himself is Christ a King and in v. 5. He stirred up the people teaching throughout all Jury and v. 10. The chief Priests and Scribes stood up and vehemently accused him Here this most holy and just One came under an Accusation of being guilty of Treason Sedition and of being notoriously Criminal and was vehemently accused too that they might vent their Envy and Malice against him with the greatest shew of Justice for they were tender of their own Reputation in that as appeared when Christ had said unto them John 10.32 Many good Works I have shewed you c. for which of these Works do you stone me They in the next verse answered him in these words For a good Work we stone thee not but for Blasphemy and because thou being a Man make thy self a God They would not be thought to shed Innocent Blood which made them to storm at the Apostles afterwards when they had preached Christ as the Just One whom the unbelieving Jews had Crucified Act. 5 Did not we say they v. 28. charge you that you should not teach in this Name and behold ye have filled Jerusalem with your Doctrin and intend to bring this Mans Blood on us tho they were really guilty on 't and doubtless conscious to themselves on 't too yet would not they have others conceive such a thought of them So dealt they with Stephen Act. 6. when they could not resist the Spirit and Wisdom by which he spake v. 10. they then in the next verse charge him with speaking of Blasphemy which also was notoriously false for there the Scripture saith That they suborned Men who said so of him the same way did the Southsayers take too Act. 16. when Paul there had cast out the evil Spirit v. 18. They v. 19. caught Paul and Sylas and brought them to the Magistrates and in the next verses they charged them in these words These Men being Jews do exceedingly trouble our City and teach Customs which are not lawful for us to receive neither observe being Romans all which the Magistrates and People presently believing to be true without any further enquiry fell upon Paul c. verses 22 23. So did the unbelieving Jews with Jason and certain Brethren Act. 17. when they had brought them to the Rulers v 6. they in the same verses and v. 7. charge them as guilty of Treason breach of Laws and disturbance of the Peace too in these words These have turned the world upside down c. these do all contrary to the Decrees of Caesar saying That there is another King Jesus Here did they make false construction of their Doctrin they preached Jesus to be the Christ a King therefore would they force it to intend against Caesar And again Act. 18. did they so with Paul the Jews there v. 12. made an Insurrection with one accord against Paul and brought him to the Judgment-seat and there they charge him in these words v. 13. This Fellow persuaded Men to worship God contrary to Law and again In the Temple they laid hold on him Act. 21.27 28. They cryed out Men of Israel help this is the Man who teacheth all Men every where against the People and the Law and this Place and brought Greeks into the Temple and polluted this holy place at which the People were presently moved easily believed all the Charge and they took Paul v. 30. and would have killed him as in the following verses altho no part of the Accusation was true And again Act. 24. The High Priest and Elders took Tertullus an Orator with them v. 2. that they might charge Paul more effectually and with more facility get the Governors Ear and when they were there before the Governor they by their Orator loaded Paul with the guilt of great Crimes v. 5 6. in these words We have found this Man a pestilent Fellow and a mover of Sedition among all the Jews throughout the world and a Ring-leader of the Sect of Nazarens who also hath gone about to profane the Temple a great Charge without any colour of Truth as Paul afterwards in his Defence declared and said also Neither can they prove the things whereof they now accuse me v. 12 13. But this said he I confess after the way they call Heresie so worship I the God of my Fathers believing all things which are written in the Law and the Prophets and this indeed was his only Crime for which they so persecuted him They yet further pursued him before Festus Act. 25. The Jews there stood round about Paul and laid many and grievous Complaints against him which they could not prove v. 7. And Paul answered v. 8. neither said he against the Law of the Jews neither against the Temple nor yet against Caesar have I offended in any thing at all yet his Innocency could not excuse him from their violent Persecuting of him because of the Heart-Enmity they had against him Thus hath the Scripture noted That the Enemies of good Men and Goodness it self in the Ages of the World did follow the Steps one of another in manifesting their Heart-Enmity against them and it by charging them with many and notorious Crimes every where to the end that the Enemies own Proceedings might seem to be just and only a Legal Persecution of Malefactors not a malicious pursuit of Innocents and that they might bring Christ and good Men into the ill Opinion both of the People and of the Magistrates the easier to prevail with them to assist in the Persecution 3dly A third way that these envious Ones were found in and which these divine Records have also observed was That they watched and sought for Advantages to take hold of something whereof to accuse Christ and the Saints yea they did frequently tempt them to speak by asking ensnaring Questions and ordering of others so to do in order to the framing of an Accusation against them and did oft times wrest their Words too As the Prophet Isaiah complaining saying 29.20 All who watch for iniquity are cut off who make a Man an offender for a word and layeth a snare for him who reproveth in the gate and turn aside the just for a thing of naught Therefore the Prophet Amos adviseth That the prudent should keep silent in such an evil time Chap. 5.12 13. And the Psalmist resolved so to do in his time Psal 39.1 saith he there I will keep my mouth with a Bridle while the wicked is before me so well acquainted was he with the usual way of the wicked in this matter Thus did they do with Daniel because the King had advanced him above the Presidents and Princes Dan. 6.1 2 3 4. They sought occasion against him in the matters of the Kingdom but they found none fain would they have accused him could they have found any Matter which they sought for The Psalmist in his days too found these Attempts made upon him Psal 38.12 saith he They also who seek my life lay
Conversation in Christ so Christs words implies Mat. 5. when he said v. 11. Blessed ye when Men shall revile you c. and shall say all manner of evil against you for my sake Thus the Scripture declare fully that wicked Men did express their Heart-Enmity against the Saints Christ himself and his Followers by defaming and disgracing of them and their Doctrin thereby to bring them into Contempt and evil Esteem amongst the People and render their Doctrin of no force And 2dly These wicked Ones Unbelievers that they might seem unto all Men to be very just and righteous in all that which they did and that they did require nothing but the due execution of the Law upon those whom they persecuted did not rest in a speaking evil of the Saints in the general as before but proceeded further and that without any sense of Honesty or Religion to render them highly Criminal tho most unjustly and falsly by accusing and charging of them as guilty of the most heinous Crimes as Enemies to Kings Governors and Government as Rebels Traytors Seditious Factious breakers of the Kings Laws and the Law of God too breakers of the Peace Deceivers Ring leaders of Heresies and such like which they could never prove and this they did usually in those days before Magistrates and among the People and not only so but they did use many Artifices to insinuate into the Peoples Minds and also into the Rulers to persuade them fully to believe that those Accused Ones were really guilty of those things their Persecutors then charged them with and thereby both Magistrates and People were the easier drawn to assist the Persecutors all which the same Scripture also hath fully noted As in John 18. when Christ there had been brought by them before Pilate and he had asked them What Accusation they had against him v. 29. They said unto him v. 30. If he were not a Malefactor we would not have delivered him up to thee No doubt they would have been thought by Pilate and those present to have been so just tho they could prove nothing against Christ that they must believe them barely upon their confident saying so without more ado and that Pilate ought not to think otherwise when they had brought Christ before him but that he must be a Malefactor and not Innocent The Psalmist in his days complains Psal 38. in general They saith he there who seek my hurt speak mischievous things and imagin deceit all the day long v. 12. And Psal 31.13 I have heard the Slanders of many c. Particular instances hereof are noted throughout the divine Records as in Exod. 1. The King of Egypt there having a mind to prevent the Israelites growth and to suppress them v. 9. he suggests this against them as if they had Rebellious and Trayterous Principles in them v. 10. in these words Come let us deal wisely with them lest they multiply and it come to pass that when there fall out any War they joyn also unto our Enemies and fight against us c. So did that wicked King Ahab 1 Kings 18. when his own great wickedness mentioned 1 Kings 16.30 31 c. had procured the sore Famine prophesied of by Elijah Chap. 17.1 he having sought Elijah every where to kill him v. 10. upon sight of him he presently charged him for being the Troubler of Israel in these words v. 17. Art thou he who troubleth Israel this was a most unjust Charge as Elijah then and there told him in the next verse in these words I have not troubled Israel but thou and thy Fathers House in that ye have forsaken the Commandments of the Lord c. The Enemies of the Jews in Ezra's time did so against them in Ezra 4. They there wrote Accusations against them the Chancellor and some other Great Ones wrote to the King in these words v. 12. and so on Be it known unto the King That if this City be builded and the Walls-set up again then they will not pay Tole Tribute and Custom and so thou shalt endamage the Revenues of the Kings know that this City is a Rebellious City and hurtful to Kings and Provinces and that they have moved Seditions within the same of old time Here were these charged to be a Rebellious Seditious and disloyal People by which suggestion tho never so false they got Authority to stay the Work v. 21. In like manner did they in Nehemiahs time Nehem. 2. when he came with Authority from the King to rebuild Jerusalem v. 8.9 10. Sanballat and others having heard on 't v. 19. they said to them What is the thing that ye do will ye rebel against the King Here they presently suggested a Design of Rebellion tho what they were about at that time they did by the Kings own Authority And again Sanballat Chap. 6. sent to Nehemiah a Letter in these words v. 5.6 7. It is reported amongst the Heathens and Gashum saith thou and the Jews think to rebel for which cause thou buildest the Wall that thou mayst be their King according to these words and thou hast appointed Prophets to preach of thee at Jerusalem saying a King in Judah than all which there was nothing more untrue as Nehemiah did tell him v. 8. said he there There is no such thing done as thou said but thou fainest them out of thine own heart Heinous desperate Enmity he had in his Brest against Mordicai put him upon taking this Course against him and against all the Jews the easier to bring about their destruction he accuseth the Jews before the King Hester 3. in these words v. 8. 9. There is a certain People scattered abroad c. and their Laws are divers from all people neither keep they the Kings Laws That it is not for the Kings profit to suffer them Let it be written that they may be destroyed By which Suggestion and false Charge he procured a Decree to destroy them in the next verses Thus also did the Presidents and Princes in Daniels time their Enmity was so great against Daniel That having on purpose Dan. 4.4 5. and following verses procured a Law in the matter of his God they not being able otherwise to accuse him and prove any fault against him they go to the King in v. 13. and charge Daniel in these words in the presence of the King Daniel said they regardeth not thee O King nor the Decree which thou hast signed c. Here did they insinuate that he was a Contemner of the King and of his Decrees when as in truth it was nothing so but only a due regard to the true God on whom he was bound to call The Jews likewise who believed not in Christ in his time and afterwards trod in the same Steps they charged Christ himself with such Crimes Luke 23.2 They began to accuse him before Pilate saying We found this Fellow perverting the Nation and forbidding to give Tribute to Caesar saying that he
was to deliver him thus did they there frame this Law and yet it confirmed upon this sole Design that they might take Daniel in the Matter of his God and so dispatch him So did Haman also with the Jews in Mordicays days when he had resolved to have destroyed both Mordieai and the Jews he applied himself to the King for a Decree to destroy them which he obtained and accordingly proceeded upon it till he was prevented Esther 4.6 8 and following verses After the same manner the Jews themselves did in Christs time under pretence of Law they persecuted Jesus himself unto death they brought him before Pilate the Judge in open Court and there charged him and prosecuted him in a pretended regular way Luke 23. Yea and that they might terrifie others from confessing and owning of him in the World at that time they made or agreed an Ecclesiastical Law too That if any did confess him they should be Excommunicated as 't is expresly said John 9.22 in these words That the Jews had already agreed that if any man did confess that he was Christ that he should be put out of the Synagogue of which Law the Jews at that time stood in great fear as is plain by the Parents of the blind Man there spoken of in this Chap. they answered so shyly when the question was asked them concerning their Son for fear of this Law of Excommunication which they did afterwards actually put in Execution against their Son when he owned Christ v. 34. And 't is expresly said John 7. That many said he is a good man v. 12. Howbeit no man spake openly of him for fear of the Jews v. 13. And again John 12. v. 42. 't is said Among the chief Rulers also many believed on him but because of the Pharisees they did not confess him lest they should be put out of the Synagogue for they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God of which Law and the execution thereof Christ had told his Disciples Before Jo. 16. verse they will put you out of their Synagogues they will execute those Laws they have contrived on purpose to prevent mens confessing of me Thus doth the Scripture Records evidence that the wicked Ones in those Ages did take this Course also to prevent and deter Men from owning God and Christ and his Laws 6thly Yet a sixth Way wherein they did evidence their Enmity against God and Christ against the Saints and followers of Christ was this That when they otherwise could not in a Legal Way make out any of the Accusations and Charges they had brought against them and being resolved to take them they then did suborn and set up false Witnesses Men of Belial to swear against them and affirm even whatever they had suggested to them to whom the Magistrates in those days did easily give credit too as the Scripture declared That the Elders and Nobles by Jezebels means did in the case of Naboth 1 Kings 21. when Jezebel there had written to them in the Kings Name and under his Seal tho without his knowledge v. 8. and therein directed them v. 9 10. to set up Naboth on high among the People and to set up false witnesses They in v. 11 12 13. accordingly set up Naboth and 't is said there There came in two men children of Belial and witnessed against him saying Naboth did blaspheme God and the King which they the Elders and Nobles soon gave credit too for they presently carried him out and stoned him here they shed innocent Blood by false suborned Witnesses as they were commanded to do tho they knew it to be a desperate wicked thing so to do The Psalmist in his days complained of such dealings Psal 119.69 and said there The proud hath forged a lie against me and in Psal 35.11 he said False witnesses did arise up they laid to my charge things which I knew not After the same manner did the unbelieving Jews deal with Jesus Christ himself and with his Disciples in their days as the Scripture also affirmeth Mat. 26. it is said there v. 59. That the chief Priests and Elders and all the Council sought false witnesses against Jesus to put him to death and v. 60 and 61. At last came two false witnesses and said This Fellow said c. Thus the Holy Ghost takes notice that the Chief Priests Elders and Council were principally engaged in this wickedness too such was their Heart Enmity against him that they could not bear with his being on the Earth therefore they regarded not what wicked Course they took to send him hence So did the Libertines and others in the case of Stephen Act. 6. When they were not able to resist his wisdom c. v. 10. They then in the next verses suborned men who said We have heard him speak Blasphemies c. and afterwards v. 12 13. they set up those false witnesses before the Council against him This Charge they had framed against him and endeavored to prove tho by false Witnesses by Perjury that they might seem to be just and to persecute him in a Legal manner according to Moses Law and so put him to death for in the next verses They stir up the Elders and Scribes and People who were forward enough of themselves against him and took him brought him before the Council where they produced their suborned Men who said of him That this man ceased not to speak blasphemous words against the holy Place and the Law c. So far hath these divine Records taken notice of this Way and Procedure of these wicked persecuting and invidious Men in those Ages of the World 7thly And that the wicked Enemies of God of Jesus Christ and of his People and Laws in those days might carry their Matters the more plausible and obtain an Opinion in Magistrates of their own Loyalty and that they might get the greater countenance to their Proceedings and awe and engage other inferior Magistrates and Officers contrary to their own Inclinations and Judgments to assist them in their revengeful Acts they were found in this seventh Method or crafty Course They did mostly pretend themselves to be special Friends to the Kings and Governors and Laws Ecclesiastical and Civil in those days in all they did this way and that Governors Government and Laws were much concerned in all that they alledged against those Persons whom they had accused and that therefore only were they so zealous against them in those Matters altho in truth 't was only proceeding from their own envious and revengeful Hearts within them Examples and Instances of which the Scripture hath also Recorded In Ezra's days when the Adversaries of the Jews being vexed at them Ezra 4.1 2 c. the Chancellor and others wrote to the King against them v. 6. and amongst other things they in their Letter acquaints him that they were building that rebellious and bad City c. and in v. 13. they interrest