the Work for which he hath sent me To confirm them in this Faith and to enable them to do such Works as he had done he promises them the Holy Ghost Iohn XIV 25 26. These things I have said unto you being yet present with you But when I am gone the Holy Ghost the Paraclet which may signifie Monitor as well as Comfortor or Advocate which the Father shall send you in my Name he shall shew you all things and bring to your remembrance all things which I have said So that considering all that I have said and laying it together and comparing it with what you shall see come to pass you may be more abundantly assured that I am the Messiah and fully comprehend that I have done and suffered all things foretold of the Messiah and that were to be accomplished and fulfilled by him according to the Scriptures But be not filled with grief that I leave you Iohn XVI 7. It is expedient for you that I go away For if I go not away the Paraclet will not come unto you One Reason why if he went not away the Holy Ghost could not come we may gather from what has been observed concerning the Prudent and wary carriage of our Saviour all through his Ministry that he might not incur Death with the least suspicion of a Malefactor And therefore though his Disciples believed him to be the Messiah yet they neither understood it so well nor were so well confirmed in the belief of it as after that he being crucified and risen again they had received the Holy Ghost And with the Gifts of the Holy Spirit a fuller and clearer Evidence and Knowledge that he was the Messiah And were enlightned to see how his Kingdom was such as the Scriptures foretold though not such as they till then had expected And now this Knowledge and Assurance received from the Holy Ghost was of use to them after his Resurrection when they could then boldly go about and openly Preach as they did that Iesus was the Messiah confirming that Doctrine by the Miracles which the Holy Ghost impowered them to do But till he was dead and gone they could not do this Their going about openly Preaching as they did after his Resurrection that Iesus was the Messiah and doing Miracles every where to make it good would not have consisted with that Character of Humility Peace and Innocence which the Messiah was to sustain if they had done it before his Crucifixion For this would have drawn upon him the Condemnation of a Malefactor either as a stirrer of Sedition against the Publick Peace or as a Pretender to the Kingdom of Israel And hence we see that they who before his Death preached only the Gospel of the Kingdom that the Kingdom of God was at hand As soon as they had received the Holy Ghost after his Resurrection changed their stile and every where in express words declare that Iesus is the Messiah that King which was to come This the following words here in St. Iohn XVI 8-14 confirm Where he goes on to tell them And when he is come he will convince the World of Sin Because they believed not on me Your Preaching then accompanied with Miracles by the assistance of the Holy Ghost shall be a Conviction to the World that the Iews sinned in not believing me to be the Messiah Of Righteousness or Justice Because I go to my Father and ye see me no more By the same Preaching and Miracles you shall confirm the Doctrine of my Ascension and thereby convince the World that I was that Iust One who am therefore ascended to the Father into Heaven where no unjust Person shall enter Of Iudgment Because the Prince of this World is judged And by the same assistance of the Holy Ghost ye shall convince the World that the Devil is judged or condemned by your casting of him out and destroying his Kingdom and his Worship where ever you Preach Our Saviour adds I have yet many things to say unto you but you cannot bear them now They were yet so full of a Temporal Kingdom that they could not bear the discovery of what a kind of Kingdom his was nor what a King he was to be And therefore he leaves them to the coming of the Holy Ghost for a farther and fuller discovery of himself and the Kingdom of the Messiah For fear they should be scandalized in him and give up the hopes they had now in him and forsake him This he tells them v. 1. of this XVI Chapter These things I have said unto you that you may not be scandalized The last thing he had told them before his saying this to them we find in the last Verses of the precedent Chapter When the Paraclet is come the Spirit of Truth he shall witness concerning me He shall shew you who I am and witness it to the World And then Ye also shall bear witness because ye have been with me from the beginning He shall call to your mind what I have said and done that ye may understand it and know and bear Witness concerning me And again here Iohn XVI after he had told them they could not bear what he had more to say he adds v. 13. Howbeit when the Spirit of Truth is come he will guide you into all Truth and he will shew you things to come He shall glorifie me By the Spirit when he comes ye shall be fully instructed concerning me And though you cannot yet from what I have said to you clearly comprehend my Kingdom and Glory yet he shall make it known to you wherein it consists And though I am now in a mean state and ready to be given up to Contempt Torment and Death So that ye know not what to think of it Yet the Spirit when he comes shall glorifie me and fully satisfie you of my Power and Kingdom And that I sit on the right hand of God to order all things for the good and increase of it till I come again at the last day in fulness of Glory Accordingly the Apostles had a full and clear sight and perswasion of this after they had received the Holy Ghost And they preached it every where boldly and openly without the least remainder of doubt or uncertainty But that they understood him not yet even so far as his Death and Resurrection is evident from v. 17 18. Then said some of the Disciples among themselves What is this that he saith unto us A little while and ye shall not see me And again a little while and ye shall see me and because I go to the Father They said therefore what is this that he saith a little while We know not what he saith Upon which he goes on to Discourse to them of his Death and Resurrection and of the Power they should have of doing Miracles But all this he declares to them in a Mystical and involved way of speaking as he tells them himself v. 25. These things
St. Paul v. 23 24. was not writ for his Abraham 's sake alone But for us also teaching us that as Abraham was justified for his Faith so also ours shall be accounted to us for Righteousness if we believe God as Abraham believed him Whereby 't is plain is meant the firmness of our Faith without staggering and not the believing the same Propositions that Abraham believed viz. that though he and Sarah were old and past the time and hopes of Children yet he should have a Son by her and by him become the Father of a great People which should possess the Land of Canaan This was what Abraham believed and was counted to him for Righteousness But no body I think will say that any ones believing this now shall be imputed to him for Righteousness The Law of Faith then in short is for every one to believe what God requires him to believe as a condition of the Covenant he makes with him and not to doubt of the performance of his Promises This the Apostle intimates in the close here v. 24. But for us also to whom it shall be imputed if we believe on him that raised up Iesus our Lord from the dead We must therefore examine and see what God requires us to believe now under the Revelation of the Gospel For the belief of one Invisible Eternal Omnipotent God maker of Heaven and Earth c. was required before as well as now What we are now required to believe to obtain Eternal Life is plainly set down in the Gospel St. Iohn tells us Iohn III. 36. He that believeth on the Son hath eternal life and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life What this believing on him is we are also told in the next Chapter The woman saith unto him I know that the Messiah cometh When he is come he will tell us all things Iesus said unto her I that spake unto thee am he The woman then went into the City and saith to the men come see a man that hath told me all things that ever I did Is not this the Messiah And many of the Samaritans believed on him for the saying of the woman who testified he told me all that ever I did So when the Samaritans were come unto him many more believed because of his words and said to the woman We believe not any longer because of thy saying for we have heard our selves and we know that this Man is truly the Saviour of the World the Messiah John IV. 25 26. 29. 39 40 41 42. By which place it is plain that believing on the Son is the believing that Iesus was the Messiah giving Credit to the Miracles he did and the Profession he made of himself For those who were said to BELIEVE ON HIM for the saying of the Woman v. 39. tell the Woman that they now believed not any longer because of her saying but that having heard him themselves they knew i. e. BELIEVED past doubt THAT HE WAS THE MESSIAH This was the great Proposition that was then controverted concerning Jesus of Nazareth whether he was the Messiah or no And the assent to that was that which distinguished Believers form Unbelievers When many of his Disciples had forsaken him upon his declaring that he was the Bread of Life which came down from Heaven He said to the Apostles will ye also go away Then Simon Peter answered him Lord to whom shall we go Thou hast the words of eternal life And we believe and are sure thou art the Messiah the Son of the living God Iohn VI. 69. This was the Faith which distinguished them form Apostates and Unbelievers and was sufficient to continue them in the rank of Apostles And it was upon the same Proposition That Iesus was the Messiah the Son of the living God owned by St. Peter that our Saviour said he would build his Church Mat. XVI 16-18 To convince men of this he did his Miracles And their assent to or not assenting to this made them to be or not to be of his Church Believers or not Believers The Iews came round about him and said unto him how long dost thou make us doubt If thou be the Messiah tell us plainly Iesus answered them I told you and ye believed not The works that I do in my Father's name they bear witness of me But ye believe not because ye are not of my sheep John X. 24-26 Conformable hereunto St. Iohn tells us That many deceivers are entered into the world who confess not that Iesus the Messiah is come in the flesh This is a deceiver and an Antichrist whosoever abideth not in the Doctrine of the Messiah has not God He that abideth in the Doctrine of the Messiah i. e. that Jesus is he hath both the Father and the Son 2 John 7. 9 10. That this is the meaning of the place is plain from what he says in his foregoing Epistle Whosoever believeth that Iesus is the Messiah is born of God 1 John V. 1. And therefore drawing to a close of his Gospel and shewing the end for which he writ it he has these words Many other signs truly did Iesus in the presence of his Disciples which are not written in this book but these are written that ye may believe that Iesus is the Messiah the Son of God and that believing ye might have life through his name John XX. 30 31. Whereby it is plain that the Gospel was writ to induce men into a belief of this Proposition that Iesus of Nazareth was the Messiah Which if they believed they should have life Accordingly the great Question amongst the Jews was whether he were the Messiah or no And the great Point insisted on and promulgated in the Gospel was that he was the Messiah The first glad tidings of his Birth brought to the Shepherds by an Angel was in these words Fear not for behold I bring you good tidings of great joy which shall be to all people For to you is born this day in the City of David a Saviour who is the Messiah the Lord Luke II. 11. Our Saviour Discoursing with Martha about the means of attaining Eternal Life saith to her Iohn XI 27. Whosoever believeth in me shall never die Believest thou this She saith unto him Yea Lord I believe that thou art the Messiah the Son of God which should come into the world This Answer of hers sheweth what it is to believe in Jesus Christ so as to have Eternal Life viz. to believe that he is the Messiah the Son of God whose coming was foretold by the Prophets And thus Andrew and Philip express it Andrew says to his Brother Simon we have found the Messiah which is being interpreted the Christ. Philip saith to Nathanael we have found him of whom Moses in the Law and the Prophets did write Iesus of Nazareth the Son of Joseph Iohn I. 41. 45. According to what the Evangelist says in this place I have for the clearer understanding
to Preach was that the Kingdom of the Messiah was come Whosoever should not receive them the Messengers of this good Tidings nor hearken to their Message incurred a heavier doom than Sodom and Gomorrha at the day of Judgment v. 14 15. But v. 32. Whosoever shall confess me before men I will confess him before my Father who is in Heaven What this confessing of Christ is we may see by comparing Iohn XII 4. with IX 22. Nevertheless among the chief Rulers also many believed in him But because of the Pharisees they did not CONFESS HIM lest they should be put out of the Synagogue And Chap. IX 22. These words spake his Parents because they feared the Iews For the Iews had agreed already that if any man did CONFESS THAT HE WAS THE MESSIAH he should be put out of the Synagogue By which places it is evident that to confess him was to confess that he was the Messiah From which give me leave to observe also what I have cleared from other places but cannot be too often remark'd because of the different sense has been put upon that Phrase viz. That believing on or in him for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is rendred either way by the English Traslation signifies believing that he was the Messiah For many of the Rulers the Text says believed on him But they durst not consess what they believed for fear they should be put out of the Synagogue Now the Offence for which it was agreed that any one should be put out of the Synagogue was if he did confess that Iesus was the Messiah Hence we may have a clear understanding of that passage of St. Paul to the Romans where he tells them positively what is the Faith he Preaches Rom. X. 8 9. That is the Word of Faith which we preach That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Iesus and believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead thou shalt be saved And that also of St. Iohn IV. 14 15. We have seen and do testifie that the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the World Whosoever shall confess that Iesus is the Son of God God dwelleth in him and be in God Where confessing Jesus to be the Son of God is the same with confessing him to be the Messiah Those two Expressions being understood amongst the Jews to signifie the same thing as we have shewn already How calling him the Son of God came to signifie that he was the Messiah would not be hard to shew But it is enough that it appears plainly that it was so used and had that import amongst the Jews at that time Which if any one desires to have further evidenced to him he may add Mat. XXVI 63. Iohn VI. 69. XI 27. XX. 31. to those places before occasionally taken notice of As was the Apostles Commission such was their Performance As we read Luke IX 6. They departed and went through the Towns preaching the Gospel and healing every where Jesus bid them Preach saying The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand And St. Luke tells us they went through the Towns Preaching the Gospel A word which in Saxon answers well the Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and signifies as that does Good news So that what the inspired Writers call the Gospel is nothing but the good Tidings that the Messiah and his Kingdom was come And so it is to be understood in the New Testament And so the Angel calls it Good tidings of great joy Luke II. 10. Bringing the first News of our Saviour's Birth And this seems to be all that his Disciples were at that time sent to Preach So Luke IX 59 60. To him that would have excused his present Attendance because of burying his Father Iesus said unto him let the dead bury their dead but go thou and preach the Kingdom of God When I say this was all they were to Preach I must be understood that this was the Faith they preached But with it they joyned Obedience to the Messiah whom they received for their King So likewise when he sent out the Seventy Luke X. their Commission was in these words v. 9. Heal the sick and say unto them the Kingdom of God is come nigh unto you After the return of his Apostles to him he sits down with them in a Mountain And a great multitude being gathered about them St. Luke tells us Chap. IX 11. The people followed him and he received them and spake unto them of the Kingdom of God and healed them that had need of healing This was his Preaching to this Assembly which consisted of Five Thousand Men besides Women and Children All which great multitude he fed with five Loaves and two Fishes Mat. XIV 21. And what this Miracle wrought upon them St. Iohn tells us Chap. VI. 14 15. Then these men when they had seen the miracle that Iesus did said This is of a truth that Prophet that should come into the World i. e. the Messiah For the Messiah was the only Person that they expected from God and this the time they looked for him And hence Iohn the Baptist Mat. XI 3. stiles him He that should come As in other places Come from God or Sent from God are Phrases used for the Messiah Here we see our Saviour keeps to his usual method of Preaching He speaks to them of the Kingdom of God and does Miracles by which they might understand him to be the Messiah whose Kingdom he spake of And here we have the reason also why he so much concealed himself and forbore to own his being the Messiah For what the consequence was of the multitudes but thinking him so when they were got together St. Iohn tells us in the very next words When Iesus then perceived that they would come and take him by force to make him a King he departed again into a mountain himself alone If they were so ready to set him up for their King only because they gathered from his Miracles that he was the Messiah whilst he himself said nothing of it What would not the People have done And what would not the Scribes and Pharisees have had an Opportunity to Accuse him of if he had openly professed himself to have been the Messiah that King they looked for But this we have taken notice of already From hence going to Capernaum whither he was followed by a great part of the People whom he had the day before so miraculously fed He upon the occasion of their following him for the Loaves bids them seek for the Meat that endureth to Eternal Life And thereupon Iohn VI. 22-69 declares to them his being sent from the Father And that those who believed in him should be raised to Eternal Life But all this very much involved in a mixture of Allegorical terms of eating and of Bread Bread of Life which came down from Heaven c. Which is all comprehended and expounded in these short and plain
have I spoken to you in Proverbs i. e. In General Obscure Aenigmatical or Figurative terms All which as well as Allusive Apologues the Jews called Proverbs or Parables Hitherto my declaring of my self to you hath been obscure and with reserve And I have not spoken of my self to you in plain and direct words because ye could not bear it A Messiah and not a King you could not understand And a King living in Poverty and Persecution and dying the Death of a Slave and Malefactor upon a Cross you could not put together And had I told you in plain words that I was the Messiah and given you a direct Commission to Preach to others that I professedly owned my self to be the Messiah you and they would have been ready to have made a Commotion to have set me upon the Throne of my Father David and to fight for me that your Messiah your King in whom are your hopes of a Kingdom should not be delivered up into the hands of his Enemies to be put to Death And of this Peter will instantly give you an Example But the time cometh when I shall no more speak unto you in Parables but I shall shew unto you plainly of the Father My Death and Resurrection and the coming of the Holy Ghost will speedily enlighten you and then I shall make you know the Will and Design of the Father What a Kingdom I am to have and by what means and to what end v. 27. And this the Father himself will shew unto you For he loveth you because ye have loved me and have believed that I came out from the Father Because ye have believed that I am the Son of God the Messiah That he hath anointed and sent me Though it hath not been yet fully discovered to you what kind of Kingdom it shall be nor by what means brought about And then our Saviour without being asked explaining to them what he had said And making them understand better what before they stuck at and complained secretly among themselves that they understood not They thereupon declare v. 30. Now are we sure that thou knowest all things and needest not that any man should ask thee 'T is plain thou knowest mens Thoughts and Doubts before they ask By this we believe that thou comest forth from God Iesus answered Do ye now believe Notwithstanding that you now believe that I came from God and am the Messiah sent by him Behold the hour cometh yea is now come that ye shall be scattered And as it is Mat. XXVI 31. and shall all be scandalized in me What it is to be scandalized in him we may see by what followed hereupon if that which he says to St. Peter Mark XIV did not sufficiently explain it This I have been the more particular in That it may be seen that in this last Discourse to his Disciples where he opened himself more than he had hitherto done and where if any thing more was required to make them Believers than what they already believed we might have expected they should have heard of it there were no new Articles proposed to them but what they believed before viz. That he was the Messiah the Son of God sent from the Father Though of his manner of proceeding and his sudden leaving the World and some few particulars he made them understand something more than they did before But as to the main design of the Gospel viz. That he had a Kingdom that he should be put to Death and rise again and ascend into Heaven to his Father and come again in Glory to Judge the World This he had told them And so had acquainted them with the Great Council of God in sending him the Messiah and omitted nothing that was necessary to be known or believed in it And so he tells them himself Iohn XV. 15. Henceforth I call ye not Servants for the Servant knoweth not what his Lord does But I have called ye Friends for ALL THINGS I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you though perhaps ye do not so fully comprehend them as you will shortly when I am risen and ascended To conclude all in his Prayer which shuts up this Discourse he tells the Father what he had made known to his Apostles The Result whereof we have Iohn XVII 8. I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me and they have received them and THEY HAVE BELIEVED THAT THOV DIDST SEND ME Which is in effect that he was the Messiah promised and sent by God And then he Prays for them and adds v. 20 21. Neither pray I for these alone but for them also who shall believe on me through their word What that Word was through which others should believe in him we have seen in the Preaching of the Apostles all through the History of the Acts viz. This one great Point that Jesus was the Messiah The Apostles he says v. 25. know that thou hast sent me i. e. are assured that I am the Messiah And in v. 21. 23. he Prays That the World may believe which v. 23. is called knowing that thou hast sent me So that what Christ would have believed by his Disciples we may see by this his last Prayer for them when he was leaving the World as well as by what he Preached whilst he was in it And as a Testimony of this one of his last Actions even when he was upon the Cross was to confirm this Doctrine by giving Salvation to one of the Thieves that was crucified with him upon his Declaration that he believed him to be the Messiah For so much the words of his Request imported when he said Remember me Lord when thou comest into thy Kingdom Luke XXIII 42. To which Jesus replied v. 43. Verily I say unto thee to day shalt thou be with me in Paridise An Expression very remarkable For as Adam by sin left Paradise i. e. a state of Happy Immortality Here the believing Thief through his Faith in Iesus the Messiah is promised to be put in Paradise and so re-instated in an Happy Immortality Thus our Saviour ended his Life And what he did after his Resurrection St. Luke tells us Acts I. 3. That he shewed himself to the Apostles forty days speaking things concerning the Kingdom of God This was what our Saviour preached in the whole Course of his Ministry before his Passion And no other Mysteries of Faith does he now discover to them after his Resurrection All he says is concerning the Kingdom of God And what it was he said concerning that we shall see presently out of the other Evangelists having first only taken notice that when now they asked him v. 6. Lord wilt thou at this time restore again the Kingdom to Israel He said unto them v. 7. It is not for you to know the Times and the Seasons which the Father hath put in his own power But ye shall receive Power after that the Holy Ghost is come
Law are a Law unto themselves Which shew the work of the Law written in their hearts their Consciences also bearing witness and amongst one another their thoughts accusing or excusing By which and other places in the following Chapter 't is plain that under the Law of Works is comprehended also the Law of Nature knowable by Reason as well as the Law given by Moses For says St. Paul Rom. III. 9. 23. we have proved both Iews and Gentiles that they are all under sin For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God Which they could not do without a Law Nay whatever God requires any where to be done without making any allowance for Faith that is a part of the Law of Works So the forbidding Adam to eat of the Tree of Knowledge was part of the Law of Works Only we must take notice here That some of God's Positive Commands being for peculiar Ends and suited to particular Circumstances of Times Places and Persons have a limited and only temporary Obligation by vertue of God's positive Injunction such as was that part of Moses's Law which concerned the outward Worship or Political Constitution of the Jews and is called the Ceremonial and Judaical Law in contradistinction to the Moral part of it Which being conformable to the Eternal Law of Right is of Eternal Obligation and therefore remains in force still under the Gospel nor is abrogated by the Law of Faith as St. Paul found some ready to infer Rom. III. 31. Do we then make void the Law through Faith God forbid yea we establish the Law Nor can it be otherwise For were there no Law of Works there could be no Law of Faith For there could be no need of Faith which should be counted to men for Righteousness if there were no Law to be the Rule and Measure of Righteousness which men failed in their Obedience to Where there is no Law there is no Sin all are Righteous equally with or without Faith The Rule therefore of Right is the same that ever it was the Obligation to observe it is also the same The difference between the Law of Works and the Law of Faith is only this that the Law of Works makes no allowance for failing on any occasion Those that obey are Righteous those that in any part disobey are unrighteous and must not expect Life the Reward of Righteousness But by the Law of Faith Faith is allowed to supply the defect of full Obedience and so the Believers are admitted to Life and Immortality as if they were Righteous Only here we must take notice that when St. Paul says that the Gospel establishes the Law he means the Moral part of the Law of Moses For that he could not mean the Ceremonial or Political part of it is evident by what I quoted out of him just now where he says The Gentiles that do by nature the things contained in the Law their Consciences bearing witness For the Gentiles neither did nor thought of the Judaical or Ceremonial Institutions of Moses 't was only the Moral part their Consciences were concerned in As for the rest St. Paul tells the Galatians Cap. IV. they are not under that part of the Law which v. 3. he calls Elements of the World and v. 9. weak and beggarly elements And our Saviour himself in his Gospel-Sermon on the Mount tells them Mat. V. 17. That whatever they might think he was not come to dissolve the Law but to make it more full and strict For that that is meant by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is evident from the following part of that Chapter where he gives the Precepts in a stricter sense than they were received in before But they are all Precepts of the Moral Law which he reinforces What should become of the Ritual Law he tells the Woman of Samaria in these words Iohn IV. 21. 23. The hour cometh when you shall neither in this Mountain nor yet at Jerusalem worship the Father But the true Worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth for the Father seeketh such to worship him Thus then as to the Law in short The Civil and Ritual part of the Law delivered by Moses obliges not Christians though to the Jews it were a part of the Law of Works it being a part of the Law of Nature that man ought to obey every Positive Law of God whenever he shall please to make any such addition to the Law of his Nature But the Moral part of Moses's Law or the Moral Law which is every where the same the Eternal Rule of Right obliges Christians and all men every where and is to all men the standing Law of Works But Christian Believers have the Priviledge to be under the Law of Faith too which is that Law whereby God Justifies a man for Believing though by his Works he be not Just or Righteous i. e. though he came short of Perfect Obedience to the Law of Works God alone does or can Justifie or make Just those who by their Works are not so Which he doth by counting their Faith for Righteousness i. e. for a compleat performance of the Law Rom. IV. 3. Abraham believed God and it was counted to him for righteousness v. 5. To him that believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly his faith is counted for righteousness v. 6. Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works i. e. without a full measure of Works which is exact Obedience v. 7. Saying Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven and whose sins are covered v. 8. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin This Faith for which God justified Abraham what was it It was the believing God when he engaged his Promise in the Covenant he made with him This will be plain to any one who considers these places together Gen. XV. 6. He believed in the Lord or believed the Lord. For that the Hebrew Phrase believing in signifies no more but believing is plain from St. Paul's citation of this place Rom. IV. 3. where he repeats it thus Abraham believed God which he thus explains v. 18-22 who against hope believed in hope that he might become the Father of many Nations According to that which was spoken so shall thy seed be And being not weak in faith he considered not his own body now dead when he was about an hundred years old nor yet the deadness of Sarah's womb He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief but was strong in faith giving glory to God And being fully perswaded that what he had promised he was also able to perform And therefore it was imputed to him for righteousness By which it is clear that the Faith which God counted to Abraham for Righteousness was nothing but a firm belief of what God declared to him and a steadfast relying on him for the accomplishment of what he had promised Now this says
to set up according to their Ancient Prophesies of him Which gave them hopes of an extraordinary Man yet to come from God who with an Extraordinary and Divine Power and Miracles should evidence his Mission and work their Deliverance And of any such extraordinary Person who should have the Power of doing Miracles they had no other expectation but only of their Messiah One great Prophet and worker of Miracles and only One more they expected who was to be the Messiah And therefore we see the People justified their believing in him i. e. their believing him to be the Messiah because of the Miracles he did Iohn VII 31. And many of the people believed in him and said when the Messiah cometh will he do more Miracles than this man hath done And when the Jews at the Feast of Dedication Iohn X. 24 25. coming about him said unto him How long dost thou make us doubt If thou be the Messiah tell us plainly Iesus answered them I told you and ye believed not the works that I do in my Father's name bear witness of me And Iohn V. 36. He says I have a greater witness than that of John for the works which the Father hath given me to do the same works that I do bear witness of me that the Father hath sent me Where by the way we may observe that his being sent by the Father is but another way of expressing the Messiah Which is evident from this place here Iohn V. compared with that of Iohn X. last quoted For there he says that his Works bear witness of him And what was that witness viz. That he was the Messiah Here again he says that his works bear witness of him And what is that witness viz. That the Father sent him By which we are taught that to be sent by the Father and to be the Messiah was the same thing in his way of declaring himself And accordingly we find Iohn IV. 53. XI 45. and elsewhere many hearkened and assented to this Testimony and believed on him seeing the things that he did 2. Another way of declaring the Coming of the Messiah was by Phrases and Circumlocutions that did signifie or intimate his Coming though not in direct words pointing out the Person The most usual of these were The Kingdom of God and of Heaven because it was that which was oftnest spoken of the Messiah in the Old Testament in very plain words And a Kingdom was that which the Jews most looked after and wished for In that known place Isa. IX The GOVERNMENT shall be upon his shoulders he shall be called the PRINCE of Peace Of the increase of his GOVERNMENT and Peace there shall be no end Vpon the THRONE of David and upon his KINGDOM to order it and to establish it with Iudgment and with Iustice from henceforth even for ever Micah V. 2. But thou Bethlehem Ephratah though thou be little among the thousands of Judah yet out of thee shall He come forth unto me that is to be the RVLER in Israel And Daniel besides that he calls him Messiah the PRINCE Chap. IX 25. In the account of his Vision of the Son of Man Chap. VII 13 14. says There was given him Dominion Glory and a KINGDOM that all People Nations and Languages should serve him His Dominion is an everlasting Dominion which shall not pass away and his KINGDOM that which shall not be destroyed So that the Kingdom of God and the Kingdom of Heaven were common Phrases amongst the Jews to signifie the times of the Messiah Luke XIV 15. One of the Jews that sat at meat with him said unto him Blessed is he that shall eat bread in the Kingdom of God Chap. XVII 20. The Pharisees demanded When the Kingdom of God should come And St. Iohn Baptist came saying Repent for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand A Phrase he would not have used in Preaching had it not been understood There are other Expressions that signified the Messiah and his Coming which we shall take notice of as they come in our way 3. By plain and direct words declaring the Doctrine of the Messiah speaking out that Jesus was He As we see the Apostles did when they went about Preaching the Gospel after our Saviour's Resurrection This was the open clear way and that which one would think the Messiah himself when he came should have taken especially if it were of that moment that upon mens believing him to be the Messiah depended the forgiveness of their sins And yet we see that our Saviour did not But on the contrary for the most part made no other discovery of himself at least in Iudea and at the beginning of his Ministry but in the two former ways which were more obscure Not declaring himself to be the Messiah any otherwise than as it might be gathered from the Miracles he did and the conformity of his Life and Actions with the Prophesies of the Old Testament concerning him and from some general discourses of the Kingdom of the Messiah being come under the name of the Kingdom of God and of Heaven Nay so far was he from publickly owning himself to be the Messiah that he forbid the doing of it Mark VIII 27-30 He asked his Disciples whom do men say that I am And they answered John the Baptist but some say Elias and others one of the Prophets So that it is evident that even those who believed him an extraordinary Person knew not yet who he was or that he gave himself out for the Messiah though this was in the third Year of his Ministry and not a year before his Death And he saith unto them but whom say ye that I am And Peter answered and said unto him Thou art the Messiah And he charged them that they should tell no man of him Luke IV. 41. And Devils came out of many crying Thou art the Messiah the Son of God And he rebuking them suffered them not to speak that they knew him to be the Messiah Mark III. 11 12. Unclean spirits when they saw him fell down before him and cryed saying Thou art the Son of God And he straitly charged them that they should not make him known Here again we may observe from the comparing of the two Texts that Thou art the Son of God or Thou art the Messiah were indifferently used for the same thing But to return to the matter in hand This concealment of himself will seem strange in one who was come to bring Light into the World and was to suffer Death for the Testimony of the Truth This reservedness will be thought to look as if he had a mind to conceal himself and not to be known to the World for the Messiah nor to be believed on as such But we shall be of another mind and conclude this proceeding of his according to Divine Wisdom and suited to a fuller Manifestation and Evidence of his being the Messiah When we consider that he was to
have heard it out of his own mouth And That had been his Publick Doctrine to his followers Which was openly preached by the Apostles after his Death when he appeared no more And of this they were accused Acts XVII 5-9 But the Iews which believed not moved with envy took unto them certain lewd fellows of the baser sort and gathered a company and set all the City in an uproar And assaulted the House of Jason and sought to bring them out to the people And when they found them Paul and Silas not they drew Jason and certain brethren unto the Rulers of the City crying these that have turned the World upside down are come hither also whom Jason hath received And these all do contrary to the decrees of Caefar saying that there is another King one Iesus And they troubled the People and the Rulers of the City when they heard these things And when they had taken Security of Jason and the other they let them go Though the Magistrates of the World had no great regard to the talk of a King who had suffered Death and appeared no longer any where Yet if our Saviour had openly declared this of himself in his Life-time with a train of Disciples and Followers every where owning and crying him up for their King the Roman Governour of Iudea could not have forborn to have taken notice of it and have made use of their Force against him This the Jews were not mistaken in and therefore made use of it as the strongest Accusation and likeliest to prevail with Pilate against him for the taking away his Life It being Treason and an unpardonable Offence which could not scape Death from a Roman Deputy without the Forfeiture of his own Life Thus then they Accuse him to Pilate Luke XXIII 2. We found this fellow perverting the Nation and forbidding to give Tribute to Caesar saying that he himself is the Messiah a King Our Saviour indeed now that his time was come and he in Custody and forsaken of all the World and so out of all danger of raising any Sedition or Disturbance owns himself to Pilate to be a King after having first told Pilate Iohn XVIII 36. That his Kingdom was not of this World And for a Kingdom in another World Pilate knew that his Master at Rome concerned not himself But had there been any the least appearance of truth in the Allegations of the Jews that he had perverted the Nation forbidding to pay Tribute to Caesar or drawing the People after him as their King Pilate would not so readily have pronounced him Innocent But we see what he said to his Accusers Luke XXIII 13 14. Pilate when he had called together the Chief Priests and the Rulers of the People said unto them You have brought this man unto me as one that perverteth the People and behold I having examined him before you have found no fault in this man touching those things whereof you accuse him No nor yet Herod for I sent you to him and lo nothing worthy of death is done by him And therefore finding a man of that mean Condition and innocent Life no mover of Seditions or disturber of the Publick Peace without a Friend or a Follower would have dismissed him as a King of no consequence as an innocent man falsely and maliciously accused by the Jews How necessary this Caution was in our Saviour to say or do nothing that might justly offend or render him suspected to the Roman Governour and how glad the Jews would have been to have any such thing against him we may see Luke XX. 20. The Chief Priests and the Scribes watched him and sent forth spies who should feign themselves just men that might take hold of his words that so they might deliver him unto the Power and Authority of the Governour And the very thing wherein they hoped to entrap him in this place was paying Tribute to Caesar which they afterwards falsely accused him of And what would they have done if he had before them professed himself to have been the Messiah their King and Deliverer And here we may observe the wonderful Providence of God who had so ordered the state of the Jews at the time when his Son was to come into the World that though neither their Civil Constitution nor Religious Worship were dissolved yet the Power of Life and Death was taken from them Whereby he had an Opportunity to publish the Kingdom of the Messiah that is his own Royalty under the name of the Kingdom of God and of Heaven Which the Jews well enough understood and would certainly have put him to Death for had the Power been in their own hands But this being no matter of Accusation to the Romans hindred him not from speaking of the Kingdom of Heaven as he did Sometimes in reference to his appearing in the World and being believed on by particular Persons Sometimes in reference to the Power should be given him by the Father at his Resurrection And sometimes in reference to his coming to Judge the World at the last day in the full Glory and completion of his Kingdom These were ways of declaring himself which the Jews could lay no hold on to bring him in danger with Pontius Pilate and get him seized and put to Death Another Reason there was that hindred him as much as the former from professing himself in express words to be the Messiah and that was that the whole Nation of the Jews expecting at this time their Messiah and deliverance by him from the Subjection they were in to a Foreign Yoke the body of the People would certainly upon his declaring himself to be the Messiah their King have rose up in Rebellion and set him at the Head of them And indeed the miracles that he did so much disposed them to think him to be the Messiah that though shrouded under the obscurity of a mean Condition and a very private simple Life and his passing for a Galilean his Birth at Bethlehem being then concealed and he not assuming to himself any Power or Authority or so much as the Name of the Messiah yet he could hardly avoid being set up by a Tumult and proclaimed their King So Iohn tells us Chap. V. 14 15. Then those men when they had seen the Miracles that Iesus did said This is of a truth that Prophet that should come into the World When therefore Iesus perceived that they would come to take him by force to make him King he departed again into a Mountain himself alone This was upon his feeding of Five Thousand with five Barley Loaves and two Fishes So hard was it for him doing those miracles which were necessary to testifie his Mission and which often drew great multitudes after him Mat. IV. 25. to keep the heady and hasty multitude from such Disorder as would have involved him in it and have disturbed the course and cut short the time of his Ministry and drawn on him the Reputation
and thereby being grown into a belief that he was the Messiah were in some degree prepared to receive the Particulars that were to fill up that Character and answer the Prophesies concerning him Which from henceforth he began to open to them though in a way which the Jews could not form an Accusation out of The time of the accomplishment of all in his Sufferings Death and Resurrection now drawing on For this was in the last Year of his Life he being to meet the Jews at Ierusalem but once more at the Passover who then should have their will upon him And therefore he might now begin to be a little more open concerning himself Though yet so as to keep himself out of the reach of any Accusation that might appear Just or Weighty to the Roman Deputy After his Reprimand to Peter telling him That he savoured not the things of God but of man Mark VIII 34. He calls the People to him and prepares those who would be his Disciples for Suffering Telling them v. 38. Whoever shall be ashamed of me and 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 And then subjoyns Mat. XVI 27 28. two great and solemn Acts wherein he would shew himself to be the Messiah the King For the Son of Man shall come in the Glory of his Father with his Angels and then he shall render every man according to his works This is evidently meant of the Glorious Appearance of his Kingdom when he shall come to Judge the World at the last day Described more at large Mat XXV When the Son of Man shall come in his Glory and all the holy Angels with him then shall be sit upon the THRONE of his Glory Then shall the KING say to them on his right hand c. But what follows in the place above quoted Mat. XVI 28. Verily verily there be some standing here who shall not tast of Death till they see the Son of Man coming in his Kingdom Importing that Dominion which some there should see him exercise over the Nation of the Jews was so covered by being annexed to the preceding v. 27. where he spoke of the Manifestation and Glory of his Kingdom at the day of Judgment That though his plain meaning here in v. 28. be that the appearance and visible exercise of his Kingly Power in his Kingdom was so near that some there should live to see it Yet if the foregoing words had not cast a shadow over these later but they had been left plainly to be understood as they plainly signified that he should be a King And that it was so near that some there should see him in his Kingdom This might have been laid hold on and made the matter of a plausible and seemingly just Accusation against him by the Jews before Pilate This seems to be the reason of our Saviour's inverting here the order of the two Solemn Manifestations to the World of his Rule and Power thereby perplexing at present his meaning and securing himself as was necessary from the malice of the Jews which always lay at catch to intrap him and accuse him to the Roman Governour And would no doubt have been ready to have alledged these words Some here shall not tast of Death till they see the Son of Man coming in his Kingdom against him as Criminal had not their meaning been by the former Verse perplexed and the sense at that time rendred unintelligible and not applicable by any of his Auditors to a sense that might have been prejudicial to him before the Roman Governour For how well the Chief of the Jews were disposed towards him St. Luke tells us Chap. XI 54. Laying wait for him and seeking to catch something out of his mouth that they might accuse him Which may be a reason to satisfie us of the seemingly doubtful and obscure way of speaking used by our Saviour in other places His Circumstances being such that without such a Prudent carriage and reservedness he could not have gone through the Work which he came to do Nor have performed all the parts of it in a way correspondent to the Descriptions given of the Messiah and which should be afterwards fully understood to belong to him when he had left the World After this Mat. XVII 10 c. He without saying it in direct words begins as it were to own himself to his Apostles to be the Messiah by assuring them that as the Scribes according to the Prophecy of Malachy Chap. IV. 5. rightly said that Elias was to Usher in the Messiah So indeed Elias was already come though the Jews knew him not and treated him ill Whereby They understood that he spoke to them of John the Baptist v. 13. And a little after he somewhat more plainly intimates that he is the Messiah Mark IX 41. in these words Whosoever shall give you a cup of water to drink in my Name because ye belong to the Messiah This as I remember is the first place where our Saviour ever mentioned the name of Messiah and the first time that he went so far towards the owning to any of the Jewish Nation himself to be him In his way to Jerusalem bidding one follow him Luke IX 59. who would first bury his Father v. 60. Iesus said unto him let the dead bury their dead but go thou and preach the Kingdom of God And Luke X. 1. Sending out the Seventy Disciples he says to them v. 9. Heal the sick and say the Kingdom of God is come nigh unto you He had nothing else for these or for his Apostles or any one it seems to Preach but the good News of the coming of the Kingdom of the Messiah And if any City would not receive them he bids them v. 10. Go into the streets of the same and say Even the very dust of your City which cleaveth on us do we wipe off against you Notwithstanding be ye sure of this that the Kingdom of God is come nigh unto you This they were to take notice of as that which they should dearly answer for viz. That they had not with Faith received the good Tidings of the Kingdom of the Messiah After this his Brethren say unto him Iohn VII 2 3 4. The Feast of Tabernacles being near Depart hence and go into Judea that thy Disciples also may see the works that thou doest For there is no man that does any thing in secret and he himself seeketh to be known openly If thou do these things shew thy self to the World Here his Brethren which the next Verse tells us did not believe in him seem to upbraid him with the inconsistency of his carriage as if he designed to be received for the Messiah and yet was afraid to shew himself To whom he justified his Conduct mentioned v. 1. in the following verses by telling them That the World meaning the
Jews especially hated him because he testified of it that the works thereof are evil And that his time was not yet fully come wherein to quit his reserve and abandon himself freely to their Malice and Fury And therefore though he went up unto the Feast it was not openly but as it were in secret v. 10. And here coming into the Temple about the middle of the Feast he justifies his being sent from God And that he had not done any thing against the Law in curing the man at the Pool of Bethesday v. Iohn V. 1-16 on the Sabbath-day Which though done above a year and an half before they made use of as a pretence to destroy him But what was the true reason of seeking his Life appears from what we have in this VII Chapter v. 25-34 Then said some of them at Jerusalem Is not this he whom they seek to kill But lo he speaketh boldly and they say nothing unto him Do the Rulers know indeed that this is the very Messiah Howbeit we know this man whence he is But when the Messiah cometh no man knoweth whence he is Then cryed Iesus in the Temple as he taught ye both know me and ye know whence I am And I am not come of my self but he that sent me is true whom ye know not But I know him for I am from him and he hath sent me Then they sought an occasion to take him but no man laid hands on him because his hour was not yet come And many of the people believed on him and said when the Messiah cometh will be do more miracles than these which this man hath done The Pharisees heard that the people murmured such things concerning him and the Pharisees and Chief Priests sent Officers to take him Then said Iesus unto them Yet a little while am I with you and then I go to him that sent me Ye shall seek me and not find me and where I am there ye cannot come Then said the Iews among themselves Whither will he go that we shall not find him Here we find that the great fault in our Saviour and the great Provocation to the Jews was his being taken for the Messiah and doing such things as made the People believe in him i. e. believe that he was the Messiah Here also our Saviour declares in words very easie to be understood at least after his Resurrection that he was the Messiah For if he were sent from God and did his Miracles by the Spirit of God there could be no doubt but he was the Messiah But yet this Declaration was in a way that the Pharisees and Priests could not lay hold on to make an Accusation of to the disturbance of his Ministry or the seizure of his Person how much soever they desired it For his time was not yet come The Officers they had sent to Apprehend him charmed with his Discourse returned without laying hands on him v. 45 46. And when the Chief Priests asked them Why they brought him not They answered Never man spake like this man Whereupon the Pharisees reply Are ye also deceived Have any of the Rulers or of the Pharisees believed on him But this people who know not the Law are cursed This shews what was meant by Believing on him viz. believing that he was the Messiah For say they have any of the Rulers who are skilled in the Law or of the Devout and learned Pharisees acknowledged him to be the Messiah For as for those who in the Division among the People concerning him say That he is the Messiah they are ignorant and vile wretches know nothing of the Scripture and being accursed are given up by God to be deceived by this Impostor and to take him for the Messiah Therefore notwithstanding their desire to lay hold on him he goes on And v. 37 38. In the last and great day of the Feast Iesus stood and cryed saying If any man thirst let him come unto me and drink He that believeth on me as the Scripture hath said out of his belly shall flow Rivers of living water And thus he here again declares himself to be the Messiah But in the Prophetick stile As we may see by the next Verse of this Chapter and those places in the Old Testament that these words of our Saviour refer to In the next Chapter Iohn VIII all that he says concerning himself and what they were to believe tends to this viz. That he was sent from God his Father And that if they did not believe that he was the Messiah they should die in their sins But this in a way as St. Iohn observes v. 27. that they did not well understand But our Saviour himself tells them v. 28. When ye have lift up the Son of Man then shall ye know that I am he Going from them he Cures the Man born blind whom meeting with again after the Jews had questioned him and cast him out Iohn IX 35-38 Jesus said to him Dost thou believe on the Son of God He answered who is he Lord that I might believe on him And Iesus said unto him Thou hast both seen him and it is he that talketh with thee And he said Lord I believe Here we see this man is pronounced a Believer when all that was proposed to him to believe was that Jesus was the Son of God Which was as we have already shewn to believe that he was the Messiah In the next Chapter Iohn X. 1-21 he declares the laying down of his Life for both Jews and Gentiles But in a Parable which they understood not v. 6. 20. As he was going to the Feast of the Dedication the Pharisees ask him Luke XVII 20. When the Kingdom of God i. e. of the Messiah should come He answers that it should not come with Pomp and Observation and great Concourse But that it was already begun amongst them If he had stopt here the sense had been so plain that they could hardly have mistaken him or have doubted but that he meant that the Messiah was already come and amongst them And so might have been prone to infer that Jesus took upon him to be him But here as in the place before taken notice of subjoyning to this the future Revelation of himself both in his coming to execute Vengeance on the Jews and in his coming to Judgment mixed together he so involved his sense that it was not easie to understand him And therefore the Jews came to him again in the Temple Iohn X. 23. and said How long dost thou make us doubt If thou be the Christ tell us plainly Iesus answered I told you and ye BELIEVED not The works that I do in my Father's Name they bear witness of me But ye BELIEVED not because ye are not of my sheep as I told you The BELIEVING here which he accuses them of not doing is plainly their not BELIEVING him to be the Messiah as the foregoing words evince and in the same sense it
is evidently meant in the following Verses of this Chapter From hence Iesus going to Bethabara and thence returning to Bethany upon Lazarus's Death Iohn XI 25-27 Jesus said to Martha I am the Resurrection and the Life he that believeth in me though he were dead yet he shall live and whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall not die for ever So I understand 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 answerable to 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of the Septuagint Gen. III. 22. or Iohn VI. 51. which we read right in our English Translation Live for ever But whether this saying of our Saviour here can with truth be translated He that liveth and believeth in me shall never die will be apt to be questioned But to go on Believest thou this She said unto him yea Lord I believe that thou art the Messiah the Son of God which should come into the World This she gives as a full Answer to our Saviour's Demands This being that Faith which whoever had wanted no more to make them Believers We may observe farther in this same story of the raising of Lazarus what Faith it was our Saviour expected by what he says v. 41 42. Father I thank thee that thou hast heard me And I know that thou hearest me always But because of the people who stand by I said it that they may believe that thou hast sent me And what the Consequence of it was we may see v. 45. Then many of the Iews who came to Mary and had seen the things which Iesus did believed on him Which belief was that he was sent from the Father which in other words was that he was the Messiah That this is the meaning in the Evangelists of the Phrase of believing on him we have a demonstration in the following words v. 47 48. Then gathered the Chief Priests and Pharisees a Council and said what do we For this man does many miracles And if we let him alone all men will BELIEVE ON HIM Those who here say all men would BELIEVE ON HIM were the Chief Priests and Pharisees his Enemies who sought his Life and therefore could have no other sense nor thought of this Faith in him which they spake of but only the believing him to be the Messiah And that that was their meaning the adjoyning words shew If we let him alone all the World will believe on him i.e. believe him to be the Messiah And the Romans will come and take away both our Place and Nation Which Reasoning of theirs was thus grounded If we stand still and let the People Believe on him i.e. receive him for the Messiah They will thereby take him and set him up for their King and expect Deliverance by him Which will draw the Roman Arms upon us to the Destruction of us and our Country The Romans could not be thought to be at at all concerned in any other Belief whatsoever that the People might have in him It is therefore plain That Believing on him was by the Writers of the Gospel understood to mean the believing him to be the Messiah The Sanhedrim therefore v. 53 54. from that day forth consulted for to put him to death Iesus therefore walked not yet for so the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifies and so I think it ought here to be translated boldly or open-fac'd among the Iews i.e. of Ierusalem 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 cannot well here be translated no more because within a very short time after he appeared openly at the Passover and by his Miracles and Speech declared himself more freely than ever he had done And all the Week before his Passion Taught daily in the Temple Mat. XX. 17. Mark X. 32. Luke XVIII 31 c. The meaning of this place seems therefore to be this That his time being not yet come he durst not yet shew himself openly and confidently before the Scribes and Pharisees and those of the Sanhedrim at Ierusalem who were full of Malice against him and had resolved his Death But went thence unto a Country near the Wilderness into a City called Ephraim and there continued with his Disciples to keep himself out of the way till the Passover which was nigh at hand v. 55. In his return thither he takes the Twelve aside and tells them before hand what should happen to him at Ierusalem whither they were now going And that all things that are written by the Prophets concerning the Son of Man should be accomplished That he should be betrayed to the Chief Priests and Scribes And that they should Condemn him to Death and deliver him to the Gentiles That he should be mocked and spit on and scourged and put to Death and the third day he should rise again But St. Luke tells us Chap. XVIII 34. That the Apostles understood none of these things and this saying was hid from them neither knew they the things which were spoken They believed him to be the Son of God the Messiah sent from the Father But their Notion of the Messiah was the same with the rest of the Jews That he should be a Temporal Prince and Deliverer That which distinguished them from the Unbelieving Jews was That they believed Jesus to be the very Messiah and so received him as their King and Lord accordingly We see Mark X. 35. That even in this their last Journey with him to Ierusalem two of them Iames and Iohn coming to him and falling at his Feet said Grant unto us that we may fit one on thy right hand and the other on thy left hand in thy Glory Or as St. Matthew has it Chap. XX. 21. in thy Kingdom And now the hour being come that the Son of Man should be glorified he without his usual Reserve makes his Publick Entry into Ierusalem Riding on a Young Ass As it is written Fear not Daughter of Sion behold thy King cometh fitting on an Asses Colt But these things says St. Iohn Chap. XII 16. his Disciples understood not at the first But when Iesus was glorified then remembred they that these things were written of him and that they had done these things unto him Though the Apostles believed him to be the Messiah yet there were many Occurrences of his Life which they understood not at the time when they happened to be fore-told of the Messiah which after his Ascension they found exactly to quadrate And all the People crying Hosanna Blessed is the King of Israel that cometh in the Name of the Lord This was so open a Declaration of his being the Messiah that Luke XIX 39. Some of the Pharisees from among the multitude said unto him Master rebuke thy Disciples But he was so far from stopping them or disowning this their Acknowledgment of his being the Messiah That he said unto them I tell you that if these should hold their peace the stones would immediately cry out And again upon the like occasion of their crying Hosanna to the Son of David in the Temple Mat. XXI 15 16. When
Contrivance of an Ambitious or Dangerous man designing against the Government The way of expressing what he meant being in the Prophetick stile which is seldom so plain as to be understood till accomplished 'T is plain that his Disciples themselves comprehended not what Kingdom he here spoke of from their Question to him after his Resurrection Wilt thou at this time restore again the Kingdom to Israel Having finished these Discourses he takes Order for the Passover and eats it with his Disciples And at Supper tells them that one of them should betray him And adds Iohn XIII 19. I tell it you now before it come that when it is come to pass you may know that I am He does not say out the Messiah Iudas should not have that to say against him if he would Though that be the sense in which he uses this Expression 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 I am more than once And that this is the meaning of it is clear from Mark XII 6. Luke XXI 8. In both which Evangelists the words are For many shall come in my Name saying 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 I am The meaning whereof we shall find explained in the parallel place of St. Matthew Chap. XXIV 5. For many shall come in my Name saying 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 I am the Messiah Here in this place of Iohn XIII Jesus fore-tells what should happen to him viz. That he should be betrayed by Iudas adding this Prediction to the many other Particulars of his Death and Suffering which he had at other times foretold to them And here he tells them the reason of these his Predictions viz. That afterwards they might be a confirmation to their Faith And what was it that he would have them believe and be confirmed in the belief of Nothing but this 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that he was the Messiah The same reason he gives Iohn XIII 28. You have heard how I said unto you I go away and come again unto you And now I have told you before it come to pass that when it is come to pass ye might believe When Iudas had left them and was gone out he talks a little freer to them of his Glory and his Kingdom than ever he had done before For now he speaks plainly of himself and his Kingdom Iohn XIII 31. Therefore when he Judas was gone out Iesus said Now is the Son of Man glorified and God is also glorified in him And if God be glorified in him God shall also glorifie him in himself and shall straitway glorifie him And Luke XXII 29. And I will appoint unto you a Kingdom as my Father hath appointed unto me that ye may eat and drink with me at my Table in my Kingdom Though he has every where all along through his Ministry preached the Gospel of the Kingdom and nothing else but that and Repentance and the Duties of a good Life Yet it has been always the Kingdom of God and the Kingdom of Heaven And I do not remember that any where till now he uses any such expression as My Kingdom But here now he speaks in the first Person I will appoint you a Kingdom And in my Kingdom And this we see is only to the Eleven now Iudas was gone from them With these Eleven whom he was now just leaving he has a long Discourse to comfort them for their loss of him And to prepare them for the Persecution of the World And to exhort them to keep his Commandments and to love one another And here one may expect all the Articles of Faith should be laid down plainly if any thing else were required of them to believe but what he had taught them and they believed already viz. That he was the Messiah John XIV 1. Ye believe in God believe also in me v. 29. I have told you before it come to pass that when it is come to pass ye may believe It is believing on him without any thing else Iohn XVI 31. Iesus answered them Do you now believe This was in Answer to their professing v 30. Now are we sure that thou knowest all things and needest not that any man should ask thee By this we believe that thou comest forth from God John XVII 20. Neither pray I for these alone but for them also which shall believe on me through their word All that is spoke of Believing in this his last Sermon to them is only Believing on him or believing that He came from God Which was no other than believing him to be the Messiah Indeed Iohn XIV 9. Our Saviour tells Philip He that hath seen me hath seen the Father And adds v. 10. Believest thou not that I am in the Father and the Father in me The words that I speak unto you I speak not of my self But the Father that dwelleth in me he doth the works Which being in Answer to Philip's words v. 9. Shew us the Father seem to import thus much No man hath seen God at any time he is known only by his Works And that he is my Father and I the Son of God i. e. the Messiah you may know by the Works I have done Which it is impossible I could do of my self but by the Union I have with God my Father For that by being in God and God in him he signifies such an Union with God that God operates in and by him appears not only by the words above-cited out of v. 10. which can scarce otherwise be made coherent sense but also from the same Phrase used again by our Saviour presently after v. 20. At that day viz. after his Resurrection when they should see him again ye shall know that I am in my Father and you in me and I in you i. e. By the works I shall enable you to do through a Power I have received from the Father Which whoever sees me do must acknowledge the Father to be in me And whoever sees you do must acknowledge me to be in you And therefore he says v. 12. Verily verily I say unto you He that believeth on me the works that I do shall he also do because I go unto my Father Though I go away yet I shall be in you who believe in me And ye shall be enabled to do Miracles also for the carrying on of my Kingdom as I have done That it may be manifested to others that you are sent by me as I have evidenced to you that I am sent by the Father And hence it is that he says in the immediately preceding v. 11. Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father in me If not believe me for the sake of the works themselves Let the Works that I have done convince you that I am sent by the Father That he is with me and that I do nothing but by his Will and by vertue of the Union I have with him And that consequently I am the Messiah who am anointed sanctified and separate by the Father to
new clad as I may so say with a true Repentance and Amendment of Life Nor adorned with those Vertues which the Apostle Col. III. requires to be put on 3. Those who were invited did come and had on the Wedding-Garment i.e. Heard the Gospel believed Iesus to be the Messiah and sincerely obeyed his Laws These three sorts are plainly designed here whereof the last only were the Blessed who were to enjoy the Kingdom prepared for them Mat. XXIII Be not ye called Rabbi For one is your Master even the Messiah and ye all are Brethren And call no man your Father upon the Earth For one is your Father which is in Heaven Neither be ye called Masters For one is your Master even the Messiah But he that is greatest amongst you shall be your Servant And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased And he that shall humble himself shall be exalted Luke XXI 34. Take beed to your selves lest your hearts be at any time over-charged with surfeiting and drunkenness and cares of this life Luke XXII 25. He said unto them The Kings of the Gentiles exercise Lordship over them And they that exercise Authority upon them are called Benefactors But ye shall not be so But he that is greatest amongst you let him be as the younger And he that is chief as he that doth serve John XIII 34. A new Commandment I give unto you That ye love one another As I have loved you that ye also love one another By this shall all men know that ye are my Disciples if ye love one another This Command of loving one another is repeated again Chap. XV. 12. 17. John XIV 15. If ye love me keep my Commandments V. 21. He that hath my Commandments and keepeth them he it is that loveth me And he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father and I will love him and manifest my self to him V. 23. If a man loveth me he will keep my words V. 24. He that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings John XV. 8. In this is my Father glorified that ye bear much fruit so shall ye be my Disciples V. 14. Ye are my Friends if ye do whatsoever I command you Thus we see our Saviour not only confirmed the Moral Law and clearing it from the corrupt glosses of the Scribes and Pharisees shewed the strictness as well as obligation of its Injunctions But moreover upon occasion requires the Obedience of his Disciples to several of the Commands he afresh lays upon them With the enforcement of unspeakable Rewards and Punishments in another World according to their Obedience or Disobedience There is not I think any of the Duties of Morality which he has not some where or other by himself and his Apostles inculcated over and over again to his Followers in express terms And is it for nothing that he is so instant with them to bring forth Fruit Does He their King Command and is it an indifferent thing Or will their Happiness or Misery not at all depend upon it whether they obey or no They were required to believe him to be the Messiah Which Faith is of Grace promised to be reckoned to them for the compleating of their Righteousness wherein it was defective But Righteousness or Obedience to the Law of God was their great business Which if they could have attained by their own Performances there would have been no need of this Gracious Allowance in Reward of their Faith But Eternal Life after the Resurrection had been their due by a former Covenant even that of Works the Rule whereof was never abolished though the Rigour were abated The Duties enjoyned in it were Duties still Their Obligations had never ceased nor a wilful neglect of them was ever dispensed with But their past Transgressions were pardoned to those who received Iesus the promised Messiah for their King And their future slips covered if renouncing their former Iniquities they entred into his Kingdom and continued his Subjects with a steady Resolution and Endeavour to obey his Laws This Righteousness therefore a compleat Obedience and freedom from Sin are still sincerely to be endeavoured after And 't is no where promised That those who persist in a wilful Disobedience to his Laws shall be received into the eternal bliss of his Kingdom how much soever they believe in him A sincere Obedience how can any one doubt to be or scruple to call a Condition of the New Covenant as well as faith Whoever read our Saviour's Sermon in the Mount to omit all the rest Can any thing be more express than these words of our Lord Mat. VI. 14. If you forgive Men their Trespasses your Heavenly Father will also forgive you But if ye forgive not Men their Trespasses neither will your Father forgive your Trespasses And Ioh. XIII 17. If ye know these things happy are ye if ye do them This is so indispensible a Condition of the New Covenant that believing without it will not do nor be accepted If our Saviour knew the Terms on which he would admit Men into Life Why call ye me Lord Lord says he Luke VI. 46. and do not the things which I say It is not enough to believe him to be the Messiah the Lord without obeying him For that these he speaks to here were Believers is evident from the parallel place Matt. VII 21-23 where it is thus Recorded Not every one who says Lord Lord shall enter into the Kingdom of Heaven but he that doth the Will of my Father which is in Heaven No Rebels or Refractory Disobedient shall be admitted there though they have so far believed in Jesus as to be able to do Miracles in his Name As is plain out of the following words Many will say to me in that day Have we not Prophesied in thy Name and in thy Name have cast out Devils and in thy Name have done many wonderful Works And then will I profess unto them I never knew you depart from me ye workers of iniquity This part of the New Covenant the Apostles also in their Preaching the Gospel of the Messiah ordinarily joined with the Doctrine of Faith St. Peter in his first Sermon Acts II. when they were pricked in heart and asked What shall we do says v. 38. REPENT and be Baptized every one of you in the Name of Iesus Christ for the Remission of Sins The same he says to them again in his next Speech Acts IV. 26. Vnto you first God having raised up his Son Iesus sent him to bless you How was this done IN TVRNING AWAY EVERY ONE FROM YOVR INIQVITIES The same Doctrine they Preach to the High Priest and Rulers Acts V. 30. The God of our Fathers raised up Iesus whom ye slew and hanged on a Tree Him hath God Exalted with his right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour for to give REPENTANCE to Israel and Forgiveness of Sins And we are witnesses of these things and so is also the Holy Ghost whom God
Brethren ye have done it unto me Then shall he say unto them on the left hand Depart from me ye Cursed into everlasting Fire prepared for the Devil and his Angels For I was an hungred and ye gave me no meat I was thirsty and ye gave me no drink I was a stranger and ye took me not in Naked and ye cloathed me not Sick and in prison and ye visited me not In so much that ye did it not to one of these ye did it not to me And these shall go into Everlasting Punishment But the Righteous into Life Eternal These I think are all the places where our Saviour mentions the last Judgment or describes his way of Proceeding in that Great Day Wherein as we have observed it is remarkable that every where the Sentence follows doing or not doing without any mention of believing or not believing Not that any to whom the Gospel hath been Preached shall be Saved without believing Iesus to be the Messiah For all being Sinners and Transgressors of the Law and so unjust are all liable to Condemnation unless they believe and so through Grace are justified by God for this Faith which shall be accounted to them for Righteousness But the rest wanting this Cover this allowance for their Transgressions must answer for all their Actions And being found Transgressors of the Law shall by the Letter and Sanction of that Law be Condemned for not having paid a full Obedience to that Law And not for want of Faith That is not the Guilt on which the Punishment is laid though it be the want of Faith which lays open their Guilt uncovered And exposes them to the Sentence of the Law against all that are Unrighteous The common Objection here is If all Sinners shall be Condemned but such as have a gracious allowance made them And so are justified by God for believing Iesus to be the Messiah and so taking him for their King whom they are resolved to obey to the utmost of their Power What shall become of all Mankind who lived before our Saviour's time Who never heard of his Name And consequently could not believe in him To this the Answer is so obvious and natural that one would wonder how any reasonable Man should think it worth the urging No body was or can be required to believe what was never proposed to him to believe Before the Fulness of time which God from the Council of his own Wisdom had appointed to send his Son in He had at several times and in rent Manners promised to the People of Israel an extraordinary Person to come Who raised from amongst themselves should be their Ruler and Deliverer The time And other Circumstances of his Birth Life and Person he had in sundry Prophesies so particularly described and so plainly foretold that He was well known and expected by the Jews under the Name of the Messiah or Anointed given him in some of these Prophesies All then that was required before his appearing in the World was to believe what God had revealed And to rely with a full assurance on God for the performance of his Promise And to believe that in due time he would send them the Messiah this anointed King this promised Saviour and Deliverer according to his Word This Faith in the promises of God This relying and acquiescing in his Word and Faithfulness The Almighty takes well at our hands as a great mark of homage paid by us poor frail Creatures to his Goodness and Truth as well as to his Power and Wisdom And accepts it as an acknowledgment of his peculiar Providence and Benignity to us And therefore our Saviour tells us Iohn XII 44. He that believes on me believes not on me But on him that sent me The works of Nature shew his Wisdom and Power But 't is his peculiar Care of Mankind most eminently discovered in his Promises to them that shews his Bounty and Goodness And consequently engages their Hearts in Love and Affection to him This oblation of an Heart fixed with dependance and affection on him is the most acceptable Tribute we can pay him the foundation of true Devotion and Life of all Religion What a value he puts on this depending on his Word and resting satisfied in his Promises We have an Example in Abraham whose Faith Was counted to him for Righteousness As we have before remarked out of Rom. IV. And his relying firmly on the Promise of God without any doubt of its performance gave him the Name of the Father of the Faithful And gained him so much favour with the Almighty that he was called the Friend of God The Highest and most Glorious Title can be bestowed on a Creature The thing promised was no more but a Son by his Wife Sarah and a numerous Posterity by him which should possess the Land of Canaan These were but Temporal Blessings And except the Birth of a Son very remote Such as he should never live to see nor in his own Person have the benefit of But because he questioned not the Performance of it But rested fully satisfied in the Goodness Truth and Faithfulness of God who had promised it was counted to him for Righteousness Let us see how St. Paul expresses it Rom. IV. 18-22 Who against hope believed in hope that he might become the Father of many Nations According to that which was spoken so shall thy Seed be And being not weak in his Faith he considered not his own Body now dead when he was above an hundred years old Neither yet the deadness of Sarah 's Womb. He staggered not at the Promise of God through unbelief but was strong in Faith giving Glory to God And being fully perswaded that what he had promised he was able to perform And THEREFORE it was imputed to him for Righteousness St. Paul having here Emphatically described the strength and firmness of Abraham's Faith informs us That he thereby gave glory to God And therefore it was accounted to him for Righteousness This is the way that God deals with poor frail Mortals He is graciously pleased to take it well of them And give it the place of Righteousness and a kind of merit in his sight If they believe his Promises and have a steadfast relying on his veracity and goodness St. Paul Heb. XI 6. tells us Without Faith it is impossible to please God But at the same time tells us what Faith that is For says he He that cometh to God must believe that he is And that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him He must be perswaded of God's Mercy and good Will to those who seek to obey him And rest assured of his rewarding those who rely on him for whatever either by the light of Nature or particular Promises he has revealed to them of his tender Mercies and taught them to expect from his Bounty This description of Faith that we might not mistake what he means by that Faith without which we