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
it's plain that by The Word he understood the Messias And that by the Messias they understood a Divine Subsistence is evident from sundry Places in the Chaldee Paraphrase which often applies the Name Jehovah to the Messias which according to the Opinion of the Jews ought not to be imparted to any Creature as particularly Isa 28.5 Jehovah Sabbaoth for so it is in the Hebrew shall be a Crown of Glory unto the residue of his People which those Interpreters understand concerning the Messias So also Isa 18.7 In that time shall the Present be brought unto the Lord of Hosts that is say they unto the Messias So also Jerem. 33.16 By Jehovah our Righteousness they understand the Messias and by the Name of the Everlasting Moses Hadersan understands the Name of the Messias or Anointed King And certainly had they not believed the Messias to be a Divine Subsistence they would never have attributed to him this incommunicable Name of God of which they had so high a Veneration that they thought it too sacred for any Creature to name and much more to assume And the Commentary upon the fourth Psalm expresly saith Because the Gentiles cease not to ask us Where is our God the time will come that God will sit among the Righteous so as they shall be able to point him out with the finger which plainly refers to the Coming of the Messias And so also the Septuagint change Shaddai the undoubted Name of the Omnipotent God into ΛΟΓΟΣ The Word Ezek. 1.24 where instead of the Voice of God as it is in the Hebrew they read 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Voice of the Word of God And so also the afore-named Paraphrase as I have already hinted doth often use the Word of God for God himself and that more especially with relation to the Creation of the World Thus instead of I made the Earth Isa 45.12 they read it I by my Word made the Earth And instead of God made Man Gen. 1.27 the Jerusalem Targum reads And the Word of the Lord made Man And instead of They heard the Voice of the Lord Gen. 3.8 the Paraphrase reads it And they heard the Voice of the Word of the Lord God And Philo expresly calls this Word the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Second God next to the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And as the Jews believed The Word to be a Divine Subsistence so did the Gentiles also For so Numenius the Pythagorean as he is quoted by St. Cyril 1 Cyril cont Julian l. 8. calls the Father the First and the Word the Second God and Plotin tells us 2 Enn. 5. l. 1. c. 6. that this Word or Image of God beholdeth God and is inseparably joined with him and Porphyry as he is cited by the fore-named Father 1 Cyril ibid. l. 1. tells us that the Essence of God extends to Three In-beings viz. the highest Good which is the Father and the Maker of all things which is the Word and the Soul of the World and these he also calls the First and Second and Third God And of Pythagoras Proclus the Platonist affirms that he commended Three Gods together in ONE even as Plato also doth the Second of which was the Word or Wisdom whereunto he attributes the Creation of the World And Plato in his 6th Epistle so far owns the Divinity of the Word that he earnestly exhorts his Friends that they should 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is invocate God the Governour of all things that are and shall be and also the Lord and Father of that Prince and Governour by the first of which he evidently means The Word since 't is to the Word that he elsewhere 2 Plat. Epinom attributes the Government of the Stars and Heavenly Bodies By all which it is apparent that by The Word they understood some Divine Subsistence whose Nature is exalted above all finite Beings whatsoever and therefore 4. And lastly Our Saviour to whom this Phrase The Word is applied must be that Divine Person or Subsistence And so we find him stiled in the first Verse of this Chapter In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God Which Expressions are so exactly agreeable to the Phrase of the Gentile Theology that Amelius the Disciple of Plotin and a great Enemy to the Christians was forced to acknowledge that this is that Word which was from Everlasting and by whom all things were made as Heraclitus supposed And per Jovem saith he Barbarus iste meaning St. John cum nostro Platone consentit Verbum Dei in Ordine Principii esse 1 St. Austin De Civit Dei l. 10. This Barbarian is of our Plato 's Mind that the Word of God is ranked among the Principles And indeed unless we understand this Place of the Eeternal Deity of The Word I know not how it will be possible to make any tolerable Sense of it for if by In the Beginning here we understand as the Socinians would have us in the beginning of the Gosspel when John Baptist began to preach the Words will imply a gross Tautology and the Sense of them must be this that Christ was when John Baptist preached that he was or which is all one that he was when he was For how can it be worthy of an Apostle so solemnly to assert that the Word had a Being in the Beginning of the Gospel when we know the Baptist taught as much himself who therefore came baptizing with water that he should be made manifest to Israel Joh. 1.31 And when St. Matthew and St. Luke who wrote before taught us more than this viz. That he was in being thirty Years before when we are sure it was as true of any other then living as of the Word even of Judas that betrayed him and Pilate who condemned him By in the Beginning therefore must be meant the Beginning of the World and that even then the Word was with God and the Word was God So Phil. 2.6 7. Who being in the form of God thought it no robbery to be equal with God but made himself of no reputation and took upon him the form of a Servant and was made in the likeness of Men. From whence these three Conclusions do most naturally result First That Christ was in the form of a Servant as soon as he was made Man Secondly That he was in the form of God before he was in the form of a Servant And Thirdly That he was in the form of God that is did as really and truly subsist in the Divine Nature as in the form of a Servant or in the Nature of Man For the Words litterally translated run thus But emptied himself taking the Form of a Servant being in the Likeness of Men Which plainly implies that Christ was full before he emptied himself that he emptied himself by taking the form of a Servant that he took the form of a Servant by being
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
That a Company of dead Atoms which cannot move unless they are moved can ever be capable of framing Syllogisms in Mood and Figure and disputing pro and con whether they are Atoms or no That such inert and sluggish Bodies should by their impetuous jostling together awaken one another out of their sensless Passiveness and make each other hear and feel their mutual Knocking 's and Jostlings and then from this sense into which they have thus awakened one another and which they are as incapable of as a Musical Instrument is of hearing its own Sounds or taking pleasure in the harmonious Aires that are played upon it should proceed and consult together to make wise Laws and contrive the best Models of Government to investigate the Natures of Things and deduce from them the several Systems of Arts and Sciences in a word how is it possible that a Company of fluid Motes and Particles of Matter should ever be so artificially complicated and twisted one with another as to form an Vnderstanding that can lift up its Eyes and look beyond all this sensible World into that of immaterial Beings and conceive abstracted Notions of things which can never be Objects to any material Senses such as a pure Point Equality and Proportion Symmetry and Asymmetry of Magnitudes the Rise and Propagation of Dimensions infinite Divisibilty and the like Notions that never were in Matter nor consequently could ever be extracted out of it That can correct the Errors of all our material Perceptions and demonstrate Things to be vastly different from what they apprehend and report them can prove the Sun for instance to be one hundred and sixty times bigger than the Earth when to our Eye and Imagination it appears no bigger than a Bushel that can lodge within it self all that Mass of sensible Things which taketh up so much Room without it and when it hath piled them up upon one another in vast and most prodigious Numbers is still as capacious of more as when it was altogether empty in a word that can grasp the Vniverse with a Thought and comprehend the whole Latitude of Heaven and Earth within its own indivisible Center how sensless is it to imagine that such Noble Operations as these can be performed by a meer Complex of dead Atoms and sensless Particles of Matter And if they cannot as doubtless they cannot then from hence it will necessarily follow that the Soul of Man is an immaterial Thing Furthermore we see that tho the Soul takes in Objects of all sizes yet when once they are in they are not as Bodies in a material Place in which the Greater take up more Room than the Less For the Thought of a Mile or ten thousand Miles doth no more fill or stretch a Soul than that of a Foot or an Inch or a Mathematical Point and whereas all Matter hath its Parts and those extended one without another into Length and Breadth and Thickness and so is measurable by Inches Yards or solid Measures there is no such Thing as measurable Extension in any thing belonging to the Soul For in Cogitation which is the Essence of a Soul there is neither Length nor Breadth nor Thickness nor is it possible to have any Conceit of Foot of Thought or a Yard of Reason a Pound of Wisdom or a Quart of Virtue And if what belongs to a Soul be immaterial it will necessarily follow that the Soul it self is immaterial too and as such capable of Immortality For immaterial Natures being pure and simple having neither contrary Qualities nor divisible Parts in them as material Things have can have no Principles of Alteration and Corruption in them and being devoid of these they must needs be capable of living and subsisting for ever What Noble Beings therefore are the Souls of Men which together with those vast capacities of Vnderstanding of Moral Perfection of Joy and Pleasure are naturally capable of Immortality and consequently of improving in Knowledge in Goodness and in Joy and Pleasure unto all Eternity And therefore certainly a Soul must needs be a most precious thing that can thus out-live all sublunary Beings and subsist forever in so sublime a state of Glory and Beatitude Having thus shewn you the invaluable Worth of the Soul in Respect of its own natural Capacities I proceed 2. To shew you of what vast Esteem it is in the Judgment of all those who we must needs suppose to best understand the Worth of it and that is the whole World of Spirits For to be sure Spirits must best understand the Excellency of Spirits because they have a clearer In-sight into each others Natures and a more immediate Prospect of the Virtue Power and Excellency of each others Faculties For as for us whilst we are in this imbodied state and do understand by corporeal Organs we generally judge of the Worth and Excellency of Things by the Impression they make upon our Senses and as these are more or less gratified and affected with them we set a higher or lower Value upon them Since therefore Spirits are a sort of Beings that cannot touch or affect our Bodily Senses it is impossible we should be competent Judges of the true Worth and Value of them and therefore in this matter we ought to be guided by the Judgment of Spirits who must needs be supposed to have a more intimate Acquaintance with one anothers Natures And if we will be guided by these we shall find the whole World of Spirits even from the highest to the lowest unanimously rating the Souls of Men at an inestimable Price and Value And to make this appear I shall shew you the vast Price there is set upon them 1. By God the Father 2. By God the Son 3. By God the Holy Ghost 4. By the Holy Angels 5. By the Devils 1. Let us consider the vast Price which God the Father hath set upon Souls For when he intended to form these Noble Beings and transmit them into terrestrial Bodies that so being compounded with a sensitive Nature they might clasp the Spiritual and Animal Worlds together he being sensible of the vast Hazards and infinite Snares they would be exposed too was so deeply concerned for their Preservation that he thought nothing too dear to save and secure them And fore-seeing their Fall from that terrestrial Happiness which he originally designed them notwithstanding the liberal Care he had taken to preserve them in the State of Innocence he designed to remove the Scene of their Happiness from Earth to Heaven being resolved if possible to repair the Loss of a terrestrial with a calestial Paradise For which end instead of the Covenant of Innocence the Blessings whereof by their Sin they had forever forfeited he introduces the Covenant of Repentance that so by the help of this Plank after their general Ship-wrack they might be preserved and to safe to the Shoar of a happy Eternity And that by this Covenant he might the more effectually recover
inglorious Ends which we pursue and aim at O good God that thou should'st give me a Soul of an immortal Nature a Soul that is big enough for all the Joys which thy everlasting Heaven is composed of and I be such a Wretch to my self such a Traytor to the Dignity of my own Nature as to give up my self and all my Faculties to the Pursuit of such vain and wretched Trifles That I who am akin to Angels should make my self a Muck-worm and chuse Nebuchadnezzar's fate to leave Crowns and Scepters and live among the salvage Herds of the Wilderness That having such a great and noble Nature I should content my self to live like a Beast and aim no higher than if I had been born only to eat and drink and sleep and wake for thirty or forty Years together and then retire into a silent Grave and be insensible for ever Wherefore in the Name of God let us at last remember what we are and what we are born to Let us consider that we have Faculties that are capable of exerting themselves for ever in the most inravishing Contemplation and Love of the eternal Fountain of Truth and Goodness of Copying and Transcribing his most adorable Perfections his Wisdom Goodness Purity and Justice from whence the infinite Happiness of his Nature derives and thereby of glorifying us into living Images of God and rendring us like him both in Beauty and Happiness in a word that we have Faculties to converse with Angels and with blessed Spirits to bear a part in the eternal Confort of their Joys and Praises and to relish all those unknown Delights of which their everlasting Heaven doth consist And having such great and noble Powers in us is it not a burning shame that they should be always condemned to an endless Pursuit of Shadows and Impertinencies Let us therefore rouse up our selves and shake off this sordid and degenerate Temper that sinks and depresses us and makes us act so infinitely unbecoming the Dignity of our immortal Natures And since we are descended from and designed for the Heavenly Family let us learn to demean our selves upon Earth as becomes the Natives of Heaven Let us disdain all base and sordid all low and unworthy Ends of Action as Things beneath our illustrious Rank and Station in the World of Beings and live in a continual Tendency towards and Preparation for that Heavenly State which is the proper Orb and Sphere of our Natures 3ly From hence also I infer how much they undervalue themselves that sell their Souls for the Trifles of this World For since we know before-hand that the Wrath of God is revealed from Heaven against all Unrighteousness and Ungodliness of Men and he hath plainly assured us that our Souls must smart for ever for our Sins it necessarily follows that whenever we knowingly suffer our selves to be inticed into Sin we make a wilful Forfeiture of our Souls He that knows that such a Draught however sweetned and made palatable is yet compounded with the Juice of deadly Nightshade and notwithstanding that will have the poisonous Draught is wilfully bent to Murder and Destroy himself And when we see that the Pleasure of our Sin draws after it the Ruin of our Souls and yet will Sin notwithstanding we do in effect stake our Souls against it and with our Eyes open make this desperate Bargain that upon Condition we may injoy such a sinful Pleasure we will willingly surrender up our immortal Spirits to the Pains of an endless and intolerable Damnation And if so O blessed God how do the Generality of Men depreciate and undervalue themselves For how often do we see Men in their little Frauds and Cozenages sell their Souls for a Penny gain in their lascivious and intemperate Humours barter their Souls for a Moments Mirth or Pleasure in their ambitious Projects and Designs part with their Souls for a Blast of vulgar Breath and popular Noise For in every Temptation to Sin the Dewil cheapens our immortal Souls bids so much Pleasure or so much Profit for them and in every Compliance with the Temptation we take his Offer and strike the fatal Bargain So that if we will Sin we had need Sin for something since we must pay so dearly for it But alas there is no Proffer the Devil can make us that is a tolerable Price for the Blood of our Souls though he should offer us the whole World for it our Saviour assures us that he would bid us infinitely to our Loss and if so what wretehed Sales do we make of our Souls when we Sin for Trifles lie and cheat to get a Penny consent to a wicked Motion for a Pleasure that will wither while we are smelling to it and expire in the very Injoyment For so much we value our Souls at and do in effect declare that in our Esteem these precious Beings which God and Angels set so high a Price on are worth no more than what that Profit or Pleasure for which we Sin amounts to O good God! What cheap and worthless Things then are our Souls in our Esteem who sell and barter them every Day for such mean and worthless Trifles How do we part with our Gold for Dross and exchange our Jewels for Pebbles What sordid Thoughts what wretched vile Opinions have we of our selves that are so ready upon all Occasions to sell our selves for nought or which is next to nought for the sorry Proffers of every base and infamous Lust O would to God we would at last make but a just Estimate of our selves and thereupon resolve as it is most reasonable we should never to comply with any sinful Motion till we can get more by it than our Souls are worth and then I am sure we should be for ever Deaf to all the Proffers which the Devil or World can make us 4ly And lastly From hence also I infer how much we are obliged above all things to take Care of our Souls For since they are Beings of such vast Capacities in themselves and of such an high Estimation in the World of Spirits methinks we should all be convinced that to take leave of their Welfare and prevent their everlasting Miscarriage is the highest Concern and Interest of a Man And yet God forgive us if we consult the common Practice of Mankind we shall find that there is scarce any thing in which we have any Interest at all that is more slighted and disregarded by us Our Body is the Darling that hath our Hearts and takes up all our Care and Thoughts and to entertain its Appetite and accommodate it with Pleasures and Conveniencies there is no Expence either of Labour or Time grudged or thought much of but as for the Soul that precious and immortal Thing which will be living and perceiving unspeakable Pleasures or Pains when this Body is dead and insensible that is overlooked as a Thing not worthy our serious Notice or Regard And though we cannot
solicited to Evil they have the Advantage of preingaging our Affections to them before we arrive to the Use of our Reason for in our tender years these are the only Goods that we can relish they are these that do feed clothe and furnish us in hand with whatsoever our natural Appetites do gape for that are the sole Entertainment of our childish Fanices and the only Objects our yet unfledg'd Thoughts and Desires can reach at and our Youth being thus intirely inured to them by that time we are grown up to the Age of Reason and the Capacities of Virtue and Religion we have generally contracted such an excessive Inclination towards them and are so strongly biass'd with the Love of them that whensoever they beckon to us we are ready to follow them through all the forbidden Tracts that lead to everlasting Ruin For our Natures being thus vitiated the Temptations without us have a strong Party within us a Party of traytorous Inclinations which upon every Summons solicites us to yield and surrender up our Virtue and Innocence and no sooner can any Temptation from without give the Alarm but presently our own Lusts are up raising a Mutiny within us and with the Heats of our corrupted Fancy do many times so disorder our Understanding that it cannot rally up its Considerations against them For before ever our Understanding could be Furnished with Considerations our Hearts were prepossessed with such an excessive degree of ambitious covetous and luxurious Inclinations that when afterwards the Pleasures Profits and Honours without begin to hold forth their grateful Lures to us and to tempt us away to Fraud or Treachery to Vanity or Licentiousness those depraved Inclinations have gotten such Head within us that they prove most commonly too strong for all our Consideration and with their impetuous Current carry us away and drive us headlong down towards eternal Ruin and unless we put forth all the strength of our Reason and Resolution and the Grace of God also come in to our Aid it will be impossible for us to stem such a furious Tide when it is driven by the Wind of an outward Temptation When therefore our own Inclinations do so vigorously conspire with the Temptations without to thrust us on into Sin and Perdition how we can be insensible of the eminent danger we are in of Miscarrying for ever But 5ly We are liable also to fall into a sinful State and from thence into Eternal Misery from the unwearied Diligence and great Subtilty of the Devil to make Use of and apply these Temptations to us For that the Devil doth commonly as an assistant Genius to the Corruption of our Natures excite and provoke Men to Wickedness is very evident from Scripture where he is said to work in the Children of Disobedience Eph. 2.2 To fill the Heart of Ananias to lie to the Holy Ghost Acts 5.3 And to take away the Word out of Mens hearts lest they should believe and be saved Luke 8.12 All which Expressions do plainly imply that the Devil is a constant Agent in the Sins of Men. And being a Spiritual Agent he must needs be supposed to have a nearer Access to the Soul than any material Cause whatsoever For tho he be totally debarr'd from all kind of Intercouse with the immediate Operations of the reasonable Soul and can no more look into the Thoughts than we can into the Bowels of the Earth yet he can easily get into the Fancy which stands next to that mysterious Chamber that is open to no Eye but Gods and make what use he pleases of the infinite Images and Phantasms that are in it and dispose and order and distinguish them into the Pictures of what Objects he pleases just as the Painter doth his numerous Cojours that lie confusedly before him in their several Shells and continue and repeat those Pictures and Representations as long and as oft as he pleases And then considering what the natural Use of the Fancy is both to the Vnderstanding and Will how it prompts the one with matter of Invention and supplies it with Variety of Objects to work on and draws forth and excites the other to chuse or reject those Objects it presents according as they are pleasing or displeasing we must needs suppose that the Devil hath a vast Advantage of insinuating his black Suggestions into the Soul by having such free Access into the Fancy And accordingly he is said to put it into the heart of Judas to betray Christ John 13.2 But then he being not only a spiritual but also an intellectual Agent of a vast and capacious Understanding by Nature and particularly improved in the black Art of temping by a long Experience of its Wiles and Stratagems having been a Tempter almost ever since he hath been an Angel he must needs be supposed to be wonderfully expert and fagacious in it that after having had five Thousand years experience of the Methods of seducing Souls to increase and perfect his natural Subtilty he must by this be fully instructed when and how to apply himself to every Age and Constitution For this hath been his sole Business wherein he hath been infinitely intent and active ever since he became a Devil and if from a Man then much more from a Devil of one Business Good Lord deliver me from a Devil that for five Thousand Years hath been continually making Experiments of Temptation and drawing them into Rules to direct and order his mischievous Practice on the Souls of Men. But besides as the Devil is of a spiritual and ingelligent Nature so he hath a vast Number of his black Angels continually roving about the World to seduce and captivate us into Sin and Ruin And tho these malignant Spirits have no ligament of natural Love between them to tie and oblige them to one another yet by that perfect Hatred which they all bear to God and Men they are united together in an inviolable League and go hand in hand with one another in pursuance of their desperate Design to involve our wretched Souls in the same eternal Ruin with themselves which renders their Force so much the more formidable And when we have so many spiritual subtil and Powerful Adversaries combining against and continually wandring to and fro like roaring Lyons to devour us we cannot but apprehend our Danger exceeding great especially considering the infinite Temptations from without that this World affords the great Variety of sensual Goods and Evils which they have to object to our carnalized Minds For these mischievious Spirits having so great Insight into our Tempers and so great a Choice of Objects to suggest to our Fancies can never be at a Loss how they may nick us with a convenient Temptation and that which gives their Temptations a vast Advantage over us is that we know not how to distinguish them from the Motions of our own Hearts For could we see the Devil at our Elbows or hear him whispering at our
to Men in which are all things that truly are and the Essences of all things that have a Being that is the substantial Ideas of God and all created things whatsoever And upon this account it is that they call this Divine Subsistence The Word because it was generated by the Mind of the Father even as our Words are generated by our Minds And accordingly the ancient Jews and Christian Fathers do generally expound that great Elogium of Wisdom Prov. 8. concerning the Eternal Word where it is said that Wisdom was set up from everlasting and possessed by God in the beginning of his way that it was brought forth by him before the World and that when he appointed the Foundations of the Earth then was it by him as one brought up with him and was daily his delight rejoycing always before him v. 22. 31. And this Notion the New Testament doth plainly refer to when it calls Christ the Wisdom of God 1 Cor. 1.24 which is the same Title that both Jews and Platonists give to The Word upon the account of his being that Eternal Knowledge and Vnderstanding which God hath of himself and all other Beings and in this John 1.4 the Apostle seems plainly to hint this Notion to us for speaking there of The Word In him saith he was Life and the Life was the Light of Men. Now I think it will be hard to give any natural Account how that Life that was in The Word should enlighten Men unless we suppose his very Life and Being to consist in Knowledge and Vnderstanding for by the Light of Men here is plainly meant that Divine Knowledge which is revealed to the World by Christ and this Divine Knowledge he tells us is the very Life of The Word or the Life that was in The Word And afterwards he expresly calls The Word the Light it self from whence all our Knowledge of God and Goodness is derived v. 9. which is exactly the same with what Philo saith of The Word viz. that He is the Intellectual Sun that is altogether Light and with what Plotin saith of the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Divine Mind 1 Enn. 5. l. 1. that he is a Light shed forth every where streaming from God and begotten of him Which is a plain Evidence of Christ's being the substantial Light Knowledge or Idea of all things which God from Everlasting formed in his own Mind and of his being therefore called the Word of God because he is the Off-spring of God's Understanding even as our Reason is the Off-spring of ours 2dly He is called The Word of God because he is the perfect Image of God even as the Word is the Image of the Mind For thus as I have already told you the Eternal Word is very frequently called the Image of God both by the Jews and Gentiles For so Plotin 1 Enn. 5. l. 1. c. 6. that this Divine Vnderstanding being the very Word of God and Image of God everlastingly beholds God and cannot be separated from him and 2 Ibid. l. 2. that it is the begotten Issue Word and Image of the Sovereign God And Plato himself calls him 3 Plato de Repub. l. 6. p. 478. the begotten Son of the Good and most like unto him in all things the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and afterwards 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is the begotten Son of the Good who is most like unto himself And Rab. Moses the Son of Neheman as he is quoted by Masius proving that that Angel of God's Presence which went before the Camp of Israel was the Messias or Eternal Word tells us that he is therefore called the Angel of God's Presence nimirum quia ille Angelus est facies Dei because he is the Face of God in whom God's Face was to be seen And so Philo the Jew also doth very frequently call The Word 4 Philo Legis Alleg. l. 2. p. 60. the Image and Resemblance of God and the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the most perfect and exact Representation of God For they suppose that God being Omniscient he must necessarily know himself and that knowing himself necessarily he must act ad extremum Virium to the utmost of his Power even as all other necessary Agents do that acting to the utmost of his Power he must by knowing himself produce as perfect an Image Idea or Notion of himself in his own Understanding as it was possible for him to do that it was possible for him to produce such a vital and substantial Idea of himself as is vested with all the infinite Perfections of his Nature and consequently that such an Idea he hath produced and that this Idea is the Eternal Word For God can do whatsoever doth not imply a Contradiction now there is nothing in God but what he can communicate without a Contradiction but only Self-Existence that implies a Contradiction indeed for God to cause another thing to be without any Cause and to exist of it self But as for all his other Perfections he may communicate them and when he acts necessarily as he is supposed to do in the Generation of the Word he must because then he acts to his utmost Possibility So then The Word must have the same Nature Essence and Perfections with the Father and the only imaginable Difference between them must be this that whereas the Father exists of himself the Word exists of the Father which is exactly agreeable to the Catholick Notion of Christians And indeed if it be granted that God who is infinitely knowing must necessarily know himself perfectly then it will seem to-follow that there must be the same Perfections in that Idea or Notion by which he knows himself that there are in himself for else it is not one perfect Idea of him And hence it is that our Notions do so imperfectly resemble things because we cannot communicate to them that Life and Substance that is in the things themselves and therefore if God knows himself perfectly as he must needs do being infinitely knowing he must communicate Life and Substance to the Notion of himself or else 't will be no perfect Notion of his Life and Substance and he must communicate to it all the immense Perfections of his own Nature or else 't will be no perfect Notion of his own Perfections So then the Eternal Word which is here supposed to be the most perfect Notion of the Father must be a vital and substantial Idea endued with all the Perfections of the Divine Nature which is also very agreeable with the Christian Notion of the Divine Word For he is described to be the Image of God 2 Cor. 4.4 the Brightness of his Glory and the express Character of his Person Heb. 1.3 and being so he must necessarily be what God is i.e. God essential or else he cannot be the perfect Image and express Character of God And accordingly in the New Testament he is called God over all blessed for ever Rom. 9.5
and the Perfections of the Divine Nature are very frequently attributed to him as particularly Omniscience John 16.30 Eternity Heb. 1.12 and Rev. 22.13 I am Alpha and Omega the beginning and the end the first and the last So that upon this Account also he may very properly be called The Word of God because as our Words are the Images of our Minds so He is the most perfect Image of God 3dly He is called The Word because he is the Interpreter of the Father's Mind even as our Words also are the Interpreters of our Minds to others And this Philo the Jew doth also take notice of as the proper Work and Office of The Word to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 1 Quis rer div haer p. 397. the Embassador of the Great King to his Subjects to communicate his Mind and Will to them and also the Angel and Messenger of God to Men to declare his Will and Pleasure to them And that in the Execution of this Office he doth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. 2 De Somn. p. 461. Some as a King he commands what they shall do others as a School-Master he profitably instructs others as a Counsellor he faithfully admonishes all which he performs as the Interpreter of the Mind of God And elsewhere he calls him the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 3 De Charitate p. 552. the Divine Sun that enlightens the Souls of Men and elsewhere he expresly calls him the Interpreter of the Mind of God to Men So that it seems it was upon this Account as well as others that He was called by the Ancients The Word of God And the same Account is given of it in the New Testament So Joh. 1.18 No Man hath seen God at any time the only begotten Son which is in the bosom of the Father he hath declared him Where there is a particular Reason assigned why though other Men interpreted the Mind of God to us yet Christ alone is called The Word of God because he only was the immediate Interpreter of the Divine Will even as the Word which we speak is of ours For he was in the very Bosom of the Father and there understood his Mind not by the Instructions of an Angel nor by Dreams and Visions nor only by the Holy Ghost but by an immediate Intuition of his Thoughts and Purposes which from all Eternity were exposed to his View and Prospect For as St. Gregory Nazianzen hath observed He had the same Relation to the Father as the inward Thought hath to the Mind because of his intimate Conjunction with him and Power to declare him to the World For the Father is known by the Son who is a brief and easy Demonstration of the Father as every thing that is begotten is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the silent Word of that which doth beget it 4thly And lastly He is called The Word because he is the Executor of his Father's Will even as the Word and Command of a King is the Executor of his Will and Pleasure For according to the Sense of the Ancients God hath from the very Beginning governed the World by his eternal ΛΟΓΟΣ whom they therefore call the Immortal King the Governor of all things that are or shall be and the Vice-Roy of the great God as I have already shewed you at large And 't was by this Word that God executed his Will when he made the World For by his Word he made the Heavens and all the Host of them by the Breath of his Mouth Psal 33.6 He did but say the Word Let there be Light and there was Light and to his powerful and efficacious Fiat the whole Frame of Nature was but a real Eccho For these Expressions Let there be Light and let there be a Firmament c. are not perhaps so to be understood as if God did actually pronounce those Syllables but they rather seem to be a popular Description of the infinite Energy of the Eternal Word by which God made the Heavens and the Earth to whom it was as easy to give Being to the World as it was to command it to be and that Passage of the Psalmist by the Word of the Lord were the Heavens made and of the Author to the Hebrews Heb. 11.3 that the Worlds were framed by the Word of God seem rather to denote that powerful Act of Creation which was exerted by the vital and substantial Word of God whereby he instantly and as it were with a Words speaking gave Existence to those Beings he intended to create than any articulate Words or Phrases pronounced by God himself because in this Chapter and many other Places of the New Testament it is expresly said that God made the World by Christ who is that living and substantial Word that was with God from the Beginning Well therefore may Christ be called The Word of God since by him God doth as effectually execute his Will as if it were done by the Word of his own Mouth For Christ hath such Power both in Heaven and Earth that at his Word and Command all things are presently done according to his Will and therefore you may observe in that Vision to St. John Rev. 19.13 Jesus being represented as the King of Kings and Lord of Lords clothed in a royal Purple Robe is called by the name of the Word of God when he was executing the Divine Vengeance upon the Nations by that Power which he hath at God's Right-hand 3. I now pass on to the third and last Thing namely what we are to understand by the Word 's being made Flesh of which I shall give you a brief Account and then conclude with a few short Inferences from the whole Which Words being made Flesh we ought not so to understand as if the Eternal Word was changed or converted into Flesh as Cerinthus taught or as if the Flesh was changed or converted into the Word as Valentinus ridiculously asserted for the Deity is immutable and as it can be changed into nothing so nothing can be changed into it But by Flesh we are to understand Man a Part being put for the Whole for so the Scripture doth very frequently call Man Flesh that being one of the Ingredients of his Nature Thus Ps 56.4 I will not fear what flesh can do unto me Jerem. 17.5 Cursed be the Man that maketh flesh his arm that is that puts his Confidence in Man Matth. 24.22 Except those days be shortned no flesh shall be saved that is no Man And Rom. 3.20 No flesh shall be justified in his sight that is no Man shall be justified So here The Word was made flesh that is The Word was made Man Not that the Divine Nature was converted into the Nature of Man but the Meaning is it was made one with Man even as our Soul is not turned into nor confounded with the Body yet they two though distinct in Natures grow into one Man so the Manhood of Christ was
Kindness When we see a Child slight his careful and indulgent Parents we are ready to account him an unnatural Monster when we see a Man neglect his Friend or disregard his Benefactor we presently call him base and ungrateful nay when we see one abuse a poor brute Creature that fawns upon him and expresses its Kindness to him we look upon it as an undoubted Sign of a very hard Heart and an ill Nature What Term then can we find in all the World of Words that is odious enough to express our Disaffection to our Blessed Redeemer to whom we are so infinitely obliged Base Disingenuous Ill-natured and Vngrateful are all too soft 't is something beyond Barbarous and Devilish For one would think that neither the most inhumane Canibal on Earth nor the blackest Devil in Hell could ever be guilty of so foul a Crime which hath something in it too monstrous for any Words to express Well therefore may the Heavens be astonished and the Earth tremble and all the Creation of God stand amazed at us to see how insentible we are of this most ravishing and endearing Love Well may we be amazed at our selves and wonder at our own Stupidity to think that the Son of God should be so kind as to come down from Heaven to visit us to leave the Habitation of his Glory and shroud his Divinity in mortal Flesh and make himself a miserable Wight meerly that he might make us happy and advance us to that Glory and Bliss which for our sakes he willingly abandoned and yet that we are no more touched and affected with it than with the most indifferent Thing in the World Blessed God what are we made of What kind of Souls do we carry about with us that no Kindness will oblige us no not the most endearing that ever was known or heard of Doubtless should any Man have shewn us but half this Kindness should a Friend but offer to die for us or a Prince to descend from his Throne and put himself into the State of a Beggar to inrich and advance us in the World we should have thought our selves bound to him as long as we lived and should we have thought any Services too much any Requitals too dear for him we should have been lookt upon as Monsters of Ingratitude as the Peproaches and Scandals of humane Nature and been hiss'd out of all Society for a Company of infamous Villains unworthy of the least Repsect or Favour from Mankind But for a Friend to die or a Prince to become a Beggar for our sakes alas what poor inconsiderable Things are they compared with the Condescentions of the Son of God who humbled himself much lower in becoming a Man than the most glorious Angel in Heaven could have done in assuming the Nature of a Worm And can we be so inhumane as not to be moved by such a Miracle of condescending Love Is it the less because it is the Lore of God or doth it less deserve our Requital What Excuse then can we make for our wretched Insensibility O ungrateful that we are with that Confidence can we shew our Heads among reasonable Beings after we have so barbarously slighted our best Friend and behaved our selves so disingenuously towards our greatest Benefactor How can we pretend to any thing that is modest or ingenuous tender or apprehensive in humant Nature when nothing will oblige us no not that astonishing Love that made the Son of God leave all his Glory and become a poor miserable Mortal for our sakes O blessed Jesus what do thy holy Angels think of us how do thy blessed Saints resent our Unkindness towards thee yea how justly will the Devils themselves reproach and upbraid our Baseness who had as they are were never so much Devils yet as to spurn the Love of a Redeemer coming down from Heaven to die and suffer for their sakes Wherefore as we would not be hiss'd at by all the reasonable World and become Spectacles of Horror to God and Angels and Devils let us endeavoun to affect our selves with the Love of our Redeemer and to inflame our own Souls with the Sense of his Kindness who hath done such mighty things to endear and oblige us 4. From hence I infer what monstrous Disingenuity it would be in us to think much of parting with any thing or doing any thing for the sake of Christ who for our sakes parted with his Father's Bosom and all those infinite Delights which he there enjoyed and united himself to our miserable Nature that he might make us good and happy for ever And now after all this with what Conscience or Modesty can we grudge to do any thing which he shall require at our hands Should he command me to descend into the lowest Form of Beings and to become the most wretched and contemptible of all Animals could I be such a Caitif as to deny him who descended much lower for the sake of me Should he remand me back into Non-entity and bid me cease to be for ever alas the Distance is nothing so great between me and nothing as 't was betwixt him and that humane Nature which he assumed for my sake Should he require me to die for him under all those lingering and exquisite Tortures which the blessed Martyrs suffered for his Name what Proportion were there between what he requires of me and what he hath done for me He only requires that I should pass through Death to Heaven for him but he came from Heaven to pass through Death for me so that for his sake I should only put off a wretched Garment of Flesh that I may be inrobed with Glory and Immortality but for my sake he put off his Robes of Glory and Majesty that he might wear my frail and mortal Flesh and therein reconcile me to God and make me everlastingly happy And when I may advance my self into an Equality with Angels by suffering the Agonies of a miserable Death for him shall I refuse or thing much of it when he who was equal with God in Glory and Happiness was so ready to be born a wretched miserable Man for me Should he require me to give my Substance to the Poor and leave my self destitute of all Supplies and Comforts could I deny so poor a Request to him who forsook a Heaven of Infinite Pleasures for my sake and exposed himself naked to the Mercy of a wretched wicked and ill-natured World from whom he could expect nothing but the most barbarous Contempt and Cruelty Sure one would thing 't were impossible for any reasonable Being to deny such poor such inconsider able Boons to such a great and deserving Benefactor and yet these are much more then what he ordinarily requires at our hands For that which he ordinarily requires of us is that we would forsake those Vices which are as injurious to us as they are hateful to him and which are therefore hateful to him because they are our Enemies and
covered with all that Brightness and dazling Splendor in which he was wont to appear in the Tabernacle of Moses And accordingly you have mention made of a Cloud that over-shadowed the three Disciples whilst Jesus remained in his Transfiguration which is exactly agreeable with that Cloud that covered the Tabernacle of Moses whilst the Glory of the Lord filled it as you may fee Exod. 40.34 And that this glorious Transfiguration was a Part of that Glory of the Word which St. John here says they beheld is evident because himself was one of the three Disciples that were Eye-Witnesses of this glorious Scene and it is expresly said of him and his Brethren that they saw his Glory and the two Men that stood with him Luke 9.32 2dly This Glory which they saw consisted in those great and stupendous Miracles that He wrought in the Course of his Ministry in Proportion to that extraordinary Power in which the Glory of the Divine Presence discovered it self in the Tabernacle of Moses For thus we find that it was from the Tabernacle that God exerted all the miraculous Power by which he punished the Rebellions of the Jews and wrought those miraculous Deliverances from them 'T was fromthe Tabernacle that he commanded the Earth to open and swallow up Corah Dathan and Abiram and that he sent forth that devouring Fire which consumed their Two hundred and fifty Accomplices 'T was from the Tabernacle that he smote the false Spies with the Plague and sent forth an Army of fiery Serpents to destroy the murmuring Israelites 'T was by his Presence in the Tabernacle that he conducted them through the Wilderness and drave their Enemies before them that he divided the River Jordan to open them a Passage into Canaan and made the Wall of Jericho to fall flat at the Blasts of a few Rams-horns And upon the Account of this Miraculous Power which he exerted from the Tabernacle the Ark that was contained in it and was the special Seat of his Presence is called the Ark of his strength Psal 132.8 and God is said to send them help from his Sanctuary and to strengthem them out of Sion where the Ark was reposited in the Sanctuary of the temple Psal 20.2 Thus also those Words are to be understood Psal 80.2 Before Ephraim Benjamin and Manasseh stir up thy strength and come and help us because the Ark from whence God was wont to put forth his Strength in saving of that People marched immediately before these three Tribes And this was very well understood both by the Israelites and the Philistines for when the Philistines had overthrown them they desired that the Ark of the Lord might be fetched out of Shiloh that so when it came among them it might save them out of the Hands of their Enemies 1 Sam. 4.3 And when the Philistines understood that the Ark was brought into their Camp they were fore afraid and cryed out God is come into the Camp Wo unto us who shall deliver us out of the hands of these mighty Gods These are the Gods that smote the Egyptians with all the Plagues in the Wilderness v. 7 8. From whence it is evident that they both look'd upon the Tabernacle as the Seat of God's miraculous Power and this miraculous Power is called the Glory of God for thus when the Ark was taken by the Philistines it is said that God delivered his Strength into Captivity and his Glory into the Enemies hand Ps 78.61 and his Glory and the Miracles that he wrought from the Tabernacle in the Wilderness are mentioned as Synonimous Terms Numb 14.22 Because all these Men have seen my Glory and my Miracles which I did in Egypt and in the Wilderness c. So that it 's evident that he exerted his miraculous Power from the Tabernacle and that this miraculous Power was his Glory And consonantly hereunto it was from the Tabernacle of Humane Nature wherein he dwelt that the Eternal Word exerted that miraculous Power whereby he cured the Sick calmed the Sea and raised the Dead vanquished the Devils and wrought all his miraculous Works which were so many and so great that they ravished his Friends with Joy to behold them and struck Terror and Amazement into his Enemies for so it is said that they were all amazed at the mighty Power of God that was in him Luke 9.43 And that when they saw how the Devils trembled and fled before him they marvelled saying It was never so seen in Israel Matth. 9.33 So that by their own Confession that miraculous Power which he exerted in the Tabernacle of Humane Nature did far exceed that miraculous Power which he exercised in the Tabernacle of Moses And this miraculous Power of his is also expresly called his Glory Joh. 2.11 This beginning of Miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee and manifested forth his Glory and his Disciples believed on him So that as his miraculous Power was called his Glory when he tabernacled among the Jews so it was also when he tabernacled in Humane Nature and so by consequence this also was a Part of that Glory of his which his Apostles saw while he dwelt among them 3dly This Glory which they saw consisted also in the surpassing Excellency and Divinity of his Doctrine agreeably to that Expression of his glorious Presence in the Old Tabernacle viz. his giving Laws and Oracles to the Israelites For thus we find that God told Moses that he would meet him in the Tabernacle and commune with him of all things which he would give him in Commandment to the Children of Israel Exod. 25.22 And Numb 7.89 you have the manner of his Communing with them described for when Moses saith he went into the Tabernacle he heard the Voice of one speaking unto him from off the Mercy-Seat that was upon the Ark from between the two Cherubims For Christ as I have formerly shewed you being the civil Prince or Sovereign of the Jews the Cherubims were the Throne upon which he sat and from whence he gave Laws and Directions for the Administration of the Affairs of his Kingdom And accordingly he is said to dwell between the Cherubims Ps 99.1 and to ride upon the Cherubims 2 Sam. 22.11 and the Sanctuary wherein the Cherubims were seated is expresly called the Throne of the Lord Jerem. 17.12 because here it was that he sat in all his Majesty and gave forth his Laws and Ordinances to the Kingdom of israel And this was an eminent Expression of the Glory of his Presence among them because hereby he asserted his Sovereign Authority and did publickly challenge to himself that Right to his glorious Power which from all Eternity was inherent in him And hence the Apostle calls the giving those Divine Laws and Oracle a glorious Ministration and plainly asserts it to be an Instance of the Glory of the Divine Shechinah or Presence in the Tabernacle when he grants that the Ministration of Death written and engraven in stone was
glorious yea and that Ministration to be Glory in the Abstract 2 Cor. 3.7 9. And in Correspondence hereunto did the Divine Word when he tabernacled in our Natures give forth Divine Laws and Oracles to the World all which are yet remaining among us and do contain in them the Substance of our Holy Religion which being so divine and godlike and altogether composed of the purest Laws and most Heavenly Doctrines is a most proper Instance of that Glory of the Eternal Word which the Apostles beheld tho' not with the Eyes of their Bodies yet with those of their Minds For what can be more glorious in the Eye of Reason than those illustrious Discoveries which he hath made to us in his Gospel of the Nature of God and the Duty of Man and the immortal Recompences of the World to come in which he hath so far exceeded whatsoever Humane Wisdom was able to discover of them that all the Philosophy that ever was before him must confess it self eclipsed and out-shone by him and all the Philosophy that ever succeeded him hath been forced to derive and borrow Light from him And accordingly we find his Gospel in which his Doctrines are contained stiled by the Name of the glorious Gospel 2 Cor. 4.4 which in Comparison with those dark and confused Discoveries which the World had formerly made the Apostle resembles to the first breaking forth of the Light out of the rude and obscure Chaos 2 Cor. 4.6 For God saith he who commanded the Light to shine out of Darkness hath shined into our Hearts to give the Light of the Knowledge of the Glory of God in the Face of Jesus Christ where by the Face of Jesus Christ the Apostle seems plainly to allude to that Divine Glory and Luster with which Moses's Face shone when he came down from seeing the Glory of God Exod. 33.29 So that his Meaning is this that as the Children of Israel with their bodily Eyes saw the Glory of God shining upon the Face of Moses so they the Disciples and Apostles of our Saviour had far more clearly beheld with the Eyes of their Minds the Divine Glory displayed in his Doctrine and Ministry 4thly And lastly This Glory of the Eternal Word which they saw consisted also in the incomparable Sanctity and Purity of his Life semblably to that Expression of his glorious Presence in the Old Tabernacle viz. the sensible Significations he gave of the immaculate Purity and Holiness of his Nature For by those outward Cleansings of all Things and Persons that did any ways belong to the Tabernacle or did at any time approach it he did openly represent and signify the Purity and Sanctity of his own Nature which being infinitely separated from all manner of Impurity and Vncleanness cannot endure that any thing that is filthy or impure should approach it For thus we read that the Tabernacle it self and all the Vtensils of it were to be purified and sanctified with Oyl before the Entrance of the Shechinah or Divine Presence So also the High Priest the Priests and the People were to be cleansed and purified before they were suffered to approach the Holy Habitation and if at any time they had contracted any of those legal Uncleannesses that are specified in the Law of Moses they were to be excluded from the Communion of the Congregation and from all the Exercises of Publick Worship and Devotion till they were cleansed and purified again The Intent of all which was to signify to that People how irreconcilable his Nature was to all Impurity and Wickedness that it could not admit of the Neighbourhood of any Evil nor dwell within any Lines of Communication with it for this is expressed in the very Reason why these Legal Purifications are so strictly required For I the Lord your God am holy Levit. 19.2 For I the Lord which sanctify you am holy Levit. 21.8 Plainly intimating that the Intent and Reason of all those Ceremonial Purifications was to signify to that dull and stupid People the immaculate Holiness and Purity of his own Nature which is so infinitely removed from any thing that is impure and unholy that he could neither communicate with nor endure the Approaches of it And in this 't is evident he placed a great Part of the Glory of his Majestatical Presence in the Tabernacle since a great part of that Religion which he there instituted was intended to signify the Glory of his Holiness to them and accordingly he is described to be glorious in Holiness Exod. 15.11 And agreeably hereunto did the Eternal Word when he tabernacled in our Natures signify to the World the unspotted Purity of his Nature by that incomparable Example of Holiness which he gave in his Life and Conversation among us For whereas before he express'd his HOliness by Mystical Types and Ceremonial Observances he hath now signified it by a Life full of Virtue and Goodness and a Conversation exactly conformable to the eternal Rules of Righteousness For as a Creature in respect of his Humanity he never failed in the least Punctilio of that Duty Homage and Devotion which he owed to the most High God his Creator as a Man he never swerved either in his Passions or Appetites from the strictest Rules of Sobriety and Temperance as a Member of Humane Society he never was guilty of an unrighteous Action either towards his Superiors Inferiors or Equals but all his Life was a walking Monument of Goodness and his whole Conversation a most perfect Transcript of those Divine and Heavenly Laws which he gave to the World So that he was all glorious without as well as within his Practice being a living Comment and Paraphrase upon that immaculate Purity and Holiness which is the Glory of his Divine Nature This therefore was doubtless a Part of that Glory which the Apostles beheld in the Eternal Word even that immaculate Sanctity and Holiness of which he gave so many glorious Significations in the whole Course of his Conversation And accodingly we find this his Purity and Holiness described by the Name of the Glory of the Lord 2 Cor. 3.18 But we all with open face beholding as in a Glass the Glory of the Lord are changed into the same Image from Glory to Glory even as by the Spirit of the Lord Where it 's plain that by the Glory of the Lord must be meant his Holiness because it is into the Image of that that we are transformed So that the meaning of the Words is this we all beholding the Holiness of Christ which is his Glory in the Glass of his Doctrine and incomparable Example are transformed into the Likeness of it and do gradually pass on from one Degree of this Glory of his Holiness to another under the Conduct and Assistance of the Spirit of Christ And so I have done with the first thing proposed which was to shew you what that Glory of Christ was which the Aopostle here tells us they beheld 2. I
now proceed to the second Branch of my Discourse which was to shew you that this was the Glory as of the only begotten Son of the Father But before we proceed to the Proof of it it will be necessary to explain this Phrase 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Glory as of the only begotten Son Which Word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or as is in Scripture taken two Ways sometimes as a Note of Similitude or Comparison so Mat. 6.10 Thy Will be done in Earth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as it is in Heaven that is like as it is in Heaven and if we take it in this Sense then the Meaning of the Words must be this And we beheld his Glory which was like unto the Glory of the only begotten Son of the Father that is like unto that Glory in which the only begotten Son was wont to appear when he dwelt in the Tabernacle and conversed with the antient Patriarchs And in this Sense I have shewed you already how it was as the Glory of the only begotten Son by shewing you the great Agreement and Similitude there was between the Glory of Christ when he dwelt in the Tabernacle of Moses and in the Tabernacle of our Nature And when I consider how plainly this Text doth allude to the Shechinah or Divine Presence of the Word in that antient Tabernacle I am very much induced to think that we ought not to exclude this Sense of it namely that as he dwelt in the Tabernacle of our Nature like as he dwelt in the Tabernacle of Moses so that Glory of his which they beheld in the Tabernacle of our Nature was like unto that Glory in which he appeared in the ancient Tabernacle But then this Word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is sometimes also taken for a Note of Confirmation So Psal 73.1 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Truly God is good to Israel And thus St. Chrysostome understands it here 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. It is not a Note of Similitude and Comparison but of Confirmation and unquestionable Distinction as if the Evangelist had said we saw his Glory such as became and was fit for the only begotten and truly natural Son of God For my Part I see no Reason why the Words may not be fairly understood in both Senses since they are no Ways opposite to nor inconsistent with one another and if so then this must be the Meaning of the Words We behold his Glory which was like unto that Glory in which the only begotten Son appeared in the old Tabernacle and which was such as was every Way becoming the only begotten Son to appear in The first of which Senses I have proved to you already that the Glory of Christ in the Tabernacle of our Natures was like unto his Glory in the Tabernacle of Moses and therefore now I shall only prove the second that it was such as became and was every Way worthy of the only begotten Son of the Father and this I doubt not will plainly appear by considering the several Particulars of it 1st That visible Splendor and Brightness in which he appeared at his Baptism and Transfiguration was such as became him and was worthy of him For in all Probability that Splendor consisted of Angelical Beings clothed in bright and luminous Bodies because as I have formerly proveed to you that Brightness in which he appeared upon the Mount and which he displayed from between the Cherubims was nothing else but those Angels of Light or ministring Spirits which he made to appear as Flames of Fire round about him and therefore that Train of Angels whom Esay saw filling the Temple Esay 6.1 our Saviour calls the Glory of the Lord Jo. 12.41 that is that visible Glory in which the Lord appear'd from between the Cherubims And if that visible Glory consisted in a Train of Angels appearing in glorious Forms then there is no doubt but that visible Glory of our Saviour at his Baptism and Transfiguration was the same since as I have already shewed you it is described by the same Name and in the same Manner of Appearance and if so how well did it become the only begotten Son to be surrounded with the illustrious Guards of his Father's Court and attended on with those high-born Spirits whose Office it is to minister before the Throne of the most High For never was the most glorious Potentate upon Earth attended with such a splendid Train and Retinue the meanest of which was far more illustrious than the greatest and most high-born Monarch in the World So that as the most High God did by a Voice from Heaven both at his Baptism and Transfiguration declare him to be his beloved Son so by the glorious Train of Attendants he sent in him he manifested the Truth of his Declaration for we must needs suppose him to be the Son of the most High when we see the most glorious Beings in all the Creation so willingly submit themselves to his Service and Attendance And when we see the most High adorning his Outside with the luminous Bodies of Angels we may reasonably conclude that there was a Divinity within and that the Jewel was God because the Casket was Angels But whatsoever this glorious Splendor was in which he was clothed at his Baptism and Transfiguration it was apparently such as very well became the only begotten Son not only because as the Philosopher saith that if God would ever take upon him a Body it would be certainly Light which is a Vestment most suitable to his Glory and Majesty but also because that miraculous Splendor was an infallible Token of the Presence of the Divinity in him for it never was but where God was present and therefore it is called the Glory of God it being the inseparable Concomitant of his more peculiar Residence For thus as I have shewed you upon the Mount and in the Tabernacle it was a visible Demonstration of the special Presence of the invisible God and wheresoever in all the Old Testament any Mention is made of its Appearance you shall find that there God himself did peculiarly reside And therefore it is not to be imagined that God would have communicated to our Saviour this inseparable Token of his own Presence unless the Divinity had resided in him For Jesus Christ was the only Person upon whom this visible Glory descended never did the Hand of Heaven put forth such a Robe and Diadem of Glory upon any person in the World as this which our Saviour wore at his Baptism and Transfiguration which plainly denotes that he was the only Person in whom the Divinity was substantially united and did essentially dwell So that as this visible Glory was a certain Token of God's peculiar Residence in the Tabernacle and Temple so it was also of his special Presence in Christ for the History of his Baptism tells us that it did not only make a transient Appearance but that it remained on him signifying that the
excellent and divine Doctrine which he taught was such as became the only begotten Son For certainly if we consider the excellent Frame and Contrivance of the Christian Religion we cannot but confess it to be most Divine and Godlike most worthy of that infinite Wisdom and Goodness from whence it was derived For Religion in general is the means of advancing Rational Beings to that Perfection and Happiness for which the great Creator hath designed and intended them and certainly never was there any Religion in the World more adapted to advance this noble Design of God than that which our Saviour hath taught For as for its Agenda what it requires to be done ' they all consist in acting reasonably and according to the Dignity of our Nature in thinking speaking and practising in loving and hating disiring and delighting hoping and fearing as becomes Reasonable Beings placed in our Condition and Circumstances and do require nothing of us but that we should regulate our Practice by the Rules of Right Reason and direct all our Faculties and Affections to their proper Ends and Objects and when we come to this Pitch always to think that which is most reasonable and always to practise what we think so then we are advanced to the topmost Round of our Perfection in which is founded the utmost Happiness we are capable of So that in all the Course of our Christian Practice we are in a direct Progression and Tendency towards our Perfection and Happiness And as for the Credenda of Christianity the Doctrines it requires us to believe they are all of them pregnant with the most strong and vehement Motives to engage us to the Practice of what it enjoins Motives that have such a Potent I had almost said Omnipotent Force in them that 't is impossible for any Man heartily to believe and throughly to weigh and consider them and not be effectually perswaded by them Since therefore it was so highly convenient that the Son of God in Person should come down from Heaven among us that so the Dignity of his Person might give Authority to that Religion by which the World was to be governed and since he did come down upon this honourable Errand it was impossible for him to have taught any Doctrine that could more effectually have promoted the great End of Religion or more fully expressed his infinite Wisdom and Goodness and Zeal for the Welfare of the Souls of Men htan that which is contained in the Christian Religion which is every way so adapted to make Men good and happy so accommodated to the Nature and Condition of Mankind that there is nothing could better become the only begotten Son to teach in the World or that could be more worthy of all those infinite Perfections that are lodged in his Nature and do speak him to be the most genuine Offspring of the most High For so excellent was his Doctrine that his very Enemies were astonished at the Wisdom that was given him Mark 6.2 3. and wondred at the gracious Words that proceeded out of his Mouth Luke 4.22 Well therefore might he say of himself I am the Light of the World he that followeth me shall not walk in Darkness but shall have the Light of Life Joh. 8.12 4thly And lastly The incomparable Sanctity and Purity of his Life was such as very well became the only begotten Son For as it was highly convenient that he should come down into the World and in his own Person teach us that Religion by which he intended to govern us that thereby he might stamp it with a more awful Authority so to render it more fuccessful it was no less convenient that he should come down in our Natures that therein he might be capable of practising what he taught us and setting us an Example of what he would have us to do that so we might see that he enjoined nothing upon us but what was practicable and what did become the most glorious Person that ever did assume our Natures that thereby we might be encouraged to our Duty and animated with a noble Emulation of treading in his blessed Footsteps Since therefore all this was so highly convenient and the Son of God in Compliance with this Convenience did actually assume our Nature it was impossible for him to lead a Life that better comported with this Design of his Incarnation or better became the Dignity and Excellency of his Person than he did For now that he was become a Man he was obliged to act suitably to his Nature and should he have done any thing that was unsuitable to the State and Circumstances of his Nature he would not have acted becoming himself So that it was highly convenient that he should become a Man and being a Man it was indispensably necessary that he should live like a wise and a good Man in the Condition and Relations wherein he was placed and nothing could be more worthy of or becoming him then so to do though he was still the only begotten Son of the Father For it is the Glory of God himself that he always acts most reasonably according to the State and Relations of a God and therefore when God becomes Man by assuming our Nature to his own it is his Glory to act most reasonably in the State and Relations of a Man And thus did the blessed Jesus do in the whole Course of his Conversation upon Earth for his Life was a most exact Pattern of all humane Virtues in which all that is ornamental to humane Nature was represented in its fairest Colours There you may see a fair Example of the most ardent Love to and constant Dependance upon God of the most profound Humility and perfect Resignation to his Heavenly Will There you may behold the Moderation of Humane Passions and Appetites set forth to the Life and fairly delineated in its most exquisite Perfections in a word there you will find Loyalty and Submission to Superiors Fidelity and Justice to Equals Courtesy and Candor and Condescention to Inferiors universal Love and an unbounded Charity to all practised to the Height and Exactness and which way soever you turn your Eyes on this fair Monument of Virtues you can discover nothing but what is lovely and adorable and infinitely becoming the only begotten Son of the Father Having thus explained and demonstrated the Proposition to you I shall conclude with these four Inferences from this four-fold Glory of the Word which they saw 1. They saw the glorious Splendor which invested his Person at his Baptison and Transfiguration From whence I infer his Deputation from the most High God and Father of all Things to be his Representative and Vice-Roy in the Christian Church For this visible Glory with which he was invested was always the peculiar Character of the immediate Representative of God and therefore by way of Appropriation it is called the Glory of God and the Glory of the Lord and wheresover God as Supream Monarch
together by a Triumvirate of Arians Jews and Pagans who were all of them known Impostors in the Ages wherein they lived So that to confront Christianity with any of these is to light up a Rush Candle and resolve to outface the Sun with it For as for Christianity 't is a Religion made up of the most divine and Godlike Institutions its Precepts being such as are most worthy of God enjoining nothing but what is either true Godliness and most generous Morality or what are the most efficacious Means and Instruments of promoting them And as for its Doctrine it partly consists of those Principles of Natural Religion which all wise Men of whatsoever Nation or Religion have owned and acknowledged such as the Existence Vnity and Providence of the Godhead the Imortality of the Soul and the Rewards and Punishments of Another Life together with the great Day of Accounts wherein Men shall receive according to what they have done in the Flesh And even the Doctrine of the Holy Trinity which is the profoundest Mystery of all our Religion hath been owned and professed by the greatest and most famous Philosophers that ever were And as for those Doctrines that are purely Christian such as the Birth and Life and Death the Resurrection and Ascension of our Saviour together with his Sitting on the Right-hand of God and coming at the last Day to judge the World they are all of them so excellently contrived to serve the great Ends of Religion so wonderfully pregnant with Motives and Arguments to engage Men to the greatest Purity and Goodness that by their own native Beauty and excellent Contrivance they manifest themselves to be the Products of a divine Wisdom So that there can be no reasonable Pretence to contemn Christianity either because it is a Revealed Religion or because it contains any thing in it that is any ways unworthy of the Revealer And that there wants not sufficient Evidence to demonstrate it to be the Revelation of God I have already proved in the former Inference So that after all the lewd Talk of these confident Men it 's apparent there is not the least Colour of Reason for their impious Censures of Christianity But alas it's evident that the Foundation of their Quarrel against it lies not so much in their Reason as their Lusts Christianity lays them under severe Restraints and will not permit them to be wicked in quiet which provokes them to arm their Wit and the little Reason that they have against it that so having baffled or rather laughed themselves out of their Religion they may be left at liberty to play the Fools and Mad-men without Controul or Disturbance And I make no doubt but if instead of that strict Piety and Virtue which Christianity enjoins it had but indulged to them the Liberties of the Heathen Religion so that they could have but acted all their Wickedness with Devotion sacrificed to the Gods in drunken Bowls and worshiped in the Arms of a Strumpet there are no Men in the World would have been more zealous Christians than they But let no Man be so foolish as to imagine that he can alter the Nature of Things by laughing at them or that Christianity will cease to be true in Compliance with our wicked Interest and Desires no no Things will be as they are in despite of us and howsever we will please to fancy them And if after all our rude Contempts of Religion it be found to be true as I doubt not but it will we shall be sensible when it is too late that it had been more for our Safety to have play'd before the Mouth of a Cannon while it is spitting Fire or to have catch'd hold of a Thunderbolt as it comes roaring down from the Clouds than to have plaid with Religion and made it the Subject of our impious Scorns and Buffooneries 4. And lastly They saw the Glory of his immaculate Holiness and Purity From whence I infer that Holiness and true Goodness is the greates Glory and Honour to humane Nature For this was the Glory of the Son of God himself when he assumed our Nature and dwelt among us and there is nothing more glorious in Christ than his Goodness and notwithstanding those excellent Doctrines that he preached those stupendous Miracles that he wrought and that visible Splendor in which he was inrobed he had not deserved the Name of a great and glorious Man if he had not been just and charitable temperate and humble and Heavenly-minded and eminent in all those divine and humane Virtues which are the proper Glory and Ornament of humane Nature For that which makes a Man more honourable then a meer Animal and advances us into the next Degree of Beings to Angels is our Reason by which alone we border upon the Divinity and do claim Kindred with the Angelical Natures That therefore which is truly our Honour and Glory consists in living according to that Reason by which we are advanced above all sublunary Natures that is in governing our Passions and Appetites Words and Actions according to those Eternal Rules of Righteousness which Right Reason dictates to us and if instead of doing thus we wholly resign up our selves to the Dominion of our brutish and unreasonable Inclinations we thereby render our selves more despicable and infamous than the most beastly Brutes in all the Creation and even those Goats and Wolves and Swine and Tygers whom we resemble in our beastly Manners could they see our Shame would doubtlesly hiss at us and reproach us for Greater Beasts than themselves for they all live up to the best of their Natures and regularly pursue the highest End for which they were created whereas we who are Allyed to the noblest of Beings and are created and designed for the most glorious Ends do by our base and unreasonable Condescentions shamefully under-value our selves in pursuing no Ends but what are extremely unworthy of us So that it had been much more for our Honour and Reputation to have assumed the Shape and Nature of Brutes when we assumed their Manners and Customs for then our Actions would have very well become us and neither God nor Men could have justly upbraided us for them But to lead the Lives of Brutes in the Shape and Nature of Men is monstrous 't is to advance the Beast above the Man to place our Heels where Nature hath placed our Head and become our own Reverse and Antipodes OF THE AUTHORITY OF THE Holy Scripture JOHN V. 39. Search the Scriptures for in them ye think ye have eternal life BY the Scriptures here must be meant the Old Testament for as yet the greatest Part of the New was unrevealed and the whole of it unwritten They were those very Scriptures was now preaching owned and acknowledged to be the Word of God for in them says our Saviour ye think ye have eternal life which it's certain they did not think of any other Scriptures but only those
know very well that the Roman Church is at best but a Part of the Church universal and we know no Right that any Part hath to impose upon the Whole and to oblige it to believe whatsoever she proposes meerly because she proposes it Secondly Because in Fact we are very well assured that the Roman Church is so far from being a sincere Preserver of Tradition that there is no Church in the World hath more studiously attempted to counterfeit and deprave it of which innumerable Instances are given by our Authors many of which are now acknowledged even by their Authors to be true For even their Vulgar Latin Edition of the Bible it self which they prefer before the Originals is confessed by themselves to abound with manifest Errors and Corruptions and even to the very Canon of the Bible they have added sundry Apocryphal Books which we certainly know the Primitive Tradition never admitted as Parts of the sacred Scripture and it is notorious to all the World how many Books and Writings they have forged and how many of the Writings of the Ancients they have gelded and interpolated to defend and support those pretended Traditions which they have imposed upon the World as Articles of Faith And after she hath been guilty of so many apparent Falsifications we cannot but think it a very hard Case that we should still be obliged to believe her upon her own bare Word For in the third Place at this rate of Proceeding we must in many Instances condemn the Traditions of the Primitive Church in Complement to those of the present Roman which if we believe our own Eyes and the most authentick Histories and Records of those Times do expresly thwart and contradict one another and since if we would never so fain we can never believe both Parts of a Contradiction we must in believing the one give the Lye to the other Nay Fourthly and lastly though we should be perswaded as we think we have Reason to be that many of the Traditions of the present Church of Rome are not only not mentioned in Scripture but directly contrary to it as for Instance their performing Divine Service in an unknown Tongue which we think is as contrary to 1 Cor. 14. as one Proposition can be to another yet if that Churches Definitions do by their own Authority oblige our Faith we must believe her against Scripture it self And this we think intollerable that any Church or Christian should be obliged to believe the unwritten Word of the Church of Rome in a Matter wherein upon the most diligent and impartial Search they are verily perswaded it contradicts the written Word of God and if the Sentence of the one or t'other must be made void we think it is very reasonable that the Voice of her pretended unwritten Word should be silenced by that more certain one of the lively Oracles of God But after all if what I have endeavoured to prove be proved viz. that the Holy Scriptures are a sufficient Rule of Faith and Manners to conduct us to eternal Life this will be enough to evacuate all that is pretended for this unwritten Word of God For God and Nature we know do nothing in vain and therefore if one Word of God be sufficient viz. that which is written what need have we of this other which is unwritten And so I have done with the first necessary Property of a Rule of Faith viz. that it be full and shewn at large that the Holy Scripture is so as to all Things necessary to Salvation and therefore shall now proceed to II. The Second viz. That it be clear and intelligible to those whose Faith and Manners are to be regulated by it I do not mean when I say that the Scripture is clear and plain and intelligible to all those to whom it is a Rule of Faith and Manners that it is throughout so in all its Proposals For it cannot be denied but there are many Things not only in St. Paul's Epistles but also in other Parts of Scripture hard to be understood and such as do not only exceed the Apprehension of common Capacities but also puzzle the Understandings of the most acute and profound Enquirers But that which I assert is this That all those Doctrines of Faith and Rules of Manners which are necessary for Men to believe and practise in order to their Attainment of eternal Life are so plainly and clearly revealed in Scripture that there is no honest teachable Mind that is capable of understanding common Sense but may from thence received full Information of them upon faithful and diligent Enquiry And though in some Texts these Necessaries are not so plainly proposed as in others yet in some Text or other they are all of them so plainly proposed that no Man can read the Scripture and still be ignorant of them without being wilfully blind for which there is no Remedy either in the Scripture or out of it And this I shall endeavour to prove 1. From the express Testimony of Scripture 2. From the avowed Design of writing the Scripture 3. From the frequent Commands God lays upon us to read the Scripture 4. From the Obligation that lies upon us under Pain of Damnation to believe and receive all those Necessaries to Salvation contained in it 1. From the express Testimony of Scripture it is evident that in all Things necessary to Salvation at least the Scripture is clear and plain For to be sure if in any thing the Scripture be plain it is in those Things that are most necessary to be believed and known and therefore if it be obscure in these Things we may reasonable presume it is plain in nothing But that it is in many Things plain and easy to be understood is evident from its own Testimony For thus of the Mosaick Law it is expresly affirmed by Moses This Commandment which I command thee this day it is not hidden from thee neither is it far off Deut. 30.11 Where Moses speaks not only of the Ten Commandments which consisting for the most part of Laws of Nature are upon that Account more easy to be understood but of all the Commandments of Moses in general whether Ceremonial Judicial or Natural For so v. 16. This Commandment we find contains as well the Statutes and Judgments as the Commandments of the Law all which must take in the whole Mosaick Institution And accordingly Ps 119.105 David calls this Word of God a lamp unto his feet and a light unto his path which how could it be if it did not burn clear enough to guide and direct him and if it did then to be sure it burnt clear enough to direct him in those Things wherein it was most necessary for him to be directed Again in the 19th Ps v. 7 8 we are told that the Testimony of the Lord is sure making wise the simple and that the Commandment of the Lord is pure enlightning the eyes But how can any Law make