Judaism again to their old Mosaick rites which sometime had been right but now antiquated and to their traditional principles which had never been right but now least of all to have been embraced and to a deadly hatred and persecution of the Gospel that they once professed How the Apostles speak of and against this Apostasie in their Epistles I need not tell you he that runs may read it But he that stands still and reads presely will find that they find The Antichrist that then was in that Apostasie I say the Antichrist that then was For the Scripture gives a hint of a twofold Antichrist one in the Epistles and the other in this Book of the Revelation one that was in those times and the other that was to be afterwards one among the Jews that had embraced the Gospel and the other among the Gentiles which should embrace it And if you will let the unbelieving Jew to be one part of the Antichrist that then was the Apostatized Jew was much more Many Antichrists in those times as this our Apostle tells us 1 Joh. II. 18. but those were they especially of whom he speaks immediately after They went out from us but they were not of us And the like character do these Apostates carry in other places in the Epistles in terms equivalent Now therefore the nearest way to discover the Antichrist that was to be in after times among the Gentiles is by observing his likeness and similitude to the former viz. in apostatizing from the pure and sincere profession of the Gospel to Judaism or to Mosaick manner of worship and Judaick principles and Religion Which how the Church of Rome hath done it would require a long time to compare in all particulars but it will require a far longer time for her to clear her self from that just accusation How near doth she come to Judaism in the doctrine of Justification how near in the doctrine of opus operatum How near in the doctrine of expiation by bare Confession How near in the doctrine of the value of Traditions And one for all how near in turning all Religion into Ceremony Their present year of Jubilee is it not Mosaick And were you there at it and saw the manner of their devotions their formal Services and Ceremonious Worship would you not think you were in the old Jerusalem among the Scribes and Pharisees rather than in the the new where the true worshipers worship the Father in spirit and truth So that when we departed from the Church of Rome we did but the same thing that the Apostles Disciples and other holy converts of the Jewish Nation did they forsook Judaism to embrace the purity of the Gospel And so did we And in the way that they call Heresie we worship God If I have trespassed too much upon your patience by so prolix a discourse upon so unpleasing a subject I must crave your pardon We enquiring after the new Jerusalem where we might find it come to the place where your ways parted and one went right and the other wrong The wrong way is the broader pleasanter and more trodden and not a few that stand in it and cry This is the right way and no other It is good to give warning it is needful to take warning that we be not misled that the men and the way do not deceive us And having thus far observed where the new Jerusalem is not to be found let us now look where it is And first we must not expect to find it in any one particular place as you might have done the old Jerusalem but it is dispersed here and there abroad in the World It is the Catholick Church as we are taught in our Creed and it is not in one only but in this and that and the other Nation When the new Jerusalem is to be measured in Zach. II. an Angel bids O run after yonder young man that is to measure it and tell him that Jerusalem shall be inhabited as a City without walls for the multitude of men and cattel that shall be therein It is a City unlimited and therefore not to be bounded within this or that compass We may use this Paradox of it That it is a fluid and yet a fixed body nay fixed because fluid that is it is moving sometime into one place sometime into another and therefore it shall never fade or perish The Jews accused S. Stephen of Heresie and blasphemy because he said that the Church and Religion should not alway be pinned to that City and Temple but taken away In his answer he sheweth that the Church and Religion is a Pilgrim one while in one place another while in another in Mesopotamia in Charran in Canaan in Egypt And our own observation may tell us that when it failed in Egypt and Israel followed the Idols and manners of that Land as Ezek. XX. that then God found himself a Church in the family of Job and his three friends The saying of our Saviour may suffice for this The Kingdom of Heaven shall be taken from you and given to a people that shall bring forth the fruits of it And this is that that makes it fixed or never failing because when it decayeth in one place it groweth in another And that promise of our Saviour will ever maintain it in life and being Upon this rock will I build my Church of the Gospel and the gates of Hell shall never prevail against it as they have done against the Church of the Jews In Matth. XXIV when Christ foretels of the desolation of that City Church and Nation that their Sun and Moon and Stars Religion and Church and State should be darkned and fall and come to nothing and they should then see the Son of man whom they would never own coming in a thick cloud and storm of vengeance against them it might be questioned where then will God have a Church when that is gone He gives an answer That the Son of man should send his Angels or Ministers with the sound of a trumpet the trumpet of the Gospel and gather him a Church from all the corners under Heaven To which may not improperly be applied that Heb. XII 22. Ye are come to an innumerable company of Angels God will never want his Church but if it be not in one place it will be in another Secondly There is an invisible Church as well as a visible Pauls Jerusalem which is above and out of sight as well as Ezekiels Jerusalem pitched here below There is commonly some invisible Church within the visible as Ezekiels wheel within a wheel But there is sometimes an invisible Church where there is none visible as those seven thousand men in the days of Elias when he could not discern one The Apostle speaking of the new Jerusalem that we are speaking of in that place of the Epistle to the Hebrews before alledged among other things saith Ye are not come to the Mount that might
19. 48. 22. Sychar near to the parcel of ground that Iacob gave to his son Ioseph 6. Now Iacobs well was there Iesus therefore being wearied with his journy sate f f f f f f Sate thus that is in a weary posture or after the manner as tired men use to sit down De Dieu taketh it only for an elegancy in the Greek which might well be omitted and accordingly the Syriack hath omitted it and not owned it at all But see it Emphatical in other places also 1 Sam. 9. 13. Samuel is come this day to the City for the people have a sacrifice in the high place and when you are come into the City 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 you shall So find him that is newly come to Town and going to a sacrifice 1 King 2. 7. Shew kindness to the sons of Barzilla c. for So they came to me that is they came kindly to me Act. 7. 8. he gave him the covenant of circumcision and so Abraham begat Isaac that is he begat him in circumcision c. thus on the well And it was about the sixth hour 7. There cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water Iesus saith unto her Give me to drink 8. For his Disciples were gone away into the City to buy meat 9. Then saith the woman of Samaria unto him How is it that thou being a Iew askest drink of me which am a woman of Samaria For the Iews have no dealing with the Samaritans 10. Iesus answered and said unto her If thou knowest the gift of God and who it is that saith unto thee Give me to drink thou wouldst have asked of him and he would have given thee living water 11. The woman saith unto him Sir thou hast nothing g g g g g g 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Camerarius out of Plautus Latins this Situlam Beza out of Austin Hauritorium 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in Hebrew Esa. 40. 15. Numb 24. 7. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 saith Kimchi in Michol A vessel where withal they drew water the Septuagint in the former place cited renders it Cadus and in the latter they translate the metaphorical sense It seems they brought their buckets with them to draw with as well as their vessels to carry water in unless they made the same vessel serve for both uses by letting it down to draw with a cord to draw with and the well is deep from whence then hast thou that h h h h h h Springing or running water was called by the Hebrew living water Gen. 26. 19. Isaacs servants digged in the valley and found there a well of living water The Chaldee renders it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 springing water for the bubbling of the spring is like the lively beating of the heart or pulse And hence it was that this woman did so readily mistake our Saviours meaning He spake of the lively waters of grace that spring up in him that hath them to eternal life but she interpreted him according to the propriety of the language as if he had spoken only of waters out of a spring And so had Nicodemus misinterpreted another expression in the former Chapter 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or living waters were taken in opposition to 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a gathering of waters as Rambam evidenceth saying thus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Any waters saith he are fit for the purifying of the Priests hands and feet whether living springing or running waters or waters gathered together In biath hammikdas◠per. 5. By waters gathered together he meaneth ponds or cisterns gathered of rain water or any waters that did not spring or run The Latinists also used the like expression to the Hebr. for springing or running water as in the Poet Donec me flumine vivo Abluero Virg. Aeneid 2. living water 12. Art thou greater than our Father Iacob which gave us the well and drank thereof himself and his children and his cattel 13. Iesus answered and said unto her Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again 14. But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life 15. The woman saith unto him Sir give me this water that I thirst not neither come hither to draw 16. Iesus saith unto her Go call thy husband and come hither 17. The woman answered and said I have no husband Iesus said unto her Thou hast well said I have no husband 18. For thou hast had five husbands and he whom thou now hast is not thine husband in that saidst thou truly 19. The woman saith unto him Sir I perceive that thou art a Prophet 20. Our Fathers worshipped in this mountain and ye say that in Ierusalem is the place where men ought to worship 21. Iesus saith unto her woman believe me the hour cometh when ye shall neither in this mountain nor yet at Ierusalem worship the Father 22. Ye worship ye know not what we know what we worship for salvation is of the Iews 23. But the hour cometh and now is when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth for the Father seeketh such to worship him 24. God is a Spirit and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and truth 25. The woman saith unto him I know that Messias cometh * * * * * * These are the words of the Evangelist interpreting the word Messias to the reader and not the words of the woman interpreting it to Christ the Syriack translater hath omitted these words as not necessary to a Syrian reader which is called Christ when he is come he will tell us all things 26. Iesus saith unto her I that speak unto thee am he 27. And upon this came his Disciples and marvailed that he talked with i i i i i i 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The various construction of the word either with the strength of the article or without hath caused various causes to be conceived of the Disciples wondring at his talking with her Some read it without the force of the Article thus they marvailed that he talked with a woman as unfit say some and uncapable of his serious and divine discourse but others ascribe their wonder to this that he was thus entred into discourse with a strange woman alone and no company near And they that so understand it are confirmed by this because they think it was no more to be wondred at that he should talk with a Samaritan woman than it was that they should go into a Samaritan City to buy provision for why might not he as well talk with a woman as they with the men or women of whom they bought meat if her being a Samaritan were all the matter But the case was not the same for the Jews might buy meat of them and sell meat to them with whom they might
for he that is watered with grace doth thirst for the same water of grace again and again but he saith whosoever shall drink of this water which I shall give him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he shall never so thirst as to fail or perish by it but this water shall preserve him to eternal life Compare Esay 41. 17. Vers. 15. The woman saith Sir give me of this water c. The woman doth now fall from questioning as vers 11 12. to plain mocking and derision for this can be construed no other in her I know these words of hers are taken by divers to intimate her inclining to and imbracing this doctrine of Christ though she knew not well how to understand it and they shew say some Simplicitatem credendi her simplicity or sincerity of believing who so soon doubted not to ask for this so excellent water But be it considered 1. That as yet she took Christ but for an ordinary man until he hath told her of her secret villanies and then she takes him for a Prophet vers 19. And 2. that taking him for an ordinary man she talks with him as a Samaritan huswife would do with a common Jew between whom there was so deadly a scorn and fewd 3. The thing that Christ spake of of giving water after which the party that had it should never thirst were things so strange and would seem so ridiculous to any Samaritan nay to any flesh and blood that knew no more of him than as yet she did those words proceeding from so mean a man as he seemed to be that her words in reply thereunto Sir give me of this water c. can be no other but a jeer and scorn of what he had spoken And her calling him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Sir doth no whit take off this construction since that was but a word of ordinary compellation or if she used it in a higher sense she used it but in the higher scorn Vers. 17. I have no husband The reason why Christ bids her call her husband may be supposed to be partly that he might check and stop her jeering by minding her of her own faults and chiefly that he might shew her that he was another kind of person then she judged of him by telling her of such things as she knew he could not tell her but divinely Now her denial that she had any husband is ascribed by some to her modesty to conceal her adultery by others to this because she knew not what Christ would do with her husband but till it can be shewed why a Samaritan quean should talk with any reverence or civility with an ordinary Jew for she took Christ for no other as yet especially when he spake to her of such unlikely things as he did it is the most proper and undisputable interpretation of her words I have no husband to take them for a scoffing and regardless answer to a question and to a person that she was careless whether she gave any any answer to or no. Vers. 18. He whom thou now hast is not thine husband It seemeth by the numerousness of her former husbands and by the same expression used concerning them and this thou hast had five and this that thou hast that she was a divorced woman and now lived in an adulterous marriage and it may be married to him who had adulterated her in her former husbands days But be it either thus or that she lived in adultery out of wedlock her conscience is convinced of the truth of the thing that Christ speaketh and withal she findeth that he had told her that which a meer stranger could not tell her but by the spirit of Prophecy and therefore she owns him for a Prophet Vers. 20. Our Fathers worshipped in this Mount Conceiving him to be a Prophet she sodainly desireth to hear what he will determine upon that great dispute that was between the Jews and the Samaritans continually namely whether was the truer and righter place of worship Jerusalem or Mount Gerizim She called Jacob Our Father Jacob ver 12. for so the Samaritans would be a kin to the Jews when they thought good but the Fathers she speaks of here were as far from the Religion and Worship that Jacob used as Jacob was from the Religion of Hamor and Sichem Josephus tells one story that gives this woman but little cause to boast of her Fathers worshipping in that Mount and that is this That when Antiochus Epiphanes did so heavily oppress the Jews and persecute their Religion these Samaritans thinking that their Religion also looked somewhat like that of the Jews and that Antiochus might happily suspect that they and the Jews and both their Religions were something a kin and so they suffer as well as the other they fairly send to Antiochus and betime disclaim any such kindred And whereas indeed they could not deny but they had a Temple they besought him that it might be dedicated to the Grecian Jupiter and called by his name and so by the Kings command it was Antiq. lib. 12. cap. 7. Here was worshipping in that Mount with a witness and much to be bragd of but see the impudence of Hereticks when such a Temple shall compare with the Temple at Jerusalem Abraham Zaccuth saith This Temple of Gerizim was destroyed by Jochanan the son of Simeon the son of Mattathias and the Hereticks slain Juchas fol. 14. Vers. 21. Woman believe me The Hour cometh c. As she owned him for a Prophet so he challengeth to be believed of her as a Prophet and as a Prophet he foretels her of what was now ready to come to pass namely that Ceremonious Worship should cease and be no more confined to particular place or Nation That there should be no Sacrifice at Jerusalem no Image at Samaria no Ephod at Jerusalem no Teraphim at Samaria as Hos. 3. 4. but that those places and that manner of worship should fail and be abolished And so he answers her question in the first place to this purpose that it was needless for her or any other to trouble themselves about that dispute whether Jerusalem or Gerizim were the more eminent place of Worship for the time was just now in coming when neither the one nor the other should be the place of worship at all And then he determins the question indeed that Jerusalem had ever been and was at that present the right place of worship but Gerizim a Temple of error and usurpation and he proves his determination by this reason We know what we worship c. Vers. 23. The true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and truth In the term The true worshippers he looketh at the womans question and the two Nations controversie They tugged for it and she inquires about it whether of the people had the true worship amongst them why saith Christ ere long there shall be no worship at all either among the one or the other And
the time is now come that he that will be taken for a true worshipper must neither worship as the Jews do ceremoneously but in spirit nor as the Samaritans do erroneously but in truth Thus may we very well divide the two words Spirit and truth to serve these two purposes as thus to answer about the worship of either Nation the one whereof worshipped God altogether in external Rites and Ceremonies and the other worshipped they knew not what and they knew not how But generally the word Spirit and truth are taken by Expositors to signifie but one and the same thing and stand in opposition only to the carnal Rites and shadowy types in which their whole Worship in a manner did consist His using of the term Father for God is not so much in reference to the other persons in the Trinity or because the woman was acquainted with that mystery but because the Jews and it is like the Samaritans also used the word very commonly in their prayers and speeches as Our Father which art in Heaven do to us as thou hast promised by the Prophet And Let the prayers and requests of all the House of Israel be accepted before their Father which is in Heaven c. Maym. in Tephilloth Vers. 24. God is a Spirit and they that worship him c. Here ariseth a question upon the very first reading of the verse the words Spirit and truth being interpreted as is mentioned immediately before and that is why did God so punctually ordain and so long continue a Typical and Ceremonious Worship if those that worship him must worship in spirit and truth Answer That very worship was for this end and purpose that men should learn to worship God in spirit and truth For all these rites and types were but doctrines of the way of Salvation through Christ till Christ came and the very use of them was to this end that out of them men should spel this spiritual and true worship namely to worship God in Christ and to look after his benefits for their salvation which those rites doctrinally held unto them and which lesson the true worshippers or believers did attain unto Vers. 25. I know that Messiah cometh c. he will teach us all things The Samaritans had learned from the Jews to expect Messias and how the Jews expected this to be the time of his coming we have shewed before and it may be the woman speaketh this as meaning that she looked for Messias to come shortly which occasioned Christs answer I am he as taking at her words in that sense Thou sayest Messias will come shortly and resolve all things I tell thee Messias is come already and I am he Now her referring the resolution of this doubt to Messias his coming it sheweth she did not throughly digest and entertain Christs answer to her question although she took upon her to acknowledge him for a Prophet She had no mind the thing should be so as he had resolved and therefore she had no mind to believe it How Christ was expected as the great teacher we shall observe afterward Vers. 29. A man which hath told me all things that ever I did The Disciples having now bought all things that they would have for dinner for it was now dinner time return to the well to their Master and upon their return Christs discourse and the womans is broken off and she slips a way into the City and bids come see a man that hath told me all things that ever I did But Christ did not so for he told her only of one particular or two about her husbands but besides that the word All in Scripture is not always stretched to the utmost extent of its signification he had told her so much that she concludes that he that could tell her that could have told her also all things else such expressions as these in earnest and pathetical narrations are not strange Vers. 35. Say ye not there are yet four months c. The coherence and connexion of this verse with those before which is the first thing to be looked after in it lyeth thus The Disciples had been in the City and bought some meat and when they had set it ready they invite him to dine He answers No he hath other meat to feed upon than they are aware of and that was to do the will of him that sent him and to finish his work And what work was that Why the very work that he had been just now about preaching the Gospel and converting a soul and which work he knew was increasing upon him by the coming of the Samaritans to hear him whom either he now saw coming in flocks towards him or knew they would come In these words therefore he answers his Disciples to this purpose You would have me to eat but I have somewhat else to do which is meat to me which is to finish my Fathers work in preaching the Gospel for look you yonder whereas ye say it is four months to harvest see what a Gospel harvest is coming yonder what a multitude of people is yonder coming to hear me ready for the harvest therefore it is not a time to talk of eating of meat that perisheth but to fall to this harvest work which is my meat in doing the will of him that sent me The harvest of the Jews began at the Passover for on the second day of the Passover the Law injoyned them to bring a sheaf of the first fruits of their harvest and wave it before the Lord and from that day they counted seven weeks to Pentecost See Levit. 23. 10. 15. Four months therefore before the Passover which was the fourteenth day of the first month falls to be towards the latter end of our November or thereabout as is easily cast by any This therefore helps to set the clock of the time reasonable well both for the reckoning of what times are past and for the better fixing of the next Passover that is to come As 1. It shews about what time Johns imprisonment befel and how long he preached namely from Passover was twelvemonth to this November a year and a half and a month and some days above for it is like that Christ stayed not long in Judea after Johns imprisoning 2. It shews that Christ had spent some eight months in Judea from the Passover hitherto and had in this time converted abundance of people to his doctrine 3. It will help to clear that the feast of the Jews spoken of in the next Chapter is the next Passover that was to come as we shall observe when we come there In the former part of the words Say ye not There are four months and then cometh harvest He speaketh literally of their harvest of corn but in the latter the fields are already white to harvest he speaketh parabolically or spiritually of the multitudes of people both among Jews and Gentiles that were ready to be reaped and gathered
speaketh of one that letted vers 6. And now ye know what withholdeth and ver 7. He who now letteth will let is of some obscurity we may without offence give this conjecture As the term The day of the Lord is taken in Scripture especially in this double sense for his day of judging the Jewish Nation and for his day of judging all the world so are we to understand a falling away and a Man of sin of the Jewish Nation before the former and a falling away and Antichrist betwixt the former and the later This last is readily concluded upon to be the Papacy and he that letted to mean the Imperial power but what was he that letted in the former that the Antichrist among the Jews was not revealed sooner I should divide this stake betwixt Claudius the Emperor who by his decree against the Jews in Rome Act. 18. 2. give a check by the appearance of his displeasure to all the Jews elsewhere that they durst not tyrannize against the Gospel whilest he lived as they had done And Paul himself who by his uncessant travelling in the Gospel and combatting by the truth every where against the Jews did keep down very much their delusions and Apostacy whilest he was at liberty and abroad but when he was once laid up then all went to ruine as see Act. 20. 29. 2 Tim. 1. 15 c. Paul when he departs from Corinth leaves a Church fairly planted there but how soon and how miserably it grew degenerate we shall meet with cause to observe before it be long He cometh to Ephesus and striving to get up to one of the Feasts at Jerusalem he leaves Priscilla and Aquila there Thither ere long cometh Apollos an excellent Scripture-man but one that knew only the baptism of John but they instruct him better Not that these Tent-makers turned Preachers but that having had so much converse with Paul they were able in private conference to inform him better then yet he knew from what they had learned from Paul ACTS CHAP. XIX from Vers. 1. to Vers. 19. OThers at Ephesus there were that were no further gone in Christianity neither then the knowledge of the Baptism of John Paul asks them Have ye received the Holy Ghost They answer We have not yet so much as heard whether the Holy Ghost be In which words they refer to a common and a true tenet of the Nation which was that after the death of Ezra Haggai Zachary and Malachy the Holy Ghost departed from Israel and went up Juchas fol. 15. and they profess they had never yet heard of his restoring And it is very probable that they had never heard of Jesus whom when Paul had preached to them they imbrace and the Text saith they were then baptized in the Name of the Lord Jesus Not that they were rebaptized but that now coming to the knowledge of the proper end of Johns baptism namely to believe in Jesus as ver 4. they own their baptism to such an end and construction For 1. What need had they to be rebaptized when in that first baptism they had taken they had come in to the profession of the Gospel and of Christ as far as the doctrine that had brought them in could teach them It was the change of their profession from Judaism to Evangelism that required their being baptized and not the degrees of their growth in the knowledge of the Gospel into the profession of which they had been baptized already How many baptisms must the Apostles have undergone if every signal degree of their coming on to the perfect knowledge of the mystery of Christ might have required nay might have admitted a new baptizing 2. If these men were rebaptized then must the same be concluded of all that had received the baptism of John when they came to the knowledge of Jesus which as it is incredible because there is not the least tittle of mention of such a thing so is it unimaginable in the case of those of the Apostles that were baptized by John for who should baptize them again in the name of Jesus since Jesus himself baptized none Joh. 4. 3. 3. These men had taken on them the baptism of repentance and the profession of Christ in the baptism of John that they had received therefore unless we will suppose a baptism of faith different from the baptism of repentance and a baptism in the name of Jesus different from the baptism in the name of Christ it will be hard to find a reason why these men should undergo a new baptizing And if it should be granted which is against reason to grant that these men were really rebaptized yet were not this a warrantable ground for rebaptization now in regard of these main differences betwixt the case then and now 1. That great controversie then on foot about Whether Jesus were the true Messias or no which caused their rebaptization if they were rebaptized 2. The visible conferring of the Holy Ghost upon them upon their baptism if they were rebaptized as being a main induction of such a thing if such a thing were that the name of Jesus might be so apparently glorified upon their being baptized in the name of Jesus which indeed was equally glorified when they received those gifts upon their acknowledging of Jesus and owning their baptism that they had of old been baptized with as a badge of that acknowledgment though not baptized again CHRIST LIII CHRIST LIV CLAUDIUS XIII CLAUDIUS XIV ACTS CHAP. XIX from Ver. 9. to Ver. 21. THE Apostle hath a long time to stay at Ephesus in which he first begins for the space of a quarter of a year to dispute in the Synagogue and then when divers were hardened and believed not he separated the Disciples and disputed daily in the School of Tyrannus Hitherto what converts there were to the Gospel they resorted still to the publick service in the Synagogue where Paul reasoned daily for the truth of the Gospel but finding dangerous opposition he gets away the Disciples from thence and in the School of one Tyrannus they are a particular Congregation In these great Towns where there were many Jews both in Judea and elsewhere they had a Synagogue and a Divinity-School This Divinity-School they called Beth Midrash and thither they used to go every Sabbath day after they had been at the Synagogue whereupon they had this for a common proverb 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 From the Synagogue to the Divinity-School In the Synagogue they had prayers and reading of the Law and plain Sermons of Doctrine exhortation and comfort In the Divinity-School were discussed and taught dogmatical and controversial points concerning the difficulties of the Law and other high matters And hence it may be those different titles and administrations of Pastor and Teacher Ephes. 4. 11. and He that teacheth and he that exhorteth Rom. 12. 7 8. took their pattern if Pastor mean one of the Ministerial function In the time of
Altar and thence took some burning coals and came down These two must go into the Temple now as they go there was a great vessel or instrument or what shall I call it they call it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Migrephah which being rung or struck upon made an exceeding great sound and so great that they set it out by this hyperbole 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 One man could not hear another in Jerusalem when the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Migrephah sounded It was as a Bell that they rung to give notice of what was now in hand And the ringing of it as saith the Treatise Tamid served for these three purposes * * * Tam. per. 5. 1. Any Priest that heard the sound of it knew that his brethren were now ready to go in and worship and he made haste and came 2. Any Levite that heard it knew that his brethren the Levites were going in to sing and he made haste and came And 3. the head or chief of the Station hearing the sound of it brought up those that had been unclean and had not yet their atonement made into the gate of Nicanor to have them there atoned for The two men then that are going into the Temple to burn Incense ring upon this Migrephah as they go by it for it lay between the Altar and the porch to give notice to all who were to attend that now the service was in beginning and to chime them in As they go up the steps they two that had been in before to cleanse the Incense Altar and to dress the Lamps go up before them He that had cleansed the Altar goeth in and taketh up his dish Teni and worshippeth and cometh out He that had dressed the five Lamps before dresseth now the other two and taketh up his dish Coz and worshippeth and cometh out He that went in with the Censer of coals after a little office done towards the disposing of the Incense leaves the other there and he also comes out Now he that is left there alone for the burning of the Incense he offers not to kindle it till the president from without with a loud voice give him notice when he shall begin yea though it were the High priest himself that offereth the Incense yet he begins not to do it till the President have called to him Sir offer and assoon as he hath given the signal to the Incense offerer that he shall begin and offer all the company in the Court withdraws downward from the Temple and fall to other of their Prayers SECT VI. The rest of their Prayers BEsides the Prayers and Rehearsal of the Decalogue and of their Phylacteries mentioned before they had three or four Prayers more which they used at the morning Service and they were these * * * Tam. ubi supr The first they called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Emeth and Jatsib because it began with those two words and it referred to their Phylacteries and it was of this form Truth and stability and firm and sure and upright and faithful and beloved and lovely and delightful and fair and terrible and glorious and ordered and acceptable and good and beautiful is this word for us for ever and ever The truth of the everlasting God our King the Rock of Jacob the shield of our salvation for ever and ever He is sure and his Name sure and his Throne setled and his Kingdom and Truth established for evermore c. ‖ ‖ ‖ Ib. Maym. ubi supr The second is called by the Talmud Text 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Avodah but by Maymony 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Retseh yet they both agree in one as to the prayer it self only the one names it after the first word in it and the other after one of the chiefest words in it The tenor of it was thus Be pleased O Lord our God with thy people Israel and with their prayer and restore the service to the Oracle of thy house and accept the burnt offering of Israel and their prayer in love with well pleasedness and let the service of Israel thy people be continually well pleasing to thee And they conclude thus We praise thee who art the Lord our God and the God of our Fathers the God of all flesh our Creator and the maker of all the Creation blessing and praise be to thy great and holy Name because thou hast preserved and kept us so preserve and keep us and bring back our captivity to the Courts of thy holiness c. A third prayer ran thus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Appoint peace goodness and blessing grace mercy and compassion for us and for all Israel thy people bless us O our Father even all of us as one man with the light of thy countenance for in the light of thy countenance thou O Lord our God hast given us the Law of life and loving mercy and righteousness and blessing and compassion and life and peace let it please thee to bless thy people Israel at all times In the book of life with blessing and peace and sustentation let us be remembred and written before thee we and all thy people the house of Israel c. And a fourth prayer was used on the Sabbath as a blessing by the Course that went out for a farewel upon the Course that came in in these words He that caused his name to dwell in this house cause to dwell among you love and brotherhood and peace and friendship Compare 2 Cor. 13. 11. Now whereas there is some seeming doubtfulness among the Talmudical writers about the time of these prayers they leaving it somewhat uncertain whether they were uttered immediately before the offering of the Incense or in the very time of its offering the Evangelist Luke hath determined the question and resolved us that the multitude was praying at the very time of the Incense Luke 1. 10. and even the Gloss upon the Talmud it self doth tell us that these prayers were the peoples prayers the last only excepted When those prayers were done he whose lot it was to bring up and lay the pieces of the Sacrifice upon the Altar did that business in that manner as hath been mentioned before namely first flinging them into the fire and then taking them up again and laying them in order After which things performed the Priests especially those that had been in the holy place with the holy vessels in their hands that they had used standing upon the stairs that went up into the porch lifted up their hands and blessed the people Compare Luke 1. 22. Not to insist upon the large disputes and discourses * * * Taanith per. 4 Maym. in Tephil Bircoth cohanim per. 14. 15. that are among the Jews about their lifting up their hands the blessing they pronounced was that in Numb 6. 24 25 26. The Lord bless thee and keep thee the Lord make his face shine upon thee and be
Pharisees for the Sanhedrim And 2. From those words of Christ to the Woman Hath no man condemned thee Which seem to imply that those that brought her had power to judge and condemn her To give one instance more In the Handful of Gleanings upon Exod. Sect. XLIX he treats of the manner of giving forth the Oracle of Urim and Thummim and so he does also in his Sermon upon Judg. XX. 27 28. but with this variety there he relates it to be by an Audible Voice from the Lord from off the Propitiatory and this being heard by the Priest was told to the people But here he corrects his former thoughts telling us it was by no heavenly Voice but that God presently inspired the High Priest with the Spirit of Prophesie and by that he resolved the doubt and question put to God by the people Which we may conclude to be his last and ripest thoughts in that matter I need not particularize any other passages in these Sermons where notions mentioned elsewhere in the Authors Books are repeated with no small advantage And where they are not so they are either wholly left out where it might be done without making a chasm and break in the thread of the discourse or where it could not without that inconvenience they are only mentioned briefly in transitu Perhaps some few passages may be censured as seeming to reflect upon the Doctrine or practice of our Church But to this I answer That they only seem to do so And if the Reader will but calmly and deliberately view those passages again he will find that they may admit of a very fair construction and the most that they speak is against placing the sum of Religion in Ceremonies and outward Formalities or the needless multiplying of them not against a sober and intelligent use of the Rites of the Church as they are appointed to be used for the preserving decency and order and promoting edification And he is very severe that will not overlook some things and pass a favourable construction upon others considering the times wherein our Author lived and what Doctrines then prevailed and carried away many good though unwary Men as with a strong and scarcely to be resisted torrent And allowance may the more reasonably be given to some few things seemingly obnoxious to censure for the sake of many others which do greatly inculcate peace and conformity and the Authority of the Church and decry separation from the National established Church I instance only in that excellent Sermon Preached in the late unhappy times in a publick Audience upon John X. 22. Where the argument of our Saviours holding communion with the Jewish Church in the publick exercise of Religion is so fully and incomparably managed that it was within these few years almost resolved to be made publick by it self for the use and information of our Dissenters which if read and considered by them with a candid and unprejudiced mind would certainly set them clear of their scruples and bring them with abundance of satisfaction into the bosom and Communion of our Church And beside that in his Sermon upon Jude vers 12. he discourseth against Praying by the Spirit and Enthusiastical pretences to revelation In that upon Luke XI 2. He argues most excellenty for set Forms of Prayer and particularly for the use of the Lords Prayer that was at that time ready to be quite justled out of Gods Worship And it was observable at that time that the Doctor ended both his Prayers both before and after that Sermon with the Lords Prayer In that Sermon speaking about casting away Religious usages because abused he hath these remarkable words Now I cannot but think how wild it is to reject a good thing in its self because another hath used it evilly This is just as if a Man should cut down Vines to avoid drunkenness How subject is he that makes it all his Religion to run from superstition to run he knows not whither And again in the same Sermon I know not what reformers should more study than to observe how near Christ complied with things used in the Jewish religious practice and civil converse that were lawful Once more in his Discourse upon 1 Cor. XIV 26. towards the conclusion he propounds two things to be considered by them who scrupled at the Religious exercise of singing Psalms because it is no where commanded to sing after that manner and with those circumstances that we do 1. That there is no plain grounds why to refrain but most plain why to sing 2. Where a duty is commanded and a scruple ariseth from some circumstance it is safer to go with the command than from it The reason I have selected these passages is to shew how our Author stood affected to the Church And indeed by these and many other expressions that are scattered in his Sermons we may plainly see that peaceableness and keeping Communion with the Church was his great principle and that his great aim in the late times was to keep up the honour of the publick Ordinances and the publick Ministry in reputation and to maintain the necessity of good Works against Antinomianism and the divine Authority and sufficiency of the Scriptures and the necessity of humane Learning in the Clergy against Enthusiasm then the great prevailing Errors And I make no doubt that by such means and Doctrines as these the blessing of God accompanying our Author did very good service to Religion and Truth then and did educate and train up young Students in the University and other Christians his Auditors into a readier and more chearful conformity to our present Church In a word All his Sermons breath a true Spirit of piety and inward goodness and an intire desire to be instrumental to the right understanding of the Holy Scriptures for the propagation of Gods glory and the building up of Christians in real substantial piety and true saving knowledge And they carry a plain easie unaffected strain of humble Oratory condescending to the meanest capacity and which hath something peculiar in it to raise attention and to make a wonderful impression upon the affections I mean by offering frequently something new and surprizing and intermixing sudden Apostrophes and affectionate and close Interrogations And now in the last place I must account for my self and for what I have done in the publishing these discourses Mr. John Duckfield Rector of Aspeden in Hertfordshire the Authors Son in Law and one of his Executors to whom the World is in the first place beholden for permitting them to be made publick kindly imparted to me the deceased learned Mans scattered Papers and MSS. and among the rest his Sermon-notes From the love and honour I had to his memory and his Learning I diligently set my self to the perusal of them and being not a little pleased with many of the Notes I resolved to select a few out of a great many with a design to let them see
would do him no more wrong than you would do his brother Matthew when you should say that he was a Publican 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Iscariot It may be ennquired whether this name was given him while he was alive or not till after his death If while he was alive one may not improperly derive it from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Skortja which is written also 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i i i i i i Bab. Nedarim fol 55. 2. Iskortja Where while the discourse is of a man vowing that he would not use this or that garment we are taught these things He that tyes himself by a vow of not using garments may use sackcloth vailing cloth hair cloth c. but he may not use 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Of which words the Gloss writes thus These are garments some of leather and some of a certain kind of clothing The Gemara asketh What is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Iskortja Bar bar Channah answered 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 A Tanners garment The Gloss is A leathern Apron that Tanners put on over their cloths So that Judas Iscariot may perhaps signifie as much as Judas with the Apron But now in such Aprons they had purses sown in which they were wont to carry their mony as you may see in Aruch in the words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which we shall also observe presently And hence it may be Judas had that title of the purse bearer as he was called Judas with the apron Or what if he used the art of a Tanner before he was chose into Discipleship Certainly we read of one Simon a Tanner Act. IX 43. and that this Judas was the son of Simon Joh. XIII 26. But if he were not branded with this title till after his death I should suppose it derived from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Iscara Which word what it signifies let the Gemarists speak k k k k k k Bab. Berac fol. 8. 1. Nine hundred and three kinds of death were created in the World as it is said 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and the issues of death Psal. LXVIII 20. The word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Issues arithmetically ariseth to that number Among all those kinds 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Iscara is the roughest death 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is the easiest Where the Gloss is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Iscara in the mother Tongue is Strangulament By Learned Men for the most part it is rendred Angina The Quinsie The Gemara sets out the roughness of it by this simile 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 l l l l l l Schabb. fol. 33. 1. The Iscara is like to branches of thorns in a fleece of Wool which if a man shake violently behind it is impossible but the wool will be pulled off by them It is thus defined in the Gloss 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Iscara begins in the bowels and ends in the throat See the Gemara there When Judas therefore perished by a most miserable strangling being strangled by the Devil which we observe in its place no wonder if this infamous death be branded upon his Name to be commonly stiled Judas Iscariot or that Judas that perished 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by strangling 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Who also betrayed him Let that of Maimonides be observed m m m m m m In 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 cap. 8. It is forbidden to betray an Israelite into the hands of the Heathen either as to his person or as to his goods c. And whosoever shall so betray an Israelite shall have no part in the world to come Peter spake agreeably to the opinion of the Nation when he said concerning Judas He went unto his place Act. I. 25. And so doth Baal Turim concerning Balaam Balaam went to his place Numb XXIV 25. that is saith he 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 He went down to Hell VERS V. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Into any City of the Samaritans enter ye not OUR Saviour would have the Jews priviledges reserved to them until they alienated and lost them by their own perversness and siâ—s Nor does he grant the preaching of the Gospel to the Gentiles or Samaritans before it was offered to the Jewish Nation The Samaritans vaunted themselves sons of the Patriach Jacob Joh. IV. 12. which indeed was not altogether distant from the truth they embraced also the law of Moses and being taught thence expected the Messias as well as the Jews nevertheless Christ acknowledges them for his sheep no more than the Heathen themselves I. Very many among them were sprung indeed of the seed of Jacob though now become Renegades and Apostates from the Jewish Faith and Nation and hating them more than if they were Heathens and more than they would do Heathens Which also among other things may perhaps be observed in their very language For read the Samaritan version of the Pentateuch and if I mistake not you will observe that the Samaritans when by reason of the neerness of the places and the alliance of the Nations they could not but use of the language of the Jews yet used such a variation and change of the Dialect as if they scorned to speak the same words that they did and make the same language not the same II. In like manner they received the Mosaic law but for the most part in so different a writing of the words that they seem plainly to have propounded this to themselves that retaining indeed the law of Moses they would hold it under as much difference from the Mosaic Text of the Jews as ever they could so that they kept something to the sense n n n n n n Hieros Sotah fol. 21. 3. Bab. Sotah fol. 33. 2. R. Eliezer ben R. Simeon said I said to the Scribes of the Samaritans Ye have falsified your Law without any manner of profit accruing to you thereby For ye have writ in your Law 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Near the Oaken Groves of Morâ—h which is Sichem c. the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is added Let the Samaritan text at Deut. XI 30. be looked upon III. However they pretended to study the religion of Moses yet in truth there was little or no difference between them and Idolaters when they knew not what they worshipped which our Saviour objects against them Joh. IV. 22. and had not only revolted as Apostates from the true religion of Moses but set themselves against it with the greatest hatred Hence the Jewish Nation held them for Heathens or for a people more execrable than the Heathens themselves A certain Rabbin thus reproaches their idolatry o o o o o o Hieros Avodah Zarah fol. 44. 4. R. Ismael ben R. Josi went to Neapolis that is Sâ—chem the Samaritans came to him to whom he spake thus I see that you adore not this Mountain but the Idols which are under it for it is written Jacob hid the strange Gods under the
Fathers of the Sanhedrin and Rulers of the people and so in reviling him he transgressed that precept Thou shalt not speak evil of the Ruler of thy people as well as if he had reviled the High Priest II. It is very little to the credit of the Apostle to think that when he said God shall smite thee thou whited wall c. That he uttered it rashly and unadvisedly or carried away in an heat of passion and indignation or that he did not know whom he thus threatned or what degree and office he held But he spoke it soberly and as became an Apostle by the Authority and guidance of the Holy Ghost Nor did he nor had he any need to retract those words or make apology for his rashness but they are of the very same tenor with the rest that he uttered III. If this Ananias was that Sagan of the Priests that perished in the destruction of Jerusalem as hath been already said I would conceive his death was foretold prophetically by the Apostle rather than that he rashly poured out words that he afterwards retracted Let me therefore paraphrase upon the words before us I know it is not lawful to speak evil of the Ruler of the people nor would I have said these things to him which I have if I had owned such an one but I did not own him so for he is not worthy the name of an High Priest IV. The President of the Sanhedrin at this time was Rabban Simeon ben Gamaliel his Father Gamaliel having been dead about two or three years before Paul knew Simeon and Simeon very well knew him having been fellow Disciples and both sate together at the feet of Gamaliel nor indeed could he be ignorant of any of the Rulers of the people if they were of any age because he had been so long educated and conversed in Jerusalem So that it is very improbable he should not know either Ananias the High Priest if he were now present or Ananias the Sagan or indeed any of the Fathers of the Sanhedrin if they had any years upon their backs Indeed not a few years had passed since he had left Jerusalem But seeing formerly he had spent so many years there and had been of that Degree and Order that he was an Officer of the Sanhedrin and had a Patent from them he could not have so slippery and treacherous a memory but that upon his return he could readily know and distinguish their faces and persons And whereas it is said in the Verse immediately following That Paul perceived that the one part were Sadducees c. If it should be asked whence he came to distinguish so well concerning their persons it may be answered That if he had no other ways to know them he might understand that by his former knowledge of them He had known them from the time that he himself had been a Pharisee and conversed among them See Chap. XXII 5. V. Forasmuch therefore as he saith 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 I wist not I do not see how it can argue so much an ignorance of his person with whom he might have had some former transactions in obtaining that accursed commission against the followers of Christ but that it must relate to his affection rather than his understanding So that the sense is I knew not that there was any High Priest at all or I do not acknowledge this person for such an one It was safer to inveigh against the person than the office But if he had said concerning the very office I do not know that there is any High Priest at all I question not but he had uttered his mind being well assured that that High Priesthood was now antiquated by the death of our great High Priest Jesus For let us lay down this Problem Although the Apostle as to other things had owned the service of the Temple for he was purified in it Yet as to the High Priesthood he did not own the peculiar ministry of that doth it not carry truth with it seeing God by an irrefragrable token viz. the rending of the Veil of the Temple from the top to the bottom had shewn the end and abolishing of that office But suppose the words of the Apostle relate to the person and not the office and that they were spoken in reference to the man himself I do not own him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 High Priest that he is not worthy of that title Perhaps St. Paul knew of old how wicked a person he had been or from his present injustice or rash severity had reason enough to make such a reply To know instead of to own and acknowledge is not unusual in Scripture stile that is a sad and dreadful instance enough I know you not depart from me ye workers of iniquity And in the Jewish Writings when R. Judah being angry with Bar Kaphrah only said to him I know thee not he went away as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 one rebuked and took 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the rebuke to himself The story is this z z z z z z Moed Katon sol 16. 1. When bar Kaphrah came to visit him he said unto him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 O Bar Kaphrah I never knew thee He understood what he meant Therefore he took the rebuke unto himself for the space of thirty days VERS VIII 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Sadducees say there is no Resurrection WHAT therefore is the Religion of a Sadducee He Prays he Fasts he offers Sacrifice he observes the Law and yet doth not expect a Resurrection or life Eternal To what end is this Religion It is that he may obtain Temporal good things observing only the promise of them made in the Law and he seeks for nothing beyond the meer letter That the Sadducees took their denomination from one Sadoc a Disciple of Antigonus Socheus is commonly received and that not without reason In the mean time it may not be amiss to enquire whether Sadoc did himself deny the resurrection and whether he rejected all the Books of the Holy Scripture excepting the five Books of Moses which the Sadducees in some measure did I. The Jewish writers do relate his story with so much variety that as some represent him we might think he denies the resurrection and future rewards but as others that he did not For so say some a a a a a a Yuchasin fol. 15. 2. Sadoc and Baithus were the heads of the Hereticks for they erred concerning the words of their Master c. b b b b b b Ramban in Avoth cap. 1. Sadoc and Baithus hearing this passage from their Master be ye not as Servants that serve their Master for hire and reward sake c. they said among themselves our Master teaches us that there is neither reward nor punishment c. Therefore they departed from the rule and forsook the Law c. Others say otherwise c c c c c c
it self viz. a blessing from the Spirit of Messias which is the Spirit of God Let us observe these things gradually or in order I. That whereas the Jews expected Messias in his Personal and pompous presence he resolves them that his Presence is by his Spirit and his Victory by his Spirit See that John XVI 7. Nevertheless I tell you the truth it is expedient that I go away from you for if I go not away the Comforter will not come unto you but if I depart I will send him unto you He speaks there in reference to the Jews opinion that called Messias Menahem Comforter and looked for earthly comforts from him No saith he It is expedient for me to go away and my Spirit shall supply comforts unto you To that purpose is that Joh. XX. 17. Touch me not for I am not yet ascended to my Father Greg. Nyssen for Adveniat regnum tuum speaks of Lukes having it Adveniat Spiritus sanctus tuus insted of Thy Kingdom come let thy Holy Spirit come The thing is true though the authority questionable II. For the justifying and evidencing this that his Presence is by his Spirit and so his Rule he sent his Spirit in powerful Demonstrations as you read in the Acts of the Apostles that by the sight of his Spirit men might come to own him Observe that passage Joh. XIV 12. Verily verily I say unto you He that believeth on me the works that I do shall he do also and greater works than these shall he do because I go unto my Father You my Disciples shall do greater things than I do why so For the magnifying of the Spirit Hence that in Mark III. 28 29. He that should speak against the Son should be pardoned but not he that should speak against the Holy Ghost He that shall blaspheme against the Holy Ghost hath never forgiveness Because the Son appeared in meanness and his personal presence was not to be insisted on but the Holy Ghost came in all powerful and convincing Demonstration Hence Ananias and Sapphyra were so severely punisht because their sin was against the Holy Ghost Why hath Satan filled thine heart to lye to the Holy Ghost V. Act. 3. III. The Spirit did by these demonstrations of power assert the Deity and authority of Christ and his own as sent by him and to be his Spirit See Joh. XVI 8 9 10. And when he the Spirit is come he will reprove the World of sin and of righteousness and of judgment Of sin because they believe not on me Of righteousness because I go to my Father and ye see me no more Of judgment because the Prince of this World is judged And by that very thing is shewed Christs Rule and Work in his Church by his Spirit IV. That as the Spirit by these Demonstrations was to assert Jesus so the Apostles at that time baptized only in the Name of Jesus And accordingly the gift of the Spirit was given at Baptism See Act. XIX 2. He said unto them have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed Signifying that the receiving of the Holy Ghost followed upon Baptism As the Spirit of God that is the Holy Ghost rested on Christ at his Baptism so the Spirit of Christ that is the Holy Ghost rested on His at their Baptism Not on all Why Because he was come for that end to inable the Disciples to teach and preach and to assert Jesus V. When the Doctrine of Jesus and the Spirit were thus manifested then it was ripe to baptize in the Name of the Father Son and Holy Ghost Each Person had demonstratively approved his Godhead The Father under the Old Testament Hence is the tenor of Christs speech John V. 19 20. The Son can do nothing of himself but what he seeth the Father do for what things soever he doth these also doth the Son likewise For the Father loveth the Son and sheweth him all things that himself doth and he will shew him greater works than these that ye may marvel The Son hath demonstrated his Godhead by his conversation among us Joh. I. 14. The Word was made flesh and dwelt among us and we beheld his Glory the Glory as of the only begotten of the Father And by his Resurrection Rom. I. 4. Declared to be the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead And lastly by pouring down of his Spirit when he was ascended The Holy Ghost demonstrated his Godhead by his powerful actings VI. Turn your minds back to Babel Gen. XI there the Heathen lost the knowledge of the true God Rom. I. 21. c. Because when they knew God they glorified him not as God neither were thankful but became vain in their imagination and their foolish heart was darkned And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man c. Thence forward consider what was done in that peculiar people whom God had chosen for revealing the true God Father Son and Holy Ghost And when all those revealings were full than it was ripe to bring that manifestation of God among the Heathen Go and teach all Nations baptizing them c. It is as much as if Christ should have said to his Apostles The Heathens have lost the knowledge of the true God now bring that knowledge among them again and baptize them in the Name of the true God Father Son and Holy Ghost As Baptism was in the Name of Jesus among the Jews where the question was about the true Messias so among the Gentiles where the question was about the true God Baptism was in the Name of Father Son and Holy Ghost Lay Rom. I. 25. to this Text. Who changed the truth of God into a lie and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator The casting off the Gentiles was because they worshipped the Creature What was their Recovery in the Text Was it to bring the worship of the Creature among them again as the Arian and Socinian gloss No but to bring the knowledge and worship of the Creator among them of the true God and that was Father Son and Holy Ghost I shall not go about to confute those cursed opinions the Lord rebuke them I shall only observe these things upon them First That as they blaspheme the greatest so the plainest truths in the Bible I cannot but wonder at the denial of the Godhead of Christ and though the God-head of the Holy Ghost is not in so plain terms yet it is in as plain Evidences as can be Secondly That they go clean cross to the stream of Scripture The main purpose of that is to extol Christ and the Holy Ghost the main purpose of these to abase them Thirdly Grant them what they would have they set themselves further from Heaven and Hope when the Redeemer and Sanctifier are but Creatures Fourthly Observe here the Spirit of old Antichrist and how it hath descended First The Jews began and