saying Behold the time shall come that these tokens which I have told thee shal come to pass c. for my son Jesus shal appear c. and after these same years shal my son Christ dye Here is both his birth and passion both his names Jesus Christ plainly expressed Which book though it be not canonical yet was it extant in the world before ever Christ was born Also Rabbi Haccadosch proveth by art Cabalist out of many places of Scripture that the name of the Messiah at his comming shall be Jesus and among other he addeth this reason that as the name of him who first brought the Jews out of bondage into the Land of promise was Jesus or Josua which is all one so must his name be Jesus that shal the second time deliver them Secondly the Angels appearing to the Shepherds in the night of the Nativity with this joyful message from Heaven Behold I bring you tidings of great joy that shal be to all people that unto you is born this day in the City of David a Saviour which is Christ the Lord And this is shall be a sign unto you ye shal find the child swad'led and laid in a cratch Thirdly the star that appeared notifying his comming into the world whereof not onely the wise men before mentioned but also generally all the Astronomers and Soothsayers of that age took special notice adjudging it to portend universal good to the earth some gathering thereupon that some God descended from heaven to the benefit of mankind and for that cause had that star an image erected to it in Rome and as Plinies words are Is Cometa unus toto orbe colitur That onely Comet in all the world is adored Fourthly his presentation in the Temple according to the Law of Moses where openly came old Simeon by the motion of the spirit for he had a revelation from God that he should not see death till he had seen the Lords Christ took the child in his arms acknowledged him for the Messiah prophesied that he should be a light to be revealed unto the Gentiles appointed for the fall and rising again o many in Israel with other events which afterwards came to pass So did likewise Anne the Prophetess as it is in the same Chapter Fiftly that most pitiful murder of all the Infants in and about Bethlehem upon this occasion as was prophesied by Jeremy saying A voice was heard on high mourning and bitter weeping Rachel weeping for her children and refused to be comforted because they were not Rachel was buried in the way to Ephrath which is Bethlehem and for that cause those infants were called her children albeit she were dead above two thousand years before they were slain and above one thousand and five hundred before Jeremy wrote this prophecy Among which Infants Herod also for more assurance slew an infant of his own for that he was descended by the Mothers side of the line of Judah Which cruelty comming to Augustus his ears he said he had rather be Herods swine then his son for that he being a Jew was prohibited by his religion to kill his swine though not ashamed to kill his Son Sixtly his flying into Egypt hereupon as also to fulfil that prophesie ' out of Egypt have I called my Son which Isaiah enlargeth further saying Behold the Lord rideth upon a light cloud which is his flesh or humanity and shal come into Egypt and all the Idols of Egypt shal tremble at his presence Which latter point Eusebius sheweth was fulfilled most evidently in the sight of all the world for that no nation came to Christian Religion with so great celerity and fervour as did the Egyptians who threw down their Idols before any other Nation And as they had been the first in Idolatry to other countries so were they the first by Christ his comming unto them that afterwards gave example of true return unto their Creator It followeth in Isaiah I wil deliver the Egyptians into the hands of cruel Lords these were the Roman Lords and Princes Pompey Caesar Antony c. ' And a migh-King shal reign over them c. this must needs be Augustus the Emperor who after the death of Cleopatra the last of the blood of the Ptolomies took possession of all Egypt and subjected it as a Province to the Roman Empire But after these temporal afflictions threatned against Egypt behold a most Evangelical promise of deliverance In that day shal five Cities of the Land of Egypt speak the Language of Canaan c. In that day shal the Altar of the Lord be in the midst of the Land of Egypt c. They shal cry unto the Lord because of their oppressors and he shall send them a Saviour and a great man and shal deliver them c. The Lord of Hosts shall bless them saying Blessed be my people of Egypt c. This blessing I say the Egyptians obtained by our Saviours being in Egypt whom here the Prophet calleth by his own name Jesus a Saviour a great man Finally the comming of John Baptist his forerunner or Messenger as was prophesied Behold I will send my Messenger and he shal prepare the way before me and the Lord whom ye seek shal speedily come to his Temple And again I will send you Eliah the Prophet that is to say John the Baptist in the spirit and power of Eliah as an Angel from Heaven expoundeth it appearing to Zacharias his Father in the Temple sent to foretel him both of his birth as also by what name he should call him even John saying Thou shalt call his name John he shal be great in the sight of the Lord he shall go before him in the power and spirit of Eliah And therefore out Saviour in plain terms he calleth him Eliah Mat. 11.14 And if you will receive it this is that Eliah which was to come he that hath ears to hear let him hear And as our Saviour gave him his due before a multitude then assembled calling him Eliah So did this Eliah also give our Saviour his due in acknowledging him for the Messiah not assuming unto himself that honour offered unto him by the Jews but refusing it absolutely and laying it upon Jesus our Saviour the true owner Then this is the record of John when the Jews sent Priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him who art thou and he confessed and denyed not and said plainly I am not the Christ I am not the Messiah I Baptize you with water but there is one among you whom you know not he it is that cometh after me which is preferred before me whose shoe latchet I am not worthy to unloose These things were done in Bethabara beyond Jordan where John did Baptize The next day John seeth Jesus comming to him and saith behold the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world This is he whom I said
the Apostle in a most fervent manner both prayeth and prophesieth to this effect Brethren my hearts desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they might be saved Then prophesieth at large in the chapter following and that most divinely as of their fall so of their general call in due time with many arguments and reasons to that purpose Which Prayer and Prophesie of hâ—â— proceeding from a Divine Instinct and Revelation no doubt shall one day take effect For it cannot be but that the word of God should take effect For it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth to the Jew first and also to the Grecian To the Jew first there is the promise there is the priviledge Lift up your heads now therefore O ye Jews sons of Abraham children of the promise to whom pertaineth the adoption and the glory and the covenants and the giving of the Law and the service of God and the promises of whom are the Fathers and of whom concerning the flesh Christ came I say lift up your heads and listen to the heavenly calls of Christ and his Apostle Paul For your Redemption draweth neer This is the generation of them that seek him of them that seek thy face Jacob Selah Lift up your heads ye gates and be ye lift up ye everlasting doors and the King of glory shall come in And let us Christians also upon whom the ends of the world are come lift up our heads and know remembring that parable of the Fig-tree when we see these things begin to come to pass that the Kingdom of God is near even at the doors Verily I say unto you This generation shal not pass till all these things be done Heaven and Earth shall pass away but my words shall not pass away They are the words of our Saviour And now Brethren to return to Paul I commend you to God and to the word of his grace which is able to build you up and to give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified Be favourable unto Zion for thy good pleasure build the walls of Jerusalem Then shalt thou accept the sacrifice of righteousness even the burnt Offering and Oblation then shall they offer Calves upon thine Altar O give salvation unto Israel out of Zion when God turneth the captivity of his people then shall Jacob rejoyce and Israel shal be glad When the Lord brought again the captivity of Zion we were like them that dream then was our mouth filled with laughter and our tongue with joy Then said they among the Heathen The Lord hath done great things for them The Lord hath done great things for us whereof we rejoyce O Lord bring again our Captivity as the Rivers in the South Save us O Lord our God and gather us from among the heathen that we may praise thine holy Name and glory in thy praise Comfort us according to the days that thou hast afflicted us and according to the yeers that we have seen evil Thou wilt arise and have mercy upon Zion for the time to have mercy thereon for the appointed time is come For thy servants delight in the stones thereof and have pity on the dust thereof Then the Heathen shall fear the Name of the Lord and all the Kings of the Earth thy glory When the Lord shall build up Zion and shall appear in his glory and shall turn unto the Prayer of the desolate and not despise their prayer This shall be written for the generation to come and the people which shall be created shall praise the Lord for he hath looked down from the height of his Sanctuary out of the heaven did the Lord behold the earth That he might hear the mourning of the Prisoner and deliver the children appointed unto death that they may declare the Name of the Lord in Zion and his praise in Jerusalem For God will save Zion and build the Cities of Judah that men may dwel there and have it in possession The seed also of his servants shall inherit it and they that love his Name shall dwell therein Surely the Lord will not fail his people neither will he forsake his Inheritance He hath alway remembred his Covenant and promise that he made to a thousand generations Thou wilt think upon thy Congregation which thou hast possessed of old and on the rod of thine Inheritance which thou hast redeemed and on mount Zion wherein thou hast dwelt Yea when the Lord turneth again the captivity of his people which will be when they turn unto him by hearty repentance not before when they cryed unto the Lord in their trouble he delivered them out of their distress then will he make even their very enemies to become their friends and give them grace and favour in the sight of all those Kings and Princes under whom they now live and groan in most miserable slavery and bondage as in their former captivities may be observed He saw when they were in affliction and heard their cry He remembred his Covenant towards them and repented according to the multitude of his mercies and gave them favour in the sight of all them that led them captive for the hearts of Kings are in the hands of the Lord as the Rivers of waters he turneth them which way soever it pleaseth him So the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus King of Persia after that their seventy yeers captivity in Babylon as also Darius and others to write in their behalf sundry most favourable Edicts for their return into their own Country again with large liberality for the re-edifying of the Temple of God in Jerusalem For the Lord had made them glad and turned the heart of the King of Asshur unto them to encourage them in the work of the house of God even the God of Israel Therefore Ezra blesseth the Lord for all these extraordinary favours saying blessed be the Lord God of our Fathers which so hath put in the Kings heart to beautifie the House of the Lord that is in Jerusalem c. Yea rather then fail of his promised deliverance to his people when they cry unto him in their distress He will rebuke even Kings for their sakes As he did Pharaoh King of Aegypt in the days of old with this peremptory command by the hand of Moses over and over Let my people go that they may serve me or if thou wilt not c. inflicting upon them one plague after another till at length they were forced to drive them away as it is in that place Rise up get you out from among my people and go serve the Lord as ye have said And the Egyptians did force the people because they would send them out of the Land in hast for they said we die all giving them favour in the mean time in the sight of
Prince of Peace born Therefore to him agreeth this circumstance of time very fitly most vainly therefore do the Jews after this time expect another Secondly Jacob who lived many yeares before prophesied of this time very precisely as already hath been alledged that the Messiah whom he there called Shiloh should come at that time when the Scepter or Government Regal was departed from the house of Judah which was in the days of Herod and never till then who first usurped that government his Father-in-Law King Hircanus with all his off-spring of the blood Royal of Judah together with the Sanhedrim put to death The Genealogies of the Kings and Princes burned A new pedegree for himselfe devised In a word all authority regal whatsoever belonging to that Tribe at that time quite extinguished And just according to this time was our Saviour born namely in the days of Herod Mat. 2.1 Therefore to him agreeth this circumstance of time very fitly most vainly therefore do the Jews after this time expect any longer Thirdly God himselfe saith by his Prophet Haggai that the Messiah whom he there calleth The desired of all Nations shall come in the time of the second Temple which was then but new built far inferiour in stateliness and glory to the former built by Solomon which the old men in the book of Ezra testifie by their weeping when they saw this second Temple and remembred the glory of the first The words of the Lord by his Prophet Haggai are these Speak unto Zerubbabel who is left among you that saw this house in her first glory and how do you see it now it is not in your eyes in comparison of it as nothing yet now be of good cheer O Zerubbabel for thus saith the Lord of Hosts yet a little while and I will shake the Heavens and the Earth and the Sea and the dry Land And I will move all Nations and the desire of all Nations shal come and I wil fil this house with glory saith the Lord of Hosts The glory of this last house shal be greater then the first c. which must needs be understood of the comming of the Messiah to wit his personal presence in this second Temple in whom is the fulness of glory and therefore could he and none other fil it with glory being himself indeed the King of glory Lift up your heads O ye gates and be ye lift up ye everlasting doors and the King of glory shal come in So doth Malachy prophesie in these words The Lord whom ye seek shal speedily come to his Temple even the Messenger of the Covenant whom ye desire behold he shal come saith the Lord of Hosts c. And so indeed he did for Christ Jesus came into the world during this second Temple and did himself likewise foretel the destruction thereof which came to pass even in that age Therefore to him agreeth this Circumstance of time very fitly most vainly therefore do the Jews after this time to wit the destruction of the second Temple expect any further Fourthly the Messiah by the true computation of Daniels Prophesie accounting his Hebdomades or Weeks for so many years to be multiplyed by seven that is to say Weeks of Years as they must needs be understood was to come just according to the time before mentioned his words are these Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thine holy City know therefore and understand that from the going forth of the Commandement to bring again the people and to build Jerusalem unto Messiah the Prince shal be seven weeks and threescore and two weeks And after threescore and two weeks shal the Messiah be slain and not for himself And the people of the Prince that shal come shal destroy the City and Sanctuary and he shal confirm the Covenant with many for one week and in the midst of the week he shal cause the sacrifice and oblations to cease Which Hebdomades or weeks of years whether we account from the first year of Cyrus who first determined the Jews reduction or from the second of Darius who confirmed and put the same in execution or from the twentieth year of Darius for that he then made a new Edict in the favour of Nehemias and sent him into Jury every way they will end in the reign of Herod and Augustus under whom Christ was born or in the reign of Tiberius under whom he suffered And by no interpretation can it be avoided but that this time is now our above one thousand five hundred years Besides this being a clear prophesie of the Messiah howsoever somewhat more intricate and obscure in respect of the years wherein the Prophet alludeth to the Captivity of Babylon as some think must needs be interpreted according to the former prophesies also of the Messiah And so doth the Prophet expound himself in the former words namely That the Messiah should be slain before the destruction of the City and Sanctuary Yet is there one week more to make up the number of seventy in the midst of which week the Messiah should be slain which came to pass accordingly for in the midst of that week that is about three years and an half after his baptisme Christ Jesus the true Messiah was slain and not for himself for Pilate could find no fault in him I finde no fault in the man I find no cause of death in him I am innocent of the blood of this just man look ye to it Not for himself but for us was he wounded as saith the Prophet Isaiah He was wounded for our transgressions Therefore to him doth this circumstance of time bear witness and consequently the Jews after these times by God himself appointed for the Messiah expecting yet for another besides the vanity of this their expectation they make God himself a lyar yea and all their forefathers Abraham Isaac and Jacob and all the holy Prophets whose Children they hold themselves to be who all of them saw these days and prophesied of them Abraham rejoyced to see my day saith our Saviour and he saw it and was glad All these make they Lyars with themselves whereby they shew themselves rather to be the Children of the Devil who is the Father of lyes then of Abraham who is the Father of the Faithful only For so did that vile Serpent at the first even dare to give God himself the lye as it is in Genesis God saith there to Adam In the day that thou eatest of such a tree thou shalt dye the death No saith the Devil it is not so ye shall not dye at all So do these Imps of Satan Generation of Vipers as John the Baptist in his time called them even just after the same manner For saith God by his Prophets at such a time will I send the Messiah into the world and by such and such marks ye shall know him no saith this froward Generation it is not
after me commeth a man that is preferred before me for he was before me and I knew him not but because he should be declared to Israel therefore am I come baptizing with water So John bare record saying I saw the spirit come down from Heaven like a Dove and abiding upon him And I knew him not but he that sent me to baptize with water he said unto me upon whom thou shalt see the spirit come down and stay stil upon him that is he which baptizeth with the Holy Ghost And I saw and bare record that this is the Son of God According as it is in the other three Evangelists more at large expressed how that Jesus when he was baptized came strait out of the water and lo the Heavens were opened unto him And John saw the spirit of God descending like a Dove and lighting upon him And loe a voice came from Heaven saying This is my beloved Son in whom I am wel pleased The next day John stood again and two of his Disciples and he beheld Jesus walking by and said Behold the Lamb of God and the two Disciples heard him speak and followed Jesus All this was done at Bethabara beyond Jordan in the sight and hearing of a number of people there present as three of our Evangelists do report which they would never have presumed to have done had not the matter been most evident and without all compass of denial or contradiction And truely no one thing in all this story of Jesus life doth more establish certainty of his being the true Messiah then that John the Baptist whose wisdom learning vertue and rare sanctity is confessed and recorded by the writings of all our adversaries should refuse the honour of the Messiah offered unto himself and lay it upon Jesus and also should direct those Disciples that depended upon him to the onely following and imbracing of Jesus doctrine which is most evidently proved that he did for that so many followers and Disciples as himself had not one appeared ever after that was not a Christian These circumstances I say of the birth and comming of the Messiah into this world so long before foretold by the Prophets and fulfilled so exactly in the person of our blessed Lord and Saviour wel considered I may at length conclude Heaven and Earth concurring Men and Angels with all other Creatures applauding thereunto yea and God himself from Heaven pronouncing it This is my beloved Son in whom I am wel pleased That therefore as sure as God is God and cannot lye nor give Testimony to any untruth so sure is Jesus Christ the Son of God the true Messiah and Saviour of the world no other to be expected His preaching or doctrine THus having evicted by the birth of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ together with the circumstances both before and after that he was by birthright the only legitimate as I may say and true born Messiah all others that were before him or since have sprung up or shal do hereafter to the worlds end but bastards and usurpers yea theeves and robbers and that in the highest degree of thee very that may be even robbing God of his honour which he wil not impart to any other it remaineth yet further to demonstrate the same by his life death resurrection and ascension with all other accidents and circumstances accordingly to be observed which may make this mystery more and more manifest or rather palpable as the Apostle witnesseth saying that which was from the beginning which we have heard which we have seen with these our eyes which we have looked upon and these hands of ours have handled c. that I say which we have seen and heard declare we unto you what can be more palpable After his baptisme he began to preach having before gotten his living as most conjecture with his own hands and eaten his bread with the sweat of his brows to shew himself true man and that he was made a curse for us as it is written In the sweat of thy brows shalt thou eat thy bread and what was his doctrine of this world or worldly delights of pleasure or profit no no quite contrary to the humors of this wicked world and to the corruptions of flesh and blood which procured him the more hatred as in all the four Evangelists Matthew Mark Luke and John who recorded both his sayings and doings may appear wholly tending to the sincere service of God in spirit and truth to the exaltation of Gods glory the beating down of mans pride by discovering his misery to the contempt of this wicked world and vain pomp thereof to the mortification of all sins in us patience peace of conscience c. in a word all directed to the manifestation of his Fathers will and amendment of mans life tending wholly to this one ground or principle Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy soul which is the first and great commandment and thy Neighbour as thy self on which two hangeth the whole Law and the Prophets The manner of his Doctrine was simple plain and easie altogether according to the evidence of the Spirit not in the enticing words of mans wisdom like the Heathen Orators and Phylosophers nor like the Scribes and Pharisees but with power and authority without either fear or flattery of any mans person rebuking all mens sins even to their faces which I say procured him such a general hatred It took away no one spiritual point of Moses Law but the Ceremonial only and Provincial which by the coming of the Messiah was to be taken away yea rather revived interpreted and made perfect the same corrupted much by the Jews false interpretations and glosses That as they taught commanding external observance only this adding internal obedience also For whereas that enjoyned according to the letter and as they interpreted to love our neighbours and friends and no further this adjoyneth love also your enemies bless them that curse you Matth. 5.43 Where that prohibited actually to commit Adultry and no more as they imagined this forbiddeth the adultry of the eye and of the very heart And so of all the rest of the decalogue our Saviours doctrine is nothing else but a most exact and sincere exposition according to the true intent of the Law-giver God the Father Therefore I conclude this doctrine so quite contrary to the gross humors of this wicked world and so repugnant to flesh and blood so wholly devoted to Gods glory and the sincere observation of his Law is the doctrine proper to the Messiah which the Prophets of God foretold should be delivered by him at his coming into the world His life and conversation FOr his life and conversation the express Image of his Doctrine it was stainless and without reproof even by the testimony of his very enemies acknowledged also by the Divels themselves A man of such gravity as never in his life he was noted to
blindness in this point and in them the whole Nation of the Jews to this day Ye perceive nothing at all nor yet do you consider that it is expedient for us that one man die for the people and that the whole Nation perish not c. But he that will read the whole story of Christ crucified with the particulars described many hundred yeers before the same fell out let him turn to Isaiah and acknowledge him for an Evangelist who to signifie the strangeness of the case beginneth first with a preface Who will believe our report c. All which narration Rabbi Jonathan the author of the Chaldy Paraphrase applyeth to the murder of the Messiah by the Jews whereunto agree Rabbi Simeon Rabbi Hadersan and others proving further out of Dan. 9.27 That after the Messiah shall have preached half seven yeers he shall be slain which disagreeth little or nothing from the account of us Christians Also in their Thalmud it is set down for a principle and the sentence pronounced beforehand peremptorily and in plain terms that the Messiah at his coming shall be put to death So then I may conclude upon all these particulars of Christ his Death Passion foretold by the Prophets prefigured in the Law and so expounded and acknowledged by the Jews themselves the ancient Rabbins before mentioned and finally so exactly fulfilled in our Lord and Saviour as by the quotations in the margent may appear together with the mild manner of his death praying for his enemies Father forgive them and meekly recommending his soul into the hands of God Father into thy hands I commend my spirit with other strange accidents and circumstances that miraculous eclipse of the Sun at that very instant from the sixt to the ninth hour there was darkness over all the land the vail of the Temple rent in twain from the top to the bottome and the earth did quake and the stones were cloven and the graves did open themselves and many bodies of the Saints which slept arose c. I say upon all these particularities and circumstances I hope I may conclude as it is in that place with the Centurion and those that were with him watching Jesus who when they saw the earthquake and the things that were done they feared greatly saying Truly this was the Son of God And all the people that came together to that sight beholding the things which were done smote their breasts and returned So may I conclude Truly this was the Son of God truly this is the Messiah and let all the people of the Jews come together again to this sight and behold him whom they have pierced and smite their breasts pricked in their hearts like those Jews in the Acts and cry out Men and Brethren what shall we do and return to the Lord and be baptised every one in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins which God grant And the Lord pour upon them the spirit of grace and of compassion that in soul and spirit they may look upon him whom they have pierced and lament for him as it is in the Prophet every Tribe and Family apart His Resurrection FOr his Resurrection it was also foretold by the Prophets and prefigured in Jonas David saith in the person of the Messiah of whom he prophesied in divers places and was a type I have set the Lord always before me c. Wherefore mine heart is glad and my tongue rejoyceth my flesh also doth rest in hope for thou wilt not leave my soul in the grave nor suffer thine holy One to see corruption Also Hosea saith After two days will he revive us and in the third day he will raise us up Us in the plural number pointing as it should seem both at the Resurrection of our Saviour the third day as also the raising of a number of the Saints together with him at the same time prefigured in Jonas together with the time of his abode in the Sepulcher and foreshewed many times by our Saviour himself to his Disciples such and such things shall be done to the Son of man He shall be apprehended evil entreated mocked scourged put to death but the third day he shall rise again Also to the Jews demanding a sign he answered Destroy this Temple and in three days I will raise it up again And at another time An evil and adulterous generation seeketh a sign but no signe shall be given them save the signe of the prophet Jonas for as Jonas was three days and three nights in the Whales belly so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth Which Prophesie of his they full wel remembring and fearing the event immediately upon his burial they went to Pilate saying Sir we remember that Deceiver said while he was living within three days I will rise again Command therefore the Sepulcher to be made sure till the third day lest hit Disciples steal him away by night and say unto the people he is risen from the dead and so the last error be worse then the first All which was done according to their desire a strong watch appointed the Sepulcher sealed up all things made so sure by the Jews as might be for they had gotten from Pilate a special commission for that purpose to whom he was as forward to grant it as they to ask it and that in as large and ample manner as themselves knew or could devise All which notwithstanding after a most miraculous manner The Angel of the Lord descending from heaven with an earthquake and rolling back the stone from the Door of the Sepulcher the Keepers astonied and become as dead men Jesus our Saviour according to the former prophesies is risen again and hath appeared to his Apostles and Disciples his faithful witnesses a number of them at divers several times to whom he presented himself alive as S. Luke writeth by many infallible tokens being seen of them by the space of forty days and speaking of those things which appertain to the Kingdom of God howsoever the Jews suborned the Soldiers giving them largely to say His Disciples came by night and stole him away while they slept which saying is noised among the Jews to this day How probably the former circumstances considered let the world judge Therefore I will conclude this point also with that of Paul touching the Resurrection of our Lord and Saviour He hath declared himself mightily to be the Son of God by the Resurrection from the dead and consequently that Messiah promised before by the Prophets in the holy Scriptures as the same Apostle urgeth His Ascention FOr his Ascension it was also foretold by the Prophets and necessarily followeth upon his Resurrection to be believed to wit that having finished the work of our Redemption here one earth he ascended up into heaven and there sitteth at the
this Jesus we could never obtain any profit by our gods Thus much confessed this Patron of Paganism concerning the maim that his gods had received by the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ which albeit he spake with a malicious mind to bring Christians in hatred yet is the confession notable and confirmeth that story which Plutarch in his forenamed Book doth report That in the latter yeers of the reigne of the Emperour Tiberius a strange voice and exceeding horrible clamour with hideous cries screetches and howlings were heard by many in the Grecian Sea complaining That the great God Pan was now departed And this affirmeth Plutarch that was a Gentile to have been alledged and approved before the Emperour Tiberius who marvelled greatly thereat and could not by all his Diviners and Soothsayers whom he called to that consultation gather out any reasonable meaning of this wonderful accident But we Christians comparing the time wherein it hapned unto the time of Christ his death and passion and finding the same fully to agree we may more then probably perswade our selves that by the death of their great god Pan which signifieth all was imported the utter overthrow of all wicked Spirits and Idols upon earth according to that Vision of our Lord and Saviour before mentioned I saw Sathan like lightning fall down from heaven c. and again in another place Now is the judgement of this world now shall the Prince of this world be cast out even this great god Pan who in another place is called the god of this world the Prince that ruleth in the Ayr and therefore may well be said by our Saviour to fall down from heaven being before time worshipped in those Idols Oracles and heathenish Prophanations as a God in all the world and exalted as it were into the highest heavens But behold as Dagon that Idol of the Philistims fell flat on his face and that twice his head and hands dismembred before the Ark of God in Ashdod so did Sathan this great god Pan the god of this world the Prince of the Ayr c. let me give the Divel his due yea rather more then his due as doth the holy Scripture so did Sathan I say immediately upon the coming of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ into this world and preaching of his Gospel the Ark of his everlasting Covenant fall flat on his face to the ground his head and hands dismembred according to that first promise and covenant to our first parents which was this that he to wit the Messiah should break the Serpents head c. which he had done not only in his own person by subduing Sathan with all his whole legions of Divels and Powers infernal trampling them under his feet but also in his members to whom he gave like authority as before he gave them power and authority over all Divels yea over all the power of the enemy which argueth again the power and omnipotency of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ who not only in his own person here on earth but also in his servants disciples and followers was able to conquer and subdue even the Divels themselves as they themselves acknowledge Jesus I acknowledge and Paul I know c. And thus much of the subjection of Spirits The punishment of Enemies NOw resteth this his Divine Power and Omnipotency yet further to be manifested by another consideration of his Justice and severity shewed from heaven upon divers his greatest enemies here on earth after his departure out of this world as we may read in Josephus of Herod the first who persecuted Christ even in his cradle and slew all those Infants in and about Bethlehem and that other Herod Tetrarch of Galilee who put John Baptist to death and scorned Jesus before his passion himself scorned afterwards by the Emperour and disgracefully sent into exile first to Lions in France and after that to the most desert and inhabitable places in Spain where he with Heredias wandred up and down in extream calamity all their life time and finally ended their days as forlorn and abandoned of all men In which misery also it is recorded that the dancing daughter of Herodias who demanded John Baptists head being on a time to pass over a frozen River suddenly the Ice brake and she in her fall had her head cut off by the same Ice without hurting the rest of her body So likewise it is recorded in the Acts of Herod Agrippa Who stretched forth his hand to vex certain of the Church killed James the brother of John with the sword and imprisoned Peter how immediately thereupon as it is in that chapter going down to Cesarea he was there in a solemn assembly striken from heaven with a most horrible disease whereby his body putrified and was eaten of worms as also Josephus maketh mention Pilate that gave sentence of death against our Lord and Saviour we read that after great disgrace received in Jurie he was sent home into Italy and there slew himself with his own hands And of the very Emperors themselves who lived from Tiberius under whom Jesus suffered unto Constantine the great under whom Christian Religion took Dominion over the world which contained the space of some three hundred years or thereabouts very few or none escaped the manifest scourges of Gods dreadful justice shewed upon them at the knitting up of their days Whereas since the time of Constantine whiles Emperors have been Christians as one hath observed few or no such examples can be shewed except upon Julian the Apostata Valens the Arrian heretick or some other of like detestable and notorious wickedness And thus much of particular men chastised by Jesus But if we desire to have a full example of his justice upon a whole Nation together let us consider what befel Jerusalem and the people of that place for their barbarous cruelty practised upon him in his death and Passion And if we believe Josephus and Phylo the Jewish Historiograpers who lived in those times it can hardly be expressed by the tongue or pen of man what insufferable calamities and miseries were inflicted upon that people presently after his ascension first of all by Pilate their Governour under Tibarius and then again by Petronius under Caligula after that by Cumanus under Claudius and lastly by Festus and Albious under Nero through whose cruelties that Nation was enforced at last to rebel and take arms against the Roman Empire which was the cause of their utter ruine and extirpation by Titus and Vespasian At what time besides the overthrow of their City burning of their Temple and other infinite distresses which Josephus an eye witness protesteth that no speech or discourse humane can declare the same Author likewise recordeth eleven hundred thousand persons to have been slain and fourscore and seventeen thousand taken alive who were either put to death afterward in publike Tryumphs or sold
right hand of God David saith Thou art gone up on high thou hast led captivity captive and received gifts for men c. And in another place The Lord said to my Lord Sit thou at my right hand c. which is the place alledged by our Saviour wherewith he put the Jews to silence both as touching the Deity and the Humanity of the Messiah for saith he If David call him Lord how is he then his Son Where we may see David acknowledgeth him his Lord and consequently his God even the Son of God sitting at the right hand of God for the present as touching his Divinity afterwards to be accomplished also in his Humanity which David believed as verily should come to pass and foresaw by the eye of Faith as did Thomas when it was come to pass putting his hand into his side and crying My Lord and my God so saith David here my Lord The Lord said unto my Lord c. I say this article of our Faith as touching his Ascension it followeth necessarily to be concluded upon his Resurrection it needeth no other proof For that whosoever seeth and acknowledgeth that Jesus being dead could raise himself to life again will easily believe also that he was able to ascend up to heaven at his pleasure And hereof we have also all his Apostles and Disciples for witnesses eye witnesses in whose presence and sight he ascended as it is in that place They looked stedfastly towards heaven as he went and in witness thereof gave up their lives and sealed the same with their blood Therefore I conclude upon all these premisses so necessarily following and depending one upon another to wit his birth life doctrine actions death resurrection ascension seeing nothing hath hapned in the same which was not foretold by the Prophets of God nor any thing foretold by the same Prophets concerning the Messiah which was not fulfilled most exactly in the person of our Saviour We may most certainly assure our selves that as God is truth and therefore can neither foretel an untruth nor yeild testimony to the same so it cannot be but that these things which have been shewed to be so manifestly fore prophesied and so evidently accomplished in the person of this our blessed Lord and Saviour must needs I say assure us Christians that he was indeed the true Messiah and quite confound the Jews in their vain imagination and expectation of another The sending of the holy Ghost with the first Plantation and wonderful increase of the Church NOw for those things that followed after his Ascension as arguments and effects of his Divine power they were also foretold by the Prophets to wit the sending of the holy Ghost that Comforter from on high with the sudden strange and miraculous increase of his Church throughout the world even against all worldly power and policy by the only power and ministry of his word confirmed with signs and wonders that followed wrought by his Apostles Disciples and other his faithful servants and witnesses in the Primitive Church then the which there can be no greater argument in the world of the truth of Christian Religion if we consider how all other Religions in the world have grown and been maintained by force of Arms Fire and Sword this only by the preaching of Christ crucified in all Nations hath encreased and multiplyed and shal do more and more to the end of the world this must increase all others decrease howsoever the Turks have possessed the greatest part of the world at this day yet our Saviours prophesie in the end shall be found true this Gospel of the kingdom shall be preached throughout the whole world for a witness unto all Nations Now for the first increase of it How small a number were there gathered together after the ascension at Jerusalem from whence they were to march even the twelve Apostles no great army God wot to conquer the world as it is in that place The Law shall go forth from Zion and the Word of God from Jerusalem There was the Rendevous there they stayed there they rested there they continued in prayer and fasting till such time as Christ after his ascension according to his promise sent them the Comforter even the holy Ghost enduing them with power from on high and arming them at all points for so great a work When and where being gathered together all with one accord in one place suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a mighty wind and filled all the house where they sate And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like fire and it sate upon each of them and they were all filled with the holy Ghost and began to speak with other Tongues as there is mentioned And with these fiery cloven tongues these twelve silly souls without any means men money or munition in a very short time conquered a great part of the world insomuch that at one Sermon of S. Peter at the same time there were added to the Church three thousand souls and so multiplyed successively from time to time and from place to place spreading it self from one Country to another and from one Nation to another and so at length into all Nations There is neither Speech nor Language where their voice is not heard Their line is gone forth through all the earth and their words into the ends of the world as we see it is come to pass this day Of which coming of the holy Ghost in the time of the Messiah Joel prophesied saying And it shall be in the last days that I will pour out my spirit c. and on my servants and on my handmaids I will pour out my spirit c. It filled all the house where they sate and it sate upon each of them and they were all filled with the holy Ghost Here is a deluge of Gods grace poured upon the world immediately upon the ascension of our Lord and Saviour First upon his Apostles and Disciples of those times in greater measure as the first fruits of his spirit by the which they wrought miracles spake all manner of languages healed all manner of diseases cast out Divels raised the dead and lastly sealed the same with their blood Poor Fishermen and such like of no reputation in the world without learning without credit without means as before yet by this means conquered the world to the subjection of their master Christ that stone cast aside of the Builders but now become the head-stone of the corner this the Lords doing and it is marvellous in our eyes The sincerity of the Evangelists NOw for the Evangelists or writers of the Gospel that is to say the registers of his Birth Life Doctrine and Death It is to be noted that our Saviour being God took a different way from the custome of man in delivering unto us his Laws and Precepts For that men who have been law-makers unto the world