and imperfect Delineations of that compleat Frame of Religion which the Messias was to introduce This was the thing designed all along the Ritual and Ceremonial Law with all its external Rites tended to this pure and uncorrupted Model of Religion It was appointed that the Law should adumbrate the Gospel that that Oeconomy should prefigure this Therefore the Apostle saith the Law was our School-master to bring us to Christ which shews the inferiour Nature of the Law and that it was to indure but for a time for the Authority of a School-master over those whom he teacheth is but Temporary The legal Pedagogy was to cease and Christ was to be the end of the Law to every one that believeth Rom. 10. 4. It is then evident from the Premises that the Iewish Law is disannul'd for when the Reason of a Law ceases that is sufficient to change the Law because as it commenced upon Reason so when that is taken away the Law it self is abolish'd also This is the present Case the Ceremonial Rites and Types were designed to represent and foresignify Christ and the Evangelical Benefits Wherefore Christ being come and having brought with him those Benefits the former mystical Representations and Figures ought to have a Period So that the Reason and Occasion of these Ceremonious Observances being removed this is sufficient to repeal and reverse those Laws especially when you consider that Christ's Miracles of which I shall speak afterwards were plain Evidences of God's Intention to repeal the Law But to close this Point we are not destitute of a Formal Abrogation of the Jewish Laws for such we may justly reckon our Saviour's Words to be in Iohn 4. 21 23. The hour cometh when ye shall neither in this Mountain nor yet at Jerusalem worship the Father The hour cometh and now is when the true Worshippers shall worship the Father in Spirit and in Truth Where first he acquaints us that the publick Worship of God shall not be restrain'd to one particular place which very thing is a cancelling of the Mosaick Law which gave Directions chiefly concerning the Temple-Worship They shall not saith he be confined to Mount Gerizim where the Samaritans had fix'd the Seat of their worshipping or to Mount Ephraim in Samaria where Shiloh was the place where the Tabernacle and Ark rested from the beginning of Ioshua's time till Samuel nor shall they be confined to Ierusalem whither the Tabernacle was afterwards brought and at length converted into a Temple nor in any other place exclusively shall Men worship God but every Place and Country shall be alike and God shall have Worshippers in every part of the World This utterly makes void the Iewish Ceremonial Service which was tied to a certain place And our Saviour adds this which doth yet further evacuate it that the Worship under the Gospel must be in Spirit and Truth in contradistinction to the legal Worship which was made up of carnal Ordinances and mere Shadows and Types which were but Representations of that which is true and real Thus he plainly erases and abolishes the Mosaick Service and calls those that worship God in the Evangelical Manner the true Worshippers Again the greatest part of the Epistle to the Hebrews is a direct and downright repealing of it Nay we want not the formal Words of Abrogation as in Heb. 7. 18 19. There is verily a disannulling of the Commandment going before i. e. the Legal and Iudaical Oeconomy which he calls a carnal Commandment ver 16. for the Weakness and Unprofitableness thereof for the Law made nothing perfect Here is an express disannulling of the Mosaick Law And moreover the Reason of it is rendred viz. because it was weak and imperfect and had little Power to amend and reform Mens Lives You will find it also formally repeal'd in Heb. 8. 7 8 13. where the Apostle treating of the Old and New Covenant by which he means the Law and the Gospel as I have before shew'd he thus concludes If the first Covenant had been faultless then should no place have ben sought for the second For finding fault with them he saith Behold the Days come saith the Lord when I will make a New Covenant c. In that he saith a New Covenant he hath made the first Old Now that which decayeth and waxeth Old is ready to vanish away or according to the Greek it is near to vanishing Certainly this 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 speaks as much if not more than Abrogating And in another plâ—ce where he speaketh of the legal Worship which consisteth chiefly in Sacrifices and Offerings for Sin and not in inward Holiness and sincere doings of God's Will which is the Evangelical Service he applieth the Psalmist's or rather our Saviour's words Sacrifice and Offering thou wouldest not Then said I Lo I come to do thy Will this is infer'd that he taketh away the first that he may establish the second i. e. the Messias abolisheth the Iudaical Service that the may set up and perpetuate the Evangelical one It can then be no longer questioned whether the Iewish Law was abrogated and that in formal and express Terms Those carnal Ordinances as the Apostle speaks Heb. 9. 10. were imposed upon them only until the time of Reformation i. e. of the Gospel When that came they were made void null and dead And this Epistle to the Hebrews seems to be the Sermon which St. Paul preached at their Funeral or the Office of Burial on that occasion Here is Ashes to Ashes and Dust to Dust a fatal Period put to the Iudaical Rites the Law interred and intombed never to rise again but the Gospel springs out of those Ashes a new and a more noble Dispensation succeeds in its room And thus I have abundantly proved what I undertook that the Law of Moses consisting in Ceremonies was not to continue but was in time to be nulled and dissolved and that by the coming of Christ they are accordingly nulled dissolved and abrogated Hitherto I have in a more remote manner proved the Certainty and Authority of the Evangelical Oeconomy and consequently of Christianity it self But now I will approach nearer and proceed to a more positive and particular Proof of the Authority of the Gospel-Dispensation Christ succeeds Moses the Gospel follows the Law but quo jure There must be as great Testimony for the one as there was for the other or else it cannot be received on good Grounds Let us see then how this Dispensation will acquit it self There are two kinds of Evidence Humane and Divine the Testimony of Man and the Testimony of God The first creates a humane Faith the second a divine one in us Both of these we have in the present Matter First we are furnished with Humane Testimony i. e. we are assured of the Truth of the Christian Religion by a sufficient number of credible Persons who have been either Ear or Eye-witnesses or both of all the Transactions relating to
Prayer was heard and the People that stood by and heard it said that it thunder'd others said an Angel spake to him John 12. 28 29. Thus Christ was signally glorified by his Father and declared by him to be the Messias the Son of God by a Voice from Heaven attended with a kind of Thâ—nder To this we may annex God's speaking in a rushing mighty wind on the day of Pentecost Acts 2. 2. And Christ Jesus himself being in Heaven spake to Saul thence by a Voice saying Saul Saul why persecutest thou me Acts 9. 4. St. Iohn in the Apocalypse makes frequent mention of a Voice speaking to him and revealing great things to him where it is observable that Thunders and Voices go together chap. 4. 5. and 8. 5. Thus the New Testament as well as the Old had the benefit of that Divine Oracle which the Iews stiled the Daughter of a Voice i. e. a Voice from Heaven declaring the Will of God to Men. Afterwards we are told in Ecclesiastical History that those who were set on work by Iulian the Apostate to rebuild the Temple at Ierusalem were defeated by Thunder and a TERRIBLE VOICE that accompanied it from Heaven thereby bearing witness to the Cause of Christianity 2. The Iews had the Testimony of Angels and so have Christians to confirm this Oeconomy By these Heavenly Messengers Zacharias had notice given him of the approaching Birth of Iohn the Baptist and the Virgin Mary had tidings brought her of the miraculous Conception of the Holy Babe Jesus in her Womb and these were the Heralds that proclaimed the News of his Birth to the Shepherds One of this Celestial Order appeared to Ioseph and warn'd him to flie into Egypt with the Blessed Infant These glorious Spirits gave notice of Christ's Resurrection and when he ascended up to Heaven another of this Celestial Hierarchy address'd himself to the Apostles and assured them that in the like manner Jesus should come again to Judgment Another of these Ministring Spirits came to the devout Cornelius and bid him send for Peter that he might be the great and happy Instrument of converting him to the Christian Faith The Angel of God stood by St. Paul in the Night when he was on his dangerous Voyage and ascertain'd him of his safety Acts 27. 23. And sundry other instances there are of Angels making known the will of God unto Men in those early times of the Gospel and thereby attesting the Truth of Christianity 3. The Iews had the Mosaick Dispensation attested by Visions and we have the same way of Revelation to ascertain us of the Truth of Christianity Thus Zachariah saw a Vision in the Temple relating to the forerunner of Christ Luke 1. 22. The Apostles who were at our Saviour's Transfiguration had the same manner of discovery Mat. 17. 9. The Lord spake to Ananias in a Vision Acts 9. 10. You read of St. Peter's Vision whereby he was taught not to despise the Gentiles Acts 10. 10 c. A Vision appeared to Paul in the Night Acts 16. 9. And again the Lord incouraged him in a Vision Acts 18. 9. Of St. Stephen it is said that he looked up stedfastly into Heaven and saw the Glory of God the Divine Shekinah and Iesus standing at the right hand of God Acts 7. 55. And we read in the Book of the Revelation that St. Iohn had frequent Visions And hither may be refer'd those visible representations spoken of in the New Testament as the Holy Ghost's descending on Christ in the shape of a Dove after he was baptized The appearance of Cloven Tongues like as of fire over the Apostles heads The Light from Heaven which shone round about St. Paul at his Conversion All these appertain to the Shekinah the Glorious Presence and Lustre of theâ— Heavenly Majesty And hither may be refer'd the Radiant Presence of Christ the bright and glorious Manifestation of his Person which is often mention'd by the Evangelists Mat. 17. 2 5. Mark 9. 3. and Rev. 1. 16. He dwelt among us he was the true Shekinah and we behold his Glory as the Glory of the only begotten of the Father John 1. 14. 4. Dreams were another sort of divine Revelations among the Jews and these also were not wanting to confirm the Truth of Christianity For we read that Ioseph was warned once and again in a Dream concerning Mary whom he had espoâ—sed and concerning the blessed Babe Mat. 1. 20. chap. 2. 12 13 19. And Pilate's Wife suffer'd many things in a Dream because of Christ who was then standing at the Bar before her Husband Mat. 27. 19. But because these Operations on the Imagination by Dreams are more liable to mistakes than Visions and other kinds of Revelation we have but few Instances of this However we are not wholly destitute of this Testimony under the Gospel 5. There was among the Jews that which they signally call'd the Holy Spirit viz. when Men were wonderfully and extraordinarily stir'd up to deliver the Will of God to make some divine Discoveries to the World and to assert their holy Religion This was in Christ himself Luke 4. 1. Acts 1. 2. 10. 38. and in the Apostles Acts 2. 4. 5. 8. 6. 3 5. 7. 55. 11. 24. 19. 6. and in all the holy Men that were sent by him to preach the Gospel By this they were enabled to speak without any premeditation before Rulers and Kings Mark 13. 10 11. for our Saviour tells them it is not ye that speak but the Holy Ghost With this the Apostles were all fill'd when they met together on the Day of Pentecost and utter'd such divine and heavenly things By this Prophetick Afflation or Inspiration the Evangelists penn'd the Scriptures of the New Testament for tho these Writings may be said to be humane Testimony as they were writ by Men yet these Persons being inspired by the Holy Ghost and not speaking of themselves but by extraordinary Assistance their Writings and Testimony are Divine This is part of that more sure Word of Prophesy spoken of by St. Peter Ep. 2. ch 1. ver 19. which in the next Verse he calls the Prophesy of the Scripture By this Divine Inspiration the Prophets and Apostles saw and foretold what should come to pass afterwards By this inward Afflation the Apostles tho mean and illiterate Persons preached the Gospel with that Authority and Evidence which some of their most implacable Enemies were not able to resist These are the Divine Witnesses of the Truth of the Gospel-Dispensation and of the Christian Religion Yea even at this Day and to the Worlds end this last Testimony viz. of the Spirit is useful and necessary I do not mean any Miraculous gift of the Spirit but a special and peculiar assistance of it such as all regenerate Persons have experience of That we may be throughly certain that this or that was deliver'd by God that we may assuredly know that such things were of Divine
prevail'd with him to do as she did i. e. to violate the Commandment because she did so Which we may gather from those words of his Gen. 3. 12. The Woman whom thou gavest to be with me and to be my other-self she gave me of the Tree and I did eat For tho he did ill in laying his Fault and transferring his Guilt on the Woman thereby only to excuse himself yet thus far we may believe him that he was drawn into this transgression by her whom God had given unto him His passionate regard to her betray'd him to this folly Thus this desire of his Eyes was one occasion of his misery By the Inchantments and Sollicitations of a Woman Man was first ruin'd Whilst he was alone he did well but when he saw so fair and Image he was tempted to fall down to it and to comply with it and to forget himself and his duty This was the Origine of Adam's prevarication the sensitive part was too powerful Pleasure betray'd him and ever since all Mankind the animal and sensual Life gets the better of the Divine 3. Another previous Sin of our first Parents was a being dissatisfied with their condition and an ambitious desiring to know more and to become greater It was a vile compound of Curiosity Discontent and Pride yea this latter seems to have the predominancy whence it was the determination of one of the Antient Fathers that Adam and Eve's first Sin by which they fell was Pride The Devil inveâ—gled them with telling them that their Eyes should be opened and that they should know Good and Evil nay that they should be as Gods in knowledg and perfection Gen. 3. 5. This was no mean incentive to the breach of the Divine Law tho indeed it was a strange solecism and absurdity and it is an strange that our first Parents should not observe it viz. that they should be like God by breaking his Law This was an arrant piece of Nonsence and yet it was swallowed the vehement desire of seeing having blinded them their inordinate longing after Wisdom rendring them so foolish and sottish Their affection of Knowledg and their vain Ambition ruined them Their desire to arrive to the Partners with God Almighty made them forget they were his Creatures Their wishing to be Gods made them become like Beasts which perish as you shall hear afterwards Yea their desire to be like Gods made them too like unto Devils The 4 th Sin which made way for their actual violating God's Command was Vnbelief God had himself told him that in the day they eat of the forbidden Fruit they should surely die Gen. 2. 17. But Satan comes and conâ—ronts this and tells them Yâ— shall not surely die Gen. 3. 4. Whereupon they give credit to this Tempter and disbelieve what God had said They attend not to the Divine Threatnings but listen to the Devil's Promises of Impunity They believe the Father of Lies but what the God of Truth saith is none of their Creed This was the cursed Infidelity which was the forerunner of the actual breaking of the Divine Command Thus you may be convinc'd that tho the eating the forbidden Fruit may at first sight seem to be a small matter a kind of venial Fault and some vain Men have labour'd to represent it as such yet upon a particular and narrow view of it and by reason of the Circumstances that attend it it was a most grievous and horrid Crime That Sin which was usher'd in with so many vile Harbingers must needs be a capital Offence Besides the greatness of the Transgression must be esteem'd and measur'd by the Authority of the Lawgiver we must consider not so much what was forbid as who forbad it God their Creator and Father who had absolute Power and Command over them God who knew best how to govern them and what was most for their real Good and Advantage God who required the observance but of a small and easy thing ought to have been obey'd with all exactness Adam and Eve had no Father but God how just and reasonable then was it that they should express all Duty and Obedience to him that they should observe his Laws and not dare to break the â—east Command of his that they should do nothing without his order and never listen to any that would attempt to withdraw them from their duty but that they should continually live in a sense of their dependence upon him that they should call upon him trust in him honour and worship him only that they should strive to walk worthy of the singular Favours they had receiv'd from him and that they should endeavor to persevere in their Innocence and Integrity and to continue in that blessed State wherein God had created them And as for the Matter of the Sin the letter and lighter it is the greater is the Sinner's contempt of God This inhances his Fault that he preferreth so slight a thing before God's Will and Pleasure that he regardeth not the Divine Anger tho it be so easy to avoid it Here we may say as Cicero doth in defence of the Stoicks Paradox viz. that all Sins are alike The Matter is small but the Fault is great Yea I may add the latter is the greater because the former is so small The Sin of Adam and Eve was the more grievous and inexcusable because it was in so little a matter as the bare tasting of the Fruit of a Tree Which was a thing they had no temptation to if we consider that the whole Garden of Fruit was before them and there was but one single Tree only forbidden them But it seems all the rest were insipid without this no Tree will so content them as the forbidden one There was no Fruit so desirable as this and it is likely this had not been desired if it had not been forbidden This argues great perversness and obstinacy and consequently aggravateth their Sin and senders their Offence very heinous Say not then the eating of the Fruit of a Tree is a light and inconsiderable thing So it might be said Lot's Wise did only look back to see the miserable ruin of the place she lived in What! might she not look behind her It was out of pity that she did this Did this deserve so sore a Punishment Abraham look'd on Sodâ—m in its flames and was not punish'd It was not criminal in him to do so Why then was it in this poor Woman The plain Answer is this that there are many things from whence Actions are denominated Good or Evil. They are sometimes reputed so by God according to the intrinsick Causes and Reasons of them sometimes also according to their good or evil Adjuncts but at all times according to the Will and Command of God allowing or disallowing of such Actions By these we must judg of Lot's Wife 's Sinâ— Out of an immoderate love of the City which had been the place of her abode or
Shadows Christ in this sense is call'd the trâ—e Light and true Bread Joh. 1. 9. Joh. 6. 32. The Ceremonial Law was but a Figure of the Evangelical Truth And this is deservedly called Trâ—th because all the Ceremonial Types are Verified and Fulfill'd in Christ. All those Iudaick Hieroglyphicks are now unridled and plainly discovered to the World and he that runs may read them The Types and Symbols are gone and now the Things themselves are present and are clearly understood by us This makes the difference between the Mosaick Dispensation and the Evangelical One. The Doctrine of Salvation and the means of Life by Christ are more intelligible and plain than they were before Their Conceptions of those things were intricate and obscure but we have arrived to clear and distinct Notions concerning them In short the way of Salvation was before more dark and general they saw Christ through â—ertain Perspectives afar off but now the fulness of time is come and hath given us a near and more perfect view of those things which they saw but in a glass darkly 4. The Religion of the Gospel is more Inward and Lively than that of the Law and the Jewish Administration There is now introduced a Rational and Manly Service our Religion is chiefly the employment of our Minds and Understandings and not so much of our Bodies and lower Faculties We now worship God in Spirit as well as in Truth of which I spake befoâ—e we worship in a spiritual manner opposed to outward and bodily Service as Sacrifices Purifications c. The Evangelical Righteousness is a Spiritual Administration a Vital Principle able to beget a Divine Life whereas the Law comparatively was an external dead Letter and did not sufficiently actuate the Minds and Spirits of Men. It is true the History of the Gospel or the Doctrin of the Evangelists as it is merely propounded and written is as much external as the Law but the ministration of the Spirit as the Apostle calls it going along with the Gospel in a more especial and peculiar manner is a powerful Principle in the Souls of Men whereby they are inwardly renewed and transformed And so the Gospel compared with the Law is of greater Power Might and Efficacy and is able to produce a heavenly and spiritual frame of Soul and a sincere performance of the Divine Laws This is the Law promis'd to be written in the Hearts of Men and to be put into their inward parts Jer. 31. 33. 5. This Dispensation of the Gospel is larger and ampler than that of the Law and of other Dispensations before it For the Church was shut up in narrow bounds and confined to a few Families of the Patriarchs Afterwards it was limited to the Land of Canaan and to the Hâ—brew People excepting a few that were without who knew God's Will and were graciously accepted But after Christ came the Church was not tied to one Place or certain Nation but hath been ever since the Congregation of all such as truly know and worship Christ in any part of the World The Christian Dispensation is not local and temporary not confined to place or time not circumscribed by a particular Country Now not one Natâ—on only or a few of others are honoured with Laws given from God himself but Gentiles and Iews Greeks and Barbarians all Kindreds and Tongues all Countries and Regions of the Universe have heard the sound of the Gospel and have had the Divine Laws which were given by Christ himself offer'd to them Our Saviour bid his Disciples go into all the World and teach all Nations And accordingly as was observ'd before they travell'd into all the World which was at that time known and proclaimed the Messias to them Thus Christ came and preach'd Peace to them that were afar off and to them that were nigh Ephes. 2. 17. All Places and Countries had the privilege of the Gospel and might receive advantage by it This is one remarkable Difference between the Legal and the Evangelical Dispensation the former was Narrow and Contracted the latter was Full Ample Comprehensive and Catholick 6. Altho as hath been said the Conditions of Salvation are the same now as to the main with those before yet they vary as to several Circumstances To begin with Faith the first and chief Condition of Salvation the grand Fundamental Grace of Christianity This is reckon'd by the Reverend Bishop Taylor among the Instances of Duties which are new under the Gospel But the true account is this that Faith was not a Precept of the Natural or Moral Law but was a new Precept added to it by Revelation when the First Promise and New Covenant were made But ever since that it hath not been New for as I have proved the Antient Patriarchs were saved by Faith in Christ. He was the Object of Faith then as well as now the Faith of the first Believers was the same with the Faith of Christians Yet notwithstanding this this Grace of Faith hath a different aspect from what it had The Fathers believed in the Messias that was to come and we believe in the same Jesus who is come and hath taken on him our Nature and laid down his Life and shed his precious Blood for the redemption of lost Man and rose again and ascended into Heaven Thus the believing of Christ's Birth Passion Resurrection and Ascension is in this respect nâ—w that Faith looks upon them as accomplished But otherwise in respect of the things themselves it is the old Faith i. e. the same which those that lived before the time of the Messias exerted Christ that was to be crucified was the Object of their Belief and Christ already crucified is the Object of ours This is confirm'd â—rom Isa. 53. Acts 15. 11. 1 Cor. 5. 7. Heb. 9. 11. and abundance of other Texts St. Augustine having affirmed that the Saints of old were saved in the same way that we are viz. by Faith in Jesus adds this distinction They saith he were saved by Faith in Christ's future Sufferings and we by Faith in those Sufferings as they are already past This is that which our Church saith speaking of the People of God that lived before Christ's Incarnation Althâ— they were not named Christian men yet was it a Christian Faith which they had for they looked for all the Benefits of God the Father through the Merits of his Son Iesus Christ as we now do This difference is between them and us that they looked when Christ should come and we are in the time when he is come Besides a more general Belief was sufficient for mens Salvation before the Messias's coming than is now It was not necessary to Salvation to believe so expresly and explicitly concerning Christ and his Undertakings as we are obliged to believe since So that tho there is not now a New Faith neither are there New Articles of Faith yet there are New Exertments of Faith and more clear
concerning Christ and his Kingdom The Seal is set upon them there are no other Visions or Prophecies of this nature to be look'd for afterwards From all which it appears that the Evangelical Dispensation is the last of all We have now the perfectest Edition of God's Will and we must look after no other Thus Tertullian acquaints us that this was the great and prevailing Rule among the Christians No more is ever to be believed by us than what is now deliver'd to us by Christ and his Apostles We have all our Belief given us God's whole Will is set down You see how divine Providence hath as it were gone about in the several former Ages of the World it hath been all along upon the Reserve The times before Christ were more or less moving and growing on to Christianity they all the while look'd toward this and were Ushers to it to prepare the way But when our Saviour came he sell closely to the business without any further ambages he alone had the honour to lay open and revâ—al all those things which were before hidden to set those things streight which were before dubious to give us a full discovery of those things which we had but a taste of and to set before our eyes those Mysteries and Truths which were but told us before as that Faâ—her speaks Therefore they think not aright of the Gospel Dispensation who pretend to bring Tidings of a New Edition of Religion who talk of New Lights but despise Old Truths They are vain Men and intend nothing but Imposture who hoise up Sail for the Discovery of an unknown Continent some new Plantation in Religion We must expect no Columbus to discover new Worlds and Treasures to us of that kind Our Religion hath been profess'd in the World very near seventeen Centuries of Years and it is still the same and will never be superannuated and out of Date but will continue to the end of all things for it is the Top and Flower the Crown and Perfection of all Divine Institutions it is the most Consummate Administration of all that ever were in the World and for that Reason it is the Last Revelation that God will make to Mankind But altho this be the Last Dispensation yet there are great Varieties in it which brings me to the next thing I propounded CHAP. XVIII The several Ages of Christianity It was in its Infancy in our Saviour's time The Apostles knew little concerning his Sufferings and his Resurrection The effusion of the Holy Spirit was but mean in respect of what it was afterwards The Church was in its Childhood in the times immediately after our Saviour There are no Errors and Mistakes in the Writings of the New Testament Some necessary Points of Christianity deliver'd in the Apostolical Epistles that are not in the Gospels and Acts. Some relicks of Judaism remain'd in the Apostles times An Explication of the Decree of the Council at Jerusalem It is particularly proved that the Prohibition concerning the eating of Blood is not obligatory under the Gospel Yet in the first times of the Church many observed it The difference of Dispensations as to Abstinence from some sort of Food Judaism and Christianity were mingled together in the primitive Ages An enumeration of several Extraordinary Gifts that were in the Christian Church at first The Youth or riper Years of Christianity described The cessation of extraordinary Gifts argues the Progress and Growth of the Christian Church Miracles no part of this subordinate Dispensation The non-Appearance of Angels is a Proof of the Improvement of Christianity The usefulness and necessity of attending to the different Administrations of Religion especially the Christian. THe fourth and last thing I undertook was to shew you the several Degrees of this Evangelical Oeconomy This Gospel Period which began at Christ's Coming and continues to the end of the World hath four distinct Partitions which differ much from one another 1. The primitive Partition or Period which is past 2. The Period ensuing that which is now present And there are two Periods yet to come I might divide them according to the several Ages of Man for there are as of Man so of the Christian Religion four distinct Ages It had its Infancy and Childhood at Christ's first Coming and some years after its Youth since that to the present times It shall have its Manhood or full Strength which is to come in a short time we hope and there shall be the Old Age or Declension of Religion a little before the World's end I have not met with any Writers that have duly observ'd this Distinction in the Gospel Oeconomy the neglect of which hath caused several â—alse Notions about this Last Administration of Religion But the Inquisitive and thoughtful Reader will find that these things which I have suggested and shall now proceed to explain are absolutely necessary for the framing of a right Idea of the Evangelical Dispensation 1. I begin with the first and tender Years of Christianity in which are comprehended 1. The Time when our Saviour was on Earth 2. The Times which immediately succeeded that First it is evident that in the days of our Saviour the Christian Church was in her Infancy and Minority and that she was not grown up to a sufficient Knowledg and Understanding When Christ first preached concerning the Calling and Converting of the Gentiles Luke 13. 29. Mat. 22. 9 10. his Apostles and Disciples understood not his meaning They knew not that both Gentiles and Iews should be preach'd to under the Evangelical Dispensation and therefore afterwards St. Peter was convinced of it by no less than a particular Revelation Acts 10. 14. Even the Apostles were ignorant of the spiritual Kingdom of the Messias and look'd for an outwardly glorious and magnificent one When Christ told his Disciples as he was on his journey with them to to Ierusalem what grievous things he was to suffer they notwithstanding this Admonishment thought he was going thither to be made King and the Sons of Zebedee made their Suit to him by their Mother that they might have the first Place in the Kingdom which the other Apostles took ill Mat. 20. 20. Luke 19. 11. St. Peter the prime Apostle was ignorant of the Method of Man's Redemption by the Sufferings and Death of Christ which appears from this that he would fain have prevail'd with him to spare himself and not to suffer at Ierusalem Mat. 16. 22. And the rest of the Apostles were infected with the same common error and mistake They perswaded themselves that they should enjoy Halcyon Days and that their Master should be a very Great Earthly Prince You read therefore in Luke 18. 31. that when Christ spoke to them of his Passion they were at a loss they understood none of these things and this Saying was hid from them neither knew they the things which were spoken ver 34. In so great Darkness and Ignorance were
the Disciples for a time such Prejudices had they on their minds that they could not conceive the meaning of our Lord and they durst not ask him concerning those things It was not as yet reveal'd to them by what means the Messias was to deliver them they dreamt of an Earthly Kingdom as the blinded Iews at this day they promis'd themselves much temporal Prosperity and Grandeur in the World Neither could the Doctrine of Christ's Resurrection gain assent with them for we read that when he spake of it to the three Apostles before whom he was transfigured they questioned one with another what the rising from the dead should mean Mark 9. 10. And afterwards when he told the other Apostles as well as these that he should rise again the third day they understood not that saying Mark 9. 31 32. That our Saviour's Friends believ'd not his Resurrection appears from their dressing his dead Body with Aromatick Gums and Spices which were design'd to preserve it It had been vain to use these glutinous Gums and Persumes if they thought he was in a short time to rise again And when he was risen they would not believe it as appears too plainly from that Speech of Cleophas one of those whom Jesus talk'd with presently after his Resurrection tho then he pass'd incognito We trusted saith he that it had been He who should have redeemed Israel Luke 24. 21. Still he doubted tho he had heard of the Lord's Resurrection in saying we trusted he discover'd his distrust and impli'd that Iesus could not be the Messias who was to redeem Israel Tho the Apostles were certified of Christ's Resurrection by those that saw him yet their words seemed to them as idle Tales Luke 24. 11. and they would not be perswaded till they themselves saw Christ among them Nor did they know that he was to ascend for just before he left them they put this question to him Wilt thou at this time restore the Kingdom to Israel Acts 1. 6. Wilt thou repair the Iewish State and recover its pristine Splendour yea raise it to a higher Dignity than ever it arrived to as we expect should be done by the Messias So likewise it might be proved that some of them were in an Error about the End of the World for they believed it would be about that time By these and other Instances their Ignorance and Mistake were apparently discovered they had very false apprehensions and conceptions of things and some of the chief Articles of the Christian Belief were not credited by them Here I might add that in our Blessed Saviour's time there was not such an effusion of the Holy Spirit as there was afterwards Iohn 7. 35. The Holy Ghost was not yet given because that Iesus was not yet glorified For this Reason several things were not disclosed to them but were reserved till a further communication of the Spirit for tho Christ had said All things which I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you yet he adds I have yet many things to say unto you but you cannot hear them now Howbeit when the Spirit of Truth is come he will guide you into all Truth John 16. 12 13. As much as if he had said there is no new Truth or other Doctrine to be preach'd to you than what you have receiv'd from me already but the time is coming when there shall be a greater Manifestation of those things to you tho the Truths as to the main shall be the same yet your Understandings and Capacities shall be greater you shall then comprehend those matters which before you could not as the calling of the Gentiles the Spiritual Kingdom of the Messias c. And moreover the Holy Spirit shall increase your Love and Zeal to God and all Truth so that you shall be enabled not only to preach it to all Nations but undauntedly to suffer Persâ—cution and even to lay down your Lives in the defence of it By this it is evident that Christianity was revealed by degrees as well as the other former Dispensations of Religion Their knowledg in the Christian Institution was gradual they were not to know all together neither were their Zeal and Courage of the same proportion that they were afterwards Secondly in the Times and Ages immediately succeeding our Saviour's being upon Earth the Church was but yet in its Childhood and State of Infirmity It is true they were much increased and advanced in their knowledg of spiritual Truths this being the Accomplishment of our Saviour's Promise as well as Prediction that the Holy Spirit should guide them into all Truth By a more immediate and special Directioâ— of this Holy Guide the Evangelists and Apostles indited and pen'd the Books of the New Testament so that there are no Errors and Mistakes in them of any kind Therefore what a Learned Writer saith on 1 Cor. 15. 51. and 2 Pet. 3. 11. and other places in St. Paul's and St. Peter's Epistles viz. that these Apostles verily believ'd the day of Iudgment was at hand and consequently were under a mistake is not to be admitted is by no means to be credited for these Persons as well as the other Penmen of the New Testament being immediately inspired by that Infallible Guide and Director could not possibly commit any Errors in their Writings whatever their misapprehensions were at other times When therefore they use those Terms with respect to the last Day We and Ye as if they of that Age should survive to see that Day we must remember that they speak not of themselves particularly and definitively but of the whole successive Body of Christians in several Ages who will be expecting the last Day This is the meaning of those Expressions as is plain from their using them on other occasions We have no Reason then to think that the Apostles were deceiv'd about the Day of Judgment or any other matter that they writ of and deliver'd to the World Here is no weakness no defect as to any thing of this nature Nay there was a great Advance and Accession in respect of what there was before in the foregoing part of this Dispensation viz. in the time that our Saviour lived upon the Earth For the Doctrines of the Gospel of which I speak now were gradually deliver'd and consequently the Apostles attain'd now to more than was discover'd in Christ's time he having not thought fit then to communicate all in so evident and plain a manner as we find it was afterwards done Therefore that late Writer is under a great mistake who declares that the Apostles Epistles are only occasional and that we can find no necessary Points of Divinity deliver'd there which were not deliver'd before in the Gospels and Acts whereas the Truth is the Epistles contain the most perfect and complete Doctrines of the Gospel for by degrees the Evangelical Truth display'd it self All the necessary and fundamental Articles of Christianity are explain'd