19. 48. 22. Sychar near to the parcel of ground that Iacob gave to his son Ioseph 6. Now Iacobs well was there Iesus therefore being wearied with his journy sate f f f f f f Sate thus that is in a weary posture or after the manner as tired men use to sit down De Dieu taketh it only for an elegancy in the Greek which might well be omitted and accordingly the Syriack hath omitted it and not owned it at all But see it Emphatical in other places also 1 Sam. 9. 13. Samuel is come this day to the City for the people have a sacrifice in the high place and when you are come into the City 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 you shall So find him that is newly come to Town and going to a sacrifice 1 King 2. 7. Shew kindness to the sons of Barzilla c. for So they came to me that is they came kindly to me Act. 7. 8. he gave him the covenant of circumcision and so Abraham begat Isaac that is he begat him in circumcision c. thus on the well And it was about the sixth hour 7. There cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water Iesus saith unto her Give me to drink 8. For his Disciples were gone away into the City to buy meat 9. Then saith the woman of Samaria unto him How is it that thou being a Iew askest drink of me which am a woman of Samaria For the Iews have no dealing with the Samaritans 10. Iesus answered and said unto her If thou knowest the gift of God and who it is that saith unto thee Give me to drink thou wouldst have asked of him and he would have given thee living water 11. The woman saith unto him Sir thou hast nothing g g g g g g 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Camerarius out of Plautus Latins this Situlam Beza out of Austin Hauritorium 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in Hebrew Esa. 40. 15. Numb 24. 7. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 saith Kimchi in Michol A vessel where withal they drew water the Septuagint in the former place cited renders it Cadus and in the latter they translate the metaphorical sense It seems they brought their buckets with them to draw with as well as their vessels to carry water in unless they made the same vessel serve for both uses by letting it down to draw with a cord to draw with and the well is deep from whence then hast thou that h h h h h h Springing or running water was called by the Hebrew living water Gen. 26. 19. Isaacs servants digged in the valley and found there a well of living water The Chaldee renders it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 springing water for the bubbling of the spring is like the lively beating of the heart or pulse And hence it was that this woman did so readily mistake our Saviours meaning He spake of the lively waters of grace that spring up in him that hath them to eternal life but she interpreted him according to the propriety of the language as if he had spoken only of waters out of a spring And so had Nicodemus misinterpreted another expression in the former Chapter 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or living waters were taken in opposition to 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a gathering of waters as Rambam evidenceth saying thus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Any waters saith he are fit for the purifying of the Priests hands and feet whether living springing or running waters or waters gathered together In biath hammikdas◠per. 5. By waters gathered together he meaneth ponds or cisterns gathered of rain water or any waters that did not spring or run The Latinists also used the like expression to the Hebr. for springing or running water as in the Poet Donec me flumine vivo Abluero Virg. Aeneid 2. living water 12. Art thou greater than our Father Iacob which gave us the well and drank thereof himself and his children and his cattel 13. Iesus answered and said unto her Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again 14. But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life 15. The woman saith unto him Sir give me this water that I thirst not neither come hither to draw 16. Iesus saith unto her Go call thy husband and come hither 17. The woman answered and said I have no husband Iesus said unto her Thou hast well said I have no husband 18. For thou hast had five husbands and he whom thou now hast is not thine husband in that saidst thou truly 19. The woman saith unto him Sir I perceive that thou art a Prophet 20. Our Fathers worshipped in this mountain and ye say that in Ierusalem is the place where men ought to worship 21. Iesus saith unto her woman believe me the hour cometh when ye shall neither in this mountain nor yet at Ierusalem worship the Father 22. Ye worship ye know not what we know what we worship for salvation is of the Iews 23. But the hour cometh and now is when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth for the Father seeketh such to worship him 24. God is a Spirit and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and truth 25. The woman saith unto him I know that Messias cometh * * * * * * These are the words of the Evangelist interpreting the word Messias to the reader and not the words of the woman interpreting it to Christ the Syriack translater hath omitted these words as not necessary to a Syrian reader which is called Christ when he is come he will tell us all things 26. Iesus saith unto her I that speak unto thee am he 27. And upon this came his Disciples and marvailed that he talked with i i i i i i 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The various construction of the word either with the strength of the article or without hath caused various causes to be conceived of the Disciples wondring at his talking with her Some read it without the force of the Article thus they marvailed that he talked with a woman as unfit say some and uncapable of his serious and divine discourse but others ascribe their wonder to this that he was thus entred into discourse with a strange woman alone and no company near And they that so understand it are confirmed by this because they think it was no more to be wondred at that he should talk with a Samaritan woman than it was that they should go into a Samaritan City to buy provision for why might not he as well talk with a woman as they with the men or women of whom they bought meat if her being a Samaritan were all the matter But the case was not the same for the Jews might buy meat of them and sell meat to them with whom they might
for he that is watered with grace doth thirst for the same water of grace again and again but he saith whosoever shall drink of this water which I shall give him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he shall never so thirst as to fail or perish by it but this water shall preserve him to eternal life Compare Esay 41. 17. Vers. 15. The woman saith Sir give me of this water c. The woman doth now fall from questioning as vers 11 12. to plain mocking and derision for this can be construed no other in her I know these words of hers are taken by divers to intimate her inclining to and imbracing this doctrine of Christ though she knew not well how to understand it and they shew say some Simplicitatem credendi her simplicity or sincerity of believing who so soon doubted not to ask for this so excellent water But be it considered 1. That as yet she took Christ but for an ordinary man until he hath told her of her secret villanies and then she takes him for a Prophet vers 19. And 2. that taking him for an ordinary man she talks with him as a Samaritan huswife would do with a common Jew between whom there was so deadly a scorn and fewd 3. The thing that Christ spake of of giving water after which the party that had it should never thirst were things so strange and would seem so ridiculous to any Samaritan nay to any flesh and blood that knew no more of him than as yet she did those words proceeding from so mean a man as he seemed to be that her words in reply thereunto Sir give me of this water c. can be no other but a jeer and scorn of what he had spoken And her calling him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Sir doth no whit take off this construction since that was but a word of ordinary compellation or if she used it in a higher sense she used it but in the higher scorn Vers. 17. I have no husband The reason why Christ bids her call her husband may be supposed to be partly that he might check and stop her jeering by minding her of her own faults and chiefly that he might shew her that he was another kind of person then she judged of him by telling her of such things as she knew he could not tell her but divinely Now her denial that she had any husband is ascribed by some to her modesty to conceal her adultery by others to this because she knew not what Christ would do with her husband but till it can be shewed why a Samaritan quean should talk with any reverence or civility with an ordinary Jew for she took Christ for no other as yet especially when he spake to her of such unlikely things as he did it is the most proper and undisputable interpretation of her words I have no husband to take them for a scoffing and regardless answer to a question and to a person that she was careless whether she gave any any answer to or no. Vers. 18. He whom thou now hast is not thine husband It seemeth by the numerousness of her former husbands and by the same expression used concerning them and this thou hast had five and this that thou hast that she was a divorced woman and now lived in an adulterous marriage and it may be married to him who had adulterated her in her former husbands days But be it either thus or that she lived in adultery out of wedlock her conscience is convinced of the truth of the thing that Christ speaketh and withal she findeth that he had told her that which a meer stranger could not tell her but by the spirit of Prophecy and therefore she owns him for a Prophet Vers. 20. Our Fathers worshipped in this Mount Conceiving him to be a Prophet she sodainly desireth to hear what he will determine upon that great dispute that was between the Jews and the Samaritans continually namely whether was the truer and righter place of worship Jerusalem or Mount Gerizim She called Jacob Our Father Jacob ver 12. for so the Samaritans would be a kin to the Jews when they thought good but the Fathers she speaks of here were as far from the Religion and Worship that Jacob used as Jacob was from the Religion of Hamor and Sichem Josephus tells one story that gives this woman but little cause to boast of her Fathers worshipping in that Mount and that is this That when Antiochus Epiphanes did so heavily oppress the Jews and persecute their Religion these Samaritans thinking that their Religion also looked somewhat like that of the Jews and that Antiochus might happily suspect that they and the Jews and both their Religions were something a kin and so they suffer as well as the other they fairly send to Antiochus and betime disclaim any such kindred And whereas indeed they could not deny but they had a Temple they besought him that it might be dedicated to the Grecian Jupiter and called by his name and so by the Kings command it was Antiq. lib. 12. cap. 7. Here was worshipping in that Mount with a witness and much to be bragd of but see the impudence of Hereticks when such a Temple shall compare with the Temple at Jerusalem Abraham Zaccuth saith This Temple of Gerizim was destroyed by Jochanan the son of Simeon the son of Mattathias and the Hereticks slain Juchas fol. 14. Vers. 21. Woman believe me The Hour cometh c. As she owned him for a Prophet so he challengeth to be believed of her as a Prophet and as a Prophet he foretels her of what was now ready to come to pass namely that Ceremonious Worship should cease and be no more confined to particular place or Nation That there should be no Sacrifice at Jerusalem no Image at Samaria no Ephod at Jerusalem no Teraphim at Samaria as Hos. 3. 4. but that those places and that manner of worship should fail and be abolished And so he answers her question in the first place to this purpose that it was needless for her or any other to trouble themselves about that dispute whether Jerusalem or Gerizim were the more eminent place of Worship for the time was just now in coming when neither the one nor the other should be the place of worship at all And then he determins the question indeed that Jerusalem had ever been and was at that present the right place of worship but Gerizim a Temple of error and usurpation and he proves his determination by this reason We know what we worship c. Vers. 23. The true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and truth In the term The true worshippers he looketh at the womans question and the two Nations controversie They tugged for it and she inquires about it whether of the people had the true worship amongst them why saith Christ ere long there shall be no worship at all either among the one or the other And
Judaism again to their old Mosaick rites which sometime had been right but now antiquated and to their traditional principles which had never been right but now least of all to have been embraced and to a deadly hatred and persecution of the Gospel that they once professed How the Apostles speak of and against this Apostasie in their Epistles I need not tell you he that runs may read it But he that stands still and reads presely will find that they find The Antichrist that then was in that Apostasie I say the Antichrist that then was For the Scripture gives a hint of a twofold Antichrist one in the Epistles and the other in this Book of the Revelation one that was in those times and the other that was to be afterwards one among the Jews that had embraced the Gospel and the other among the Gentiles which should embrace it And if you will let the unbelieving Jew to be one part of the Antichrist that then was the Apostatized Jew was much more Many Antichrists in those times as this our Apostle tells us 1 Joh. II. 18. but those were they especially of whom he speaks immediately after They went out from us but they were not of us And the like character do these Apostates carry in other places in the Epistles in terms equivalent Now therefore the nearest way to discover the Antichrist that was to be in after times among the Gentiles is by observing his likeness and similitude to the former viz. in apostatizing from the pure and sincere profession of the Gospel to Judaism or to Mosaick manner of worship and Judaick principles and Religion Which how the Church of Rome hath done it would require a long time to compare in all particulars but it will require a far longer time for her to clear her self from that just accusation How near doth she come to Judaism in the doctrine of Justification how near in the doctrine of opus operatum How near in the doctrine of expiation by bare Confession How near in the doctrine of the value of Traditions And one for all how near in turning all Religion into Ceremony Their present year of Jubilee is it not Mosaick And were you there at it and saw the manner of their devotions their formal Services and Ceremonious Worship would you not think you were in the old Jerusalem among the Scribes and Pharisees rather than in the the new where the true worshipers worship the Father in spirit and truth So that when we departed from the Church of Rome we did but the same thing that the Apostles Disciples and other holy converts of the Jewish Nation did they forsook Judaism to embrace the purity of the Gospel And so did we And in the way that they call Heresie we worship God If I have trespassed too much upon your patience by so prolix a discourse upon so unpleasing a subject I must crave your pardon We enquiring after the new Jerusalem where we might find it come to the place where your ways parted and one went right and the other wrong The wrong way is the broader pleasanter and more trodden and not a few that stand in it and cry This is the right way and no other It is good to give warning it is needful to take warning that we be not misled that the men and the way do not deceive us And having thus far observed where the new Jerusalem is not to be found let us now look where it is And first we must not expect to find it in any one particular place as you might have done the old Jerusalem but it is dispersed here and there abroad in the World It is the Catholick Church as we are taught in our Creed and it is not in one only but in this and that and the other Nation When the new Jerusalem is to be measured in Zach. II. an Angel bids O run after yonder young man that is to measure it and tell him that Jerusalem shall be inhabited as a City without walls for the multitude of men and cattel that shall be therein It is a City unlimited and therefore not to be bounded within this or that compass We may use this Paradox of it That it is a fluid and yet a fixed body nay fixed because fluid that is it is moving sometime into one place sometime into another and therefore it shall never fade or perish The Jews accused S. Stephen of Heresie and blasphemy because he said that the Church and Religion should not alway be pinned to that City and Temple but taken away In his answer he sheweth that the Church and Religion is a Pilgrim one while in one place another while in another in Mesopotamia in Charran in Canaan in Egypt And our own observation may tell us that when it failed in Egypt and Israel followed the Idols and manners of that Land as Ezek. XX. that then God found himself a Church in the family of Job and his three friends The saying of our Saviour may suffice for this The Kingdom of Heaven shall be taken from you and given to a people that shall bring forth the fruits of it And this is that that makes it fixed or never failing because when it decayeth in one place it groweth in another And that promise of our Saviour will ever maintain it in life and being Upon this rock will I build my Church of the Gospel and the gates of Hell shall never prevail against it as they have done against the Church of the Jews In Matth. XXIV when Christ foretels of the desolation of that City Church and Nation that their Sun and Moon and Stars Religion and Church and State should be darkned and fall and come to nothing and they should then see the Son of man whom they would never own coming in a thick cloud and storm of vengeance against them it might be questioned where then will God have a Church when that is gone He gives an answer That the Son of man should send his Angels or Ministers with the sound of a trumpet the trumpet of the Gospel and gather him a Church from all the corners under Heaven To which may not improperly be applied that Heb. XII 22. Ye are come to an innumerable company of Angels God will never want his Church but if it be not in one place it will be in another Secondly There is an invisible Church as well as a visible Pauls Jerusalem which is above and out of sight as well as Ezekiels Jerusalem pitched here below There is commonly some invisible Church within the visible as Ezekiels wheel within a wheel But there is sometimes an invisible Church where there is none visible as those seven thousand men in the days of Elias when he could not discern one The Apostle speaking of the new Jerusalem that we are speaking of in that place of the Epistle to the Hebrews before alledged among other things saith Ye are not come to the Mount that might
out of the Inn and thus the free-woman and her Son are cast out of doors as the bond-woman and her Son had been Gen. 21. Vers. 8. And there were Shepherds c. The Patriarchs to whom Christ was more especially promised were of this vocation Gen. 47. 3. especially Abraham and David to whom the promise was more clearly made peculiarly David who was feeding Sheep near to Bethlehem when he was taken a Father and type of Christ 1 Sam. 16. 11 12. And it doth illustrate the exactness of the performance the more and doth Harmonize with the giving of it the better when to Shepherds it is first revealed as to Shepherds it was first promised Compare this with the Visions of Jacob and Moses with their flocks Gen. 31. 10. Exod. 3. 3. and of Sampsons mother in the field §. Keeping watch over the flock by night Greek Keeping the watches of the night For the night was divided by the Jews into four watches of three hours a piece The first or beginning of watches is mentioned Lam. 2. 19. The second and third Luke 12. 38. The fourth Matth. 14. 25. this was called also the morning watch Exod. 14. 24. Howbeit the Talmud from Judg. 7. 19. divideth it only into three Be it the one or the other these Shepherds it seemeth observed such an order as that they watched by course while others slept or not to take it so very strictly they lay now in the fields and watched their flocks all night which had been in a manner impossible to have done in the deep of winter at which time our Kalendar hath placed Christs Nativity Vers. 9. The glory of the Lord shone c. That is an exceeding great glory for so do the Hebrews heighten their expressions as Cedars of the Lord that is goodly Cedars Such an exceeding great glory shone about Paul Act. 26. 13. That at noon day this in the dead of the night Vers. 13. A multitude of the Heavenly host c. It might not unproperly be rendred The multitude as importing that all the Quire of Angels or the whole multitude of that Celestial Militia was now knit together in a consort for the praises and acknowledgment of Christ according to that of the Apostle Heb. 1. 6. When he bringeth in the first-begotten into the world he saith And let all the Angels of God worship him And thus as all the Angels sang at the beginning of the old World or at the Creation Job 38. 7. So do they at the beginning of the new and of the redemption Angels are called the Heavenly host 1 King 22. 19. Joh. 25. 3. And in this sense Rab. Menahem understandeth Gen. 2. 1. Thus were the Heavens and the Earth finished and all their Host that is saith he the Angels whose Creation Moses nameth not elsewhere Vers. 14. Glory to God in the Highest c. The last words of this verse the Vulgar Latine readeth to men of good will contrary to the Syrian Arabick and to the ancient Greek Copies as appeareth by Greg. Nazianzen Orat. 42. Andreas Jerusolomitanus in Orat. de Salutatione Angeli c. The whole Verse is but one Proposition or Axiom in which the last clause of all is the subject and the two former are predicated of it And it lieth in this sense The good will of God to men shewed in the Incarnation of our Saviour when God himself disdained not to take the nature of man is glory to him in the Highest and is peace upon the Earth And that this is the genuine and proper meaning and posture of the words may be observed First By the conjunction 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And put between Glory to God and Peace on Earth and none between them and good will And secondly the very sense and matter it self inforceth this construction For first 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 beareth the same sense here that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 doth Matth. 3. 17. 17. 5. of Gods good-will or well-pleasedness with men Now secondly this well-pleasedness of his with men was expressed and evidenced at this time in the birth of our Saviour in that God had assumed the nature of men and it had never been so cleared and demonstrated before So that thirdly the birth of Christ being the occasion of the Angels singing this song the good will of God towards men revealed in this his birth must needs be the subject of their Song And then fourthly the other two things expressed in the two other clauses glory on High and peace on Earth must needs be understood as Predicates seeing that being laid to this expression of God of his good will towards men they are but as fruits and consequences of it And this reading and construction how facil and plain is it in comparison of these intricacies and obscurities that those readings bring with them that either break the verse into three distinct axioms or into two or that read 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the Genitive case or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the Dative as may be seen in Expositors Now how the good-will and well-pleasedness of God towards men exhibited and shewed in the incarnation and birth of our Saviour did glorifie God in the highest in all his attributes of wisdom truth justice power mercy c. And how it wrought peace on earth betwixt man and himself and man and Angels and man and man and man and his own conscience might be shewed at large if we were common-placing in stead of commenting Ver. 21. And when eight days were accomplished for the circumcising c. It was necessary that Christ should be circumcised that he might both bear the badge of a child of Abraham and have upon him an obligation to the keeping of the Law For he that was circumcised was a debtor to the whole Law Gal. 5. 3. Ver. 22. And when the days of her purification c. At forty days old Levit. 12. 1 2 3 4. the Lord cometh to his own Temple and by an old man and an old woman is proclaimed both to young and old that expected redemption Herod had heard no tidings of him as yet by the Wismen for otherwise this had been an opportunity for him to have put in practice his bloody and malicious intent Mary is purified according to the custom of the Law although she had contracted no pollution by her childing and bringing forth partly that Christ in nothing might be wanting to the Law and partly that this might be an occasion for the first publick declaration of him by Simeon and Anna. Ver. 25. A man whose name was Simeon This Simeon seemeth to be he whom the Jewish Authors name for the son of Hillel and who was the first that bare the title of Rabban the highest title that was given to their Doctors and which was given but to seven of them Hillel was the famous head or principal of that School that is so renowned in the Jewish Authors by the name of Beth
sweetness in their sense which doth deserve and may require our serious and feeling thoughts and meditations If any one will find a knot in a bulrush and thinks he hath found a ground for the opinion of universal Redemption out of this Word the World which our Saviour useth all along let this same Evangelist give him an answer out of 1 Joh. 2. 2. where he plainly shews that the World is not to be understood de omnibus singulis of all and every singular person in the World but of all Nations and that the Gentiles come within the Compass of Christs reconciliation for sin as well as the Jews And our Saviour useth the word here the rather that by the full sense of it he might meet with the various misprisions and misconceptions of Nicodemus and the rest of the Nation about these matters that were in discourse They conceived that the Lord only loved that Nation and none else that the Messias should only come for the good of that Nation and none else nay that he should destroy other Nations for the advancement of that Nation alone but Christ informeth him here that God loved the World the Gentiles as well as the Jews that he gave his only begotten Son to the World to the Gentiles as well as to the Jews and that God sent not his Son Messias into the world to destroy and condemn it but that it might be saved the Gentiles as well as the Jewish Nation Vers. 18. He that believeth not is condemned already Not that every one that heareth the Gospel and at present believeth not is irrevocably damned for he that believeth not now may yet believe hereafter and be saved but 1. He that believeth not in Christ is yet in the State of Damnation for out of Christ out of Salvation And 2. he is already judged for so the Greek word is as deserving damnation and one that shall fall into it if he continue in his unbelief not only by God but even by the thing it self for he that will not believe in the only begotten Son of God and that will choose darkness rather than light ex reipsa he is already judged convicted and condemned as not only out of the way of Salvation but as deserving to be damned and so shall be if he thus continue These are the two emphatical things in this speech of our Saviour that aggravate the unbelief and that justifie the condemnation of the Unbeliever 1. Because he believes not in the Son of God And 2. Because light came into the world and men chose darkness rather than light If we apply the speech to the times in which Christ appeared here was the condemnation of the unbelieving Jews that they would take upon them to believe Moses and the Prophets and yet they would not believe him that sent them nay they would believe their own foolish Doctors and traditions and any one that came among them in his own name and yet they would not believe in the name of the Son of God They walked in a double darkness as namely not only in a want of the guidance of the spirit of Prophecy and of faithful Teachers but also in the leading of most blind guides and of most dark Doctors and yet when Light it self came among them they loved and imbraced this darkness and refused the Light And much in the like kind may the matter be applied to unbelievers of what time so ever Vers. 21. But he that doth truth c. As there is an opposition here of light and darkness that is of the truth and error of a true doctrine and false for so it is apparent enough that the terms are to be understood so is there an opposition of doing evil and doing the truth and the one may the better be understood by the other 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is the phrase used here and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which phrase is used by this same Evangelist 1 Joh. 3. 8. doth not nakedly signifie to sin for the Saints of God do sin Jam. 3. 2. 1 Kings 8. 46. and cannot do otherwise Rom. 7. 15 17 18. and yet John saith that whosoever is born of God 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 1 Joh. 3. 9. but these phrases to do evil and commit sin do signifie a setting of a mans self to do evil Dare operam peccato as Beza translates it so on the contrary To do truth is dare operam veritati as he also renders it here when a mans bent and desire is to do uprightly when gracious desires of doing truth and uprightness lie in the bottom though the sâ—um of many failings swim aloft in heart when to will is present as Rom. 7. 18. and when the mind is to serve the Law of God as Rom. 7. 25. whosoever is so composed declineth not the light but delighteth to come to it and to the touchstone of the truth that his works may be made manifest §. That they are wrought in God That is either by the power of God for so the particle 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 may import which very commonly signifieth By as might be exemplified numerously or In God is as much as to say as in the way or fear of God as to marry in the Lord 1 Cor. 7. 39. is to marry in his way or according to his will and to die in the Lord Rev. 14. 13. is to die in his fear or in his acceptance And thus hath Christ opened to Nicodemus the great Doctrines of the New birth Baptism free Grace Faith obedience and the love of the Truth and made him a Disciple as appears Joh. 19. 39. and yet he keeps his place and rank in the Sanhedrin and there doth what good offices he can Joh. 7. 50. Vers. 22. After these things came Iesus and his Disciples into the Country of Iudea c. It is not determinable in what part of Judea Christ fixed and made his abode nor indeed is it whether he fixed in any one place or removed up and down here and there in the country It appeareth by the story in the following chapter that when he had occasion to set for Galilee he was then in such a part of Judea as that his next way thither was to go through or close by the City of Samaria and so it seemeth that he was in that part of Judea that lay Northward of Jerusalem Gibeon lay much upon that point of the compass and the waters there might be a very fit conveniency for his baptizing see 2 Sam. 2. 13. §. And there he tarried and Baptized Yet Jesus himself baptized not but his Disciples Chap. 4. 2. It is ordinary both in Scripture phrase and in other languages to ascribe that as done by a man himself that is done by another at his appointment as Act. 7. 21. Pharaohs daughter is said to nurse Moses 2 King 6. 7. Solomon is said to build the Temple and his own house 1 Sam. 26. 11 12. 14.
the time is now come that he that will be taken for a true worshipper must neither worship as the Jews do ceremoneously but in spirit nor as the Samaritans do erroneously but in truth Thus may we very well divide the two words Spirit and truth to serve these two purposes as thus to answer about the worship of either Nation the one whereof worshipped God altogether in external Rites and Ceremonies and the other worshipped they knew not what and they knew not how But generally the word Spirit and truth are taken by Expositors to signifie but one and the same thing and stand in opposition only to the carnal Rites and shadowy types in which their whole Worship in a manner did consist His using of the term Father for God is not so much in reference to the other persons in the Trinity or because the woman was acquainted with that mystery but because the Jews and it is like the Samaritans also used the word very commonly in their prayers and speeches as Our Father which art in Heaven do to us as thou hast promised by the Prophet And Let the prayers and requests of all the House of Israel be accepted before their Father which is in Heaven c. Maym. in Tephilloth Vers. 24. God is a Spirit and they that worship him c. Here ariseth a question upon the very first reading of the verse the words Spirit and truth being interpreted as is mentioned immediately before and that is why did God so punctually ordain and so long continue a Typical and Ceremonious Worship if those that worship him must worship in spirit and truth Answer That very worship was for this end and purpose that men should learn to worship God in spirit and truth For all these rites and types were but doctrines of the way of Salvation through Christ till Christ came and the very use of them was to this end that out of them men should spel this spiritual and true worship namely to worship God in Christ and to look after his benefits for their salvation which those rites doctrinally held unto them and which lesson the true worshippers or believers did attain unto Vers. 25. I know that Messiah cometh c. he will teach us all things The Samaritans had learned from the Jews to expect Messias and how the Jews expected this to be the time of his coming we have shewed before and it may be the woman speaketh this as meaning that she looked for Messias to come shortly which occasioned Christs answer I am he as taking at her words in that sense Thou sayest Messias will come shortly and resolve all things I tell thee Messias is come already and I am he Now her referring the resolution of this doubt to Messias his coming it sheweth she did not throughly digest and entertain Christs answer to her question although she took upon her to acknowledge him for a Prophet She had no mind the thing should be so as he had resolved and therefore she had no mind to believe it How Christ was expected as the great teacher we shall observe afterward Vers. 29. A man which hath told me all things that ever I did The Disciples having now bought all things that they would have for dinner for it was now dinner time return to the well to their Master and upon their return Christs discourse and the womans is broken off and she slips a way into the City and bids come see a man that hath told me all things that ever I did But Christ did not so for he told her only of one particular or two about her husbands but besides that the word All in Scripture is not always stretched to the utmost extent of its signification he had told her so much that she concludes that he that could tell her that could have told her also all things else such expressions as these in earnest and pathetical narrations are not strange Vers. 35. Say ye not there are yet four months c. The coherence and connexion of this verse with those before which is the first thing to be looked after in it lyeth thus The Disciples had been in the City and bought some meat and when they had set it ready they invite him to dine He answers No he hath other meat to feed upon than they are aware of and that was to do the will of him that sent him and to finish his work And what work was that Why the very work that he had been just now about preaching the Gospel and converting a soul and which work he knew was increasing upon him by the coming of the Samaritans to hear him whom either he now saw coming in flocks towards him or knew they would come In these words therefore he answers his Disciples to this purpose You would have me to eat but I have somewhat else to do which is meat to me which is to finish my Fathers work in preaching the Gospel for look you yonder whereas ye say it is four months to harvest see what a Gospel harvest is coming yonder what a multitude of people is yonder coming to hear me ready for the harvest therefore it is not a time to talk of eating of meat that perisheth but to fall to this harvest work which is my meat in doing the will of him that sent me The harvest of the Jews began at the Passover for on the second day of the Passover the Law injoyned them to bring a sheaf of the first fruits of their harvest and wave it before the Lord and from that day they counted seven weeks to Pentecost See Levit. 23. 10. 15. Four months therefore before the Passover which was the fourteenth day of the first month falls to be towards the latter end of our November or thereabout as is easily cast by any This therefore helps to set the clock of the time reasonable well both for the reckoning of what times are past and for the better fixing of the next Passover that is to come As 1. It shews about what time Johns imprisonment befel and how long he preached namely from Passover was twelvemonth to this November a year and a half and a month and some days above for it is like that Christ stayed not long in Judea after Johns imprisoning 2. It shews that Christ had spent some eight months in Judea from the Passover hitherto and had in this time converted abundance of people to his doctrine 3. It will help to clear that the feast of the Jews spoken of in the next Chapter is the next Passover that was to come as we shall observe when we come there In the former part of the words Say ye not There are four months and then cometh harvest He speaketh literally of their harvest of corn but in the latter the fields are already white to harvest he speaketh parabolically or spiritually of the multitudes of people both among Jews and Gentiles that were ready to be reaped and gathered
time be delivered from the bondage of their sinful corruption that is the bondage of their lusts and vile affections under which it hath lain for so long a time into a noble liberty such as the Sons of God enjoy VERS XXII 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. The whole creation groaneth together c. IF it be enquired how the Gentile World groaned and travailed in pain let them who expound this of the Fabrick of the material World tell us how that groaneth and travaileth They must needs own it to be a borrowed and allusive phrase But in the sense which we have pitcht upon the very literal construction may be admitted CHAP. XI BEFORE we apply our selves to the Exposition of this Chapter let me make these few enquiries I. Whether the Jewish Nation as to the more general and greater part of it had not been rejected and blinded before such time as our Saviour manifested himself in the flesh I know well enough that the casting off of that Nation is commonly assigned to that horrid wickedness of theirs in murdering the Lord Christ and persecuting the Gospel and his Apostles a wickedness abundantly deserving their rejection indeed but were they not blinded and cast off before They were 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a generation of Vipers at the time that the Baptist first appeared amongst them and this bears the same signification as the seed of the Serpent Our Saviour preacheth to them in Parables that they might neither see nor hear nor be converted nor their sins be forgiven them Mark IV. 11 12. which may give ground of suspicion that that people were cast off to whom Christ preaches in such a form and manner of Oratory on purpose that they should not be converted If they were Jews to whom S. Peter directs his first Epistle as who indeed doth deny it then there is some weight in those words Chap. II. 10. Ye were in times past not a people II. Is it not very agreeable to reason and Scripture to suppose that Nation cast off for the entertainment they had given to their fond and impious Traditions A reprobate people certainly they were whose Religion had made void the Commandments of God A reprobate Nation who in vain worshipped God after the Commandments of Men Matth. XV. and by such Commandments of Men that had leven'd yea poisoned their minds with blasphemy and hatred against the true Messiah and the pure truth of God Isa. XXIX 13. Because the fear of this people toward me is taught by the precept of men therefore the wisdom of their wise men shall perish c. May we not from this original derive the first original of the rejection of this people And by how much the more they are bewitcht with the love of their Traditions by so much the more we may suppose them separated from God hardened and cast off That the Apostle seems to look back to times before the murdering of our Lord when he is discoursing about the casting off of that Nation III. Was not the Gospel brought unto and publisht amongst the ten Tribes as well as amongst the Jews when the Apostle wrote this Epistle The determination of this matter seems to conduce something toward the explaining of this Chapter seeing throughout the whole Chapter there is no mention of the Jews singly but of Israel The Gospel was to be preacht to the whole World before the destruction of Jerusalem Matth. XXIV 14. And was it not to the ten Tribes as well as other Nations It makes for the affirmative that S. James directs his Epistle 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to those ten Tribes as well as the other two But the Apostles wrote to none but to whom the Gospel was now come VERS I. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Hath God cast away his people WE may observe what it is the Apostle propounds to discourse viz. not of the universal calling in of the Nation but of the non-rejection of the whole Nation Hath God so rejected his people that he hath cast them away universally 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 God forbid For I my self am an Israelite and he hath not cast me away 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Of the Tribe of Benjamin So Phil. III. 5. The Jasper stone upon which was inscribed the name of Benjamin in the Brest-plate was the first foundation in the New Jerusalem Revel XXI 19. In memory as it should seem of this Benjamite the chief founder of the Gentile Church e e e e e e Hieros Peah fol. 15. 3. Kiddush fol. 60. 2. The Jasper of Benjamin fell one day out of the Brest plate and was lost Dama ben Nethinah having one like it they bargained with him to buy it for an hundred pence c. VERS II. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 How he maketh intercession c. f f f f f f Lev. Gâ—r in 1 Kings XIX ELijah begs of God that he would take vengeance on the Israelites for the wickednesses they had committed VERS III. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 They have digged down thine Altars THY Altars What Altars of God should they be that the Israelites had thrown down in Samaria The Altar in the Temple was whole at that time And what Altar had God besides R. Sol. upon 1 Kings XIX Tells us these Altars were private Altars raised to the Name of God Such an one was that that Elijah repaired being broken down 1 King XVIII 30. There were indeed 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 high places built up to Idols but there were some also built up to God And that as the Jews grant lawfully enough before the Temple was built which were used afterward but the use of them became faulty because they were bound to go only to that Altar that was in the Temple These Altars were unlawfully built amongst the two Tribes of Judah and Benjamin because the way lay open for them to the Altar at Jerusalem but it was not so unlawful for the ten Tribes within the Kingdom of Samaria because they could have no such access It is questionable therefore whether Elijah would call the high places or Altars in Judaea though dedicated to the true God the Altars of God which being so dedicated in Samaria he calls by the name of thine Altars VERS IV. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 To the image of Baal THOSE who would have the Hebrew Bibles corrected by the Greek Version and contend that those Interpreters were inspired with a Prophetick Spirit let them tell us here who it was that mistook these Interpreters or St. Paul For so they in 1 King XIX 18. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And thou shalt leave in Israel seven thousand men all the knees which have not bowed the knee 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to Baal So the Roman and Alexandrian Edition But the Apostle 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 I have reserved to my self seven thousand men all that have not bowed the knee 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to Baal To pass by the
proved both by the order of Ezekiels prophesie especially comparing that prophesie with the book of Daniel and by the story of that Kingdom and that King himself In all that large Prophesie I take up but vers 17. of Chap. XXXVIII Art thou he of whom I have spoken in old time by my servants the Prophets of Israel which prophesied in those days many years that I would bring thee against them His meaning is No thou art not he My Prophets prophesie of the King of Assyria and the King of Babylon that these should come up against them to avenge my quarrel upon them and to be my scourge to punish them for their iniquities But thou art an upstart risen of thy self not to do my work but to work against me and against mine ordinances Read Dan. VII 25. that speaks of this cursed King He shall speak great words against the most High and shall wear out the Saints of the most High and think to change times and laws and they shall be given into his hands for a time c. And of the same Wretch and the same actions speaks he Chap. XII 11. He took away the daily sacrifice and set up the abomination that maketh desolate Upon which he that readeth 1 Maccab. I. will find a large comment that he enjoyned upon pain of death the Jews to take up the manner of the Heathen not to circumcise their Children not to use the Law that he caused abominable things to be offered on the Altar Idols and Groves to be set and in a word not to use their own Religion upon pain of death The like may be read of him in Josephus and other Authors and that not only he but other Kings of the same Kingdom bore the same enmity and exercised the same persecution against the Jews and their Religion This is that Gog and Land of Magog that Ezekiel speaks of so bitter and grievous enemies unto Israel To him our Apocalyptick alludes in this place and speaking of a Kingdom and party of the like temper and that imitated him in enmity and persecuting the true Religion he useth the very same name and meaneth that Satan should deceive men into a false Religion that they should hate and persecute the true as Gog and Magog the Syro-Grecians and Antiochus had once done And be it Pope that he intends or be it Turk or both I do not dispute but by the currant of the discourse along the whole Chapter to me the Papacy is plainly meant more especially and how properly it belongs to Rome sad experience hath so copiously evidenced that I need not to insist on any parallel About the fortieth year of Christ the Gospel was brought among the Gentiles then Satan began to be bound and imprisoned that he should not deceive the Heathen as he had done Count a thousand years thence and look what times were in the World about the year of Christ MXL and methinks I see the World turned purely Heathen again for blindness and superstition and Idolatry that Satan was then plainly let loose and the Nations as much deceived then as they were under Heathenism before Christs coming One thing by the way may not be passed unobserved That in one sense he was loose when he was bound and did a World of mischief one way when he was tied up from doing mischief another Within those thousand years from the first going forth of the Gospel among the Gentiles counted thence forward you find as bitter persecution of the Gospel as bloody murthering of the Saints of God as ever was in the World till he was loosed again and Popery fell to that trade a fresh Within the thousand years that Satan is said to be imprisoned were those Ten bloody Persecutions that Ecclesiastical History speaks of in which so many hundred thousand precious Christians were horridly and barbarously murthered for the profession of the truth And is not the hand of Joab in all this Had not Satan a hand in all that butchery No he was imprisoned But can such mischief be wrought and Satan not there All that persecution and cruelty and murther committed and the great Murtherer from the beginning not there By which very thing you may observe that there is a great deal more danger in Satans deceiving than in his persecuting for his persecuting is not here mentioned while he is said to be tied up from deceiving Upon the whole thus unfolded we may Observe these three things I. That Satans great work and business that he follows is to deceive II. That it is his great Masterpiece to deceive in matter of Religion III. That it is his ultimate refuge to raise persecution when he cannot deceive How all these arise out of the Text I suppose none but may easily observe His work before his imprisonment was to deceive the Nations and he sets to the same again when loosed from imprisonment His deceiving of the Nations was by cheating them into false principles and practises of Religion Heathenism before and Papacy after And when he cannot deceive the camp of the Saints and the beloved City he hath his Gog and Magog his army as the sand of the Sea to sight against Need I to spend much proofs to shew that it is Satans trade and work and business that he follows to deceive It was the first thing he did after he was Satan the Serpent deceived me saith Eve and I did eat and he hath been doing the same ever since and will be ever doing whilest he is He is a Lyer and the Father of Lies Joh. VIII 44. And that very name and profession of his speaks cheating and deceit There was a lying Spirit in the mouth of Ahabs prophets to cheat both him and them and there is a lying Spirit in the heart of thousands and thousands to deceive and ruine them I fear lest Satan have beguiled you as he beguiled Eve saith the Apostle to some that were a thousand fold better than some thousands in the World How abundant proof of this that it is Satans work to deceive might be fetched from Scripture how abundant from experience But what testimony would be given of this in Hell If it were asked there Do you think that Satan is a Deceiver Oh! what a howl would be given up of the attestation of this felt by woful and miserable experience Oh! he hath deceived and cheated us all hither he hath led us like the Syrians blindfold into Samaria into the midst of their enemies so us into this misery merely with his cousening and we never dreamed of any such thing He made me believe says one and to say in my heart that there was no God and now I feel there is an angry one with a witness He cheated me say others to think the threatnings and curses of the Word of God were but Bugbears to fright men but now we feel them heavier than Rocks and Mountains He cousened us to believe that the pleasures of
and as thy soul is risen from the death of sin so mayest thou expect thy bodies rising from death in the grave The Jews speak of a little bone in some part of a mans body they call it Luz which they say will never be consumed in the grave but will be as it were a seed sown in the ground out of which will spring the Resurrection of the whole body I may say graciousness in the soul is rather the seed of the Resurrection of the body that will cause it to rise to life and happiness And thus much concerning the first Observation II. That in the time of the first Resurrection that is the raising the Gentiles from the Death of sin some lost the opportunity and would not be raised The rest of the dead lived not again because they were not raised by a first Resurrection when season and opportunity of living again was in date that is for the thousand years mentioned in the Text. Whether you take the thousand years for a certain determinate time of exactly so many years or that a certain number is used for an uncertain and this number the rather because it is used by the Jews whether the one or the other you are to begin to count from the time the Gospel was first sent among the Gentiles And count such a space of time forward and you will find in story that though the Gospel had gone through the world in that time and made the world Christian and vast numbers were converted to Christianity yet there was still a struggling to have kept the World Heathen and multitudes were unwilling to come off from their old Heathen and Idolatrous Religion For three hundred years the Emperors and all the Magistrates were enemies to the Gospel and if any of them did not persecute the Christians as but few but did yet they maintained their Heathen Religion might and main And the great wise men of the World as they were esteemed the Philosophes and learned ones were the greatest sticklers for the maintaining of the worshiping of their many false and idol Gods all along when the Emperours were become Christians Which may very well make us to remember the words of the Apostle 1 Cor. I. 26. Not many wise men after the flesh not many mighty not many noble are called but God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise I cannot omit two remarkable passages The one of Julian the Emperor who was brought up a Christian but turned Heathen nay who as stories relate of him had been a Lecturer in a Christian congregation but became the bitter enemy to Christianity He when the Emperors had been Christian for two successions viz. Constantine and Constantius and the Christian Religion had flourished in their times well towards forty years and the Heathen Idolatrous Temples shut up and Christian Churches opened He opens the Heathen Temples shuts up the Christian promotes Idolatry again and the worship of the Heathen Gods and hath many Heathen Philosophers Jamblichus Maximus Ecebolus Libanius and I know not how many more to spur him on to it And the other passage I have is a clause in a letter of Adrian the Emperor to one of his Nobles in which he tells him I have been in Egypt and there I observed the Christians worshiping Christ and Idols yea the Christian Bishops worshiping Christ and Serapis Which Serapis was the great God and Idol of the Egyptians By all which we may see the truth of what is asserted in the Text That the rest of the dead lived not again but continued still in their dead condition of blindness and Heathenism And may also see the reason why they lived not again viz. because they would not but chose death before life to continue in their dead condition of being Heathens rather than to become Christians and live And from this we may see how just it was with God to let Popery and Mahumetism invade the world and to reduce it to its heathenish ignorance blindness and superstition again because it was so unwilling to part with its ignorance blindness and superstition Because they would not receive truth in the love of it as the Apostle sayes it was just with God to give them up to strong delusions to believe a ly And by that sad example we may observe how men lose and let slip the opportunities that God affords them for their own good and so losing them they lose themselves Jerusalem knows not the time of her Visitation and the things of her peace and so poor Jerusalem is lost and her opportunity gone for ever There is a critical time when there is a season opportune for the good of the Souls and the clock strikes Time is but foolish men too commonly take so little notice of it that the brazen head cryes Time is past and breaks to pieces If we should take up the Dispute whether God do not set his time and stint how long he will let men have opportunity of rising from the death of sin are there not many evidences for the affirmative that he doth He sets his stint and date how long he will afford a man the opportunity that his body may live and doth he not the like for the living of the Soul Doth not God shut the gates of mercy against sinful Souls even in this life and doth he not shut the gates of Repentance These in the Text that lived not again was not all possibility of living again taken again from them because they had let the time and opportunity of reviving let slip and go and neglected it Esau lost his opportunity and having lost that he found no place of recovery though he sought it with tears And Joh. XII 39 40. They could not believe because Esaias had said he hath blinded their eyes c. Why were Esaias words a charm to them that they could not believe No they could not believe because those words of Esaias were verified upon them And they had so long wilfully blinded their own eyes and hardned their hearts that God had put to his Seal and blinded and hardned them that they were now past all possibility of believing In that great dispute and iniquiry how God hardneth mens hearts of which there is so frequent mention and intimitation in Scripture the first crisis toward the determination of it is that God hath set such men a time how long they may be in a possibility of repenting and believing which when it is come and they are still impertinent and unbelieving and will not repent and believe he shuts the door against them that they shall not repent and believe Upon the consideration of all which we have advertisement what we have to do viz. to strive after this first Resurrection while the Lord affords time and opportunity and when God offers the advantage of our living again not to be enemies of our own reviving A SERMON Preached upon 2 SAMUEL XIX 29.
birth of his mother to conduce to it For if Christ did use an undoubted word to signifie from above and Nicodemus did undoubtedly understand him to speak of being born from above yet certainly he could not understand it of being born from Heaven locally any more than when he saith that Christ was sent from God he understood that locally too which none will say he did And then if he did not understand this birth from above locally his answer though indeed improper in it self yet is as proper to that phrase of being born from above as to the other of being born again from above he cannot b b b b b b To see the Kingdom of God is to enter into it vers 5. or to partake of it as to see corruption Psal. 16. 10. to see Death Luke 2. 26. Joh. 8. 51. to see evil Psal. 90. 15. to see sorrow Rev. 18. 7. to see good Eccles. 6. 6. c. is to be in these estates or to partake of them See vers 36. To see life is to have life see the Kingdom of God 4. Nicodemus saith unto him How can a man be born c c c c c c Being old So is the Greek verbatim and being so rendred it leaveth the matter less scrupulous than being expressed when he is old for that might seem to restrain the new birth ever till a man be old The Syrian hath kept close to the sense given Can an old man be born 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 being old Can he enter the second time into his mothers womb and be born 5. Iesus answered Verily verily I say unto thee Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit he cannot enter into the Kingdom of God 6. That which is born of the flesh is flesh and that which is born of the Spirit is Spirit 7. Marvel not that I said unto thee d d d d d d Except a man be born in ver 3. is here explained Ye must be born And so doth not only shew a command included in a doctrinal lesson but also that the words We and Ye are sometimes to be taken indefinitely though they seem only to speak of a fixed number And so in vers 2. We know that thou art a Teacher the word we must be so taken compare Matth. 5. 3 4 5. c. where it is said blessed are they with Luke 6. 20 21. where blessed are ye Ye must be born again 8. The e e e e e e The word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 here used hath been understood by some for the holy Spirit which word indeed is used constantly for it in the Scripture and some of that opinion have strengthened themselves in it by this because a voluntary action is ascribed unto it It bloweth where it listeth which cannot be ascribed say they unto the wind The word indeed in the Greek is of various signification as is the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the Hebrew and as it doth very commonly and very properly signifie the eternal Spirit the Holy Ghost and the created Spirits Angels and the souls of men so doth it also the sensible Spirits the breath of our mouths and the wind of Heaven In this last sense which is the sense that we have in hand it is taken by the Septuagint Gen. 8. 1. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Lord brought a wind over the Earth And 1 King 18. 11. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Behold a mighty strong wind c. but the Lord was not in the wind c. And so doth Aristotle confess that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 lib. de Mund. And in that sense do Cyrill Chrysostome Theophylact his mouth and other of the Fathers take it here For 1. otherwise here would be no comparison which the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 So doth shew there is And to take the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for the holy Spirit in the beginning of the verse as well as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the latter end is to be taken in that sense would make a very harsh and rugged construction 2. It is very improper to say that Nicodemus now had heard the sound or voice of the Holy Ghost being as he was yet so far to seek in the things of Salvation And 3. whereas it is said the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 bloweth where it listeth as if a voluntary action were ascribed to it it is but such another speech as when the Sun is said to know his going down Psal. 104. 19. Now there is as little knowledge in the Sun as there is voluntariness in the wind unless with the Jews we will hold the Sun Moon and Stars to be intellectual creatures and yet such an expression is used of it for elegancy and fulness of expression wind bloweth where it listeth and thou hearest the sound thereof but canst not tell whence it cometh and whither it goeth So is every one that is born of the Spirit 9. Nicodemus answered and said unto him How can these things be 10. Iesus answered and said unto him Art thou a master of Israel and knowest not these things 11. Verily verily I say unto thee we speak that we do know and testifie that we have seen and ye receive not our witness 12. If I have told you earthly things and ye believe not how shall ye believe if I tell you of heavenly things 13. And no man hath ascended up into Heaven but he that came down from Heaven even the Son of man which is in Heaven 14. And as Moses lifted up the Serpent in the wilderness even so must the Son of man be lifted up 15. That whosoever believeth in him should no perish but have eternal life 16. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life 17. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world but that the world through him might be saved 18. He that believeth on him is not condenined but he that believeth not is condemned already because he hath not believed in the Name of the only begotten Son of God 19. And this is the condemnation that light is come into the world and men loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil 20. For every one that g g g g g g By this he expresseth the Hebrew phrase so common in the Old Testament 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and which is used generally of all the Kings of Israel and of too many of the Kings of Judah He did evil in the sight of the Lord. doth evil hateth light neither cometh to the light lest his deeds should be reproved 21. But he that h h h h h h 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as Gen. 24. 49. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Josh. 2. 14. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. doth truth cometh to the light that his deeds might be manifest
that they are wrought in God 22. ¶ After these things came Iesus and his Disciples into the i i i i i i 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That is into Judea country meaning in opposition to Judea City For the story next before of the conference with Nicodemus came to pass and was acted in Jerusalem and there had Christ kept the Passover and done divers miracles and stayed some time and after these things mentioned before saith the Evangelist Jesus leaveth the City and goeth into the Country leaveth the chief City of Judea and goeth into the Country of Judea for to this sense do the Evangelists words mean if they be taken up at large And therefore I see no reason why Beza should confine this place to the country that lay near Jerusalem translating it Judeae territorium and expounding it to that sense Nor do I see that it is any such great matter as he makes it to give a reason of this unusual phrase 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 country of Iudea and there he tarried with them and baptized 23. And Iohn also was baptizing k k k k k k Aenon The Syriack and Arab read it in two words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which some would have to mean the Well of the Greeks as if in the times of the Grecian and Syro-Grecian Monarchies some Greeks had digged and laid up these waters we shall enquire after this place in the exposition of the verse in Aenon near to Salim because there was much f Gr. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The voice thereof For even 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Things without life are said to yield a voice 1 Cor. 14. 7 8. As blood Gen. 4. 10. waters Psal. 93. 3. miracles Exod. 4. 8. thunder Rev. 19. 6. c. And whereas the Hebrew word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 doth indifferently signifie either an articulate voice or any other sound the Greek word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is also used very commonly in the Scripture to the same signification and extent water there and they came and were baptized 24. For Iohn was not yet cast into prison 25. l Therefore there was a question of Iohns disciples with the Iews about purifying 26. And they came unto Iohn and said unto him Rabbi he that was with thee beyond Iordan to whom thou barest witness behold the same baptizeth and all men come to him 27. Iohn answered and said A man can receive nothing except it be given him from Heaven 28. Ye your selves bear me witness that I said I am not the Christ but I am sent before him 29. He that hath the bride is the bridegroom but the friend of the bridegroom which standeth and heareth him rejoyceth greatly because of the bridegrooms voice This my joy thorefore is fulfilled 30. He must increase but I must decrease 31. He that cometh from above is above all he that is of the earth is earthly and speaketh of the earth he that cometh from above is above all 32. And what he hath seen and heard that he testifieth and no man receiveth his testimony 33. He that hath received his testimony hath set to his seal that God is true 34. For he whom God hath sent speaketh the words of God for God giveth not the spirit by measure unto him 35. The Father loveth the Son and hath given all things into his hand 36. He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life but the wrath of God abideth on him Reason of the Order THE subsequence and jointing of this story of Nicodemus unto that which is recorded in the latter end of the second Chapter of Christs doing many miracles at Jerusalem at the Passover is so apparent out of Nicodemus his own words ver 2. and out of the words of the Evangelist ver 22. that it needeth no proof and evidence but only to point at these verses for the proving of it Yet that we may observe both the connexion of this Chapter with the former and also the times and juncture of this Chapter within it self let us view it a little at large and take our prospect from the three and twentieth verse of the second Chapter Now when Jesus was in Jerusalem at the Passover on the Feast day many believed in his name when they saw the miracles that he did This feast day at the Passover may best be conceived to be the first day of the festival week or the day after the Passover was eaten for on that day was the appearance of the people in the Court of the Temple as the Law appointed that thrice every year they should appear before the Lord. For that appearing mentioned in the Law saith Rambam was that every one appear in the Court the first holy day of the festival and bring an offering In Hagg. per. 1. On that day therefore the concourse of the people being the greatest it is most proper to suppose that Christ began to shew himself in his miraculous power as he had done a day or two before in his Prophetick zeal in driving the market out of the Temple What miracles they were that he wrought is not mentioned it is most rational and most agreeable to his workings afterward to hold that it was healing of diseases and casting our Devils but whatsoever the miracles were for particular and distinctive quality the power shewed in them was so great that it made Nicodemus confess and others acknowledge that none could do such but a teacher come from God and it made the Galileans who were spectators now to receive him when he came amongst them afterward Joh. 4. 45. Such works had never been done in their sight till now and they had never had such miraculous spectacles at their appearances before and so he shewed them at once that it is not in vain to wait upon God in his appointments and that the great Prophet was come among them and yet on that very day come three years they put him to death Nicodemus undoubtedly was a spectator and witness of what was done and so the Syriack translator seemeth to conclude when he rendreth the beginning of this Chapter thus Now there was one of the Pharisees named Nicodemus there and so his own words seem to argue as spoken not upon hearsay but upon ocular witness we know thou art a teacher come from God for none can do such miracles c. He having seen those wondrous workings by day came to Jesus that night as may in most probability be conjectured and the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 very properly rendred in such a definite and determinate construction For there can be no doubt but he would come with the first conveniency he could being taken with those miracles and desiring to have some communication with Christ and not knowing how soon he might be getting out of Town However if he did not come that night yet doubtless he would delay as