of Books as written by such and such Authors without sufficient Assurance thereof But I believe the Truth is There are some Men who for Reasons best known to themselves but which may some of them be easily enough guessed at will not allow that to be sufficient Evidence that a Book was written by a Prophet or an Apostle which they must and do allow to be sufficient Evidence in any other Case of the like Nature For in other Cases we make no Doubt to receive a Book as written by such an Author if he owns himself to be the Author of it or if it be shewn written with his own Hand or if they that are the Publishers of it declare that they had it from him as his own or that they transcribed or printed it from a Copy which they knew to be of his Hand-writing or if it passes current in common Fame and Report to be his and his most intimate friends believe it so and he himself does not disown it and there be none else that pretend any Claim or Title to it Where these or most of these Circumstances do concurr we never doubt but that the Person said to be the Author of such a Book is so indeed unless there be some very clear Reason grounded upon the known Incapacity of the Person to write in such a Language in such a Stile concerning such a Subject or the like whereby it may be demonstrated that whoever was he could not be the Author of it The truth is Now adays and I suppose the Case was much the same formerly whoever is the true Author of any Book finds very little Difficulty to make Men believe that the Book is his the greatest Difficulty is for a Man to conceal himself in case he be not willing to be known to be the Author of it And when once a Book is generally receiv'd as written by such a Person when I say 't is thus receiv'd in that Age in which it was first publish'd and by those that were in the best Capacity to inquire and to judge who was the true Author of it they that live in after times never think it reasonable to question the Authority thereof unless there be evidently something either in the Language Dialect or Stile or else in the Matter of the Book as in the Relation of some Piece of History the References to some ancient Customs the Citations out of other Authors or the like by which it may be clearly made out that the Book cannot be of such Antiquity as it pretends to or could not be the Writing of that Person who is reported and has been commonly taken to be the Author of it Upon such Reasons as these a great many Books are every Day received as written by such and such Authors and tho' we cannot be so sure of a thing that we believe upon these Inducements as we are of what we see with our own Eyes yet such Reasons as these are by the general Consent of Mankind judged to be sufficient in a Matter of this Nature which is hardly capable of better Proof And for a Man to disallow in one Case that same Evidence of the Truth of a Matter of Fact which in other Cases of the like kind he allows to be sufficient for a Man to receive a Book as written by another Person and not to receive a Book as written by a Prophet or an Apostle when he has as much Reason to receive one as the other and no more Reason to reject one than the other is not Judgment or Discretion or reasonable Caution but manifest Prejudice and Partiality But 2. It was further said That tho' we might be well enough assured that a Book was written by the Person who is said to be the Author of it there is no Way to be sufficiently assured that who he was the Author of it did not design to impose upon his Readers It seems then there is no Way to be sufficiently satisfied that any Man is an honest Man and fit to be credited that he does not lye in every thing he says and intend a Cheat in every thing he does For if a Man may be believed in what he says he may as well be believed in what he writes And if he may be trusted in one Concern he may be as safely trusted in another unless good Reason can be shewed to the contrary But in judging of humane Nature in general Men commonly judge of others by themselves What they are inclined to they think is the Inclination of Mankind what they allow themselves in they think others whatever they may pretend make as little scruple of as they do what they freely practice they make no Doubt other Men would practise as freely on the same Occasions and upon the same Inducements So that when any Man is so very suspectful of the Honesty and Veracity of other Men it gives but too just Ground to think that the Reason of his Aptness to distrust all others is his Consciousness of his own evil Designs and of the little Regard that he himself has to Truth in his own Assertions And if those he has to deal with should refuse to give any Credit to any thing that he affirms because according to his own declared Opinion very little Credit can reasonably be given to the Report and Affirmation of others I do not see with what Reason he can blame them for so doing Not but that after all 't is possible that a Man may 't is doubtless what has been done by some give out a Report or write Book on purpose to deceive Mankind But nevertheless I say that it ought not without very good Reason to be suspected that this is any Man's Design and that we may have Assurance enough that a thing is not which yet we must grant was possible to have been Particularly as to the Matter we are now speaking of First In case the Author of any Book or of any Report relates a Matter of Fact of which there are not nor well could be any other Witnesses but himself as if he says that he has received from God such a Revelation with order to publish it to the World or that he himself was an Eye or Ear-witness that such a thing was privately done or spoken by another the Credibility of such a Report whether written or spoken depends Partly upon the Nature of the Report its self Partly upon the Credit of its Author And partly upon the Proofs that he gives of his Honesty and Veracity in that particular And where there is a full Concurrence of all these that is When the Matter of the Report is credible in its self when its Author is a Person of Credit and when he gives the best Proofs that can be of his Veracity in that particular there is no Reason to reject his Testimony there is sufficient Reason to give Credit to it 1. If the Matter of his Report be credible in its
no Suspicion of what was done nor any Sense of that great Alteration that had been made in the World by these Books nor any Remembrance afterwards when they awoke and found themselves Christians that they had been of some other Religion before when they were first taken with that Lethargick Fit But if these things may be what is there of this kind that may not be If the World be so much mistaken in this Matter it may be as much mistaken in any other Matter of the like Nature And then It may be that there never was such a Man as Homer or Virgil or Coesar or Cicero or Plutarch or any other of those Persons as whose Writings we now receive the Books that go under their Names but that all the Books pretended to be written by those Authors and likewise all the Books of later Date whereby the Authority of those former Books is attested were in like Manner contrived and made and dispersed by such another Gang of crafty and designing Knaves who took a Pleasure in abusing the rest of the World or hoped to make a Gain to themselves â—hereby Nay then for why should we stop here It may be that not only the Laws of our Religion but the Laws of our Civil State too are all forged and counterfeit It may be that once upon a time The Keeper of the Publick Records having by much and long Observation attained to good Skill â—n the ancient Ways of Writing for many Ages backward and being a compleat Master of his Pen and having also gotten an Art to make a fresh Writing seem just as old as he had a Mind it should be thought to be did compose and deposite in â—heir proper Places those Original Acts of Parliament which are now taken to be the Laws of some of our former Kings and that to confirm and establish his Fraud he procured some other Persons at the same Time to Write or Print and to convey into all Shops and Libraries several Books of Reports and Pleadings wherein these counterfeit Acts were cited and referred to and it may be that while as this was doing none else had their Eyes open to see it nor had ever after the least Suspicion of what was done Or if they had yet that they were so well pleased with the Cheat which they thought would be a good Means of preserving Peace and Justice in the Nation as to be willing it should pass to Posterity undiscovered These May be 's are I am sure every whit as possible and as likely as the other Either therefore let those Men who upon this Account doubt of the Authority of the Books of the New Testament Or who would make others doubt of it only by suggesting that it is a thing possible in Nature that they may be all forged and counterfeit let them I say either entertain and suggest the same Doubt concerning all other ancient Books of the Antiquity and Authority of which there is not greater Evidence than there is of these And then they will render themselves so justly ridiculous to the World that there will be no Need to expose their Folly for then they must call in Question the Authority of all Books and the Truth of all History Or else let them fairly own that the true Reason of their making a Doubt concerning these Books rather than concerning others is because they do not relish the Matter of them because they find it easier to resist that strong Evidence that is given of the Authority of these Books than they do to govern their Lives according to those strict Rules of Holiness and Purity that are therein prescribed and to bring their Wills to the Obedience of Faith And if they will but own this which I believe is the Truth their Prejudice and Partiality will be so evident to all that it may be reasonably hoped their impious Suggestions will do but little Harm in the World and that few Men of any Sense or Reason will be so fool-hardy as to venture their Souls and run the Hazard of a miserable Eternity upon so many and such very improbable I had almost said such impossible may be 's as must be supposed to have been if indeed these Books are forged and counterfeit if indeed they were not written by those Persons whom they are commonly ascribed to But yielding this Point may the Atheist or Infidel farther say viz. that the Gospel called St. Matthew's was written by St. Matthew and that of St. Mark by St. Mark and the Rest of the Books which are ascribed to any other certain Authors by those Persons to whom they are severally ascribed yet the Authority of the whole New Testament will not by this Concession be sufficiently established For of some Books of the New Testament the Authors are not known of others they are doubted Some Parts of this Book that are now received have been rejected in ancient Times and â—thers not universally receiv'd And besides 't is cerâ—ain that in the early Times of Christianity there were several Counterfeit Gospels and Epistles some of which may possibly have slipped into the Canon unawares And lastly If it be granted that all the Books of the New Testament were originally written â—y the Apostles or other Inspired Men yet however the Books that we now have are but Copies in which many Alterations may have been made by designing Men or careless Transcribers These Objections or Cavils rather for such I am sure they would be accounted in any other Case against the Authority of these Sacred Books have been urged by some Men both anciently and lately But they have been also so well and fully answered by those learned Persons that have written in Defence of the Canon that I once thought to have taken no Notice of them and I believe had not done it but that I considered on the other Hand that when an old Objection that has been answered an Hundred times is urged afresh a great many may take it for a new one and if it be not quickly answered may be apt to think it unanswerable so that in this Case it may be better to repeat the same Answer if it be a good one that has been often formerly made to it than to say nothing And besides in this degenerate Age in which any wild or Atheistical Discourse passes for Wit it may be the Hap of some Persons who have not much Mind or Leisure or Opportunity to read Books to hear these things in Conversation and not knowing readily what Answers to make to them to be somewhat staggered in their Belief thereby Especially if they be such whose loose and licentious Way of Living makes them easie to receive without Examination any Notions that may give them Ease or Encouragement in Sin For these Reasons therefore I thought it would not be amiss especially because it is a Matter properly belonging to the Subject I am now upon and because I have some time left for it to
Sermon III. Page 25. Line 1. for once read now for those read these ADVERTISEMENT THE Three remaining Lectures for this Year are to be at St. Paul's on the first Mondays in September October and November But the first Monday in September being the Fast-Day for the Fire of London when there will be in the Morning a Sermon suitable to that Occasion Preached before the Lord Mayor Aldermen and Companies of the City Mr. Boyle's Lecture on that Day is Order'd to be Preached in the Afternoon THE SUFFICIENCY OF THE Scripture-Revelation As to the Proof of it PART III. A SERMON Preach'd at the CATHEDRAL-CHURCH of St. Paul September 2d 1700. BEING The Sixth for the Year 1700 of thâ— LECTURE Founded by the Honourable Robert Boyle Esq By OFSPRING BLACKALL D. D. Rector of St. Mary Aldermary and Chaplain in Ordinary to His MAJESTY LONDON Printed by J. Leake for Walter Kettilby at the Bishop's Head in St. Paul's Church-Yard 1700. St. LUKE XVI 29 30 31. Abraham saith unto him They have Moses and the Prophets let them hear them And he said Nay father Abraham but if one went unto them from the dead they will repent And he said unto him If they hear not Moses and the Prophets neither will they be persuaded though one rose from the dead IN Order to shew that we have sufficient Reason given us to convince us of the Truth and Authority of the New-Testament and of all the Doctrines that are taught by it I have formerly propounded to shew 1. That we have sufficient Reason to believe that the Books of the New-Testament were written by those Persons who are said to be the Authors thereof 2. That there is sufficient Reason to give full Credit to them in their Relation of those Matters of Fact which they have recorded And 3. That if the Matters of Fact therein recorded are true they are sufficient Proofs of the Truth and Divine Authority of all the Doctrines that are therein taught And the two first of these Points I have I hope already made good I proceed now to the third viz. 3. To shew That the Doctrine of the Gospel is well grounded upon the History of it That if the Matters of Fact recorded in the New-Testament are true they are sufficient Proofs of the Truth and Divine Authority of all the Doctrines that are therein taught And Here by the Doctrines of the Gospel I understand both the Articles of Faith which it proposes to our Belief and the Rules which it prescribes to our Practice Many of the former of which are themselves Parts of the Gospel History as the Incarnation Life Sufferings Death Resurrection and Ascension of our Saviour and the rest of both sorts are taught in the New Testament either by our Saviour himself or by his Apostles And I suppose it will be readily granted that all their Doctrines are true and also of divine Authority if it shall appear that they were commissioned and sent by God to instruct the World for he whom God hath sent speaketh the words of God Joh. iii. 34. The single Point therefore to be consider'd at this time is whether there be sufficient Evidence from the Matters of Fact recorded in the History of the New Testament that our Saviour and his Apostles were commissioned and sent by God to instruct the World And first Whether there be sufficient Evidence from thence that our Saviour himself was a Teacher sent from God Now that he said he was sent from God is a Matter of Fact and a part of the Gospel History Joh. xii 49. See Joh. 5.37 38.8.38.14.10 24. I have not spoken of my self but the Father which sent me he gave me a Commandment what I should say and what I should speak And that he said that he was the Messiah which had been foretold by the Prophets is likewise Matter of Fact and a Part of the same History Joh. iv 25 26. The Woman of Samaria saith unto him I know that Messias cometh which is called Christ Mat. 16.16 17. Mar. 9.41 Luke 24.46 Joh. 9.47 when he is come he will tell us all things Jesus saith unto him I that speak unto thee am HE. The Question therefore is whether from the things which are recorded of him by the Evangelists there be sufficient Ground to believe the Truth of either or both these Pretences I say of either or both of them because either of them is a sufficient Reason to receive his Doctrine as True and Divine for which cause therefore I shall not in speaking to this Subject distinguish between the Evidences which the Gospel-History affords of his being a Prophet and those which it affords of his being the Messiah but shall propose them promiscuously as they come to mind And here I shall consider First The Credibility of our Saviour's own Testimony concerning himself and Secondly The Confirmation that was given to this Testimony by God grounding all that shall be said on both these Heads upon the Gospel-History the Truth of which I now take for granted as being I hope already sufficiently prov'd First then I shall consider the Credibility of our Saviour's own Testimony concerning himself when he said that he was sent by God and that he was the Christ the Son of God And I know 't is commonly said that a Man is not to be believed in his own Case And this very thing was objected to our Saviour by the Jews Joh. viii 13. Thou bearest Record of thy self thy Record is not true But this Saying is not without Exception When indeed what a Man witnesses is for his own Benefit his Testimony if it be single may reasonably be rejected especially if any Proof be made that at other times he hath told a Lye or done any other ill thing for his Advantage But otherwise a Man's Testimony concerning himself may be credible nay in some cases it may be more credible than another Man's because he may sometimes be surer of what he says concerning himself than another Man could be And therefore our Saviour who in Joh. v. 31. allows of the Reasonableness of that Saying If I bear witness of my self my Witness is not true yet when this very thing was afterwards objected to him by the Pharisees in the Place before-cited makes answer in the following words Tho' I bear Record of my self Joh. 8.14 yet my Record is true for I know whence I came c. And that the Testimony of our Lord concerning his own divine Mission was such as we might rationally give Credit to tho' we had no other Evidence of it will I suppose sufficiently appear if these following things be consider'd 1. That his whole Life according to the Account that is given of it by the Evangelists which we now build upon as true was in all Respects spotless and unblameable 1 Pet. 2.22 1 Pet. 1.19 He did no Sin neither was Guile found in his Mouth He was a Lamb without blemish and without spot
Witness of the Holy-Ghost which I now chiefly design was that which was given to him after his Ascension into Heaven and was an evident Token that all power in Heaven and Earth was then committed to him I mean those Gifts of the Holy-Ghost which he showred down on his Apostles on the Day of Pentecost when being met together Acts 2.1 c. there came suddenly a sound from Heaven as of a rushing mighty Wind which filled all the House where they were sitting and there appeared unto them Cloven Tongues like as of Fire which sat upon each of them whereupon they wre all filled with the Holy-Ghost and began to speak with other Tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance And this Testimony of the Holy Ghost our Saviour promis'd before should be given to him Joh. xv 26. When the Comforter is come whom I will send unto you from the Father even the Spirit of Truth which proceedeth from the Father he shall testifie of me And the Testimony indeed was very plain and full for by this it clearly appear'd that all his former Miracles had been true and had been wrought by a divine Power when even after he had left this World he was still able to make good this Promise to his Disciples and to empower them to do greater Works in his Name than he himself had done while he was living upon Earth This was a clear Demonstration that he was the beloved Son of the Father and was as St. Peter says Act. 2.33 exalted at God's right hand when he did shed forth that wonderful power upon his Apostles of which all that then dwelt in Jerusalem or had come thither from all parts of the World to Worship were Eye and Ear-Witnesses And this Testimony of the Holy-Ghost was given to our Saviour not at that time only not one Day and no more but was continu'd to be given to him all the time of the Apostle's Preaching who were also enabled to communicate to others by laying on of Hands Act. 2.38.8.17.10.44.19.6 the same Miraculous Gifts of the Holy-Ghost which they themselves had receiv'd until they had finish'd their Ministery and planted Christian Churches in all the Countries of the then known World Thus I have briefly mention'd the great Evidence that the Gospel History affords of the Truth of our Saviour's Testimony of himself the Matters of Fact I have taken for granted as being parts of the Gospel-History the Truth of which has been I hope already sufficiently prov'd and the Evidence it self is so clear and full that I thought it needless to open it in more Words than I have done for that the Testimony which God did by all these ways give to our Saviour is a rational Inducement to believe the Truth of what he said concerning himself is what I think can't be doubted by those that allow themselves any time to consider things This I 'm sure I may say that if this strong Evidence that the Gospel-History affords of our Saviour's divine Mission be not sufficient to prove it there never yet has been sufficient Evidence of the Truth of any divine Revelation I had almost said nor ever can be but that I know it is not for us to say what Infinite Power and Wisdom can do But as some Jews in our Saviour's time said Joh. 7.31 when Christ cometh will he do more Miracles than these which this Man hath done So I may ask and I believe it will be very difficult to make answer to it when Christ cometh if indeed he be not already come if indeed that Jesus on whom we believe be not he how shall we do to know him What greater Assurance can he give us that he is the Christ than Jesus hath given What better Reason can we ever have to believe any Messenger that shall be sent from God than we have to believe our Saviour For we have as much Reason supposing the Gospel-History to be true to believe him to be sent from God as we have to believe any thing we are as secure that we are not deceiv'd in him as we are that we are not deceiv'd in the plainest Matters of sense For the best the only security that we have that our senses do not deceive us and that every thing in the World is not quite otherwise than it appears to us to be is the Goodness of God and this same security we have that we are not deceiv'd in our Saviour's divine Mission Nay we are more secure of this than we are of that because it is more plainly inconsistent with the Goodness of God to deceive us in a Matter on which our everlasting Welfare depends than in Matters only of this Life which are the chief things for which our bodily Senses are of use to us And if indeed we are deceiv'd in our Saviour it must be said that God himself has deceiv'd us having given us all the Reason imaginable to believe him to be as he said he was the Son of God And now having been so large in shewing the Evidence that there is from the Matters of Fact recorded in the History of the New Testament that our Saviour himself was a Teacher sent from God I shall not need to spend much time in shewing that his Apostles were likewise Commission'd by God to instruct the World and consequently that we ought also to receive all the Doctrines taught by them whether in their Epistles or in their Discourses interwoven by St. Luke with his History of their Acts as true and divine for 1. There is plainly no Reason why we should not receive them as such because they are the very same that our Saviour taught and no other Some Points of Christian Doctrine are indeed more largely explain'd and handled by the Apostles in their Epistles than they are in those Discourses of our Saviour that are recorded by the Evangelists but between the Doctrines taught by our Lord himself and those taught by the Apostles there is such a perfect Harmony and Agreement that if we had only their own Word for it that they spake and wrote by the Inspiration of the Spirit we might securely believe them for tho' one Man may without Inspiration say the same thing which another before him has spoken by Inspiration yet if the second says that he also is inspir'd there can be no Hurt tho' there may be a Mistake in believing him seeing whether the Man was Inspir'd or no 't is certain that the Doctrine was But 2. If there be any Doctrines taught by the Apostles which we do not see were taught before by our Saviour I say there is however from the History of the Gospel Evidence enough of their divine Mission also so that we may very securely take upon their Credit as true and divine any Doctrine which they have instructed us in For 1. That they were sent by our Saviour is past all Dispute if the Gospel-History be true Joh. xx 21. As
happy Number they are sure they should not only have believed but also willingly have suffered as much as the Apostles themselves did for Bearing their Testimony to the Truth of those things which they had seen and heard And what now must be done for the Satisfaction of these Men For these have as much Right to a full Satisfaction as any others and by the same Reason that others do expect to be gratified in what they desire these may do so too And therefore in order to their Satisfaction it is necessary that our Saviour should be Born into the World in every Age of it or indeed much oftner and that in every Country at least if not in every Town and Village he should live and Preach and do Miracles and be Crucified and Rise again for that these things have been once done they can't they say believe only upon the Testimony of other Men who say they did see them And therefore by the same Reason if they themselves should see them other Men that should come after or live in other Countries would have as little Cause to believe their Testimony So that for the full satisfaction of all such Doubting Men as these our Saviour must have suffered often since the Beginning of the World and must continue to do so very frequently as long as the World shall last because with some Men nothing but seeing is Believing But that this should be is what I presume none besides themselves can think it reasonable either for Men to ask or for God to grant 4. Lastly The Unreasonableness of desiring any further or additional Proof of the Truth of Religion besides what is already afforded us in the Standing Revelation of the Holy Scripture will farther appear by considering our own Interest in being convinced and persuaded of the Truth of Religion by such Arguments and Motives as are in themselves sufficient for that purpose altho' they be not so very strong and forcible as we could wish they were And this Argument I shall handle in the way of Reproof and a just and seasonable Reproof I think it to such bold and presuming Persons as I have been now speaking of who will needs stand upon their Terms with Almighty God and will not be persuaded to Believe and Repent but just by such Reasons and such Motives as they themselves shall be pleased to require Tell not us say they of Moses and the Prophets and of things that were done a great while ago we know not when We 'll have fresh Revelations and new Miracles or Messengers from the Dead or else we will not Believe and Repent that we are resolv'd on Very well Then I say you may if you will continue still in your Unbelief and Impenitence Nevertheless I would advise you before you fully determine to persist in this Resolution to take a little time to consider seriously whose Interest and Concern it is either that you should Believe or that you should not Believe consider who it is that will be a Gainer or a Sufferer either by the One or by the Other For let me tell you if there be really a Heaven and a Hell and a Judgment and a Life to come 't is not your not believing them that will make them not to be and if these things are true 't is your own Life and Soul that is at Stake and if you are resolv'd to lose both unless you may be Saved your own way you your selves will be the greatest nay you your â—elves will be the only Sufferers And this is a Consideration that affects the Case very much and makes it very unreasonable to insist â—pon having such satisfaction in this Case as in some other Cases might not so very unreasonably be desired For if any Man tells me a Story which it is for his Interest I should believe it is his Concern to give me such Assurance of it as I shall require even altho' less than I require would be in all Reason sufficient And therefore if I will not believe one or two Witnesses tho' it may be unreasonable in me not to believe them yet it is his Business and what it behoves him to do to produce if it be possible ten or twenty Witnesses or as many more as I shall ask for And if one sort of Proof tho' in it self it be never so good will not satisfie me it is his part and what he ought in Reason to do if he be able to bring other Proofs of it and so to go on multiplying his Witnesses and his Proofs 'till such time as I shall declare my self fully satisfied And the Reason is because the Loss or Inconvenience will be his and only his in Case he cannot convince me of the Truth of his Relation But now on the other side if the Story which he tells me be true and it be for my Interest and Advantage only not at all for his that I should believe it to be true If I say he will be neither a Gainer nor a Loser whether I believe his Report or whether I do not believe it then if he gives me such Evidence of the Truth of it as is sufficient to convince a Man of Reason he has done enough he has done all that belonged to him as a Friend to do And if after this I make it my Business to cavil at and to except against his Evidence and go about to prescribe to him what sort of Proof he should give me of the Truth of what he relates declaring withal that less or other Proof than just that which I require shall never satisfie me he may justly reject my Suit as unreasonable and condemn me for a Fool that will not see my own Interest nor know when a Friend has done enough And this is exactly our Case God has sent his Son to us with the Promise of Eternal Life and has given us sufficient Assurance of his Divine Mission and thereby of the Truth of that Revelation which he made Now if we will believe this well and good the Profit will be all our own we shall save our own Souls alive But God will receive no Advantage to himself by our Believing his perfect Happiness being not capable of any Increase But if we will not Believe this Testimony that God has given of his Son if we except against his Witnesses and cavil at his Evidence and will not Believe but just upon that very sort of Proof which we our selves are pleas'd to pitch upon why then we may e'en take our own Course we may be Unbelievers still but 't is we only that shall suffer by our Unbelief the Infinite and Essential Happiness of God being as little capable of Diminution as of Advancement And as if we Believe and Repent God will be Glorified in our Salvation so if we will not Believe and Repent he will be no less glorified in our Destruction Seeing therefore whether you Believe or whether you do not Believe God
Standing Revelation of the Gospel would be persuaded by this means If they hear not Moses and the Prophets I add nor Christ and his Apostles neither will they be persuaded tho' one rose from the dead And the Truth of this will I suppose sufficiently appear if these following things be considered 1. That we can't have better or stronger Motives to Obedience and a Holy Life than are already offered in the Holy Scripture to persuade us 2. That the Proof and Evidence already given us of the Truth of Religion is such as cannot be fairly excepted against and that there is no Proof thereof that could be offered but what is liable to Cavils and unreasonable Exceptions 3. That if God should gratifie all Men in this Request the Abundance and Commonness of the Miracles that must then be wrought would go near to destroy the Efficacy and Persuasiveness thereof And Lastly That it is Matter of Fact and Experience that new Miracles have been generally unsuccessful upon those who have not hearkned to nor been convinced by a Standing Revelation of God's Will 1. I say we can't possibly have as to the Matter of them stronger Motives to Obedience and a Holy Life than those which are already offered in the Holy Scripture to persuade us For there we have Life and Death set before us Blessing and Cursing on one Hand the Promise of this Life and of that which is to come and on the other Hand all the Evils that we can justly dread the wrath of him who is a consuming Fire who often punishes Transgressors with remarkable Judgments in this Life and has threatned to all impenitent Sinners Eternal Torments in the next Now if a new Revelation was to be made and we our selves were to contrive the Matter of it what stronger Motives than these could we think of Or if one should come from the dead to Preach to us if Lazarus were sent on purpose to persuade us what could he offer more towards it Could he give us Assurance of any thing better or more desirable than of God's Readiness to forgive us upon our Repentance and of compleat and perfect Happiness both of Body and Soul to all Eternity if we do Repent Or could he threaten any thing more like to deter us from Sin than intolerable and everlasting Misery If not to what Purpose should he be sent to us Or indeed to what Purpose should there be any new Revelation at all For these things are already promised and threatned clearly enough in the Holy Scripture Life and Immortality are already fully brought to Light by the Gospel And if the Hope of Eternal Life and Happiness and if the Dread of Everlasting and Intolerable Torments will not persuade us nothing certainly will or can persuade us All that I think could in any new Revelaâ—â—on be added to that Encouragement that is already given us in Scripture to Virtue and Godliness or to that Discouragement that is therein given as to Vice and Wickedness would be an Assurance that there should be always as remarkable a Difference made by the Providence of God between good and bad Men in this World as we are told in Scripture there will be by his righteous Judgment in that which is to come And a good Assurance given us of this by some new Revelation confirmed by our own constant Observation that it was always well with the Righteous and ill with the Wicked in this World we may think perhaps would do much more towards the Reformation of Mankind than only those Promises and Threatnings of future Happiness or Misery that we meet with in the Scripture have done or are ever like to do And this indeed might be But then 't is to be considered that a new Revelation to this Effect would be inconsistent with the Nature of Religion and would frustrate the Design of God in sending us into this World which was to prove and try us to see whether we love the Lord with all our Heart whether we can believe him for those things which we do not see and whether we are so wise as to prefer a greater future Good before a less that is present a Blessed and Glorious Immortality after this Life before the Pleasures of Sin which are but for a Season For if the Reward of Virtue and the Punishment of Vice were always visible and present there would be no Room left for Faith in God which is a firm Belief of the Truth of his Promises and Threatnings tho' we do not see a present Performance of them Heb. 11.1 Faith as the Apostle defines it is the Substance or (a) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Hom. in Loc. confident Expectation of things hoped for the Evidence or (b) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Conviction of things not seen And if all the good things both of this Life and of the next were the certain Portion of Virtue and all the evil things that can be suffered both in this World and in the other were the certain and never-failing Consequence of Sin there would be no room left for a virtuous and wise Choice nay indeed there would be hardly Matter for Choice at all for it can't be conceiv'd that a Creature that has Understanding and a Power of chusing and refusing should knowingly chuse all Misery rather than all Happiness Such a Revelation as this being therefore so evidently inconsistent with the Nature of Faith and Religion and with the Design of God in sending us into this World can't be expected And I say that bating this there can be nothing added to the Matter of the Scripture Revelation From whence therefore it plainly follows that such as are not persuaded by the Gospel Motives to Repentance are not capable of being persuaded by any such Motives as consistently with the Nature of Faith and Religion and Vertue could be offered to them And it can't be supposed that any true divine Revelation should ever offer any Motives to persuade us that are not such But it may be said perhaps that tho' better or stronger Motives to Repentance cannot be offered by any new Revelation than are offered already in Holy Scripture yet we might by a new Revelation have better Assurance given us of the Truth of the Gospel Motives and that if we had 't is very like they would be then more prevailing than they now are And this likewise I believe must be granted But then 't is to be considered that the Nature of Faith and Religion and of that State of Trial which we are now in requires that there should be a reasonable Boundary set to the clearness of that Evidence that is given to Men of the Truth of those Motives whereby they are to be persuaded as well as to the Force and Strength of the Motives themselves Because as I noted in my last Discourse such very clear and strong Evidence of the Truth of Religion as leaves no Room for a possibility of Doubting would destroy
our Freedom of Choice and with it the Virtue and Excellency of Believing for 't is not Faith to believe what we see and feel and 't is no Commendation to a Man to be good and Virtuous if his Virtue be not the Fruit of a wise Judgment and a free Choice which it would not be if his Judgment was over born by irrefragable Demonstration And if that farther Proof and Evidence that is desired of the Truth of Religion be no other than such as will leave us a Freedom of Choice and a Possibility of Doubting then I say 't is not likely it should be more convincing to us than that which we have already in the Standing Revelation of Holy Scripture For it may be considered further in the second Place 2. That the Proof and Evidence already given us of the Truth of Religion is such as cannot fairly be excepted against and that there is no Proof thereof that could be given us unless it be such as is not resistible and consequently such as is not fit for God to give us while we are here in a State of Trial but what is liable to foolish Cavils and unreasonable Exceptions so that consequently the same Temper and Disposition of Mind and the same unwillingness to believe which now disposes Men to Infidelity and prompts them to make Exceptions to the present Grounds of the Christian Faith would work the same Effect in case other Proof and Evidence were given of the Truth of it I say first That the Proof and Evidence already given us of the Truth of the Christian Religion is such as cannot fairly be excepted against To shew this has been the Design of several former Discourses Serm. III IV V VI. And therefore to what has been said I shall only adde that if the Exceptions that are made to the Evidence already given us of the Truth of the Christian Religion were fair and reasonable they would be allowed by Mankind to be so in other Cases of the like Nature which yet they are not Nay if they who make these Exceptions in the Case of Religion did themselves think that they were just and reasonable they ought to make the same in all other Cases that are equally liable to the same Exceptions and in all other such Cases they ought to live and act as if they had the same Doubts and Scruples upon them which they say they have in the Case of Religion But we see the quite contrary every Day we live For that same Infidel who will not allow of the Testimony which was given to our Saviour by his Apostles tho' they gave the best Assurance that it was possible for Men to give both of their Knowledge of what they testified and of their Honesty in relating it yet readily allows that in all other Cases the Testimony of two or three Credible Persons should be received without any collateral Evidence of the Truth of their Testimony and thinks it reasonable that all Disputes and Controversies among Men concerning their Civil Rights their Estates nay and their Lives too should be thereby determined And he that questions whether the Books of the New Testament were written by the reputed Authors yet makes no Question but that other Books of as ancient or older Date and of the Authority of which there is not half so much Traditional Evidence were written by those Persons to whom they are ascribed and he would think those very unreasonable Men who when he was arguing any Point of Learning with them upon the Authority of Virgil or Cicero or Seneca should refuse to admit his Argument till he had first undeniably and demonstratively proved that the Aeneids were written by Virgil or that the other Pieces that have been allowed in all Ages ever since to have been written by Cicero or Seneca were not falsly Fathered upon those Authors The Infidel who doubts of the Truth of the Gospel-History at the same time has no Doubt at all of the Truth of other Histories as ancient and much more possible to be false and of the Truth of which there is not the hundredth part of thâ—t Evidence that there is of the Truth of this And he that pretends to be uncertain whether there ever was such a Man as Jesus of Nazareth and whether he said and did the things Recorded of him by the Evangelists and whether by the Preaching of his Apostles he did spread his Spiritual Empire over all the Countries of the World An Empire which is still kept up in most of the Countries over which it was first extended and of which there are evident Marks and Memorials still remaining even in those Countries that have since revolted from it He I say that doubts of these things altho' witnessed by the Writings of those who were Eye-Witnesses thereof yet makes no Doubt but that there was such a Man as Alexander the Great who lived above three Hundred years before and that he translated the Empire of the World from Persia to Greece and he also gives full Credit to the other things which he finds related of him by Curtius Plutarch and Arrian altho' none of these Authors were Eye-Witnesses of his Wars and Greatness but either Copied what they wrote from former Histories or took it up from Report and altho' there are perhaps no Remains of that Empire now left in the World And if he was but as sure of a good Estate as that the History of Alexander's Expedition and Conquests is in the main a true History he would not I believe give the Hundreth Part of its Value to ascertain his Title to it Those therefore are manifestly unreasonable Exceptions to the Proofs of Christianity which no Man will allow which even those that make them in this Case do not think reasonable to make in other Cases of the like Nature so that it is not at all likely that any Person that is not convinced by these Proofs should be convinced if more were given For as I farther noted there is no Proof that could be given us of the Truth of the Christian Religion unless it be such as is not resistible and consequently not fit for God to give us while we are here in a State of Trial but what is liable to foolish Cavils and unreasonable Exceptions This I think is so self-Evident that nothing plainer or more undeniable can be said to prove it For tho' the Demonstration of the Truth of Religion were as plain as Demonstrations in the Mathematicks yet even these may be cavil'd at by such as will allow of no Postulata's nor grant the Truth of the clearest Axioms Nay there have been Scepticks in the plainest Matters of Sense and some have denied Motion at the same time that their own Tongues were moving to deny it Not that I think the Demonstration of the Truth of Religion is as clear as any Propostion in Euclid or as the shining of the Sun at Noon for that can't be and I have
already given Reasons why if it might it should not be so but it is as clear as such a Matter is capable to be And I dare be bold to say that there is no other Proof of Religion fit to be offered or reasonably to be desired to which a Sceptick might not make as just and plausible Exceptions as he can to the Standing Proofs of Christianity For one single Miracle done in his own Presence would be nothing near so convincing as the many Miracles wrought by Christ and his Apostles were of some or other of which there were more than ten thousand Witnesses and if he can suppose that so many were deceived in plain Matters of Sense he may much rather suppose that he a single Man may be imposed upon And an Apparition of a deceased Friend would be a Matter wherein any one Man might be more probably Cheated or be more easiy persuaded that he was Cheated than the Apostles could be in the Resurrection of our Lord when he was seen by them very frequently and sometimes by a great Company of them met together by the space of forty Days And a single Miracle that is over as soon as done could not make such a deep and lasting Impression upon a Man's Mind as that constant Power of working Miracles and especially the Gift of Tongues which lasted a whole Life must needs do upon the Apostles and those that lived in their time who were either Partakers of these Gifts themselves or constant Witnesses thereof in others In short whatever Miracles we can desire may be wrought for our Conviction either they must be seen by us with our own Eyes or else they must be receiv'd by Testimony from others And tho' they should be seen by us with our own Eyes yet so long as 't is against our Inclination or inconsistent with that Love which we bear to the World or to our Sins to believe that they are true Miracles we should easily be apt to fansie that they were only melancholy Delusions or Tricks put upon us by Designing Men which our first Fright or Amazement hindred us from discovering the fraud of and so they would probably have no effect at all upon us longer than till our Fright or Amazement was well worn off But if we should only have an Account of them by Testimony from others they would be yet less likely to persuade us because there can be no Testimony concerning any such Matters of Fact more clear and unexceptionable than that which we have already of the Truth of our Saviour's and his Apostles Miracles so that if we believe not this we should hardlier believe any other Testimony because we can scarcely have so good Assurance of any Man's Truth as we have of the Sincerity and Veracity of all those who are the present Witnesses to our Religion and we can hardly be surer that we hear any Man whom we know speaking to us than we are that we hear the Apostles speaking to us in the Books of the New Testament And therefore I think it plainly follows as I farther noted that the same Temper and Disposition of Mind and the same Unwillingness to believe the Truths of the Gospel which now dispose Men to Infidelity and prompt them to study and make Exceptions to the Proofs already given us of the Christian Faith would work the same Effect if other Proof and Evidence were given of it and that Men would then quickly make as good Exceptions to that as they do now to these For from what has been said I think 't is plain that if Men do not see the Truth when 't is placed in so clear a Light as 't is in already the Reason must be because they wilfully shut their Eyes or else are so blinded by a Love of this World or of their sinful Lusts that if the Light were ten times brighter than it is they would see no more than they do now And it would be to as little Purpose in order to the Conviction of such perverse and obstinate Men to add an more or stronger Proofs of the Truth of Religion as it would be to light up abundance of Torches to a Man that is quite blind For this is indeed the true Cause why Men will not hear Moses and the Prophets why they will not believe Christ and his Apostles testifying the certainty of a future State and other Truths of Religion 't is not I say because there is any just Exception to their Testimony but because they do not like the Matter of it and so are resolved not to believe They love their Sins so well that they can upon no Account be persuaded to part with them and being so resolved it is an easie thing to cavil at any Motives or Arguments that are urged to persuade them to it Seeing they will not see and hearing they will not hear nor understand and to Men so obstinately resolved against Conviction no Proof can be convincing enough And this is the sad effect of Love to Sin it Viciates the Judgments of Men so that they can't distinguish between things that differ most vastly it darkens their Understanding so that the plainest Proposition or the clearest Consequence in the World if it be against the Interest of Sin seems dark and obscure to them and it renders their Minds so averse to Religion that they can't with any Patience so much as hear the Arguments that are offered to prove it And be a Reason never so good 't is not to be hoped it should be convincing to a Man who will not hear it or who will not allow himself calmly to consider it From all that hath been said therefore upon this Head it plainly appears That the proper Cure of Infidelity is not the Addition of more Proof of the Truth of Religion but a right Prepaartion and Disposition of Mind to consider well the Proof thereof that is offered which is sufficient to convince and persuade all those that have a Love of Truth and a Will disposed to Virtue The Causes of Infidelity must be first removed and then the Cure of it will be easie by those Means which God has provided and directed us to use and there will be no need of his Working Miracles for Men's Conviction But 'till the Causes of it are removed 't is hardly to be Cured even by a Miracle But it will be said perhaps that tho' fresh Revelations and new Miracles might not be sufficient to convince all they might however convince some because there are several Degrees in the Perverseness and Obstinacy of Men Some indeed there may be whom no such Proof of Religion as is fit to be given us in this State of Trial would persuade whose Case therefore must be given over as desperate but then there are others Acts 26.28 who as King Agrippa was are almost persuaded to be Christians and when the Scales are already near even a small weight put into the lightest will make it
gratifie Men in this unreasonable Desire working every Day new Miracles before their Eyes or sending their deceased Friends to them from the dead to assure them of a future State and to warn them to prepare for it 't is highly probable that very few or none of those who do not believe and are not brought to Repentance by the Preaching and standing Revelation of the Gospel would be perswaded by this Means If they hear not Moses and the Prophets nor Christ and his Apostles neither will they be perswaded though one rose from the dead I. I shall endeavour to shew that the present standing Revelation of God's Will contained in the Books of the Old and New Testament is abundantly sufficient to perswade Men to Repentance if they are not unreasonably blind and obstinate They have Moses and the Prophets Christ and his Apostles let them hear them And I think that if the standing Revelation which God hath made of his Will in the Holy Scriptures can upon any account be thought insufficient to effect this Design it must be upon one of these two Accounts viz. Either 1. Because no standing Revelation can be sufficient for this Purpose Or 2. Because there are some particular Defects in that standing Revelation which we have in the Holy Scripture which render it not so sufficient for this Purpose as 't is possible a standing Revelation might be 1. It may be pretended that no standing Revelation can be sufficient for this Purpose I am now therefore to enquire with what Reason this can be pretended And in speaking to this Point it does not lie upon me to prove that God could not reveal his Mind afresh to every Man in every Age of the World if he so pleased for there is no question but that the same God who in divers manners spake in times past to our Fathers by the Prophets could if he pleased speak to every one of us their Children in such Manner as he then spake to the Prophets themselves so that we might be all immediately taught of God as they were But every thing that may be done is not expedient to be done And whether this Method would be expedient or not will be hereafter enquired Neither does it now lie upon me to prove that this Way which God hath thought fit to take to instruct the greatest Part of the World viz. by a standing Revelation is the best Way and the most like to be effectual of any that could be used Of this I shall likewise have Occasion to speak somewhat hereafter But what lies upon me at present to make good is only this That a standing Revelation of God's Will may be so well contrived and so well attested as to be sufficient to perswade Men. And if there be any Ground for the contrary Pretence I think it must be either 1. Because all Matters necessary to be known and done by Men at all Times cannot at once be committed to Writing Or 2. Because there cannot be sufficient Evidence given to satisfie a Rational Man that any Writing that is said to be of divine Inspiration and Authority is indeed so 1. It may be said That all Matters necessary to be known and done by Men at all Times cannot be at once committed to Writing Because every Age of the World produces new Opinions which whether they be erroneous or not cannot be judged by a Criterion that was given many Ages before these Opinions were broached And as the World grows older in Years it likewise improves in Wickedness which cannot be restrained and suppressed by an old Law which was made before several Instances of those Wickednesses that are now practised were either known or thought of And if it were not so what need would there be of such a number of Books as are written in every Age to direct Men how to distinguish between Truth and Error and what Opinions to fix upon in that great Variety of Opinions that are offered to them Or what need would there be of so many new Laws as are daily made in every Commonwealth to restrain the growing Extravagances of Mankind and to keep them within due Bounds So that if there be any Necessity at all of divine Revelation to teach Men the Belief of Truth and the Practice of Righteousness it is necessary that there should be a new and fresh Revelation made at least as often as any new Error is broached or any new Piece of Villainy is practised in the World But to this Objection against the Sufficiency of a Standing Revelation I suppose a full Answer will be given in these two particulars 1. That there is no Arguing from the Wisdom and Power of Men to the Wisdom and Power of God It may be granted to be impossible for a Man to write such a Book as shall be sufficient to confute all the Errors that can possibly at any time afterwards spring up Or to compile such a Body of Laws as shall be sufficient to prevent or punish all future Crimes But what is impossible with Men may be possible with God who has a perfect Foresight of all the Errors that will ever be broached and of all the Wickedness that will ever be practised by Men to the End of the World To a Being of infinite Wisdom and Knowledge it may be not only possible but very easie so to contrive a Revelation designed by him for the Direction of future Ages that no Addition shall ever after need to be made to it Nay indeed 2. The Thing it self that is That a standing Revelation should be thus perfect that it should be so contrived at once and at first as to be sufficient to answer all the Ends of a divine Revelation as long as the World shall last is not very hard to be conceived For tho' Error be infinite Truth at least all Truth necessary to be believed is finite and limited And after a divine Revelation is once given no more is necessary to be believed in after Ages than was at first nor will there ever be more things necessary to be believed to the End of the World unless God shall please to add some new Revelation to the former And this Revelation of all necessary Truth once made being given to Men that are endued with Reason nothing more is or ever will be needful for the Discovery and Confutation of all Errors that can possibly spring up in after Ages but only a right Understanding of the Truths already delivered and a right Use of Reason in making Inferences and drawing Consequences therefrom And this is all that is pretended to by the Books of Controversie that are written in every Age The Design of them is not to declare new Truths or to establish new Articles of Faith but only to shew that those Opinions which they represent as false and erroneous are either in themselves or in their true Consequences contrary to some Maxims that are already receiv'd as true And it is no
he thought he himself had written enough in his Gospel to persuade Men to believe in Christ and to direct them in the Way to eternal Life There being therefore in those Books of the New Testament which we now have several Abridgments of the whole Christian Doctrine it cannot with any Reason be pretended that all these Books together are not sufficient fully to instruct us therein Besides The Gospel of Christ that was preached suppose by St. Thomas in India or by St. Simon in Africa or by any other of the Apostles in Countries remote from Judea or without the Bounds of the Roman Empire was undoubtedly the very same Gospel that was preached by St. Peter and St. Paul or those other of the Apostles whose Books are now extant and received by the Catholick Church for they were all taught by the same Master Christ and were all enlightned by the same Holy Ghost so that if any of them did as 't is reported they did write any Gospels for the present Use of those particular Churches which they had planted tho' they might be somewhat different from any of the four Gospels which we now have in the Expression or perhaps in the Relation of some particular Passages of our Saviour's Life which our Evangelists have omitted just as the four Gospels which we now have do differ from one another yet for Substance they must needs have been the same with these and with one another if indeed they were all true Relations of the Matters of which the Authors thereof had been Witnesses so that if we had them all now they could all together teach us no other Doctrines than are taught in the Books of the New Testament Nevertheless I do not deny but that if we had more Books of this Kind than we have that if we had all the Books that were written by the Apostles or their immediate Successors who had been taught by them they might be of very good Use to us to help us to understand more readily and easily those Books which we have as now we receive from some Portions of Holy Scripture great Light to help us to understand and to put a right Interpretation upon others But perhaps it was for this very Reason that the Providence of God did order no more to be written than were written or has suffered those to be lost that are supposed to be lost that it might cost us some Pains and Study to understand our Religion that so our Knowledge as well as our Practice being in some Measure the Fruit of our own Industry might be a proper Subject of Reward In short That there were more Books in the first Age of Christianity written by Apostles or other inspired Men than are now extant or than if extant can be well proved to be of their Writing is a Point which I believe cannot be now upon any certain Evidence either affirmed or denied But if it be granted I say however there is no Reason to inferr from thence that those which we now have are not sufficient For if there be a God and a Providence and if there be any Truth in the Scripture Declarations of the Love of God to Mankind and that he would have all Men to be saved and to come to the Knowledge of the Truth most certainly the necessary Means of Mens Salvation is a proper Subject of the divine Care And if so it can't be thought but that the same good Providence which as is now supposed took Care for the writing of more Books when more might be necessary has likewise taken Care for the Preservation of so many of these Books as are now sufficient Or if the Men we are now arguing with will not grant that there is such a particular Providence of God yet if they will but allow that God is just that he is not a hard Master expecting to reap where he has not sown I think they must allow that all things necessary to our Salvation not knowable by Reason are taught in the Books of Holy Scripture which we now have because there are no other Books extant which we have reason to receive and accept as divine Revelation Or if they deny this it will lie upon them to produce those other Books which we ought to receive besides these and to give good Evidence to the World of their divine Authority Which when they have done or if they shall but only shew that there is as good Reason to receive them as these We must own our selves to blame if we shall not then take them also into the Canon of Scripture But till that shall be done what hath been already said is enough to shew that the Holy Scripture is a compleat Rule both of Faith and Manners Especially considering as was noted before that when-ever the Insufficiency of Scripture in this Respect is urged by those who do not believe the Scripture which are the Persons I have now to deal with it can be only for Cavilling sake the true Reason of their Backwardness to receive it as a divine Revelation being not because it teaches not enough but because it teaches more than they are willing to believe and commands more than they are disposed to practise For I cannot imagine that these Men do truly desire more Duty than is laid upon them in the Books of Scripture now received by the Christian Church But what they may most reasonably be thought to desire is either some better Encouragement to undertake that difficult Task which the Scripture lays upon them or some better Evidence that the Scripture is a divine Revelation I proceed now therefore to the second thing propounded which was 2. To shew that the Motives which the Scripture proposes are sufficient to persuade Men to do what it requires Now Hopes and Fears are the great Springs of Action and the greater the Good is we hope for or the Evil we fear the stronglier do they move and incline us to Action And therefore how difficult soever the Undertaking be so it be but possible if the Motives are proportioned to the Difficulty they must be granted to be sufficient Inducements to undertake it But that the Task or Business required of us is possible to be done needs not to be proved now because it must be granted by those who say they believe they should be persuaded to do what is required if they had better Encouragement for no Arguments or Motives whatsoever can reasonably persuade a Man to undertake a thing that he believes impossible Supposing it therefore possible I say that whatsoever Difficulty there really is or we may apprehend there is in a Christian Life if any Motives that could possibly be proposed to us can be thought sufficient to induce us to undertake it most evidently those Motives which the Gospel proposes are so because better or greater cannot be so much as conceived or imagined seeing both the good things which it promises to persuade us to Virtue and
openly profess the Christian Religion there is in a great many a Spice and Tincture of Atheism and Infidelity and tho' they do not actually disbelieve the Gospel truths yet they believe them so coldly and faintly that their Faith may rather be called an Inclination to believe than a full Persuasion I say even in this incredulous and unbelieving Age I am nevertheless verily persuaded that for one Man that is ruin'd by Infidelity many hundreds are ruined by Thoughtlesness and Inconsideration that where there is one that is wicked because he believes nothing of the Gospel-motives nor that there is any such Place or State as Heaven or Hell there are a great many that do believe these things and yet continue in their wicked Course because they never take any time seriously to consider what Heaven and Hell are and that vast that infinite difference that there is between these two States and how much it behoves them to use all Diligence to attain that and to avoid this Leaving therefore those who believe little or nothing of these things to my following Discourses wherein I hope to prove the Truth of the Gospel Revelation beyond all reasonable Exception I shall now address my self to you that do believe these things and who every time you meet together in the Church do repeat all the Articles of the Christian Faith and declare your Assent thereto And what I would desire of you is that you would frequently think of those things which you profess to believe that you would meditate much and often thereupon that you would seriously consider the Meaning thereof Particularly That Summary of the Gospel Motives to Faith and Repentance before spoken of that great and last Article of the Christian Creed The Life everlasting Consider what it means and do not content your selves only with saying every Day that you do believe an everlasting Life after this but meditate likewise every Day or very frequently at least what an everlasting Life is and of what Sort and Kind that everlasting Life will be Now Life is a state of Sensation By this a Living Body is distinguished from a dead Carkass that the living Body feels what is done unto it and is affected thereby either with Pain or Pleasure whereas a dead Carkass is not capable of either hath no Sense or Feeling of any thing When therefore in repeating the Creed we declare that we believe we shall live again after our death the meaning is that we shall be hereafter in such a State of Sensation as we are in now that in that Life we shall be as sensible of Pain or Pleasure as we are in this Life But then what makes the great Difference between this Life and that is that this is short transient and momentary that if it be pleasant it is soon over and that if it be painfull it will not last long whereas that such as it is once such it will ever be for that 's the Meaning of a Life everlasting 't is a Life that will never be ended A Life that will continue to all Eternity And now that we come to speak of Eternity tho' the Word has a fix'd Meaning yet how are our Thoughts lost and bewildered when we set our selves to meditate thereupon When we speak of a thousand or ten thousand or even of a Million of Years we have some Notion of what we say but when we come to multiply these thousands and Millions by ten thousands or ten Millions or by Millions of Millions our Thoughts are not capacious enough to conceive and our Mouths want Words to express that infinite Length of Time which these Numbers do comprehend And yet all that these Numbers denote is nothing in Comparison with Eternity If the whole Sea were to run out Drop by Drop what a prodigious Length of Time would this take up and yet in time this would be done and they that live for ever would live to see the vast Caverns of the Ocean without one Drop of Water left in them And which is more yet there would be no Part of their Eternity then spent they would then be as far from dying as they were at first Or if only once in ten thousand Years one of the smallest Sands or Dusts were to be taken from the Earth they that live for ever would live to see all this vast Bulk of the Earth by these slow and imperceptible Degrees wholly removed not so much as a Grain or Atone of it left Nay and even in this prodigious this unconceivable Length of Time their Life would not be in the least diminished they would have the same boundless Eternity still before them that they had when the first Sand was taken away But what do I speak of these little Numbers these Moments of Time as they may truly be called in Comparison with Eternity For even all those Years in which the whole Earth might be removed if only one single smallest Dust thereof were to be taken away once in ten thousand Years I say all these Years may be expressed in Figures in a Line of a few Inches long But if the whole Expanse of Heaven were written quite over with Figures from the Top to the Bottom and from one Side to the other even all these Figures tho' set so close that there was not Room left for one more would not denote or express Eternity And when all these numberless Millions of Years were spent He that lives for ever would be as it were but just then beginning to live and his Sight and Prospect of the Time before him would be still as boundless as ever Thus you see what is eternal Life Or rather you see what it is not It is a Length of Time that cannot be expressed in Words or signified by Figures or conceived in Thought It is a Length of Time to which all that we can have any positive Notion of bears no Proportion And when we believe that we shall live such a Life after this short Life is over does it not highly behove us to think of it now and to make the best Provision that is possible that we may be happy in it And this leads me to the other Branch of Meditation on this Subject which we ought likewise frequently and seriously to dwell upon in our Minds namely of what Sort and Kind this eternal Life will be And as 't is Life 't is as was said before a State of Sensation and as it is an everlasting Life 't is a State in which we shall for ever feel our selves either in Pain or at Ease And if there were no more in it than this tho' the Pain we shall then endure were the least of those Pains wherewith we are now afflicted a little Pain or Aking of one Joint or Member only Or tho' the Pleasure we shall then enjoy were one of the least of those Pleasures wherewith we are now delighted yet when we have added Eternity to these what an
infinite Difference is there between these two States And how well must we needs think it worth all the Pains and Labour that we can take in this World to secure to our selves a Portion in that better Sort of everlasting Life in that Life in which there is no Pain tho' there be but little Pleasure But still our Thoughts are short we have not yet a just Notion of the Difference between these two States For if we believe the Scripture and I speak now to those that do believe it that everlasting Pain which the wicked will be condemned to is not a light or gentle Pain but the sharpest the acutest the most tormenting that can be endured and that eternal Joy which we have a good Hope of by the Gospel is â—ikewise the greatest the fullest the compleatest that we are capable of for in representing the former to us the Scripture all along expresses the Torments of Hell by such Pains as are here most afflicting to us â—s the Biting and Gnawing of a Worm the being â—eaten with Stripes the noysomness of Brimstone and â—he Burning of Fire And on the other side when it would represent to us the Happiness of the Blessed â—t does it by resembling the heavenly Joys to such Pleasures as do here upon Earth most sensibly delight â—s such as are the Pleasures of a spacious rich and â—ommodious Dwelling of the choicest Delicacies to â—lease the Tast of the rarest Melody to delight the Ear of a Crown and a Kingdom and an exceeding Weight of Glory and of whatever else can gratifie or â—lease any of our Senses Now tho' these Representations or Descriptions of Hell and Heaven are not perhaps to be understood liâ—erally the Scripture herein speaking not according â—o the Strictness of Truth but according to our preâ—ent Capacities and Apprehensions who have now very â—ittle Notion of any Pain or Pleasure but what affects â—he Senses of our Body yet thus much may most certainly be concluded from those Descriptions of these two States which we meet with in Scripture that both the Torments of Hell and the Joys of Heaven are as great as they can possibly be far beyond any thing that we now feel or enjoy or can have any Notion of And in a Word that as the Pain of Hell is endless so it is likewise intolerable and that as the Joy of Heaven is perpetual so it is likewise unspeakable and full of Glory And now after this short tho' very imperfect Representation of these two vastly different States of Men in that other and everlasting Life that will begin when this is over I think I may fairly ask again What God could have done more either to deterr us from Sin than to threaten Hell torments to those that live in it or to encourage us to Obedience than to promise to those that continue in well doing the unspeakable Happiness of Heaven Certainly if these Motives will not prevail upon us no other can be proposed that would prevail Nay further Tho' I have hitherto spoken to you as to Christians which believe the Scripture and that there will certainly be another Life after this even such a Life as I have been speaking of an everlasting Life of perfect Happiness or extreme Misery yet if you have at all attended to and are any whit affected by that Representation that I have made to you of the Pains of Hell and of the Joys of Heaven and of the Eternity of both I should now dare to address my self to you even tho' I thought you believed very little of these things and methinks I should not doubt but that I might prevail with you and persuade you to Repentance by these Gospel Motives of Heaven and Hell even altho' the Revelation thereof were not certain and undoubted altho' there were some just Reason to question the Truth of them For put the Case that it is very uncertain whether there will be an eternal Life or no Nay put the Case that it is ten to one that it is much more probable that there will not be any such Life after this Yet when we consider what Eternity is and what a vast Difference there is between living in perfect Joy and in everlasting Burning and when we consider withall the Shortness of this present Life and how little we can lose in it by abstaining from Sin and how little we can suffer in it by the strictest Holiness and Virtue even the bare Possibility that there will be an eternal Life tho' we had no certain Revelation and no other very good Assurance given us of it would be abundantly sufficient to deterr us from Sin and to stir us up to well-doing For if we live well here and there be really an eternal Life it will be happy for us that we have made this Preparation for it but if there should indeed be no other Life after this we shall be then no Losers by what we have done we shall be then in as good a Condition as others will be in who did not believe it nor live in Expectation of it And all that Trouble which the Exercise of Piety and Virtue now costs us is not worth speaking of it is no more than we ought in Reason and Prudence to be at altho' at the same time we believed it to be very uncertain whether there would be any such eternal Life or no. For this is what we call and account Wisdom in all other Cases viz. to provide not only against Certainties or high Probabilities but when it may easily and conveniently be done even against Possibilities too We reckon him an unwise Man for the World who being in a good Way of getting spends all as fast as it comes in when he has no present Need to spend so much and lays up nothing against old Age when if he lives to it he will be past his Labour and not in a Capacity to get enough to support himself And yet of all those that do wisely make some Provision for old Age not one in ten perhaps lives to it But nevertheless the bare Possibility that a Man may live to old Age and the very great Inconveniences that he will suffer if he shall have nothing then to live upon make it very adviseable for every one of the ten to lay up somewhat if he can do it against that time And he of the ten whose only Lot it will be to live to be old is not a wiser Man for making such Provision than the other nine are who yet in the Event will be never the better for their Labour Put case therefore that there is the same or even a much greater Vncertainty whether there will be an eternal Life after this yet when we consider what an eternal Life is when we consider that if there be a Heaven and we can procure our Portion to be there we shall be happy infinitely and unspeakably happy to eternal Ages And that if there be a Hell
Matters of Fact which they have recorded And 3. That if the Matters of Fact related in the New Testament are true they are sufficient Proofs of the Truth and Divine Authority of all the Doctrines that are therein taught And I hope enough was said the last time to shew that we have sufficient Reason to believe that the Books of the New Testament were written by those Persons who are said to be the Authors thereof What I am next to do is 2. To shew that there is sufficient Reason to give full Credit to these Authors in their Relations of those Matters of Fact which they have recorded And I hope none of you that hear me whom I presume to be all Christians will take Offence at it if now while I am arguing this Point I sometimes speak of the Holy Evangelists with the same Freedom that might be used in speaking concerning any other Authors and if I sometimes Plead for no more Credit to be given to them in their Relations than is fit and reasonable to be given to any other Historian that was naturally as well furnished and qualified to write a true History as they were and whose Fidelity and Veracity is as well attested and confirmed other Ways as theirs was For you will consider I hope that my Business is now with Infidels with whom we can argue only upon the Principles of common Reason And tho' we who are Christians already do believe as one of the first Principles of our Religion that these Sacred Writers were divinely and supernaturally assisted in their Work and that upon that Account they deserve much greater Credit in what they have written than other Historians do yet this is what those who are yet Infidels will not allow And in Disputation nothing is to be presumed on one side but what will be readily allowed by the other Party So that the divine Inspiration of the Evangelical Writers and the supernatural Assistance which we believe they had in their Writing cannot as yet be regularly insisted upon as an Argument to gain them Credit But it is what will easily be granted afterwards when the Truth of their History shall be well established upon other Grounds as I hope it will be in the following Discourse and 't is what may then serve to procure a religious Respect and Reverence to these Sacred Writings 1 Thess 2.13 and to ingage us to receive them not as the Word of Men but as they are in Truth as the Word of God But this one thing nevertheless I suppose I may presume viz. that if the Books of the New Testament the Historical Parts of it in particular were written by those Authors to whom they are ascribed which has been already proved the Matters of Fact recorded by the Evangelists in Writing are the same which they and the other Apostles testified by Word of Mouth in their Preaching For it cannot I think with any Reason be suspected that their Preaching and Writings were disagreeable to each other because such Disagreement would most certainly have utterly destroyed the Credit of them both And this being supposed I hope it will clearly appear that there is abundantly sufficient Reason to give full Credit to these Writings if these following things be considered 1. If we consider the Nature Conditions and Circumstances of the Matters that are recorded in the Historical Books of the New Testament and of the History its self 2. If we consider the good Capacity that the Authors thereof were in to know the Truth of the things they have related 3. If we consider the strong Obligations they were under to write nothing but the Truth according to the best of their Knowledge or Information 4. If we consider the good Evidences that we have of their Honesty and Faithfulness And 5. Lastly If we consider the Confirmation that was given to the Truth of their History by God himself 1. I say the Evangelical History will appear to be highly credible if without any Regard as yet had to the Ability and Integrity of its Authors we only consider the Nature Conditions and Circumstances of the Matters therein recorded and of the History its self Concerning which there are two things especially that may be observed 1. That the Matters recorded by the Evangelical Writers are such as might be certainly known And 2. That they are such and in such manner related by the Evangelists that if their History of them had been false it could never have gained Credit in the World 1. First I say the Matters recorded by the Evangelical Writers are such as might be certainly known I mean either by the Historians themselves or by those from whom they had their Information For 1. They are for the most part plain Matters of Sense which those who were present at them could have no doubt of without Distrusting their own Faculties of Hearing or Seeing and which those who testified them might be as certain of the Truth of as we can be of any thing that we hear with our own Ears or see with our own Eyes For thus whether our Saviour gave out himself to be the Messias foretold by the Prophets whether he said that he was the Son of God and whether he uttered those other Speeches which the Evangelists have recorded as spoken by him could not but be certainly known by the People who often heard him and especially by his Apostles who constantly attended him And so likewise whether he did those many wonderful Works which the Evangelists have recorded of him could not but be known by those that were present with him They might be certain either that he did them or that he did not do them Thus for instance it might be certainly known to those that first affirmed that he gave Sight to the Blind whether those Persons had been once blind and whether afterwards they â—aw and to those that witnessed that he gave Strength â—o the Cripples whether the Men whom they said he wrought this Cure upon had been Lame or disabled â—n their Feet Hands or Body before and whether â—fterwards they walked and had Strength like other Men and to those that testified that he raised the Dead whether the Persons said to have been raised by â—im had been truly dead and whether afterwards â—hey lived But above all his own Resurrection which the preâ—ent Season as well as the Wonderfulness and Imporâ—ance of the thing obliges us to have a special â—egard to was a thing that might be most certainly â—nown to those that pretended to be Witnesses of it This Sermon was Preached on the Monday in Easter Week â—hey might be certain whether he had been once dead â—nd whether he shewed himself alive after his Passion â—y many infallible Proofs and was seen of them forty Days Of this they might be rather more certain than â—f any other of his Miracles because it was a thing â—ot to be judged of by one sense only as some of the â—est were
but by almost all their Senses for by their Sight they might be assured that it was he himself whom for more than three Years before they had been well acquainted with whom they then saw with their Eyes and by their Hearing that it was his own Voice and not a Stranger 's that Voice which they had often heard and which they well knew that then spake to them and by their Touch that it was a real Body which they saw and heard and not an airy Apparition not a meer Voice and also that it was that very same Body which they had seen before hanging upon and which they had taken down dead from the Cross when they were permitted as they say they were to handle and feel him Luke 24.39 Joh. 20.27 to put their Fingers into the Print of the Nails and to thrust their Hands into the Gash that had been made in his Side by the Spear that pierced his Heart And of the other Matters recorded by the Evangelists but not as Matters of their own Knowledge those from whom they had their Information might have the same Certainty which they had of these things For his Mother could not but know whether she had conceived him without Knowledge of a Man and whether his Birth had been foretold her by an Angel And she and her Relations and the whole Neighbourhood might have a certain Knowledge of the Time Place and all other Circumstances of his Birth as they arâ— related in the Gospels They that testified such plain Matters of Sense as most of those are which are recorded in the Evangelical History could not but know either that the things which they testified were true or that they themselves were egregious Liars when they testified them to have been so 2. As the Matters recorded in the Evangelical History are chiefly Matters of sense of which as such the greatest Certainty and Assurance may be had and in which any single Witness thereof may be veâ—y confident that he is not mistaken so it may be â—lso observ'd that most of them are related as Matâ—ers done in the Sight Hearing or Presence of a â—reat many which Circumstance adds very much to â—hat Certainty which any single Witness of such Matâ—ers may receive by his own Senses only For tho' it be a common Saying that Seeing is Beâ—ieving and we ordinarily desire no greater Assuâ—ance of the Truth of any Matter of Sense than our â—wn Sense and Perception of it it is nevertheless â—o unusual thing for a Man when he is relating â—omewhat that happen'd that was very extraordinary â—nd surprizing to say that tho' he saw it himself â—e could hardly believe his own Eyes And this â—ight well enough have been the Case of any one â—f the Witnesses of any of our Lord's Miracles and â—specially of his Resurrection the most wonderful of â—â—l his Miracles and which gave Confirmation to all â—he rest for tho' they were plain Matters of â—ense yet they were withal so very strange and astoâ—ishing that if any Man had seen them alone he â—ight probably have had some Distrust even of his â—â—n Senses or he might afterwards have been ready â—o doubt whether he had been well awake or in a â—ream But a Man cannot so reasonably suspect â—hat his own Senses do deceive him when he perâ—eives that the thing appears to all others that are â—resent just as it does to him nor can he afterâ—ards so easily fancy that he was in a Dream when he finds that all the rest that were there have the same Notion and Remembrance of the thing that he himself has So that by this Additional Evidence I mean by the Agreement that a Man finds there is between his own senses and other Mens he becomes more certain and confident of the Truth of the things he sees than he would have been by his own Eye-sight only 2. Secondly The other thing which I said might be noted concerning the Matters Recorded in the Evangelical History is That they are such and iâ— such manner related by the Evangelists that if theiâ— History of them had been false it could never have gained Credit in the World And this may in part appear from what has beeâ— said already For as there is nothing that can be moâ—â— certainly known and attested than a plain Matter oâ— Sense at which several are present so there is nothinâ— more liable to be contradicted and easie to be disproved than such a Matter is in case it was not 〈◊〉 done as 't is reported to have been But there are several other things that are heâ— proper to be considered for 1. It may be considered that the Gospel Histoâ—â— comprehends a very great number of Relations oâ— such Matters of Fact and Sense Considering therefore how very easie it was to disprove every one oâ— them if it had been false 't is most evidently morally impossible that a History stuffed with nothinâ— else but Lyes and Forgeries of this sort as they muâ— suppose the Evangelical History to be who will noâ— allow it to be a true History should ever have obtained any Credit And most of the things recordeâ— by the Evangelists being related by them as Matters â—f their own Knowledge if the Falsity of only one â—ngle Relation had been made appear the Credit of â—he whole History would have been thereby deâ—â—royed 2. It may be also considered that all these things â—re related in the Gospel History as done in that same â—ountry in which the History thereof was first pubâ—â—shed and that a Country but of small Extent not â—bove two hundred Miles in length at the most and â—ot half so much in breadth and yet not all in the â—â—me part of it but some in one place some in anoâ—â—er and those usually the most considerable Towns 〈◊〉 Cities of Judea and Galilee And by this their â—istory of these things if it had been false was still â—ore easie and liable to be disproved there being â—ery few of those to whom these Matters were first â—lated that needed to have gone many Miles from â—ome to have enquired into the Truth of some or â—her of them And if any Man had found the Apoâ—â—â—es false in their Report of any Matter that was â—d to have been done in his own Neighbourhood 〈◊〉 would hardly have gone farther for more satisfaâ—â—ion he would readily have concluded without â—â—rther Examination that being found False Witnesâ— in one thing they were not fit to be believed in â—â—y thing 3. It may be moreover considered that the Goâ—â—el History was written and published in a few years â—er the things therein Recorded are said to be done 〈◊〉 is not certain indeed in what Year precisely the â—â—spels were written But if they are but allowed 〈◊〉 be the genuine Writings of the reputed Authors which I hope has been already sufficiently prov'd 't is certain they were all even the latest of them that of St. John written before the Memory of the Things therein
recorded could be worn out nay if we further suppose as I think we may do very reasonably that the Things recorded by the Evangelists are the same which they and the other Apostles and Disciples of our Lord testified by word of Mouth in their Preaching we may truly enough say that the History of the Gospel was begun to be published on that same Day on which the Apostles began to preach viz. on the Day of Pentecost ten Days after our Lords Ascension and that it was fully published in a very short time after So that most of the things recorded in the Gospels are things that had been done or haâ— happened in the compass of less than four Years before the History thereof was first published for it was noâ— so long from our Lord's Baptism to his Ascension and the earliest things of all that are therein recordeâ— which are but few and make but a small part of the History viz. the Birth of St. John Baptist and oâ— our Lord and the things that happened about thâ—â— Time were things done not above thirty five Yearâ— before at the most And the History of the Acts of the Apostles whicâ— because it ends with St. Paul's Imprisonment at Rome we may reasonably think was published about thaâ— Time comprehends a History of some very remarkable things the very first and earliest whereof had noâ— been done thirty Years before And this Consideration affords another very probable Argument of the Truth of the Evangelical History because by this it still further appears how very easie it would have been to have disproved it if it had been false for it being an History of things done so very lately it must needs be that several of those into whose Hands it first came must have certain Knowledge whether some of the things therein related had been so or not And they who had not this Knowledge might easily have had certain Information from others I mean besides the Apostles and Disciples of our Lord whether the Relations therein contained were true or falfe Especially if it be considered further in the 4th Place 4. That the Facts related in the Evangelical History are commonly related with all the Circumstances that were needful or proper to be noted in order to the rendring an Enquiry into the truth of them exceeding easie to such as had any distrust thereof For in the Account which the Evangelists give us of our Saviour's Speeches they commonly tell us not only his Words but likewise when where to whom â—nd upon what Occasion they were spoken and in the Account that they give of his Miracles they usually note the Places where they were done and very often â—he Names or Characters at least of the Persons they were wrought upon and sometimes they mention â—lso who were by and Witnesses thereof and what Discourse concerning him was thereby occasioned And in relating the things that were done or happened before our Saviour's Baptism about the Time of his Birth they carefully note the Time the Place and other Circumstances whereby their Readers were as it were challenged to make Enquiry and desired not to â—ake things only upon their Credit and were also directed readily whither to go and to whom to apply themselves to obtain the fullest satisfaction whether the things they reported were so or not The same may be observed in the Acts of the Apostles And if all the Circumstances of every particular Story which they relate are not always so punctually set down the Omission thereof sometimes is not of much Consideration because it was so very easie by enquiring into the Truth of those many other Stories which are related with all Circumstances for any Person to be satisfied whether their History in general deserv'd Credit or not And whoever had found any one Story falsly reported by them would hardly have troubled himself at least not for his own satisfaction to have examined further into the Truth of the rest 5. It may be further consider'd that most of the things recorded by the Evangelists are related by them as things that were done very publickly as things that were well known to a great many For very few in Comparison of those Discourses of our Lord that are recorded by the Evangelists were address'd in private to his Apostles only but most of them were spoken in publick his set Sermons commonly to great multitudes gathered together on a Mountain on the Sea-shore or in a Synagogue and the rest more commonly in Places of Resort in populous Towns or Cities in Jerusalem or the Temple when many were by to hear what he said And his Miracles were done for the most part in the best Inhabited Cities of Judea and Galilee or if in other Places yet in the open Day-light and commonly when there was a great croud of People about him Or if at any time the Miracle its self was done privately in an House or a Chamber the Effect of the Miracle was usually very visible and such as could not but be taken notice of by a great many And even of those few things which were spoken or done by him most privately there was no want of Witnesses there being except very rarely no fewer than twelve in constant Attendance upon him and several others besides that Companied with them all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among them Acts 1.21 And this Circumstance of the Facts recorded by the Evangelists as it made them capable of better and more certain Attestation being true so it contributed no less towards the rendring it easie to disprove that Relation which they had given of them if it had been false For when a Man witnesses a thing of his own private Knowledge there may be no way to invalidate his Testimony but either by shewing that the thing which he testifies was not possible or by offering some just Exception to the Credit of the Witness But when neither of these can be done and they cannot always be done altho' the thing testified be false yet in case the Matter was done publickly it is the easiest thing in the World to convict a false Witness by the contrary Testimony of several others that were present and as capable of knowing the Truth of the thing as himself or by the Clashing of the Witnesses among themselves Nothing therefore could have been more easie than to have disproved the Evangelical History in almost every particular of it if it had not been true For most of our Saviour's Speeches and Miracles are related as spoken and done in the Presence not of his Disciples only but of a great many others that happened to be by by Chance or that followed him not for any Liking that they had to his Person or Doctrine but only out of Curiosity or for the Sake of the Loaves and very often they were done before such as came on purpose to watch what he said and did with a Design to lay hold on any
the false Evidence they had given concerning it if it had been false might easily have been shewn other ways for what they testified was that that same Jesus whom the Jews had Crucified and whom they had seen laid into the Sepulchre was risen again and had been seen alive three Days after his Passion by several of his Disciples Had this therefore been false how very easie would it have been for the Jews to have disproved their Evidence of it by only going to the Sepulchre and taking out thence his dead Body and exposing it for some time to publick view And thither doubtless they did go and with this Design but the Body they could not find and yet they had taken all the Caution that was possible to prevent its being conveyed away Mat. 27.62 having obtain'd from Pilate a Guard of Soldiers on purpose to keep watch over it for three Days This therefore is a strong Confirmation of the Truth of the Apostle's Testimony concerning our Lord's Resurrection that it being such as might with the greatest Ease in the World have been disproved if it had been false the Jews had nothing to say against it nothing to oppose to it but only that very ill contrived that self-contradicting Evidence of the Watchmen Mat. 29.13 who said that while they were asleep that is when all their senses were bound up and when they were not in a Capacity of knowing any thing that was done the Disciples came and stole the Body away But if they saw the Body remov'd in which Case only they could be good Witnesses of it they were not as they said they were asleep when the thing was done Or if indeed they were asleep when it was removed they could not be positive how it was removed they could not say he was not risen from the Dead 6. Another thing that may be consider'd in order to shew how very improbable or rather how impossible it was that the Gospel History should ever have gained Credit in the World if it had been false is this that as it was a History of such Matters and was so contrived that it might with the greatest Ease have been disproved so the Matters therein related were in themselves and especially in their Consequences such as must needs have engaged a great many to make the strictest Examination that was possible into the Truth of them and if they had discovered any thing of Falshood therein to make known their Discovery to the World For the whole Doctrine of Christianity was grounded upon the Truth of the Evangelical History This disprov'd would have destroy'd that and this being admitted there was no way to put a stop to the spreading of that And the certain Consequence of receiving the Christian Religion in the World was the Abolishing of all the other Forms of Religion that were then any where receiv'd or establish'd even of that which had been introduc'd by Moses amongst the Jews by the Appointment of God himself as well as of the several sorts of Paganism and Idolatry that were receiv'd in other Countries Now when any Religion be it true or false is the establish'd Religion of a Country there must needs be a great many ingaged by the strongest Worldly Interest to support and maintain it For it was not only at Ephesus that a great number of Craftsmen got their Wealth by making Silver Shrines for Diana Acts 19.24 c. but in every other Country the Living of a considerable Number depended upon the Religion that was therein receiv'd which being destroy'd and their Trade or Profession thereby at an End they must of necessity be hard put to it to get Bread by taking up some new Employment And besides there is nothing that all Men of what Trade or Profession soever they are are generally so zealous and concern'd about nothing that they are so afraid of any Change or Innovation in as Religion This be it well or weakly grounded yet if it be that Form of Religion that they have receiv'd from their Fathers and been bred up in from their Childhood they will not easily let go So that I said too little when I said before that a great many must needs have been engaged to set themselves to discover the Falsity of the Evangelical History for this was in truth the common Concern of all Mankind except only of those few Persons who had been Instructed by our Saviour and believed him to be the Christ All others whether Jews or Gentiles Rich or Poor Learned or â—gnorant Priests or People were engaged either by Interest or Prejudice or Conscience or upon some other Account to convict the Apostles of Falshood in their Relation of the Matters contain'd in the Evangelical History and if any Falshood had been therâ—in it is impossible considering how obvious it must needs lie to Discovery and how many were at Work to find it out that they could have failed of their Aim And if any one had made the Discovery it can't be imagin'd he would have been long before he had imparted to others a Piece of News so very welcome as that would have been to the Generality of Mankind or that such a Discovery of the Falsity of the Gospel History in any one particular once made and publish'd should ever after have been stifled or suppress'd because the same Reasons that put them at first upon making the Discovery were of the same Force afterwards to engage them to preserve the Memory of any Discovery of that kind that had been made And therefore I add in the last Place And 't is that which gives Weight and Strength to all that has been said before upon this Subject and fully compleats that Argument which I am now upon for the Proof of the Truth of the Gospel History 7. That notwithstanding the Easiness of the Disproof of this History if it had been false and the incessant Endeavours of the Adversaries of Christianity to find out some Falshood therein to do which â—hey were not only prompted by their own Interest â—nd Inclination but also frequently and boldly chalâ—enged by the Christians themselves as may be seen in â—he ancient Apologies for the Christian Faith it is nevertheless a History of very good Credit now cavilled â—t perhaps but not denied not pretended to be disproved either by Jews or Mahometans or any other â—ort of Infidels and that it has been of the like good Credit for many Hundred Years past even ever since â—he first Publication of it and that 't is not so much â—s contradicted in any Point by any other Historian â—hat living in or near the Time of its Writing was in a Capacity to contradict it upon good Grounds viz. upon either certain Knowledge of his own or very credible Information from others that any Matter therein had been falsly related True perhaps the Infidels will say There is indeed no History of competent Antiquity now extant by which the Gospel History can be
of the Apostles or else in after Times And if they were destroyed by the Christians this must have been done either soon after they were written or else after they had been for some time receiv'd and allow'd as true Histories by the Adversaries of the Christian Faith Now if it be suppos'd that these Books were not written till a good while after the Apostles had preach'd and the Evangelists written the Gospel they were written too late to be of sufficient Authority to weaken the Credit of the Gospel-History For how could those that were not born when the things recorded in the Gospel were said to be done pretend to contradict the Testimony of those who were living at that time and who testified either that they saw them with their own Eyes or that they receiv'd that Account of them which they publish'd from very credible Persons who said they had been Eye witnesses thereof But if it be supposed that these Books were written sooner even as soon almost as the Evangelists wrote or the Apostles began to publish by their Preaching the Gospel History then I say 't is impossible they should be suppress'd and destroy'd by the Christians either then or afterwards Not then for tho' we grant that Christianity from the very first Preaching of it made a very swift Progress in the World and from a Beginning no bigger than a Grain of Mustard-seed grew up quickly to be a goodly Tree shadowing many Nations under the Branches of it yet it did not spring up like a Mushroom in a Night it did not grow to this Bigness all at once And what were the Christians in the weak and infant state of the Church but an Handful of Men in Comparison with their numberless Opposers and those too without Wealth without Power of no Interest or Esteem in the World that they should undertake to corrupt or stifle the Evidence that was given against them which was supported by the Secular Power and gladly receiv'd and embrac'd by all other Men but themselves What were they that they should be able to call in all the Books that had been written against them and to suppress and destroy them at their pleasure and that too so fully and effectually as that with the Books themselves which they destroy'd all Memory of them should likewise perish A powerful and prevailing Party with the Government on its side may indeed do much in this kind and yet hardly so much as this But they that believe the Christians to have been such a powerful and prevailing Party early enough to hinder the spreading and dispersing of any Books that were written against them believe without any Ground or Warrant from History a more unaccountable and incredible thing than any that is recorded in the Gospel But if this could not be done then it might perhaps be done afterwards For in progress of Time 't is certain it may be said that the Christians did come to be of very great Power and Interest and able to bear down all their Opposers and 't is likely enough that then they might set themselves to destroy all those Monuments of Antiquity whereby their fabulous Gospels had been contradicted and disprov'd And 't is not incredible that they should so far succeed in their Attempt as to leave no means to Posterity to discern how weak and sandy a Foundation their Religion was built upon But this Supposition taking it altogether involves a greater Difficulty and supposes a greater Miracle than the former did For whatever the Christians might attempt to do or whatever they might be able to do after they had attained to such great Power and were become the most numerous and prevailing Party 't is utterly incredible that they ever could have attained to such great Power that they ever could have become the most numerous and prevailing Party if indeed the Gospel History had almost from the very Beginning been opposed and contradicted by other Histories that were more credible than the Gospel History was For it must be and is granted by all that at the first Preaching of Christianity all worldly Power and Interest were on the other side and engaged most strongly to hinder the Growth and spreading of it Now when Truth is on one side and Power and Interest on the other 't is not impossible that Truth may at last prevail against Interest and bring the Power also to be of its side But if Truth I mean that which hath most Appearance of Truth I say if Truth and Power and Interest are all on the same side from the Beginning as it must be allowed they were by those who say that the Gospel History was quickly prov'd false by other Histories written and publish'd about the same time than I say it is utterly impossible that an Imposture quickly discover'd to be an Imposture and which serv'd no worldly Interest should ever have so gained ground as Christianity did against that apparent Truth and mighty Power and Interest that were on the other side So that whatever Progress Christianity might have made for a short time at first by reason of the Boldness and Confidence of its first Preachers it must needs be that immediately from and after the Time that the Anti-Gospel Histories of better Credit and Authority than the Gospel History was were publish'd it must have declined much faster than it had before increased and in a very few Years have so dwindled to nothing that 't is like in the Age in which we live there would hardly have been so much as any Remembrance of it left And now if nothing more could be said upon this Subject for I have not time at present to take into Consideration the other Proofs before hinted at of the Truth of the Gospel-History I think what has been said already is enough to shew that there is sufficient Reason to give full Credit to the Evangelical Writers in their Relations of those Matters of Fact which they have recorded This I 'm sure of that upon much less Evidence and Assurance of Truth than we have in this we generally give Credit to other Histories For we believe other Historians in their Relation of such Matters as they could not have so certain Knowledge or so good Assurance of as the Evangelical Writers might have of those plain Matters of Fact and Sense which they have related in their History And again we believe other Historians giving an Account of things which they do not pretend to have had a personal Knowledge of which were done in Countries far Distant from them and in Times long before them which their Readers had no Means to enquire into the Truth of which were done in secret or when but few were by and which if they were falsly related none were engaged by any Worldly Interest to be at much Pains to disprove And lastly If two Historians of the same Antiquity give different or contradictory Accounts of the same Matter we do not for that Reason
alone presently reject either of them but we enquire which of them was in the best Capacity to know the Truth and which of them is the least liable to the suspicion of falshood and which Story is the most probably related and to the Belief of that we encline If therefore there be any Man that thinks there is any truth in History and who does give Credit to other Histories and I believe there is no Man but does so and yet will not be persuaded to allow that the Gospel History is very credible which contains a Relation only of such Matters of Sense as it was morally impossible there should be any Cheat or Deceit in and in which if there had been any Deceit or Mistake it was morally impossible that it should not be discover'd and disprov'd and which yet neither is now nor ever was contradicted by any History of competent Antiquity and good Credit I think we may very well conclude that 't is not Reason or Judgment but Prejudice or Interest or the Love of some Vice or Lust that makes him an Infidel The End of the Fourth Sermon THE Fifth Sermon St. LUKE XVI 29 30 31. Abraham saith unto him They have Moses and the Prophets let them hear them And he said Nay father Abraham but if one went unto them from the dead they will repent And he said unto him If they hear not Moses and the Prophets neither will they be persuaded though one rose from the dead THE Subject I was upon in my last Discourse on these Words and which I left unfinish'd was to shew That there is sufficient Reason to give full Credit to the Authors of the Historical Books of the New Testament in their Relations of those Matters of Fact which they have recorded For the Proof of which I proposed these following things to be considered 1 The Nature Conditions and Circumstances of the Matters they have recorded and of the History its self 2 The good Capacity they were in to know the Truth of the Things they have related 3 The strong Obligations they were under to write nothing but the Truth according to the best of their Knowledge or Information 4 The good Evidences that we have of their Honesty and Faithfulness And 5 Lastly The Confirmation that was given to the Truth of their History by God himself The last Discourse was spent in the Consideration of the first of these things I proceed now to the Second viz. 2. The good Capacity that the Writers of the Evangelical History were in to know the Truth of those things which they have related Now the Matters of History which are related in the Epistles are but few and those for the most part such as had been done by or had happened to either the Persons that wrote them or the Churches or Persons to whom they were written so that of these we shall not need to say any thing For the Bulk or Body of the Evangelical History is contain'd in the Four Gospels and in the Acts of the Apostles And of the Authors of these Books there is no Controversie in the Christian Church And if they were written by the reputed Authors a few Words will suffice to shew that they were in a very good Capacity to know the Truth of the Things they have recorded much better than most other ancient Historians whose Relations nevertheless are generally thought worthy of Credit For St. Matthew and St. John two of the four Evangelists were of the number of those Twelve who were in constant Attendance upon our Lord from the Time that he first began to preach and to make Disciples until he was taken up into Heaven so that they were themselves Eye or Ear-Witnesses of most of the Things which they have recorded Of St. Mark and St. Luke indeed the same cannot be said neither is it certain that they were of the Number of the Seventy Disciples tho' that be affirmed by some of the Ancients But this I think is agreed to by all that St. Mark was for some part of his Life a constant Companion of St. Peter who was not only one of the Twelve but most probably the First that was call'd to be an Apostle and who was also one of the three with whom our Lord was most intimate and familiar for we often read that Peter Matt. 17.4.26 37. Mark 5.37 and James and John were singled from the rest to be Witnesses of some of the most private Transactions of his Life And it was generally believed in the Ancient Church that St. Peter was more truly the Author of the Gospel called St. Mark 's than St. Mark himself He being only the Scribe or Amanuensis and St. Peter the Person that dictated the things written by him whence also this Gospel is by some of the Ancients stiled the Gospel of St. Peter And of this there seem to be some Tokens even in the History its self particularly in that Relation that is therein given of St. Peter's Denial of his Master and of his Repentance for it for his Denial is there told with some more Circumstances than in the other Gospels such as the Person himself chiefly concerned was best able to know and might best remember And the Account that is given of his Repentance is by this Author expressed more modestly as it best became a Person to speak who spake of himself than it is by the other Evangelists for St. Matthew and St. Luke say that he wept bitterly but St. Mark or rather St. Peter himself dictating those Words only says that when he thought thereon he wept It is likewise agreed on all Hands that St. Luke if not one of the Seventy Disciples which 't is most probable he was not was however a very early Convert to Christianity that he conversed frequently with the Apostles and immediate Disciples of our Lord and was a constant Companion of St. Paul for a good while in his Preaching and Travels so that of almost all the Things which he relates in his History of the Acts of the Apostles he might be and of much the greatest part of them 't is most probable and of some 't is certain he was an Eye or Ear-Witness So then There are three of the five Historical Books of the New Testament that were written by those who were present at most of the things which they have related viz. the Gospels of St. Matthew and St. John and the Acts of the Apostles and another of them tho' it bears the Name of St. Mark the Person by whom it was penned yet if it was as has been generally believ'd dictated by St. Peter may be added to that number and be likewise reckon'd the Testimony of One who was an Eye Witness of the things he has related In this Respect therefore the Gospel History is manifestly as credible as 't is possible any History should be for no Historian can record any thing upon better Assurance of its Truth than the
suspicion of Unfaithfulness in their Relations because whatever they had been before they were then in all other Respects Persons of a very good Character 1 Thes 2.10 Ye are Witnesses says the Apostle and God also how holily and justly and unblameably we behaved our selves among you They that could not be charged with any other Crimes were not justly to be suspected guilty of Forgery and Lying And we have abundant Reason to believe that they were in all other Respects unblameable because there is no Evidence that they were ever charged at all either truly or falsly even by their greatest Enemies with any other Fault but only too great Zeal and Industry in propagating their Religion And 't is no Wonder that this should be thought a Fault by those who were of another Religion or that by the Powers that then were who endeavoured with all their might to suppress the Growth of Christianity the Apostles who were so zealous to spread it should be looked upon as disaffected to their Government and Movers of Sedition But however this if it had been a Fault was not such a Crime as could justly have render'd their Honesty suspected but on the contrary it was rather a very good Argument that however they might possibly be mistaken yet they did believe themselves 't is a fair Proof that they thought they had good Evidence of the things they testified and that they reckoned themselves under a strict Obligation to testifie the same For 't is plain and that 's another good Argument of their Veracity that they could have no Worldly End or Design either in the Framing or Publishing of those Stories which they related so that if they were Fables which they told they were far from being cunningly devised Fables because as the World then was they could not be so vain as to hope to raise themselves either to Honour or Wealth by preaching a Crucified Messiah to the Jews a Stumbling Block and to the Greeks Foolishness Now 't is not to be supposed that any Man will frame or report a Lye for nothing Whoever knowingly deceives another must be supposed to intend some Advantage to himself thereby And therefore if there be no Untruth appearing in the Relation and no Gain or other Advantage that the Reporter can be supposed to make to himself by it it may very reasonably be presumed that the Report is true But so far was this if it was a Lye from being a profitable and advantageous Lye to the Forgers and Reporters of it that on the contrary it was and they could not but readily foresee that it would be very prejudicial to their Worldly Interests exposing them to all sorts of Persecutions from all sorts of Men For both Jews and Gentiles and every Sect and Party of every other Religion however hating one another with a mortal Hatred readily joyned together to persecute the Christians and those above all others who were the Witnesses of Christianity the Ringleaders as they called them of the Sect of the Nazareens This therefore may be reckon'd another Evidence of their Truth and as 't is a stronger Evidence of Truth than any that has been yet mentioned so 't is such an one as I believe no History in the World has but that of the Gospel viz. That no Threats or Punishments could move the Witnesses of those things that are recorded in the Evangelical History so much as to desist from giving fresh Testimony to the Truth of the Things which they had once related For this seems to have been all that was ever required or expected from them not that they should retract the Testimony they had given but only that they should not speak or teach any more in the Name of Jesus Acts 4.18.5.46 And upon this Condition alone any of them might have expected both a Pardon for what they had done before and likewise all fitting Favour and Encouragement But this was what they all refused to do giving no other Reason of their Refusal but this that they were very sure of the Truth of the things they had spoken and that there was a necessity laid upon them to preach the Gospel Whether say they Acts 4.19 20. it be right in the sight of God to hearken unto you more than unto God judge ye for we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard And the more they were threatned to hold their Peace so much the more boldly did they speak not only filling Jerusalem with their Doctrine but likewise spreading the same in all the World And tho' they knew that in every City where they came Bonds and Afflictions did abide there None of these things moved them Acts 20.23 24. neither did they count their Lives dear unto themselves so that they might finish their Course with Joy and the Ministery which they had receiv'd of the Lord Jesus to testifie the Gospel of the Grace of God And if these Proofs and Evidences already mentioned of The Truth and faithfulness of the Apostles and Evangelists are not thought sufficient to gain them Credit what is there that would be sufficient for more Evidence or better Proof cannot reasonably be desired so good is very rarely to be met with or expected And indeed I think there is but only one stronger Proof thereof that can ever possibly be given by Men And that is when a Witness lays down his Life to confirm the Testimony he has given for if when a Man has witnessed any thing and is questioned for it and threatned with Death if he persists in it he still continues boldly to testifie the same thing and especially if when upon the Rack or on the Cross in the midst of the sharpest Torments and even at the Hour of his Death he Justifies the Truth of his former Testimony he certainly gives the best Assurance that 't is possible for any Man to give of his Honesty and Truth And if any humane Testimony be credible this is certainly so in the highest Degree That therefore our Belief of the Gospel might be built upon the surest grounds it pleased the Divine Wisdom so to Order it that all those who were the first Witnesses thereof to the World should give likewise this best possible Proof of their Veracity For of all the Apostles and Evangelists of the manner of whose Death there is any Memory preserved either by History or Tradition St. John is the only Person that did not seal the Testimony he had given with his Blood And that he did not suffer Martyrdom as well as the Rest was not occasioned by his forbearing to repeat the Testimony he had before given and much less by his Retracting it but was meerly an Act of Divine and Miraculous Providence whereby tho' he was put into a Cauldron of Boyling Oyl his Life was preserv'd so that in Truth considering the Hazard he ran of his Life which could not have been saved but by a Miracle he may very
Body into some one Country remote from Judea and there with concurrent Testimony born Witness of the Things they had seen and heard yet who would have believ'd their Report The Report of Strangers coming from a far Country and of whose Honesty and Truth they could have no Assurance but only from themselves vouching for one another Who would have given Credit to a Relation of such incredible Stories told with a Design to introduce a Religion that was unknown to their Fathers and such a ridiculous Religion too as this at the first Proposal wou'd probably appear viz. the Worshipping as God a Man who by their own Confession was rejected and set at naught and at last Crucified as a wicked Malefactor by his own Countrymen Or if it can be supposed that the Apostles by the Boldness of their Speech and the inticing Words of Man's Wisdom might after some time have prevailed upon some few to become Proselytes to their Religion yet the multitude of their Disciples could not have been very great before the Government of the Country would have taken the Alarm and have called in Question these Setters forth of new Gods these Movers of Sedition among the People as they would certainly have been accounted and as in fact the Apostles were accounted in every place where they came And this would quickly have put a stop to a growing Sect They that liked the Religion well enough before because it was new would quickly have left off to like it when they saw it would be dangerous to profess it 't is not likely their Followers would have continued to stick to them when they perceiv'd the Government and the whole Nation in general engaged on the other side and resolved by all means possible to extirpate the Belief they had entertained and when they saw their Preachers Imprisoned and Scourged tortur'd and put to Death they would quickly have deserted the Service of a Master who they would then readily think was not of Power to save either himself from the Cross or his Disciples from Suffering And after this had the Residue of the Apostles who might possibly have escaped Martyrdom in this Country gone into another there they must have expected the like Reception and Usage and not better in a third and so in a few Years their Lives would have spun out in doing nothing and their Religion would have perish'd with themselves And if their united Testimony would have had so little Credit much less can it be supposed that the single Witness of One Apostle only could ever have gain'd any Credit at all And yet unless the Testimony of some single Witnesses had been believ'd 't is impossible there should have been in so short a time so great a Conversion of Men to Christianity in all parts of the World by the Preaching of so few Men. So that whoever believes that Christianity could make so swift and so great a Progress as 't is certain by all History it did only by the Preaching of the Apostles without any Miraculous Gifts or Supernatural Assistance wants not Faith enough to be a Christian if he had but a Will to it for he believes already a much greater Miracle than any that is recorded in the Evangelical Story And now by all that hath been said in this and the last Discourse I hope it appears that there is sufficient Reason to give full Credit to the Authors of the Historical Books of the New Testament in their Relations of those Matters of Fact which they have recorded This I 'm sure I may say that there is not so good Reason to give Credit to any History in the World besides of the same Antiquity And that a History so well confirmed as this is cannot reasonably be rejected nor indeed any ways be discredited but either by some other more credible History contradicting it or by some intrinsick Evidence of Falshood But better or more credible History contradicting it I have already observ'd there is not nor indeed is there any History contradicting it that is of sufficient Antiquity to disprove it Nay there are many very considerable things of those recorded in the Gospel-History that are occasionally mentioned by other Historians of those or the succeeding Times who had no Design thereby to do any Service to Christianity as namely that there was such a Man as John the Baptist that he was a Person of great Piety and Austerity and a Preacher of Righteousness and that he was put to Death by Herod That there was also a Man named Jesus who called himself and was owned by many to be the Christ that he did many wonderful things and was at last Crucified by the Jews The Names of some other Persons likewise spoken of in the Gospel-History are mention'd under the same Character in some other Histories as Pilate Felix Festus Caiphas Agrippa c. In other Histories also we find notice taken of the Cruelty of Herod in slaying the Infants at Bethlehem and among them as 't is thought his own Son which made Augustus when the Story was told him to say that it was better to be Herod 's Swine than his Son and likewise of that remarkable Eclipse of the Sun when the Moon was at the full which the Evangelists say happen'd at the time of our Saviour's Passion and of that violent Earthquake that was at the same time and lastly of the prodigious Increase of Christianity in all Parts of the Roman Empire soon after its first Publication And if upon this Occasion it should be said that the Facts recorded in the Evangelical History and the Events that follow'd thereupon were so very wonderful and remarkable that if they had been true they must in all probability have been more taken notice of than they are in other Histories I answer that supposing them to be true it could not be reasonably expected that more mention should have been made of them by other Historians than there really is because they were plainly foreign to their purpose or else such Stories as tho' they had heard of them they did not believe having perhaps never taken any pains to examine into the Truth of them For what was it to the Purpose of an Author that was writing the Life of one of the Roman Emperors or the History of some famous War or giving an Account of the Affairs of the Civil State to make a large Digression concerning a Religious Sect begun in Judea by a Person that was despised in his own Country and carried on and continued by mean and contemptible Persons who made no Figure in the World Or how could it be expected that an Historian who was not himself a Christian should yet give a large Account of the Miracles of our Saviour and his Apostles and other Facts upon which our Religion is grounded which had he believ'd as he must be supposed to have done if he had deliver'd them to Posterity as Truths he must have been a Christian 'T
is enough in all Reason and as much as could be expected in this Case supposing there Facts to be true that they are not by any Historians that were of another Religion contradicted or attempted to be disprov'd more than this would have been too much And should we now in some ancient Manuscript History new brought 〈◊〉 Light and bearing the Name of some Jewish or Heathen Author find a large and formal Account of any of those Facts relating to the Christian Religion that are recorded in the Gospel this would give very just ground to suspect that the whole History whatever other Appearance it had of Truth was forged and counterfeit or at least that those Passages speaking honourably of the Christian Religion or the Author of it were knavishly foisted into the Book by some Christian Transcriber For this is indeed the best Argument that is brought to discredit some Passages of this kind that are now to be found in some Heathen or Jewish Historians and particularly in Josephus viz. that they say more than was proper or likely to be said by Heathens or Jews that if those Passages are genuine and the Authors had believed what they themselves wrote they must have been Christians Now this I 'm sure is not fair Dealing that the Paucity and slenderness of those corroborating Testimonies to the Truth of the Christian History that are to be met with in other Historians and that the Multitude and Fulness of such Testimonies should both be urged as Arguments against Christianity And therefore when they are both urged as they are and have been by our Adversaries we may reasonably conclude that the Truth is in the Mean and that there are indeed no more nor no fewer Testimonies of this kind to be met with in other Writers and that they are not either more or less to the Purpose than supposing the Christian History to be true might fairly be expected It only remains then that we enquire whether there be in the Gospel History any intrinsick Evidences of Falshood And 't is pretended by the Adversaries of our Religion that there are many such For there are they say some things related in the Gospel History that are altogether incredible and there is they say oftentimes great Difference in the several Relations of the same Story by the several Evangelists And not only so but there are they say besides in their several Histories compared together some flat Contradictions and Repugnancies I intended therefore at the End of this Discourse if I had had time for it to have spoken largely upon this Subject But because I have not must referr you to those Books that have been written on purpose to give an Account of the difficult Texts of Scripture and to reconcile those that are seemingly repugnant Or for want of such Books to any good Commentary on the Bible in which you will hardly fail to meet with Satisfaction in any Difficulty of this kind if you read it with a Mind disposed to receive satisfaction And I shall conclude this Discourse with only observing in General 1. That the pretended Impossibilities that are said to be related in the Sacred History are only Difficulties They are indeed Events above and beyond the known Power and common Course of Nature but they are such as are easily Credible when they are ascribed as they must be to the Almighty power of God 2. That the Difference that may sometimes be observ'd in the several Relations of the same Story by the several Evangelists is very inconsiderable consisting only in this That one perhaps relates the Story in a different Order of things than another does Or that One tells it briefly another more at large Or One with a few another with more Circumstances Or that some Circumstances are mentioned by each of them which the other had omitted So that this Observation is so far from being a just Objection against the Truth of the History that it is rather a Proof and Confirmation of it For 't is an Argument that the Evangelists did not conferr together in the Writing of their Histories and that they did not Copy or Transcribe from one another but that every one of them reported the Story he wrote in such manner as he himself remembred it to have been and with such Circumstances as he himself took most notice of And 3. As to the Repugnancies and Inconsistences that are said to be in the Evangelical History These we absolutely deny I have not time now to consider or attempt to reconcile all the Places that are pretended to be contradictory to each other but those Passages which seem most liable to this Exception are I think the Relation of Judas's Death and the Account of our Saviour's Genealogy But as to the first There is plainly no Impossibility no Contradiction in it if we should say that after he had hanged himself as St. Matthew Mat. 27.5 Acts 1.18 says he did fall down and his Bowels gush'd out as St. Luke affirms Or it may be that he did not hang himself but only was * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 choaked or suffocated by the violence of his Grief and that the same Passion by which he was strangled made him also fall down headlong and burst assunder in the midst so that all his Bowels gushed out And as to the other when 't is remembred that by the Jewish Law the next of Kin was to raise up Seed to his near Relation that died without Issue Deut. 25.5 by Marrying his Widow and that the First-born of the Woman after such second Marriage was reputed in Law the Son as well as he was the Heir of the Deceased so that consequently the same Person might be the Legal Son of one Man and the Natural Son of another Man tho' it may be difficult perhaps impossible for us at this Distance of Time to say with certainty which of the two different Lines by which our Saviour's Pedigree is deduced from David is the Legal and which the Natural Line it is very easie nevertheless to believe that one is the Legal and that the other is the Natural Line and if so there is plainly no Contradiction between the two Evangelists altho' St. Matthew Mat. 1.16 makes our Saviour to be descended from Solomon and St. Luke from Nathan altho' St. Matthew says that Joseph the Husband of the Blessed Virgin was the Son of Jacob and St. Luke Luâ—e 3.23 that he was the Son of Heli. And now the Truth of the Gospel History being as I hope by what hath bâ—en said sufficiently established I should proceed to shew That if the Matters of Fact related in the New Testament are true they are sufficient Proofs of the Truth and Divine Authority of all the Doctrines that are therein Taught But I am sensible that I have trespassed too much upon your Patience already and so shall reserve this for the Subject of my next Discourse FINIS ERRATA IN
And this he himself urges as a Reason why his Testimony ought to be credited Joh. viii 46. Which of you convinceth me of Sin and if I say the Truth why do ye not believe me And a very good Reason it was for it could not justly be suspected that a Person of whom no other ill thing could be said was yet indeed in the whole Course of his Life guilty of a Crime of the greatest Magnitude viz. of Lying in the Name of God of saying that the Lord had sent him when indeed the Lord had not sent him nor spoken by him 2. It may be also consider'd that this Testimony of our Lord tho' it was concerning himself yet was not for himself I mean it was not for his own worldly Advantage And this Consideration he himself likewise offers to the Jews as an Argument of the Truth of his Testimony Joh. vii 18. He that speaketh of himself seeketh his own Glory but he that seeketh his Glory that sent him the same is true and no unrighteousness is in him Had the Doctrine of our Lord which he pretended was what God had commanded him to teach been contriv'd to advance the Worldly Honour and Greatness of himself or his Followers this would have been a just Prejudice against it and a reasonable Ground of suspecting that he spake of himself but when it was evident to all that heard his Discourses and is no less so to us that read them that he sought not his own Glory in any thing but the Glory of him that sent him and that his whole Doctrine tended to advance the Honour of God and to promote the Practice of Piety and Virtue in the World this rendred his Testimony very credible when he said he was sent by God to teach it to the World for when a Doctrine is plainly worthy of God and according to Godliness 1 Tim. 6.3 it may reasonably be presumed that God is the Author of it 3. It may be further considered that this Testimony of our Lord concerning himself was so far from being to his own Benefit that it was as much as any thing could possibly be to his Worldly Disadvantage exposing him to the Envy and Malice of the Jews and to the Jealousie of the Romans and to all the cruel Sufferings which he endured from both of them And certainly a Man's Testimony concerning himself may be allow'd to be credible if it be against his own Interest if he himself be a great Loser or Sufferer by what he Testifies for it can't be imagined what else but only the Evidence of Truth and an Obligation to declare it should ever induce a Man to say such things concerning himself as will procure his own mischief And I know not what can be said to avoid the Force of this Argument for the Truth of our Saviour's Testimony that he was sent from God and that he was the Messiah unless it be that he was disappointed in his Expectation and that he hoped to make himself Rich and Great in the World by these Glorious Pretences tho' in the Event it prov'd otherwise But the Gospel-History furnishes us with a very clear and full Answer to this Objection in those many Predictions of our Lord therein recorded concerning his own Sufferings Mat. 16.31.20.17 whereby it clearly appears that the Sufferings which befel him for giving this Testimony concerning himself did not happen to him unexpectedly but that he knew long before all that afterwards came to pass And therefore I say again that no Reason can be imagin'd why he should say that he was sent from God but only because he knew it was true and had receiv'd a Command from his Father to declare this Truth to the World Especially if it be consider'd further 4. Lastly That he continu'd to testifie the same at his Death which he had done before in his Life giving thereby the best Assurance that a Man can give of the Truth of his Testimony For the main Matter of his Accusation to Pilate was that he had given out himself to be the Messiah and the Messiah was according to the Expectation of the Jews to be a great Temporal King had our Lord therefore but denied this Charge had he but granted that he was not the Messiah he might have saved his Life But this he would not do he disowned indeed the false Notion that the Jews had of the Messiah my Kingdom John 18.26 Mat. 27.11 Joh. 18.37 Mat. 26.63 64. Mar. 14.61 62. says he is not of this World But that he was a King and that he was the Messiah he boldly owned as well when the Question was put to him by the Roman Governor who had Power of Life and Death as when it had been put to him before by the High-Priest This therefore is a strong Confirmation of the Truth of this Testimony of our Lord and is alone sufficient to make it credible that he witnessed the same good Confession before Pontius Pilate 1 Tim. 6.13 which he had done before his own Nation and Sealed his Witness with his Blood For 't is not to be supposed that any Man tells a known Lye for nothing and it was plainly then too late for him to hope for any good to himself in this World by persisting in this Testimony his only Hope had been in retracting it and 't is not credible that any Man should be so foolish as to expect to better himself in the other World by dying with a Lye in his mouth Thus I hope it appears that the Testimony of our Lord concerning his own divine Mission was credible in it self so that we might rationally believe that he came from God and that he was Christ the Son of God altho' we had only his own Word for it But we have more than his own Word for it I am not alone says he Joh. viii 16 c. but I and the Father that sent me It is also written in your Law that the Testimony of two Men is true I am one that bear Witness of my self and the Father that sent me beareth Witness of me And this was the other thing I proposed to consider in order to shew the good Reason that we have to believe that our Saviour was sent from God and that he was the Messiah viz. Secondly The Confirmation that was given to this Testimony of our Lord by God himself And this was given several ways 1. God bare him Witness by the Testimony of ancient Prophets And to this our Saviour frequently appeals Joh. v. 39. Search the Scriptures for in them ye think ye have Eternal Life and they are they which testifie of me And again v. 46. Had ye believed Moses ye would have believed me for he wrote of me And this St. Peter comparing it with that Voice from Heaven testifying him to be the Son of God 2 Pet. 1.18 19. of which he himself had been an Ear-witness calls a more sure word of
Prophecy And indeed it was as certain an Evidence of his divine Mission as could be desir'd For it was a Matter of the greatest Concern to the World to discern the promis'd Messiah that so they might know in whom to Believe and from whom to expect Salvation And to this End God was pleased by the mouth of all his holy Prophets since the World began to give several Marks and Characters of the Messiah by which he might be certainly known and readily distinguish'd from all Impostors for they foretold exactly the Time of his Coming his Pedigree and the Place of his Birth the manner of his Life the Things he was to do the Sufferings he was to undergo and all the remarkable Accidents that were to befall him in this World all which Predictions were punctually fulfill'd in the Person of our blessed Saviour as must be granted by every one that allows the truth of the Gospel-History And this is an undeniable Proof that he was the Messiah for it is manifestly inconsistent with the Wisdom of God when he meant to give Marks and Characters by which the Messiah might be certainly known to give only such as might belong to another Person no less than to him and it is no less inconsistent with his Goodness that his Providence should ever permit that all the Marks and Characters of the true Messiah should meet together in an Impostor because by this Mankind must have lain under an inevitable Necessity of being cheated in a Matter of the greatest Consequence to their Eternal Salvation But the ancient Prophecies of Christ were many of them in Types or Figurative Expressions not readily to be understood 'till they were accomplish'd nor then very easie to be applied by every one to the Person of the true Messiah without the Help of a Teacher How can I understand what I read said the Eunuch Acts 8.31 even when he was reading one of the plainest Prophecies of Christ that is in the Old Testament except some man should guide me And therefore God was pleased to give a yet more certain and distinct Knowledge of him to the Men of that Generation in which he appear'd And this he did 2. By the Testimony of John the Baptist who was a burning and a shining Light and did not as the former Prophets had done only lay down Marks and Characters by the wise Application whereof Men might discern the Messiah when they saw him but pointed to him as it were with his Finger as he stood before their Eyes so that the simplest among them could not but know whom he meant Behold says he the Lamb of God Joh. 1.29 30. which taketh away the Sin of the World This is he of whom I said after me cometh a Man which is preferred before me And to this Testimony of John our Saviour himself frequently appealed as to a Testimony that was full to the purpose and could not be denied Ye sent unto John says he and he bare witness unto the Truth Joh. v. 32. Mat. 21.23 c And when the Chief Priests and Elders question'd him about his Authority he perfectly confounded them by only asking them whether the Baptism of John was from Heaven or of Men for that John was a Prophet altho' he did no Miracles was so evident to all by the wonderful manner of his Birth and the miraculous Circumstances that attended it that they could not and he was also so generally receiv'd and accepted among the People as a Prophet that they dared not deny it If they say we shall say of Men all the People will stone us for they be persuaded that John was a Prophet and yet had they granted this which they could not deny they had answer'd their own Question and seen clearly by what Authority our Saviour acted and taught for no Testimony of his divine Mission could be plainer and clearer than that of John was and it was a thing granted by the Jews that he is a Prophet without all doubt and needs no farther Trial unto whom another Prophet bears Witness 3. Another way by which God gave Witness to our Saviour that he was sent by him and that he was the Messiah was by a Voice from Heaven which Testimony was given him three times Mat. 3.16 17. Mar. 1.10 11. Luke 3.22 First at his Baptism when being come up out of the water the Heavens opened and the Spirit like a Dove descended upon him and there came a Voice from Heaven saying Thou art my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased And of this Voice 't is highly probable St. John Baptist was an Ear-witness for 't is said expresly that he saw the Spirit descending like a Dove from Heaven and abiding on him John 1.32 and that was at the same time that the Voice was utter'd A Second time was at his Transfiguration on the Mount when the Glory of God appearing in a Cloud Ex. 24.15 c. Mat. 17.5 Mar. 9.7 Luke 9.35 as it had anciently us'd to do there came a Voice out of the Cloud which said This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased hear ye him And at the uttering of this Voice three of his Apostles were present 2 Pet. 1.17 John 1 14. 1 John 5.7 two of which have witnessed the same to us under their own Hands A Third time was after the raising of Lazarus when were present not only his Apostles who constantly accompanied him Joh. 12.20 28. but several others both Jews and Greeks And this Voice was so loud as to be heard by all that were present tho' not by all so distinctly and articulately as it was by some who as 't is probable were nearer than the rest which was the occasion of that Difference that was among the People concerning it some saying that it Thundered and others that an Angel spake to him Ver. 29. To doubt therefore of his divine Mission whom God thus testified to by Voices from Heaven is to make God himself a Lyar as the Apostle speaks 1 Joh. 5.10 because we receive not the Record that he gave of his Son 4. Another way by which God gave Witness to the divine Mission of our Saviour was by enduing him with the Gift of Prophecy or foretelling things to come Mat. 16.21.20.17 c. Mar. 9.31.10.33 Several Instances of which we meet with in the Gospel-History for he foretold very often his own Sufferings and Death with all the remarkable Circumstances thereof He said that he should be betray'd by one of his own Disciples Mat. 26.21 John 6.70 when none of them suspected that there was a false Brother among them and the Traytor himself knew not yet the falseness of his own Heart Mat. 26.34 He told Peter but a few Hours before that he should deny him thrice when He at the same time was very confident of his own strength and declar'd himself resolv'd to die rather than deny him once
words fall to the Ground all Israel from Dan even to Beersheba knew that he was established to be a Prophet of the Lord. The before-named Exception having therefore no Place in our Saviour for his Doctrine was Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God Mat. 4.10 and him only shalt thou serve and there being not one of those many Predictions that he gave forth tho' several of them were concerning the most casual Events that could be which has not been in its due time fulfilled we may safely conclude that he was a true Prophet of God and consequently that he ought to be hearkned to in every thing that he said 5. Another Testimony that was given by God to the divine Mission of our Saviour was by the Power of working Miracles more and greater Miracles than ever had been done before since the beginning of the World the Relation of which makes up a great Part of the Gospel-History Mat. 11.4 5. Joh. 10.25 37 38.14.11.15.24 And to these our Saviour himself frequently appeals as to a most evident Proof that he was sent by God and that he was the Son of God Joh. v. 36. The Works which the Father hath given me to finish the same works that I do bear witness of me that the Father hath sent me And indeed what better Evidence can be desired that a Person speaking in the Name of God is sent by him than to see him do the Works of God that is such Works as cannot be done but by the Power of God And that our Saviour's Miracles were such cannot I think be doubted by those who believe they are truly related in the Gospel which it is now supposed they are And if to this it be said that the first Opposers of Christianity both Jews and Gentiles who either saw the Miracles of our Saviour or had such good Assurance thereof from Eye-Witnesses or Credible History that they could not deny them yet were not thereby convinc'd that he was a Prophet of God but rather thought that he did all his mighty Works by Magick Art and by the Help of the Devil I answer 1. That 't is a thing which we cannot be sure of that the true Reason why any of those who saw our Saviour's Miracles or were persuaded of the Truth of them did yet refuse to receive him as a Prophet sent from God was because they were not convinc'd that his Miracles were done by a divine Power for Men do not always act according to their Judgments for we read of some of the Chief Rulers in Joh. xii 42. that they believed on him that is they were convinc'd in their Judgments by the mighty Works that he did that he was the Person he pretended to be but they did not confess him lest they should be put out of the Synagogue for they loved the Praise of Men more than the Praise of God And therefore I think it most probable that they who attributed those Miracles of his which they could not deny to the working of the Devil did not nay could not believe what they said but only said it because they were resolv'd never to receive a Doctrine whatever Evidence was given of the Truth of it that was so contrary as our Saviour's was to their Prejudices Lusts and Worldly Interests and they could not tell what else to say to justifie themselves to the World But 2. If their Blasphemy in ascribing our Saviour's Miracles to the power of the Devil was not meerly malicious 't was however most evidently groundless For 1. Tho' the Devil be without doubt of much greater Power than we are and understanding better than we do the Force of Natural Causes can do many things which to the Eyes of Men may appear Miraculous because it may be past their Skill to give an Account of them by Natural Causes there is no reason however to believe that he can do a true Miracle that is that he can ever alter the Course of Nature or produce any Effect but by the Means of Natural Causes working in such a manner and by such Laws and Rules as God hath appointed And therefore the Apostle calls those strange Appearances which are done by the working of Satan 2 Thes 2.9 Lying Wonders But they were not Lying Wonders which were done by our Saviour they did not only seem to be done but were done and they were Miracles not only in appearance but in truth being many of them such Effects as were evidently above and beyond the Power of Nature and therefore such as could not be done but by a Power Superiour to Nature that is by God's For who but he only who at first brought all things out of nothing Mat. 14. Mark 6. Luke 9. John 6. could with five Loaves and two small Fishes satisfie the Hunger of more than five thousand Persons leaving a Remainder of more than twice the number of Baskets-full of Fragments that there had been of Loaves at the first Luk. 7.11 c. Joh. 11.39 c. Or who could restore to Life a dead Carkass that began to putrefie but he only who first form'd it out of the Dust of the Ground Who could call back the departed Soul and fix it to its former Residence but he only into whose Hands it was returned and who first breathed into our Bodies these Immortal Spirits And as to some other of his Works which may be thought to be such as might be produc'd by the working of Nature only the manner in which they were done plainly shews that they also were done by a Power Superior to Nature for thus a Sick Man may be restor'd to perfect Health in time and by degrees by the use of proper Medicines and such a Cure we reckon Natural But those were plainly Super-natural Cures which were wrought as our Saviour's for the most part were without the use of any Medicines only by a Word speaking and many times at a great distance and by which those who had been long Sick or Infirm or Cripples were restor'd to perfect Health and Strength in an instant of time To suppose therefore that the Devil can thus at his Will alter the Course of Nature is to attribute to him such a Power as is peculiar to the God of Nature who only doth great Wonders Ps 72.18.136.4 But 2. If the Miracles of our Saviour had been only such as we might reasonably think did not exceed the Devil's Power to do yet that they were not wrought by his Help and consequently that they were done by the Power of God is abundantly evident from the Design of them which was to establish a Doctrine the most contrary that could be to the Devil's Interest For to this Purpose the Son of God was manifested that he might destroy the works of the Devil and he did it 1 Joh. 3.8 by preaching to Men to turn from the vanities of Idols to the worship and service of the Living God Act. 14.15
Tit. 2.12 who made Heaven and Earth and by teaching them to deny Ungodliness and Worldly Lusts and to live Soberly Righteously and Godly in this present World Now the Devil is certainly as subtle as he is powerful and therefore if he has indeed any power to alter the course of Nature and to do a real Miracle he would not however we may be sure make use of this Power against himself he would not thereby assist another to destroy his own Kingdom And by this Argument our Saviour himself clearly confuted this Calumny in Mat. xii 25. When the Pharisees had said that he cast out Devils by Beelzebub the Prince of the Devils he answer'd Every Kingdom divided against it self is brought to Desolation and if Satan cast out Satan he is divided against himself how then shall his Kingdom stand And 3. Lastly As it is not credible that the Devil has such power or if he has and was let alone to himself that he would make use of this power to destroy his own Kingdom so neither is it credible that Almighty God who has all power in his Hands and can controul and limit the workings of the Devil and all created Beings as he pleases would ever permit the Devil to out-do himself in such wonderful Operations so that more and greater Miracles should be done by an Impostor than ever had been done before by any true Prophet which yet is manifestly the Case if indeed our Saviour was an Impostor 2 Tim. 3.8 He suffer'd indeed Jannes and Jambres to withstand his Servants Moses and Aaron for some time and to do or seem to do some wonderful Works like to theirs Ex. 7.10 12. for Aaron cast his Rod upon the Ground and it became a Serpent and so did they And Aaron stretched out his Hand over the Waters Ex. 8.6 7. and the Frogs came up and covered the Land and the Magicians did so with their Inchantments and brought up Frogs upon the Land of Egypt But tho' he suffer'd the Magicians thus to contend with his Prophets the Victory was clearly on his Prophet's side Ex. 7.12.8.18 for Aaron's Rod swallowed up their Rods and when the Magicians endeavour'd by their Inchantments to bring forth Lice as Aaron had done they could not but were forced to own before Pharaoh that it was the Finger of God and from that time forward strove no more for Victory And thus it may be consistent with the Wisdom and Goodness of God Deut 13.1 c. at any time in order prove his People and to know whether they love the Lord with all their Heart Mat. 24.24 to suffer the Sign or Wonder foretold by an Inticer to Idolatry to come to pass and to distinguish his Elect from Reprobates to permit false Christs and false Prophets 2 Thes 2.8 9 10. to shew great Signs and Wonders and in just Judgment upon such as will not receive the love of the Truth that they may be saved to let them alone to be deceived by that wicked one whose Coming is after the working of Satan with all Power and Signs and Lying Wonders and with all Deceiveableness of Unrighteousness in them that perish But it cannot I think be reconciled to these Attributes of God that he should permit greater Wonders and more clear and undoubted Miracles to be done by a false Prophet than ever were done by any true Prophet because this would be too great a Trial for Humane Nature such Signs and Wonders would be sufficient to deceive even those that enquire after Truth with the greatest sincerity of Heart And I cannot conceive it consistent with the Goodness of God to permit that such as are of honest Minds and sincere Lovers of Truth should after a fair Examination of the Proofs on both sides have greater reason to embrace Error than Truth which yet they plainly have in case the Miracles done by false Prophets be more and greater than have been done by any true Prophet unless the Falseness of the Doctrines which they would thereby establish be more evident than the Truth of their Miracles So that upon the whole I think we may well conclude this Head with those Words of Nicodemus to our Saviour Joh. iii. 2. We know we are assured of it we have no Reason to doubt of it that thou art a Teacher come from God for no Man can do these Miracles that thou doest except God be with him 6. Another way by which God himself bare Witness to the Truth of our Saviour's Testimony was by Raising him from the dead Joh. 2.19 Mat. 12.40.16 4. To this great Miracle he himself often referred those that had any doubt of the Truth of his other Miracles as what could not but be satisfactory to all that were capable of receiving Satisfaction And this was the chief Subject of the Apostle's Sermons Acts 2.24.32.3.15.4.10.10.40.13.30 the main Proof that they insisted upon to convince Men that Jesus was the Christ And they seem to have no doubt upon them that if they could but persuade Men of the Truth of his Resurrection they would readily own that he was the Christ and without further scruple receive every thing that he had taught them in the name of God as a divine Truth Acts 17.30 By this say they God has given Assurance unto all Men that he has ordained him to be the Judge of the World By this say they he was declared to be the Son of God with Power because it was a thing evident to all Rom. 1.4 that no Power less than God's could raise the dead When therefore this was done and it was done if the Gospel-History be true this was a plain Seal set by God himself to our Saviour's Testimony a Seal not possible to be Counterfeited and wherein the Divine Power is so clearly and deeply engraven that whoever looks attently upon it must be satisfied whose Seal it is So that to grant the Resurrection of our Saviour and yet to doubt whether he was the Person he gave out himself to be is to doubt of the Truth of God himself for granting our Saviour's Resurrection it can't be suppos'd that he was an Impostor without supposing that God himself did consent to the Imposture and work the most evident Miracle that ever wâ—s done on purpose to perswade Men to believe a Lye I shall mention at present but one way more whereby God was pleas'd to confirm our Saviour's Testimony of himself And that was 7. By the Witness of the Holy-Ghost which witness was given to him at his Baptism Joh. 1.32 c. when the Holy-Ghost descended in a visible manner as a Dove and rested on him It was also given to him during the whole Course of his Ministry for the Holy-Ghost not only descended but abode upon him and therefore St. Peter speaking of him Act. 10.38 c. says that God anointed him with the Holy-Ghost and with Power But that
my Father hath sent me so send I you and again Mat. xxviii 19 20. Go ye and disciple all Nations Baptizing them in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you And that he had Authority to grant them such a Commission he shews in the words before All Power is given unto me in Heaven and in Earth Go ye therefore and teach all Nations c. And 2. That they were taught by God and enlightned by his Holy Spirit is what can't be doubted if we believe the power of our Saviour and the Truth of the Gospel for before our Lord went from them Joh 20.22 he breathed on them and said Receive ye the Holy Ghost And to what Purposes the Holy-Ghost was to be given them he had told them before Joh. 14.26 The Comforter which is the Holy Ghost whom the Father will send in my Name he shall teach you all things and bring all things to your Remembrance whatsoever I have said unto you And when he the Spirit of Truth is come Joh. 16.13 he will guide you into all Truth being thus therefore taught by the Spirit of Truth our Saviour might well say as he does Luke x. 16. He that heareth you heareth me and he that despiseth you despiseth me and he that despiseth me despiseth him that sent me And 3. Lastly We have all the reason in the World to receive them as Messengers from God and to believe that all that they have taught is the Will of God because they had the same Attestation of God to the truth of their Doctrine that our Saviour himself had to his I do not mean that God did bear them Witness all those ways by which he bare witness to our Saviour for that could not be but he bare witness to them all those ways by which it was proper for him to do it and by which he had born witness to any former Prophets For he bare witness to them that they were sent by him Joh. 13.22.20 21. by the Testimony of our Saviour as he had done to our Saviour by the Testimony of John And if the Testimony of a Prophet was credible concerning our Saviour much more is the Testimony of the Son of God highly credible concerning a Messenger sent by him He bare witness to them also by enduing them with the Gift of Prophecy Joh. 16.13 for when the Spirit of Truth is come says our Saviour he will shew you things to come And lastly he bare witness to them by that which is the most plain and sensible proof of a divine Mission Mar. 16.20 viz. By the Power of Miracles and manifold Gifts of the Holy-Ghost The Lord worked with them and confirmed their word with Signs following says St. Mark And with great Power says St. Luke gave Acts 4.33 the Apostles witness of the Resurrection of the Lord Jesus And the greater part of the History of the Acts of the Apostles is spent in relating the wonderful Works that they did by the Name of Jesus and the Power of the Holy-Ghost in confirmation of the Truth of their Doctrine But St. Paul perhaps it will be said of whose Writing are most of the Epistles was not one of them not called by our Saviour to be an Apostle as they were nor so much as an Eye and Ear-witness of our Lord's Miracles and Doctrine what Reason then have we to receive his Writings as Portions of Holy Scripture I answer as good tho' not in every particular just the same that we have to receive the Writings of the other Apostles as such For he was Converted and Ordain'd to be an Apostle in a more wonderful manner than they were as you may see in Acts 9. And as our Lord himself gave witness to their Divine Mission so he did also to his Acts ix 15. He is says our Lord a chosen Vessel unto me to bear my Name before the Gentiles and Kings and the Children of Israel To him also as well as to them Act. 20.22 25.27.10 22. 2 Th. 2.3 c. 1 Tim. 4.1 c. 2 Tim. 3.1 c. the Spirit foreshew'd things to come several Proofs of which we may observe in the History of the Acts and in his Epistles And Lastly His Speech and his Preaching was 1 Cor. 2.4 2 Cor. 12.12 as theirs in Demonstration of the Spirit and of Power In him all the Signs of an Apostle were seen no less than in them viz. Signs and Wonders and mighty Deeds And of him with Barnabas in Company Acts 14.3 it is that St. Luke speaks when he says that the Lord gave Testimony to the word of his Grace and granted Signs and Wonders to be done by their Hands And the latter part of the History of the Acts from the 10th Chapter to the End contains little else but an account of St. Paul's Preaching and of the Miracles that were done by the Power of God to confirm the Truth of his Doctrine So that if we believe the Gospel-History we can no more doubt of his divine Mission and Inspiration than we can of theirs we must conclude that if they were Apostles so was he that if they were Ministers of Christ 2 Cor. 11.23 2 Cor. 11.5 2 Cor. 12.11 so was he too forasmuch as in nothing he was behind the very chiefest Apostles so that consequently we have as much Reason to believe his Writings to be Inspired as we have theirs And now by all that hath been said I hope I have fully made good the Point I was to prove viz. That if the Matters of Fact recorded in the New Testament are true they are sufficient Proofs of the Truth and divine Authority of all the Doctrines that are therein taught whether by Christ himself or by his Apostles For if it be true that they were sent by God to instruct the World and to declare the Will of God to Mankind and that they were is sufficiently prov'd by their Credential Letters which we have now perused and examin'd we can no more doubt the truth of those things which they as the Messengers and Ambassadors of God have deliver'd to us in his Name than if we had heard God himself uttering the same by a Voice from Heaven So that I cannot but perswade my self that the Proofs which have been offer'd in the foregoing Discourse of the Truth of all the Doctrines that are taught in the New Testament are sufficient to convince any Rational and Considering Man of the Truth of any Doctrine the Falsity whereof is not Notorious and Self-evident And therefore this I think is the only thing that can with any shew of Reason be pretended by any Person to justifie his not receiving the Gospel as a divine Revelation viz. That the Matter of it in some Particulars is such as will not admit of any Proof at all because no Arguments can make a
thing credible which in it self is incredible And such it may be pretended some of the Christian Doctrines are which are taught in the New Testament and especially the Doctrine of the Trinity And that this Doctrine is clearly taught in the New Testament we freely grant But why should it be deem'd incredible Does it imply a Contradiction Can they that except against it or against the Gospel-Revelation upon the Account of it shew that it is impossible it should be true Can they demonstrate that 't is impossible for an Infinite and Eternal Being to beget a Son in his own Likeness Heb. 1.3 the brightness of his Glory and the express Image of his Person Or can they shew it to be impossible that there should be a third Person proceeding from both these No perhaps they 'll say But that these three should be one as the Scripture teaches that they think exceeds all the Measures of Belief that they can't but think a manifest Contradiction But why so Do the Christians hold or does the Scripture say that they are three and one in the same respect does it say that the one God is three Gods or that those three whom it speaks of as three distinct Persons ascribing personal Acts to each of them are nevertheless but one single Person No it only tells us in general that these three are One But how they are Three or how they are One wherein consists their Distinction and wherein their Unity it says not at least not very plainly And I think it the safest Course in such high Matters Psal 131.1 in Matters so much too high for us not to exercise our selves nor to pretend to be Wise above what is written If therefore there be no Contradiction in the Doctrine of a Trinity in Unity as there is not unless we say that God is One and Three in the same Respect that 's enough that 's all that needs to be said upon this Occasion For tho' we may as indeed we must allow it to be an incomprehensible Mystery there is no Reason to Cavil at the Gospel-Revelation or to deny it to be a true divine Revelation upon this Account For we live in a World of Mysteries we must believe Mysteries in abundance whether we will or no I mean there are some Truths so very plain even to our Reason that we can't doubt of them and yet so very high and Mysterious that we can no more fathom them than we can the Doctrine of the Trinity For thus that Matter is not Eternal we are as sure almost as we are of any thing for Matter could not exist of it self and yet how Matter should be made out of nothing is as incomprehensible by us as 't is how the One undivided Godhead does personally subsist in the Father Son and Holy-Ghost And thus again that God is Eternal we are certain by Reason for by God we mean the first Cause of all and he who was first could have none before him and yet that any thing should exist without a Cause of its Existence is unaccountable and if we were not sure that it must be so we should be ready to say that it was impossible and a manifest Contradiction that it should be so Thus I say we are led by the Light of Reason only to a firm belief of some Truths which yet we can give no Account of by our Reason and I think 't is very hard that we will not receive an incomprehensible Doctrine upon the Credit of a very plain and well attested Divine Revelation as well as we do and must do the same upon the Evidence of Natural Reason Especially considering the Subject of this incomprehensible Doctrine which is the Essence or Substance of God who is an Infinite Being and so must needs be incomprehensible by our finite Understandings by our Understandings I say which are so very shallow that I believe I may truly say we understand not the Essence or Substance of any thing For we understand not what is the Essence or Substance of Matter or Body tho' it be a thing that all our Senses are continually exercised about all that we know of it is some Properties or Accidents thereof that it is something but what we know not that has Figure and Dimensions that is hard soft fix'd fluid or the like And we understand no more but rather less what the Essence or Substance of our Soul is all that we know of it is that 't is something that thinks and because it thinks we know it must be something and because none of those Properties which we observe in Matter have any Relation at all to Thought we conclude that the thinking Soul is an immaterial Something tho' what is immaterial cannot be explain'd by us unless we could say what is material Seeing therefore as the Wise Hebrew speaks we do hardly guess aright at things that are upon Earth Wisd 9.16 and with Labour do find out the things that are before us is it any wonder that we cannot search out and fully know and comprehend the things that are in Heaven If we are not able to understand even our own Essence and how by an ineffable Union of Spirit with Matter the whole together becomes one Man is it any Wonder Job 11.7 that by all our Searching we cannot find out God that we cannot find out the Almighty unto Perfection And what hath been thus briefly said is I hope sufficient to shew that a Divine Revelation cannot reasonably be excepted against or refused only upon the Account of some Mysterious and Incomprehensible Doctrines that are therein contain'd And if not then I hope what was said before is enough to satisfie any considering Man that the Gospel is a true Divine Revelation To Conclude all therefore having Christ and his Apostles continually Preaching to us in the Books of the New Testament Jam. 1.21 22. Let us as the Text says hear them Let us Reverence these Sacred Writings as the Oracles of God and receive with Meekness the engrafted Word which is able to save our Souls But let us be Doers of the Word and not Hearers only deceiving our own selves For as the Apostle argues Heb. 11.3 c. If the word spoken by Angels was stedfast and every Transgression and Disobedience receiv'd a just Recompence of Reward How shall we escape if we neglect so great Salvation which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him God also bearing them witness both with Signs and Wonders and with divers Miracles and Gifts of the Holy-Ghost according to his own Will FINIS ERRATA IN Sermon IV. and V. page 14. line 23. for more read most p. 47. l. 12. for they r. be l. 27. for there r. them In Sermon VI. p. 5. l. 3. for him r. ber No Reason to desire NEW REVELATIONS A SERMON Preach'd at the CATHEDRAL-CHURCH of St. Paul October 7th
Power of working Miracles should cease too at least till such time as God should think fit to make some Alteration in or Addition to his former Revelations which we have good Reason to think he will never do or 'till he should please to undertake the Conversion of those Nations to the Christian Faith to whom the Knowledge of the former Miracles that had been wrought for its Confirmation could not be so well communicated by credible History as it is to us For as was hinted before Credible History is all the Proof and Evidence that we ever think reasonable to require in other Cases of the like Nature As for instance When a new Law is made concerning any Matter it is requisite according to the Custom of our Country that it should pass both Houses of Parliament and that the King should ratifie and confirm it and that afterwards it should be some way so published and promulged that all the Subjects that are then alive should have sufficient Assurance given them that such a Law is made But after this Law has been once so passed and ratified and promulged it is passed and ratified and promulged for ever and no Man is so unreasonable as to expect that every Parliament that is called afterwards should read and pass over again all the Laws that have been made before their Time or that every King that succeeds to the Throne should afresh ratifie and publish all the Laws that were made by all his Predecessors But all the Proof that we ever require of the Authority of any ancient Law is a true Copy of it and a good History or Record of its being made at such a time by such a King confirmed by the Tradition of all the intermediate Ages to our Time which have allowed of its Authority by citing it as a Law of the Land by Pleading from it and by giving Judgment according to it And he who will not allow of the same Proof and Evidence of the Authority of the Christian Institution so many hundred years ago established but would needs have new Miracles and new Revelations to confirm the former is every whit as unreasonable as that Criminal would be who being Indicted upon some Ancient Statute should refuse to plead to his Indictment upon Pretence that he knew not whether there was any such Law or not it being made if ever it was made long before his Time and there being none now alive that were present at the making of it Shew him the Law in the Statute Book why how does he know he 'd say but that the Printers had a mind to put a Cheat upon the Nation by Printing a Law of their own making as a Law made by some of our ancient Kings nay shew him the Original Record still he 'd say There have been abundance of Forgeries in the World and how does he know but that this is one The Record he 'd own perhaps looks like an Ancient Deed and has all the Marks of such Antiquity as it pretends to but after all 't is possible it may be and therefore he cannot be sure it is not a Forgery and 'till he is assured of this he will not plead to an Indictment that is grounded upon it But if the King and Parliament that now are will be pleased to declare that this is a good Law and if he himself may be allowed to be by when they shall declare it or if at least two or three Witnesses that he can trust shall testifie upon Oath that they were present when it was passed into a Law then he will allow it to be a good Law and after that will be content to suffer the Punishment of it if he shall ever again be a Transgressor Now what Man is there that would think this a reasonable Demand Or what Judge or Court would ever allow of such a Plea And yet as unreasonable as it is it is just the same with theirs who pretending to be more wise and cautious than their Neighbours will not allow of the same sort of Proof tho' indeed much better in its kind of the Truth of the Christian Religion but tho' we have as Authentick Histories as any are in the World such Histories as the greatest Adversaries of Christianity have not been able to say any thing to invalidate the Truth of which declare that Christ and his Apostles taught such and such Doctrines and wrought such and such Miracles to confirm the Truth of their Doctrine yet will not believe that the Doctrine of Christianity is true and Divine unless they may have special Messengers sent to them to declare a-fresh all the same things which the Apostles once did and those endued with a Power of working in their sight and presence the same Miracles over again that are said to have been formerly done by Christ and his Apostles to confirm the Testimony that they gave 2. The Unreasonableness of that Request which the Rich Man here makes in the Behalf of his Brethren viz. That God would make a new Revelation for their particular Conversion or in general The Unreasonableness of our now desiring fresh Revelations new Miracles or Apparitions of Men from the dead to confirm the Truth of those things which are already sufficiently proved to us by the Standing Revelation of the Gospel will further appear if we consider That to us who live now in Christian Countries other Grounds of Faith or stronger Motives to Repentance than we have already in the standing Revelation of the Gospel might be inconsistent with the Excellency of Faith might destroy the Virtue of Believing and might be too great a Force and Constraint upon us such as would in a manner take away our Liberty of Choice For there is no Virtue at all in Believing what we see there is no Praise or Thanks at all due for doing what we are driven or forced to do and for us who have already abundantly sufficient Grounds to believe and embrace Christianity to have fresh Miracles wrought every day before our own eyes such Miracles as we could not possibly doubt the Truth of to confirm those Doctrines which are already sufficiently confirmed would not be to persuade us but to force us to be Chistians so that then the State we are now in would not be as God designed it should be a State of Trial for the Trial of Wisdom is when there are some Reasons on both sides and he is the Wise Man who in that Case gives Judgment on that side on which the Reasons are strongest But against what I have now said perhaps it may be objected That the Evidence which we desire of the Truth of Religion is no more than we are told has been already given to some Men particularly to those who lived in our Saviour's and his Apostle's times and we can't see why it would be more inconsistent with the Nature of Faith and Religion now than it was then or how it would more destroy our Freedom
leads us to continue in the Religion we were first bred in such Proof as we always accept and allow of in other Cases of the like Nature is Proof strong enough And therefore much rather when we have as indeed we have a stronger and more uncontrouled Tradition for the Truth of the Gospel-History that of any History in the World besides we shall be inconsistent with our selves if we do not allow it to be sufficient So that upon the whole Matter considering the Prejudices both from Education and Interest which they lay under who lived in those Times when the Gospel was first reveal'd and preach'd even their own Eye-sight of some of those Miracles that were then wrought to confirm it was not more perswasive than is that good Assurance that we now have by credible and undoubted Records that such Miracles were then wrought The Proof they had consider'd in it self was indeed stronger than ours but considering our different Circumstances that Proof was not more apt or likely to convince them than that which we have given us is to convince and persuade us And if we had now the very same Proof and Demonstration of the Miracles wrought for the Confirmation of our Christian Religion viz. The Evidence of our own Senses this which was but sufficient to them might to us be such a Proof as would be in a manner a Force upon us such clear Demonstration meeting with no strong Prejudice or considerable Interest on the other side might be enough to over-power us so that we could not be Infidels if we would and then there would be no Virtue in Believing 3. The Unreasonableness of desiring more Proof of the Truth of Religion than God has been pleased to afford us by the Standing Revelation of the Gospel and particularly of desiring that God would be pleas'd to work new Miracles for our particular satisfaction or for the Conviction of some of our Friends that are not persuaded by the Gospel-Revelation will further appear if we consider the equal Right that all other Men have to desire the same and the many Inconveniencies and Absurdities that would follow in case all Men should be gratified in this Desire For as to the first of these viz. The equal Right that all other Men have to desire the same What Reason can I pretend for my Infidelity which another Man my not also as well plead for his Have not I as good Proof of the Truth of Religion as my Neighbour has Have not I as free Recourse to the Holy Scriptures as he and the same Evidence of the Truth and Divine Inspiration of them that he has And are we not also in all other Respects alike Being Born in the same Country and having had the same Education and consequently being probable to have the same Inclinations towards or the same Prejudices against or Aversion to the Christian Faith And if so what Reason can I plead for any extraordinary or peculiar Favour For is not he God's Creature as well as I And hath not God the same Tenderness and Regard for him that he hath for me and consequently the same Desire of his Welfare that I can suppose he hath of mine Why then should not God grant him this same Request whether in the Behalf of himself or his Friend as well as I can expect he should grant it me In a word Why may not every Man desire the same as well as I And why should not God grant it to all that desire it as well as to any one But now if God should do this see what Inconveniencies and Absurdities would follow thereupon One sort of Men would not believe unless they might see Apparitions If one went unto them from the dead they would repent And so for their sakes the World must be filled with Ghosts the Dead must never be at Rest in their Graves and the Souls in Bliss who once rejoyced in the thought of being for ever got clear out of a troublesome World must be content to gratifie these Men to leave their Place in Abraham's Bosome and to be deprived of the Beatifical Vision and the unspeakable Joys of Heaven as long and as often as any of these unreasonable Men are pleased to desire it But another sort of Men it may be there are that would not like this kind of Proof A transient Apparition of a Ghost they 'd look upon perhaps as a thing too liable to Cheat and Imposture they 'd therefore desire some more plain and sensible and permanent Miracles than this some such Miracles as those were which our Saviour and his Apostles wrought and if they could but see such they make no doubt but they should be convinced And so for their sakes and for their Conviction half the Men that are born into the World must be born Lame or Blind that so they may be afterwards Cured by Miracle for the satisfaction of these Men And a great many must be possessed with Devils and be grievously torn and tortured by them that these Men may have the Pleasure of seeing with their own Eyes the Evil Spirits cast forth and of observing how much more calm and sober the Men are after the Devil is gone out than they were before But even these Miracles 't is like would not satisfie all but some it may be would be apt to suspect that there might be some Trick or Collusion in them and that what they saw was done only by a Confederacy between the Physician and the Patient to amuse and deceive the Beholders and therefore what they it may be would desire for their particular satisfaction wou'd be to see a dead Man raised to Life again after he had been dead several Days and began to stink and such a Miracle as this they are sure would convince them And so for their sakes a great many Men must die two or three times over or much oftner because perhaps every time before they have been dead a Week some other Person that was not present before may have a desire to see with his own Eyes the same Experiment tried over again But even this Miracle also would perhaps be excepted against by some and nothing less would satisfie them than the very same Evidence which the Apostles themselves had who conversed with our Saviour for some years together and heard all his wise Discourses and saw all his Miracles and mighty Works and were present with him when he expired on the Cross and assisted at the laying his dead Body into the Sepulchre and within three Days after saw him alive again touched and handled him eat and drank with him and after they had thus several times by the Space of forty Days been by many Infallible Proofs assured of the Reality of his Resurrection saw him visibly taken up in his Body into Heaven They that had this they grant had very good Proof and Evidence of the Truth of the Christian Religion and had they but been of this
will be neither a Gainer nor a Loser but the Profit or the Damage will be all your own it is plainly your Interest as well as your Duty to give Credit to such Evidence as really and in it self is Credible and such I hope I have already shewn that to be which is given us of the Truth of Christianity and not to set your selves to cavil at it and to study Exceptions to it not to take upon you to prescribe to God Almighty and boldly to tell him what sort of Evidence he must give you or else you will not be satisfied Do not then stand in your own Light do not bring Destruction upon your selves when you may avoid it but give Ear to what Moses and the Prophets and Christ and his Apostles speak to you in the Holy Scriptures and hear them without Prejudice with a Mind ready to hearken to Reason and resolved to be persuaded by it and then what they will say to you will be abundantly sufficient to satisfie you for they say as much in this Case or more as by the common Voice and Reason of all Mankind is judged to be sufficient in all other Cases of the like Nature But if you are resolved not to be persuaded so long as there is any Possibility of Doubt or Scruple left if you are resolv'd not to Believe unless you may have just that very Evidence given you that you your selves are pleas'd to require if you will boldly and arrogantly take upon you to teach God as if he knew it not what Evidence he ought to give Men of the Truth of Religion and are resolved to find or make Exceptions against any other Look you to it For if God has done enough already he is under no manner of Obligation to do more more did I say Nay he needed not to have done so much for it was meer Grace and Favour in God that he has done so much as he has done that he has made us any Promises at all and given us any Assurance of the Truth of them And therefore for what he has done we ought to be thankful and not to find fault with him that he has done no more Such Impudence and Sauciness as this for I can call it by no better a Name from a Man to his Maker from a mean inconsiderable Creature to the Great Lord of Heaven and Earth is I 'm sure no proper Qualification to merit extraordinary and peculiar Favours For as our Saviour says to some in a like Case to some who formerly made the like unreasonable Demand that you now do Matth. 12.39 Mark 8.12 It is an Evil and Adulterous Generation that seeketh after a Sign and therefore there shall no Sign be given Verily I say unto you there shall no Sign be given to this Generation Let us then be content with that assurance which God has given us of the Truth of Religion for greater than this we shall not have 'till it be too late Let us thankfully accept of and readily comply with this and not expect or wait for more for God will not gratifie us in our unreasonable Desire He is resolved to deal with us as with Men to incline not to determine our Choice to persuade not to force us to be Happy And having already given us the Standing Revelation of the Gospel which is sufficient both to instruct and convince us and having prov'd the truth of this sufficiently to us he will not be making new Revelations or sending more Prophets Divinely inspir'd or working fresh Miracles every Day He has done enough already to satisfie our sober Judgments and he will not do every thing that we can think of to gratifie our wild and extravagant Fancies And there is the less Reason that he should do so because if the Ordinary Means which he uses for our Conversion do not succeed the Fault lies wholly in us And therefore 't is highly probable so certain that it need not be tried that any other means proper for God to use to reclaim us would be alike unsuccessful If they hear not Moses and the Prophets neither will they be persuaded tho' one rose from the Dead This is the last Reply that Abraham makes to the Rich Man's Request and it was the third of those three Points which I at first propounded to speak to but which I must reserve for the Subject of my next Discourse FINIS NEW REVELATIONS Would probably be UNSUCCESFUL A SERMON Preach'd at the CATHEDRAL-CHURCH of St. Paul November 4th 1700. BEING The Eighth for the Year 1700 of the LECTURE Founded by the Honourable Robert Boyle Esq By OFSPRING BLACKALL D. D. Rector of St. Mary Aldermary and Chaplain in Ordinary to His MAJESTY LONDON Printed by J. Leake for Walter Kettilby at the Bishop's Head in St. Paul's Church-Yard 1700. St. LUKE XVI 29 30 31. Abraham saith unto him They have Moses and the Prophets let them hear them And he said Nay father Abraham but if one went unto them from the dead they will repent And he said unto him If they hear not Moses and the Prophets neither will they be persuaded though one rose from the dead IN Discoursing on these Words I have already done these two Things I. I have shewn that the present Standing Revelation of God's Will in the Holy Scripture is abundantly sufficient to persuade Men to Repentance if they are not unreasonably blind and obstinate This is intimated in the first Verse of the Text They have Moses and the Prophets Christ and his Apostles let them hear them And II. I have likewise shewn that having already such good Grounds of Faith such full Directions for Practice and such strong Motives to Repentance it is unreasonable to desire more This was what the Rich Man had done at the 27th and 28th Verses and which he still continues to do in the 2d Verse of the Text even after Abraham had told him that the Standing Revelation of God's Will in the Holy Scripture was sufficient Nay Father Abraham but if one went unto them from the dead they will repent He says it positively they will repent He speaks it as a thing that no Doubt could be made of In Answer to which therefore Abraham tells him in the last Verse of the Text that that which he thought so very certain was not so much as probable If they hear not Moses and the Prophets neither will they be persuaded tho' one rose from the dead And this was the third Point I propounded to speak to in discoursing on these Words viz. III. To shew that in Case God should condescend to gratifie Men in this unreasonable Desire working every Day new Miracles before their Eyes or sending their deceased Friends to them from the Dead to assure them of a Future State and to warn them to prepare for it 't is highly probable that very few or none of those who do not believe and are not brought to Repentance by the Preaching and
his Grave and appear to them which was the very thing that the Rich Man here desires in the behalf of his Brethren as being in his Judgment the most powerful and so like to be the most effectual method to reclaim them when I say this was done by our Saviour in the presence of a great number so that the Truth of the Miracle could not be doubted and was not denied by any of them all the Effect that it had upon those obstinate and incredulous Men was only that it made them enter presently sooner perhaps than otherwise they would have done into a close Consultation to put to death both Jesus and Lazarus too Some Examples indeed it must be granted there are on the other side For we are told in Acts xi 41. of a great number about three thousand that believed upon the first Preaching of St. Peter and sight of that great Miracle the Gift of Tongues wherewith the Apostles were endued But then it may be considered that it was not the Miracle that convinced them I mean not that alone for many that were then present Verse 13. and heard the Apostles speaking with Tongues were so far from being persuaded thereby that they most falsly blasphemed that as they had done all our Saviour's Miracles before attributing the fruit of that most evident Power of the Holy Ghost to new Wine And it may be further noted that those who were persuaded by it were such as before they saw the Miracle were in a good Disposition to embrace that pure Religion that is taught in the Gospel or else that Miracle would not have persuaded them for the Persons convinced thereby were not of the Pharisees or unbelieving Jews that had rejected our Saviour before Verse 5. but they were Devout Persons Jews or Proselytes who had come at that Feast of Pentecost from other Parts of the World to Jerusalem to Worship and who had probably never heard of our Saviour before more than by uncertain Report but being well read in Moses and the Prophets and giving good heed to them were Converted more by the manifest Accomplishment of all the ancient Prophecies concerning the Messias in the Person of our Saviour than by the sight of that great Miracle This therefore being Matter of Fact and Experience what has been done and come to pass already that new Miracles have been generally unsuccessful upon such as have not regarded a Standing Revelation of God's Will we may reasonably infer that 't is highly probable if not certain that the same Experiment tried over again would have no better success The Summ of all therefore is this such as are as St. Luke says they were who were Converted by the Preaching and Miracles of the Apostles * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Predisposed or fitted for Eternal Life Acts 13.46 that is such as are modest and teachable who hear without prejudice and judge without Partiality and have no Interest of Sin or the World that stands in competition with their Desire to obtain everlasting Happiness such as enquire out the Truth with the same Indifference that a Traveller does his Way who has no Inclination to one Way more than to another but only desires to be directed right and is resolved to take that way which he is persuaded is the right tho' it should not prove so very clean and smooth and pleasant as he hoped it would such I say as are of this honest and docible mind will be persuaded by a good Reason especially if it be as good as the Matter is capable of tho' it falls short of Demonstration and if there be Reason or appearance of Reason on both sides they will judge on that side on which the Reasons seem most weighty and for the Conviction of such as these the Standing Revelation of the Gospel being so well proved as it is is abundantly sufficient so that such shall not need new Miracles or new Revelations And on the other side such as only do need them that is such as being of perverse Minds and stubborn Wills and devoted to Sin will not hearken to Moses and the Prophets nor to Christ and his Apostles speaking in the Scripture would very probably receive no Benefit from new Miracles or new Revelations For nothing will serve to convince those who will not be convinced at all no Arguments can be sufficient to persuade a Man to that which he is strongly prejudiced and fully resolved against And this being the Case of all those who do not hear Moses and the Prophets and Christ and his Apostles preaching to them in the Holy Scripture or are not persuaded by them we may well conclude with Abraham in the Text that any other means that might be used to reclaim them would most probably prove as ineffectual as this has been and that they would not be persuaded tho' one rose from the dead And now having shewn that the present Standing Revelation of God's Will in the Holy Scripture is sufficient to convince and persuade Men having also shewn that more Proof and Evidence than we have of the Truth of our Religion cannot reasonably be desired And having likewise shewn that any other Proof or Evidence thereof would probably be ineffectual upon those who will not hear Moses and the Prophets and Christ and his Apostles preaching to them in the Holy Scripture I have finished all that I proposed to do in discoursing on these Words I shall conclude all with an useful Exhortation first to Infidels who will not by all that has been said be persuaded to admit this divine Revelation and secondly to Christians who do receive it 1. To you who are yet Infidels if there are any such here as I hope there are not or if these Discourses shall happen to fall into the Hands of any such I beg leave to address my self in a few words And I would desire you in the first Place to prepare and dispose your Minds to hear gravely and without prejudice the Reasons that are offered to prove the Truth of Christianity by considering seriously the great Importance of Religion if it be true And if you do but consider this you will quickly see that it is well worth your while to be at some pains to satisfie your selves fully whether Religion be true or not For if Religion be true and you can't be sure it is not till you have well examined the Grounds and Proofs of it you have a great Concern at stake and in a Matter of such Moment it becomes not a Wise Man to be determined by a Jest or a Quibble And if you seriously consider the great Importance of Religion you will likewise readily see that of the two you had much better be mistaken in believing the Truth of Religion tho' it be false than in disbelieving it if indeed it be true so that consequently if it can ever be reasonable for a Wise Man to be under a Prejudice it would be most
may be if you propound them seriously you may convince us that we are in a mistake but we are now in too grave an Humour to be wrought upon by a Jest and how strong soever your Objections against Religion are by a light and trifling way of expressing them you will make them lose all their Force But indeed 3. To what purpose is it for you to make it your Business any ways or by any Arguments to endeavour to proselyte Men to Atheism and Infidelity For whether our Religion be true or false it is better for you as well as for all the World besides that it should be generally believed and that Men should think themselves obliged to live according to the Rules and Precepts of it You can't surely be so unacquainted with the World if you have lived any time in it or read any thing of History but that you must needs know that before the Principles of Atheism and Deism prevail'd so much as they have done of late Years there was a great deal more Truth and Justice and Honesty and fair Dealing in the World than there is now So that if you should succeed in your Endeavour if you should be able either to reason or to laugh Religion quite out of the World the most probable nay the most certain Consequence of it would be that when the Godly Man ceased Ps 12.1 2. the faithful would also fail from among the Children of Men that then they would speak Vanity every one with his Neighbour with flattering Lips and with a double Heart would they speak That then Strength would be the Law of Justice Wisd 2.11 and that which is feeble would be found nothing worth If therefore you have as you think perhaps you have found out the Cheat of Religion 't is your best Prudence however to keep your Discovery to your selves Delight your selves as much as you will with the Contemplation of your own Happiness above other Men in that you are now freed from the Terrors of Conscience and the Fears of another World by means of that notable Discovery which you have made of the Vanity of Religion please your selves as much as you will with thinking that are not now as others are tied to speak truth when 't is to your disadvantage to suffer any thing in this World for Conscience sake or to be just and honest in your Dealings when you can get considerably by Fraud and Oppression and can order the Matter so secretly as to safe from Discovery and consequently from all Shame and Punishment from Men But be the Advantage which you have gained to your selves by discovering the Cheat of Religion never so great yet the greater it is and the greater you think it so much the more cautious you ought to be not to make known to others what you have so happily discovered for when once others shall come to know as much as you think you do viz. That all Religion is a Cheat all your Advantage above them will cease they will then be all upon the same Terms with you they will then be all as much at Liberty to defraud oppress or otherwise injure you as you are now to defraud oppress or injure them You ought not therefore in Prudence to try to convince them of their Mistake tho' you were sure it was a Mistake for why should you make it your Business to cut in sunder those Cords of Religion by which they are now tied up from doing you mischief In a word either Religion is true and well grounded or it is not and which soever it be it is better both for them that do believe the Truth of it and for you also that they should continue in the Belief of it why then should you be at Pains only to do mischief For put Case first that Religion is vain and groundless it must be confessed however that it is of some present Advantage to them that do believe it because it serves to bear them up under the unavoidable Pains and Troubles and Misery of this Mortal Life with the comfortable Hope of a blessed Immortality and it will be no Disadvantage to them hereafter for when they are dead if indeed there be no Life after this they will be as if they had never been they will not be then in a Capacity of grieving for their Disappointment And it is also for your present Advantage that they that are mistaken in believing the Truth of Religion should continue in their Mistake because it makes them better to you in every Relation than they would otherwise be more Just and Merciful Governours more Loyal and Obedient Subjects more Loving Parents more Dutiful Children more Gentle Masters more Faithful Servants and more Just Honest and Loving Neighbours why then should you be at any Pains to Cure that Mistake if it be a Mistake which does them no harm but rather good and which is likewise so profitable for you Especially when you can't be so vain as to expect to merit Heaven if indeed there be no Heaven by your Zeal for the Truth of Atheism But if indeed Religion be true and you can't be sure it is not how deficient soever you may think our Proofs of it are as I shall not need to say that it will be better for them that believe it that they should persist in their Belief of it so I shall not need to say much to shew that it will in the Event be better for you that you should not endeavour to pervert them for certainly if there be a Hell they will be condemned to the hottest place in it who not only withdrew themselves from their Subjection to Almighty God and would not suffer him to reign over them but made it also their Business to corrupt others to form a Party against Heaven and to raise an Universal Rebellion against God These things and more to the like Purpose I would say to the Atheists if I thought they were here to hear me And I should not be without Hope that altho' what was said before in the foregoing Discourses was not sufficient to cure their Infidelity what has been now said might serve to convince them that it is the wisest Course to keep their Infidelity to themselves that how little soever they believe of the the Truth of Religion it is not Prudence to tell the World that they are Men of no Principles and consequently not fit to be employed or trusted that 't is not good Manners to make a Jest of Serious and Sacred things and to affront the common Reason and Judgment of Mankind and that 't is not for their Interest to endeavour to bring other Men over to their side because if none had more Religion than themselves they could not be near so safe and secure in their Rights and Possessions and in their Lives the only things they value as they now are But I do not think there are any here present concern'd in this
Part of my Discourse and therefore shall lengthen it no further Heb. 6.9 I am persuaded better things of you and things that accompany Salvation For your Presence here in the House of God and in the Assembly of Christians makes it reasonable to believe that you are already convinced not only of the Being and Providence of God but likewise of the Truth of the Christian Religion and of the Divine Inspiration and Authority of the Holy Scriptures 2. To you therefore who are Christians I shall now turn my Discourse Heb. 13.22 And I beseech you Brethren suffer the word of Exhortation it is only this Since you have Moses and the Prophets and Christ and his Apostles and believe that they are Messengers to you from God to instruct you in his Will receive the Truth and the Law at their Mouths mind what they say and be careful to follow their Directions in all things For even we who have the Scriptures the lively Oracles of God may perish for want of Knowledge as well as they that have them not unless we make that Use of them which they were given for unless we are diligent in reading them and careful to practise what they teach For the Rich Man spoken of in this Parable had the Scriptures but his meer having them did not keep him from Hell And his five surviving Brethren had likewise the Scriptures and yet were then in a fair way of following their Brother to that Place of Torment They had Moses and the Prophets but they did not hear them And this also may be our Case who have not only these but also Christ and his Apostles Preaching to us if we do not hear them for what Advantage can it be to us to have good Instructors if we will not mind what they say if we stop our ears to all their Counsels and Reproofs No Man was ever made a Scholar only by having a good Library in his Possession No Man ever learnt any Art or Science tho' it was never so well taught in any Book only by keeping the Book in his Chamber or carrying it about in his Pocket And as little shall we be the wiser only by having the Holy Scriptures tho' as the Apostle says they are able to make us wise unto Salvation 2 Tim. 3.15 if we do not read and study them with an honest Design to furnish our selves from thence with a stock of useful Knowlege and with a firm Resolution to lead our Lives according to the Directions which they give us Nay so far shall be from receiving any Advantage only by our having the Holy Scriptures given us and free Liberty allowed us to look into them a Privilege we of this Nation have above most of our Neighbours that if we do not read and study them it will be much the worse for us our Condemnation will be the greater and our Destruction so much the more certain For the Case of those who offend thro' Ignorance when their Ignorance is unaffected is very pitiable and tho' we can't certainly say how God will deal with those who had no clear Revelation of his Will made to them this we may be sure of that God who is a merciful God will deal mercifully with them John 15.22 If I had not come and spoken unto them says our Saviour they had not had Sin But the Case will be quite otherwise with those Luke 12.47 who knew their Master's will and did not do it They as our Saviour says shall be beaten with many Stripes And it will be all one if they did not know it if their Ignorance of it was occasioned by their own fault in neglecting those Means of Knowledge which God has afforded them And much rather if their ignorance of their Duty was affected and chosen that they might Sin with less disturbance of Mind for our Saviour's Judgment in this Case is very plain and and 't is his Judgment by which we must stand or fall to all Eternity Joh. iii. 19. This is the Condemnation that Light is come into the World and Men loved Darkness rather than Light because their Deeds were Evil. Having therefore Moses and the Prophets and also Christ and his Apostles continually Preaching to us in the Books of Holy Scripture let us hear them This is both our Duty and our Interest And that our study of the Scripture may be with good success and we may thereby be thoroughly furnished unto all good Work Let us Pray as we are taught by our Church in a most excellent Collect suited to the Subject I have been Discoursing of Collect for 2d Sunday in Advent Blessed Lord who hast caused all Holy Scriptures to be written for our Learning Grant that we may in such wise hear them read mark learn and inwardly digest them that by Patience and Comfort of thy Holy Word we may embrace and ever hold 〈◊〉 â—he blessed Hope of everlasting Life which thou hast given us 〈…〉 â—ur Jesus Christ Amen FINIS ERRATA Page 55. line 10. for some read same
less easie to conceive that a standing Revelation may be at once so contrived as to be for ever sufficient to direct Men in all Points of Practice Because altho' t is possible that every Age may afford new Instances of Wickedness yet the Law that they are all Transgressions of may be but one And the Rule once given is a perpetual Direction not only what to do but likewise what to avoid and this as well in those Instances of Wickedness which may be invented afterwards as in those which were in Practice before the Rule was made For he that giving Direction to a Traveller in his Way bids him keep strait forward shall not need if he speaks to a Man of Reason to tell him over and above that he must be careful to avoid all Turnings to the right hand or to the left and much less shall he need to give him a particular Account of every Turning that he is to avoid And tho' in Time to come there would be many more By-ways and Turnings out of the Road than there are at present yet the same one Direction to keep strait forward will be as full and as sufficient a Direction then as it is now And the Necessity that Humane Law-givers find themselves under to be every Day repealing former Laws and adding new Ones is not caused by an absolute Impossibility of making at once such a Body of Laws as might be sufficient for all after Times but arises as I suppose Partly from the Nature of Humane Laws which are for the most part Negative and Prohibitive only and by such a Law nothing is rendred unlawful but what is named and to name at once every thing that is then or may be in all after Ages needful to be prohibited would indeed be a Work of very great Difficulty Partly from the Nature of that Obedience that is due to a meer Humane Law which is only an external Obedience and to the Letter of the Law and that indeed must needs be a Law or a Body of Laws of a prodigious Bulk and very difficult to be contrived at once which in the Letter thereof shall comprehend and give Direction concerning every Action and every Mode of Action that are necessary to be done or forbore in order to the preserving Justice and Peace among Men Partly from the little Regard that Men generally have to the good of Posterity which makes them only careful to contrive such Orders and Constitutions as they hope will suffice to preserve Peace in their own time leaving it to those that come after to take the like Care for themselves in their Times Partly from the Weakness and Ignorance of the wisest of Men who not understanding exactly the Tempers of all their Subjects cannot know certainly what Effect their Laws will have till after they have been for some time experienced And partly from the unexpected Difficulty that is sometimes met with in the Execution of a Law which may make it necessary afterwards to enforce it with a greater Penalty or to take some further Care than at first was thought needful to see it executed But none of these Reasons of the Necessity of new Laws among Men are of any force to shew that it is also necessary that God should be every Day making new Declarations of his Will and that no Standing Revelation can be sufficient for all Times For the Laws of God are positive and commanding enjoining the truest and heartiest Love both to God and Men and every natural and proper Expression thereof and by consequence prohibiting every Affection of Mind and every outward Act that is contrary thereto whether it be expressly named or not And the Obedience that we owe to a divine Law is the Obedience of the Heart and of the whole inner Man such as looks beyond the Letter to the Design and Intention of the Law and avoids as carefully whatsoever is contrary to the Reason of the Law as if it had been forbidden in the most express Words And God being King for ever and ever has the same Relation to all Men in all Ages and cannot but be supposed to design the good Government of his Subjects in after as well as in former Times And he also understanding fully the Tempers of all his Subjects knows beforehand what Effect the Laws he gives them will have and can never be disappointed in his Expectation and so can never be obliged to repeal or alter any of his Laws by an unforeseen Experience that they are not so convenient or so effectual as he thought they would be And lastly He having all Power in his Hands and a soveraign and uncontroulable Dominion over all can appoint what Penalty he pleases to the Transgression of his Laws can at any time convict Transgressors by his own unerring Knowledge only and the Testimony of their guilty Consciences without other Witnesses and has it in his own single Power without any Help of others to execute when-ever he will whatever Penalty he threatens Thus I think it appears that a standing Revelation may be so well contrived as to be sufficient for all Times that all Matters necessary to be known and done by Men at all Times may be at once committed to Writing 2. But Secondly Tho' this be granted it may be still further objected against the Sufficiency of a Standing Revelation that it can hardly be sufficiently attested that there cannot be sufficient Evidence given to satisfie a Rational Man that any such Writing which is said to be of divine Inspiration and Authority is indeed so And that 1. Because there is no Way but Eye-witness to be sufficiently assured that any Book was written by the Person who is said to be the Author of it 2. Because there is no Way to be sufficiently assured that the Author of such a Book did not design to impose upon his Readers And 3. Because no Man can be sure that he himself was not deceived in his Opinion of his own Inspiration or of a Revelation made to him or in the Truth of any other Matter which he has related as of his own Knowledge 1. It may be said that there is no Way but Eye-witness to be sufficiently assured that any Book was written by the Person that is said to be the Author of it But that is very strange that there should be no other Way to be sufficiently assured of the Author of any Book and yet that there are a great many Books in the World ancient as well as modern the Authors whereof were never in the least doubted of who yet I suppose did not use to call together a Company of Men to stand by and see them write those Books which they intended to Publish It seems then that either there may be besides Eye-witness sufficient Reason to believe that a Book was written by the Person under whose Name it goes or else that all the World has been extremely credulous in receiving an infinite Number