the simple wise or enlighten the Eyes of Men unless it be so plainly and clearly delivered as that the simple may be capable of apprehending and the Eyes of Men of discerning the Sense of it I know it is objected by Bellarmin that these Words do only imply that this Law indeed being understood doth enlighten Mens Eyes and direct their Practice but by no means that it is plain and easy to be understood But this is a meer Cavil for it 's plain that it is by understanding the Law that the simple are made wise and the Eyes of Men enlightned If therefore this Law be so obscure in its self as that it cannot make it self understood by all that sincerely enquire into it how is it possible that it should make them wise or enlighten the Eyes of their Minds But it 's plain that the Intent of those Passages of David was to excite and encourage Men to study and observe the Law But what though the Law makes the simple wise when they understand it what Encouragement is this for the simple to study it if it be so obscure that they cannot understand it And since they must understand it before they can observe it what Encouragement doth this Consideration give them to observe it that it will make them wise when they understand it if it be not plain enough for them to understand it But then that forecited Passage of Moses doth in express Words contradict this Cavil of Bellarmin for he tells the People that the Commandment he gave them was not hidden from them whereas if it had been so obscurely delivered to them by Moses that upon their sincere and diligent Enquiry they could not understand it it is certain that it had been still hidden from them how wise soever it might make them when they did understand it And to say that such a Proposition will make me wise when I do understand it is no Argument at all that it is not hidden from me if it be so obscurely expressed as that upon my sincere Enquiry I am not capable of understanding it But that the Old Testament at least in all necessary Matters was plain enough even to common Capacities is evident from the frequent Appeals our Saviour makes to it in his Contests with the Common People of the Jews Thus in the Text he bids them Search the Scriptures for they are they which testify of me and in other Places What saith the Scripture and doth not the Scripture say so and so Now how impertinent would it have been for our Saviour thus to appeal to it at the Tribunal of the People if he thought it so obscure that the People were not capable of understanding it How trifling would it be for a Man to appeal to Suarez's Metaphysicks in a Controversy with a Plow-man or to refer him to Euclid's Elements for the determining the Bounds and Measures of a Field And as from what hath been said 't is apparent that the Scriptures of the Old Testament were at least in all Necessaries plain and clear to the Jews so it is no less evident that the Scripture of the New Testament are so to Christians since it gives the same Testimony to it self of its own Clearness as the Old Testament doth For thus 2 Cor. 4.2 3 4. the Apostle tells us that they did not handle the Word of God deceitfully but by manifestation of the Truth commending themselves to Mens Consciences in the sight of God But if our Gospel be hid it is hid to them that are lost in whom the God of this World hath blinded the Minds of them which believe not lest the light of the glorious Gospel of Christ who is the Image of God should shine unto them Supposing then that they wrote with the same Plainness and Clearness with which they speak which there is no shadow of Reason to doubt of then from these Words it is evident First That they did neither in their Preaching nor Writings affect to discourse dubiously or obscurely but that their great Design was so to manifest and make known the Truth as that by their Plainness and Simplicity they might recommend themselves to the Consciences of all that heard or read them Secondly That in Fact they had in their Sermons and Writings so clearly taught the Gospel that if after all it remained hidden or obscure to any it was only to such as were lost and irrecoverable Thirdly That that which render'd the Gospel which they had taught and written hidden or obscure to such was not the Obscurity either of the Matter which they taught or of their Manner of Teaching it but their own worldly Affections which blinded their Eyes and hindred them from seeing that which in its self was illustriously visible Which is an unanswerable Evidence of the Clearness and Plainness of the Scriptures of the New Testament in all necessary Things for if they are clear to all but such as wilfully shut their Eyes against them they are as clear as they need be to honest and teachable Minds for there is nothing can be clear enough to such as are not willing to understand And accordingly the Gospel which the Apostle calls the Grace of God which bringeth Salvation is said to have appeared or shone forth to all Men teaching us that denying Vngodliness and worldly Lusts we should live soberly righteously and godly in this present World Tit. 2.11 Now if the Gospel did shine forth unto all Men it must be in the Sermons and Discourses of those that had preached it to the World and if they so preached it as that it shone forth to all Men they must necessarily have preached it very plainly and clearly Either therefore it was wrote as it was preached or it was not if it was not it was not wrote truly and sincerely if it was it was wrote very plainly so as to make it appear and shine forth to all that read it 'T is true there are some Things obscure both in the Old Scriptures and New but then these are such Things as are no Parts of the Necessaries and Essentials of Religion such Things as Men may be safely ignorant of or be mistaken about without any hazard of their eternal Life For all that the fore-cited Testimonies prove is only this that that true Religion by which God governs the Faith and Manners of Men is so far forth as it is necessary to be believed and practised plainly and clearly revealed to them in the Holy Scriptures But besides this all Men agree there are a great many other Things revealed in Holy Scripture which because they are not necessary for all Men to understand are many of them not so plainly revealed as that all Men may understand them But since the Scripture was written to teach and instruct Men to be sure it teaches them most plainly that which is most necessary for them to know and therefore since there are some Things plainly taught in Scripture as is
IOHANNES SCOTT S. T. P. Printed for S. Manship at the Ship near the Royal Exchange THE Christian Life Wheren is shew'd I. The Worth and Excellency of the Soul II. The Divinity and Incarnation of our Saviour III. The Authority of the Holy Scripture IV. A Dissuasive from Apostacy VOL. V. and Last By JOHN SCOTT D. D. late Rector of St. Giles's in the Fields The Second Edition LONDON Printed for S. Manship and R. Wilkin and are to be Sold by W. Davis at the Black Bull in Cornhill and I. Bonwick at the Hat and Star in St. Paul's Church-yard 1700. To the Honourable SUSANNA NOEL Mother to the Right Honourable Baptist Earl of Gainsborough THis last Volume of the Works of my Dear Deceased Friend the Reverend Dr. Scott is humbly and gratefully Dedicated by Her Honours Most obliged and most Devoted Servant Humphrey Zouch The CONTENTS Discourse I. Of the Worth and Excellency of the Soul THe Connexion and Explication of the Text p. 1 2. The inestimable price and value of the Soul of Man in respect of its own natural Capacities represented under 4 Heads viz. Its Capacity of Vnderstanding p. 4 5. Of Moral Perfection p. 6 7. Of Pleasure and Delight p. 8 9 10. Of Immortality p. 11 to p. 15. Of what Esteem the Soul is in the Judgment of those who know the best worth of it viz. the whole world of Spirits p. 15. to p. 25. Four Inferences from hence p. 26. to p. 34. What is meant by losing ones Soul explain'd p. 34. The Soul liable to a sevenfold Damage in the other World p. 35. to p. 50. Seven Causes of the Danger we are in of incurring this Damage p. 51. to p. 69. Men may forsake Christ and thereby lose their Souls 4 ways By a total Apostacy p. 70 71. By renouncing the profession of his Doctrine p. 72. By obstinate Heresie p. 73. By a willful Course of Disobedience of which there are three degrees the first proceeds from a willful ignorance of Christs Laws the 2d from a willful Inconsideration of our Obligation to them the 3d. from an Obstinacy in Sin against Knowledge and Consideration p. 74. to 80. Four Reasons why our forsaking of Christ infers this fearful loss of our Souls p. 81. to p. 90. That God if he be so Determin'd may without any injury either to his Justice or Goodness detain lost Souls in the bondage of Hell for ever prov'd in 6 Propositions p. 91. to 101. That God is actually determin'd so to do demonstrated by 3 Arguments p. 102. to p. 108. A Comparison between the gain of the VVorld and the loss of a Mans Soul in 6 Particulars whereby it is shewn of which side the Advantage lies p. 109. to p. 128. Discourse II. Of the Divinity and Incarnation of our Saviour A General Explication of this Term The Word P. 130. A full account of it in 4 Propositions shewing that it was derived from the Theology of the Jews and Gentiles 131. to 135. That we ought to fetch the Sense of it from that ancient Theology p. 136 137. That in that Theology it signifies a vital and divine Subsistence p. 138 to 139. And that our Saviour to whom it is applied in the New Testament is that vital and divine Subsistence p. 140 141 142. To be the Word of God denotes 4 Things to be generated of the Mind of the Father To be the perfect Image of that Mind To be the Interpreter of the Fathers Mind and to be the Executor of it and in these is founded the Reason of our Saviours being call'd The Word p. 143. to 153. VVhat we are to understand by the Words being made Flesh p. 153 154. Five Inferences from this Doctrine p. 155 166. VVhat is meant by the Word 's dwelling among us explain'd p. 167. to 174. His dwelling among us full of Grace explain'd in five particulars p. 175. to 190. His dwelling among us full of Truth explained in general 191. to 198. Four Instances of his dwelling among us full of Truth in Contradistinction to that obscure typical way of his Tabernacling among the Jews p. 199. to p. 229. Four Inferences the first from his dwelling among us p. 229 to 234. The 2d from his dwelling among us full of Grace and that 1. in respect of his own Personal Disposition p. 235. to 238. 2. Of his Laws p. 238. 239. 3. Of the Gracious Pardon which he hath procured for us and promised to us p. 240 241. 4. Of the abundant assistance he is ready to vouchsafe us p. 242 243. And 5 Of the glorious Recompence he hath promised to and prepared for us p. 244 245 The 3d From his dwelling among us full of Truth p. 246. to 249. The 4th From all these laid together He dwelt among us full of Grace and Truth p. 250 to 256. The Glory of the Word which the Apostles beheld consisted in 4 Things 1. A visible splendor and brightness which encompass'd him at his Baptism and Transfiguration p. 258 259. 2. Those great and stupendous Miracles which he wrought p. 260 261 262. 3. The surpassing Excellency and Divinity of his Doctrine p. 263 264. 4. The incomparable Sanctity and Purity of his Life p. 265 266 267. This Expression The Glory as of the Only-begotten Son explain'd p. 268 269 That the Glory of Christ in the Tabernacle of our Natures was such as became the Only-Begotten Son of the Father prov'd in the several particulars wherein it consists P. 270. to 279. Four Inferences from this fourfold glory of the Word which the Apostles saw p. 280. to the end Dis III. Of the Authority of the Holy Scriptures THe fulness of the Scriptures as a Rule of Faith and Manners prov'd in 3 Propositions 1. That the Holy Spirit inspir'd the Writers of them with all that is necessary to eternal Life p. 301. 2 That they preach'd to the World all those necessaries which they were taught p. 302. 3. That all these necessary Truths which they preached are comprehended in the Scriptures p. 303. to p. 316. The clearness of the Scripture prov'd 1 From express Testimony of Scripture p. 317. to p. 321. 2. From the avowed design of writing it p. 322 323. 3. From the frequent Commands God lays upon us to read it p. 324 325. 4. From the Obligation that lies upon us under pain of Damnation to believe and receive all those necessaries to Salvation contained in it p. 326. Four Considerations in answer to those of the Church of Rome who tell us that though all things are not revealed clearly in the Scriptures yet we have sufficient reason to believe them since God has left us to the Conduct of an infallible Church p. 327. to the end Dis IV. Of the Obligation of the People to read the Scriptures THat the People are obliged to search and read the Scriptures prov'd 1. From the Obligation the Jews were under to read and search the Scriptures of the Old Test p. 343
they were taught by the Spirit all Things necessary to eternal Life so what they were taught they preached and delivered to the World For so our Saviour commanded them to go forth into all the World and teach all Nations to observe all those things which he had commanded them Matth. 28.19 20. Which Injunction of his they strictly observed for so we are told that in Obedience to it they went forth and preached every where Mark 16.20 And that their preaching extended to all Things necessary to Salvation is evident from their own Testimony For thus St. Paul tells the Ephesians that he had not shunned to declare unto them the whole Counsel of God Acts 20.27 And to be sure in the whole Counsel of God all that is necessary to Salvation must be included And concerning that Gospel which he had preached to the Corinthians he thus pronounces By which also ye are saved if ye keep in Memory what I preached unto you unless ye have believed in vain 1 Cor. 15.1 2. but how could they be saved by that Gospel he preached to them unless it contained in it all Things necessary to Salvation And this very Gospel which the Apostles in their constant Ministry proposed to the World St. James calls the ingrafted Word which is able to save our Souls Jam. 1.21 And for the same Reason it is also called the Word of Reconciliation 2 Cor. 5.19 The Word of Salvation Acts 13.26 And the World of Life Acts 5.20 And the Savour of Life unto Life 2 Cor. 2.16 And also the Power of God unto Salvation to every one that believes Rom. 1.17 Neither of which it could be justly stiled supposing it to be defective in any Thing necessary to the eternal Happiness of Men. 3. And lastly That all those necessary Truths which they preached are comprehended in those Writings of theirs of which the Holy Scripture consists It is true before the Christian Doctrine was collected into those Scriptures of which the New Testament now consists it was all conveyed by Oral Tradition from the Mouths of the Teachers to the Ears of the Disciples but in a little Time those holy Men who first preached it found an absolute Necessity of committing it to Writing as a much surer Way of preserving it uncorrupted and transmitting it down to all succeeding Generations for thus Eusebius tells us 1 Hist Eccles l. 2. c. 15. That the Romans not being satisfied with St. Peter ' s preaching of Christianity to them earnestly desired St. Mark his Companion that he would leave them in Writing a standing Monument of that Doctrine which St. Peter had delivered to them by Word of Mouth which was the Occasion says he of the Writing of St. Mark ' s Gospel Which thing St. Peter understanding by a Revelation of the Spirit being highly pleased with their earnest Desire he confirmed it by his own Authority that it might afterwards be read in the Churches It seems in those Days the Romans did not think oral or unwritten Traditions a sufficient Conservatory of divine Truths nor did their Bishops then forbid the reading of the Scriptures to the Laity in their own Language After which he tells us 2 L. 3 c. 24. that St. Mathew and St. John were the only Disciples of our Lord who had left written Commentaries of the Things which they had preached behind them and it was says he Necessity that impelled them to write For Matthew having preached the Faith to the Hebrews and intending to go from them to other Nations wrote his Gospel in his own Country-Language that thereby he might supply the Want of his Presence to those whom he left behind him And afterwards when Mark and Luke had published their Gospels John who had hitherto only preached the Gospel by Word of Mouth being at length moved by the same Reason betook himself to write And the Three former Gospels says he arriving to the Knowledge of all Men and particularly of St. John he approved them and with his own Testimony confirmed the Truth of them From which Relation it 's evident that that which moved those holy Men to commit their Gospels to Writing was this that they judged it necessary for the Conservation of the Christian Doctrine that so these in their Absence might be standing Monuments of the Faith to preach that Gospel to Mens Eyes which they had preached to their Ears And if they wrote to preserve the Faith to be sure they would leave no necessary or essential Part of it unwritten There are several Propositions in these Gospels which though very useful are far from being essential Parts of Christianity and can we imagine that those holy Men who wrote on purpose to conserve Christianity should take so much Care to write many Things which are not necessary Parts and in the mean time omit any Things that are Eusebius tells us of St Mark in particular 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. he took great Care of this more especially not to pretermit any of those Things which he had heard even from St. Peter nor to affix any thing to them that was false And if he were so careful not to omit any Thing to be sure he would be particularly careful not to omit any thing which he judged necessary to the eternal Happiness of Men. But what need we depend upon humane Authority when as if we consult those Sacred Writings themselves which so far as they go all Christians allow to be the Word of God we shall find they give this Testimony of themselves that they comprehend in them all Things necessary to eternal Life For thus the Writers of the New Testament testify of the Old That they are able to make us wise unto Salvation through Faith which is in Jesus Christ 2 Tim. 3.15 And if the Old Testament alone was able to do this then much more the Old and New together but how could they make Men wise to Salvation if they were defective in any Article that is necessary to Salvation and then the same Author goes on and tells us that all Scripture is given by Inspiration of God and is profitable for Doctrine for Reproof for Correction for Instruction in Righteousness that the Man of God may be perfect throughly furnished unto all good works v. 16 17. And if the Old Scriptures were sufficient to make the Man of God perfect and to furnish him throughly unto all good Works one would think that the New and Old together should not be defective For that the Scriptures of the New Testament as well as of the Old contain in them all Things necessary to eternal Life they themselves do plainly testify of themselves For thus St. Luke in the Beginning of his Gospel tells his Theophilus to whom he writes that forasmuch as many had set forth a Declaration of those things that were surely believed among Christians it seemed good unto him also having had a perfect understanding of all things from the first to
Souls we could purchase a Lease of Life as long as Methuselah's and a Lease of Happiness parallel to that Life yet in the Conclusion we should find it a most woful Bargain because when both these Leases are expired as they must at last though it be long first we must remove into a State of intolerable Misery whose Duration will be always equally because it will be always infinitely distant from a Period and when we are there all that long Train of Happiness that is past will seem but a Minute's Dream in Comparison of that Eternity of Misery that is to come But O good God when for thirty or forty Years Pleasure upon Earth I have suffered a thousand Years Torment in Hell and after that have endless Thousands of Thousands more to suffer how dearly shall I rue my own Folly and Madness that for the sake of a few Moments Pleasure have run my self headlong into such an endless Misery Consider therefore O my Soul within a little while all these outward Goods which I have purchased by my Sin will signify no more to me than if they had never been and all their alluring Relishes will be gone and forgotten for ever but then for Ten thousand Millions of Ages after I shall be feeling the Smart and enduring the Stings of them When all my ill-gotten Wealth is shrunk into a Winding-sheet and my vast Possessions into six foot of Earth and I have none of its Pomps or Pleasures left either to go along with or to follow after me then will the Guilt of all stick close to me and raise a Cry on me as high as the Tribunal of God a Cry that will draw down an everlasting Vengeance on my Head and ring Peals of Thunder in my Conscience for ever Lord what a poor Amends then is the momentary Injoyments of the Goods of this World to me and that after a few Years must pass into another and there languish away a long Eternity under the intolerable Anguish of a damned Spirit And thus you see upon a just Survey of the Gains of this world and the Loss of a Soul how infinitely short the Happiness of the one is to make us any tolerable Compensation for the Miseries of the other And if the Gain of all the World be too little to countervail this Loss what miserable Losers are the Generality of Men that forfeit their Souls upon a far less valuable Consideration For no Man was ever yet or is ever like to be so prosperous in his Sin as to gain the whole World by it that is a Scramble in which Millions are ingaged and of which every one will be catching a Share But alas for the Generality the Purchase of Mens Sin is so small and inconsiderable that it is scarce a valuable Consideration for the Soul of a Rat. For what doth the common Swearer get by all his sensless and impertinent Oaths which are capable of serving no other Purpose but only to stop the Gaps of his Speech or to man his Rage that he may rave and play the Fool a little more genteely What doth the Drunkard gain by all his Intemperances but only a short Fit of frantick Mirth and extravagant Jollity which after a few Hours ends in a sleepless Night a sick and uneasy Stomach and a sottish Confusion over all his Senses What doth the envious and malicious Man get by all his studied Mischiefs and Revenges When he hath pluck'd out his Enemy's Eye he cannot put it into his own Head nor can he increase the Stock of his own Happiness by diminishing his Adversaries When he hath made another the worse he is never the better for it nor do his Injuries grow less by being retaliated So that he vexes and disquiets himself to no purpose but to make his Enemy bleed he keeps his own Wound green and consequently multiplies Evils in vain and prosecutes Mischief only for Mischief's sake I confess there are some Vices that are not altogether so unprofitable as these in some Vices there is a Prospect of worldly Gain and Greatness in others of sensitive Pleasure and Delight but alas when after a few days Injoyment of those Gains and Pleasures I am called away from them and transported into a woful Eternity there to expiate the Guilts of them with those sharp and everlasting Torments I shall be made to endure how shall I be astonished at my own desperate Folly to think what a mad Bargain I have made what an Happiness I have sold to purchase those Gains what a Misery I have incurred to grasp and injoy those Pleasures O! now what would I give for a Goal-delivery from Hell or but for the least Mitigation of my Agonies and Torments If I had all the Wealth that I purchased by my Sin and ten thousand times more how willingly would I part with it to bribe my Flames and corrupt my Tormentors O! now I shall wish a thousand and a thousand times that I had rather chosen to famish for want of Bread than to injoy those accursed Profits and Pleasures that were the Fruits and Wages of mine Iniquities but now alas it will be too late to Repent As yet we have the Opportunity to retrieve our own Folly and to revoke and cancel this our desperate Bargain and by our serious Repentance and hearty Renunciation of the Temptations of this World we may release our selves from our Covenant with Death and Agreement with Hell But if we out-stay our Opportunity a few Moments longer till Death hath put an end to it the fatal Bargain will be sealed past all Revocation OF THE Divinity Incarnation OF OUR SAVIOUR JOHN I. 14. And the Word was made Flesh and dwelt among us and we beheld his Glory the Glory as of the only begotten of his Father full of Grace and Truth THESE Words contain Three distinct Propositions I. The Word was made Flesh II. And dwelt among us full of Grace and Truth III. And we beheld his Glory the Glory as of the only begotten of his Father Of each of these I intend to discourse in their order I. The first is That the Word was made Flesh In handling of which I shall do these three Things 1. Shew you what we are here to understand by The Word 2. Why it is called The Word 3. What we are to understand by The Word 's being made Flesh 1. What is meant by the Word I answer in general That by the Word here we are to understand Christ For in the following Verse you will find that this Word was He of whom John the Baptist was the Forerunner and to whom he bare Witness saying This was he of whom I spake He that cometh after me is preferred before me for he was before me And in the other Evangelists you will find that it was Christ whose Forerunner the Baptist was and to whom he gave this Testimony as you may see at your leisure Matth. 3.11 and Mark 1.7 Luke 3.16
assumed or taken into The Word both being united into one Person the Natures being preserved entire and distinct without any Mixture or Confusion For as the Fourth General Council hath defined it He was so made Flesh that he ceased not to be the Word never changing that he was but assuming that which he was not And though our Humanity was advanced by it yet his Divinity was not at all diminished and the Mystery of Godliness God manifested in the flesh was no Detriment to the Godhead which is always unchangeably the same And therefore the seeming Harshness of this Expression may be easily molified by comparing it with others of the same import for elsewhere where it is said that he was manifest in the flesh 1 Tim. 3.16 which only denotes that the Divinity was made known and did appear in the World in a Humane Nature Elsewhere it is said that he took on him the Nature of Man Heb. 2.16 which only denotes that the Divinity did assume the Humane Nature to it and was personally united with it So here The Word was made flesh that is The Word was made one with the Flesh by assuming the Humane Nature into a personal Union with it self Having thus explain'd to you the Sense and Meaning of the Words I shall now conclude this Argument with three or four short Inferences from the whole 1. From hence we may infer the Eternal Divinity of our Blessed Saviour even from this great name The Word that is here attributed to him For since it is so apparent that this Phrase is a Term of Art derived from the Schools of the Jews and Gentiles and since by it they did all so generally understand a Divine Person subsisting from all Eternity it must necessarily follow that the Holy Ghost deriving it from them and applying it to our Blessed Saviour must use it to the same Sense for otherwise He were better never to have used it at all because by discoursing in the same Language with them he will give us just occasion to think that he means the same thing namely that Christ whom he calls The Word is a Divine Person subsisting from all Eternity which if he doth not mean by using that Term he will almost necessarily betray us into a false Belief concerning our Saviour As to instance briefly in a Case of another Nature Our Saviour in his Sermons doth frequently press us to Meekness and Patience Humility and Charity all which are Terms frequently used long before in the Moral Philosophy both of the Jews and Gentiles by which they signify fuch and fuch particular Virtues Since therefore our Saviour doth use the same Terms with them we have just Reason to conclude that he mean the same Virtues by them and should he mean any thing else his very using of these Terms would necessarily impose upon us a false Sense of his meaning for how should we understand his Meaning but by his Words and how should we understand his Words but by the common Import and Signification of them And can we imagine that the Spirit of Truth would have ven described our Saviour by a Term that was so generally used to signify a Divine Person subsisting from all Eternity and used it too as he doth without any Restraint or Limitation nay and so seemingly at least to the same Purpose as he doth in the three first Verses of his Chapter where he describes the Divine Nature and Operations of Christ The Word in the same terms in which the Jews and Gentiles were wont to describe the Divinity of their ΛΟΓΟΣ can we imagine I say that the Holy Spirit would have done thus had he known Christ to be nothing but a meer Man that never was before he was born of his Mother Far be it from us to charge that Blessed Spirit with imposing such a Delusion upon Mankind 2. Hence I infer the astonishing Love of our Blesed Saviour in condescending so low as to be made Flesh for us and assume our Nature For what he was before he took our Nature you have heard already He was no less than the Eternal Word of the Father in whose Bosom he enjoyed the supremest Degree of Bliss and Happiness being crowned with Glory and incircled about with the Essential Rays of the Divinity And yet such was his Love to poor Mortals so infinite was his Zeal and Concern for our Happiness that seeing the Misery we were plunged into he could not rest no not in the blessed Arms of his Father but strip himself of all his Majesty and Bliss and comes down among us and assumes our Nature to save and rescue us and invite and lead us to those Heavenly Mansions from whence he descended to us Lord what a Prodigy of Love was here as doth not only puzzle my Conceit but out-reach my Wonder and Admiration For when I seriously consider it though it be a Blessing beyond all my Hopes and such as I could never have had the Impudence to desire yet it fills my Mind with an awful Horror to think that there was a Time when the great God was here upon the Earth in my Form and Nature and conversed familiarly with such mortal Wights as my self and for my sake and such poor Worms as I patiently under-went the common Infirmities of Men and willingly exposed himself to the Contempt and Scorn of a malevolent World and the Malice and Cruelty of those barbarous Men to whom he gave Being and could with the Breath of his Nostrils have scattered into Atoms and all this in meer Compassion to a Company of apostatized Natures who had so highly deserved to be thrown from his Care and Mercy for ever O my Soul how am I astonished at this Miracle of Love Methinks when I consider it I am looking down from a stupendous Precipice whose Height fills me with a trembling Horror and even over-setting Reason 3. From hence I infer what might Obligations we have for ever to love and serve our Blessed Redeemer If our Hearts are capable of being warmed into any degree of Affection sure 't is impossible but we must be affected at such an unheard of Instance of Love For the Son of God to leave his Father's Bosom where he was infinitely more happy then we can express and think of and disguise himself in mortal Flesh and become a Man of Sorrows that the might make me a Man of endless Joys can my Heart hold when I think of this Is it possible I should reflect upon such a prodigious Instance of Affection without being wrapt into an Extasy of Love Blessed Jesus what barbarous Hearts do we carry about with us that will not melt before the Flames of thy Love Flames that are sufficient to kindle Seraphims and to fill all reasonable Breasts with burning Affections towards thee For how is it Possible that any Man I had almost said that any Devil should be so disingenuous and ill-natured as not to be affected with such stupendous
Thing in the World before it II. I now proceed to the Second Proposition And dwelt among us full of Grace and Truth For that these later Words full of Grace and Truth belong to the former And dwelt among us you may plainly see by the Parenthesis in your Bible by which they are interrupted and broken off from one another In the Explication of these Words I shall do these Two Things 1. Enquire what is here meant by the Word 's dwelling among us 2. What we are to understand by his being full of Grace and Truth 1. What is here meant by the Word 's dwelling among us In the Greek it is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is he pitched his Tabernacle among us which seems plainly to refer to God's dwelling in the Tabernacle under the Mosaic Law For the Greek word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 comes immediately from the Hebrew Shacan and differs from it only by the Greek Termination and from Shacan comes the word Shechinah by which the Hebrews were wont to express God's glorious Presence upon Earth and especially his Habitation in the holy Tabernacle between the two Cherubims where he is said to dwell 1 Sam. 4.4 and 2 Sam. 6.2 because from thence God was wont to speak and discover himself by a visible Brightness and Glory And accordingly this Presence or Habitation of God is called in the Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Glory and Appearing Thus Numb 16.19 it is said that when the Congregation drew near to the Tabernacle the Glory of the Lord appeared unto them and v. 42. it is said that a Cloud covered the Tabernacle and the Glory of the Lord appeared So when the Glory is said to be departed from Israel 1 Sam. 4.21 it 's plain that by that Glory is meant this visible Appearance of God in a glorious Brightness from between the Cherubims So Rev. 21. when it had been said of the New Jerusalem that it was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Tabernacle of God with us v. 3. that being repeated again v. 11. is said to have the Glory of God in it and the Glory of God to enlighten it v. 23. Now it seems most probable that this glorious Shechinah Presence or Habitation of God consisted in the Presence of Angels who being the Courtiers of Heaven where they appear there God is said to be peculiarly present And hence it is that the Well Lahi-roi where the Angel appeared to Hagar Gen. 16.7 14. is by the Jerusalem Targum stiled the Well ubi manifestata illi fuit Praesentia Domini Majestatica where the Presence of God in Majesty was manifested to her And that visible Glory which appeared from between the Cherubims is called by the same name viz the Gloria Majestaticae praesentiae Domini the Glory of the Majestatick Presence of God which is a plain Evidence that the Jews believed the Majestatick Presence of God to be nothing else but the Appearance of Angels And of the same Mind was the Author to the Hebrews Heb. 2.2 For the Law saith he was spoken by Angels and so St. Stephen Acts 7.53 The Law was received by the Disposition of Angels and St. Paul that the Law was ordained by Angels in the hand of a Mediator Galat. 3.19 Whereas Exod. 19.11 compared with 20. v. 22. it is said that the Lord came down in the sight of all the People and talked with them that is as you will there find he spoke the Law to them Which is a plain Evidence that that glorious Descent of God's Presence upon Mount Sinai where the Law was spoken was in the Opinion of the Author to the Hebrews nothing but the Presence of Angels who when they were to represent the Divine Presence were wont to appear in bright and radiant Bodies and therefore where it is said in Isaiah's Vision Isa 6.1 that he saw the Lord sitting upon a Throne and that his Train filled the Temple that is his Train of Angels and this Train of Angels our Saviour calls the Glory of the Lord Joh. 12.41 which is the same with the Shechinah or Majestick Presence And therefore perhaps they are called Angels of Light in reference to that lucid shining flaming Appearance which they were wont to make And in Ps 104.4 God is said to make his Ministers a flaming fire that is when they are to make a visible Representation of his Majestick Presence to Mankind But besides this Isa 63.9 you have mention made of the Angel of God's Presence which saved Israel which seems to denote the Head and Chief of those Angels which by their glorious Appearances did represent God to Mankind By which Angel the Jews did generally understand the Messias or Eternal Word For so Philo 1 De Agricul p. 152. speaking of God's committing the Care of his Flock to his first born Son The Word tells us That this is that Angel whom God promised to send before the Camp of Israel even the Angel of his Presence And so also Rab. Menahem upon the 14th of Exod. 19. tells us that the Angel which went before the Camp of Israel was Shechinah the Presence or Majesty of God and that he is called the Angel or Prince of the World because the Government of the World is in his hands And to the same Purpose Moses the Son of Neheman Praeterea Scriptum est saith he Angelus faciei ejus salvos fecit ipsos c. that is It is written the Angel of his Presence shall save them viz. that Angel which is the Presence of God of whom it is said My Presence shall go before thee and I will cause thee to rest Moreover saith he this is that Angel of whom the Prophets foretold The Lord whom ye seek shall suddenly come to his Temple the Angel of the Covenant whom ye desire which both the Ancient Jews and Christians interpret to be the Messias and this saith he is He who governs the World that brought the Children of Israelout of Egypt and to whom the most High God communicates his own Name And this without doubt was he whom God calls his Presence when he promised Moses that his Presence should go along with him Exod. 33.14 for this Presence is there said to be the Angel of God both which put together make him to be the Angel of God's Presence Exod. 23.20 And accordingly instead of Say not before the Angel of the Lord Eccles 5.6 the Septuagint render it Say not before the Presence of God that is before the Angel of his Presence And since to this Angel of his Presence God doth attribute not only his Prerogative of Forgiving Sins but also his own Name as you may see he doth Exod. 23.21 it seems very probable what not only the Jews but many very Learned Christians do assert that it was no created Angel but the Eternal Word or Messias For saith God to Mases Behold I send an Angel before thee c. beware of him
seems to signify the same with He reigned among us in his Father's stead as one who bore his Authority and represented his Person and to whom for the future we were to pay the same Homage and Reverence that we were bound to render to the most High himself who under himself hath authorized him to be our Prince and Governour to declare his Divine Will to us and exact our Obedience thereunto by rewarding and punishing us according to the Tenour of those Laws which he hath established in his blessed Gospel for this is plainly implied in his Shechanizing or Tabernacling viz. his being the glorious Representative of God in the World He tabernacled among us that is he acted in God's stead as one that represented his Father and this he did in our Flesh in a far more glorious manner than ever he did in the Mosaic Tabernacle For in our Flesh and Nature he tabernacled full of Grace and Truth which brings me to the next Enquiry viz. 2. What is here meant by his dwelling among us full of Grace and Truth By these two Phrases the Design of the holy Penman is doubtless to distinguish the Manner of his dwelling among us from that of his dwelling among the Jews in the Tabernacle For a little after he uses the same Phrases in Contradistinction to the Law of Moses The Law saith he was given by Moses but Grace and Truth by Jesus Christ v. 17. God the Eternal Word gave the Law to Moses and Moses gave it to the People of Israel but Jesus Christ that is the Eternal Word incarnate gave not the Law but Grace and Truth So in the Text The Word incarnate or tabernacled in our Flesh did Shechanize or perform the Part of his Father's supreme Representative among us full of Grace and Truth which implies something beyond what he did when he dwelt in the Tabernacle of Moses and there as the Vice-Roy of God reigned over the House of Jacob. That I may therefore more fully explain this Matter to you I will briefly consider these two Phrases apart and shew you in what Particulars they each of them distinguish his dwelling among us from his dwelling in the Mosaick Tabernacle 1. He dwelt among us full of Grace which distinguishes his dwelling among us from that more severe and rigorous manner in the former Tabernacle and that is these following Particulars 1st He dwelt among us full of Grace in respect of the Sweetness and Obligingness of his Behaviour in Contradistinciton to that more dreadful and terrible manner of his conversing with the Jews when he tabernacled among them The Jews being a most stubborn and stiff-necked Generation as they are often called in the Old Testament the Eternal Word thought fit to converse among them in such a way as was most suitable to their Genius and Temper to break their Stubbornness with the Dread of his Power and awe them with the Terror of his Majesty And accordingly you find that when he came down first upon Mount Sinal he was attended with a loud sounding Trumpet with Thunders and Lighting 's with Fire and Smoak and all the Equipage of a most dreadful Majesty such as caused the Mountain and the People to tremble Exod. 19.16 20. And afterwards it is said that the Glory in which he appeared when the People saw him upon the Mount was like a devouring Fire in which glorious Appearance he afterwards removed into the Tabernacle and there abode between the Cherubims Exod. 40.34 35. And when in all this dreadful Majesty he appeared unto them they are kept at a great Distance from him and were severely forbid to approach him lest he should break forth upon them and destroy them Exod. 19.24 And whenever they provoked him by their Murmurings and Rebellions his Wrath broke forth like Lightning upon them and consumed the ring-leading Rebels that by their Example the rest might be warned to do no more wickedly Thus in all his Converses with them he clothed himself in a formidable Majesty to break and awe their sturdy Spirits and force their stiff Necks to yield to the Yoke of his Sovereign Authority But when he assumed our Nature and tabernacled among us in our Flesh he laid by that astonishing Majesty that was wont to render him so dreadful to the Israelites and put on all the Condescentions and Sweetnesses of a most familiar and endearing Conversation and conversed amongst Men in such a generous friendly and courteous Manner as was most apt to charm and inamour the World He was free without being vain or trifling serious without being sour and morose his Humour always chearful and uniform and his Gravity was equally distant from Moroseness and Vanity and in a word his Deportment was made up of all the Accomplishments that can command either Love or Honour And though now and thn he falls into high Expressions of Indignation yet 't was only against those base Fellows the Pharisees who under a Pretence of being Saints and the Godly Party were bloted up with Pride and Arrogance and canker'd with Malice and ill Nature for which they were so abominable in his Eyes whose Temper was altogether so loving and divine that he could not mention them without calling them Hypocrites and the Children of the Devil And if to all this you add his profound Humility and Condescention his Meekness under Reproaches and his Constancy and Patience under the greatest Sufferings how much more sweet grateful and charming was this than when he appeared in such a dreadful and astonishing Majesty upon Mount Sinai and in the Tabernacle of Moses 'T is true the Innoccncy and Purity of his Life the Divinity of his Doctrine and the many mighty Miracles that he wrought could not but imprint an awful Majesty upon his Person ubt yet 't was a graceful Majesty a Majesty full of Grace and Sweetness and such as was much more apt to endear than to affright Men For as for the Virtue of his Life and the Divinity of his Doctrine it could not but attract all those who had any Love and Esteem for Virtue and Goodness And as for his Miracles they were vastly different from those which he wrought in the Wilderness which had little else in them but Matter of Terror and Astonishment but these were all such as did express his Kindness to the World and so were much more apt to oblige than to terrify those that beheld them For he went about doing good and healing all that were oppress'd with the Devil Acts 10.38 and healing all manner of Sickness and all manner of Diseases among the People Matth. 4.23 So that in respect of the Sweetness and Obligingness of his Conversation he tabernacled among us full of Grace in Contradistinction to that terrible Majesty in which he tabernacled among the Jews 2dly He tabernacled among us full of Grace in regard of the Sweetness and Gentleness of his Laws in Contradistinction to those many burthensom Precepts which he gave when he
Recompences which he hath so plainly and clearly promised to his Subjects For this he also obscurely typified to the Jews for as I have already hinted by that Canaan which he bestowed upon them after their tedious Travel through the Wilderness he did darkly represent to them that Canaan above flowing with infinite Delights which he hath promised to bestow upon his faithful Servants after they have pass'd through the Wilderness of this World So also by their Sabbaoths and especially their Year of Jubilee wherein they were to rest from all their Labours and keep a perpetual Festivity He did obscurely decypher to them that Sabbaoth of Rest and Jubilee of endless Pleasure which vertuous Souls shall enjoy in Heaven after they have finished their Labours here on Earth as you may see at large Heb. 4. Now by these and such like Shadows of their Law which possibly the Prophets by Divine Inspiration might expound to them those who were wise and good among them it is very probable were instructed in the Article of eternal Life Hence it may be might arise that famous Controversy among the Jews concerning the Written and Oral Law which they call the Cabala or the Law by Tradition not that this traditional contained any thing that was not in the written Law but because those things which were obscurely contained in the Types of the written Law were explained and interpreted in this their Traditional Law But it is apparent that the Types of eternal Life were not fully explained in this traditional Law till after the Babylonish Captivity after which the Prophet Daniel and after him Ezekiel began to speak more plainly of the Resurrection of the Dead and from that Time forwards the Doctrine of the Resurrection and eternal Life began to be more openly taught among the Common People till about the Time of the Maccabees when it was brought forth into the Light from under those Types in which it was so obscurely represented and became a Principle even of the Popular Religion and an Article of the Jewish Faith as plainly appears from the Records of those Times particularly 2 Macc. 7.23 26. compared with Heb. 11.35 And indeed it was very necessary that then this Article should be more clearly revealed to fortify the Jews against those many Persecutions whereunto they were exposed for the sake of their Religion that they might not be terrified to apostatize from it by those cruel Martyrdoms which in the Time of the Maccabees they many of them endured and besides now the Time of the Gospel was approaching and consequently its Mysteries like the Light of the rising Sun began to break forth clearer and clearer from under that Cloud of Types wherein it was wrapt and involved till at last the Sun of Righteousness himself arose and dispersed those Clouds and brought Life and Immortality to light by the Gospel But as for the Sadducees who give no heed to the Cabala or Traditional Law in which this Doctrine was first discovered and adhered only to the written Law of Moses they still continued Infidels in this Point and believed neither Angels nor Spirits nor the Life to come So very obscurely was it represented in the Types and Shadows of the Written Law But when once the Eternal Word came to tabernacle in our Flesh he revealed this great Article so plainly and clearly to the World that 't is impossible for any one not to believe it that believes him to be the Messias or Incarnate Word And thus you see by all these Instances what a vast Difference there was in respect of Truth between Christ's tabernacling in our Nature and in the Tabernacle of Moses And now I shall conclude this Argument with two or three practical Inferences 1st He dwelt or tabernacled among us From hence I infer the high Authority of Christ and that holy Religion which he hath revealed to us For to tabernacle among us as I have already shewed you signifies to dwell in the midst of as the Shechinah Presence or Representative of the most High God as one that acted in his Father's Person and was vested with his Authority and consequently as one who hath as great a Right to exact our Obedience as the Eternal Father himself should he have come down from Heaven in his own Person to give Laws to Mankind For so when the Eternal Word went before the Camp of Israel as the Shechinah or Angel of God's Presence God requires them that they should obey him as himself Beware of him and obey his Voice saith God provoke him not for he will not pardon your Transgression for my Name is in him Exod. 23.21 and v. 22. To obey the Voice of this Angel is interpreted to be the same thing as to obey the Voice of the most High God himself But if thou shalt indeed obey his Voice saith God and do all that I speak then I will be an Enemy to thy Enemies c. So that for the Israelites to disobey this Angel who as I have proved to you was the Eternal Word or Representative of the most High God to them was to all Intents and Purposes the same Thing as if they had disobeyed the most High himself And accordingly our Saviour tells the Jews He that believeth on me believeth not on me but on the Father that sent me that is he doth not meerly believe on me but on the Father too whose Authority I have and whose Person I reprefent for so he explains himself in the following Verse He that seeth me seeth him that sent me that is I being my Father 's Shechinah or Representative Joh. 12.44 45. And therefore as every Contempt of the Deputy or Vice-Governor is an Affront to the Sovereign Prince whose Person he bears and by whose Authority he acts so every Rebellion against Christ is an open Defiance to the Sovereign God whose Person he represents and by whose Authority he reigns Hence our Saviour tells the Jews Job 5. 23. that He that honoureth not the Son honoureth not the Father which hath sent him which plainly intimates that God the Father resents those Indignities which we offer to Christ and his Laws as if they were done to his own Person and that if himself should speak to us from the Battlements of Heaven or proclaim his Law to us in a Voice of Thunder he would not be more displeased to hear us openly declarethat we will not obey him than he is to see us trample upon the Laws of his Son which he hath stamp'd with his own Sovereign Authority So that if we were not infinitely fool-hardy methinks we should never dare to violate our Religion in which the Authority of the most High God is so immediately concerned For whatsoever our Religion requires of us it requires in his Name who hath an undoubted Right and Authority to command us for from all Eternity he was invested with an absolute and unlimited Power of doing any thing that is not unbecoming his Divine Perfections
into mystical Senses or grope after Truth among Shadows and Vmbrages as the good Jews were fain to do under the Mosaick Dispensation all that is necessary to our Salvation being written as it were upon the very Surface of our Religion and openly exposed to our View in plain and literal Proposals And yet notwithstanding the Plainness and Simplicity of the Christian Religion there are too many ' both among our selves and in the Church of Rome who have industriously set themselves to resolve all its Doctrines again into Darkness and unintelligible Mysteries having instead of the plain Propositions of our Saviour introduced a new-fashioned Mystical Divinity made up of nothing but certain empty Schemes of effeminate Follies and wild Enthusiasms which are impossible for any Man to understand that cannot conjure for the Meaning of them And those Doctrines which our Saviour purposely delivered in the most plain and literal Sense that so the meanest Understanding might be instructed by them these Men have blown up like so many Bubbles into swelling Mysteries which being Strip't of those glittering Allusions and pompous Metaphors wherein they are clothed vanish immediately into Air or sink into flat and empty Nonsense For thus the Doctrine of Faith and Repentance and Justification which lye as plain in the Scripture as Words can make them are by their Divinity render'd more obscure and mysterious than ever they were whilst they were couched under the Types and Figures of the Law more of the true Nature being discovered in Circumcision and the legal Washings and Attonements than in a hundred Volumes of modern Systems of Divinity For whatsoever is intelligible they look upon as carnal and till they have subtilized it into some unaccountable Mystery it is not spiritual enough to be admitted into their System of Divinity as if they thought it below the Majesty of Religion to expose it self to the View of the World and there was no Way to secure it from Contempt but to lock it up in Mysteries and Obscurities for else to what Purpose should they wrap it round with Clouds as they do unless they design to make a Trade of it and so draw a Curtain before it as Men do before their Puppet-Plays that so they may get Money by shewing it For 't is apparent that Religion it self suffers extremely by it for whilst they thus spiritualize it into Air and do as it were juggle it out of Sight in the Clouds of their mystical Nonsense they render it extreamly suspicious to all that are wise and inquisitive and will not suffer themselves to be imposed upon by the Trains of their mysterious Gibberish And as for their more credulous Followers whilst they thus lead them by the Nose through a Vally of Shades and Darkness they utterly deprive them of the vigorous Warmth and Comforts of Religion for how should they know how to make use of the Arguments and Motives of Christianity when those excellent Doctrines from whence they are deduced are wrap'd in unintelligible Mysteriws For how should they draw forth from the Articles of their Faith those Practical Principles that are lodged in them when those Articles are converted into Riddles which they do not nor cannot understand Thus by turning Christianity into a Mystery they do not only thwart the Design of our Saviour which was to bring it forth from under the mysterious Representations of the Law and propose it to the World in the most plain and intelligible manner but they also dispirit Religion it self whose Life and Energy consists in being understood and expose it to the Contempt and Scorn of those that have Wit enough to detect the Follies of their Enthusiastical Mysteries 4thly And lastly He dwelt among us full of Grace and Truth From hence I infer the Inexcusabeness of those Men that persist in their Disobedience to the Gospel now that our blessed Lord hath expressed so much Grace towards and so clearly made known his Mind and Will to us What Excuse can we urge to palliate our wretched Disobedience If you will but imagine your selves for a little while to be standing before the Tribunal of your Saviour where e're it be long you must all appear I will briefly draw up what in Probability will be your Plea and what may be reasonably presumed will be his Answer In the Name of Jesus then let me demand of you what can you plead for your selves why that fearful Doom which he hath pronounced against you should not be pass'd upon you Why Lord we know that thou wer 't an austere Man that thou would'st exact of us to the utmost Punctilio and that if ever we fail'd in the least Circumstance of our Duty thou would'st immediately let loose thy implacable Vengeance upon us and this utterly disheartned us from thy Service considering how impossible it was for us to please thee Ah wretched Creatures can you have the Face to charge me with Rigour and Severity who have had so many notorious Experiments of the Sweetness of my Nature and Tenderness of my Affections towards you What one Action was I ever guilty of in all my Conversation among you that could give you the least Suspicion that ever I would prove an austere Master to you or that I would not be ready to construe you in the most favourable Sense and to pity and pardon you wheresoever you were excusable Did I ever give you any Occasion to think that I was of a peevish or captious Nature apt to be provoked with Trifles Yea had you not all the Reason in the World to conclude from the Sweetness of my Temper that I would be always ready to consider your Infirmities and pity your Weaknesses and judge you by the Measures of a Friend And do you now pretend that it was the Dread of my Severity that disheartned you from my Service But Lord the Laws which thou gavest us were so intolerably burthen som that neither we nor our Fore-fathers were able to bear them We would willingly have obeyed thee if it had been possible but when we saw thy Burthen exceeded our Strength we concluded it was in vain for us to attempt the bearing it O ungrateful Rebels dare ye accuse me of Tyranny when you know in your own Consciences I never imposed any Law upon you but what had a necessary Tendency to your Happiness and was so far in its own Nature from being a Burthen to you that it commanded nothing but what would have been an Ease and Refreshment and if you can produce any one of my Commands that obliged you to any thing but to be kind to your selves or convince me that I could have enjoyned less upon you without being less kind or merciful to you I will freely admit of your Plea as just and immediately pardon all your Disobediences against me But when all my Laws are Instances of my Love to you and Expressions of my Zeal for your Welfare who but such Monsters of Ingratitude as your selves
write them down in order that he might know the Certainty of those things wherein he had been instructed From whence I infer that supposing St. Luke performed what he promised his Gospel must contain a full Declaration of the Christian Religion For First by promising to give an Account of those Things which were surely believed among Christians he engaged himself to give an entire Account of Christianity unless we will suppose that there were some Parts of Christianity which the Christians of that Time did not surely believe Secondly In promising to give an Account of those Things of which he had a perfect Understanding from the first and in which his Theophilus had been instructed he also engages himself to give a compleat Account of the whole Religion unless we will suppose that there were some Parts of this Religion which St. Luke did not perfectly understand and in which Theophilus had not been before instructed Thus also St. John testifies of his Gospel Chap. 20. 31. These things 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 And if it be objected that by these Things the Apostle only means the Miracles of Christ which are the Motives of our Belief and not his Doctrines which are to be believed by us this is notoriously false since by these Things St. John means his Gospel in which not only the Miracles but the Doctrines of Christ are contained and therefore in his first Epistle chap. 5. 13. he saith These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God that ye may know that ye have eternal life and that ye may believe or continue to believe on the name of the Son of God Where by These Things it 's plain he means only that Christian Doctrine which he had been teaching throughout the whole Epistle From which two Places I argue that all Things necessary to eternal Life are written because he expresly tells us that These Things were written to this end that they might beget and nourish in us that Faith by which we may obtain eternal Life but if that Faith which these written Things was designed to beget in us be not sufficient to eternal Life then were these Things written in vain and the End of writing them which was that we might obtain eternal Life by believing them was wholly frustrated but if that Faith were sufficient to eternal Life then these written Things which begot that Faith and were the Object of it must contain in them all Things necessary to eternal Life for how can they beget in us a Faith that is sufficient to eternal Life unless they propose to our Faith all Things that are necessary thereunto And thus I have endeavoured to demonstrate from Scripture it self which all agree is the Word of God and consequently the most concluding Authority in the World that the Holy Scripture is in it self a sufficient Rule of Faith and Manners to direct Men to eternal Life And if this be so I would fain know by what Warrant or Authority any Man or Church can pretend to obtrude upon the Faith of Christians any unwritten Traditions or Doctrines of Faith and Rules of Worship not recorded in Scripture as of equal Authority with those recorded in Scripture and equally necessary to the eternal Happiness of Men. For that there have been such bold Imposers in the Christian World Irenaeus assures us in the 2d Chapter of his 2d Book against Heresies where he tells us of a sort of Hereticks who taught that the Truth could not be found in the Scriptures by those to whom Tradition was unknown for as much as it was not delivered by Writing but by Word of Mouth And these Hereticks 1 De Praescrip Haeret c. 25. as Tertullian observes confessed indeed that the Apostles were ignorant and that they did not at all differ among themselves in their Preaching but said they revealed not all Things unto all Men some Things they taught openly and to all some Things secretly and to a few which secret Things were the unwritten Traditions which they sought to impose upon the Faith of Christians And how far the Church of Rome it self doth in this matter tread in the Footsteps of these ancient Hereticks is but too notorious For thus in the Preface of their Catechism it is expresly affirmed by the Council of Trent that the whole Doctrine to be delivered to the Faithful is contained in the Word of God which Word of God is distributed into Scripture and Tradition And in the Councel it self they declare and define that the Books of Scripture and unwritten Traditions are to be received and honoured with equal pious Affection and Reverence In which Words they expresly own another Word of God besides the Scripture viz. Tradition which they equalize with the Scripture it self And this is almost verbatim the very Assertion which both Irenaeus and Tertullian condemn for Heresy and as they are the same so we find they are grounded on the same Authority For those very Texts of Scripture which those ancient Hereticks urged for their Tradition are urged by Bellarmin for the Tradition of his Church Thus for their Tradition as Irenaeus and Tertullian acquaints us they urged that of St. Paul We speak Wisdom among them that are perfect and also O Timothy keep that which is committed to thy trust and again That good Thing which is committed to thee keep All which Texts are urged by Bellarmin in his 4th and 5th Books de Verbo Dei in behalf of that Tradition which the Church of Rome contends for And 't is something hard that that which was damned for Heresy in the Primitive Church should be made an Article of Faith in the present Roman Not that we do disallow of Traditions universally received in all Churches and Ages for we frankly acknowledge that what is now contained in Scripture was Tradition before it was Scripture as being first delivered by Word of Mouth before it was collected into Writing and therefore whensoever it can be made evident to us that there are any unwritten Doctrines bearing the same Stamp of Divine Authority with those that are written we are ready to recive them with the same Veneration as we do the Scriptures themselves For it is not their being written that doth authorize them but their being from God and our Saviour and his Apostles and therefore when once it 's made appear to us that Christ or his Apostles taught so and so that is sufficient to command our Assent and Submission whether it be made appear from Scripture or Tradition So that the Reason why we embrace some Doctrines and reject others is not merely because the one are written and the other not but because to us who live at so great a distance from Christ and his Apostles it can never be made so evident that what is not written was taught by
of other Principles of Christianity as well as those seeing there are no common Principles of Chrstian Religion but what are at least as plainly reealed in Scripture as these But this will spoil all for if Men may be infallibly certain of the Principles of Religion upon Scripture Authority what will become of the Necessity of Mens relying upon the Church which is founded upon this Principle that Men can arrive at no infallible Certainty in Religion by relying upon the Authority of Scripture or indeed any other Authority but the Church's But if I cannot be infallibly certain of those two Principles viz. that they are the Church and Infallible by those Authorities of Scripture which they urge to prove them how can I be infallibly certain of any Thing that they declare and define For if I am not certain that they are the Church for all I know the Church may be infallible and yet they may be mistaken and if I am not certain that they are infallible for all I know they may be the Church and yet still be mistaken In short no Authority can render me infallibly certain but that which is infallible no Infallibility can render me infallibly certain but that of which I have an infallible Certainty Either therefore the Scripture can render me infallibly certain of the Infallibility of their Church and if it cannot I am sure nothing can or it cannot if it can why may it not as well render me infallibly certain of other Principles of Christianity which are at least as plainly revealed in it as that If I cannot how can I be infallibly certain that any Thing she defines and declares to me is true If then the Authority of Scripture can give us an infallible Certainty we have as just a Pretence to it as They it being upon this Authority that we ground our Faith if it cannot neither they nor we can justly pretend to it because they cannot otherwise be infallibly certain of their own Infallibility but by Scripture But the Truth of it is God never intended either that they or we should be infallibly certain in the Mtters of our Religion for after all the Means of Certainty that he hath given us he still supposes that we may err and plainly tells us that there must be Heresies and that even from among the Members of the true Church where infallible Certainty is if it be any where there should arise false Teachers who should bring in damnable Doctrines which could never have happened if he had left any such Means to his Church as should render her Children infallibly certain All that he designed was to leave us such sufficient Means of Certainty in Religion as that we might not err either dangerously or damnably without our own Fault He hath left us his Word and in that hath plainly discovered to us all that is necessary for us to believe in order to eternal Life He hath left us a standing Ministry in his Church to explain his Word to us and to guide us in the Paths of Righteousness and Truth but still he requires us to search the one and attend to the other with honest humble and teachable Minds and if we do not we may err not only dangerously but damnably and it is but fit and just we should But if we diligently search the Scripture and faithfully rely upon its Authority without doing of which we search it in vain if we sincerely attend to the publick Ministry with Minds prepared to receive the Truth in the Love of it though we may possibly err in Matters of less Moment yet as to all Things necessary to our eternal Salvaion our Faith shall be inviolably secured and this is as much as any honest Man needs or as any honest Church can promise 2. From hence also I infer that in the Matters of our Faith and Religion God doth expect that we should make use of our own Reason and Judgment For to what end should he put us upon searching the Scriptures but that thereby we may inform our selves what those Things are which he hath required us to believe and practise But if it were his Mind that we should wholly rely upon the Authority of our Church or of our Spiritual Guides and submit our Faith to their Dictates without any Examination what a needless and impertinent Imployment would this be for us to search and consult the Scriptures Consult them for what if we are not to follow their Guidance and Direction and to take the Measures of our Faith and Manners from them And if for this End God hath obliged us to consult them as to be sure it can be for no other End then he hath obliged us to imploy our own Reason and Judgment to consider what they say and enquire what they mean otherwise he hath obliged us to consult them to no Purpose It is as evident therefore that God will have us use our own Reason and Judgment in discerning what we are to believe and what not in Religion and not lazily rely upon others to see and discern and believe for us as it is that he would have us search and consult the Scriptures and that I think is evident enough from what hath been said to any one that is not resolved to admit of a Conviction And indeed seeing our Reason is the noblest Faculty we have it would be very strange if God should not allow it to intermeddle in the highest and most important Affair wherein he hath ingaged us and seeing it is our Reason only that renders us capable of Religion what an odd Thing would it be for God to for bid us making use of our Reason in the most important Concerns of Religion that is in distinguishing what is true Religion from what is false and what we ought to believe from what we ought to reject I know it is pretended by those who urge the absolute Necessity of submitting our Reason to the Church that they allow Men to make Use of their own Reason and Judgment in discovering which the true Church is and that all they contend for is only this that when once Men have found the true Church they ought to enquire no farther but immediately to deliver up their Reason and Understanding to it and believe every Thing it believes without any farther Examination So that before Men come into their Church it seems they are allowed to see for themselves but after they are in they must wink and follow their Guides and depute them to see and understand for them which to such Men as are not quite sick of their own Reason and Understandings should methinks be a great Temptation to keep them out of their Church for ever For if I may judge for my self while I am out of it but must not while I am in it I must be very fond of parting with my own Eyes and Reason if ever I come into it at all But suppose I was always in it
render'd him a meer Laquey to the Goods and Evils that are without him and whither ever they send him he must go wherever they lead him he must follow let their Vagaries be never so wild or wicked If therefore while his Soul is thus enslaved to the World he should be tempted by him to Apostatize from his Religion what hath he to restrain or secure him For ever since he got loose from his Conscience he is wholly led by his Affections and these being chained and saftned to the World hale him after it which way soever it moves So long as his Religion and his worldly Interest consist and go hand in hand he is very well content to own and follow it but if ever a Storm of Persecution should part them in all Probability he will follow his Interest and like the treacherous Orpha give his Religion a parting Kiss and leave it For his Heart is now so wedded to the World that he esteems nothing so good as its Goods and nothing so evil as its Evils and the one being his Heaven and the other his Hell all other Considerations are overcome by them and to obtain the one and avoid the other he must stick at nothing no not at renouncing his God and his Religion together with all his Hopes of a future Immortality 6. And lastly Living in any known Course of Sin provokes God to give us up to the Power of Delusion For so long as Men submit themselves to the Guidance and Direction of a good Conscience the Spirit of God who is a Spirit of Truth abides with them and not only directs their Wills but also informs their Understandings and enables them to discern the Beauty and Reality of those heavenly Truths which he hath revealed to us in the Holy Scriptures For though since he hath revealed already the whole Will of God to us concerning our eternal Salvation we have no Reason to expect that he will reveal new Truths to us yet seeing so far forth as it is necessary he hath promised and engaged that he will co-operate with us to enable us as well to understand the Will of God as to perform it we have the greatest Reason in the World to depend upon it that so long as we cherish his heavenly Inspirations by yielding to them our free and ready Compliance he will be so far an assisting Genius to our Understandings as to suggest to us those Truths which he hath already revealed and set them before our Eyes in so fair a Light as that we shall not fail more clearly to discern and more distinctly to apprehend them than otherwise we should or could have done For when he writes his Truth upon our Minds it is with such a Victorious Sunbeam as will endure neither Cloud nor Shadow before it Whenever he speaks he speaks not to our Ears but to our Minds and represents Things nakedly and immediately to our Understandings He converses with our Spirits as Spirits do with Spirits without involving his Sense in articulate Sounds or material Representations but objects it to us in its own naked Light and characterizes it immediately on our Understandings And as he proposes the Divine Light to us so he also illuminates our Minds to discern and comprehend it He raises and exalts our Intellectual Powers and as a vital Form to the Light of our Reason invigorates and actuates it and thereby renders its Apprehension of Things more quick and piercing and sagacious Thus doth the Holy Spirit more or less assist us in the true Understanding of Divine Things as he finds us more or less compliant with his heavenly Pleasure and though he stands no more obliged to render our Minds infallible than our Wills impeccable yet so long as by our sincere Obedience to his holy Suggestions we keep our selves under his Conduct and Direction we may depend upon it he will either preserve us from all dangerous Errors or if for just Reasons he should permit us to fall into any such they shall not prove dangerous to us but either we shall be convinced of them while we live or obtain Pity and Pardon for them when we die But whilst we persist in any willful Course of Sin we do not only violate our own Conscience but also repel those good Motions of the Spirit of God whereby he strives to reduce and reclaim us in doing which we continually grieve him and if we do not forbear shall at length provoke him wholly to forsake and abandon us to give us up to our own Hearts Lusts as desperate Wretches with whom he hath hitherto strove and struggled in vain and of whose future Recovery there remains no farther Hope or Prospect And when he hath forsaken us our Mind will not only be left naked and destitute of all those Helps and Advantages for the understanding of Divine Truths which it receives from him but also be exposed to the Cheats and Fallacies of Evil Spirits whose Recreation it is to put Tricks upon our Minds to banter and play upon our easie Faith to cast Mists before our Eyes and therein to juggle away all true Religion from us and foist in the Room of it the most fulsom Errors and Mistakes For so the Apostle tells us of Antichrist the great Deceiver that he should come with all the deceivableness of unrighteousness to them that perish because they received not the love of truth that they might be saved And that for that Cause viz. their not receiving the truth in the love of it God should send them strong delusion that they should believe a lye that is by abandoning them to the Power of cheating and deluding Spirits That they all might be damned who believed not the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness 2 Thess 2.10 11 12. And God grant that this at last prove not our Fate that because we have sinned against the clearest Light and gone astray in all Unrighteousness under the best and purest Religion in the World we are not at length given up by God to follow the wile Delusions of Antichrist and to believe all those fulsom Lyes and Impostures which he from Age to Age hath been imposing upon the World But whether it prove thus or no this I am sure of that by persisting in any vicious Course against the Light and Conviction of our Consciences we highly provoke Almighty God to withdraw his Grace from us and give us up to our own Hearts Lusts and when this is done our own Hearts Lusts will soon betray and give up our Faith to false and vicious Principles of Religion And now having shewn at large what strong and prevalent Tendencies there are in a wicked Life to Apostacy from true Religion I shall conclude this Argument with two or three Inferences 1. From hence I infer What a great Malignity there is in Mens being inconstant to and apostatizing from the true Religion in Compliance with their sinful Affections it being as you see the