express promise of eternal life in the law of Moses Temporal blessings were promised to the obedient but they had no assurances given them of a glorious immortality The way to this our Lord hath revealed plainly 2. He procured this for us also he bought it with no less price than his pretious bloud And now we stand reconciled to God by the death of his Son and then we may justly expect to be saved by his life Rom. 5.10 3. He confers this Salvation upon us He is set down at God's right hand and hath received all power in Heaven and Earth God hath exalted him with his right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour to give repentance unto Israel and forgiveness of Sins Act. 5.31 We receive from him the power of his grace here and justly expect from him the glorifying of our souls and bodies hereafter And it will well be worth our while to enter into a meditation of this Salvation and deliverance which our Lord hath wrought for us And to that purpose let us compare it with those deliverances which were wrought of old for the people of the Jews For those deliverances may well be called Salvations and those men that were the instruments of them may be called Saviours for so they are called in the Holy Scripture 2 King 13.5 Nehem. 9.27 with the LXXII Judg. 3.9.15 Among those Saviours there was one who was not onely an eminent type of our blessed Saviour but who had the same name that was given our Saviour at his Circumcision And that was Joshua the Son of Nun For Joshua and Jesus are the same name and Joshua is called Jesus Heb. 4.8 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Neh. 8.17 'T is true indeed his name was Hoshea and so he is called but upon his being chosen to spy out or search the Land of Canaan Moses changed his name from Hoshea to Joshua Num. 23.16 i. e. he made an honourable alteration of his name as Philo observes when he added to the name he had the first letter of the Tetragrammation 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Philo Judae de mutat Nominum And he made this addition to his name by putting to it the first letter of the name of God when he sent him to search the Land of Canaan so that for the future he is a Saviour and by God's appointment was set apart to introduce the Israelites into the Land of Promise Moses the Lawgiver did not bring the Israelites into the promised Land This was left for Joshua to doe Now that Land was a type of heaven And Joshua of our Jesus And what the Law did not that the Gospel does It hath brought life and immortality to light And though Moses who brought the Israelites out of Egypt and Joshua who introduced them into the good Land and others who afterward fought their battels were great deliverers of their people yet all these deliverances put together come greatly short of that which our Lord hath wrought For these deliverances were but temporal our Saviour's is eternal Those Worthies fell asleep and then the Israelites fell under the malice and power of their enemies and ill neighbours then were they liable to the impressions of their enemies who did inslave their people and sack their City and burn their Temple and carry them away to a strange Land Their enemies were not dismayed with the great names of Moses and Joshua Gideon and Sampson These great men were dead and could yield no succours to the oppressed Israelites And what ever terrours these men impressed upon their enemies while they lived their names will strike none now The Chaldeans are not over-awed by the rod of Moses or the strength of Sampson these deliverers can afford no relief or help 't is otherwise with us Our Lord is the Authour of Eternal Salvation Heb. 5.9 And hath obtained an Eternal Redemption for us Heb. 9.12 Those Saviours died and left their enemies behind them But Jesus ever lives to make intercession for us Heb. 7.25 Our Lord arose from the dead and is gone before us into Heaven and is there concerned on our behalf And this is unspeakably to our comfort and advantage Old Jacob in his last words to his Sons tells them what shall befall them in the last days Of Dan he foretells that he shall be a Serpent in the way an Adder in the path that biteth the Horse heels so that his Rider shall fall backward Gen. 49.17 These words seem to refer to Sampson who delivered his people from the Philistines But then 't is worth our observing what follows where the good man's Soul sallies out into another and greater contemplation I have waited for thy Salvation O Lord V. Targum Hierosol Jonath in locum v. 18. That is as the Jews expound it as if he had said I do not expect the deliverance of Gideon and Sampson which will be but a temporal deliverance but thy Salvation O Lord is that which I expect for thine is an eternal Salvation These words seem to refer to the salvation of the Messias and do very well deserve to be considered farther V. Hieronym adversus Jovinianum l. 1. 'T is agreed that in the foregoing words Jacob speaks of Sampson He was a Nazarite and a great deliverer of his people And besides what he did for his people in their life-time he destroyed their enemies at his death In several respects we may suppose him a type of our blessed Saviour And we may very well suppose him so to be even as he is considered here as a Serpent by the way Phil. Jud. de Agricultura For Philo the Jew hath directed us to understand that expression of a Serpent not with reference to the Serpent which beguiled Eve or Voluptuousness but with respect to the Brazen Serpent of Moses a symbol of Temperance and Fortitude and as I shall shew afterwards a very remarkable type of the Messias And Jacob looks farther than Sampson he looks off from that Nazarite to our Nazaren from that temporal deliverer to our Jesus who is the Author of eternal Salvation I shall give you the sense of these words in the words of one of the Ancients who brings in Jacob speaking thus Hieronym Quaest Hebr. in Genes Nunc videns in Spiritu comam c. i. e. I foreseeing in the Spirit Sampson the Nazarite nourishing his hair and triumphing over his slaughtered enemies that like a Serpent and Adder in the way he suffered none to pass through the land of Israel and if any were so hardy confiding in the swiftness of an Horse as to adventure like a Robber to spoil it he should not be able to escape I foreseeing this Nazarite so valiant and that he dyed for the sake of an Harlot and dying destroyed our enemies I thought O God that he was the Christ thy son But because he dyed and rose not again and Israel was afterward carried away captive I must expect
not able to bring forth lice as Moses did Then the Magicians said unto Pharaoh ch 8.19 this is the singer of God They were forced to confess a divine power Secondly the difference between the Egyptians and the Israelites during these Plagues This was indeed very miraculous and an evident proof not onely of the divine power but also of God's more special care of the Israelites his people whom he sent Moses to bring out of Egypt And we have very remarkable instances to this purpose viz that of the swarms of flies Exod. 8.22 23. ch 9.4 6. ch 10.23 ch 11.7 which infested the Egyptians but were not in the dwellings of the Israelites that of the Murrain which fell upon the Cattel of Egypt and not upon that of Israel And that of the darkness upon the Egyptians when the Children of Israel had light in their dwellings Again that of the death of the first-born of the Egyptians when the first-born of Israel escaped This difference was made that it might be known that God was the Lord in the midst of the earth ch 8.22 These things could not be supposed casually to happen but were a great proof of God's providence and care as well as of his being and his power Thirdly I consider after what manner these Plagues were removed For the very removal as well as the infliction speaks a divine hand in all this We do not find the Magicians able to remove however they were suffered to inflict a Plague But Moses does not onely remove the Plague but which is well worthy our observation does it at the time appointed Thus in the case of the Frogs he leaves in to Pharaoh to set the precise time when the Frogs shall be removed and removes them accordingly Exod. 8.9 10 29. that thou mayst know says Moses unto him that there is none like unto the Lord our God The same may be observed of the swarm of flies ch 9.29 and of the thunder and hail These things put together do speak the hand of God in the mighty works which were wrought by Moses and were sufficient proofs that Moses was sent by God and were enough to convince at once both the Egyptians as well as the Sons of Israel But whatever these works of Moses were yet they came far short of the works which Jesus did I shall not need to say that the works of Jesus were more in number than those of Moses Joh. 20.30 with ch 21.25 when it is apparent that in that respect they were more than those of Moses and all the other Prophets beside For besides the many which we read that Jesus did in a little time we are assured that he did very many more which are not written I shall therefore insist onely upon the following severals 1. I consider the works themselves which Jesus did and we shall soon find that they do very much transcend those of Moses Joh. 15.24 If I had not done among them the works which none other man did says Jesus they had not had sin The works which our Lord did were very stupendious and convincing Some of the works which Moses did the Magicians did also and for the rest they came short of the works of Jesus Indeed by the hands of Moses the dust is turned into lice and Egypt is plagued with flies and murrain darkness frogs and hail with the death of their cattel and of their first-born But Jesus did greater works than these He cures the blind heals the most inveterate diseases and raises the dead to life It is a greater instance of power to save than to destroy to cure the sick than to make them so and to raise one man to life speaks a greater power than to slay thousands And he that cured a man that was born blind does more by far than he who turned a rod into a serpent or water into bloud Every little thing deprives us of life and health to save and to restore speaks the greatest power Nay Jesus or Joshua the Son of Nun an eminent type of our Lord does a greater work Josh 10.12 when he stopped the Sun in his course than any of those which Moses did in Egypt 2. I consider the power of working Moses was but an instrument and could not work miracles at all times Jesus was indeed the Author of those which he wrought God tells Moses I will stretch out my hand and smite Egypt with all my wonders Ex. 3.10 ch 4.21 ch 7.9 19. ch 8.16 ch 8.12 21 30. which I will doe in the midst thereof And again See that thou doe all those wonders which I have put in thine hand And we find Moses directed by God when the miracle should be wrought and when Moses had wrought it and brought a plague upon the Egyptians he is not able to remove the same plague without crying unto God So that the miracles is altogether God's not the work of Moses Jesus was the Author of the mighty works which he did Joh. 5.19 Luk. 10. Matt. 10. and he did them when-ever he pleased He did them by a word of his mouth a touch of his garment when he was present and when he was at a distance Nothing withstands his power or resists his will What things soever He the Father doeth these also doeth the Son More yet our Saviour conferred this power upon others Upon the seventy and upon his twelve Apostles and after his ascension into heaven his followers retained a power of doing miracles in the name of Jesus Christ 3. The works of Jesus were better than the works of Moses Arguments they were not onely of greater power but of greater goodness The works of Moses in Egypt were at first but so many plagues our Lord's miracles were actions of rescue works of mercy and relief 'T is a more blessed and God-like thing to save than to destroy Moses his works speak dread and terrour And all along we see the face of great severity He comes into Egypt with a rod and as if that had not imported sufficient terrour he turns that rod into a serpent and instead of turning the water into wine he turns it into bloud He sends most uncomfortable creatures such as frogs and lice and flies amongst them He inflicts murrain upon the Cattel and boils and blains upon the people After this he sends hail with fire and thunder and smote man and beast as well as every herb and brake every tree After this the whole earth is covered with devouring locusts and with thick darkness and the first-born are killed and the Egyptians drowned in the midst of the Sea When the law was given in the wilderness you find mention of thunder and lightning and a thick cloud and the voice of a trumpet exceeding loud The Mount was on a smoke and the Lord descended in fire Exod. 19. and the smoke of it was like the smoke of a furnace and the whole mount
was predicted was to doe stupendious works I Shall now pass on to the Life of Jesus and see whether that agree with what was predicted of the Messias And under this head I shall insist upon the following particulars First that the Messias was to be a Prophet like unto Moses To this purpose we read what God said unto Moses I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren like unto thee and will put my words in his mouth and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him Deut. 18.18 This promise is deservedly applied unto Jesus Act. 3.22 7.37 Maimonides lays it down as a rule Maimon fundam leg c. 10. Sect. 9. that the Prophet of whom another Prophet hath testified is to be presumed a Prophet and needs not to be examined And then this testimony of Moses their greatest Prophet must needs be very worthy of regard since it can belong to none as will appear afterwards so peculiarly as to our Blessed Saviour who made it appear that he was that Prophet which was promised in those words And we find our Saviour appealing to the writings of Moses when he preached the things concerning himself Luk. 24.27 44. And he lets the Jews know that the writings of Moses will condemn them Do not think says he that I will accuse you to the Father there is one that accuseth you even Moses in whom ye trust For had ye believed Moses ye would have believed me for he wrote of me But if ye believe not his writings how shall ye believe my words Joh. 5.45 46 47. It is very evident that the Jews looked for a Prophet at that time Joh. 1.21 And the woman of Samaria intimates no less Joh. 4.25 And the Jews confess that he was of a truth that Prophet that should come into the world Joh. 6.14 And this general expectation of a Prophet at that time must be grounded upon the promise of God Juchasin fol. 14. for so it was as the Jewish writers confess that after the death of Haggai Zechary and Malachy Prophecy ceased And that it should revive again among them they had no ground to believe but what they had from the divine promise And these words Deut. 18. are a very express promise of it when Prophecy had ceased so long a time yet they are assured that God would raise them up a Prophet Now our Saviour was that Prophet And he gave great proofs that he was a Prophet He taught the will of God and spake as never man spake and did mightily exceed the Scribes in his discourses who were a sort of men that came the nearest to the Prophets Mat. 7.29 We find our Lord preaching his Sermon on the Mount Matt. 5. declaring the acceptable year of the Lord Luk. 4.19 He spake to the wonder of his hearers with great authority and assurance with a mighty power and great conviction And whereas the Prophets were wont to say Thus saith the Lord Our Saviour hath it I say unto you not like an ordinary Prophet but like the great Shepherd and Bishop of our souls 1 Pet. 5.4 Heb. 13.20 1 Pet. 2.25 He farther shewed himself a Prophet as he foretold things to come And this he did frequently and the things came to pass and he appeared to be a true Prophet Thus he foretold the denial of Peter Matt. 26.75 the treachery of Judas Joh. 6.70 71. his own death and resurrection Matt. 16.21 Aye and after that the destruction of the Temple and the Jewish Nation with the calamities that should go before it Mat. 24. And the false Christs that should arise of which there have been considerable numbers from time to time He tells the Jews that though they did not receive him who came in his Father's name yet says he If another shall come in his own name him ye will receive Joh. 5.43 The poor Jews have wofully experimented the truth of those words of our Saviour having been imposed upon by Impostours from time to time to their great loss and mischief as I shall have occasion to shew more at large afterwards Thus did our Saviour make it appear that he was a true Prophet in that his predictions were answered by the event of things Maimon fundam leg c. 10. Sect. 2. And Maimonides himself lays this down as the test of a true Prophet that what he foretells comes to pass But he was not onely a Prophet but a Prophet like unto Moses also whose great Anti-type he was Moses is greatly magnified by the Jewish writers Maimon fund leg c. 7. and placed above the other Prophets And it is expresly said that there arose not a Prophet since in Israel like unto Moses whom the Lord knew face to face Deut. 34.10 And therefore it is a vain thing to look for this Prophet that was to be like unto Moses among the Prophets that succeeded Moses while the spirit of Prophecy continued in Israel But our blessed Saviour was like unto Moses in very many particulars If Moses were to be put to death as soon as he was born by the command of Pharaâ—h so was our Saviour by the command of Herod If he were forced to fly his countrey to save his life so was Jesus also If Moses fasted forty days and nights so did Jesus also If he were meek Jesus was meek and lowly in heart If Moses appeared when the Israelites were under the bondage of Egypt so did Jesus when they were under the Roman power If Moses gave his law from a Mountain our Saviour preached his Sermon on a Mount If Moses had his seventy Elders Jesus had his seventy Disciples If Moses were rejected and murmured at by his own people our Saviour came unto his own and his own received him not If Moses trampled on Pharaoh's Crown and despised the pleasures of his Court our Saviour refused to be made a King and despised all the glory of this world As the face of Moses did shine so did the face of Jesus Compare Ex. 34.35 with Matt. 17.2 And as Pharaoh designed the death of the males among the Hebrews that he might destroy the deliverer of that people so did Herod destroy them about Bethlehem As Moses returns into Egypt upon the death of those who sought his life so does Jesus into his Countrey upon the death of Herod But there are other things in which our Jesus was like unto Moses Viz. In his more clear and open converse with the divine Majesty Vid. Abravenel in legem fol. 417. col 3. Thus one of the Jewish writers tells us that Moses saw clearly 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 not parabolically and aenigmatically And God tells the Israelites thus If there be a Prophet among you I the Lord will make my self known to him in a vision and will speak unto him in a dream My servant Moses is not so with him will I speak mouth to mouth even apparently and not in dark speeches and the similitude of
and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling savour Eph. 5.2 2. The death of Christ is to be considered as the death of a Testator for so is Christ to be considered also He himself calls his bloud the bloud of the New Testament or the New Testament in his bloud I very well know that the Greek word which we render Testament does signifie Covenant but yet it does not always do so in the New Testament For sometimes it signifies the last Will or Testament of a Testator And when it does so it does not exclude the notion of a Covenant neither but rather imply it For the right we have to the inheritance is one part of the Covenant but then the declaration of that right is peculiarly and properly the part of a Testament which signifies the last will of a man by which he disposeth of his goods Matt. 26.28 Mark 14.24 Luk. 22.20 Our Blessed Saviour is said to be the heir of all things And we are elsewhere told that the Father loveth the Son and hath given all things into his hand And we are farther informed upon what account it is that the Father loveth the Son and consequently hath given all things into his hands in these words of our Saviour Therefore doth my Father love me because I lay down my life From whence it is Evident that upon the account of the voluntary death of Christ this full power and authority is given to Christ as the great Mediator between God and man Christ was in the form of God and thought it not robbery to be equal with God But made himself of no reputation and took upon him the form of a servant and was made in the likeness of men and being found in fashion as a man he humbled himself and became obedient unto death even the death of the Cross Heb. 1.2 Joh. 3.35 10 17. Phil. 2.6 Thus low did the Son of God stoop for our Salvation from being equal with God to the likeness of men and from the form of God to that of a servant from life to death from glory to shame and contempt If you would know the effects of all this the next words will inform us Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him and given him a name which is above every name That at the Name of Jesus every knee should bow of things in heaven and things in earth and things under the earth and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father Our Blessed Saviour a little before his death bequeaths a Kingdom to his followers as a Testator in these words and I appoint unto you a Kingdom 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as my Father hath appointed unto me Luk. 22.29 But then by his death he procured our right to this glorious inheritance For where a Testament is there must also of necessity be the death of the Testator For a Testament is of force after men are dead otherwise it is of no strength at all whilst the Testator liveth 'T is the death of the Testator that makes way to the Heir He hath no claim till the Testator dye But upon his death his title is unquestionable and it is not in any man's power to alter what is thus setled and confirmed Though it be but a man's Testament yet if it be confirmed no man disanulleth or addeth thereto Heb. 9.16 17. Gal. 3.15 Our Lord suffered the most shamefull and painfull death He did this voluntarily and not by Constraint He dyed not intestate nor yet like other Testators who when they have made their Testaments do avoid death with all their care and skill and are not willing to part with their lives for the benefit of their Heirs or Successours 'T was otherwise with our Saviour I lay down my life says he no man taketh it from me but I lay it down of my self I have power to lay it down and have power to take it again Joh. 10.17 18. Now after Christ had suffered death and risen from the dead he tells his Followers of the plenitude of his power and authority All power is given unto me says he in heaven and in earth And a while after his own ascension into heaven he sends the Holy Ghost which is the earnest of our inheritance Mat. 28.18 Eph. 1.14 3. The death of Christ is to be considered as the death of a Martyr or a Witness Our Blessed Saviour had professed himself to be the light of the World the Messias whom the Scriptures had foretold and that he came from heaven and that he was the Christ the Son of the Blessed It is of great moment that these truths should be sufficiently confirmed to us Upon these things depends the whole Religion that he taught If these things be sufficiently proved we can make no doubt of the truth of any part of the Doctrine which Jesus taught Joh. 8.12 c. 5.39 6 40. Mark 14.61 62. Now it will appear that the death of Christ does mightily confirm these truths and that Jesus gave up himself to death for the same end and purpose When Pilate asked Jesus whether he were a King or not Jesus answered thou sayest that I am a King that is Jesus answered in the affirmative To this end was I born and for this cause came I into the World that I should bear witness unto the truth With respect to the undaunted courage of Jesus before Pilate St. Paul saith that before Pontius Pilate he witnessed a good confession Joh. 18.37 1 Tim. 6.13 'T was upon this account that Jesus was put to death He was accused indeed of something else that was charged upon him But the Testimony was weak and incoherent that with which he was born down was that he professed himself to be Christ a King Or as it is in St. John because he made himself the Son of God Our Saviour was silent when the false witnesses accused him But when the High Priest asked him if he were the Christ the Son of the Blessed and he answered I am c. We find thereupon the High Priest renting his Cloaths and saying what need we any farther witnesses ye have heard the blasphemy what think ye and they all condemned him to be worthy of death Luk. 23.2 Joh. 19.7 Mark 14.61 Our Saviour dyed for his adhering to this great truth and that he did so must be acknowledged a great confirmation of it and of the Religion which he planted Life is too sweet a thing to be trifled away for nothing Much less will a man in his wits dye in confirmation of a lye Had Jesus been disposed he might have kept out of the way of his enemies or have saved himself by denying the truth He had now a great temptation before him either to renounce what he had professed or by some trick or mean art or other to escape the danger But he is far from taking any such course to deliver himself but instead thereof confirms
inconsiderable employments attend upon and publish the Resurrection of Jesus and do also secure the empty Sepulchre from the Jews that they are not able to place another body in the room of that of Jesus which was risen Matt. 28.6 Luk. 24.2 with Joh. 20.12 3. We have a divine Testimony and that a most irrefragable one a Testimony greater than that of men and Angels Our Lord had promised the Holy Spirit who should be with respect to his disciples a Comforter and with respect to our Lord himself an Advocate to plead his cause and defend his innocence Now this promise is fulfilled and this holy Ghost did bear witness to the Resurrection of Jesus After Jesus was risen he breathed on his disciples and said receive ye the Holy Ghost and after his Ascension at the day of Pentecost we find the Holy Ghost more plentifully bestowed on his Disciples And from thence the Apostle argues against them who derided them as those who were full of new Wine that God had raised up Jesus who being exalted had shed forth this which they now saw and heard and afterwards concludes therefore let all the House of Israel know assuredly that God hath made the same Jesus whom ye have crucified both Lord and Christ The effusion of the Holy Ghost was a witness of the Resurrection of Jesus And this Testimony of the Holy Ghost was a divine one it was from Heaven St. Peter tells the Jews that God had raised up Jesus and exalted him at his right hand and says he we are witnesses of these things so is also the Holy Ghost whom God hath given to them that obey him Joh. 14.16 ch 16.7 8 9 10 11. ch 20.22 Act. 2.4 36 ch 5.32 4. Jesus did after his resurrection take away all cause of doubt concerning the truth of his Resurrection He gave sufficient proof that the very same body which was fastened to the Cross dyed there and was buried was raised again to life The Disciples were at first affrighted and supposed that they had seen a Spirit But our Saviour put them out of all doubt Behold says he my hands and my feet Handle me and see for a Spirit hath not flesh and bones as ye see me have He shews his hands and his feet And whereas at his first appearing to his Disciples Thomas was absent and did not believe that he was risen from the dead and said moreover except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails and put my finger into the print of the nails and thrust my hard into his side I will not beleive our Lord convinced this doubting Disciple and gives him the utmost evidence and assurance of the truth of his Resurrection Reach hither thy finger says Jesus to Thomas and behold my hands and reach hither thy hand and thrust it into my side and be not faithless but beleiving upon which Thomas was convinced and forced to cry out my Lord and my God Our Lord gave his followers insallible proofs of his Resurrection in the space of forty days He are and drank with them exposed his body to their view and touch behold says he my hâ—nds and feet that it is my self and when after this they believed not for joy and wondred he took broiled fish and honey comb and did eat before them Greater assurance they were not capable of Luk. 24.37 39 40 41 42. Joh. 20.25 27 28. Act. 1.3.10.41 Luk. 24.39 40. 5. That the truth of the Resurrection of Jesus was abundantly confirmed by those who were the witnesses of it So it was and it was highly fit it should be so that there were a select number of men who were to be the witnesses of the Resurrection of Jesus these were men whom God had appointed and set apart for this purpose and such who upon the account of their knowledge of Jesus and their readiness to part with all for the sake of the truth were sitted and disposed for this purpose Thus St. Peter tells us Him God raised up the third day and shewed him openly not to all the people but to witnesses chosen before of God even unto us who did eat and drink with him after he rose from the dead The Apostles were now the witnesses of the Resurrection of Jesus this they preach and testifie upon all occasions and this is their Character and their Office Act. 10.41 chap. 1.22 and ch 3.15 and chap. 4.2 33. ch 5.30 32. ch 10.30 31. ch 13.31 chap. 17.18 Now these witnesses did abundantly confirm the truth of this Doctrine which they preached every where both by signs and wonders which God wrought by their hands and by an exemplary and holy life And at last by laying down their lives in confirmation of their Doctrine Upon which account they were witnesses beyond all exception For we cannot beleive that men would part with their lives in Confirmation of a lye or that God would assist them to do miracles for so vile and base an end and purpose and they must be very profligate wretches who would affirm a matter of fact of which they had not good assurance The Resurrection of Jesus was a truth of the greatest moment and consequence whatsoever upon the truth of this our hope and all our Religion does depend It was fit that this truth should be sufficiently attested by persons of undoubted credit The death of Christ was publick the whole multitude were witnesses of his Crucifixion But they were not vouchsafed the honour of being the witnesses of his Resurrection the truth of his Resurrection was too valuable to be concredited to an unconstant and malicious rabble And therefore God who raised up Jesus and shewed him openly or gave him to be made manifest as the Greek hath it did not do it to all the people but to certain select and chosen witnesses These men who conversed with him before his death and after his Resurrection who had known his life and heard his Sermons and been taught by him before that he must dye and rise again these men who had power to confirm this truth with Miracles and were prepared to confirm it with their bloud and did persist in it to their last breath were witnesses indeed beyond all manner of exception I say beyond all exception for there can be no reasonable exception brought against them And if we will give our selves the leisure to consider the thing before us with due application we shall find no cause to except For if there were any such thing it must be because of the thing it self or matter of fact which is attested or the persons who do report it For the thing it self viz. that God raised up Jesus there lies no shadow of reasonable exception against it For that a man should be raised from the dead implyes no contradiction either moral or natural He that beleives that God made the World cannot think it impossible to him to raise a dead man to life again Multò minus
But if you say where are these Conquests of our Lord 's to be seen shew us the men that are thus redeemed from their crimes and follies I answer that there are and ever were such men in the World since the Gospel appeared But that their number is small is not from the Religion they profess but because it is not entertained It is because they are false Christians not because the Religion is not able to make them such If we would receive our Lord's precepts and beg his aids and use his assistances and helps we should find a mighty change in the minds of men Lactant. Institut l. 3. c. 26. One of the Ancients tells us that there were daily experiments in his time how far the Precepts of Religion did prevail upon the minds of men And I cannot but take notice of his words to this purpose Da mihi virum qui sit iracundus c. Give me a man says he that is given to wrath to evil speaking and who is unruly With a very few words of God I will render him tame as a sheep Give me one that is craving covetous tenacious I will render him liberal and bountifull Give me one that is fearfull of grief and death He shall soon despise crosses and flames and the torments of a Tyrant Give me one that is lustfull adulterous and gluttonous and you shall soon see him sober chast and continent Give me one that is cruel and bloud-thirsty and that fury shall soon be changed into an unfeigned Clemency Give me one that is unjust foolish and sinfull and he shall presently become just and prudent and inoffensive Thus did Religion doe in those times when it was considered and entertained Those deliverances under the law of Moses were more particular and restrained to the people of the Jews but our Jesus is the Saviour of Mankind He is the authour of eternal salvation to all them that obey him Heb. 5.9 And he that saves the World is preferrible to him that delivered the Israelites onely The time was when Religion and all the more eminent dignations and favours of God seemed to be inclosed and confined within the narrow compass of the land and people of the Jews There had God his Temple and dwelt among them to them he gave his responses from heaven There were his Prophets and they had his Law amongst them He had not dealt so with any nation and for his judgments they had not known them Psal 147.20 In Judah was God known His Name was great in Israel in Salem was his Tabernacle and his dwelling place in Zion There brake he the arrows and the bow the shield and the sword and the battel Psal 76.1 And What one nation in the Earth was there like that people 2 Sam. 7.23 Among them he wrought his Wonders and the Gentiles were so far from being bettered by those Wonders that they were to their loss They were strangers to the Commonwealth and to the mercies of Israel Their land was the glorious land and the Valley of Vision when others sate in darkness Nay which is more still the Messiah was promised to them and to be of their seed The Apostle in sew but very comprehensive words reckons up their Prerogatives To whom pertaineth the adoption and the glory and the covenants and the giving of the law and the service of God and the promises Whose are the fathers and of whom as concerning the flesh Christ came who is over all God blessed for ever Rom. 9.4 The deliverances that were wrought by Moses and Joshua c. were for the sake of them and they were but the Saviours of the Israelites But our Lord is the Saviour of Mankind of the Gentile as well as Jew He is that light which lighteth every man that comes into the world That Sun of righteousness whose light and influence is not confined to any one nation or kindred but displays it self upon all the nations of the Earth The partition wall is taken down and the difference between man and man is taken away And whoever comes to our Jesus shall in no-wise be cast out Now all the faithfull are the children of Abraham And God is no respecter of persons but in every nation he that feareth Him and worketh righteousness is accepted with him Acts 10.34 Upon the birth of Jesus the Angel tells the shepherds Behold I bring you good tidings of great joy which shall be to all people Luke 2.10 And the heavenly Host praised God and said Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace good will towards men v. 14. Our Lord came not to save the Jews onely but all that believe And 't is worth our observing after what manner the love of God in sending his Son is expressed Not as confined to the Jews any longer but as reaching to the race of Mankind God so loved the world not the Jewish people onely that he gave his onely begotten Son c. John 3.16 After the same manner the Apostle speaks of this love of God After that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared Tit. 3.4 Our Saviour is a light to lighten the Gentiles as well as the glory of the people of Israel Luke 2.32 Our Lord hath delivered Mankind Moses and Joshua delivered the Israelites onely Sampson dyed and by his death destroyed the enemies of the Hebrews Our Lord by his death destroyed the enemies of Mankind The Sacrifices of the Law at the most attoned for the whole Congregation of Israel But Christ gave himself a ransome for all 1 Tim. 2.6 He is the propitiation for our sins and not for ours onely but also for the sins of the whole World 1 John 2.2 Our Lord tasted of death for every man Heb. 2.9 And would have all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth 1 Tim. 2.4 And what the men of Dan said to Micha's Levite that it was better for him to be a Priest to a tribe than to be a Priest to one man is accommodable to my present purpose He is the great deliverer that rescues Mankind rather than one people And such an one is our Jesus the Saviour of the World By the Religion of Christ Jesus we may be justified and acquitted from that guilt which admitted no attonement from the law of Moses Though in the law of Moses several oblations were prescribed and allowed to expiate for sins of Ignorance yet there was no expiation allowed for him that sinned presumptuously but such a sinner was to be cut off from among God's people Numb 15.30 31. There were many sins of this high nature that the law was not furnished with an attonement for as may be seen Levit. 20. Among these wilfull murther was to be reckoned as a sin that admitted no sacrifice of attonement And to this sense are the words of the Psalmist understood when he prays to be delivered from bloud-guiltiness 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉
live Onely let him see and consider This Serpent then of Moses was a symbol or sign of something better than it self And in its first institution it was intended for a sign or symbol of some future good This is very probable from the very words of the Text Moses is Commanded to make a fiery Serpent and set it upon a pole so we render it or set it for a sign as the words may be rendred from the Hebrew Text. The vulgar Latine hath it pro signo i. e. for a sign And to the same sense it is rendred by the Syriac the Chaldee and the Greek Interpreters And this rendring is followed by Philo the Jew and by Justin the Martyr in his Dialogue with Trypho And this sense is no way inconsistent with the sense which our Interpreters give This was a very fit type of Christ and of his death upon the Cross by him we are redeemed from the sting of death or sin 1. Cor. 15.56 and the power of the Devil that old Serpent Heb. 2.14 him God sent in the likeness of sinfull flesh and he did by this way condemn sin in the flesh Rom. 8.3 The Jewish Masters tell us upon this occasion 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. It was not the Serpent that killed but it was the sin Christ by taking away our sin saves us But they in the wilderness were saved us But they in the wilderness were saved by an unlikely way From the sting of a Serpent by the figure of one There was nothing in the matter or figure of the Serpent which healed them It was the fitter type of Christ we are healed by his stripes and have the hope of life by his death But the Crucifixion of the Messias was likewise foretold by Zechary Zech. 12.10 Joh. 19.37 Ps 22.16 Joh. 20.25 They shall look upon me whom they have pierced St. John who was an eye-witness of the crucifixion of Jesus does not onely assure us that he was really Crucified but also puts us in mind that this prophecy was verified The Psalmist had foretold no less They pierced my hands and my feet This was fulfilled in our Jesus who disdained not after his Resurrection to confirm a doubting Disciple who would not believe unless he saw the print of the nails Secondly the time of his death and that agrees with the type of it I mean the Paschal Lamb For Christ is our Passeover who is sacrificed for us 1 Cor. 5.7 and to this purpose It will be well worth our while to enquire after the precise time of slaying the Paschal Lamb that great and eminent type of our Saviour's death and to consider how well it agrees with the time of of our Saviour's death Now 't is expresly commanded that the Paschal Lamb should be killed in the evening Exod. 12.6 And we are to enquire what that expression does import Our Marginal reading will be of use in this enquiry which instead of in the evening renders it between the two evenings and that not without the warranty of the Hebrew Text There is great variety in the several versions of these words among the Ancient and Modern Translators I do not intend to represent that variety in this place Some of them are very reconcileable to the sense of the original others agree very exactly with it and indeed I have not met with any more wide among the Moderns than that of Castalio who very ill renders it sub crepusculum i. e. about the twylight as if the Paschal Lamb were not to be slain till it began to be dark which is so fond a conceit that I shall not need do any more than name it Jun. and Tremell keep strictly to the original Text render it inter duas Vesperas between the two evenings It is my business to inquire what is meant by this expression between the two evenings And by the way I cannot but take notice of the interpretation of Aben Ezra upon this place who gives us this account of the two evenings The first he would have to be the time when the Sun sets the second when the remaining light after Sun-set leaves the earth between these two he supposes the space of an hour and three quarters or thereabouts This interpretation agrees well with Castalio's sub crepusculum but 't is an interpretation that is extravagant for besides that it does not allow of a clear light for the remaining service after the killing of the Paschal Lamb nor yet give time enough for the whole service of the solemnity besides this I say the Authour of this interpretation seems to quit it and betake himself to another in his following words For he being pressed by an objection against this interpretation which he attempts not to answer confesses that there was a tradition among them which obliges them to kill the Paschal Lamb after the Sun did evidently decline from its meridian We are therefore still to seek what is meant by this expression between the two evenings in which time the Israelites were obliged to kill the Paschal Lamb and then to see whether this precise circumstance of time were also fulfilled in the death of our Saviour Now for the better understanding of this expression we must know that as the Jews day consisted of twelve hours so all their sorenoon was accounted morning Joh. 11.9 and from thence all the afternoon was accounted evening And then their evening was divided into two viz. the former and the latter evening The former evening was vespera declinationis and was to be reckoned from their sixth hour or our twelve at noon to Sun-set for from that time the Sun declined from its 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or height Their latter evening was vespera occasus their Sun-setting so that the intermedial time between the Sun's declension and setting is that time which is between the two evenings Let us then consider what warrant we have for this And First the holy Scripture seems to give us ground to believe that the latter part of the Jewish day was divided into these two evenings To this purpose we read that the unclean person was to be removed out of the camp and it is added But it shall be when evening cometh on that is in the former evening as the following words assure us he shall wash himself with water And when the Sun is down there is the latter evening he shall come into the camp Deut. 23. v. 11. Of the former evening are those words spoken where 't is said of the Levite and his Wife that they tarried untill after noon or till the day declined as 't is in the Hebrew and they did eat both of them And then 't is added by the Levite's Father-in-law Behold now the day draweth towards evening and the day groweth to an end Judg. 19.8 9. Of the same evening the following words seem to be understood And it came to pass in an evening-tide that David arose from off his
I shall mention two which were great proofs of our Saviour's Ascension into Heaven and of his power there and his being concerned on the behalf of his Church The first is the miraculous descent of the Holy Ghost at the day of Pentecost Act. 2. Our Saviour had promised to his sorrowfull Disciples a Comforter who should abide with them for ever This he did before his death and the better to support them under the sorrow which his death would occasion Joh. 14.16 18. ch 15. v. 26. and ch 16. v. 7. He repeated this promise after his Resurrection Luk. 24.49 And before his Ascension he commands them that they should not depart from Jerusalem but wait for the promise of the Father which saith he ye have heard of me Act. 1.4 This promise he made good Act. 2. To the great amazement of the multitude which from several nations were come together to Jerusalem at the feast of Pentecost The Holy Ghost which was then miraculously bestowed upon the Disciples of Jesus was his Advocate and pleaded his cause Our Saviour had foretold that he would bear witness of him And this the Holy Ghost did Joh. 15.26 1. As he testified that Jesus was a true Prophet when he promised this heavenly gift to his disciples and did thereby bear Testimony to his veracity and make it appear that he was not an impostor or cheat They were now convinced abundantly that Jesus had made his word good Joh. 16.7 10. And now there was no suspicion left of his being a false Prophet or deceiver 2. Of the power and autority which Jesus had He told his followers that all power was given him in Heaven and Earth Mat. 28.18 This he told them after his Resurrection and a little before his Ascension into Heaven He gave at the day of Pentecost an undeniable proof of it Jesus had said before his death to the elders and chief Priests and Scribes that asked him if he were the Christ Hereafter shall ye see the Son of man sit on the right hand of the power of God Luk. 22.69 The meaning of which words is plainly this that they should be convinced e'er long of his great power which he had in Heaven upon his exaltation to that place and at the day of Pentecost he gave a great demonstration of this power of his And St. Peter does conclude from it that he is the Christ This Jesus saith he hath God raised up whereof we are all witnesses Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost he hath shed forth this which ye now see and hear And presently afterward he concludes as he very justly might do Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God hath made that same Jesus whom ye have Crucified both Lord and Christ Act. 2. v. 32 33 36. Secondly another great effect following the exaltation of Jesus was the success of his Religion in the world which was a farther argument of the power of Jesus in Heaven and of his being concerned for his Church and an evident proof that this Jesus is the Christ But for the better speaking to this I shall shew First that according to the prophecies of old all nations were to serve the Messias Secondly that these prophecies have been in great measure fulfilled in our Jesus whose Religion did greatly spread over the world Thirdly that this success of the Religion of Jesus is an unexceptionable proof that Jesus is the Christ According to the prophecies of old all nations were to serve the Messias and consequently that the partition-wall between the Jew and Gentile should be thrown down Thus in those words of Jacob which the ancient Jews understand of the Messias it is said that unto him shall the gathering of the people be Gen. 49.10 That is the nations or Gentiles should obey and serve him No less is promised than this I shall give thee the Heathen for thine inheritance and the utmost parts of the earth for a possession Ps 2.8 The Prophet Isaiah foretells also that it shall come to pass in the last days that the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established in the top of the mountains and shall be exalted above the Hills and all nations shall flow unto it Isa 2.2 And again In that day there shall be a root of Jesse which shall stand for an ensign of the people To it shall the Gentiles seek Isa 11.10 And again the same Prophet tells us The Lord will have mercy on Jacob and will yet chuse Israel and set them in their own land And the strangers shall be joined with them and they shall cleave to the house of Jacob Isa 14.1 And farther we read It is a light thing that thou shouldest be my Servant to raise up the Tribes of Jacob and to restore the preserved of Israel I will also give thee for a light to the Gentiles that thou mayst be my Salvation unto the end of the earth c. 49.6 To which we may add Isa 54. as also what he tells us afterwards The Gentiles shall come to thy light and King 's to the brightness of thy rising The abundance of the Sea shall be converted to thee the forces of the Gentiles shall come unto thee c. 60.3 5. We shall hear what the Prophet Hosea also tells us I will have mercy upon her that had not obtained mercy and I will say to them which were not my people thou art my people Hos 2.23 No less perhaps is meant than this in that vision of Zechary where Jerusalem is not permitted to come under a measuring line and that because she should be inhabited as Towns without walls for the multitude of men and Cattel therein Zech. 2.4 However sure I am that the same Prophet speaks plainly in these words Many people and strong nations shall come to seek the Lord of Hosts in Jerusalem and to pray before the Lord c. 8.22 And as plainly still afterwards in these words Rejoyce greatly O daughter of Zion shout O daughter of Jerusalem Behold thy King cometh unto thee he is just and having Salvation lowly and riding upon an Asse and upon a colt the foal of an Asse And I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim and the horse from Jerusalem and the battel bow shall be cut off and he shall speak peace unto the Heathen And his Dominion shall be from Sea even to Sea and from the river even to the ends of the earth c. 9. v. 4 10. To which I shall add the words of the Prophet Malachy From the rising of the Sun unto the going down of the same my name shall be great among the Gentiles and in every place incense shall be offered unto my name and a pure offering for my name shall be great among the Heathen saith the Lord of Hosts Mal. 1.11 By which we may see that the Gentiles according to these prophecies were to submit to
foretold of the Messias If we now proceed to the consideration of the Resurrection of Jesus we must be forced to acknowledge the overruling hand of God That he who dyed rose from the dead was an argument beyond exception of a Divine power man could contribute nothing toward so stupendious a work Nay there was all done that could be done by men both to hinder his Resurrection which Jesus had foretold and to hinder the spreading of it and the belief thereof in the world His enemies were prepared to do all they could and they did it by making his Sepulchre sure by sealing the stone and by setting a watch Mat. 27.66 This they did to prevent the Resurrection of Jesus But all this would not do They who had power to put Jesus to death have no power to hinder his Resurrection When this succeeded not the next course they had to take was to hinder the belief of the Resurrection of Jesus Though they could not hinder him from rising again yet they apply themselves vigorously to stifle the truth This was their next care To this purpose they give large money to the Souldiers that they might give out that his Disciples came and stole him away by night Mat. 28.13 But they labour in vain Jesus was risen there were so many witnesses of this truth that there is no stifling of it And after all this Jesus having sufficiently convinced that Generation of the truth of his Resurrection ascends up into Heaven and his Holy Religion is preached in the world It prevailed in spight of all the opposition it met withall It was embraced by men who were curious and inquisitive It approved it self to the consciences of all the lovers of truth And though it were opposed by power and craft and the combined force and malice of Jew and Gentile it prevailed against all by patience and meekness and the Divine blessing which did attend it These things duly considered do abundantly prove that Jesus is the Christ the Son of the living God Who would not says an excellent Person acknowledge the Divinity of this Person and the excellency of this institution that should see infants to weary the hands of hangmen for the Testimony of Jesus And wise men preach this Doctrine for no other visible reward but shame and death poverty and banishment And Hangmen converted by the bloud of Martyrs springing upon their faces which their impious hands and cords have strained through their flesh Who would not have confessed the honour of Jesus when he should see miracles done at the Tombs of Martyrs and Devils tremble at the mention of the name of Jesus And the World running to the honour of the Poor Nazaren and Kings and Queens kissing the feet of the Poor servants of Jesus could a Jew Fisher-man and a Publican effect all this for the Son of a poor Maiden of Judaea Can we suppose all the world or so great a part of mankind can consent by chance or suffer such changes for nothing Or for any thing less than this The Son of the poor Maiden was the Son of God and the Fishermen spake by a Divine spirit and they catched the World with holiness and miracles with wisedom and power bigger than the strength of all the Roman Legions In a word the things foretold of the Messias and fulfilled in Jesus were so many and so strangely fulfilled so much without any humane assistance and so centrary to all expectation and all the endeavours used to hinder the foretold event that he who considers these things with care must believe that Jesus is the Christ and that his Religion is true CHAP. XI The CONTENTS The Christian Religion more Excellent than that given by Moses and consequently the best in the World The Pagan Religion not worthy of regard The wiser Heathens guilty of great inconsistencies and evil Principles The Stoicks upon sundry accounts very blameable The Law given by Moses came from God in what sense it was a perfect Law It was not unalterable A general distribution of the Precepts of that Law The defects of it I As a rule of life Many of its Precepts not good in their own Nature They obliged the Jews onely and were annexed to their Land or some part of it Many of them Political II The reward annexed to the Obedience of that Law was but Temporal III It was not attended with the promise of Divine assistance IV Nor was there that hope of pardon which was afterward given in the Gospel The Sacrifices allowed to that purpose very defective This shewed at large For some sins no Sacrifice was allowed Sacrifices were not pleasing to God of their own Nature The Expiation did not depend upon the value of the oblation He that brought an Expiatory sacrifice was not allowed to eat any part of it The repetition of the Sacrifices another Argument of their weakness In some cases the Sacrifice was but one of those things required in order to pardon The Legal Sacrifices were not designed to continue for ever That the defects of the Law of Moses are supplied in the Christian Religion Of the excellent Precepts of the Christian Religion Of the promise of Eternal life therein clearly revealed and of the great moment of it Of the Divine assistance attending this Religion Of the assurance of pardon from the Christian Religion and the sure foundation which it lays for the quieting the Consciences of Men. The usefulness of the foregoing discourse A more particular inquiry into the great Ends or Causes for which the Law of Moses was given The Conclusion of this Discourse THAT Jesus is the Christ and consequently that the Religion which Jesus and his followers taught came from Heaven hath been in great measure demonstrated already For the farther proof of this truth I shall consider the Religion it self which Jesus and his followers taught and prove that it is a more excellent and perfect Religion than that which was delivered to the Jews by the hands of Moses and consequently imcomparably the best Religion in the World I say the best in the World for so it must be if it once appear that it is more perfect than that which was taught the Jews by Moses For though the Religion of Moses were defective when compared with that of Jesus yet it was true however and came from God But for the Pagan Religion how ancient soever it were it was false and impious not revealed by God nor worthy of him inconstant and various trifling and silly It carried men away from God to the Creature It taught men to worship not onely the Host of Heaven but stocks and stones and dumb Idols the very Creatures which they did eat the Evils which they feared the very Devils themselves whom they did not love It prescribed impure Rites and Ceremonies put men upon cruelties to their own flesh and to their Children It was so gross and so silly that the wiser sort of Heathens though they complied