The works which he did spake who he was for such they were as did plainly proclaim a divine power But besides the works which our Saviour did and to which he refers the Disciples of John were those very works which the Messias was to doe according to the prediction of the Prophet And these works here mentioned are those very works When our Saviour tells them that the blind receive their sight the lame walk it is no more but what the Prophet had foretold should come to pass in the days of the Messias Isa 35.5 6. It may indeed be asked why our Saviour should use these words and the poor have the gospel preached unto them For why should this be reckoned as a miracle or where was this foretold of the Messias But the answer is very easie to this And First this was foretold of the Messias that he should preach the gospel to the poor For preaching good tidings to the meek Isa 61.1 is the same thing with preâ—ching the gospel to the poor And the same words are used by the Septuagint in the Prophet which are used by the Evangelist here Secondly that though preaching the gospel to the poor be not a miracle nor is it reckoned so here yet it is a particular that is very remarkable and very pertinent to our Saviour's purpose We must know that poverty was very much contemned by the Jews Poor men were esteemed evil also And they have a saying among them that the spirit of God does not rest upon a poor man Hence the poor and common people were slighted and reckoned as children of the Earth Their Prophets of old were generally sent to Kings their Scribes and Doctours taught the rich They expected a Princely Messias that would Lord it over poor men But our Saviour puts them in mind here that it was foretold that the Messias should preach to the meek or poor And that when he did so as we know he did to poor Fishermen and Publicans they ought to consider that he did that which was predicted of the Christ For that those words Isa 61.1 belong to the Messias our Saviour elsewhere gives the Jews to understand Luk. 4.18 21. Nor do we find that they had any contest with him about that matter No they were so far from it that we are told they all bare him witness and wondred at the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth V. 22. Nor could any thing have been said more seasonably to the Disciples of John Baptist than this after our Lord had referred them to the works which he did that he preached the Gospel to the poor because this would set them right as to the Messias whom they were to receive For they may not now look for a temporal Prince to conquer and captivate their powerfull enemies but a meek and lowly and mercifull person that would converse with and instruct the poor and the needy So that those words and the poor have the Gospel preached c. tend to instruct them aright concerning the Messiah whom they were to expect and the nature of his Kingdom For had he been such a temporal Prince as the Jews were ready to expect he would rather have employed his arms against the powerfull enemies of his people than to take upon himself the care of preaching the Gospel and that not to the wealthy and honourable but to the poor also But not to insist any longer upon this matter I shall onely consider that our Saviour refers the Disciples of John Baptist to the works which he did as a proof that he was the Christ that was to come into the world So then the works which Jesus did are a good proof that he was the Christ and do very much confirm the Doctrine which he taught This was the great end for which they were done and for which they are recorded also These are written that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ the Son of God and that believing ye might have life through his name Joh. 20.31 By the works of Jesus must be meant the miracles which he wrought and to which he appeals upon all occasions as well as in these words of St. Matthew These miracles are a good argument of the truth of what Jesus professed and of what he taught And I shall make this appear to those who are unprejudiced and the sincere enquirers after truth This is a truth of great moment and that which tends very much to beget faith in us and to dispose us to the receiving the truth These miracles that were wrought do not onely speak the truth of our Saviour's doctrine but the great moment of it also And so they do tend toward not onely the begetting in us a belief but a great veneration also of these divine truths And he that goes about to deny or to disparage our Saviour's miracles does at the same time endeavour to overthrow a main ground of Christian Religion and one great motive of its credibility I shall the rather enlarge upon this argument both because of its great weight and usefulness and also because there have not been wanting in all ages those who have denied or disparaged the miracles which Jesus did and by so doing have hindred what in them lay the propagation of the Christian Faith In our Saviour's time we find those that endeavoured to overthrow the credit of our Saviour's miracles When Jesus had restored one that was possessed with a Devil and who was blind and dumb insomuch that all the people were amazed and said Is not this the Son of David There wanted not then among the Pharisees who durst affirm that he cast out Devils by Beelzebub the Prince of Devils Mat. 12.22 Our Saviour does indeed sufficiently refute this suggestion and shews the inconsistency thereof and does lay before us the greatness of the sin of these men who imputed a work of the Holy Ghost to the Prince of Devils And assures us that whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost v. 32. it shall not be forgiven him neither in this world neither in the world to come These evil men were not able to deny the matter of fact it was confessed that the blind saw and the dumb spake But then they were guilty of speaking against the Holy Ghost when they imputed this work of his to the power of the Devil The Jews in after-times could not deny that Jesus had done great works among their Forefathers but then these wretched men run into fables and make lies their refuge and give such an account of the whole matter as carries its confutation along with it the account which they give is this That in the time of Helena the Queen Pug. Fidei par 2. cap. 8. sect 6. Jesus of Nazareth came to Jerusalem and that in the Temple he found a stone on which the Ark of God was wont to rest whereon was written the Tetragrammaton or more peculiar name of God That whosoever
should get that name into his possession and be skilled in it would be able to doe what he pleased That their Wise-men fearing lest any of the israelitese should get that name and destroy the world made two Dogs of brass and placed them at the door of the Sanctuary That whenever any had gone in and learnt that name these Dogs were wont at their coming out to bark so terribly that they forgat the name and the letters which they had newly learnt But say they Jesus of Nazareth went in and did not onely learn the letters of this name but wrote them in a Parchment which he hid as be came out in an incision which he had made in his flesh And though through the barking of the Dogs he had forgot the name yet he learnt it afterwards from his Parchment By virtue of this name say they Jesus restored the lame healed the leprous raised the dead walked himself upon the Sea By this account it appears that the Jews did not deny the matter of fact for that Jesus did the works is confessed on all hands and so much we may gain from this fabulous narration There is nothing else in it worthy the notice of a wise man But still there is another opinion to be found among the Jews of after-times and it was this That the Messias when he came was not to work miracles and that therefore the working miracles was not to be any mark and character of the true Messiah Nor is it strange that when the Jews were not able to deny the matter of fact that they should betake themselves to these fond opinions Maimon H. Melac Milch c. 11. Maimonides tells us that we must not think that the Messiah shall work signs and miracles that he shall innovate in the things of this world or raise the dead But that the law of Moses should endure for ever and that the Messiah shall meditate in that law and compell the Israelites to observe it and that he shall manage the Lord's battels and overcome the people that are round about him The truth of this doctrine of his shall be considered in its due place I onely produce this to shew how unwilling the Jews are to allow of this argument which we draw from the works which Jesus did and how unable they are in the mean time to deny the matter of fact Besides these fond and evil opinions there is still another advanced by a late Authour and directly levelled against the force of our Saviour's argument and 't is this Tractat. Theolog. Politic. c. 6. That nothing happens in nature that is repugnant to its universal laws nor any thing which doth not agree with them or follow from them He hath also the confidence to affirm That the name of a miracle can onely be understood with respect to mens opinions and that it signifies nothing more than a work the natural cause of which we are not able to explain exemplo alterius rei solitae or at least he is not able to explain it that writes or reports the miracle And that therefore a miracle is a mere absurdity And that those things which the Scriptures truly report to have happened fell out according to the laws of nature and if any thing else evidently repugnant to the laws of nature be reported or which cannot follow from them that it is to be believed that these things were added to the Scripture by sacrilegious men This wicked principle is sufficiently refuted by our Saviour's words who makes the works which he did an argument of the truth of what he said And sure if he did no work but what other men did or might doe and what agreed with the laws of nature his works would have been a very mean proof of his coming from God He that believes God to be cannot think him confined by the laws of nature However these laws conclude the creature they do not bind the hands of the great Creatour of the Universe No man can affirm what the above-named Authour does unless he be an Atheist or an Apostate He must be a man forsaken by his reason that discourses at this rate or given over for his wickedness to believe a lie What do such abhorred principles aim at but at the subversion of Christianity And if they were guilty of the unpardonable sin against the Holy Ghost who affirmed our Saviour's miracles to have been wrought by the power of the Devil what shall we think of them who dare affirm that he wrought none at all Having premised these things I shall now proceed to shew that our Saviour's miracles were a good proof of his doctrine and that he was the Messias who was to come into the world And for my better proceeding First I shall shew what I mean by Miracles Secondly I shall prove that the Messias was to doe Miracles Thirdly That they are a good argument of the truth of a Doctrine Fourthly That our Saviour's were true and unexceptionable Miracles Fifthly I shall consider what may be objected against what I shall offer upon this weighty argument I shall shew what I mean by Miracles For there are cheats and impostures and every thing is not a miracle that passeth for such We may be imposed upon by our ignorance and credulity and by the craft of others There are many things which are admired and are very strange and infrequent which are not miracles Our admiration many times speaks onely our own ignorance And many things there are which are but the effects of natural causes which we have been apt to think the effect of a supernatural one It does by no means hence follow that a miracle is a mere absurdity and that there can be no such thing We are obliged to take care that we be not imposed upon and well to consider what is required to a miracle and to convince us of it For unless we know it so to be it cannot be expected that it should ever convince us And in this case not to appear is the same thing as not to be at all To this purpose it is necessary to a miracle 1. That it be a work above the power of nature and above the reach of any creature whatsoever It must be supernatural or else it cannot be strictly a miracle This power must come from God he being able onely to alter the course of nature who is the great authour of it But then whether this effect be brought to pass by the immediate power of God without the intervening of any natural cause or by making use of some instrument 't is one and the same thing It is an omnipotent arm that brings the effect to pass Matt. 11.20 21. Luk. 4.36.5.17.9.1 Mat. 7.22 Luk. 10.13 Rom. 1.4 And a miracles is a work that none but God can doe This is of the essence of a miracle and it cannot be truly called one unless it be such a work as is above the force of
〈◊〉 As the LXXII render it That is let Pharaoh make and appoint Officers and not as we have rendred it Let Pharaoh do this and let him appoint Again It is the Lord that advanced Moses and Aaron or made as it is in the margent of 1 Sam. 12.6 And we usually speak after this manner when men are advanced to dignity and office they are said to be made what they are afterwards called To make a Consul a Captain or General signifies no more than to appoint them and raise them to those dignities and offices So that the meaning of these words is as if the Apostle had said let all the Israelites therefore be assured of this great and very evident truth that that Jesus whom the Jews have Crucified is by God the Father who hath raised him from the dead and taken him up to his right hand constituted and appointed head of the Church and instated in the Kingly office of the Messiah That Jesus is the Christ or Messiah that was foretold is that which the Apostle would have the Jews be assured of And this was the Doctrine which the first preachers of Christian Religion did mainly insist upon It being not onely an article of the Christian faith but such an one as is the foundation of the rest Who is a Liar says St. John but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ 1 Joh. 2.22 We read that Saul confounded the Jews which were at Damascus proving that this is very Christ Act. 9.22 He preacheth the same Doctrine at Thessalonica Acts 17.3 And at Corinth Acts 18.5 And of Apollos we read that he mightily convinced the Jews and that publickly shewing by the Scriptures that Jesus was Christ v. 28. A DEMONSTRATION OF THE MESSIAS CHAP. I. The CONTENTS Of the name Jesus That this name by which our Saviour was called and distinguished from other men is no objection against the Prediction Isa 7.14 The importance of the name Jesus In what sense our Lord is said to be a Saviour His Salvation compared with the deliverances mentioned in the Old Testament Of the word Christ Of anointing things and persons and the design of it Of the anointing of Jesus Some account of the Jewish constitutions about anointing with their holy Oil. BEfore I proceed to shew that Jesus is the Christ I shall shew what is meant by Jesus what by Christ Jesus was the name by which our Lord was commonly known among men the name which Joseph his reputed Father gave him Matt 1. v. 25. And it was given him at his Circumcision Luk. 2.21 And that too not without the particular command of the Angel of God This was the name by which he was called commonly by those that spake of him Thus he that was restored to Sight said A man that is called Jesus made clay c. Joh. 9.11 This was a name in use among the Jewish people and a name which others had as well as our Jesus and we have mention of several men to whom that name was given Col. 4.11 Heb. 4.8 And the Jewish Writers mention him by the name Jesus indeed they call him by the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 They cut off the last letter Eli. Levit. This bit p. 151. as Elias Levita tells us because they do not acknowledge him to be a Saviour But yet they do not deny that he was known and commonly called by the name Jesus which he received at his Circumcision It is true indeed it was foretold that a Virgin should bring forth a Son and 't is said they shall call his name Emmanuel Matt. 1.23 That these words are meant of our Saviour is also undeniable And though the Jew object against us from this place that either the words were never meant of our Saviour as the Evangelist will have them or that they were never verifyed in him because he was called by the name Jesus and not Emmanuel though I say they may thus object yet they do but trifle in it For if they look into their Prophets they will find that being called Orig. contra Cels l. 1. or called by such a name does not infer that the thing or person so to be called shall be commonly known by that name as a man is by the name by which he is known and distinguished from other men 'T is enough that they shall be that which they are called and that what is foretold shall truly belong to them as will appear from the following places Isa 1.26.60.14.62.4 Jer. 3.17 Ezek. 48.35 Zech. 8.3 There are many things said of our Saviour which serve to describe his office and acquaint us with his perfections and relation and were never intended for his name by which he was to be known among men His name shall be called wonderfull Counsellor the mighty God the everlasting Father the Prince of Peace Isa 9.6 That is the Messiah shall be all this Theophylact in Matt. 1. v. 23. though not commonly known and called by these names For the word Jesus if we consider its Hebrew Original it signifies a Saviour And for that reason this name was given to our Lord because he was to save his people from their sins Mat. 1.21 And the Angel tells the Shepherds unto you is born this day in the City of David a Saviour Luk. 2.11 And the Apostle says no less when he says God hath raised up unto Israel a Saviour Jesus Act. 13.23 This word Saviour imports very much and is very agreeable to the great design of our Lord 's appearing Lactan. Institut l. 1. c. 11. Lactantius observes that the name Jupiter that the heathen gave their God was unbecoming a Deity For Jupiter being no more but Juvans pater an helping father it was a term of diminution For one man may help another And 't is no great matter to help but to save and deliver imports much Non intelligit beneficia Divina qui se tantummodo à Deo juvari putat He hath too mean and low an apprehension of the Divine benefits that thinks God does onely help him This is to attribute too much to our selves and too little to God He that helps me adds his strength to mine but he that saves shews his own power onely We were without all help and hope too Our Lord rescued us and saved us we contributed nothing toward our deliverance He is the Saviour of mankind Our intire deliverance is to be ascribed to him And 't will well become us to consider how justly this name of Jesus belongs to him and to meditate awhile upon the greatness of that Salvation and deliverance which our Lord hath wrought for us Now our Lord might well be called Jesus a Saviour 1. As he hath published and made known to us the Gospel which is the power of God unto Salvation Our Lord hath brought life and immortality to light and hath shewed us the way to eternal life There was no
was predicted was to doe stupendious works I Shall now pass on to the Life of Jesus and see whether that agree with what was predicted of the Messias And under this head I shall insist upon the following particulars First that the Messias was to be a Prophet like unto Moses To this purpose we read what God said unto Moses I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren like unto thee and will put my words in his mouth and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him Deut. 18.18 This promise is deservedly applied unto Jesus Act. 3.22 7.37 Maimonides lays it down as a rule Maimon fundam leg c. 10. Sect. 9. that the Prophet of whom another Prophet hath testified is to be presumed a Prophet and needs not to be examined And then this testimony of Moses their greatest Prophet must needs be very worthy of regard since it can belong to none as will appear afterwards so peculiarly as to our Blessed Saviour who made it appear that he was that Prophet which was promised in those words And we find our Saviour appealing to the writings of Moses when he preached the things concerning himself Luk. 24.27 44. And he lets the Jews know that the writings of Moses will condemn them Do not think says he that I will accuse you to the Father there is one that accuseth you even Moses in whom ye trust For had ye believed Moses ye would have believed me for he wrote of me But if ye believe not his writings how shall ye believe my words Joh. 5.45 46 47. It is very evident that the Jews looked for a Prophet at that time Joh. 1.21 And the woman of Samaria intimates no less Joh. 4.25 And the Jews confess that he was of a truth that Prophet that should come into the world Joh. 6.14 And this general expectation of a Prophet at that time must be grounded upon the promise of God Juchasin fol. 14. for so it was as the Jewish writers confess that after the death of Haggai Zechary and Malachy Prophecy ceased And that it should revive again among them they had no ground to believe but what they had from the divine promise And these words Deut. 18. are a very express promise of it when Prophecy had ceased so long a time yet they are assured that God would raise them up a Prophet Now our Saviour was that Prophet And he gave great proofs that he was a Prophet He taught the will of God and spake as never man spake and did mightily exceed the Scribes in his discourses who were a sort of men that came the nearest to the Prophets Mat. 7.29 We find our Lord preaching his Sermon on the Mount Matt. 5. declaring the acceptable year of the Lord Luk. 4.19 He spake to the wonder of his hearers with great authority and assurance with a mighty power and great conviction And whereas the Prophets were wont to say Thus saith the Lord Our Saviour hath it I say unto you not like an ordinary Prophet but like the great Shepherd and Bishop of our souls 1 Pet. 5.4 Heb. 13.20 1 Pet. 2.25 He farther shewed himself a Prophet as he foretold things to come And this he did frequently and the things came to pass and he appeared to be a true Prophet Thus he foretold the denial of Peter Matt. 26.75 the treachery of Judas Joh. 6.70 71. his own death and resurrection Matt. 16.21 Aye and after that the destruction of the Temple and the Jewish Nation with the calamities that should go before it Mat. 24. And the false Christs that should arise of which there have been considerable numbers from time to time He tells the Jews that though they did not receive him who came in his Father's name yet says he If another shall come in his own name him ye will receive Joh. 5.43 The poor Jews have wofully experimented the truth of those words of our Saviour having been imposed upon by Impostours from time to time to their great loss and mischief as I shall have occasion to shew more at large afterwards Thus did our Saviour make it appear that he was a true Prophet in that his predictions were answered by the event of things Maimon fundam leg c. 10. Sect. 2. And Maimonides himself lays this down as the test of a true Prophet that what he foretells comes to pass But he was not onely a Prophet but a Prophet like unto Moses also whose great Anti-type he was Moses is greatly magnified by the Jewish writers Maimon fund leg c. 7. and placed above the other Prophets And it is expresly said that there arose not a Prophet since in Israel like unto Moses whom the Lord knew face to face Deut. 34.10 And therefore it is a vain thing to look for this Prophet that was to be like unto Moses among the Prophets that succeeded Moses while the spirit of Prophecy continued in Israel But our blessed Saviour was like unto Moses in very many particulars If Moses were to be put to death as soon as he was born by the command of Pharaâ—h so was our Saviour by the command of Herod If he were forced to fly his countrey to save his life so was Jesus also If Moses fasted forty days and nights so did Jesus also If he were meek Jesus was meek and lowly in heart If Moses appeared when the Israelites were under the bondage of Egypt so did Jesus when they were under the Roman power If Moses gave his law from a Mountain our Saviour preached his Sermon on a Mount If Moses had his seventy Elders Jesus had his seventy Disciples If Moses were rejected and murmured at by his own people our Saviour came unto his own and his own received him not If Moses trampled on Pharaoh's Crown and despised the pleasures of his Court our Saviour refused to be made a King and despised all the glory of this world As the face of Moses did shine so did the face of Jesus Compare Ex. 34.35 with Matt. 17.2 And as Pharaoh designed the death of the males among the Hebrews that he might destroy the deliverer of that people so did Herod destroy them about Bethlehem As Moses returns into Egypt upon the death of those who sought his life so does Jesus into his Countrey upon the death of Herod But there are other things in which our Jesus was like unto Moses Viz. In his more clear and open converse with the divine Majesty Vid. Abravenel in legem fol. 417. col 3. Thus one of the Jewish writers tells us that Moses saw clearly 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 not parabolically and aenigmatically And God tells the Israelites thus If there be a Prophet among you I the Lord will make my self known to him in a vision and will speak unto him in a dream My servant Moses is not so with him will I speak mouth to mouth even apparently and not in dark speeches and the similitude of
preached unto them Matt. 11.4 5. He did such works as none could doe without the divine assistance and those very works also which the Messias was to doe according to the predictions of him when he came into the world But this argument requires a more particular consideration CHAP. V. The CONTENTS The works of Jesus Matt. 11.4 5. considered Of the miracles which Jesus did The vanity of the Jews in attempting to disparage them The opinion of Maimonides that the Messias would not work miracles considered and the Authâ—ur of Tractatus Theolog Polit. What a Miracle imports That the Messias was to work miracles proved against Maimonides That they are a good argument of the truth of a Doctrine That Jesus did work true miracles This proved at large THE words which I named before Matt. 11.4 5. deserve a farther consideration as they do very much confirm the truth which I am now insisting upon And to that purpose it will be well worth our while to consider the occasion of those words as well as the design of our Saviour in speaking them at that time We find that John Baptist the forerunner of our blessed Saviour who was himself confined to a prison sent two of his Disciples when he heard of the works of Christ to know whether or not he were the Messias who was to come or whether they were to expect some other Art thou he that should come or do we look for another v. 3. It is not to be supposed Hieron Epist Algasiae Quaest 1. that John Baptist was ignorant whether Jesus were the Christ or not for he knew him before this time and knew him to be the Messias also He had seen the spirit descend from heaven like a Dove and abiding on him He saw and bare record that he was the Son of God Joh. 1.32 34. He baptized Jesus in Jordan Matt. 3.15 And it is expresly said Joh. 3.24 that John was not cast yet into prison And we find him presently after those words testifying of Christ v. 28. John Baptist knew him well even before he baptized him Joh. 3.14 It could be no new thing to hear of the fame of Jesus he himself having foretold that his fame would spread Joh. 3.30 He had been questioned who he was and had confessed that he was not the Christ but his forerunner Joh. 1.20 23. And when he saw Jesus walking he called him the Lamb of God Joh. 1.36 From all which it is abundantly evident that John Baptist did not send to inform himself but upon the score and for the sake of his Disciples His Disciples wanted confirmation in that truth which their Master was well assured of There was among the Jews a fond expectation that their Messias would appear like a Temporal Prince Act. 1.6 and deliver the Jews from servitude and slavery they expected to be great men and no longer in bondage to any foreign power That their Messias should sight their battels and vanquish their enemies round about them Maimon H. Melach c. 11. This was the expectation of the Jews then and the later Jews have been of the same belief Now was John Baptist the forerunner of Christ in Prison and would shortly be beheaded there His Disciples might hereupon be tempted to doubt whether Jesus were the Christ or not for they that expected a temporal Prince would hardly believe that he would suffer his chief Minister and forerunner to be not onely detained in Prison but cut off by the hands of violence Hence John Baptist sends his Disciples when he himself was in Prison v. 2. He sends them when they most needed to be confirmed in the faith for the imprisonment and following death of their Master would be apt to make them question whether Jesus were the Messias or they not still to look for another It is likewise to be considered that John Baptist lays hold of the fittest opportunity of sending his Disciples for their greatest satisfaction His being in Prison implies that they needed a confirmation in the faith but then the tidings of the works which Christ did seems to be the occasion of sending the Disciples at a time when they were like to receive the utmost satisfaction which could be desired And no less seems to be implied in the second verse of this Chapter Now when John had heard in the prison the works of Christ he sent two of his disciples And for the message he sent them on it was of the greatest moment Art thou he which should come or do we look for another v. 3. i. e. Art thou the Messias that was promised to come among us or must we expect him to come still It is very usual to express the Messias by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he that was to come For he was promised long before under this expression of one that should in due time come among them The Sceptre shall not depart from Judah untill Shiloh come Gen. 49.10 Again Be strong fear not behold your God will come Isa 35.4 Again Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord Matt. 21.9 Joh. 12.13 Heb. 10.37 And agreeably hereunto the time of the Messias is called the kingdom and the world to come Mark 11.10 Hebr. 2.5 and chap. 6.5 Christ was the great hope and expectation of Israel They promised themselves very justly glorious things from his manifestation The woman of Samaria could say I know that Messias cometh which is called Christ when he is come he will tell us all things Joh. 4.25 Let us now consider the answer which Jesus returned unto this question of John Baptist's Disciples He refers them to his works for satisfaction It was upon the occasion of the works which Jesus did that John Baptist sent his Disciples v. 2. and when they come we find that Jesus refers them to the works which he did Jesus answered and said unto them go and shew John again those things which ye do hear and see The blind receive their sight and the lame walk the lepers are cleansed the dead are raised up and the poor have the gospel preached unto them v. 4 5. John Baptist had born witness of Christ before he does not send them back to their Master but refers them to his works Ye sent unto John says our Saviour to the Jews and he bare witness unto the truth Joh. 5.33 but then our Saviour adds v. 36. But I have greater witness than that of John for the works which the father hath given me to finish the same works that I doe bear witness of me that the father hath sent me His works then were a good proof that he was what he professed himself to be the Christ the Son of God Nicodemus could not but confess that no man could doe the miracles which he did except God were with him Joh. 3.2 And many of the Jews could not but say When Christ cometh will he doe moe miracles than these which this man hath done Joh. 7.31
Saviour as well as a Comforter with relation to his Disciples Joh. 16.8 The spirit did plead the cause of our Lord and by the mighty works of this divine spirit men were convinced that Jesus was no Impostour but that he was what he professed himself to be the Christ the Son of God A Miracle hath always been a good proof of a Doctrine and ever acknowledged to be very convincing When Elijah had restored to life the Widow's Son she concludes him a true Prophet 1 King 17.24 By this I know says she that thou art a man of God and that the word of the Lord in thy mouth is truth A true miracle is an attestation from Heaven We cannot think that God will set his seal to a lye or to a truth of little moment and concern And as miracles are a good proof of the truth of a Doctrine so our Saviour had great reason to reser the Disciples of John Baptist to his miraculous works especially when it is considered that the law of Moses was confirmed by miracles and it is very reasonable to believe that the ordinances of Moses should be removed after the same manner that they were established and confirmed And therefore that Jesus should doe greater miracles that Moses ever did Besides our Saviour designed the destruction of the Devil's Kingdom in the world For this purpose the Son of God was manifested that he might destroy the works of the Devil 1 Joh. 3.8 And upon that account it was needfull that he should doe miracles The Devil had gotten a great and ancient possession over mankind he had got into the hearts and bodies of men and dwelt in the Temples of the Heathen world And whoever considers the largeness of his dominion the power and malice of his instruments will easily grant that there was need of a mighty power to dispossess him Now our Saviour and his followers made use of no carnal weapons they armed no legions raised no fighting men by sea or land And yet it is not to be believed that the Devil could be driven out of his ancient possession and strong holds without a greater power than what he was possessed of and that must be a divine power The power of the Devil was great at our Saviour's appearance He dwelt in the Heathen Temples answered in their Oracles an idolatrous worship obtained in the world many were there who were possessed by him Our Saviour stopped his mouth in the Oracles overthrew his Kingdom destroyed the idolatry and superstition which had overspread the world and threw the Devil out of the bodies and which was a greater work out of the hearts of men The Gospel set forward with great disadvantages The preachers of it had not riches or power or great birth or strong alliances or wordly wisedom to recommend them On the other hand they were poor men and despised But yet they were endued with power from above of working miracles and dispossessing the Devil where ever they came Chrysost Tom. 3. p. 276. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Had all this been done without the working of miracles this would have been the greatest miracle of all It was necessary that this power should be employed against the Devil's Kingdom The Jews indeed seem to be blamed by our Saviour for seeking after signs Mat. 16.4 But certain it is that they were not blameable nor blamed by our Saviour for demanding signs and wonders This demand was not unreasonable in it self nor blameable in them In this they were to be blamed that they did not require them with a mind prepared to receive the truth and were not content with such Miracles as our Saviour wrought H. Melach c. 1. Maimonides tells us that there were three precepts which did oblige the Israelites when they came into the Land of Promise viz. to set over them a King to destroy the Amalekites and to build a Sanctuary or Temple And yet when the Israelites demanded a King we find God displeased with them But then it was not because they desired to set a King over them but because they desired it amiss and not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in order to obey the law but because they were weary of Samuel a good Governour And so in the case before us The Jews require a sign and it is not to be supposed that our Saviour was upon that account displeased with them For their law being confirmed by Signs and Miracles it was very reasonable for them to require signs before they consented to relinquish it But that was not their fault that they required a sign But they came to our Saviour tempting rather than as sincere learners Matt. 16.1 Mark 8.11 and nothing will serve their Turn but a sign from Heaven The Jews ask our Saviour what they should doe that they might work the works of God Our Saviour answered and said unto them Joh. 6.28 29 30 31. This is the work of God that ye believe on him whom he hath sent 'T was their great Duty to believe that Jesus was the Christ the Son of God The Jews do not stop here but proceed and demand of him a sign What sign shewest thou then said they that we may see and believe thee what dost thou work This was not unreasonable all this while their fault was that they would chuse what kind of Miracles our Saviour should work and they must be signs from Heaven and no less seems to be intimated in the following words Our fathers did eat Manna in the desart As it is written He gave them bread from Heaven to eat They must have Miracles of this sort they are for just such signs as Moses wrought There was thunder and lightning and a thick cloud at the giving the Law upon Mount Sinai They had Manna from Heaven in the wilderness They must have such signs as they pitch upon themselves and thus they tempt God by indulging their Curiosity Our Saviour wrought many signs and wonders and did mightily outdoe Moses as shall be shewed afterward and all their Prophets And therefore our Saviour did enough to confirm his doctrine and left the Jews without excuse Miracles are then a good testimony provided we are sure that they are miracles strictly so called For it hath often happened that the World hath been cheated with lying wonders Magicians and Impostours have imposed upon men And it is a matter of some difficulty to discern the difference between a true miracle and a false one between that which is indeed the finger of God and that which is the fraud and artifice of the Devil If Moses turn a rod into a Serpent so do the Sorcerers also and it might perhaps have puzled the wisest stander-by to discern the difference between them It will be very hard many times ex parte rei to Judge what miracles are true and what are falsly so called But though there be a difficulty in judging ex parte rei
and bruises due to them fell upon him The chastisement and stripes were his the peace and healing thereby procured belong unto us In a word though we finned and were liable to suffer upon that account yet he suffered for us If this be not plain enough let us proceed All we like sheep have gone astray we have turned every one to his own way and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all v. 6. The plain and natural sense of which words is this that whereas we had sinned and had made our selves obnoxious to punishment yet God did not punish us as we deserved but the Messias in our room and stead To the same purpose we read afterward He was cut off out of the land of the living for the transgression of my people was he stricken v. 8. And after those words we read that his soul should be made an offering for sin v. 10. It is certain that a sin or trespass-offering under the law of Moses was expiatory and piacular and the beast was offered instead of the offender and God did accept the bloud of the sacrifice in the room of the life of the person who had sinned Let us now consider what we read in the New Testament to the same purpose Our Blessed Saviour in his solemn prayer a little before his passion hath these words For their sakes speaking of his Disciples I sanctifie my self that they also might be sanctified through the truth That is Christ did offer up himself as a victim or sacrifice for them as the Greek word is observed to signifie And that sacrifice also is to be looked upon as a piacular and expiatory one And to that purpose it is well observed that the prayer Joh. 17.1 2 c. by which Christ consecrated himself unto his death is like unto that which the Jewish High Priest used when he consecrated or offered up the victims of the day of expiation before the Altar Joh. 17.19 Agreeably to what hath been said St. Paul speaking of Christ tells us that God hath made him to be sin for us who knew no sin Of which words I can give no other sense but this viz. that though Christ were innocent himself yet God thought fit to give him up to death as a piacular sacrifice for our sins And to the same purpose St. Peter tells us that Christ bare our sins in his own body on the tree 2 Cor. 5.22 1 Pet. 11.24 The divine Authour of the Epistle to the Hebrews tells us that Christ did by himself purge our sins And that he was once offered to bear the sins of many And that he offered one sacrifice for sins Heb. 1.3 c. 9.28.1.10.12 And we find that the expiation of our sins is imputed to the death of Christ in the Holy Scriptures We have an altar whereof they have no right to eat which serve the Tabernacle For the bodies of those beasts whose bloud is brought into the sanctuary by the High Priest for sin are burnt without the camp Wherefore Jesus also that he might sanctifie the people with his own bloud suffered without the gate By sanctifying the people nothing less can be meant than the expiation of their sins and as this was done under the law of Moses by an expiatory sacrifice so was it done by the bloud of Jesus the anti-type of those sacrifices which he speaks of in that place who suffered without the gate St. John tells us that the bloud of Jesus Christ cleanseth us from all sin Heb. 13.10 11 12. 1 John 1. v. 7. And this is farther confirmed to us from this that our Saviour's bloud is said to be a price paid for us by which we are bought and redeemed For this cause he is the Mediatour of the New Testament that by means of death for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first Testament they which are called may receive the promise of eternal inheritance To which I shall add those words of the Apostle to the Ephesians where speaking of Christ he saith In whom we have redemption through his bloud And to the Colossians In whom we have redemption through his bloud even the forgiveness of sins Heb. 9.15 Eph. 1.7 Col. 1.14 To what hath been said very much may be added to the same purpose viz. that our Lord himself hath said that he came to give his life a ransom for many Matt. 20.28 That of St. Paul to the same purpose 1 Tim. 2.6 And those words of our Lord This is my bloud of the New Testament which is shed for many for the remission of sins Matt. 26.28 Again these words of the Apostle Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law being made a curse for us Gal. 3.13 Christ is elsewhere said to be the propitiation for our sins 1 Joh. 4.10 I shall not need to add any more Testimonies to those already named For though there are many others yet these are sufficient And indeed they do so plainly acquaint us with the end of Christ's death that he must use great art that can strain them to another sense For what the Socinians object against this doctrine viz. that it renders God's kindness less which yet is greatly magnified in the Scripture in giving his Son This objection I say can be of no force at all For though God thought fit for the honour of his justice that sin should not altogether go unpunished and gave us his Son to make our peace and redeem us from misery with his pretious bloud yet is this no diminution to the free grace and mercy of God 'T was the infinite mercy of God which moved him to find out this way in which we can claim nothing 'T was intirely the mercy of God that provided us this remedy Our pardon is free to us whatever it cost our Lord to procure it We have great cause to adore the love of God and the unparallelled charity of our Blessed Saviour Our free pardon and Christ's redemption the infinite mercy of God and the satisfaction of his justice are not things that are inconsistent The Apostles words teach us this truth with which I shall conclude this particular Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption which is in Jesus Christ whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his bloud to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past through the forbearance of God To declare I say at this time his righteousness that he might be just and the justifier of him that believeth in Jesus Rom. 3. v. 24 25 26. And thus I have considered the death of Christ as a sacrifice for sin and consequently as a great instance of the love of Christ who was content to dye that we might live And therefore when we are exhorted to love one another we are pressed to it from this consideration Walk in love as Christ also hath loved us and hath given himself for an offering
est restituere quod fuerit quà m facerequod non fuit Hieron ad Pammachium It is not incredible that he should raise a dead man to life who made all things out of nothing Nor does it impeach any of the divine perfections to affirm that God raised Jesus to life No man can reasonably upon this account think meanly of the divine Being Upon the whole there is nothing in the thing reported repugnant to right reason nothing unbecoming the divine purity and perfections nothing incredible to them that are wise and good For the persons who report this if there lye any exception against them it must be upon the score of their weakness or wilfullness It may perhaps be pretended that they were weak men and imposed upon That they took up this beleif that Jesus rose from the dead upon light and insufficient grounds and though they did not contrive to deceive others yet they themselves were easily deceived But this cannot be pretended with any reason at all For they did not report that Jesus was raised to life upon hear-say or common fame they did not receive it as a tradition received from others But they were eye-witnesses of it They were men that knew Jesus before he died that conversed with him forty days after he rose from the dead that had sometimes doubted of the truth of his Resurrection themselves and had received the utmost satisfaction that it was that Jesus who died that was risen from the dead and when they were assured of it they taught this doctrine boldly and they taught no more than what they knew to be true what they had seen and handled that they taught Nor did this depend upon the Testimony of Women or Children or any incompetent witnesses or upon a bare and single Testimony But a number of men the most competent witnesses imaginable did upon all occasions affirm that Jesus was risen from the dead There were no less than twelve principal witnesses of his Resurrection besides the many others who saw Jesus after he was risen Act. 1.21 22. Nor can we think that these witnesses did wilfully go about to lye and put a cheat upon other men We cannot think them such vile persons or that they could have prevailed this way For besides that they taught other men to speak the truth and that they are not accused otherwise as flagitious persons to what purpose should they affirm that Jesus was risen from the dead if it were false Could they get any thing by such a lye Was it a step to any honour or preferment to say that Jesus was raised to life again Was this Doctrine pleasing to the Jews Would it procure them any favour from the Gentile World Nay is it not evident that for affirming this the Jews who put Jesus to death were enraged against them For they arraigned the Justice of their Nation and incensed their Countrey men to the highest degree whatsoever The Gentiles scoffed at them and derided them and their scoffs were the least Evils they suffered upon this account for they continued in this their Testimony under torments and even unto death Can any man imagine that this was a contrivance and Plot of crafty men That they combined to put a cheat upon mankind but to what end should they do this It is not likely they could engage a considerable number in such a combination It would be hard to find a great many men so weary of their lives as to be content to throw them away in confirmation of a lye Besides the fraud would have been discover'd quickly For these men did not forbear to tell when and where this happened which they were the witnesses of Did ever any men of credit prove these witnesses incompetent Did they ever deprehend them in a lye or speaking inconsistently Did it appear at any time that they were caught in a false story or that any one of them were forced to recant and retract what he had said How came this beleif to spread so quickly in the world if it had not been true Could it have any thing else to recommend it to the belief of mankind That it quickly gained an Universal belief in the world is undeniable but how could this be God attested to this truth by enabling these witnesses to work miracles in confirmation of it That so it was no man can doubt that gives any credit to the Testimony of others Had it not been so the spreading of this beleif without a miracle would have been the greatest miracle of all It is plain that we have no reason to doubt of the Resurrection of Jesus There is no History no matter of fact which yet we beleive firmly that we have that cause to beleive as we have this that Jesus was raised from the dead and therefore if we do not beleive that Jesus rose from the dead it is not from want of evidence and sufficient motives of credibility but from a faulty principle and a culpable neglect of seeking after the truth 6. That the Evangelists who report the matter of fact concerning the Resurrection of Jesus are worthy of all credit For their names are annexed to their writings they set down the time and place where those things happened which they write of they name the persons concerned in these things they write of things which happened in their own time and which they knew to be true They all agree in the main story and their different relating of some smaller circumstances does but confirm their credit as to the main relation What can we desire in any writing which is wanting here What have we to object against these writers Can we suppose they did conspire to put a cheat upon mankind But what reason have we for this suspicion Surely none but much to the contrary For they do not write like men who had combined together to cheat the world For they own their names they relate something with some seeming difference they mention the time and place where those things happened which they write they name many persons and of several Nations and ranks that were concerned they stick not to mention their own meanness and their own faults and infirmities and the shame and death of their great Lord and Master Nor could these or the other witnesses of the Resurrection be induced by any worldly Temptation to tell a lye They did beleive the Religion which they professed or they did not If they did beleive it they durst not tell a lye that being directly forbid in that Religion which they beleived to be true If they did not beleive it themselves what could perswade them to obtrude the belief of it upon other men They were so far from gaining by this course that they exposed themselves to the malice and rage of men to the loss of all things and the severest death Can we believe that they should be so fond of what they knew to be a lie that they would lose all they
had in confirmation of it Men are not commonly so fond of truth as to confirm it with their bloud Can we imagine that men should persist in a lie to the loss of all things At the close of chap. VI. But of this matter I have discoursed before and shall not need to pursue it now 7. That the Resurrection of the Messias was foretold in the old Testament as well as typified and therefore the Evangelists are not to be rejected by the Jews for reporting this matter The first preachers of the Christian faith did confirm this truth from the holy writings which the Jews owned They proved from them that this was foretold and they do it beyond all exception because they argue from those principles which the Jews allowed To this purpose belong those words Thou art my Son this day have I begotten thee That that Psalm did relate to the Messias we are able to prove from the Jewish Doctors who do acknowledge it And therefore when it was alledged to this purpose they cannot say that it was an allegation out of a place which did not belong to the Messias The Apostle applies those words to this sense He assures us that God hath fulfilled his promise in that he hath raised up Jesus again as it is also written in the second Psalm thou art my Son c. It being confessed by the Jews themselves that the Psalm out of which these words are cited is to be understood of the Messias I need not go about to justifie and make good that it belongs to the matter for which it is alledged Psal 2.5 Act. 13.33 I shall onely consider how fitly these words are applied to the resurrection of the Messias For thou art my Son this day have I begotten thee seem rather to relate to the birth than to the Resurrection of the Messias For the clearing of this matter it is to be considered That it is no unusual thing to call the earth our Mother as well as our Parent from whom we are born it is very common to call each of these by the same name The earth out of which we are taken and to which we return is our Mother as well as our Parent from whom we spring and our grave to which we return is our Womb as well as that of our Mothers When Julius Caesar dreamed that he had offered violence to his Mother Sueton. Jul. Caesar there were those who did interpret it arbitrium orbis terrarum portendi i. e. that he should conquer the earth quae omnium parens haberetur i. e. which is the common Mother of us all Id. Tiberius And when Tiberius died the people out of hatred prayed Terram Matrem the common Mother the Earth to give him no reception but among the wicked Philo the Jew tells us that the earth seems to be a Mother Phil. Jud. de Mundi Opificio and that thence it was that among the Ancients it was called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by a word that at once signifies the Earth and Mother and that according to Plato 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. the earth does not so much imitate a Woman as a Woman the earth He tells us farther that nature hath given her breasts viz. the chanels of rivers and fountains After this manner do the writers of the old Testament speak with whom the grave which receives the dead is called the Womb and therefore a Resurrection from thence may well be called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or a new birth Naked came I out of my Mother's womb says Job and naked shall I return thither What we render thither the Chaldee Paraphrast expresseth by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. to the grave Again on the other hand when the Holy Scripture speaks of the Mother's womb it does it after such a manner as refers to the Earth the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Mother of us all When the Psalmist speaks of his being formed in the Womb he expresses the Womb by the lowest parts of the earth which the Chaldee Paraphrast on the place interprets of the Womb of his Mother And the Virgin 's Womb seems to be meant by the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Vid. Paulum Fagium in Gen. 37.35 i. e. the lowermost parts of the earth And to my present purpose into the innermost parts of the belly in Solomon is by the Targum rendred in profundum Sepulchri i. e. into the depth of the Grave And we find among the Jewish Writers that the Mother's womb is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a sepulchre Oholoth c. 7. m. 4. He that is born and dies and is buried does but pass from one Tomb to another And he that rises out of the Womb of the earth or his grave may be said to be born anew and therefore it may well be said of our Saviour when he rose from the dead that he was then begotten And when the Apostle applies those words this day have I begotten thee to our Saviour's Resurrection he does but speak the language of the Hebrew writers and the Jews who own this Psalm to belong to the Messias have no reason to complain that those words of it should be applyed to his Resurrection Job 1.21 Ps 139.15 Eph. 4.9 Pro. 18.18 And this manner of speaking is very agreeable to the type of our Saviour's Resurrection I mean the Prophet Jonas who was three days and three nights in the Whales belly to which the heart of the earth in which Jesus was and from which he rose answers Matt. 12.40 Jonas is not onely said to have been in the belly or bowels as it is in the Hebrew of the Fish Jonah 1.17 But when he prayed unto the Lord his God there and God heard him he is said to have heard him out of the belly of Hell or as the Marginal reading hath it and the Hebrew word signifies out of the belly of the grave Jon. 2.2 And when he acknowledges his deliverance he does it in these words Yet hast thou brought up my life from corruption O Lord my God Jon. 2.6 compare Ps 16.10 Act. 2.31 Jesus came from the Virgins Womb and the Womb of the earth The first birth was natalis Imperatoris the second natalis imperii The Prince was born when the Virgin brought him forth at Bethlehem but his Resurrection was the birth day of his Kingdom and of his entrance upon his everlasting Preisthood Upon both accounts he is justly called the Son of God as he was conceived by the Holy Ghost in the Virgins Womb and as he was raised by the Holy Ghost from the grave Augustin de Tempore Serm. 133. Virgoerat adhuc terra nondum opere compressa nondum sementi subacta Tertull. de carne Christi And there is a great cognation between the Womb and the grave The Womb of the Virgin which had received none but the Holy Jesus and the Sepulchre which Joseph had provided wherein never
the same time believe him to be the Christ and consequently that his precepts are divine that his promises are certain and his power and authority uncontrollable This is indeed the faith peculiar to Christians The Jews and the Heathens believed some other points relating to Religion That Jesus rose that he is the Christ the Son of God this is the great Article of the Christian faith Hence it is that so much is imputed to this faith and to the confession of this truth in the New Testament Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God God dwelleth in him and he in God And afterward whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God Whoever believed this believed all the Christian Religion and he that when those words were written did believe and profess this truth when 't was greatly dangerous so to doe as he gave proof of a sincere faith so he might be truly said to dwell in God and to be born of God Ro. 10.9 1 Joh. 4.15 2 Joh. 5.1 Had not Christ been a man he could not have died and had he not been Christ the Son of God he could not have risen from the dead Had Jesus been a deceiver he must have lain in the grave till the general Resurrection Nothing less than a divine power could raise him to life again it was the Godhead which raised the humane nature and then Christ raised himself as he foretold he would and gave a great proof of his Divinity Joh. 2.19 21. It is an easie thing to destroy life but to restore it again speaks an almighty power It is nothing short of Omnipotence which can bring so great a thing to pass The Key of the grave is one of those which God keeps in his own hand The Apostle in very Emphatical words expresseth the power by which Jesus was raised from the dead for speaking of the exceeding greatness of God's power to us-ward who believe he adds according to the working of this Mighty power which he wrought in Christ when he raised him from the dead The words are very great as a learned man hath well observed on the one hand there is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and on the other there is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Here 's 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 two words to express power and that the power of God and as if these were too little 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is added to the one and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to the other and still as if this were too short there is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and to this is added 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 all this mighty power is actuated and exerted also And who can now believe that God would have shewn such a power in raising up Jesus from the dead if he had not been the Christ But I proceed to consider the time when Jesus rose from the dead viz. the third day The death and Resurrection of Jesus were necessary toward our redemption and the belief of both these is necessary to our Salvation It is therefore fit we should be well assured of the truth of them both and to that purpose that there should be some distance between the one and the other For as he could not have revived if he had not first died so it was fit that we should be well assured of the first before we could be obliged to believe the second If Christ had revived as soon as he had been taken down from the Cross it might have been questioned whether or no he were really dead But for the better speaking to this matter I shall First enquire into the reasons why there was this distance of time between the death and resurrection of Jesus Secondly that Jesus did rise the third day after his death Thirdly I shall consider the third day as it was the first day of the Week I shall enquire into the reasons of this distance of time between the death and Resurrection of Jesus And we may take them in the following particulars 1. It was very fit that there should be some competent distance between the death and resurrection of Jesus that men might be assured that he dyed without which they could not be obliged to believe him risen from the dead 2. It was not fit that the body of Jesus should lie so long as to be corrupted It was enough that he was so long a time dead as might give assurance that when he did appear he was really risen from the dead Had he lain any longer in the grave he had continued so long there as would have brought corruption and putrefaction upon his body Martha tells Jesus concerning Lazarus By this time he stinketh and for a proof of it she adds for he hath been dead four days This long stay in the grave would have made too great a change in the body of Jesus Besides there was a Prophecy of the Messias to this purpose that though he should dye and be buried yet his body should not lie so long in the grave as to putrefie Thus St. Peter applies that prediction Thou shalt not leave my Soul in hell nor wilt thou suffer thine holy one to see corruption to the resurrection of Christ Joh. 11.39 Act. 2.27 31. 3. That this precise time of the resurrection of Jesus is according to the Scriptures or writings of the Old Testament 1. Cor. 15.4 Among those persons who in the Old Testament were types of the Messiah Isaac was an eminent one He was born against the laws of nature the Son of the Promise called the onely Son and the beloved Son and the Heir He was given up by his Father to death and he bore the Wood which was to bear him and in these things he was a remarkable type of Christ And the Bereshith Rabboth expresseth his carrying the wood by his carrying his Cross upon his Shoulder Bereshith Rabb in Gen. 22. The same Authour upon those words on the third day c. reckons up a great many places of Scripture which mention the third day and many particulars for which the third day was remarked viz. the giving of the law c. and then tells us it was remarkable for the Resurrection of the dead and cites to that purpose the very words of the Prophet which we Christians alledge to the matter in hand After two days he will revive us in the third day will he raise us up and we shall live in his sight The same Authour in the same place mentions the third as remarkable upon the score of Jonas who was three days and three nights in the belly of the Whale Than which nothing could have been said more appositely to our present purpose that being an express type of the Messias as hath been noted before And 't is enough in this matter that we can shew the express prophecy of Hosea and the eminent type of the Prophet Jonas
into Heaven and to be concerned there in behalf of his people Secondly that our Jesus did ascend into Heaven and is there concerned on the behalf of his people Thirdly I shall shew that the divine Authour of the Epistle to the Hebrews does chap. 9.24 and elsewhere infer this truth from the avowed principles of the Jewish Writers Fourthly I shall make it appear from the effects following upon the exaltation of Jesus in Heaven that he did ascend thither and was there concerned on our behalf and that therefore our Jesus is the Christ I shall shew that the Messias was to ascend into Heaven and to be concerned there in behalf of his people This was foretold in the Old Testament Thou hast ascended on high thou hast led captivity captive thou hast received gifts for men Psalm 68.18 These words are not onely applied by St. Paul to this purpose Eph. 4.8 but with great reason they are so applied The occasion of that Psalm was the removal of the Ark Psal 68.1 1 Chron. 13.5 which of a long time had been separated from the Tabernacle of the congregation which Moses had made for it And as this Ark was an eminent type of the Messias so the place assigned both by Moses and afterward by Solomon for the reception thereof was a type of Heaven as shall be shewed afterwards And therefore it shall not need to seem strange to any man that those words which were at first used with reference to the Ark should be applied to the ascension of the Messias And this may be the more reasonably presumed to be implied in those words of the Psalmist if we compare them with the words of another Psalm relating to this matter Psal 24. where we find the Ark the symbol of God's special presence called the King of glory and it's reception into the place prepared for it represented in such words as do serve to express the reception of a glorious King into his Palace and Throne Lift up your heads Vid. The Dean of Peterburgh's Argument to Ps 24. O ye gates even lift them up ye everlasting doors and the King of glory shall come in Who is this King of glory The Lord of hosts he is the King of glory Besides what hath been said to justifie the Apostle's application of those words to the Ascension of the Messias into Heaven I may add farther that the words themselves cannot so properly be applied to any person as to the Messias when he did ascend up into Heaven Psal 7.8.93.4.71.19 For what we render on high is observed in the Psalmist's phrase to signifie Heaven and to be applied unto God And the following words thou hast led Captivity Captive c. do very fitly agree with the conquest which Christ obtained over death and over the Devil whom he triumphantly led Captive when he went up into Heaven and he did as those who triumphed were wont to doe upon this Ascension of his into Heaven bestow great gifts upon mankind the bestowing of which was an argument that when he was exalted into Heaven himself he did not forget his followers but did by the gifts which he bestowed make it appear that he was concerned there in behalf of his people Another prophecy to this purpose we find in Micah Mic. 2.13 The breaker is come up before them They have broken up and have passed through the gate and are gone out by it and their King shall pass before them and the Lord on the head of them I will by no means enter into a particular explication of this place See Raimund Pug fidei par 3. dist 3. c. 18. and D. Pocock on Micah 2.13 nor shall I need to prove that it belongs to this matter for which it is produced because the Jews themselves grant that these words are to be understood of the Messias and the latter Jews confess that this was the opinion of their Ancient writers I shall name but one more but that is a very eminent and conspicuous one The Lord said unto my Lord Ps 110.1 sit thou at my right hand untill I make thine enemies thy footstool Now these words do so belong to the Messias that they cannot be applied to any other person And whereas several predictions which concern the Messias had also a reference first to some other eminent person who was a type of him The words of this Psalm throughout do immediately belong to him and cannot in any tolerable sense be applied to Abraham or David Ezekiah or Zorobabel or any other person whatsoever And though the Jews have exercised their wits in perverting the sense of this Psalm and applying it to some other person P. Galatin de arcan Cathol veritat is l. 8. c. 24. yet as they have been very unhappy in it so several of them have been forced to confess that these words are to be understood of the Messias And without all doubt the ancient Jews did with one consent interpret this Psalm of the Messias who is said not onely to sit at God's right hand but also to be a Priest for ever after the order of Melchisedeck which words can not be with truth affirmed of any other person whatsoever And Jesus did apply these words to the Messias and so far stopped the mouths of the Pharisees that they were not able to reply Matt. 22. v. 42 43 44 45. What think ye says Jesus to them of Christ Whose Son is he They say unto him the Son of David He saith unto them how then doth David in Spirit call him Lord saying the Lord said unto my Lord sit thou on my right hand till I make thine eâ—emies thy footstool If David then call him Lord how is he his Son This put them to silence which it would not have done if these words had not been confessed to belong to the Messias Had it not been the sense of the whole Nation that the Psalm belongs to him they could soon have answered our Saviour in this place And as this place was made use of by Jesus so it was by his followers also to the same purpose and to the same persons viz. the Jews also Act. 2.34 St. Peter tells them that David is not ascended into the heavens but he saith himself The Lord said unto my Lord sit thou on my right hand c. To the same purpose are these words justly applied by St. Paul 1 Cor. 15.25 in his Epistle to the Corinthians and the Authour of the Epistle to the Hebrews mentions this as a peculiar belonging to the Messias and not to the Angels those excellent Ministers of God To which of the Angels said he at any time sit on my right hand untill I make thine enemies thy footstool Heb. 1.13 with ch 5.6.10.12 13. Now this sitting on the right hand of God does denote the exaltation of the Messias and not onely that but his great power and authority and his being concerned
chains and death it self cannot stop its course It must needs be a good cause that bears up against all the malice the meanaces the punishments that a wicked world could devise or inflict Aye and that persons of all sorts and degrees should seal this Doctrine with their Bloud too young as well as old rich as well as poor people as well as their Teachers women as well as men those that were remote and far distant from one another Nemo gratis malus It cannot be imagined that so many persons of all sorts and so remote from one another should conspire and consent together to bear witness to a lye That they should venture their lives and all that which the world calls good upon an untruth Certainly no man can be so fond as to believe this This Martyrdom of Christians and the growth of Christianity under it is a good proof that Jesus is the Christ and that the Religion of Jesus came from God For certainly had it not been from God it could never have born up from so small a beginning against so mighty an opposition And therefore it was a wise speech of Gamaliel to the men of Israel who were so forward to persecute the first preachers of the Gospel I say unto you says he refrain from these men and let them alone for it this counsel or this work be of men it will come to nought But if it be of God ye cannot overthrow it lest happily ye be found to fight against God Act. 5.38 39. And this he well perswades from the destruction of Theudas and his Complices and also of Judas the Galilean and those that obeyed him To which may also well be added this that whoever since hath pretended himself to be the Messias or his forerunner hath been so far from perswading it that he hath indeed come to nought and miserably cheated and abused his credulous followers Thus we know that about two and fifty years after the destruction of the Jewish Temple by the Romans Buxtorf Lexicon Rabbime in 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 there did arise a certain man that pretended himself to be the Messias and was called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Son of a Star alluding 'tis like to the prophecy Num. 24.17 but this man was destroyed by Adrianus with many thousands of the Jews besides So that now the Jews are not ashamed to call him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or the Son of a Lye Maimon Epistol ad Judaeos Massilienses Maimon tells us of another who deceived the poor Jews under a pretence that he was the forerunner of the Messias who having boasted vainly that he should rise again after his death in token that he came from God was beheaded by a certain Arabian King and so perished and left the Jews that gave him credit in great calamity and distress It were a very easie thing to give in an account of the cheats and impostors who have arisen in the several ages of the world Euseb Eccl. Hist l. 4. c. 6. Hieron Catal. Scrip. Eccl in Agrippa Origen contra Cels p. 44. Vorstii observat ad Gantz p. 292. Juchasin fol. 38. Zemah David p. 150. under a pretence of being the Messias or his forerunner by whom the Jews have been miserably imposed upon and deluded from time to time This is reported not onely by the Christian writers but by the Jewish also The Jews have often been frustrated in their expectations and the cheat hath quickly been discovered And they have for many Generations expected their Messias in vain There hath appeared no man under pretence of the Messias or his forerunner but he hath soon come to nought And no wonder for a lye though it may prevail for a while will not obtain long The heat of persecution will fetch off its paint and false colours 'T is truth alone that can endure a Trial. Facile res in suam naturam recidunt ubi veritas non subest A lye may for a little while out-face the truth and prevail upon the easie and credulous part of mankind especially where it meets with no severe and potent opposition but when once the Authours of a forgery are discovered when they are brought to punishment who contrived the cheat and were the abettors of it then it falls to the ground and spreads no farther It hath not power enough to stand up against so great a violence But Christianity prevailed in spight of all the malice and force and combined endeavours of the Devil and all his instruments to root it out CHAP. X. The CONTENTS What was predicted of the Messias was fulfilled in our Jesus This appeared in the birth of Jesus in his Office and Character in his Works in his Sufferings and Resurrection and the spreading of his doctrine The adoreable providence of God in bringing Events to pass This shewed in very many particulars This is a farther proof that Jesus is the Christ IF what hath been said before be duly considered we shall upon sufficient evidence conclude that our Jesus is the Christ and that the Christian Religion came from God Not that I have said all which might have been said in so weighty an argument but that which hath before been insisted upon is sufficient to convince a lover of truth That there was a Messias promised and described in the old Teslament is not contested between the Christians and the Jews nor do the Jews deny that Jesus lived and that he suffered by the hands of their forefathers as we say he did We believe the writings of the old Testament which the Jews themselves acknowledge to be Divine Neither they nor any man living hath any just cause to call in question the authority of the books of the New Testament which give us an account of the birth and life of the miracles and doctrine of the death and Resurrection of the Ascension and intercession of Jesus Here 's nothing reported in these books in it self incredible nothing that is light and trifling nothing unbecoming God nothing against good manners but we have the same reasons to believe the truth of these things which we have for any other History which we do believe without doubting The same we have and much more Allowing then but the truth of the matter of fact which we have no shadow of reason to call in question it will abundantly appear from what hath been said that Jesus is the Christ For there was not a word that fell to the ground which was predicted of the Messias but it was fulfilled in our Jesus There was nothing so minute or small but it was accomplished and fulfilled Let us to this purpose recollect those particulars mentioned before and consider their exact accomplishment in our Jesus I will begin with his birth We find that the first promise which was made of the Messias was under the Character of the seed of the Woman Gen. 3.15 And this Woman was to be a Virgin also according to
of Jesus was contemned and reproached for the meanness of his birth the poverty of his condition or freedom of his conversation and afterwards for the ignominy of his death But this sin did not exclude the possibility of repentance and the hope of pardon Here 's pardon for every sin the Gospell invites and receives the vilest sinners but shelters them not if they continue to wallow in their mire We may learn what sins have been forgiven from the words of the Apostle Such were some of you but ye are washed 1 Cor. 6.9 11. c. They had been Fornicatours Idolaters Adulterers Effeminate Abusers of themselves with Mankind Thieves Covetous Drunkards Revilers Extortioners Such the Christian Doctrine found them but it did not leave them such They were cleansed of these impurities They were washed sanctified and justifyed in the name of the Lord Jesus Tit. 3.3 5. and by the Spirit of our God It was a wretched plight in which the Gospel found men when it first advanced in the world They were foolish disobedient deceived serving divers lusts and pleasures living in malice and envy hatefull and hating one another Good God what a wretched condition was this How was thy Creature made in thine own Image deformed What a darkness and disorder hath spread it self upon the intellectual world Men retained the same shape and figure that they had from the beginning They were of an erect or upright stature They were not overgrown indeed with horns and hoofs and claws but otherwise they were at best but brutes in humane shape Their manners were crooked 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Phil. their minds were bowed down to the ground they were salvage and ravenous as wolves and bears But were these Creatures out of the reach of this mercy tendered in the Covenant of Grace By no means These men were saved by the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost Our Lord came to call sinners to repentance And the greatest sinners were pardoned Those who had worshipped Idols who had been possessed by Devils and who had persecuted the Church of Christ In a word by our Jesus Act. 13.39 all that believe are justified from all things from which we could not be justified by the Law of Moses It is true indeed that our Saviour hath said Matt. 12.32 that whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost it shall not be forgiven him And it is the onely sin which is excepted Those words of our Saviour if rightly understood are no objection of weight against what hath been said before viz. that the Gospel affords a pardon for all manner of sin For this supposes that men assent to the truth of the Christian Doctrine and embrace it Now that sin against the Holy Ghost of which our Saviour speaks is of such a nature as supposeth the person guilty of it to be one who not onely does not assent to the truth of the Christian Doctrine but resists the Evidence and Confirmation of it which was effected by the Holy Ghost and does calumniate and blaspheme the Divine Authour of that Evidence Those Pharisees who imputed what our Saviour did to the Prince of the Devils did not believe the Doctrine of Christ Nor can any man who assents to the truth of the Christian Doctrine be guilty of that sin against the Holy Ghost of which our Saviour speaks The Holy Ghost in that place is not considered as the Third person of the Trinity and the authour of holiness in us in which respect every act of profaneness might in some sense be called a sin against the Holy Ghost but is considered there as a Witness to the truth of the Christian Doctrine And upon that account that blasphemy is said to be unpardonable He that was guilty of that sin was one who rejected the Christian Doctrine It is no disparagement to the most effectual Medicine in the World that it does not cure that diseased person who refuseth to apply it The Gospel affords a pardon for every sin but there is no hope for him who rejects it It was a charge of old against Christian Religion that it invited and gave hope of pardon to the most profligate sinners Origen contra Celsum l. 3. Celsus long agoe objected it against our most Holy Religion He says that in other mysteries the profane were dismissed and none was called in but he who had pure hands who was wise in speech free from vice c. But says he among the Christians are called in 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. Whoever is a sinner a fool or childish or miserable such says he does the Kingdom of God receive But as Origen answers well these vile men are not presently admitted to the participation of the mysteries of this Religion but to the Cure which it works upon them It gives them pardon upon their amendment The Jews from their Sacrifices had hopes of pardon but they were but faint hopes if compared with what we have under the Gospel of Christ God hath given us the utmost assurance For 1. He hath given up his beloved Son to death 2 Cor. 5.7 Joh. 1.29 1 Pet. 1.19 Eph. 5.2 Rev. 1.5 Heb. 12.24 Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us He was that Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the World Here 's a Sacrifice without spot of an infinite price and value a Sacrifice of a sweet-smelling Savour A Sacrifice which God provided and accepts Our Saviour hath washed us from our sins in his own bloud We are by the Gospel brought to Jesus the Mediatour of the New Covenant and to the bloud of sprinkling that speaketh better things than that of Abel The bloud which Jesus shed does not onely speak better things than the bloud of the Legal Sacrifices ordained by the hands of Moses but also better than the Sacrifice which Abel offered up Heb. 11.4 with Gen. 4.4 For though Abel were a righteous person though he offered a more excellent Sacrifice than his brother and God did declare his acceptance of his sacrifice by a visible token from Heaven Though Abel offered his Sacrifice by faith and be justly celebrated among the worthies and the faithfull Though God bore witness to his righteousness and though he being so long since dead yet he speaketh yet for all this the bloud which he offered is not to be compared with the bloud of Jesus And could any thing have been said more to the advancing the value of the bloud of Christ And its efficacy to procure our pardon than that it speaks better things than that of Abel Heb. 9.12.25 Heb. 10.2 ch 9.13 14. 2 Cor. 5.15 Heb. 2.9 Joh. 3.17 This Sacrifice need not be repeated as the Legal Sacrifices were This Sacrifice ' purges the Conscience the legal ones did but sanctify to the purifying of the flesh This Sacrifice is of value sufficient to procure pardon for the whole race of mankind and is not confined in its virtue
Jews every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins And presently after that he added save your selves from this untoward Generation 1 Pet. 3.21 The same Apostle elsewhere speaking of the Ark of Noah wherein they were saved who entred into it adds the like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us c. And the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper is also a pledge of God's favour and our reconciliation We are admitted to feast upon the great Sacrifice which was offered upon the Cross This was not allowed in Sacrifices under the Law that were expiatory to the People We partake of the body and bloud of Christ of that body which was offered upon the Cross and of that bloud of the New Testament which was shed for many for the remission of sins Matt. 26.26 6. Our Lord Jesus sent forth his Messengers into the World to declare pardon to the penitent He took care that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all Nations Luk. 24.46 They were entrusted with the Power of the Keys to bind and loose to let into the Kingdom of God and to exclude from it It were easie to shew that the Christian Religion does upon other accounts besides what have been named excell the Law of Moses It had a better Mediatour and was better confirmed It was more succesfull and farther spread and affords both more and more conspicuous Examples than are to be found under that Law It is attended with greater motives to obedience as well as greater motives of Credibility The Jews are pressed to obey God because he brought them out of Egypt The motive had great force but 't was peculiar to that People We are constrained by the Love of God in Christ Jesus We are moved by the love of Christ which passeth knowledge His death and passion the comforts of the Holy Ghost the unspeakable love of God and hope of pardon and of Eternal life these are our motives to obedience These are great enough to thaw and unlock the most obdurate heart to work upon the most benummed minds I proceed to consider The usefulness of the foregoing discourse And that is very great where it is duly weighed and considered It would be of great use to the Jew would he but consider it and lay it to heart And is of very great use to the Christian to awaken him to the greatest regard to his holy Religion and to a very hearty embracing of it I shall at present onely consider this one advantage which it will afford us viz. that it gives us a fair occasion of inquiring into the grâ—at Ends and Causes for which the Law of Moses was given I will not here undertake to insist upon all the Causes of the Law of Moses Much less will I goe about to inquire into the reason of the particular Precepts of that Law I make no doubt but that God gave the Jews that Law to keep them from Idolatry and to that purpose to preserve that People separate from the neighbour Nations Many of the rites appointed I doubt not were therefore prescribed because they ran Counter to those rites which did obtain among Idolaters then in being I will onely consider the ends of this Law as far as my present argument is concerned And that I shall doe in the following particulars 1. The Law was given to restrain the Jews and keep them from a loose and licentious Course of sinning The promise of the Messias was made to Abraham above four hundred years before the giving of the Law But though the Messias were then promised God did not think fit to send him presently In the mean time the Jews the Children of Abraham whom God had chosen for his Church were to be restrained from living as they list They were very prone to wickedness and needed a restraint in the mean time Therefore was the Law given and given with great solemnity and terrour It denounced many evils against transgressours and left them liable to a curse the more effectually to oblige them to obedience It was not given as God's last revelation nor to give life and to justifie them Gal. 3.19 Wherefore then serveth the Law It was added because of transgressions God did not think it fit that they should be left unrestrained 1 Tim. 1.9 with Gal. 5.22 The Law is not made for a righteous man but for the lawless and disobedient 2. The Law was given as that which contained types and shadows of good things to come and was therefore given that they might have among them a pledge of those spiritual good things to be bestowed in the days of the Messias The great promise which God made to Abraham was the promise of the Messias this promise was renewed afterward when Isaac was born it was repeated by Jacob to his Sons before his death The Messias was the desire and expectation of the more wise and devout Israelites They receive a Law in the mean time full of types and shadows of what they were to expect in the latter days or the days of the Messias Hence it is that the Gospel as it is distinguished from this Law is called truth not as truth is opposed to falsehood but as it is opposed to types and shadows and as it speaks the substance of what was but symbolically represented before Thus it is said that the Law was given by Moses and that grace and truth come by Jesus Christ John 1.17 And the Gospel is called the word of truth Eph. 1.13 Joh. 14.6 Joh. 4.23 Heb. 8.2 Our Saviour tells us that he is the way and the truth and tells the Woman of Samaria that the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth They that obey the Gospel are said to walk in the truth and obey the truth And Heaven is called the true Tabernacle Heb. 10.1 ch 8.5 The Law had a shadow of good things to come and not the very Image of the things The Priests under the Law are said to serve unto the example and shadow of heavenly things Coloss 2.17 Heb. 3.5 That Law was a pledge of a better and the things therein commanded were but a shadow of things to come Moses was faithfull as a servant for a testimony of those things which were to be spoken viz. by Jesus and his followers For so the Syriack hath it for those things which were to be spoken by him 3. To dispose men for the reception of the Gospel of Christ It was well fitted for this end And that this was the end of it is very evident from the words of the Apostle Gal. 3.22 23 24. The Scripture hath concluded all under sin that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe But before faith came we were under the Law shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed wherefore the Law was our