that if it can be proved they were done among those Infidels it was to confirm the Christian Religion not the Popish Thus you see that these Boasters of Miracles and who make them a Note of their Church are found to be but Pretenders and can lay no claim as they are of that Church to those Miracles which are Real Geâ—uine and True and which only are the certain Testimonies of the Truth of Christianity Which brings me to the 3 d and last thing I undertook viz. To evince that these Miracles are and ought to be look'd upon as an Infallible Testimony of the Truth of Christianity To these Christ himself appealed as a Proof of his Divinity and Messiahship Mat. 11. 4 5. To that Question Art thou he that should come or do we look for another the Answer was Go and shew those things which you hear and see the Blind receive their Sight the Lame walk C. So when the Iews were earnest with him to declare who he was If thou be the Christ say they tell us plainly Iesus â—nswer'd them The Works which I do in my Father's name they bear witness of me John 10. 24 25. These are a sufficient Attestation of my Divine Authority Therefore he saith in John 15. 24. If I had not done amongst them the Works which no other Man did they had not had Sin i. e. their Unbelief had been no Sin for if those Works were not a Proof of my Divine Commission they were not bound to believe me But on the contrary those miraculous Works being undeniable Evidences of his acting by a Power from Heaven it was a grievous and damning Sin to disbelieve him So the Apostles when their preaching the Gospel was opposed and contradicted thought they sufficiently disproved the Gainsayers by shewing that Iesus of Nazareth whom they preach'd was a Man approved or demonstrated of God among them by Miracles and Wonders and Signs which God did by him in the midst of them as they themselves also know Acts 2. 22. Christ's Miracles were a Demonstration of the Truth of his Doctrine and consequently of that of the Apostles because it was the same Thus St. Paul argues the Truth of Christianity from the miraculous Indowments and Gifts of the Apostles and declares to the Hebrews that it is extreme dangerous to neglect that Doctrine and that Salvation which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord himself and was afterwards confirmed unto them by them that heard him God also bearing them witness both with Signs and Wonders and with diverse Miracles and Gifts of the Holy Ghost Heb. 2. 3 4. Here is the just Method of the Progress and Proof of the Gospel here is first the Author and Founder of it the Lord Christ Jesus who at the first began to speak and deliver it Secondly the Evidence of its delivery it was confirmed by them that heard it i. e. by the Apostles who were Ear-witnesses of this Divine Doctrine Thirdly the Truth and Certainty of the Apostles Testimony concerning Christ and his Doctrine God bore them witness with Signs and Wonders and with diverse Miracles which are as great a Confirmation of what they deliver'd as can possibly be desired Yea Miracles have been always accounted such even by those who were not very forward to imbrace our Saviour and his Doctrine The Common People when they had seen the Miracles that Iesus did could say this is of a Truth that Prophet that should come into the World John 6. 14. This was the reasoning of the Man that was born blind and was restored to his sight Since the World began was it not heard that any Man by his own Power opened the Eyes of one that was born blind If this Man were not of God were not assisted with an infinite Power he could do nothing of this nature Iohn 9. 32 33. And not only the simple and illiterate but the wise and learned argued after this manner Nicodemus a Ruler of the Jews came to Christ with this Acknowledgment we know that thou art a Teacher come from God for no Man can do these Miracles that thou doest except God be with him John 3. 2. Here he confesses it as a known Truth that Miracles are sufficient to attest a Person or Doctrine to be from God and consequently they are good Arguments of the Truth of what our Saviour taught and they prove him to be the Messias And the Chief Priests and Pharisees could say this Man doth many Miracles if we let him thus alone all will believe on him John 11. 47 48. This strongly implies that Miracles are able to create Belief and so unawares they acknowledg that the Miracles which Christ and the Apostles wrought are good evidence that their Doctrine was from God and that it was to be believed and imbraced The Iewish Rabbins in their Writings speak much of the Miracles the Messias shall do which is an Argument that those Men were really perswaded that Miracles are a Proof of a Divine Commission and that they are to seal the Truth of God This was the very Notion and Sense of the Pagan World as is plain from that Passage recorded in the Acts of the Apostles chap. 14. 8 11 12. When Paul cured a certain Man at Lystra impotent in his Feet being a Cripple from his Mothers Womb who never had walked the People of the place seeing this Miracle presently lifted up their Voices saying the Gods are come down to us in the likeness of Men. Their natural Reason dictated to them that this was done by Divine Power and could not be done otherwise The Workers of Miracles are by these poor Heathens reputed as Gods St. Paul was taken by them for Mercury he that could give motion and nimbleness to the Lame Man of Lystra was thought to be the God with
and when there is a Contradiction involved in the Matter otherwise So here is a Moral Impossibility that it should be otherwise take all things together and it is not possible but that it should be thus and the contrary implies a Contradiction to Sense Reason and Scripture I should now proceed to the last Thing I propounded to speak of viz. the Degrees of the Evangelical Dispensation but this bâ—ing the Administration which is peculiarly ours and wherein we are most concerned I will before I go any further offer such Rational Deductions to you as this part of our Discourse naturally affordeth 1. Assent to the Christian Religion Which is a very Reasonable Inference for Assent or Belief naturally follows on the Clearness of Evidence and the more Clear and Demonstrative the Evidence is the Firmer and Stronger will the Belief be For as the Testimony is such must this needs be and therefore if the former be not only Human but Divine and consequently be Infallible the latter must be proportionable What is Divine saith an Excellent Writer doth by its Excellency conciliate Belief and by its Truth gain Authority For this Reason no Art or Science can pretend to that Certainty which is in Divinity Politicks are fallible Philosophy goes upon contrary Hypotheses Medicks guess rather than know the inward Causes and Springs of Diseases The Lawyer hath his Ieofail Law it self is very Uncertain and Arbitrary if you consider the infinite Disagreement of divers Nations even about the same thing Yea even Mathematicks if we may believe those that best understand them are mixt with Uncertainties and Falshoods there are Fallacies and Paralogisms in Geometry all is not plain downright Demonstration as appears from the Quarrels and Contests among Mathematicians themselves But Divinity is truly a Science and surpasseth all others because the Ground of it is supernatural Light and the very Testimony of God himself Particularly the Articles of Christianity are founded on Divine Revelation and therefore are unquestionable The Doctrine of the Gospel is built on this Rock this Stable and Impregnable Rock The Foundation of God standeth sure it continues the same and cannot be moved Christian Theology is founded on a sure Bottom Christ Iesus the Son of God and who is himself God having fixed it Heaven and Earth shall pass away but this Word shall not pass away With relation to this Mr. Boyle's Treatise of the Excellency of Theology compared with Natural Philosophy is well worth our perusal That admirable Person so well skill'd in the Study of Physiologie shews the Preeminence of the Study of Divinity above it on this account that Theological Truths are evidenced by Divine Testimony and therefore we may firmly acquiesce in them and require no further or greater Proof as indeed there can be no greater tho as I have shew'd they are not destitute of other Evidences The Evangelical Truths especially are the True Theologie That of Plato and Aristotle and other Philosophers to which they were pleased to vouchsafe This Name being but a sorry and ill contrived Rhapsodie therefore the Christian Church gave the Title of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to St. Iohn because he above all the rest of the Evangelists so expresly â—â—clared the Divinity of the Son of God which is the Noblest and Sublimest Point of Christianity and is matter of pure Faith and Divine Revelation Be convinced then of the True Grounds of your Christian Belief of the solid Foundations and undeniable Evidences which Christianity is built upon Know this that God could not have done more for the begetting of a strong Faith and Assurance 2. Assert and defend maintain and hold fast your Religion and let nothing shake your Faith and Confidence Indeed it is a wonder that such strong Supporters of the Christian Religion should be struck at by any but so it is Hereticks Iews and Pagans of old and high-flown Enthusiasts Deists Atheists Lewd and Dissolute Christians of late have endeavour'd to shake these Foundations Be you therefore the more Zealous in the defence of Christianity knowing that it is no Shadow or Phantom it depends not on Imagination and Conceit but is certainly True beyond all the subtile evasions and subterfuges of Sophisters It is an Excellency in a Man's Life to be upon sure Grounds and consequently to know what to do You have this Advantage in the Christian Religion it being something which is certain and fixed and therefore this should make you constant in the Profession and Exercise of it this should make you steady in your Resolves and Actions Your Religion being so Firm and Certain you ought to stand to it and to suffer none to rob you of it but to part with all for it These are the two Particular Inferences from this last thing I have discoursed of viz. the Truth and Certainty of the Christian Religion There are more general Deductions to be made from the whole Dispensation and they are these 1. Let us take notice of and admire the transcendent Worth of the Christian Religion I have traced Religion through all its several Stages I have lâ—t you see the whole intire Progress of it and you cannot but observe that all the former Dispensations made way for this of Christianity It must then be a very admirable Thing to which all that went before in God's own Oeconomies was but a Prelude a Preface a Preparative All before were but rude Draughts and imperfect Models They were a Foil only to set this off they were but as the dusky Twi-light to the brighter Day All that went before was but Infancy and Childhood This is Manhood and full Age. This one Consideration is sufficient to convince us of the Greatness and Majesty of the Kingdom of Christ under the Gospel Tho the Law which immediately preceded it and was the choicest of all the former Dispensations had some Lustre in it yet in comparison of the Gospel it had none its Glory vanished as the Light of the Stars when the Sun appeareth They saw in a Glass darkly they had but short and dim Representations of things they had none of that Clearness and Certainty which we under the Gospel have attained to Notwithstanding what was said before that they had many Ways and Rules to judg of True Prophets by and to know them from False ones yet this must be added that it was very difficult Prophecy might be easily counterfeited Fancy and Imagination made strong Impressions and deceived many they frequently had delusive Dreams and Visions In most of the Differences between the True Prophetick Spirit and the Enthusiastick Impostures of Pseudo-Prophets as they are set down by the Iewish Writers I find little satisfaction nor can any one who looks for Rational and Solid Accounts But the Prophecies and Revelations under the Evangelical Dispensation are Satisfactory and Certain We have now a more sure Word of Prophecy The excellent Discoveries made to the World by the Sacred Oracles of the Gospel are
in order to the compleat enlarging of the Church to work Wonders But at present this way of Divine Attestation is unnecessary for Christians have sufficient Means with regard to all the ends of Religion and Salvation among themselves there is no need of any greater at present Nay the cessation of those extraordinary visible and sensible Means is an Argument of the meliority of our Condition Blessed are they that have not seen and yet have believed saith our Saviour Iohn 20. 29. The meaning is they are more blessed i. e. their Faith is more excellent and laudable and they shall have a greater Reward It is a more blessed and eligible State to believe without such forcible and violent Means than with them Other things might be here mention'd as under the Law and before that time there was scarce any thing done without the ministration of Angels so in the first times of the Gospel the Appearance of these glorious Spirits was common but after Christ's Ascension and to this very time the Church is a Stranger to this particular Dispensation and is not to expect the Attestation or Confirmation of any Truth in this Way The Reason is because the Scriptures of the New Testament being now given us that former way of Revelation which was a Sign of an imperfect and weak State now ceases There is no need of these Divine Admonitors seeing we have the Writings of the Evangelists and Apostles which are a certain standing Rule and an infallible Direction to us And in several other particulars if it were requisite it might be shew'd that the State of Religion is alter'd and improved since our Saviour's time and the times after the Apostles And now in the close of this Head we cannot but take notice of the Usefulness and Necessity of attending to what hath been suggested concerning the different Administrations of Religion and particularly of the Christian. We cannot frame right thoughts concerning the Nature and Model of it unless we carefully observe the several Degrees and various Modifications of it before mention'd for tho there be the same general Dispensation yet there is an Alteration as to the particular Scenes of it That which we are under at present differs much from those which were in the first and early Ages of Christianism and therefore it is unreasonable to require now the very same things in the Church of Christ that were then There are some sober and well meaning Persons that attending not to this perswade themselves that there ought to be as to every particular the same Face of Administrations at present that there was at first and thence they look to the primitive State of the Church and examine every thing by that But this is not right for there hath been a Change of things in the Christian Church and this Change was by the particular Superintendency and Disposal of the Divine Providence and supreme Director Hence it is that we are not to expect that all things should be now as they were in the Beginning God himself having been pleas'd to alter the Dispensation in part Let us then remember the particular Division of the Oeconomy we are under and let us be concern'd to do what is fitting and proper to it and thereby we shall help to promote and hasten the next and better one which I am now to speak of CHAP. XIX That Christianity shall arrive to Manhood or Full Age is proved by several Arguments 1. God's Method in the World 2. The Low ebb of Christianity hitherto 3. The number of those that perish 4. The gradual Improvement of all Arts and Sciences The several Objections concerning the Decay and Senescency of the World made use of by Jewish Pagan and Christian Writers fully answer'd That the World decaies not as to Learning and Arts is made good from the Improvements of Navigation the Inventions of Gun-powder and Guns of Printing of Clocks and Watches the preparing of Sugar the Advances in Anatomy and Physick Astronomy Arithmetick Chymistry Mechanicks the Stile of Writers It is congruous to the Divine Providence and Wisdom that Religion also should have its Improvements as well as Arts and Sciences and accordingly it hath been greatly advanc'd and increas'd by the Reformation From the Increase it hath had already we may gather that there will be farther Accessions afterwards The virile and complete State of the Christian Church prov'd from several places of Scripture Mat. 24. 3. 19. 28. Acts 3. 21. Rom. 8. 19. 20. Heb. 2. 5. 9. 10. 1 Cor. 1. 7. 1 Pet. 3. 8. From those divers Texts that we meet with in the Old Tastament which make mention of the Kingdom and Reigning of the Messias A five-fold acception of the Kingdom of Christ in the New Testament The 1 Cor. 15. 25. urged The Millenary Reign The rise of the Antient Opinions about it It is proved that Christ shall not Personally reign upon Earth The deceased Saints shall not rise again to reign with him here What is meant by the Souls of them that were beheaded for the Witness of Jesus What is to be understood by their living and reigning with Christ. Two late Writers take it in a literal Sense but without any ground Who are the rest of the Dead that lived not again What are the first and second Resurrection The Reign of Christ a thousand Years is to be upon Earth By a thousand Years we are to understand a certain and definite Number Some Opinions concerning the Beginning and End of the thousand Years refuted Mr. Brightman's odd Fancy rejected We have had some Fore-runners and previous Pledges of the millenary Kingdom Mr. Medes's Opinion which joins Christ's Reign and the Day of Iudgment together consider'd THe â—â—ird and most eminent Part of the Evangelical Oeconomy is that which I call'd the Manhood or full Age of the Christian Church Before I enter upon the Description of this I will give you some account of the Truth and Reality of such a State by shewing that Christianity shall arrive to a greater Heighth and Perfection than it is at present It is very observable what one of the Antient Writers who was a great Judg of the Nature and Genius of Christianity saith of this matter The Vnderstanding Knowledg and Wisdom of single Persons as well as of whole â—odies of every individual as well as of Churches in general shall hugely increase and be exceedingly advanced according to the gradual Successions of Times and Ages But as he explains himself this Proficiency shall be in the same kind in the same Perswasions in the same Sense and Iudgment so that the Christian Faith shall still remain the same as to its Substance tho it shall be much better explain'd and known than it is noâ— And he uses the same comparison that I haâ—e expres'd this matter by for he distinguishes between the younger and the riper Years of Christianity he holds the former to be the first Ages of the Gospel the
the truest saith he They were Fabulous Poets and Dissenting Philosophers that were the Authors of Gentilism but both of them are ridiculous whereas the Doctors and Authors of Christianity are Prophets divinely inspired and those even in the first Ages of the World That the Christian Religion is the First and most Antient is designedly shew'd by Eusebius in his Evangelical Preparation and again in his Ecclesiastical History he maintains that the way of Religion and Piety preached by Christ was no Neâ— and Strange thing More particularly it is maintain'd by 〈◊〉 that Abraham's Faith and Ours is the same and this is asserted by other Fathers Christianity was on foot always in the Woâ—ld It was not only under the Dispensation of the Law but it was the Religion of the Old Patriarchs and of those before the Flood and of our First Parents for the Christian Religion is the Revelation of God's Will concerning the Redeeming and Saving of Man by Christ Iesus Now this Religion was in being presently after the Fall of Adam Then and ever afterwards there was no way of Salvation but this viz. by Jesus the Messias Indeed we may in some Sense say it was all along a Gospel-Dispensation This is that which was from the Beginning 1 Joh. 1. 1. The Truths of Christianity which the Apostles preach'd were the first Truths The Doctrine and Duties taught in the New Testament are the same in substance which were deliver'd to the Servants of God in the most Antient Ages Secondly tho the Christian Dispensation agrees with the foregoing Dispensations of Grace as to the main yet it differs from them all and more especially from the Mosaick and Legal Oâ—conomy as to sundry things As Loving our Brethren is said by St. Iohn to be an Old Commandment and yet a Nâ—w One so the Gospel Dispensation is both Old and New in different respects I have shew'd in what respect it is the former now I will make it appear also that it is the latter i. e. that it differs on several accounts from the former ones 1. It differs as to the Authâ—r Not as if there were another Author but this I mean that the Author was not the same in 〈◊〉 respect i. e. he was not Incarâ—ate before The Son of God was not then the Son of Man he had not assumed 〈◊〉 This 〈◊〉 therefore is New and Peculiar on the account of Christ's Incarnation He now appear'd in Human shape It is worth our notice that this Appearing of Christ is signally and eminently call'd 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Dispensation by the Antient Christians Sometimes it is barely stiled so and at other times with some Additions as the Dispensation according to the flesh the Dispensation of the Word according to Man the human Dispensation the Dispensation of the Manhood the Dispensation of the Mediator the Glorious Saving Dispensation Bâ—iefly not only Christ's Incarâ—ation but the whole Mystery of our Redemption by him and whatever he was pleas'd to submit and condescend to in his human Nature â—or the good of Mankind is call'd 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by the Greek Fathers and is said to be understood and taken 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And some of the Latin Fathers likewise may be observed to use the word Oeconomia in this Emphatical way as Hilary in his 9th Book of the Trinity and 't is said by St. Ierom that the Hereâ—icâ— Apollinaris introduced the half Oeconomy of Christ i. e. he did in a manner deny the Assumption of the human Nature in Christ. And you may further remark that this word is very singularly applied to the Administration of the Gospel by St. Paul in several places which was the occasion it is probable of the Fathers using it in that way he calls this the Dispensation of the fulness of Time Eph. 1. 10. The Mystery of Salvation was decreed by God from Eternity but he chose out a fit and convenient opportunity to dispense and exert his Eternal Counsels and this is here in an eminent manner call'd the Dispensation in the full and complete time The Apostle also calls it the Dispensation of the Grace of God Eph. 3. 2. and the Dispensation of God Col. 1. 25. and barely a Dispensation 1 Cor. 9. 17. It is no wonder then that Christ's Coming in the flesh is more emphatically call'd the Dispensation and the Incarnate Dispensation which makes it a peculiar One and different from all the rest 2. It differs from all other Dispensations because now is the Actual Performing and Fulfilling of that which was only foretold and promised under the other Oeconomiâ—s The Law was a shadow of things to come Col. 2. 17. The Hebrews have no Present Tense the Iewish Dispensation look'd forward to what was to be accomplish'd aftâ—â—wards But the Christian Dispensation looks backward and hath an eye to what is alâ—eady done and finished The Saints before the time of the Gospel were saved by Christ that was to come but the Saints since are saved by Christ that is already come There is this different Aspect in these Dispensations 3. The Evangelical Administration is distinguish'd from the others as to this that they were dark and â—bscure but this is plain and clear they abounded with mere Shadows and Representations but this presents us with a distinâ—t knowledg of the things themselves which were shadowed forth The Salvation by Christ and his whole Undertaking Birth Life and Death were obscurely and mystically delivered under the Law It is granted that that Proposition of St. Peter There is no other Name under heaven given among men whâ—reby wâ— must be saved was no less true before the Birth and Coming of Christ in the flesh than it is now since his Coming but it was not so manifestly reveal'd as it is since God led Israel by a Cloud they were entertain'd with Shadows mystical and dark Representations that is they were undiscernable by the vulgar sort of Persons who had not time or opportunity to search into them and whose minds are taken up with gross and inferiour matters And as for those Holy and Good Men amongst them who saw through these Shadows and grasp'd at the very Substance they could not at that distance understand the things concerning the Messias which we now have a perfect notice of The Mosaick Rites were but an imperfect delineating of that which the Gospel gives us a lively Pourtray of Which is the meaning of that 〈◊〉 of the Evangelist The Law waâ— by Moses but Grace and Truth came by Iesus Christ Joh. 1. 17. The gracious Dispensation of the Messias under the Gospel is a True Real and Substantial thing opposed to the Mosaick Shadows and Resemblances Thus you will find Truth opposed to Typâ—s and Figures in Dan. 7. 16 19. Heb. 8. 2. 9. 24. Truth then came by Jesus Christ not as Truth stands in opposition to Falshood and Lies but to Types and
and imperfect Delineations of that compleat Frame of Religion which the Messias was to introduce This was the thing designed all along the Ritual and Ceremonial Law with all its external Rites tended to this pure and uncorrupted Model of Religion It was appointed that the Law should adumbrate the Gospel that that Oeconomy should prefigure this Therefore the Apostle saith the Law was our School-master to bring us to Christ which shews the inferiour Nature of the Law and that it was to indure but for a time for the Authority of a School-master over those whom he teacheth is but Temporary The legal Pedagogy was to cease and Christ was to be the end of the Law to every one that believeth Rom. 10. 4. It is then evident from the Premises that the Iewish Law is disannul'd for when the Reason of a Law ceases that is sufficient to change the Law because as it commenced upon Reason so when that is taken away the Law it self is abolish'd also This is the present Case the Ceremonial Rites and Types were designed to represent and foresignify Christ and the Evangelical Benefits Wherefore Christ being come and having brought with him those Benefits the former mystical Representations and Figures ought to have a Period So that the Reason and Occasion of these Ceremonious Observances being removed this is sufficient to repeal and reverse those Laws especially when you consider that Christ's Miracles of which I shall speak afterwards were plain Evidences of God's Intention to repeal the Law But to close this Point we are not destitute of a Formal Abrogation of the Jewish Laws for such we may justly reckon our Saviour's Words to be in Iohn 4. 21 23. The hour cometh when ye shall neither in this Mountain nor yet at Jerusalem worship the Father The hour cometh and now is when the true Worshippers shall worship the Father in Spirit and in Truth Where first he acquaints us that the publick Worship of God shall not be restrain'd to one particular place which very thing is a cancelling of the Mosaick Law which gave Directions chiefly concerning the Temple-Worship They shall not saith he be confined to Mount Gerizim where the Samaritans had fix'd the Seat of their worshipping or to Mount Ephraim in Samaria where Shiloh was the place where the Tabernacle and Ark rested from the beginning of Ioshua's time till Samuel nor shall they be confined to Ierusalem whither the Tabernacle was afterwards brought and at length converted into a Temple nor in any other place exclusively shall Men worship God but every Place and Country shall be alike and God shall have Worshippers in every part of the World This utterly makes void the Iewish Ceremonial Service which was tied to a certain place And our Saviour adds this which doth yet further evacuate it that the Worship under the Gospel must be in Spirit and Truth in contradistinction to the legal Worship which was made up of carnal Ordinances and mere Shadows and Types which were but Representations of that which is true and real Thus he plainly erases and abolishes the Mosaick Service and calls those that worship God in the Evangelical Manner the true Worshippers Again the greatest part of the Epistle to the Hebrews is a direct and downright repealing of it Nay we want not the formal Words of Abrogation as in Heb. 7. 18 19. There is verily a disannulling of the Commandment going before i. e. the Legal and Iudaical Oeconomy which he calls a carnal Commandment ver 16. for the Weakness and Unprofitableness thereof for the Law made nothing perfect Here is an express disannulling of the Mosaick Law And moreover the Reason of it is rendred viz. because it was weak and imperfect and had little Power to amend and reform Mens Lives You will find it also formally repeal'd in Heb. 8. 7 8 13. where the Apostle treating of the Old and New Covenant by which he means the Law and the Gospel as I have before shew'd he thus concludes If the first Covenant had been faultless then should no place have ben sought for the second For finding fault with them he saith Behold the Days come saith the Lord when I will make a New Covenant c. In that he saith a New Covenant he hath made the first Old Now that which decayeth and waxeth Old is ready to vanish away or according to the Greek it is near to vanishing Certainly this 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 speaks as much if not more than Abrogating And in another plâ—ce where he speaketh of the legal Worship which consisteth chiefly in Sacrifices and Offerings for Sin and not in inward Holiness and sincere doings of God's Will which is the Evangelical Service he applieth the Psalmist's or rather our Saviour's words Sacrifice and Offering thou wouldest not Then said I Lo I come to do thy Will this is infer'd that he taketh away the first that he may establish the second i. e. the Messias abolisheth the Iudaical Service that the may set up and perpetuate the Evangelical one It can then be no longer questioned whether the Iewish Law was abrogated and that in formal and express Terms Those carnal Ordinances as the Apostle speaks Heb. 9. 10. were imposed upon them only until the time of Reformation i. e. of the Gospel When that came they were made void null and dead And this Epistle to the Hebrews seems to be the Sermon which St. Paul preached at their Funeral or the Office of Burial on that occasion Here is Ashes to Ashes and Dust to Dust a fatal Period put to the Iudaical Rites the Law interred and intombed never to rise again but the Gospel springs out of those Ashes a new and a more noble Dispensation succeeds in its room And thus I have abundantly proved what I undertook that the Law of Moses consisting in Ceremonies was not to continue but was in time to be nulled and dissolved and that by the coming of Christ they are accordingly nulled dissolved and abrogated Hitherto I have in a more remote manner proved the Certainty and Authority of the Evangelical Oeconomy and consequently of Christianity it self But now I will approach nearer and proceed to a more positive and particular Proof of the Authority of the Gospel-Dispensation Christ succeeds Moses the Gospel follows the Law but quo jure There must be as great Testimony for the one as there was for the other or else it cannot be received on good Grounds Let us see then how this Dispensation will acquit it self There are two kinds of Evidence Humane and Divine the Testimony of Man and the Testimony of God The first creates a humane Faith the second a divine one in us Both of these we have in the present Matter First we are furnished with Humane Testimony i. e. we are assured of the Truth of the Christian Religion by a sufficient number of credible Persons who have been either Ear or Eye-witnesses or both of all the Transactions relating to
is concern'd Before Christ's Death and after his Resurrection we discern'd him to be a true Man even by the Sense of Feeling And in many other things which happen'd this Sense was interested as in the Earthquake at Christ's Passion and in the shaking of the House where the Apostles were met and in sundry other Occurrences Thus our Senses have been exercis'd and employ'd about the Matters which belong to the Word of Life i. e. Christ who is called the Word and the Life and here ver 2. he is called the Eternal Life which was with the Father Or by the Word of Life are meant the things relating to the Gospel which sheweth us the way to eternal Life For the Life was manifested viz. by Christ's assuming our Flesh and conversing with Men on Earth and the Grace of God in the Gospel hath appeared and manifested it self to all Men by his coming And we have seen it and â—ear witness And again that which we have seen and heard declare we unto you By all these ways the Doctrine of the Gospel is cleared and manifested and proved to be true We have found it to be so by the Testimony of our Senses and accordingly we preach we proâ—laim we testify we declare these things to you and not only to you but to all the World that they may be ascertained of the Truth of the Christian Religion and come into the same Fellowship with us and heartily imbrace the Gospel Thus the Apostles tho divinely inspired appeal'd to the rational Evidence of Sense for they knew that this was satisfactory to all sober and intelligent Men and that the highest Evidence that can be desired for Proof of Matter of Fact is the Testimony of those Persons who were Eye and Ear-witnesses of it and that if the Testimony of the bodily Senses by not allowed there is no Certainty of Religion or of Divine Revelation by which Religion was convey'd for this was by the Ministry of the Senses especially Hearing and Seeing Nay the Veracity and Faithfulness of God may justly be call'd in question if you take away this Evidence for how can we attain to Truth unless God communicates it to us But how can he do that if our Senses being rightly disposed viz. when the Organ is sound the Medium fitly qualified and the distance of the Object duly proportion'd be deceived if when we are really perswaded that we see and hear such things we do not see them or hear them Must we not hence conclude that God deludes us and that in a Matter which concerns his Glory and our own Happiness and consequently that his Sincerity and Truth are impaired Into this Blasphemy must they needs run who deny the Truth of the Senses given us by God And upon this it will follow that there are no credible Ear or Eye-witnesses and so no certain Testimony of Matter of Fact If the Evidence of our Senses be not to be made use of and allowed as authentick then all the Passages recorded in the New Testament concerning Christ's Birth Life Miracles Death Resurrection and Ascension are of no Credit For these are to be proved as other Matters of Fact are by Testimony of Witnesses who heard or saw those things In short if our Senses be false the whole Gospel is a Lie and a Cheat for ought we know For it is impossible we should have any assurance of the truth of any thing there unless God hath given Men Senses which are capable of discerning one thing from another and unless the Persons likewise who attested those things from the Verdict of their Senses were Men that might be credited And this is the present Case which we are concerned in as I shall make evident by the next Particular 2. The Testimony of the Apostles and other Christians who lived when our Saviour was upon Earth andâ— heard and saw the things done by him is the Testimony of credible Persons and consequently is an unquestionable Proof of the Truth and Reality of those things which they attest That they were credible Persons will appear if you consider 1. They had sufficient Means to acquaint themselves certainly whether the things which they attested were true or no. This is the main thing which is to be cleared and therefore I will chiefly insist on this That they were furnished with sufficient Ability to know what they related methinks should not be denied by any one who considers that they were no Fools or Children they were not mad or senseless they had a share of Understanding as well as others and their Ears and Eyes were as good as other Mens The things which they related might evidently be known by them being Objects of common Sense and of general Cognizance Can there be any reason then to think that these Persons were not competent Judges as well as others of these Matters But as they were naturally capable of judging in these things so I will make it evident that they had all Means and Opportunities of informing themselves throughly concerning those things which they delivered Some of them were Eye-witnesses others Ear-witnesses of what they report and sometimes both or else they certainly informed themselves of the truth from others who saw or heard those things What St. Luke professeth of himself is true of all the Evangâ—lical and Apostolical Writers they had perfect understanding of all things from the very first Luke 1. 3. As for the four Evangelists two of them Matthew and Iohn were of the number of the Apostles who were Persons particularly chosen out by Christ on purpose to be Eye-witnesses of his Actions and some have infer'd from Acts 1. 21 22. that it was a necessary Qualification of an Apostle to be an Eye-witness It is certain that these two forenamed Persons were such They lived with their Master and were present at his Miracles and saw what they writ The latter of these especially was made more than ordinarily conscious to Christ's Words and Actions and was his Familiar and Intimate The other two Evangelists were not Apostles but they inhabited and convers'd in the same Regions where Christ did these things and at the same time when he acted them Herodotus Plutarch and other Historians writ of things done in former Ages and afar off in other Countries and Kingdoms which makes their Relations to be suspected sometimes But these Men lived in the Places and Times where and when the things were done and therefore they could easily attain to a true and impartial Account of them I cannot say with Iâ—rom that St. Mark and St. Luke did not see our Saviour but I grant that most of the things related by them were not within their own sight or hearing Yet this is certain that they receiv'd what they writ from those who were both Ear and Eye-witnesses St. Mark was a Disciple of St. Peter who was intimately acquainted with Christ's Actions and could inform him concerning every Particular of his Doctrine Life
what happen'd utter'd these words Truly this was the Son of God Mat. 26. 54. He being a Pagan did not mean that Christ the Person who then suffer'd was the Son of God by eternal Generation It is not the same Testimony with that of St. Peter concerning Christ of a Truth thou art the Son of God Mat. 14. 33. nor of the Disciples we believe that thou art Christ the Son of the living God Mat. 16. 16. But he meant he was a brave and excellent Person a holy and good Man unworthy of that which he underwent one who had deserved nothing of what he suffered And that this is the meaning is plain from St. Luke who relateth this Passage of the Centurion thus certainly this was a righteous Man Luke 23. 47. So he explains St. Matthew Pliny a Heathen Governour under the Roman Emperour speaks honourably of the Christians and he hath left a particular Testimony of their fair and peaceable Demeanour as well as of their early Devotion in a Letter which he writ to Trajan The Publick Archives at Rome and the known Writings and Monuments of the Heathens preserv'd the Memory of many notable things relating to Christ. Therefore Tertullian in his Apologies for the Christians often appeals to these and bids them consult the Censual Tables and other publick Records which testify of those things In brief Profane History relateth many things of our Saviour his Person his Actions his Death the Prodigies that accompanied it the great Changes made by that Religion in the World and many other things appertaining to it of which I shall largely speak in another place Thus God directs the Hearts of Enemies to testify the Truth of the Gospel And certainly this sort of Testimony is very considerable and convincing The Confession of Adversaries is ever look'd upon as such this is deservedly thought to be authentick Nay I could proceed further and shew you that the Infernal Spirit who is emphatically stil'd the Adversary and hath shew'd himself the most implacable Enemy of Christ and his Cause hath yet born witness to the Truth of them Our Saviour is attested by Satan the Devils acknowledg and confess him to be the Son of God Mat. 8. 29. and at another time they confess they know who he is the Holy One of God Mark 1. 24. The very impure Daemons set forth the Praises of Christ's Followers Acts 16. 17. These Men say they are the Servants of the most high God who shew unto us the way of Salvation We read that one of the Pagan Oracles owned the Child Iesus and if that were true which some think that the Sibyls were acted by an Evil Spirit there is further proof that the Devil bears Testimony to the Holy Iesus and that that lying Spirit voucheth the Truth of the Gospel But here I must confess I have digressed and not observed the Bounds which I set my self for I propounded to speak only of Humane and Divine Testimony The former I hope I have finish'd to the satisfaction of sober and considerate Persons I have evinced the Truth of Christianity by all these Proofs and Evidences viz. by the attestation of our Senses by History by Tradition by Tongues and Pens by Speeches and Writings by the Church and the World by Friends and Enemies and by all things that prove any other Relations or give Evidence concerning any other matters of Fact So much concerning Humane Testimony which is able to create in us a Moral Certainty and the strongest Humane Faith imaginable and which is very serviceable to sit and prepare us for the Divine Testimony which I am next to speak of CHAP. XV. All the ways of Divine Revelation under the Mosaick Dispensation were made use of under the Christian one Voices The Testimony of Angels Visions Dreams The Holy Spirit The fulfilling of the Prophesies of the Old Testament is an irrefragable Argument of the Truth of the New Testament Prophesies concerning the Birth of our Saviour Isa. 7. 14. cleared from the Cavils of the Jewish Expositors It is shew'd how these Words may have reference to something in King Ahaz's Days and yet belong to Christ's Birth Prophesies in the Old Testament that relate to Christ's Life and Actions Others that refer to his Sufferings and Death Some that foretel his Resurrection and Ascension Other more general Predictions concerning him Several prophetick Passages concerning the Branch proved to be spoken of Christ. The Hebrew Word for the Branch is refer'd to in the New Testament The two Zacharies agree The Iews Objection viz. that the Messias was to be another kind of Person than what Jesus of Nazareth was answered Another Objection viz. that the Messias was to bring universal Peace answer'd A third Objection of the Iews viz. that their Sins have hindred the Messias's coming at the promised time answer'd The Objection raised from 2 Sam. 7. 13. removed by clearing the sense of the Text. Other extravagant Fancies concerning the Messias caus'd by their mistaking the Prophesies of the Old Testament concerning Christ's coming The Conclusion that all the Prophesies concerning the Messias are fulfil'd in Jesus and consequently are a demonstration of the Truth of Christianity IN the next place then the Christian Oeconomy and the whole Institution of the Gospel are confirmed by Divine Testimony We are certain that the Christian Religion is from God and consequently is undoubtedly true because it is attested 1. By all the ways of Divine Revelation used heretofore 2. By the fulfilling of all the Prophesies of the Old Testament 3. By the exerting of Miracles 4. By the strange and stupendous prevailing of the Gospel 5. By the Judgments which God inflicted on the Enemies of it First I will shew that by all the ways whereby God spoke under the Mosaick Dispensation he spoke likewise under the Christian one and this being after that it will at the same time convince the Iâ—ws that their Dispensation is abolished and confirm Christians in the belief of the Divine Authority of the Dispensation which they are now under The Revelations I say under the Gospel are of the same kind with those before I will reduce them to these following Heads 1. The Jews had their Bath Kol i. e. an Audible and Articulate Sound or Voice from Heaven and so have we Christians Our Saviour had this Divine Testimony thrice first at his Baptism Lo a voice from Heaven saying This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased Mat. 3. 17. God the Father again by a Voice bore witness to him when he was on the Mount with Peter Iames and Iohn and was there transfigured Mat. 17. 5. Mark 9. 1. Behold a Voice out of the Cloud which said This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased hear him Of which you will find St. Peter speaking in Epist. 2. Ch. 1. v. 17. And thirdly at his Passion when he was praying to his Father there came a Voice from Heaven and testified that his
are ready to imbrace any bold Impostor who will lay claim to the Title of Messiah And thus it will be as long as they mistake the Prophesies in the Old Testament concerning his coming and will not be perswaded that the time of it is past But shall we take the meaning of Scripture from Them from whom God hath taken away for so many Ages all Understanding and Knowledg Shall we give credit to them who are blinded and besotted and have abandoned their Reason who are most palpably erroneous in Chronology and History as the Learned Isaac Vossius hath shew'd and who in giving the Sense of Scripture are most apparently deluded No surely nor are we to mind what they say when they tell us that no Man ought to be so bold as to compute the time of the coming of the Messias We know the reason of this the Iews cannot indure now to have the Prophesies look'd into and the times of the Messias's arrival reckon'd up Since Christ is come they see that the Times spoken of by the Prophets concerning him are past and therefore they anatbematize all that undertake to compute them They wish that those who curiously enquire into them may perish But the Curse will rather light upon themselves because they wilfully discern not the Times We may then notwithstanding all the Objections Cavils Evasions and perverse Interpretations of the Iews hold fast our Proposition that all the Prophesies in the Old Testament concerning the Messias are really fulfilled Yea the Prophesy concerning the Iews not believing these Prophesies is accomplis'd for it was prophetically set down as one Mark of the Messias his coming that the Jewish Nation should refuse and reject him So that you see the Jews Incredulity and Obstinacy are one great Argument that Christ is the true Messias We have abundant reason then to acquiesce in the Spirit of Prophesy which is the Testimony of Iesus Rev. 19. 10. This bears witness to him and to the Truth and Certainty of Christianity This Spirit of Prophesy witnessed concerning Christ four Thousand Years before he came for so long it was from the first Promise in Gen. 3. 15. Many other things were foretold concerning him three Thousand Years before some two Thousand and some a Thousand before he was manifested in the Flesh. Now our Argument runs thus he that was so many Years before foretold to come as the Messias or Saviour is certainly the true Messias and Saviour But Iesus was so foretold therefore he was certainly the true Messias and Saviour The first Proposition is built on the Truth and Faithfulness of God and is granted us by the Iews themselves The second is that which we have been indeavouring to prove and I hope I have effectually done it for I have plainly demonstrated that it was Christ our Lord who was foretold so many Years before in the Old Testament and that it can be no other than him Therefore it cannot be question'd by any rational Person whether he was the true Messias who was to bring Salvation to Mankind Thus you see Christianity is founded on the Old Testament here it is prophesied that Christ should come in such a manner and the very manner we find particularly recorded in the New Testament Malachi and Matthew join hand in hand and so do the rest of the Prophets and Evangelists Therefore we imbrace Christianity The truth of it is proved from the Prophesies concerning the Messias If we believe these as we cannot but do because they are divine and from Heaven we must believe Christ is come for they are an absolute Demonstration of this grand Point that Jesus the Son of the Virgin Mary whom the Jews put to death at Ierusalem was the Son of God and the true Messias Whereupon it will irrefragably follow that the Faith and Doctrine which he introduced are from Heaven and that the Christian Oeconomy wants not divine Attestation CHAP. XVI The Miracles wrought by Christ. What those Baskets were which were fill'd with Fragments Christ not only fed but healed the Bodies of Men. He did other Miraculous Works The Apostles as well as our Saviour exerted many Miracles An Objection from 1 Tim. 5. 23. answer'd Five Properties of a true Miracle Counterfeit and lying Wonders The Miracles of Christ and his Apostles were accompanied with seven peculiar Circumstances which prove them to be from God What were the Ends and Designs they propounded to themselves in working of Miracles An Objection from Mark 11. 14. answer'd Several Interpretations of those Words the time of Figs was not yet Why Christ cursed the â—arren Fig-tree Another Objection from Mat. 8. 30. answer'd Two other Objections answer'd The Personal Qualities of the Apostles argue the Miracles which they wrought to be true and real A Reply to the several Cavils against the Miracles of our Saviour An account of the wonderful things done by some Pagans especially Vespasian and Apollonius Tyanaeus The Miracles which the Church of Rome pretends to are proved to be Counterfeit It is shew'd from Scripture the Confession of Jews and Pagans and thâ— nature of the thing it self that Miracles are a Testimony of the Truth of Christianity Miracles were necessary for confirming of the Gospel on several Accounts Thirdly MIracles are another Divine Testimony of the Truth of Christianity Here I will first set before you the particular Miracles of Christ and his Apostles Secondly I will prove that these were true Miracles Thirdly I will shew that these are an infallible Testimony of the Truth of Christianity 1. I will set before you the particular Miracles of Christ and his Apostles recorded in the New Testament Here I might mention his Conception which was by the Holy Ghost and by himself as he was God and his Birth which was of a Virgin both which are Miraculous and I might recount how he was usher'd into the World by a Miraculous Star But I will confine my self to those Miracles which he personally did in his Life at his Death and afterwards One of the first he exerted was at Galilee when he turned Water into Wine Iohn 2. 11. He that could fast forty Days and forty Nights in the Wilderness Mat. 4. 2. which is to be reckon'd as a Miracle also thought good to demonstrate his Divine Power at a Feast and to chear and refresh the Guests with no less than a Miracle Then but I shall not observe the exact Order of his Miracles we read that about Meat as well as Drink he exercised his Omnipotent Virtue for when the multitude which followed him wanted food he had compassion on them and satisfied four Thousand Men with seven Loaves and a few Fishes at which time seven Baskets of Fragments were left Mat. 15. 34. At another time he fed five Thousand besides Women and Children with five Loaves and two Fishes and after all twelve Baskets full remained of Fragments Mat. 14. 19 20. This was a most acceptable Miracle to those
whether they will adhere to God or forsake him it is to make an experiment either of their Stedfastness or their Hypocrisy We have it from the mouth of our Blessed Saviour that there shall arise false Christs and false Prophets and shall shew great signs and wonders so great that if it were possible they shall deceive the very elect Mat. 24. 24. And St. Panl lets us know that the Man of sin the Son of perdition shall come with all power and signs and lying wonders which last words lying wonders seem to have a very large signification for as this may be one meaning of them that though the actions they shall do shall be real and true though the things shall be really done yet they are but lying wonders because thereby the Devil impoâ—â—th on Men and leads them into error and falshood or because these wonders are to attest a lye to maintain false and erroneous Doctrines so it is probable likewise they are call'd lying wonders because they are false and counterfeit and seeming only although they are pretended to be true Miracles So it is foretold in Rev. 13. 13 14. that the Grand Impostor of the last Times shall do great wonders so that he maketh Fire to come down from Heaven on the Earth in the sight of Men and deceiveth them that dwell in the Earth by the means of those Miracles or Signs which he hath power to do True Miracles cannot be wrought by Satan or his Instruments but he can do wonderful Things and lying Miracles and such are these here mentioned which false Prophets and Seducers are able to effect They either exceed not the course of Nature and are the Effects of natural Causes tho they be hid to us or else they are mere Cheats Deception of Sight and Delusions of the Senses and so they are only seeming Miracles and lying Wonders This is an undeniable Truth that tho Evil Spirits and wicked Men are permitted to do things prodigious and strange yet they cannot work true Miracles for a Miracle is something above yea contrary to the course of Nature Now God alone can alter this established Order This is proper to him only no Creature can effect it The Author of Nature can only change it He that first made all things of nothing can alter the Propriety of things Thus as the Psalmist speaketh God alone dâ—th greâ—â— Wonders Psal. 136. 4. Miracles are wrought by a divine Power wholly Having shew'd you what is the true Natural Miracles I am to prove that those Acts of our Saviour and his Apostles which we call Miracles are really such and are not counterfeit but true This is evident from what I have said already for those things which they did were above the power of Nature as healing all sorts of Diseases tho in themselves incurable feeding Thousands with a small Portion of Food and yet so that they carried away more than was first provided restoring People to Life after they were really dead and the like These things exceeded the Virtue of natural and created Agents and therefore must be acknowledg'd to be Divine and Heavenly and by consequence were true and proper Miracles But moreover I will prove that these Miracles of Christ and his Apostles were accompanied with such peculiar Circumstances as spake them to be of divine Original As 1. The simple and plain way of doing their Miracles is very remarkable Christ cured some by laying his Hands on them others by prayer and invoking of his Father others by a mere touch of his Hand as the Leper Mat. 8. 3. Others by their only touching the Hem of his Garmeâ—t were made perfectly whole Mat. 14. 36. Multitudes were cured of their Diseases with a bare word yea with a word he raised the Ruler of the Synagogue's Daughter only saying to her Maid arise Luke 8. 54. He cured a Noble Man's Son so likewise a Centurion 〈◊〉 Son at a distance Iohn 4. 46. Mat. 8. 5. which could not be with application of Medicines or using of any Means Other Methods he made use of sometimes as when a blind Man was to be cured he anointed his Eyes with Clay macerated with Spittle and also bid him wash in the Pool of Siloe The ten Lepers were not presently healed but he bid them repair to the Priests and as they went they found their Cure At the raising of Lazarus he shed Tears groaned in his Spirit and call'd him out of his Grave with a loud Voice But these and all his other Miracles were wrought without Formality and Ceremony without any superstitious Rites and Observances without either Natural or Artificial Applications which is a great Argument that they were true Miracles and no Impostures for these latter are always done with Ceremony and Pomp with strange words and as strange Gestures and Actions 2. The Miracles of Christ and his Apostles were not obscure but evident not done in a corner but in the open light and so if there had been any Cheat and Forgery in them they might have been observed and they would most certainly for Christ and his Apostles had subtil Enemies about them who were busy in prying into all the Circumstances of their Actions When Christ cured the Man that had had an Infirmity thirty eight Years it was at a publick Meeting at the great Feast Luke 4. 33. He dispossessed a Man of a Devil in the midst of the Synagogue Iohn 11. 45. The Man was cured of the Palsy before the Multitude Mat. 9. 8. the Widow's Son was restored to Life before much People Luke 7. 12 and most of his other Miracles were wrought publickly so that there were many Spectators and Observers of them And it is certain that among these neither Wit nor Malice were wanting to find out the Errors and Deceits if there were any Yet we know that the Miracles of Christ were published by the Evangelists especially St. Mattâ—â—w whilst yet the Persons were alive upon whom they were wrought and whilst innumerable Persons who were Witness of those things were surviving 3. Whereas one or two are said to have been cured in the Heatâ—en Temples and Impostors have been cried up for a few wonders they have done it is to be taken notice of and remembred that Christ cured vâ—ry many and the number of other Miracles which he did was exceeding great The Multitude of them is an argument of their Truth and Reality for it shews that it was not a thing by chance besides when so many Miracles were done there can be no suspition of doing them in a fraudulent manner for it had been easy at one time or other to discover it 4. Christs Miracles were not only many and various but often repeated and done several times over Both he and his Apostles did those extraordinary things daily and one Miracle was wrought by them to confirm another which gives us further Assurance that they were not counterfeit and false for then by frequent reiterating them
they would have been found out 5. Miracles were done in all parts of the World and not confined to Iudea only The Acts of the Apostles relate what Miracles they exerted in several Countries where they went and afterwards the whole World was visited by one or other of them and yet we never read that they were proved to be Impostors But on the contrary we are credibly informed that their Miracles were owned and approved of not in one place only but in all places where they came 6. These Miracles were wrought these Cures were done and the strange Languages were spoken amongst them for many years together whereas what is counterfeit holds not long 7. These Miracles were not control'd and check'd by any greater as the Wonders of the Egyptian Sorcerers were by Moses You may observe that those Magicians could not plague Men and Cattel with Boils they could not restore the Waters to their former quality tho they could gather the Frogs together yet they were not able to kill them They could not counterfeit the Miracle of Fleas and Lice tho they did those of the Serpents Blood and Frogs Here was some restraint the Devil was overpower'd But that was not all They had not been suffer'd to effect so much as they did but that Moses was there ready to countermand them and to baffle their Delusions They turned the Rods into Serpents but Moses's Rod devoured theirs i. e Moses's true Serpents devour'd the Magicians counterfeit Ones But Christ and his Apostles wrought Miracles and there was none to countermand them which shews that they were real Miracles Thus true Miracles may be known by their manner and circumstances Again These may be known to be such from the Ends and Designs which Christ and his Followers propounded to themselves in exerting them First True Miracles are always for the Confirmation of the Truth but seeming and counterfeit Ones are wrought on purpose to maintain some false Doctrine Therefore if a Pretender to Miracles teacheth any thing derogatory to Providence and to the Nature of God and Religion we must look on him as an Impostor for Miracles that are true never contradict the Divine Testimony and the Truth recorded in Holy Writ This then you must know that as Miracles confirm a Doctrine so they are authorized by the Doctrine We must not rest in Miracles alone but to the Word and to the Testimony we must appeal Christ saith the Works I do bear witness of 〈◊〉 John 5. 36. but he adds ver 39. 〈◊〉 thâ— Scriptures they are they which testify of me By this then we may ascertain our selves of the Authority of those Miracles which our Saviour and his Apostles wrought when they were upon Earth They were done to attest a Doctrine which as it contradicted no part of Moral Religion nor the natural Notions of Reason so it was conformable to the written Word of God and all the Truths in the Old Testament In the second place True Miracles tend to the overthrowing of Satan's Kingdom in the World they never confirm and abet Sin and Prophanation in those that do them or in any one else As we observ'd before from Deut. 13. 1. that God some times permits false Prophets to work Signs and Wonders among his People so the Verses following tell us how we may know them to be lying Wonders viz. if the Prophet makes use of them to entice Persons to gâ— after other Gods and to serve them If the Signs and Wonders were intended to seduce them to a false Worship to perswade them to Idolatry and forsaking the true God they were not to be credited they were to be look'd upon as no true Miracles but counterfeit ones For it is not a sufficient proof for the truth of Miracles that they are for attesting the Orthodox Faith unless they also uphold a Holy Life In the third place Our Saviour's Miracles were such as were beneficial to others and was for the good of Mankind He procured Food for Multitudes of Persons when they were almost â—amished he cured the Lame and the Blind he ejected troublesom Devils out of Mens Bodies he relieved the most impotent and distressed But the Signs and Wonders which are done by Impostors are rather harmful than advantageous It is not unworthy of our Remark what was partly suggested before that the Egyptian Magicians turn'd the Water into Blood but they could not reduce it to its Nature again they brought up Frogâ— but they could not clear the Houses of the Egyptians of them They could bring Plagues but they could not remove them And it may be observed also of Impostors that if what they do is not harmful yet it is oftentimes fruitless and unprofitable it is vain and trifling and fit only to entertain fond and scrupulous Minds But here it may be objected that all Christs Miracles were not beneficial for his â—ursing the Fig-â—ree Mark â—1 14. and his sending the unclean Spirit into the Gaderens Swine Mat. 8. 30. were not so As to the first viz. Christs cursing the Fig-tree it was a Symbolical Act figuring the Judgment of God against the unfruitful Religion of the Jews and being thus consider'd it was of great use and benefit Some indeed have thought it strange that our Saviour should do thiâ— when he himself saith the time of Figs was not yet v 13. as if it were unjust to blast the Tree for not bearing Fruit before the time of bearing was come but they mistake the meaning of those words which is no other than this that it was not the time of Figs with that Tree but it was with others The year was not unseasonable for Figs but this Tree bore nothing but Leaves therefore our Saviour dealt thus with it This I take to be the plainest and clearest Interpretation of the Place and then the Objection vanishes for who will be concern'd at the witâ—â—ring of a Barren Tree I know there are other Solutions of the place but none of them seem to me to be genuine That of Episcopius is not to be allowed of viz. that when Christ cursed the Figtree and said the 〈◊〉 of Figs 〈◊〉 not yet he did not know that it was not time of Figs. A learned Writer of our own hath this peculiar Notion that Christ look'd for Figs and yet saith thâ— time of Figâ— is not yet because he look'd not for any Figs that he thought could be ripe and fit to eat that Spring it being about that time but he look'd for those that grew the last Summer and had hung on the Tree all Winter But tho Iudâ—â— was a very fruitful Country and had in it several things different from other Soils yet it is to be question'd whether there were Fig-trees in the Field of this nature and whether the Jewish Writings which this Author refers to speak of this sort of Fruit. Besides if this Tree bore Figs as the Author supposes it is not material whether they were old or
the winged Feet But the Reason assigned in the History why St. Paul was taken for Mercury is because he was so excellent a Speaker Barnabas said little or nothing and so pass'd with them for Grave Iupiter who had his Interpreter And this was St. Paul he was Mercurius a good Spokesman indeed one of an admirable Tongue that could perswade the Lame to walk and a Cripple to use his Feet However these ignorant Heathens were mistaken as to their making Gods of Men yet in the main they were in the right viz. that that miraculous Healing argued Divinity and that none could do such things but those who are authorized by Heaven And as this is the sense of Mankind so indeed it must be thus in the very nature of the thing it self for what is above created Power proceeds from God and what is from him is to some great end and purpose worthy of him thus Miracles exceeding the Power of Nature are the Attestation of God himself and are design'd to evidence that Truth and to authorize that Doctrine which is from God which are very great and excellent Ends and becoming the Author of them Accordingly the Miracles which Christ and his Apostles wrought were intended to confirm and establish the Gospel which they preach'd and to demonstrate to the World that that Gospel is true For God would not throw away Miracles much less would he use them to confirm a false Doctrine We may be assured of this that God's infinite Wisdom and Goodness would not give up the World to such an unavoidable Deceit as such a Multitude of Miracles would lead Men into if they were used to attest an Imposture to confirm a Lie If I cannot know the Messias to be sent of God when he raised the Dead wrought all other sorts of Miracles and rose himself from the Dead I have no possibility of knowing who speaks from God or whether I am deceived or no or whether there be any truth and reality in things or no. This then we may build upon there being Truth in the World Miracles undeniably point us to it for they being a Testimony from God they cannot attest Falshood but must necessarily direct us to and confirm us in that which is true Our Christianity being founded on Miracles cannot but be of divine Allowance it is impossible but that it should be from God Christ and the Apostles could not have had Power to work true Miracles if their Doctrine had not been true for God would not and cannot maintain a Lie by a Miracle for then he is no God We cannot then expect a more convincing Evidence of Divine Authority than this viz. that our Saviour spoke great and excellent things and that he wrought Miracles to confirm what he said What would you have more It was necessary that he should confirm the Truth of his Doctrine by his Miracles and now they are wrought there is a necessity in order to our being Christians that we heartily believe them I say Miracles were necessary for confirming the Gospel because the Gospel was look'd upon as a thing new and unheard of as you may remember the complaint of the Athenian Philosophers against St. Paul was that he delivered a New Doctrine and brought strange things to their Ears Acts 17. 19 20. They were long accustomed to other Notions and so there was a vast Prejudice on their Minds Wherefore Miracles were necessary to gain Credit to the Christian Faith and to bring them off effectually from their former Sentiments Again many things in the Gospel were above the flight of Humane Reason and on that account were not easily entertain'd which made it requisite that they should be declared to be true by extraordinary Signs and Wonders Likewise because the Persons who preach'd and profess'd the Christian Religion were poor inconsiderable Men it was necessary that they should bring Credentials from God to attest what they deliver'd When they shew'd this Seal this broad Seal of Heaven none could question their Commission Besides the World was then full of Idolatry and false Religions which could not be rooted out but by such a strange and unusual way as this viz. the working of Mighty Signs and Miracles even such as outvie the Power of Nature and the Pranks of Magicians Lastly the Mosaick Law and Oeconomy having been before establish'd by Miracles it was neeessary that the Evangelical Law and Dispensation should be attested in the like manner God himself had constituted several things before which now were taken away by Christ therefore he taking them away ought to shew his Authority which he did by working of uncontroulable Miracles And to shew that the Law was to give place to the Gospel he and his followers wrought far greater Miracles than any that were done before to attest the Mosaick Religion Therefore he told the Jews that he did among them the Works which none other Man did John 15. 24. And as they were greater so they were more in number than those of Moses and the Prophets which was also necessary to take away all scruple from Mens Minds and to beget in them a hearty and full Belief of Christ's Doctrine For this was the end of their being wrought viz. to confirm the Belief of the Gospel and to ascertain Men even us at this day that God himself bears witness to what Christ and his Apostles delivered The use of these Miracles I say extends to us and to all Ages of the Church tho we saw them not yet their Virtue comes down to us All the Miracles done by our Saviour and his Apostles are as forcible and convincing now as if they were done in our Days they are still and ever will be an infallible Proof Evidence and Demonstration of the Truth of Christianity To shut up this head if the Christian Religion be founded on the Mighty Miracles of our Lord and his Apostles the Scripture is true and our Religion is true but if these are not take notice to confound the Folly and Sottishness of such Supposers it is the greatest Miracle of all if I may so say that Christianity was receiv'd and believ'd without Miracles So much concerning the Divine Testimony of Miracles CHAP. XVII The wonderful prevailing and spreading of Christianity another proof of the Truth of it Some of the learnedest and wisest Jews converted to Christianity A Catalogue of knowing and learned Pagans in the five first Centuries that abandoned Gentilism and embraced the Christian Religion Remarkable Instances of the Power of the Christian Truth The virtue of the Gospel far exceeds that of Philosophy Examples of great and rich Men converted to the Christian Faith This prevail'd against the rage of the most powerful Persecutors The more the Gospel was oppress'd the more it flourish'd and prosper'd in all Nations Examples of God's remarkable Judgments on the Enemies of Christianity especially on the Nation of the Jews This latter insisted upon and shew'd to be an Argument of
proved that several great Professors of the Imperial Law were well-willers to the Christian Institution and some of those Iuris sacerdotes as the Râ—man Law stiles them became Christian Priests I have already mentioned an early instance of a Convert of this rank I mean Zenas to whom we may now add Minutius Fâ—lix an eminent Roman Lawyer who afterwards turned Christian. And to him may be joyned Arnobius and Laâ—tantius his Scholar notable Rhetoricians all three witty and solid Defenders of Christianity against Paganism in which they had been bred up To whom may be added Iulius Firmicus a Pagan first and then gave his name to Christ and writ a Book of the Error of Prophane Religions Afterwards in the fourth Century we may reckon Gregory Bishop of Neocaesarea commonly call'd Thaumaturgus in the Catalogue of learned Pagans converted to the Christian Faith as also Nemesius a Philosopher in Gregory Nazianzen's time Hilary Bishop of Poictiers was a Heathen at first so was Victorinus a learned Rhetorician of Rome though an Africâ—â— by Birth but in his old Age he renounced the Pagan Religion and became a zealous Christian the manner of whose Conversion is set down by St. Augustin And in the fifth Century there was Synesius originally of Cyrene in Egypt first a Heathen Philosopher and afterwards a Christian and Bishop of Ptolemais in Africa known by his excellent Writings Sulpitius Severus a learned Frenchman of a noble Extraction and famous at the Bar forsook his Pagan Principles and Practices and betook himself to Christianity and was a zealous Defender of it and in part vindicated it with his eloquent Pen. All these great Scholars these Masters of Arts and Reason with many more besides in those first Ages of the Christian Church fell down before the Simplicity of the Gospel and were captivated by it These Persons of great Endowments and Acquirements and the most zealous admirers and followers of Paganism became greedy Proselytes to the Christian Faith which certainly is no small Demonstration of its wondrous Power and Energy Questionless it was one great and notable Miracle that Christianity was received in the World and was entertain'd by the Persons we have been speaking of who had by their Principles and Education the highest prejudices against it Râ—finus and Sozomen report that Alexander Archbishop of Constantinople being present at the Council of Nice with a word struck Philosophers dumb But that is a more notable Instance which we meet with in the foresaid Sozomen and in Socrates viz. that one Spyridion an old Disciple of Christ who had suffer'd under Dioclesian for his constant maintaining the Christian Faith and was grown lame and blind with his Sufferings and with his Age this weather-beaten Champion lived so long I cannot say as to see the great Convention at Nice but as to be present at it and particularly interested in the Debates of it More especially it was taken notice of how this tatter'd Confessor this almost Emerit and disabled Soldier of Christ rallied his Forces afresh and with a new and as it were a divinely inspired vigour ingaged the Enemies and Opposers of the Christian Faith that is some Captious Philosophers who came on purpose to shew their Parts and Wit at that great Assembly But this antient Worthy grappled with them with a marvellous and almost incredible Vivacity he beat back their Cavils he baffled their Sophistries he defended the Christian Cause and gain'd upon some of its very Adversaries to own the same And particularly when a famous Philosopher disturb'd the whole Council with his Disputes he only standing up and barely propounding the main Christian Truths to him and bidding him in the Name of Iesus attend to them made him become mute and leave off his Logick and wrangling and confess before them that he believ'd those things to be true and that there came Force and Virtue out of the Mouth of this aged Saint and Confessor which he was not able to resist Here was seen the Virtue and Power of the Christian Truth By its own native strength and efficacy it gain'd these mighty Conquests It pretended not to Mathematical Demonstration it boasted not of skill in Arts and Sciences and yet it baffled all these and confounded the wisest Philosophers and prevail'd upon the Men who were cried up for the most excellent Attainments This is wonderful indeed and therefore you read that when the Jewish Sanhedrim perceived that the Apostles were unlearned and ignorant Men they marvelled and well they might when they saw what was done by these silly illiterate folks void of all Arts and Imbellishments These sorry Creatures as they were then deemed by the wise Men prevail'd upon the World when it was most Learned and Improved as all History assures us it was at that time Not only some of the Rabbies of Ierusalem but the Philosophers of Rome and Athens sat at the feet of the despised Apostles who were Persons of mean education The most knowing and cultivated Spirits submitted to the Sermons of the Ignorant and Artless Which undoubtedly is a proof of the eminency of Christianity above all Philosophy Which made the Apostle not only start this Interrogatory Where is the Scribe i. e. the Man vers'd in the Iewish Law but demand likewise Where is the Wise i. e. where are the Professors of Arts and Sciences especially the Moral Philosophers the Dictators of Ethicks who were signally stiled 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Wise Men. Where is the Disputer of this World the natural Philosopher the Man of Physicks that acquaints himself with the Fabrick of this World Where is the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Questionist the busie Diver into the profound Mysteries of Nature Or where is the Politician that great Searcher into the Intrigues of the World where are all these What have they done by all their Lectures Have they reformed Mens Lives as the Christians have done Do their Principles make such a Change in Mens Manners as the others have done Hath not the Gospel effected far greater things than all the Dictates of Philosophy ever did Hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this World Yea it pleased God by the foolishness of Preaching i. e. by that Ordinance of Preaching which by so many of the Learned and Wise Philosophers is reckon'd as Foolishness by this Method and Means it pleas'd the Divine Providence to save them that believe It is true the Greeks seek after Wisdom as the Apostle adds i. e. the Philosophers will have all proved by natural Causes they judg all by the Verdict of Reason and run all things up to the strict Laws of Nature therefore it is no wonder that the Doctrine of Christ was to these Greeks Foolishness But we saith the Apostle in behalf of himself and his fellow-Labourers in the Gospel preach Christ crucified to the Iews indeed a stumbling-block and to the Greeks foolishness but unto them that are call'd both Iews and
so too If it surpasses all others why do not our Lives exâ—el those of others If we have so Holy a Doctrine why do we not reduce it to Practice If our Religion be so excellent why do we not obey its Laws and why do we not discern the Advantages we have above all others to do well and worthily If in the Apostle's time the night was far spent and the day was at hand i. e. the times of Ignorance were gone and the Gospel was come then surely now the night is vanished and it is broad Day and we are obliged to walk as Children of Light I pray seriously consider of the great Change of Affairs in Religion by the Coming of our Saviour remember that it is now unspeakably Advanced and Exalted in so much that that which was reckon'd Religious and Pious in the Jewish Oeconomy is not accounted the same in this great Alteration of things If you weigh this you will be convinced that you are obliged to a stricter Life and Behaviour than what would have served under the Mosaick Law At that time Men stumbled and stagger'd they made imperfect Discoveries of Truth and of their Duty they could not see distinctly and they were excusable because the Medium was defective the Judaick Shadows and Mists hindred their sight But the Day-spring from on high hath visited us all is clear and conspicuous all Truths as well as Duties are plain and intelligible all the parts of our Religion are fixed and determined we cannot mistake unless we will and if we are Vitious it is not from Ignorance but our wilfulness and stubborness But we who have this redundant Light are concerned to walk worthy of it and to conform our Lives and Manners to it Certainly this is our proper Duty and we must first extinguish our Reason before we can disown this to be our Interest It is absolutely undeniable that a greater accuracy of Life a more exact Course of Virtue is required of us than of those who lived under the former Dispensations and were unacquainted with the Laws of Christianity A Pagan Historian tells us that those who piously embraced the Christian Faith were presently put into a State free from Sin However he understood it it is certain that Christianity ingageth men to cleanse themselves from all filthiness of the Flesh and Spirit and to perfect Holiness in the fear of God to act according to the admirable and matchless Rules of so Transcendent a Religion and to live according to that great measure of Grace which is vouchsafed them A Pious Writer of the primitive times speaking of the Profession of Christianity and displaying the true Nature of it lets us know what was then judg'd to be the genuine Efficacy and Power of it viz. it s being effectual to root out all unlawful Anger Evil-speaking Licentiousness Lust Covetousness and to implant the contrary Virtues and Graces of the Spirit And in another place he sums up Christianity in short thus It consists wholly in this to live without wickedness and defilement On which account it is observed by him that Morality came short of Christianity it had not that Power and Energy on Mens minds that this hath It smooth'd their Tongues but reform'd not their Lives Or if it in some measure reform'd their outward and publick Actions yet their more retired and private ones were not taken care of and their Principles were unsound and corrupt But this is the singular Benefit of Christianity that it doth not only rectifie Mens Principles but teaches them to order their Conversations aright A Christian is not only a Knowing Man whence Clement of Alexandria gives him the name of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in his Stromata but he is one of a holy Life and Practice as that Excellent Person characterizes him his Manners are answerable to his Knowledg This then is the Catholick Concern of us all to add to our Knowledg and Profession of the Christian Truth a Holy and Religious Life that our Behaviour may speak the Excellency and demonstrate the Efficacy of the Evangelical Principles that it may be seen that those who are bless'd with true and right Perswasions live better than the deluded and erring World If we excel Hereticks Pagans and Jews in the Orthodoxness of our Opinions it is fit we should also surpass them in the Eminency of our Actions as one of the Antients religiously speaks Let us not dare to hold the Truth in unrighteousness but let our hearts be mightily affected and our Lives wholly govern'd by the great Truths of the Gospel by the indispensible Laws of Christianity 4. Let us assure our selves that if we live not thus the final Doom of us Christians will be more intolerable than that of all other Men. You know who said it Light is come into the World for in respect of the times of the Gospel all the World before was in Darkness but Christ Iesus brought Light with him a Light so Great so Powerful that tho we shut our Eyes never so hard yet it glares through our very Eye-lids but he adds This is the Condemnation that notwithstanding this Light is come Men love Darkness rather than Light they wilfully indulge themselves in the ways of Sin and mind not the Discoveries which are made by the Gospel This this is that which shall Condemn them for as their Means are greater so their Accompts will be higher Their Reckonings will bear proportion to their Receipts their Final Sentence will be adjusted to their present Helps and Advantages according to that of our Saviour If I had not come and spoken and spoken so plainly so evidently so powerfully to them they had not had sin but now have they no cloak for their sin John 15. 22. That this is little thought of in the World we may gather from the Behaviour of Men. How Strangely do they forget themselves and their Duty the End both of their Creation and Redemption They run counter to all the Undertakings of Christ Jesus they confront all his Designs and labour to undo all that he came to do They disparage the Wisdom of God in finding out the way of our Salvation they despise his Goodness in offering them the Means of being happy They uphold and maintain that which Christ came to destroy for whereas the purpose of his wonderful Manifestation was to beat down Satan's Kingdom they set it up as fast as they can Which is a plain contradicting of Heaven and a bidding defiance to the Almighty He that views the Lives and Manners of Men at this day and takes notice of their open Prophaness and Debauchery would be apt to perswade himself that they really think that Christ's Coming into the World was for no other end than to indulge them in their Follies and Vices and to give them a Licence to be as lewd as they pleas'd So fond and groundless are the Imaginations of a great part of the World
a brighter Day and the Industry of a farther Age shall bring to light those things that now lie hid in darkness The time will come when our Posterity shall wonder that we were ignorant of things which were so plain and intelligible This Prediction is now fulfill'd we have a clear Discovery of many Secrets which were kept from former Ages we have fresh Experiments by which the Stock of Notions is greatly improved and advanced Diligent Researches at home and Travels into remote Countries have produced new Observations and Remarks unheard-of Discoveries and Inventions Thus we surpass all the times that have been before us and it is highly probable that those that succeed will far surpass these in all manner of human Literature And why a proportionable Improvement in Divine Knowledg and in Moral and Christian Endowments may not be expected I confess I don't understand Can there be any Reason given why God should not prosper Religion as well as Arts Why we may not look for increase of knowledge in the Church as well as in matteâ—s that relate only to Nature Why there may not be a Perfection of Understanding in the one as well as in the other I am sensible that it will be said here and that with Truth that the daily decay of the World as to intellectual and moral qualities is believ'd and held by some very great Men yea they tell us that the natural Frame and Constitution of it wax old It is certain that the Iews had this apprehension The World hath lost its Youth and the times begin to wax old And again The World shall be weaker through Age. The Hebrew Doctors and Rabbins cry out that the Generations grow worse every Day and Knowledg is more and more decreased And what a vast difference they make between the Antients and Moderns may be seen in another Proverbial Saying One mail of our Forefather's Fingers is better than the main Body of them that come after them And we may learn from another Adage of theirs how exceedingly they prefer the former days before the latter The Heart of our Predecessors say they was like the Gate of the Outward Court in amplitude but the Heart of their Successors is like the Gate of the Temple which was far less but ours is like the eye of a Needle least of all And several other Sayings they have to this purpose that the World is impair'd and grows worse and worse and that the further we are removed from the beginning the more we decline But who knows not that hath convers'd with these Gentlemen that they are very fanciful and capricious and that they either out of prejudice or discontent pronounce what they please of any thing so that their approbation or dislike is not to be a Standard to any Man's thoughts and sentiments And as to the Texts before cited they refer to the Iweish State which is foretold to be mean and low and running to decay and therefore no general Judgment can be made thence Among some of the Pagans likewise there was this Notion that the World was decaying as to Men and Manners Damnosa quid non imminuit dies AEtas parentum pejor avis tulit Nos nequiores mox daturos Progeniem vitiosiorem And they particularly alledg the Stature of Men to confirm their Opinion thus Lucretius Iamque adeâ— fracta est â—tas effâ—tque tellus Vix animalia parvacreat quâ— cuncta creavâ—t Sâ—cla deditque fâ—r arum ingentia corpora partu According to him all Animals as well as Man himself were at first formed out of their Mother Earth but since that time the procreative Virtue of the Earth is worn out and the kindly heat and moisture are gone and Nature is grown feeble and therefore Men and other Creatures have not that bulk and size which they were famed for in the days of yore So Pliny the Naturalist had a Conceit of the Senescency of the World and the declension of Nature and he instances in the Stature of Men. The same doth Aulus Gellius and complains of the Decrescency and Wearing away of Things and Men. This was founded on what they had heard or read concerning Giants heretofore the notice of whom might be derived to them not only from their own Authors but from the Sacred Writings which mention Og King of Bashan and Goliah of Gath and the Zummim Zanzummim Anakim Emim who were of a vast Procerity Whence they gather that the World is decay'd because we see no such People now adays But such consequences are easily silenc'd if we consider first that some of their own Authors are of little Credit or Repute and many reports of Giants are Poetical Inventions So if you will believe Geoffery of Monmouth and some other fabulous Writers Albion now call'd Britain the Isle which we inhabit was kept only by a Remnant of Giants Secondly those Writers that we can depend upon especially the Sacred Penmen tho they assure us that there were such big and tall Men yet they represent it as a very rare and uncommon thing they give us to understand that the number of those huge Persons was very small whence we gather that tho there were none such now in being it doth not alter the case of the World considerably But thirdly it appears that since those times spoken of by antient Historians there have been and even at this time are some of that large â—ize Modern Travellers of good esteem and credit ascertain us that there are Giants in some particular Countries which overthrows the vain Conceit of those that found the Decay of the World on a supposal that none but the former Ages afforded Gigantick Folks But the truth of the matter is this that tho Countries differ as to their size of Men nay tho some are in the same Country of a large others of a lesser Proportion yet the Stature of Men was not generally higher and bigger heretofore than it is now All People are for the most part of the same heighth and breadth that they were three thousand Years ago and upwards as is demonstrated by Doctor Hackwill and others from the Vrns and Rings and several other Antiquities which have been derived to after-Ages There is no Decay then as to this I might observe further that some of the Christian Perswasion as well as Iews and Pagans have asserted and defended Nature's universal Decay Some of the Antient Writers of the Church have inclin'd this way but Cyprian is very positive You must know this in the first place saith he that the World is now arrived to its old Age it hath not that force and virtue that strength and vigour which it was endued with heretofore And he goes on to instance both in natuâ—â—â— aâ—d moral things wherein he thinks this Defâ—ction and Failure may be seen Among some of the Moderns this Sentiment hath prevail'd and I will mention only two of them and they are of
our own Nation The first is that learned Knight who wrote the History of the World he there speaking of the Giants in former times and proving that there were really Men of that Statuâ—e adds on this occasion that the great Age of Time hath inâ—â—ebled and almost wore out the virtue of all things We now live in the withor'd Quarter and Winter of the World The other Great Man that hath lately espous'd this Opinion is the Learned Auâ—hor of the Essay on Antient and Modern Learning wheâ—e he often declares that the World of Learning grows old and that there is a Decay as to Men and Arts and brave Accomplishments and accordingly he laments but without tears our Ignorance and our faint Imitation of the Antients and our being but an imperfect Copy of that exact Original These Gentlemen fancy that all things were best at first and that since all are grown worse and worse It is something like that Philosophick Dream of a witty Author that there was at first nothing but Suns and Stars that there were no Earths or Planets particularly that this Earth which we inhabit was once a glorious Sun but in process of time degenerated and became what it is a dull opake Body After the same rate do these Persons talk they tell us that Knowledg and Arts were once very bright and gay and shone forth with a Lustre worthy of Mens eyes but in these latter times they are over-run with scum and crust and are miserably absorpt into Darkness and Barbarity To raise the Reputation of the past Ages and to depress that of the present they cry out that we live in the dregs of Time in Natures Declension in the old Age and Dotage of the World All was great and brave heretofore but now every thing is dwarfish mean and dwindling Our Forefathers have exhausted all the generous Wine and left us nothing but Lees. But we may justly think that such Apprehensions as these favour more of Prejudice than Truth and are the Product of Imagination rather than Reason For let a Man free from the steams of Melancholy and the Tincture of Prepossession consider things impartially and he will find that there is no ground for such Complaints Indeed as to the Age of Men there is some variation for they lived much longer before the Flood than they do now but one would think this is sufficient that People live as long now as they did in King David's time for he confines Man's Life to seventy or eighty Years and some Mens days are extended to a greater length Wherefore they that maintain the Hypothesis of Nature's general Declining must hold that the World grew old betimes that it was aged in its Youth which a Rational Man would think harsh and absurd And besides if it began to wax old so soon it would have been quite decrepit before this time it would have been worn off its legs and wholly extinct But seeing the contrary is evident we have Reason to think that the World doth not decline in the least as to its natural Virtue tho there is by the Will of Heaven some defalcation of Mens years Nay if Men can do as great or greater things now in a shorter time than they did heretofore this argues they are rather more vigorous now than in past Ages If any object the Loss of some little Arts and Inventions which were known heretofore there cannot be a more satisfactory Answer than this that when any Invention hath been sunk another of as great usefulness hath succeeded in its place Pancirol tells us of some things found as well as of others lost And we can inform our selves that tho some Discoveries have been unhappily forgot or imbezled yet for a compensation there have been fresh ones that have proved serviceable to the Life of Man And as for the latter Ages of the World they have abounded in useful Inventions which were wholly unknown to former times and they have marvelously improved those Arts which were but then imperfectly begun If I spend some time in offering to the curious and inquisitive Reader a short Demonstration of this I hope it will be excus'd as a pardonable Digrâ—ssion if it shall be thought to be a Digression when it is so serviceable and proper to my present purpose viz. To shew that there is a great probability of the World 's increasing in Knowledg hereafter because we see it hath done so already The thing then I undertake now is to shew that Learning hath been improved in these latter Ages of the World and that there is no Decay as to ingenious Inventions Even that very Author before mention'd who is the latest Defender of the contrary Opinion is himself a Confutation of it Whilst he argues on the other side he pleads for us for his own vast Learning flourishing Parts and all kinds of excellent Accomplishments disprove the Doctrine of the World's Defection Whilst he defames the Knowledg of the Age he lives in he is one of the greatest Glories of it himself And if he had been pleas'd to have look'd off of himself and to have taken a view abroad he would have found that as the former Times had their Discoveâ—ies so the latter have not wanted theirs which surpass them and moreover we have added others of a different Nature It cannot be denied that we have been so far from coming short of the foregoing Times in all respects that we have palpably exceeded them And because Solomon tells us that Wisdom finds out the knowledg of witty Inventions it will not be unbecoming the Sons of Wisdom to recount some of them especially when this comes so directly in our way to shew that the World decays not as to Knowledg and ingenious Discoveries and therefore we may rationally thence hope that Divine Learning which is the choicest of all kinds of Knowledg will be yet further advanced I will begin with the Sea-Compass and the applying the wonderful Virtues and Use of the Loadstone to Navigation which was not the Attainment of the Antients for it was not invented at least not practis'd till about three hundred Years ago Some have thought that it was known to the Tyrians of old who were great Seamen but I don't see that they give any Proof of it Others have thought that this was a very antient Invention because by the help of this King Solomon's Navy sail'd to the Indies some say the East others the West but there is no foundation for this surmise for I have on another occasion made it good that some part of Afric was that Ophir which is mention'd in the Sacred History They knew no great Sea but the Mediterranean they travell'd no further than Hercules's Pillars or the Streights of Gibraltar and this they might perform without the Invention of the Mariners Compass for they might coast along by the Shores Some tell us the Chinois had the use of the Loadstone and Compass for Navigation about
it hath travelled Westward The Church and the Sun as Mr. Herbert hath observed have observed the like Motion And it â—ath crossed the Western Ocean The Americans hear of Christ. We have an Essay in those Plantations to confirm us in the Truth of what is to come afterwards The true Gospel hath been preached and is at this Day in several Places of this New-found World And though the Roman Priests have planted their Perswasion in many Parts of it with vast â—â—fusion of Blood yet Popery may make way for a better Religion afterwards when the Gospel shall be spread even to the utmost Parts of this Western Hemisphere and so in its direct way step into the East again and visit the Islands in the Eastern Seas and then land on the Continent among the Tartars Indians Chinoises Persians c. and so finish its Circuit by returning to the Place where it set out first of all Thus our Saviour's Words shall be verified The Gospel shall be preached in all the World and then shall the End come Mat. 24. 14. This will be a plain Indication that they are come to the last Period of Time design'd for this World and that as soon as this is past the Day of Judgment is at hand Thus much concerning the Conversion of the Gentiles by whom I understand the People of those Nations and Countries that have not had the Knowledge of the True God And therefore they are to be distinguished from the Mahometans who are not to be reckon'd in the Body of the Gentiles and therefore not be Converted but Destroy'd III. The Conversion of the Iews is another Concomitant of the perfect State of Christianity This being a great Controversy among Divines Whether the Iews shall be Converted to Christ before the end of the World I will Inlarge upon it and endeavour to give Satisfaction in the Point By this Conversion we do not mean the Conversion of a Few but a Great and Remarkable a General and National Conversion of the Jews before the Consummation of all Things This was the general Belief of the Ancient Writers of the Church The Holy Scripture hath declared saith Cyril of Alexandria that the Jews in the last Times shall obtain Mercy being justified with us by Grace in Christ. The Jews saith another Godly Father shall turn unto God and believe in Jesus at the end of the World and be saved And that there shall be this Signal Conversion of that People was the Perswasion of several other Christian Fathers Though I find there is some Disagreement among them about this Whether the Iews shall return to their own Countrey Iudaea and there be fixed again and build and inhabit Ierusalem Origen speaking of the Jews affirms confidently that they shall not be restored to their own Land and with him agreeth St. Chrysostom But Iustin Martyr and some others of the Ancients hold that they shall return to the Land of Canaan upon their imbracing the Messias and that they shall be fixed there To prove which they quote Jer. 25. 5. Turn ye every one from his evil Ways and dwell in the Land which the Lord hath given unto you and to your Fathers for ever and ever In the 39 Chap. of Ezekiel there seems to be foretold not only the Destruction of the Turks call'd Gog in the latter Days ver 1. to 23. but immediately after that the Return of the Iews to their own Land v. 23. to the end of the Chapter All the Circumstances of the Prophecy argue it to be spoken of this last Return from their Captivity and Dispersion Which is further evidenced from those remarkable Words in the close of all v. 29. I will not hide my Face any more from them which shews that the Prediction can't be meant of their Return under Cyruâ— from their Captivity in Babylon because they have been Captives since and banished into all Parts of the World Whence I conclude that this Prophetick Promise was never yet accomplished and therefore must be And other Prophecies which are very plain may be alledged out of Isaiaâ— Ioel and Zechariah which forâ—tel that the Messias shall restore the Israelites to their own Land Indeed if we duly weigh some of those Passages we cannot but think it very credible that these poor Vagabonds shall recover again the Holy Land and inhabit there after their long Dispersion Though I will not designedly concern my self in this Dispute yet I think I shall render their Restauration extremely probable whilst I am discoursing of and proving the main Thing which is their Conversion And that this shall be National and General was the common Opinion of the Ancients and the Moderns excepting a Few assent to them in it I deny not that some of the Texts usually cited out of the Old Testament to prove the General Calling and return of the Jews before the last Judgment are to be understood of the Temporal Deliverance of that People from the Captivity and their Returning back to their own Land presently after And other Texts are meant of the Spiritual Deliverance of the Jews who were Godly and Righteous Some of those Prophecies being to be taken in a Mystical and Spiritual Sense Canaan being a Type of the Church And there are some Places also which speak of the Conversion of the Jews which was to be in our Saviour's Time when he chose his Disciples and Apostles out of the Jewish Nation and when afterwards Multitudes of Iews submitted to Châ—istianity and owned Iesus to be the Christ. All this I acknowledge but yet any unprejudiced Person may take notice of other Places of Scripture both in the Old and New Testament which point at the General and National Calling of the Jews and that towards the end of the World And it may be taken notice of further that some of those Texts which foretel their Return from Babylon to their own Land and others which speak of their turning from Judaism to Christianity at the first Propagation of the Gospel are also to be understood of this Universal Recalling of them at the first setting up of the Glorious Kingdom of Christ which we are discoursing of for there is a Twofold Historical Meaning of such Passages in the Prophetical Writings of the Bible one is Primary and Chiefly intended the other Secondary and Included This I am throughly perswaded of from the Style and Tenour of Scripture that there are different Things spoken of in the same Place and Narrative different Occâ—rrences are prophesied of at one time All other Historical Books have but one Sense and Meaning and no more because they refer to one Thing only But it is not so here Any observing and considâ—rate Man must needs see this and it is a Key to a great part of the Bible There is an eminent Passage in Lev. 26. which I don't find taken notice of but in my Opinion it speaks home to the present purpose God after
Heaven that I can't be induced to think that we shall have it here on Earth Those High-fliers who represent the Millennary State as such lash out too far and remember not that our Heaven is not to be here The binding of Satan which is spoken of is not such a Binding as if the Devils were all shut up and none of them had the least Liberty to solicite and entice us to Sin I observe that it was the Chief of these Infernal Spirits that was bound by the Angel Rev. 20. 1. which I gather from the several Names that are here given him viz. the Dragon that old Serpent who is the Devil and Satan which are heap'd up on purpose to distinguish this Arch-Daemon from the rest This is that very Apostate Ghost it is probable who wrought the First Mischief in the World the Fall of the First Man and Woman by assuming the Shape of a Serpent or rather by entring into and acting a Real Serpent whence he is called here the old Serpent He being the Subtilest and most Malicious of all the Diabolical Crew is bound and cast into the bottomless Pit and shut up and a Seal is set upon him that he should deceive the Nations no more He who was the Head and Ring-leader of the rest and by whose order they generally acted is secured and thereupon their Power is extremely abated though they are not chain'd up in the same manner that He is It is not likely that they forget their old Employment but they do what they can in it though it be but little They shall not be totally absolutely and fully bound till the Last Day and therefore they will not cease to tempt and deceive Men till that time but they shall be Restrained in a very great Measure and Degree However if we suppose the whole Body of Evil Angels so confin'd that they are utterly uncapable of Tempting yet as long as Men are on this side of Heaven Corruptions will adhere to them The Best will Sin to the Worlds end because they are a Compound of Flesh and Spirit Their Make and Frame being such there can be no intire Freedom from Sin in this Life But this high Degree of the Evangelical State shall set them at as great a Distance from it as they can be capable of in this lower Region of the World For First in that happy Restauration Men shall be Blessed with a greater Knowledge than ever which is the Ground-work of true Holiness The Inspired Prophets who speak of those Days assure us That the Earth shall be full of the Knowledge of the Lord as the Waters cover the Sea Isa. 11. 9. And perhaps this is intended in Isa. 65. 20. The Child shall die an Hundred Years Old i. e. all Persons shall grow up to maturity of Understanding even before they have attain'd to any considerable Number of Years The Children shall have such Knowledge that if they die in their Childhood they shall be as Knowing as some of those heretofore that were very Old that lived an Hundred Years This is the Privilege of those that are reserved for the New Heavens and the New Earth or the New-created Ierusalem which the Prophet speaks of there as we learn from ver 17 18. There will be more Knowledge because there will be a more General Commerce according to that of Daniel who prophesied concerning these Times Many shall run to and fro and Knowledge shall be increased Dan. 12. 4. viz. by that free and peaceable Travelling by Sea and Land from one Part of the World to the other which will be the uninterrupted Privilege of those Days For I am not inclined to submit to that New Hypothesis That the Earth in the Millennium will be without a Sea Which is founded on a wrong Bottom for the supposes the 〈◊〉 will be after the Conâ—â—agration which â—e imagines will burn up the Sea or his Comet which he fansies will drink it up For according to this Gentleman 's New Philosophy as a Comet procured the Universal Flood so it will bring on the Final Conflagration and so he makes the Drowning of the World and the Burning of it up to be from the same Cause But leaving this Theorist to his own Inventions I think we may rationally assert that the Eâ—rth shall not be destitute of Sea in the foresaid Thousand Years because I shall prove afterwards that the Firing of the Earth will not happen till after those Years be expired And consequently we may be perswaded of the Truth of what I before suggested that a Commerce by Sea as well as by Land shall be mightily increased and improved in that Millennary State In order to this it is probable that there will be a Common Language for all the World a kind of a Lingua Franca but much larger that may be used by all whereby all Nations will be enabled to hold correspondence with one another at the greatest Distance Travelling is uneasy now because we must have a Druggerman to interpret between us and the Foreigners we converse with but then they will be incourag'd to visit one another when the Conversation between them is become so easy By this means the great Principles of Christianity will be soon propagated and known in the World especially when I add that now Mens Minds shall be better disposed than ever to understand the Truth and to entertain the Doctrine of Iesus The true Notions of Things shall bear sway and Men shall not take Pains to Cheat and Delude themselves as well as others as hath been their constant Course through all Ages Secondly in this remarkable Renovation of the World which we expect Religion shall appear in its Native Purity and Simplicity and Men shall see and understand the Real Worth of it Indeed Religion like the Sun at its first Rising made long Shadows it abounded with Obscurities and Dusky Representations and Men were imployed chiefly in external Formalities and Ceremonies But when it shall be in its Meridian at its greatest Height there will be none of these Things but it shall be chosen for its own Sake and loved for its intrinsick Value Even at the first founding of Christianity itself many imbraced it because it was attested by such Extraordinary and Miraculous Occurrences as then every Day shew'd themselves so that they were in a manner thrust upon Christianity and they were compell'd as it were to receive it But it shall not be so afterwards it shall commend itself to the World by its own Natural Excellency by the Worthiness of its Noble Principles which it is furnished with and thence Men shall serve God Freely and out of Choice and the Christian Religion shall then appear more eminently to be a Reasonable Service This must needs promote a more than usual Holiness in the Hearts and Lives of Men for when Religion is esteem'd for its Self and its inward Excellency it will cease to be measured by mere Words and outward Shews
Shadows Christ in this sense is call'd the trâ—e Light and true Bread Joh. 1. 9. Joh. 6. 32. The Ceremonial Law was but a Figure of the Evangelical Truth And this is deservedly called Trâ—th because all the Ceremonial Types are Verified and Fulfill'd in Christ. All those Iudaick Hieroglyphicks are now unridled and plainly discovered to the World and he that runs may read them The Types and Symbols are gone and now the Things themselves are present and are clearly understood by us This makes the difference between the Mosaick Dispensation and the Evangelical One. The Doctrine of Salvation and the means of Life by Christ are more intelligible and plain than they were before Their Conceptions of those things were intricate and obscure but we have arrived to clear and distinct Notions concerning them In short the way of Salvation was before more dark and general they saw Christ through â—ertain Perspectives afar off but now the fulness of time is come and hath given us a near and more perfect view of those things which they saw but in a glass darkly 4. The Religion of the Gospel is more Inward and Lively than that of the Law and the Jewish Administration There is now introduced a Rational and Manly Service our Religion is chiefly the employment of our Minds and Understandings and not so much of our Bodies and lower Faculties We now worship God in Spirit as well as in Truth of which I spake befoâ—e we worship in a spiritual manner opposed to outward and bodily Service as Sacrifices Purifications c. The Evangelical Righteousness is a Spiritual Administration a Vital Principle able to beget a Divine Life whereas the Law comparatively was an external dead Letter and did not sufficiently actuate the Minds and Spirits of Men. It is true the History of the Gospel or the Doctrin of the Evangelists as it is merely propounded and written is as much external as the Law but the ministration of the Spirit as the Apostle calls it going along with the Gospel in a more especial and peculiar manner is a powerful Principle in the Souls of Men whereby they are inwardly renewed and transformed And so the Gospel compared with the Law is of greater Power Might and Efficacy and is able to produce a heavenly and spiritual frame of Soul and a sincere performance of the Divine Laws This is the Law promis'd to be written in the Hearts of Men and to be put into their inward parts Jer. 31. 33. 5. This Dispensation of the Gospel is larger and ampler than that of the Law and of other Dispensations before it For the Church was shut up in narrow bounds and confined to a few Families of the Patriarchs Afterwards it was limited to the Land of Canaan and to the Hâ—brew People excepting a few that were without who knew God's Will and were graciously accepted But after Christ came the Church was not tied to one Place or certain Nation but hath been ever since the Congregation of all such as truly know and worship Christ in any part of the World The Christian Dispensation is not local and temporary not confined to place or time not circumscribed by a particular Country Now not one Natâ—on only or a few of others are honoured with Laws given from God himself but Gentiles and Iews Greeks and Barbarians all Kindreds and Tongues all Countries and Regions of the Universe have heard the sound of the Gospel and have had the Divine Laws which were given by Christ himself offer'd to them Our Saviour bid his Disciples go into all the World and teach all Nations And accordingly as was observ'd before they travell'd into all the World which was at that time known and proclaimed the Messias to them Thus Christ came and preach'd Peace to them that were afar off and to them that were nigh Ephes. 2. 17. All Places and Countries had the privilege of the Gospel and might receive advantage by it This is one remarkable Difference between the Legal and the Evangelical Dispensation the former was Narrow and Contracted the latter was Full Ample Comprehensive and Catholick 6. Altho as hath been said the Conditions of Salvation are the same now as to the main with those before yet they vary as to several Circumstances To begin with Faith the first and chief Condition of Salvation the grand Fundamental Grace of Christianity This is reckon'd by the Reverend Bishop Taylor among the Instances of Duties which are new under the Gospel But the true account is this that Faith was not a Precept of the Natural or Moral Law but was a new Precept added to it by Revelation when the First Promise and New Covenant were made But ever since that it hath not been New for as I have proved the Antient Patriarchs were saved by Faith in Christ. He was the Object of Faith then as well as now the Faith of the first Believers was the same with the Faith of Christians Yet notwithstanding this this Grace of Faith hath a different aspect from what it had The Fathers believed in the Messias that was to come and we believe in the same Jesus who is come and hath taken on him our Nature and laid down his Life and shed his precious Blood for the redemption of lost Man and rose again and ascended into Heaven Thus the believing of Christ's Birth Passion Resurrection and Ascension is in this respect nâ—w that Faith looks upon them as accomplished But otherwise in respect of the things themselves it is the old Faith i. e. the same which those that lived before the time of the Messias exerted Christ that was to be crucified was the Object of their Belief and Christ already crucified is the Object of ours This is confirm'd â—rom Isa. 53. Acts 15. 11. 1 Cor. 5. 7. Heb. 9. 11. and abundance of other Texts St. Augustine having affirmed that the Saints of old were saved in the same way that we are viz. by Faith in Jesus adds this distinction They saith he were saved by Faith in Christ's future Sufferings and we by Faith in those Sufferings as they are already past This is that which our Church saith speaking of the People of God that lived before Christ's Incarnation Althâ— they were not named Christian men yet was it a Christian Faith which they had for they looked for all the Benefits of God the Father through the Merits of his Son Iesus Christ as we now do This difference is between them and us that they looked when Christ should come and we are in the time when he is come Besides a more general Belief was sufficient for mens Salvation before the Messias's coming than is now It was not necessary to Salvation to believe so expresly and explicitly concerning Christ and his Undertakings as we are obliged to believe since So that tho there is not now a New Faith neither are there New Articles of Faith yet there are New Exertments of Faith and more clear
Scribes and Doctors of the Law whom the Phariâ—ees at that day followed These wilfully mistook and depraved the Moral Law and our Saviour sets himself against these and their Doctrine He doth not oppose one Law to another but all that he doth is this he corrects and amends the Law as it was corrupted by the Scribes and Pharisees or rather he doth not correct and amend Moses's Law but the Phariâ—ees Expositions In this Chapter Christ is not a Legiflator but an Interpreter He expounds the Law aâ—ight and takes off their false Expositions and gives the true and genuine sense of the Law He acquaints them that there is a farther meaning of it than they imagined more is commanded in the Prâ—cepts of the Law and more is forbidden than they think And to convince them throughly of this he proceeds to particulars instancing in some Duties which seem to be New and Proper only to Christianity but he acquaints them that they are not New but Old Commandments and so likewise he instances in some Actions which are unlawful under the Gospel and seem to have been made so first of all by the Christian Laws but the design of this Discourse is to let them know that they were forbidden by Moses and were sins long before the Coming of Christ alâ—ho by them of Old the Antient Depravers of the Law they were not thought to be so 1. Anger is Murder by the Christian Law and so it was by the Law of the Ten Commandments Ye have heard that it was said by the Antients Thou shalt not kill restraining this to the External Act only and whosoever shall kill shall be in dâ—nger of the judgment But I say unto you that whosoever is angry with his Brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment he is interpretatively a Man-â—layer Ver. 21 22. You are to know that tho Immâ—derate Anger be not in express terms forbidden in the Law yet it is inclusively and by just Consequence forbidden Of Cain it is recorded that he was very wroth Gen. 4. 5. and wer read the Result of it ver 8. Cain rose up against Abel his Brother and slew him Wrath is the Parent of Murder He that is excessively incens'd against another is disposed to kill him and iâ— this inordinate Passion be not check'd or some obstacle interpose it will proceed to that height Therefore if Bloodshed be a sin Anger is so too and ought to be suppress'd with the ordinary concomitant of it viz. using of reviling Language as Raca Fool and the like 2. An Vnchast Heart and a Lustful Eye are Adultery and Fornication by the Law of Christ and they were no less by the Mosaick Law And therefore when Christ faith ver 28. Whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed Adultery already with her in his heart he doth not declare this as a thing contrary to what the Precepts of Morality require of us but to what had been dictated by the corrupt Glosses of the Jewish Doctors of old and of the Pharisees at that time viz. that there is no such thing as the Adultery of the Eye or of the Heart and that these are not forbidden in the Seventh Commandment But our Saviour lets them know that this is a great mistake and that he had not introduced a New Law but only revived an old One. To look on a woman to lust after her was always sinful and unlawful I made a Covenant with mine Eyes saith Job why then should I think upon a maid Chap. 31. ver 1. which argues that it was a sin in those times even before there was any written Law to indulge either lustful Thoughts or Looks And this I take to be the Reason of the Law of Fringes given to the Jews Num. 15. 38 39. viz. that these being constantly in their view might be a means to divert their thoughts as well as sight for so 't is expresly said that they were to entertain their Eyes with looking on them that they might not seek after their own Heart and their own Eyes after wâ—ich they used to go a whoring We read afterwards that it was the Pious King's Prayer Turn away mine eyes from beholding vaâ—ity Psal. 119. 37. And that there is a Restraint to be laid upon this outward Sense and upon the inward Imagination which is wrought upon by it is the acknowledgment of the Wisest Heâ—rew Doctors among whom it is proverbially said the Eye is the Inlet to sin and R. Ben. Maiâ—on saith expresly that evil Thoughts were forbid by the Lâ—w. 3. Swearing rashly is forbidden here by Christ and so it was by the Third Commandment But this as well as the other was misinterpreted by the Scribes and Doctors and not understood in its full Extent Whereupon our Saviour corrects their mistakes saying Swear not at all neither by Heaven c. ver 34. As much as if he had said you make nothing of Swearing by Heaven and by the Earth and by Ierusalem and by your Heads and this is a very common and frequent thing with you and you are perswaded that you act not amiss in doing thus for you think that the Commandment forbids only False Swearing and Perjury you have been told that these are the only breach of that part of the Law But I tell you another thing that Law forbids not only False but Rash Swearing you violate that Commandment as often as you use any vain and unnecessary Oaths as often as you prophanely swear by God's Name as often as you make use of other Names besides God's to swear by as often as you swear by Heaven or by the Earth c. This is the true meaning of our Saviour here Some have thought that all Swearing is forbid in this place by Christ as unlawful under the Gospel altho it was lawful to Swear under the Law but if you consider that it is a Religious Act and is innocent and harmless in its own nature and sometimes becomes necessary as in matters of Controversie which can't otherwise be decided and is an Act of Charity and Righteousness when it is for the real advantage of the Community or any of our particular Brethren and sometimes it is and is approved of by the Example of St. Paul in the New Testament you will be induced to believe that Religious Swearing is lawful even under the Gospel and that there is no New Law given by Christ to forbid it now That which he forbids is Unnecessary and Prophane Swearing yea moreover he commands you to avoid all Swearing in common intercourse and converse one with another and as much as lies in them to abstain wholly from an Oath He would have them to be Persons of so holy and strict lives of such integtity and faithfulness that no one should have occasion to require an Oath of them but that they might be credited upon their bare Words and Promises He would have them shew such Truth
and Honesty towards Men that Swearing might become useless This is the true meaning of our Saviour 4. That a Man should not put away his Wife unless for Fornication or Adultery is a Law of Christ and yet is no New Law but an Old one Restored and Renewed by him This Law was corrupted by the Jews which Malachi takes notice of Mal. 2. 14 15 16. and he brings them back to the Primitive Law of Moses Chap. 4. ver 4. So that our Saviour doth the same which the Prophet Malachi did before And as to the Law of Divorce in Deut. 24. 1. it was rather a Permission than a Precept or Law and so saith Christ Moses suffer'd you for the hardness of your hearts to put away your wives but from the beginning it was not so Mat. 19. 8. This way of divorcing among the Jews was unlawful being against the Institution of God in the beginning Gen. 2. 24. They two shall be one flesh But it was tolerated to avoid a greater Evil among that People viz. that curst Husbands might not use their Wives inhumanely It was for the sake of the Women that this was permitted Therefore it is clear that Christ doth not correct or alter the Law but only removes the false Interpretations which were made of it That Matrimony cannot be dissolv'd is a Christian Law and it was also a Mosaick one 5. Resisting of Evil or Retaliating is â—orbid by our Saviour in this Chapter ver 38 39. and yet it is no New Commandment but such as was obligatory under the Law Publick Retaliation or Revenge viz. in a lawful way by the Authority and Help of the Magistrate who is an Avenger of Evil and appointed for that purpose is intended by the Law An Eye for an Eye a Tooth for a Tâ—â—th but the Iewish Interpreters of it stretched this even to the patronizing of private Revenge and returning Evil for Evil among themselves This is that which our Lord here complains of as a gross perverting of the sense of the Law and he peremptorily commands his Followers that they resist not evil that if any one smitâ— them on the right check they turn to him the other also and that if any takâ— away their Coat they let him have their Clâ—â—k also ver 39 40. By which he declareth against the Law of Retaliation among themselves without going to the Magistrate whose Revenge is Christ bids them rather suffer wrong than revenge it so Now this private Revenge you will find â—orbidden by Moses's Law long before and consequently it is no New Law In Lev. 19. 18. Moses expresly forbids it and the unlawfulness of it may be gather'd from other places of the Old Testament If it be objected that these words of Sampson authorize private Revenge As they did untâ— me so have I done unto them Judg. 15. 11. I Answer he did it not as a private Man but as a Judg a Magistrate a publick Person Besides he was divinely inspired and extraordinarily 〈◊〉 up which is a different case from ours Thuâ— Sampson called unto the Lord that he might be avenged of the Philistines Judg. 16. 28. This Revenge then is not that which was spoken of in the places before cited and which our Saviour here speaks against and which St. Paul forbad when he left those Evangelical Rules with the Roman Christians Recompence to no Man Evil for Evil Avenge not your selves Rom. 12. 17 19. The Sâ—cinians then and some others who say Revenge was lawful under the Old Testament but is not now under the New speak very unadvisedly and rashly and have no ground at all to make this Distinction for the Writings of the Old Testament as well as of the New condemn all private Revenge and Resisting of Evil. 6. Loving our Enemiâ—s is another Command of Christ ver 44. and it was always a Command of the Second Table tho the Iewish Expositors of it thought not so Mark therefore our Saviour's words Ye have heard that it hath been said viz. by them of Old Thou shalt love thy neighbour and hate thy enemy ver 43. Whence it is evident that Christ both here and in the verses before mentioned speaks not of what Mâ—ses and the Law it self said but of what the corrupt Doctors and Scribes said For tho Moses saith Thou shalt love thy neighbour Lev. 19. 18. yet he no where saith Thou shalt hate thy enemy Therefore we may conclude that whenever Christ uttereth these words in this Chapter It hath been said by them of old time he understands not Moses and the Prophets but the perverse Teachers among the Iews who falsly expounded them Moses's Law bid them love their Neighbours but it was their own false Inference that they should hate their Enemies I say unto you therefore saith Christ and I say no more than what was the Duty even of those who lived under Moses's Laws Love your Enemies do good to them that hate you ver 44. That this was a Duty before Christ's Coming is proved from Exod. 23. 4 5. If thou meet thine enemies Ox or his Ass going astray thou shalt surely bring it back to him again If thou see the Ass of him that 〈◊〉 thee lying under his burden and wouldâ—â— forbear tâ—â—elp him thou shalt surely help with him Tho it is true the doing of these things were kindnesses to the Beasts yet they were also offices of kindness to the Persons who owned them which sheweth that the Lâ—ve of Enemieâ— was required then Which may likewise be inter'd from those general words in Lev. 19. 17. Thou shalt not 〈◊〉 thy Brother in thy heart thou shalt not hate him be he Friend or Fo Native or Alien every one is thy Brother and therefore thou must use him as such And that these words of Moses are to be taken thus largely is manifest from what he saith in Deut. 23. 7. Thou shalt not abhor an Edomite for he is thy Brother nay it is added for the same reason Thou shalt not abhor an Egyptian tho thou wert made a Bondslave by that People yet thou must not hate them yea being thy Brâ—thren thou must love them The words of Solomon are to our present purpose Prov. 25. 21. If thine Enâ—my be hungry give him Bread to eat and if he be thirsty give him Water to drink i. e. in his distress and extremity entertain him courteously and lovingly tho he hath not deserved such usage at thy hands That Enemies were to be loved is to be gather'd from that Instance of Elisha who advised the King of Israâ—l to feast and plenteously entertain the Syrians who had besieged Samaria and to send them away in peace 2 Kings 6. 22 23. Thus we see that even under the Law they were to be kind and loving to their Enâ—mies and that not only if they were Enemies among themselves i. e. if they were Isrâ—â—letes but they were to shew the like affection to Strangers and Foreigners who had shew'd Enmity and