that their works shall be rewarded but that they shall go along with them and that they are blessed upon this Account and this implies that they shall receive a sure Reward For as the Apostle Reasons God is not unrighteous to forget our Work and Labour of Love Verily there is a Reward for the righteous as sure as there is a God that judgeth in the Earth But how Great and Glorious that shall be I am not in any measure able to declare to you It may suffice that the Scripture hath assured us in general that God is the Rewarder of Good Men and that he will make them Happy not according to what can now enter into our narrow Thoughts but according to the exceeding greatness of his Power and Goodness If we are to receive our Reward from God we need not doubt but it will be very large and such as is every way worthy of him to bestow For he is a great King and of great Goodness and we may safely refer our selves to him in confidence that he will consider us not according to the Meanness of our Service but according to the Vastness of his Treasures and the Infinite Bounty of his Mind If he hath promised to make us Happy tho' he have not particularly declared to us wherein this Happiness shall consist yet we may trust him that made us to find out ways to make us happy and may believe that he who made us without our Knowledge or desire is able to make us Happy beyond them both Only for the greater Encouragement of our Holiness and Obedience tho' he hath promised to Reward every Good Man far beyond the Proportion of any Good he hath or can do yet he hath declared that these Rewards shall be proportionably greater or less according to the degree of every Man's Piety and Virtue So our Saviour tell us that they who are persecuted for righteousness sake great shall be their reward in heaven Matt. 5.12 That there will be a difference between the Reward of a righteous Man and a Prophet that is of one who is more publickly and eminently useful for the Salvation of others And among those who are Teachers of others they that are more industrious and consequently more likely to be successful in this Work shall have a more Glorious Reward as we are told by the Angel Dan. 12.3 And they that be Wise or as it is in the Margin rendred they that be Teachers shall shine as the brightness of the Firmament and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever So likewise we find in the Parable of the Talents that he that improv'd his Talent to Ten was made Ruler over Ten Cities And St. Paul 2 Cor. 9.6 speaking of the Degrees of Mens Charity and Liberality towards the Poor says expresly He that soweth sparingly shall reap sparingly but he that soweth bountifully shall reap bountifully which by Proportion of Reason may be extended to the Exercise of all other Graces and Virtues 1 Cor. 15.41 42. The Apostle there represents the different Degrees of Glory which Good Men shall be invested with at the Resurrection by the different Glory and Splendor of the Heavenly Luminaries There is one glory of the Sun another of the Moon and another glory of the Stars for one Star differeth from another Star in glory So also is the Resurrection of the dead So that the more any Man suffers for God and the more Patiently he Suffers the more Holily and Virtuously the more Charitably and Usefully he lives in this World the more good Works will accompany him into the next and the Greater and more Glorious Reward he may hope to receive there which as the Apostle Reasons in the Conclusion of that Chapter concerning the Doctrine of the Resurrection ought to be a mighty Encouragement to every one of us not only to be stedfast and unmoveable that is fix'd and resolute in the Profession and Practice of our Religion but abounding likewise in the work of the Lord forasmuch as we know that our labour is not in vain in the Lord. Every Degree of Diligence and Industry in the Work and Service of God will most certainly one day turn to a happy Account Having therefore such Promises dearly Beloved let us cleanse our selves from all filthiness of Flesh and Spirit perfecting holiness in the fear of God The more perfectly holy we are here on Earth the more perfectly happy we shall be in Heaven and continue so to all Eternity I have now done with the Two Reasons which are here given in the Text of the Happiness that Good Men such as die in the Lord shall be made Partatakers of in another Life because they rest from their labours and their works accompany them they are freed from all the Evils which they suffer'd and shall receive the Reward of all the Good they have done in this Life I should now have proceeded to make some Inferences from this Discourse But those I will reserve for another Discourse on this Subject All that I shall add at present as the Application of what I have already said is That this should stir us up to a careful and zealous Imitation of those Blessed Persons described in the Text who are dead in the Lord and are at rest from their Labours and whose works do accompany them Let us Imitate them in their Faith and Patience in their Piety and Good Works and in their Constancy to God and his Truth which was dearer to them than their Lives Thus their Virtues and Sufferings are described in the Visions of this Book Chap. 13.10 Here is the Patience and the Faith of the Saints and Chap. 14.12 Here is the Patience of the Saints Here are they that keep the Commandments of God and the Faith of Jesus and Chap. 12.11 And they overcame by the Blood of the Lamb and by the Word of their Testimony and they loved not their Lives unto the Death In this Way and by these Steps all the Saints and Martyrs of all Ages have ascended up to Heaven and attained to that Blessed State which they are now Possessed of after all the Evils which they Suffered in this World They are now at rest from their labours and all the good Works which they have done are gon along with them and they are now and shall for ever be receiving the Comfort and Reward of them And if we tread in their Steps by a zealous Imitation of the Piety and Holiness of their Lives and of the Constancy and Patience of their Sufferings we shall one Day be Translated into their Blessed Society and made Partakers with them of the same Glorious Reward If we have our Fruit unto Holiness our end shall be everlasting life If we be faithful unto death we shall receive a Crown of Life Let us then as the Apostle to the Hebrews exhorts Chap. 6.11 12. Every one of us shew the same Diligence to the full assurance
Solomon's Temple which some that were then alive had seen in its glory yet in other respects it should far excel it for the time would come that this second Temple should be graced with the Presence of the Messias which would be a greater Glory to it than all the Riches of Solomon's Temple And this is fully exprest in the words which I have read unto you Thus saith the Lord of hosts Yet once it is a little while and I will shake the heavens and the earth and the sea and the dry land And I will shake all nations and the desire of all nations shall come and I will fill this house with glory saith the Lord of hosts The silver is mine and the gold is mine saith the Lord of hosts The glory of this latter house shall be greater than of the former saith the Lord of hosts and in this place will I give peace saith the Lord of hosts Now that it is some very great thing which is here foretold and promised for the Honour of this second Temple no Man can doubt that considers in what a solemn manner it is here exprest this great and glorious Title the Lord of hosts being no less than five several times used within the compass of these four Verses the like Instance whereto is not perhaps in the whole Bible Thus saith the Lord of hosts Yet once it is a little while and I will shake the heavens and the earth verse 6. And I will fill this house with glory saith the Lord of hosts verse 7. The silver is mine and the gold is mine saith the Lord of hosts ver 8. And twice ver 9. The glory of this latter house shall be greater than of the former saith the Lord of hosts and in this place will I give peace saith the Lord of hosts So that by the solemn manner of expressing of it we may imagine that it is some very great thing which is spoken of and such as the like had never been before and such was the incarnation and coming of the Messias I know that the Modern Jews will by no means have this Text to be understood of the Messias and not without cause for he that is spoken of in the Text was to come into the second Temple which hath now been destroyed above 1600 Years ago and they do not believe the Messias to be yet come and therefore whatever shift they make they must interpret this Text of some other Person than the Messias But then it is plain for what Reason they do so it being evident from their own Talmud that the Ancient Jews did understand of the Messias but being harden'd in their Unbelief they pervert all those Texts whereby they might be convinc'd that Jesus our Blessed Saviour was the True Messias And indeed whoever carefully considers the several Expressions and Circumstances of this Prediction cannot understand it of any other To make this Evident I shall explain the several Expressions in the Text Thus saith the Lord of hosts Yet once it is a little while Yet a little while so it is in the Hebrew Yet once more so the LXX render it and so it is quoted from the LXX in the New Testament Heb. 12.26 and this Sense the Hebrew word may likewise bear and our Translation of the Text takes them both in Yet once it is a little while If we take the Words in the first Sense Yet a little while they signifie that God was then beginning those Changes in the World which were to precede and make way for the coming of the Messias This indeed was not till about Four Hundred Years after but a great while before that time God began those Changes in the World which were to prepare the way for his coming and considering the long time which was past from the first promise made to Abraham Four Hundred Years in comparison of that may seem but a little while But I rather choose the latter Sense of this Phrase Yet once more because the Hebrew will bear it and because it is so quoted in the New Testament as if the Prophet had said That God had before done a great thing in the World and accompanied with great Miracles viz. The giving of the Law by Moses which was attended with great Commotions both in Egypt by bringing the People of Israel out from thence with a mighty hand and by destroying the Nations before them whose Land God gave them for a Possession but now he would do one greater thing more the sending of the Messias and the planting of his Religion in the World in order whereunto there should be much greater and more universal Commotions and Changes in the World and more and greater Miracles wrought Yet once more and I will shake the heavens and the earth and the sea and the dry land and I will shake all nations From which Words the Apostle to the Hebrews argues the abolishing of the Jewish Dispensation and the bringing in of another that should be unalterable Heb. 12.27 And this Word Yet once more says the Apostle signifies the removing of those things that are shaken that those things which cannot be shaken way remain And this I shall have occasion to explain more fully in the following parts of this discourse Yet once more I will shake the heavens and the earth c. For the understanding whereof we are to consider That the Hebrews have no one Word whereby to express the World and therefore they do it by an enumeration of the principal Parts of it So Gen. 1. when Moses would express the Creation of the World he says In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth And so St. Peter when he would express the Revolution of all things after the universal Conflagration of the World calls it a new heaven and a new earth 2 Pet. 3.13 Nevertheless we according to his promise look for new heavens and a new earth that is a new World a quite other Frame and State of things than that which we now see And so the Prophet here in the Text to express the great Commotions and Changes that should be in the World before the coming of the Messias says that God will shake the heavens and the earth and the sea and the dry land that is he would cause great Revolutions in the World there should be great Wars and Confusions and the Empires of the World should pass from one Hand to another And thus we find this very expression interpreted ver 21 22. of this Chapter I will shake the heavens and the earth and I will overthrow the throne of kingdoms and I will destroy the strength of the kingdoms of the nations And to shew that by shaking the heavens and the earth is meant great Changes in the World and as it were an universal Commotion of it he adds in the Text by way of farther Explication and I will shake all nations And then it follows and the desire of all nations
shall come This we as the ancient Jews also did take to be a plain Character and Description of the Messias he is the desire of all nations he whom all Nations had reason to desire because of those great Blessings and Benefits which he was to bring to the World Thus Interpreters generally understand these Words and it is very true the Messias was so But this does not seem to be the true importance of this phrase for the Hebrew Word signifies Expectation as well as Desire and so I should rather choose to render it the Expectation of all Nations shall come which signifies that about the time of the coming of the Messias not only the Jews but other Nations should be in a general Expectation of some great Prince then to appear which was most eminently accomplished in our Blessed Saviour as I shall shew by and by And I will fill this house with glory saith the Lord of hosts speaking of the Second Temple which was then in building which though it fell very much short of Solomon's in point of State and Magnificence yet by being honoured with the Presence of the Messias it should be much more Glorious than Solomon's Temple The silver is mine and the gold is mine saith the Lord of hosts not that God wanted the command of Gold and Silver to have made the Second Temple equal to Solomon's in outward Glory and Splendour he could easily have made it so in that respect and Josephus tells us that not long before the time of our Saviour's coming Herod had built and beautified it to that degree that in some respects it excelled Solomon's and of this some understand the next words The glory of this latter house shall be greater than of the former namely that this was accomplished in that Beauty and Magnificence which was added to it when it was re-edified by Herod the Great But however that be this is certain that it was much more Glorious in another respect namely that it entertained the Messias the great Expectation and Blessing of all Nations And in this place will I give peace saith the Lord of hosts Some understand this of that Universal Peace which was throughout the World when our Saviour was born in the Reign of Augustus Caesar Others with great probability interpret this of the Messias himself who is called here by the name of Peace and so some of the ancient Jews understood it in this place will I give peace that is the Messias For the Hebrew Word signifies all kind of Happiness and so it includes all those Blessings and Benefits that Happiness and Salvation which the Messias brought to the World And this will appear very probable if we consider how frequently in Scripture this Title is given to the Messias Isai 9.6 he is called the Prince of peace and Zach. 9.10 it is said of him that he should speak peace to the nations and the Apostle to the Hebrews parallels him with Melchisedech in this Particular that he was King of Salem that is King of Peace and which is very little different from this he is frequently in Scripture called Salvation which signifies the Happiness of being rescued and delivered from all kind of Evil as Peace signifies all kind of Good Isai 49.6 I will also give thee for a light to the Gentiles that thou mayest be my Salvation to the end of the earth And Luke 2.30 when Simeon had our Blessed Saviour in his Arms when he was first brought into the Temple he calls him the Salvation of God Mine Eyes saith he to God have seen thy salvation and John 4.22 Salvation is of the Jews that is the Messias was to be of that Nation But which is more express Christ is called our peace Eph. 2.14 nay he is expresly called peace or the peace Micah 5.5 and this man speaking of the Messias shall be the peace that is one of his Names or Titles shall be peace So that I make little doubt but that in this Expression in the Text of giving peace is meant giving the Messias and that this is render'd as the Reason why the Glory of the Second Temple should be greater than of the First because in that place the Messias should appear and remarkably shew himself God could have given this Second Temple if he had thought fit as much outward Glory and Beauty as that of Solomon's Building for silver and gold are his and all the Riches of the World are at his Command but he chose to put a far greater Honour upon it than that of Silver and Gold and to make it much more Glorious in another respect the glory of this latter house shall be greater than of the former because in this place I will give the Messias the peace and Happiness and Salvation of Mankind and incomparably the greatest Blessing that ever was given to the World The Words being thus explained it will now be more easie to shew how the several parts of this Prediction do agree to our Blessed Saviour and to no other I. That there should be great Changes and Commotions in the World before his coming I will shake the heavens and the earth and the sea and the dry land and I will shake all nations and then he should come II. That about the time of his coming the World should be in a general Expectation of him and the expectation of all nations shall come III. That he should come during the continuance of the Second Temple for it was his coming that should fill that House with Glory and in that place the Messias who is called Peace is promised to be given and in this place will I give peace saith the Lord of hosts IV. That this coming of the Messias should be the last dispensation of God for the Salvation of Men and consequently should be perpetual and unalterable yet once more and I will shake the heavens and the earth yet once more from whence the Apostle to the Hebrews argues that the Gospel should be a perpetual and unalterable dispensation Of these I shall speak severally and as briefly as I can I. Here is a Prediction of great Changes and Commotions in the World before the coming of the Messias thus saith the Lord of hosts I will shake the heavens and the earth and the sea and the dry land and I will shake all nations and the desire of all nations shall come plainly signifying hereby that before the coming of the Messias who is here called the desire and expectation of all nations there should be very great Commotions and Changes in the World that the Empire of the World should be overturned for so I have told you that this Expression of shaking the heavens and the earth is explained verse 21. of this Chapter I will shake the heavens and the earth and will overthrow the throne of kingdoms And this was fulfilled in a most remarkable manner between the time of this Prophecy and the coming of our Blessed
John 3.8 For this purpose the Son of God was manifested that he might destroy 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that he might dissolve or demolish the works of the Devil by which St. John does more especially mean the idolatrous worship of the Heathen which consisted in the multitude of their Gods and the bloody and barbarous Rites and Sacrifices whereby they Worshipped them and likewise in the multitude of their Mediators between the Gods and Men who were also esteemed by them an inferiour sort of Deities Both these kinds of Idolatry had strangely prevailed and over-run the World before the appearance of our Lord and Saviour who came on purpose to deliver Mankind from the horrible Superstition and Slavery of the Worship of false Gods to pull down this Kingdom of the Devil and to demolish that Fabrick which he had been so long a rearing and to beat him out of those strong holds which he thought had been impregnable God indeed gave some check to these many Ages before and not long after their first appearance by the Jewish Religion which was on purpose introduced and confirmed and established by so many and such mighty Miracles to preserve and keep alive in the World the primitive Tradition and Belief of the One true God and likewise to be as it were some Shadow and rude Draught of that more perfect Dispensation of the Christian Religion which by one Sacrifice once offered and by one Mediator between God and men was to put an end to the infinite Superstitions of the Heathen Worship and all the bloody and barbarous Rites of it and likewise to the Idolatry they were guilty of in the Worship of their inferior Deities whom they look'd upon as a middle sort of Powers between the Gods and Men and therefore addrest themselves to them as Mediators between the Superior and Heavenly Gods and Men here on Earth This was plainly one of the great designs of the Christian Religion and therefore it concerns Christians to understand it and to be very careful that they do not suffer themselves to be deluded by any specious Pretences whatsoever to bring these things back again into the Christian Religion for the ruin and extirpation whereof it was purposely designed and intended And this seems plainly to be the meaning of that Caution wherewith St. John concludes his Catholick or General Epistle namely That Christians should be very careful that they were not carryed back again into the Heathen Idolatry by the confident Pretences of the Gnostick Hereticks to higher Degrees of Knowledge and. Illumination than other Christians had that is by their pretending to be the Infallible Church and the only true and genuine Christians For it is against this Sect that this Epistle is plainer designed which St. John thus concludes Chap. 5. from Ver. 18. to the end We know that whosoever is born of God sinneth not meaning that he doth not commit the Sin unto death which he had spoken of just before viz. Apostacy from Christianity to the Heathen Idolatry or that which was very like it whosoever is born of God doth not commit this sin but he that is begotten of God keepeth himself and that wicked one toucheth him not that is he preserveth himself from the Contagion of Idolatry into which the Devil was so busie to seduce Mankind And we know that we are of God that is do belong to the true God and are Worshippers of him And the whole world lieth in Wickedness 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is in the power or under the dominion of that wicked One that is the greatest part of Mankind was sunk into Idolatry and the Worship of the Devil And we know that the Son of God is come and hath given us an understanding that we may know him that is true We know that is we Christians are better Taught by the Christian Religion to acknowledge and worship the only true God And we are in him that is true in or by his Son Jesus Christ that is we Worship the only true God by his Son Jesus Christ And then he concludes Little Children keep your selves from Idols Intimating hereby that the Worshipping of any other besides this only true God and by any other Mediator than Jesus Christ is Idolatry There were indeed two very ancient and common Notions both amongst Jews and Gentiles of the Original whereof it is hard to give any certain account only this is certain that they did prevail very early and did very generally possess Mankind And they were these First That God was not to be appeased towards Sinners meerly upon their Repentance without the Death and Suffering of some other in their stead and that God would accept of this vicarious Punishment and Suffering instead of the Death of the Sinner himself And this seems to have given the Original to the Sacrifices of Living Creatures to appease the Wrath of God towards Sinners which in process of time as the Worship of false Gods prevailed in the World did proceed to that Degree of Superstition and barbarous Inhumanity that by the instigation of the Devil Men offered up the Blood of their Children and Sacrificed their Sons and Daughters to their Idols and false Gods Secondly Another common Notion which had likewise possest Mankind was That God was not to be immediately approached by sinful Men but that their Prayers were to be offered up to the Deity by certain Mediators and Intercessors that were to procure for them the Favour of the Gods and the gracious Answer and Acceptance of their Prayers And this was the Original of that other sort of Heathen Idolatry which consisted in the Worship of their Demons and Heroes that is of Angels and Souls departed viz. of such eminent Persons as had been great Benefactors to Mankind and for their worthy Deeds upon Earth were Canonized and translated into the number of their Inferior Gods By these as the chief Courtiers and Favourites of Heaven they address'd their Prayers and Supplications to the Superiour Gods Now with these Notions which had generally possess'd Mankind how imperfect soever God was pleased to comply so far as in the Frame of the Jewish Religion which was designed for a Type of the more perfect Institution of the Christian Religion and a Preparation for it I say God was pleased to comply so far with these Notions as to appoint Sacrifices to be slain and offered up for the Sinner and likewise an High Priest that once a year should enter into the Holy of Holies with the Blood of Sacrifices that were offered up for the People to make Expiation for them and in vertue of that Blood should interceed for the People as the Apostle to the Hebrews does declare at large And when God sent his Son in the fullness of time he was pleased likewise in the dispensation of the Gospel that perfect institution which was never to be altered to have so much regard to these common Notions and Apprehensions of Mankind as to
provide for the supply of those two great Wants which they seem'd always to have laboured under and concerning which they were at so great a loss viz. an effectual expiatory Sacrifice for Sins upon Earth and a powerful Mediator and Intercessor with God in Heaven And both these by the same Person Jesus Christ who appeared in the end of the World to take away sin by the sacrifice of himself and in the Merit and Vertue of that Sacrifice appearing in Heaven in the Presence of God for us is become a perpetual Advocate and a most powerful Intercessor with God in Heaven for us So that instead of the endless Sacrifices of the Jewish Religion which were ineffectual to the real Expiation of Sin and only Types and Shadows of the true expiatory Sacrifice and instead of the bloody and inhumane Sacrifices of the Heathen Idolatry the Son of God hath by one Sacrifice for Sin once offered perfected for ever them that are sanctified and obtained eternal Redemption for us And instead of the Mediation of Angels and the Souls of their departed Heroes which the Heathen made use of to offer up their Prayers to the Gods We have one Mediator between God and Men appointed by God himself Jesus the Son of God who in our Nature is ascended into Heaven to appear in the presence of God for us And who so fit to be our Patron and Advocate as he who was our Sacrifice and Propitiation Thus the Method of our Redemption as it was by the Wisdom of God admirably suited to the common Apprehensions of Mankind concerning the necessity of a Sacrifice to make Expiation of Sin and of a Mediator to intercede with God for Sinners so was it likewise excellently fitted not only to put an end to the Jewish Sacrifices but likewise to abolish the barbarous Sacrifices and Rites of the Heathen Idolatry and to cashier that infinite number of Mediators and Intercessors by whom they address'd their Prayers to the Deity and instead of all this to introduce a more reasonable and spiritual Worship more agreeable to the Nature and Perfections of God and the Reason of Mankind which was one of the main and principal Designs of the Christian Religion And therefore to bring in any other Mediators to intercede in Heaven for us whether Angels or Saints and by them to offer up our Prayers to God is directly contrary to the Design of the Christian Religion Thirdly It is likewise evident from the Nature and Reason of the thing it self that there is but one Mediator and Intercessor in Heaven who offers up our Prayers to God and that there can be no more Because under the Gospel there being but one High Priest and but one Sacrifice once offered for Sin and Intercession for Sinners being founded in the Merit and Virtue of the Sacrifice by which Expiation for Sin is made there can be no other Mediator of Intercession but he who hath made Expiation of Sin by a Sacrifice offered to God for that purpose and this Jesus Christ only hath done He is both our High Priest and our Sacrifice and therefore he only in the Merit and Virtue of that Sacrifice which he offered upon Earth can intercede in Heaven for us and offer up our Prayers to God Others may pray to God for us as our Brethren upon Earth do and perhaps the Angels and Saints in Heaven but none of these can offer up our Prayers to God and procure the acceptance of them for that can only be done in Virtue of a Sacrifice first offered and by him that offered it this being the peculiar Office and Qualification of a Mediator or Intercessor properly so called It is the plain Design of the Author of the Epistle to the Hebrews to prove that Christ is our only Mediator in Heaven in Vertue of that Sacrifice for Sin which he offered upon Earth and that he alone appears in the Presence of God for us to present our Requests to him and obtain a gracious Answer of them and he shews at large how this was particularly typified by the Jewish High Priest who upon the great day of Expiation after the Sacrifice was slain without enter'd alone into the Holy of Holies with the Blood of the Sacrifices in Vertue whereof he made Intercession for the People Answerable to this Jesus the High Priest of our Profession offered himself a Sacrifice for the Sins of Men and in vertue of that Sacrifice is enter'd into the High Place not made with Hands that is into Heaven it self there to appear in the Presence of God for us where he lives for ever to make intercession for us in Vertue of that Eternal Redemption which he hath obtained for us by the Price of his Blood as the Apostle declares in several Chapters of that Epistle So that this Intercession being founded in the Merit of a Sacrifice which he alone offered he is of necessity the only Mediator between God and Men. And for this Reason it is that the Mediation and Intercession of Christ is so frequently in Scripture mentioned together with the Expiation which he made for the Sins of Men or which is the same with the price which he paid for the Redemption of Mankind because the one is founded in the other and depends upon it So we find 1 John 2.1 2. If any Man sin we have an Advocate with the Father Jesus Christ the Righteous and he is the Propitiation for our Sins and not for ours only but also for the Sins of the whole World And here likewise in the Text There is one Mediator between God and men the man Christ Jesus who gave himself a Ransom for all therefore the only Mediator between God and men because he only gave himself a Ransom for all men The Efficacy and Prevalency of his Mediation being founded in the Merit and Vertue of the Ransom of his Blood And the force of these Texts and the reasoning from them is not to be avoided and turned off by distinguishing between a Mediator of Redemption and of Intercession and by saying that it is true that Christ is the only Mediator of Redemption but there may be many Mediators of Intercession For if the Force of his being Advocate or Intercessor be founded in the Virtue of his Ransom and Propitiation as I have plainly shewn to the Conviction of any that are not strongly prejudiced and that will read and consider what the Scripture says in this matter without Prepossession then it is plain that none can be a proper Mediator of Intercession but he that paid the Price of our Redemption So that the Mediator of our Redemption and our Mediator of intercession must of necessity be one and the same Person and none can appear in the Quality of our Advocate with the Father but he only who is the Propitiation for the sins of the whole World I should now have proceeded to The Fourth thing I proposed in the handling of this Argument namely To
also by joining with the Priest in a Service which they do not understand But how they can be edified by what they do not understand I must confess my self as little able to understand as they do their Prayers But whether they understand them or not 't is certain that if the People have any part in the Publick Prayers of the Church they are bound to pray to Angels and Saints And if the Creed of Pope Pius IV. framed by Virtue of an Order of the Council of Trent be of any Authority with them one of the Articles of it is that I do firmly hold that the Saints which Reign together with Christ are to be worshipped and invocated and that they do offer up Prayers to God for us And this Creed all the Governors of Cathedrals and Superior Churches and all who hold any Dignity or Benefice with Cure of Souls from them are bound solemnly to make Profession of and Swear to and carefully to cause it to be Held and Taught and Preached by all that are under their Charge so that they are to Teach the People that the Saints which reign together with Christ are to be worshipped and prayed to And therefore unless People are not bound to do that which they are to be Taught it is their Duty to do they are by Virtue of this Article required to worship and pray to Saints And if the Publicly Office of their Church be the Publick Worship and Pope Pius his Creed the Publick Faith of the Romish Church no Man can be either of the Faith or in the Communion of that Church who does not only hold it Lawful but his Duty to worship the Saints in Heaven and to pray to them and accordingly does join in the Worship of them and Prayers to them as much as in any other part of Divine Service 2. Another Pretence for this Doctrine and Practice is that the Saints in Heaven do pray for us and what is this but to be Mediators and Intercessors with God for us And if so why may not we pray to them to intercede with God for us To this I answer four things 1. We do not deny that the Saints in Heaven pray for us that are here upon Earth because they may do so for any thing we know but that they do so is more than can be proved either by clear Testimony of Scripture or by any convincing Argument from Reason and therefore no Doctrine or Practice can be safely grounded upon it 2. Tho' it were certain that the Saints in Heaven do pray for us yet they are not Mediators and Intercessors properly so called For all Intercession strictly and properly so call'd is in Virtue of a Sacrifice offered by him that intercedes and therefore he only by whom Expiation of Sin is made upon Earth can be properly an Intercessor with God in Heaven but this no Angel or Saint hath done or can do And as I have shew'd in some of the former Discourses it is the plain scope of a great part of the Epistle to the Hebrews to prove this very thing that under the Gospel we have an High Priest that lives for ever and appears in the Presence of God for us in the Virtue of that Blood which he shed and that Sacrifice which he offered upon the Cross for the Expiation of Sin And that by this High Priest only we have Access with Freedom and Confidence to the Throne of Grace and by him do offer up all our Prayers and Thanksgivings and all other Acts of Religious Worship to God And this the Apostle shews was typified in an imperfect Manner by the Jewish High Priest under the Law who was but one and none but he only could enter into the Holy of Holies with the Blood of the Sacrifices that were slain and burnt without by which Blood he made an Atonement and Interceded for the People and though every Priest might pray for the People and the People for one another which is a kind of Intercession yet that peculiar kind of Intercession which was performed by the High Priest in the Holy of Holies in virtue of the Sacrifice that was slain without could not be made but by the High Priest only By all which was typified our High Priest under the Gospel who only hath made Expiation of Sin by the Sacrifice of himself and is enter'd into Heaven to appear in the Presence of God for us where he lives for ever to make Intercession for us in virtue of that Blood which was shed for the Expiation of Sin and which can only be presented to God by him that shed it And this is properly Intercession like that of the High Priest under the Law for the People of Israel and this kind of Intercession can be made by none in Heaven for us but only by the High Priest of our Profession Jesus the Son of God and by none else can we offer up our Prayers and Services to God and consequently we cannot address our selves to any other Angels or Saints as Mediators with God for us 3. Supposing it certain that the Saints do pray for us yet we may not address solemn Prayer to them to pray for us because Prayer and solemn Invocation is a part of that Religious Worship which is peculiar to God 4. Supposing it not only certain that the Saints in Heaven do pray for us but likewise that they might be proper Mediators and Intercessors with God for us yet we ought not to pray to them because they cannot hear us as I shall have occassion to shew fully by and by 3. Another of their Pretences or Excuses for this Practice is that praying to Saints to pray for us is no more than what we do to good Men upon Earth when we desire them to pray for us So the late Expounder of the Catholique Faith namely the Bishop of Meaux tells us that they pray to the Saints in Heaven in the same order of Brotherly society with which we entreat our Brethren upon Earth to pray for us But that this is not a true Representation either of their Doctrine or Practice in this matter will appear by these following Considerations 1. That they pray to the Angels and Saints in Heaven with the same solemn Circumstances of Religious Worship that they pray to God himself in the same place and in the same humble Posture and in the same Religious Offices and Services in which they pray to God which surely is never done by any to their Brethren upon Earth 2. That in their Prayers and Thanksgivings they joyn the Angels and the Blessed Virgin arid the Saints together with God and Christ as if to use their own Phrase it were in the same order of Brotherly Society and as if they were all equally the Objects of our Invocation and Praise of which in my last Discourse I gave several plain Instances but this also is never done to our Brethren upon Earth 3. That in the Creed of
Pope Pius IV. it is expresly said that the Saints which reign together with Christ are to be Worshipped and invocated but this surely they will not allow to be done to our Brethren upon Earth And the Council of Trent does expresly ground the Worship and Invocation of Saints upon their reigning with Christ in Heaven and therefore this Worship and Invocation of Saints must necessarily be something more than according to the same order of brotherly Society with which we entreat our Brethren upon Earth to pray for us Otherwise the Reason given by the Council of their reigning with Christ in Heaven would be frivolous if the same thing may be done to our Brethren upon Earth 4. In the Publick Offices of their Church they do not only pray to the Saints to pray for them but they direct their Prayers and Thanksgivings immediately to them for all those Blessings and Benefits which they ask of God and thank him for Of which innumerable Examples might be given out of their Publick Offices particularly in the Office of the Blessed Virgin they pray to the Angels thus Deliver us we beseech you by your command from all our Sins And the words of the Decree of the Council of Trent ad eorum orationes opem auxiliumque confugere to flee to their Prayers aid and help unless we will make them a meer tautology must of necessity signifie something more than begging of them to pray for us And indeed those words of their aid and help seem to be added one purpose to give countenance to those direct Prayers which are made to the Saints for all Spiritual and Temporal Blessings and which still remain without any Change in their Publick Offices and unless we will understand them contrary to the plain and obvious Sense of those Prayers they must signifie something more than Praying to the Saints to pray for us 'T is true indeed that the Catechism which was framed by order of the Council of Trent for the Explaining of their Doctrines makes the difference between their Prayers to God and to the Saints to lie in this that we say to God Have mercy one us or hear our Prayers but to the Saints Pray for us But I have shewn before that this is not the constant Form of Praying to Saints but that frequently they make direct Addresses to them for their help and aid And this the Compilers of the Catechism were sensible of and therefore they add although it be Lawful in another manner to ask of the Saints themselves that they would have mercy on us because they are very merciful And is not God so too And then where is the difference between their Prayers to God and to the Saints If it neither lie in the Matter of them nor in the Form nor in the Reason of them if we pray to them for the same thing and in the same Form have mercy on us and our Prayers to them be grounded upon the same Reason that our Prayers to God are namely because they are merciful where then is the difference between them 4. I will mention but one Pretence more which is that by Praying to the Saints in Heaven they do not make them Gods and therefore there can be no Suspicion or danger of Idolatry inthe case To this I shall answer Two things 1. That praying to them in all places and at all times and for all sorts of Blessings does suppose them to have the incommunicable Perfections of the Divine Nature imparted to them or inherent in them namely his Omnipotence and Omniscience and Immense Presence and to whatever Being we ascribe these Perefections Serm. V. in so doing we make it God for Prayer to God is no otherwise an acknowledgment of his Omnipotence Omniscience and Immense Presence than as we do in all places and at all times pray to him for all things and so they do to the Saints and that not only with vocal but with mental Prayer which the Council of Trent allows and in so doing necessarily supposeth them to know our hearts directly contrary to the Reason which Solomon gives why we should put up all our Prayers and Supplications to God 1 Kings 3.39 for thou even thou only knowest the hearts of all the Children of Men. 2. Bellarmine is so sensible of the dint of this Argument that he is forced to acknowledge the Saints which reign with Christ in Heaven to be Gods by participation that is a sort of inferiour Gods as the Heathen supposed their Mediators to be and that therefore we may flie to their Aid and Help as well as to their Intercession and Prayers And is this also to pray to the Saints in Heaven in the same Order of Brotherly Society with which we entreat our Brethren upon Earth to pray for us This methinks is great Familiarity to treat Gods by Participation just in the same manner as we do our Brethren upon Earth Certainly either Bellarmine hath raised the Saints in Heaven too high when he makes them Gods by participation or the Bishop of Meaux hath sunk them too low when he thinks they are to be treated and addrest to in the same Rank of Brotherly Society with mortal Men here upon Earth One cannot but think the Decree of the Council of Trent to be very obscure and ambiguous when it can admit of Two so very different Explications If the infallible Judge of Controversies can speak no plainer I think we had even best stick to the Bible and hear what God says in his Word and endeavour to understand it as well as we can I proceed now to the Fourth thing which I proposed namely to shew that this Practice of theirs of Addressing our selves to Angels and Saints and making use of their Mediation to offer up our Prayers and Thanksgivings to God is not only Needless being no where commanded by God but Vseless also and unprofitable They are so far from pretending that it is commanded by God that several of their later Writers would fain make us believe that it is not enjoined by their Councils but only declared to be lawful or at most but recommended as profitable Nor is there any Example of praying to Saints either in the Old or New Testament Not in the Old as they of the Church of Rome confess because the Saints were not then admitted into Heaven nor in the New for fear of scandalizing the Jews and of making the Gentiles think they proposed new Gods and new Mediators to them instead of the old which are the Reasons given by their own Writers And it is Needless likewise because the Mediation of Jesus Christ alone is sufficient for us and more than the Intercession of Millions of Saints and Angels He alone is able to save to the utmost all those that come to God by him as the Apostle to the Hebrews speaks Hath not he made a clear and full Promise to us that whatever we ask in his Name shall be granted us
And have we any Reason to doubt either of his Inclination and good will or of his Power and Interest to do us good What need then is there to sue for the Favour or to take in the Assistance of any other even of those who are thought to be most powerful and the chief Ministers and Favourites in that Heavenly Court After such an Assurance that my Business will be effectually done there by that great Advocate with the Father Jesus Christ the Righteous why should I apply my self to St. Peter though he be said to keep the Keys of Heaven or to Michael the Arch-Angel though he be the chief of the Ministring Spirits or to the Blessed Virgin her self notwithstanding those glorious Titles of the Queen of Heaven and the Mother of Mercy which they of the Church of Rome are pleased to bestow upon her and without her consent and as may reasonably be presumed against her will I will put a Case which may help to render this matter a little more plain and sensible to us so as every Man may be able to judge of it Suppose a King should constitute his Son the great Master of Requests with this express Declaration and Assurance that all Petitions that were addrest to him by his Son should be graciously received and answered in this case though every Man might use his own Discretion at his own Peril and take what course he pleased yet I should most certainly prefer all any Petitions to the King in the way which he had so plainly directed and should trouble never a Courtier of them all with my Business for fear the King should think that I did either distrust his Royal Word or despise his Son by my soliciting the Aid and Help of every little Courtier after I had put my Petition into the Hands of this great Master of Requests And now I will not distrust any of your Understandings so far as to make the Application I will only add that it is an Eternal Rule of Truth and which never fails in any Case Frustra fit per plura quod fieri potest per pauciora it is in vain to attempt that by more Ways and Means which may as well and as effectually be done by one because this would be perfect loss of time and pains And therefore they who would send us so far about as to trouble all the Saints and Angels in Heaven with our Petitions when they cannot deny but that our great Mediator is alone sufficient do seem to me to send us upon a very sleeveless Errand So that if with all their Skill in Fencing they could defend this Practice from being Vnlawful yet this one thing is a sufficient Objection in Reason against it that it is perfectly Needless Or if we could imagine any need of this all Addresses to them must be vain and unprofitable if they do not know our Wants and hear out Prayers that are put up to them which St. Augustin thought they do not know and hear Fatendum est saith he L. De Curâ pro mortuis nescire quidem mortuos quid hic agatur it must be acknowledged that the Dead are ignorant of what is done here This was his Opinion but we are certain that they cannot know our Wants nor hear our Prayers at all Times and in all Places unless they can either be present every where which no Finite Being can be or else God be pleased in some Supernatural way to communicate to them the Knowledge of our Wants and of the Prayers which we put up to them which we can never know that he does unless he have communicated to us that he is pleased to do so of which the Scripture no where gives us the least intimation But because they pretend that the Scripture gives us some hints of this I shall briefly examine what they say about this Matter I. That the Angels know our Condition here below because they are said to rejoyce at the Conversion of a Sinner and therefore the Saints do likewise know our Condition because they shall be like the Angels But this is not said of them till after the Resurrection when we shall have no Occasion to pray to them Besides that it may well enough be supposed that God may reveal both to the Angels and Saints in Heaven the Conversion of a Sinner because it may contribute to the Increase of their Joy and Happiness But will it hence follow that God reveals to them all other Circumstances of our Condition our Dangers and Temptations and Troubles our Sins and our Sufferings the Knowledge whereof would no ways contribute to the Increase of their Happiness And yet in order to their Intercession with God for us their Knowledge of these things would be most beneficial to us II. Because the rich Man was concerned in Hell for the Salvation of his Relations on Earth they argue that it is much more probable that the Saints in Heaven are concerned for us and are ready to pray for us and therefore it is very credible that some way or other they have the Knowledge of our Condition and Wants though we cannot certainly tell what that particular way is To which I answer 1. That it is a known Rule amongst all Divines that no certain Argument can be drawn from the Circumstances of a Parable but only from the main Scope and Intention of it nor is it so likely that the wicked in Hell should have any share in that which St. Paul tells us is the great Vertue of the Saints in Heaven I mean Charity and if they have it not then no Argument can be drawn from it Some of their Commentators think that this Motion of the rich Man to Abraham concerning his Brethren did not proceed from Charity to them but to himself lest his Torment and Punishment should be increased by their coming to Hell by the means of the ill Example which he had given them when he was upon Earth And Cardinal Cajetan thinks that he was concerned for his Brethren out of Pride and Ambition and because it would be for the Honour of his Family to have some of them in that Glory so far above any thing in this World which he saw Abraham and Lazarus possest of This is a Reason which I confess I should not have thought on and yet perhaps it might be likely enough to enter into the Mind of a Cardinal And I cannot but observe by the way that this Petition or Request which the rich Man in Hell made to Abraham is the only Instance we meet with in Scripture of any thing like a Prayer that was put up to any of the Saints in Heaven Well! But suppose that the rich Man in Hell had this Charity for his Brethren and we will easily agree that the Saints in Heaven have much more Charity not only for their Kindred but for all Men here upon Earth let us now consider the particular way and manner which the great Divines
Happier Life this will make Death attended even with Extremity of Terror to be tolerable as we read of some in that long Catalogue of Saints and Martyrs Heb. 11.35 Others were tortured not accepting deliverance that they might obtain a better resurrection It would make a Man to rejoyce in the Ruin and Dissolution of this earthly tabernacle to be assured that when it is dissolved we shall have a building of God a house not made with hands eternal in the Heavens as the same Apostle assures us 2 Cor. 5.1 Thus you see what Virtue there is in the firm Belief and Persuasion of a better Life to bear up Mens Spirits under those Sufferings and Torments which may seem unsupportable to Humane Nature And so indeed they would be without an extraordinary Grace and Assistance of God to enable them to bear those Sufferings which his Providence permits them to be exercised withal But of this extraordinary Grace we are assured not only from the consideration of the Attributes and Providence of God but likewise from the express Promises and Declarations of his Word The Attributes of God and his Providence give us good Grounds to believe that he who loves Goodness and Righteousness and hath a Peculiar Favour and Regard for good Men will never suffer his Faithful Friends and Servants to be brought into that Distress for Righteousness sake that they shall not be able to endure those Evils and Afflictions which befal them upon that Account And if in the Course of his Providence any thing happen to them that is above the ordinary Constancy and Patience of Humane Nature to bear that in such a Case God will extraordinarily interpose and give them Strength and Patience Support and Comfort proportionable to the Evils and Sufferings that are upon them and that he will either lighten their Burden or add to their Strength he will either mitigate their Pain or increase their Patience either he will check and restrain the Effect of Natural Causes as in the Case of the Three Children that were in the fiery Furnace and of Daniel who was cast into the Den of Lions or else which comes to the same Issue if he will suffer Causes to have their Natural Course he will afford Supernatural Comforts to ballance the Fury and Extremity of them This is very credible from the meer consideration of God's Goodness and of the Particular Care and Favour of his Providence towards Good Men. But besides this we have the Express Promise and Declaration of God's Word to this Purpose which puts us out of all doubt concerning that which we had good Reason to hope and expect before 1 Cor. 10.13 St. Paul there tells the Christians at Corinth that tho' they had met with some Troubles yet they had not been Tryed with the Extremity of Suffering But when that should happen they had no cause to doubt but God would enable them to bear it There hath no Temptation taken you but such as is common to man that is you have not yet been exercised with any Trial but what is Humane what the ordinary Strength and Resolution of Humane Nature is able to bear But in case it should come to extream Suffering and that they must either comply with the Heathen Idolatry or endure Extremity of Torments they had the Promise of God's Help to support them in that Case God is faithful says he who will not suffer you to be tempted above that you are able to bear but will with the temptation also make a way to escape that ye may be able to bear it And then it follows wherefore my dearly beloved flee from Idolatry that is let no Suffering that you are Tempted withal make you guilty of this Sin And 1 Pet. 4.14 The Presence of God's Spirit in a very glorious manner for our Support and Comfort is promised to those who Suffer for him If ye be reproached for the Name of Christ happy are ye for the Spirit of Glory and of God resteth upon you And this consideration of God's Strength to support us under Sufferings makes the other of the Reward of them a Perfect and Compleat Encouragement which it could not be without it For if upon the whole matter the present Sufferings of Good Men were intolerable and Humane Nature were not Divinely assisted to bear them How great soever the Future Reward promised to them should be they that lay under them would be forced to consult their own present Ease and Deliverance I proceed to the II. Thing I proposed to consider namely How it may be made out to be Reasonable to Embrace and Voluntarily to submit to present and grievous Sufferings in Hopes of future Happiness and Reward concerning which we have not nor perhaps are capable of having the same degree of Certainty and Assurance which we have of the Evils and Sufferings of this present Life Now granting that we have not the same Degree of Certainty concerning our future Happiness that we have of our present Sufferings which we feel or see just ready to come upon us yet Prudence making it necessary for Men to run this hazard does justifie the Reasonableness of it This I take to be a known and rul'd Case in the common Affairs of Life and in Matters of Temporal Concernment and Men Act upon this Principle every Day The Husbandman parts with his Corn and casts it into the Earth in confidence that it will spring up again and at the time of Harvest bring him in a considerable return and advantage He parts with a Certainty in hope only of a great future Benefit And tho' he have no Demonstration for the Infallible Success of his Labour and Hazard yet he Acts very Reasonably Because if he does not take this course he runs a greater and more certain Hazard of perishing by Famine at last when his present Stock is spent The Case of the Merchant is the same who parts with a Present Estate in hopes of a Future Improvement which yet is not so certain as what he parts withal And if this be Reasonable in these Cases then the Hazard which Men run upon much greater Assurance than either the Husbandman or the Merchant have is much more Reasonable When we part with this Life in hopes of one infinitely better that is in sure and certain hope of a Resurrection to eternal life and when we submit to Present Sufferings to avoid an Eternity of Misery which is much more to be dreaded than Temporal Want this is Reasonable because here is a much greater Advantage in view and a more pressing Necessity in the Case nothing being so desirable to one that must live for ever as to be Happy for ever and nothing to be avoided by him with so much Care as everlasting Misery and Ruin And for our security of obtaining the one and escaping the other we have the promise of God who cannot lye which is all the Certainty and Security that Things Future and Invisible are
capable of Nay I will go lower If God had made no express Promise and Declaration of a Future Happiness and Reward to those that serve him and suffer for him Yet if any Man out of a sincere Love to God and awful Regard to his Laws endure Trouble and Affliction if there be a God and Providence this is Assurance enough to us that our Services and Sufferings shall one time or other be Considered and Rewarded For as sure as any Man is that there is a God and that his Providence regards the Actions of Men so sure are we that no Man shall finally be a loser by any thing that he doth or suffers for him So that the Matter is now brought to this plain Issue That if it be Reasonable to Believe there is a God and that his Providence Regards and Considers the Actions of Men it is also Reasonable to endure Present Sufferings in Hope of a Future Reward and there is certainly enough in this Case to govern and determine a Prudent Man that is in any good measure Persuaded of another Life after this and hath any tolerable Consideration of and regard to his Eternal Interest Indeed if we were sure that there were no Life after this if we had no expectation of a Happiness or Misery beyond this World the wisest thing that any Man could do would be to enjoy as much of the present Contentments and Satisfactions of this World as he could fairly come at For if there be no resurrection to another life the Apostle allows the Reasoning of the Epicure to be very good Let us eat and drink for to morrow we dye But on the other hand if it be true that we are designed for Immortality and that another State remains for us after this Life wherein we shall be Unspeakably Happy or intolerably and Eternally Miserable according as we have behaved our selves in this World it is then evidently Reasonable that Men should take the greatest Care of the longest Duration and be content to bear and dispense with some Present Trouble and Inconvenience for a Felicity that will have no end and be willing to Labour and take Pains and deny our present Ease and Comfort for a little while that we may be Happy for ever This is reckoned Prudence in the Account of this World for a Man to part with a Present Possession and Enjoyment for a much greater Advantage in Reversion But surely the disproportion between Time and Eternity is so vast that did Men but firmly believe that they shall live for ever nothing in this World could reasonably be thought too good to part withal or too grievous to suffer for the obtaining of a Blessed Immortality In the Virtue of this Belief and Persuasion the Primitive Christians were Fortified against all that the Malice and Cruelty of the World could do against them and they thought they made a very wise Bargain if thorugh many tribulations they might at last enter into the Kingdom of God because they believed that the Joys of Heaven would abundantly Recompence all their Sorrows and Sufferings upon Earth And so confident were they of this that they looked upon it as a special Favour and Regard of God to them to call them to Suffer for his Name So St. Paul speaks of it Phil. 1.29 Vnto you it is given on the behalf of Christ not only to believe on him but also to suffer for his sake Yea they accounted them happy who upon this account were miserable in this World So St. James expresly pronounceth of them Jam. 1.12 Blessed is the man that endureth temptation meaning the Temptation of Persecution and Suffering for when he is tried he shall receive the crown of life which the Lord hath promised to them that love him And this consideration was that which kept up their Spirits from sinking under the weight of their greatest Sufferings So St. Paul tells us 2 Cor. 4.14 16. Knowing that he which raised up the Lord Jesus shall raise up us also by Jesus For which cause we faint not but tho' our outward man perish yet our inward man is renewed day by day The Sufferings of their Bodies did but help to raise and fortifie their Spirits Nay so far were they from fainting under those Afflictions that they rejoyced and gloried in them So the same Apostle tells us Rom. 5.2 3. that in the midst of their Sufferings they rejoyced in hope of the Glory of God and that they gloried in tribulations as being the way to be made Partakers of that Glory And Heb. 10.34 That they took joyfully the spoiling of their goods knowing in themselves that they had in heaven a better and an enduring substance And for this Reason St. James Chap. 1.2 exhorts Christians to account it all joy when they fell into divers temptations that is various kinds of Sufferings because of the manifold Advantages which from thence would redound to them Now what was it that Inspired them to all this Courage and Chearfulness but the Belief of a mighty Reward far beyond the Proportion of all their Sufferings and a firm Persuasion that they should be vast Gainers by them at the last This Consideration St. Paul urgeth with great force 2 Cor. 4.17 18. Our light affliction which is but for a moment worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory whilst we look not at the things which are seen but at the things which are not seen for the things which are seen are temporal but the things which are not seen are eternal If we would compare things justly and attentively regard and consider the invisible Glories of another World as well as the things which are seen we should easily perceive that he who suffers for God and Religion does not renounce Happiness but puts it out to Interest upon terms of the greatest advantage I shall now speak briefly to the Second Part of this remarkable Saying in the Text If we deny him he also will deny us To which is subjoined in the words following if we believe not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 if we deal unfaithfully with him yet he abideth faithful he cannot deny himself that is he will be constant to his Word and make good that solemn Threatning which he hath denounced against those who for fear of Suffering shall deny him and his Truth before Men Matt. 10.33 Whosoever faith our Lord there shall deny me before men him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven Mark 8.38 Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation of him also shall the Son of Man be ashamed when he cometh in the glory of his Father with the Holy Angels This is a Terrible Threatning to be disowned by Christ at the Day of Judgment in the presence of God and his Holy Angels And this Threatning will certainly be made good and tho' we may renounce him and break our faith with him yet
World and does provide for himself lasting Comforts and faithful Companions which will never leave him nor forsake him a Happiness large as his Desires and Durable and Immortal as his Soul Let us then do all the good that possibly we can whilst we have opportunity Let us serve God industriously and with all our Might knowing that no good Action that we do shall be lost and fall to the ground that no Grace and Virtue that we Practise in this Life nor any Degree of them shall lose their Reward If we faithfully improve the Talents which are committed to us to our Masters advantage when he comes to call us to an Account and finds that we have done so we shall not fail to receive both his Approbation and Reward And what a Comfort will it be to any one of us to hear those Blessed words from the Mouth of our Lord Well done thou good and faithful servant thou hast been faithful in a little I will make thee ruler over much enter thou into the joy of thy Lord We shall not need to plead our Services to him and put him in Mind of them Our Judge himself will celebrate our good Deeds upon the Theatre of the World and commemorate them to our advantage and interpret every good Office we have done to any of his Poor and Afflicted Members as if it had been a Kindness immediatly done to himself So our Lord represents the Proceedings of the great Judge and King of the World in the great day of Recompence Mat. 25.34 Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand Come ye blessed of my Father inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the World For I was an hungred and ye gave me meat I was thirsty and ye gave me drink I was a stranger and ye took me in naked and ye cloathed me I was sick and ye visited me I was in prison and ye came unto me Then shall the righteous answer him saying Lord when saw we thee in any of these circumstances hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison and ministred unto thee And the King shall answer and say unto them Verily I say unto you In as much as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my Brethren ye have done it unto me Who would not be ambitious and glad to serve such a Prince who will so benignly Intepret and so bountifully Reward the least Service we do to him III. The Consideration of this should likewise be a great Argument and Support to our Patience under all those Evils and Sufferings and Persecutions which many times attend Good Men in this World They are for the present perhaps very heavy and grievous But there is a time shortly coming when we shall be at ease and perfectly freed from them when we shall find rest from our labours and sufferings when we shall enter into peace and rest in our beds every one walking in his uprightness that is reaping the Comfort and enjoying the Reward of his Sincerity towards God and constant Suffering for his Cause and Truth And therefore it was well said of a Good Man Blessed be God that we are to die because to Good Men that is a certain Remedy of all the Evils of this Life and will unquestionably put an end to them The Grave is a place of Rest and discharge from all Trouble as Job elegantly describes it Chap. 3.17 18 19. There the Wicked cease from troubling there the weary be at rest There the prisoners rest together they hear not the voice of the oppressour The small and the great are there and the Servant is free from his Master So soon as we enter into the other World we are secure against the Pursuit and Danger of all those Evils which Afflicted us in this World and nothing will remain but the joyful remembrance of our Sufferings and the plentiful Reward of our Constancy and Patience under them And the more our Tribulations and Persecutions have abounded the greater will our Comfort and Happiness then be which saith St. Paul is a manifest token a clear demonstration of the righteous judgment of God that ye may be accounted worthy of the kingdom of God for which ye also suffer seeing it is a righteous thing with God to recompence to you who are troubled Rest with us when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from Heaven with his Mighty Angels 2 Thess 1.5 6 7. IV. The Consideration of the extream Sufferings which are to fall upon the faithful Servants of Christ in the last times and which seem now to be begun in the World should make us very contented to leave this World and glad of any fair Oportunity and Excuse to take our leave of it and to be out of the reach and danger of those violent and more than humane Temptations with which our Faith and Constancy may be assailed Nay to esteem it a particular Grace and Favour of God to us to be taken away from the Evil to come and to prevent if God sees it good those Extremities of Sufferings which are coming upon the World These seem now to be begun in some part of it They in our Neighbour Nation have a bitter Cup put into their hands a Cup of Astonishment to all those that hear of it Whether this be that last and extream Persecution spoken of here by St. John I shall not pretend positively to determine It is plainly distinguish'd in the Visions froth that under the first Beast described Rev. 13. from Verse the first to Verse 11. And Chap. 17. there is a description of the Beast upon which the woman sitteth on whose forehead is a name written Mystery Babylon the Great And this Beast is there said to have seven heads and ten horns which are thus explained by St. John Chap. 17.9 10. And here is the Mind which hath Wisdom the seven Heads are seven Mountains upon which the Woman sitteth and there are seven Kings that is as is generally agreed by Interpreters a succession of seven Governments And Verse 12 13 14. And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten Kings which have received no Kingdoms as yet but receive power as Kings one hour with the Beast These have one mind and shall give their power and strength unto the Beast and shall make war with the Lamb. And Verse 18. And the woman which thou sawest is that great City which reigneth over the Kings of the earth So that this Beast is plainly the Roman Empire and the Woman that sitteth upon her is the great City standing upon seven mountains which reigneth over the Kings of the earth which can be no other than Rome as is agreed by Interpreters on all sides Bellarmine l. 2. c. 2. de Rom. Pontif. confesseth that St. John in the Revelations every where calleth Rome Babylon as Tertullian saith he hath noted and as is plain from Chap. 17. where Babylon is said to
be seated on seven mountains and to have dominion over the Kings of the earth There being no other City than Rome which in the time of St. John had dominion over the Kings of the earth and that Rome was built upon seven hills is famous Thus much Bellarmine acknowledged constrained by the Force of Truth and for another small Reason namely because St. Peter writes his first Epistle from Babylon by which if Rome be not meant they have no Proof from Scripture that St. Peter was ever there Indeed they of the Church of Rome would have it to be only Rome Pagan But that cannot be because this Beast after his last head was wounded to death and his deadly wound was healed had power given him to continue two and forty Months or as it is elsewhere exprest 1260 days that is in the Prophetick Style so many Years and likewise because it was not to begin till the Ten Kingdoms into which the Roman Empire upon its dissolution was divided were set up which was not till after the Western Empire was Overthrown and Destroyed by the Goths and Vandals And Lastly because this is that Rome or Babylon which should finally be destroyed and cast as a Milstone into the bottom of the Sea never to rise again which is yet to come And of this Beast it is said that he should make War with the Saints and overcome them Chap. 13. Ver. 7. that is that he should raise a long and great Persecution against them which should try their Faith and Patience Ver. 10. Here is the Patience and the Faith of the Saints The Beast then with Ten Horns must be Rome governing the Ten Kingdoms into which the Romam Empire was broken and this can be nothing else but Rome Papal to which the Ten Kings are said to give their Power and to which they were in a most Servile manner subject for several Ages as is plain from History And to confirm this it is very observable that the Ancient Fathers generally agree that that which hindered the revealing of the Wicked One spoken of by St. Paul 2 Thess 2.7 8. was the Roman Empire and that being removed the Man of Sin or Antichrist was to succeed in its room I shall produce a few Testimonies to this purpose but very remarkable ones Tertulllian expounding what St. Paul means by him that with-holdeth or leteth hath these words Quis nisi Romanus Status c Who is that but the Roman State which being broken into Ten Kings shall bring on Antichrist And then the Wicked one shall be revealed And in his Apology he gives this Reason why the Christians should pray for the Roman Emperours and the whole State of the Empire because the greatest mischief hanging over the World is hinder'd by the continuance of it St. Chrysostom speaking of that which hinders the revelation of the Man of Sin this says he can be no other than the Roman Empire for as long as that stands he dares not shew himself but upon the vacancy or ceasing of that he shall assume to himself both the Power of God and Man St. Austin in his Book de Civit. Dei no Man says he doubts but that the Successour to the Roman Emperour in Rome shall be the Man of Sin and we know who hath Succeeded him But now after this another Beast is represented coming out of the Earth not succeeding in the place of the first Beast but appearing during his continuance Ver. 12. and he hath these remarkable Characters by which he may be known 1. He is said to have but two horns by which according to the Interpretation of the ten horns signifying the ten Kingdoms into which the Roman Empire after its dissolution should be divided we are in all Reason to understand two of those Kingdoms of which this Beast whoever he be shall be Possest 2. He is said to be like a Lamb but 〈◊〉 speak like a Dragon that is to pretend and make a shew of great Lenity and Mildness in his Proceedings but that really he shall be very cruel It shall be pretended that he does all without Violence and without Arms but he shall speak as a Dragon that is in Truth shall exercise great Force and Cruelty either alluding to the Cruelty of the Dragon literally so called or perhaps prophetically pointing at a particular sort of Armed Souldiers called by that name of Dragons or as we according to the French Pronunciation call them Dragoons 3. He shall arise during the continuance of the first Beast and engage in his Cause but the first Beast shall only stand by and look on Ver. 12. and he exerciseth all the Power of the first Beast before him and causeth the earth and them that dwell therein to Worship the Beast whose deadly wound was healed plainly declaring that this Persecution should not immediately arise from the first Beast which is said to come out of the Sea which in this Prophecy denotes the State Ecclesiastical but from the second Beast which comes out of the Earth and denotes the Temporal Power But yet all this ought to be acted in the sight of the first Beast and in his behalf to compel Men to worship him 4. That he shall be remarkable for causing Fire to come down from Heaven to Earth in a wonderful manner to the great Terrour and Amazement of Men Ver. 13. And he doth great wonders so that he maketh fire to come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men 5. That he should interdict all those who would not Worship the Beast all Commerce with Humane Society the Exercise of Civil Trades and Professions Ver. 17. And he causeth that no man might buy or sell save he that had the mark of the Beast 6. and Lastly which seems to be the most Peculiar and Characteristical Note of all the rest that his Number should be 666 that is as most of the Ancients understand it that the Numeral Letters of a certain Word or Name should being computed amount to that Number And it is expresly said to be the Number of a Man Ver. 18. Let him that hath understanding count the Number of the Beast for it is the Number of a Man And in the Verse before it is said to be the Number of his Name Now to whom all these Characters do agree and especially the last concerning the Number of his Name I shall not presume to conjecture much less positively to determine whether he be now in being because it is said to require a particular Wisdom and Understanding to find it out Here is Wisdom let him that hath Vnderstanding count the number of the Beact However the Event when the thing is fully accomplisht will clearly discover it Thus much is certain that this extream Persecution whenever it shall be will forerun the Final Destruction of Babylon which will not then be far off And concerning this it is that St. John speaks Ch. 14.12 when he says Here is the
Prophets which was shed from the foundation of the world may be required of this Generation from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zacharias which perished between the Altar and the Temple Verily I say unto you it shall be required of this Generation There are Three considerable Difficulties in the Words which I shall endeavour to explain to you I. What is here meant by the Wisdom of God II. Who this Zacharias was here mention'd by our Saviour from the blood of Abel unto the blood of Zacharias who perished between the Altar and the Temple III. In what Sense and with what Reason and Justice it is here threatned that the blood of all the Prophets and righteous men shed from the foundation of the world should be required of that Generation I. What is here meant by the Wisdom of God Therefore also said the Wisdom of God I will send them Prophets and Apostles c. In St. Matthew our Saviour speaks this in his own Name wherefore behold I send unto you Prophets For which Reason Some think that by the Wisdom of God our Saviour here designed himself as if he had said therefore I who am the Wisdom of God declare unto you But this is not very probable our Saviour no where else in the Gospel speaking of himself in any such Style tho' St. Paul calls him the Power of God and the Wisdom of God Others think that our Saviour here refers to some Prophecy of the Old Testament to this purpose therefore the Wisdom of God hath said that is the Holy Spirit of Wisdom which Inspired the Prophets in the Old Testament But this Conceit is utterly without ground for we find no such Passage nor any thing to that Sense in any of the Prophets of the Old Testament But the most plain and simple Interpretation is this therefore hath the Wisdom of God said that is the most Wise God hath determined to send among you such Messengers and Holy Men and I foresee that ye will thus abuse them and thereby bring Wrath and Destruction upon your selves And whereas our Saviour says in St. Matthew behold I send unto you Prophets it is very probable he speaks in God's Name and that it is to be understood behold says God I send unto you And this Phrase of the Wisdom of God for the most Wise God is very agreeable to other Forms of Speech which we meet with in the Jewish Writers as Dicit norma judicii the Rule of Judgment says that is the most Just and Righteous God which serves very well to explain the Phrase in the Text Therefore saith the Wisdom of God I will send them Prophets and Apostles By Apostles is here meant all sorts of Divine Messengers For so St. Matthew expresseth it I send unto you Prophets and wise men and Scribes that is several Holy and Excellent Men endowed with all sorts of Divine Gifts Prophets and wise men and Scribes which were the most glorious and admired Titles among the Jews And some of them they shall slay and persecute St. Matthew expresseth it more particularly some of them ye shall kill and crucifie as it was afterwards fulfilled in the two James's and Stephen who were slain by them and in Simon the Son of Cleophas and before him in Jesus the Son of God who were Crucified and some of them ye shall scourge in your Synagogues as we read they did to Peter and John and persecute them from City to City as they did Paul and Barnabas The sending of these Messengers of God among the Jews and this ill usage of them the All-wise and All-knowing God had determined and foreseen II. Who this Zacharias was here mentioned by our Saviour And there are so many of them no less than Four of this Name to whom it may with some probability be applyed but especially to Two of them that it is very hard to determine which of them our Saviour means Three Zacharias's are mention'd in Scripture and one more in the History of Josephus There was Zacharias the Father of John the Baptist but whose Son he was we do not read and tho' of his Death the Scripture is silent yet there are two Traditions about it one that he was slain by Herod's Officers because he would not tell where his Son John the Baptist was when Herod sent for him But the Credit of this relies upon very doubtful Authors The other is mentioned by several of the Fathers and the substance of it is briefly this that there being a Place in the Temple where the Virgins by themselves used to Pray the Virgin Mary coming to that Place to pray among the Virgins was forbidden because she had had a Child and that Zacharias for maintaining her Virginity was set upon and killed between the Temple and the Altar But this Tradition is rejected by St. Jerome and I doubt there is little ground for it Zacharias one of the lesser Prophets was the Son of Barachias which agrees so far with St. Matthew's description of him But there is no mention in Scripture that he was slain nor could he well be in the Temple which was but building in his Time tho' the Author of the Targum says that Zacharias the Son of Ido was slain by the Jews in the house of the Lord's Sanctuary on the Day of the Propitiation because he admonisht them not to do Evil before the Lord. Now Zacharias the Son of Barachias was the Grand-Son of Ido but yet I think this was only lapse of Memory and that he means Zachary in the Chronicles who was slain by Joash And He is the Third Zacharias I mention'd 2 Chron. 24.21 who as he was reproving the People for transgressing the Commandment of the Lord was stoned with stones at the Comandment of the King in the court of the house of the Lord. And this our Saviour seems more particularly to reflect upon immediately after the Text O Jerusalem Jerusalem thou that stonest the Prophets c. Now this one would think was certainly the Person intended by our Saviour and fit to be mentioned with Abel whose blood is said to have cried to the Lord. For of Zacharias it is likewise said that when he died he said the Lord look upon it and require it And Derusius cites a Jewish Writer speaking thus by way of complaint against the Jewish Nation because in the midst of thee fell the Priests of the Lord and his Prophets and because before the Holy Temple in the midst of thee was slain the Godly and Righteous Prophet Zacharias who lay unburied nor did the Earth cover his blood but to this day it goes up and speaks in the midst of thee So that none could have been more fit to have been joyn'd with Abel in this respect But as probable as this looks there are Two very great Objections against it One is that St. Matthew calls the Zacharias spoken of by our Saviour the Son of Barachias whereas this Zacharias slain by
is nor any fear of becoming less And all Temptation is founded either in hope or fear and where neither of these can have any place there can be no occasion no possible Motive or Temptation to Evil for to be Evil and to do Evil is always an Effect of weakness and want of Power The summ of what I have said upon this Argument and the design indeed of it is to shew that the greater Power and Authority any one hath the less Liberty he hath to do any thing that is bad And I have been the larger upon this because I would fain imprint upon the Minds of Persons whom the Providence of God hath invested with great Power and Authority that as they have great opportunities of doing more good than others so they have greater Reason and more Advantages of doing it and are more inexcusable if they do any thing that is bad not only because their Actions are of a more publick influence and observation but because their Temptations to Evil how great soever they may seem to be are in truth and reality much less than other Mens Happy are those Princes that wisely consider this and make their Power and Authority over others an Argument to be so much better themselves and to do so much more good to others and because they are less subject to the coercive Power of Law do for that Reason think themselves so much the more obliged to be a Law to themselves Blessed be God for the Happiness which we enjoy in this respect and let us earnestly beseech him that he would be pleased to bestow such a plentiful measure of his Grace and Holy Spirit on our most Gracious King and Queen as may Effectually both engage and enable them to use their Power to the best purposes for the Publick good And thus I have briefly gon over and explained to you the several Particulars in the Text the duty of Prayer here enjoyned for whom we are to pray in general for all Men and for whom more especially and in the first place for Kings and all that are in authority and upon what Considerations we are to pray for them and to Praise God in their behalf because of the great Benefits we receive by them and because both in respect of the Dangers and Difficulties of their Condition they stand in need of our Prayers above other Men besides that in praying for their Welfare and Prosperity we pray for our own Peace and Happiness And now to apply this to our selves and to the Occasion of this Day By all that hath been said we cannot but be convinced what Cause we have to bless God for that happy Government which we live under that excellent Constitution under the gentle Influences whereof we enjoy more Liberty more Plenty and more Security from all manner of Injury and Oppression than any Nation this Day on the Face of the Earth Therefore with what Thankfulness should we this Day commemorate the happy Restauration of this Government to us after the miserable Distractions and Confusions of twenty Years by the Restauration and Return of our banisht Soveraign in so peaceable and yet so wonderful a Manner that a Remembrance of it even at this Distance is almost still Matter of Amazement to us Blessed be the Lord God of Israel who alone doth wondrous Things And with our joyful Praises let us joyn our most devout and fervent Prayers to Almighty God for the King 's and Queen's Majesties and for all that are in Authority And I may truly say that there was hardly ever greater Reason and Occasion for it both from our Distractions at Home and our Dangers from abroad never was there greater Need of our earnest Supplications and Prayers than at this Time when our Armies and Fleets are in Motion and when God seems already to have given us some Earnest of good Success blessed be his great and glorious Name We have indeed a great Army and a more powerful Fleet than ever this Nation sent forth but unless God be on our Side and favour our Cause in vain are all our Preparations for whenever his Providence is pleased to interpose by strength shall no Man prevail Have we not Reason then to cry mightily unto God when the only Strength of the Nation is at Stake when our Sins and Provocations are so many and great and there lies so heavy a poal of Guilt upon us When the person of his Sacred Majesty is exposed to so much Hazard not only in the high Places of the Field but from the restless Attempts of the malicious and implacable Enemies of our Peace and Religion that he would be graciously pleased to go forth with our Armies and Fleets and not remember our Iniquities against us but save us for his Mercies sake We are too apt to murmur and complain of Miscariages and the ill management of Affairs but surely the best thing we can do and that which best becomes us is to look forward and to turn our Censures of our Governours and their Actions into humble Supplications to God in their behalf and in behalf of the whole Nation that he would be pleased to turn us every one from the Evil of our Ways that he may return to us and have mercy on us that so Iniquity may not be our Ruin that he may rejoyce over us to do us good and may at last think Thoughts of Peace towards us Thoughts of Good and not of Evil to give us an expected End of our Troubles Let us then betake our selves to the proper Work of this Day hearty Prayers and Thanksgivings to Almighty God for the King and Queen and for all that are in Authority that as he hath been pleased by a wonderful Providence to rescue us from the imminent danger we were in and from all our fears by the happy Advancement of their Majesties to the Throne of these Kingdoms so he would of his infinite goodness still preserve and continue to us this Light of our Eyes and Breath of our Nostrils Princes of that great Clemency and Goodness which render them the true Representatives of God upon Earth and the most Gracious Governours of Men. And let us earnestly beseech him that he would confirm and strengthen them in all goodness and make them wise as Angels of God to discern betwixt Good and Evil that they may know how to go in and out before this great People that be would give them the united affections of their People and a heart to study and seek their good all the days of their lives And Finally That he would be pleased to continue so great a Blessing to us and to grant them a long and Prosperous Reign over us and that their Posterity in this Royal Family may endure for ever and their Throne as the Days of Heaven that under them the People of these Nations we and the Generations to come may lead quiet and peaceable lives in all godliness and honesty for
Saviour during which time though it was but four hundred Years there happened great Commotions and much more considerable Revolutions in the great Kingdoms of the World than had done in above two thousand Years before and in almost One thousand seven hundred Years since so that it is no wonder that the Prediction of these things is by God himself exprest in so very solemn a manner as I observed before At the time of this Prophecy the Empire of the World was newly translated from the Assyrians to the Medes and Persians and not long after the Grecians under Alexander the Great quite overthrew the Persian Empire and that by as sudden a Change as was ever perhaps made in the World possessing themselves by so swift and speedy a Conquest of a great part of the then known World as if to pass through it and to conquer it had been all one After the death of Alexander the Empire of the Grecians was shared among his great Captains whom the Romans by degrees conquered besides a great many other Kingdoms which Alexander never saw and some of them perhaps had never heard of At last the Empire of the World in all its greatness and Glory was possest by Augustus in whose time our Blessed Saviour was born So that here were mighty Commotions in the World wonderful Changes of Kingdoms and Empires before the coming of the Messias far greater and of much larger extent than those that were in Egypt and Palestine at the bringing of the Children of Israel out of Egypt and the giving of the Law from Mount Sinai And these did not only go before the coming of the Messias but they made way for the more easie propagating of his Doctrine and Religion for the Grecians and especially the Romans setled their Conquests in such a manner as in a good measure to propagate their Language among the Nations which they conquered and particularly the Romans did make the Ways for Travel and Commerce much more easie and commodious than ever they were before by employing their Armies when they had no other Work to make High-ways for the convenience of Passage from the Station of one Legion to another the Benefit and effect whereof we in England enjoy to this day a Pattern to all Princes and States that have necessary occasion for Armies how to employ them And this very thing proved afterwards a mighty Advantage for the more easie and speedy spreading of Christianity in the World II. Another part of this Prophecy is That about the time of the coming of the Messias the World should be in a general expectation of him and the Expectation of all Nations shall come And I doubt not but this Character of the Messias is taken out of that famous Prophecy concerning him Gen. 49.10 The scepter shall not depart from Judah till Shiloh come and by Shiloh the ancient Jews generally understood the Messias and to him shall the gathering of the people be or as it is render'd by the Septuagint and several other Translations and he shall be the Expectation of the Nations In allusion to which ancient Prophecy concerning him he is here in the Text called the Expectation of all Nations and so by the Prophet Malachi chap. 3. ver 1. and the Lord whom ye expect or look for shall suddenly come into his temple Now this part of the Prediction in the Text was most eminently fulfilled in our Blessed Saviour For about the time of his coming the Jews were in a general expectation of him as appears not only from that ancient and general Tradition of theirs from the School of Elias that at the end of the second two thousand years of the World the Messias should come and our Blessed Saviour's coming did accordingly happen at that time but likewise from that particular Computation of the Jewish Doctors not long before our Saviour's coming who upon a solemn debate of the matter did determine that the Messias would come within fifty Years And this is farther confirmed from the great Jealousie which Herod had concerning a King of the Jews that was expected to be born about that time and from that remarkable Testimony in Josephus who tells us That the Jews rebelled against the Romans being encouraged thereto by a famous Prophecy in their Scriptures that about that time a great Prince should be born among them that should rule the World And Josephus flattered Vespasian so far as to make him believe that he was the Man and thereupon perswaded him to destroy the Line of David out of which the Tradition was that the Messias should spring as if the Accomplishment of a Divine Prediction could be hinder'd by any Human endeavour And this was not only the generl Expectation of the Jews about that time but of a great Part of the World as appears from those Two famous Testimonies of Two of the most Eminent Roman Historians Suetonius and Tacitus The words of Suetonius are these Percrebuerat Oriente toto vetus constans opinio esse in fatis ut Judaeâ profecti rerum potirentur There was an ancient and general Opinion famous throughout all the Eastern Parts that the Fates had determined that there should come out of Judea those that should govern the World and he adds what I quoted before out of Josephus Id Judaei ad se trehentes rebellarunt that the Jews taking this to themselves did thereupon rebel Now it is very remarkable that the very words of this Tradition seem to be a verbal Translation of that Prophecy in Micah That out of Judah should come the Governour Vt Judpaeâ profecti reruni potirentur The other Testimony is out of Tacitus and his Words are these lib. 21 Pluribus persuasio inerat antiquis Sacerdotum libris contineri eo ipso tempore fore ut valesceret Oriens profectique Judaeâ rerum potirentur A great many says he were possessed with a Persuasion that it was contained in the ancient Books of the Priests that at that very time the East should prevail and that they who should govern the World were to come out of Judeâ By the ancient Books of the Priests he in all probability means the ancient Prophecies of Scripture for the last Expression is the same with that of Suetonius taken out of the Prophet Micah and the other that the East should prevail does plainly refer to that Title given to the Messias by the Prophet Zachary chap. 6.12 where he is called The Man whose name is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which signifies Oriens and Germen both the East and a Branch our Translation hath it the Man whose name is the Branch but it might as well be render'd the Man whose name is the East Thus you see this Character of our Saviour in this Prophecy most literally fulfilled that he was the Expectation of all Nations I proceed to the III. Circumstance of this Prediction That he who is here foretold should come during the continuance of this second