Selected quad for the lemma: word_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
word_n	person_n	scripture_n	trinity_n	3,376	5	9.9610	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A62634	Several discourses viz. Proving Jesus to be the Messias. The prejudices against Jesus and his religion consider'd. Jesus the Son of God, proved by his Resurrection. The danger of apostacy from Christianity. Christ the author: obedience the condition of salvation. The possibility and necessity of gospel obedience, and its consistence with free grace. The authority of Jesus Christ, with the commission and promise which he gave to his apostles. The difficulties of a Christian life consider'd. The parable of the rich man and Lazarus. Children of this world wiser than the children of light. By the most reverend Dr. John Tillotson, late Lord Arch-Bishop of Canterbury. Being the fifth volume; published from the originals, by Ralph Barker, D.D. chaplain to his Grace.	Tillotson, John, 1630-1694.; Barker, Ralph, 1648-1708,	1698 (1698)	Wing T1262A; ESTC R222204	187,258	485

unto me both in Jerusalem and in all Judea and in Samaria and unto the uttermost parts of the earth But see the strange power of Prejudice to blind the Eyes even of good Men in the plainest matters The Disciples of our Saviour for all they had entertained a new Religion yet they retained the old Pride and Prejudice of their Nation against the rest of the World as if none but themselves had any share in the favour of God or were to have any part in the Salvation of the Messias Our Saviour did so far consider this Prejudice of theirs that he never in his life time acquainted them with this matter so as to make them fully to understand it because they were not able to bear it And it is very probable that this is one of those things which our Saviour meant John 16. 12 13. I have yet many things to say unto you but ye cannot bear them now Howbeit when the Spirit of truth is come he will guide you into all truth That is he should lead them into the knowledge of those Truths of which they were not then capable And tho' our Saviour after his Resurrection seems to have declared this sufficiently to them yet by their practice after his Ascension it appears that they understood all this only of the Jews namely that they were to preach the Gospel first to the Jews that were at Jerusalem and in Judea and then to those that were dispersed in other Nations for 't is clear from the History of their first Preaching recorded in the Acts that they preached to none but to the Jews and the Proselytes of the Jewish Religion So strong was their Prejudice that they had not the least suspicion that this Blessing of the Gospel was intended for the Heathen World nor were they convinced to the contrary 'till St. Peter had a special Vision and Revelation to this purpose and the holy Ghost came upon the Gentiles in miraculous gifts as he had done before upon the Jews that were converted to Christianity And thus the Spirit of God led them into this Truth and then they understood this Command of our Saviour's in a larger Sense And to this St. Peter plainly refers Acts 10. 42. where he tells us how that Christ after his Resurrection appeared to them and commanded them to preach unto the People So likewise do Paul and Barnabas Acts 13. 46. where they speak thus to the Jews It was necessary that the word should first he preached to you but seeing you put it from you lo we turn to the Gentiles for so hath the Lord commanded us Now he no where commanded this but in this Commission which he gave them before his Ascension Secondly You have here a particular declaration how they were to manage this work of making Disciples to the Christian Religion 1. By baptizing them into the Christian Faith 2. By instructing them in the Precepts and Practices of a Christian Life 1. By baptizing them into the Christian Faith which is here call'd baptizing them into the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the holy Ghost Baptism is a solemn Rite appointed by our Saviour for the initiating of Persons into the Christian Religion But it was a Ceremony in use before both among the Jews and Gentiles The Heathen observed it at the initiating Persons into their Religious Mysteries and the Jews when they admitted Proselytes to their Religion at which time the Males as Maimonides tells us were both circumcised and baptized the Women were only baptized One Circumstance of the Baptism of grown Persons was that standing in the Water up to the Neck they recited several Precepts of the Law And as the Jewish Writers further tell us this Ceremony did not only belong to them that were of grown Years but to the Children of Proselytes if it were desired upon condition that when they came to Years they should continue in that Religion Now tho' this was a religious Ceremony used both by Jews and Gentiles and without any Divine Institution that we know of our blessed Saviour who in none of his Institutions seems to have favour'd unnecessary Innovations was so far from the superstition of declining it upon this account that it had been in religious use both among Jews and Gentiles that he seems the rather to have chosen it for that very reason For seeing it was a common Rite of all Religions and in it self very significant of that Purity which is the great design of all Religion it was the more likely to find the easier Acceptance and to be most suitable to that which he intended to be the universal Religion of the World As for the form of Baptism into the name of the Father of the Son and of the holy Ghost it plainly refers to that short Creed or Profession of Faith which was required of those that were to be baptized answerable to the reciting of the Precepts of the Law at the baptizing of Proselytes among the Jews now the Articles of this Creed were reduced to these three Heads of the Father Son and holy Ghost and contains what was necessary to be believed concerning each of these And this probably is that which the Apostle calls the Doctrine of Baptism Heb. 6. 2. viz. a short Summary of the Christian Faith the Profession whereof was to be made at Baptism of which the most ancient Fathers make so frequent mention calling it the rule of Faith It was a great while indeed before Christians tied themselves strictly to that very form of Words which we now call the Apostles Creed but the Sense was the same tho' every one exprest it in his own Words nay the same Father reciting it upon several Occasions does not confine himself to the very same Expressions A plain indication that they were not then strictly bound up to any form of Words but retaining the sense and substance of the Articles every one exprest them as he pleased So that to baptize in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the holy Ghost is to perform this Rite or Sacrament by the Authority of and with special Relation to the three Persons of the blessed Trinity Father Son and holy Ghost as the chief Objects of the Christian Faith whereof solemn Profession was then made So that upon this form in Baptism appointed by our Saviour compared with what is elsewhere said in Scripture concerning the Divinity of the Son and the holy Ghost is principally founded the Doctrine of the blessed Trinity I mean in that simplicity in which the Scripture hath delivered it and not as it hath been since confounded and entangled in the Cobwebs and Niceties of the Schools The Scripture indeed no where calls them Persons but speaks of them as we do of several Persons and therefore that word is not unfitly used to express the difference between them or at least we do not know a fitter word for that purpose By baptizing then

the Peace and Communion of the Church by a course of Penance such as was prescribed in the ancient Church to great Offenders and then they understand by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 not a Natural but a Moral Impossibility that which cannot be done according to the Orders and Constitutions of the Church that is the Church did refuse to admit Apostates and some other great Offenders as Murderers and Adulterers to a course of Penance in order to their Reconciliation with the Church This Tertullian tells us was the strictness of the Church in his time Neque Idololatriae neque Sanguini pax ab Ecclesiâ redditur they admitted neither Idolaters nor Murderers to the reconciliation of the Church Though they were never so penitent and shed never so many tears yet he says they were jejunae pacis lacrimae their tears were in vain to reconcile them to the Peace and Communion of the Church He says indeed they did not absolutely pronounce their case desperate in respect of God's Pardon and Forgiveness sed de veniâ Deo reservamus for that they referr'd them to God but they were never to be admitted again into the Church so strict were many Churches and that upon the Authority of this Text though the Church of Rome was more moderate in this matter and for that Reason call'd the Authority of this Book into question But I see no reason why these Words should primarily be understood of restoring Men to the Communion of the Church by Penance but they seem to be meant of restoring Men to the Favour of God by Repentance of which indeed their being restored to the Communion of the Church was a good sign This the Apostle says was very difficult for those who after Baptism and the several benefits of it did apostatize from Christianity to be recover'd again to Repentance Seeing they crucifie to themselves the Son of God afresh and put him to an open shame This is spoken by way of Aggravation of the crime of Apostacy that they who fall off from Christianity in effect and by interpretation do crucifie the Son of God over again and expose him to shame and reproach as the Jews did for by denying and renouncing of him they declare him to be an Impostor and consequently worthy of that death which he suffered and that Ignominy which he was exposed to and therefore in account of God they are said to do that which by their actions they do approve so that it is made a Crime of the highest Nature as if they should crucifie the Son of God and use him in the most ignominious manner even tread under foot the Son of God as the expression is to the same purpose Ch. 10 29. Thus I have endeavour'd as briefly and clearly I could to explain to you the true meaning and importance of the several Phrases and Expressions in the Text the sense whereof amounts to this that if those who are baptized and by Baptism have received Remission of Sins and do believe the Doctrine of the Gospel and the Promises of it and are endow'd with the miraculous Gifts of the Holy Ghost if such persons as these shall after all this apostatize from Christianity it is very hard and next to an impossibility to imagine how such Persons should recover again by Repentance seeing they are guilty of as great a Crime as if in their own Persons they had put to Death and ignominiously used the Son of God because by rejecting of him they declare to the World that he suffered deservedly Having thus explained the words in order to the further vindication of them from the mistakes and misapprehensions which have been about them I shall endeavour to make out these five things 1st That the Sin here mention'd is not the Sin against the Holy Ghost 2dly That the Apostle does not declare it to be absolutely impossible but only that those who are guilty of it are recover'd to Repentance with great difficulty 3dly That it is not a partial Apostacy from the Christian Religion by any particular vicious Practice 4thly That it is a total Apostacy from the Christian Religion and more especially to the Heathen Idolatry which the Apostle here speaks of 5thly The Reason of the difficulty of the recovery of those who fall into this Sin 1st That the Sin here mention'd is not the Sin against the Holy Ghost which I have heretofore discoursed of and shewn wherein the particular Nature of it does consist There are three things which do remarkably distinguish the Sin here spoken of in the Text from the Sin against the Holy Ghost described by our Saviour 1st The Persons that are guilty of this Sin here in the Text are evidently such as had embraced Christianity and had taken upon them the Profession of it whereas those whom our Saviour chargeth with the Sin against the Holy Ghost are such as constantly opposed his Doctrine and resisted the Evidence he offer'd for it 2dly The particular nature of the Sin against the Holy Ghost consisted in blaspheming the Spirit whereby our Saviour wrought his Miracles and saying he did not do those things by the Spirit of God but by the assistance of the Devil in that malicious and unreasonable imputing of the plain Effects of the Holy Ghost to the Power of the Devil and consequently in an obstinate refusal to be convinced by the Miracles that he wrought but here is nothing of all this so much as intimated by the Apostle in this place 3dly The Sin against the Holy Ghost is declared to be absolutely unpardonable both in this World and in that which is to come but this is not declared to be absolutely unpardonable which brings me to the 2d Thing namely That this Sin here spoken of by the Apostle is not said to be absolutely unpardonable It is not the Sin against the Holy Ghost and whatever else it be it is not out of the compass of God's Pardon and Forgiveness So our Saviour hath told us that all manner of Sin whatsoever that men have committed is capable of pardon excepting only the Sin against the Holy Ghost And though the Apostle here uses a very severe Expression that if such persons fall away it is impossible to renew them again to Repentance yet I have shewn that there is no necessity of understanding this Phrase in the strictest sense of the word impossible but as it is elsewhere used for that which is extreamly difficult Nor indeed will our Saviour's Declaration which I mention'd before that all Sins whatsoever are pardonable except the Sin against the Holy Ghost suffer us to understand these words in the most rigorous Sense 3dly The Sin here spoken of is not a partial Apostacy from the Christian Religion by any particular vicious Practice Whosoever lives in the habitual practice of any Sin plainly forbidden by the Christian Law may be said so far to have apostatized from Christianity but this is not the falling away which the Apostle

in our selves Not secure because there is great danger that our Resolution may be born down one time or other by the Assaults of Temptation if we be not continually vigilant and upon our Guard Not confident in our selves because we stand by Faith and Faith is the gift of God therefore as the Apostle infers we should not be high minded but fear Men may have gone a great way in Christianity and have been sincere in the Profession of it and yet afterwards may apostatize in the foulest manner not only fall off to a vicious Life but even desert the Profession of their Religion I would to God the Experience of the World did not give us too much Reason to believe the Possibility of this When we see so many revolt from the Profession of the reformed Religion to the Corruptions and Superstitions of Rome And others from a religious and sober Life to plunge themselves into all kind of Lewdness and Debauchery and it is to be feared into Atheism and Infidelity Can we doubt any longer whether it be possible for Christians to fall away I wish we were as certain of the possibility of their Recovery as we are of their Falling and that we had as many Examples of the one as of the other Let us then be very vigilant over our selves and according to the Apostle's Exhortation 2 Pet. 3. 17. Seeing we know these things before beware lest we also being led away with the Error of the wicked fall from our own stedfastness 2dly This shews us how great an Aggravation it is for Men to Sin against the Means of Knowledge which the Gospel affords and the Mercies which it offers unto them That which aggravated the Sin of these Persons was that after they were once enlightned that is at their Baptism were instructed in the Christian Doctrine the clearest and most perfect Revelation that ever was made of God's Will to Mankind that after they were justified freely by God's Grace and had received Remission of Sins and had many other Benefits conferred upon them that after all this they should fall off from this Holy Religion This was that which did so heighten and enflame their Guilt and made their Case so near desperate The two great aggravations of Crimes are Wilfulness and Ingratitude if a Crime be wilfully committed and committed against one that hath obliged us by the greatest Favours and Benefits Now he commits a fault wilfully who does it against the clear knowledge of his Duty Ignorance excuseth for so far as a Man is ignorant of the Evil he does so far the Action is involuntary but knowledge makes it to be a wilful Fault And this is a more peculiar Aggravation of the Sins of Christians because God hath afforded them the greatest means and opportunities of Knowledge that Revelation which God hath made of his Will to the World by our Blessed Saviour is the clearest Light that ever Mankind had and the mercies which the Gospel brings are the greatest that ever were offer'd to the Sons of Men the free Pardon and Remission of all our Sins and the assistance of God's Grace and Holy Spirit to help the weakness of our Nature and enable us to do what God requires of us So that we who sin after Baptism after the knowledge of Christianity and those great Blessings which the Gospel bestows on Mankind are of all Persons in the World the most inexcusable The Sins of Heathens bear no proportion to ours because they never enjoyed those means of Knowledge never had those Blessings conferred upon them which Christians are Partakers of so that we may apply to our selves those severe words of the Apostle in this Epistle How shall we escape if we neglect so great Salvation Hear how our Saviour aggravates the Faults of Men upon this account of the wilfulness of them and their being committed against the express Knowledge of God's Will Luke 12. 47 48. The Servant which knew his Lord's will and prepared not himself neither did according to his will shall be beaten with many stripes for unto whomsoever much is given of him shall much be required and to whom Men have committed much of him they will ask the more The Means and Mercies of the Gospel are so many Talents committed to our Trust of the neglect whereof a severe Account will be taken at the Day of Judgment If we be wilful Offenders there is no Excuse for us and little hopes of Pardon If we sin wilfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth says the Apostle in this Epistle there remains no more sacrifice for sin I know the Apostle speaks this particularly of the Sin of Apostacy from Christianity but it is in proportion true of all other Sins which those who have received the Knowledge of the Truth are guilty of They who after they have entertained Christianity and made some progress in it and been in some measure reformed by it do again relapse into any vicious course do thereby render their Condition very dangerous So St. Peter tells us 2 Pet. 2. 20 21. If after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ they are again entangled therein and overcome the latter end is worse with them than the beginning For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness than after they have known it to turn from the holy Commandment delivered unto them Therefore we may do well to consider seriously what we do when under the Means and Opportunities of Knowledge which the Gospel affords us and the inestimable Blessings and Favours which it confers upon us we live in any wicked and vicious course Our Sins are not of a common rate when they have so much of Wilfulness and Unworthiness in them If Men shall be severely punish'd for living against the Light of Nature what vengeance shall be poured on those who offend against the Glorious Light of the Gospel This is the Condemnation that Light is come c. 3dly The Consideration of what hath been said is Matter of Comfort to those who upon every Failing and Infirmity are afraid they have committed the unpardonable Sin and that it is impossible for them to be restor'd by Repentance There are many who being of a dark and melancholy Temper are apt to represent things worse to themselves than there is reason for and do many times fancy themselves guilty of great Crimes in the doing or neglecting of those things which in their nature are indifferent and are apt to aggravate and blow up every little Infirmity into an unpardonable Sin Most Men are apt to extenuate their Sins and not to be sensible enough of the Evil and Heinousness of them but it is the peculiar Infelicity of Melancholy Persons to look upon their Faults as blacker and greater than in truth they are and whatsoever they hear and read in Scripture that is spoken against the grossest and

regard to them the meaning of it is plainly this that our Saviour would send down the holy Ghost upon them in miraculous Gifts to qualifie and enable them for the more speedy planting and propagating of the Gospel in the World and that he would be with them and assist them extraordinarily in this Work And that this is the primary meaning of it in regard to the Apostles will be very plain by considering how this Promise is exprest by the other Evangelists Mark 16. 17. instead of this Promise you have these words immediately after our Saviour had given them Commission to go and preach the Gospel Go ye into all the World and preach the Gospel to every Creature He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved but he that believeth not shall be damned And then it follows These signs shall follow them that believe in my Name they shall cast out Devils and shall speak with new Tongues And Luke 24. 39. instead of lo I am with you it is said Bohold I send the promise of my Father upon you that is the miraculous gifts of the holy Ghost for it follows in the next Words but tarry ye in the City of Jerusalem untill ye be endowed with power from on high This St. Luke himself interprets of the Promise of the Holy Ghost Acts 1. 4 5. He commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem but wait for the promise of the Father which saith he ye have heard of me For John truly baptized with Water but ye shall be baptized with the holy Ghost not many days hence And v. 8. Ye shall receive power after that the holy Ghost is come upon you and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem and in all Judea and in Samaria and unto the uttermost part of the Earth So that no Man that compares these Texts together can doubt but that this was the primary meaning of this Promise as it was made to the Apostles But then it is as plain likewise that this Promise is to be extended farther than to the Persons of the Apostles even to all those that should afterwards succeed them in this Work of Preaching the Gospel and baptizing because our Saviour adds that he would be with them to the end of the World which Words because they reach far beyond the Apostles Times as I shall shew by and by must necessarily be extended to such Persons in after Ages as should carry on the same Work There are two famous Controversies about the Sense of these Words in which this Promise is exprest The First is concerning the Circumstance of time mentioned in this Promise alway to the end of the World The other concerning the Substance of the Promise it self what is meant by our Saviour's being with them In the first we have to deal with the Enthusiasts in the latter with the Papists I shall examine the Pretences of both these as briefly and plainly as I can First Concerning the Circumstance of time exprest in these words alway to the end of the world The Enthusiasts would perswade us that the meaning of these Phrases is not to be extended beyond that Age and that this Promise is to be limited to the Apostles Persons and that the Sense of it is that Christ would be with the Apostles 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 all their Days so long as they should live and that would be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to the end of that Age thus they translate it and with no worse design than to take away the Necessity of a Gospel Ministry But this Pretence will vanish if we can make good these two things 1. That the Letter of this Promise extends farther than the Persons of the Apostles and the continuance of that Age. 2. However that be it is certain that the reason of it extends to all that should succeed them in their Ministry to the end of the World 1. The Letter of this Promise extends farther than the Persons of the Apostles and the continuance of that Age. I will easily grant that the Phrase 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifies only continually I will be with you continually but then the other Phrase 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 until the end of the World is several times in Scripture undeniably used for the End and Dissolution of all things and cannot with any Probability be shewn to be ever used otherwise In this Sense it is unquestionably used three times Matth. 13. The Harvest is the end of the World v. 39. So shall it be at the end of the world v. 40. and v. 49. it is said that at the end of the World the Angels shall come forth and sever the wicked from the j●st and cast them into the Furnace which must either be understood of the end of the World and of the day of Judgment or there will be no clear Text in the whole Bible to that purpose and it is very probable that this Phrase is used in the same Sense Matth. 24. 3. where the Disciples ask our Saviour What shall be the sign of thy coming and of the end of the world as will appear to any one that considers our Saviour's Answer to this Question the latter part whereof cannot without too much Violence be accommodated to any thing but the final Dissolution of the World Now if this Phrase be every where else in Scripture used in this Sense there is no reason why it should be taken otherwise in the Text only to serve the purpose of an unreasonable Opinion I know there are Phrases very near akin to this which are used in a quite different Sense namely for the expiration of the Jewish State and that we may know how to distinguish them it is observable that when the Scripture speaks of the end of the World it is call'd 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the end of the Age in the singular Number but when it speaks of the Times before the Gospel it always expresseth them in the plural the reason of which is that famous Tradition among the Jews of the House of Elias which distributed the whole duration of the World into three Ages the Age before the Law the Age under the Law and the Age of the Messias and this last Age they looked on with great difference from the rest as the famous and glorious Age which was to be as it were the beginning of a new World And therefore the Jews in their Writings constantly call it the seculum futurum the Age or the World to come And therefore the Apostle in this Epistle to the Hebrews calls the State of the Gospel by that name as best known to them Heb. 2. 5. But unto the Angels hath he not put in subjection the world to come whereof we now speak that is the Law was given by the disposition of Angels but the dispensation of the Gospel which is call'd the World to come was managed and administred by the Son of God So likewise Heb.

he had left behind him upon Earth lest they also by their own Carelessness and Folly should plunge themselves into the same Misery that he was in and therefore he begs of Abraham that he would send Lazarus to his Father's House where he had five Brethren that he might testifie unto them lest they also should come into that place of Torment To which Request Abraham answers that there was no necessity of such an extraordinary course to be used toward those who had sufficient means of Conviction so near at hand if they would but hearken to them and make use of them Abraham saith unto him they have Moses and the Prophets let them hear them But the Rich Man presseth his Request further upon this Reason that they might not perhaps be moved by Moses and the Prophets nay it was likely they would not be moved by them for they had always had them and yet they remained impenitent But if a special Messenger should be sent to them from the dead this certainly could not fail to awaken them and bring them to Repentance v. 30. And he said nay Father Abraham but if one went unto them from the dead they will repent To which Abraham makes this peremptory Reply If they hear not Moses and the Prophets neither will they be perswaded tho' one rose from the dead In which Words Abraham absolutely denies that there is any such Probability much less Certainty that those who reject a publick credible Revelation of God such as that of the Holy Scriptures is should be effectually convinced by a Messenger from the dead And our Saviour brings in Ahraham delivering himself very positively in this matter and therefore we may presume it to be our Saviour's own Sense and may rely upon it for a Truth which however at first sight it may not be so evident yet I hope in the progress of this Discourse to make it sufficiently clear But before I undertake that I shall premise a Caution or two to prevent all Mistake in this matter First That we are not to understand these Words too strictly and rigorously as if the thing were simply and in it self impossible that a Man who is not convinced by hearing or reading Moses and the Prophets should be brought to Repentance any other way For it is very possible in the Nature of the thing yea and likely enough that a Man who is not convinced by calm Evidence and Perswasion may yet be very much wrought upon by a strange and amazing Accident and if one whom he had known when he was alive should appear to him from the dead and declare the certainty of a future State and the condition of things in another World there is little doubt to be made but that this would more rouze and awaken him to consider his Danger than all the Threatnings of God's Word and 't is very possible that by the Concurrence of God's Grace this might prove an effectual Means to convince such a Man and to bring him to Repentance And yet for all this it is not probable upon the whole matter and if all Circumstances be duly consider'd that this should generally have a permanent effect upon Men so as throughly to reclaim such Persons as do obstinately resist the Light and Counsels of God's Word Secondly Another Caution I would give is this That we are not to understand these Words so as to weaken the force of that Argument from Miracles for the Proof and Confirmation of a Divine Doctrine as if our Saviour intended to insinuate that Miracles are not a proper and sufficient Argument to convince Men. For our Saviour does not here oppose Moses and the Prophets to a miraculous Testimony but he advanceth the publick Evidence and Testimony which Moses and the Prophets had above the Evidence of a single and private Miracle for Moses and the Prophets had their Confirmation from Miracles and Miracles are the great Evidence and Attestation which God hath always given to the Divinity of any Person or Doctrine and therefore Abraham cannot be thought to speak any thing to the Prejudice of Miracles when he says If they hear not Moses and the Prophets neither will they be perswaded tho one rose from the dead Nay so far is he from that that this reasoning of his is rather for the Advantage of Miracles For Moses and the Prophets had the Confirmation of many and great of publick and unquestionable Miracles a credible Relation whereof was conveyed down to after Ages So that if rational Means of Conviction were the thing desired it was not likely that those who were not perswaded by Moses and the Prophets which were acknowledged by themselves to have had the Confirmation of so many undoubted Miracles should in reason be convinced by a private and single Miracle These Considerations being premised by way of Caution I come now to make out the Truth of what is here asserted in the Text. And for the full clearing of this matter I shall speak to these two Propositions First That it is unreasonable to expect that God should do more for the Conviction of Men than to afford them a standing Revelation of his Mind and Will such as that of the holy Scriptures is And if so then Secondly That upon the whole matter it is very improbable that those who reject this publick Revelation of God should be effectually convinced tho' one should speak to them from the dead First That it is unreasonable to expect that God should do more for the Conviction of Men than to afford them a standing Revelation of his Mind and Will such as that of the Holy Scriptures is This is strongly imply'd in Abraham's first Answer They have Moses and the Prophets let them hear them as if he had said having such Means of Conviction so near at hand why should they desire and expect any other It is in this case of the Scriptures as in that of God's Providence God does not commonly prove his Providence to Men by extraordinary instances of his Power and by changing the Course of Nature to convince every Man in the World that he governs it but by standing Testimonies of his Wisdom and Power and Goodness by these God does sufficiently satisfie considerate Men of his Government and Care of the World and tho' he do seldom manifest himself in supernatural and extraordinary ways yet he hath not left himself without a Witness by the constant course of Nature in the returns of Day and Night in the Revolutions of the Seasons of the Year in that he gives us rain from Heaven and fruitful Seasons filling our Hearts with food and gladness And these standing Arguments of his Providence tho' they be not so much taken notice of because they are so common yet are they daily Miracles and we can hardly imagine greater and we should be strangely amazed at them but that they are so very frequent and familiar The case is the same as to Divine Revelation

God hath not thought fit to gratifie the perverse Curiosity of Men by affording to every Man a particular and immediate Revelation of his Mind and Will but he hath given us a standing Revelation which at first had the greatest and most miraculous Confirmation and he hath still left us sufficient Means of being assured of the Truth of this Revelation and of the Confirmation that was at first given to it and we tempt God by demanding extraordinary Signs when we may receive so abundant Satisfaction in an ordinary way This being admitted I shall proceed in the Second Place to shew That it is upon the whole Matter and all Circumstances consider'd very improbable that those who reject this publick Revelation from God should be effectually convinced tho' one should speak to them from the dead And this is that which is expresly asserted here in the Text If they hear not Moses and the Prophets neither will they be perswaded tho' one rose from the dead Not but that any Man would be very much startled and amazed if one should come from the dead to warn him of the Danger of his wicked Life but yet for all that it is very unlikely that they who obstinately and perversely refuse to be convinced by Moses and the Prophets would be effectually perswaded that is so as to be brought to Repentance and Reformation of their Lives tho' one should rise from the dead And that for these Reasons 1. Because if such Miracles were frequent and familiar it is very probable they would have but very little effect and unless we suppose them common and ordinary we have no Reason to expect them at all 2. Men have as great or greater Reason to believe the Threatnings of God's Word as the Discourse of one that should speak to them from the dead 3. The very same reason which makes Men to reject the Counsels of God in his Word would in all probability hinder them from being convinced by a particular Miracle 4. Experience does abundantly testifie how ineffectual extraordinary ways are to convince those who are obstinately addicted and wedded to their Lusts 5. An effectual Perswasion that is such a Belief as produceth Repentance and a good Life is the Gift of God and depends upon the Operation and Concurrence of God's Grace which there is no reason to expect either in an extraordinary way or in an extraordinary degree after Men have obstinately rejected the ordinary Means which God hath appointed to that end 1. If such Miracles as a special Messenger from the dead to warn and admonish Men were frequent and familiar it is very probable they would have but very little effect upon Men and unless we suppose them common and ordinary we have no reason to expect them at all For it is unreasonable at first sight that the worst and more obstinate sort of Sinners should expect this as a peculiar Favour and Privilege to themselves and that God should not do as much for others who have deserved it more and would probably make better use of it and if these things were common it is very probable that Men would not be much moved by them It may be while the Apprehension of such a thing were fresh upon them they would take up some good Resolutions as Sinners usually do while they are under present Convictions of Conscience and the Hand of God by some great Affliction or Sickness lies heavy upon them but still they would be apt to defer their Repentance and put it off 'till the present Amazement were a little over and the terrour of their first Apprehensions were abated and worn off by degrees and after a little while they would return to their former Course And this is too too probable from what we see Men do in other cases not very much remote from this It is a very terrible and amazing thing to see a Man die and solemnly take his last leave of the World The very Circumstances of dying Men are apt to strike us with horror to hear such a Man how sensibly he will speak of the other World as if he were just come from it rather than going to it how severely he will condemn himself for the Folly and Wickedness of his Life with what Passion he will wish that he had lived better and served God more sincerely how seriously he will resolve upon a better Life if God would be pleased to raise him up and try him but once more with what Zeal and Earnestness he will commend to his best Friends and nearest Relations a religious and virtuous Course of Life as the only thing that will minister Comfort to them when they come to be in his Condition Such Discourses as these are very apt to move and affect Men for the time and to stir up in them very good Resolutions whilst the present Fit and Impression lasts but because these sights are very frequent they have seldom any great and permanent effect upon Men. Men consider that it is a very common Case and Sinners take Example and Encouragement from one a●other every one is affected for the present but few are so effectually convinced as to betake themselves to a better Course And if Apparitions from the dead were as common as it is for Men to die we may reasonably presume that the Discourses of dead and dying of those that are going and those who come from the dead would have much the same effect upon the generality of Men. But if we suppose this a singular Case which there is no reason to do in that case the Effect would probably be this a Man that were strongly addicted to his Lusts and had no Mind to leave them would be apt when the Fright were over to be easily perswaded that all this was merely the work of Fancy and Imagination and the rather because such things did not happen to others as well as to himself 2. We have as great or greater Reason to believe the Warnings or Threatnings of God's Word as the Discourses of one that should come to us from the dead For the Threatnings of God's Word against such Sins as natural Light convinceth Men of have the natural Guilt and Fears of Men on their side the particular Testimony of every Man's Conscience and the concurrent Testimony of Mankind to the Probability of the thing and to give us full Assurance of the Truth and Reality of them we have a credible Relation of great and unquestionable Miracles wrought on purpose to give Testimony to those Persons who denounced those Threatnings that they came from God So that here is a very publick and authentick Testimony given to the Threatnings of God's Word more sutable to the generality of Mankind and of greater Authority than a private Apparition or a single Miracle and if that will not convince Men why should we suppose that this will 3. The Very same Reason which makes Men to reject the Counsels of God in his Word would in all