been perverted by some men and scoffed at by others In all that I have done I have sincerely pursued after truth if I have any where mistaken I shall most readily and thankfully hearken to him who shall shew me my Error I do intend a second part in which I design to examine the objections which we find in the Jewish writers against the truth which I have defended in this first and against the Religion which Jesus taught I shall in that particularly consider their pretenses for their unbelief And they are such as these viz. That their law is of perpetual obligation that the promise of the Messias was conditional and the time of his coming not fixed that there are some Prophecies relating to the Messias and his times not fulfilled in Jesus c. I do very well know that there are in the Church of England a great number of men who are better sitted for such an undertaking than I am I should be so far from esteeming it a disappointment if any of them would prevent me in what I design farther that it would be matter of rejoycing to me And if what I have done already may be but an occasion to excite some other person to doe better I shall think my time well spent and be very well content that what I have here offered should be laid aside or overlooked The Contents of the several Chapters contained in this Book CHAP. I. Of the name Jesus That this name by which our Saviour was called and distinguished from other men is no objection against the Prediction Isa 7.14 The importance of the name Jesus In what sense our Lord is said to be a Saviour His Salvation compared with the deliverances mentioned in the Old Testament Of the word Christ Of anointing things and persons and the design of it Of the anointing of Jesus Some account of the Jewish constitutions about anointing with their holy Oil. pag. 5 6. CHAP. II. It is agreed between Jews and Christians I. That there was a Messias promised and II. That there was such a person as our Jesus and III. That there was at that time when Jesus lived a general expectation of the Messias That hence it was that there appeared so many Impostours about that time An account of some of them from Josephus Of the promises of the Messias and the gradual revealing of them A Passage in Maimon concerning the Afternoon-Prayer misrepresented by a late learned writer Several particulars relating to the Messias predicted pag. 42. CHAP. III. Of the birth of Jesus Of his lineage and kindred Of the place of his birth The seeming difference in the account of Bethlehem by the Prophet Micah and St. Matthew reconciled Of his being born of a Virgin A particular explication of 1. Tim. 2.15 She shall be saved in Child-bearing The time of his birth agreed with the predictions and general expectation of some great Person Several testimonies to this purpose The miserable shifts and evasions of the Jews pag. 58. CHAP. IV. That the Messias was to be a Prophet Deut. 18. v. 18. considered That our Jesus was a Prophet like unto Moses shewed in sundry particulars That the Messias was to converse much in Galilee according to the prediction Isa 9.1 2 3. That place more particularly considered That our Jesus did so Several other Characters of the Messias belonged to Jesus That the Messias as was predicted was to doe stupendious works pag. 87. CHAP. V. The works of Jesus Mat. 11.4 5. considered Of the miracles which Jesus did The vanity of the Jews in attempting to disparage them The opinion of Maimonides that the Messias would not work miracles considered and the Authour of Tractatus Theolog Polit. What a Miracle imports That the Messias was to work miracles proved against Maimonides That they are a good argument of the truth of a Doctrine That Jesus did work true miracles This proved at large pag. 105 106. CHAP. VI. The Miracles which Jesus did compared with those which were really wrought by the hands of Moses with the pretended ones of the Church of Rome and with those storied of Apollonius Tyanaeus and some other Heathens Of the sufficient assurance which we have that Jesus did those works which are reoprted of him pag. 161. CHAP. VII That the Messias according to the predictions of him was to suffer This proved against the Jews Of the vanity of their twofold Messias the Son of Joseph and the Son of David The reason why the Jews make use of this pretence That Jesus did suffer That he suffered those things which the Messias was to suffer Luk. 24.26 46. and Act. 3.18 considered Zech. 9.9 to be understood of the Messias this proved against the Jews at large Of the kind of Christ's death Crucifixion was none of the Jewish capital punishments Of the Brazen Serpent Numb 21. St. John ch 3.14 considered The Jewish Writers acknowledge that the brazen Serpent was symbolical and spiritually to be understood Of the time when Jesus suffered that it did exactly agree with the type of the sufferings of the Messias A large digression concerning this matter Exod 12.6 considered Castalio justly censured for his ill rendring that place Of the two Evenings among the Jews The ground we have for it in the Scriptures The testimony of R. Solomon Of the practice of the Jewish Nation as to the time of offering their evening Sacrifice and the Passeover This shewed from their best Authours An objection from Deut. 16. v. 6. answered Jesus died at that time when the Paschal Lamb was to be slain Of the place and many other particulars relating to the sufferings of Jesus Of the great causes and reasons of the sufferings of Jesus Of the Burial of Jesus pag. 191 192. CHAP. VIII Of the Resurrection of Jesus That we have sufficient evidence that Jesus did rise from the dead That we have the most unexceptionable humane Testimony Why the same number of men are called the eleven and the twelve elsewhere when they were but Ten John 21.14 Explained This confirmed by the Testimony of an Angel and by Divine Testimony That Jesus removed all cause of doubting of the truth of his Resurrection That there were a select number of Men chosen to be witnesses of the Resurrection of Jesus That these witnesses as also the Evangelists are worthy of belief That it was foretold that the Messias should rise from the dead The words Ps 11.5 This day have I begotten thee are justly applied to this matter This proved against the Jews at large That Jesus rose from the dead is an undeniable proof that he is the Messias and of the greatest importance to us Of the time when Jesus rose from the dead Why on the third day And how he could be said to rise on the third day who was but one whole day in the Sepulchre and how this agrees with Matt. 12.40 where Jesus said he should be three days and three nights in the heart of the
weak and very unlikely means This He did and none but He could doe and and therefore this is a sufficient proof that the Gospel comes from God and that that Jesus whom we Preach is the very Christ 2. Nor yet was the Gospel propagated by force of Arms as the Religion of Mahomet hath been which has made its way in the world by the dint of Sword But Christianity was not thus planted it denounced no War to those that refused it it gave out no menaces to that purpose This it neither did nor would nor could it do The Senate of Rome shall not need fear the Galileans Sword Jesus sent abroad no fighting men there is no Horse prepared for this battel no Spears or Bows These are the Servants of the Prince of peace who are so far from War that they come to require the nations to learn War no more and to beat their Swords into Plough-shares and their Spears into Pruning hooks The Gospel had no potent Princes or States that favoured it that stood up for its defence and maintenance there were none of these powers that took upon them the Title of Defenders of the Faith Nay and they were so far from doing it that they were its avowed enemies and drew their Sword against it So that the first Preachers came naked and unarmed into a furious and potent and idolatrous world Preaching the Gospel of peace and the severe Religion of a crucified Jesus The armour they had was Spiritual and an Armour of light an armour which the victorious Romans had neither used nor yet feared They were girt about with truth that was all their military girdle They put on the breast-plate of righteousness the shield of faith and the helmet of salvation and the sword of the spirit which is the word of God and had their feet shod with the preparation of the Gospel of peace Eph. 6. These were the armour of the first Preachers of the Gospel and who could expect that they should with these overcome mighty Kingdoms and Provinces And yet with these preparations did they succeed and overcome the greatest nations and brought them into the obedience of the Gospel Let us hear what the Apostle says to this purpose We do not War says he after the flesh for the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds casting down Imaginations and every high thing that exalteth it self against the knowledge of God and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ 2 Cor. 10.3 4 5. This is evident then that they did not force the Gospel upon the world they did not convey it by the Sword or Battel-bow they neither did nor could do this and yet for all this it succeeded and conquered aye and triumph't also over all the power the policy the strategems of the Devil and all his instruments And got that ground without blows and force which it had never gotten with it To what then must this victory be imputed Not to the Pike and Sword but to the energy and force of Truth and to the mighty blessing and miraculous providence of God It was God that brought this to pass which men could never have done And this is a sufficient Evidence that this Religion comes from God Had it been a lye it could never have had that success by these unlikely means had it been from the Devil or the World sure it would have made use of the instruments and strategems of War to have made room for it in the world But that which is from God needs none of these assistances and helps And this doubtless is a very good argument of the truth of the Christian Religion that it did not make its way by the power of the Sword nor was it preserved that way The Religion of Mahomet indeed spread far but it was by the help of these carnal weapons To the instruments of War and the dissensions and back-slidings of Christians under God's permission it own much if not most of its success Nay what was it else that did uphold Idolatry but the instruments of War and slaughter False Religions are forced to use this force and violence which the truth which comes from God and hath his blessing does not need The pure and undefiled and primitive doctrine of the Gospel did not use nor yet need these aids Indeed the Apostatized Church of Rome which hath falsely called her self the Catholick Church since she left the true Faith of the Gospel hath betaken her self to these carnal weapons And 't is easie to know the cause of it also For when she wanted the evidence of truth she then was fain to run to the power of the Sword By this Sword she cut asunder those knots she was not able to untie And whom she could not confute she would condemn to the fire and fagot The Secular Power must be called in to uphold her grandeur and power St. Peter's Keys are not sufficient unless she unsheath his Sword she is now bolstered up by the powers of this world and when she wants aid from the sword of the Spirit she will derive it from the Sword of Princes Her proceedings shall need to be no objection against what I have said Who though she call herself the Catholick Church is very far from deserving that name and hath rather shewed herself by these her actions the Synagogue of Satan than the Church of Christ she hath declared her cause to be bad which could not be maintained and upheld without the assistance of Secular force The first planters of the Gospel used none of these weapons We read of none they burned for Hereticks no Common-wealths interdicted for hindring their worldly greatness no Navies or Armies raised against those that would not acknowledge them as their Superiours These have been the pitifull arts of that unclean Church of Rome which is an argument that however she vainly boasts her self Catholick yet she does not shew her self in these things at all Christian For the Church of Christ never got its growth by these carnal weapons 3. It was propagated by sufferings by patient enduring of tribulations Prayers and Tears were the onely weapons of the Primitive and undefiled Church of Christ The Bloud of Martyrs was that fruitfull feed that did so strangely increase and multiply Which is an argument that Jesus was the Christ and this Religion came from God Had it been otherwise it had not been possible but those first persecutions had quite rooted it out of the world Had it not been of God it must needs have so fallen out We see in the greatest Rebellions how soon they are stopped when the chief Heads and Leaders are taken and punished This puts an end to any Insurrection or Confederacy And so would it have done by Christianity also had it not been from Heaven and been accompanied with truth and righteousness So that fire and sword cannot vanquish it prisons and
nature and the combined power of all second causes And upon this account we may presume these works are called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the New Testament and our Saviour said to be declared the Son of God with power 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 2. That the effect be viâ—â—ble and discernible Without this they can be of no effect to us at all And where miracles are brought as a proof of something else there is great need they should be very evident and apparent Our Saviour's words to John's disciples imply no less They came to know whether he were the Christ or not Matt. 11.4 5. Jesus answered and said unto them go and shew John again these things which ye do hear and see The blind c. Our Saviour dealt sincerely with them and appeals to their senses in the case Shew John those things which ye do hear and see A miracle which is brought to prove a doctrine or doubtfull question had need be more clear than the question is which it is brought to prove And therefore when it is considered as a proof of something else it is necessary that it should be it self very evident and plain For that cannot be judged a good Medium to prove the question by which is not more evident than the question it self Our Saviour's works are brought by him as a proof of the truth of his doctrine Miracles would in this case signifie nothing if they were not very evident The Jews have a proverb to this purpose Buxtorf Lexicon Rabbin 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 they say of a man that brings an insufficient proof that his surety wants a surety He that is surety for another had need to be of good credit himself Hence it is that these miraculous works in the New Testament are so frequently called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. signs And those things which are signs of something had need be more plain and discernible than the things which they signifie and represent and which they are brought to prove Thus are these works frequently called in the New Testament Joh. 2.11 23.3.2.20.30 And in the Old Testament they are expressed by words of the same import and though those words of themselves do not imply a miracle Such among the Hebrews are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of which see Abravenel on the Pentat f. 138. co 4. yet they are to be considered according to the subject matter and when they are applied to this purpose they do imply that the miracle must be very evident and clear For the effect can carry no conviction with it if it be not discernible They would have had no reason to believe our Saviour upon the account of his works had they not been visible in their effects He may be presumed to be raised from the dead who by the actions of a living man is able to convince the standers by 'T is a vain thing to pretend a miracle is wrought when no man is able to discern the change of things Jesus turned water into wine Joh. 2.11 This beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee and manifested forth his glory and his disciples believed on him But had the water retained the taste and colour of water and not of wine he had neither manifested his glory nor would his disciples have been moved upon this account to have believed on him But the change was so discernible that the Governour of the feast perceived it by its taste ver 9. Indeed the Church of Rome pretends in the Doctrine of Transubstantiation that the bread and wine in the Sacrament are substantially changed after consecration and yet no man living can discern any such change at all Durandus tells us that there are in that change no less than eleven miracles Durand Rational Divin Offic. l. 4. c. 21. of which no express reason can be given I do not think it worth my while to reckon them up after him Sure I am we have no reason to believe any such thing And 't is a vain and foolish thing to vaunt of so many miracles when there is no appearance of any one and 't is a very unreasonable thing that the Church of Rome should oblige us to believe a miracle which we are not able to discern A miracle which convinceth us of the truth of a Doctrine must be the object of sense it must be seen or felt or discernible some such way And 't is a vain thing to call upon us to believe that which is the motive and ground upon which we believe something else I shall as soon believe a dead man raised to life who yet lies in his grave without either breath or motion as much as the earth in which he lies or that a blind man is perfectly cured who yet hath recovered no sight at all as to believe that to be flesh and bloud which all my senses tell me are bread and wine The miracles which Christ did were wrought that men might believe not the miracles for them they saw but that he was the Christ the Son of God He requires men to believe him and his doctrine for the sake of his works But the Church of Rome would have us believe not onely a doctrine which is not revealed but a miracle also not to say more than one which is not discernible by any of our senses We must believe a miracle though we do not see it and be condemned for Hereticks if we do it not Such a Faith so Catholick and large an one does the Church of Rome require A faith which I am sure we shall never attain unto till that time come which God of his mercy prevent that we are given up to believe a Lie In the mean while we have just reason to believe the doctrine false when we find the miracle a mere pretence And 't will be time enough to believe this doctrine of Transubstantiation when we are able to discern a substantial change I shall prove that the Messiah was to work miracles when he came into the world And this I am obliged to doe because our Saviour appeals to his works as a good proof that he was the Christ the Son of God Indeed Maimonides as I intimated before denies that the Messias was to work miracles But this is not the sense of the Jewish Nation but an opinion that the Jews fly to for refuge For when they are not able to deny the matter of fact they are forced to say that the Messias was not to doe any miracles at all That Jesus lived and that he did wonderfull works they are not able to deny but then the obstinate Jew that cannot deny the works of Jesus yet will affirm that the doing of such works was not a sign or character of the Messias in whose time we are not to look for miracles I shall consider the truth of this pretence And 1. 'T is very certain
of Jordan when the Holy Ghost at his Baptism descended upon him 'T will be easie now to understand what Christ imports For that word denotes the offices of our blessed Saviour to which he was appointed by God and enabled to discharge by the Holy Ghost which was plentifully poured out upon him And as of old publick persons were set apart to their respective offices and dignities by being first anointed with a certain Oil prescribed for that purpose so was our Lord sanctified and fitted to teach and govern the Church of God to be the great mediatour between God and man and the redeemer of mankind by the Holy Ghost which he plentifully received Joh. 3.34 And he that confesses that Jesus is the Christ does thereby acknowledge him to be his Prophet Priest and King and is consequently obliged by virtue of that profession to obey his laws and give himself up to his government as well as to hope for pardon from his bloud God hath made it very plain that our Jesus is the Messias that was promised Who is a Liar says St. John but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ 1 Joh. 2.22 This was that great truth that the Jews opposed vehemently They agreed that if any man confessed him to be Christ he should be put out of the Synagogue What hath been said will be of use to the better understanding the words of St. John Ye have an unction from the holy one and ye know all things 1 Joh. 2.20 He puts Christians in mind of that affusion of the Holy Ghost which he calls the Vnction from the holy one which God hath bestowed on them according to Christ's promise This Holy Ghost did lead them into all truth and the plentiful effusion of this Spirit did bear a clear testimony that Jesus was the true Messias and that the doctrine which he taught came from God This Holy Spirit was the defence which those Christians had against being seduced As it follows These things have I written unto you concerning them that seduce you But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you and ye need not that any man teach you but as the same anointing teacheth you all things and is truth and is no lie and even as it hath taught you ye shall abide in him 1 Joh. 2.26 27. I shall onely add that from Christ we are all called Christians and that blessed name ought to influence our practice 'T is a great thing to be a Christian 'T is a dignity and honour to the greatest among us and the best of all our titles We may well glory in this blessed name and value it above all our other titles and properties But then we must remember what this name requires at our hands When we name the name of Christ we are obliged to depart from all iniquity Let us consider how well this name becomes us Are we like our blessed Saviour have we that unction from the holy one Does the spirit of Jesus dwell in us If that Holy Spirit be not in us ' we have a name to live and are dead we may fondly conceit what we please of our selves but if any man have not the spirit of Christ he is none of his Rom. 8.9 CHAP. II. The CONTENTS It is agreed between Jews and Christians I. That there was a Messias promised and II. That there was such a person as our Jesus and III. That there was at that time when Jesus lived a general expectation of the Messias That hence it was that there appeared so many Impostours about that time An account of some of them from Josephus Of the promises of the Messias and the gradual revealing of them A Passage in Maimon concerning the Afternoon-Prayer misrepresented by a late learned writer Several particulars relating to the Messias predicted THus having shewed what is meant by Jesus and what by Christ I come next to shew you that our Jesus whom the Jews crucified is the Christ or Messias And before I proceed to consider the several arguments that do confirm this truth I shall premise the following particulars First that there was a Messias promised in the old Testament is not onely affirmed by the Christians but granted by the Jews There is no dispute about this matter Secondly that there was such a person as Jesus that he lived at such a time as we say he did and died as the Gospels report is not denied by the Jews They often mention him in their writings though with scorn and disdain they speak of the time and manner of his death and the names of his Disciples and they are far from denying the matter of fact Thirdly that when Jesus did appear in the world there was a great expectation of the Messias among the Jews Thus we read of Simeon's waiting for the consolation of Israel Luk. 2.25 And that Simeon was no mean person he was the Son of Hillel the great and a man of great place among the Jews Again one Anna a Prophetess a devout and aged Widow who served God with fastings and prayers night and day spake of him to all them that looked for redemption in Jerusalem v. 38. The Woman of Samaria had heard of this fame and general expectation of the Messias among the Jews at that time and that he should be a great Prophet I know says she that Messias cometh which is called Christ when he is come he will tell us all things Joh. 4. 25. Hence the Jews at that time being under a general expectation of the Messias were very prone to take others for him that did then appear And because John Baptist was a man of great vertue and fame and that was greatly followed by the people and that in the very time when the Messias was expected Casaubon Exercit. ad Apparat Baronii Annal. n. 5. they sent Priests and Levites to know who he was Joh. 1.19 That is to know whether or no he were the Messias as appears from what follows And he confessed and denied not but confessed I am not the Christ v. 20. And there have been those that have thought that Herod was by some taken for the Messias also by them who upon that score are called the Herodians in the Gospel I shall not need to dispute that so much is certain that the Jews did expect the Messias at that time And I shall afterwards shew what ground they had so to doe It shall be enough at present to add that as there was a general expectation of the Messias about that time so there were a great number of Impostours that took that occasion to delude the people and draw followers after them Gamaliel names two Theudas and Judas of Galilee Act. 5.36 37. Josephus gives us a farther account of these men He tells us that under the government of Fadus Antiqu. l. 20. c. 2. a certain Magician called Theudas perswaded a great number to follow him to the river Jordan pretending himself
was predicted was to doe stupendious works I Shall now pass on to the Life of Jesus and see whether that agree with what was predicted of the Messias And under this head I shall insist upon the following particulars First that the Messias was to be a Prophet like unto Moses To this purpose we read what God said unto Moses I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren like unto thee and will put my words in his mouth and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him Deut. 18.18 This promise is deservedly applied unto Jesus Act. 3.22 7.37 Maimonides lays it down as a rule Maimon fundam leg c. 10. Sect. 9. that the Prophet of whom another Prophet hath testified is to be presumed a Prophet and needs not to be examined And then this testimony of Moses their greatest Prophet must needs be very worthy of regard since it can belong to none as will appear afterwards so peculiarly as to our Blessed Saviour who made it appear that he was that Prophet which was promised in those words And we find our Saviour appealing to the writings of Moses when he preached the things concerning himself Luk. 24.27 44. And he lets the Jews know that the writings of Moses will condemn them Do not think says he that I will accuse you to the Father there is one that accuseth you even Moses in whom ye trust For had ye believed Moses ye would have believed me for he wrote of me But if ye believe not his writings how shall ye believe my words Joh. 5.45 46 47. It is very evident that the Jews looked for a Prophet at that time Joh. 1.21 And the woman of Samaria intimates no less Joh. 4.25 And the Jews confess that he was of a truth that Prophet that should come into the world Joh. 6.14 And this general expectation of a Prophet at that time must be grounded upon the promise of God Juchasin fol. 14. for so it was as the Jewish writers confess that after the death of Haggai Zechary and Malachy Prophecy ceased And that it should revive again among them they had no ground to believe but what they had from the divine promise And these words Deut. 18. are a very express promise of it when Prophecy had ceased so long a time yet they are assured that God would raise them up a Prophet Now our Saviour was that Prophet And he gave great proofs that he was a Prophet He taught the will of God and spake as never man spake and did mightily exceed the Scribes in his discourses who were a sort of men that came the nearest to the Prophets Mat. 7.29 We find our Lord preaching his Sermon on the Mount Matt. 5. declaring the acceptable year of the Lord Luk. 4.19 He spake to the wonder of his hearers with great authority and assurance with a mighty power and great conviction And whereas the Prophets were wont to say Thus saith the Lord Our Saviour hath it I say unto you not like an ordinary Prophet but like the great Shepherd and Bishop of our souls 1 Pet. 5.4 Heb. 13.20 1 Pet. 2.25 He farther shewed himself a Prophet as he foretold things to come And this he did frequently and the things came to pass and he appeared to be a true Prophet Thus he foretold the denial of Peter Matt. 26.75 the treachery of Judas Joh. 6.70 71. his own death and resurrection Matt. 16.21 Aye and after that the destruction of the Temple and the Jewish Nation with the calamities that should go before it Mat. 24. And the false Christs that should arise of which there have been considerable numbers from time to time He tells the Jews that though they did not receive him who came in his Father's name yet says he If another shall come in his own name him ye will receive Joh. 5.43 The poor Jews have wofully experimented the truth of those words of our Saviour having been imposed upon by Impostours from time to time to their great loss and mischief as I shall have occasion to shew more at large afterwards Thus did our Saviour make it appear that he was a true Prophet in that his predictions were answered by the event of things Maimon fundam leg c. 10. Sect. 2. And Maimonides himself lays this down as the test of a true Prophet that what he foretells comes to pass But he was not onely a Prophet but a Prophet like unto Moses also whose great Anti-type he was Moses is greatly magnified by the Jewish writers Maimon fund leg c. 7. and placed above the other Prophets And it is expresly said that there arose not a Prophet since in Israel like unto Moses whom the Lord knew face to face Deut. 34.10 And therefore it is a vain thing to look for this Prophet that was to be like unto Moses among the Prophets that succeeded Moses while the spirit of Prophecy continued in Israel But our blessed Saviour was like unto Moses in very many particulars If Moses were to be put to death as soon as he was born by the command of Pharaâ—h so was our Saviour by the command of Herod If he were forced to fly his countrey to save his life so was Jesus also If Moses fasted forty days and nights so did Jesus also If he were meek Jesus was meek and lowly in heart If Moses appeared when the Israelites were under the bondage of Egypt so did Jesus when they were under the Roman power If Moses gave his law from a Mountain our Saviour preached his Sermon on a Mount If Moses had his seventy Elders Jesus had his seventy Disciples If Moses were rejected and murmured at by his own people our Saviour came unto his own and his own received him not If Moses trampled on Pharaoh's Crown and despised the pleasures of his Court our Saviour refused to be made a King and despised all the glory of this world As the face of Moses did shine so did the face of Jesus Compare Ex. 34.35 with Matt. 17.2 And as Pharaoh designed the death of the males among the Hebrews that he might destroy the deliverer of that people so did Herod destroy them about Bethlehem As Moses returns into Egypt upon the death of those who sought his life so does Jesus into his Countrey upon the death of Herod But there are other things in which our Jesus was like unto Moses Viz. In his more clear and open converse with the divine Majesty Vid. Abravenel in legem fol. 417. col 3. Thus one of the Jewish writers tells us that Moses saw clearly 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 not parabolically and aenigmatically And God tells the Israelites thus If there be a Prophet among you I the Lord will make my self known to him in a vision and will speak unto him in a dream My servant Moses is not so with him will I speak mouth to mouth even apparently and not in dark speeches and the similitude of
preached unto them Matt. 11.4 5. He did such works as none could doe without the divine assistance and those very works also which the Messias was to doe according to the predictions of him when he came into the world But this argument requires a more particular consideration CHAP. V. The CONTENTS The works of Jesus Matt. 11.4 5. considered Of the miracles which Jesus did The vanity of the Jews in attempting to disparage them The opinion of Maimonides that the Messias would not work miracles considered and the Authâ—ur of Tractatus Theolog Polit. What a Miracle imports That the Messias was to work miracles proved against Maimonides That they are a good argument of the truth of a Doctrine That Jesus did work true miracles This proved at large THE words which I named before Matt. 11.4 5. deserve a farther consideration as they do very much confirm the truth which I am now insisting upon And to that purpose it will be well worth our while to consider the occasion of those words as well as the design of our Saviour in speaking them at that time We find that John Baptist the forerunner of our blessed Saviour who was himself confined to a prison sent two of his Disciples when he heard of the works of Christ to know whether or not he were the Messias who was to come or whether they were to expect some other Art thou he that should come or do we look for another v. 3. It is not to be supposed Hieron Epist Algasiae Quaest 1. that John Baptist was ignorant whether Jesus were the Christ or not for he knew him before this time and knew him to be the Messias also He had seen the spirit descend from heaven like a Dove and abiding on him He saw and bare record that he was the Son of God Joh. 1.32 34. He baptized Jesus in Jordan Matt. 3.15 And it is expresly said Joh. 3.24 that John was not cast yet into prison And we find him presently after those words testifying of Christ v. 28. John Baptist knew him well even before he baptized him Joh. 3.14 It could be no new thing to hear of the fame of Jesus he himself having foretold that his fame would spread Joh. 3.30 He had been questioned who he was and had confessed that he was not the Christ but his forerunner Joh. 1.20 23. And when he saw Jesus walking he called him the Lamb of God Joh. 1.36 From all which it is abundantly evident that John Baptist did not send to inform himself but upon the score and for the sake of his Disciples His Disciples wanted confirmation in that truth which their Master was well assured of There was among the Jews a fond expectation that their Messias would appear like a Temporal Prince Act. 1.6 and deliver the Jews from servitude and slavery they expected to be great men and no longer in bondage to any foreign power That their Messias should sight their battels and vanquish their enemies round about them Maimon H. Melach c. 11. This was the expectation of the Jews then and the later Jews have been of the same belief Now was John Baptist the forerunner of Christ in Prison and would shortly be beheaded there His Disciples might hereupon be tempted to doubt whether Jesus were the Christ or not for they that expected a temporal Prince would hardly believe that he would suffer his chief Minister and forerunner to be not onely detained in Prison but cut off by the hands of violence Hence John Baptist sends his Disciples when he himself was in Prison v. 2. He sends them when they most needed to be confirmed in the faith for the imprisonment and following death of their Master would be apt to make them question whether Jesus were the Messias or they not still to look for another It is likewise to be considered that John Baptist lays hold of the fittest opportunity of sending his Disciples for their greatest satisfaction His being in Prison implies that they needed a confirmation in the faith but then the tidings of the works which Christ did seems to be the occasion of sending the Disciples at a time when they were like to receive the utmost satisfaction which could be desired And no less seems to be implied in the second verse of this Chapter Now when John had heard in the prison the works of Christ he sent two of his disciples And for the message he sent them on it was of the greatest moment Art thou he which should come or do we look for another v. 3. i. e. Art thou the Messias that was promised to come among us or must we expect him to come still It is very usual to express the Messias by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he that was to come For he was promised long before under this expression of one that should in due time come among them The Sceptre shall not depart from Judah untill Shiloh come Gen. 49.10 Again Be strong fear not behold your God will come Isa 35.4 Again Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord Matt. 21.9 Joh. 12.13 Heb. 10.37 And agreeably hereunto the time of the Messias is called the kingdom and the world to come Mark 11.10 Hebr. 2.5 and chap. 6.5 Christ was the great hope and expectation of Israel They promised themselves very justly glorious things from his manifestation The woman of Samaria could say I know that Messias cometh which is called Christ when he is come he will tell us all things Joh. 4.25 Let us now consider the answer which Jesus returned unto this question of John Baptist's Disciples He refers them to his works for satisfaction It was upon the occasion of the works which Jesus did that John Baptist sent his Disciples v. 2. and when they come we find that Jesus refers them to the works which he did Jesus answered and said unto them go and shew John again those things which ye do hear and see The blind receive their sight and the lame walk the lepers are cleansed the dead are raised up and the poor have the gospel preached unto them v. 4 5. John Baptist had born witness of Christ before he does not send them back to their Master but refers them to his works Ye sent unto John says our Saviour to the Jews and he bare witness unto the truth Joh. 5.33 but then our Saviour adds v. 36. But I have greater witness than that of John for the works which the father hath given me to finish the same works that I doe bear witness of me that the father hath sent me His works then were a good proof that he was what he professed himself to be the Christ the Son of God Nicodemus could not but confess that no man could doe the miracles which he did except God were with him Joh. 3.2 And many of the Jews could not but say When Christ cometh will he doe moe miracles than these which this man hath done Joh. 7.31
should get that name into his possession and be skilled in it would be able to doe what he pleased That their Wise-men fearing lest any of the israelitese should get that name and destroy the world made two Dogs of brass and placed them at the door of the Sanctuary That whenever any had gone in and learnt that name these Dogs were wont at their coming out to bark so terribly that they forgat the name and the letters which they had newly learnt But say they Jesus of Nazareth went in and did not onely learn the letters of this name but wrote them in a Parchment which he hid as be came out in an incision which he had made in his flesh And though through the barking of the Dogs he had forgot the name yet he learnt it afterwards from his Parchment By virtue of this name say they Jesus restored the lame healed the leprous raised the dead walked himself upon the Sea By this account it appears that the Jews did not deny the matter of fact for that Jesus did the works is confessed on all hands and so much we may gain from this fabulous narration There is nothing else in it worthy the notice of a wise man But still there is another opinion to be found among the Jews of after-times and it was this That the Messias when he came was not to work miracles and that therefore the working miracles was not to be any mark and character of the true Messiah Nor is it strange that when the Jews were not able to deny the matter of fact that they should betake themselves to these fond opinions Maimon H. Melac Milch c. 11. Maimonides tells us that we must not think that the Messiah shall work signs and miracles that he shall innovate in the things of this world or raise the dead But that the law of Moses should endure for ever and that the Messiah shall meditate in that law and compell the Israelites to observe it and that he shall manage the Lord's battels and overcome the people that are round about him The truth of this doctrine of his shall be considered in its due place I onely produce this to shew how unwilling the Jews are to allow of this argument which we draw from the works which Jesus did and how unable they are in the mean time to deny the matter of fact Besides these fond and evil opinions there is still another advanced by a late Authour and directly levelled against the force of our Saviour's argument and 't is this Tractat. Theolog. Politic. c. 6. That nothing happens in nature that is repugnant to its universal laws nor any thing which doth not agree with them or follow from them He hath also the confidence to affirm That the name of a miracle can onely be understood with respect to mens opinions and that it signifies nothing more than a work the natural cause of which we are not able to explain exemplo alterius rei solitae or at least he is not able to explain it that writes or reports the miracle And that therefore a miracle is a mere absurdity And that those things which the Scriptures truly report to have happened fell out according to the laws of nature and if any thing else evidently repugnant to the laws of nature be reported or which cannot follow from them that it is to be believed that these things were added to the Scripture by sacrilegious men This wicked principle is sufficiently refuted by our Saviour's words who makes the works which he did an argument of the truth of what he said And sure if he did no work but what other men did or might doe and what agreed with the laws of nature his works would have been a very mean proof of his coming from God He that believes God to be cannot think him confined by the laws of nature However these laws conclude the creature they do not bind the hands of the great Creatour of the Universe No man can affirm what the above-named Authour does unless he be an Atheist or an Apostate He must be a man forsaken by his reason that discourses at this rate or given over for his wickedness to believe a lie What do such abhorred principles aim at but at the subversion of Christianity And if they were guilty of the unpardonable sin against the Holy Ghost who affirmed our Saviour's miracles to have been wrought by the power of the Devil what shall we think of them who dare affirm that he wrought none at all Having premised these things I shall now proceed to shew that our Saviour's miracles were a good proof of his doctrine and that he was the Messias who was to come into the world And for my better proceeding First I shall shew what I mean by Miracles Secondly I shall prove that the Messias was to doe Miracles Thirdly That they are a good argument of the truth of a Doctrine Fourthly That our Saviour's were true and unexceptionable Miracles Fifthly I shall consider what may be objected against what I shall offer upon this weighty argument I shall shew what I mean by Miracles For there are cheats and impostures and every thing is not a miracle that passeth for such We may be imposed upon by our ignorance and credulity and by the craft of others There are many things which are admired and are very strange and infrequent which are not miracles Our admiration many times speaks onely our own ignorance And many things there are which are but the effects of natural causes which we have been apt to think the effect of a supernatural one It does by no means hence follow that a miracle is a mere absurdity and that there can be no such thing We are obliged to take care that we be not imposed upon and well to consider what is required to a miracle and to convince us of it For unless we know it so to be it cannot be expected that it should ever convince us And in this case not to appear is the same thing as not to be at all To this purpose it is necessary to a miracle 1. That it be a work above the power of nature and above the reach of any creature whatsoever It must be supernatural or else it cannot be strictly a miracle This power must come from God he being able onely to alter the course of nature who is the great authour of it But then whether this effect be brought to pass by the immediate power of God without the intervening of any natural cause or by making use of some instrument 't is one and the same thing It is an omnipotent arm that brings the effect to pass Matt. 11.20 21. Luk. 4.36.5.17.9.1 Mat. 7.22 Luk. 10.13 Rom. 1.4 And a miracles is a work that none but God can doe This is of the essence of a miracle and it cannot be truly called one unless it be such a work as is above the force of
Saviour as well as a Comforter with relation to his Disciples Joh. 16.8 The spirit did plead the cause of our Lord and by the mighty works of this divine spirit men were convinced that Jesus was no Impostour but that he was what he professed himself to be the Christ the Son of God A Miracle hath always been a good proof of a Doctrine and ever acknowledged to be very convincing When Elijah had restored to life the Widow's Son she concludes him a true Prophet 1 King 17.24 By this I know says she that thou art a man of God and that the word of the Lord in thy mouth is truth A true miracle is an attestation from Heaven We cannot think that God will set his seal to a lye or to a truth of little moment and concern And as miracles are a good proof of the truth of a Doctrine so our Saviour had great reason to reser the Disciples of John Baptist to his miraculous works especially when it is considered that the law of Moses was confirmed by miracles and it is very reasonable to believe that the ordinances of Moses should be removed after the same manner that they were established and confirmed And therefore that Jesus should doe greater miracles that Moses ever did Besides our Saviour designed the destruction of the Devil's Kingdom in the world For this purpose the Son of God was manifested that he might destroy the works of the Devil 1 Joh. 3.8 And upon that account it was needfull that he should doe miracles The Devil had gotten a great and ancient possession over mankind he had got into the hearts and bodies of men and dwelt in the Temples of the Heathen world And whoever considers the largeness of his dominion the power and malice of his instruments will easily grant that there was need of a mighty power to dispossess him Now our Saviour and his followers made use of no carnal weapons they armed no legions raised no fighting men by sea or land And yet it is not to be believed that the Devil could be driven out of his ancient possession and strong holds without a greater power than what he was possessed of and that must be a divine power The power of the Devil was great at our Saviour's appearance He dwelt in the Heathen Temples answered in their Oracles an idolatrous worship obtained in the world many were there who were possessed by him Our Saviour stopped his mouth in the Oracles overthrew his Kingdom destroyed the idolatry and superstition which had overspread the world and threw the Devil out of the bodies and which was a greater work out of the hearts of men The Gospel set forward with great disadvantages The preachers of it had not riches or power or great birth or strong alliances or wordly wisedom to recommend them On the other hand they were poor men and despised But yet they were endued with power from above of working miracles and dispossessing the Devil where ever they came Chrysost Tom. 3. p. 276. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Had all this been done without the working of miracles this would have been the greatest miracle of all It was necessary that this power should be employed against the Devil's Kingdom The Jews indeed seem to be blamed by our Saviour for seeking after signs Mat. 16.4 But certain it is that they were not blameable nor blamed by our Saviour for demanding signs and wonders This demand was not unreasonable in it self nor blameable in them In this they were to be blamed that they did not require them with a mind prepared to receive the truth and were not content with such Miracles as our Saviour wrought H. Melach c. 1. Maimonides tells us that there were three precepts which did oblige the Israelites when they came into the Land of Promise viz. to set over them a King to destroy the Amalekites and to build a Sanctuary or Temple And yet when the Israelites demanded a King we find God displeased with them But then it was not because they desired to set a King over them but because they desired it amiss and not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in order to obey the law but because they were weary of Samuel a good Governour And so in the case before us The Jews require a sign and it is not to be supposed that our Saviour was upon that account displeased with them For their law being confirmed by Signs and Miracles it was very reasonable for them to require signs before they consented to relinquish it But that was not their fault that they required a sign But they came to our Saviour tempting rather than as sincere learners Matt. 16.1 Mark 8.11 and nothing will serve their Turn but a sign from Heaven The Jews ask our Saviour what they should doe that they might work the works of God Our Saviour answered and said unto them Joh. 6.28 29 30 31. This is the work of God that ye believe on him whom he hath sent 'T was their great Duty to believe that Jesus was the Christ the Son of God The Jews do not stop here but proceed and demand of him a sign What sign shewest thou then said they that we may see and believe thee what dost thou work This was not unreasonable all this while their fault was that they would chuse what kind of Miracles our Saviour should work and they must be signs from Heaven and no less seems to be intimated in the following words Our fathers did eat Manna in the desart As it is written He gave them bread from Heaven to eat They must have Miracles of this sort they are for just such signs as Moses wrought There was thunder and lightning and a thick cloud at the giving the Law upon Mount Sinai They had Manna from Heaven in the wilderness They must have such signs as they pitch upon themselves and thus they tempt God by indulging their Curiosity Our Saviour wrought many signs and wonders and did mightily outdoe Moses as shall be shewed afterward and all their Prophets And therefore our Saviour did enough to confirm his doctrine and left the Jews without excuse Miracles are then a good testimony provided we are sure that they are miracles strictly so called For it hath often happened that the World hath been cheated with lying wonders Magicians and Impostours have imposed upon men And it is a matter of some difficulty to discern the difference between a true miracle and a false one between that which is indeed the finger of God and that which is the fraud and artifice of the Devil If Moses turn a rod into a Serpent so do the Sorcerers also and it might perhaps have puzled the wisest stander-by to discern the difference between them It will be very hard many times ex parte rei to Judge what miracles are true and what are falsly so called But though there be a difficulty in judging ex parte rei
by Our Lord used no Arts to deceive the people He does his works in an open and clear light And when it so happened that he did them more privately he forbids the divulging what he had done that there might be no shadow of any artifice or secret contrivance For our Lord did all things with a great 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and though he desired not the praise of his works yet he did them at least so openly that there could be no suspicion of fraud and imposture This was an argument of our Lord's sincerity He wrought miracles that men might believe and therefore he did that which did most of all tend to beget this belief in them For Miracles are for the sake of unbelievers and therefore had need be wrought and that openly also among them Thus Moses wrought his miracles among the unbelieving Egyptians The Prophet goes to Bethel and shews his sign in the sight of Jeroboam Elijah works a miracle in the sight of the Priests of Baal and our Lord does his before the multitude The Church of Rome talks much of miracles wrought within the verge of her own Communion She maintains doctrines that need confirmation And if she work miracles she should send some of her Children hither to work them among us that we might be convinced or left without a plea. They of her own Communion who believe her doctrines do not need her miracles If there be any need of them at all it is among us who cannot believe her Tenents till we see them better confirmed than yet they are It is to be suspected that they want that power which they are not able to make appear For it is but reasonable they should be done where there is need of them 5. Our Lord's works were perfect and complete It appeared by the effects that the work was completely done Matt. 8. chap. 9. When the Paralytick was restored it did appear to be a perfect cure by his taking his bed and walking It is said that the dumb spake who was restored by our Lord. Mar. 5.42 When he restored the Damosel to life Luk. 7.15 she arose and walked And of the Widow's Son of Naim it is said Joh. 11.44 chap. 9.7 Joh. 2. Luk. 8.35 Joh. 5. Mat. 14.20 that he that was dead sate up and began to speak And of Lazarus it is said that he came forth with his grave cloaths about him When he cured the man that was born blind he came seeing from the pool of Siloam And when he turned the water into wine the effect was discerned by the company Of the Demoniack that was dispossest it is said that he was found sitting at the feet of Jesus cloathed and in his right mind And the poor man that lay helpless at the pool of Bethesda takes up his bed and walks When Jesus fed the multitude he did not delude them with shadows and phantastick food and with the bare accidents of bread and fish but they did all eat and were filled The effect was very discernible they were not imposed upon by Spectrums and Collusions and pious frauds CHAP. VI. The CONTENTS The Miracles which Jesus did compared with those which were really wrought by the hands of Moses with the pretended ones of the Church of Rome and with those storied of Apollonius Tyanaeus and some other Heathens Of the sufficient assurance which we have that Jesus did those works which are reported of him BEfore I proceed to consider what may be objected against what hath been said before I shall for the farther confirmation thereof shew that the works which Jesus did were greater works than ever were done by any other person whatsoever And to that purpose I shall compare our Saviour's Miracles with those true and divine Miracles which Moses wrought with the pretended Miracles of the Church of Rome and those which are storied in the writings of the Heathens and more especially such as are told of Apollonius Tyanaeus I shall consider the Miracles which were wrought by the hands of Moses There arose not a Prophet since in Israel like unto Moses whom the Lord knew face to face Deut. 34.10 11 12. In all the signs and the wonders which the Lord sent him to doe in the Land of Egypt to Pharaoh and to all his Servants and to all his land and in all that mighty hand and in all that great terrour which Moses shewed in the sight of all Israel Upon the account of the Miracles which Moses did he was mightily famed among the Heathens as among his own Countrey men the Jews The Jews magnifie Moses above the rest of their Prophets Menasseh B. Israel Conciliat And one of their late Writers summs up the Miracles of Moses and those of the other Prophets from the beginning to the destruction of their first Temple and does affirm that the Miracles wrought by Moses or upon his account exceed the number of those which were wrought by all the Prophets together For whereas as all the Prophets for the space of above three thousand years wrought but 74 Miracles the Miracles of Moses alone were 76. I shall not examine his account let it be as it will but I shall shew that his works are not to be compared with those which our Jesus did I shall especially consider the Miracles which were wrought in Egypt these miracles which were then done in order to the bringing out the Israelites from the bondage in which they were And I must needs confess they were mighty works and such as did plainly speak a supernatural and Divine power And I ought not by any means to disparage those mighty works I shall before I proceed any farther shew you that those miracles were such as did indeed give sufficient credit to the mission of Moses and abundantly confirm the truth of his words And that will appear if we consider seriously these three things First the plagues themselves which were miraculously inflicted These were such works as were above the power of any Creature The works themselves declare a divine power It is true they were not all alike and the Magicians did the same works which Moses did for a while Exod. 7.12 22. ch 8. v. 7. They turned their rods into Serpents and water into bloud and brought frogs upon the land of Egypt as well as Moses These Magicians went as far as they could And it amounts to no more than this that they were able to inflict some evils upon their Countrey but not able to remove them For though it be said that the Magicians brought the Frogs upon the land of Egypt yet it is also said that when Pharaoh would have them taken away he applied himself to Moses and Aaron Exod. 8.7 8. which he would never have done if the Magicians could have done it for him nay more than this these Magicians were out-done by Moses after this They attempted to follow him but could not doe it they were
quaked greatly These things were very terrible and so were other works which we read of afterward which spoke indeed the presence and power of God but then they spoke his anger too The Sons of Aaron were destroyed by fire Miriam is struck with leprousie the earth swallows up Korah and his company and the fiery serpents plague the people On the other hand our Lord saves but does not destroy Instead of killing or inflicting plagues and diseases upon men he feeds the hungry cures the sick cleanseth the Lepers restores the blind and lame dispossesseth the Demoniacks and raises the dead 4. Our Saviour confirmed his doctrine by raising himself from the dead Moses dyed as well as the other Prophets And though the Jews tell us upon a trifling ground that he did die by the kiss of God's mouth and not after the ordinary manner of men yet they cannot deny that he dyed and 't is not affirmed by any that he rose from the dead He dyed on this side the Land of Promise and was buried over against Beth Peor Deut. 34.8 but the Jews are so far from affirming that he rose again that they knew not where his Sepulchre or place of burial was So that there was no room left for their fraud None could take away his Body and pretend he was risen from the dead Our blessed Saviour did rise from the dead notwithstanding all the art used to prevent it aswell as the spreading of it He had many witnesses of his Resurrection some whereof sealed the truth with their Bloud I shall now consider the pretended miracles of the Church of Rome not that I think them worthy to be compared with those of our blessed Saviour But that Church hath boasted of Miracles and we have large accounts of the wonders which have been wrought within the verge of her own Communion And not to inlarge too far I shall confine my self to those three marks or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which a learned Writer discoursing of this argument hath pitched upon 1. Whereas the miracles which Jesus wrought were grave and serious works substantial and such as proclamed the power and goodness and the wisedom of the Authour of them there is nothing more ridiculous and trifling than many of those which are reported to be done in the Church of Rome Such are the many stories which are told of our Saviour and the Virgin Mary They tell us that she frequently comes from Heaven offers her self in Marriage and brings knacks along with her and bestows them upon her friends and familiars They tell us also of our Saviour that he appears in his Mother's armes as a little Child that sometimes he goes from her and that he was once almost lost in the Snow They tell that the Virgin Mary's house in Nazareth upon discontent removed from thence and travail'd from place to place for the space of about two thousand miles Durand Rational Divin Offic. till it sate down at Loretto They tell that when one of their Preachers who was blind preached though there were no auditours to do it yet the stones that were about him cryed out Amen at his concluding I am ashamed to report the ridiculous stories which they tell of men who carried their heads in their hands after they had been Beheaded for several miles together of others who spake after they were dead of Sheep and Asses running to hear St. Francis preach and of Swine falling dead under his curse Of St. Dominick who hung in the air like a bird and at his Devotions forcing the Devil to hold a light and burn his fingers at that service of Christina who contracted her self at prayer into a round form like that of an Hedgehog and who could climb the highest trees like a Squirrel and swim in rivers like a Fish Of Catharine of Sienna who desired a new heart and thereupon Christ came to her opened her Breast took out her heart goes away with it and brings another and tells her that was his own I will not entertain you with the Stories of the sweating and speaking and motion of their Images of the great feats which have been done by the relicks of Saints and holy water and such like things Such Pranks as these are reported which look more like the feats of Demons of Hob-goblins and Fairies than the finger of God The works of Jesus spake the great wisedom power and goodness of God they were works of great mercy and relief But these stories are Romances and false representations or which is worse they look like the works of an evil Spirit who is abroad ready to deceive them who obey not the truth These things can serve no good and wise purpose and that is not all for they serve a very evil one These false stories are a temtation to men to question the true Men will be too ready to suspect the miracles of Christ when they find themselves imposed upon by those who profess themselves his followers 2. The miracles which Christ did were to confirm the truth of the Christian doctrine But these pretended miracles are brought to confirm a doctrine which Christ and his Apostles never taught Christ and his Apostles taught all Christian doctrine and all the necessary matters of faith And now though an Angel from Heaven should Preach any other Gospel we ought not to receive him Gal. 1.8 9. Were the works of the Church of Rome like our Saviour's works and their doctrine the same with his these works would be of great use to convince unbelievers but not at all requisite where the doctrine was believed before For the doctrine of the Church of Rome it is the same with that of the holy Scriptures or it is not If it be the same there is no need of miracles especially among them who believe the holy Scriptures to confirm that which hath been sufficiently confirmed already But if it be not the same we are not to regard miracles in that Case Nay if an Apostle or Angel from Heaven should Preach another Gospel let him be accursed We shall find that the pretended miracles in the Church of Rome are alledged for the confirmation of the Novel doctrines of that Church not of the Christian doctrine taught by Christ and his Apostles We are told that Christ spake intelligibly several times out of the Wafer to a Spanish Franciscan Again that upon the Altar he turned himself from the form of a Consecrated Wafer into that of a little Child and then from that of a Child to that of a Wafer Again that a Woman's Bees not thriving she stole a Consecrated Wafer and put it into one of her Hives The devout Bees in honour to that fall to work and with their honey-combs make a little Church with windows with roof and door with belfry and Altar upon which they laid the Host and did fly about it continually praising the Lord All this is for the confirmation of the doctrine of Transubstantiation
office too mean for us in which we may do any good office to one another Here is enough to extinguish for ever all our ambition and pride and contempt of our poor Brother Nothing that we can do can be called a great condescension after this humiliation of the Son of God IV. Of resignation to the will of God This our Lord was the most conspicous mirrour and example of He was a man sin onely excepted like one of us sensible of hunger and thirst of pain and sorrow and these things pained his flesh as they do ours His soul was sorrowfull and very heavy His sweat was like drops of bloud great was his agony and his sorrow beyond expression He saw before his eyes a most painfull and a most shamefull death He is about to drink a most bitter cup. These things were grievous to his humane nature and therefore he prays that if it were possible this cup might pass from him but after all he submits himself to the will of God Not as I will but as thou wilt And how instructive is this to us We sinners may be ashamed to murmur when our Lord resigned himself Well may we submit under our little and deserved evils when he that was without fault resigned himself up to God Mat. 26.39 V. Of the greatest Charity to Mankind Greater love than this hath no man than that he lay down his life for his friend This is the highest flight of friendship and we have but a very few examples in our books of such a Degree of Charity Some few I'll grant have done this none have gone beyond this besides our Lord Jesus For he died for his Enemies and for the Ungodly This example should constrain us to do good to all even to evil men and to our greatest Enemies Rom. 5.6 VI. Of the greatest fortitude and the truest courage He bore witness to the truth with his bloud and was stedfast in the profession of it to his last breath The most sharp and shamefull death the most barbarous usage and treatment could not prevail upon him to deny the truth or to fall into an impotent passion and revenge himself He does in cold bloud chuse rather to dye the worst kind of death than to quit the profession of the truth or to destroy his Enemies This is indeed an argument of true greatness of mind We are much mistaken in our conceit about Valour or fortitude To Forgive an Enemy and to chuse to dye rather than to do an evil thing speaks a generous and a great mind and is a certain proof of Courage and true Fortitude But he is a man of a weak mind who will do an evil thing to save his life and revenge himself upon him that affronts him or does him wrong Revenge speaks a defect of wit and courage The meanest creatures they are who are peevish and waspish and prone to bite him that toucheth him Leniter qui saeviunt sapiunt magis Anger resteth it in the bosom of fools Non est magnus animus quem incurvat injuria They are but little and feeble folk that are ruffled by every injury or calumny The more impotent and weak any creature is the more easily provoked and nothing is a more certain sign of a narrow and mean soul than is revenge Quippe minuti Semper infirmi est animi exiguique voluptas Ultio continuò sic collige quòd Vindicta Nemo magìs gaudet quà m faemina c. Well so it was our Saviour shewed great Courage and resolution and hath given us therein a great example of Christian fortitude and resolution I shall now make some application of what hath been said I. What hath been said may serve to recommend to us a suffering condition which Christ hath sanctified by his own Sufferings When we suffer we are like the Author and finisher of our faith It becomes us not to be dismayed with our sufferings who profess a faith in a crucified Redeemer For by sufferings our Religion was planted by sufferings it grew up and prevailed in the World This was the way in which Jesus went before us into his glory And if we suffer with him we shall likewise be glorified together It is no little comfort to us to think that our Lord hath led us the same way and that he did overcome the world after this manner which is indeed the noblest conquest of it II. We may hence be exhorted to a frequent mediation of the death and sufferings of Jesus Christ Form what hath been said it appears plainly that we are nearly concerned in these things For Christ did not suffer upon his own account but upon ours and we are very much concerned in the benefits of his death 1. As we expect our pardon upon the account of his merit and satisfaction He was a sacrifice which made attonement and expiation for our crimes as he died for our Sins 2. As we hope for an eternal inheritance upon the account of the death of Christ who hath made way for us by his death and by death entered himself before into an eternal inheritance 3. As we are confirmed in the truth of his holy Religion by the Testimony of his bloud with which this new covenant between God and man was ratified and confirmed 4. As we are constrained by the glorious example he gave us in his sufferings to patience and charity and self-resignation c. of which he hath given us the most powerfull example III. We may hence be exhorted to a frequent and diligent partaking of the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper which is appointed as a standing memorial of the death of our Lord Jesus Christ We ought not onely to embrace but welcome all these opportunities as those which lead us to the contemplation of Christ's death upon which our hopes to depend It is an unspeakable privilege that we are admitted to this favour And had we the due sense which we ought to have upon our minds of the love of God in giving us his Son and the love of our Lord in giving up himself to death for us and the unspeakable benefits which thence accrue to us we should need no words of persuasion no law or secular interest to invite us to the doing of that which is so plainly our duty and so much our interest to doe Our spiritual hunger and thirst are the onely safe and lasting principles as well as the acceptable ones from whence we ought to be moved If our souls be once possessed with an ardent love of God and our Blessed Saviour we shall not make excuses and shall be so far from that that it will not be an easie thing to stay away and nothing less than a violent detention will keep us back And thus I have from the sufferings of Jesus made it appear that he is the Christ Before I proceed to speak to the resurrection of Jesus I shall say something of his Burial Of the Messias it was foretold
est restituere quod fuerit quà m facerequod non fuit Hieron ad Pammachium It is not incredible that he should raise a dead man to life who made all things out of nothing Nor does it impeach any of the divine perfections to affirm that God raised Jesus to life No man can reasonably upon this account think meanly of the divine Being Upon the whole there is nothing in the thing reported repugnant to right reason nothing unbecoming the divine purity and perfections nothing incredible to them that are wise and good For the persons who report this if there lye any exception against them it must be upon the score of their weakness or wilfullness It may perhaps be pretended that they were weak men and imposed upon That they took up this beleif that Jesus rose from the dead upon light and insufficient grounds and though they did not contrive to deceive others yet they themselves were easily deceived But this cannot be pretended with any reason at all For they did not report that Jesus was raised to life upon hear-say or common fame they did not receive it as a tradition received from others But they were eye-witnesses of it They were men that knew Jesus before he died that conversed with him forty days after he rose from the dead that had sometimes doubted of the truth of his Resurrection themselves and had received the utmost satisfaction that it was that Jesus who died that was risen from the dead and when they were assured of it they taught this doctrine boldly and they taught no more than what they knew to be true what they had seen and handled that they taught Nor did this depend upon the Testimony of Women or Children or any incompetent witnesses or upon a bare and single Testimony But a number of men the most competent witnesses imaginable did upon all occasions affirm that Jesus was risen from the dead There were no less than twelve principal witnesses of his Resurrection besides the many others who saw Jesus after he was risen Act. 1.21 22. Nor can we think that these witnesses did wilfully go about to lye and put a cheat upon other men We cannot think them such vile persons or that they could have prevailed this way For besides that they taught other men to speak the truth and that they are not accused otherwise as flagitious persons to what purpose should they affirm that Jesus was risen from the dead if it were false Could they get any thing by such a lye Was it a step to any honour or preferment to say that Jesus was raised to life again Was this Doctrine pleasing to the Jews Would it procure them any favour from the Gentile World Nay is it not evident that for affirming this the Jews who put Jesus to death were enraged against them For they arraigned the Justice of their Nation and incensed their Countrey men to the highest degree whatsoever The Gentiles scoffed at them and derided them and their scoffs were the least Evils they suffered upon this account for they continued in this their Testimony under torments and even unto death Can any man imagine that this was a contrivance and Plot of crafty men That they combined to put a cheat upon mankind but to what end should they do this It is not likely they could engage a considerable number in such a combination It would be hard to find a great many men so weary of their lives as to be content to throw them away in confirmation of a lye Besides the fraud would have been discover'd quickly For these men did not forbear to tell when and where this happened which they were the witnesses of Did ever any men of credit prove these witnesses incompetent Did they ever deprehend them in a lye or speaking inconsistently Did it appear at any time that they were caught in a false story or that any one of them were forced to recant and retract what he had said How came this beleif to spread so quickly in the world if it had not been true Could it have any thing else to recommend it to the belief of mankind That it quickly gained an Universal belief in the world is undeniable but how could this be God attested to this truth by enabling these witnesses to work miracles in confirmation of it That so it was no man can doubt that gives any credit to the Testimony of others Had it not been so the spreading of this beleif without a miracle would have been the greatest miracle of all It is plain that we have no reason to doubt of the Resurrection of Jesus There is no History no matter of fact which yet we beleive firmly that we have that cause to beleive as we have this that Jesus was raised from the dead and therefore if we do not beleive that Jesus rose from the dead it is not from want of evidence and sufficient motives of credibility but from a faulty principle and a culpable neglect of seeking after the truth 6. That the Evangelists who report the matter of fact concerning the Resurrection of Jesus are worthy of all credit For their names are annexed to their writings they set down the time and place where those things happened which they write of they name the persons concerned in these things they write of things which happened in their own time and which they knew to be true They all agree in the main story and their different relating of some smaller circumstances does but confirm their credit as to the main relation What can we desire in any writing which is wanting here What have we to object against these writers Can we suppose they did conspire to put a cheat upon mankind But what reason have we for this suspicion Surely none but much to the contrary For they do not write like men who had combined together to cheat the world For they own their names they relate something with some seeming difference they mention the time and place where those things happened which they write they name many persons and of several Nations and ranks that were concerned they stick not to mention their own meanness and their own faults and infirmities and the shame and death of their great Lord and Master Nor could these or the other witnesses of the Resurrection be induced by any worldly Temptation to tell a lye They did beleive the Religion which they professed or they did not If they did beleive it they durst not tell a lye that being directly forbid in that Religion which they beleived to be true If they did not beleive it themselves what could perswade them to obtrude the belief of it upon other men They were so far from gaining by this course that they exposed themselves to the malice and rage of men to the loss of all things and the severest death Can we believe that they should be so fond of what they knew to be a lie that they would lose all they
killeth you will think that he doeth God service Joh. 16.2 Here is little encouragement then for the world to receive the Gospel which is like to bring them into to such hazards and dangers We have a Proverb among us that men will not make any haste to that market where they are like to meet with nothing but blows A man would easily believe men would not be very forward to relinquish their prosperous Religion and entertain an afflicted and a persecuted Gospel to leave the gainfull worship of the great Diana and to embrace a profession that is every where spoken against to forsake the image that fell down from Jupiter and to worship Jesus that was hanged on a Cross A man might one would think assoon perswade an army to leave their direct and smoother way to their enemies and to march through dangerous woods and precipices quick-sands and lakes Or as soon obtain of a great Tyrant that he should destroy himself as to perswade the unbelieving world to venture all their pleasures wealth and honours aye and their bloud too in the profession of that Gospel that did not so much as promise them any recompence in the same kind Yet we know this was done the Religion of Jesus was gladly embraced upon these terms The rich were willing to become poor to part with their possessions here for the hopes of a future glory the honourable were glad to be laid low and stript of all their properties for the sake of Jesus Banishment or chains prisons or death are very welcome for the Gospel's sake No Wheels or Racks no Rods or Axes no bolts or chains hunger or thirst fire or sword shall be able to make them offer to an Idol or deny their Lord. Nay they were so resolute that they wearied their persecutors by their patience and constancy they could not find out torments exquisite and great enough for them They were not daunted at the cruelties of Nero or Domitian or any of the following Roman Emperours Nor were they onely the great preachers of the Gospel that were thus resolute and hardy but also the Laity aye Women and Children those of the weaker sex and more tender years Nor was the Religion impaired or weakned by these heavy burthens but it grows and prospers greatly This bloud of Martyrs proves a fruitfull seed and very strangely fructifies and brings forth Children unto God Even so much did it prosper that though it had been persecuted under Nero and Domitian yet in the days of Trajan those very early days of the Gospel the Christians were so numerous that Pliny one of his Governours over a certain province of his was forced to send to Trajan to know what he should do with them Plin. Epist l. 10. Ep. 97. and that propter periâ—litantium numerum because of the multitude of those that were in danger And he adds Multi enim omnis aetatis omnis ordinis utriusque sexus etiam vocantur in periculum vocabuntur That is There were great numbers of them of every age and many of all ranks and qualities aye and of both sexes also that durst profess themselves Christians So strangely did the Gospel thrive notwithstanding the cruelties that were inflicted upon the Professors of it And we are also told that afterwards in the days of Dioclesian when in the space of thirty days no less than seventeen thousand Christians were slain besides those that were condemned to Metalls and Quarries that yet then under that most cruel persecution the Christians rather increased than diminished Now this would never have been had not Jesus been the Christ and had not God who had promised him the Heathen for an inheritance by his overruling hand maugre all oppositions that were made brought it to pass But from the Doctrine it self let us proceed now 3. To the manner of it's spreading and propagation and we shall find that also very unlikely to have prevailed had it not been from God and had not Jesus been the Christ Nay do I say unlikely I may truly say it had been utterly impossible it should have got that ground it did had it not been from God and had not that God who made the world given it his Blessing Let us then well weigh these following severals 1. That the Gospel was not propagated in the world by humane Eloquence or excellence of Speech The first Preachers of it were men of great plainness and simplicity bred up not in the Schools of the Learned not in wisedom of the world not in any of the famous Accademies or under the teachings of the wise Philosophers but they were illiterate Galileans they were men of mean trades and occupations men that had not been used to speak in Senates and audiences of Princes men not used to defend causes not brought up in the cunning of Advocates and Proctors and mercenary pleaders Such men might have been thought to have done much by the strength of their parts and the quickness of their wit and might have been judged sufficient to have made a weak cause defensible They had none of the advantages of dignified persons which might commend them to Princes and great States so that they being poor and obscure their wisedom was like to be the less regarded it being a most certain truth that the poor man's wisedom is despised Upon these disadvantages did the first Preachers of the Gospel set forth into a cunning and wicked and potent world Indeed it is true St. Paul was a man of Learning bred up at the feet of Gamaliel and so doubtless well versed in the learning of the Jews and very fit to deal with them But then he was made the Doctour of the Gentiles And we hear what he tells his Corinthians I determined not to know any thing among you save Jesus Christ and him crucified And my Speech and my Preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisedom 1 Cor. 2.2 4. He was a man much hated by the Jews and like to doe no great matters among the Romans one would think whose Prisoner he was when he came to Rome He was a man indeed of learning but of no authority a man of understanding but yet of mean presence and contemptible speech 2 Cor. 10.5.10 So that the progress of the Gospel may not be ascribed to any great eloquence or Rhetorick any skill or artifice of men but onely to the power of God 1 Cor. 2.5 For by the foolishness of Preaching God taught the world wisedom by weak things he overturned the strong and by things which are not he overcame things that are He that did destroy the walls of Jericho at the noise of a shout and overcome the Canaanites by the hands of a Woman and discomfited the Midianites great Army with Trumpets and the breaking of Pitchers and killed the great Goliah with a Stripling and his sling it was he and he alone that enabled the first Preachers of the Gospel and gave that success to very
with the usages of the Vulgar yet they derided those fopperies and were therefore esteemed Atheists by the common People It must be granted that among the Heathens there were a number of men who had a better sense of things and have taught many good lessons of Morality But these men discoursed uncertainly and at rovers for want of a revelation And when they said any thing of a future state they were wavering and doubtfull And the Stoicks themselves who were a most considerable Sect among the wisest of their Philosophers did trifle at a great rate and allowed of some things manifestly Evil as well as notoriously false I will not here take the pains to examine the inconsistency of their principles and to shew how differently they acted from what they taught Vid. Plutarch de repugn Stoicorum c. That is done by Plutarch I cannot but take notice that they maintained some principles that were immoral and impious and such as could not come from God Arrian Epicter l. 1. c. 24. Marc. Antonin l. 5. sect 21. Seneca Epist 69. They gave men liberty to murther themselves and to goe out of this World without the leave of him who sent them into it And this evil and impious Doctrine was the common and received and avowed Principle of the Sect exerce te ut mortem excipias si ita res suadebit accersas Interest nihil an illa ad nos veniat an ad illam nos says Seneca It is true that Seneca elsewhere explains himself Epist 58. and seems to allow this liberty onely in an useless old age or in extreme necessity But as that liberty is upon no account to be allowed so it is manifest that he speaks inconsistently with himself for elsewhere he does not onely allow a wise man to kill himself Seneca Epist 70. Si multa occurrunt molesta tranquillitatem turbantia i. e. If many troubles arise which disturb him But also when he suspects that troubles will come upon him For he goes on thus nec hoc tantum in necessitate ultima facit sed cum primum illi caeperit suspecta esse fortuna diligenter circumspicit numquid illo die desinendum est Nihil existimat sua referre faciat finem an accipiat So that upon the whole matter a man might lawfully kill himself when ever he thought it convenient This is a most wretched and detestable Principle a manifest invasion of God's peculiar and practising upon his Prerogative Besides that it is a mean thing to allow a liberty of doeing so great an Evil to rid our selves of some present trouble or some thing which we fear For by the same reason a man may be allowed to kill another man who stands in his way and obstructs his ease and quiet And indeed by the same reason he may doe evil that good may come of it and chuse to offend rather than suffer Thus vain were those men who were destitute of a Divine revelation and followed their own foolish imaginations who under the profession of a great degree of wisedom allowed of the greatest immorality From the books of Moses the unlawfulness of self-murther sufficiently appears When God commands not to kill he forbids self-murther as well as killing another man For if bearing false witness against our selves be a sin against the ninth Commandment which forbids our doeing it against our Neighbour the killing our selves must needs be a sin against the sixth Aug. de Civitate l. 1. c. 20. as St. Augustin argues well And when after the floud the shedding of man's bloud is forbidden Gen. 9.6 it is forbidden for a reason which reaches to self-murther as well as the killing of another For in the image of God made he man Nam si homicida nefarius est Lactant. de falsa Sapientia c. 18. qui hominis extinctor est Eidem sceleri obstrictus est qui se necat quia hominem necat Another principle full of impiety the Stoicks maintained and it was this that a man's happiness was from himself and that he need not seek it of God or be beholden to him for it So that upon the matter they taught men to live without dependance upon God Vnum bonum est Seneca Epist 31. Quid votis opus est Fac teipsum felicem Ibid. Quam stultum est optare cum possis à te impetrare non sunt ad coelum elevandae manas Epist 41. quod beatae vitae causa firmamentum est sibi fidere i. e. There is one good thing which is the cause and basis of an happy life and that is that a man trust to himself And afterwards he puts men not upon prayers to God but upon making themselves happy and derides those who expect their happiness from above and seek it by prayer Thus vain and haughty were these men who pretended to wisedom Whereas in truth nothing speaks truer wisedom than for a creature to live in a constant sense of his necessary dependance upon God Their condemning all passions was also a foolish and an evil principle Seneca Epist 116. and very destructive of the great ends of life They destroyed the man in order to make him wise And pretended that to be a fruit of wisedom which is the greatest folly and the way to happiness which is indeed the most certain obstruction to it For we can do as well without legs as without our passions 'T is by them we pursue what is good and flye from evil They are the wings of the soul and without them we are unactive creatures 'T is great wisedom to govern them to desire to be rid of them is folly and an impeachment of the wisedom of our Creatour They are the object of vertue and Minister to it They are good Servants and whiles they are retained as such are of great use to us they are indeed bad Masters We may not pitty the miserable Seneca tells us Seneca de Clementia l. 2. c. 5. but he allows us to help him But if we have no compassion our relief will be very slow and slender This may seem too great a digression And indeed it is not what I mainly designed to speak to I did not intend to compare our Religion with that of Heathens It is not worth our while to doe it By what I have said of the best of the Heathens we may see how vain and foolish their principles were I shall compare the Religion of Jesus with that which God himself delivered to the Jews by Moses And shall shew the defects of the one and the supplies which are made in the other It must be granted that the law which was given by Moses came from Heaven and that it was a very great blessing to the Jews to whom it was given It was one of those Crowns which the Jewish Masters mention with which they were adorned It made their condition much better than that of their neighbours The words of Moses
and Governours even then when we suffer wrong It teaches us the most exact justice and the greatest humanity and mercy to one another It obligeth us to pray for our greatest enemies and to forgive them who do us the greatest wrong It allows us to do no wrong to another and to return none which is done to us It is so far from allowing us to kill those who are of another Religion that it permits us not to hate them There is no friendship so inviolable and sacred no Justice so impartial no charity so unfained and extended and so fervent no gentleness so exemplary as that which obtains among the genuine followers of Jesus They who are such live at perfect peace with one another they think no evil so far they are from doing it They love one another with a pure heart fervently As to our selves our holy Religion recommends to us the profoundest humility the greatest meekness under calumnies patience under sufferings contentedness in every condition it teaches the most unbroken fortitude the most unspotted chastity the most unshaken constancy it teacheth us strict temperance in eating and drinking great moderation in the use of bodily exercises painfull diligence in our several callings a singular modesty and gravity it puts us upon the greatest simplicity and candour the greatest contempt of worldly things and the greatest hunger and thirst after Spiritual This holy Religion commends to our care and to our thoughts whatsoever things are true honest or venerable just and pure lovely and of good report that have any thing of vertue and any just title to praise Phil. 4.8 There is nothing commanded that is mean and low and unbecoming the greatest rank of men the highest birth or the most refined wits Here 's nothing required of us that is unreasonable and unaccountable We must be very humble but here 's room too for the greatest fortitude and courage We must be modest but may not be sneaking and cowardly and afraid to appear for the truth We must be grave but need not be morose just but not inclement long-suffering but not stupid courteous but free from foolish affectation here we are taught true greatness of mind but not insolence poverty of Spirit without dejectedness and a contempt of the world without haughtiness fortitude is commended but not audacity constancy but not contumacy diligence but not anxious carefulness This Religion teaches us to prefer the publick good before our private to prefer what is just to what we judge commodious to abridge our selves of our own liberties for the good of others What Celsus objected of old against the Christians v. Orig. contra Celsum l. 8. that they shunned the dedication of Altars of Statues and of Temples did but import that their Religion was spiritual and so indeed it is and 't is a great perfection which belongs to it It is not charged and burthened with ceremonies 2 Col. 20. and ordinances and rudiments of the world as the law of Moses was But what was aenigmatically and symbolically taught in the law of Moses is plainly delivered in the Christian Religion We are taught to offer up fervent Prayers instead of incense to pare away all superfluity of naughtiness instead of circumcising the foreskin we have our Sacrifices of praise instead of the bloudy Sacrifices and are taught to offer up to God our souls and bodies instead of the Holocausts prescribed in that law We are required to pay a reasonable service instead of that bodily one which God required of the Jews by Moses Those things which our Religion requires are good in themselves and the practice of them makes us better and are therefore of general and universal good to mankind and the whole race of mankind is concerned in them They are not municipal or topical laws which oblige onely in one place or Countrey but they oblige every where in all times and all Persons whatsoever Origen contra Cels l. 7. The Christian says Origen looks upon every place as a part of the Vniverse and upon the Vniverse as the Temple of God and therefore prays in every place We are all united by the Religion of Jesus into one body and are all concerned in his holy Laws The difference between the Jew and Gentile is quite taken away and we are all one in Christ Jesus This difference was once very great The Jews were tyed to certain ordinances and observations which rendred them very different from the Gentile world and they thought they could not converse with them by their Religion and did despise them greatly hence it was that there was a great Enmity between the one and the other and thus things stood till Jesus came and till he suffered Eph. 2.14 15. But by cancelling those distinguishing Laws and Ordinances which he did by his Cross he abolished the Enmity and made peace He did thereby reconcile both to God having slain the Enmity 1 Cor. 12.13 Gal. 3.28 Ephes 3.6 There were some things allowed in the Law of Moses upon the account of the hardness of the Jews hearts and for the time of the Mosaical dispensation which are now by the better Law of Jesus superseded such were Polygamy and Divorces And many other things were required during that Minority of the Church which we are in no wise obliged to Our Religion is full of the most weighty principles and commends to us those things which are of the greatest and highest importance whatsoever I proceed to consider 2. The Reward annexed to our obedience of these holy Precepts and that is Eternal life The Jews were engaged to obey their Law by promise of Temporal rewards Those rewards were very suitable to that Carnal people and very proportionate to those rudiments of the World Thus we doe with Children when they goe to School to learn their first Elements we allure them with knacks and toys that we may engage them to lay the foundation of more manly wisedom pueris dant Crustula blandi Doctores elementa velint ut discere prima God did thus by the Israelites He invited them to obey those ordinances by the promise of victory and plenty and long life He designed all this while greater things and though he did not clearly promise yet he did intend to bestow the Blessing of Eternal life to his sincere and faithfull Servants But the clear promise of Eternal life was a blessing which God reserved for the times of the Gospel The good men under the Law obtained indeed a good report by faith And by the great things they did and suffered they gave proof that their faith was sincere and accompanied with an hope that extended beyond this present state But still the express promise of Eternal life was reserved for the days of the Messias And this is the clear meaning of the words of the Authour of the Epistle to the Hebrews Heb. 11.39 40. Where speaking of the holy men of old time he adds And
Jews every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins And presently after that he added save your selves from this untoward Generation 1 Pet. 3.21 The same Apostle elsewhere speaking of the Ark of Noah wherein they were saved who entred into it adds the like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us c. And the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper is also a pledge of God's favour and our reconciliation We are admitted to feast upon the great Sacrifice which was offered upon the Cross This was not allowed in Sacrifices under the Law that were expiatory to the People We partake of the body and bloud of Christ of that body which was offered upon the Cross and of that bloud of the New Testament which was shed for many for the remission of sins Matt. 26.26 6. Our Lord Jesus sent forth his Messengers into the World to declare pardon to the penitent He took care that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all Nations Luk. 24.46 They were entrusted with the Power of the Keys to bind and loose to let into the Kingdom of God and to exclude from it It were easie to shew that the Christian Religion does upon other accounts besides what have been named excell the Law of Moses It had a better Mediatour and was better confirmed It was more succesfull and farther spread and affords both more and more conspicuous Examples than are to be found under that Law It is attended with greater motives to obedience as well as greater motives of Credibility The Jews are pressed to obey God because he brought them out of Egypt The motive had great force but 't was peculiar to that People We are constrained by the Love of God in Christ Jesus We are moved by the love of Christ which passeth knowledge His death and passion the comforts of the Holy Ghost the unspeakable love of God and hope of pardon and of Eternal life these are our motives to obedience These are great enough to thaw and unlock the most obdurate heart to work upon the most benummed minds I proceed to consider The usefulness of the foregoing discourse And that is very great where it is duly weighed and considered It would be of great use to the Jew would he but consider it and lay it to heart And is of very great use to the Christian to awaken him to the greatest regard to his holy Religion and to a very hearty embracing of it I shall at present onely consider this one advantage which it will afford us viz. that it gives us a fair occasion of inquiring into the grâ—at Ends and Causes for which the Law of Moses was given I will not here undertake to insist upon all the Causes of the Law of Moses Much less will I goe about to inquire into the reason of the particular Precepts of that Law I make no doubt but that God gave the Jews that Law to keep them from Idolatry and to that purpose to preserve that People separate from the neighbour Nations Many of the rites appointed I doubt not were therefore prescribed because they ran Counter to those rites which did obtain among Idolaters then in being I will onely consider the ends of this Law as far as my present argument is concerned And that I shall doe in the following particulars 1. The Law was given to restrain the Jews and keep them from a loose and licentious Course of sinning The promise of the Messias was made to Abraham above four hundred years before the giving of the Law But though the Messias were then promised God did not think fit to send him presently In the mean time the Jews the Children of Abraham whom God had chosen for his Church were to be restrained from living as they list They were very prone to wickedness and needed a restraint in the mean time Therefore was the Law given and given with great solemnity and terrour It denounced many evils against transgressours and left them liable to a curse the more effectually to oblige them to obedience It was not given as God's last revelation nor to give life and to justifie them Gal. 3.19 Wherefore then serveth the Law It was added because of transgressions God did not think it fit that they should be left unrestrained 1 Tim. 1.9 with Gal. 5.22 The Law is not made for a righteous man but for the lawless and disobedient 2. The Law was given as that which contained types and shadows of good things to come and was therefore given that they might have among them a pledge of those spiritual good things to be bestowed in the days of the Messias The great promise which God made to Abraham was the promise of the Messias this promise was renewed afterward when Isaac was born it was repeated by Jacob to his Sons before his death The Messias was the desire and expectation of the more wise and devout Israelites They receive a Law in the mean time full of types and shadows of what they were to expect in the latter days or the days of the Messias Hence it is that the Gospel as it is distinguished from this Law is called truth not as truth is opposed to falsehood but as it is opposed to types and shadows and as it speaks the substance of what was but symbolically represented before Thus it is said that the Law was given by Moses and that grace and truth come by Jesus Christ John 1.17 And the Gospel is called the word of truth Eph. 1.13 Joh. 14.6 Joh. 4.23 Heb. 8.2 Our Saviour tells us that he is the way and the truth and tells the Woman of Samaria that the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth They that obey the Gospel are said to walk in the truth and obey the truth And Heaven is called the true Tabernacle Heb. 10.1 ch 8.5 The Law had a shadow of good things to come and not the very Image of the things The Priests under the Law are said to serve unto the example and shadow of heavenly things Coloss 2.17 Heb. 3.5 That Law was a pledge of a better and the things therein commanded were but a shadow of things to come Moses was faithfull as a servant for a testimony of those things which were to be spoken viz. by Jesus and his followers For so the Syriack hath it for those things which were to be spoken by him 3. To dispose men for the reception of the Gospel of Christ It was well fitted for this end And that this was the end of it is very evident from the words of the Apostle Gal. 3.22 23 24. The Scripture hath concluded all under sin that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe But before faith came we were under the Law shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed wherefore the Law was our