tho perhaps he is ignorant of any true and real one he frames at least an imaginary one to himself and would feign out-live his Days in spite of Death by immortalizing himself in the remembrance of Men. Who then can reconcile Man to Himself How come such lofty Sentiments to be joyned with so much Wretchedness and Misery Or why should a Being so mean and humble have such great and elevated Notions If we consult the Christian Religion we shall soon be satisfied in this Point For the first Rudiments of it will solve all the seeming Riddles It will teach us that Man consists of two Parts Body and Soul whose qualities and parts are very different The Body makes him a Member of the Material World from whence he derives his Wretchedness and Misery In his Soul he bears the Image of God which is the Foundation of his real Goodness If the Mind be subject to Matter we see only his Imperfections and find nothing but a Sensitive Man in him but if the Body be wholly subject to the Soul then only the Greatness and Glory of the Soul appears and we find a Spiritual Man in him Whatever therefore may be said concerning the Greatness of Man becomes an incredible Paradox if applied to his outward and carnal part And whatever may be said concerning his Imperfection and Unworthiness will be utterly false if applied to him as a Being glorious and purely Spiritual But in our present State the Soul and Body are in a continual War Sometimes the Excellence and Greatness of Man's Nature and sometimes the Weakness and Vnworthiness of it appears according as the Flesh or Spirit are predominant and this serves for a certain Rule to judge of Mans Perfection or Imperfection that every thing is great and noble in him that brings the Flesh in subjection to the Spirit and every thing seems vile and contemptible that basely brings the Spirit in subjection to the Flesh For what sort of Greatness can we find in the latter and wherein consists the Excellence of his outward qualifications by which alone he endeavours to procure the Esteem of other Men Not in the Antiquity of his Original for that brings him but the nearer to his primitive Nothing or to the Clay out of which he was first formed He betrays his weak Judgment in esteeming so much the Original of his Body and not regarding that of his Soul As for the Goods of Fortune they swell his Heart with Pride and therefore he values himself more for what he enjoys than for what he really is Suppose him a Conquerour or if you please Lord of the Vniverse But alas that can be of no great continuance His Reason indeed exalts him far above all other Creatures but even that Reason is a Slave to his Scnses his Passions deject rather than elevate him Ambition is a Weakness which makes him unable to rule his Desires Pride an Imperfection which so possesses his Mind that he cannot pass by the least Affront to his Reputation Avarice a base fear of future want a limited Consideration of Self-love that forgets it self to think better upon what is least valuable in its condition The Punctilios of Honour a vain Imperfection that makes an Idol of it self That Valour which affronts Death nothing but a Mans strangely forgetting himself and being insensible of the Dangers that surround him And Lastly all the Passions but so many Deviations from the End we ought to pursue so many Disorders and Irregularities of the Soul as appears fully by what we have said elsewhere concerning the End for which Man was orginally designed And tho' these be all Moral Truths they are not the less certain Experience confirms them and â—he free confession of the Incredulous who are glad of any Opportunity of making us observe all these signs and characters of our Wretchedness and Misery thinking thereby to persuade us that so miserable a Creature was not designed for such a glorious End as we imagin But let them only consider how truly great Man is when he submits the Lusts of the Flesh to the Rule of the Spirit and they 'll be asham'd of their false Opinions They 'll find him indeed a Being that had a Beginning but yet one that glories in God as the Author of it They 'll find him an Atom that raises it's self above all other Creatures by running back to it's first Author and paying him Homage for it's Unworthiness A Worm that has the Honour of referring it's self to the Glory of God to which also all other Beings are referr'd but without knowing it They 'll find him a Being that is indeed Mortal carries it's Hopes beyond Death A Being that is finite yet it's Desires and Intentions are unlimited A small quantity of Earth will cover his Body yet nothing but Immensity will satisfy his Soul He possesses all things for he calls himself the Son of him that created all things He is not to be rank'd among those Creatures which grow proud by promotion or cannot be humble without debasing themselves He is great but not proud because he knows his Natural Vileness and he is humble but not base because he is sensible of his true Greatness and Worth He has made such a Covenant with his God as the Destruction of the Body is not able to dissolve Tho' he conqers not Kingdoms nor razes Cities yet he is able to overcome those Passions which have produced the like effects He sacrifices to God those very Passions to which Men heretofore sacrificed all their Possessions He esteems not a Crown and the highest Dignities are of no Value in his Thoughts He quits a Throne to equal himself to Shepherds and tho' but a Shepherd he thinks himself as great as the most powerful Monarch What the World admires is but a Dream to him Tho he enjoys the greatest Titles yet has he the same humble Thoughts of himself Should the World afflict him on every side it cannot lessen his Opinion of himself He raises himself above what he sees to humble himself in the sight of God who is invisible He possesses Eternity tho he exists in Time He is a Child of God tho he lives amongst Men He is sensible of his Exaltation above all other Beings but he is truly Great in his own Humility Thus the Christian Religion not only shews us Man's Excellence but is also the Cause of it by making the meanest part of our Nature subservient to the nobler He therefore that utterly renounces all Religion loses the perfection of his Nature and the less he believes the more he debases himself below other Creatures 'T is therefore the Christian Religion alone that shews us the Cure as well as the Disease that produces our hidden Virtues and unmasks our Vices that discovers to us our Misery and frees us from it that puts an end to all the Wretchedness of our Nature by making us truly sensible of it that makes us great by making
them on the brighter side they appear great sublime and conformable to the Nature of things worthy of God and closely united to the most inviolable Principles both of our Heart and Understanding Their Greatness and Sublimity caused such an Admiration in those Persons who had the Honour to divulge them to the World as they could not possibly conceal For sometimes they are forced to declare that they are things which Eye has not seen nor Ear heard neither have entred into the Heart of Man 1 Cor. 2. 9. An Expression which is as natural as full of Energy and clearly demonstrates what great Ideas they had of them Another while they express themselves after this manner and without controversy great is the Mystery of Godliness God was manifest in the Flesh justified in the Spirit c. 1 Tim. 3. 16. And again Colos 2. 3. they call them the Treasures of Wisdom and seem to be continually at a loss to find out Expressions worthy the Majesty of them And these Objects are infinitely raised above our Senses scarce seem to have any probability are altogether repugnant to the Ideas of the Heathens and carnal Notions of the Jews are above any Conjecture of Men and consequently Objects worthy of God himself For they glorify him after an excellent manner and clearly reveal unto us his Greatness and Majesty either in the Gifts he confers upon Men or the Sublimity of those Duties he prescribes them to follow or the Excellency of the Reward he proposes to them or the use of those means whereby he leads them to it Compare the Notions of Christianity with those of other Religions and you 'll be convinc'd of this Truth But 't is not sufficient that those Mysteries seem to us far above the Capacity of Men who could never have invented them and worthy the Majesty of God who alone was able to reveal them to us We may also further add that the Principles of Reason and Natural Religion exactly fall in with them For they are not like the idle Tales and Fictions of the Poets which the Heart of Man formerly so eagerly embraced when at the same time their Reason condemned them for it The Creation of Heaven and Earth by an Almighty Being the Redemption of the World by a Mediatour the expiatory Sacrifice of Christ the Communion of Saints the Resurrection of the Dead the Remission of Sins and life Everlasting are all Objects equally reasonable sublime and full of Majesty and the Denial of them will take away the improvement of the Light of Reason by the clearest Revelation and destroy the very Nature of the Supream Being What would become then of the Wisdom of God Would it suffer Men to be wholly taken up by such ends as are contrary to the design of their Creation Would God permit Irregularities and Confusions to reign in publick Societies and never compose them whilst at the same time he establishes a firm Union and as it were a Society amongst irrational Creatures If so what would then signify those Principles of Morality and that natural Law which he has written in our Hearts Wherefore should he make so many things for the good and preservation of Man that were not the End he was designed for What would become of the Justice of God And what would be the Truth of the inward sense of Conscience What would be the Punishment reserved for the Wicked and the Reward which attends the Just What would become of our Soul since Reason has taught us that the thinking Principle within us is distinct from Matter and that the Soul depends not upon any Dissolution of the Parts of Matter Whence is it that this Soul has Notions of its Immortality What use would there be of Equity and Justice Why might not Men rather give themselves up to Vice which would then be wholly preferrable before Virtue Who then will refuse to acknowledge such Principles to be in themselves lawful and reasonable without which there is nothing but Confusion and Disorder in publick Society Darkness and Incertainty in the Mind nothing but Errour and Illusion in the Conscience and natural Law of Reason nothing but Prejudice and Misery in the practice of Virtue and if things are so then also the Goodness Wisdom and Justice of God are at an end those excellent Attributes which had so clearly proved to us the Truth of his Existence These are not the Speculations of contemplative Men or the Niceties of School-men but certain Truths that slow from the nature of things and in an excellent manner agree with the ultimate End of Man But how clear soever the one side of these Mysteries may be they are very obscure on the other not that they have or can contain any thing that is repugnant to sound and unprejudiced Reason but 't is because they cannot be fathomed by our shallow Understanding and that t is neither secure nor allowable or even possible for any man to search into the Depth of them Now tho' it be not absolutely necessary for us to enquire why God was pleased not to explicate all Difficulties in his Mysteries and tho' it be sufficient only to alledge that such was his Will and the Decrees of his Wisdom yet we must not neglect to illustrate and interpret them as far as Scripture and Reason will permit Every body knows the Difference between Sight and Faith Sight admits of no Difficulty but Faith is intermixed both with Light and Darkness both their Objects being very different from one another For we do not see what we believe and properly speaking we do not believe that which we see To see is to perceive by ones self but to believe is to perceive by another Mans Eyes Sight is twofold that of the Sense which perceives those Objects only that are suitable to its nature and that of the Vnderstanding when it judges of the nature of things by its own proper Light Faith also is twofold Humane and Divine The first is that Persuasion we have of sacred Mysteries grounded upon the Testimony of Men and the other that which is established upon the Testimony of God So that after what has been thus premised 't is an easy matter to understand the meaning of the Apostle who tells us that the Will of God is that we should walk by faith and not by sight that is we must lay aside our Reason and follow only the Light of Revelation and receive those Truths which promise us Salvation on the Testimony of God alone Nevertheless 't is easy to perceive how great a Repugnance we have to it in as much as the Pleasure of God in not giving us Mysteries without Difficulties restrains the roving Speculations of our Minds It humbles the proud Reason of Man and robs him of the Priviledge of a full Insight into matters which yet infinitely concern him When we should renounce the World which is present to our Eyes we would fain see those Objects Religion has put in
in them Could there proceed from the Malice and Perfidiousness of a man who had so lately accused his Nation of a Crime he knew to be utterly false so many Exhortations to fear God so strong so moving in themselves and so often repeated that they wholly take up the Writings of this Apostle Could his humility proceed from thence whereby he refers every thing to God as to the Center of all good things so sincerely telling us What hast thou that thou didst not receive And if thou didst receive it why dost thou glory as if thou hadst not received it 1 Cor. 4. 7. We are yours you are Christs and Christ is God's 1 Cor. 3. 23. Could his hatred too for vice arise from thence which upon all occasions he testifys and expresses after so strong and lively a manner His Charity appears no less in his passionate concern for the sanctification of his Brethren All his Epistles are a continued serious of tender or moving Exhortations or rather ardent requests he makes them to love one another He desires they should live soberly justly and religiously He addresses himself both to Servants and Masters to Poor and Rich to Parents and Children to Young men and Old men Having no prejudice nor hatred for any one he pours out himself in thanksgivings and blessings for all men he speaks to them after a very tender and moving manner He calls them his little Children his Beloved his Bowels his Glory and his Crown And what was his design in all this only to inspire them with the love of God and their Neighbour How does he extol the excellence of Charity Tho' I speak says he with the tongues of men and of Angels and have no Charity I am become as sounding brass or tinkling Cymbal and tho' I bestow all my Goods to feed the Poor and tho' I give my body to be burned and have not Charity it profiteth me nothing Charity suffereth long and is kind Charity envieth not Charity vaunteth not it self is not puffed up does not behave it self unseemly seeketh not her own is not easily provoked thinketh no Evil rejoyceth not in Iniquity but rejoyceth in the Truth beareth all things believeth all things hopeth all things 1 Cor. 13. 1 3 4 5 6 7. Such is the Idea St. Paul had of Charity in which appears the force of Reason and of true Vertue without the fantastical weakness of superstition he prefers Charity to miraculous gifts and therein appears the spirit of true Religion This consideration of the Character and Vertue of this Apostle is so much the more considerable that it forces us in despight of our selves to assertâ— one of these two things either that St. Paul was a wicked man and a notorious Impostor or else that he had heard the voice of Jesus Chrict in the way to Damascus that he had received the Holy Ghost and was truely the Apostle of Christ So that whosoever proves that St. Paul was no wicked person does even thereby prove the Divinity of Christian Religion I desire therefore the Reader throughly to consider the style of his Epistles and examine them from the beginning to the end to discover the true Genius and Character of them What is it this Apostle desires of God that those whom he speaks to might live good lives and that God might be glorified by their works What does he complain of Vice What is it he chiefly praises Vertue By what motive does he act or speak as he does By quite another motive than that of self interest St. Luke had already told us in the Book of Acts that he work'd for his Living and that his Employment was to make Tents Whereupon we shall make these two observations I. That St. Paul having been a Pharisee bred up at the feet of Gamaliel would have thought it beneath him to follow so vile a profession had he been worldly minded or ambitious Secondly that this Apostle resolved to work with his own hands for his Living in a time which other people would have greedily embraced to acquire wealth For what could have been refused to those men who opened to mankind the direct way way to Heaven and gave them certain hopes of Eternal Salvation For it cannot be denied but that was the opinion of the Primitive Christians with regard to the Apostles But if St. Luke should be thought to have imposed upon us in the Relation of this Matter 't is but hearing what St. Paul himself says of it who certainly would not have undertook to perswade those people of it against their own proper knowledge Behold says he to the Corinthians the third time I am ready to come to you and I will not be burdensome to you for I seek not yours but you For the Children ought not to lay up for the Parents but the Parents for the Children 2 Cor. 12. 14. And I will very gladly spend and be spent for you c. and then have I caught you with guile And in another place Have I committed an offence in abasing my self that you might be exalted because I have preached to you the Gospel of God freely 2 Cor. 11. 7. St. Paul would never have spoken to them after this manner had he preach'd only out of self interest according to the Custom of those who carrying a worldly mind along with them into the Sanctuary are meer huchsters of Religion and make a Trade of the most sacred and sublime Mysteries of Christianity But supposing St. Paul acted not by a principle of self interest which is generaly the center of other mens Actions who will assure us that he owed not his Virtues to Pride which is another nice kind of Interest to which some men direct all their Actions I am very well perswaded that men may out of a capricious fancy ascribe the best Actions to Pride and give the name of Hypocrisy to the most sincere Vertue For what can put a stop to the continual rovings of a Soul that endeavours only to raise doubts and scruples But then I also affirm that there are such visible marks in the conduct and actions of St. Paul as manifestly evince in spight of Incredulity that his Vertue was solid and his self denial â—incere But this I hope will more plainly appear by the following reflexions We need but a very indifferent Knowledge of mens hearts and inclinations to know that as there are two different states into which men may fall so likewise there are two different sorts of Passions which then arise in the soul Prosperity is the cause of pride with all the other Vices that accompany it Poverty and Misery that of Covetousness with all that is consequent upon it Not but that Covetousness is found sometimes even in Prosperity as well as Pride in the midst of Misery but that is not my meaning I only would say that Prosperity is as it were the Kingdom of Pride and Poverty the Kingdom of Avarice because a man that is
been clearly explained by their event Neither the Books of the Old or New Testament bear the least record of Mahomet whereas the Prophets had foretold the coming of Jesus Christ as of a Messias that was to unite the Jews and Gentiles and to carry the Covenant of God unto the ends of the World Mahomet established himself in the World by force and violence but Jesus Christ only by patience and sufferings The former was environ'd with Soldiers the latter was attended with Martyrs The one put men to Death but the other received Death for our sakes Mahomet's ambition who established such a flourishing Empire was presently seen in the success he had in his undertaking But Jesus Christ was far from self Interest or Ambition since he withdrew himself when they would have made him King and declared his Kingdom was not of this World Instead of encouraging the carnal prejudices of his Disciples he took care to undeceive them and to foretell all the Evils they were to expect And tho' any should presume openly to dispute all these matters of fact still they appear by the end and success of the Gospel the design of which was to sanctify the heart and calm the disorderly passions of the Soul Mahomet invented such a Religion which agreed only with corrupted Reason and the loose inordinate desires of the heart He made the scandal of the Cross to give place to the magnificence and grandeur of the World he took away the most spiritual and difficult matters of Morality to fill the minds of his Disciples with carnal and sensual Ideas But not so did our Saviour act who proposed his Cross to the minds of men as an astonishing Paradox and a continual cause of Mortification and Repentance Mahomet Established his Religion by the help of Ignorance and Darkness by suppressing such Books as might have enlightened mens Understandings and by requiring a blind submission from them Jesus Christ on the contrary would not have them believe his Doctrine but as they found it conformable to that of the Prophets Search the Scriptures says he for in them ye think ye have eternal life John 5. 39. Mahomet established himself in the World by dissembling and disguising his thoughts He promised in the beginning a toleration of all Religions carried it fair to the Christians but afterwasds did his utmost endeavours to extirpate them utterly But Jesus Christ declared at first his intention and design which was to save mankind and overthrow Superstition it self Nor he nor his Disciples used any Policy or Circumvention in this respect Mahomet died but never rose nor pretended to rise again from the dead thereby to shew he was approved of God Jesus Christ died but it was believed he rose again from the dead upon the testimony of those who had seen him after his Resurrection and testified of the Truth of this matter of fact to all the World at the expence of their lives and effusion of their blood Mahomet's Religion was invented maintained and supported by Policy but that of Jesus Christ was at first offensive to all the Princes upon earth and was established in the World notwithstanding all their endeavours to the contrary Mahomets's Religion appear'd at first view to be as it were the Triumph of Humane Industry and Covetousness but the Religion of Jesus Christ shew'd that of integrity and justice in their full perfection and Natural Religion in that proper purity and simplicity that was restored to it by Charity Mahomet laid the foundation of a particular Monarchy and established such Laws as humanly speaking are serviceable only in those places wherein he has settled his Dominion but Jesus Christ has given us new Principles of union and intelligence very usefull to the good of publick society in general and very fit to cement the union of all men together by making the spirit of Charity reign in the World The coming of Mahomet did not sanctify mankind but that of Jesus Christ was attended with an innumerable Company of persons who all renounced the World meerly by the Faith they had in him 'T was not Mahomet but Jesus Christ who exactly fulfilled the Oracles concerning the calling of the Gentiles because Mahomet derived all his knowledge of the true God from Jesus Christ as we have already shewed Lastly Temporal Prosperity was the true Character of the Religion of Mahomet and it might be very well affirmed that Mahomet was a Man of God if it were true that all those who enjoy the greatest Prosperity in the World that is all Tyrants wicked and unjust men are the favorites of God But the Character of the Religion of Jesus Christ is patience self-denial innocence and a simplicity of manners and certainly he was approved of God if God approves of vertuous patient humble and charitable men It concerns now the Incredulous to answer all these differences if they would have us allow of this Comparison for otherwise we shall ever reject it as being very ridiculous and extravagant CHAP. XV. Where we further examin the objections of the Incredulous THe Incredulous are apt to raise as many suspicions against the miracles of Jesus Christ as against his person because of all those proofs which establish his Religion there are none that can move the senses so much as that taken from true Miracles I. Then they object that Jesus the Son of Mary might have healed two or three people either by chance or by vertue of Second causes and that that good success might have got him afterwards the name of a Prophet through the ignorance of the people who are wont to ascribe to supernatural Causes every thing that is unknown to them We answer that we have here a very great number of miracles all of different kinds evident and sensible miracles in their Nature unimitable and above all Imposture Such are the Resurrection of the dead healing the Blind the Lame and the sick of the Palsy c. II. They pretend that he might perhaps have suborned Witnesses to testify some fabulous miracles But how could this be Since Jesus Christ had neither money to give nor dignities to promise and as for cunning Politick niceties Riches and Credit they were only amongst the Scribes and Pharisees and Doctors of the Law his implacable Enemies who took all opportunities to prejudice him because he publickly censured their hypocrisy upon all occasions III. They object that Jesus Christ was so prudent as to work his miracles only before three of his chosen Disciples viz. Peter James and John Now say they who knows but that those three Disciples to flatter the ambition of their Master might have attested certain Miracles as true which were not really so To remove this suspicion we need only reflect upon the many miracles Jesus Christ wrought in the presence of his other Disciples He raised from the dead the Son of the Widdow of Naim as he was a carrying to be interr'd He raised Lazarus from the grave in
it easier to say thy Sins are forgiven thee or to say arise and walk There is no suspecting a Man's proceedings that proves by several sensible and healing Miracles the Authority he assumes and ascribes to himself Vers 13. But go and learn what that meaneth I will have mercy and not sacrifice A Spiritual worship is the only worship that God delights in The ceremonies of Moses's Law were only agreeable to him as they were founded upon the Obedience that is due to God This Obedience derives its whole perfection from a willing compliance out of love and Charity For a forced and constrained obedience can never be acceptable to God That which is most excellent in Charity is Mercy which consists in forgiving injuries and doing good to others without expecting any return from them For a man may do good to another through a principle of vain Glory But the works of mercy proceed from another motive and are a product of a noble disinteressed nature Mercy then is the only thing that is acceptable to God in Religion and both Scripture and Reason tell us so But the World was so ignorant of this truth when Jesus Christ first took it for a fundamental maxim of his Religion that nothing could be more surprizing to Men than his expressing himself after this manner Vers 13. For I am not come to call the righteous but Sinners to repentance An expression that thunders out against Hypocrisie roots out of our Hearts that false Pride and vain Confidence we have of our selves humbles mankind glorifies the mercy of God and makes us sensible of the use and necessity of repentance and in a more especial manner evidently shews the self-denial of our Lord. Chap. X. 1. And when he had called unto him his twelve Disciples he gave them Power c. The Evangelist was not afraid of being contradicted by the twelve Disciples of our Lord whose names he sets down when he said that Jesus Christ had given them power to heal all sorts of Diseases among the People Vers 5. These Twelve Jesus sent forth and commanded them saying go not into the Cities of the Gentiles c. but go rather to the lost sheep of the House of Israel These words remove all suspicions which our incredulous Adversaries may entertain that the Author of this Gospel was willing to favour the Gentiles in prejudice to the Jews Vers 7. And as ye go preach saying the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand Was Jesus Christ in a fit condition to make himself known for that Monarch who was to come unless he had first been endowed with an infinite Power Vers 8. Heal the Sick cleanse the Lepers raise the Dead cast out Devils freely ye have received freely give Is it possible that Jesus Christ could have made his Disciples believe they had freely received that which they had not in the least received How bold then must that command have been to work so many Miracles Vers 9. Provide neither Gold nor Silver nor Brass in your purses nor scrip for your journey c. Christ waâ— not content to chuse poor Men for his Disciples he sâ—rther obliged them to become poorer than they were He forbid them to provide themselves any thing designing to nourish them wonderfully by his Providence He resolved so to dispose the Hearts of those that should believe in their words that they should feed and cloath them This indeed was spoke like the Master and God of Nature Vers 22. And ye shall be hated of all men for my name sake Christ flattered not his Disciples but foretold them from the very beginning of their ministry all the evils that were to befall them Now what can be suspected in all this Vers 23. But when they persecute you in this City flee into another for verily I say unto you ye shall not have gone over the Cities of Israel till the Son of Man be come This Text is somewhat difficult because it does not plainly appear that the Prophecy it contains was exactly fulfilled But this very Difficulty serves to confirm our Faith For why should the Evangelist write this he who lived to see the success of that matter He knew well enough that in his time the Gospel had been preached not only in all the Cities of Israel but almost in every Country in the World though Jesus Christ had not yet come in all his Glory Doubtless it was because he intended to relate things as they really were in themselves and ascribed no more to his Divine Master but just the very words he uttered And altho' Holy Writers by the coming of Jesus Christ commonly understand his last coming in his Glory yet that same expression does also sometimes signifie the Judgments which God executed upon the Jews when he sent the Romans to destroy their City which explanation plainly solves the whole Difficulty Vers 34. Think not that I am come to send Peace on earth I came not to send Peace but a Sword A Terrible declaration indeed for those Men who according to the vulgar errour of the Jews imagined that the Messias should have raised them up to the height of Happiness and temporal prosperity But who is he that was bold enough to foretel that his Gospel should disturb the Peace of the Universe How comes it he did not rather foresee that that Gospel would unavoidably be involved in the darkness of Silence and Oblivion having such weak Defenders to maintain and such formidable Adversaries to oppose it Does it seem natural that a Man who dwelt on the Borders of the Lake of Gennesareth should have pretended to make other Men rise up one against another by the bare efficacy of his word without any Arms Riches or Authority being only got at the head of ten or twelve miserable Wretches who knew nothing beyond the mending their nets Vers 28. And he that taketh not his Cross and followeth after me is not worthy of me Did ever Man get himself any followers by such declarations as these Chap. XI 4 5. Jesus answered and said unto them go and shew John those things which ye do hear and see The Blind receive their fight and the Lame walk the Lepers are cleansed and the Deaf hear the Dead are raised up and the poor have the Gospel preached to them Jesus Christ convinced not his Disciples by meer speculations but by evident Objects of Sense Vers 12. And from the days of John the Baptist until now the Kingdom of Heaven suffereth violence and the violent take it by force Did ever Man in so mean and miserable a Condition as he was in speak thus Whence had he this Confidence And what sort of Language is this Vers 21. Woe unto the Chorazin c. What probability is there that Christ should thus reproach the Jews who dwelt in all those Countrys unless he had really wrought several Miracles amongst them Vers 28. Come unto me all ye that Labour c. There have been many
such a deep penetration of Mind and attempted to exalt Man above himself by infatuating him with the Conceits of his own Wisdom But God who knows best what Remedies are most proper for us has given us a Religion which satisfies the Heart without corrupting the Vnderstanding and enlarges the Vnderstanding without corrupting the Heart and that because it satisfies and yet mortifies it enlightens and yet confounds the Understanding If to the Understanding several great and sublime Truths are revealed it has not therefore any pretence to exalt it self because it knows that Knowledge to be above its Capacity and ows it only to Revelation If the Heart finds the Objects of Religion answerable to it's infinite Desires it has no reason to be puffed up by them because those Objects destroy its darling Passions and vitious Inclinations So that the only means to enlighten and at the same time humble our Understanding was to intermix some Obscurity with the Light of Revelation and the only way to satisfy the Heart and prevent its being puffed up was to qualify some sorrowful and mortifying Duties with the extraordinary Promises of the Gospel Thus the Severity of Christian Morality and the Obscurity of its Mysteries are two different means which God has made use of to enlighten the Understanding without puffing up the Heart and to satisfy the Desires of the Heart without flatering those Passions which corrupt the Understanding Which manifestly shews that the Christian Religion has not only the Divine Stamp upon it since it contains the true manner of reforming and regulating the Desires of Mans Heart but also that the Severity of the Christian Morality and the Difficulty of its Mysteries which shock the Incredulous most in the Principles of Christianity were purposely made use of by God in his eternal Wisdom as the most proper Means to sanctify Mankind which is the grand Design of the Christian Religion We have then here the Two most essential and most important parts of our Religion Its Morality and Mysteries The latter are necessary in respect of Faith and the former is the Rule of those Duties which God is pleased we shall perform as a Means to attain Everlasting Life It would be superfluous to lay down here at large what Doctrin or Precepts are contained in the Gospel because it has pleased God that we cannot pretend any Ignorance of them and besides 't is the Truth of Religion in general we are now treating of we are oblig'd to speak here only of Christian Morality and the Doctrin of Faith in general As for the Morality of Christ it has so many remarkable Characters that it is impossible to reflect upon any of them without immediatly acknowledging its Divinity For I. 'T is it seems a Paradox to the Senses to the Heart to the Mind and Nature of Man It was never before heard of or known that a Man must take up his Cross and think those Blessed that are poor in Spirit that mourn and are persecuted for Righteousness sake that we must love our Enemies and pray for them that shall revile and persecute us that we must not only comfort our selves in the midst of our Afflictions and Crosses but also rejoyce for being thus afflicted and esteem our Happiness and Glory the greater as our Sufferings are increased Men I say had never such Thoughts before and the Puradoxes of the Stoicks are nothing to these for here we find to our great surprize that a few poor Fishermen rustick in their Speech preach such Maxims abroad as are as far above the ordinary Capacity of the Understanding as they are contrary to the Affections and Inclinations of the Heart II. 'T is observable that Christian Morality seems to be a very sad and mortifying thing For it curbs and restrains all our Passions Self-love repines at it Voluptuousness can't endure it Pride is wholly humbled and mortified by it and those who seem to allow of it most cannot but privately hate it when ever their Hearts are engaged in any Passion It has been often observ'd that there have been Christians in all Ages who attempted to pervert the sense of it by putting such Glosses and Interpretations upon it as were more conformable to their Inclinations than to the Truth it self and by endeavouring to extirpate it at least indirectly when they durst not attempt it in a more open manner But let no man imagin that this Morality was offered to the World under any Disguise Christ who among so many other wonderful Characters of his Calling has a very remarkable one and that is never to flatter the loose Inclinations of Men plainly declares that whosoever will be thought his Disciple must pluck out his Eyes and cut off his Hands must hate himself deny himself nay even hate his own Soul c. Expressions which explain one another and certify us that the Pains and Torments the observers of his Morality must undergo are like unto those which Men endure when they cut off their Arms or pluck out their Eyes or are in a manner separated from Themselves There is nothing in all this like the cunning Address and subtle Management of Men in the World when they endeavour to establish new Doctrins and it evidently appears that Christ alone is a Teacher come from God III. The better to comprehend this it is observable that all the Principles of Christian Religion depend upon Humility as their chief Foundation For if we pretend to the qualification of Christ's Disciples we must be meek single in heart poor in Spirit weary and heavy laden little in our own Conceits Lambs little Children in Innocence and want of Malice and Servants of other Men. Christ has united two different qualities before not easily reconcilable the Humility of the Heart and the Light of the Understanding charging us to be wise as Serpents and harmless as Doves 'T is manifest this Union was necessary for the true Sanctification of Mankind a Secret indeed Men had not yet been able to find out There have been some who have forsaken their Interest and have been either burnt or had their Arms and Hands cut off who durst encounter Death it self supported by Pride and a vain hope of Glory which they prefer'd before all things But it was never known that Men had so little Self-love as to sacrifice their Lives unless at the same time they could make their Name immortal Such a Miracle is only to be produced by the Christian Morality IV. After what has been said we shall have less Reason to wonder that this Morality roots up every Vice since all Vices proceed either from Pride or Voluptuousness This Morality then which subverts the former by the severe Mortifications of Repentance and destroys the latter by the Ideas it gives us of the Greatness and Perfection of God as opposed to our Wretchedness and Misery I say this Morality contains every thing absolutely necessary to extirpate our Vices in their first Rise and