distant the one from the other the one in heaven the other on the earth God would have his image placed in the two extremities of the world as in two several Tables He hath placed the one in the highest story of the Universe the other in the lowest the one at the centre the other in the circumference To the end that on what part soever our soul casteth the eye be it on heaven or on earth we may contemplate God himself in the one or the other of these two kindes of creatures which bear his image What ought to be gathered from this That God imposed names upon the day the night the heavens the earth the sea yet hath given no general name to signifie the whole world God hath given particular names to all the great pieces of the Universe Gen. 1.5 8 10. but hath not given a name to all of it together Likewise the Hebrew Tongue in which God pronounced his first Oracles never nameth the world in one onely word but expresseth always either the heaven or the earth or both of them together when it would say the world I passe by the question Why in the Creation God hath not given a word which should universally signifie this whole bulk in which is comprehended the entire assembly of all his works But we are to learn by his example still to make a difference between heaven and earth The earth in which man was made the heaven for which he was made Without this distinction it is impossible to know what is the world Whence cometh it that the spirit of man is pleased with variety Not onely the Spirit but also the Senses the Sight especially the Taste love variety This instinct proceedeth from a secret intelligence The wisedom of God could not well be taken notice of but in a great diversity of works of matters and forms different unlike yea oft times contrary in qualities motions and circumstances Hence it is that it hath brought forth so many kindes of food so many of savours so many of colours and generally so great a variety of objects as well for the Senses as the Spirit Now to the end that man should study them to know the perfections of their authour God hath given that curiosity to invite him to passe from one object to another as by change of Lecture which ought to render him more knowing Of the Providence of God Why the Scripture oftener nameth the Hand or the Arm of God then the Heart of God VVE see better the works of his hand then the intentions of his heart His works and actions are perceptible to our eyes but the reasons are for the most part hidden from our souls and inclosed in the brest of that great Worker For Who hath known the minde of the Lord Hence it cometh that himself speaking unto us oftener mentioneth his Hand of which we see the effects then his Heart of which we know not the secrets Of the fundamental Law of the Creation and of the excellent instructions which issue from it In the Creation God hath formed the principles of all Laws yea the Creation is a Law visible and speaking If it were well considered many questions would be cleared which remain undecided and many opinions against which we dispute would not â—eed any other confutation then what is found written in this primitive Law I speak not of that which is well known unto all to wit That by this Law it is forbidden to pervert the order established from the beginning to separate what God hath joyned or joyn together what God hath separated Hence it cometh to passe that the Scripture condemneth Polygamie because God created but one wife for Adam Hence also proceedeth the superiority of the man over the woman because he was first created of them 1 Tim. 2. By this Law of the Creation it is forbidden to multiply the number of species which God hath created at the beginning or to confound them one with another Hence it cometh that the Scripture hath noted with infamy him that first invented the procreation of mules a bastard kinde which God created not Gen. 36.24 By the same Law it is forbidden to destroy a whole species of what creature soever even of those that are most contrary to man It was in the power of Noah when he had within the Ark Tygers Vipers and other pernicious creatures to destroy them to cause the whole breed to be lost for then there were no more of them in the world But it was not permitted to him rather to the contrary he had order to preserve them It is lawful for us to destroy the particular of such kindes but not to proceed to a suppression of the whole kinde though it lay in our power for this were to tear out a leaf of that great Book which containeth the catalogue of the works of the Creation By the same Law it is impossible to reduce any creature to nothing that is to say to make it simply nothing One matter may be changed into another as a living body is resolved into dust but it never cometh to be nothing The Church of Rome doth not formally say that the bread wine are annihilated in the Eucharist but it saith that they vanish without withdrawing themselvs to some other place without entering into the body of Christ without being turned into any other matter Now according to these suppositions it is necessary that the bread and wine be annihilated and come to nothing But this pretended annihilation is contrary to the fundamental Law of the Creation It is impossible and unlawful It is impossible for as God alone had the power to create all things out of nothing so he alone can reduce any thing to nothing It is unlawful for God himself though he can yet never did annihilate any of his creatures no not the devils O Eternal God all thy works subsist by thee If thou withdrawest thine hand they will fall into nothing but if thou sendest forth thy Spirit they shall be as of new created How many times the general order of the world hath been interrupted since the Creation Three times it hath had an interruption to wit twice in heaven once on the earth In heaven when the Sun and the Moon were stayed in the time of Joshua and again when the Sun went backward in the days of Hezekiah For these two wonders changed the measures of the day and night prolonging the light in one half of the world and the darknesse in the other beyond their times In the earth also when the waters of the Deluge made it not habitable for the space of a whole yeer and in the six later months of that yeer there was neither born nor died any humane creature nor any beast of the earth nor fowl of the air God having for a time suspended both birth and death For no creature either was born or died within the Ark. An example of instructions wherewith the
visive faculty is not given to all although all presume that they have it I will not here speak of them who imagine that if they saw some Miracle they should undoubtedly believe Nor of them who think they have a great Faith because they never doubted of any point of Religion Nor of the learned why they are more subject to doubts then the common sort of Christians Nor of other matters appertaining to this subject which I have touched in my Treatise of Popular Errours I will therefore passe to the second part which is the doctrine of Works contained in the Decalogue FINIS The TABLE Of the Knowledge of God WHy a man that should be perfect may always increase in Knowledge but not in Goodnesse Pag. 1. To love God without knowing him is the most irregular of all affections p. 2. Why the wisest Nations have had more paltry or horrible gods then those that were barbarous p. 3. Quest Whether it be a sufficient reason for adhering to a Religion to alleadge that in it may be found salvation p. 5. Such as a man is in his own nature such he imagineth that God is Strange horrid conceits of the spirit of man concerning this subject p. 6. Of all the Attributes of God which is that which we see first And which is that which we see least p. 8. The two greatest points of Religion p. 10. Which are more culpable those who distrust the Power of God or those that doubt of his Mercy toward them p. 11. Of the holy Trinity THe extent of Faith and the diversity of the objects of it p. 12. Three degrees of language of God in the Creation p. 13. Why God never speaketh of himself in the Plural number nor is ever brought in as consulting but where it concerneth man p. 14. Of the Creation THe diversity of habitation which God hath given to two kindes of Creatures which bear his image that is to Angels and Men. p. 18. What ought to be gathered fron this That God imposed names upon the day the night the heavens the earth the sea yet hath given no general name to signifie the whole world p. 20. Whence cometh it that the spirit of man is pleased with variety p. 21. Of the Providence of God VVHy the Scripture oftener nameth the Hand or the Arm of God then the Heart of God p. 22. Of the fundamental Law of the Creation and of the excellent instructions which issue from it p. 23. How many times the general order of the world hath been interrupted since the Creation p. 26. An example of instructions wherewith the Providence of God hath furnished man by creatures most contemptible p 27. Whence cometh it that in divers disputes and dialogues which we read to have passed between God and man it seemeth without blasphemy be it spoken that man reasoneth better then God himself p. 28. Notable examples of the Providence of God in the Fatalities of Times of Places and other circumstances p 30. Of many kindes of scourges equally dreadful and unavoidable which ought to be chosen if God should leave the choice to us or which is more to be desired p. 35. Whence cometh it that among publike scourges those that passe the hand of men are more frequent more universal and of longer continuance then those which come immediately from God p. 37. It maketh for the glory of God that there be more wicked then good men Ibid. The greatest good that God hath done to the world is come to passe by means of the greatest crime that men could commit p. 39. Nature it self hath restrained the forces and ability of man to the end to bound his desires and the effects of his malice p. 40. Of the marvellous Providence of God permitting that the righteous die by the hand of the wicked p. 41. Why in War the people of God have been often beaten by their enemies and why a good cause hath been overthrown p. 43. Why God never sent above one Angel or two at most when he intended to destroy men and hath so often sent many when he intended to preserve one man p. 45. If man had persevered in original justice there had never been Miracles but onely of one kinde p. 47. Of JESUS CHRIST AConsideration of the divers Names and Titles of our Saviour And the differences that ought to be observed in expressing them p. 49. Wherefore Jesus who received the Sacraments as well of the one as the other Testament had not that external Anointing which was given to Prophets Priests and Kings p. 54. Whence cometh it that divers discourses uttered by Jesus Christ seem to be without method An admirable secret which ought to be observed p. 55. A conjecture of what our Lord wrote when the Pharisees demanded his judgement touching the punishment of the adulteresse Joh. 8. p. 57. Why God sent for the forerunner of his Son a Prophet rather then a King And why there was no Christian King for the space of three hundred yeers after the Nativity of Jesus Christ p. 60. Of the Humane nature of JESUS CHRIST AN excellent gradation in the four Evangelists describing the Genealogie of Jesus Christ p. 62. Why the Scripture giveth the name of Antichrist to him that denieth the Humanity of our Saviour rather then to him that denieth his Divinity p. 63. Why Jesus Christ after his resurrection called himself no more the Son of man as before times p. 64. Why the most glorious miracles which our Lord wrought were often preceded by some action which witnessed those weaknesses to which his humane nature was made subject p. 65. Of an admirable harmony which is found between the three periods of the three fourteens numbred in the first chapter of Saint Matthew p. 67. Two notable preludiums of the birth of Jesus Christ and the agreement of the one with the other p. 69 God hath never published by Miracles the birth of any person except that of Jesus Christ p. 70. Wherefore hath not the Scripture set down the day of the Nativity of Jesus Christ p. 72. Of the service which the Angels have done to the Son of God from his manifestation in the flesh until his Ascension p. 77. Of the Miracles which our Lord wrought so long as he conversed in the world OF the advantage of the New Testament above the Old in regard of the number of persons which have had the gift of Miracies p. 79. Wherefore till the coming of the Son of God there have passed many ages without that any person hath had the gift of Miracles p. 82. Why none of them from whom Christ is descended according to the flesh hath had the gift of Miracles p. 84. Why John the Baptist had not the gift of Miracles p. 85. Of the divers degrees or steps by which our Lord displayed his miraculous power toward the bodies of men p. 86. Of the divers actions which Jesus Christ hath done in the Temple of Jerusalem p. 88. Why no
which were raised out of the dust Matth. 27.52 53. Afterward that of Tabitha Acts 9.40 And for the third example that of the young man Eutychus Act. 20.9 10 11 12. There are notable resemblances between the three that were raised under the Old Testament and the three which Jesus Christ raised before his death The first raised from the dead in the Old Testament was the onely son of a widow and the first raised â—n the New Testament was the onely son of a widow The one in Sarephta the other in Naim In both the Testaments God began the Resurrection of the dead by the demonstration of his Mercy as well as that of his Power Moreover the last of the three raised before the coming of Christ was already entered into the grave where he touched the bones of the Prophet Elisha and the last of the three raised by Christ to wit Lazarus had already stayed four days within the Sepulchre Why Christ rose not again the day after his death but suffered the whole Sabbath day to passe over before he returned to life I passe by the ordinary reasons which are brought concerning this and will onely observe a Maxime which I finde in this matter to wit That never any dead man was raised again on the Sabbath day The Son of God hath healed many sick on the Sabbath day but ye read not that on that day he raised any dead And in sum none of all those which were returned to life as well under the one as the other Testament and of whom we have considered the catalogue and the order according to which they are ranked hath been raised on the Sabbath day I shall verifie this when I shall come to expound the fourth Commandment of the Decalogue For the present question we may say that Jesus Christ who is the Head of the Resurrection would shew the communion which is between him and others that are raised in whom we have a preludium of the general Resurrection And forasmuch as none of them recovered life on the Sabbath day he also not to seem to disjoyn himself from them would not that his Resurrection should fall on that day This excludeth not the other reasons of the time of his stay among the dead A comparison of the time which God employed in the Creation with that which he employed in the Redemption And of the days of the one and the other The time of the Creation was six Days that of the Redemption was but of three Days which is the lesse by one half But the Wisdom of God hath divided the time of the Creation in two equal parts each of three days the first three being distinguished from the three following by a most evident mark The first three days of the world with their nights had neither Sun nor Moon nor Stars but preceded the being of all these lights in which they have been different from all other days that since have come As therefore the Creation hath had three days extraordinary so the Redemption in the which the world hath been as created anew hath had these three marvellous days in the which Christ continued among the dead It is to be observed that himself speaking of the three days of his stay within the bowels of the earth Matth. 12. which ought not to be understood of three entire days had regard to the history of the Creation which reckoneth the Evening and the Morning for a Day a part for the whole Gen. 1.5 8. The first and neerest cause of the three days detaining of Jonah in the whales belly The intention of God indeed was to present unto men in Jonah a type of the Resurrection of Christ as every one knoweth But there was first another reason for which the Prophet was not delivered before the third day The chastisement of the sinner oftentimes answereth to the fault even to circumstances This happened to Jonah His History telleth us that Nineveh was a City of three days journey chap. 3.3 For having refused to take this walk of three days in Nineveh he was condemned to keep prison three days within the whale The three days which he would not passe over in a great City among men it was necessary for him to passe in the intrails of a fish out of the sight of men and sun From this historical consideration we come to that of this great mystery which is enclosed in the detention and deliverance of Jonah The Resurrection of Christ figured in Hezekiah by a double resemblance It is sufficiently known that this Resurrection as touching the circumstance of the Third Day hath been prefigured in Isaac in Jonah in Hezekiah A Patriarch a Prophet a King have been the types Isaac destined to be offred an whole-burnt-offering and remaining as dead in the brest of his father is as returned to life on the third day Gen. 22. Heb. 11.19 And this for the more ample correspondence happened very neer the same place where Christ afterward was buried and where he rose from the dead Jonah issuing from the depth of the sea giveth the term of fourty days to the Ninevites And this figure which marketh out the Resurrection of Christ on the third day extendeth also all along the fourty days which Christ gave unto the world after his Resurrection before he left the earth The healing also of Hezekiah is considered as a type He was held in the rank of the dead and his bed was to him a grave He was raised up miraculously on the Third Day as it were surviving himself 2 Kings 20.5 But that which I observe concerning this last and which I adde to the observations of those which have gone before me is another correspondence which is found between the wonders that befell in this subject the one in the sicknesse of Hezekiah and the other in the death of Christ In both these there was a Miracle in the Sun For the Eclipse of this Luminary which happened at the death of Christ was supernatural as well as the going back in the sicknesse of Hezekiah So that this type meeteth with Christ dead and raised from the dead by a double resemblance But the shadow which returned ten degrees backward to foreshew the return of Hezekiah to the course of his life was not so miraculous as the return of Christ from among the dead verified by ten Appatitions by which as by so many degrees he shewed himself living again upon the earth before he ascended into heaven Why none ever was raised again the third day after his death but onely Christ Of all those whom God hath caused to return into the world after they were dead there is not one whom the Scripture saith to have been raised on the Third Day If there had been any one this circumstance had not been omitted in History All have been raised either before or after the Third Day after their decease but none on that day The son of the widow of Sarephta the daughter
at the last Day shall be carried up to heaven All the Miracles from the first to the last tend to carry man to heaven And by their beginning God would shew what should be their conclusion Why Adam was not carried bodily to heaven as well as Enoch The translation of Enoch was a preludium of ours which we expect and a testimony of eternal life where we shall be gathered together in body and soul But it is worth the enquiring Why God wrought not this Miracle in the person of the first man but deferred it until the seventh generation Behold then what may be said concerning it If Adam who represented all mankinde had been carried up to heaven as Enoch afterward was there would not have wanted some that would conclude that heaven appertained naturally unto men as children and heirs of Adam Now to prevent this errour and to teach us that heavenly beatitude is given by Grace and not by Nature the Wisdom of God found it not good that the common father of men should ascend corporally to heaven but would that he should die and that his body should remain in the earth Besides that which is most worthy of observation God would not translate Enoch till such time as Adam was dead and yet Enoch had already lived above three hundred yeers before the decease of Adam But after that Adam was dead Enoch was the first Patriarch that went out of the world For great reasons the going forth of Enoch was preceded by that of his grandfather In that of Adam who died God did shew what it is that men hold of their Nature to wit death In that of Enoch who was carried up without dying God hath shewed what it is that the righteous ought to expect from Grace to wit immortality In that of Adam the father of all is seen the condition of all men to whom it is appointed once to die In that of Enoch is seen the priviledge of Believers who shall be carried to heaven And as the death of Adam went before the rapture of Enoch so it behoveth that we die iâ— Adam before we can be carried up with Enoch Why God hath shewed the glory of heaven to some that were yet upon the earth and yet never shewed hell to any person while he was in this world Saint Steven being as yet here belowe the heavens were opened unto him and he saw the glory of God Saint Paul being as yet mortal was in the third heaven and heard unspeakable words that there were uttered But none whether Elect or Reprobate ever saw hell but after his death Why hath not that place of torment been shewn unto mortals as well as Paradise The cause for which God hath caused the joys of heaven to be seen hath been to the end to comfort his children and to encourage them to those sufferings which should be followed by such a glory The sight of hell maketh not for this purpose Nor is it enough to say that it might serve for the conversion of unbelievers For if a wicked man had seen hell he would no more amend then the brethren of the wicked rich man would have done upon the word of one dead that had come back from the bosome of Abraham Luke 16.31 Why Saint Paul being come back from the third heaven speaketh not of having Seen but onely of having Heard 2 Cor. 14.4 It may be that in effect he was transported thither rather to Hear then to See And this Either because being yet mortal God revealed himself to him as to Moses not by the sight of his face of which every man living is uncapable but by the words of his mouth Exod. 33.18 c. Or because being to descend yet from heaven hither below to instruct others he had need to receive instructions and by consequence it was more necessary for him to Hear then to See more profitable both to him and to those that were afterward taught by him For howsoever the words which he had heard were unspeakable yet they furnished him with great lights the which he forgot not but brought them from above to enlighten both himself and others Of Faith The Conclusion of this Treatise Two onely things at which Jesus Christ as man wondered THe one was the Unbelief of his country-men the Galileans Mark 6.6 The other was the Faith of a stranger to wit the Centurion Matth. 8.10 We read not that Jesus Christ in the days of his humiliation ever admired any thing but these two It is truely a thing to be admired that many are unbelievers in a greater light and that many have a great faith being enlightened but by a little spark Of a strange method by which God obligeth men to believe It were an impertinency and folly for one man to say to another I command thee to believe this for Belief is not formed by Commandment but by Perswasion None is master of the Belief of another no not of his own For a man cannot Believe all that he would yea he is often constrained to believe that which he would not as the devils believe against their will that there is a God The object of Belief is not Imperative but Indicative nor is it proposed in form of a Commandment but in that of a Narration Neverthelesse God doth not onely invite us to Believe in presenting to us the Truths which are the objects of our Faith but himself commandeth us This is his Commandment that we should Believe on the Name of his Son Jesus Christ 1 Joh. 3.23 Upon which we ought to consider that in commanding to believe he can cause us to believe His words when it pleaseth him to animate them with his Spirit plant Faith in the heart of man Nor doth it import that they be narrative or prohibitive or otherwise conceived For their efficacy dependeth not upon the form of the expressions but upon the secret vertue of their Author It were a great impropriety every way if a man should command me to believe for with all his commandments he cannot cause me to believe as long as my spirit perswadeth me to the contrary But God who is the Father and the Master of spirits can speak in the terms of Commanding because in commanding to Believe in effect he giveth the grace to Believe So that language which were absurd in the mouth of man is admirable in the mouth of God Of those that promise to Believe if the truth be shewn unto them There is nothing more ordinary among them which dispute against the true Religion then these words Prove me that which ye say and I will believe it But these people speak as if Faith onely depended upon themselves They promise that which is not in their power This is as if a blinde man should promise to know colours provided they be shewed unto him The Truth what evidence soever it bringeth with it is not perceptible but to him that hath eyes capable of discerning it Now this
man ever wrought Miracle within the Temple of God except the Son of God An observation upon this subject p. 89. Why Jesus Christ when he was hungry or thirsty or weary with travel never helped himself by his miraculous power to give himself refreshment p. 91. Why the Son of God after he was raised from the dead ceased from healing the sick p. 92. Of the Tears of Christ in the days of his Flesh p. 93. Christ condemned by Pilate AConsideration why the names of diveâ—â— wicked men are set down in the histâ—â— of the Passion of Christ p. 9â— The name of the Romane Empire hath is tervened both in the birth and death of Christ p. 97. The Death and Burial of CHRIST FOur glorious occurrences distant many ages one from the other and coming â—â— passe on the like day p. 98. An advertisement touching the Name of Altar improperly ascribed to the Crosse p. 100. Why the Scripture speaketh of what matter the Crosse was made yet expresseth not the form of it p. 102. None hath wrought Miracles at his death except the Son of God p. 103. Three signes from heaven exhibited in three several passages by the which Jesus Christ hath been declared publikely to be the Messiah p. 104. Why the High Priest who represented Jesus Christ nâ—ver came neer to the dead and yet Jesus Christ did the contrary p. 106. Why the fear of death was more excusable in the Saints of the Old Testament then it is now And why we ought not to imitate them in all that which they have spoken concerning this subject p. 108. The descent of CHRIST into Hell AN observation upon the words of the Apostle Rom. 10.6 7. forbidding to ask who shall ascend into heaven or who shall descend into the abysse p. 110. Why Christ being on the Crosse pronounced the first words of the 22 Psalm p. 112. The fruits of the death of CHRIST VVHy the Son of God deferred so long time to come and expiate the sins of the world p. 114. An admirable concurrence of the time of Redemption with the times of the most famous Ceremonies of the Law An observation upon this subject p. 118. A mysterious reason of the name which the Apostle giveth to the Sacrifice of Christ calling it A Sacrifice of a sweet smelling savour Ephes 5.2 p. 120. The Resurrection of CHRIST NIne examples of the Resurrection of the dead which have gone before or followed the Resurrection of Christ An Harmony between those that were raised under the Old Testament and those that were raised by the Son of God while himself was yet mortal p. 123. Why Christ rose not again the day after his death but suffered the whole Sabbath day to passe over before he returned to life p. 125. A comparison of the time which God employed in the Creation with that which he employed in the Redemption And of the days of the one and the other p. 127. The first and neerest cause of the three days detaining of Jonah in the whales belly p. 128. The Resurrection of Christ figured in Hezekiah by a double resemblance p. 129. Why none ever was raised again the third day after his death but onely Christ p. 131. Three miraculous Sepulchres in the holy History p. 134. Four men that raised the dead before and after the coming of Christ p. 135. The continuation of the Article of the Resurrection of CHRIST His Ascension into Heaven His Sitting at the right hand of God CHrist hath verified his Resurrection by all the proofs which could be given p. 136. Why God never raised any person of note to converse among men except the Messiah p. 137. Of all those that have been raised from the dead none is introduced in Scripture speaking except Jesus Christ p. 141. Three several Fourties of Days in the time that our Saviour stayed in this world Observations upon this circumstance p. 143. Why the Son of God entered no more into the Temple after his Resurrection And the difference in this regard between Him and those which were his principal types p. 145. Of those which have seen the Son of God being in heaven p. 146. All the miraculous prerogatives which have been severally in divers Saints are found united in one onely Christ in a soveraign degree p. 148. Of the last Judgement VVHy doth the holy History never say that God descended but onely where the businesse hath been to do justice or to establish it and protect the innocent p. 150. An observation upon the four general Judgements mentioned in the Scriptures p. 151. A wonderful Mystery which is seen in the several goings out of the three first men which God took out of the world p. 153. Why God who hath foretold and set down the measures of certain particular times hath not revealed how long the world should endure or when the day of Judgement should be p. 156. Of the holy Ghost FOur remarkable productions which the Scripture attributeth to the Spirit of God to wit two in the Creation two in the Redemption p. 159. Why the Scripture representeth the holy Ghost and his effects under the names of Water of Fire of Anointing with Oil and of Sprinkling of Blood The true interpretation of these terms contained in divers passages p. 160. A catalogue of those actions which were celebrated with Aspersion of Blood in the time of the Law p. 163. Blood hath no propriety of making white Why then is it said Apocal. 7.14 that the Saints have made white their robes in the blood of the Lamb p. 166. Of the Church and the Communion of Saints WHy Moses is more prolix and more exact in the description of the Tabernacle then in that of the whole world p. 169. The number of persons that make up the body of the universal Church is not onely prefixed and definite but also regulated by measures and proportions p. 171. Of the small number of believers in the three several comings of the Son of God Resemblances on this subject p. 174. Three several states of the Church in three several times and three several titles of it p. 175. A difference between the Church of the Old Testament and that of the New in regard of the Communion of those things which were ordained to sanctity p. 176. Four several buildings of which God hath been the Architect representing severally the estate of the Church p. 178. Why the most notable periods of the Church and many famous mysteries had their beginning in a Desert p. 180. All the Church was never gathered together in one place except then when it was in the Ark. p. 182. The Remission of Sins A Difference between the Remission which the Law presented of old to sinners and that which is offered unto them by the Gospel p. 184. Which is most injurious and repugnant to God Either Despair or Presumption p. 187. A believer having commited some sin very enormous is it credible although he have repented and obtained pardon that God will love him altogether as much as he loved him before the offence committed Ibid. Examples of divers great sinners reestablished in their first estate p. 190. The Resurrection of the Flesh WHy is Abraham so highly commended for having believed that God could raise the dead Heb. 11.19 p. 192. An admirable gradation in those which have heen raised from the dead p. 193. Why there have been more young people raised from the dead then old p. 195. Of the first Resurrection and of the second death mentioned Revel 20. And from whence those terms are extracted p. 197. Everlasting life THe first and the last of all Miracles p. 203. Why Adam was not carried bodily to heaven as well as Enoch p. 204. Why God hath shewed the glory of heaven to some that were yet upon the earth and yet never shewed hell to any person while he was in this world p. 206. Why Saint Paul being come back from the third heaven speaketh not of having Seen but onely of having Heard 2 Cor. 14.4 p. 207. Of Faith The Conclusion of this Treatise TWo onely things at which Jesus Christ as man wondered p. 208. Of a strange method by which God obligeth men to Believe p. 209. Of those that promise to Believe if the truth be shewn unto them p. 110. FINIS
The Power of God is universal but the effects of his saving Mercy are not universally communicated unto all For he hath mercy on whom he will have mercy and whom he will he hardeneth because it is requisite that his Justice should appear as well as his Mercy The Israelites who believed not that it was in the power of God to provide them bread and flesh in the wildernesse Psal 78.19 20 21. were more culpable in that particular then Cain and Judas who believed not that God would pardon them It is ever certain that God can do all that is possible but it is not always evident what he will do Of the holy Trinity The extent of Faith and the diversity of the objects of it OF the objects which present themselves to the eye of our Faith some are without beginning and ending they have been always they shall be for ever as the Deity the Three Persons Others have had beginning and ending as the Creation the Sufferings of Christ Others have had beginning but none ending as the Sitting of our Lord at the right hand of God the Church Life everlasting Others have not as yet been but are to have beginning and ending as the Resurrection and the Day of the last Judgement Thus our Faith beginneth her course at the Eternity of God from thence traverseth the ages assembling that which is past and that which is to come together with what is present yea rendring present what is already past and what is yet to come And at last concludeth with eternal Life where that Article closeth up the Creed Three degrees of language of God in the Creation The Scripture representeth God speaking when he made the world but in three several sorts When he would give being to those creatures which as yet were not or distinguish those that were insensible or bring forth those kindes which he intended to produce he spake not directly to them to command them to be or to serve his designe or purpose but he he said Let there be light Let there be a firmament Let the waters be gathered together in one place Let the earth bring forth c. But after he had made living creatures as fishes and fowls he addressed his speech to them saying Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters Gen. 1.22 But when the creation of man cometh to be spoken of God spake to himself Let us make man in our own image Terms which expresse as every one knoweth the Unity of the Divine Essence and the Plurality of the Persons This shall serve as a preparative to the following question Why God never speaketh of himself in the Plural number nor is ever brought in as consulting but where it concerneth man In certain occurrences God hath spoken as holding a Councel and proceeding with deliberation The Scripture hath marked out eight in which God hath consulted about several subjects 1. About the creation of man as we have already spoken according to all Expositors 2. About his marriage For Adam there was not found an help meet for him God said It is not good that the man should be alone The result of this consultation is expressed I will make him an help meet for him 3. About the banishment of him after his fall And the Lord God said Behold the man is become as one of us knowing good and evil And now lest he put forth his hand and take also of the tree of life and live for ever c. Gen. 3.22 4. About the Deluge The Lord said My spirit shall not always strive with man for he also is flesh yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty yeers Gen. 6.3 5. About the Tower of Babel And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower which the children of men had built And the Lord said Behold this people is one and they have all one language and this they begin to do and now nothing will be restrained from them which they have intended to do Go to let us go down and confound their language that they may not understand one anothers speech Gen. 11.5 6 7. 6. About the way which the Israelites were to take when they went out of Egypt And it came to passe that when Pharaoh had let the people go that God led them not thorow the land of the Philistines though that were neer for God said Lest peradventure the people repent when they see war and they return to Egypt But God led the people about thorow the wildernesse of the Red-sea Exod. 13.17 18. 7. About the means to ruine Ahab And the Lord said Who shall perswade Ahab that he may go up and fall at Ramoth-Gilead 1 Kings 22.20 8. About sending a Prophet to the Jews Also I heard the voice of the Lord saying Whom shall I send and who will go for us Isai 6.8 In many of these passages God speaketh of himself in the plural number Let us make man The man is become as one of us Let us go down Who shall go for us But never doth he use this style nor yet ever doth he speak in the phrase of one consulting but when he dealeth concerning man whether it be to give him his being or his well-being or to guide him or to preserve him or to destroy him or to admonish him What may be the reason of this It is Not onely because man is a subject of greater importance then any other that is in the world rather Forasmuch as among all corporeal creatures man onely is capable of counsel onely capable of deliberating For the holy Spirit would shew us that God hath particular influence upon man to give him the power of consulting Moreover it is to admonish man that he work with counsel where the businesse requireth it Furthermore it is to assure us that where our counsel is unprofitable as where we are uncapable of consulting God himself consulteth for us Finally because man oftentimes opposeth his Counsel to the Decrees of God God would shew us that he hath a counsel which prevaileth above ours For these reasons he never entereth into counsel but when the question concerneth man Of the Creation The diversity of habitation which God hath given to two kindes of creatures which bear his image that is to Angels and Men. GOd hath placed all his works in their proper places with order and proportion witnesse among an infinite number of examples that the earth hath not so great living creatures as the sea nor in the like number nor so fruitful in multiplying And this to avoid too great a waste of food which would be consumed to the prejudice of man by the beasts of the Land if they equalled those of the Sea either in number or greatnesse of body But that which is a point more sublime there being two kindes of creatures made after the likenesse of God to wit the Angelical and Humane nature yet they are seated in places mainly different and very far
of his graces hath appeared in the distribution of his judgements For they whom his mercy first visited have been the first that have been visited by his justice and in succession others according to the date of the time of their enlightning Of many kindes of scourges equally dreadful and unavoidable which ought to be chosen if God should leave the choice to us or which is more to be desired I speak not of those three scourges of which God gave the choice to David to wit Plague War and Famine The question is cleared 2 Sam. 24. But there are an infinite number of other scourges general and particular where oft-times we are constrained to chuse the one that we may escape the other or at least we desire the one rather then the other it concerneth us that our desire be lawful We set aside that which dependeth not at all on our choice or of which there can be no dispute but in vain as which is worse to be born deaf or to be born blinde Or which is more grievous Leprosie or perpetual Infamy But for example A man guilty of a capital offence who is permitted to chuse the kinde and fashion of his punishment or a dangerous labour of a woman where the life of the mother cannot be saved with that of the childe and many other occurrences or different afflictions that encounter one another in the front and reduce us to a necessity of chusing one I conceive that it behoveth to chuse that in which God is lesse offended The choice of David was judicious preferring the Pestilence before the other two scourges not onely for the reason by him expressed but also because in War and Famine there are committed more sins and more enormous then in a Pestilence War ordinarily is a torrent of villanies and Famine produceth unnatural horrours so far as to induce a mother to eat her own childe Now concerning other kindes of adversities in which it is requisite that we make a choice we ought to look well upon every one with their circumstances to take notice of that which affordeth the least occasion â—o offend God Whence cometh it that among publike scourges those that passe the hand of men are more frequent more universal and of longer durance then those which come immediately from God For one Famine that you read in Histories you shall finde ten Wars and Famine also it self for the most part cometh from a preceding War Now War proceedeth immediately from man Neither Famine nor Pestilence have ever been so universal nor of so long continuance as divers Wars The Providence of God would make men know that they procure to themselves more mischief then heaven hath sent upon them It maketh for the glory of God that there be more wicked then good men I am not here to shew why it is necessary that there should be wicked men God who hath made nothing in vain hath made all things for himself even the wicked for the day of evil Prov. 16.4 Neither am I to declare how it is necessary that God should suffer them If his Justice should extirpate all the wicked the greater part of the earth would become a desert and in stead of being peopled with men would be peopled with savage beasts and this would redound to the prejudice of them that are good who from thence would receive a thousand discommodities This was the reason why God would not destroy all at one blowe the inhabitants of Canaan for fear left the Countrey should fall to be a wildernesse and should be replenished with cruel beasts which would have given more trouble to the Israelites Exod. 23. But how can it serve to the glory of God that the number of the wicked should surpasse the nuÌ„ber of the good On the contrary doth it not seem that the glory of God would be more illustrious and of a greater extent if the good were in greater number then the wicked If it were so the subsistence of humane society and the policy by which it is maintained would seem rather to depend upon the goodnesse of men then upon the Providence of God But this is a wonder that there being far more wicked men then good neverthelesse there is a Providence which hindereth the wicked from doing all the evil that they might do For whence cometh it that being in a far greater number they do not altogether ruine the good Certainly it is the work of God who maintaineth a handful of men in the midst of a world of wicked The greatest good that God hath done to the world is come to passe by means of the greatest crime that men could commit The greatest sin that men ever committed was to crucifie the Prince of glory It was impossible to perpetrate one more enormous Yet neverthelesse from this crime managed by the wisdom of God hath been brought forth the greatest good which men have received from heaven to wit the benefit of Redemption This is wonderful that God hath taken the advantage of the greatest sin that the world could commit to cause to issue from it the greatest good that the world could receive Nature it self hath restrained the forces and ability of man to the end to bound his desires and the effects of his malice All the cares of man cannot adde one cubit to his stature If this could be brought to passe we should see prodigious bodies every one striving to attain to an unmeasured height The same Providence which hath limited the stature of man hath denied him that which it hath granted to the birds to wit the liberty of going to and fro in the air He seeth those creatures passing swiftly thorow that element over his head while he cannot lift himself above the earth This is to the end that he may not extend his violence so far nor so easily nor so generally For howsoever violence traverseth the sea and climbeth up to the top of the highest mountains it would yet be more formidable and more pernicious if it had the wings of an Eagle and innocence which often findeth refuge in places inaccessible would have no more a sanctuary in the world Of the marvellous Providence of God permitting that the righteous die by the hand of the wicked The first righteous man of the Old Testament to wit Abel and the first righteous of the New to wit John the Baptist were both thrust out of the world by the hand of wicked men God would that the first-fruits of the just in both Testaments should fall down under the hand of wicked men Furthermore the last man that is named in Scripture is a just man to wit Antipas Apol. 2. And this just man was put to death by the wicked So that the first and the last of the righteous lost their lives by the fury of those that were perverse The Scripture beginneth the catalogue of good men in their blood and endeth it in their blood The beginning and the closure teach
by Adam who departed by a natural death We are here to admire the dispensation of this great God and the Wisdom of his Spirit which dictated the Scriptures These three men whom God first withdrew from the world the diversity which is seen in their going out and the order held in it were a sample or epitome of that great piece which he would unfold all along the ages and which was to be extended as far as the last men that shall be found living upon the earth Why God who hath foretold and set down the measures of certain particular times hath not revealed how long the world should endure or when the day of Judgement should be God at other times foretold How many veers space it should be before the Deluge Gen. 6.3 How many yeers the slavery of the Hebrews should endure Gen. 15.13 How many yeers there should be of plenty and famine in the days of Joseph Gen. 41.29.30 How many yeers the Jews should remain in the Captivity of Babylon Jer. 25.12 and 29.10 Dan. 9.2 How many yeers should passe to the death of Christ Dan. 9.24 We know that some of these predictions have been given four hundred yea four hundred and ninety yeers before their time expired Now there might be all the way computed from day to day how many yeers yet remained to the end of the time limited by those oracles Yea God hath not onely given an account of yeers but sometimes hath punctually set down the very day on which a deliverance or other event should come to passe Dan. 12.11 12. But neither the Day of the last Judgement nor the Yeer nor yet the Age which is to make an end of all the rest was ever set down in any Prophecie whatsoever the curious can say against it Now among the causes of this silence we are to consider this When God hath foretold that such or such a notable event where the time could not be foreseen by any humane wisdom should come to passe in such a Yeer or on such a Day the principal scope of these predictions hath been to confirm the faith of them which should see them accomplished Joh. 13.19 For they that lived until that time and saw the Prophecie effected precisely at the day named even against all appearance had so much the more reason to believe in God for the time to come in so manifest an experience of his infallible truth and the same also was a means to convert unbelievers But at the last Day it will not be the work to make provision any more for faith in regard of things to come not will there be any more place for the conversion of miscreants So that a revelation of that Day could not serve for those ends and uses for the which God had revealed divers other Days remarkable The Wisdom of God doth not give us superfluous predictions It is necessary to know that there shall be a last Day but not to know precisely when it shall be Of the holy Ghost Four remarkable productions which the Scripture attributeth to the Spirit of God to wit two in the Creation two in the Redemption AMong so many great and divers effects of the Spirit of God the Scripture mentioneth particularly these four productions 1. That of all the species which were enclosed in the masse of the elements in the beginning of the world for to cause them to bring forth the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters Gen. 1.2 2. That of the Soul For the breath of God which made man a living soul was the Spirit of the Almighty Gen. 2.7 Job 33.4 3. That of the body of Christ which alone among all men was conceived by the holy Ghost Luke 1.35 4. That of the new man For to become such it behoveth to be born again of the Spirit Joh. 3.5 6. Why the Scripture representeth the holy Ghost and his effects under the names of Water of Fire of Anointing with Oil and of Sprinkling of Blood The true interpretation of these terms contained in divers passages The Scripture speaketh of Water and the Spirit by which we are to be born again Of the holy Ghost and of Fire with which we are to be baptized Of the Unction which we have from the holy One which is an effect of the same Spirit Of the Sprinkling of the Blood of Jesus Christ which is wrought also by the holy Ghost Joh. 3.5 Matth. 3.11 1 Joh. 2.20 1 Pet. 1.2 So that the names of Water of Fire of Anointing with Oil and of Sprinkling of Blood are used to denote either the holy Ghost or those acts which he worketh in us Now it is very easie for one of the vulgar to speak to this and to say they are similitudes Many Commentatours and ordinary Preachers content themselves to alleadge to us some resemblances between Water and the holy Ghost and likewise some conformities and analogies between the Fire which purifieth and consumeth and the holy Ghost which produceth the like effects But there are other depths to sound It is requisite therefore to know that all the Purifications of the Law which were figures of that Purification which we have by the holy Ghost were wrought either by Water or by Fire or by Oil or by Blood All things which had need of cleansing were purified by one of these four means 1. By Water as it was practised in divers occasions For we know that washings with Water were very frequent under the Law It is not necessary to produce examples 2. By Fire as when God commanded to purifie the spoil which they had taken from the Midianites he ordained that all that which could endure the Fire to wit Gold Silver Brasse Iron Tinne Lead should be cleansed by Fire Num. 31.22 23. 3. By Oil as it was observed in the Unction of the Priests and that of the leprous Lev. 14.16 17 18. 4. By Blood as it is notorious and we shall see by and by that almost all things according to the Law are purged by Blood Heb. 9.22 Now to shew that all that which is required to a true Purification all that which the Law prescribed to those ends is found universally in the power of the holy Ghost the Scripture representeth it with its effects under the name of the matters and all the acts which served to the Legal Purifications I might speak of other things concerning this subject but they will come better to purpose in the doctrine of Baptism for which I reserve them A catalogue of those actions which were celebrated with Aspersion of Blood in the time of the Law All the Law was written in Blood The Priest the people went not but thorow blood Now to comprehend these so many different actions in which Blood intervened it will be to the purpose to distinguish them and reduce them into ranks or categories We finde therefore that there are seven kindes of actions solemnized by the Aspersion of Blood 1. The first
Passeover In which the Israelites dipped a bunch of hysop in the blood of the lamb and marked their doors to serve for their safeguard 2. The Covenant treated between God and the people For after that Moses had rehearsed the Articles he took the blood of the Sacrifice offered to that effect and sprinkled one half on the Altar and the rest upon the people saying unto them This is the blood of the Covenant 3. The Consecration of the Tabernacle and of the Priests In this ceremony Moses sprinkled with blood the Tabernacle and all the vessels of the service Besides he took of the blood from off the Altar and made an aspersion upon Aaron upon his sons and upon their garments 4. The Sacrifices as well Eucharistical as Expiatory For in all Sacrifices the blood was poured all about the Altar of burnt-Offerings In some of them it was also put upon the Altar of Incense In others there was made an aspersion before the Vail of the Sanctuary 5. The general Expiation which was celebrated once a yeer In this Solemnity the High Priest made an aspersion of blood seven times before the Mercy-seat afterward within the Vail afterward also upon the Altar of Incense 6. The purification of the unclean The High Priest took of the blood of an heifer slain for this purpose and sprinkled it before the Tabernacle afterward the Sacrifice being burned with its blood and the ashes reserved they were mingled with water to sprinkle the tents the vessels and the persons tainted with any uncleannesse This mystery is opened by the Apostle Heb. 9.13 14. 7. The ceremonial cleansing of the leprous as well of houses as of persons A sparrow was killed and with his blood the man was sprinkled that was newly healed of the leprosie Besides they took the blood of a lamb with which was marked the right ear of the leper and his hand and his foot Likewise if the leprosie had taken hold of the walls of an house the Priest sprinkled them with the blood of a sparrow after that the infection was gone Thus all this multitude of actions performed by sprinkling of blood is reduced to the seven kindes here mentioned This distinction may serve not onely for the memory to retain them but also for the understanding to know well their differences and the mysteries inclosed in this diversity It shall suffice as for the present to observe the power of the holy Ghost represented by the number of seven which is a mark of perfection to shew thaâ— by it we have an entire application oâ— the blood of Christ Blood hath no propriety of making whilâ— Why then is it said Apocal. 7.14 thaâ— the Saints have made white then robes in the blood of the Lamb Many according to the custom oâ— the vulgar stay themselves at a similitude taking whitenesse for an emblemeâ—â— of cleannesse or of glory But the similitude faileth them then when they should finde this whitenesse in blood which naturally defileth in stead of cleansing and taketh away whitenesse in stead of giving it Some learned Interpreters say very well that this passage beareth an allusion to the habit of the Priests of the Law who entered not into the Temple but in white robes The sense then is that those that are here spoken of which are come out of great tribulation are made Priests unto God whom they serve day and night in his Temple vers 15. For this Priesthood with which they are honoured is expressed under the name of the vestment which the ancient Priests wore when they did the service But the question yet remaineth How these robes are made white in blood I think therefore that this expression denoteth a resemblance between the consecration of Levitical Priests and that of Christians When Aaron and his sons were called to this charge there were given them Priestly gaaments among the which was the linen robe but it was not permitted them to approach to the Altar or to exercise any Office in the Tabernacle till they were first sprinkled with blood both they and their garments Exod. 29.21 Levit. 8.30 As therefore the ancient Priests were consecrated by blood and made capable to wear the Priestly habit in the house of God so in the vertue of the blood of Christ we are reinvested of the quality of Priests represented by the white garment And this is summarily what I had to say concerning this passage which it behoveth to expound rather by a metonymie then by a single metaphor Of the Church and the Communion of Saints Why Moses is more prolix and more exact in the description of the Tabernacle then in that of the whole world VVHosoever shall compare the two first Chapters of Genesis with the sixteen last of Exodus except the two and thirtieth and the two following shall finde a great difference between Moses describing the frame of the Universe and Moses describing the fabrick of the Tabernacle In the one he is very general and succinct in the other he is very copious and setteth down even to the smallest particulars The description of this great building of the World seemed truely to require more words then that of a little pavillion which was but an atome in comparison of this vast extent of the heavens and of the earth But quite contrarily the Spirit of God having shut up and reduced into a little table the whole masse of the world displayeth unto us the structure of the Tabernacle in a long and large picture Now it is very certain that the style of the Scripture hath its measures compassed by the circles of a soveraign wisdom Behold then that which we here consider setting apart many other reasons which we might bring upon this subject The world was not built but for the Church to the end that in it God might be served The Tabernacle was both a figure of the Church and the ensigne under which it was assembled God therefore willing to shew that his Church in which his service is performed is more precious to him and more considerable then all the rest of the world hath spoken of the Tabernacle more amply and more particularly then of all the Elements yea then of all the world together The number of persons that make up the body of the universal Church is not onely presixed and definite but also regulated by measures and proportions God is not tied to Numbers yet neverthelesse he doth and disposeth his works by number weight and measure It is observed that after the going up out of Egypt God caused to be numbred all the Israelites from the age of twenty yeers and upward Exod. 38.26 and there were found six hundred three thousand five hundred and fifty men The yeer following God commanded to make a second review of the people Numb 1.46 but without comprising the Levites which had been numbred the first time with the other Tribes Notwithstanding this substraction and the casualties which might have changed the number of the