we behold our Lord casting out Devils does it not assure us that he has Power over the dark Kingdom and that if we will submit to his Gracious Laws he will at last bruise Satan under our Feet When we see him by his Commanding and All-powerful Word raising the Dead it cannot but beget in us a strong Faith and Trust in him that though we die and our places know us no more yet his Power which is able to subdue all things unto it self can and will recover us again to Life and at last swallow up Death in Victory Thus it is plain that though we are not called to imitate our Saviour in those Actions wherein he stood as a Publick Person nor in those which he performed chiefly to show that he came from GOD yet there is a great and a good use to be made of every one of them recorded in the Gospel But that which more nearly concerns us is that there are certain Things wherein the Example of Christ is proposed as a fair Copy for our Imitation and to which we ought to conform our selves And these are all those things wherein he came to exhibit to Mankind a most perfect and compleat draught of a Divine Life and Nature and which it is the Design of GOD in the Gospel to make us Partakers of As namely a firm and unshaken Faith in the Goodness and Power of GOD that he is both able and willing to reduce and bring us back to himself and that nothing shall fail of all the Good that he hath promised Moreover we are enjoyned to follow our blessed Redeemer in the Purity and Sanctity of his Life by keeping our selves unspotted from the World and the Flesh And then that we imitate him in his wonderful and exemplary Humility who being as the Apostle speaks Phil. 2.6 7. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 cloathed with Celestial Light and Glory and possessed of all the Happiness of those Immortal Regions yet emptied himself and took upon him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the form of a Servant or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the likeness and fashion of Man that is he came into these Earthly Regions took upon him a Humane Body and was made a Man who is really 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Servant of Corruption in this Terrestrial State And lastly We are to follow the Example of our Lord and Saviour in an universal and un-self-interessed Love who was not contented to be happy alone but died to recover the rest of his strayed Brethren Here is the fair Image and Resemblance of that Divine Life our Lord Jesus came to propagate upon Earth and to which we ought all to be conformed according to that excellent Pattern that he has laid before us 5. To the intent that the things which pertain to Life and Godliness may be vigorously pursued and all Sin and Vice discountenanced and banished the great and last Day of Judgment is made known to us When the fixt and determinate Time is come wherein GOD thinks fit to put an end to the Generations of Men and all sorts of Animals by the Conflagration of this Terrestrial Globe then shall Jesus Christ visibly descend from Heaven with the sound of a Trumpet and the voice of an Arch-angel accompanied with innumerable Bands and Squadrons of the Heavenly Militia and every individual Person that has lived in the World since Adam to that very time shall visibly appear before him And as the Angels rescued Lot from that particular Burning of Sodom and the rest of the Cities of the Plain so these officious Spirits shall be imployed by their great Prince and Head Christ Jesus to gather his Elect from the four Winds from one end of Heaven to the other and save them from this universal Burning that shall at once seize upon this lower World For then by the mighty Power and Word of him that created all things the subterraneous Treasures of Fire shall be opened which meeting with those fierce and penetrating Fires wherewith the whole Vault of Heaven is enflam'd with their joint and united force will melt and dissolve all Terrestrial Mixtures and Combinations and compleat that Sulphureous Lake and external Hell which was of old prepared for the Devil and his Angels By all which we see the mighty efficacy of the Gospel and what powerful means it is furnished withal to reclaim Men from their Sins and fit them for an eternal Happiness in another World A DEFENCF OF Revealed Religion SERMON VI. ROM I. 16. For I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ THE usefulness and serviceableness of the Christian Doctrine for the promoting the Immortal Happiness of Men having been fully shown in the preceeding Discourse and likewise the suitableness strength and efficacy of the Arguments contained in it to that end and Purpose we shall now as a Conclusion of all show that Christianity is highly conducing to the happiness of Mankind in reference to this Life and that there cannot be a better way for any Person to live happily in this World than by a due and sincere Observation of the Laws and Commands of Christ Jesus And that this may appear easie and natural we need but take an Inventory of all those good things that this our Earthly State is capable of and we shall find that the due observance of Christ's Commands is the most proper means both for their Acquisition and Continuance The Blessings then of this Life are such as either relate to the publick or such as concern every particular Man's Person The publick Blessings are 1. Peace Let us see now how excellently well Religion provides for this Our blessed Saviour the Prince of Peace came to unite and cement all Christians into one Body to heal the Distempers of Mankind and to make all the jarring Principles of the World chime together And if Men were conformed to his Example and put in practice his Commands there would be no occasion of Disturbances no Animosities or Contentions but an universal Calm would overspread the Earth and this World would shine out into a perfect Heaven From whence come Wars and Fightings among you says the Apostle James 4.1 From whence is it all the Troubles and Confusions of the World flow Come they not of your Lusts that War in your Members And Solomon assures us Prov. 13.10 that it is only by Pride Contention comes Here is the source of all the Miseries that Mankind now groans under For when Mens Lusts and Passions become exorbitant they raise unequal and convulsive Motions in the Body Politick as the undue Fermentation of the Humours in the natural Body often produces dangerous effects It is Mens unbridled Appetites which Religion came to correct that makes them murmur and repine against the present Settlement of the Nation though the greatest Blessings that we can hope for here both for our selves and our Posterity are the most likely to be derived from hence These unruly
that if they would Recant what they had said to Jesus and leave off speaking any more in his Name they might enjoy their Ease and Quiet and perhaps have some Rewards into the Bargain But if they would persist and go on they must look for the sharpest Trials and Persecutions which indeed these Holy Men met withal almost in all Places where they came Now had the Resurrection of Jesus from the Dead been only a feigned Story of the Apostles and the rest that had combined to spread it abroad it is possible that while they met with no hazard nor danger they might carry on the Cheat yet when Life lay at Stake it is very hard to think that any one would die for that which he knew to be an Untruth But here we find in this case that the Apostles freely and joyfully ventured their Lives for the Truth of this and the most of them actually lost their Lives for it Now he must be of a very easie and credulous Nature and fit for nothing but to be imposed upon that can believe so many Men of good Sence and sound Understanding would die for a Story of their own Invention and which their own Consciences would tell them was a notorious Falshood By what hath been said it is apparent that there was as high and full a Testimony given to the Resurrection of Jesus Christ as is possible to be given to any matter of Fact And this being put out of doubt there can be no scruple left for any of the other Parts of the History of the Gospel since the same Persons that attested the one did likewise assure to the World the other That is the same Arguments which convince us of the Truth of Christ's Resurrection do likewise establish us in the Faith of the whole Christian Religion Neither do I know what can with any colour be objected against this unless Men out of an obstinate Humour will rather adhere to that poor Subterfuge of the Jews and for the spreading abroad of which they gave large Money to the Soldiers viz. That his Disciples came by Night and stole him away while the Watch Slept Which because by it they intended to discredit our Saviour and his Doctrine I shall shew how vain it is 1. It is not likely the Disciples who fled from him when he was taken and the stoutest of them denied him should now that he was dead venture to steal his Body from a Guard of Soldiers 2. How improbable is it that all the Watch should be asleep at one time 3. If they were all asleep how could they tell that the Disciples took him away and not that he arose from the dead by the mighty Power of God as the Apostles affirmed 4. How could it be that the Disciples should come just at that very time when they were all asleep 5. How could they go so silently to work as to roll away the Stone and to take out the Body all which would have made some noise and took up some time and yet none of the Watch hear them Besides there is another Circumstance which cannot well agree with the hast and fear these poor Disciples must needs be in in such an Attempt and that is That care which was taken to lay the Linnen Cloaths by themselves in the Sepulchre Luke 24.12 And yet the Napkin that was about his Head did not lie with the rest of the Linnen Cloaths but was wrapped together in a place by it self Joh. 20.7 which is the most unlikely thing in the World that the Disciples should be so curious in sorting the Linnen which they would either have taken away with the Body or at least not have spent time to wrap it so carefully together 6. Lastly Suppose they had taken away the Body Quid ex cadavere emolumenti What benefit could they hope from a dead Carkass Would that be enough to make them forsake their dearest Relations to lay aside the Sentiments and Opinions in which they had for a long time been Educated and Instructed to expose themselves to a thousand vexatious Reproaches and at last to a vile and ignominious Death and all to maintain the Credit of a Person that had so grosly frustrated their Expectations Surely he that can believe such things of the Apostles must offer the greatest Violence in the World not only to his own but to the Understanding of all Mankind And now we cannot but see the unreasonableness of Infidelity that it must be either a very crooked and untoward Education or an obstinate base and perverse Spirit that carries Men with so much contempt and scorn against the belief of the Holy Scriptures For if these Persons were asked upon what account they give credit to Thucydides's History of the Peloponnesian War or Plutarch's Lives or any other ancient Historian they must say that the constant and universal consent of the most Learned and Judicious hath all along determined those Persons to be the Authors of those Books and that they were Persons of Credit and Veracity And is it not meer Frowardness Humour and Fantastickness to reject the Testimony of the Catholick Church handed down successively for Sixteen hundred Years and upwards concerning the Books of the New-Testament Let them but have the same Temper and Disposition of Mind in respect of the History of the Gospels that they retain in behalf of the forementioned Historians and they must of necessity confess that there are at least as many and as weighty Motives of credibility for that as possibly can be excogitated for these Moreover according to the different Natures of things there are different ways of Probation and no Man will expect a Mathematical Demonstration to prove a Moral Proposition It is sufficient to every Ingenuous Nature that there be as full and clear Evidence as the matter can bear Hence our Lord and Saviour though it might seem more satisfactory to have seen him as the Apostles did with a Man 's own Eyes yet pronounces them Blessed that have not seen and yet have believed intimating that it is a more generous Faith to believe unsuspected Witnesses upon the full and clear Evidence of the matter of Fact than if this Faith were constrained and as it were necessitated by ocular Demonstration Hence we may understand the meaning of those words of our Saviour Mat. 12.32 And whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of Man it shall be forgiven him But whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost it shall not be forgiven him neither in this World neither in the World to come that is though it were a great Sin not to believe our Saviour to be sent from God after he had given such manifest proof of it by his numerous and stupendious Miracles yet the Sin was not come to its height because there wanted yet further Evidence Our Lord was not yet risen from the Dead But after his Resurrection and Ascension into Heaven and as a Confirmation of this the
teaches all Men that is to speak Reverently of what God does and to have honourable Thoughts of his Works But for the further Confirmation of this point and for the building of us up more firmly in our most Holy Faith I shall consider what are the main causes of Shame and upon what grounds we may justly be ashamed of any Doctrine delivered to us and then shew that in none of these Respects we have any reason to be ashamed of the Christian Religion 1. A first cause of shame is If that which is delivered to us be not true If a Man should confidently entertain an Opinion that were false and which there were no Grounds of Credibility for and should expose his Life and Fortunes to hazard and danger for it he would have great reason to be ashamed of his Levity and Rashness and all Men besides himself would conclude him guilty of an unpardonable Folly 2. We may justly be ashamed if the thing propounded to us be not Rational that is agreeable to those common Notions of Reason and Understanding which God has planted in our Souls 3. We have sufficient cause of Shame and Confusion if the Doctrine offered to us for our Faith and Belief be not Intelligible i. e. easie to be understood by all those to whom it is propounded For if Christianity were made up of a company of intricate and dark Riddles only to amuse the World and to puzzle our Understandings I do not see but that a Wise and Sober Person might have grounds enough to be ashamed of it 4. If it be not useful to the World but contain only some poor and trivial things that are of no benefit to Men. If Religion had indeed been thus the Apostles themselves might have been ashamed to have made such a stir in the World And all Christians that followed them would have been extremely out of Countenance when they had seen so little good and benefit of all that which was yet delivered as GOD's Will and wherein he had shewed such a wonderful piece of Art and Wisdom But now when we look upon Religion and find that it is most truly and certainly the Will of God delivered to the World That it came from Heaven and was attested by all the Evidences and Arguments that such a thing is capable of That God had an immediate hand in it and that all its Authority was undoubtedly derived from him Again when we shall find that there is nothing in Christianity but what is highly rational and agreeable to our Intellectual Faculties and for which we may be able to make the most reasonable Apology and Defence And further when Christianity is so plain and easie to be understood in all those things which are indispensably necessary to every Man's Salvation so that the most ordinary Capacity may apprehend what is GOD's Will and meaning in it and what he would have him to do And lastly When we shall see that Religion is a thing of no mean and low Concernment but a matter of the greatest Benefit and Advantage that ever was communicated to Mankind When its great End and Design shall be discovered only to make Men everlastingly happy in another Life When these things put together shall appear with irresistable Evidence and Clearness surely that Man must be bereaved of his Wits and Understanding that can be ashamed of a Doctrine that has all these Qualifications In the first place then to make it manifest that the Christian Faith is a Doctrine worthy of all Acceptation and of which there may be made the best Defence in the World I shall shew by a few Arguments the Truth of it viz. That God sent his Son Jesus to communicate this as his Mind and Will and that he would have all the World to live in the Faith and Obedience of it They that would have more full and ample satisfaction upon this Subject may consult that excellent Treatise of Grotius of the Truth of Christian Religion translated into English by Dr. Patrick now the Reverend Bishop of Ely Now to this Purpose let us consider That as to the matter of Fact concerning the Life and Actions of our blessed Saviour his Death and Resurrection and his Ascension into Heaven which is the Ground and Foundation upon which Christian Religion is built it is not at all probable either 1. That the Apostles should be deceived Or 2. That they should deceive others 1. It is not likely the Apostles should be deceived because they received not the Relations which they delivered by here-say but were constant Attendants of our Lord and Saviour and saw him work his Miracles when he cured Diseases raised the Dead and cast out Devils And therefore when the Apostles chose another into the room of Judas there is this reason given for it Acts 1.21.22 Wherefore of these Men which have Companied with us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out amongst us beginning from the Baptism of John unto that same day that he was taken up from us must one be Ordained to be a Witness with us of his Resurrection Here was one who together with the rest of the Apostles was to assert upon his own Knowledge the Actions of Jesus his Resurrection from the Dead and his Ascension into Heaven And therefore St. Luke Chap. 1.2 tells us That the things which he wrote were such as were delivered by them who were 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Eye-witnesses of them And doubtless there can be no better Testimony in the World concerning the Truth of a matter of Fact than from an Eye-witness of it according to that common saying Pluris est unus ocularis testis quam auriti decem one ocular Demonstration is worth ten Hear-says And this was the Answer that Peter and John gave to the great Council of the Jews Acts 4.20 We cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard But that we may not run over the whole History of things in the Gospel I shall content my self with that one which is the Confirmation of all the rest of the Miracles of Jesus that is his Resurrection from the dead For as St. Paul speaks 1 Cor. 15.14 if Christ be not risen then our Preaching is vain and the Faith of Christians is likewise vain The Preaching of the Apostles would have been vain because they Exhorted Men to the Practice of the Commands and Precepts of the Gospel in hopes of a glorious Immortality and that their Labour and Pains should be rewarded by the Resurrection of their Bodies to eternal Life Whereas if Christ be not risen there is then no Reward for Believers and the great Noise and Talk of the Joys and Felicities of Pious Souls after this Life are nothing but the Dreams of Melancholick Persons to amuse the rest of Mankind And the Faith of Christians if Christ be yet in the Grave and under the Power of Death will be as empty and vain because it is built upon
a false Foundation For the great Argument brought by the Apostles to prove the Divine Authority of the Doctrine they Preached was the Resurrection of Jesus from the Dead which if there had been no such thing St. Paul 1 Cor. 15.15 says of himself and the rest of the Apostles that they had been no better than so many False-Witnesses of God abusing his Name for the countenancing an Imposture which their Preaching had certainly been if Christ had not really risen from the Dead The Scripture assures us Acts 1.3 That Jesus shewed himself alive after his Death to his Disciples by many infallible Proofs i. e. such Evidences wherein there could be no mistake being seen of them Forty days and speaking of the things pertaining to the Kingdom of God And if we diligently read the History of the Gospels we shall find the Apostles to be very scrupulous in believing Christ's Resurrection till they had all seen him and were convinced by as high Proofs as possibly could be offered to Mankind And this their Cautiousness and Wariness of being imposed upon is a good Argument to us of their Sincerity and care of being fully satisfied of the Truth of it before they went to divulge it to others We read in Mark 16.9 That Jesus first appeared to Mary Magdalen and she ran with Joy to tell his weeping Friends that she had seen the Lord but they believed her not v. 11 Then he appears to two of his Disciples in another Form as they went to Emaus and they told the rest but neither would they believe them v. 13. Then he appears to the Eleven Apostles and upbraided them with their unbelief and hardness of Heart because they believed not them which had seen him after he was risen ver 14. And that he might confirm the Faith of one of his Disciples who doubted more than all the rest shews him the very hole that was made in his side with the Spear and the prints of the Nails in his Hands and Feet And all this to the end that they might be sensibly assured that it was he himself no delusive Spectrum or Ghost but the very same Jesus which was Crucified upon the Cross Now from hence we see it plain that the Apostles could not be deceived for they took all imaginable care to avoid it they Eat and Drank with him and saw him with their own Eyes leisurely lifted up from them and carried up into Heaven II. It is not probable the Apostles would go about to deceive others For 1. They might easily have been discovered They lived in a knowing Age wherein all Arts and Sciences flourished more than ever they had done before and there wanted not those who had Sence and Wit enough to have found it out if it had been a Cheat. The Apostles peremptorily affirmed That Jesus who suffered under Pontius Pilate was the Author of the Religion they Preached and that after his Crucifixion he rose again from the Dead Now if there had been no such Person as Jesus that had then lived If he had not been Crucified and really dead on the Cross or if there had been no such Governour of Judea as Pontius Pilate nor any such Roman Emperour as Tiberius If the Apostles had failed in any of these remarkable Circumstances of Story there had been great reason to have questioned what they delivered But we find all this confirm'd by the Roman Historians themselves and neither Jews nor Pagans ever denied the Matters of Fact which the Apostles relate because they were so newly done that if there had been any thing of Untruth it would very easily have been detected by Persons then living Besides had the Resurrection of our Lord been a Falsehood St. Paul must be extremely Impudent nay Imprudent to bring Five hundred upon the Stage to assert a Lye since it is not the manner of a Cheater to provoke so many Witnesses 2. Cui bono To what end or Purpose should they assert a Falsehood Or what Inducements could they have to broach a Delusion All that can be said is That perhaps they might do it to have the Name and Glory of being the Authors of a new Sect. This indeed might please the light and frothy Humour of some vain-glorious Person but the sedate and composed Spirit of the Holy Apostles was far from any such poor design But to answer to this more particularly 1. It is not likely they should lay the Foundation of the best Religion in the World upon a mere Cheat. There was no colour for Lying or Fraud in the matter and we know that Nemo gratis fit malus 't is rare for a Man to be wicked for nothing They sought not themselves in it for it is evident that they were Persecuted Disgraced and suffered exqusite Tortures for Professing that Jesus was raised from the Dead And for Secular and worldly Advantages they could hope for none because all those things were in the hands either of Jews or Pagans who were both professed Enemies of the Name of Christ Nor can we think that the Apostles should take it upon their Death and stand to it to their last Breath if they had not believed themselves sufficiently assured of that Truth for which they died Surely Men of calm and sober Reason would not be so prodigal of their Blood as to throw it away upon some vain Rumour or popular Report Let us consider a little the Apostle St. Paul who was a Man of great Learning among the Jews very zealous for his Religion and one that had attained to no small favour among the Grandees of his Nation for his vigorous Persecution of the Christians This Man tells us that when he was going to Damascus with a Commission from the High-Priests to bring them bound to Jerusalem that professed the Faith of Christ to be Punished Jesus met him in the way in a Light brighter than the Sun tells him who he was and warns him that he should no longer Persecute his Disciples Upon this the Apostle turns Christian and became a zealous Professor of the Faith which before he Persecuted Now if there had been any Fraud or Deceit in this can we imagine St. Paul would so confidently appeal to it and tell King Agrippa That this was not a thing done in a Corner where there was no Body to attest it If therefore we believe St. Paul to be a Man of Sence and Reason we cannot imagine that he would have quitted all the Favour and Encouragement he might have had among the Jews and run himself into certain Dangers even to the loss of his very Life if he had not been well assured that Jesus was alive and able to make good all he said 2. We find that the Apostles in their Writings were Men of great Integrity and Uprightness of exemplary Humility and hearty Lovers of God and all the World and we may reasonably believe that such Persons as those would not set on foot a Falshood and such a