Nations and all sorts of persons that were converted to the Faith of Christ. Now who caused such a marvellous and holy Revolution in the World but God What less than a Divine Power could raise Men above Sense and make them victorious over the Lusts of corrupt Nature fortified by Custom a second Nature Is it conceivable supposing the Doctrine of Christ were not from Heaven that it should produce such admirable Effects And is it conceivable that God would adorn with all his Graces the Image of his own Excellency his most precious Benefits those who did not honour him according to his Will Can there be found such astonishing Contrarieties joyn'd together as the most impious Errour and Depravation of the Mind with the greatest Purity and Rectitude of the Will and Affections For if Jesus Christ were not the Son of God those who worship'd him were in a mortal Delusion The third Testimony the Apostle produces is the Blood that is Peace with God and Conscience the blessed Fruit of Justification by Faith in Christ. The Heathen World was in a dark State of fears or slept securely in the shadow of Death Some were in a Hectic Trembling continually haunted with the Apparition of their Sins as so many Infernal Furies Others though guilty of most fearful crimes were secure from stupid Atheisme Others were quiet from a presumption cherish'd by Opinions unworthy of God as if he would neglect his own Glory to shew Mercy to them Now the Gospel to conquer the fears of sensible afflicted Sinners and to establish a lively hope in God's Mercy propounds a Means of Universal Sovereign Efficacy to reconcile him to us The most precious Blood of the Son of God offer'd up as a Sacrifice to expiate Sin This sprinkles all Nations and in all Ages to the end of the World will be of undecaying Vertue This appeas'd all the unquiet Agitations of the Spirits of Believers and produc'd the Peace that passes understanding a Joy unspeakable and glorious This delivered them from the fear of Death under which the World was so long in bondage And it is worthy the observing that no Principles of Nature ever produc'd such a generous Contempt of Death as the Christian Religion did in the Professors of it The Alexanders Scipio's and Caesars had trembled at the sight of these Savage Beasts that were let loose upon the Martyrs at the preparations of Cruelty to torment them Whereas they regarded them with tranquillity nay with Joy as the matter of their Triumph This was true Valour indeed for the Confession of the most important Truth and superiour to the Courage of those who were called Fulmina Belli the most Renowned Souldiers For in a Battel by Martial Sounds by Violent Motions the Spirits are fired and Men scarce feel their Wounds and are inconsiderate of their danger But the Martyrs had nothing to heighten their Courage but in cool blood deliberately and without alteration encounter'd that terrible Enemy Besides Souldiers in the sharpest Conflicts have some hopes of Victory or else of a sudden and honourable Death Aut cita Mors aut Victoria laeta And he that rusheth into perils with a seeming bravery when there is hopes of escaping has not resolution to look Death in the face when 't is inevitable There is an eminent instance of this in a famous Captain of late memory the Duke Biron none was more bold in fight but when he was to receive the Sentence of Death for his Crimes none more disorder'd by fear sometimes he was in a rage against his Judges and after his passion was evaporated fell into the other extremity unmanly crys complaints and low submissions to obtain favour But the more than Heroick Constancy of the Martyrs contemned Death in its nearest approaches and most fearful pomp Christian Religion has often transform'd the most tender Women and Children into Men or rather into Angels making them suffer with joy that which our Nature cannot see without horrour It changed as it were Flesh and Blood into a Celestial substance insensible of Fire and Sword and the most cruel Violences Now this unshaken Resolution in Christians encountring the last Enemy was from the lively sense of God's favour reconciled by the most pure and precious Blood of his Son and the hopes of everlasting happiness in his presence To conclude this Argument 't is to be observed there is no proof more proper that Jesus Christ is the Redeemer of the World than the joynt testimony of the Spirit Water and Blood For whereas Sin was the only cause of our Ruine the Office of our Saviour is to repair that Ruine and consequently he that effectually does it is to be acknowledged believed and imbraced as our Saviour Now the worst effects of Sin are the ignorance of the Mind the depravation of the Affections and the terrors of Conscience from the apprehensions of Vengeance Therefore since the Gospel of Christ has brought Celestial Light Purity and Peace into the World it is an infallible proof that He is the Redeemer of it The Sun that visits the World with its refreshing beams has no clearer marks of the Divine Wisdom in making it and ordering its motions than the Spiritual Light of the Gospel that irradiates the minds of Men before in deep darkness The riches of the Earth in variety of Fruits is not a more convincing Argument of the Divine Goodness than to see the Souls of Men that before were as dead earth under the curse of Heaven to abound in all the fruits of Righteousness The separating the Sea from the Land and setting bounds to its impetuous Waves is not a greater effect of God's Power than the calming the tempests of an unquiet Conscience and establishing Tranquillity in it And these Blessings we entirely owe to Jesus Christ in whose Name they are obtain'd by whose Spirit they are conferr'd and for whose Glory they are design'd Now what more is requisite to afford us satisfaction that JESUS CHRIST came from God and revealed his Will in order to our happiness Can it be reasonably expected that new Miracles should be wrought to satisfy every Sceptick that is still unsatisfied Indeed the fountain of them is not dried up the Power of God is not weaken'd nor his Mercy lessened but in extraordinary Cases when the Gospel is first preach'd to a Nation it may be expected that to convert them from Gentilism to the Christian Faith he will make himself known not only by Word but Power in Supernatural Operations But the vein of Miracles is not still current in the Church there being sufficient motives of Belief for the conviction of all that are not obstinate without the performing new Must the Son of God present himself to all Men in a visible Glory Or must his Divine Father give another Majestick Testimony from Heaven concerning him If we have not such sensible Evidence we have as sure The accomplishment of Scripture-Prophecies is a permanent Miracle a more certain
supernatural light could not be dispell'd 2. They were ambitious of superiority every great Spirit was desirous to raise a Sect to act the part of a King in the Scene of Fame Now by propounding a new Object as the blessedness of Man they had the reputation of soveraign Masters 3. They drew a Picture of happiness every one according to their different conceptions and desires Epicurus set up the pleasure of Sense as the chief object And that Reason might be flexible to his inclinations that his Roses might have no Prickles to prevent any melancholly reflections after carnal enjoyments he denied the Divine Providence and the future state 'T is said by some in his favour that he intended a calm and peaceful temper of mind a felicity refin'd from the dregs of sensuality For this they alledge Epicurus himself depreciating carnal pleasures and extolling Vertue as the great composer of the Soul But in vain they wash this voluptuous Swine For 1. Those Sentences of a more noble and generous strain might as flashes of Lightning from a black Cloud break forth of his Conscience in the midst of the darkness that cover'd it yet Sense might be his predominent Principle 2. He was a crafty Spirit and made use of some beautiful expressions to lessen the horror that his Doctrine nakedly proposed would cause in sober Persons Sometimes he speaks with a grave air as a Philosopher That true happiness consists in the pleasures of the mind At other times That there is no solid happiness but what might be tasted and enjoyed by the Senses He was a Polititian and would not scandalise the severe nor alienate the dissolute from him Tully observes that the secrets of his School the pernicious lessons of sensuality were not communicated to all But those who had intimate conversation with him had a free indulgence for their lusts Aristotle places happiness in all the perfections of the Body and Mind with the confluence of all External things as necessary Ingredients of it But this only respects Man in the present state in the World and were his opinion true yet his description would cause despair of obtaining that happiness For how could any single Person expect an entire union of all such perfections in himself as are not to be found in all Men together The Stoicks asserted felicity to consist only in Vertue But this is contrary to Reason Humanity For the union of the Physical good with the Moral is requisite to give satisfaction to the faculties of man ‖ Plato and his followers in whom Natural Reason ascended as high as in any of the Gentiles had a glimpse of the true blessedness of Man as consisting in his likeness to God and the enjoyment of him But their knowledge was shadowed with much ignorance their hopes mixt with doubtful fears They had rather suspicious and wandring desires than solid apprehensions and firm expectations of it Briefly no sparks struck out of humane intellectuals were sufficient to give light or heat to direct in the clear way and to animate against the intervening difficulties that hinder Men in the pursuit of blessedness This was the state of the Pagan World till Light and Immortality were brought to light through the Gospel The quality of this life is therein revealed 't is a pure and holy felicity consisting in the perpetual exercise of the most excellent actions the intelligent Nature is capable of That is in the perfect Knowledge and Love and Praises of God himself The subject of it is the intire Man for this end the Body shall be rais'd from its dead sleep to an eternal Life The place is the highest Heavens fram'd by the Divine power for the seat of his Majesty the Kingdom of his Love wherein he will manifest himself to his Favourits And can there be a stronger attractive a more noble inducement to make us holy Secular rewards as Riches and Honours and the like are extrinsecal to the nature of Goodness and to do our duty with such low aims and expectations is to be defective in the best part of it the love of Vertue for its inherent excellence But the Divine reward is the perfection of Holiness the glory of the Soul and the belief and regard of it has a powerful influence to make us truly good The Faith in this makes us victorious over all the charms and all the cruelties of the World For what can possibly come into competition with a happiness infinite in its greatness and duration I will only add that though Heaven be so rich a Jewel that it needs no foil to set off its lustre to those who are clear sighted to behold it yet in a merciful compassion to Man the Gospel reveals what will be the recompence of wilful continued disobedience an eternal Hell wherein the Justice and Power of God are terribly glorified And what is more powerful to excite the sensual and secure who despise the blessed hope than the fear of an Immortal Death Now after this short delineation of the Christian Religion let Reason judg whether 't is the invention of Men. The Doctrine of it shines with so clear an evidence the Precepts are so pure able to inspire us with true Holiness the Promises are so Divine that every one who does not wilfully shut his eyes or turn them to other things may discern its original to be from above that it comes from the Fountain of Wisdom Holiness and Goodness What are all the productions of the Earth to this sacred Present of Heaven If there be any shadow of Vertue in other Religions here the reality is in the highest perfection and separate from all vicious mixtures Christianity enjoyns universal sincerity and purity of Heart and Life It instructs Man to appear what he is by an humble acknowledgment of his sinful unworthiness and to be what he appears by an inward love and real practice of that Religion of which he makes a publick profession It impresses a more noble Character upon moral Vertues by enjoyning them from a principle of love to God and directing their performance to his Glory than Philosophy did that commanded them only as agreeable to humane reason What are all the most beautiful excitations of Philosophy to the high motives of the Gospel To apply our selves to the Writings of the wisest Heathens in order to our happiness and to neglect the Scriptures is to he guilty of worse folly than the barbarous Indians at Mexico who though their Woods abounded with Wax the labour of the Bees yet only made use of Brands that afforded a little light with a great deal of smoak Upon the most impartial inquiry and exact search Reason will conclude either there is no blessed end for which Man was design'd by his Maker or the Gospel only has reveal'd it and the effectual means to obtain it So that we must say with the zeal and affection of the Apostles to Jesus Christ Lord to whom
and the Redeemer of the World This I will briefly open There are three that bear record in Heaven the Father the Word and the Holy-Ghost and these three are one And there are three that bear witness in Earth The Spirit and the Water and the Blood and these three agree in one All the Divinity gave testimony of this important Truth The Father not only by the Miracles wrought by his Power to confirm the Mission of Christ but which is here principally intended by a voice from Heaven First at his Baptism This is my well-beloved Son in whom I am well pleased And at his Transfiguration before some of his Disciples a Shining Cloud the sign of the Divine Presence encompast them and a voice came forth of the Cloud This is my well beloved Son hear him Upon this glorious Voice they were struck with such an impression of fear that they fell on their faces And when our Saviour near his Passion prayed Father glorifie thy Name a voice came from Heaven I have glorified it and will glorifie it Now can there remain any doubt after such an high attestation from the most Soveraign Authority The Son also besides the perfect holiness of his life the exquisite Wisdom of his Doctrine the Wonders of his Works his Resurrection from the dead that were authentick proofs of his Celestial Person and Calling after his Ascension gloriously appear'd from Heaven in diverse Visions to the Preachers of his Gospel To Saul in his Journey to Damascus calling to him Saul Saul why persecutest thou me It is hard for thee to kick against the Pricks This is an unexceptionable testimony that he is the Son of God being risen from the dead and returned to Heaven from whence he thus discover'd himself Now that this was real and no fantastick illusion is evident by the marvelous effects of it Those who were companions in the journey were seiz'd with great terror and himself struck blind by the overpowering splendor of the Apparition But especially the effects of it upon his Soul are convincing who it was that spake to him For Saul was by Sect a Pharisee that of all others most passionately adher'd to the Jewish Religion by Temper hot and violent by Profession a persecutor of the Christians One that breathed forth Threatning and Slaughter that excited the Fury of the High-Priests sollicited their Cruelty In short a fierce spirit that envied Nero the title of the first Persecutor of the Church Yet this Man by this Vision and Voice from Heaven of a furious Persecutor in an instant became a zealous Apostle of a Wolf became a Pastor He presently exprest his entire submission Lord what wilt thou have me to do There is nothing so hard to do nothing so dreadful to suffer but I will readily undertake for thine honour and the propagating thy Truth Now from whence came this Change so strange so new in a person confirm'd in the opposite party from whence this resignation of will so entire and perfect so unexpected and sudden What gave him courage to contradict to their faces the High-Priests whose instrument he was and declare that Jesus whom they called a Deceiver was the Son of God and their Judge What animated him to appear before Kings and Emperours to testifie this dangerous Truth What made him with unparallel'd activity with the most ardent affections propagate the Gospel and after a thousand perils by Sea and Land a thousand disgraces and injuries at last to confirm the Faith of Christ with his Blood It is therefore past all contradiction that he had the greatest assurance that the Son of God spake to him Another Vision of the WORD from Heaven was to St. John when he was pleas'd to reveal to him the future state of his Church its Combats and Victories He then appear'd in a form expressive of his Majesty Power and Providence requisite for the ordering all the great Events that should befal it And said I am the first and the last I am he that liveth and was dead and behold I live for ever and have the Keys of Hell and of Death wherein he appropriates to himself the incommunicable titles of the Deity and then declares those two astonishing Miracles that the Prince of Life that had an Eternal Principle of it in himself was dead and that one who had been dead was alive This Riddle the Gospel unfolds The Son of God was made Man and by that admirable union allied Eternity and Time Life and Death together As 't is a common form of speech that a Man dies when the Body is depriv'd of Life though the Soul be immortal So it was true the Son of God died when his Body was crucified though he was uncapable of the least diminution of his Divine life And after three days he rose by the Divine Power to enjoy an Immortal Life And have the Keys of Hell and Death The irresistible force of Death all Men must yield to and from the Grave there 's no redemption by finite power But Jesus Christ has Soveraign Authority and Power to open the Grave and raise the Dead to an happy Immortality This glorious Appearance made St. John to fall as dead at his Feet and could not recover himself till assured by the reviving words of his favour The Spirit also appear'd from Heaven to give Testimony concerning the divine Person and Office of Christ First by descending as a Dove on him when he was baptised This was the completion of the Prophecy The Spirit of the Lord is upon me He has anointed me to preach the Gospel to the Poor to publish Deliverance to the Captives And in the second of the Acts the Spirit descended in the form of Fiery Tongues upon the Apostles to qualifie them for preaching the Gospel to the World And 't is worthy of observation that the Apostles were before this very defective in Wisdom and Courage so that their Divine Master though Goodness it self yet tax'd them for their stupidity and in his Sufferings they all forsook him But after the effusion of the Spirit upon them they were endowed with that admirable Wisdom and Resolution that nothing could gainsay and overcome They presently spake in various Languages the things concerning Iesus Christ that the World was astonish'd and many converted by this Testimony from God for the honour of our Saviour and others confounded in their obstinacy Now since this miraculous descent of the Spirit was to ratify the Promise that he made to them If I go away I will send to you another Comforter What more clear and valuable Testimony can we have that Jesus Christ is the Saviour of the World If Infidelity should reply If we had heard these Voices and seen those glorious Visions we should be convinc'd but what assurance have we there is no deceit in these Relations I answer There never was clearer Grounds of the belief of any thing done without the compass of our own senses than of what
Operations that are the express Characters of Gods hand which afford an infallible testimony of his approving it Before the coming of Christ into the World there were two sorts of Religions Gentilisme and Judaisme The first is utterly excluded upon the account of its gross and palpable contrariety to the Principles of sound Reason 1. By a fundamental error in the Object of Worship Idolatry then spread through all the Regions under both the Hemispheres Now 't is evident by Reason there is but one true God an Infinite Being the Maker and Governour of all things that has alone Divine excellencies in himself and a Divine Empire over us and consequently is alone worthy of Supreme Honour And what greater indignity can be offered to Him than the placing of Idols in His Throne He is a jealous God sensible and severe and will not suffer any partner in his Worship His Honour is eminently concern'd to vindicate His despised Deity 'T is a pittiful shift to alledg that they honoured their inferiour Gods with a lower and imperfect worship for all divine Worship is supreme and to be given only to the supreme God Besides what more debases Man than to consecrate the flower of his esteem and affections to unworthy Objects and many times to things wherein were no signs of Life much less any Ray of Divinity 'T is evident therefore that the numerous Sects of Superstition were involv'd in the most wretched ignorance of God and themselves And 't is observable that no quarrels were rais'd amongst the Heathens about the several Gods they worship'd For the Devil the irreconcileable Enemy to God's Glory and Man's Happiness was pleas'd with their deadly Errours Let them adore the Host of Heaven or of the Earth it was alike to him for they all diverted the minds of Men from the sole Object of Divine Worship the true God 2. Gentilism was equally culpable in the manner of Worship Those who made Gods to themselves ordained their service according to their fancies But the true God that made Man will be worshipped according to his own appointment Now if we consider that unintelligible variety of Religions amongst the Heathens we shall have reason to conclude that there is no instance wherein the excess of Man's native blindness and depravation is more astonishing than in the ways he has devised for the serving of God This will appear by taking a short general view of the ways of Worship in practice among the most learned and polite Heathens The Grecians and Romans had more Art and Improvement than the rest yet how frivolous and extravagant nay how impious were their solemn Mysteries The Eleusinia sacra the rites of Cybele the Floralia c. were mixtures of Folly and Filthiness Their Auguries by the flight of Birds their Presages by inspecting the Intrals of Beasts and the Smoak of the Incense were so fantastick that if one had design'd to invent things ridiculous without the least shew of Reason it had not been possible to exceed them They were very curious about Trifles and careless of real Vertue And what is more unworthy of God than to imagine that He is pleased with little sensless observances solemnly performed They were afraid to soil themselves with imaginary pollutions and insensible of the deepest defilements Their most sacred Mysteries were a covert for Uncleanness and under the mask of Religion the basest Villanies were disguised But I will not rake in those sinks of filthiness Now what is more impious than to imagine that God is pleased with the most sordid Lusts that cannot be nam'd without violating Modesty nor thought of without defiling the Mind with their infamous Ideas But 't is no wonder that such pollutions were esteemed Religious Rites for they attributed to their Gods such actions as were most unworthy a vertuous Man The Poets were the chief Doctors in their Church Their tales of the Rapes and Incests and secret Amours of their reputed Deities were the rule of their Faith And what a pernitious influence this kind of belief had upon them and how dishonourable it was to their Gods the wiser sort then discover'd It was Cicero's just censure of Homer that whereas he should have raised up Earth to Heaven instructed Men to live according to the purity of the Gods he forc'd down Heaven to Earth and made the Gods to live like Men in this Region of impurity 'T is the highest Glory of Man to be made the Image of God in moral excellencies and 't is the vilest contumely to God to fashion him to be the Image of Mans vicious affections Add further that Man was a sinner and under the righteous displeasure of Heaven all were compell'd to acknowledge by the Stings of Conscience But what miserable work has been made from the ignorance and guilty fears of the Heathens to render the Deity propitious is manifest in several instances and especially in their cruel sacrifices of Men. This was their practise in extream dangers to purge their Cities and avert Divine Judgments As if some eminent acts of Sin had the vertue of expiation In short the design of Religion is to procure the favour of God and to sanctifie Man both which are necessary in order to his Blessedness but how in sufficient Gentilism was for these great effects is manifest Nay on the contrary such a prodigious mixture of folly and wickedness makes it sadly evident that the variety of Religions among the Heathens were but several ways of dishonouring God and perishing for ever It is further to be observed that the Philosophers of greatest reputation admir'd as Oracles of more than humane Wisdom did not cure these destructive evils They should have exprest an Heroic Magnaminity to which they vainly pretended in resisting the dreadful torrent of Idolatry that everflowed the World But they basely temporiz'd with the vulgar Heathen 'T was their declared Principle that a wise Man should follow the Religion of his Country and conform in his external practice with establisht customs if he reserv'd his mind free for Philosophy Thus they extinguish'd the most radiant beam of the Deity and rob'd him of his most glorious Attribute the Unity of his Essence And by this we may judge how unfit they were to instruct and correct the degenerate World and make it truly better when they suffer'd Religion the fountain of all Vertues to be corrupted and the Worship of the only true God the prime and chief part of Piety to be given not only to inferiour objects but to evil Spirits Miserable Physicians whose care was applied to redress some lesser evils that concern'd Societies and neglected this mortal wound in the Heart 'T is a killing aggravation of their connivance and compliance with ignorant Idolaters that they held the truth in unrighteousness and when they knew God they glorified Him not as God but chang'd the Glory of his Incorruptible Nature into an Image made like to corruptible Man and Birds and four-footed
Punishment God has taken away all the marks of his Alliance with them No distinction of their Tribes remain no observance of their legal Ceremonies no Priests no Altars no Sacrifices no Prophets nor Miracles in short there is no true Worship among them no God but angry and revenging their bloody impieties And which is most worthy of consideration the Romans that conquer'd them have lost their Empire and the Nations which were subdued by their Arms have recovered their Liberty But the Jews after sixteen hundred years are still miserable Now is not this Judgment of God upon them a dreadful proof of the extremity of their Wickedness in crucifying JESUS CHRIST and that consequently he was as he declar'd himself to be the Son of God and that his Office and Doctrine were from Heaven Never before did the Wrath of God break forth in such a fierce manner against a sinful Nation Therefore 't is represented under the Image of the final Doom when Justice arm'd with flames shall devour the Ungodly and the whole World become a Theatre of Terrors And never was any other Nation guilty of such an high provocation for the Son of God descended but once among Men to be personally crucified The singularity of the punishment is a visible instructive sign of their transcendent Crime Immediately upon their pronouncing the capital Sentence against him on Earth their utter Ruine was pronounc'd in Heaven And the execution of the Sentence was deferr'd no longer but till the Elect of that People were brought in and by the Preaching and excellent Miracles of the Apostles the Resurrection of Christ and the truth of the Gospel were confirm'd and thereby a beginning and form given to the new Christian Church Now they have written on their foreheads in very legible characters the Fatal Curse which their Fathers pronounc'd concerning Jesus Christ His Blood be on Us and our Children When with indignation for their Idolatry broke the Tables of the Law God reestablish'd them but when for a greater guilt God himself broke them there is no possible Redintegration If it be said that 't is not necessary to attribute this Ruine of the Jews to the particular Vengeance of God but only to the Instability of humane things wherein such disastrous Revolutions sometimes happen I answer That although Divine Justice was so visible in their astonishing Destruction that Titus himself refus'd a Triumphal-Crown after his compleat Victory declaring that he was but the Instrument of God's Anger who was the Invisible Emperor in that bloody Expedition yet to force an acknowledgment of it from all that are not wilfully blind it was foretold when the Jews were in peace and their killing the Messiah specified as the Meritorious Cause wherein that terrible Effect was included Thus our Saviour in the Parable of the Husbandmen and Vineyard after they had put to death the Master's Son he adds What shall therefore the Lord of the Vineyard do He will come and destroy the Husbandmen and give the Vineyard to others And upon his drawing near to the City of Jerusalem he wept over it saying If thou hadst known even thou at least in this thy day the things which belong unto thy peace but now they are hid from thine eyes For the days shall come upon thee that thine Enemies shall cast a Trench about thee and compass thee round and keep thee in on every side and shall lay thee even with the Ground and shall not leave in thee one stone upon another because thou knewest not the time of thy Visitation This was also foretold by Moses in all the terrible Circumstances The Lord shall bring a Nation against thee from far from the end of the Earth as swift as the Eagle flyeth a Nation whose Tongue thou shalt not understand a Nation of fierce countenance which shall not regard the person of the old nor shew favour to the young and he shall eat the fruit of thy Cattel and the fruit of thy Land until thou be destroyed which also shall not leave thee either Corn Wine or Oyl or the encrease of thy Kine or flocks of thy Sheep until he have destroyed thee And he shall besiege thee in all thy Gates throughout all thy Land which the Lord thy God hath given thee in the Siege and in the straitness wherewith thine Enemies shall distress thee Such was the Threatning and the Event was correspondent in all the degrees of misery Which as it demonstrates the truth of the Prophecy so it may instruct us how fearful a thing it is to fall into the hands of the living God 3. The converting of the Gentile World to the saving Knowledg of God by the Messiah was foretold in the Scriptures The beams of this glorious Truth were gradually dispens'd to the Israelites as their weak understandings could sustain it When the Covenant was made with Abraham God declared in express terms In thy Seed shall all the Nations of the World be blessed That Seed was the Messiah not the people of the Jews descended from Abraham for they were so far from being a universal Blessing to the World that on the contrary they vainly presum'd that God for their sakes despis'd the rest of Mankind And indeed before the coming of Christ they were an inclosed Garden the peculiar People of God and without the compass of Judea Sin reign'd absolutely and universally Now that Promise clearly signifies that the Favour and Blessing of God that he conferr'd upon Abraham in making known to him his Will and promising to be his God and of his Posterity should one day be extended to all Nations by calling them to his Knowledg and Service To this agrees the Prophesie of Jacob The Scepter shall not depart from Juda nor the Law-giver from between his feet till Shilo come and to him shall the gathering of the People be that is the Gentiles shall be converted from their Idols to the true God by the Messiah whom the Jews acknowledg to be signified by that Title And Moses introduces God as complaining of the Idolatry and Ingratitude of the Jews and declaring They have moved me to jealousie with that which is not God they have provoked me to anger with their vanities and I will move them to jealousy with those which are not a People and I will provoke them to anger with a foolish Nation The external Covenant between God and his People is represented by the union of Marriage to signifie the Duty they owe to God the highest honour the most ardent affections and the benefits they receive from him Therefore when the Jews gave Divine Adoration the highest respects of Religion to Idols they provok'd God to jealousy and he threatens he would break his Alliance with them and give his Heart and Love to those which were not a People And by the Law of Counter-Passion they should be provok'd to Jealousy 'T is very visible these expressions signify the calling of the Gentiles And
spreads abroad This happy and stupendous success of the Disciples of Jesus Christ consider'd in it self is an unanswerable proof that the Christian Religion came from Heaven For it was only possible to the Divine Power 'T is no wonder the Religion of Mahomet extended and establish'd its Conquests in many Countries For that Seducer perswaded the barbarous People by force of Arms they must be his Disciples or Slaves And can the Mind form a clear Judgment or the Will make a free Choice when under a tyrannous necessity of Compliance or losing all the Comforts of Life Can Violence and Cruelty produce a Rational Faith That may force them to a counterfeit complyance but cannot make Men sincerely believe 't is apt to breed Form without and Atheism within Now that a Persecuted Religion should live and flourish in the midst of flames is as truly admirable as if a little Stream should pass through an Arm of the Ocean retaining its Freshness and Purity in the midst of Salt and Turbid Waters That when the Minds of Men were prepossest with inveterate Opinions contrary to its supernatural Mysteries and their Wills over-ruled by Carnal Affections utterly averse from its Holy Precepts the World was captiv'd to the belief and obedience of it is the most noble effect of Omnipotence For other Miracles though above the Laws of Nature yet were on the lower order of creatures without life and sense but this internal Miracle was wrought on the Minds and Hearts of Men. To raise the Dead to calm a Storm to suspend the force of Fire to change Waters into Blood is not so glorious a work as the converting Rebellious Souls to God and making them a willing People to his holy Laws And if we further consider the Prophecies so many Ages before concerning it and observe the Harmony betwixt the Works and Word of God there results a Demonstration as clear and strong as is possible The Prediction and Accomplishment are equally divine The success justifies the truth of the Prophecy and the truth of the Prophecy justifies the Divinity of the Christian Religion For by the Apostles and their Successors the Heathens were turned from Idols to the Service of one God the Creator of the World which was foretold by the Prophets not only as a thing that should arrive but to be performed by the Power of God To ascribe then this glorious Work to humane Artifice as if his Providence had been prevented by others from doing that that he promised should be done by his own Power is so directly contrary to his Wisdom and his Truth that common Reason abhors the thoughts of it Therefore the Christian Religion is Divine having God for its Author Thus the Truth of the Gospel is victorious over the Jewish or the prophane Infidel It may be argued against the Jews that their God foretold his Messiah should convert the Nations No other but one authorised from above could do it Iesus Christ has done it therefore he is the Messiah And consequently they are either blind with prejudice or maliciously deny the known truth To prophane Infidels it may be urged none but the Divine Providence could foretel so great and marvellous a change of the World none but the Divine Power could effect it therefore 't was the true God that made the project and event so exactly to correspond in all things Add further that by comparing the Prophecies of Christ and his Kingdom with their accomplishment the two sorts of enemies against the Gospel are made useful to convince one another The Pagans by the Jews that these things were foretold the Jews by the Pagans that these things were fulfil'd St. Austin relates that the Heathens seeing the exact agreement between the Prophecies in the Old Testament so clear in words and their accomplishment in the New so clear in the Effects had nothing to reply but that they were written after the things were done and feigned to be Predictions of antient date As Virgil weaving Fables of Aeneas feign'd him to be in the Elisian Fields and to receive from Anchises a Prediction of his Descendents in a long succession and order of Men and Times which was the story of what was actually past when he wrote it In answer to this pretence he breaks out with wonder and joy O Gloria Regis nostri the Cause is gain'd and the Victory of Truth could not be more glorious For whereas the many Nations in Europe Asia Africa subdued by the Arms of the Romans were compelled to observe the Rites of their Religion The Jews only were permitted to enjoy their Sacred Books and their own Worship and were dispers'd into all Countries And thus by the admirable Counsel of God they give credit to the Gospel among the Gentiles For if we consider the reverence they bore to the Writings of the Prophets that with the greatest care they have preserved them as the most precious Inheritance left by their Fathers and their mortal hatred of Jesus Christ and his Gospel that willingly they would spend their Blood to deface the Memorials of it it is an invincible Argument that the Predictions concerning the state of the Christian Church recorded in their Scriptures are sincerely delivered and of Divine Authority This their Malice is an advantage to the Faith of the Gospel and by constraint they are the great Confirmers of it This is sufficient to reduce the Heathens to silence and confusion And the Pagan being convinc'd by the Books of the Jews the Jew may be convinc'd by the Testimony of the Pagans for if the Records so jealously kept by that Nation were from Divine Inspiration if they contain Antient Prophecies which the Heathens see verified in the Gospel and the Christian Church why do not the Jews acknowledge Jesus Christ to be the promised Messiah If the Vail were not taken from Moses's face and laid on their hearts they must clearly see that the Light of the Gentiles is the Glory of Israel 'T is equally unreasonable to doubt with the Atheist that the Messiah was ever promised or to believe with the Iews he is yet to come CHAP. V. The Testimony produc'd by St. John for the proof of Christianity briefly consider'd The Witness from Heaven the Father Word and Spirit The Witnesses on Earth the Spirit Water and Blood conspire in declaring JESUS CHRIST to be the Son of God and Saviour of Men. An Answer to Objections against the Doctrines of the Trinity the Divine Incarnation and the mean State and Sufferings of the Son of God in the World The Conclusion The Gospel so proved deserves our firmest Assent and Adherence to its Doctrines Carnal or spiritual Lusts hinder the belief of it It sets before us the most powerful Motives to love God We are obliged by the strongest Reasons to obey its Precepts THe Sum of all that has been said is comprised in the Testimony that St. John produces to prove that Jesus Christ is the Son of God
the Apostles testify as hath been evidently proved before And certainly as those who saw and heard those things were by the Divine Characters in the external Objects and by their efficacy on their Spirits fully perswaded they were not deceived so we have as strong proofs that they did not deceive us in their Reports I shall briefly consider the other Testimonies And there are Three that bear witness in Earth the Spirit and the Water and the Blood and these Three agree in one The Spirit is to be considered in two different manners in the Testimonies attributed to him either in respect of those Representations by a Dove and Fiery Tongues or in respect of his Vertues and Influences communicated to the Christian Church The first was his Testimony from Heaven The second his Testimony on Earth And these were his Extraordinary Gifts so liberally dispens'd at the first preaching of the Gospel To one was given by the Spirit the Word of Wisdom to another the Word of Knowledge to another Faith that is extraordinary confidence in the Divine Power for the producing Miraculous Effects to another the Gift of Healing to another the working of Miracles to another Prophecy to another Discerning of Spirits to another divers kinds of Tongues to another the Interpretation of Tongues Now because these Operations more eminently declare the Presence and Power of the Spirit than his ordinary Graces they are called by that name For understanding the second Witness the Water two things are observable 1. That in the Rituals of Moses's frequent Washings were enjoyned for the purifying of the Iews from Legal Pollutions contracted by them And as those Corporal Stains were Resemblances of the vitious habits of the mind so the cleansing by Water was typical of sanctifying Grace that purifies the heart And for this Reason under the New Covenant to represent the sanctification of Christians by an outward sign Baptism in Water was appointed 2. The Apostle John in the Narrative of the Sufferings of Christ tells us that a Souldier pierced his Side with a Spear so that Blood and Water came out This is not recited by S. John merely as a circumstance of the History or as a certain proof of his Death but the following words He that saw this testifies it and his Testimony is worthy of belief and he knows that he says true that you may believe declare it to be of singular consequence And accordingly he says that our Saviour came by Water and Blood with respect to that which was done at his Crucifixion which was so ordered by Divine Wisdom for high ends that is the Water issuing out of his Side was a fit Emblem of that Sanctifying Grace that is given to all that have Communion with him in his Death 3. For the Testimony of the Blood 't is also to be observed that by the Mosaic Institution daily Sacrifices were offered up and a most solemn one by the High-Priest in the day of Atonement to expiate the guilt of Ceremonial Uncleanness and to restore those who for that were excluded from external Communion with God in the Sanctuary Now as that legal guilt arising from those outward pollutions and the separation of those who were so polluted from the Service of God was a representation of the Moral Guilt and Punishment that follows the vitious habits and actions of Men so the shedding the Blood of the Sacrifice and Offering was typical of the true Propitiation that was to be made by the Blood of Christ. And this is peculiarly remark'd by the Apostle that Iesus came not only by Water but by Water and Blood and 't is the Spirit that testifies of it and the Spirit is the Truth By which we must understand something distinct from the former i. e. that the flowing of his Blood signified the reconciling efficacy of his Death by satisfying Divine Justice and consequently the remission of Sins given to those who believe in him Now briefly to shew the force of their conspiring Testimony that Jesus is the Son of God and our Redeemer These things may be considered absolutely in themselves or as the accomplishment of the Prophecies concerning the Messiah In the last respect they affor'd us a great assurance of this Truth For all was expresly foretold And it shall come to pass in the last days saith God I will pour out of my Spirit upon all Flesh and your Sons and your Daughters shall prophesie and your young Men shall see Visions and your old Men shall dream Dreams And on my Servants and Hand-Maidens I will pour out in those dayes of my Spirit and they shall prophesie This promise was universally acknowledged to refer to the coming of the Messiah For that of Water that is Sanctification not only the washing under the Law were figures of it but 't was also clearly prophesied of in many places and most expresly in Ezekiel I will sprinkle clean Water upon you and ye shall be clean from all your filthiness will I cleanse you A new Heart also will I give you and a new Spirit will I put within you and I will put my Spirit within you and cause you to walk in my Statutes And for the third Testimony besides that the typical Blood of the Messiah ran down from all the Sacrifices it was also foretold expresly by Esaiah what his Sufferings should be and the Benefits accruing from them Now if we compare the Oracle with the event who can justly doubt that the Messiah is come But if we consider the things themselves they afford an uncontroulable Testimony of Christ's Divine Mission Compare the Primitive Church either with the Jews or the Gentiles and see the difference between them The Spirit that was communicated but as it were in a few drops to the Jews after the Ascension of Christ fell in a main showr upon the Christian Church inriching them with supernatural gifts some favoured with Revelations of Sublime Truths above the discovery of the human Understanding some foretelling things to come that were beyond the discovery of the most sharp sighted Reason some speaking diverse Languages wherein they had never been instructed some having such an extraordinary Faith in the Divine Power and Goodness that innumerable Miracles were done by them in the name of Christ. If we look into the state of the Gentiles how thick and prodigious was the darkness that overspread that Chaos of Impiety In the Roman Empire that compriz'd the flower of Wit and Learning what foolish and extravagant opinions of the Deity were cōmonly received What Idolatries what Impurities what Abominations were freely practised But by the preaching of the Gospel how clearly were the minds of Men instructed in the true Knowledg of God And what a change was made in their Lives ' The World that was as a barren Desart was suddenly chang'd into a Paradise fruitful in all good works Innocence Humility Purity Justice Charity Love to God Resignation to his Will were eminently visible in all
infinite Understanding That the Divine Father should seem to love us more than his only begotten Son in giving him up to death for us that the Son of God should love us more than his own Life in dying to reconcile us to his Father were incredible but for the Testimony of God himself Who can resist the sweet Violence the powerful Attractives of this Love How can any person that has the use of Reason to consider this great Love not be inflam'd with affection towards his Saviour How is it possible that these wide extremes should be found united The infinite Goodness of God and the equal unthankfulness of Men that they hate and offend whom they are obliged by the dearest titles to love and serve Methinks such unnatural Ingratitude should only be found in Hell where despair of Redemption has blotted out in those lost Souls the memory of the Love and Merits of the Redeemer But that on Earth where his most precious Blood was shed and is applicable for the Salvation of all that will receive him by Faith and Love that here injuries are returned for his inestimable Benefits is the most enormous Impiety What shall we render unto him for our Evils which he hath suffered for his Benefits which he gives to us All that we can endure for his sake is not comparable to one Thorn of his bleeding Crown Let us return Love that is so infinitely due to him Wo to us if we do not love him Consider further that the same most free Love that gave the Redeemer for us has reveal'd him to us For who could have imagined that the Son of God should descend from his Throne in Heaven and from the Bosom of his Father into the Womb of a Virgin-Mother and become Man to save us by his Sufferings Who could have any hopes that the human nature our low and heavy earth should ascend above the Heavens The World by natural light knew no more of his coming to recover it from misery than it perceived when the same Word in the Creation rais'd it from the Abyss of Nothing This should make us most sensible of his favour But every one will pretend to love his Saviour Now that we may not deceive our selves with a flashy Affection the Rule of Tryal is plain Our love to him must correspond in its kind and quality with his love to us And that was declar'd in doing and suffering what was requisit for our Salvation The precious Tree does not heal the Sore by its fragrancy but must be wounded to give it Soveraign Balm Our Saviour did not only express in words his compassionate sense of our misery that alone had been sufficient but loved us and washt us from our Sins in his Blood After his Resurrection he shewed his pierced Hands and Side to the Disciples not only the real proofs that he was Jesus that suffered but of his Love They might see his Heart open and Hands rent for them And such a love is due to him That which is only productive of Leaves and Blosoms of affectionate words of our Saviour but unfruitful in the works of Holiness may deceive Men by a fair appearance but not his eye who judges of the truth and strength of our love to him by our keeping his Commandments In short as an active Heat proceeds by an emanation from the Fire so a chearful Readiness and Zeal to do the Will of Christ naturally flows from Love consecrated to him But to enforce this the more let us further consider 3. We are obliged by all the titles of Gratitude and Justice of natural Divine Reason to walk as becomes the Gospel of Christ. First The dignity of the Author requires this of us The Son of God came down from Heaven and if the Allusion may be allowed circum caput omne micantes Deposuit radios propiusque accedere jussit laid down his Glory that he might familiarly teach us our Duty in order to our happiness And if the Word spoken by Angels was stedfast and every transgression and disobedience received a just recompence of reward How shall we escape if we neglect so great Salvation which as the first began to be spoken by the Lord Secondly The perfection and plainness of this Rule 'T is a wise observation That those Laws are best for Government that are so clear and particular that nothing is left to the will of the inferiour Judg who is not usually so capable and pure from by-respects as the Lawgiver The Gospel is a Light wherein all Vertues shine in their bright eminence and all Vices blush in their odious deformity It excludes all obscurity that the meanest understandings may see the way to happiness There can be no palliations and excuses for those who will rather argue than obey For the revelation of God's Will is so full and open in it that 't is direct Rebellion not to yeeld entire subjection to it And they who know their Masters Will and do it not shall be beaten with many stripes Thirdly To commend it to our practice we have an Example of perfect obedience set before us If Jesus Christ had represented in the World no other person but of the Word and Wisdom of his Father as a Master to regulate and guide us by his Commands had revealed to us the Secrets of another World and then ascended to Heaven the highest Reverence and Observance had been due to his Laws But to â—â—â—â—urage and edge our industry he was pleased to exhibit in his Life a Patern of universal Obedience He gave us Rules of such perfect Holiness that there seemed no necessity of his practice for our instruction And the living image of his Laws was so visible in his Actions that his sole Example affords us a Model of entire Sanctity There is no kind of Vertue from the lowest to the most Heroick of which he might not say as he did to his Disciples in his last Supper I have given you an Example that ye should do as I have done to you And what should be more powerful in the breasts of Christians than a sacred Ambition to be like the Son of God than a dear Affection to be conform'd to their Saviour Fourthly To excite us to our Duty the Gospel offers such a Reward to encourage Obedience and threateneth such prepar'd Plagues against Disobedience that unless a Man be miraculously transform'd into a stupid Beast he cannot but be moved by them Now what darkness of mind or rather what perversness of heart is it if the great Interest of the one and the other Eternity the Blessed and the Miserable be not sufficient to work upon us But alas how many who pretend to be the Disciples of Christ do not obey him as their Master love him as their Redeemer nor fear him as their Judge They live as if Christ had commanded them to please not to crucify the flesh and the lusts thereof as if he had bid them
set all their Affections their Loves Desires Hopes Joys in present perishing things and not in everlasting to come to labour for the Riches of this World as if they were eternal Inhabitants on the Earth and not strangers and pilgrims in the way to Heaven These are worse Enemies of our Saviour than the Heathens that do not know him or the Jews that deny him For wearing the Livery of his Servants they defame his most holy Profession obscure his Glory and blaspheme him in their lives If Infidels that never heard the sound of the Gospel should see their conversation what judgment would they make of the Excellence of Christ and the holiness of his Law They would blaspheme his Goodness without defence Unholy Christians are the most guilty Sinners in the World And their punishment will be heightned accordingly For they exasperate Mercy and make the Blood of Atonement to cry for Vengeance against them If it be extreme perversness to disbelieve the Gospel after so clear a Revelation from God what degree of folly and wickedness is it for those who believe its Truth to contradict the evidence and design of it in their lives as if there were no doubt of its falsness FINIS Books sold by Brabazon Aylmer at the three Pigeons over against the Royal Exchange in Cornhil THe Harmony of the Divine Attributes in the accomplishment of Man's Redemption by the Lord Jesus Christ. Or Discourses wherein is shewed how the Wisdom Mercy Justice Holiness Power and Truth of God are glorified in that great and blessed Work By W. Bates D. D. in Quarto Two Sermons of the late Learned Dr. Isaac Barrow D. D. Chaplain in Ordinary to his Majesty and Master of Trinity Colledg in Cambridg The Reconcilableness of God's Prescience of the Sins of Men with the Wisdom and Sincerity of his Counsels Exhortations and whatsoever other means he uses to prevent them In Octavo ‖ Arist. MeÌ„tap Tanta Gentium in rebus frivolis plerunque Religio est Plin. ‖ Magis ex alieno jecore Sapiebant quam ex suo ‖ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Clem. Alex. Protrept Jsa 1. Psal. 50. Psal. 40. Psal. 110. Mat. 22. 42. Heb. 5. 5. * De verit Rel Christ. Nullam Virtus aliam mer cedem laborum periculorumque desiderat praeter hanc laudis gloriae quae quidem detracta quid est quod in hoc tam exiguo vitae curriculo tam brevi tantis nos in laboribus exerceamus Cicer. per Arch. Vereor ne ille plura tribuit virtuti quam natura patiatur Cicer. lib. 4. Acad. Quaest. Titus Imperator febrim nactus cum lectica transferretur suspexisse dicitur dimotis plagulis Coelum multumque Conquestus Eripi sibi vitam immerenti neque enim extare ullum suum factum poenitendum excepto duntaxat uno Sueton. Dulces voluptates Epicurus interdum sic extenuat ut Curium loqui putes interdum ita laudat ut quid praeterea sit bonum neget se posse suspicari Cic. lib. 2. de fin ‖ Quaedam arcana apud se habuisse neque se permittere Omnibus Sympos ‖ Pet. Mart. Hist. Ind. Cum enim ex Pestilenti in salubrem locum corpora aegra translata fuerint à Fontibus salubribus aquarum usus sub ministrabuntur celerius convalescent Ita efficietur ut ex natura loci majores auctasque cum dignitate Divinitas excipiat opiniones Lib. 1. cap. 2. That Eclipse might be caused in some other extraordinary unknown manner * Plin. in Epist. Praevidens Dominus Iesus impios quosdam futuros qui miraculis ejus calumnientur Magicis artibus tribuendo Prophetas ante praemisit Numquid si Magus erat Magicis artibus fecit ut coleretur mortuus Magus erat antequam natus O Homo mortue vermiscendo calumniose Prophetas audi Propâ—â—tas Lege Tract in Joan. Dan. 9. 26. Zech. 11. 12. Psal. 22. Isa. chap. 52 53. * Philost vit Apoll. lib. 6. Deut. 28. Gen. 49. 10. Deut. 32. 21. ‖ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Chrys. de laad Paul 4. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Ibid. * Aliquando Pagani faciunt nobis hujusmodi quaestionem cum vident quae scripta sunt sic impleri ut negari omnino non possint Audent ut dicant videstis ita fieri tanquam praedicta sint conscripsistis Serm. 67. Divers Sparsi sunt ubique Judaei portantes codices quibus Christus praedicatur Si enim in uno loco essent terrarum non adjuvarent testimonio praedicationem Evangelii quae fructificat toto orbe terrarum Serm. 67. Div. Ambos inde convinco Judaeum quia id prophetatum et impletum Ego cognovi PaganuÌ„ quia ego hac non convici Aug. Epist. 5 Volus. Demus DeuÌ„ aliquid posse quod nos fateamur investigare non posse In talibus rebus tota ratio facti est potentia facientis ‖ Quare quicquam nobis insolitum est quia naturam oculis non ratione comprehendimus nec cogitamus quid illa facere possit sed tantum quid fecerit Natur Quaest. lib. 6. * Aut forte qui verbum est significationem verbi ignoravit et qui veritas est loqui vera nescivit et qui sapientia est in stultiloquio erravit qui virtus est in ea fuit infirmitate ut non possit eloqui quae vellet intelligi Hilar. lib. 8. de Trinit Paulin. Arist. Rhet. ‖ Quae cum ita sint magna videlicet praerogativa de nomine Christianitatis blandiri possumus quia ita agimus ac vivimus ut hoc ipsuÌ„ quod Christianus populus esse dicimur opprobriuÌ„ Christi esse videamur * Aestimari de cultoribus suis potest ille qui colitur Quomodo enim bonus Magister est cujus tam malos videmus discipulos 2 Salv. De Gubern lib. 4.