have by the conduct of providence strangely ratified it niceph as the Patriarch of Jerusalem said of Julians attempt to rebuild the Temple Mat. it happened that not a stone was left upon a stone there the anger of God sending Thunder and Lightning and Ebullitions of fire out of the bowels of the Earth so violent that all the foundations of the old Temple were flung out to the destruction of many of the old Jewish Builders at that time There be several of the Learned primitive Fathers have taken great pains to good purpose on such like points as Clemens Alexandrinus Origen Justin Martyr Lactantius Arnobius Eusebius c. who have distinctly writtâ—n against the Gentiles with the Pen of a Diamond and abundantly refellâ—d their Errors and Sophistâ—ies sâ—tting forth the great and mighty acts of holy men of old attesting the sacred Doctrines Yea so great was the conviction of the stupendious works of our blessed Messiah the Wonderful the Counsellor upon the Spirit of the Emperour Tiberius Isai 9 6 â—useb ex Terâ—eul l 2. c. 2. that he strongly urged the Senate of Rome to recognize him for God. But the counsel being horrible Idolaters would not admit it Because said he he would have no other God besides himself which indeed is but his just and magnificent right nor will he give up his glory to dumb Idols But yet these mighty works forespoken of tho they doe not nor can of themselves directly cause true Faith in the heart Isai 6.10 without the Almighty power of God else why did not the gross-hearted Jews believe yet are they a strong Foundation for Faith to insist upon and to induce the belief of the Divinity of that person who is the original Revealer and Deliverer of these Scriptures of truth to the World. Dan. 10.21 However it be plain that Miracles work no Faith without a divine concurrence but persons as Pharach and his Associates might stand amazed a while yet quickly return to their late stupidity Job 2.23 And our blessed Lord we see would not trust the unbelieving Jews though he had exhibited great Miracles among them because he knew what was in the corrupt and false heart of man. But now let us step into the third and last Section of this Chapter SECT III. The Consignation of the Canon HAving by many Arguments I hope demonstrated the Sacred Authority of those inestimable volumes of Scripture There yet remains an enquiry about the finishing of the Canon or the compass of all the Books that are of Divine stamp and original Those two great Luminaries of the English Nation Dr. John Rainolds of Oxford and Dr. William Whitaker of Cambridge have largely and solidly handled this Point against the Romanists which the Learned know better than I But since that somewhat on this Subject may not be ungrateful or unuseful to many give leave to treat a little upon it in this Section and so conclude this first Chapter It is then the Sentiment of several of the Antients in the primitive times that the holy Apostles of the Lord did consign or state the Canon of Scripture and it hath obtained among many of the Learned for an indubitable truth of which Testimonies I shall recite some to that purpose The first whereof is Melito Bishop of Sardis about the Year 170. so sayes Eusebius A. 170 Euseb l. 4. c. 25 attesting that he set out the Canon of the Old Testament just as we do omitting the Apocrypha for which purpose he Travelled into the East to gain full intelligence Athanasius of Alexandria sets down the same Catalogue A. 340 as Rainold de Apocryphis Vol. 1. p. 361. Cyril of Jerusalem A. 360 the same in his Catechis l. 4. and expresly asserts the Apostles to be the declarers of that Canon and that it was received from them Rain p. 328. 361 in these words Qui hos nobis libros tradiderunt that delivered these Books over unto us The Council of Laodicea met in an Apostolical Church and composed of Asian Bishops A. 394. or 8. Magd. cont 4. P. 833. A. 385 mentions no other as to the Old Testament Amphilochius of Iconium recites the same Rain p. 332. Jerom in his Catalogue of ancient Writers expresses it thus of John Novissimus omnium Scripsit Evangellum rogatus ab Asiae Episcopis that he being intreated by the Bishops of Asia of all the Evangelists was the last that wrote a Gospel as we may gloss upon the words we find also that Justin Martyr affirms that John did see the Visions and compose the Book of the Revelations of what he saw in Patmos now Patina in the Egaean Sea. And to the same purpose it is attested by Irenaeus lib. 5. towards the end and by Eusebius l. 4. c. 18. Furthermore Austin who a little survived Jerom in his Book against Faustus Excellentia canonicae autoritatis veteris novi Testamenti c Apostolorum confirmata temperibus c. and again Nemo dare potest authoritatem cuiquam libro August contra Faustum l. 11. c. 5. L. 13. c. 4. quam per Ecclesias Christi ab ipsis Apostolis consts utas non accipit ut inde ad posteros firmata commendatione transcurreret None can give authority to any Book that is of Scripture which he hath not received from the Churches of Christ constituted by the Apostles themselves that so they might be transmitted with a firm recommendation to posterity De Doct. Christ l. 2. c. 8. Again when treating of the Canon he sayes we should follow the authority of those Churches Quae Apostolicas sedes habere Epistolas accipere meruerunt which were dignified by the presence of the Apostles and received Epistles from them And such was the Church of Laodicea whose Canon is above-cited There is moreover a famous quotation out of Eusebius mentioned by Dr. Couzins in his History of the Canon where he brings the ancients asserting Page 32 edit Lond 4 to 1657 that the Apostle John rogatu at the request of the Asian Churches did fix the genuine canon of Scripture and adds Eusebius to it This is in the margin but in teâ—t of his discourse c. 4.647 thus Before Saint John dved wâ—o dyed last of all the Apostles the Canon of Scripture was made perfect and dâ—livered over to the Christian Church What a happy pâ—n had he usâ—d and blest the Church with an excellent discovery had he quoted the chapter and book out of Eusebius if the words cited were really there But upon most diligent search I could never yet find it in that Author tho I have read him over but pardon my saying so in some places but especially the recited over and over If there be any mistake in my search how glad to see it rectified and how thankful But I fear otherwise and rather suppose either he had some other Copy or Manuscript or else the mistaken citation must refer to
the learned judg in answer to Anacreon in the 32 verse of his atheistical rhyme much like Horace and other Epicurean Ballad makers who often push at one another with scoffs and jeers Nay far better men then they some of the good fathers of the primitive times in the Apologies made in defence of the christian-church bring in multitudes of Testimonies out of Heathen writers against their Pagan Idolatries Superstitions Atheisms Persecutions and the vain boasts of the antiquity of their shamefull dunghil Deities which matter is obvious in the writings of Origen against Celsus Clemens Alexandrinus in his stromata Minutius Faelix Arnokius against the Gentiles Austin in his book of the city of God and Learned Jerâ—m in many of his Epistles and commentaries Let us then determine this point from what proceeds in the arguments assâ—meâ— from Oracles and Miracles Gelas Cizenes hist Niceâ— council nnd many other grounds briefly touched above that they are the very Word of God but particularly by their converting power upon the Soul commanding reverence and trembling and horror into the conscience both of men and Devils as they did upon the Spirit of that Petulant Philosopher in the council of Nice Nay so terrible is the weight of these Truths upon the Souls of some fleering atheists that they are forced sometimes to Hobbianize that is tremble to be in the darkâ— as he did at the Lord of Devonshires being afraid to walk abroad without Mastiffs or Pistols and how much more was he appaled at the approach of death Whereas on the other side how often have we seen with joy and delight this blessed Word of God to have comforted many a soul in the greatest conflicts and agonies of death whence it follows that these effects must be the issue of divine power that these writings are indeed the very Word of the holy God since no other books or preachings do or can so rouze and startle the proud conscience of man. Insomuch that else we might justly wonder what the man ails that is so tormented his heart raging like the troubled Sea till the Allablaster box of fragrant oyntment be opened out of the promises and the balsome when poured into a scalded and wounded spirit immediately asswages its pain and sinks the blisters which all the Divines and holy Orators in the world could never do till the presence of God stampt idea's of mercy and comfort speaking peace to the Soul. Whence we may sweetly infer that no other books can be received with any powerful convictive authority but where in they agree with the tenor and canon of holy Scriptures so that whoever walks according to this rule Gal. 6.16 peace shall be on him mercy as on the Israel of God. I shall then finish this first Chapter with that inference for which those mediums were brought That since Faith in Christ Jesus is the very scope and design the very sum and substance of the whole Scripture it follows that the acting of Faith upon them as the Doctrinal Object of such divine original is grounded on the holiness and truth of the omnipotent and eternal God. Wherein it is impossible for him to deceive us in not fulfilling his gracious promises Heb. 6.18 to humble contrite and broken spirits that â—rust in his mercy In like manner Eph. 2.20 the acting of our Faith on the Lord Jesus as its personal object for our Justification is built on the foundation of the holy Apostles and Prophets Christ himself being the chief corner-stone Psal 87.1 laid by the Father in the holy mountains Whoever then believes not God on his Word and Promise makes him a Lyar as far as in his power which every one should Tremble to think on 1 Ioh. 5.10 because they believe not the record that God hath given of his Son. Which pertinently leads me into the second chapter about the Deity of our blessed Lord the natural and eternal Son of God. Which Doctrine being evicted and manifested layes a most sure ground for Faith to erect the Temple of Glory and will secure our tenure of Salvation inviolable like a House built upon the Rock of Ages that will endure to all Eternity CHAP. II. Of the Deity of Christ TO Prove the Doctrines of Christ to be true and perfect we must demonstrate his person to be infallible and to prove his sufferings to be satisfactory to Divine Justice there must be an infinite value in that glorious person who was graciously pleased to suffer for the sins of the Elect. If this be clear then Faith builds upon a Foundation as firm as the Being Fidelity and Constancy of a holy and gracious God This can't be better fixed but by manifesting the Deity of Christ in the glorious Messiah who appeared upon Earth in the dayes of Augustus Caesar Now if Christ be God even the natural Son of God then the most precious Blood of his sufferings by communication of idioms or properties between the two natures may be called the blood of God Acts 20.28 Heb 1.3 9 12 Rev. 1. â— 8 Hornbeck Mareius Calovius c. as it is in the Holy Scriptures For the Proof of the Deity of Christ I intend no great Enlargement but refer to those who write directly against the Socinian Heresie it concerns us only to argue a little upon this point and deduce some intermixed consequencies As to this great Subject having already accounted for the Divinity of the Scriptures we may now take leave to use them as Testimonies sent from heaven and left upon Record in the Church to prove this Truth On which very score it s commonly received from the Antients that the Apostle John wrote his Gospel against Cerinthus and other primitive Hereticks by the instigation of the Asian Churches But most certainly by the inspiration of the spirit of God. After him Athanasius of Egypt Hillary of France and Fulgentius of Africa and several others have largly and nervously handled the sword of the spirit against the Arians Let us however touch a few arguments in the case 1. The first argument may be taken from the Eternity of Christ no Being can be eternal but must be God. Our Lord was in Being from all Eternity and therefore must needs be God he had a glory with the Father before the world was Ioh. 17 5â— but let us joyn it with eternal sonship and infer that if he were the eternal son of God then he must be true God in Essence Heb. 1.3 for he must be every way the character of his Hypostasis or as we translate it the express image of his Person This Argument of Christs being God because he was the eternal son of God. The Jews very well understood its force and therefore presently argued against him of Blasphemy in assuming the honour of being God. Iohn 5.18 For to be the eternal Son of God he must be coessential with God which confession that Christ was the
of wounded Spirits and their consolation under the darkest clouds and deepest confusions while we are in this valley of Dragons which is the reason why truly gracious persons wade and dive through Sicknesses Troubles and strong anxieties when wicked and ungodly men languish and perish a thousand times over and over because the former enjoy the sweet influences of the Spirit of God in the promises of the Gospel to cool their consciences and calm their spirits into a halcyon serenity and sometimes tread upon the Asp and Dragon without any fear By these and the like meanes the Scriptures confirm and ascertain themselves like self-evident principles when the Spirit of God strikes aside the Curtains and Vailes of Ignorance and purges the Corruptions out of the minds of men Let all the world rage in Storms of contradiction and like him in Laertius affirm Snow to be black or another that there is no sense in pain or boldly assert the Sun shines not when I see it or a cordial comforts not when I feel it Job 6.4 Psal 38 2. or that a troubled conscience is but a melancholly fancy when the Terrors of the Lord drink up the spirits of men These should be sent to Anticyrae to purge with Hellebor for madness Pray what Energy or power can he in a printed paper in the reading of a Chapter wherewith Austin and Junius were converted from sin to God or what powerful charm in hearing a mean Preacher perhaps none of the Learnedest like the blessed Fishermen of Galilee to change the heart if so many proud haughty and rebellious sinners who of direful Persecutors have sometimes turned tender cherishers and protectors of the Church of God Jer. 22.29 Psal 19.11 Heb. 4.12 Ezek. 2.4.3 11 17. were it not for the fire of the Word of the Lord of Hosts that melts the Stone of the heart and the hammer of that Word that breaks the rocks of the sturdy Zanzummims all to powder insomuch that bitter scoffers have been changed into witty Tertullians and turned their Satyrs into Panegyricks Some morese Philosophers have proved quick and acute disputants in the primitive times to defend the Christian Religion What can that be imagined to be that works so strange effects upon whole Nations from the East to the Western-Indies whitened the Black-Moores civilized the hearts of Scythians more ferine ragged and bruitish than the Rocks and Hyrcanian Tygers that gâ—ve them suck and beautified the barbariously painted Britains far beyond the Oratory of the Gaules It could be no other power than the awful dread of the Divine Majesly and the melting sweetness of his mercy concomitant with his heavenly Word Wherefore such are justly to be suspected for strangers to the work of grace like Nicodemus at first tho a great Doctor in Israel yet a great dunce in the excellenc point of the New-Birth Or like that Doctor at Oxford sometime since that searcht his Dictionary for the word Regeneration and could not tell what to make of it because he found it not there I say we may greatly fear that they never felt this mighty power of the Spirit of God to change their hearts Rom. 1.16 that dare talk so proudly and irreverently against the self-evidencing power of the holy Scriptures on the consciences of men when the Majesty of God shines ten thousand times brighrer in the Meridian of that Book than the Sun without clouds at noon-day in the Zenith of Africa I shall intreat my ingenuous and pious Readers kind leave to descend into the bowels of two arguments to give evidence to the truth of the Holy Scriptures and so conclude this present chapter Which are drawn from the Oracles and Miracles mentioned in this sacred Book The fulfilling of the one and performing of the other to the consternation and amazement of such as had the happiness to be spectators of either are in some part attested and confirmed by Heathens themselves and cleared off by several Writers of unquestionable authority confessing the matters of fact which were accomplisht in the successions of several ages with great exactness and punctuality SECT I. Of Scripture Oracles FOr this purpose it must be laid down for a standing rule that the certain and determinate foreknowledge and prediction of future events long before they come to pass is an undeniable evidence of infinite Wisdom and Power and compatible to no created being Hence the Lord challenges this glory to his own name that former things foretold by him did issue in the time predicted Yea further Isai 42.9 to lift up the people into the mount of observation tells them He would declare new things before they should spring forth of the Womb of Providence Nay Isa 43 9 10 calls to the Heathen to bring out their Witnesses if they had any to justifie their Idols as to the verity of their predictions and then appeals to the Jews as his own Witnesses that they might know believe and understand that he was God and before him there was no God formed nor shall be after him Which argument is amplified and prosecuted in the forty fixth and forty eighth chapters asserting the Divinity of his Essence and the verity of his declarations and prophecies Citations might multiply in which the silver Trumpets of the holy Prophets sound harmoniously in the ears of all Nations 1 Pet. 1.25 proclaiming this mark and character of his eternal Deity and that his words endure for ever and are filled up to the brim with veracity and run over the banks of all ages in chrystalline streams of accomplishments while in the mean time their 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 all the Delphian and Dodâ—nean Oracles have filled the Heathen World with crooked serpentine lies and cheats Mat. 5 16. Whereas the very Ordinances of heaven shall sooner be involved into their ancient dismal Chaos then any of these blessed sayings shall in the least tittle be dissolved or made void I shall now enter upon some of the famous Oracles of Scripture which have bin so plainly verified before the eyes of many Nations that several Philosophers and Historians of the Gentiles have confessed this truth and born witness to their eventual fulfillings and doubtless honoured and embraced those Divine Parchments with great veneration when many of them travelled into Syria and had the great happiness by the leave of some Rulers of Synagogues prece pretio using gifts and intreaties to behold and read those heavenly prophecies and 't is more than likely that many notions among the ancient Platonists are corruptions of and Compositions with the matter of those profound Writings But before further procedure I must premise that for want of my Library at hand since my sad recess from my most desired services I am forced to make the best use I can of my memory and therefore cannot make my Citations so perfect and exact as I else would and partly from the defect of Historians in barbarous ages we
and then the Glory of Heaven shall continue to all eternity when God shall be All in All. SECT II. The Miracles in Scripture HAving Treated somewhat of the infallible Prophecies I shall now by the Grace of God rehearse some of the notable Miracles mentioned in Holy Scripture For as much as they are works above the power of nature therefore all Nations stand gazing at such mighty exhibitions of Gods Majesty such as curing blind-born Persons the restoring the dumb and lame who were so afflicted from the Mothers Womb yea reviving of many from death to life are they not undeniable Testimonies that such a one that performs these is a God or transacted by the immediate assistance and presence of God whence we may very well infer that what such a one speaks is to be embraced as by divine Authority For that glorious Person that manifests in his works such heavenly and coelestial power must be believed to be God and a God of supream Truth and highest verity as well as of surpassing power For infinite power and truth are and can be centerd no where but in a God. trey where their Brethren of the Race of Cham of near alliance to the Canaanites then lived which is toucht as I remember by Procopius in his Vandalick Wars others Procop The standing still of the Sun seems hinted at by Plautus in the double day I think in his Amphilryo 4. The fourth wonder may refer to the retrocession or going back of the Sun in the dayes of Hezekiah which engaged the King of Babylon to send an Embassy on purpose to search out the truth of that Prodigy In reference to which this is remarkable that some Eclipses mentioned to have happened before Hezekiahs dayes are all found by our modern Astronomical Tables as exact as if those Prodigies had not been extant which may give to some a little more facile apprehension of the motion of the earth then the Perepatetick School will as yet admit For the Phoenomenon or apeearance may be solved by a miraculous stopping of the Earths diurnal motion though its annual in the Zodiack might continue 5. The fifth concerns that extraordinary Star which aypeared at the Birth of our Lord to the Magi in Kedemah or the East by the River Euphrates Mat 2 2 who came 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 from Jobs East Countrey whereof before and which presaged as they thought in those dayes the rising of some Grand Emperor out of some Eastern Nation whereof Suetonius speads Percrebuit in toto oriente c. that there was a presage of one that should Rule the whole World sueton in Vespas c 4 Tacit hist l 5 pluribus persuasio inerat c which they applied to Vespasian but more truly concerned our blessed Lord whose Kingdom was to be universal and eternal There is a passage also about Herod at this time which tho no miracle yet it was a prodigy of cruelty which that infamous Prince perpetrated in the Land of Judah and herein may somewhat concern this Treatise that it sets the time of the Epiphany or coming of the Magi or wise men to our Lord a little before that Lunar Eclipse in March which preceded that Tyrants death who slew so many innocent children and his own son among the rest that gave occasion to the Emperor Augustus to taunt him with that scoff Macrob saturn l 2 c 4 that he had rather be Herods Hog than his son counting him for a Jew and I think he was a proselyte tho indeed he were an Idumaean of Ascalon by birth that is of that Idumaea or Edom so called in the days of our Lord as may be observed in Ptolomies greek Geography lying in the south-part of Judah 6. But the most remarkable miracle was that of the Suns Eclipse at our blessed Lords passion because it disappeared and was mantled with pitchy darkness near the Full-Moon of the Passover paul Diacon max in scholl ad Dionys Orig tract 29 30 in mat Euseb edit scalâ—austin Eph 156 which is impossible in the course of nature For proof whereof Eusebius gives in ample testimony in his Chronical Canon citing the 14th Book of Phlegon of Trallis who asserts it to have happened in the fourth year of the 202 Olympiad Dionysius also the Areopagite is mentioned by the Magdeburgenses for an Epistle of his written to the Citizens of Heliopolis or On in Egypt wherein that common saying is avouched for his Deus naturae patitur Magd cent 1 l 1 c 11 p 381 august in Ep Rom de civit Deil 10 c 27 Euseh in vit Constantini aut mundi machina collabitur The God of nature suffereth or else the frame of the world is flying in pieces Besides what Petrus Comester records where ever he had it that the Philosophers of Athens disputed about this Eclipse as being the occasion of building that Altar to the unknown God Tho Pausanias as I remember declares it to have been erected upon the great devastation made by that fearful pestilence at Athens pausan in atticis Laert in Epimedid Lucian philopatri Oecumenius c. in the time of the Peloponnesian War so notably described by Thucydides But passing that the aforesaid admirable Eclipse of the Sun being celebrated near the Full-Moon of the paschal solemnity It must needs follow that the Moon her self must be prodigiously and totally Eclipsed being near her opposition at the same time Nay there was moreover another Eclipse of the Moon in her natural course in the Evening of the same day as by calculation out of the Tables doth manifestly appear the scheme whereof is exhibited by Buntingius in his chronology and I think declared by others also So that there were three Eclipses in the compass of one natural day that all the inhabitantsround the globe might read in the heavens some wonderful work about that time Lang. de christ annis had they known the language of those glittering lamps whose places being then near the Equinoctial the sun in Aries the Moon in Libra they might be seen almost from Pole to Pole. Such a Spectacle as never had happened from the foundation of the World and possibly may never again It being a superlative attestation to the glorious sufferings of our blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ Concerning the darkness of that time how dreadful and universal it was others having discoursed I shall not enlarge Many other wonderful Miracles transacted by the Prophets in the Old Testament and thousands by our Lord and many of his Apostles in the new are set down for the confirmation of the holy Oracles Several things and some persons mentioned in the Sacred Books are likewise glanced at by the Heathen Writers Such persons as the Magi are hinted by Laertius some things mentioned by Celsus in Origens refutation of his Heathenish Opinions by Julian Porphyry Apollonius c. who endeavouring to undermine the Authority of the Scriptures
the writing of his Gospel and not the consigning the Canon For indeed the Apostle did compile his Gospel Rogatus ab Asiâ— Episcopis at the desire Euseb l. 4. c. 18 l. 5. c. 6 Irenaeus l. 0. c. 1 l. 5. justin warâ— heronim in catalogo ut magdeb lent 1. l 2. c 10. p 569. l 2. c. 4. p. 67. of the Bishops of â—â—sia as Eusebius and Jerom and others relate that 's very true Now tho some hence would deem that his Gospel was the last book of Scripture written by any Apostle yet I rather understand it as I said before that he was the last that wrote any Gospel of the life and acts of our blessed Lord. For so the words of Jerom imports novissimus omnium c. â—he was the last of all that wrote any Gospel History not that he novissimum librum novi Testamâ—nti conscripsit wrote the last book of the Testament that cannot be fetcht out of these words of Jerom but is a force put upon them From whence they would seem to draw that if his Gospel were the last book written then he thereby consigned the Canon of the whole Scripture But the former not being clear from thâ—se words that because he was the last that writ a Gospel that therefore the Gospel was the last book of Scripture that was written by any Apostle that 's not consequent But if we can clear that the Gospel of John was the last book of holy Scripture that ever was written by the appointment of God it were to purpose indeed that the Canon were sealed up by it But if the Revelations should prove to be the last book written by command of the Spirit and pen'd at the desire of the Asian Churches according to his visions in Patmus then it must be Sigillum Canonis the finisher of the holy canon But this as yet I cannot certainly find and therefore at present must acquiesce Yet as to this Revelation book there being of old much debate it was at last determined among the Heresies to question its Authority now its being so late received it seems to imply that it was the latest penned Whatsoever hath been hitherto said I rather incline to think that this great work was not concredited to Angels or any holy men or Primitive Churches at first but performed by the Majestical Authority the Lord and King of his Church and that he himself in his own person commanded the sealing of the Canon to his Servant John from heaven in the close of the Revelation-book however it comes to pass that we have not as yet this testimony of John formally set down by any Ecclesiastick Writer of the Primitive Times that I have had the happiness to peruse happy they that shall produce it authentick just and true Eut it seems to me that our Lord himself performed this work when he added those direful and fearful curses to fall upon any that dare to add or diminish from it which looks like a sanction of heavenly Majesty Pro. 22 18 19 not only pronouncing that particular Prophecy but as extensive to the whole Bible since it was foretold by Daniel that the Messiah should not only suffer for transgression Dan 9 24 Grasserus but also seal up vision and Prophecy Which I well know may be construed in reference to all the ancient visions concentring in him but the phrase may comprehend also his sealing and determining and putting an end to all visions and prophecies after which there should come no more he being the great Prophet of his Church and his holy Spirit the great dictator of Scripture This I humbly take to be the full final and utmost period of all Scriptures according to the foretelling of Daniel and the practical consignation by our Lord himself and therefore needs no further authority Whether then this or the Gospel were written last it matters not so much as to the signing of the Canon but since the Apostles in their times did attest it and the primitive churches worshipped and walked by its light and that ever since by some notable providence it hath stood in the rear of the Canon in all ages we have received it in connexion with the other holy Scriptures as the complex or body of Divine Truths let down from heaven and therein as Tertullian expresses it we adore the fullness of the Scriptures Rom 3 2 1 Tim 3 16 2 Pet 1.21 To draw toward an upshot since we find the Scriptures of the Old Testament cited in the New as the Oracles of God-and thereby made authentical by the Spirit of God assuring us that the Prophets of old time spake as moved by the Holy Ghost and what they wrote was received by the Jewish Church which is dignified with that honour to be the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or the keepers of the divine law since also that the New Testament is confirmed by divine miracles and oracles and the attestation of our Lord himself in the close of the Revelations what remains but to conclude that they are of heavenly original and have supremacy in and over the Church and over the whole world as the rule of life and are as a star shining in a dark place directing us in the path to eternal life Whatever the Romanists talk of their Church or any other of the Patriarchal Seats especially Jerusalem and Antioch where we are sure that Peter sat yet the Church can give no Authority to Scriptures Eph. 2. 2â— but commendatory and all else is but Sophism For the Church is built upon the doctrine of the holy Apostles and Prophets So that altho at first we receive the scriptures in and from the ministry of Christ in his church Yet as Austins saâ—ing to this point may be glossâ—d The whole Autâ—ority both for Ministers to preach and churches to act is deduced only from thâ— holy scriptures so that the Churches of Christ ought to do nothing in doctrine worship or manners but as the holy scriptures are their best their unerring and most authentick guide There rests yet a small objection before I conclude this chapter which is that if citations in the new as I said above do ratifie the Old then the Septuagint translation should receive a higher character than the Hebrew because in some places it s cited when differing from the Hebrew Then Aratus being cited in the Acts and Menander in the Corinths acts 17.28 1 Cor 15 22. T it 1â— 12 and Epimenides in Titus are all authorized by the Apostles I answer That the Septuagint Greek is cited only as a Translation which by wonderful providence was composed at the command of Ptolomy to prepate the Grecian Gentiles for receiving the Gospel But I must not enlarge As to the heathen authors Aratus and Epimenides are urged ad hominem as arguments from their own Prophets to convince theâ— of some heathenish follies and impieties As for Menander he is cited as
Christ Then may we safely and comfortably proceed to the main subject of this Discourse the nature of true saving Faith which I have divided into ten Chapters but shall inlarge principally on three or four being the drift and scope of my writing to help the Joy of FAITH in those poor hearts who tho truly gracious yet like young Samuel cannot well discern the voice and presence of Christ And this my undertaking I beg the divine help and Grace to assist and prosper extending my time and health after my late sickness according to his blessed will affording the savourable influence of his loving countenance This Tract divides into two parts The first containing the Foundation the second the more visible superstructure about the nature of Faith. The first concluding with two Chapters and the second with ten But whereas some may question what need any further on this Subject wherein several have already travelled I may rejoyne that Holy Luke thought meet in his pure Greek as to his handling that heavenly Subject of our Lords Life Luk. 1.1 that though many had taken it in hand before yet he would set forth some things not mentioned by other Evangelists Yea how many in almost all ages have prosecuted the same points in Divinity with benefit and use to the Church both in Commentaries and Controversies This consideration incouraged these Lines to appear having observed some further need of these Chapters on which I mainly insist and were the great motive of my writing and are but little toucht heretofore and yet are very useful to chosen Vessels yea the far greater number of the truly gracious Servants of God. To whom if you draw near and can have the happiness to come within them for their good for they are shy aware of every approach you may find their lives to hang in an anxious suspence between fear and hope and feed only upon some few gracious glimpses like the Beams from between April Clouds let down out of Heaven into their hearts to sustain their Spirits from sinking and to preserve from dying under grievous Fits of the palpitation of their hearts To these I chiefly bend my Souls desire and humbly beg the dewes of Zion upon these Meditations and Labours that neither they nor I may saint under lost expectations of Mercy And so I finish the Preface and come to the Treatise it self S. L. The JOY of FAITH PART I. Of the Fundamental points necessary to build a sound and vigorous Faith laid down in two Chapters The first referring to the Divine Authority of the Holy Scriptures The second demonstrating the Deity of our blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ CHAPTER I. The Authority of the Sacred Scriptures THat the Holy Scriptures wherein we daily read and meditate for our instruction in order to Eternal Life are the very words of God there are many weighty arguments to evince it upon the hearts of all sober and well-inclined persons nay which by the good conduct of Gods Spirit may influence the minds of Heathen and Atheists would they but improve the common light of reason that Candle of the Lord. Prov. 20.27 James 2.19 Mat. 8.29 Mat. 4 2 4. Mark 5.7 Nay Devils themselves who believe and tremble at the Judgment to come and desire of our Lord not to torment them before that time do quotâ— them in argument against our blessed Saviour in his tentations and acknowledge his Deity as being the Son of God. But I shall not dwell upon the several Heads to clear this truth so often insisted upon by thâ— Pious and Learned in their Systemes and Bodies of Divinity but I shall only touch some of them and inlarge upon one or two which are the chief design of this Chapter 1. One Argument that some mention is their venerable Antiquity which though it be no cogent proof yet allowing that of an ancient quo quid antiquius co verius that Truth is elder than Error I would not lay aside the pains of Clemens Alexandrinus and others who prove that the writings of Moses are ancienter than any the Heathen world can pretend to To which I would annex their stupendious preservation through the fury of all ages especially the raging flames of Antiochus and Dioclesian those cruel Persecutors of the Church of God neither would I be silent as to the invincible pains â—uxtorfji â—iberias and toile which the Jewish Masorites underwent to preserve the Hebrew Original With such exactness did they manage that Affair that they had in numerato punctually set down every word and every letter in the whole Bible and did also set down which was the middle word and middle letter of the whole and I think of every individual Book which was indeed a high providence of God towards the conservation of those happy leaves and I could heartily wish the New Testament had been so guarded by industrious and holy persons in the primitive times Nay it were well if yet at this day some pious Rectors of Vniversities and Schools of Learning would take up the ancientest and purest Copies and perform it at this time The Masorites did the work long after the first penning of them on purpose to preserve it in their dispersions But I proceed to other Arguments As 2. The Majesty of their Stile that might justly make the Vniverse tremble and all the powers of darkness to hide their heads in the dark Chaos of confusion 3. The Heavenly Harmony of their distinct parts tho written in various Ages and distinct places 4. The self-denial of the Pen-men discovering their own sins and heart corruptions with the follies and weakness of their nearest and dearest relations which is not done by other Writers as Thucydides Xenophon or Plutarch or Livy but especially by Law-givers which might disparage their Government as the compilers of the twelve Tables or Theodosius in his Codex or Justinian in his Pandects or other his Sanctions of the Civil Law. 5. The Sublimity and Spirituality of the Mysteries therein discovered far beyond the invention or comprehension of men or Angels They may 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 if they please and pry towards them 1 Pet. 1.12 but none except the Lion of Judah can 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 both open the Seals and expound the mystical depths of this admirable Volumne So far is it beyond the brains of the most fine spun Philosopher that Amelius the Platonick in Clem of Alexandria confessed of the first verses of the Apostle Johns Gospel This Barbarian saith he hath comprized more stupendious matters in three lines than we in all our Volumns I might adjoyn to this the purity and holiness of its subject matter and the glorious scope and design for our everlasting communion with God in heaven 6. In the sixth place a principal argument may be deduced from the Imperial Power and Efficacy on the Souls and Consciences of men both as to conviction of sin sustentation
or Edict went forth not to return out of Babylon nor to build the Temple which were done by former Kings but to restore and to build Jerusalem even its streets and walls In the time prescribed from that twentieth year ver 25. our blessed Lord both appeared and suffered for his Elect under Pontius Pilate according to the Scriptures His manifestation to the world under Augustus and sufferings under Tiberius seem to be hinted By Suetonius and other Authors Nay the Swan of Mantua sings an Anthem out of the Sybill of Cuma upon his Birth Jam redit virgo redeunt Saturnia regna Jam nova progenies caelo demititur alto The Lovely Virgin and her Heaven born Son Commands the golden age again to run So then we find in the Old Testament these admirable predictions concerning him 1. What Nature our Lord should assume 2. From what Nation he should spring 3. From what Tribe 4. What Family 5. In what place 6. At what time he should appear and all those fulfilled to a tittle which demonstrate the Divine Original of the Holy Scriptures Besides these Oracles concerning our blessed Lord so exactly fulfilled and attested partly by Heathens partly by Jews and primitive Historians but especially by the New Testament which that it must be admitted for a competent witness will be I hope evident by the Divine Authority in the consignation of the Canon spoken to in the close of this Chapter There remain yet some Prophecies to be briefly rehearsed which yield a further and great light in this point of the verity of Scripture-predictions and therefore of their Divinity For inftance the universal deluge prophecied by Noah 120 year before it came which antedate of years if not mentioned before by others yet the deluge it seif is confirmed by many Heathens even Youths at school â—lut de Solert â—â—imal Lucian de Deasyria the Ark p. 10 60. â—â—â—it Paris 1615. Gen 7.19 read it in Ovid and Horace and the Dove of Drucalion or Noah is touched by Plutarch himself a grave Historian that wonderful Deluge tho' some have thought particular yet when the Holy Ghost speaks 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 so expresly that all the high Hills under the whole Heaven were covered I am sorry that any should open the door to Atheists to play upon Scripture Which having declared that All the high hills were covered adds further that the waters did prevail fifteen cubits above those Mountains and what vast high Mountains they are wherein the Ark rested which were anciently called Ararat as if Har gnall Har Mountains upon Mountains in the ragged Country of Elwond in Media let the ingenious Olearius declare who I could wish were followed by other Travellers Olearig in his Persia that they would learn Astronomy before they go abroad for many good purposâ—s in Travels but especially for Calculation of Eclipses in order to Longitudes and of taking the Altitude of the Pole in the rudera or ruines of ancient Cities that our ancient Geography of Scripture and of Civil Writers might be perfected But there is one thing more that may demonstrate the contrary to their weak opinion about particularity of the deluge because if the waters were higher than those exalted craggy tops in Armenia and other places there must have followed a powerful deflux of that liquid element whereby all Champion Conntries must be overflowed to give an aequilibration or poise from all sides of the world upon the Center Not to argue from the earths diurnal motion which is the principal cause of the flux and reflux of waters in all Seas and particularly the Atlantick Ocean and the Mar-del-zur under the line and Tropicks the former being boisterously repelled by that great barr of America sends them back with such violence to make those mighty tides in these North-west parts of Europe and possibly on the West-sides of America the like But pardon me this paragraph spent on a matter per transennam But I proceed Deut. 30.3 3. Voss de sectis The Prophet Moses foretold the Captivity of Israel many hundred years before it came to pass and the deliverance of Israel in the latter days not yet fulfilled This great person is thought by some to be vailed under the name of Moschus in Jamblichus Orph. p. 460. Edit Cantabrig 1652. 80. his receiving the Law in Mount Horeb is so palpably exprest by Orpheus in his gnomae in these words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as the water-born Prophet ordained in his Law of the two Tables that I am scarce satisfied whether this Orpheus were not feigned by a primitive Christian â—uv sai 14. ver 133. rather than a Thracian Harper But to be sure Juvenal was not counterfeited by Thomas Aquinas his Conuntryman in that verse Tradidit arcano quodeunque volumine Moses Whatever Moses delivered in his hidden volumne he needs no testimonies from Heathens his authority is unquestionable Many other predictions we find in Scripture as the birth of Josiah above two hundred years before the Event as I think may appear I King. 13 2. Isa 13 21 That Nineveh upon Tigris the Head of the Assyrian and Babylon on Euphrates the head of the Babilonian Empire should never be built more but continue a habitation for Satyrs and the Jims and Ohims or wild Cats of the Desert and therefore they do very ill that call Bagdat by the name of Babylon a well inhabited and beautiful place which denomination gives defiance to the Holy Scriptures whereas this Bagdat called so from the pleasant gardens is forty miles below on the same Rivâ—r But in the old ruines by the River side is a little Ware-house called Felugea and among the vast piles of confused heaps of destruction there are so many serpents and wild Beasts lurking up and down Sanders in Purch that it is most dangerous for persons to venture among them Again there 's likewise found a Prophecy of Cyrus which some take to be 170. others 200 years mentioned before his appearing Ifa 44 28. but I have not that golden canon of Ptolomy by me at present which states the Nabonassar Aera and the Persian Monarchy c so exactly that we need not wave up and down in those Chronological Difficulties which others have done before us and I could heartily wish his Almagest and this Canon were printed by that mannscript in the famous Bodly Library out of which I copied it When the great deliverer of the Jews came abroad in the world some assert as I remember that they shewed him Isaiahs Prophecy concerning himself written so long before not unlike to what Jaddua the High-priest did in reading to Alexander out of Daniel Josephus l. 11. c. 8. the predictions of his great conquests over the Persian Empire But to draw towards an end in mentioning a few more tho there be many the irreparable ruine of Edom spoken of long before the time when there remained neither name nor
own divine power Whereby he manifested his own Glory that is of his Deity As in turning Water into Wine at Cana and in raising of Lazarus he was glorified to be the Son of God Therefore the Apostle John from that and many other cases of raising the dead Joh 5 17 15 24 10 18. c. might well affirm that he had seen his glory even in the transfiguration as of the only begotten of the Father full of Grace and Truth Till the incarnation or rather the beginning of his Ministry the Father wrought But now sayes he I Work. He laid down the life of his Humanity Heb 1 Rom 1 4 c. rose from the dead ascended into Heaven and sat down at the right hand of God by his own Divine Power Tho t is true that some of these things being sometimes ascribed to God essential and otherwhere predicated or affirmed of Christ personal do therein unite in the confirmation of his Deity who performed all these great signs that we should believe him to be the Son of God. 1 Joh. 5.13 8. Another Testimony of his glorious Deity is the pardon of sin The Pharisees saw the force of this Argument Mat. 9.3 Luk. 5.21 and blasphemously catcht at it as a great crime for arrogating to himself the honour which is alone due to the Majesty of God. But our Lord sufficiently knew the dignity of his own person tho somewhat vailed yet to the comfort of many a poor sinner and to their inestimable joy often as a God pronounced the forgiveness of their sins Nay to shew the union of his humanity with the Deity declares that the Son of Man hath power upon Earth Mat. 9.2 3. Act 5 31 Heb 1.3 as well as in Heaven to forgive sins So the Apostle to the Hebrews confirming his Godhead over and over in the same Chapter asserts that having purged away our sins by himself i. e. by his blood he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high 9. Again since contrite sinners do humbly supplicate to God for the pardon of sin we find him recorded sometimes as the direct and immediate object of Worship both from men and angels Joh 14.13 How often do we find him prayed to and worshipt by his Disciples and himself accepting all as his due Now he that receives prayer and answers it to the people of God and takes into his custody the spirits of dying Saints as he did Stephen's this person must needs be God. Nay all the Angels of God are commanded to Worship him Act 7 59 Heb 1 6 Mat 8 27 Job 38 9 at whose word the raging seas hush into their swadling bands and are quiet like a child sleeping in its cradle the boisterous winds delight to be still that they may without noise hear his delicious and heavenly voice with all silence and subjection and make a halcyon calm from Pole to Pole. 10 But to end He that is declared to be Judg of the World and to raise all persons out of their Graves by hâ—s own Imperial command to appear at his righteous Bar must not that person be God If he knew not the hearts and thoughts of all and every secret thing from his own Omniscience Eccl. 12 14 which thing is an incommunicable attribute of God he could not be Judg of quick and dead at his appearance and Kingdom To Judge the World was by the Pharisees acknowledged to be the character of a God. 2 Tim. 4 8 The high Priest therefore hearing this rents his clothes and calls it Blasphemy But why the second person having admitted the humanity into union and being head of the Church should perform this glorious work Mat 26 65 Mark 17 64 depends only upon the Oeconomy of the sacred Trinity a secret not to be irreverently peered into but adored Let 's be wise to Sobriety according to what is written and not transcend the limits at the foot of the Mount. Rom 12 3 But to draw to an issue He is also constituted Judg of Angels at that great day they must bow their coelestial knees at his Name and the evil Spirits acknowledg this while our Lord was here below Isa 45 23 Rom 14 10 11 Mat 8.29 beseeching him not to torment them before the time Now it is a work competent alone to a God to torment Spirits All the powers in heaven and earth besides cannot do it of their own vigor and force unless permitted influenced directed and managed by God in it and blessed be God for it that hath reserved the dominion of our spirits to himself alone as well as of Angels But this supremacy was acted by Christ at his pleasure from the innate power of his Deity when he cast them out as evil and unclean spirits sore against their wills and at their supplication gave them leave to go hither or thither For they are in adamantine chains and those chains in his own hand 2 Pet 2 4. and casts them into hell and looses them when he pleases There fore he who by his own power and authority in communion with the essential Godhead doth these great things Rev 20 1 2 7 must be God blessed for ever Amen I know the Socinians talk of their created God and so would sain evade the dint of Scriptures but that 's most perfect nonsence to assert two Gods and one a created God. For Infinite can be but one or else hold one to be titular as Angels and Magistrates tho in a higher Orb and Order which yet is inconsistent with the precedent Scriptural Arguments that prove our blessed Lord to be God in essence coequal with the Father and Holy Spirit to whom be glory and dominion for ever and ever Now then since this most excellent person by vertue of his sufferings in communion with his infinite Deity tho in it self impassible hath given full satisfaction to his Father for all the sins of Believers and by whom we receive the attonement Rom 3 21 5 21 Act 20 2 even through the merit of his precious blood and that hereby he is become a personal particular and immediate Object of our Faith and that by him we do believe in God the justifier of the ungodly through his righteousness and his alone Rev 22 17 Heb 9 12 Eph 5 26 Tit 2 14 1 Joh 1 7 1 Pet 1 2 Rev 8 5 Heb 9 16 and that this glorious person so graciously invites all thirsty sinners to take the water of life freely and to believe in his Name for the remission of Sins let us come boldly to the Throne of Grace that we may obtain mercy and find Grace to help in time of need Now let this suffice to have written about the two great Foundations of Faith. In the first Chapter concerning the Divinity of the Scriptures And in the second in reference to the Deity of our blessed Lord which I hope