renown to shew that as some other things which are little in bulk or quantity yet in other regards are of more esteem and value above others in sight greater so it was with Bethlehem though perhaps otherwise little in number bigness or account among the thousands of Judah or as St. Matthew among the Princes of Judah Which in sense is all one alluding to the custome of the Israelites of dividing their tribes into thousands as among us the Shires are divided into Hundreds over every one of which thousands was a Prince or Chief Thus is the difficulty of reconciling St. Matthew and Micah abundantly removed and that by a way which the Jews themselves cannot reasonably reject Thirdly I consider the stupendious manner of his birth For this was also foretold of the Messias that he should be born of a Virgin This God had promised long before to the house of David I say to the house of David for that is to be very well heeded 'T was to the house of David not to Ahaz that this promise was made Indeed God said unto Ahaz Ask thee a sign of the Lord thy God c. But this Ahaz refused to doe and said I will not ask neither will I tempt the Lord. And then follows the promise not to Ahaz but to the house of David And he said Hear ye now O house of David is it a small thing for you to weary men but will ye weary my God also Therefore the Lord himself will give 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 you a sign 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Orig. contra Cels l. 1. Behold a Virgin shall conceive and bear a Son and shall call his name Immanuel Isa 7.11 14. By which words it is very evident as one of the Ancients hath observed well that what is said here is said to the house of David Now the Virgin Mary though she were indeed espoused to Joseph yet before they came together she was found with Child of the Holy Ghost Matt. 1.18 And the same Evangelist tells us expresly All this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the Prophet saying Behold a Virgin shall be with Child c. v. 22 23. It was under the character of the seed of the woman that the first promise of the Messias was made Gen. 3.15 And this was made good in the birth of Jesus of a Virgin who was in the strictest sense the seed of the woman for though the Virgin Mary were espoused to Joseph yet before they came together she was found with Child of the Holy Ghost Thus as sin entred by a woman so did salvation also And God made a Woman the instrument of the greatest good as the first Woman was the occasion of the greatest evil The Woman was then first in the transgression and now she is also made of God an instrument of the greatest blessing to mankind we are saved now by the fruit of a Woman's womb as we were made miserable at first by a Woman's rebellion And thus the Apostle tells us that the Woman shall be saved in Child-bearing And there being a difficulty in that expression I shall offer something upon this occasion towards its explication The Apostle requires that the woman should learn in silence with all subjection 1 Tim. 2.11 and adds But I suffer not a woman to teach nor to usurp authority over the man but to be in silence v. 12. This may seem hard on the woman's side and therefore the Apostle to shew that what he required of the woman was not arbitrarily done gives the reasons why he enjoins the woman this silence and subjection and gives two reasons The first is that the woman by God was made subject to man and was so even by the very law of her creation and would have so continued had mankind continued in innocence For Adam was first formed then Eve v. 13. The second reason for this injunction of silence and subjection is the woman's transgression This rendred her condition more mean and worse than it was by the law of her creation She is now subjected for her fault and depressed lower than she was upon the score of her transgression God said to the woman upon her fall Thy desire shall be to thy husband and he shall rule over three Gen. 3.16 Thus saith the Apostle And Adam was not deceived but the woman being deceived was in the transgression v. 14. By all which it appears that the woman's condition since the fall is very bad and upon some accounts worse than that of the man's But yet though it be much depressed 't is not deplorable and hopeless It follows Notwithstanding she shall be saved in Child-bearing if they continue in faith and charity and holiness with sobriety v. 15. She shall be saved in Child-bearing not that the woman's bearing of children were either a means or condition of her being saved this would be small comfort to those who bear none But she shall be saved by this Saviour who was born of a woman and is the promised seed 'T is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by this Son born of the Virgin Mary this promised seed who is the foundation of faith and hope And then what follows If they continue in faith and charity and holiness with sobriety does but insinuate the condition required on the woman's part The principal object of faith is the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or promised seed this is the mean of our salvation and the foundation of our hope but faith and charity are required as conditions and charity are required as conditions on our part Fourthly I consider the time in which the Messias was to come according to the promises and predictions of the old Testament And here I shall consider what the time predicted was and then shew you that 't is past long since and that our Jesus did appear at that time according to the general expectation I shall begin and shew what the time was in which the Messias was to come according to the predictions of the old Testament And to that purpose commend to your consideration those places of Scripture which give us an account of that time And I shall begin with the words of Jacob The sceptre shall not depart from Judah nor a lawgiver from between his feet untill Shiloh come Gen. 49.10 That those words are to be understood of the Messias the ancient writers of the Jews do confess and the modern Jews know this very well And several of them have also interpreted the place of the Messias Though there have been some among them who have used their wits to elude the force of that divine Testimony The meaning of those words of Jacob is as if he had said The Jews who near the time of and after their return from their captivity of Babylon received their denomination from Judah shall not cease to be a people nor be quite deprived of the use of their Laws and Religion untill
quaked greatly These things were very terrible and so were other works which we read of afterward which spoke indeed the presence and power of God but then they spoke his anger too The Sons of Aaron were destroyed by fire Miriam is struck with leprousie the earth swallows up Korah and his company and the fiery serpents plague the people On the other hand our Lord saves but does not destroy Instead of killing or inflicting plagues and diseases upon men he feeds the hungry cures the sick cleanseth the Lepers restores the blind and lame dispossesseth the Demoniacks and raises the dead 4. Our Saviour confirmed his doctrine by raising himself from the dead Moses dyed as well as the other Prophets And though the Jews tell us upon a trifling ground that he did die by the kiss of God's mouth and not after the ordinary manner of men yet they cannot deny that he dyed and 't is not affirmed by any that he rose from the dead He dyed on this side the Land of Promise and was buried over against Beth Peor Deut. 34.8 but the Jews are so far from affirming that he rose again that they knew not where his Sepulchre or place of burial was So that there was no room left for their fraud None could take away his Body and pretend he was risen from the dead Our blessed Saviour did rise from the dead notwithstanding all the art used to prevent it aswell as the spreading of it He had many witnesses of his Resurrection some whereof sealed the truth with their Bloud I shall now consider the pretended miracles of the Church of Rome not that I think them worthy to be compared with those of our blessed Saviour But that Church hath boasted of Miracles and we have large accounts of the wonders which have been wrought within the verge of her own Communion And not to inlarge too far I shall confine my self to those three marks or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which a learned Writer discoursing of this argument hath pitched upon 1. Whereas the miracles which Jesus wrought were grave and serious works substantial and such as proclamed the power and goodness and the wisedom of the Authour of them there is nothing more ridiculous and trifling than many of those which are reported to be done in the Church of Rome Such are the many stories which are told of our Saviour and the Virgin Mary They tell us that she frequently comes from Heaven offers her self in Marriage and brings knacks along with her and bestows them upon her friends and familiars They tell us also of our Saviour that he appears in his Mother's armes as a little Child that sometimes he goes from her and that he was once almost lost in the Snow They tell that the Virgin Mary's house in Nazareth upon discontent removed from thence and travail'd from place to place for the space of about two thousand miles Durand Rational Divin Offic. till it sate down at Loretto They tell that when one of their Preachers who was blind preached though there were no auditours to do it yet the stones that were about him cryed out Amen at his concluding I am ashamed to report the ridiculous stories which they tell of men who carried their heads in their hands after they had been Beheaded for several miles together of others who spake after they were dead of Sheep and Asses running to hear St. Francis preach and of Swine falling dead under his curse Of St. Dominick who hung in the air like a bird and at his Devotions forcing the Devil to hold a light and burn his fingers at that service of Christina who contracted her self at prayer into a round form like that of an Hedgehog and who could climb the highest trees like a Squirrel and swim in rivers like a Fish Of Catharine of Sienna who desired a new heart and thereupon Christ came to her opened her Breast took out her heart goes away with it and brings another and tells her that was his own I will not entertain you with the Stories of the sweating and speaking and motion of their Images of the great feats which have been done by the relicks of Saints and holy water and such like things Such Pranks as these are reported which look more like the feats of Demons of Hob-goblins and Fairies than the finger of God The works of Jesus spake the great wisedom power and goodness of God they were works of great mercy and relief But these stories are Romances and false representations or which is worse they look like the works of an evil Spirit who is abroad ready to deceive them who obey not the truth These things can serve no good and wise purpose and that is not all for they serve a very evil one These false stories are a temtation to men to question the true Men will be too ready to suspect the miracles of Christ when they find themselves imposed upon by those who profess themselves his followers 2. The miracles which Christ did were to confirm the truth of the Christian doctrine But these pretended miracles are brought to confirm a doctrine which Christ and his Apostles never taught Christ and his Apostles taught all Christian doctrine and all the necessary matters of faith And now though an Angel from Heaven should Preach any other Gospel we ought not to receive him Gal. 1.8 9. Were the works of the Church of Rome like our Saviour's works and their doctrine the same with his these works would be of great use to convince unbelievers but not at all requisite where the doctrine was believed before For the doctrine of the Church of Rome it is the same with that of the holy Scriptures or it is not If it be the same there is no need of miracles especially among them who believe the holy Scriptures to confirm that which hath been sufficiently confirmed already But if it be not the same we are not to regard miracles in that Case Nay if an Apostle or Angel from Heaven should Preach another Gospel let him be accursed We shall find that the pretended miracles in the Church of Rome are alledged for the confirmation of the Novel doctrines of that Church not of the Christian doctrine taught by Christ and his Apostles We are told that Christ spake intelligibly several times out of the Wafer to a Spanish Franciscan Again that upon the Altar he turned himself from the form of a Consecrated Wafer into that of a little Child and then from that of a Child to that of a Wafer Again that a Woman's Bees not thriving she stole a Consecrated Wafer and put it into one of her Hives The devout Bees in honour to that fall to work and with their honey-combs make a little Church with windows with roof and door with belfry and Altar upon which they laid the Host and did fly about it continually praising the Lord All this is for the confirmation of the doctrine of Transubstantiation
had in confirmation of it Men are not commonly so fond of truth as to confirm it with their bloud Can we imagine that men should persist in a lie to the loss of all things At the close of chap. VI. But of this matter I have discoursed before and shall not need to pursue it now 7. That the Resurrection of the Messias was foretold in the old Testament as well as typified and therefore the Evangelists are not to be rejected by the Jews for reporting this matter The first preachers of the Christian faith did confirm this truth from the holy writings which the Jews owned They proved from them that this was foretold and they do it beyond all exception because they argue from those principles which the Jews allowed To this purpose belong those words Thou art my Son this day have I begotten thee That that Psalm did relate to the Messias we are able to prove from the Jewish Doctors who do acknowledge it And therefore when it was alledged to this purpose they cannot say that it was an allegation out of a place which did not belong to the Messias The Apostle applies those words to this sense He assures us that God hath fulfilled his promise in that he hath raised up Jesus again as it is also written in the second Psalm thou art my Son c. It being confessed by the Jews themselves that the Psalm out of which these words are cited is to be understood of the Messias I need not go about to justifie and make good that it belongs to the matter for which it is alledged Psal 2.5 Act. 13.33 I shall onely consider how fitly these words are applied to the resurrection of the Messias For thou art my Son this day have I begotten thee seem rather to relate to the birth than to the Resurrection of the Messias For the clearing of this matter it is to be considered That it is no unusual thing to call the earth our Mother as well as our Parent from whom we are born it is very common to call each of these by the same name The earth out of which we are taken and to which we return is our Mother as well as our Parent from whom we spring and our grave to which we return is our Womb as well as that of our Mothers When Julius Caesar dreamed that he had offered violence to his Mother Sueton. Jul. Caesar there were those who did interpret it arbitrium orbis terrarum portendi i. e. that he should conquer the earth quae omnium parens haberetur i. e. which is the common Mother of us all Id. Tiberius And when Tiberius died the people out of hatred prayed Terram Matrem the common Mother the Earth to give him no reception but among the wicked Philo the Jew tells us that the earth seems to be a Mother Phil. Jud. de Mundi Opificio and that thence it was that among the Ancients it was called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by a word that at once signifies the Earth and Mother and that according to Plato 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. the earth does not so much imitate a Woman as a Woman the earth He tells us farther that nature hath given her breasts viz. the chanels of rivers and fountains After this manner do the writers of the old Testament speak with whom the grave which receives the dead is called the Womb and therefore a Resurrection from thence may well be called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or a new birth Naked came I out of my Mother's womb says Job and naked shall I return thither What we render thither the Chaldee Paraphrast expresseth by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. to the grave Again on the other hand when the Holy Scripture speaks of the Mother's womb it does it after such a manner as refers to the Earth the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Mother of us all When the Psalmist speaks of his being formed in the Womb he expresses the Womb by the lowest parts of the earth which the Chaldee Paraphrast on the place interprets of the Womb of his Mother And the Virgin 's Womb seems to be meant by the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Vid. Paulum Fagium in Gen. 37.35 i. e. the lowermost parts of the earth And to my present purpose into the innermost parts of the belly in Solomon is by the Targum rendred in profundum Sepulchri i. e. into the depth of the Grave And we find among the Jewish Writers that the Mother's womb is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a sepulchre Oholoth c. 7. m. 4. He that is born and dies and is buried does but pass from one Tomb to another And he that rises out of the Womb of the earth or his grave may be said to be born anew and therefore it may well be said of our Saviour when he rose from the dead that he was then begotten And when the Apostle applies those words this day have I begotten thee to our Saviour's Resurrection he does but speak the language of the Hebrew writers and the Jews who own this Psalm to belong to the Messias have no reason to complain that those words of it should be applyed to his Resurrection Job 1.21 Ps 139.15 Eph. 4.9 Pro. 18.18 And this manner of speaking is very agreeable to the type of our Saviour's Resurrection I mean the Prophet Jonas who was three days and three nights in the Whales belly to which the heart of the earth in which Jesus was and from which he rose answers Matt. 12.40 Jonas is not onely said to have been in the belly or bowels as it is in the Hebrew of the Fish Jonah 1.17 But when he prayed unto the Lord his God there and God heard him he is said to have heard him out of the belly of Hell or as the Marginal reading hath it and the Hebrew word signifies out of the belly of the grave Jon. 2.2 And when he acknowledges his deliverance he does it in these words Yet hast thou brought up my life from corruption O Lord my God Jon. 2.6 compare Ps 16.10 Act. 2.31 Jesus came from the Virgins Womb and the Womb of the earth The first birth was natalis Imperatoris the second natalis imperii The Prince was born when the Virgin brought him forth at Bethlehem but his Resurrection was the birth day of his Kingdom and of his entrance upon his everlasting Preisthood Upon both accounts he is justly called the Son of God as he was conceived by the Holy Ghost in the Virgins Womb and as he was raised by the Holy Ghost from the grave Augustin de Tempore Serm. 133. Virgoerat adhuc terra nondum opere compressa nondum sementi subacta Tertull. de carne Christi And there is a great cognation between the Womb and the grave The Womb of the Virgin which had received none but the Holy Jesus and the Sepulchre which Joseph had provided wherein never