and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling savour Eph. 5.2 2. The death of Christ is to be considered as the death of a Testator for so is Christ to be considered also He himself calls his bloud the bloud of the New Testament or the New Testament in his bloud I very well know that the Greek word which we render Testament does signifie Covenant but yet it does not always do so in the New Testament For sometimes it signifies the last Will or Testament of a Testator And when it does so it does not exclude the notion of a Covenant neither but rather imply it For the right we have to the inheritance is one part of the Covenant but then the declaration of that right is peculiarly and properly the part of a Testament which signifies the last will of a man by which he disposeth of his goods Matt. 26.28 Mark 14.24 Luk. 22.20 Our Blessed Saviour is said to be the heir of all things And we are elsewhere told that the Father loveth the Son and hath given all things into his hand And we are farther informed upon what account it is that the Father loveth the Son and consequently hath given all things into his hands in these words of our Saviour Therefore doth my Father love me because I lay down my life From whence it is Evident that upon the account of the voluntary death of Christ this full power and authority is given to Christ as the great Mediator between God and man Christ was in the form of God and thought it not robbery to be equal with God But made himself of no reputation and took upon him the form of a servant and was made in the likeness of men and being found in fashion as a man he humbled himself and became obedient unto death even the death of the Cross Heb. 1.2 Joh. 3.35 10 17. Phil. 2.6 Thus low did the Son of God stoop for our Salvation from being equal with God to the likeness of men and from the form of God to that of a servant from life to death from glory to shame and contempt If you would know the effects of all this the next words will inform us Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him and given him a name which is above every name That at the Name of Jesus every knee should bow of things in heaven and things in earth and things under the earth and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father Our Blessed Saviour a little before his death bequeaths a Kingdom to his followers as a Testator in these words and I appoint unto you a Kingdom 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as my Father hath appointed unto me Luk. 22.29 But then by his death he procured our right to this glorious inheritance For where a Testament is there must also of necessity be the death of the Testator For a Testament is of force after men are dead otherwise it is of no strength at all whilst the Testator liveth 'T is the death of the Testator that makes way to the Heir He hath no claim till the Testator dye But upon his death his title is unquestionable and it is not in any man's power to alter what is thus setled and confirmed Though it be but a man's Testament yet if it be confirmed no man disanulleth or addeth thereto Heb. 9.16 17. Gal. 3.15 Our Lord suffered the most shamefull and painfull death He did this voluntarily and not by Constraint He dyed not intestate nor yet like other Testators who when they have made their Testaments do avoid death with all their care and skill and are not willing to part with their lives for the benefit of their Heirs or Successours 'T was otherwise with our Saviour I lay down my life says he no man taketh it from me but I lay it down of my self I have power to lay it down and have power to take it again Joh. 10.17 18. Now after Christ had suffered death and risen from the dead he tells his Followers of the plenitude of his power and authority All power is given unto me says he in heaven and in earth And a while after his own ascension into heaven he sends the Holy Ghost which is the earnest of our inheritance Mat. 28.18 Eph. 1.14 3. The death of Christ is to be considered as the death of a Martyr or a Witness Our Blessed Saviour had professed himself to be the light of the World the Messias whom the Scriptures had foretold and that he came from heaven and that he was the Christ the Son of the Blessed It is of great moment that these truths should be sufficiently confirmed to us Upon these things depends the whole Religion that he taught If these things be sufficiently proved we can make no doubt of the truth of any part of the Doctrine which Jesus taught Joh. 8.12 c. 5.39 6 40. Mark 14.61 62. Now it will appear that the death of Christ does mightily confirm these truths and that Jesus gave up himself to death for the same end and purpose When Pilate asked Jesus whether he were a King or not Jesus answered thou sayest that I am a King that is Jesus answered in the affirmative To this end was I born and for this cause came I into the World that I should bear witness unto the truth With respect to the undaunted courage of Jesus before Pilate St. Paul saith that before Pontius Pilate he witnessed a good confession Joh. 18.37 1 Tim. 6.13 'T was upon this account that Jesus was put to death He was accused indeed of something else that was charged upon him But the Testimony was weak and incoherent that with which he was born down was that he professed himself to be Christ a King Or as it is in St. John because he made himself the Son of God Our Saviour was silent when the false witnesses accused him But when the High Priest asked him if he were the Christ the Son of the Blessed and he answered I am c. We find thereupon the High Priest renting his Cloaths and saying what need we any farther witnesses ye have heard the blasphemy what think ye and they all condemned him to be worthy of death Luk. 23.2 Joh. 19.7 Mark 14.61 Our Saviour dyed for his adhering to this great truth and that he did so must be acknowledged a great confirmation of it and of the Religion which he planted Life is too sweet a thing to be trifled away for nothing Much less will a man in his wits dye in confirmation of a lye Had Jesus been disposed he might have kept out of the way of his enemies or have saved himself by denying the truth He had now a great temptation before him either to renounce what he had professed or by some trick or mean art or other to escape the danger But he is far from taking any such course to deliver himself but instead thereof confirms
And in that case the anointing of Solomon decided the difference Buxtorf Lexic Rabbin in 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 But the Priest that succeeded his Father was always anointed The high-Priesthood being not successive as the Kingdom of David was Rabboth fol. 176. The Kings of Israel were not anointed with the holy Oil. Jehu indeed was anointed but not with the holy Oil of Moses but with a certain Balsam Pesikta fol. 10. c. 1. Maimon H. Kele Hammikdash c. 1. Siphra fol. 17. c. 3. That during the second Temple the High Priests were not anointed the holy Oil having been hid and lost and that the sacerdotal garments served instead thereof That the Kings of the house of David were to be anointed by a fountain of water for which they ground themselves upon 1 King 1.38 and in the day time Lev. 6.20 Thus had the Jews under the law of Moses the shadow of good things to come but these excellent things which they had in type we have in substance The law was given by Moses but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ Joh. 1.17 Our blessed Saviour is both Prophet Priest and King He is the great Prophet who hath taught us the will of God Our great High Priest who made attonement for us and is entered into the Holy of Holies He is our King to rule and govern us and from him we expect the great and unspeakable blessing of eternal life And as the Priests and Kings of old were set apart to their offices and dignities by a certain Oil prescribed in the Law of Moses so was our Blessed Saviour by a better anointing of which that Oil was but a shadow namely by the Holy Ghost which did not onely design him and set him apart to these great and important offices but also enable him for the performance of them Thus the Apostle tells us that God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power Act. 10.38 Now our Saviour was anointed with the Holy Ghost First at his Conception Thus the Angel tells the blessed Virgin The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee and the power of the highest shall overshadow thee Therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God Luk. 1.35 Secondly at his Baptism at the river Jordan Matt. 3.13 Mark 1.9 Now when all the people were baptized it came to pass that Jesus also being baptized and praying the heaven was opened And the Holy Ghost descended in a bodily shape like a dove upon him and a voice came from heaven which said Thou art my beloved Son in thee I am well pleased Luk. 3.21 22. Then did the Holy Ghost descend visibly upon Jesus and as of old as I said before anointing was used among the Jews as a sign of God's election and choice of the person anointed so was it now And for the greater assurance of it a voice came from Heaven saying Thou art my beloved Son c. Thus was Jesus declared to be chosen of God by the descent of the Holy Ghost And to this I may add the words of the Prophet to the same purpose Behold my servant whom I uphold mine elect in whom my soul delighteth I have put my spirit upon him c. Isa 42.1 And St. Luke tells presently upon the Baptism of Jesus that he being full of the Holy Ghost returned from Jordan and was led by the spirit into the wilderness Luk. 4.1 And after he was tempted in the Wilderness he tells us that Jesus returned in the power of the spirit into Galilee ver 14. And when he was in the Synagogue at Nazareth he opened the book which was delivered him and found that place where 't was written The spirit of the Lord is upon me because he hath anointed me to preach the Gospel to the poor c. And said unto them This day is this Scripture fulfilled in your ears v. 21. Our blessed Saviour though he were sanctified from the Womb and was anointed by the Holy Ghost yet when he was baptized in Jordan and about thirty years of age he was again anointed by the same divine spirit more publickly and openly than before He was now entring on his great ministry and about to be tempted by the Devil and is now filled by the Holy Ghost and thereby enabled and prepared for that work which he was going about In a word he who was at his Conception anointed with the Holy Ghost was also at his Baptism Matt. 3.16 17. when he was entring upon his ministry not onely by a voice from heaven proclaimed the beloved Son of God but declared to be so by the descending of the spirit of God like a Dove Vid. Exod. 28.41 29.21 Lev. 8.12 with v. 30. See also Abravenel on Exod. 29.21 and lighting upon him It is observed of Aaron the first High Priest and type of the Messias that he was also twice anointed with the holy Oil. And for David who was a most eminent type of the Messias He is said to be twice anointed also Once at Bethlehem during the life of Saul by the hands of Samuel upon which it is said And the spirit of the Lord came upon 1 Sam. 16.13 David from that day forward After this he is said to have been anointed at Hebron by the men of Judah 2 Sam. 2.4 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Theodorer in 2 Reg. Quaest 8. I do grant and it cannot be denied that David was but once anointed with the holy Oil and that where it is said afterward that the men of Judah anointed him the meaning is onely this that they chose him and openly owned and acknowledged him for their King as appears by comparing 2 Sam. 2.4 with chap. 4.3 17. It is enough to my present purpose that David who was more privately anointed at Bethlehem was afterward so publickly owned and acknowledged to be the King that he is said again to have been anointed For in this he was eminently a type of our Lord Christ who was from his Conception anointed with the Holy Ghost and when he was upon his Baptism entring upon his administration was publickly declared to be the Son of God by a voice from heaven and by the descent of the Holy Ghost Among the Jewish Constitutions this was one That the Kings of the house of David were to be anointed by a fountain of water This was a tradition from their Elders grounded upon what we read of Solomon that when he was to be anointed King Zadok and Nathan and the rest that attended upon him brought him unto Gihon 1 King 1.38 This Gihon was a place of waters as appears 2 Chron. 32.30 Let this tradition be as old as you will suppose it came from Moses and was delivered from Mount Sinai as the Jews say their Oral law was so it came to pass that our Jesus the great King of the house of David was anointed by the waters
are also said to be the figures of the true that is of Heaven it self as it follows in the next words And we shall find in this Epistle to the Hebrews many things to this purpose by which we may learn that the Legal services and Sanctuary were shadows of good things to come and particularly that the most holy place in the Sanctuary was a type of the highest Heavens Heb. 9.7 8 9. But unto the second i.e. the most holy place which was within the veil and beyond the first Sanctuary through which the High Priest entred in his passage to it went the High Priest alone once every year the Holy Ghost this signifying that the way into the holiest of all was not yet made manifest whiles as the first Tabernacle was yet standing which was a figure for the time present Again Heb. 10.1 the law having a shadow of good things to come and not the very image of the things can never with those sacrifices which they offer year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect Again he calls those things the patterns of things in the Heavens Heb. 9.23 ch 6.20 Conformably hereunto he tells us that Jesus is entred within the veil that is into Heaven represented by the most holy place The type or sign being frequently put for the anti-type He elsewhere speaks of a liberty gained for us to enter into the holiest by the bloud of Jesus Heb. 10.19 i. e. to enter into Heaven It is to be considered that this Epistle was written to the Hebrews and does very much refer to the customs and usages of that people and is not throughly to be understood without some knowledge of those matters When the Authour of it affirms that the Sanctuary was a symbolical representation of something else and that the Holy of Holies was a figure of Heaven into which Christ our high Priest is entred he speaks the sense of the Hebrew Nation And that so it is I shall prove not onely from the later Jewish Writers but from the most ancient of them also Abravenel tells us out of the Bereshith Rabba Abravenel in legem â— 190. c. 4. that the Shittim wood in the Tabernacle answered to the Seraphim above and that as there are Stars above so there were Stars in the Tabernacle And the same Authour adds that he that searcheth will find that all that was made in the Tabernacle was after the similitude of natural things The Tabernacle says he whose length was thirty cubits was divided into three parts The two first exteriour parts were allowed for the Priests to enter into and these do signifie the Sea and the dry Land which men have the liberty to converse upon But says he the third part or Holy of Holies signifies the Heavens which the foot of man does not enter into See Abravenel in his Preface to Joshua for the Heavens are the Lord 's Another of their late Authours tells us 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 R. Bechai in Leg. f. 108. c. 2. that the Tabernacle was a Specimen or representation of the Creation of the Vniverse And that the three parts of the Sactuary answer to the three worlds The world of Angels represented by the Holy of Holies the heavenly Orbs by that part where the Shew-bread and Candlestick were and the lower world by the Court And that open Court seems a very fit representation of this lower world as containing in it earth and air without a covering and sire and water also in the Laver or Sea and upon the Altar which stood in the Court which are the Elements of this lower world The same Authour tells us that in the building of the Sanctuary there were correspondences to the building of the world f. 127. c. 4. And he cites a Midrash to thâ—s purpose wherein they are said to answer each other viz. with reference to the Creation it is said he stretcheth out the Heavens like a Curtain Isa 40.22 with reference to the Tabernacle it was commanded that they should make Curtains Exod. 26. with respect to the Creation it is said let the waters be gathered together Gen. 1.9 with reference to the Tabernacle was commanded the making a Laver or Sea of brass Exod. 38.8 When the world was created it was said let there be lights Gen. 1.14 and when the Tabernacle was to be built it is said thou shalt make a Candlestick of pure Gold Exod. 25.31 In the creation of the world there is mention of Fowl that was to fly Gen. 1.20 in the Tabernacle were Cherubims that stretched forth their Wings on high Exod. 25.20 In the story of the Creation it is written God created man Gen. 1.27 In that of the Tabernacle it is said Take thou unto thee Aaron thy Brother Exod. 28.1 In the creation of the world it is said The Heavens and the Earth were finished Gen. 2.1 In reference to the Tabernacle it is said Thus was all the work of the Tabernacle of the tent of the Congregation finished Exod. 39.32 Several other correspondences he mentions which I omit he adds that the Tabernacle below was a figure of the Tabernacle above 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Theodor. in Exod. Quaest 60. v. Quaest 72. De Vita Mosis l. 3. No wonder then that a Christian writer should call the Tabernacle the image of the creation when the Jews themselves affirm the same Philo the Jew tells us that it was needfull that they which built the Sanctuary should make use of the same materials which go to the making up of the Universe and he discourses at large of the symbolical representation of the Universe in the several parts of the Tabernacle and he tells us very expresly that the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or the Holy of Holies were 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. They were Spiritually or typically to be understood Josephus the Jew lived in the Apostles times Joseph Antiqu. l. 3. c. 8. and was a Priest and a learned man in the Jewish affairs He gives us a particular account of the structure of the Tabernacle and adds that if any man consider the structure of the Tabernacle the vestments of the Priests and the utensils which they used in their Legal service he will conclude that their Law-giver was a divine person For all these things saith he were 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. They were resemblances of the Vniverse He adds that for two parts of the Tabernacle they were left common to all the Priests and these saith he represent the earth and the sea which are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 left at common for all men But then the third part is assigned to God 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 because men may not enter that holy place where God dwells Where he makes the Holy of Holies a figure of Heaven it self as the divine Authour of the Epistle to the Hebrews doth To what hath been said I shall add the words of Solomon as
I shall mention two which were great proofs of our Saviour's Ascension into Heaven and of his power there and his being concerned on the behalf of his Church The first is the miraculous descent of the Holy Ghost at the day of Pentecost Act. 2. Our Saviour had promised to his sorrowfull Disciples a Comforter who should abide with them for ever This he did before his death and the better to support them under the sorrow which his death would occasion Joh. 14.16 18. ch 15. v. 26. and ch 16. v. 7. He repeated this promise after his Resurrection Luk. 24.49 And before his Ascension he commands them that they should not depart from Jerusalem but wait for the promise of the Father which saith he ye have heard of me Act. 1.4 This promise he made good Act. 2. To the great amazement of the multitude which from several nations were come together to Jerusalem at the feast of Pentecost The Holy Ghost which was then miraculously bestowed upon the Disciples of Jesus was his Advocate and pleaded his cause Our Saviour had foretold that he would bear witness of him And this the Holy Ghost did Joh. 15.26 1. As he testified that Jesus was a true Prophet when he promised this heavenly gift to his disciples and did thereby bear Testimony to his veracity and make it appear that he was not an impostor or cheat They were now convinced abundantly that Jesus had made his word good Joh. 16.7 10. And now there was no suspicion left of his being a false Prophet or deceiver 2. Of the power and autority which Jesus had He told his followers that all power was given him in Heaven and Earth Mat. 28.18 This he told them after his Resurrection and a little before his Ascension into Heaven He gave at the day of Pentecost an undeniable proof of it Jesus had said before his death to the elders and chief Priests and Scribes that asked him if he were the Christ Hereafter shall ye see the Son of man sit on the right hand of the power of God Luk. 22.69 The meaning of which words is plainly this that they should be convinced e'er long of his great power which he had in Heaven upon his exaltation to that place and at the day of Pentecost he gave a great demonstration of this power of his And St. Peter does conclude from it that he is the Christ This Jesus saith he hath God raised up whereof we are all witnesses Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost he hath shed forth this which ye now see and hear And presently afterward he concludes as he very justly might do Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God hath made that same Jesus whom ye have Crucified both Lord and Christ Act. 2. v. 32 33 36. Secondly another great effect following the exaltation of Jesus was the success of his Religion in the world which was a farther argument of the power of Jesus in Heaven and of his being concerned for his Church and an evident proof that this Jesus is the Christ But for the better speaking to this I shall shew First that according to the prophecies of old all nations were to serve the Messias Secondly that these prophecies have been in great measure fulfilled in our Jesus whose Religion did greatly spread over the world Thirdly that this success of the Religion of Jesus is an unexceptionable proof that Jesus is the Christ According to the prophecies of old all nations were to serve the Messias and consequently that the partition-wall between the Jew and Gentile should be thrown down Thus in those words of Jacob which the ancient Jews understand of the Messias it is said that unto him shall the gathering of the people be Gen. 49.10 That is the nations or Gentiles should obey and serve him No less is promised than this I shall give thee the Heathen for thine inheritance and the utmost parts of the earth for a possession Ps 2.8 The Prophet Isaiah foretells also that it shall come to pass in the last days that the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established in the top of the mountains and shall be exalted above the Hills and all nations shall flow unto it Isa 2.2 And again In that day there shall be a root of Jesse which shall stand for an ensign of the people To it shall the Gentiles seek Isa 11.10 And again the same Prophet tells us The Lord will have mercy on Jacob and will yet chuse Israel and set them in their own land And the strangers shall be joined with them and they shall cleave to the house of Jacob Isa 14.1 And farther we read It is a light thing that thou shouldest be my Servant to raise up the Tribes of Jacob and to restore the preserved of Israel I will also give thee for a light to the Gentiles that thou mayst be my Salvation unto the end of the earth c. 49.6 To which we may add Isa 54. as also what he tells us afterwards The Gentiles shall come to thy light and King 's to the brightness of thy rising The abundance of the Sea shall be converted to thee the forces of the Gentiles shall come unto thee c. 60.3 5. We shall hear what the Prophet Hosea also tells us I will have mercy upon her that had not obtained mercy and I will say to them which were not my people thou art my people Hos 2.23 No less perhaps is meant than this in that vision of Zechary where Jerusalem is not permitted to come under a measuring line and that because she should be inhabited as Towns without walls for the multitude of men and Cattel therein Zech. 2.4 However sure I am that the same Prophet speaks plainly in these words Many people and strong nations shall come to seek the Lord of Hosts in Jerusalem and to pray before the Lord c. 8.22 And as plainly still afterwards in these words Rejoyce greatly O daughter of Zion shout O daughter of Jerusalem Behold thy King cometh unto thee he is just and having Salvation lowly and riding upon an Asse and upon a colt the foal of an Asse And I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim and the horse from Jerusalem and the battel bow shall be cut off and he shall speak peace unto the Heathen And his Dominion shall be from Sea even to Sea and from the river even to the ends of the earth c. 9. v. 4 10. To which I shall add the words of the Prophet Malachy From the rising of the Sun unto the going down of the same my name shall be great among the Gentiles and in every place incense shall be offered unto my name and a pure offering for my name shall be great among the Heathen saith the Lord of Hosts Mal. 1.11 By which we may see that the Gentiles according to these prophecies were to submit to
Earth The third day on which Jesus rose considered as the first day of the Week pag. 264 265. CHAP. IX Of the Ascension of Jesus into Heaven That the Messias was to ascend thither This proved from Psalm 68.18 which is justly applied to this matter by St. Paul Eph. 4.8 Psalm 110.1 considered The Jews grant that Psalm to belong to the Messias An eminent type of Christ's ascension That Jesus did ascend into Heaven There were eye-witnesses of it Of the distance of forty days between his Resurrection and Ascension That Christ is not a Metaphorical Priest shewed against the followers of Socinus That this ascension into Heaven was typified by the High Priest's entring into the Holy of Holies That the Authour of the Epistle to the Hebrews does ch 9.24 and elsewhere infer this from the avowed principles of the Jewish Writers That the High Priest was an eminent type of the divine 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is acknowledged by Philo. Three remarkable places of that Authour to this purpose That the Sanctuary was a representation of the Vniverse and the Holy of Holies of the highest Heavens proved at large from the Modern Jewish Writers and from the more Ancient Of the Veil of the Temple which rent when our Saviour suffered Mat. 27.51 What Veil that was and what was imported by the renting of it Of the effects which followed upon the exaltation of Jesus Of the mirculous gift of the Holy Ghost on the day of Pentecost That that gift was an argument that Jesus was a true Prophet and that he had that power which he had professed to be given to him Of the success of the Religion of Jesus in the world Success barely considered is no good argument of a good Cause and truth of a Religion yet the success of the Christian Doctrine is a good argument of it's truth if it be considered what the Authour and first Preachers of this doctrine were and what is the nature of the Doctrine it self and after what manner it did prevail pag. 305 306 307. CHAP. X. What was predicted of the Messias was fulfilled in our Jesus This appeared in the birth of Jesus in his Office and Character in his Works in his Sufferings and Resurrection and the spreading of his doctrine The adoreable providence of God in bringing Events to pass This shewed in very many particulars This is a farther proof that Jesus is the Christ pag. 376. CHAP. XI The Christian Religion more Excellent than that given by Moses and consequently the best in the World The Pagan Religion not worthy of regard The wiser Heathens guilty of great inconsistencies and evil Principles The Stoicks upon sundry accounts very blameable The Law given by Moses came from God in what sense it was a perfect Law It was not unalterable A general distribution of the Precepts of that Law The defects of it I As a rule of life Many of its Precepts not good in their own Nature They obliged the Jews onely and were annexed to their Land or some part of it Many of them Political II The reward annexed to the Obedience of that Law was but Temporal III It was not attended with the promise of Divine assistance IV Nor was there that hope of pardon which was afterward given in the Gospel The Sacrifices allowed to that purpose very defective This shewed at large For some sins no Sacrifice was allowed Sacrifices were not pleasing to God of their own Nature The Expiation did not depend upon the value of the oblation He that brought an Expiatory sacrifice was not allowed to eat any part of it The repetition of the Sacrifices another Argument of their weakness In some cases the Sacrifice was but one of those things required in order to pardon The Legal Sacrifices were not designed to continue for ever That the defects of the Law of Moses are supplied in the Christian Religion Of the excellent Precepts of the Christian Religion Of the promise of Eternal life therein clearly revealed and of the great moment of it Of the Divine assistance attending this Religion Of the assurance of pardon from the Christian Religion and the sure foundation which it lays for the quieting the Consciences of Men. The usefulness of the foregoing discourse A more particular inquiry into the great Ends or Causes for which the Law of Moses was given The Conclusion of this Discourse pag. 394 395. THE INTRODUCTION I Do intend with God's assistance in the ensuing Discourse to prove that our Jesus is the Christ And shall by way of introduction to this weighty Argument reflect something upon the words of St. Peter to the Jews Act. 2.36 And for the better understanding those words it is to be remembred that our Jesus before he left his Disciples promised them the presence and the aid of the Holy Ghost and a little before his Ascension into Heaven he commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem but wait for the promise of the Father which saith he ye have heard of me Act. 2.4 Nor did our Saviour fail to make good his promise but when the day of Pentecost was fully come they are filled with the Holy Ghost and spake with divers tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance This happened at Jerusalem at a great solemnity and at a time when the devout and religious of several Nations were together in the City who heard the Apostles speak in the language of their several Countries the wonderfull works of God And they were all amazed and were in a doubt saying one to another what meaneth this v. 12. And there were among the rest very evil men that were so malicious as to mock and say these men are full of new wine v. 13. This calumny St. Peter disproves and lets them know that they spake by the power of the Holy Ghost And then he preaches to them the resurrection and ascension of Jesus who was approved of God by miracles and wonders and signs And he gives them to understand that as this Jesus had received of the father the promise of the Holy Ghost so he had also now bestowed this Holy Ghost upon them the effect of which gift they saw and heard And thereupon concludes as well he might that he is the Messias that was promised Therefore let all the House of Israel know assuredly that God hath made that same Jesus whom ye have crucified both Lord and Christ Act. 11.36 Before I proceed I shall take notice of the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 God hath made that same Jesus That is says Chrysostome 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he hath ordained or appointed Jesus to be Lord and Christ And the Greek word will well bear this sense as well as the Hebrew 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Thus it is said of our Saviour Mar. 3.14 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i.e. he made twelve or ordained twelve as we translate it well He chose twelve says the Syriac version Again Gen. 41.34 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉
express promise of eternal life in the law of Moses Temporal blessings were promised to the obedient but they had no assurances given them of a glorious immortality The way to this our Lord hath revealed plainly 2. He procured this for us also he bought it with no less price than his pretious bloud And now we stand reconciled to God by the death of his Son and then we may justly expect to be saved by his life Rom. 5.10 3. He confers this Salvation upon us He is set down at God's right hand and hath received all power in Heaven and Earth God hath exalted him with his right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour to give repentance unto Israel and forgiveness of Sins Act. 5.31 We receive from him the power of his grace here and justly expect from him the glorifying of our souls and bodies hereafter And it will well be worth our while to enter into a meditation of this Salvation and deliverance which our Lord hath wrought for us And to that purpose let us compare it with those deliverances which were wrought of old for the people of the Jews For those deliverances may well be called Salvations and those men that were the instruments of them may be called Saviours for so they are called in the Holy Scripture 2 King 13.5 Nehem. 9.27 with the LXXII Judg. 3.9.15 Among those Saviours there was one who was not onely an eminent type of our blessed Saviour but who had the same name that was given our Saviour at his Circumcision And that was Joshua the Son of Nun For Joshua and Jesus are the same name and Joshua is called Jesus Heb. 4.8 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Neh. 8.17 'T is true indeed his name was Hoshea and so he is called but upon his being chosen to spy out or search the Land of Canaan Moses changed his name from Hoshea to Joshua Num. 23.16 i. e. he made an honourable alteration of his name as Philo observes when he added to the name he had the first letter of the Tetragrammation 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Philo Judae de mutat Nominum And he made this addition to his name by putting to it the first letter of the name of God when he sent him to search the Land of Canaan so that for the future he is a Saviour and by God's appointment was set apart to introduce the Israelites into the Land of Promise Moses the Lawgiver did not bring the Israelites into the promised Land This was left for Joshua to doe Now that Land was a type of heaven And Joshua of our Jesus And what the Law did not that the Gospel does It hath brought life and immortality to light And though Moses who brought the Israelites out of Egypt and Joshua who introduced them into the good Land and others who afterward fought their battels were great deliverers of their people yet all these deliverances put together come greatly short of that which our Lord hath wrought For these deliverances were but temporal our Saviour's is eternal Those Worthies fell asleep and then the Israelites fell under the malice and power of their enemies and ill neighbours then were they liable to the impressions of their enemies who did inslave their people and sack their City and burn their Temple and carry them away to a strange Land Their enemies were not dismayed with the great names of Moses and Joshua Gideon and Sampson These great men were dead and could yield no succours to the oppressed Israelites And what ever terrours these men impressed upon their enemies while they lived their names will strike none now The Chaldeans are not over-awed by the rod of Moses or the strength of Sampson these deliverers can afford no relief or help 't is otherwise with us Our Lord is the Authour of Eternal Salvation Heb. 5.9 And hath obtained an Eternal Redemption for us Heb. 9.12 Those Saviours died and left their enemies behind them But Jesus ever lives to make intercession for us Heb. 7.25 Our Lord arose from the dead and is gone before us into Heaven and is there concerned on our behalf And this is unspeakably to our comfort and advantage Old Jacob in his last words to his Sons tells them what shall befall them in the last days Of Dan he foretells that he shall be a Serpent in the way an Adder in the path that biteth the Horse heels so that his Rider shall fall backward Gen. 49.17 These words seem to refer to Sampson who delivered his people from the Philistines But then 't is worth our observing what follows where the good man's Soul sallies out into another and greater contemplation I have waited for thy Salvation O Lord V. Targum Hierosol Jonath in locum v. 18. That is as the Jews expound it as if he had said I do not expect the deliverance of Gideon and Sampson which will be but a temporal deliverance but thy Salvation O Lord is that which I expect for thine is an eternal Salvation These words seem to refer to the salvation of the Messias and do very well deserve to be considered farther V. Hieronym adversus Jovinianum l. 1. 'T is agreed that in the foregoing words Jacob speaks of Sampson He was a Nazarite and a great deliverer of his people And besides what he did for his people in their life-time he destroyed their enemies at his death In several respects we may suppose him a type of our blessed Saviour And we may very well suppose him so to be even as he is considered here as a Serpent by the way Phil. Jud. de Agricultura For Philo the Jew hath directed us to understand that expression of a Serpent not with reference to the Serpent which beguiled Eve or Voluptuousness but with respect to the Brazen Serpent of Moses a symbol of Temperance and Fortitude and as I shall shew afterwards a very remarkable type of the Messias And Jacob looks farther than Sampson he looks off from that Nazarite to our Nazaren from that temporal deliverer to our Jesus who is the Author of eternal Salvation I shall give you the sense of these words in the words of one of the Ancients who brings in Jacob speaking thus Hieronym Quaest Hebr. in Genes Nunc videns in Spiritu comam c. i. e. I foreseeing in the Spirit Sampson the Nazarite nourishing his hair and triumphing over his slaughtered enemies that like a Serpent and Adder in the way he suffered none to pass through the land of Israel and if any were so hardy confiding in the swiftness of an Horse as to adventure like a Robber to spoil it he should not be able to escape I foreseeing this Nazarite so valiant and that he dyed for the sake of an Harlot and dying destroyed our enemies I thought O God that he was the Christ thy son But because he dyed and rose not again and Israel was afterward carried away captive I must expect
doubt with God's assistance not onely to shew that these things were fulfilled in Jesus but that they were also fulfilled by a most stupendious providence of God that we must be forced to say This was the Lord's doing and it may well be wonderfull in our eyes CHAP. III. The CONTENTS Of the birth of Jesus Of his lineage and kindred Of the place of his birth The seeming difference in the account of Bethlehem by the Prophet Micah and St. Matthew reconciled Of his being born of a Virgin A particular explication of 1 Tim. 2.15 She shall be saved in Child-bearing The time of his birth agreed with the predictions and general expectation of some great Person Several testimonies to this purpose The miserable shifts and evasions of the Jews I Shall first of all consider the birth of Jesus and see whether in that particular the predictions of old concerning the Messias were fulfilled in him or not And under this head I shall consider the following particulars First The Targum on Isa 11.10 Jer. 23 â— his lineage and kindred or the family of which he was born The Messias was to be of the house and family of David Mic. 5.2 understands those places of the Messias and of him doth Kimchi expound Ezek. 34.23 Thus he is called a root of Jesse Isa 11.10 A righteous branch raised up to David Jer. 23.5 And David also Ezek. 34.23 And no wonder then that he should be said to be of the tribe of Judah Mic. 5.2 God had made a solemn and unalterable promise of the Messias unto David and that he should be of his seed I have made a covenant with my chosen I have sworn unto David my servant Thy seed will I establish for ever and build up thy throne to all generations Psal 89.3 4. These words are too great to have their completion in Solomon and the succeeding Kings of Judah who were of David's family and lineage And it is not hard to discern what a learned man hath observed that the Psalmist does distinguish between David's seed and David's sons By his seed the Messias is to be meant and what is said of his seed is to be understood of Christ having a precise reference to him but what is said of his sons and children hath a reference to his descendants and his successours and the promises made to them are conditional that of the Messias who was to be of his family was absolute Thus 't is said His seed also will I make to endure for ever and his throne as the days of heaven v. 29. The kingdom of the Messias shall never fail and nothing shall hinder his being exhibited to the world But then for David's sons viz. Solomon and his other off-spring it follows If his children forsake my law and walk not in my judgments if they break my statutes and keep not my commandments then will I visit their transgression with a rod and their iniquity with stripes v. 30 31 32. This will God doe with the Sons of David to whom his promises which referred to them were but conditional but then it follows Nevertheless my loving kindness will I not utterly take from him nor suffer my faithfulness to fail My covenant will I not break nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips Once have sworn by my holiness that I will not lie unto David His seed shall endure for ever and his throne as the Sun before me It shall be established for ever as the Moon and as a faithfull witness in heaven v. 33. 37. Now for our Jesus it is evident and not denied by the Jews that he was of the seed of David When Gabriel went to the blessed Virgin it is said that he went to a Virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph of the house of David Luk. 1.27 And Zacharias does bless God for raising up an horn of salvation in the house of his servant David v. 69. The Gospel begins The book of the generation of Jesus Christ the Son of David Matt. 1.1 By this name Jesus was called frequently Thou son of David have mercy upon us say the blind men Matt. 9.27 And the people said of him Is not this the son of David Matt. 12.23 The multitude cried out Hosanna to the son of David Mat. 21.9 See also c. 15. v. 20. c. 20. v. 30 31. The Jews knew very well that the Messias was to be the Son of David and the Priests and Scribes were displeased when they heard Jesus called the son of David Matt. 21.15 When Jesus asked the Pharisees whose Son Christ is they say unto him the son of David Matt. 22.42 And when there arose a question about Jesus the Jews said Hath not the Scripture said that Christ cometh of the seed of David Joh. 7.42 And our Saviour therefore might well be called the Lion of the tribe of Judah and the Root of David Rev. 5.5 and the off-spring of David c. 22. v. 16. And the authour of the Epistle to the Hebrews even in that Epistle which he writes to the Jews says it is evident that our Lord sprang out of Judah Heb. 7.14 I grant that there is some difficulty in the account we have of the genealogy of Jesus as it is delivered to us by St. Matthew and St. Luke But those are very unreasonable men that will upon that score now reject Christianity For we do not find that the Jews of old denied our Jesus to be of the family of David or that they accused the Christians for affirming him to be of the tribe of Judah And yet it is not to be imagined that they would have omitted to have charged the first Christians of forgery had there been any ground for such a charge And sure I am if the Jews could not charge the Christians upon this score and that they did not is an argument that they could not doe it they are very unreasonable that now make the objection Secondly I consider the place of his birth Of the Messias it is foretold that he should be born not onely of the family but in the city or town of David also Thus the Prophet tells us that out of Bethlehem he should come forth that was to be ruler in Israel Mic. 5.2 Now certain it is that the ancient Jews understood that Prophecy of the Messias whatever artifices the later Jews have used to evade the force of that divine testimony of which we have very good evidence to this day And the Chaldee Paraphrast on the place speaks plain enough in this argument when he paraphraseth upon those words Out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel thus Out of thee before me shall come Messias or Christ that he may rule c. and to the same purpose doth Jonathan the Targumist speak on Gen. 35.21 where 't is said that Israel journied and spread his tent beyond the tower of Edar To which he adds these
preached unto them Matt. 11.4 5. He did such works as none could doe without the divine assistance and those very works also which the Messias was to doe according to the predictions of him when he came into the world But this argument requires a more particular consideration CHAP. V. The CONTENTS The works of Jesus Matt. 11.4 5. considered Of the miracles which Jesus did The vanity of the Jews in attempting to disparage them The opinion of Maimonides that the Messias would not work miracles considered and the Authâ—ur of Tractatus Theolog Polit. What a Miracle imports That the Messias was to work miracles proved against Maimonides That they are a good argument of the truth of a Doctrine That Jesus did work true miracles This proved at large THE words which I named before Matt. 11.4 5. deserve a farther consideration as they do very much confirm the truth which I am now insisting upon And to that purpose it will be well worth our while to consider the occasion of those words as well as the design of our Saviour in speaking them at that time We find that John Baptist the forerunner of our blessed Saviour who was himself confined to a prison sent two of his Disciples when he heard of the works of Christ to know whether or not he were the Messias who was to come or whether they were to expect some other Art thou he that should come or do we look for another v. 3. It is not to be supposed Hieron Epist Algasiae Quaest 1. that John Baptist was ignorant whether Jesus were the Christ or not for he knew him before this time and knew him to be the Messias also He had seen the spirit descend from heaven like a Dove and abiding on him He saw and bare record that he was the Son of God Joh. 1.32 34. He baptized Jesus in Jordan Matt. 3.15 And it is expresly said Joh. 3.24 that John was not cast yet into prison And we find him presently after those words testifying of Christ v. 28. John Baptist knew him well even before he baptized him Joh. 3.14 It could be no new thing to hear of the fame of Jesus he himself having foretold that his fame would spread Joh. 3.30 He had been questioned who he was and had confessed that he was not the Christ but his forerunner Joh. 1.20 23. And when he saw Jesus walking he called him the Lamb of God Joh. 1.36 From all which it is abundantly evident that John Baptist did not send to inform himself but upon the score and for the sake of his Disciples His Disciples wanted confirmation in that truth which their Master was well assured of There was among the Jews a fond expectation that their Messias would appear like a Temporal Prince Act. 1.6 and deliver the Jews from servitude and slavery they expected to be great men and no longer in bondage to any foreign power That their Messias should sight their battels and vanquish their enemies round about them Maimon H. Melach c. 11. This was the expectation of the Jews then and the later Jews have been of the same belief Now was John Baptist the forerunner of Christ in Prison and would shortly be beheaded there His Disciples might hereupon be tempted to doubt whether Jesus were the Christ or not for they that expected a temporal Prince would hardly believe that he would suffer his chief Minister and forerunner to be not onely detained in Prison but cut off by the hands of violence Hence John Baptist sends his Disciples when he himself was in Prison v. 2. He sends them when they most needed to be confirmed in the faith for the imprisonment and following death of their Master would be apt to make them question whether Jesus were the Messias or they not still to look for another It is likewise to be considered that John Baptist lays hold of the fittest opportunity of sending his Disciples for their greatest satisfaction His being in Prison implies that they needed a confirmation in the faith but then the tidings of the works which Christ did seems to be the occasion of sending the Disciples at a time when they were like to receive the utmost satisfaction which could be desired And no less seems to be implied in the second verse of this Chapter Now when John had heard in the prison the works of Christ he sent two of his disciples And for the message he sent them on it was of the greatest moment Art thou he which should come or do we look for another v. 3. i. e. Art thou the Messias that was promised to come among us or must we expect him to come still It is very usual to express the Messias by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he that was to come For he was promised long before under this expression of one that should in due time come among them The Sceptre shall not depart from Judah untill Shiloh come Gen. 49.10 Again Be strong fear not behold your God will come Isa 35.4 Again Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord Matt. 21.9 Joh. 12.13 Heb. 10.37 And agreeably hereunto the time of the Messias is called the kingdom and the world to come Mark 11.10 Hebr. 2.5 and chap. 6.5 Christ was the great hope and expectation of Israel They promised themselves very justly glorious things from his manifestation The woman of Samaria could say I know that Messias cometh which is called Christ when he is come he will tell us all things Joh. 4.25 Let us now consider the answer which Jesus returned unto this question of John Baptist's Disciples He refers them to his works for satisfaction It was upon the occasion of the works which Jesus did that John Baptist sent his Disciples v. 2. and when they come we find that Jesus refers them to the works which he did Jesus answered and said unto them go and shew John again those things which ye do hear and see The blind receive their sight and the lame walk the lepers are cleansed the dead are raised up and the poor have the gospel preached unto them v. 4 5. John Baptist had born witness of Christ before he does not send them back to their Master but refers them to his works Ye sent unto John says our Saviour to the Jews and he bare witness unto the truth Joh. 5.33 but then our Saviour adds v. 36. But I have greater witness than that of John for the works which the father hath given me to finish the same works that I doe bear witness of me that the father hath sent me His works then were a good proof that he was what he professed himself to be the Christ the Son of God Nicodemus could not but confess that no man could doe the miracles which he did except God were with him Joh. 3.2 And many of the Jews could not but say When Christ cometh will he doe moe miracles than these which this man hath done Joh. 7.31
a doctrine which Christ never taught and which contradicts our sense and our reason at the same time And the stories which they tell of the sweating and motion of their Images serve to advance the worshipping of Images In a word their works are trifling and vain and their doctrine is impious and false and to say the least of it not revealed by God 3. The miracles which Christ did were seasonable and necessary at that time to confirm his doctrine whether we consider the obstinacy of the Jews or the Idolatry of the Gentiles Upon both accounts it was needfull that the Christian doctrine should be confirmed with miracles and so it was But the Popish miracles are out of time there is no need of them to confirm the Christian doctrine where it is already planted Miracles are for the sake of unbelievers and as the world grew Christian they ceased nor is it to be imagined that God will work them without any cause at all In the old Testament we shall find that the greatest number of miracles were wrought by Moses their Law-giver in Egypt and in the wilderness before and upon the giving the Law no man wrought so many miracles nay not all the succeeding Prophets together as he wrought Thus was the Law confirmed And when this was done you rarely read of miracles wrought afterward when the Jews had received and continued in the profession of the Law of Moses The greatest number that were wrought afterward was when there was the greatest reason for them and that was after Jeroboam had revolted from the worship of God and set up his Calves in Dan and Bethel and no less than ten Tribes revolted with him Then indeed there were some number of miracles wrought to convince them of their sin and reduce them from their Schism Then was the Altar at Bethel cleft in pieces Jeroboam's hand withered and restored as miraculously upon the prayer of the Man of God And these miracles were wrought in Bethel among the Schismaticks which were to be convinced and reduced Then Elijah shut up the Heavens is miraculously fed by the Ravens multiplies the meal and raises to life the Widow's Son he calls for fire from Heaven and fasts forty days and destroys the Captains and their fifties by fire which he called from Heaven He divides Jordan with his Garment and is miraculously taken up into Heaven And Elishah during this time did many wonderfull works also He divides the river heals the water encreases the Widow's oil foretells that the Shunamite should have a Child and raised it from the dead He removes the death that was in the pot miraculously feeds the people heals Naaman of his Leprosie He causeth Iron to swim strikes Gehazi with a leprosie and the enemies of Israel with blindness and his dry bones after all these things which he did in his life restored one that was dead to life again Thus in a little time many miracles were wrought more than had been wrought before and after for some hundreds of years So that the great number of miracles were wrought upon the giving the Law and upon the greatest defection from it and that to confirm the truth and convince gain-sayers But what means the Church of Rome to boast of miracles If they be wrought in her own Communion they serve no purpose There 's no need of a miracle where men believe without it Their miracles are done at a great distance from us who are to be convinced and such they are which we cannot see at all or else we may easily see through them Of one thing we are sure viz. that their doctrine is false and then we shall have no cause to be drawn aside with lying miracles The Israelites had warning in this case and so have we Christians also not to believe against our rule any pretence whatsoever Deut. 13.1 Gal. 1.8 9. And we are forewarned of false people who should pretend to miracles Matt. 24.24 2 Thessal 2.9 Rev. 13.13 I shall proceed to consider the miracles which are storied of the Heathens I will not descend to all the stories that may be found upon record to this purpose because besides that we want sufficient Evidence of the truth of those matters of fact so they are not worthy of consideration being things of trifling regard and such as import no advantage to mankind Origen contra Cels l. 3. Such is that which Celsus mentions of Abaris who could fly into the air and keep pace with an Arrow in that flight And that of the speaking of an Image in Valerius Maximus Valerius Maxim l. 1. c. 8. Augustin de civitat Dei l. 10. c. 16. The cutting a Whet-stone in two with a Rasour by Attius Navius The sweating of an Image of Apollo at Cumae and of that of Victory at Capua and that of the Shields which were gnawed by the mice the extraordinary swelling of the Lacus Albanus That of the Serpent which followed Aesculapius when he sailed to Rome and of the Vestal Virgin which took up water out of Tiber and kept it in a Sieve These things are trifling and mean and they who report them do it not with sufficient assurance but upon traditions and common fame and not upon their certain and personal knowledge For what is storied of Vespasian and Adrian's curing the blind I shall not need to say any more than this That if those reports be true they are far short of what our Saviour did nor do we read of any who laid down their lives in testimony thereof And as I do not deny that there have been providential miracles out of the Church of God so it is not to be wondred at that the Devil should exert his utmost power to keep men in errour and as much as may be endeavour to imitate God And more particularly still to consider what is storied of Vespasian and of Adrian I shall desire it may be considered That what is reported of Vespasian to this purpose cannot fairly be denied Tacit. Histor l. 4. it being affirmed by very good Authours And therefore I admit that he did such miraculous cures as are told of him Sueton. Vespasian But then it is to be considered that he was not onely an excellent Prince but that very person who was to execute God's displeasure against the Jews for rejecting and crucifying Jesus And no wonder that God should honour him with an extraordinary power whom he employed in so great a work especially if it be considered that upon his coming to the Empire at first as Suetonius tells us he wanted majesty and authority which was supplied by this means Nor is there any thing in this that does at all derogate from the works of Jesus But then what is storied of Adrian to the same purpose we have not the same cause to believe Aelius Spartianus Adrian and the very Historian which reports it gives us at the same time ground to believe that what is
to the Jews imply no less What nation is there so great that hath Statutes and Judgments so righteous as all this law which I set before you this day The giving a law to the Jews was a special dignation and favour He sheweth his word unto Jaâ—ob his Statutes and his Judgments unto Israel He hath not dealt so with any nation and as for his Judgments they have not known them This was a great treasure which the Jews had when the neighbouring Countries were not admitted to the favour of a Divine Revelation The study of this law is frequently pressed upon them And the devout Psalmist does upon all occasions express the great esteem which he had for it It was sweeter to him than honey more valuable than Gold and Silver 't was the joy of his heart the desire of his soul the delight of his eyes and great comfort of his life Jesus himself shewed all due regard to the law of Moses He professed that he did not come to destroy the law and the Prophets he puts the people upon searching the Scriptures he was circumcised according to the law he wore such a Garment as the law of Moses prescribed he observed the Feasts which that law appointed and when he had healed the Leper he sends him to the Priest to doe according to the law of Moses The Jews had no cause to quarrel with our Lord in this matter St. Paul who was the Apostle of the Gentiles yet allows that the giving of the law to the Jews was a singular privilege and advantage He reckons it their great advantage that unto them were committed the Oracles of God and that to them pertained the covenants and the giving of the law Deut. 4.8 Ps 147.19 20. Ps 19.10 Ps 40.8 Ps 119.70 72 92 97 136. Mat. 5.17 Joh. 5.39 Luk. 2.21 Mat. 10.20 Luk. 2.41 Joh. 2.13 23. and ch 7.2 Mat. 8.4 Rom. 3.1 2. Rom. 9.4 And as the law of Moses came from God so it must also be granted that it was as it is called by the Psalmist a perfect law That is it was well fitted for that people to whom and for that time in which and for those ends for which it was given It taught them their duty to God their neighbour and themselves and laid before them such precepts as concerned them as men as members of a Body Politick and of a Church It was so full and so complete that it wanted nothing for the end it was designed to It was expressly provided that they to whom it was given should neither add to it nor diminish from it Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you neither shall ye diminish ought from it that ye may keep the Commandments of the Lord your God which I commanded you It was indeed full of rites and ceremonies but it required nothing immoral and did not allow of the least shadow of Idolatry Its precepts were just they were consistent they were plainly revealed and sufficiently confirmed Indeed many rites and ceremonies were prescribed But as they were of God's own appointment so they were ordained for wise ends also viz. to keep the people from Idolatry to which they were prone and from the foppish and superstitious usages of their neighbours for a proof of their obedience to God and for the fore-shadowing of some better things to come they were many of them very instructive and were so many Sacraments or Symbols of very weighty things Ps 19.7 Deut. 4.2 Notwithstanding what hath been said it does not follow that the law of Moses was never to be altered The Jews might not add or diminish but God himself was not bound by that law It stood upon divine authority and was revealed by God but it does not thence follow that the same authority which set it up could not take it away God no where tells us that 't is his last Revelation and that he intended it should be taken as such God is not obliged to reveal his mind all at once He may make what laws he pleaseth and add to them when he will Nay God himself does expressly declare that he would make a new Covenant And it is added not according to the covenant that I made with their Fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the Land of Egypt Jer. 31.31 32. It reflects no dishonour upon God to say that he reverses some Constitutions of his own that he alters or adds to his own laws All the laws which proceed from him are not of the same importance and moment The Jews themselves will own this and the thing is very evident and plain This appears from the greater or less punishments assigned to the transgressors of these laws There were some sins so great as admitted no Sacrifice to expiate them There were others which were easily atoned for We do not call the wisedom of God in question nor disparage his law when we shew how far short it comes of the Gospel For all this while we do but compare one Divine Revelation with another God made the Heaven and the earth and all that which he made was good It is no reflexion upon his wisedom or goodness or veracity to say that God will make a new Heaven and a new earth For God who promised to make a new covenant promised to make a new Heaven and earth also Isa 66.22 These things I thought fit to premise that I might proceed in this weighty argument with the greater caution I shall now consider the law of Moses more particularly in order to the proving this that the Gospel of Christ does excell it The whole body of the law of Moses comprizeth those precepts given by him which were either Moral Ecclesiastical or civil The Moral law concerned them as men and was given at Mount Sinai in ten distinct precepts or Commandments These are called the word or words of God and the ten words and the words of the covenant word in Scripture phrase signifying at intire sentence or precept Ps 147.19 Exod. 20. 1. Deut. 4.13.10.4 Exod 34.28 Gal. 5.14 Mark 7.13 with Matth. 15.6 The other laws which Moses gave are expressed by statutes and Judgments Ps 147.19 as the Moral are by word or words in the same place For statutes the Jewish writers tell us that they are to be understood of those precepts the reason whereof is not revealed Bechai in Legem fol. 185. Abravenel fol. 177. or at least is not obvious and plain Such were the laws concerning divers kinds concerning the scape Goat and the red Heifer and the like And to these belong the ceremonial and ritual precepts which concerned the Hebrews as they were a Church Judgments are such precepts as are more agreeable to reason and such as might at least in some measure be found out by it Such are tâ—ose which relate to adultery and theft c. These have relation to a Polity or civil Society As for
Expiation of an uncertain Murther and very many others did onely oblige them in their own Land And there were many other Laws which were restrained to the place which God should chuse and to the Sanctuary and those Precepts were determined to that very place If the same thing were done elsewhere it was an abomination The difference of place made a great difference in the same action That would pass for an act of obedience in one place which in another would be an act of Rebellion The very many laws concerning Sacrifices and the rites of offering them up did all belong to the Sanctuary the precepts concerning the shew-bread the offering incense the dressing the Candles the Vestments of the Priests the Sota or Woman suspected of adultery and very many others were peculiarly annexed to the Sanctuary or Temple And when that was destroyed and out of the Jews possession they were discharged from all those precepts And then for the City of Jerusalem after God had made choice of that place there were a very great number of the precepts of Moses which were to be performed there and obliged them no where else Thither they were to go three times a year to appear before God and to worship him at their solemn times appointed They might not keep their festivals in another place There they must eat their peace-offerings their first-fruits and the greater part at least of their second tithes and there they must keep their passover Deut. 16.2 so that upon the whole matter these laws and they are not a few in number cannot be kept any longer than they kept in the possession of their land And God by his providence hath rendred these precepts unpracticable Besides as the laws about Sacrifices were annexed to a certain place so the offering them up belonged onely to one family viz. the Sons of Aaron No man else might sprinkle the bloud nor might any of that family do it who had a blemish which rendered him uncapable and it might be that he would be rendered so by some natural and not culpable infirmity So that a great part of the law of Moses the Jews are not now able to practise Euseb Demonstr l. 1. c. 6 7. Their Temple is destroyed and their Sacrifices fall with it Their City is taken from them and they are now discharged from their festival appearances They are not obliged to pay tithe of that land which they do not possess nor to build Cities of refuge where they have no inheritance It will be hard to find the Genuine Priests and Levites after so long a dispersion And if the Priesthood be changed there must of necessity be a change also of the law Heb. 7.12 There can be no Sacrifice without a Priest without a Temple or an altar Many were the laws which were Political and concerned them as they were a Community or body Politick which could last no longer than they continued in that condition When the frame of their Government was dissolved as it was when they were dispersed into several Countries those laws were rendred unpracticable and consequently were never intended to continue for ever All those laws concerning setting a King over them Origen contra Celsum l. 7. and about capital punishments in criminal cases conâ—erning the dividing their land and preserving their land-marks about destroying the Idolatrous Cities and their making of War those concerning Servants and buying and selling and damages and succession unto the estates of the deceased c. are not now to be practised by the Jews who live in strange Countries and must not pretend to any Jurisdiction or liberty inconsistent with the laws of those Countries in which they live Of such a sort were many I may say most of the laws of Moses They were very minute things which were prescribed and the observation of so many things was very difficult and uneasie to the Jews as well as very costly when they were in their own land but now are impossible to be observed They were never easie under the yoke but now by the providence of God they are released from bearing it It is true there was no evil thing required by their law but yet for their hardness of heart and stubbornness somethings were suffered and permitted which were at least imperfections and defects Such were Polygamie and divorces and the liberty of exacting a strict reparation for all the wrong or damage which was received 2. I consider the reward which was added to the law of Moses to encourage the obedience of the Jews It will appear that the reward was proportionate to the precepts They were temporary and topical they were minute and imperfect and the reward annexed was of the same nature and kind that was temporal and of this lower world Such as long life victory over enemies plenty and prosperity Things very fit to work upon carnal minds and to invite a people of a worldly temper to obey those precepts which Moses laid before the Jews There is no express promise of eternal life to be found in the law of Moses This is no where inserted into the pact or covenant which God made with that people I grant that holy men under the law of Moses and before that law was given also had the expectation of a future state of bliss But this was not expressly promised in that law nor as a reward of their obedience to it There were a sect of the Jews called the Sadducees who allowed that the law of Moses was from Heaven and yet denied a future State This they would scarcely have done had eternal life been expressly promised in that law I do not question but that the hope of eternal life was to be found among the more pious and devout Jews I grant that it was insinuated under temporal promises and especially under that of a land flowing with milk and honey But then the earthly Canaan lay so fair and open to their prospect as an excellent Person expresses it well as easily intercepted the view of the Heavenly and their faith must remove at least overlook that mountain before it could come to any sight of the Horizon and extended Sky If any of the Jews had any sight of Heaven it was such a sight as Moses had of the land of Canaan he saw it at a distance from the top of Pisgah but did not see it as Jesus the Son of Nun saw it who went over Jordan and took possession of it according to the express promise he had before received to that purpose Now then it cannot be supposed that there should be many men of eminent vertue under that Religion the precepts whereof were temporary and the promises but temporal And those that were arrived to an high pitch of Sanctity under that dispensation attained to that degree from an higher principle than the Letter of the Law of Moses would have raised them to It must be granted that the hope of riches and plenty