Father The last words of our Saviour were Father into thy hands I commend my spirit xxiii Luke 46. And they stoned Steven calling upon God and saying Lord Jesus receive my spirit vii Acts 59. He died with these and the following devout words in his mouth crying again with a loud voice Lord lay not this sin to their charge In which he expressed as much charity to men as in the other he did faith in Christ And openly declared himself a person of such piety and goodness such admirable candor and sweetness of spirit so utterly void of all rancor and gall when he had the highest provocations from his bitter enemies that as we may be sure he could not be guilty of devising a lye to the deceiving of others so we may reasonably believe that God Almighty would not let such an excellent man be deceived to the ruine of himself and the casting away so precious a life II. But that jealousie and suspicion might have no pretence left nor any man justly call in question the truth of this apparition our Saviour was pleased a second time both to show himself and also to speak very audibly unto another person of great integrity and authority and that was S. Paul Whose testimony concerning this is the more considerable because he was a person of considerable note in the Nation of the Jews both for his descent and for his education and for his zeal in their Religion iii. Phil. 5. He was an Hebrew both by his Fathers side and his Mothers a Scholar of Gamaliel's i. Gal. 14. under whom he made an exceeding great proficiency xxvi Acts 5. and was addicted to the most strict Sect of Religion then among them whereby he became full of flaming zeal for the Law of which he was a rigid observer even according to the expositions they had made of it by the traditions of their Elders These he held so sacred that the name of Jesus was odious to him because he little regarded them And he was transported with so bloudy a rage against his disciples that his intention was to send as many of them as he could meet withall after S. Steven to whose death he was consenting viii Acts 1. xxii 20. that is He approved the fact of those seditious Zealots who were the authors of it or as the words may well be rendred out of the Syriack translation he was as well pleased with the killing of him as any of the company The lenity of his Master was no example for him to follow He learnt no meekness in the School of Gamaliel but suffered himself to be hurried away with the furious spirit of the multitude whom he accompanied in that tumult For he undertook to secure the garments of those who stript themselves to throw the first stone at that blessed Martyr of Christ Jesus Nor did his fury rest here but he gave his voice against other Saints when the sentence of death passed on them xxvi Acts 10. And not content to make havock of the poor Church at Jerusalem he enlarged his cruel projects and stretches his wrath as far as Damascus thither he goes armed with authority from the Senate xxii 5. whose Commissioner he was now as he had been for some time which shows he was a person of no small condition in that Nation For He tells us himself that what he did at Jerusalem was by authority from the chief Priests xxvi 10. who gave him letters also to those at Damascus that they should assist him in the apprehending all the Christians that were there ix 2. xxii 5. He brought the Decree of the Senate along with him which had been made against them and lest any should question whether he was deputed to see that order put in execution he was ready to satisfie them of that by showing his Commission xxvi 12. In short he breathed forth nothing but fire and sword as we speak against the worshippers of the Lord Jesus being exceeding mad against them according to the account S. Luke gives of him viii Acts 3. ix 1. and which he gives of himself xxii 4. xxvi 11. Now who would expect that such a man as this should himself become a Disciple of Jesus much less a preacher of his Religion A man so noted for his violence the other way and whose name was so terrible to Christian people that Ananias was afraid to go and deliver a message to him from our Lord after he was told something of his conversion Was there any hopes that he should ever confess and publish the very same thing for which S. Steven was stoned And yet so powerful were the prayers of that holy Martyr which adds much to the force of his testimony that our Lord answered them ere long by pardoning and converting this enraged Zealot To whom he was graciously pleased to appear as he had done to that Saint more than once as we find recorded in the Sacred story from his own mouth The first time and the most remarkable was when he was upon the rode to Damascus Then our Lord met him not far from that City when he had no such thing in his thoughts but was possessed with quite contrary designs and made him fall down and worship him whose Name he so hated that he would have forced all Christians to blaspheme him Read the ix Acts 3 c. and there you will find him who little regarded what S. Steven said and perhaps took him for a frantick fellow when he told them he saw Jesus glorified surrounded himself with such a glorious light from Heaven as left him no power to resist this truth which he had so bitterly persecuted For in that wonderful brightness there was a person appeared to him with such a dazling lustre that after he had beheld it he lost his eyes and could not see by reason of the glory of that light xxii 11. which was the cause I believe that he askt with no small astonishment Who art thou Lord The Angels appeared sometimes in great glory but never with such a splendour as to hurt the sight much less to take it away and therefore he now concluded that this person was of an higher condition much greater than the Angelical Ministers whose brightness was never known to be so amazing And to give satisfaction to his doubt our Lord the WORD of God told him in plain terms with an audible voice I am Jesus whom thou persecutest And wisht him not to proceed any further in this course which he might easily see would prove destructive to him For to contend with him still who was so glorious what would it be but to wound and ruine himself and by seeking to ease himself of one trouble to run upon a greater just as a beast does that kicks against the pricks which are to quicken it and put it forward This voice he alone heard who was to be instructed by it The company that was with him heard only a confused
that he was the Son of God the King of glory able to reward his patient servants and moreover sent Letters by him to several Churches of the Saints testifying the very same things which He made him see and hear in several visions They are recorded in that Book which tells us in the very first words of it that it is the Revelation of Jesus Christ which he sent and signified by the Ministery of his Angel to his servant John Who had already born record so the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is to be rendred ver 2. of the WORD of God and of the testimony of Jesus and of all things that he saw Had declared that is in his Gospel Jesus to be the WORD of God and made known that which he testified to be Gods will concerning men together with all the evidences by Miracles and other ways which he had seen of the truth of that which Jesus testified There could not be a fitter person than he who perhaps also was the only Apostle now remaining in the world to hold communication with this WORD of God and receive new revelations from Jesus He being at this time likewise banished and confined to the Isle which is called Patmos ver 9. for the cause now named that is for the Word of God and for the testimony of Jesus Christ In this lonesome place separated from the rest of the Earth our Lord opened Heaven to him and shewed him the glory which he had there For he fell into a rapture on the Lords day ver 10. and heard one speak behind him with a voice as loud as a trumpet saying I am before and after all things that is God blessed for ever Write what thou seest in a Book and send it to the seven Churches which are in Asia whose names are there expressed ver 11. Whereupon he turn'd about to see whence this voice came and then he beheld in the midst of seven golden Candlesticks representing those Churches a very glorious person appearing in the most royal majesty and power He did not ask him as S. Paul did who he was for he had been long acquainted heretofore with that countenance and knew him perfectly well to be our blessed Saviour Who by his very habit wherein he appeared declared himself to be as he had said the Lord of all who had no superiour nor any second in that Kingdom which God the Father had given him but disposed all things according to the sole pleasure of his will For he beheld him clothed with a garment down to the foot and girt about the paps with a golden girdle c. ver 13 14 15 16. He saw that is as Irenaeus truly expresses it L. 4. cap. 37. Sacerdotalem gloriosum regni ejus adventum him appear in his Priestly and glorious Kingdom For a long Robe and a golden Girdle belonged both to Kings and to the High-Priest in the Jewish Nation And all the rest of the description it were easie to show is a plain representation of a person shining in the glory of God the Father and invested with such an irresistible power in the Heavens as might justy make all his Friends rejoyce who acknowledged him to be the Son of God most high and all his Enemies quake and tremble who opposed his sovereign Authority In short so glorious was the sight that S. John himself was not able to bear it but when he saw him fell at his feet as dead ver 17. till the WORD as Irenaeus speaks in the same place on whose breast he had reposed himself at his last Supper revived and comforted him with these gracious words Fear not I am the first and the last I am he that liveth and was dead and behold I am alive for evermore Amen and have the keys of Hell and of Death As much as to say Thou wast not deceived when thou thoughtest thou saw the Son of man appear to thee It is I indeed therefore be not so afraid though now thou beholdest me in such Heavenly Majesty and Divine glory for thou oughtest rather to rejoyce to think that I am the eternal God I whom thou knewest when I lived upon Earth and whom thou sawest shamefully put to death am now alive as thou seest also never to die any more and am intrusted with a power to rescue you from death and raise you out of your graves It would be too long if I should tell you all that he says in his Letters to those Churches to assert his title to the Name of the Son of God which he expresly takes to himself in one of them ii Rev. 18. and to declare his royal power which he exercises in all the world especially in his Church the house of the living God where he hath such an absolute authority expressed by having the keys of the house of David c. iii. 7. that none can contradict him either by preserving any man in the Divine favour if he reject him or by excluding any man from it if he receive him It may suffice to observe these two things First that there is not one of those Letters but it begins with some such description of our Saviour's sovereign Majesty as this now mentioned For the character he had given of himself in the first Chapter is again repeated by parts in the following messages to the Churches Where he sometimes calls himself He that walks in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks ii 1. that is inspects and governs them Sometime the first and the last which was dead and is alive ver 8. that is the Lord God who can raise him from the dead who parts with his life for me And to name no more he calls himself ver 12. He that hath the sharp sword with two edges to cut in pieces either them or their enemies according as they deserved of him And indeed it being the office of a King which is the second thing to be observed or a supreme Governour to punish offenders and to reward vertuous persons he constantly assumes both these powers to himself in every one of these seven Letters telling them what evil should befall them from his hand if they did not amend and what blessings he would bestow upon them if they did overcome Which is a plain declaration of his Regal power and authority which he now hath at the right hand of the Throne of God There S. John saw him in a second Vision as Irenaeus calls it v. Rev. 6. where he appears in such power with God that none hath the like For there was a majesty represented to the Apostle sitting on a Throne with a Book in his right hand ver 1. which none could open or read or so much as look into And then behold this Lamb of God who had been slain comes and appears in the midst of the Throne being the Lyon of the Tribe of Judah as one of the Elders calls him ver 5. that royal person whom
else but some very splendid body a bright shining Light formed by the Spirit of God which came down from above just as a Dove with wings spread is observed to do and lighted upon our Saviours head These three last phrases are remarkable For when the Evangelists say it came down they speak in the constant stile of the holy language concerning the appearance of the Majesty of God xix Exod. 11 20. Of whom as Maimonides adds the Scripture speaks in the same manner when it describes his bestowing any gifts or vouchlasing any special token of his favour upon men For we * Mors Novoch Part. 1. Cap. 10. being in a low condition in respect of him who is the most high not in respect of place but of his essence majesty and power whensoever He is pleased to give wisdom to any one or to pour down the gift of prophecy upon him that abode of the spirit of prophecy or the habitation of the majesty and presence of God in any place is called his COMING DOWN and the taking away of prophecy or the recession of the Divine majesty is called his GOING UP For which he cites xi Numb 17. xxxv Gen. 13. In this language the Holy writers of the New Testament here speak who knew very well that the Divine Spirit is every where and doth not move from place to place but say it came down because there was an outward visible appearance of a great glory which indeed descended from above and declared him on whom such a majesty dwelt to be filled with the gifts of wisdom and prophecie and all other powers of the Holy Ghost And in the same manner they express the unexpected communication of Divine gifts to the Gentiles on whom the Holy Ghost fell or came down as they heard the word x. Acts 45. xi 15. That is there was a sensible token of the Divine presence among them though no visible majesty descended for they heard them speak with tongues and magnifie God But here there were both all the gifts of the Holy Ghost bestowed and also such a visible glorious Majesty as there was at the giving of the Law which not only came down but light upon our Saviour as that glory did on the top of mount Sinai xix Exod. 18 20. This was a thing as you shall hear which was never known before that the glory of the Lord should come and rest upon any person It could denote him to be no less than the Holy one of God From whom as from Gods most holy place he would hereafter communicate all his blessings to men And the more fully to express this it is very observable that the glory which now appeared came down as a Dove doth which is the very manner wherein R. Solomon describes the descent of the Divine majesty in former times The Throne of God saith he upon those words i. Gen. 2. The Spirit of God moved c. stood in the air and hovered over the face of the waters by the Spirit of his mouth who is most blessed and by his Word just AS A DOVE stretches her wings over her Nest For it is not certain whether this glorious appearance had the form of a Dove or only descended in the same manner as a Dove doth when it came upon our Saviour and encircled his head But that there was such a glorious Majesty appeared and lighted on him ought not to seem incredible to any man that believes the Holy Books of the Old Testament as Origen * Lib. 1. shows against Celsus who foolishly brings in a Jew speaking against this apparition If he had made an Epicuraean saith He deride this report there had been some congruity in it but it is ridiculous to pin such words upon a Jew who believes things altogether as strange nay far more wonderful To pass by what we read that God said to Adam Noah Abraham and others what doth he think concerning Ezekiel who says that the Heavens were opened and he saw Visions of God i. 1. and ver 28. That this was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord. And the same Isaiah reports concerning himself I saw the Lord sitting upon a Throne c. vi 1. Which of these are more to be credited Ezekiel who says the Heavens were opened c. and Isaiah who writes that he saw the Lord c. or Jesus who says that the Heavens were opened to him and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a Dove and lighting upon him This is enough to stop the mouth of any Jew especially since the power of Jesus as Origen proceeds not only then when he was on earth far excelled theirs but still remains now that he is in Heaven for the conversion and betterment of those who by him believe in God And as for others He tells Celsus that all those who admit Providence confess that God hath sometimes forewarned men in their sleep of things which much concerned their safety And therefore it is no such strange thing if that power which figures the mind in a dream should impress the same or the like form upon it when a man is awake and represent things as sensibly to him as if he saw them with his eyes and heard them with his ears And why that should not be as really seen if God please which is represented to a man in his imagination no body can give any reason As for that which Celsus objects that the Gospel never tells us our Saviour was wont to mention this and appeal to it in his preaching to the people He tells him that he did not mind how unseemly it was for our Saviour to divulge himself what was seen and heard at Jordan who forbad his Disciples to publish that which they beheld and heard on the holy Mount There was a fit time for the open proclaiming of both by others not by himself For the manners of our Saviour were far from that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 vain ostentation and much talk of himself which such a man as Celsus might be guilty of He chose by his works rather than by his words to tell them that he was the Christ Which made the Jews say How long dost thou hold us in suspence If thou be the Christ tell us plainly x. John 24. So he did but it was by that which was more convincing than his testimony of himself could then be I told you and ye believed not the works that I do in my Fathers name they bear witness of me ver 25. That one work which he had wrought just before was so miraculous that the like had not been heard of since the world began ix 32. For he had opened the eyes of a man who was born blind as they themselves could not deny for the mans Parents testified that he could never see till now and he affirmed it was Jesus who had given him his sight If they had not been blinder than He this
and their credit in this fashion These gods should have had more care of their reputation and authority than to let this single person whom they pretended also to be so mean to prevail thus mightily against them For as Plutarch tells us in those very places where there was in times past 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a great glory of the Divinity there was nothing to do in his days but all was vanisht A sign that indeed God was more in our Saviour than he ever had been in any other person or place and that he was no where else and that he would be worshipped only in that way which he taught and prescribed For they saw his GLORY the GLORY as OF THE ONLY BEGOTTEN Son i. Joh. 14. who had those marks of a Divine Majesty residing in him that none ever had and from whom we may expect all that the wisdom power and love of God can do for us What should we do then but after such evident proofs that God is in him fall down and with the most humble and joyful reverence worship him who as it there follows is full of grace and truth Because he is full of TRUTH we ought to resign and submit our selves to his government and because he is full of GRACE we should always rejoyce to think that we are under his care and we should put our trust under the shaddow of his wings And that he is so full of both that we may with great satisfaction commit our selves to his guidance confide and rejoyce in him will appear still more evidently by the next Testimony which he received from the HOLY GHOST II. Which was upon the day of Pentecost ten days after he left this world When it gave a more publick testimony to him than it had done at his Baptism that he was the Son of God exalted to sit on the right hand of the Majesty on high For his Apostles being then assembled together in one place on a sudden there came such a mighty inspiration from him who a little before he parted with them breathed on them and said Receive the Holy Ghost that the sound of it was like that of a violent blast of wind when it is a coming Which was anciently a token of a Divine presence approaching iii. Gen. 8. and now was a sign that by the power of this spirit they should carry all before them For it filled all the house where they were sitting as they did all the World e're long by their preaching And immediately a glimpse of that Divine Majesty or Glory appeared on them which came down upon our Saviour at his Baptism and ever after dwelt in him Who now sent the Apostles just as the Father had sent him For a bright flame was seen upon their Heads and they were baptized with the Holy Ghost and with fire So S. Luke reports ii Act. 3 4. That there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire and it SATE upon each of them a sign that this power should abide with them alway and accompany them every where though this visible flame vanished The effect of which was notorious to all even as it was apparent that Jesus was full of the Holy Ghost though none but John Baptist saw it coming down upon him For they were all filled with the Holy Ghost and began to speak with tongues Of which all Jerusalem as it there follows yea men of all Nations were witnesses who heard them speak in their own tongues the wonderful works of God vers 11. They proclaimed that is to all the People whom the report of this strange news had brought together what wonders God had wrought by Jesus and what he had now done for him having raised him from the dead vers 24. and exalted him by his right hand vers 33. and made him both LORD and CHRIST vers 36. That is He was now they might see if they would not shut their eyes inthroned by God in the Heavens and compleatly invested with that royal power of which he had received some portion before being now made LORD of all things and the KING of God's People Of which we say the Apostles v. 32. are his Witnesses who saw him after he rose again and beheld him ascend into Heaven and so is the Holy Ghost which he sent from thence as they all now saw and heard in divers sensible effects which testified that he was at the right hand of God And here it will be fit to observe three things First That the HOLY GHOST was his WITNESS as the Apostles you see call Him as the coming of it was the fulfilling of what he had predicted and promised a little before his going away from them At the very mention of that word they were very disconsolate and sorrow filled their heart Whereupon he chears them up with this assurance that he would not leave them comfortless like so many fatherless Children but pray the Father and he would give them another Comforter who should abide with them for ever and never go away from them as he was about to do xiv Joh. 16. This he tells them was the spirit of truth vers 17. whom the Father would send in his Name vers 26. where he repeats this over again and tells them what the Holy Ghost would do for them And therefore charges them not to be troubled or afraid but rather rejoyce to hear him say he was going to the Father who was Greater than he and therefore would give him power when he went to him to do more for them than he could do now vers 28. And then he adds the reason why he said all this vers 29. Now I have told you before it come to pass that when it is come to pass you might believe That is be confirmed in the belief of all that I have said and fully perswaded I have not boasted of a power and authority which doth not belong to me They might well be confident of it themselves and bid all the House of Israel know assuredly that God had made the same Jesus whom they crucified both Lord and Christ when they saw this come to pass which he had foretold and promised so often Before his Death xv Joh. 26 27. xvi 7. After his Resurrection xxiv Luke 49. Just before his Ascension i. Act. 4.8 Where he bids them not stir from Jerusalem but wait for the promise of the Father which they had heard of him and which would give them Power to be his Witnesses every where It was an evident argument when they received it of these two Divine Properties in Him Foreknowledge and Omnipotence They had reason to believe there was a Divine Majesty in him when he was with them on Earth and to trust to all he had said either of himself or them or those that should believe on his Name and to look upon Him now as the King of Glory with all power in Heaven and Earth For how could he have
of God And there is none can continue in this unworthy slavery but he must lay aside these thoughts also that the WORD was made flesh and the Image of the invisible God hath taken up his abode in our Nature By this he hath called us to the greatest sanctity He remembers us what excellent Creatures we are and how Glorious he is desirous to make us And who is there that need despair of recovering himself by the grace of God though he be sunk never so much below himself now that God is come on purpose to lift him up He hath sent Salvation to us by one that is mighty to save He hath revealed himself so graciously and made such discoveries of his Love and Power and Glory to all mankind that they may confidently hope if they will not cast away all care of themselves to be restored to the image and likeness of God again But this Discourse will come in more seasonably when we have joyned the strength of the other three Witnesses to these and heard them all together some from Heaven others from Earth proclaiming this in our ears Behold the Son of God Jesus is your Lord for he is the Lord of all things And we shall be the more ready for a surrender to him when we see withall how much we are beholden to God Almighty for his marvellous inconceiveable love in calling us so many ways by so many arguments to Repentance Faith Obedience and Everlasting Salvation That which I have now explained deserves to be remembred with the most affectionate acknowledgments and we shall be better disposed to hearken to the rest if we give him hearty thanks for what we understand already and say A PRAYER ADored be thy inestimable love O thou Holy Spirit of Grace and Truth the mighty Power of God who hast given such gifts unto men even to the rebellious also that the LORD God might DWELL among them Blessed be thy Goodness who didst anoint our Lord with that oil of gladness which hath run down to the meannest of his subjects Great and wonderful was that Heavenly Power and Love which appeared in such visible Majesty upon him and filled him with the Holy Ghest so that he went about doing good and healing all that were oppressed of the Devil And much more marvellous was that Almighty Goodness which promoted him to the throne of Glory in the Heavens that he might fill all things Praised be that astonishing Love which first filled the Apostles minds with such Heavenly light and inflamed their wills with such fervent heat that they boldly preached the Gospel to all the world For ever magnified be that diffusive Grace which afterwards spread it self in such variety of gifts wrought by one and the self same Spirit dividing to every man severally as he pleased Let the whole Church be giving continual thanks to thee O Lord for stretching forth thy hand in such signs and wonders to glorifie thy holy child Jesus for giving by the Spirit to some a gift of wisdom to others a gift of healing to others divers kind of tongues to others prophecy and for making some Apostles some Prophets some Evangelists some Pastors and Teachers that every knee might bow to Jesus and every tongue confess that he is the Lord. I confess him with all my Soul I honour him as my Dearest Lord. I see thy Glory O blessed Jesus by the light of the Holy Ghost which hath shone so oft from Heaven upon us I see the Power thou hast at Gods right hand I see the royal bounty of thy love Now I know that thou knowest all things and believe that thou art the faithful and the true whose words shall never fail O how much ought I and every Christian Soul to rejoyce in the consolations of the Holy Ghost which hath brought us new assurances from Heaven that our Saviour lives and reigns and sits inthroned at the right hand of God in incomparable majesty and glory Inspire all our minds and hearts O thou quickning Spirit inspire them O Lord and Giver of Life with such ardent love and devotion towards him that we may hope to reign with him and then shall we rejoyce before-hand in this hope with joy unspeakable and full of glory Do not wholly absent they self from us O thou Guide and Comforter of our Souls though we have not been so grateful to thee nor followed thy directions and counsels as we ought but still let thy gracious presence fill every part of the Christian Church Though we have not that UNCTION from above which endued them heretofore with the gifts of tongues and prophecy and healing and working of miracles Yet pour down every where much of the spirit of knowledge and love and devotion and purity and fortitude and undaunted resolution and fervent Zeal which may be ever glorifying the great God and our Saviour Christ Jesus O thou who didst open the eyes of the blind and loose the tongue of the dumb enlighten our minds to see more of those wonders which may inflame our love and incourage our hope and open our lips that our mouths may shew forth thy Praise Still let there be hearts full of Faith in the blessed Jesus full of love to all mankind full of ardent desire to see his Kingdom come full of wisdom to open the mysteries of Salvation to instruct men in the truth as it is in Jesus and to convince them mightily and perswade them to be obedient to it That so by the same Heavenly power whereby the Faith of Christ was planted in the world it may be graciously preserved and promoted and we may see it go forward and advance more and more till every Nation now on Earth speak in their own tongues the wonderful works of God Let all the people praise thee O God Let all the people praise thee Kindle in them such devout affections as may offer up continually the sacrifice of praise to thee Let them praise thee with pure minds and upright hearts and unspotted lives and in perfect unity and godly love say every where Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost As it was in the beginning is now and ever shall be world without end Amen CHAP. V. Concerning the Witnesses on Earth and first of the WATER HAVING given a brief account of the Testimony of the first Three Witnesses and finding much satisfaction in their perfect agreement we have the greater encouragement to go to the other Three who are also nearer to us than the former and take that evidence which they are willing to afford us for our further confirmation in this belief that Jesus is the Son of God These three you read in the eighth Verse are such as bear witness on EARTH whereby we may be the better acquainted with them and they are the more undeniable and furthest off from all question or exception For should any be so bold as to dispute that there might
be made alive again after Death than to save a Man's self from dying I hope then I may conclude with the Apostle S. Paul that this piece of the Mystery of Godliness is without controversie God was manifest in the flesh Justified 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in or by the SPIRIT The SPIRIT which did such mighty things by Jesus and at last raised him from the dead warranted him to be God manifested in our flesh It cleared him from all the envious and malicious accusations of his adversaries while he was alive by the many miraculous works which it wrought and it purged him from all suspicion of blasphemy which was charg'd against him and took away his life by raising from the dead and presenting him in Heaven a pure oblation to God It hath acquitted him fully in all impartial mens thoughts wiped off all the guilt which was cast upon him set him before the eyes of all the world as a person innocent and just and made him glorious and great even in his bloud as those words may be rendred xiii Hebr. 20. wherewithal he is gone into the Heavenly places there to appear before God for us which he would not have been able nor ever dared to do if he were not fully justified and perfectly a righteous person This is that witness which our Saviour himself promises to Nathanael as higher than that which he had already received i. John 50 51. He was convinced of the Authority of Jesus and acknowledged him to be the King of Israel because he could search into the secrets of the hearts and know men at a distance But our Lord tells him he should see greater things than these even behold the Heavens opened and the Angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man That is He should have the witness of the SPIRIT sending the Angels to minister unto him when he was raised from the dead and when he was exalted unto Gods right hand in the Heavens The Ascension and Descension of Angels is but an Hebrew form of speech whereby they express the ministry and service of Angels to the Divine Majesty A servant first goes to his Master to receive his orders before he can be sent by him and therefore ascending is put before descending and by both is nothing else meant but the ministry of those Heavenly Creatures that wait upon the Throne of God and do his Commandments hearkening to the voice of his Word From thence they were sent to attend on Jesus at his Resurrection and at his Ascension as his Disciples witnessed and Nathanael among the rest for he is mentioned as a person present when Jesus showed himself to his Disciples after his Resurrection xxi John 2. and is thought by many to be the same with S. Bartholomew As Israel saw in a dream the Angels ascend and descend upon a Ladder reaching from Earth to Heaven xxviii Gen. 12. So this true Israelite who as Greg. Nyssen * Homil. 15. in Cantic expresses it showed 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. the pure character or mark of that Patriarch upon him in his honesty and uprightness of heart beheld the like vision of Angels but in a more apparent manner when he was awake that he might hereby be confirmed in the faith of Jesus as Jacob was by his vision in the belief of God's providence And indeed this was a great confirmation to his and to our faith For I conceive that this phrase 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 upon the Son of man is the same with that where it is said the Holy Ghost came 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 upon him Which as it signifies that he was made partaker or rather was possessed of the Holy Ghost and it became His so this other like phrase of the Angels ascending and descending upon him denotes by the same reason that he was made the Lord of them and had them given to him as his ministers and attendants to be imployed in his service And so it was remarkably fulfilled which our Saviour said that he should see GREATER things than those he mentioned before For hereby he knew not only that he was the King of Israel as he had confessed ver 50. but that he was the King of Angels the Lord of Lords Yea hereby it appeared that he hath the power of God because just as the Angels are represented doing their service to his Majesty in that xxviii of Genesis so our Lord foretells with the greatest certainty they should see them waiting upon him And so they did as you read in the first of the Acts of the Apostles ver 9 10 11. which proved him to be indeed the heir of all things Now to shew a little more fully the greatness of this Testimony of the SPIRIT and that it was greater as Jesus here saith to Nathanael than the gift of discerning Spirits which I called a gift of the Holy Ghost to distinguish it from the Spirit let us consider a little that speech of our Saviours xii Matth. 31 32. Wherefore I say unto you all manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men but the blasphemy of the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men c. Which heavy doom S. Mark tells us was pronounced upon them because they said he had an unclean Spirit iii. 30. This shows what the blasphemy was in which if they continued there was no hope of pardon For if he by the SPIRIT of God cast out Devils as he tells them ver 28. then it was rank blasphemy the highest degree of evil speaking and calumny to impute these very cures and wonderful works to the power of the Devil which were wrought by that Divine power And this sin was therefore unpardonable which shows how great this testimony of the SPIRIT is because there were no means left to convince them that Jesus was the Son of God without which belief their sins could not be forgiven if they persisted not only in denying the authority of the SPIRIT but were so bold as to blaspheme it For what could work upon their hard hearts if this proved ineffectual might they not better deny the voices from Heaven which they did not hear than these wonderful works which they beheld every where with their own eyes Or might they not as well say that those were delusions as call these works diabolical operations Might they not in like manner slight his power of knowing secrets and impute it to some other skill What is there in which they might not shuffle and resist the light if in so clear a case as this Jesus his opposition to the Devil casting him out of possession and that on purpose to establish an holy doctrine quite contrary to his interest and in a number of other miraculous works they would be so obstinate as to say the Devil himself had the principal hand There is no question to be made but they who were so perverse as not to see this finger of God
Ulcera oris immensi wide and very gaping Ulcers they gave feet to the lame eyes to the blind and life to the dead Nor was there any thing that astonished all beholders done by him which he did not subject to the power of these infants these rusticks and gave them authority to do it What say you now O ye incredulous ye hard ye obstinate hearts Did your Jupiter himself ever give any mortal man such power Did he ever so much as bestow upon his High-Priest upon the most sacred of all his High-Priests I will not say the power to raise a dead man or make a blind man see but so much as to make a wheal or a pimple sink down and lye even with the skin by speaking a word or cure a little cleft which a loose skin sometimes makes in the fingers end only by touching it or bidding it be angry no longer And was it an humane power then from which such great things as I have told you of proceeded Sure it was sacred sure it was Divine or if you will admit any more superlative expression it was more than Divine more than Sacred For when thou dost that which thou art able to do and which is proportionable to thy power and strength there is no such reason that admiration should cry out thou didst that which thou hadst strength to do and which one might expect from such a power But now to be able to transfer thy right and power to another and to make a frail weak creature do that which is proportionable to thy might alone this is the effect of a power which is above all and which contains in it the causes of all things and the natures of all faculties Go then and fetch us Zoroastres that great Magician you brag of through the torrid zone or go and bring hither the Armenian that Ctesias writ of nay summon Apollonius Damigero Dardanus and all the rest of your most eminent wonder-workers that ever were let them be gathered together and joyn their forces and let us see them give but one of the common people power to command by a plain word a dumb man to speak or a man whose arms and leggs are withered to work and walk Or if this be too difficult a thing to make another do this and do it with a simple command let us see any of them do it themselves And let them call in the assistance of all their Daemons let them gather all the magical herbs which they can find in the bosome of the Earth and come with the whole power of their murmuring words and with all their charms we will except none of them we forbid them nothing that they can get to aid them and let them try if with the help of all their gods to boot they can do any such thing as these poor rustick Christians effected nudis jussionibus by their naked and bare command Cease O ye ignorant souls therefore to scoff and to curse when ye hear of these things which cannot hurt him at all but will bring no small prejudice to your selves For the Soul is a precious thing nothing ought to be so dear to a Man as that which is in hazard by blaspheming Christ Who is no such contemptible person that you may laugh at him but as appears by these things Deus ille sublimis c. That High God God of God God from unknown Kingdomes God sent by the most High to be the Saviour whom neither the Sun himself nor the brightest Stars if they have any sense nor the Principalities and Rulers of the World no nor your great Gods or those who feigning themselves to be Gods terrifie all mankind with their formidable power could so much as know or suspect whence or what he was he is so great But now that it is known and he hath demonstrated it to the World by his Divine works you had best submit to him and not imagine he is but one of us And that truly is good counsel for us all to acknowledge Jesus to be the Lord and submitting our selves to his authority to be governed by his Laws which God from Heaven confirmed by the most miraculous operations of the Spirit and of the Holy Ghost It is true we do not see and hear those things of which the Apostles and they that lived in their days were spectators and auditors but we have the faithful records of those miraculous works and of their Sermons left by themselves Registers were delivered under the unquestionable hands of those divine men of what they had seen and heard and of what they themselves said and did That is the Testimony of the Apostles and the Testimony of God was preserved and kept in the Holy Books which spake the same to the next Age which their Fathers had seen with their eyes and heard with their ears in the Age foregoing And moreover for a further confirmation that these were the lively Oracles of God his word transmitted unto them on which they might rely they had a continuance of the gifts of the Holy Ghost for some Ages following As Justin Martyr and Tertullian witness for the second Age after our Saviour And Origen Minutius Arnobius and Lactantius to name no more in succeeding times witness for the third and part of the fourth How could they doubt of the truth of the reports which they had received when they beheld them still verified as much as was necessary in their own days by the testimony of God himself And as for the incredulous Gentiles who stopt their ears to these reports they pressed them very strongly in this manner to use the words that follow in Arnobius as we may do those who question or disbelieve the Evangelical History in our own Age. Will you not believe good witnesses of things that were done unless you see them done your selves Shall Authors of certain credit be rejected who received such things themselves and delivered them to their posterity to be belived with no small approbation You will say who are those I answer whole Countries People Nations all that incredulous race of mankind are our Witnesses and the Authors we produce Who would never have entertained these things unless they had been clearer as we say than the light Do you think that the men of that time were such vain lying fools such sots such brutes that they feigned and imagined they saw such things as they never saw and that they childishly affirmed such things were done when there was nothing like it and when they might have lived with you in good esteem and contracted alliances and kindred among you would chuse to become the publick hatred and to make their very name execrable without any reason for it If this story be false whence comes all the world to be filled so soon with this Religion Or how was it brought about that so many people in such distant Countries and of such different humours should all conspire and agree
when the Israelites bade him prove it But our Lord needed not to call for any Witness John the Baptist a great Prophet as they themselves allowed was ready of himself for it was his office to declare openly that he saw the Spirit descending from Heaven like a Dove and abiding on him He saw and bare record that this is the Son of God as the Voice from Heaven in his audience also pronounced him Which a great many People if need were could afterward certifie who concluded that an Angel spake to him as you have heard from S. John's testimony .xii. 29. 2. Now if you proceed further and ask for some Witness of Moses his authority like to that of the WORD the second Witness to our Saviour who can hear any thing of it Do we ever read a word of Moses his appearing in such a Glory as our Lord Jesus did to his first Martyr S. Steven and to S. Paul and to his beloved Disciple Nay where are the Witnesses that say he was so much as transfigured when he was upon the Mount or doth he himself ever affirm it When was his Rayment made as white as Snow or where as I shall examine more hereafter was the bright cloud covering the Mount which was all cloathed with darkness we read indeed that when he came down his face shone but not in so bright and glorious a manner as our Saviour's did when he went up into the Holy Mount and especially after he ascended into Heaven Then S. Steven as I have said saw the Glory of God and Jesus standing at his right hand an honour never given to any Angel in Heaven And the Apostle of the Gentiles saw him again in a light greater than that of the Sun at Noon-day And to S. John he appeared as the KING OF KINGS AND THE LORD OF LORDS in such a Majesty as he was not able to bear but made him fall at his feet as dead He that weighs such things as these will see that all the glory of Moses to use S. Paul's words 2 Cor. iii. 10. was no glory in this respect by reason of the glory that excelleth 3. Then if you look for the Testimony of the HOLY-GHOST I have already noted that it never came down upon him as it did upon the Founder of our Religion Much less did he send it upon some select Men after he was dead who should do as great wonders as himself And still much less did he bestow it upon all the People as our Lord did for a while upon all Believers There is not the smallest foot-step of any such Honour or Power that he had For He did not communicate a portion of his Spirit to the LXX Elders who were chosen to be his Assistants but the Lord said to him I will come down and take of the Spirit which is upon thee and put it upon them xi Num. 17. which words do not signifie it is true that he had less but only that they had more of the Spirit than before yet He did not so much as lay his hands upon them that they might receive it but God took of the Spirit which was on him and gave it to the LXX Elders even to those two who were not there present at the Tabernacle but remained still in the camp ver 25 26. 4. If you go therefore next to the Testimony of WATER how transparent is the Purity of our Saviours Doctrine above that of Moses Whose Laws though they contained nothing dishonest yet burdened the people to prevent a greater mischief of their running into Idolatry with a number of precepts which in themselves had no goodness at all to commend them Nay the Letter of the very moral Law laid restraints only upon the outward man so that they who were subject to it little regarded the purifying of their spirits from those irregular passions and naughty affections which our Lord expresly prohibits There were many things also indulged in those days which our Lord doth not allow Whose design was not only to purge the heart and make the spirit of men much better by all his precepts but to advance them to the noblest degree of purity and goodness Where do you read in the Books of Moses such precepts of meekness of mortifying fleshly lusts of kindness to all and tender compassion of trust in God of contentedness with the present and hope of his mercy in another world as are frequent and obvious in the Gospel of Christ Nay in what place of the Law do you find so much as one command or exhortation to Pray much less to Pray without ceasing and to Pray not for riches and victory over enemies and long life but for the Divine Grace and favour for the Holy Spirit for remission of sins and for Eternal Life And now I mention that word I cannot but desire you to consider how low and poor the Promises of Moses were compared with those of our Saviour who hath brought in a better Hope Of which they could see so little so dim was the light in the Law of Moses that a whole Sect of men who believed in him and received his Law cast away all hope of obtaining good things in another life and denied the Resurrection of the Dead And we must add to all this that Moses was but the Light of that one Nation whereas our Lord says more than once I am the Light of the WORLD viii John 12. ix 5. Moses washed the Bodies of the Jews but now the hearts of the unclean Gentiles are purified by Faith xv Acts 9. And if you enquire further into the purity of Moses his life you will find it was not without flaws and blemishes for he spake unadvisedly with his lips and could not bring the people to their rest But our Lord was perfectly free from all spot the Lamb of God without blemish who never spake the least word amiss no not in the midst of such torments as Moses never endured 5. For if you pass on to consider what sufferings and BLOUD testifie Alas what is the Bloud of Bulls and of Goats to the precious Bloud of Jesus Did Moses seal that Covenant of which he was the Minister or did he sprinkle the Book of the Covenant with his own bloud Did he purge away the sins of the people by himself as our Saviour we read did 1. Hebr. 3. or sanctifie them by the offering of his own body once for all as it is x. Hebr. 10 Did he die to bear Witness to the Truth or witness such a good confession before Pharaoh as Jesus before Pontius Pilate Was it ever heard that by the enduring of a shameful and cruel death he declared to all the certainty of his Prophecy Upon what Altar was he offered And for what cause did he become a sacrifice This was peculiar to Jesus to suffer such things as no man ever did and for this very cause because he said He was the Son of God 6.
Age. Increase of wickedness not only in themselves but others hath made some so impudent as to scoff at Religion and blaspheme Christ While they see those who acknowledge him do no better than themselves they are inclined to think that their belief makes them no more worth than those who have none at all Nay since they concur with them in their wicked practises they imagine that their fear of Hell and hope of Heaven is no part of their belief but only of their profession The hands of Infidels are strengthened in their impieties by the perfidiousness of ungodly believers They joyn with them to pull down Christian belief and make that be thought nothing which doth nothing above what infidelity doth And therefore let all those who love the memory of our Saviour who love their posterity and would not have them in danger to be drown'd in a deluge of infidelity put a stop to it by holding the mystery of the faith in a pure conscience 1 Tim. iii. 9. Let every one that nameth the Name of Christ depart from iniquity and endeavour all he can to support the honour of his Name and of his Religion by a strict observance of all his holy commands They who believe not or mind not what they believe may think it strange that you run not with them to the same excess of riot speaking evil of you 1 Pet. iv 4. But ye beloved building up your selves on your most holy faith praying in the Holy Ghost keep your selves in love of God looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life Jude 20.21 And that now is the next thing which flows from hence If we believe the Record or Witness which God hath given of his Son it contains in it the greatest joy in the World For this is the record that God hath given to us eternal life and this life is in his Son But I must refer that to another Discourse alone by it self Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy-Ghost GLory in the highest Let the Holy and undivided Trinity be for ever glorified by all Mankind especially by all Christian People who are made partakers of the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ the love of God and the communion of the Holy Ghost Eye hath not seen nor ear heard neither have entred into the heart of man the things which God hath prepared for them that love him But God hath revealed them unto us by his spirit Blessed be God I most thankfully receive the manifold testimony which he hath given of his well beloved Son and humbly bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ of whom the whole family of Heaven and Earth is named that he would grant me according to the riches of his glory to be strengthned with might by the same spirit in the inner man that Christ may dwell in my heart by faith that being rooted and grounded in love I may be able to comprehend with all Saints what is the bredth and length and depth and height and to know the love of Christ which passeth knowledge that I may be filled with all the fulness of God And God forbid that any Soul who hears the voice of these Witnesses of God should refuse and turn away from him that speaketh from Heaven and hath declared to us the unsearchable riches of God's grace and the whole counsel of his will O that all they upon whom the glorious Gospel of Christ hath shined may most heartily believe in his Name Let them all be knit together in love unto all riches of the full assurance of understanding to the acknowledgment of the mystery of God and of the Father and of Christ in whom are hid all the treasures of wisdome and knowledge And God forbid that any of them should hold the truth in unrighteousness But as they have received Christ Jesus the Lord so let them walk in him rooted and built up in him and established in the faith as they have been taught abounding therein with thanksgiving And quicken that faith O thou author and finisher of it that it may work with great power in all Christian hearts and mightily bow their wills to forgo any of their own desires rather than displease thee and forfeit thy love and favour Let it inable them to overcome the World that they may be no longer slaves to the lusts of the flesh the lust of the eye and the pride of life but conquering all these may yield themselves unto God to be the servants of righteousness and obey from the heart that form of doctrine which is delivered unto them And may the powerful working of faith and love and hope make all our duty easie to us that we may ever render thee cheerful as well as constant service May thy testimonies be our daily delight and the rejoycing of our heart May we love them above gold yea above fine gold May they be dearer unto us than thousands of gold and silver May we daily renew our strength and run and not be weary and walk and not faint May the holiness of our lives bear witness to the sincerity of our faith that others may glorifie thee our God for our professed subjection to the Gospel of Christ And we obtaining a good report by faith and carrying this testimony out of the world with us that we have pleased thee thou mayst receive us to thy self to be glorified with thee and to rejoyce in thy love towards us for ever Amen THE END Our Lords Ascension Acts. 1 9. And when he had spoken these things while they be held he was taken up a Cloud receiued him out of their sight to And while they stedfastly looked toward heaven behold two men stood by them in white apparell H. Which also said this same le sus shall so come as you haue seen him go into heaven THE WITNESSES TO CHRISTIANITY OR The Certainty of our FAITH and HOPE In a Discourse upon 1 S. JOHN V. 11. PART II. By SYMON PATRICK D.D. Chaplain in Ordinary to His Majesty LONDON Printed by E. Flesher for R. Royston Bookseller to His most Sacred Majesty MDCLXXVII TO The most Reverend Father in God GILBERT By Divine Providence Lord Archbishop of CANTERBURY Primate of all England and Metropolitan and one of His Majestie 's most Honourable Privy Council c. May it please Your Grace TO cast your eye upon the Second Part of that Work the First Part of which I took the confidence to address unto your Grace the last year It is concerning that ETERNALL LIFE which was with the Father as St. John speaks and now is manifested to us by his Son Jesus Christ who hath published the most gracious Purposes of God the Father towards us The thoughts of which as they cannot but be at all times exceeding welcome to Devout Christians especially to those who are faithfull Ministers in Christ's Kingdom so never more then when they
all power in heaven and earth and hath said as it there follows ver 54. I will raise him up at the last day Well then seeing that these are the things we expect to have our sins blotted out when the times of refreshing shall come to be made children of the resurrection to be delivered from the wrath to come to have glorious bodies to reign with Christ and to be made heirs of all things and seeing we are said to have this bliss i.e. to have a certain right to it if we believe on him and seeing also that our right is apparent from the same Records or Witnesses whereby it was proved that Jesus is the Son of God All that I can apprehend remaining to be done to give us a fuller certainty of these promises is to make particular inquiry what every one of those Witnesses which testify to Jesus say to this point that God hath given us eternall life and that this life is in his Son This is the RECORD St. John saith i.e. this is the matter of it Let us examine if you please all these Six Witnesses one after another upon this matter and see if they do not give the same evidence of it that they have done of the other and make as infallible proofs that God hath given us this blessing and that it is in him as they do that Jesus is the Son of God and came from him There is no way like to this that I know of to attain a strong faith and hope of Eternall Life which it infinitely concerns us all to make sure and to have a well grounded perswasion of both that we may live comfortably in the midst of all troubles and that we may be able to overcome all temptations and that we may be willing to die and when nothing else will give us the least comfort we may lift up our heads with unspeakable joy For what can deject their hearts Macarius Hom xxxiv whose hope is firmly fixt in Heaven What should make them complain who have for their Inheritance everlasting Life Vnspeakable unconceivable are the glories innumerable are the good things which God hath prepared for those that love him As in things visible the plants the seeds the flowers are so numerous that none can count them nor is it possible to cast up the summe of all the other treasures of the Earth or as in the Sea the wit of man cannot comprehend the creatures in it either their number or their kinds or their differences or take the measure of its waters or of its place or as in the Air none can number the Birds or in the Heavens tell all the Stars So it is impossible to tell or conceive the riches of Christians in the invisible world their unmeasurable their infinite their incomprehensible Riches For if these Creatures are so infinite and incomprehensible by man how much more He that made and form'd them all And therefore it ought to fill every Christian heart with the greater joy and exultation of spirit because the Riches and Inheritance prepared for them so much surpasses all that can be uttered And with all diligence and humility should we buckle our selves to the Christian Combate that we may be partakers of their Riches For the Inheritance and the portion of Christians is God himself They may say with David The Lord is the portion of mine inheritance My lines are faln unto me in pleasant places yea I have a goodly heritage Glory be to him who gives us himself Glory be to him for ever who mixes his own Nature with Christian Souls 〈…〉 effable kindness of God who free 〈…〉 less then himself upon us O the ineffable happiness of such Souls who are wholly in joy and mirth and peace as so many Kings and Lords and Gods Behold here thy Nobility Christianity is no vulgar or contemptible thing Thou art called to the dignity of a Kingdome not like that of earthly Princes whose glory and riches are corruptible and pass away but to the Kingdom of God to Riches divine and celestiall which never decay For there blessed Souls reign together with the heavenly King and in the heavenly company Since such good things therefore are set before us such glorious promises are made us such great good will of our Lord is manifested towards us let us not despise his kindness nor be slack in our motion towards Eternall Life but give up our selves intirely to the good pleasure of the Lord. And let us call upon him that by the power of his Divinity he would redeem us from the dark prison of dishonourable affections and vindicating his own Image and Workmanship cause it to shine most brightly till our Souls be so sound and pure that we be made worthy of the communion of the Spirit giving glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost for ever Amen CHAP. VI. Concerning the Testimony of the FATHER WE must begin as we did before with the Witnesses in Heaven the first of which you know is the FATHER who spake three times from Heaven by an audible voice to testify to our Lord Jesus And if you examine again all that he hath said you will find both these things recorded in his words that he hath given us ETERNALL LIFE and that this LIFE is in his Son I. The first time that God the FATHER spake from Heaven was at our Saviour's Baptism when the Heavens were opened and a Voice came from thence which said Thou art my beloved Son in thee I am well pleased iii. Luk. 22. In which words there are two things very remarkable which plainly testifie to the Truth of those two now mentioned that LIFE is in his Son and that we shall partake of it I. That He calls Jesus his SON and his beloved Son Which being spoken from heaven in such a glorious manner as the Gospell describes it must needs signifie him to be his SON in the most eminent sense for it was never said to any Angel in this sort Thou art my Son my beloved Son This declared him to have the fulness of the Godhead dwelling in him bodily to be invested with his own authority and power and to be that Seed promised who should bless all the World which is a thing too great for any one to doe but for GOD himself It was by an audible voice from heaven that the Angel of the Lord called to Abraham to tell him the LORD had sworn by himself that in his seed all the nations of the earth should be blessed xxii Gen. ver 15 16 18. And so now to shew us the Seed was come who should be such a great Benefactour to mankind the LORD himself speaks by a voice from Heaven declaring Jesus to be his SON the Authour of that Universall Bliss which he had promised Which tells us plainly enough that LIFE is in him which is one of the things that St. John affirms upon this Record for else he
was attested by chosen persons to whom he shewed himself openly And then he was lifted up from the earth in another more noble and sublime sense then he had been before upon the Cross Then Angels came in bright array to testify to him what he had said of himself xiii Joh. 31 32. that God having been glorified in him had glorified him in himself This was a very glorious testimony that indeed he hath Life in himself and shall be the Authour of eternal Life to us And therefore he is called the Prince or Authour of life iii. Act. 15. because by that which overcame death his resurrection 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c * S. Cyril ib. in xii Joh. 28. we know him to be LIFE and the Son of the living God But of this more hereafter 3. Another Act whereby this saying I will glorifie thee again was verified I take to be his Exaltation by God's own right hand to the throne of glory in the heavens This he prayed for with the greatest ardency and the most assured expectation xvii Joh. 1 2. because God the Father he saith had given him power i. e. the promise of it over all flesh that he might give eternall life to as many as God had given him This promise I understand it was made to him when God uttered this voice from heaven I have both glorified thee and will glorifie thee again Then God gave him a power to raise up all as he had lately done Lazarus and to give them immortall happiness of which as he had then the grant so he now desires in this prayer to be put in possession And therefore when he says vers 1. Father the hour is come glorifie thy Son c. I take the meaning to be as if he had thus spoke Now is the time to doe that which thy voice from heaven assured me should be done viz. to glorifie me in so compleat a manner that I may glorifie thee and give eternall life to all the faithfull This he spake with eyes lifted up to heaven from whence that voice came which bare witness of him that he should be glorified more then ever and gave him authority to lay claim to the highest power of bestowing immortality Which power when God the Father had actually put into his hands according to this prayer and his own promise of which he could not fail having ingaged himself before a multitude to glorifie him then being made perfect he became the Authour of eternall Salvation to them that obey him v. Heb. 9. Then he was made a Priest for ever vii 16 17. not after the Law which was but a weak institution but after the power of an endless Life whereby he is able to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him He can raise up us and all that succeed us as well as he did Lazarus and others in whom he gave onely a little taste of his power to give us Life that shall never die This now is the Third Testimony of the Father who in the audience both of Friends and Strangers said He had both glorified him and would glorifie him again That he had was then very well known and it was as certain because he said it that he would doe the same again By the testimony also of sufficient persons it appears that he made good this promise even at his Death after which he raised him out of his grave and lift him up far above all heavens that he may be glorified once more 2 Thess i. 10. by raising us up from the dead and promoting us to eternall glory with himself O wonderfull News Athanasius in Assumption Christi He that was lifted up to hang on a Cross is preferred now from his grave to a glorious throne And to come at it he takes a journey through the air the clouds running under his feet become his chariot the sky opens to him and the heavens with open arms receive him the troups of Angels joyn together in triumphall Songs and persuade his amazed Disciples to keep that day a festivall on earth as they did in heaven Do not stand gazing here say they any longer but go and preach this wonder to the world By his departure represent his coming again for so shall he come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven O how wonderfull are thy works O Lord which give us hope as the blessed St. Paul said when he thought of these things that we shall then be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air and so shall we be ever with the Lord. We can doe no less then to those voices which came so oft from heaven to testifie this adde our poor voice of praise and thanksgiving saying with the Angels when He came into the world GLORY BE TO GOD IN THE HIGHEST and with the multitude when they met him at mount Olivet Blessed be the King that cometh in the name of the Lord PEACE IN HEAVEN AND GLORY IN THE HIGHEST Cyrill Hieros in occurs Domini Glory be to him who is the Fountain of Life coming from the Fountain of Life the Father Glory be to him who is the River of God proceeding from the Divine Abyss and inseparably one with it the Treasure of the Father's Goodness and of ever-springing Blessedness the Water of life who gives Life to the World the increated beam of the Father of Lights from whom he is undivided who being in the form of God took on him the form of a Servant not lessening the dignity of his Divinity but sanctifying the mass of our Humanity Him the Angels praise the Archangels worship the Authorities reverence the Powers glorifie the Cherubims doe him service the Seraphims acknowledge his Divinity the Sun and Moon minister to him who hath broken in pieces the gates of Hell and opened the gates of Heaven and abolished Death and confounded the Devill and dissolved the Curse and made Sorrow cease and trodden Sin under foot and restored the Creation and inlightened the World And therefore let us sing hymns to him with the Angels and rejoyce in the light of the glory of God with the Shepherds and adore him with the Wise men and joyfully magnifie him with the blessed Virgin and confess him with Simeon and Anna who were glad to see his Salvation that so we at last may also be possessed of eternall good things through the grace and the bowels of mercy and the loving-kindness of our Lord and God and Saviour Jesus Christ to whom with the Father and the Holy Ghost be glory and dominion for ever and ever Amen CHAP. VII Concerning the Testimony of the WORD the Second Witness in Heaven IF we had no farther Witness of this Truth but that which hath been already produced we might well rejoyce in the comfort which God the Father hath given us and rely upon Jesus as the Authour of Eternall Life to all those that obey him
The testimony of worthy men as the Apostle here observes is readily received by us and therefore we ought to be afraid of being so rudely prophane as to reject the testimony of God which is of far greater weight then theirs and hath been solemnly given you see more then once for the confirmation of our Faith But God the Father willing more abundantly to shew if I may borrow those words in vi Heb. 17. unto the heirs of this promise the immutability of his counsel hath graciously vouchsafed us farther assurance and by his WORD hath told us as much as He himself declared by those voices from heaven What we are to understand by the WORD in this place I have shewn in the Former Treatise viz. the Lord Jesus himself God Man or God the WORD made flesh Orat. contra Gentes p. 49. who as St. Athanasius speaks is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Interpreter and Embassadour of his own Father For as by the word a man speaks we understand his Mind which is the fountain from whence it comes so but by a more lively representation and after an incomparably more excellent manner we beholding the power of the WORD come to the knowledge of his Father as our Saviour himself saith xiv Joh. 9. He that hath seen me hath seen the Father also From him this Eternall WORD came down and was incarnate not onely to reveal his will but to die for our Sins and to seal what he had preached with his Bloud After which God raised him from the dead and set him at his own right hand in the Heavens from whence he testified as loudly that he hath in him ETERNALL LIFE for us as he did that he is the SON OF GOD. This Witness therefore let us now examine and look over again the old Evidences which we formerly searched wherein I doubt not we shall find this Truth most clearly contained And the Testimony of the WORD you know as well as that of the FATHER was threefold once to St. Stephen a second time to St. Paul and a third to this beloved Disciple St. John I. For the First of these it stands upon record in so many words that St. Stephen being full of the Holy Ghost and looking up stedfastly to heaven saw the heavens opened and beheld the glory of God and Jesus standing at his right hand vii Act. 55 56. Thus he declares not to some simple people who perhaps might believe him for his confidence but to the great Councill of Jerusalem who he knew were very much disaffected nay perfectly opposite to this truth To them he protests in open Court when he was upon his triall and bids them mark it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Behold take notice of what I now tell you I see the heavens opened and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God And he said it though he knew he stood in certain perill of his life for this declaration It was for no other reason that Jesus himself was put to death but because he said He was the Son of God and that they should see the Son of man sitting at the right hand of power and coming in the clouds of heaven And therefore for him to confirm so peremptorily this odious Truth after they had killed Him and thereby make them guilty of innocent bloud yea of the bloud of their great King was a Crime he might well expect they would punish with as great severity as was in their power to express which we may be confident he would never have provoked had he not been so sure of the Glory of our Saviour that he could not hold his peace For who is there so frantick as to expose himself to death for such an unprofitable lie It is not in the nature of man to suffer so shamefully as he did in his own person merely to bring a little false honour to another To fansy a person of his Wisedom guilty of such madness is a kind of distraction in him that supposes it who were he sober would be taught otherwise by the abhorrence he feels in himself to throw away his life for a trifle Since there is not the least reason then to question but that this Holy man beheld the glory of God and Jesus standing at his right hand i. e. the gates of Heaven being set open that he might have the favour to look into the celestiall palace the Majesty of God was there represented to him sitting on a Throne as it used to be in the propheticall Visions and he beheld the Lord Jesus the very next person to the Divine Majesty we may clearly see in this Vision both the things that St. John here asserts viz. that Eternall Life is in Jesus the Son of God to give to those that effectually believe on his Name I. As for the first the power wherewith he is invested to give Eternall LIFE it is visible from his standing at God's right hand which denotes his Omnipotent Virtue to effect what he pleases For by the right hand of God Jesus himself was exalted to the right hand of power as you reade ii Act. 33. v. 31. and therefore being placed there it signifies that he can doe for us what God hath done for him that is exalt us to the like glory in the heavens where he is And as this is a clear proof of one of the things here recorded that LIFE is in him so the other II. That God hath given the faithfull a right to this Eternall LIFE with him and that he will bestow it on us is no less evident from the very End of this Vision For we can see no other reason of this glorious appearance of our Saviour to him but to incourage him in his preaching and incite him to witness a good confession as he himself had done before this great Councill and before Pontius Pilate in hope that if it cost him his life as it had done our Saviour he should live and reign with him in that glorious place where he now beheld him This was the purpose of the heavenly WORD 's coming now to him that he might not doubt of his promises nor shrink in the least from what he had preached though he should die for it which would doe him no greater harm then to dispatch him presently to the celestiall habitations In the very beginning of his history we reade that he had no sooner heard the Indictment read which they had drawn up against him but before he spake a word for himself the whole Council behold his face as it had been the face of an Angel vi Act. 15. There appeared that is such a bright and sweet Majesty in his countenance as made him look like one of the celestial inhabitants who had already prevented the glorious state to which he was going And his Answer to their charge being ended their barbarous rage was not more apparent then it was that the heavens opened to receive his Spirit
doctrine of happiness to us which his own people so abhorred we should partake of if God the WORD had not made him infallibly assured of it Nay how could he have preached it so long unless as he there speaks he had obtained help of God who countenanced his preaching and approved this testimony of his concerning his Son Jesus by the mighty power of the Holy Ghost He himself also testified the strong belief he had of the Resurrection and of the Glory that shall be revealed by his labouring so abundantly as he did in the work of the Lord to whom he was desirous to express an extraordinary affection because his grace and love had so abounded towards him He thought he could never in the least requite his kindness and therefore would not gain one farthing not so much as a bit of bread by this preaching But though he might have lived by the Gospel chose rather to work with his own hands to support himself and those that were with him that he might win the more Souls to his Master by making Religion without charge to them A great argument of his zeal to serve his Lord and promote his honour and of his firm belief of immortall life where he desired onely to have his services rewarded Which is excellently expressed by the forenamed Asterius when he says that he refused so small a recompence of his infinite labours as a daily provision for his body which was so often beaten and bruised 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that receiving nothing upon Earth he might lay up all in Heaven VI. And therefore you may observe that his service was so acceptable to our Saviour that he gratified him here in this world above our mortall condition and to give him an earnest or pledge of the good things to come and the honour should be done him there he did him the favour to transport him into the Third heaven and another time into Paradise where he saw Visions and heard words too glorious for him to utter or us to understand in this present state 2 Cor. xii 3 4. This was a farther confirmation which the Eternall WORD gave of his power to give Eternall Life and of his intentions to take us up unto himself For he was carried thus above the clouds by the power and favour of Jesus who hereby bare witness to himself how glorious he is and how able to advance his faithfull Disciples to the same height of heavenly felicity For he says it was a man in Christ one who by the happiness of belonging to him had this noble priviledge bestowed on him And he gives this as an instance of the Visions and Revelations 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of the LORD ver 1. which is the title of Jesus most frequently in the New Testament who is LORD of all x. Act. 36. He snatcht him up into the Heavens He transported him no body knows how to the celestiall habitations And either by a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as St. Greg. Naz * Orat. ii 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 550. distinguishes them a rapture of mind in the body or the ascension of his mind quite out of the body or the assumption of both for a time into those regions above he let him see strange sights and hear such words as are not to be spoken with our tongues Which was a very full demonstration of the Majesty of our Blessed Saviour and of his ability to translate us to those heavenly places and of his purposes likewise to make us at last so happy Behold here the glory of the Christian Religion whose Authour is so highly exalted that he exalts this Minister of his far above the greatest persons in former times The translation of Elias as the often named Asterius speaks * Ib. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. out of this world wherein we are is every-where celebrated as a wonder But 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 how far he went no Revelation hath explained Perhaps he was not carried very high above the Earth by that power which lifted him up to the place which was destined for his habitation But the translation of St. Paul was far more illustrious and famous the very place being noted to which he was carried and that no inferiour one but almost half way to the highest heavens of all Let the Hebrews hereafter cease to pride themselves in the honour that was done to Moses who alone went up to the top of mount Sinai and was in the midst of the clouds and darkness which appeared there My Paul in stead of a mountain ascended into heaven and in stead of a cloud was carried beyond the air that is above the clouds And very fitly for it became a Man of Christ to outstrip Moses as much as the Old Law was excelled by the Gospell that St. Paul preached which he calls the Mystery hid from ages and generations but now made manifest to the Saints or Christians to whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles which is Christ in us the hope of glory i. Col. 26 27. III. And here now let us leave the history of this great Man and pass to the Third Testimony which the WORD gave of this truth to St. John Who as he is the onely person that after the other Evangelists had set down the genealogy of our Lord according to the flesh expounds 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as Proclus * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 speaks the Eternall subsistence without any beginning of God the WORD and his generation of the Father before all worlds so he hath gathered here together more clearly then any of the rest all the Evidences and grounds of the Christian Faith and also received the most full and pregnant demonstrations of what he hath particularly recorded concerning Eternall life in the Son of God For when our Blessed Lord the WORD made flesh whom he beheld ascending into heaven appeared to him from thence in a most glorious manner you may observe I. That he sufficiently declares his power to doe what he pleases by taking to himself that very Name and Title whereby God the Father Almighty sometimes revealed himself to the Prophets You reade in the xli Isa 4. xliv 6. the Lord the King of Israel and his Redeemer saith I am the first and the last which is the very same with those words i. Rev. 8. I am Alpha and Omega the beginning and the ending saith the Lord c. those two being the names of the first and the last letters in the Greek Alphabet as A and Z are the first and last in our Christ-cross-row Now if you look farther into this book of the Revelation you will find that in this very style our Blessed Lord speaks of himself In the very beginning of the Visions there recorded St. John heard one call to him with a loud voice as of a trumpet saying I am Alpha and Omega the first
could not contain themselves when they saw what testimonies heaven gave of his innocence and vertue but did him publick honour even at the very place of execution Though he suffered as the highest and vilest offender in the world yet the honest-hearted spectatours were not onely inwardly troubled in their breasts at the sight but beat or knockt them also and shewed thereby that they were not afraid to own him as a most Excellent person whose death they ought to accompany with the bitterest lamentations And so much may suffice concerning the Testimony of his BLOUD which no man can hear speak a word but he must needs think that which got him such honour among the people in the midst of his shame and the reproach of the Cross obtained a far greater glory for him with God in the heavens who best knew how to value his obedience O wonderfull Passion Proclus Homil. xi the Expiation of the World O Death the cause of Immortality and the origin of Life O descent into Hell the bridge by which those who were dead passed into Heaven O Noon which hath revoked the Afternoon-sentence against us in Paradise O Cross the cure of the fatall Tree O Nails which wounded Death and joyn'd the world to the knowledge of God! Great was the victory which He that was incarnate for us obtained on the day of his passion He grappled with death when he was dead Hell and the grave this day ignorantly swallowed a deadly morsell To day death received him dead who always lives To day the chains were loosed which the Serpent made in Paradise The Thief this day made a breach on Paradise which had been guarded by the flaming sword some thousands of years This day our Lord broke the gates of brass and cut the bars of iron in sunder Which of the great Men that ancient times boast of are comparable to him All the just fell under the power of death and none could conquer it Abraham Isaac and Jacob are all turn'd to dust and ashes The memory of Joseph in whom the Jews glory lay in his dry bones which they carried out of Egypt with them Moses is extolled by them to the skies but there is not so much as his tomb to be found Such as these and so many death devoured and swallowed them all down But at last it swallowed one and against its will vomited up the whole World Who now triumph over it and cry with a loud voice O death where is thy sting O grave where is thy victory Thanks be to God which giveth us the victory through Jesus Christ our Lord. His Passion is our impassibility S. Athanasius 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 598. His Death is our immortality His tears our joy His buriall our resurrection His Baptism our purification His stripes our healing His chastisement our peace His reproach our glory How much are we indebted to him who from first to last consulted our happiness For he descended Id. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. p. 1002. that he might make way for our ascent He was born that he might make us friends with the Vnbegotten He took on him our infirmities that we might be raised in power and say with St. Paul I can doe all things through Christ which strengthneth me He took on him a corruptible body that this corruption might put on incorruption He put on mortality that it might be changed into immortall In fine He was made Man and died that we who die as men might be deified and death might no longer reign over us O blessed and life-giving Cross of our Saviour which triumphed over death and destroyed him that had the power of it which is the Devil O divine Word and true Wisedom of the Father thou hast overcome the Devill when he thought he had been a conquerour * August de Trinitate L. 13. c. 15. Caet ex Athanasio p. 1022. O Lover of men and gracious Lord thou hast both redeemed us that were captives and freed us by thy own death who were servants of sin O Son of God the true Peace-maker thou hast both given us the adoption of Sons and reconciled us to thy Father having destroyed the enmity by thy flesh O rich Saviour and true King who becamest poor that we by thy poverty might be made rich and hast given to us the Kingdom of heaven O Creatour and former of all things the Word of the Father for thou hast created us again we are thy workmanship created unto good works O Light indeed the brightness of the Father for thou hast inlightned us that were in darkness and hast brought us that were blind to see the light O Likeness and reall Image of the Father for thou hast formed us who were lost and again restored the image of God in us O God the Word and Life indeed for thou hast quickned us who were dead and renewed us that were corrupted and cloathed us with immortality O thou Power indeed the arm the right hand of the Father for thou hast both loosed the bands of death and broken the prison-doors in pieces God forbid that we should glory Ib. pag. 1028. save in the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ To this let us adhere let us walk worthy of this And thus living and believing we shall know also his assumption into the heavens and his session on the right hand of the Majesty on high We shall behold the subjection of Angels to him and his coming again with glory Which Angels have foretold which Saints sing of in their hymns and which when we all see we shall rejoyce and be exceeding glad in Christ Jesus By whom be glory and dominion to the Father world without end Amen CHAP. XI Concerning the Testimony of the SPIRIT the Third Witness on Earth THough the Children of Israel were so strangely delivered out of their bondage being saved by the Bloud of the Paschal Lamb from the destroying Angel and then freed from Pharaoh who thought it 's like that his bloud must next of all pay for the keeping them in Egypt yet still they questioned whether they should come into the good Land or no and were at a sad plunge when they came to the Red Sea imagining that they themselves should be there destroyed and become the next Sacrifice to Pharaoh's cruelty To confirm them therefore in their belief of God's kind intentions towards them and perswade them thoroughly that Moses had not brought them out of Egypt to kill them but to save them He gave him power to doe great wonders at that place and in the rest of their journey which added to the Miracles in Egypt were a strong conviction that God was among them and was conducting them by the hands of his Servant to their long-desired Rest This was the last Argument and the most constant whereby he demonstrated the truth and reality of his promises of bringing them to the land of Canaan They saw his signs
supposed for I shall say no more of it here there is no man can have the face to deny the Resurrection of the body and Life everlasting which Christ our Lord hath promised us There can be no truer reasoning then that of St. Paul 1 Thess iv 14. If we believe that Jesus died and rose again even so them also that sleep in Jesus will God bring with him I. For thus much is evident at first sight and is included in the thing it self that this work of the SPIRIT proves a possibility of the Resurrection of the dead and shews that we mortal creatures who live on the earth may live in the heavens So the same Apostle argues elsewhere against those who denied this Truth 1 Cor. xv 12. If Christ be preached upon such credible testimonies as he mentions in the foregoing verses that he rose from the dead how say some among you that there is no resurrection of the dead It is the grossest absurdity that is to say there can be no such thing as the restoring of a dead body to life when it is so evidently verified in Christ's resurrection Which shews it is so far from being impossible or incredible that it is a thing which hath been done already as is very well attested by Witnesses that cannot with any equity be rejected And by the same reason he proves we ought not to despair of seeing our bodies made glorious and incorruptible For if He be not in his grave as none could shew him there after the third day but is made glorious why may not we partake of the same favour by that power which raised Christ from the dead and set him at God's right hand There is no reason to doubt of it but the greatest reason to hope and be confident that He who raised up the Lord Jesus as St. Paul speaks in the next Epistle 2 Cor. iv 14. will raise up us also by Jesus and set us in his presence in the heavens II. For by his Resurrection the SPIRIT proved the truth of all that the other Witnesses the Water the Bloud and his Miraculous Works too testified Particularly it demonstrated the truth of his Doctrine by which as you have seen life and immortality was brought to light If this had not been true that we shall live for ever by him Jesus would have perished and never have come to life again to deceive the World the second time But seeing God did not leave his Soul in hell nor suffer his Holy i. e. his anointed one to see corruption it is an uncontroulable argument that those who believe on him shall not perish neither but be made alive as he is Because He that said he would rise again the third day said likewise with the same assurance that at the last day he will raise up us also and bestow upon us everlasting Life When God who alone could doe it verified the one and according to his word raised up Jesus the third day He bid us be assured of the other that this Jesus hath Life in himself and will by his power raise up us according to his promise unto a never-dying life This is the Character He had given of himself I am the Resurrection and the Life that is the Authour the Cause of both He that believeth on me shall have everlasting life and I will raise him up at the last day nothing of him shall perish neither his Soul nor his body for even they that are in their graves shall hear his voice and shall rise again to lise This he often preached and proved many ways but after all he sealed it with his bloud and bad them expect a little and they should see it sealed by his resurrection from the dead Which insuing at the time appointed was a perfect demonstration that he said true when he affirmed that He is the Resurrection and the Life by whom we shall receive this inestimable benefit of rising again after death to live for ever with him Of this as well as the former Consideration I may possibly say so much elsewhere that I shall spare any farther pains about them now III. Let us rather remember how severall persons rose from the dead at that very time when he left his grave xxvii Matt. 52 53. which were notable instances of his power to give life and put us in hope that we shall all rise again as they did There is no cause but his Resurrection to be assigned of this Miracle which fell out the same time that he was missing in his grave as the opening of their tombs at that very moment when he died Never was any such thing heard of before or since and therefore it was intended to demonstrate the mighty power of his Resurrection when many bodies of Saints which slept arose and came out of their graves and went into Jerusalem and appeared unto many Whose testimony none have had the confidence to contradict by endeavouring to disprove it but the Jews rather by some concessions of theirs confirm us in the belief of it For it is a common opinion now among their Doctours that the Kingdom of the Messiah shall begin with the Resurrection of the dead Bury me said R. Jeremiah with shoes on my feet and my staff in my hand and lay me on one side that when Christ comes I may be ready But of this conceit we can find no footsteps in the Old Scriptures which makes it probable that they have borrowed this as they have done many other things from the Holy Gospell in which it is recorded that he began his entrance upon his Kingdome with the Resurrection of some pious persons as an earnest of the restoring all the rest to Eternall Life And thus it is likely they have learnt to discourse of the bodies of the just after they are raised concerning which some of them speak so sublimely above the dull and gross conceptions of the rest of their Nation that one can scarce look upon it otherwise then as Christian language When the Soul is in the state of glory Vid. Jo. de Voysin in Pug. fid part iii. dist 2. c. 8. saith the Book Zohar it sustains it self with the light above wherewith it is also cloathed and when it shall return to the body it shall come with the same light and with the body shall shine as with the brightness of heaven More there is in other Authours to the same purpose which say God can give us bodies strong and vigorous like the Angels and that the bodies of the just after the resurrection shall be subtil like the globe of the Moon Vid. eum de Lege Div. in xxii Matt. 3â— and so give no impediment to the Soul in its enjoyment of the Splendour of the Divine Majesty But supposing this to be their own language without any tincture they had received from the Christian Doctrine it will be still more remarkable that our Lord Jesus according to their expectations
if we observe as we may easily from what hath been said that as they wanted the express promises which we have so what they understood of the nature of this Felicity by the light they enjoyed was but very dull in comparison with what is revealed to us Who can see more even in their Books then they could do themselves and find out that by the light of the Cospell which was wrapt up in dark figures and clouds under the Law and the Prophets As they saw Christ in Isaar and in a Lunb so they beheld Heaven under the figure of Paradise and in a Land flowing with milk and honey and in the â—â—oly city and the Temple of stone the greatest glory whereof was when it was filled with the cloud 1 King viii 10 c. But now in the Church of the New Testament there is no Temple but the Lord God Almighty and the Lâ—mb are the Temple of it xxi Rev. 22. And he saith not now I will dwell in thick darkness but as it follows there ver 23. the glory of God inlightens the Church and the Lamb is the Light thereof who hath made us with open faâ—e to behold his glory in the heavens and given us full assurance that we shall be changed into the same image from glory to glory 2 Cor. iii. 18. This he published so clearly that the dullest and most illiterate fouls saw there was no Master comparable to him who had the Words of â—â—ernall life and by his Death Resurrection and Ascension opened to all believers the Kingdom of heaven That 's a word St. Austin confesses * Tom. vi L. xix contra Faust Man cap. ult he could not find in all the Old Scriptures and St. Hierom says the same There are Testimonies there saith he of Eternall life whether plain or obscure it matters not though the places he alledges would have been obscure if we had not been inlightned before we reade them by the Gospell but this Name of the KING DOM OF HEAVEN I can meet withall in no place Hoc enim propriè pertinet ad revelationem Novi Testamenti For it properly belongs to the Revelation of the New Testament And it is a word as the Authour of the Answers ad Orthodoxos teaches us which doth not simply siguifie the Resurrection 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but the state of things after the Resurrection when we shall be so marvell ously changed as to be fit companions for the Angels and reign with our Saviour in his glory Of which things the Jews have now so little knowledge that they expect onely to rise again to feast here upon earth with the Mâ—ssiah whom they look for and after they have spent some years in the enjoyment of the good things of an earthly Paradise then they think their bodies shall die and their Souls onely live for ever * Vid. Jacchâ—ades in viii Dan. 14. L'Empereur ib. Let any one that is able but reade what Manasseh ben Israel hath writ of the Resurrection and he will find it such poor stuff that the best use that can be made of it will be to put our selves in mind how much we stand ingaged to the Divine love for acquainting us so plainly with the Happiness he will give us at the Resurrection of our bodies to an immortall life Our Saviour indeed saith they might have learnt better out of the Scriptures then to imagine there will be eating and drinking and marrying after the resurrection but there was none of their books could teach them that we should be companions of Angels and shine like the Sun and see God and be coheirs with Christ and such like things which by the Gospell are now so clearly discovered to us that the most ignorant know more then the wisest that want this Revelation R. Tanchum who would fain prove the life of the World to come from the words of Abigail who speaks of the binding David's Soul in the bundle of life 1 Sam. xxv 29 * D. Pocock Not. miscell c. vi p. 91. observes that this Mystery which was a stranger to mens understandings in other nations and far remote from their thoughts to the knowledge of which none but very wise men came by much labour and exercise and after long disquisitions and difficult reasonings was known then among the Jews and manisest even to the Women An argument saith he that wisedom was much spred in our Nation and that as Moses speaks iv Dent. 6. we are a wise and understanding people Which is far truer of the Disciples of the Lord Jesus among whom even the most simple are taught such things as whatsoever such a wise woman as Abigail may be supposed to understand in ancient days their greatest Doctours have been so ignorant of since that we see the words of Isaiah xxix 14. sulfilled in them The Wisedom of their wise men shall perish and the undâ—rshanding of their â—â—ndent men shall be hid Where is the wise as St. Paul triumphs over them 1 Cor. i. 20 27. where is the Sâ—â—â—â— where is the disputer of this world God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise Made use 〈◊〉 of such men as the World for waâ—â— of humane learning accounted no better 〈◊〉 fools to publish so clearly and with such evidence the doctrine of Lternall Life that it may justly make men of the greatest repute for learning blush who could not speak one wise word about it But suppose them all to have been indued with a clearer sight then indeed they had of the Life to come yet of the Blessedness which God intends for us there that of St. Paul 1 Cor. ii 9. will still be true Eye hath not seen nor ear heard neither have entred into the heart of man the things which God hath prepared for them that love him There is a passage in the Prophet Isaiah very like this lxiv. 4. which the Jewish Doctours themselves expound in the mysticali sense of the future life and from thence St. Paul is supposed to have borrowed these expressions Though the very words â—â—â—mselves of St. Paul being found in the Apocryphall Book of Elias it is probable as Grotius thinks that this was grown a common saying among the Rabbins who had been taught by ancient tradition to expect such things in the days of the Messiah as never any eye had seen nor ear heard nor had entred into any man's heart to conceive Which is verified in the whole Revelation of God's will in the Gospell especially in this part of it No man had so much as a thought or a desire of such things as God hath done for us and intends to doe by our Lord Jesus That he should send from heaven his own Son his onely-begotten Son begotten of him before all worlds to be incarnate of a pure Virgin to die for our sins that he might rise again to sit at God's right hand where our Nature shines far brighter
be delivered over to the severe tormenting powers but to those that are able to bring us to the inheritance in heaven which is prepared for those that love him Which God grant we may all obtain through the grace and loving-kindness of our Lord Jesus Christ to whom be glory and dominion for ever and ever Amen CHAP. XIV A farther improvement of this RECORD THE grounds of Christian belief you see are not so slender but I may take the confidence to say that he who will be at the pains to consider such things as these cannot any longer think it a piece of wit to be an infidel It is rank folly as well as baseness there being no reason in the earth to except against these Witnesses and to deny the Faith of Christ an entrance into our minds and hearts For what we know as I have shewn in the former Book by credible report is as certain as what we see and hear with our eyes and ears And what can be better attested then the holy Gospell Which is justly called the testimony of God 1 Cor. ii 1. and the testimony of Christ i. 6. Because God testified these things to us as his will by his Son Christ and Christ testified them to us by the holy Ghost For so St. Paul saith in the place last named ver 5 6. the Corinthians were inriched by our Lord with every gift even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed or established to be a truth among them After which mighty evidence whereby we are assured God intends to bestow so great a blessing on us as immortall Life it is of no weight whatsoever can be objected against this Doctrine particularly against that part of it which concerns the Resurrection of the body at the last day For that Great Lord who said it we are certain can perform it He knew his own power and would not have said I will raise you up at the last day unless he had been able to make his word good He hath also already fulfilled his word in other things which he foretold though no body would believe him till they saw it which is a good ground as St. Gregory Nyssen observes * De opificio hominis cap. xxv to expect this though it seem never so difficult and incredible had he not promised it Suppose saith he that an husbandman discoursing of the virtue of Seeds should not be believed by a by-stander that had never been bred in the country nor seen any thing of that nature would it not be sufficient for his satisfaction to take but one single grain out of an heap of corn and to tell him he should see in that the virtue of all the rest For he that sees one grain of wheat or barly cast into the ground coming up after some time a full ear will never doubt of the fruitfulness of all the rest of the same kind Even just so saith he it seems to me a sufficient testimony of the Resurrection that the truth of other things which he foretold cannot be denied In them we have an experiment whereby we may judg of every thing else that he hath said But to demand that every thing should be made out by reason before we receive it is to make us Philosophers not Christians whose name is Believers And besides the best Philosophers cannot tell us how the Corn I now mentioned grows up from a little Seed cast into the ground or a Man from so small a beginning in his mother's womb or any thing considerable of the manner how all naturall productions are performed And therefore what folly is it to resolve not to be satisfied unless we shew how a dead body can be raised It is sufficient to know that idoneus est reficere qui fecit as Tertullian speaks in this case He that made it at first is able to make it again It being more as he goes on to make then to re-make to give a beginning to a thing then to restore it after it is dissolved And we have this also to satisfy us that multitudes saw our Saviour raise men from the dead and by other miraculous works demonstrate that he wants not power to doe any thing he hath promised His word may well be taken for any thing to come who hath already done such wonders as are credibly reported to us by those that were spectatours of them in the Gospell And it is very remarkable how he deals with us as a Mother doth with her Child Greg. Nyss ibid. into whose tender mouth she first thrusts her breast to nourish it with milk and when the teeth come gives it bread and when it is grown stronger feeds it with solid meat Even so our Blessed Lord 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. beginning with lower Miracles at the first prepares our faith by degrees for the highest He began with the cure of desperate diseases in which 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he prefaced to his power of raising the dead For that which men thought impossible he shew'd hereby was not incredible Who could have thought that one sick of a burning fever should be made so well by speaking a word as to rise presently and minister to the company yet Simon 's wife's mother was an instance of this Miraculous power in our Saviour Who added something to this Miracle when he restored the Nobleman's son to health though he was at the point of death as his Father thought iv Joh. 47. and this without touching or coming near him For he did not stir from the place where he was at Cana and yet sent life to him as far as Capernaum by the sole power of his command After which he proceeded to an higher Miracle for he restored another Ruler's daughter to life who died before he came to her rescue And again he exceeded this Miracle by raising up the woman's son of Naim when he was carrying out to be buried And at last as hath been before observed he raised his wonder-working power so high that he called Lazarus out of his grave when he had been dead four days Thus he raises our minds by little and little to the highest pitch of Faith to believe that is the Resurrection of the dead He teaches us to expect that in generall the experiment of which he hath shewn in particulars For as the Apostle faith 1 Thess iv 16. the Lord shall descend with a shout c. at the restauration of all things to raise the dead to a state of incorruption even so now he that lay in his grave was awakened by the voice of our Saviour's command and shaking off his corruption came whole and sound out of his tomb the bands wherewith his hands and feet were tied nothing hindring Is this nothing to confirm our belief of the Resurrection when we have not onely our Lord's word for it but by those whom he restored to life we have in deed a demonstration of what he hath promised
Peter says that those heavenly Ministers have so great a value for the Gospell that they desire to look into these things wondering that we Gentiles should be made not onely fellow-citizens with the Saints but equall to themselves They rejoyced when they heard the good news that our Lord was come down to men and it seems he hath told us things beyond all their expectation Shall not we then set a due esteem upon them and look into them and consider them who have them so near unto us and are so much concerned in them Then it were better for us if we had no eyes or if we lived in those places where no such things are to be seen for none will be so miserable as they that might have been exceeding happy and chose to remain miserable and that when so few thoughts would have secured their happiness For there is no way to be undone but onely by not believing or not considering the Gospell of God's grace Secure but these two passages and strict piety will necessarily be our imployment and Eternall Life our reward No temptation will be strong enough to make us neglect our work and I am sure faithfull is he who hath promised and will not fail to pay us more then our wages VI. And what now remains but to put those in mind who obediently believe in the Lord Jesus what cause they have to entertain themselves beforehand with great joy in the comfortable expectation of God's mercy in Him to Eternall life Let all his true-hearted Disciples who hear his voice and follow him rejoyce yea let them be glad in him with exceeding joy Let them say O how great is the goodness of God! how rich are those blessings which he hath laid up for them that love him how exceeding great and precious are the promises he hath made them Our calling in Christ Jesus how high is it what is there nobler then his kingdom and glory To which also he hath called us by glory and vertue Heaven and earth concur in the most glorious and powerfull manner to give us assurance that it shall be well exceeding well with all those that love the Lord Jesus in sincerity Why should we suffer our selves then to be dejected at any accident in this world which falls cross to us Shall we take pet when any thing troubles us and let our spirits die within us who have such glorious hopes to live upon and mightily support us Jesus is alive He is alive for evermore And in him is Eternall life for all his followers The Father the Word the Holy Ghost are come to comfort us with this joyfull news The Water the Bloud and the Spirit all say the same and ask us why we are so sad when life and immortality is brought to light by the Gospell It is the desire of the Lord Jesus that we would not mourn as though he still lay in his grave and could doe nothing for us He is certainly risen and gone into the heavens where God hath made him exceeding glad with his countenance And it will adde to his joy if it be capable of increase to see us rejoyce with joy unspeakable and full of glory And therefore let us doe him the honour to glory in his holy Name and let us say alway Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that fadeth not away reserved in heaven for us 1 Pet. i. 3 4. We ought to say so with joyfull hearts even when death it self approaches which of all other is the most frightfull Enemy of mankind but is made our Friend by the appearing of our Saviour Jesus Christ who hath abolished death and hath brought life and immortality to light through the Gospell 2 Tim. i. 10. Which hath given us as the same Apostle saith such everlasting consolation that it would be a great reproach to it to receive Death timorously which Wise men before our Saviour came concluded might be for any thing they knew 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the greatest of all goods Our Lord assures us they were right in their conjectures and hath made that certain which Socrates whose words those are left doubtfull Plato Apolog Socr. And therefore we ought not to leave the world as if it were the greatest unhappiness that could befall us It is for him onely to fear death as St. Cyprian speaks * L. de Mortalitate p. 208. who would not go to Christ and he onely hath reason to be unwilling to go to Christ who doth not believe he shall begin to reign with him This is the onely thing as he writes a little after which makes men take death so heavily quia fides deest because Faith is wanting because they do not believe those things are true which He who is Truth it self hath promised But though they give credit to what a grave and laudable person promises they are wavering about that which God saith and receive it with an incredulous mind For if they believed they would entertain that which now seems dreadfull as St. Greg. Nazianzen * Orat. xviii p. 284. says that blessed Martyr did whose Death he doubts whether he should call his departure from this life or rather 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 his departure of God or the fulfilling of his desire And thus if we may believe Calcidius the famous Trismegistus died Fr. Archangel Dogm Cabalistica saying to his Son that stood by him My Son hitherto I have lived an exile from my country but now I am going safe thither And therefore when a little while hence I shall be freed from the chain of this body see that you do not bewail me as if I was dead For I am onely returning to that most excellent blessed City whither the Citizens cannot arrive unless they take death in their way There God onely is the Governour in chief who entertains his Citizens with a marvellous sweetness in comparison with which that which we now call Life is rather to be termed Death And what if in our passage to it we should fall into divers temptations or trialls of our sincere affection to the Lord Jesus There is no reason that this should dishearten us and deaden our spirits For it is the singular privilege of a Christian to rejoyce in the Lord alway iv Phil. 4. especially when he suffers for righteousness sake In that case the Apostles thought it an honour that they were counted worthy to be beaten and suffer shame for his Name v. Act. 41. And St. James thought their example was not unimitable by other Christians to whom he saith i. 2. My Brethren count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations And so they did as you reade in the Epistle to the Christian Hebrews of whom the Apostle gives
The Resurrection of Iesus Mat 28 2 And behold there was a great earthquake for the Angel of the Lord descended from heaven came rolled back the stone from the doore and sate upon it And for feare of him the keepers did shake became as dead men And the Angel sayd unto the woman Fear not ye for I know that ye seek Iesus that was crucified He is not here for he is Risen as he sayd JESUS AND THE RESURRECTION Justified by Witnesses IN HEAVEN AND IN EARTH In Two Parts The First shewing That Jesus is the SON OF GOD the Second That in him we have ETERNALL LIFE By SYMON PATRICK D. D. Chaplain in Ordinary to His Majesty 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 S. Chrysost in Johan Hom. lxvii Printed for R. Royston MDCLXXVII THE Witnesses TO CHRISTIANITY THE WITNESSES TO CHRISTIANITY OR The Certainty of our FAITH and HOPE In a Discourse upon 1 S. JOHN v. 7 8. BY SYMON PATRICK D. D. Chaplain in Ordinary to his Majesty LONDON Printed for R. Royston Bookseller to His most Sacred Majesty at the Angel in Amen-Corner 1675. TO The most Reverend Father in God GILBERT By Divine Providence Lord Archbishop of CANTERBURY Primate of all England and Metropolitan and one of his Majesties most Honourable Privy Council c. May it please Your Grace TO permit these Papers to go abroad under your Name which are writ in defence of that most holy Religion of which your Grace is the prime Minister in this Kingdom They contain an explication but of a very few words yet in them lies the whole Evidence for the Christian Cause I hope I have done something to clear their sence and to illustrate divers other passages in the holy Books I have at least done my endeavour and opened the way to the plainest and most Apostolical method of asserting the truth of our Religion They that come after may supply the defects and rectifie the mistakes which they find in this account that I have given of the Witnesses to Christianity Who speak so fully and with such Authority that it is a matter of just wonder there should be any Infidels in Christian Countries We can find no other cause of it but that in stead of considering upon what grounds our Faith relies they scornfully presume that it hath none If they would but lay aside their lightness and become serious and if they would be so humble as to think it is possible they may learn of one of the despised Ministers of Jesus Christ I doubt not they would with a little study soon see him to be so great a Lord that they ought to have a due respect to the meanest of his Servants for his sake Nay they would not envy to them such high Dignities as your Grace worthily holds in the Church of Christ For the Lord himself is honoured in the honour that is done to his Ministers And thereby they are made capable to do him still better service and with the more authority to promote the honour of his Religion Of which how much your Grace hath deserved by your prudent care and vigilance for its preservation and by the countenance and encouragement you give to those that labour in its service posterity perhaps may be better judges than this present Age. Though that cannot be so ungrateful as not to acknowledge your great Munificence and Bounty of which there are such publick and lasting Monuments as declare you to be Primate of all England not only in the dignity of your Office but which is more in the generosity of your Spirit Long may our Soveraign enjoy such a wise Counsellor the Church such a Prudent Governour Learning such a liberal Patron and Benefactor and when through mere Age you must resign and exchange it for a higher and better place your See such a Successor As for my self if your Grace will be pleased to pardon this Address and reckon me in the number of those that reverence your Vertues as well as your Greatness I shall not doubt but my Design in this Work will obtain your Graces approbation and that your known Candor will pass a favourable Judgment upon the weak endeavours of the Churches and Your Graces affectionate Servant SY PATRICK THE CONTENTS CHAP. I. THE scope of this Discourse which is to prove that Jesus is the Son of God pag. 1 c. The meaning of that phrase in this place p. 8. and in some other places of Scripture p. 10. derived from the Old Testament p. 14 15. many passages in that relating to this matter explained Ib. and p. 16 17 c. A Prayer p. 22 c. CHAP. II. Concerning the Witnesses in general p. 25. and particularly of the testimony of the FATHER p. 29. which was given three times p. 30. first at his Baptism which is explained p. 30. unto 42. Secondly in the Holy Mount which is explained at large in many remarkable circumstances which accompanied it to p. 56. Thirdly in the way between Bethany and Jerusalem to p. 66. There the pretences of the Jews to a Bath Col under the second Temple is considered and confuted to p. 78. The difference between this voice which testified to our Saviour and that in ancient times p. 78. to the end A Prayer CHAP. III. Concerning the Testimony of the WORD p. 85. Who the WORD is p. 86. Why so called p. 87. First testimony he gave to S. Steven p. 90. The second to S. Paul p. 101. Christ's first apparition to him considered and expounded at large p. 104. a second p. 115. others p. 116 c. Third testimony of the WORD to S. John p. 122. Several other visions he had of him p. 128 c. An Answer to an objection about the Authority of the Revelation p. 135. To another which gives an account of the sence of two places in S. John 's Gospel which seem opposite p. 137. A Prayer 142. CHAP. IV. Concerning the Testimony of the HOLY GHOST p. 147. First at our Saviour's Baptism p. 148. When the SCHEKINAH or Divine Glory descended Ib. what it was 149 c. of its coming down p. 153. like a Dove 155. and making his abode in him p. 159 c. which was never known before p. 164. Whereby he was anointed p. 165. And now began his reign 168. The Alcoran confesses this descent of the holy Ghost p. 173. Whereby he became the Temple of God 176. As appears by six demonstrations of a Divine Presence in him from p. 177. to 198. The second Testimony of the HOLY GHOST on the day of Pentecost 199. explained by three observations 201. to 225. The last Testimony of the HOLY GHOST 225. to 238. A Prayer 239. CHAP. V. Concerning the Witnesses on EARTH 245. First of the WATER 248. As it signifies the purity of Christ's Doctrine and Life 249. The purity of his Doctrine 250. And the purity of his Life 261. Both these proofs of his Divinity 267. to 275. The Testimony of
adv Marcionem C. 22. was going in the same manner to give testimony to them concerning his Son Jesus and to confirm them in the belief of whatsoever he should teach them For thirdly this was not Mut◠Nubes as the same Tertullian there speaks a dumb cloud a silent glory but a voice came out of it which was Novum Patris testimonium super filio the Fathers New testimony concerning his Son In which testimony He was pleased to apply those very words to Jesus which had been spoken by Moses concerning a Prophet whom he had bid them look for after him For in the xviii of Deuteronomy he tells them from God himself ver 17. that there should be raised up to them a Prophet like unto him into whose mouth ver 18. the Lord would put his own words and who should speak all that he should command him UNTO HIM SHALL YE HEARKEN ver 15. as much as to say Be sure you attend to his words and give obedience to them Now these very words and syllables HEAR HIM are by that God who made that promise to Moses spoken in this place to the Disciples with a manifest application to Jesus clearly denoting him to be the person whom Moses foretold the Lord their God would send to declare his mind unto them as he himself already had done And that this was really the voice of God as much as that voice which spake to Moses we have the greater reason to conclude from this following which is the fourth observation That Moses now stood by and heard it and from thence learnt a great deal more than he knew when he wrote his Book that this person of whom he spoke was more than a Prophet being the Son of Gods dearest love For these words which declared him so were spoken there where he was present who durst not contradict them as sure he would have done had he not known them to be the very voice of God and no delusion I need not enlarge this because the Evangelists tell us so plainly that not only He appeared in glory talking with our Saviour upon this Mountain but Elias also accompanied him which is next to be considered Who being a great Prophet might pretend as fairly as any other man to be the person designed by Moses in the words forenamed and yet consented by his silence to the same undoubted Truth that the prophecy of Moses was not till now fufilled but had its utmost completion in Jesus And indeed this voice from Heaven making such an open Proclamation concerning Jesus before him that gave the Law and before the chiefest of the Prophets who had asserted it and being heard by them with the profoundest silence without any contradiction it did as good as tell the Apostles that they might be assured this was He of whom the Law and the Prophets had spoken whom they were now to give ear unto and that the Law and the Prophets must from henceforth give way to an higher Revelation from God by this Jesus If this had not been true we cannot but think that this great Zealot Elias who had been always so jealous for the Lord of hosts 1 Kings xix 14. and this trusty servant of God Moses who was so faithful in all his house xii Num. 7. would have presently entred their protestation against it and required the Apostles in the Name of God to give heed only to their voice but not to this Which now might the rather be believed to come from Heaven because these inspired persons reverence it and dare not venture in the least to speak against it when they were highly concerned so to do if it had not been the voice of God And if any one shall ask how these Disciples could tell that these two were Moses and Elias whom they never saw I think Theophylact hath well resolved it that they knew them not by their faces but by their discourse Certain it is that persons living in far distant Countries known to others merely by their works and manner of writing have after a little converse at an unexpected meeting been challenged by the Names that their Books carried without the help of any noted character in their face to distinguish them Nothing is more common than the story of Erasmus whom his Friend here in England greeted by his name after a few repartees pass'd between them though he had never seen him and little thought then to embrace him Now we are expresly told by all the three Evangelists that Moses and Elias talked with Jesus and by S. Luke that their discourse was concerning his decease or departure out of this world which he should accomplish at Jerusalem and consequently it is very probable of the glory that was to follow it by his Resurrection Which conference the Apostles hearing they might easily know though not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by their pictures which many of that Nation held it unlawful to be made yet 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 from their words and discourse wherein either Jesus or they before it was done had occasion to mention their Names or their offices or to describe their persons that they were none else but those two men who then appeared to them And it is possible as Theophylact adds that Moses might say I acknowledge thee to be the person whose death I prefigured by the Lamb which was slain at the Passeover And Elias might joyn with him and say Thou art He whose Resurrection I did likewise fore-show by calling again the Widow's son to life Some such kind of discourse we may reasonably conceive passed between them whereby they discovered themselves to be the one the Law-giver the other the noblest of all the Prophets who now came to wait upon Jesus and acknowledge that he was greater than they as the voice from Heaven presently testified which declared him the beloved Son of God to whom now all must attend as they had formerly done to them And therefore it is very remarkable which is the last thing I shall observe that no sooner was this voice heard but Moses and Elias vanished and were seen no more As much as to say That Jesus alone was now to be heard the Law and the Prophets were gone and had nothing to do but only to serve him So S. Mark relates ix 8. that suddenly when they had looked round about after the hearing of this voice they saw no man any more save Jesus only with themselves They turned their eyes every way to look for Moses and Elias but there was no further news of them Nay S. Luke tells us ix 36. that in the very uttering of the voice from that Heavenly glory they disappeared So those words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 plainly signifie While the voice was speaking Jesus was found alone The clould out of which it came covered them and took them into it At the same time it opened it self to manifest him and to obscure them that it might be evident
stood so nearly related to him as to be his Son and therefore worthy to be glorified by him again and again until He had fully judged as he there speaks between Him and his Adversaries who denied him to be the Christ but was pronounced by God to be the Prince of life To conclude this you may note that not long before God spake in this manner from Heaven to them our Saviour had said That they had not heard his voice at any time v. John 37. John the Baptist had and so had three of his Disciples And therefore John bare witness of him whose testimony he says was true ver 32. though he did not stand in such need of it as if his credit could not be supported without it No He appealed to him merely because they had such an high opinion of him ver 33 34. otherwise he had a greater testimony than that of John ver 36. which was not only the works that he did which testified of him that the Father had sent him but the Father himself who sent him note this for he appeals now to what the voice from Heaven said he has born witness of him ver 37. And if they had had any goodness in them ver 38. they would have received him whom the Father sent When did He send him but when he spake by that voice from Heaven which now he utters once more in other words for their greater and fuller satisfaction when many of them were assembled together that they who had not hitherto might hear his voice as well as Jesus himself and his Apostles and be awakened hereby to attend to what the other witnesses of him should say especially after he was risen from the dead I should pass now to the Examination of one of them were it not fit before I part with this to take notice of a Tradition which runs among the Jews concerning this way of Revelation by a voice from Heaven which they say was very usual in those ages The Doctors deliver so their words are in the Babylonian Talmud * In the title Sanhedrim cap. 1. that from the death of the latter Prophets Haggai Zachariah and Malachy the Holy Ghost was taken away but yet notwithstanding they had the Ministry of the Bath Col i. e. the daughter of a voice By that name they call this way of Revelation because they say it was not a full and strong voice which they heard but a voice coming out of another voice and heard when it was gone Just as sparks say they are called Bene resheph the sons of an hot coal because they leap out of the fire so is this called the daughter of a voice because it resulted from a voice and came as it were out of the womb of it being a kind of Eccho after something that was spoken which they could not understand but only caught hold of this tail as I may call it and conclusion of it And they would have us believe that as under the first Temple they had the benefit of Prophecy Urim and Thummim and the Holy Ghost so this succeeded them under the second Temple and was proper to that age of the world being then only in use when all the other were wanting Hence many Christian writers of these latter times have fancied that God therefore declared Jesus to be his Son by a voice from Heaven because it was the only way wherein he then communicated his mind to the Jewish Nation Paulus Fagius think was the first that started this notion of the Bath col which was a praeludium b◠imagines to that true Divine and Heavenly voice which was to speak to them indee◠from Heaven that is our Lord Jesus Christ To whom the Bath col it self gave testimony when it said This is my belove◠Son in whom I am well pleased But 〈◊〉 name shows it was not the true voice from Heaven but a mere type signification and testimony of that true voice and word of God which was to come shortly and speak to them To whom alone this Bath col told them they must all hearken Thus he writes upon the Chaldee Paraphrase * In xxviii Exod. 30. And he had said the same before in his notes upon the Fifth Chapter of Pirke Avoth where his word◠are that God would accustom the world 〈◊〉 little by this beginning to that true Heavenly voice our Saviour Christ who was to follow in whom hereafter the Father would be heard But I think there is reason to doubt o◠all that the Jews say about this matter their brags being many times beyond the Truth and devised to obscure the glory of our Saviour Who it is most likely had that honour done him now by these voices from Heaven which was not usual in those days for he himself tells them as I observed before Ye have not heard his voice at any time v. John 37. As for that which they pretend that this Bath col or daughter of a voice was peculiar to the times of the second Temple it is so far from Truth that it is contradicted by some of themselves who find instances of the contrary in the Holy Books God called out of Heaven to Abraham every body knows by his Angel Gen. xxii 11 15. And Maimonides * More Nevoch part 2. cap. 42. observes that he spake to Hagar and Manoah's wife though neither of them he says had any thing of the spirit of prophecy but only heard the Bath col Which interposed if we could believe others in the case of Thamar And often whispered to Moses as the writer of his Life in many places affirms Nay they tell us in the Eleventh Chapter of the forenamed Title in the Talmud that Nebuzaradan heard this Bath col before the destruction of the first Temple bidding him make a fresh assault upon Jerusalem and not be discouraged in his attempt nor fear the fate of Senacherib For the time is at hand that the Sanctuary shall be destroyed and the Temple burnt But that there was any such thing under the second Temple I see no ground at all to believe It is far more probable that they have devised a number of such stories as we read in their Books merely to gain some credit and reputation to their Doctors Can any man of sence imagine that God would bid Jonathan hold his hand when he was beginning to Paraphrase upon the Prophets saying to him by a voice from Heaven Who is this that reveals my secrets to the sons of men And that he like a bold fellow stood up and said I am the man who undertake it for thy honour and not my own And yet Elias Levita has the confidence to tell us in his Preface to these Paraphrases that as Jonathan was going to do as much for the Holy writings as they call them as he had done for the Prophets he was absolutely prohibited by another voice from Heaven which said Is it not sufficient that thou
Scripture sounding in their ears as an answer to their prayers or their doubts Or lastly there being many Jews in our Saviours time and afterward who knew very well what had been reported of him but yet continued sworn enemies to his Religion they ventured to report the same of their own Doctors and perswaded the people that they were approved by voices from Heaven and therefore ought to be received by all posterity as men of a Divine stamp who had the highest testimony from Almighty God This I am sure of there is nothing to make it credible that any man among them in those Ages was thus honoured by God No body appears that dare say they heard it Nor does any of them pretend that they saw these Rabbies shine in the least glimpse of such glory as our Saviour did when he was honoured with that glorious testimony from Heaven which pronounced him the Head of all principality and power Much less were they as S. Luke speaks by many infallible proofs for we rely not upon the voice from Heaven by it self alone declared to be the men of God And therefore that which to me seems nearest to the truth in this matter is that there had been a perfect deep silence since the death of the latter Prophets and no Revelation made of Gods mind of any sort whatsoever in that Nation till John the Baptist came who was filled with the Holy Ghost and sent by God in the spirit and power of Elias to prepare the way of our Lord. Who when he first appeared had such an approbation given him by God the Father in the audience of John as had not been vouchsafed to any person and in such a manner by a voice from Heaven as had not been in use for many ages but yet was the most ancient way of his communicating his mind to men Thus God called to Adam in the Garden and thus he spake to Abraham and Moses and Samuel and therefore so he now speaks to him who was the second Adam the true seed promised to Abraham the Prophet like to Moses Testifying both to him and to others by his own voice from Heaven which was the old way of Revelation before all others and a clearer way there cannot be that he was his only begotten Son And here perhaps it may not be amiss to observe that this voice anciently was very low like a small whisper in ones ear whereas the voice to our Saviour was loud and strong making a great noise in the ears of those that heard it So Eliphaz tells us iv Job 16. that in a vision which he had There was silence and I heard a voice The Hebrew is exactly rendred by Mercer I heard silence and a voice that is a still voice as the Margin of our Bible hath it And so Elias is said to hear a voice of silence 1 Kings xix 12. a still small voice as we render it a speech next to silence which did but whisper very low and made no noise at all in his ears On the contrary you read in the place last expounded xii John the voice which spake of our Saviour was so loud and audible that the people who were at some distance thought it had been a clap of thunder It did not silently creep into their ears but rent the clouds to make its way with a great deal of power and force into them I cannot say that the other voice was so loud which the Disciples heard on the holy Mount but it was so clear and piercing that when they heard it xvii Matth. 6. they were astonished and fell flat upon their faces The light wherein he appeared was not more visible than the voice which testified to him was audible and both were very amazing Which may very well denote the excellency of our Saviours person and the efficacy of his doctrine above all that had been before him He declared Gods mind more fully and perfectly and spake it more plainly and perspicuously He transcended all others in both these as much as a full voice is above a little murmur or whisper in the ear or a speech distinctly pronounced is to be preferred before the lisping of imperfect words But whatsoever become of this we may certainly conclude from the audibleness and clearness of the voice whereby God gave his testimony to Jesus that they are the more to be believed who affirm they heard this voice from Heaven and report it to us it not being easie for them to be deceived This voice was like that of an Herald who proclaims a Prince and it said in effect I have set my King upon my holy hill of Sion Thou art my Son this day have I begotten thee Which had a most eminent and full completion at his Resurrection and Exaltation but began to be fulfilled when he was tranfigured upon this holy hill and had a representation of his future glory made to him Which he did not assume to himself as the Apostle discourses v. Hebr. 4 5. but was called unto it by him that said then Thou art my Son this day have I begotten thee and said now This is my well beloved Son in whom I am well pleased hear him And thus you see having made an enquiry into the Testimony of one of these Witnesses the first and greatest we find it so full and clear on his behalf that we must either disbelieve God or else believe in Jesus and receive him for the Son of God For he received more than once honour and glory from God the Father Who was so highly glorified also by Him that he hath now completely glorified him with himself and therefore expects that his Name should be perpetually glorified and praised by us in some such words as these A PRAYER ADored be thy love O Lord of Heaven and Earth adored be thy great and wonderful love which hath thus glorified thy Son Jesus and given us such abundant satufaction that in him thou art well pleased Lord what is man that thou shouldest speak from Heaven with so much kindness to him that thou shouldest so often tell us thou hast sent thy dearly beloved Son in great humility to visit us what an amazing love is this that thou shouldest admit any of us into such a familiarity with thy self as to hear thy voice and behold the brightness of thy glory Our heart ought to answer thee again with the voice of joy thanksgiving and praise Thy high praises ought to be in all our mouths It becomes us to say continually with the most elevated minds and hearts Glory be to thee O Lord Glory be to thee O Lord who dwellest on high and yet humblest thy self to behold the things that are in Heaven and in Earth For ever be thy Name glorified by us and by all mankind who hast honoured our Nature so highly in the person of thy only begotten Son Christ Jesus whom after thou hadst several ways glorified on Earth thou hast now advanced
evidences which He produced while he was on Earth to justifie his high Authority which is comprehended under the Name of the Son of God but enquire after those only which He hath given of it since He went to Heaven and ascended to the Throne of his glory From whence this Word of God hath been pleased to speak or in some very remarkable manner to assert this Truth upon no less than three several occasions I. First of all He showed himself to his first Martyr S. Steven in a sensible Majesty standing at the right hand of God in the splendor of the Divine glory Read but the vii Acts 55 56. and there you will find He made himself so plainly appear to be the Son of God and that with power as S. Paul you have heard speaks in 1. Rom. 4. that is the King of Heaven and Earth next to the most supreme Majesty of God the Father Almighty that nothing can be said against it unless any man will be so audacious as to fancy that this holy and glorious Martyr was strongly deluded But there is a clear demonstration against that from the whole story of his Life and Death For He was a man of great note and eminency in the Church who held the very first place among the seven Deacons vi Acts 5. that were chosen to attend the daily ministration to the poor The feeding of whose bodies He did not think the only thing belonging to his charge but such was his zeal he likewise broke and dispensed the Bread of life to all his neighbours He justified the Christian Faith of which he was full vi Acts 5 8 10. against all opposers with singular wisdom great fervour and mighty demonstrations by the power of the holy Ghost He confounded all those whom he disputed withall though he could not overcome them He stopt their mouths by the wisdom and spirit wherewith he spake which made them wish they could stop his though there was no other way they saw to silence him but by taking away his life They suborned therefore false witnesses against him whom they knew not how to confute They brought him before their Great Council to be tried Where all his Judges fixing their eyes upon him saw he was so far from being at all daunted that there was a sparkling Majesty in his countenance like that of an Angel when he appeared to their forefathers vi Acts 15. They could never devise or fancy any thing greater to say of them or of their most eminent Doctors than now they beheld in this illustrious person The face of the Patriarch Isaac they tell us was so changed when the holy Spirit rested on him that a Divine light or splendor came from his face And they would have us believe that Phineas his countenance did burn and flame like a Torch by the inhabitation of the holy Ghost in him Nay Maimonides himself to omit the other Authors in which I find these reports will have the Prophets to be Angels So he interprets more than once the first and the fourth verses of the second Chapter of the Book of Judges Where by the Angel of the Lord he understands a Prophet whom God sent to them to bring them to repentance And expresly says * More Nevoch part 2. cap. 42. that their wise men have told them This was Phineas for at that time when the Majesty of God dwelt upon him He was like to an Angel of the Lord. And it is the opinion of some of them whose Names are not worth mentioning that in the Prophetical visions the form of a man vanished and the appearance of an Angel came in the room thereof till such time as the Vision ceased The light which shone within was so great that it broke through their bodies and externally appeared if we could believe these Doctors who would fain adorn their wise men with that glory which they really beheld in this man of God S. Steven Who was so full of the holy Ghost and had such glorious illuminations in his mind that there was indeed an amazing lustre in his face and he lookt more like an Angel than a man This emboldened him to speak to that grave Senate with all the assurance in the world and to reprove them for resisting the holy Ghost Which so cut them to the heart that it enraged them to the highest degree of fury and they lookt upon him as if they would eat him up But he still full of the holy Ghost and nothing fearing what he saw he must suffer from an exasperated multitude cast up his eyes above and fastned them stedfastly upon the Heavens from whence cometh our help Where He bade them all take notice vii Acts 54 55 56. that he saw the glory of God and Jesus shining at his right hand in a far greater glory than they had seen in his face That was only a glimpse of the Majesty of Jesus whom he preached to them and now feared not to affirm that he saw in his royal splendour and greatness incomparably above all the Angels in Heaven And is it not a great deal more reasonable to believe that He indeed saw Jesus there than to think that he would obtrude thus boldly a mere imagination upon them with the certain loss of his own life If he had not been sure that he beheld him whom they crucified now most highly glorified a person of his wisdom and spirit would have been more cautious than to follow him in that bloudy path to which this assertion led him when if he would have held his tongue there lay a fairer and smoother way before him But so visible was the royal Majesty of our Saviour that he could not but proclaim it aloud and speak as S. Peter said the things which he had seen though he knew they would call it blasphemy and punish him for it with present death He was willing to suffer that for the honour of his Master and to testifie his love to him who told him his Faith was no fancy as he might see by the glory wherein he appeared Which abundantly satisfied him that he was the Son of the Highest able to reward all his faithful servants with immortal glory It is true we read of never a word that our Lord spake to this Saint but the splendour of his appearance in such glory and Majesty at God's right hand was as significant as any words could be and bid him be assured of the truth of what S. John is here proving that indeed he is the Christ the anointed of God anointed with the oil of gladness above all his fellows made the Lord of all things inferior to none but only him who hath put all things in subjection under his feet If any one ask me how he could see the glory of God and how he knew this to be Jesus who appeared at Gods right hand I Answer to the first enquiry that He saw God's glory in the same sence that
when he had further considered of the business and was increased in strength He even confounded the Jews that were at Damascus proving that this is very Christ ix Acts 22. So mightily did he convince them that they had no Answer wherewith to encounter his Arguments but only the Sword and therefore consulted ver 23. to kill him and take him out of the way who as long as he lived they saw would be the greatest witness unto Jesus But all these dangers he undervalued he ran innumerable hazards made strange adventures and indured matchless troubles that he might give testimony to Jesus who had shown himself to him to be the Lord of all Nay though he was told at his first setting out how great things he must suffer for his Names sake ix 16. he was nothing at all dismayed nor in the least discouraged having seen the bright Majesty of Jesus so clearly that flames themselves could not make him deny it no nor cease to preach it So great was the force of this glorious appearance of our Lord to him whereby he testified his own power and greatness that when S. Paul was actually fallen into the hands of his bloudy enemies and made a prisoner in order to his execution He had nothing of greater note to alledge for himself by which to justifie his preaching Jesus to be the Son of God than this that he had seen that Just one and heard the voice of his mouth for no other end but this That he should be his witness unto all men of what he had seen and heard xxii Acts 14 15. And as this was the best plea he had when he was to make his defence in that popular tumult so it was the thing that convinced the Apostles themselves that he was become a disciple For they doubted of it at first when he came to Jerusalem and were afraid to associate themselves with him till Barnabas told them how he had seen the Lord in the way and that he had spoken to him and how he had preached boldly at Damascus in the name of Jesus ix 27. When he came also to answer for himself before Agrippa a Prince of great understanding and well versed in the Jewish Religion still he stands upon this that He who thought himself bound in conscience to do many things contrary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth whose servants he procured to be imprisoned banished and put to death was met by this very Jesus in the way to Damascus when he was going with Commission to do the same there that he had done at Jerusalem saw his exceeding great and incomparable glory was severely rebuked by him for his rage against his disciples and then received a Commission from him to act in his name and to preach against the former all which was so evident that he durst not be disobedient to the Heavenly Vision but had ever since called upon both Jews and Gentiles to repent and believe in Jesus though he had been crucified for it was the Mind of all the Prophets and Moses that their Christ should suffer and then be the first that should rise from the dead and shew light to the people and to the Gentiles This is the substance of his Apology in the xxvi Acts from which place we may learn two things which are very considerable First that when our Lord appeared to S. Paul he had a great deal of discourse with him and did not say so little as only those words I am Jesus whom thou persecutest c. but added those words which follow ver 16 17 18. Rise and stand upon thy feet for I have appeared unto thee for this purpose to make thee a Minister and a Witness both of these things which thou hast seen and of those in the which I will appear unto thee delivering thee from the people and the Gentiles unto whom now I send thee to open their eyes and to turn them from darkness to light and from the power of Satan unto God that they may receive forgiveness of sins and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me The Divine writers are wont to be very brief in their Relations and to mention only the principal things which were said and done leaving out the rest which perhaps they set down upon some other occasion And secondly in these words it is observable that he tells him he must be a witness not only of the things which he had seen now in the way to Damascus but of those in which he intended to appear unto him Which clearly intimates that there were other apparitions of the Lord Jesus unto him besides this Some of them we find recorded in this History of the Acts and other parts of the holy Book And a second sight which he had of our Lord was at Jerusalem as he was praying in the Temple When he fell into an ecstasie or rapture as he relates himself presently after the mention of the former xxii Acts 17. and saw him bidding him make haste away from that City where he was not like to do any good for they would not receive his testimony concerning him This was one of the times as some great men have thought when he was carried up to Heaven 2 Cor. xii 2. And again our Lord appeared to him the night after he had been questioned by the Council bidding him be of good chear for he should bear witness of him at Rome as he had done at Jerusalem xxiii 11. And to omit that apparition to him in a night Vision xviii 9. and the revelations which it is like were made to him in Arabia presently after his conversion He was caught up again into Paradise and there had 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Visions as well as Revelations of the Lord 2 Cor. xii 1. When this was it is uncertain But there are persons of great note who imagine that when the Church of Antioch laid hands on him xiii Acts 3. not to ordain him an Apostle for so he was made by Jesus Christ himself but to send him out to exercise his Apostleship towards the Gentiles to which he had particularly appointed him then our Lord vouchsafed to lift him up into Heaven and to give him new Revelations For there could be no time more fit for it than this when he was to engage in a dangerous war against the whole Idolatrous world Then he was armed with an extraordinary resolution by conversation with Angels in the other world Where he heard things unutterable and was confirmed no doubt in the belief of the glory of the Lord Jesus by whose power he was thus transported and whom it is most likely he then again saw shining as the Sun among those stars of light in that Orb to which he was carried But this he speaks of so sparingly himself that I ought to pass it over as fast as he does The First is the chiefest and greatest evidence of all which he most depended on
numbred with thy Saints in glory everlasting Amen CHAP. IV. Concerning the Testimony of the HOLY GHOST WE have heard the WORD speak enough in his own behalf and I do not think it needful to hear that Witness any further Let us attend now to the Testimony of the third person in the holy Trinity and hear what the HOLY GHOST saith who we shall find upon due examination agrees perfectly in the same thing and declares that Jesus is the Son of God Witness that glorious appearance of the Divine Spirit upon him when he was baptized and the great gifts and endowments thereof wherewith ever after that he was filled himself and filled others For here we may note three things as we did in the opening of the testimony of the other two Witnesses I. The first is that when the Spirit of God descended upon him immediately after his Baptism and in an illustrious manner remained on him as S. John Baptist testifies it did i. John 32 33. then the Holy Ghost bare witness of him that he was the Son of God In our reflections upon which we are to consider distinctly first how it descended and then that it remained and abode upon him And for the better understanding of both these we must know that when the Jews would express any visible appearance of the Majesty and glory of God they call it the SCHEKINAH that is the Habitation or dwelling because God showed himself thereby to be extraordinarily present and that he did as it were dwell in that place to afford those to whom he so manifested himself his gracious help comfort or instruction This is the name they give even to that Presence of God which was in the most holy place the Glory of the Lord which appeared upon the Cherubims because He dwelt there and took up his rest among them by this token of his presence with them So He himself had spoken xxv Exod. 8. Let them make me a Sanctuary that I may DWELL among them That is the Glory of the Lord which ABODE upon mount Sinai xxiv 16. came and took up its residence there in the Sanctuary From these two places they gave it the name of dwelling or abode And tell us that from the day that this Schekinah as they speak or Divine presence dwelling among them rested on mount Sinai at the giving of the Law it never departed from Israel till the destruction of the house of the first Sanctuary by the King of Babylon after that the Divinity or this glorious token of the Divine presence did not dwell among them They are the words of R. Bechai upon Gen. xlv But that which had been so long absent returned now in a far more glorious manner than ever not to dwell in an house of stone but in the Temple of our Saviours body as he calls ii John 21. For when Jesus was baptized Lo the Heavens were opened unto him and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a Dove and lighting upon him iii. Matth. 16. Every word of this verse is very observable For the opening of the Heavens in the prophetical writings as Grotius hath observed upon xix Revel 11. still precedes some great Vision And that which he with John Baptist now saw was the Spirit of God that is such a glorious appearance of the Divine majesty as I before mentioned For the Rabbins often call the Ruach Hakkodesh or the HOLY GHOST by the name of Schekinah or the Divine presence gloriously appearing among them So Elias expresly tells us in his Tisbi * Vocab 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and gives this reason for it because it rested or dwelt upon the Prophets and was a great token I may add of God's presence with them Whence it is that where the Hebrew Text as he goes on saith The spirit of Jacob revived xlv Gen. 27. R. Solomon expounds it thus the Schekinah or the HOLY GHOST rested on him which was departed and as it were extinct before because of the grief and sorrow wherein he had been drown'd For the Holy Ghost say they rests not upon the melancholy but only on those who are of a chearful spirit Thus when Hannah said to Eli who fancied she was drunk No my Lord I am a woman of a sorrowful spirit the Talmud expounds it in this manner Thou art not to govern in this case the Schekinah and the Holy Ghost is not upon thee as appears by this that thou hast judged me guilty when I am innocent It is all one then in their Language as I observed also before in the conclusion of the second Chapter to say that the Divine Majesty or that the Holy Ghost is upon any person And therefore I doubt not but there was a glorious appearance of the Majesty of God at our Saviours Baptism some great unusual brightness signifying the Divine presence and the Spirit of God coming to dwell in him It is not indeed mentioned in express words that there was such a Schekinah or Majestical appearance of the Glory of the Lord but it must be understood to be meant by the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Spirit of God According to the dialect of that Nation who call the Holy Ghost as I said by the name of the Divine Majesty or Presence and so might call that Majesty by the name of the Holy Ghost or spirit of God And Justin Martyr saith expresly in his disputation with the Jew that at our Saviours Baptism 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 A fire was lighted in Jordan That is as I understand it such a Divine glory appeared as there was among the ancient Israelites which had I told you the resemblance of a very bright fire Which so good a man would not have had the boldness to affirm if it had not been the constant tradition which passed among them or rather the constant sence they put upon this place Just as when the Apostles were baptized with the Holy Ghost a fiery substance gathered it self about their heads in token of a Divine presence among them so when our Lord himself was baptized with water there was the like but far more glorious appearance which spreading it self from his head round about made the River out of which he was newly come look as if it were on a flame as a sign that he should baptize not with water but with the Holy Ghost and with fire And so Grotius hath observed that in the Gospel of the Nazarens there were these words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 straight-way a great light shone round about the place which the Syrian Churches also acknowledge in their Liturgy All which make it apparent that Holy men thus understood the descent of the Holy Ghost as I have explained it And indeed S. Luke tells us iii. 22. that it descended 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in a bodily form or appearance There was some visible matter broke out of the Heavens which being the place of light and glory we can expound to be nothing
person whom all their inspired men pointed at and foretold should come to be their King For the descriptions they have left of the cruel usage and horrible sufferings of the Messiah or Christ were answered to the life and exactly fulfilled in our Saviour Jesus whose torments rather exceeded than fell short of the tragicalness of all their expressions Thence it is that when He had ended all his sufferings he said xix John 30. IT IS FINISHED and so bowed his head i.e. did reverence to God and gave up the ghost i.e. resigned his Spirit to God in that prayer which S. Luke mentions By which words It is finished He bad them mark that now all things that were written of him in the xxii Psalm liii Isaiah and other places of their holy Books were perfectly fulfilled and received such a punctual completion in him that there remained nothing more to be done but only to die He had done all his Fathers will and finished his whole work in every point and so having no further business here He worshipped God that sent him and departed the world to go to him XII It will also much advantage this discourse to observe the accidents that hapned at our Saviour's death and accompanied his bloud-shedding which have no small force to verifie what he said concerning himself And to omit the death of Judas which prevented our Lord's and declared that he thought Jesus innocent and himself guilty together with several other things which may be better mentioned afterward let us only observe how the Sun contrary to its usual course when the Moon could not interpose it self between its light and them was eclipsed three whole hours as he was in his passion xxiii Luke 44 45. And that in the conclusion of it the veil of the Temple of that Temple wherein the Jews so much confided was rent in twain from the top to the bottom xxvii Matth. 51. The Earth quaked the Rocks rent and the Graves were opened and many bodies of Saints which slept arose and went out of the Graves after his Resurrection and appeared unto many in the holy City ver 52 53. What judgment can any sober man make of so many strange things concurring at this moment When was it ever heard that the Sun blusht as one may say to show its face and look upon him when any malefactor or innocent man either was hang'd upon a gibbet or that the holy place was torn together with that man's body or that the Earth groaned when he expired and the hearts of Rocks trembled when he cried out and the monuments of the dead opened at his death which three days after gave them life All these things were peculiar to the death of Jesus and never met together but only to honour his bloud And so notorious they were that the Centurion and those who under him had the charge at that time to see the execution done were convinced by them and by the words that he spake that he was no Deceiver but in truth the Son of God So S. Matthew there relates ver 54. that when the Centurion and they that were with him watching Jesus saw the Earthquake and those things that were done they feared greatly saying Truly this man was the Son of God Whatsoever the Jews had decreed they saw by the displeasure of the Heavens by the trembling of the Earth by the hand of God upon the Temple which was soon known by the Priests that Jesus had exceeding great wrong done him having spoken nothing but the truth when he confessed to Pilate that he was the Son of God They dreaded to think what would be the consequences of this horrid murder and were sorely afraid that they themselves who had attended upon it should feel some of those tokens of Gods wrath which elsewhere was very visible But S. Mark tells us that the Centurion also observed the words of our Saviour as well as was struck with these miraculous accidents and that they helped to convince him xv 39. And when the Centurion which stood over against him saw that he so cried out and gave up the ghost he said Truly this man was the Son of God That is when he heard him call God FATHER for those were the words as you heard out of S. Luke xxiii 46. which he cried with a loud voice at the giving up of the ghost Father into thy hands I commend my Spirit and when he saw that he stood in this to the very last breath that God was his Father and also beheld such strange testimonies of it both in the Heaven and in the Earth he said without all doubt he ought to have been acknowledged to be no less than he said and not crucified as a malefactor And S. Luke relates it thus that Jesus crying with a loud voice and saying those words before mentioned The Centurion saw what was done that is all spoken of in the precedent verses xxiii Luke 44 45 46. and GLORIFIED God saying Certainly this was a righteous man Which was as if he had said God be praised for showing us the truth or let us do God honour in acknowledging the truth whatever come of it I make no question but this man was innocent and said true when he affirmed he was God's Son though the Jews have got him crucified for this saying and brought us to wait upon his execution That as I have often noted was their quarrel with him That he being a man made himself equal with God x. John 33. v. 18. This was the blasphemy they accused him of that he said They should see the SON OF MAN that is Himself sitting at the right hand of power But the Centurion an honest Gentile acquitted him of this crime and seeing the things that were done and hearing the words he uttered concluded him to be Righteous free from all blame and not at all guilty of that blasphemy for which he was arraigned and suffered but ought to have been believed and acknowledged as the CHRIST the Son of the blessed Thus was that fulfilled which our Saviour had foretold viii John 28. When ye have lift up the Son of Man upon the Cross then shall ye know that I am He that is the CHRIST and that I do nothing of my self assume not this authority of preaching thus without Gods leave but as my Father hath taught me I speak these things that is even this that I am his CHRIST is that which he bid me affirm And he that sent me is with me to justifie what I say and do the Father hath not left me alone no not upon the Cross nor after death as appears even by this Testimony which he forced the Centurion to give him For I do always those things that please him Keep to my office that is both now and when I suffer you to lift me up to the Cross for God declared that he was never better pleased with him than when he laid down his life in this
whereby the nature of things is inverted so that it appears it could not have been done by any power but only by his who is the author of Nature and made all the things we see out of nothing at all And secondly this miracle must not be wrought in secret but to gain belief it must be done before the eyes of a multitude who may see it and be satisfied of the truth of it And lastly diligent inquiry must be made and it must be examined strictly that no doubt may be left in mens minds but they may be fully satisfied it is no fancy nor done by any trick or subtile imposture Now if we consult this History of Lazarus we shall find there is none of these wanting to settle the most doubtful mind in the belief of our Saviours Almighty power and authority For to raise the Dead is a work that exceeds all natural powers There is none that can restore life as has been said already but he who at the first gave it So much the Jewes themselves acknowledge who have a common saying that the Key of the Grave is one of the four keys which is kept in the hands of the Lord of the World alone 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Neither to Angel nor to Seraph as the Jerusalem Targum speaks upon xxx Gen. 22. that is neither to lowest nor the highest of the Celestial Ministers is this power given but it is reserved to him onely that made them and all things else Now that our Saviour indeed raised a dead man there were many witnesses as you heard before from xi Joh. 45. where it is said that many of the Jews which came with Mary and had seen these things which Jesus did believed on him And the fame of it was so great that it drew a greater concourse of People thither to be satisfied of the truth of the report For he tells us xii 9. that much People i. e. a multitude of the Jews came to that place not for Jesus his sake only but that they might see Lazarus also whom he had raised from the dead Nay the Pharisees as I told you had the news of it brought to them by some that were present and had seen the things which Jesus did xi 46. who were curious enough no doubt to inquire into the business and had satisfied themselves that indeed he was dead laid in his Grave and continued in that state till according to the course of Nature he must begin to turn to corruption and stink Which was all that needed any proof for that he was now alive their eyes were witnesses And therefore they could not deny this miracle vers 47. But to extinguish the light and take away the convincing power of it they thought it was best to remove Lazarus out of the way and to put him to death as well as our Saviour For the sight of him converted a great many as you read xii 10 11. The chief Priests consulted that they might put Lazarus also to death Because that by reason of him many of the Jews went away and believed on Jesus It was a thing confessed then that this wonderful work had been done There was the testimony of the man himself and of his Sisters and of our Saviour's Disciples and of MANY of the Jews who were come to comfort Martha and Mary concerning their Brother xi 19. In so much that not long after our Saviour coming to the Feast of the Passover at Jerusalem Much people went forth to meet him and brought him in with a triumph due only to so great a Person saying Hosanna blessed is the KING of Israel that cometh in the Name of the Lord xii 12. And if you would know what excited them to meet him it was the fame of this miracle which the eye-witnesses of it had brought to them as you read there ver 17 18. The people therefore that was with him when he called Lazarus out of his grave and raised him from the dead BARE RECORD For this cause the people also met him for that they heard that he had done this miracle Here it is visible were two Troops or Companies both called much people one of which went from Jerusalem to Bethany to see Lazarus whom Jesus had raised from the dead ver 9. The other met Jesus the next day as he was coming from Bethany to Jerusalem ver 12 13. For they had been informed by those who were present at the time when it was done that for certain Lazarus was raised from his grave by the word of Jesus and now they were confirmed in this belief by the company that went to Bethany the day before to enquire of it who testified to these that came to meet him that they found it to be an undoubted truth that he had been really dead and now was alive again by no other means but those words of his Lazarus come forth which might well make them all acknowledge him to be their KING who was come unto them in the name of the Lord as appeared by this miraculous work which none but the hand of Heaven could effect What heart would not be moved to bow to him who had such power over quick and dead who could think him to be less than the Lord of all who they saw was the Lord of life None but proud ambitious Pharisees who were afraid they should lose as much authority as he got These were more startled than ever to see such crouds of people flock after him to do him honour and to hear them applaud him as the great Son of David and follow him with their Hosanna's in the highest This made them despair of blasting his fame and discrediting him with the people as long as he lived and therefore they grew the more resolved to hasten the execution of their decree against him that he should be put to death For they said among themselves as you read in the following words ver 19. Perceive ye how ye prevail nothing behold the world that is vast multitudes is gone after him followed him that is as their KING notwithstanding all that had been done to disparage him They are forced here to speak more truth than they were aware of that it was in vain to oppose him For even when they had killed him they perceived presently that they prevailed nothing but found this literally true that indeed the world went after him Men of all Nations and not the Jews only followed him zealously and became his Disciples notwithstanding the scandal of the Cross which they had cast in their way to discourage them Of which there immediately follows in this story an illustrious presage For some Gentiles desiring to see our Saviour ver 20. there came a voice from Heaven upon his prayer that God would glorifie his own Name saying I have both glorified it and will glorifie it again ver 28. The glory of God that is had appeared lately as I have explained it before in
No man then had the impudence to deny the Eclipse of the Sun the Earthquake the rending of the veil of the Temple and the rest of the astonishing things that then hapned The first of them is mentioned by a Pagan-writer and though the Apostles published both that and all the other continually yet there is no book either of Jew or Gentile who were enemies great enough to his Religion that goes about to disprove them And as for his miraculous works they were generally done openly at Feasts in the Synagogues on the high-ways and were so commonly talkt of that the Rulers feared all the world would run after him xii John 19. Therefore the Apostles could not falsifie in the report of these things but they might be easily confuted Which no man ever attempted but both Jews and Gentiles acknowledged that he wrought Miracles for his Apostles also wrought them every where and so did their Successors in some Ages after To these the Ancient Christians appeal as an undoubted testimony to their Faith which they could not be so silly as to mention were there any dispute whether there had been Miracles wrought or no. His Resurrection also was attested by Five hundred people who saw him together at once and it was proved beyond contradiction by the strange descent of those miraculous gifts upon his Apostles according to his promise Which came upon them also at a Feast when all the Nation though living in far distant Countries were assembled together and a great company of Proselytes also and devout people were present to be witnesses of it Yea the Apostles themselves as is notoriously known went over all the world and openly showed the power of Jesus which was in them Now if all these be true Witnesses or rather if you grant there were such Witnesses which no sober man can deny they being visible here on Earth in the company of so much people there can be no doubt remaining of this that Jesus is the Son of God They proclaim this so loudly with one voice that S. John had reason to say We beheld his glory the glory as of the only begotten of the Father They beheld it in his Preaching and Life they beheld it in his bloudy Death but especially in the power of his SPIRIT both before he died and in raising him up from the dead and they beheld it also when they were with him in the holy Mount and had the Testimony of the rest of the Heavenly Witnesses Which were heard on Earth though they were in Heaven as men of high quality and of unblemished integrity with the hazard of all they had did constantly affirm And though some of those Heavenly Witnesses might not be believed so much at the first which is the cause I suppose that our Saviour bids his Apostles as you have heard not declare what the voice from Heaven said till after his Resurrection xvii Matth. 9. yet when they had received such great testimony that they were good men and men of God by having the Holy Ghost bestowed on them to bestow upon others also and when by this they were able to demonstrate his Resurrection then all the rest that they alledged as a proof that he was the Son of God did highly merit belief also and there was no reason to suspect the truth of such reports as were verified in so authentick a manner For with great power gave the Apostles witness of the Resurrection of the Lord Jesus iv Acts 33. And the Resurrection of the Lord Jesus was a powerful Witness that there was nothing so great said of him by the voices from Heaven but it ought to be received as the undoubted truth of God Who at sundry times and in divers manners testified to his Son Jesus that by some means or other the most obstinate hearts might be convinced and those tongues which blasphemed him might confess him to be the Lord. A PRAYER ALL thy works praise thee O holy Jesus they all show the greatness of thy power and declare thee to be the Lord. All thy Saints therefore ought to bless thee and to speak good of thy Name who didst manifest forth thy glory in such miraculous works upon Earth and art now crowned with such glory and honour in the Heavens Great was the glory of that Almighty love which gave health to the sick feet to the lame eyes to the blind and life to the dead How gloriously didst thou triumph over the Devil and all the powers of darkness declaring thy self to be the Redeemer of the World by delivering those who were oppressed by him Great was thy Majesty and therefore greatly to be praised Those triumphs ought to have been attended with the most joyful shouts of Praise and Thanksgiving to thee as the Saviour of men and the Lord of Men and Angels All that saw thy wonderful works ought with never-ceasing love to have glorified thee the great Lover of mankind the Repairer of our ruines the Restorer of our happiness our mighty Deliverer from all our Enemies and the inexhaustible Fountain of life and all other good things which thou every where dispensedst to them How ought all our hearts now to overflow with love to thee the blessings of whose goodness so overflowed in all places that none can tell the number of them Especially when we remember how by the mighty working of the same Spirit which glorified thee so on Earth thou art raised from the dead carried to Heaven set at the right hand of God and made the King of glory This is the Lord 's doing and it is marvellous in our eyes This is the sovereign Balsam of all our wounds This is our solace and comfort in the greatest troubles This raises our Spirits when they are oppressed and gives us life in death it self Be thou honoured and acknowledged by me and by all mankind with the humblest the most hearty and affectionate devotion to thy service Be thou ever praised as much as thou wast reproached and blasphemed Let thy Name be sweet and mentioned with delight and joy throughout all the World Live O blessed Jesus in the glory wherein thou art inthroned Sit and reign there till all thine Enemies become thy foot-stool For among the Gods there is none like unto thee O Lord neither are there any works like unto thy works All Nations whom thou hast made shall come and worship before thee O Lord and shall glorifie thy Name For thou art great and hast done wondrous things Thou art Lord alone O give unto the Lord ye kindreds of the people give unto the Lord glory and strength Ascribe unto the Lord the glory due unto his name O worship him in the beauty of holiness Say among the Heathen the Lord reigneth who was dead but is alive again and liveth for evermore O sing unto the Lord a new song sing unto the Lord all the Earth Yea sing unto the Lord a new song and worship him all ye Gods For thou
to think their offences have made their enemy is a thing that can never be certainly resolved without a Revelation Without which also we can have little security of the immortality of our Souls and of the life to come Which hath inclined all Mankind to listen after a Revelation and to catch at any thing which pretends to come from God to them For as Plato acknowledges when he ordains there should be no alterations made in the ancient Customes about Sacrifices because it is not possible for mortal nature to know any thing of these matters without it No says he not long after in the same Book * In Epinom as no body shall ever perswade me that there is any greater Piety than true Vertue and as there is nothing more excellent can be taught than how those that honour Vertue should rightly worship God with Sacrifices and other rites of purifying So none can teach this 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 unless God show him the way and be his Guide and Leader in so excellent a work But if we search into all the records that are in the World what is there that can stand in competition with the Christian way of worshipping God or pretend to come with such authority from him I have examined those that have most to say for themselves and they can produce no such WITNESSES as Christianity doth No not that ancient Revelation made by God to Moses As for the old Pagan ways which were very various I am ashamed to mention them It is manifest they suffered themselves to be cheated by impure Spirits and took the answers of Daemons for the Oracles of God But ask now of the days that are past which were before us since the day that God created Man upon the Earth and ask from the one side of Heaven unto the other whether there hath been any such thing as this great thing is or hath been heard like it that God indeed appeared among Men and was manifest in the flesh as is evident by all the signs and wonders and mighty deeds by voices from Heaven by his Resurrection from the dead and all the other Witnesses which have testified this truth to the world Ask again hath God ever assured Men of any thing by so many and such evident testimonies as those which I have produced Unto us it was shown that we might know that Jesus is the Lord and beside him there is no other if I may again allude to the words of Moses iv Deut. 34 35. out of Heaven he hath made us hear his voice that he might instruct us and upon Earth he hath shown us his great wonders that every tongue might confess Jesus is the Lord to the Glory of God the Father III. That now is the next thing I am to press as a necessary consequence of what hath been said in the foregoing Treatise Though there were such slender proofs in comparison with ours that God spake to Moses and though others as I said were drawn away by the subtilties of evil Angels yet they all believed and gave great reverence to that which was delivered to them Every Nation gladly received and held fast that which did but pretend to come from Heaven Which must needs extremely reproach us and put us to eternal shame if we having better evidences should not only be Believers but have a stronger faith in Jesus That which Plato thought was to be wisht for is now come to pass God is come to be our Guide and Director The very wisdome of the Father hath appeared to teach us He that made all the World is come down hither to reform us The WORD IS MADE FLESH that as he had Principalum in coelis to use the words of Irenaeus * L. 4. cap. 37. the Lordship in Heaven so he might have Principatum in terra the same Soveraignty upon Earth He hath appeared also in wonderful and astonisht brightness to convince us of his authority and to make us know assuredly that he is God blessed for ever Shall we not then hear his words shall we not deliver up our selves to receive his Heavenly instruction which came with such powerful demonstration God forbid that any of us should be so perverse as hearing such WITNESSES speak unto us for the Lord Jesus we should give no credit to them I cannot but believe as S. Austin * L. de vera Relig. cap. 3. excellently discourses that if Plato now lived and would vouchsafe to answer my Questions or rather if any Scholar of his being perswaded that truth is not to be seen with corporeal eyes but by a pure mind and that nothing hinders the sight more than a life addicted to lust and false Images of sensible things which impressed on us beget various errors and that therefore the mind is to be purified that it may behold that unchangeable beauty which is always the same and always like it self If I say a Scholar of his thus taught by him should ask him whether in case there should be a Man Great and Divine that should perswade the People at least to believe such things though they could not perceive them or if they did perceive them were so ingaged in vulgar errors that they durst not or could not oppose them He would not judge him worthy of Divine honour I believe he would Answer that this could not be done by Man unless perhaps the very power and wisdome of God should honour some person who was not taught of men but from the Cradle illuminated by the most intimate knowledge of things with so great a grace and strengthen him with such resolution and bear him up with such a majesty that contemning all things that evil Men desire and induring all things that they dread and doing all things that they admire he should convert Mankind with equal kindness and authority to so wholesome a Faith And he would add that it was to no purpose to ask him what the Honours are which ought to be given to such a person when it is easie to be discerned what honour is due to the wisdome of God by the guidance and governance of which he would singularly deserve of Mankind and do some thing for their Salvation proper only to himself and which was above Men to do Now if these things which I have supposed be really done if there be good records of them if from a Country in which alone One God was worshipped and where such a person was to be born there came chosen men who by their Vertues and their Sermons have kindled in Mens breasts the flame of the Divine love and have left the inlightned Earth under a most wholesome Discipline if every where it is preached that in the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God if to the perceiving and embracing this that the Soul may be cured and recover strength to entertain so great a light the covetous hear such
Are not the Witnesses good who affirm that Jesus is the Son of God Have we not examined them and find no cause why we should reject them Or will you receive nothing upon the credit of a Witness That 's a very strange obstinacy which rejects so certain a way of knowing many things that cannot be otherways known For the notices of things do not come to us all one way but by divers means either by our Senses or by our Reason and Discourse or by Report By all these ways the knowledge of things is conveyed to our Mind And if we refuse to be informed by any of them there are a great number of things certainly true and of great consequence to us of which we must remain ignorant That there are other Countries far distant from this where we live and that such and such things are there to be had and have been there done most Men can know by no means but only by report for there are but few that can go and see And he that will not receive the testimony of another in this case deprives himself of a considerable piece of knowledge whereof others partake and which might be as useful to him as it proves to them But if for this wilful loss he shall pretend to assign a just cause saying that he cannot believe any thing unless it be demonstrated to him by clear and evident consequences from Principles of known reason he will become ridiculous For it is absurd to expect the knowledge of any thing in any other way but that which is proper for its conveyance to us To demand a proof of a matter of reason from our senses or for what we discern by our senses from our reason is equally ridiculous and so it is to demand an evidence for things of Faith which we know by report only either from our Senses or our Reason That there are some things come to our notice only by Faith is plain from what passes every day And it is as plain that they must be proved to be true in their proper way that is by the soundness of the Testimony upon which we receive them As no man requires a reason for what he sees and feels nor asks that he may see with his eyes that of which he reasons and discourses so he ought not to seek for a testimony of sense or reason for that which he can know by no way but by report As for example no Man demands a reason to prove that the Sun shines In this his sense gives him satisfaction and if he were born blind no reason could prove to him that it was not Night Nor does any man that is in his wits require that he may behold God with his eyes whom he knows by discourse and the reason of his mind and knows him also by that to be invisible In like manner it is altogether preposterous when a man comes and reports that such a person dyed on such a day to ask for a reason to prove it or to demand that he may see it for it is impossible to see him dye again upon that day That is not a thing to be known either of those ways by sense or reason but only by the testimony of others who were present at that time and are we think worthy of belief Why do we ask then for any other proof that Jesus was born of a Virgin at such a time did such wonderful works preached such an holy Doctrine was crucified dead and buried rose again from the dead ascended to Heaven and sent from thence the Holy Ghost These are not things now to be seen or felt nor can we gather them from the meer discourse of our own reason which tells us nothing of them But we have them by report from a great many Witnesses who say they saw and heard and felt all that which they would have us believe There is no other use of reason in this case but only to examine and judge whether this report be credible and founded in the testimony of God Now that is evident to any impartial enquirer from what hath been said concerning these Witnesses whose report there is no reason to suspect as it is certain it can never be disproved Why should we then be so much our own enemies as to deprive our selves of this saving knowledge of Jesus Christ That is why do we not give credit to the report of these Witnesses concerning Jesus since by the only proper means whereby such things can be proved I have made it good that the Father declared him to be his Son and He appeared in Glory to testify to himself and the Holy Ghost demonstrated he could be no less and his Life Death Resurrection and all the rest of which there were so many upright Witnesses assure us that it is a certain truth Would we be so difficult to be perswaded to go to a Man or a Place where several honest neighbours informed us upon their word nay upon their life we should be promoted to great honor or be possessed of a fair estate Do we not believe one another in our daily traffick and drive considerable bargains merely upon the credit we give to some persons who inform us of the advantage we may make by them Do not men undertake long journeys and more dangerous voyages merely because they are told that such an one is dead to whom they are heir or that such rich commodities are to be had in exchange for meaner goods Who is there that does not desire his Witnesses may be accepted and their testimony taken for good proof either to clear his innocence or to settle his estate Now says the Apostle immediately after the alledging of all these Witnesses in Heaven and in Earth to prove the truth of Christianity If we receive the Witness of men the Witness of God is greater for this is the Witness of God which he hath testified of his Son The meaning of which is this If men whose honesty you cannot impeach give their testimony in a Court of Judicature it is never disallowed nor can you be permitted to set it by and make nothing of it but it is necessarily admitted for an end of strife The weightiest causes are decided all matters depending are determined and judged according to the evidence that is given by witnesses of unblemished faith In the mouth of two or three witnesses as the known saying was every word or rather matter is established That is brought to an issue and concluded if any controversie have arose to unsettle it Nay the testimony of one man if we have no reason to suspect his credit is in our own private thoughts though not in Law satisfaction great enough to assure us of the truth of what he says And we think it such a reproach to give him the lye that we cannot but believe him finding a desire in the same case to be believed our selves Now if things stand thus between us and
of all the types and shadows wherein these heavenly things were wrapt up and hidden better then they could do themselves For our Lord is risen from the dead and hath opened the Kingdom of heaven and tearing the veil in pieces hath set before our eyes the holy place not made with hands eternall in the heavens Into which he is entred as our Fore-runner to prepare a place for us and from thence hath sent a more abundant measure of the Holy Ghost to enlighten the eyes of our understanding that we may know what the hope of Christianity is and how exceeding glorious that celestiall inheritance which he intends to divide among us i. Eph. 17 18. But it is not sufficient to admire this grace I have demonstrated we must carefully improve it or else it will be worse with us then if we had never known it For if the Word spoken by Angels was so punctually verified that every breach of it was duly punished as it is ii Hebr. 2 3 4. there is no hope that we should escape the severest effects of God's displeasure if we neglect so great Salvation as this which 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 being first published to the world by our Lord Jesus was farther confirmed by the coming down of the Holy Ghost upon his Apostles We are the disciples of Him who spake as never man spake Whose word of Salvation as his Gospell is called we then neglect when we mind not what he saith or do not often think of it or having thought of it prefer every trifle before it and will not be moved by such a wonderfull grace to obey his precepts For by the opposition wherein this stands to the transgression and disobedience mentioned before against Moses his Law we are sufficiently informed wherein this neglect principally consists viz. in the transgressing those bounds our Lord hath set us and disobeying those commands to the observance of which he incites us by the promise of immortall Life It is a fearfull thing to think how miserable they will be who prove thus inconsiderate and in how great danger Christians are to be so by the means of that very deceit which plunged the Jews into so many calamities Because God had manifested more of his love to them then to other Nations had given them an excellent Law spoken to them by his Prophets instructed them how to offer Sacrifice and appointed a place where he would dwell among them they blessed themselves in the outward enjoyment of these singular priviledges they bragged that they were the seed of Abraham and that they had the Oracles of God and were a people separated to him from the rest of the world by many holy rites but they took no care to be obedient to his Laws and less regarded to be indued with the spirit of faithfull Abraham who left all those earthly goods in which they placed their chief treasure for God's sake Just thus men suffer themselves to be deluded at this day Because God hath granted us the preeminence even above the Jews themselves hath brought us into the Kingdom of his dear Son made us the Children of Light and let us see such things as many Kings and Prophets desired to see but did not see them they content themselves with the bare profession of this Religion and think it enough to be called by such an honourable Name as that of Christ on whom they rest and rely as the Jews did on their Sacrifices never thinking of being indued with his blessed Nature and Spirit and offering their Wills intirely to God as he did Thus men perish even in the midst of so great light and means of being saved And there is no help for them unless they will grow serious and consider the design of the Christian Faith Which will teach them after a very few thoughts about it that our Lord Jesus is the authour of eternall Salvation to those onely that obey him v. Heb. 9. and will be so far from protecting others from destruction that he himself will be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God and that obey not the Gospell of our Lord Jesus Christ 2 Thess i. 7 8. I end this Preface as St. Augustine begins his third Chapter of his first Book of the Trinity with the alteration of one word onely in the conclusion Whosoever reads this Book where he is convinced let him go along with me where he sticks let him enquire with me where he sees his own errour let him return to me where mine let him call me back to him Thus we shall all walk together in the way of charity tending to him of whom it is said Seek ye his face alway Whosoever therefore when he reads saith This is not well said for I do not understand it let him reprehend my speech but not my faith It might it is likely have been spoken more plainly but there is no man ever spoke so as in all things to please all The generall CONTENTS AN Introduction CHAP. I. Of Eternall Life in generall page 1. to 13. which our Saviour calls SEEING GOD explained in seven particulars p. 14. to 40. A Meditation p. 41. CHAP. II. A more particular discourse of this Life p. 43. wherein the happiness of the Soul is described in regard of its increase in the knowledge of God p. 46. to 62. and in its love to God to p. 72. and joy in God to p. 84. A Meditation out of St. Augustine p. 85. CHAP. III. A farther explication of the Happiness of this Life p. 87. in perpetuall Praises of God to p. 97. and in free uniform Obedience to him to p. 101. There the happiness of the body also is briefly touched to p. 108. A Meditation out of Macarius and others Ibid. CHAP. IV. Of the Eternity of this Life p. 111. being without intermixture of Misery p. 112. and without intermission p. 115 and without end p. 121. represented by the Sabbath p. 124. Particular expressions chosen to signifie that it never dies p. 127. A Meditation p. 133. CHAP. V. Of the Certainty of this Eternall Life p. 137. whose excellence is farther represented from xxi Rev. 7. in 5 particulars from p. 138. to 149. Two Observations about his RECORD p. 151. to 158. A Meditation p. 161. CHAP. VI. The Testimony of the FATHER concerning this Eternall Life p. 165. The first testimony illustrated to p. 172. The second testimony at large considered from thence to p. 195. The third testimony Ib. to p. 204. A Meditation p. 205. CHAP. VII The Testimony of the WORD to it p. 209. The first testimony p. 211. The second p. 220. The third p. 230. A Meditation out of St. Gregory Nazianzen p. 245. CHAP. VIII The Testimony of the HOLY GHOST p. 249. The first testimony Ib. to p. 258. The second Ib. to p. 270. The third testimony Ib. to p. 279. The sense of the Church about the Holy Trinity
phrase so known and the translation of the word to this use saith * More Nev. par 1. c. 42. Maimonides is so frequent that all good and wholsome Doctrine is called Chajah that is LIFE and thence our Masters say The just are called LIVING even in their death and the wicked are called DEAD even while they are alive because the one were happy and the other miserable in those contrary conditions The true reason of which dialect or manner of speech I take to be this that LIFE being the foundation upon which all felicity is built the root out of which it grows it being impossible to enjoy any thing unless we be alive and it abiding and continuing also when the pleasures and other circumstances of life are often interrupted it was thought the aptest thing to express that felicity which we partake of in life yea the fullest felicity the fruition of the compleatest Good when life shall be made eternal And if this be not sufficient to demonstrate that the Holy Writers intend by Eternal Life all the good we are or shall be capable to enjoy you may farther observe that they describe it by all things that are excellent and desirable having borrowed from the glory of the whole World whatsoever is lovely and illustrious to help to represent it to us Shall I put together the severall lines whereby it is described in as handsome an order and composure as I can and so leave every one to judge of the rare beauty of this Life when it shall have all its fillings up which in its ruder draught appears so amiable in our eyes This LIFE then that it may be understood to be the enjoyment of a fuller good then we can conceive a good beyond the bold desires of the most inlarged and luxurious appetite is expressed by the hugest heaps of Treasures such as the Heavens onely are great enough to contain by the possession of an immortall Inheritance reserved there for us and by Pearls and Jewels of a price so invaluable that he is stupid who sells not all he hath if they are not to be had at a lower rate to make a purchace of them These expressions and the rest that follow are so well known that I need not stay to set down the particular places of Holy Scripture where they may be found but proceed to tell you that this Life is there also set forth by feeding upon the delight of the most exquisite pleasures and being entertained without any satiety and in the most noble company at the most sumptuous Feast by exaltation withall to the sublimest pitch of Honour such as the power of Kings the majesty of Thrones and the glory of Crowns which Holy men call in to their assistence that they may serve to lift up our minds to conceive the height of this happy Life and make it seem the more royal and magnificent To which you may adde that they make use of the names of Rest and Refreshment and Peace and Joy or Contentment For as we reade of entring into Life so we do of entring into Rest and into the Joy of our Lord and dwelling in Peace because these are the onely things on earth which can compleat and perfect the happiness of those who enjoy Princely dignity and power But then when the Earth can afford no more colours for the drawing a picture of this most excellent Life or supreme Felicity those Holy men ascend up to Heaven and fetch from thence not onely some rays of light but the very Sun it self and that in the top of its glory to illustrate by its brightness the incomparable beauty of it For it is called the Inheritance of the Saints in light and our Blessed Lord is called the Light of the world who promises the Just that they shall have the Light of life and shine like the Sun in the Kingdom of the Father But alas it is not in the power of such words as these to express its excellence And therefore when all things that fall under our eyes and our taste are spent in the description of it we reade then of melodious Songs and Thanksgivings and the joyfull voice of those who triumph continually Nay the whole World as big as it is is introduced as a small resemblance of this Happiness wherein victorious Souls are said to inherit all things and to be made equal to the Angels who joyn in consort with them and bear their part in those heavenly Anthems and Hymns wherewith they bless and praise the Great Lord of all But if all the goodly things that are or ever have been in the whole world should meet together and falling down at the feet of one man should with a joynt consent conspire to make him happy they could never advance him near the height of this celestial Bliss whose incomparable excellence cannot be expressed without the assistence of words called down from the highest Heavens the place of God's Habitation And therefore nothing below the Kingdom of Heaven a Mansion in our heavenly Father's House a Building of God in the Heavens is made the portion of such happy Souls And as if the Heavens yea the Heaven of Heavens could afford nothing great enough to represent this Blessedness Holy men lead us at last to God himself whom they bid us behold in the High and Holy place as in his Chamber of Presence And this LIFE is called Seeing GOD and beholding his Glory and being with our LORD which are names of such transcendent greatness that we had need enjoy this Happiness to understand them But thus the Men of God from things sensible lead us by the hand to those that are spirituall and invisible And now that they have placed our thoughts in the presence of God there they leave them to take as full a view as they can of him and to spread themselves in the largest contemplations of his Perfections For they were not able to go any farther then onely to tell us that we shall be made like to him whose Perfections shine so gloriously in our eyes This is the highest pitch to which they carry our meditations Here they bid us rest our thoughts and now that they have advanced them above the Earth and Heavens to consider with our selves what it is to See God till we resemble him and be perfectly transform'd into his most blessed Nature and Life All they can doe more for us is onely to tell us what GOD is the enjoyment of whom is our Happiness and who we are to understand will be infinitely far more to our whole man then Kingdoms and Thrones then Crowns and Jewels then Feasts and Songs then the Sun it self and all the sweet influences of Heaven with the rest of the things forementioned could be were they all united in one design to make us happy The wisest of the Jews as blind as that Nation is are sensible of this how disproportionable all the words which even divinely-inspired
in your breasts and preserve the fire for one hour from going out and you cannot imagine till you try to what an heavenly temper it will purifie and refine your Spirits It will make you heartily in love with the Life of Christ here which leads to such a blissfull Life in the other world You will zealously follow those holy desires and resolutions which you will necessarily feel it inspiring you withall And you will not suffer any temptation whatsoever to divert you from that earnest pursuit but still be saying as St. Austin begins and ends his Confessions Thou Lord hast made us for thee and our heart is uneasie and restless untill it repose it self in thee Who being that Good which needs no good art always at rest for thou thy self art thine own Rest But to understand this what man will give to man what Angel to Angel or what Angel to man Let it be askt of thee let it be sought in thee let it be knockt for at thee So so shall it be received so shall it be found so shall it be opened Amen III. And the more we think of it the more we must needs still desire it because our Understanding being filled with the knowledge and our Will with the love of the chiefest Good we shall sensibly perceive a Divine joy resulting from these and flowing into our heart with inexpressible pleasure For it is essentially included in every act both of that Knowledge and that Love as may be clearly discerned by what hath been already said We are now compounded of different and sometimes contrary passions which frequently disquiet us and disturb our peace by falling out with our Reason and with one another But in that blessed LIFE there will be no such troublesome mixture no fear no sorrow no hatred no anger or any the like remaining But joy alone advanced to the greatest height of glory will be left in the possession of the whole Soul and have the sole Dominion of it to it self The reason is because we shall for ever have the presence of the greatest Good which will exclude the presence of any evil to give us the least fear of losing what we love That 's the originall of all our Passions As we are glad when we enjoy any thing that we love so we are troubled when we want it or when we lose it and we are full of care and solicitude when we eagerly pursue it and rise up in hatred and displeasure at that which opposes our desires When Love then is secure by the possession of that Supreme Good whom no evill can approach the cause of all other passions will be banished and Joy alone be left to triumph in the conquest of them For which cause this heavenly Joy must needs be the more excessive when we shall have nothing else to do but to rejoyce This will mightily increase the greatness of it that there will be no employment for the rest of our Passions which here whether we will or no take their turns together with it and consequently there will be nothing to diminish the greatness of it by any trouble or disorder that can be given it For the proof of which I need onely refer you to the foregoing discourses and desire you to reflect upon what you have read of the Knowledge and Love of God You could not but observe how joy and pleasure was so inseparably knit to them and interwoven with them that I could not well speak of them but I must touch upon this also 1. As for the first of them we all feel a certain complacency which our very Senses as well as our Understanding takes in objects conformable to them even before our appetite moves at all towards them Truly the light is sweet says the Wise man and a pleasant thing it is for the eyes to behold the Sun xi Eccles. 7. Look then how much the Divine Light excells all other and how much the Majesty and Splendour of the Authour of Nature is beyond the best of his Works the glory and brightness of the Sun and so much sweeter and more pleasant will it be for our Mind to be filled with that Light and to behold that first and Originall beauty from whence all other are derived We cannot think of God and of our Saviour now without a singular joy and therefore we shall not be able to SEE them without an excess of it 2. And secondly as for Love Joy is a no less necessary attendant on it or rather is intwined with it being nothing else but that delight and pleasure which springs up from the sense of any Good that we have taken possession of So that look how great the Good is to which the passion of Love hath carried us proportionable will be the Joy when we feel that we are owners of it And if it now please us so much to think that we are really beloved of God and of his Son Jesus what an endless pleasure will the sense of their Love yield us when it hath placed us in Heaven Do but consider now how vast the Love of the Lord Jesus is in coming down from Heaven to us and that he knows better reasons of his Love then we do and that his own pleasure is concerned in loving us and that he cannot but finish his Love to those who are purchased with his Bloud and are of his Spirit and it will give a marvellous satisfaction to your heart at present But what it will do then when he will have expressed all his Love to us and perfected his kind intentions towards us we are not able to tell We can onely consider a little farther how he hath plainly told us that they who love him will rejoyce now because he is gone to the Father xiv Joh. 28. And therefore it must needs be an additionall pleasure in the other life to see what we here believe our Dearest Lord shining in the Glory of God the Father and inthroned on the right hard of the Majesty in the Heavens It will be an exceeding high satisfaction to us to behold him who loved us so much and was so ill requited for it by men so gloriously rewarded for it by God himself But it is so easie to apply what hath been said to this purpose that I shall leave such considerations as these to your own diligence and note something that is not altogether so obvious 3. Which is that pious Souls will considerably augment their joy by the reflexions they will make upon their happiness and the strong attention of their mind to their own delight and pleasure For we are never so truly delighted as when we find that we are not deceived in the comfort and contentment which we promised our selves and when we take notice of all the pleasing motions that are in our hearts and duly mark and observe the sweetness of them Before this reflexion and self-observation our Souls are onely touched by the Objects
flesh armed what might which thou hast given to grass and hay As well may a butterfly think of mounting up to heaven or a flower attempt to pluck up a cedat as we poor wretches conceive a thought of effecting such wonderfull things This sure signifies that men are very dear to God or else he would not thus dwell among them It may well make us believe there is nothing so great nothing so glorious promised by Jesus but he will work it for us having already transformed us into such noble creatures As Manoah's wife said to him xiii Judg. 23. If the Lord were pleased to kill us he would not have received a burnt-offering and a meat-offering at our hands neither would he have shewed us such things as these so might they in this case say and with greater advantage then she If the Lord would let us still remain under the power of death he would not have given such gifts into our hands for that is more then to receive the poor oblations we make to him nor would he have revealed such secrets to us He would not have sent us the spirit of wisedom and knowledge nor raised us to the degree of prophecy nor put new tongues into our mouths to declare his wonderfull works nor made all diseases submit to our word All which gifts with divers others they had reason to look upon as the earnest of the Spirit and the Seal of the Holy Ghost whereby they had an assurance given them as I hope to shew elsewhere of the everlasting inheritance which Jesus hath promised in the heavens For they demonstrated that He who had power thus to alter and advance mean men and to make them Stuporem mundi the wonder and amazement of the world could also give that Life which he had promised by that very power which they felt already working in them And they also made it evident 6. that he would bestow it For there is no more reason that he should thus bestow the Holy Ghost at present then that he should hereafter give us Eternall Life His faithfull promise is the security for both our hopes are built upon that sure foundation If there be any difference between the ground there is for one more then the other the advantage lies on the side of the hope of Eternall Life Which there is more reason now that he should give us then there was for giving the Holy Ghost even because he hath already done so much for his Church and there is more reason we should expect it because as I said before we have seen a remarkable instance of his fidelity in pouring out such rivers of living water when he sent the Spirit which he promised And here it comes to my mind in xi Isa that another Wonder which Abarbinell says the Messiah shall work at his coming is a Miracle like that of dividing the Red sea when Israel came out of Egypt Which he endeavours to prove from xi Isa 15. The Lord shall utterly destroy or dry up the tongue of the Egyptian Sea c. that is says he of Nile the great River of Egypt This our Lord hath done more excellently then they imagine For it was nothing near so great a wonder that Israel should be baptized into Moses in the Sea as it was that the people who followed Jesus should be baptized into him with the Holy Ghost poured down upon them from heaven The passing through the Sea and the Cloud to boot was not such a certain argument that Moses would bring them out of the great affliction wherein they had been plung'd and lead them to Canaan their rest and inheritance as these rivers of living water the gifts of the Holy Ghost and the admirable effects thereof filling the world with the Glory of the Lord were an undeniable proof to those who were under its conduct that Jesus was the person who would lead them to a better rest in a more heavenly Country which flows with far sweeter delights then milk and hony This did as it were dip their souls into this belief and made them sensible that Jesus is the Authour of Eternall Salvation far more then the Sea it self could baptize their forefathers into Moses i.e. persuade them that he was the Prophet of God who would deliver them and bring them to the peaceable enjoyments they desired And therefore I observe after the Jews who quarrelled at St. Peter's preaching to the Gentiles were satisfied that the Holy Ghost was faln upon them even as upon themselves they had no more to say but this then hath God also to the Gentiles granted repentance unto life xi Act. 18. This they lookt upon as the beginning of God's favour and loving-kindness to them which would conclude in nothing less then the ETERNALL LIFE of which we are discoursing And so this very Apostle St. John after he had put the Disciples in mind of the UNCTION they had received and exhorted them to continue in that Doctrine which it taught Chap. ii of this Epistle 20 24. immediately adds that this is the promise which he hath promised us even Eternall Life ver 25. Which was as much as to say that the Vnction by the HOLY GHOST had so perfectly instructed them in the certainty of this great happiness that it was sufficient to move them to abide in the Doctrine of Jesus none being able to teach them better or to put them in hope of any thing greater then this ETERNALL LIFE which he promised and by the HOLY GHOST assured It is true indeed which some are forward to object that we in these days see not such evidences as those Believers had the Holy Ghost not inhabiting thus in every one of our Souls as it did in theirs Nor is there the like reason it should we being ingaged in no such hard services as theirs which stood in need to be incouraged with the strongest hopes of a glorious reward They were in deaths often as St. Paul speaks and therefore were in danger to faint without a most lively gust of immortall Life The whole World was their enemy and with the greatest rage oppos'd their preaching which required a clearer sight of the World to come and a more sensible descent of invisible powers for their assistence and support From whence we also derive no small benefit because the more sensible demonstration they had of it the firmer grounds of hope are laid for us whose faith relies upon their testimony and the power of the HOLY GHOST in them This is sufficient to hearten us in our duty that our Lord hath given to those whose testimony we have the greatest reason to believe such visible and palpable evidences of his being alive and of his intentions to quicken his servants to Life everlasting with himself Let us but heartily apply ourselves upon these grounds to live by the faith of the Son of God and we shall find the same Spirit that wrought in them operating in us
Wisedom of God when he had quitted the empty pleasures of the World However fabulous this Story may prove which seems to have been composed in imitation of that Vision of Hercules which many Greek Writers mention you may make it true if you please For behold how the true Wisedom of God our Blessed Lord and Saviour presents himself to you He hath appeared in most admirable beauty and a glorious form to many of his Servants which they have described and left us the picture of In his Gospell he is so lively expressed that we cannot if we look upon him but behold him as the onely-begotten of the Father the brightness of his glory and the character of his person Would it would but please you to listen to the offers he makes you the portion of Life and Glory hereafter together with true peace and contentment here which he will assure to you O that you would but draw a lively image of these things in your mind and represent the King of glory as soliciting your heart to his service Do you not believe that it would be infinitely more obliging then such an apparition as that now named Would it not more easily make you abandon the sinfull pleasures of this world then the other made him forsake the lawfull Would not the beauty of our Saviour and the splendour of his glory in the heavens set before your eyes be more inamouring then any imaginary or reall beauty whatsoever Would not these words of his be more piercing then any other I will give to him that overcomes to inherit all things and I will be his God and he shall be my Son Would it not transport our hearts with joy to hear that he will be contracted to us and assure us of such a dowry with himself in the heavens Would it not make all his commands so far from being grievous that we should think them sweet and delicious above all the pleasures wherein sensuall men are drowned He can make no doubt of it that hath not lost his reason and is able to understand what the difference is between such a certain truth as this and a dream and between the commands of our Lord and the obedience which that youth undertook to perform Jesus is certainly in the heavens He sits at the right hand of the Majesty on high He unfeignedly wishes we would be espoused to him He will settle an eternall inheritance upon us and He doth not require us to go into Monasteries and deserts to live like Hermites and Anchorets to immure our selves from all society though if he did we should have no ill bargain of it but onely to retire seriously into our selves and there often meet with him to live soberly righteously and godly while we are in the world to let no company draw us from his precepts nor suffer any creature to rob him of our affection And what a reasonable demand this is you will then see when you heartily believe this ETERNALL LIFE which he hath promised Believe and then you will think there is nothing too much or too hard to be done or suffered for the attaining such a glorious Life with our Saviour Which moved St. Stephen to suffer stoning and St. Paul to be in deaths often and St. John to endure banishment in a most desolate Island and worse things afterward that they might be so happy And let us with honest hearts desirous to be what God would have us beg the assistence of the HOLY GHOST to guide us in this way of understanding which we shall find incomparably the best to settle in our mind a sense of the happiness to come For when the Soul comes to the perfection of the Spirit Macar Hom. xvi xviii wholly purged from all affections and united to the Spirit the Comforter by an unspeakable communion so that by this heavenly mixture it becomes worthy to be a spirit it is all Light all Eye all Spirit all Joy all Rest all Exultation all Love all Goodness and Sweetness It becomes hereby privy to the Counsels of the Heavenly King and knows his Secrets It hath a confidence in the Almighty and enters into his Palace where the Angels and the spirits of the Saints are though it be as yet in this world For though it hath not attained the intire inheritance prepared for it there yet it is secure from the Earnest it hath received as if it were crowned and possessed of the Kingdome Who would not labour then to be so happy not onely hereafter but also here Georg. Nicomed in concept S. Annae there in possession and here in hope What a work is it to ascend up into heaven What laborious steps can lead us to so great an height What are the sweats of this mortall life to those eternall recompences By what pains shall we be worthy of friendship with our Maker How shall we make our selves a proper habitation for him to dwell in For he hath said I and my Father will come and dwell in him that loves me and keeps my Commands This is the end of the Good we have in hope this is the heavenly Kingdom this is the enjoyment of eternall pleasure this is the never-ceasing joy the perpetuall triumph the retribution transcending all our labours nay all understanding There are no labours no not in thought equall to this recompence of reward They all fall so infinitely below it that for mean for inconsiderable pains our transcendently-good Lord will give an enjoyment far surpassing all our thoughts All humane endeavours are of no account though we should wear out a whole life in them compared with the future Blessedness Though we should sustain a perpetuall combate all our days though they should be prolonged to an hundred years or to twice as much or thrice or a thousand times and all this while we should contend in a vertuous course we shall seem to have done nothing when we come to confer it with what we shall receive And therefore let us gladly by such small and poor labours strive to purchase these super-sublime recompences and treasure up these never-consuming riches I call those poor and small which not onely seem so to all but the perpetuall combate of an whole Age the most unwearied pursuit of vertue the most incessant and fervent pains in its service For such are the Goods which our munificent Lord will give in exchange for them such are the superabundant riches of his retributions such is the Hyperbole of his loving-kindness and goodness that for few things he will give infinite for beggery the greatest riches for perishing things Goods that last for ever These let us seek and dedicating our selves wholly to the Lord make haste to the obtaining so inestimable a Good Let us consecrate Soul and body to him and be fastened to his Cross that we may be worthy of his Eternall Kingdom giving glory to the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost for ever and ever
5. is most lively represented there But this is not all that is intended by it for even those * Arias Montanus who in that sense were already mortified and renewed by receiving the Holy Ghost before their baptism as Cornelius and his family proceeded notwithstanding to receive that holy washing and by their submersion took upon them the likeness of the dead and by their emersion appeared as men risen again from the dead If there were no other death to be escaped but that in sin and no other resurrection to be expected but that to newness of life why were they who had attained these baptized as dead men and being already dead to sin why again sustained they the image of death out of which they believed and professed they should come This very action of theirs proves that they lookt for another resurrection after death which is the resurrection of the body And this profession of theirs was so much the more weighty as they were the more learned and instructed being already taught by the Holy Ghost By whose power they were already dead to sin and made alive to God and by whose instruction they professed to believe that as there is another death viz. that of the body so they should overcome it by the mighty power of Christ raising their very bodies from the dead There are severall other interpretations of this place as that of Epiphanius * Haeresi 38. who expounds it of those who received Baptism at the point of death but I shall not trouble the Reader with them because they all conclude the same thing that Baptism was a publick profession of the hope of immortality and a Seal also of the promises of God not onely to that particular person who at any time received it but to the whole Church both to the living and the dead Who as oft as Baptism was repeated had an open assurance given them from God by whose authority it was administred that they should rise again to everlasting life And so I shall dismiss this First Witness on Earth which is the more to be regarded because though it be not so great in it self as those which speak from heaven yet to us it is very considerable and cannot be denied by those who cavill at some of the other For all men acknowledge the Life and Doctrine of our Saviour to be incomparably excellent and John the Baptist stands upon record in Josephus for a person of severe and strict sanctity and the whole Christian Church who were not so childish as to build their hope on a sandy foundation but stood immovable as you shall hear like a house upon a rock when all the world storm'd and made the most furious assaults upon them believed thus from the beginning as appears by their holy profession which they made when they entred into the gates of the Church by Baptism The mighty power of which WATER OF LIFE they have thus celebrated with their praises Greg. Naz. Orat. xl Baptism is the Splendour of the Soul the Change of the life the Answer of the Conscience towards God It is the help of our weakness the putting off the flesh the attainment of the Spirit the Communion of the Word the Reformation of God's workmanship the drowning of Sin the participation of light and the destruction of darkness It is the Chariot which carries us to God our fellow-travelling with Christ the establishment of our faith the perfecting of our minds the key of the Kingdom of heaven the foundation of a second life * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Orat. xi At this the heavens rejoyce this the Angels magnify as of kin to their brightness this is the Image of their blessedness We would willingly praise this if we could say any thing worthy of it Let us never cease however to give him thanks who is the Authour of such a gift Greg. Nyssen L. de Baptismo Christi returning him the small tribute of a chearfull voice for such great things as he hath bestowed on us For thou truly O Lord art the pure and perpetuall fountain of Goodness who wast justly offended at us but hast in much love had mercy on us who hatedst us but art reconciled to us who pronouncedst a curse upon us but hast given us thy blessing who didst expell us from Paradise but hast called us back again unto it Thou hast taken away the fig-leaf covering of our nakedness and cloathed us with a most precious garment Thou hast opened the prison-doors and dismissed those that stood condemned Thou hast sprinkled us with pure water and cleansed us from all our filthiness Adam if thou callest him will be no longer ashamed he will not hide himself nor run away from thee The flaming sword doth not now incircle Paradise making it inaccessible to those that approach it but all things are turned into joy to us who were heirs of sin and death Paradise and Heaven it self is now open to mankind The Creation both here and above consents to be friends after a long enmity Men and Angels are piously agreed in the same Theology For all which Blessings let us unanimously sing that Hymn of joy which the inspired mouth in ancient times loudly prophesied I will greatly rejoyce in the Lord my Soul shall be joyfull in my God For he hath cloathed me with the garments of Salvation he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness he hath decked me with ornaments as a bridegroom and as a bride adorned me with jewels lxi Isa 10. This adorner of the Bride is Christ who is and who was before and who will be blessed both now and for ever Amen CHAP. X. Concerning the Testimony of the BLOVD the Second Witness on Earth THE next Witness which comes in order to be examined is the BLOUD by which I told you we are to understand the Crucifixion and Death of the Lord Jesus with all the attendants of it This is a Witness which the greatest enemies of Christianity cannot but confess was heard to speak in his behalf The stubborn Jews who will be loth to grant that a voice from heaven declared him the Son of God cannot deny that their forefathers imbrued their hands in his bloud For in the Babylonian Talmud * Vid. Horae Hebr. in Matt. p. 3â—9 Tzemach David ad an 3761. it is delivered as a tradition among them that they hanged Jesus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the evening of the Passeover and that a Crier went before him forty days saying He is to be carried forth to be stoned for conjuring and drawing Israel to Apostasy If any one can speak any thing for him to prove him innocent let him appear It is an hard matter to have any truth from these fabulous people without the mixture of a tale together with it When they cannot gainsay what we believe that their Nation were the great Instruments of his death they endeavour to find false reasons
saying Come and see and his loud voice which they heard saying Lazarus come forth xi Joh. 34 43. By their sight when they beheld him whom they knew very well to be dead obeying his word By their smell when they perceived the ill sent as they rolled away the stone By their touch when they loosed his hands and his feet as our Lord bad them and let him go By all these they were so well satisfied that there was no room left for their infidelity nor much for the Pharisees who knew neither how to confute this Testimony nor how to avoid the consequence of it They began now to despair of prevailing against him any other way then by taking away his life which their malice made them design against the clearest light Though that also proved as you shall see presently but a farther confirmation of the truth they sought to obscure by his rising again from the dead And they could have found in their hearts to have killed Lazarus too because as long as he lived he would proclaim this Miracle to the honour of Jesus who hereby gave such an illustrious testimony that he was the Authour of Eternall Life that just when he was going to raise up Lazarus he inculcates this Doctrine as the fittest season to impress it upon them xi Joh. 25 26. I am the Resurrection and the Life he that believeth in me though he were dead yet shall he live And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die Martha it seems believed this before upon a perswasion that he was the Christ the Son of God that should come into the world ver 27. But when she saw Lazarus come out of his grave then sure she believed it more strongly both because it was a farther argument that he was the Christ and likewise included in it that very thing which he propounded to her belief viz. that He was the Life and would give life unto those who were dead if they believed on him I shall conclude this part of the SPIRIT 's Testimony with those words of our Lord himself viii Joh. 50. where he protests that he sought not his own glory that is assumed not to himself this great power to be the Life of the world but God the Father sought it i. e. perswaded the world of it by the illustrious Miracles which he wrought whereby the Father honoured him as he says ver 54. and passed such a judgment on him that we may all conclude as he doth ver 51. Verily verily if a man keep his words he shall not see death II. Of which we shall be the more confident if we adde now the other Witness of the SPIRIT to him which was in raising him from the dead and giving him Glory at God's right hand This was a greater Wonder then all that preceded sufficient to satisfie those who still remained doubtfull For if any body as St. Greg. Nyssen discourses in the Book before mentioned should use those words of our Lord in another case and apply them to this business saying Physician cure thy self it is but meet that he who did such wonders on other mens bodies to prove a Resurrection should give an example of it in his own We have seen one nigh to death another newly dead a young man ready to be laid in his grave and Lazarus already rotten all these by his word recalled to life Let us see one live again who was wounded and had his heart pierced and his bloud shed one who we are sure was dead Come then and look upon Jesus himself whose hands and feet were pierced into whose side a spear was thrust Come and look upon him who bled to death And if this man was raised from the dead nay more then that ascended into heaven as abundance of credible witnesses testifie what doubt is there left that by him God will give us a blessed Resurrection unto immortall Life if we be obedient to him They that saw the one viz. his Resurrection and Ascension could not but stedfastly believe the other and have told us that he was raised and glorified on purpose that our faith and hope might be in God 1 Pet. 1.21 This was the great design and end of first opening his grave and then opening the heavens to him that our confidence in God might revive again and we might hope by his favour to have the honour of being made the sons of God by being the children of the Resurrection That our Blessed Saviour was really dead as the History testifies his greatest Enemies always confessed and still acknowledge He hung a long time upon the Cross there he bled and at last his side was wounded with a spear in the vitall parts All the spectatours were satisfied that he had given up the ghost and the Souldiers when they came to break his legs as the manner was found the work already so effectually done that there was no need of it He was wrapt in Cerecloaths laid in a grave and given up by all his Friends for a lost man But that after all this he was as really alive again as he had been before is testified by divers sufficient Witnesses and among the rest by one of his principall Enemies who was throughly convinced of it The Apostles saw him very often they spake with him they felt and handled him one of them put his finger into the very print of the nails and thrust his hand into his wounded side They eat and drank with him they received Commissions from him and after he had shewn himself alive to them by many infallible proofs being seen of them forty days he ascended up to heaven in their sight and from thence according to his promise they received the Holy Ghost i. e. in his Name did all sorts of Miracles raising even dead men to life again And after all he appeared from heaven to St. Paul a man that set himself vehemently against him and breathed nothing but threatnings and slaughters against his Disciples whom he turned quite to be on his side perswading him so fully that he was indeed risen from the dead that he became as you have heard a most zealous preacher of it with the continuall hazzard of his life This is a more credible History then any other as it were easie to shew if it were my present business and we may better doubt of all Records then of those wherein the memory of these things is preserved They were holy devout and self-denying persons who report these things upon their own knowledge And they are reported not by one or two but by many of them who met with nothing in the world to tempt them to tell a lie but with a great many things to deterr them from publishing so odious a Truth And therefore if we will not doubt of every thing we do not see we cannot refuse to believe that Jesus did indeed rise again after he was dead and buried and ascended into heaven Which being
from the Messiah should begin to raise the dead when he went to take possession of his throne A plain sign that he is the Resurrection and the Life from whom we may confidently look for bodies not onely bright as the Moon but that shall shine according to his faithfull promise like the Sun in the Kingdom of the Father Concerning which things if the Apostles had written false and there had not been many able to bear record of the rising of these holy persons and coming into Jerusalem as well as of the rising of Lazarus there would have been pens enough in those days imployed to confute them and proclaim the forgery And these Jews would have been as carefull preservers of such confutations as of any their most beloved Traditions which can never doe them so much service as those volumes would have done VI. Nor is there the least shadow of reason to question the Testimony of those who saw him ascend into heaven and as a token of his being inthroned there received from him ten days after the gift of the Holy Ghost Which compleated the demonstration of his power and purpose to give Eternall Life to all his followers For 1. His very Ascension into heaven as it breeds in us a belief of a glorious state in the other World so it evidently shews that it is possible such as we may be translated thither And though our Bodies now be but lumps of living clay yet they may one day be snatched as he was from this dull globe to shine among the Stars And the Angels also appearing both at his resurrection and ascension and waiting upon him unto heaven shew that its gates are no longer barred against us but set open again to give us a free admission into it For they who were set to watch the way to Paradise and guard it so that none should enter voluntarily lent their assistence to transport Him thither after they had brought the joyfull news of his being risen from the dead 2. But this is the least comfort we receive from thence for his glorification at God's right hand when he came thither advances our hope to a greater height and shews that it is not onely possible but certain we shall be taken up above to be with him His Kingdom it is apparent now by his sending the Holy Ghost is supereminent over all and nothing can be out of the reach of his power For it is a power over all Creatures in heaven and earth and under the earth who doe obeisance to him and cannot resist him ii Phil. 10. 1 Pet. iii. ult And a power to doe all things for God hath put all things under his feet 1 Cor. xv 27. A power of conferring all dignities and honours iii. Phil. 21. and of removing all impediments to our preferment He having the keys of hell and death i. Rev. 18. In short a perfect power to doe all things to make us glorious For in that he put all in subjection under him he left nothing that is not put under him as the Apostle argues ii Heb. 8. And though he hath not yet exercised his whole unlimited power as it there follows yet we are sure he hath it because we see by manifest arguments Jesus crowned with glory and honour for the suffering of death By which the all-wise God thought fit to consecrate this Captain of Salvation who he designed should bring many Sons unto glory together with himself 3. Which He will not fail to doe we may be sure being thus perfected and compleatly furnished for the very purpose because this Royall power wherewith he is invested is a kind of Trust and he hath received it as St. Paul plainly supposes 1 Cor. xv 24 25 c. where he speaks of his Kingdom not onely for himself but for the good of all those whom he rules and governs For the Apostle concludes that he having a Kingdom which must at last be resigned into the hands of God the Father will first put down all rule all authority and power and leave no enemy unconquered no not Death which will onely be the last that shall be subdued but subdued and destroyed it must be ver 26 27. Nay our Lord himself acknowledges his Kingdome to be a trust when he says xvii Joh. 2. Thou hast given him power over all flesh that he should give eternall life to as many as thou hast given him Whence it is that he often protests it is his Father's will that of all he hath given him he should lose nothing but should raise it up again at the last day c. vi Joh. 39 40. For as the living Father hath sent me and I live by the Father so he that eateth me even he shall live by me ver 57. And in express terms he saith as I have shewn before that he went away to prepare a place for us And therefore is bound by his office we may conclude to promote us to that glory and honour in the heavens which it is his Father's will he knows should be bestowed on us 4. And who can doubt at all of his fidelity in this who was so faithfull in all other things most punctually for instance making good his promise of sending the Holy Ghost as an earnest I have often said of this immortall inheritance None can imagine he will now prove negligent in that which by his place he stands ingaged to perform when upon Earth he did the will of him that sent him with such exactness that he rewarded him for it with that high dignity which he now enjoys in the heavens Therefore his greatest care was to assert and prove his power to give Eternall Life Of his will he thought there need not much be said for none could doubt of it after they saw him die for them and then express such love after his resurrection as to send the Holy Ghost upon them 5. This is abundantly sufficient to secure all considering persons of so desirable a Good Which the Apostles began confidently to expect as soon as ever they were satisfied of the resurrection of our Lord from the dead Before he ascended to heaven their thoughts ran thither and they began to see that he was the Lord of life and glory For as soon as St. Thomas was convinced by a palpable demonstration that he was risen he cried out My Lord and my God xx Joh. 28. This is the first time that any of his Apostles gave him the title of their GOD when they were fully satisfied as Grotius observes by his Resurrection that he would give Eternall Life to them And then it was also you may note that he first gave them the title of his Brethren who should share with him in the glory to which he was going xx Joh. 17. xxviii Matth. 10. Go tell my Brethren that they go into Galilee c. In which words he alludes as Eusebius observes to those xxii Psal 22. I will declare thy name unto my
have been such fools as to have suffered in that manner they did had they not seen plain demonstrations of this truth For they were so miserably treated that they carried their lives in their hand and were every hour for any thing they knew at the brink of the grave He for his part had been compelled to encounter with wild beasts on the Theatre at Ephesus so some ancient Writers understand him who knew there was nothing more common with the Pagans then to cry Christiani ad Leones Away with the Christians to the Lions and it was a punishment to which the vilest Malefactors were subject particularly Magicians as we learn from another Paul * L. v de receptis sentemiis the Lawyer or at least he ran as great hazzards as those men did who were exposed unarmed to the fiercest creatures such as Lions Bears Tigers Leopards wild Boars and Bulls and Dogs To every one of which we have examples of Christians in the Ecclesiasticall Story that were condemned And it was for no other cause but this that he preached Jesus and the Resurrection How could they think him so senseless as to put his life in such danger upon this account if he was not fully perswaded of that for which he suffered so much nay had not good ground to be of this belief He knew the value of life as well as other men He was no stone nor block as I have said that had no feeling of pain He naturally loved ease and quiet and pleasure as well as the rest of the world And his education had not been such as to incline him to believe things carelesly especially such a thing as this quite contrary to all his former principles and as contrary to his present preferments and future hopes And therefore without imputing to him the highest degree of folly and stupidity the Corinthians could not disbelieve what he preached of the Life to come Concerning which he had received such full satisfaction and was convinced of it by such undeniable arguments that he chose rather to lose his life then to deny it or not to preach it III. And that He and the rest of the Apostles were not deceived nor judged amiss in this matter the mighty power of the SPIRIT which wrought continually in them and with them abundantly testified This was sufficient not onely to satisfy them but to satisfy the rest of the world that Jesus as they said was alive and made the Lord of all who was ready at hand on all occasions to bear witness to this Truth when they preacht it that he would give Eternall Life unto his followers This power of the SPIRIT going along with them was a thing so notorious that the Pagans in some places cried out the GODS are come down to us in the likeness of men and could scarce be restrained from doing divine honours to them xiv Act. 11 18. And whereas there had been some wonderfull things heretofore done among the Jews if we may believe themselves they now all ceased as if God had transferred all power on earth into the Apostles hands For they tell us there were Ten Signs in the House of the Sanctuary * Pirke Avoth cap. v. which never failed as that no woman ever miscarried by the smell of the flesh that was burnt upon the Altar no fly was ever seen in the House nor did the flesh of the Sanctuary ever stink nor the rain ever extinguish the fire nor the greatest winds hinder the smoak from ascending in a straight pillar towards heaven c. But forty years before the Sanctuary was destroyed all these Miracles ceased according to that of the Psalmist which they apply to this business * Talmud Bab. in Joma apud Raimund p. 297. We see not our signs nor is there any prophet to tell us how long lxxiv. 9. When the veil of the Temple was rent in sunder God who dwelt in the Holy place left his habitation and went out at that breach to return no more thither All the wonders were now without those doors in the open streets in every house in the whole world Which was a notable sign that Jesus was Christ and alive from the dead by whose power the Apostles professed to doe all their wonderfull works By these they proved that he was exalted at God's right hand and sate as he said he would on the throne of his Glory And their proof was the stronger because there was no great thing done as formerly there had but onely what was wrought by their hands who reigned now with him as so many Princes and sate on twelve thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel xix Matth. 28. xxii Luk. 30. They were supreme Governours whose office it is to judge in the Church under our Lord Christ it plainly appeared by the mighty power wherewith their Gospell was accompanied Which came as St. Paul tells the Thessalonians not in word onely but in power and in the Holy Ghost That is in Miraculous works and in extraordinary gifts which brought along with them a full assurance insomuch that he left it to them to tell the world what manner of men they were among them And if any enquire what was the effect of it he tells us that they were perswaded by this miraculous power to turn from idols to serve the living and true God and to wait for his Son from heaven whom he raised from the dead even Jesus which delivered us from the wrath to come 1 Thess i. 9 10. This was the fruit of their labours and travels to convince a number of people by wonderfull operations upon the sick nay upon the dead and by gifts of the Holy Ghost that Jesus was raised from the dead and possessed of Eternall life in the heavens from whence he will come to bestow it upon the faithfull whom he will never susser to perish but rescuing them from destruction make them ever happy with himself And whosoever afterward revolted from this Faith I may adde and set themselves to oppose it the Apostles shewed their power which was a great witness to Christianity as much in their plagues and punishments as in the cures they wrought upon others It may well be thought that those in the Corinthian Church who did not believe the Resurrection were reclaimed from their errour by that Letter which St. Paul wrote to them for we hear nothing of it more in the next Epistle But some there were in other places that obstinately persisted in their folly and not contented to disbelieve what the Apostles taught in this matter contradicted and blasphemed it Two of them are named in the 2 Tim. ii 17 18. Hymeneus and Philetus who taught that the Resurrection was past and consequently denied the rewards of the Life to come The occasion of their erring thus from the faith seems to have been this that the Apostles often speaking of a spirituall resurrection from a state of sin to the life of
then all the glorious host of heaven are such things as they had no imagination of who expected the coming of Christ Much less did they think of being so promoted by him in his heavenly Kingdome that they should at last arrive at the same glory and this clod of earth should be lifted up to the dwellings of Angels and there be fashioned like unto the glorious body of Christ himself These are things as St. Austin you heard said before which are proper to the revelation of the Gospell wherein we reade this unheard-of love so plainly that every child may understand it But without this revelation even they that have got the words sink into the dullest and most gross apprehensions of the future State The Mahometans use these very words to express the felicity they expect in their Paradise saying God hath prepared for his servants such things as eye hath not seen nor the ear heard nor have come up into the heart of man * D. Pocock not ad Gregor Abul Pharaj p. 292. But they mean onely as they themselves explain it virgins with fairer and larger eyes then ever they beheld in this world and such like things which I am ashamed to name beyond which these blockish vicious Arabians were not able to lift their minds They are the words of Maimonides upon this occasion who talks more rationally I shew'd in the beginning of this Treatise then many of his Brethren in whom we find conceptions of the state of the other life little less sensuall then these of Mahomet Blessed be God therefore should we say who hath revealed these unseen unheard-of inconceivable things to his Apostles by his Spirit and made us understand what is the hope of his calling and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the Saints We can never thank him enough who hath delivered us from the power of darkness and translated us into the kingdom of the Son of his leve By whom we understand that flesh and bloud cannot inherit the kingdom of God but we shall be changed and made spirituall and heavenly after the image of him who is the Lord from heaven III. And we are bound to the love of God above all other men in another regard also because he hath given us such Records such Witnesses of this Eternall life far greater then ever the World had seen or heard of before When men saw Abel that first-fruit of righteousness as Theodoret calls him hastily pluckt by the hand of violence before it was ripe and his murtherous Brother Cain survive and take root and build cities there was great danger that men should be tempted to think it was in vain to serve God faithfully there being as yet no hope of the Resurrection to 〈◊〉 mars Souls And therefore God was 〈◊〉 for this reason as * 〈…〉 Theodoret thinâ—â— to manslate Enocâ— a man whose play â—â—â—dingly pleased him to the othere world de 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that he might comfort the hearts of thâ—se who resolutely opposed vice and coâ—â—â—nded for vertue in a wicked Age. And this was apt to revive in all mâ—â—s minds a belief of his Providence and perswade them that piety never went unrewarded but that he who thus honoured Enoch had taken care to recompense righteous Abel Such was the grace of God to men before the law And afterward when the Israelites were greatly degenerate and faln into Idolatry Elias their Prophet was carried in a chariot of fire by a whirlwind into heaven These things were mighty incouragements to good men and were apt to confirm all in the belief of a future life But who is there whose name stands upon record to testify that he saw Enoch snatcht from this mortall life and taken up to God And of Elias his transportation what witness is there more then one till our Saviour's time when three of his Apostles beheld him and Moses too which was more then they knew of appear in glory Whereas we have no â—â—ss then Six Witnesses three in Heaven and three on Earth who many ways testify to us that Jesus is gone into heaven and which is more is on the right hand of God Angels and authorities and powers being made subject unto him 1 Pet. iii. 22. All his Apostles likewise saw him ascend thither and he hath appeared to more then one of them since his supereminent exaltation What a vast difference hath his goodness made between us and former times They beheld something of the life to come in Enoch justorum translationem praemonstrans as Irenaeus * Lib. v. cap. 5. speaks who foreshewed the translation of the just but we see it clearly in the Son of God who hath promised to take us up to himself They saw a few beams of this glory in the face of Moses which shone on them when he came down from the Mount but we in the face of Jesus Christ who all the time he was among men shone in such illustrious works that they beheld his glory the glory as of the onely-begotten of the Father and after he ascended to heaven appeared severall times from thence in a light above the brightness of the Sun at mid-day What a vast difference is there between our times and theirs 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 For faith then was in Shadows as St. Greg. Naz * Orat. xx p. 366. speaks of Enoch's translation and they had not the things themselves clearly revealed to them as we have by the grace of the Gospell which when it appeared was so bright and full of glory that it scattered nay consumed as the other Gregory * Gregor Nyssen Hom. v. in Cantic p. 642. speaks 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 all that duskish umbratick representation in types and figures and inlightned all places with the beams of that true light of life and immortality And more then this there is not the least evidence no syllable of any record which testifies that any of these persons had life in themselves to give to their friends or so much as help them forward to Eternall Life No nor do they say that others who fear God shall have the same felicity to which they were carried though their very going thither put pious men in hope of being happy with them in heaven Whereas we have abundant testimonie in so many words that Jesus hath life in himself and is the Resurrection and the Life that we shall live by him and with him that none shall perish who believe on him nor any be able to pluck them out of his hands that He himself will raise them up at the last day and give unto them eternall life v. Joh. 26. vi 57. x. 28. xi 25. vi 40 44 54. Then indeed in those old times was the Infancy of the World and being little Children though they were heirs yet they differed not much from Servants They knew not what their Father intended for them nor understood the inheritance to which they
defrauded themselves and took the meat as we speak out of their own mouths for the good of others whom they desired to breed up in Christian piety This shews the wonderfull innocency and goodness of these men who got nothing by the Gospell no not what they might have lawfully and justly taken but onely studied how to win Souls to Christ In short he calls them and God also to witness how holily how justly how unblamably they behaved themselves among those that believed ver 10. The first of which words refers to God the second to those actions which belong to humane society and the third to those which every man is bound unto severally by himself in none of which could He Silvanus and Timotheus be charged with any misdemeanour On which argument he once more insists 2 Tim. iii. 10 11. being so confident of his unreprovable vertue that he desired nothing more of all that knew him but to be followers of him and to walk so as they had him for an example 1 Cor. iv 16. iii. Phil. 17. All which I have the more particularly noted because it is from these men that we receive the testimony of Jesus Who they assure us chose to die the most shamefull death when he could have avoided it and with the greatest confidence when he was expiring commended his Spirit into the hands of God Which is an unquestionable argument that he believed and was assured that he should be with God when he went from hence and be able to doe for his followers all that he promised Which they tell us moreover God justified when he raised him from the dead and carried him in their sight up into heaven and afterward sent the Holy Ghost upon them to testify that he was still alive and possessed of an unseen glory In which they also tell us he appeared to severall persons as I have already related One of which was caught up into heaven and heard such things there as made him wish for nothing more then to leave this earth and to be with Christ To whom the Angels they also assure us witnessed upon severall occasions For they attended him at his birth and in his life and when he died and after his resurrection and when he ascended into heaven From whence he sent them many times as ministring Spirits to his Apostles of which we have very large testimonies in the whole book of the Revelation From all which we may safely conclude that there can no other reason in the world be given why any man thus informed should not believe the Gospell but onely his own desperate wickedness For the things propounded therein are most desirable above all other It reveals such a wonderfull love of God to mankind that all men would rejoyce to hear the news of it were they not averse to those pious and vertuous courses whereby they are told they must attain it Nothing attracts all hearts so much as the hope of a blessed immortality which is testified to us so credibly in the Gospell that nothing could make men turn their ears away from it by infidelity but onely the incurable wickedness of their Nature which will not let them part with those vices which the Gospell says they must quit for so great a Good In one word there is nothing in this Book but what is sutable to all mens desires save onely the holy rule of life and therefore it can be nothing else but their hatred to this which makes them reject all the rest They would follow their nobler appetite after those good things which the Gospell promises if they had not perfectly given up themselves to those baser appetites which must be denied for their sake For if our Gospell be hid saith St. Paul in the place before mentioned it is hid to them that are lost In whom the God of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not lest the light of the glorious Gospell of Christ who is the image of God should shine unto them 2 Cor. iv 3 4. That which the Gospell reports is as clear as the noon-day Nothing can be more visible then the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the light or the splendour of the Gospell of the glory of Christ By which saith Theophylact the Apostle means the belief of these great Truths that Jesus was crucified that he was received up into heaven and that he will give future rewards This is the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 splendour the Apostle speaks of which if any man do not see after such evident demonstrations of these things it is his wickedness hinders him And such men after they have long resisted the light fall under the power of the Devil so inevitably that he blinds their eyes Mark as St. Chrysostom observes that the Scripture calls severall things by the name of a God not from their own worth and excellence but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 from the weakness of those who are subject to them Thus Mammon is the God of some and the belly the God of others and the Devill the God of all such persons because they are basely inslaved to the love of mony and of their fleshly appetite and He rules and governs them as absolutely as if he were their God Yet he hath no power quite to blind their eyes as he farther observes before they disbelieve that which is so credibly reported by such Divine arguments for as the very words of St. Paul are he blinds the minds of them that believe not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 they became infidels of themselves and having given themselves over to unbelief against such miraculous evidence of the truth of the Christian Faith God gives them over to him to whose service they have so slavishly devoted themselves that they cannot be recovered but as they deserve must unavoidably perish From which miserable condition let all those who are inclined to infidelity take care to save themselves by timely considering those Divine demonstrations which these holy men of God have reported to us who beheld our Saviour's glory the glory as of the onely-begotten of the Father full of grace and truth i. Joh. 14. Upon which words hear what the same eloquent Bishop writes who thus summs up a great part of the evidence we have for the Christian belief The Angels appeared in great glory upon the earth to Daniel S. Chrysostom Hom. xii in Johan David and Moses but they appeared as servants as those that had a Master It is the peculiar glory of our Saviour that he appeared as a Lord as having power over all and though in a poor and vile fashion yet even in that the Creation knew its Lord and Master A Star from heaven called the Wise men to worship him A great company of Angels often attended him and sang his praises To whom others succeeded who published his glory and delivered this secret Mystery one to another the Angels to the Shepherds and the Shepherds to those
blast of outward accidents sometimes this way and sometimes the quite contrary in good company and after some pathetick exhortations doing well and then crossing all again when a new temptation to sin solicits him Sure such men as can believe thus fansy heaven a void and empty space where company is wanting and imagine our Saviour cares not who comes thither so it be but filled They live as if all the regions above the glorious Paradise of God were but so much waste ground which needs a Colony of Planters it matters not of what quality they are so it be but inhabited O vile thoughts that can imagine God wants the company of such as care not for him and that Heaven which threw out the Angels that sinned will entertain those who joyn with them in their foul rebellion It is a wonderful grace that he will invite us on any terms to his most blessed society We doe him no kindness but our selves in seeking his heavenly Kingdom Into which if we will not enter at such a gate as he sets open we shall be shut out and perish in our perverse ingratitude or foolish presumption Consider I beseech you what do all these WITNESSES say concerning the way to it Do they not tell us that streight is the gate and narrow the way that leads to life vii Matt. 14. that we must strive to enter xiii Luke 24. and that there shall in no wise enter into the holy city any thing that defileth xxi Rev. 27. and that without holiness no man shall see the Lord xii Hebr. 14. Which we must therefore excite our selves by his promises to perfect in the fear of God having cleansed our selves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit 2 Cor. vii 1. And giving all diligence adde to our faith vertue and to vertue knowledge and to knowledge temperance and to temperance patience and to patience godliness and to godliness brotherly kindness and to brotherly kindness charity For so an entrance shall be ministred to us abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ 2 Pet. i. 5 6 7 11. Examine every one of them and they will tell you as much The FATHER by a voice from heaven bids us hear his Son who says Not every one that saith unto me Lord Lord shall enter into the kingdom of heaven but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven vii Matt. 21. And the WORD saith Blessed are they that doe his commandments that they may have right to the tree of life and may enter in through the gates into the citâ— xxii Rev. 14. Wherefore as the HOLY Gâ—OST saith To day if ye will hear his voice harden not your hearts iii. Heb. 7 8. This was its language of old and it was poured also on the Apostles that repentance and remission of sins might be preached in our Saviour's name among all nations xxiv Luk. 47 49. Which is the end also of our being washed with WATER in his name for we are baptized into his death and therefore ought to reckon our selves to be dead indeed unto sin but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Let not sin therefore reign in your mortall body that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof vi Rom. 3 11 12. For his BLOUD was shed that he might redeem us from all iniquity and purifie unto himself a peculiar people zealous of good works ii Tit. 14. For which end also he was raised from the dead by the Eternall SPIRIT that he might bless us in turning every one of us from his iniquities iii. Act. 26. And therefore this the APOSTLES say and testifie in the Lord that we henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk iv Eph. 17. For God hath not called us unto uncleanness but unto holiness He therefore that despiseth despiseth not man but God saith St. Paul who hath also given unto us his holy Spirit 1 Thess iv 7 8. And if I should now send you to inquire and ask for the old paths as Jeremiah speaks would you find that the ancient Christians knew any other way to bliss then this Did they who while they were in the flesh lived not according to it who being upon earth had their conversation in heaven whose lives excelled the best laws and statutes of their severall countries which they strictly obeyed who loved all though persecuted by all who blessed when they were cursed honoured those that treated them despitefully did good to those who punished them as evill doers * Vid pl. apud Juâ—â—in Mart. Epist ad Dâ—ognet p. 497. c. did these men I say believe that Heaven might be wone onely by their prayers or by perpetuall disputing about that Religion which they did not practise How come we then to have so great a fondness for our selves as to think that we shall carry that by the name and the profession of Christianity which they could not get without so much labour and to have such cheap thoughts of the Crown of glory as to imagine it will bow and come down to those idle wishes unto which there is nothing so mean in this world but scorns to stoop That one thought is sufficient to convince us what we have to doe to be happy I need not send you so far as those elder times go but to your selves and enquire how you doe in the affairs of this world Sure men never got their estates with so little care as they hope to get Heaven Ask a man why he follows his business so close and he will tell you that an estate is not got by wishing that a family cannot be provided for by lying in bed or sitting by the fire-side that there are opportunities which must be narrowly watcht and cheats which are not easily discovered And yet to see the imprudence and inconsiderateness of Mankind The same person thinks to go to Heaven and possess all the treasures there by his Prayers alone though cold too and but little observed or by a lame Repentance which wants its effects nay by a death-bed groan a few forced tears and promises never performed by some short snatches of Religion a careless behaviour and an unwatchfull life He minds no occasion of doing or receiving good is indifferent whether he lay hold of opportunities and good seasons seldom thinks of the place whither he would go denies himself nothing to which he hath a mind bridles no appetite curbs no passion nay will be drunk for company and swear rather then be thought such a coward as to stand in awe of God or to want the breeding of a Gentleman and in brief doth not half so much upon the account of Eternall Life as many a man does for a single-peny What a strange dulness is this to imagine that all ends which we aim at must be compassed by means proportionable to their greatness but onely the very greatest and last End of all The Souldier gets not
this testimony x. 34. Ye took joyfully the spoiling of your goods knowing in your selves that you have in heaven a better and enduring substance This consideration made them look upon the rapine which the seditious people committed in their houses without that dejection which on such occasions appears in other countenances And yet they were men like our selves who walked by faith and not by sight that is did not enjoy the thing it self which they expected 2 Cor. v. 7. And therefore what should hinder the same effect in our hearts if we believe as they did And to shew the mighty power of this heavenly principle these three things may be here pertinently noted out of the records they have left us of their spirit in all their sufferings I. And first I find that when the heaviest cross lay upon them the sense they had of things to come supported them under it with admirable resolution This was the least effect of their holy Faith which made them when the hearts of others sunk under the load and fell down as we say into their knees stand like a strong pillar which bears up the whole weight of the house and never yield at all The thoughts of what our Lord had promised not onely preserved them from murmuring and repining at their present condition knowing what good provision he had made for them hereafter but from fainting and being sluggish in their Ministry For which cause we faint not or do not grow lazy saith St. Paul knowing that is that he who raised up the Lord Jesus would raise up them also for though our outward man perish or wear away yet the inward man is renewed or grows more youthfull day by day 2 Cor. iv 14 16. And 2. this faith also preserved them from swounding fear either of disgrace or pain or death being in nothing terrified by their adversaries saith the same Apostle i. Phil. 28. who seeing them undaunted under all their sufferings had reason to look upon this as an evident token of their perdition and of the Salvation God would give to these his valiant Champions And 3. from sorrowing also and lamenting the loss of any thing because this Good they found was still secure 2 Cor. vi 10. Which made them as he there saith again to be always full of joy though in the eye of the world they lookt very sorrowfully And so lastly they kept their stedfastness and turned not away from the holy commandment delivered unto them Whereby they marvellously promoted Christianity And the God of all grace who hath called us unto his eternall glory by Christ Jesus after that they had suffered a while made them perfect stablished strengthened settled them 1 Pet. v. 10. II. But the hope of Eternall life did not merely support and uphold their spirits it wonderfully refreshed and comforted them in all their afflictions so that they durst confidently promise to all other suffering Christians the same heavenly comforts from God Who comforteth us saith St. Paul in all our tribulation that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble by the comfort wherewith we our selves are comforted of God And our hope of you is stedfast knowing that as you are partakers of the sufferings so shall ye be also of the consolation 2 Cor. i. 4 7. Their comfort and rejoycing was the testimony of their conscience that every-where they acted sincerely ver 12. and that they served a good Master who had promised them better fare in the next World where he reigns in full power and glory His Kingdom they knew was not of this World even as he was not of the World and therefore they did not expect he should give them a portion of good things here No He told them plainly in the World ye shall have tribulation but adds in the same breath be of good chear I have overcome the World xvi Joh. 33. III. Which victory of his over death and the grave incouraged them to follow him in all their tribulations not merely with simple comfort but with joy as I have observed already and more then that made them exceeding glad and even shout for joy So our Saviour himself required them to doe when they were reviled and persecuted for his Name sake v. Matt. 12. Rejoyce and be exceeding glad for great is your reward in heaven And so they did as St. Paul tells us v. Rom. 2 3. We rejoyce in hope of the glory of God and not onely so but we glory in tribulations also For they had this strong consolation as the Divine Writer to the Hebrews calls it First that nothing either in this World or the other could take away that heavenly Good from them As St. Paul also testifies in that triumph of his viii Rom. 38 39. I am perswaded that neither death nor life nor angels nor principalities nor powers nor things present nor things to come nor height nor depth nor any other creature shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. When their goods were taken away they could make their boast in Christ and say Our inheritance is immovable When they were driven from house and home as we speak they could triumph and say Our house is eternall in the heavens from which none can exclude us When they were in pain they still remembred our Saviour's own words Your joy shall no man take from you In death it self they could glory and say Jesus our Life dies not and because he lives we shall live also And 2. as they knew they could not lose their future Happiness so they knew it to be incomparably greater then all their sufferings viii Rom. 18. For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us For our light affliction which is but for a moment worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternall weight of glory 2 Cor. iv 17. Where there is a Third Reason of their exceeding great joy because these afflictions which they endured for Christ's sake would increase their glory hereafter and make their crown beyond all expression heavier And more then that 4. hereby not onely their present afflictions were alleviated and seemed triviall but they gave them a clearer sight of that most excellent glory beforehand while they looked not as it there follows ver 18. at the things which are seen but at the things which are not seen The removall of these things here below from before their eyes fixed them more stedfastly on the invisible World Now their joy was full as our Saviour speaks xvi Joh. 24. now it overflowed when all things else had forsaken them and nothing else but those unseen enjoyments remained to comfort them This heavenly glory shone brightest in the dark and horrible pit where their afflictions brought them sweeter contentment then ever was the fruit of any earthly pleasure And so we may still
may read ver 34 35 36. If they were called Gods in old time to whom the Word of God came i. e. who received commission and authority from God to be the Judges and Rulers of his people then it could be no offence much less a blasphemy for him whom God had sanctified i. e. set apart and anointed to this office of being their Lord and King to call himself the Son of God For so he was by his place and there was no need he should say any thing of the Divine nature that was in him Well then to be the Son of God and to be the Christ being but different expressions of the same thing and the word Christ signifying anointed one set apart to an high office and in its eminent sence that person who was to sustain the place of God in this world to be the King of Israel yea the Governour and Ruler of all mankind we must conclude that when the Apostle says here Jesus is the Son of God his meaning is that He is the Holy one of God the person whom he sanctified by the unction of the Holy Ghost and sent into the World to whom he hath now given all power in Heaven and in Earth that every knee should bow to him as the Sovereign Lord of the World whom we are to hear and obey and depend upon in all things For this is the stile you may observe of the Old Testament from whence you may learn the rise and original of this manner of speech which calls those Kings who derived their authority immediately from God by the name of his Sons Because when they were anointed by his order they were made what they were not before and begotten as they spoke again And being created by God to their new dignity they are therefore called his Sons The first time we meet with the phrase is in the story of the first King of Israel 1 Sam. xiii 1. where Saul is called as the words are in the Hebrew the Son of one year in his Kingdom Because there was but a year passed since the time of his unction by which he was born Gods Vicegerent and as you read x. 6. turned into another man And indeed we find this imitated in Ethnick writers who call the day their Emperors entred upon their Reign their Birth-day So we read in Spartianus that Adrian being informed by Letters that Trajan had named him for his Successor caused the birth-day of his adoption to be celebrated And two days after hearing of his death he ordered they should keep the birth-day of his Empire * Natalem imperii instituit celebrandum But I do not intend to launch out of the holy story where we find this more plainly delivered in the History of the succeeding Kings of Israel For when the Philistins the Moabites the Syrians the Ammonites and other neighbouring People with their Princes conspired after they had been conquered by David against the Lord and against his anointed resolving to cast off their yoke the Psalmist shews Psal 2. how vain and idle their attempt would prove because God had appointed him whom he sent a Prophet to anoint to be his King This decree of God he averrs and openly declares ver 6 7. that the Lord said unto him Thou art my Son this day i. e. when he anointed him I have begotten thee So that to rise against him was to war with God Almighty whose Son that is Vicegerent he was in those Countries And therefore if they were well advised he exhorts them all to go and kiss the Son ver 12. i. e. submit themselves by that token of humble subjection to him who had his Authority immediately from God Nay was his first-born the most eminent Prince that is that ever he made lxxxix Psal 27. And therefore he was the prime type of our Lord Christ to whom these words are applied because he was the Son of David that great King who was to reign over them for ever as the Angel said i. Luke 33. And if you pass from hence to the next King Solomon who had a particular unction also and in whose reign was prefigured the glorious Kingdom of our Saviour you will find that God says by a Prophet concerning him I will be his Father and he shall be my Son 2 Sam. vii 14. Which words are a promise to make Solomon King and settle him on the Throne of his Father David So He understood it as appears by the speech which David made not long before his death to all the great men of his Kingdom 1 Chron. xxviii where he tells them ver 4. that as Jesse had many Sons Yet God liked him only to make him King over all Israel So of the many Sons which the Lord had given him ver 5. He had chosen Solomon to sit upon the Throne of the Kingdom of the Lord. As is evident saith he from those words of God spoken by Nathan ver 6. I have chosen him to be my SON and I will be hit FATHER i. e. made choice of him to be King of Israel in thy room and as I have been to thee so I will be to him Thus Solomon one would think interpreted these words when he prays God who had made good one part of his promise to perform the other also 2 Chron. i. 8 9. Thou hast shewed great mercy unto David my Father and hast made me reign in his stead as much as to say made me thy Son now O Lord God let thy promise unto my Father be established that is of being a Father to me now that I am become thy son and set by thee over a people like the dust of the Earth in multitude By this time I suppose it will be no wonder to any intelligent person that these Kings are called the Sons of God who did not only govern in that Country which was called it is well known God's land and the inhabitants whereof were his peculiar people but were appointed by his special direction and anointed with his holy oil lxxxix Psal 20. and had as it were their being and birth from God who promoted them to sit upon his Throne and to be Kings for the Lord God as you read 2 Chron. ix 8. so that the Kingdom it self is called in that Book the Kingdom of the Lord xiii 8. And the Judges also in the Courts of that Kingdom are said to exercise the Judgment of the Lord and not of man xix 6. that is to sit there in God's stead to do men justice And because of this great power and trust committed to them by him are called as you heard lxxxii Psal 1 6. Gods and the children of the most High whose deputies they were and for whom they judged And therefore it is the less wonder that when this Great Prince came among them to whom all judgment is committed and who hath all power in Heaven and in Earth and is Lord of all and appointed by God
the heir of all things He is called by the same name that they were If there were no other reason for it his office would give him a title to it because he is the Lords Christ anointed by God to the highest dignity and government under him not only over that Country but over all Nations on the Earth who by believing on him were all to be made a chosen generation a royal Priesthood an holy Nation a peculiar people 1 Pet. ii 9. But to show his most excellent greatness he is called the Son of God with two marks of his preeminence above all other who have had that name First he is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that Son that eminent King the King of Kings like to whom none ever was For secondly whereas those sons of the highest spoken of before were to die like other men Psal 82.7 and to fall like one of the Princes in other Countries He is called the Son 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of that God who liveth xvi Matth. 16. that is of the immortal eternal God And by consequence is like his Father an everlasting King of whose Kingdom as the Angel told his Mother i. Luke 33. there shall be no end Thus the Author of the Epistle to the Hebrews who understood this language well enough hath discoursed in the First Chapter Where he proves that Jesus is the Son of God in a more eminent sence than any Angel in Heaven according to those ancient prophecies before named concerning David and Solomon as you read ver 4 5. From whence the Jews learns to call the Messiah who they confess is in those places mystically spoken of by that name of the Son of God Which the Apostle there shows is the greatest name of excellence and signifies the highest honour and dignity such as God hath conferred upon no other And then he proceeds to show that according to other prophecies which speak of his supereminence his Throne is for ever and ever ver 8. For God who is his God in a peculiar manner loving and rewarding him hath anointed him with the oil of gladness preferred him that is above all that partake of Kingly dignity ver 9. He hath made him indeed his first-born the Prince of all the Kings of the Earth as S. John speaks i. Revel 5. to whom we are to submit our selves with the greatest devotion of spirit and from whom we may then expect Protection Blessing and the noblest Rewards For he is the long expected Son of God who excells all other that were ever called by that name the King of inconceivable Majesty whose splendor could not so much as be fore-shadowed by Solomon in all his glory Thus Nathanael I observe puts these two expressions together in his confession of our Saviour out of a vehement affection redoubling his words Thou art that Son of God thou art that King of Israel i. John 49. This is the business upon which we are to examine these Witnesses we are to consider what they say to this point that the Lord Jesus was sent from God as Moses had formerly been only Moses as a Servant but he as a Son according to what you read iii. Heb. 5 6. with a fulness of authority with all the power of God so that we may confidently rely on every thing that he hath said as the very mind and sence of God This if we can hear them speak they are witnesses so beyond all exception that we cannot chuse but reverence him and receive him and obey him and put our trust in him and rejoyce in his royal favour and love evermore For the first three are no less persons than the Father the Word and the Holy Ghost Whose gracious assistance let us humbly implore that this and all other our works may be begun continued and ended to the glorifying of his holy Name A PRAYER O Father of lights from whom cometâ— every good and every perfect gift illuminate my mind in these Meditations that I may be able to enlighten others anâ— lead them into a good understanding in aâ—â— things Guide and direct my thoughts thaâ— I may reason and discourse aright Shine intâ— all our Souls by the light of the glorious Gospâ—â— of Christ John 6.40 that we seeing the Son may believe on him and being made thy childreâ— by adoption and grace may be daily more anâ— more renewed by thy holy Spirit Settle iâ— our Souls that mighty faith whereby we may have power and strength to have victory and to triumph over the Devil the World and the Flesh Strengthen it every day by constant Meditation on those things which thou O Father Son and Holy Ghost hast so many ways declared to us that it may grow still more victorious and we may feel the happy fruit of it in greater joy and triumph of spirit in assured expectation of the Crown of righteousness which thou hast promised to all faithful Souls O that none of the inticing allurements of this world may ever more deceive us and steal away our hearts from our true happiness nor any of the troublesome passages of this life ever hereafter dishearten us and divert us from the pursuit of it But the Faith of Christ may so intirely possess our hearts as to keep us stedfast and upright in the midst of all the temptations of what kind soever they be that assault us And looking up unto Jesus the author and finisher of our Faith we may still say with true resolution of spirit Thou art the Son of God most high thou art the King of incomprehensible Majesty thou art the Lord of all We will constantly adhere to thee as thy faithful subjects We will follow thee in faith and love and patient obedience to the very death And hope that as we feel by thy power in us we are the children of God so we shall be heirs heirs of God joynt-heirs with thee O blessed Lord to whom with the Father and the Holy Ghost be glory and dominion for ever Amen CHAP. II. Concerning the Witnesses in general and the Testimony of the FATHER in particular IF any man urge us to receive a thing which is new and strange we either turn away our ears if we take him for a frivolous person or else require him to show us good evidence for what he says if he seem to be wise and serious And the more importunate he is to be believed the more earnest we are to know what he hath to show for himself and to call for his proofs in which if he fail or they come not home to the purpose he is so far from gaining any credit with those who examine them that they prove a very considerable argument against him Especially when he pretends to come from God and to bring us messages from Heaven we all expect the clearer and diviner demonstrations before we can resign our mind unto him For that which is to make all things credible must have very
pregnant Reasons accompanying it to win credit to it self If that which stands as a reason for all that a man says be not it self grounded upon the clearest and most undeniable it turns against him and proves nothing but a confutation of all that it was brought to assert Now Jesus pretending not only to this honour of coming from God which is a sufficient Argument for any thing that he says in his Name but also to an higher Dignity of being his Son and so of being privy to all his secrets of lying in his very bosom and being invested with a power equal to the Almighties if He and his Apostles who affirmed the same of him after he was put to death and that as a Malefactor should be defective in their proofs of so lofty and weighty a pretension He would be rendred of all other the most contemptible and they become men most ridiculous for obtruding him on the world in such a quality upon slight or no demonstrations For the greater and more concerning any Assertion is which we propound to mens belief the stronger and more plentiful Arguments they justly expect to induce a perswasion Which if they be wanting it is so far from being a fault not to surrender their Souls to that proposition that it is a vertue to refuse admittance and they could not excuse themselves from a great guilt should they be so easie as to let it find entertainment Nay it is a commendable piece of caution and wariness to suspend our belief in a matter of very great importance though there be some considerable proofs offered if they be not proportionable to the weight of the thing unto which we are to deliver up no less than our Souls Let us see therefore what evidence this Follower and Favourite as I may call him of Jesus produces and lays before us to make good this which he preached for a certain truth that He is no less than the Son of God Let us hear what his Witnesses say for so he calls his proofs to this great point and consider whether they speak so home to it that we cannot reasonably refuse to believe it The office of a witness is to give in all the evidence he can for the clearing of any matter in question for this very end that there by the controversie may be decided upon his credit When the Apostle therefore calls for his Witnesses who are ready he saith to justifie this which he asserts if any body make a doubt of it or be not well setled in this belief his meaning is that it relies upon such solid grounds that no man shall be able to deny Jesus to be the only begotten of the Father the Christ of God unless he can disprove the Authority of his witnesses which he was sure would never be in any mans power to do they were of such known verity If this be called in question whether Jesus be the Son of God or no if any list to bring it to trial and examine it before the bar of impartial Reason S. John here offers his witnesses faithful and just of undoubted Truth and Integrity who shall make it good So that if you will hear them and consider what they say and then give sentence according to their evidence you must needs judge that he is what he said he was The Son of God most high and quit him in your Consciences of all the calumnies aspersions of the Jews who said he was a deceiver of the people Now the witnesses that he brings you see dwell in two very distant places three of them in the Heavens and the other three in the Earth From these two several regions they give their Testimony the former from above the later here beneath For when the Apostle says that there are three 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 testifying or bearing witness in the Heaven and as many that do the same 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 on the Earth the meaning is not that the First three gave their testimony to those that are in Heaven and the last three to those that are on Earth but that the First three witnesses are themselves in Heaven and the other three were on Earth and so from thence they gave their testimony to Jesus They that dwell in Heaven delivered their testimony and justified this Truth from above and the other residing on the Earth did there speak to it and make it good Let us first hear these supreme and Heavenly witnesses and take under examination what they declare concerning him whom we acknowledge for our Lord and what Authority he hath according to their testimony to exact all obedience of us as he is the Son of God And first of all let us begin with the witness of the FATHER for the truth is that as he is the First and the Beginning of all things so he did first testifie of Jesus and by his voice from Heaven proclaimed him to be his Son before He or any else was so bold as to affirm it And as he being the First did bear witness to him before any of the rest spoke a word so according to the number of these Heavenly witnesses He gave his Testimony of him three times I. The first time was when our Saviour began to appear publickly among the people coming out of his privacy from Nazareth of Galilee to be baptized of John in Jordan Matt. 3.13 Mark 1.9 He had no need indeed of that Baptism as John affirmed and our Saviour did not deny but as became one who had put himself into the state of our meanness and appeared in our sinful flesh he would omit nothing that belonged to the duty of a pious person And therefore he would have the Baptist do to him as he did to others knowing that he exercised this Ministry by the appointment of God whose institutions ought to be reverenced and to whose will all good men ought to conform themselves Now he had no sooner given this example of humble obedience but as he came out of the Water God the Father of Heaven declared him in express terms to be what S. John here says he was his only Son Which testimony of his is recorded by no less than three Evangelists as you may find if you read iii. Matth. 17. i. Mark 11. iii. Luke 22. who tells us that he saw the Heavens at that time opened to him and a Divine Glory come from thence and settle upon him which was followed with a voice from Heaven saying This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased So S. Matthew reports the words of God the FATHER from whom this voice came it is plain because he calls Jesus his Son or as they may be rendred more emphatically This is that Son of mine that beloved one whom the Prophets promised particularly xlii Isaiah 1. God would send to them as Tertullian well expounds it who is most dear to me and shall declare my whole will and pleasure There
is a mark set before it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 lo or behold that we may all attend and listen diligently to this voice for now the word of God came to him as he speaks in another place I told you concerning those who were called Gods under the old Law x. John 35. and in an audible manner authorized him to begin to act as the Christ of God whom He had anointed as you shall hear with the Holy Ghost just at this moment when He declared him his Son by this voice from Heaven Which if you carefully observe it is expressed by the other Evangelists in such a manner that we may understand it was directed to himself as that commission which was sent him from Heaven to give him power to exercise the office of Gods supreme and only Minister in this world in whom alone he was well pleased and in none else but by him For S. Mark says the voice was in these words Thou art my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased Which plainly tell us that he spake to Jesus and not merely of him that he might be confident He was the person whom God had now sanctified and sent into the world And so S. Luke hath recorded it more fully and expresly Thou art my beloved Son in thee I am well pleased As if he had said Thou art the person to whom I have a favour above all others I have anointed thee above all thy fellows none that have had this name are so dear to me as thou art to whom I commit my authority and invest with my power and intrust with all my mind and will Now because we all suspect private Revelations and think it no sufficient ground to believe one that says God spake to him unless he can bring some other very credible person besides himself to attest that he also heard it or be able otherways to demonstrate it God was pleased therefore not only by other means to verifie this but so to direct S. Matthew's pen that he hath as good as told us that the voice which was directed to Jesus himself telling him he was his Son was uttered likewise in the audience of John Baptist a person famed for his sanctity reverenced by all the Nation of the Jews and acknowledged to be a Prophet Though it was delivered I believe in those words and syllables wherein S. Mark or S. Luke have set it down for as the Heavens were opened unto him iii. Matth. 16. and he saw the Spirit descending so the voice which accompanied it spake in all likelihood unto him yet it being heard also by John who had baptised him and who saw all that went before it as he himself declared it was as if God had said to him This is my beloved Son c. and therefore so S. Matthew relates it The Father Almighty by this voice awakened the attention of the Baptist and bade him as it were mark it that this person to whom he now spake was the Messiah who now entred upon his office being declared the Son of God and should increase and grow as he presently after discerned iii. John 30. till he came to be declared by the Resurrection from the dead the Son of God with power as S. Paul speaks i. Rom. 4. that is with all the power belonging to his office of Lord of all things the great King of Heaven and Earth Till this time he knew no more of the Christ but that he was coming God having ordered him to make way for him and that he should immediately appear and be so much superior to him iii. Matth. 11. that he should not be worthy to be one of his meanest servants His countenance he was not acquainted withall nor could he say this is the person when he met with him as he himself confesses i. John 31. But thus much he was told by him that sent him to Baptize as he there declares ver 33. that on whom he should see the Spirit descend and remain he should conclude that person was the Messiah from whom they might expect the gift of the Holy Ghost which had been so long a stranger to their Nation And accordingly having some intimation of him from the Spirit as soon as Jesus offered himself to receive his Baptism iii. Matth. 14. immediately after he was confirmed in his belief that this was the Christ by the fulfilling of the former sign i. John 32. And thereupon publishes it openly to all in these words ver 34. I saw and bare record i. e. gave my testimony of him that this is the Son of God So God himself taught him to call our Saviour for it should seem by the words of S. Matthew that he had this further ground to believe it and so was furnished with greater ability to testifie it that he heard the voice from Heaven as well as saw the Spirit descend upon him Though the Father spake the words to Jesus yet it was in the presence and hearing of this person who was sent from God to be his witness i. John 6 7. and as if he had said to him This is my beloved Son mind what I say go and testifie that this is He in whom I delight above all others Thou mayest be sure of it for I tell thee so who gave thee all the Authority thou hast And accordingly you read that he went and did his office for which he was sent that is He bare witness of him and cried saying This was he of whom I spake He that cometh after me is preferred before me for he was before me 1. John 15. which he repeats in the same Chapter as his record ver 19. in behalf of our Saviour on two other occasions ver 27. and 30. to let them know that the person of whom he gave this testimony before he was baptised of him was now come and exalted to a far higher dignity than himself being a more mighty person as the rest of the Evangelists speak no less than the Son of God This he means by being preferred before him appointed by the Father of all to an incomparably more excellent office which he entred upon after the preaching and baptism of John who began indeed his Ministry before Jesus but it was not because he was greater but rather because he was less and came to prepare his way who was as he acknowledges 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the first of the two not only in regard of his Divine Nature but in regard of his sublime office into which he was now put by being pronounced the beloved Son of God by this voice from Heaven Which the Devil himself one would think heard and understood to be such a testimony concerning Jesus as committed the greatest Ministry to him and was a Divine warrant to go in Gods name to the world as Moses after the Angel spake to him out of the bush did to the Jews And therefore when immediately after this our Saviour was led by the
hast divulged the mysteries of the Prophets but thou wilt prostitute also the secrets of the Holy Ghost So the good man desisted and durst not do the Angels any further service who came to listen to him as he was expounding the Prophets Which is as true I make no doubt as all the rest and we may as well believe the Earth quaked for forty mile together when he began his Paraphrase and that if a fly did but sit upon his Book in which he wrote fire came down from Heaven and destroyed it leaving the Book untoucht as believe a syllable of these voices speaking from Heaven to him for they have all the very same Authors Who having got this by the end know not when to have done with it but tell us for the honour of R. Chanina who saw the destruction of the last temple by Titus that a voice came from Heaven which said as David Ganz reports it in his Chronology * Ad An. 4768. The whole world is sustained for the sake of R. Chanina my son A very likely matter that he should lay an obligation on so many and no body know it but this obscure writer Why did not all the world follow him as they did Jesus if he were God's Son and they so much indebted to him This is but a wretchedly dull counterfeit of what they had read of our Saviour who was Gods Son Upholding all things by the word of his power i. Hebr. 2 3. And so are the other tales they tell in the Talmudical Title so often named Chapter the first of a Bath col which came from Heaven as the wise men sat in Council at Jericho saying There is one here who is worthy that the Divine majesty or glory by which they mean sometime the Holy Ghost should rest upon him as it did on Moses but the age wherein he lives is not worthy of that favour Whereupon they all cast their eyes on Hillel a famous man among them And of another voice as they were sitting together at Jafne which said the very same words again and turned all their eyes towards R. Samuel the less And to name but one more R. Juda the Holy Doctor they would have it believed was assured by this voice from Heaven that his Prayer was heard just as our Saviours was in the place I have before open'd For when he was dying and it was not many days before our Saviour's death that he prayed in those words Father glorifie thy name he lift up his ten fingers and said Lord of the world it is known to thee that I have laboured in the Law with my ten fingers and have not received the least advantage thereby no not in my little finger May it please thee that I may have peace in my rest And then out came the Bath col saying those words of Isaiah lvii 2. He shall enter into peace they shall rest in their beds Which together with all other of the same kind deserve to be put under no other Title than that of the Jewish Fables mentioned by S. Paul i. Tit. 14. or old-Wives tales 1 Tim. iv 7. wherewith little children are wont to be entertained being invented it is likely in imitation of the Gospel story to adorn and support the ruinous doctrine of their Rabbins and to bring it into some esteem with their sottish posterity But we may as well believe the idle tale which the factious Donatists told concerning the Father of their Sect August Tract 13. in Johan to whom God gave an answer from Heaven they said as he was praying to him as give ear to this Fable of R. Judah who must be magnified by them because he was the compiler of their traditional Law And as for R. Samuel the less whom I mentioned before he was the man who composed the famous Prayer against Hereticks for their publick Devotions wherein they desire God that he would destroy all Hereticks whereby they mean Christians who began in those days to grow apace And therefore it is no wonder that he is cried up to the skies and must be honoured with praises from Heaven But the best of it is these petty stories want vouchers or those who offer themselves had need to bring some better men to be bound for their honesty They have no John Baptists to attest any thing much less such men as the Apostles who with the power of Miracles and Prophecy were ready on all occasions to pawn their lives that they did not follow cunningly devised Fables when they made known the power and coming of our Lord Jesus but were eye-witnesses as you have heard of his Majesty and heard the voice when they were with him in the holy Mount which said This is my well beloved Son in whom I am well pleased Those Masters in Israel also are not so cunning in their contrivances nor such masters of their craft but they forget the old Rule which admonishes a Lyar to have a good memory For they contradict themselves while they tell us this Bath col was but the fag end of a voice a kind of Eccho leaping out of another voice and yet make it deliver such long sentences And what likelihood is there that God should grace such men as they who had turned their Religion into vain janglings and idle disputes witness the quarrel between the School of that Hillel now mentioned and the Schoolof Schammai with such Elogiums from Heaven as were fit to be given only to the best of men yea to the Son of God himself One of these four things is far more probable Either that their latter writers have strained the words of their forefathers too far who meant perhaps no more by their hearing a Bath col but that the thing whereof they write was as evident to them as if they had had a Divine testimony for it For in Pirke Avoth I observe R. Joshuah says that jotzeth Bath col the daughter of a voice goeth forth day by day from mount Horeb and proclaims saying Wo to men because of their contempt of the Law Which can signifie no more but that if men would listen to the Law which God gave there they would hear how dangerous it is to disobey it Or secondly there was something of a conjuration in it For in Pirke Elieser I find * Chap. 8. that when there was a dispute only about the Leap-year the Governour of the School pronounced the Name with four Letters and presently they heard a voice saying The Lord spake to Moses and Aaron c. As if they could have this voice whensoever they did but pronounce that single word Or thirdly they were men of a strong imagination which made them fancy they heard a voice from Heaven when it was only a blast of melancholy fumes and vapours whistling in their brain For this may be a fair account of those who thought as some among us have done that they heard such or such a place of
others are said to have seen God who beheld some very bright appearance an extraordinary light shining before their eyes which excelled all that ever they had seen or could imagine and was the token of the Divine presence Thus Moses was afraid to look upon God iii. Exod. 6. and the Elders of Israel are said to see the God of Israel xxiv 20. which places Maimonides thinks are to be understood of the Vision of God with the eyes of the mind But the Text is plainly against him which tells us there was a visible appearance of some unusual astonishing brightness And therefore he confesses that if any man do conceive those words are to be interpreted of some created light as he speaks * More Nevoch Part. 1. cap. 5. and many other places that is the visible apparition of a Divine Majesty or of an Angel there is no danger in such an apprehension And indeed no man can seriously read the Books of Moses but he will see plainly they speak of a sensible glory which was exceeding dazling and sometimes too great for the weak eyes of men to behold I have described it before when I told you it was nothing else but a flaming light which shone from that amazing devouring Fire which appeared in the cloud to the children of Israel Thus Abarbanel expounds that place I mentioned before xvi Exod. 7. In the morning then ye shall see the glory of the Lord. Which is not to be understood of the providing them bread or flesh in an extraordinary manner but of the Fire which appeared to all the people to reprove and punish them for their murmurings And so Lyra says it was an unusual refulgent brightness or lightning representing the Divine power ready to chastise them for their mutiny against his servants And it is very common in the New Testament to cal◠such a great splendour by the name of glory As the shining of Moses his face i◠called by S. Paul 2 Cor. iii. 7. the glory 〈◊〉 his countenance And in the same stile he◠speaks of the light of the Heavenly bodies when he says 1 Cor. xv 41. There is on◠glory of the Sun another glory of the Moon and another glory of the Stars for one Star differeth from another Star in glory that is in the brightness and splendour of its light Such a glory it was that now S. Steven beheld but far more splendid more pure and illustrious than the light of the Sun or any other that has been mentioned which was a representation of the presence of the Divine Majesty who used in this manner to make men sensible of his transcendent invisible glory And there in the Divine presence he saw our Lord in the most high and honourable place next to God the Father himself For that 's the meaning of his appearing at the right hand of God or of that great glory he saw in the Heavens the right hand being the principal place belonging to the Heir of the Crown when he appears together with the King his Father And therefore the Divine writer to the Hebrews says there never was any Angel seen there They only stand or minister before God or before his Throne but to which of them did he say at any time Sit on my right hand until I make thine enemies thy foot-stool i. Hebr. 13. This is the prerogative of Christ alone the great King the Heir of all things whose glory the Psalmist describes in that place cx Psal 1. from whence these words are cited that is prophecies of his Kingly power in the Heavens as S. Paul clearly expounds this phrase of sitting at Gods right hand 1 Cor. xv 25. For he must reign till he hath put all enemies under his feet He is a King and he reigns and he hath a Throne i. Hebr. 8. but when he is compared with God the Father Almighty the fountain of all power and authority and when he appears together with him to show that he reigns under him and for him he is represented as sitting at the right hand of God or the right hand of the Throne of God For so his Kingly power is expressed in other places He is set down on the right hand of the Throne of the Majesty in the Heavens Hebr. viii 1. xii 2. that is He reigns together with God the Father in the Celestial glory For the throne of God signifying in the Scripture phrase as the forenamed Maimonides observes that place where God's Majesty manifests it self in a visible splendour and glory the sitting of our Saviour at the right hand of that Throne or that glory denotes nothing else but his being seated in the highest honour that can be given to any one in the Heavenly places next in greatness power and majesty to God himself under whom he is the King of Angels and Men and all Creatures There was nothing of which this holy Martyr was more assured To whom this Heavenly King appeared not in his usual posture of sitting at God's right hand as one possessed of his royal power but standing there as if he was ministring in the Heavenly Sanctuary in the quality of a royal high-Priest for that was the posture of those that ministred in the Temple cxxxiv. Psal 1. for the comfort of all Christian people and of himself especially or rather as ready to come to take vengeance of those implacable enemies who had killed him and now persecuted his servants which was a notable instance of his royal power at God's right hand For there the Psalmist says he must reign till he hath subdued all those that oppose his authority and troden them under his feet And as for the second enquiry how he could know this to be Jesus whom he saw in this Heavenly Majesty It is easily resolved that He appeared to him with such a countenance as he had here upon Earth only more shining and bright as being now in the glory of the Father And so he tells the Jews I see the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God That very person he means who used to call himself the Son of man whom you crucified and dishonourably treated I now see so exalted that I had rather die as he did than not confess him to be the Son of God as he said he was when he died This is the first testimony which was given to this truth by the WORD Who bore witness in a most illustrious manner to himself when he appeared thus to a person of the greatest credit in the Divine glory and in the highest place of Celestial dignity as the King of Heaven that is and risen up from his Throne as if he was coming to be avenged of his adversaries to succour all his servants and to welcome this Martyr into glory with himself So S. Steven verily thought for he resigns up his Soul to Jesus with the same confidence and almost in the same words that Jesus gave up his to God the
and whereby he justified himself against all accusers This was his warrant to this he appeals upon all occasions that He saw Jesus in the way to Damascus And he had great reason to stick to it for he knew that no body could shame him by so much as pretending that he lied and that there was no such thing as this apparition of Jesus to him He had his companions in his journey to be witnesses of the Miraculous glory which on a sudden surprised them as well as him xxvi Acts 15. They heard then the voice of some body discoursing with him though they did not distinctly hear the words It became presently notorious every where for this thing as he tells Agrippa ver 26. was not done in a corner but openly and at noon-day to the astonishment of divers persons who attended him And it left a sensible effect upon his body and upon his mind He could neither see nor eat nor drink for three days In which space he saw a vision of a man named Ananias coming to him and bidding him receive his sight All which proved true and together with his sight he received a new spirit whereby he confounded the Jews at Damascus For they could not deny all this and yet were loth to believe in Jesus They were amazed to hear him preached by a man who they knew was come thither with a quite contrary intent ix 21. They could not but ask what is the matter whence comes this marvellous change Is not this he that destroyed them which called on this Name in Jerusalem And is not that the business for which he came hither to bring them bound unto the chief Priests What ailes him now that he thus justifies them and condemns himself And there is no doubt but to answer such Questions he took the opportunity to tell them what he had seen and what he had heard for so Ananias charged him xxii 15. He did not keep this as a secret it was not carried in privacy but presently divulged that all might inquire if they pleased into the circumstances of the fact Which was so strange that as it amazed and confounded them at Damascus so King Agrippa ' knew not what to say to it but was almost perswaded to be a Christian xxvi Acts 28. No man of sence could think that a person of his education and learning would venture the loss of his ease of his reputation of all the preferment he had and of all that he might justly hope for from the Sanhedrim without the least expectation of any gain unless of that only which Jesus could give him if he had not been fully assured it was no delusion when he presented himself to him as the Lord of glory Much less could any man imagine that a person of his vertue and unblameable life under the Law and of such strange piety and perfect contempt of all worldly things after his receiving Christianity would feign and devise such a story by which if it were false he could get nothing in the other world and if it were true he could get nothing in this Nothing but misery trouble infamy and reproach which attended him every where and never left him till it had brought him to a shameful death If you will but consider what he quitted for Christ's sake after he had thus appeared to him and how the world treated him when he became a preacher of this Gospel as you find it described by himself in several Epistles particularly iii. Philip. 8. 1 Cor. iv 9 10 11 c. 2 Cor. vi 4 5 c. xi 23 24 c. you will soon be satisfied that he was more in his wits than either to invent this story or publish it without strong assurance of its truth He was as sure that he saw the Lord Jesus in his glory and heard the voice of his mouth as every body else that knew him was sure he had been a blasphemer of him and a persecutor of his servants And therefore whatsoever it cost him he would be obedient to that Heavenly Vision And having a Ministry from him as he speaks in the 2 Cor. iv 1 2 3. according as he had received mercy so he accounted it a very great favour to become one of his Ministers he did not faint nor discharge his office sluggishly Nor did he think of making up his losses by this new profession of preaching the Gospel but abhorred such a dishonest thought and utterly renounced all such base and shameful arts though never so secretly managed and covered over with never such specious pretences He did not walk in craftiness nor appear other than he really was Much less would he to please any men handle the word of God deceitfully either by concealing any thing that was true or by mixing any false stories of his own inventing No by plain truth he commended himself to every mans conscience as in the presence of that God who is the avenger of all fraud and imposture And therefore he justly concludes that if any man did not receive these things nor think them evident enough it was because he deserved to perish for the love he bore to some naughty affection or other which would not let him submit to Jesus For it was him the Apostles preached ver 5. not themselves they did not do their own business but his only whom they proclaimed to be the Lord and themselves no more but his servants nay the servants of all Christian people for his sake But I must no longer follow the story of this great man who became so strong in the Lord and in the power of his might after He had from Heaven appeared and spoken to him that as nothing could daunt him so nothing could hinder the sucecess of his labours He became the most eminent servant of the Lord Jesus and prevailed so mightily against all the opposition which the Devil or men raised to frustrate his endeavours that he gives thanks to God in the second Chapter of that Epistle ver 14. Who always caused him to triumph in Christ and made manifest the odour of his knowledge by him in every place All his travels and long journeys proved in the issue as if they had been but the carrying of him about in a triumphal Chariot to make him a glorious spectacle in all those places as the Syriack translates it where in spite of all that the most powerful cruelty and rage could do he was still victorious and brought divers Souls into a chearful subjection to his Master Christ Jesus III. Who was pleased last of all but more frequently than to any other to show himself after he went to Heaven to this very Apostle whose words I am expounding his beloved Disciple S. John By whom he comforts and encourages all other Christians to continue stedfast in their Religion and to take their share with him in tribulation and in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ Who many ways declared to him
God promised to send to rule over them He takes the Book out of the right hand of him that sate on the Throne ver 7. which signifies that he is next to God the Father of all at whose right hand he stood in power and glory As appears also by his being seated in his Throne for the thrones of the Eastern Kings to which these expressions allude were wide like one of our Couches in which more than one may sit and by his having the principal Angels the seven spirits of God at his command to imploy where he pleased Who together with the rest of the Heavenly host and with the Christian Church make their acclamations to him ver 11 12. as worthy of the most supreme power and dignity which they express in as many Names of praise as there are principal Spirits of God when they say Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive 1. power and 2. riches and 3. wisdom and 4. strength and 5. honour and 6. glory and 7. blessing And then immediately he hears every Creature joyning him in their Doxology together with God the Father saying ver 13. Blessing and honour and glory and power be unto him that sitteth upon the throne and unto the Lamb for ever and ever But the more fully to represent his Divine power you may observe that he appears in another Vision to him in the very same state and majesty wherein God was wont to make himself present in the times of old Then you read that the Lord made the clouds his chariot and walkt upon the wings of the wind ciii Psalm 3. that is came to them by the ministery of Angels who appeared in bright and shining clouds to do his will with great expedition every where For so it is expounded in the xviii Psalm 10. where instead of clouds it is said He rode upon a Cherub and did flie yea he did flie upon the wings of the wind That is there was a token of his presence by the majestick appearance of Angels who were ready to be imployed by him and immediately to execute his commands For to ride upon any thing as Maimonides observes * More Nevoch Part. 1. cap. 70. is in the Holy Language to rule to govern to have an absolute power over it and dispose of it as one pleases And therefore to ride upon a Cherub or to make the clouds his chariot which are the very same because the Angels appeared in glorious clouds is to send those Heavenly Ministers whither he thinks good to perform his pleasure Whence it is I suppose that the Psalmist says elsewhere lxviii 34. his strength is in the clouds because he is powerfully present by them in all places For as Andreas Caesariensis hath truly observed 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. in his Commentaries upon the Revelation a cloud in the Sacred writings is ever a Minister about Divine businesses and perpetually imployed in them because they are above us and are very swift as the Angels are in their motions and are both dark and bright a fit emblem of the glory of the Divine Majesty which is inscrutable by us Now just in such a glorious Majesty and mighty power did S. John behold our blessed Saviour making the clouds that is the Angels his chariot in which he sate as a Lord to whom they were to do service So he tells us in xiv Rev. 14. And I looked and behold a white cloud and upon the cloud one sate like unto the Son of man having on his head a golden Crown and in his hand a sharp sickle Where by cloud the forementioned writer understands 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 some Angelical power of which this white that is bright cloud was a representation ministring to our Saviour For S. John saw him upon this cloud and sitting there as if it were the Throne or Royal Chariot of this Prince Who sate there with a Crown on his head denoting his Royal authority and that of Gold to show by what is most precious among us 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the splendour and greatness of his Majesty and with a sickle in his hand to signifie that he hath such a power as to be able to cut down Kingdoms and States with as much ease as we mow a field of corn All these three last expressions set forth the highest dignity and most royal power and therefore so doth his sitting upon a cloud or being carried by Angels as Kings were anciently and still are in the Eastern Countries by their servants Which kind of speech and other such like phrases in the holy Language as riding upon the wings of Angels denoted by the clouds and wind signifie the exercise of his Kingly power by their Ministry Who are ready to fly any whither to convey his orders and execute them throughout the world Where he being present by them as a King is by his several Ministers in every part of his Dominions he is said to sit upon them as if whither-soever they go they carried him Thus the ancient Books speak of God the Creator and Governour of all and thus our Saviour teaches S. John to speak of him which is a sign that he is the Son of God who sends forth the Angels to minister for them especially who shall be heirs of salvation And therefore in another Vision which is all I need mention xix Rev. 11 12 c. He saw him again coming out of Heaven with the Royal ensigns of his victorious power over those who had opposed his authority For behold a white horse which was proper for a conqueror and one sitting upon him whose name was called the WORD of God Who was clothed he tells us with a vesture dipt in bloud that is with a purple garment such as Kings use to wear and his eyes sparkled or rather flamed like fire to denote how terrible he was to his Enemies and there were on his head many Crowns because he had already conquered several Kingdoms and Provinces and was now going to subdue more being attonded with all the armies in Heaven who waited upon him to minister to him in this war till as he was of right he was actually acknowledged by humble subjection to him to be KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS And what greater argument can there be of the power of our Lord and of the truth of these Visions whereby the WORD of God who hath the lineaments of future things in his mind as Irenaeus speaks represented how God would hereafter dispose of the affairs of the world than his possessing himself of a Kingdom and perswading so great a part of mankind to submit to him though a King invisible merely by the preaching of such men as S. John The event hath proved it was no delusion when he heard those great voices in Heaven saying xi 15. The Kingdoms of this world are become the Kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ and he shall reign for ever
testimony of my self because I do but repeat the very same thing which the Father hath said before me For though alone as I have confessed heretofore my testimony of my self is worth nothing and cannot challenge belief yet added unto so high a testimony as his it ought to be duly regarded and accepted But besides this I must add another consideration of great moment Which is that the Testimony of the WORD concerning himself now that he is in the Heavens is of great validity even singly considered though it had no such authority alone when he was upon the Earth For during his stay here on Earth it could not appear by his bare saying so that he was the Son of God the King of Israel because he was in a poor mean and low condition altogether unlike a King And therefore if the Father and the Spirit had not testified so much none could have believed on him But when he was in the Heavens then what he said of himself carried great authority and power with it because he could not say those words to any one but he must appear as a King in glory There were things as well as words to speak for him At the same time that he bare witness of himself they to whom he spake must needs see the truth of his Testimony by the royal state and majesty wherein they beheld him If the question should be whether a person be alive his own appearing in Court would be the best testimony that could be given of it If whether such a one be a King his sitting upon his Throne with his Crown on his head in his royal Palace and his Ministers round about him would be the surest evidence that could be desired to put it out of doubt In this case therefore where the question is whether Jesus be the Son of God or no there cannot be expected a better resolution of it than his own witness to himself by appearing upon the Throne of his Glory There several persons of unblemished credit beheld him and had the confidence to venture their lives upon the certain knowledge they had that they were not deceived From thence he spake to them and directed them to speak and carry his messages to others that they might believe on the Name of the Son of God And let it but be remembred which I noted at the beginning that we are now examining those witnesses which speak from Heaven and not those which speak on the Earth and then you will soon discern that these testimonies of the WORD though concerning himself ought to be received with great reverence and to be judged very full and powerful to prove Jesus to be the Son of God Especially since besides his own word for it we have also the word of the Father who several times called him his Son and that before he took this honour to himself A PRAYER LET all mankind therefore honour thee O blessed Jesus even as they honour the Father Be thou adored every where upon Earth with the same reverence and love wherewith all the Angels in Heaven worship thee whom they and we acknowledge to be the LORD the WORD of God the Wisdom of the Father the bright morning Star the Light of the World the Prince of Life the Heir of all things the KING OF KINGS AND THE LORD OF LORDS God blessed for ever Thou art the King of glory O Christ Thou art the everlasting Son of the Father The Beginner and the Finisher of our Faith the Judge of the World the Author of Eternal Salvation unto all them that obey thee O how happy are they that know thee and stedfastly believe in thee and sincerely love thee and heartily obey thee and have a good hope that thou wilt bless them and imploy thy power for their promotion to that glory wherein thou reignest I rejoyce to hear thee say that thou who wast dead art alive for evermore Amen and hast the keys of Hell and of Death I thank thee for appearing so often to assure our Souls that thou sittest at the right hand of God and hast all power in Heaven and in Earth Great is the consolation which thou hast given us by the sight of that Glory wherein thy first Martyr beheld thee ready to succour all thy faithful servants Marvellous was thy work O Lord for which all thy Church will for ever praise thee in calling S. Paul to be an Apostle separated unto the Gospel of God Adored be thy glorious Majesty which appeared to him for this purpose to make him a Minister and a Witness of what he saw and heard that he might go and open the eyes of the Gentiles to turn them from darkness to light and from the power of Satan unto God that they might receive forgiveness of sins and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in thee O how full of comfort is that Revelation which thou hast made of thy self to thy servant John Who received the brightest discoveries of thy glory in Heaven when he was in the most desolate condition upon Earth who beheld thy care over thy Church and thy conquests over thine enemies thy Priestly and thy Royal power to the perpetual joy of those that love thee and the terror of all those that oppose thee O blessed Jesus far be it from any of us in the least to contradict thy will who art so highly advanced far above all principality and power and every name that is named not only in this world but also in that which is to come May every Christian Soul be so sensibly affected with the belief of thy Glory as to prostrate it self before thee and say with the same spirit that thy blessed Apostle S. Paul did when thou appearedst unto him Lord what wilt thou have me to do May that ardent love burn in every one of our breasts towards thee and towards one another which was in thy beloved Disciple who bare record of thee and testified to us these things And may none of us prove so false and unkind as to leave our first love but our work and charity and service and faith and patience may be ever commended by thee and the last be more than the first Then shall we be able with a chearful countenance to look up unto thee and to think of thy majesty and glory with exultation and triumph and not with terror and amazement of spirit We will joy in thy strength O Lord and in thy salvation how greatly shall we rejoyce We will rejoyce even in the midst of tribulation and though we walk through the valley of the shadow of death we will fear no evil but stedfastly looking up unto Heaven call upon thee O Lord Jesus and beseech thee to receive our Spirit Into thy hands be they recommended both now and ever with most earnest desires and hope that thou wilt help thy servants whom thou hast redeemed with thy precious bloud and make them to be
taken the boldness to foretell and promise such a thing as this from God the Father what hope had he to make it good if he had not been sure that the Father and He were one as he speaks vers 20. of that xiv Joh. and that what He said was by his Authority who would justifie his word Nothing could have been more vain or done him greater discredit after all the glory he had got than to give this as a sign of his truth if he himself had not been sure that God had given all things into his hand and that he came out from God and was going unto God as it is xiii Joh. 3. And what greater argument could there be that he did not assume a Dignity or Title which he had no right unto than the verifying his word in so hard and difficult a case as this even then when his Enemies thought he could do nothing because he was dead and buried This must needs make the Apostles as sure as he was for his confident belief could not work belief in them and therefore He did fulfil his promise and indued them with such power from on high that in a moment He brought all things which he had taught them to their remembrance enabled them to speak with all manner of Tongues to make a Man whole with speaking a word nay to raise the Dead and to give the Holy Ghost likewise to others who believed their word How came He by this power if indeed He was not the Lord of all Why did nor his Word dye with Himself and fall to the ground if he usurped upon the prerogative of God and laid claim to a glory which was none of his How could it come into any Mans mind let me ask again to promise such a thing as this if he did not know what he could do And could any man do such a thing if he were not more than a man even the King of infinite power at the right hand of God So the Apostles could not but conclude when they felt the effects of his royal power in their own hearts and when they could make others feel them by innumerable benefits which they bestowed both on their Souls and Bodies To be able to do such things on Earth as he had done shewed plainly what He was but to be able to make others do more wonderful things when He had left the World was still a more convincing Argument that all things were put in subjection under his Feet Nothing now was more evident to them than this great Truth whatsoever distrust of it they might have before With this mighty Inspiration all their doubts were blown away like the Dust before the Wind. This fire which appeared on their Heads purged their Souls quite from all the reliques of Infidelity if there were any remaining They could do nothing now but speak the praises of Jesus and proclaim Him with these Tongues to all the world to be the Lord with a zeal as hot as fire The People indeed it may be said did not hear him foretell this glorious day and make any such promise of the Holy Ghost and therefore how could it convince them I answer it is confessed that He did not speak of this so plainly to them as He did to the Apostles and therefore I have not alledged it all this time for that purpose but only to show that they to whom he so often gave hopes of the coming of the Holy Ghost upon them had reason to rely upon its Testimony when it came even upon this account that it was the performance of his gracious promise to them There are many proofs which we produce seem to carry less force in them than really they have when careless minds stretch them too far to prove more than was intended The Jews were to be convinced by it upon another score not by the fulfilling of his particular promises to the Apostles which could work no further upon the People than they believed their testimony who came with such power from Jesus to them But I must add also that our Saviour had said something of this to all the people at a publick Feast vii John 38 39. And when he was arraigned he openly declared to the High Priest and the whole Senate that they should presently receive sensible tokens of his Majesty which now they so affronted For when they adjured him to tell them whether he was the Christ the Son of God xxvi Matth. 63. though he knew they would neither believe him if he told them nor give him a good reason if he argued with them why they did not believe xxii Luke 67 68. yet he told them in express terms that he was ver 64. And then adds these remarkable words Nevertheless I say unto you i. e. though now you do not believe what I have told you yet mind what I say hereafter from this moment 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 xxii Luke 69. or very few days hence you shall see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power Which can refer to nothing but the mission of the Holy Ghost which presently ensued and was a certain argument that he was at God's right hand ii Acts 33. When this came they could not but see unless they would be wilfully blind that he was possessed of the Kingdom he had so much spoken of It was an irrefragable testimony that he was the Son of the Blessed and could the less be gain said because he told them before-hand they should see what they would not then believe That is have a manifest demonstration of his glorious Majesty in the Heavens Which if it would not move them nothing remained but to see him after another fashion coming in the clouds of Heaven as it there follows To destroy that is such incredulous wretches who killed their King and persisted so obstinately in their rebellion that they resisted the Holy Ghost whom he sent to convince them of their crime and convert them to his obedience So it is interpreted xxii Luke 27 31. II. For the power of it was so great that setting aside this consideration if he had said nothing at all to them or his Apostles of his sending the Holy Ghost yet its coming in this manner was an evident testimony both to them and all others that he made a just claim to be their King He could not else have scattered such royal gifts so bountifully among them as the manner of Emperors was in their Triumphs and of Kings at their Coronation This showed that indeed he had the power which the Jews denied him It vindicated his rights which they would have taken from him It made it appear he was what he pretended and that not He but they were the guilty persons who had condemned him for saying he was the Son of God This was the very end of its coming as our Saviour also told his Apostles a little before his death xvi John 7 8 9. where He
the very shadow of some of them did more than all the power of Medicines This was a very great demonstration of his supreme dominion over all Creatures Nothing could be more effectual to induce men to obey him to whom they saw every thing else was subject Without this they could never have moved men to believe that he was the Lord but this gave it sufficient credit For suppose they had stood up in the places of popular concourse and said We come to preach to you in the name of Jesus and require you to submit your selves to him whom God hath made the Lord of all He was born of the seed of David a great King in Israel did many wonders in that Nation though he was hated and rejected by them and delivered to Pontius Pilate by whom he was crucified but God raised him out of his grave and we saw him go to Heaven where he is inthroned in the most glorious Majesty and reigns over all Angels as well as mankind Cast away therefore your ancient Gods who are his subjects Forsake presently all your superstitious Rites and Ceremonies Believe on this person submit to his government and obey his commands Though you get nothing in this world by it but perhaps may lose all you have he will reward you for it in his Pleavenly Kingdom What force do you think there would have been in such a speech to perswade the Nations far distant from Jerusalem to fall down before him as their Sovereign Would they not have smiled and said What do these bablers mean to bring us these strange stories from a foreign land Why should we acknowledge him to be our King whom his own Country-men would not suffer to reign over them Shall we become the subjects of one whom we never saw nor heard of until now and venture the loss of all our liberties and perchance of our lives for one whom they confess to be crucified and dead What likelihood is there that he should rise again from the dead who could not keep himself when he was alive from being put to death Truly saith Eusebius when I consider the mere doctrine they were to preach I cannot see how they could hope to draw the people to their belief But then when I consider how they did prevail every where at Rome at Alexandria at Antioch in all other places I must have recourse to a Divine power which succeeded this Doctrine Jesus plainly declared by putting them upon the attempt that he was confident he had all power to get himself a Kingdom by this preaching And by the issue it appeared that it was no presumption wherewith he was possessed instead of a well grounded confidence They preached as he bad them but it was not with such Rhetorick as is in use among us not with the enticing words of mans wisdom with eloquent expressions enchanting language or mere plausible arguments but in the demonstration of the Spirit and of power 1 Cor. ii 4. The HOLY GHOST from Heaven presently appeared wheresoever they preached to justifie their words and to testifie by many miraculous operations that Jesus was no less than they affirmed This evident demonstration perswaded mens minds This was such a power that the people were ready to take them for Gods and imagined that Mercury and Jupiter were come down from Heaven to them and thereupon prepared publick sacrifices to be offered in their honour xiv Acts 13. Natural reason told them that such things could not be done by mortal nature but they must be concluded to be the works of some God though no body told them that they were And therefore this was all they had to do for their own satisfaction to enquire by what power and authority the Apostles did these wonders since they themselves confessed that they were but men And here now they took occasion to let them know that it was Jesus who did these Miracles Him they preached and him they hereby proved to be the Lords ANOINTED who by this power would prevail notwithstanding the fierce opposition that was made against his authority For as you read in a devout address which the whole company of believers made to God the Rulers were gathered together and the Kings of the Earth stood up against the Lord and against his Christ At their first entrance upon this work there were mighty endeavours to overthrow it just as there had been against his holy child Jesus whom he had ANOINTED that is promoted to a greater glory than he had on Earth And therefore they desire God to go along with them and stretch forth his hand to heal and that signs and wonders might be done by the name of his holy child Jesus for the propagating of this Religion which it was not in their own power to advance iv Acts 26 27 30. Now this was a further testimony of the power and glory of Jesus that when a solemn address was made to God and they represented to him their design they were so far from receiving any discountenance from him that he incouraged and promoted this undertaking For the place where they prayed was shaken by a powerful inspiration which came upon them all as it had done upon the Apostles And they were ALL filled with the Holy Ghost and they spake the word of God with boldness ver 31. III. And this leads me to the last Testimony which the HOLY GHOST gave to him by descending upon other persons as well as upon the Apostles though not in such a visible form as it did on the day of Pentecost The place indeed was SHAKEN where these believers were assembled by the like mighty wind I suppose as filled the house where the Apostles received the Holy Ghost ii Acts 2. But there were no fiery tongues now appeared as there did then Nor do we afterwards read of any such sensible sign of an invisible power coming upon them as this shaking of the place was when the Holy Ghost first descended upon the body of the Church But whensoever the Apostles laid their hands upon any person who believed in Jesus and was baptized presently the Holy Ghost fell down upon them and they spake with tongues and prophesied viii Acts 15 17. xix 6. This laying on of their hands was ever after the only external sign of the Divine power for that 's the meaning of stretching out the hand in the place just before named iv Acts 30. wherewith they should be endued at the request of the Apostles Which was a plain demonstration of the royal Majesty and munificence of Jesus whose Servants and Ministers these were and hereby the HOLY GHOST bare record to him that he was the Son of God So this very Apostle teaches us in the second Chapter of this Epistle where he tells them to whom he writes that he need not be very solicitous to prescribe them Antidotes against those Antichristian doctrines which then began to poison the Church because they had an Unction
the Angels sing vi 3. when he beheld our Saviours glory and spake of him xii John 39. And the Church of Christ from the beginning hath taken these words from their mouths and made them their own iv Rev. 8. when they actually saw this GLORY OF THE LORD filling the Earth with its most holy Presence For our Lord did not cease to pour out more and more of his Spirit on all flesh even after the Apostles were dead But as Justin Martyr tells the Jew in his time which was above an hundred years after this 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 * Dial. cum Tryph. c. One might have seen among Christians both women and men who had gifts from the Spirit of God And so one might in the days of Origen * Lib. 1. contr Cels who lived as many years after that who to convince Celsus that it was no Fable which was reported of the descent of the Holy Ghost on our Saviour affirms that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. There were still remaining among them some footsteps of that Holy Spirit which was seen in the form of a Dove For they dispossessed Devils performed many cures and foresaw some things according to the will and pleasure of the WORD concerning what was to come Nay it were easie to show that this Heavenly power descended still much lower and did not quite leave the World in these Ages and that it did not work in some obscure corners only but in the most noted places in the World For the same Justin says in his first Apology that there were many healed by the Name of Jesus Christ in the City of Rome whom no other person could heal So that look how many Souls there were full of the Holy Ghost so many lasting Witnesses there were to our Saviour of his power and glory in every place But intending hereafter to treat of all these gifts of the Holy Ghost alone by themselves I shay say no more of them now having sufficiently shown how they were his Testimony to our Saviour It is possible I confess that there may be another thing included in the name of the HOLY GHOST and that is the old Prophets who received gifts from Heaven whereby they sometimes spake of the Messiah So the HOLY GHOST is said in the x. Hebr. 15. to be a witness of the perfection of our Saviours oblation and for a proof of it the testimony of the Prophet Jeremiah is alledged whose words are called the witness of the Holy Ghost From whence I might take occasion to show that all the predictions of the Prophets do so exactly agree to Jesus and are so perfectly fulfilled in him that we must needs grant him if we receive this testimony of the Holy Ghost and take them to have been inspired thereby to be the Son of God the King of Israel who they had long put that Nation in hope should come and reign over them But this would be a work of too great length and my intention is not to swell this Treatise into an huge Volume which makes me only mention this notion that you may consider with your selves as you have occasion what a resemblance there is between Jesus and that person whom the Prophets describe unto us For this will prove a great confirmation of your faith in him there being no doubt in the minds of the bitterest enemies of our Saviour but that those Holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost I have done now with these witnesses who speak unto us from Heaven and who are one you see in their testimony as well as in their nature They all agree in this that Jesus is the Son of God There is not the least difference between them no doubtfulness in their testimony no backwardness to give it no obscurity that should make it difficult for us to understand it But with one mouth as we say they unanimously plainly readily and clearly pronounce him to be such a Divine person that if we should not hear him and obey him and depend upon him I know not what we shall be able to say to so many Witnesses who will be ready to appear against us whose testimony without any cause was slighted by us Look how many voices have been heard from Heaven how many witnesses have openly appeared in his behalf so many Divine reasons you are to conceive your self to be provided withall for every word that Jesus hath spoken Which you are therefore to take for infallible and to keep as the Apostle speaks 1 Tim. vi 14. without spot and unrebukeable until his second appearing Listen to those words of grace which come out of his mouth Abandon those sins which he requires you to forsake and betake your selves to the practice of those vertues which he so strictly injoyns For the FATHER the WORD and the HOLY GHOST declare that this is the Will of Heaven And what is there in this world so considerable as to perswade the contrary If he be not the Son of God if he do not prove it by undeniable arguments then do as you list But if he be then you are bound to yield him the humblest subjection and it will be a strange stupidity to dispute the matter with him There can be no colour for your refusal should you deny to be governed by him who comes with such Authority that the fulness of the Godhead as you have heard dwells in him bodily O what an honour hath God Almighty hereby done our nature how highly hath he advanced and dignified it by this strange and unexpected favour which he hath conferred on it in making it his Holy place Consider but what I have now said of the Testimony of the HOLY GHOST to Jesus which was an illustrious token likewise of Gods wonderful love to us Is it nothing that God should be manifested in our flesh that he should DWELL in us and make his abode with us and that we should become the habitation of God through the Spirit Look upon the Temple of old and see how it glittered with Gold how it was adorned with Cherubims and Seraphims which were an emblem of the Angelical attendance in that place but especially how it shined with the Glory of the Lord which appeared upon the mercy-seat And then reflect how precious how dear mankind are to Almighty God into whose Nature this Glory is translated whom he hath beautified with greater excellencies and made more splendid by a more intimate conjunction with it Could any man then after he had considered this profane that Nature which God hath so sanctified and separated to himself Could he find in his heart to prostitute himself to any of those base and filthy actions that are below the dignity of humane nature nakedly considered without such a presence of God in it None can submit sure to the government of any fleshly lust but he must first forget that he is a man created after the Image
be no such voices from Heaven such apparitions of Jesus such a descent of the Holy Ghost as it is possible there may be such conceited fools who think themselves wise by doubting of all things yet that there were such Witnesses as the WATER the BLOUD and the SPIRIT no man can be so obstinate as to deny they were so visible to all sorts of men whatsoever that would but open their eyes to behold them In the sixth verse of which the eighth is but a repetition after the Apostle had said that the only Conqueror is he who believes Jesus to be the Son of God He adds This is he that came by WATER and BLOUD even Jesus Christ not by Water only but by Bloud also and it is the SPIRIT that beareth witness c. Where that phrase HE CAME is to be diligently observed which in the stile of the New Testament writers signifies as much as that He manifested himself to be the Messias or Christ He made it appear that he was sent of God For thus the Messias is described in that question which John Baptists Disciples put to our Saviour xi Matth. 3. Art thou 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he that COMETH that is as Grotius well expounds it he that is prophesied of by Jacob our Father under the phrase of COMING xlix Gen. 10. And so He is said to be the light which COMING into the World enlightneth every man i. John 9. And John Baptist tells them He that COMETH after me is preferred before me ver 15. He was preferred to be their King as the multitude cried out saying Hosanna to the Son of David blessed be he that COMETH in the Name of the Lord xxi Matth. 9. There is the true explication of the phrase He was sent by a special commission such as never any man had from God the Father he appeared with his authority and acted in his name And as before he appeared in his Majesty he was called He that COMETH so afterwards the Apostle here calls him He that CAME The person that is whom God had promised from the beginning of the world to send into it His SHILO that is his Seed as De Dieu hath excellently expounded that word the Seed of Judah and the Son of God Who in this fulness of time was to receive Commission from God and take upon him the Government of the World Now this person says S. John CAME that is appeared to be sent of God as his Son his only begotten by Water and by Bloud Which is as much as to say that it was manifest he came from God and not of himself by these two Witnesses to which the SPIRIT also adds its testimony as it here follows and the SPIRIT bears witness which is such a certain evidence that they who rely on this together with the former can never be deceived by it because the Spirit is the TRUTH As therefore God SENT him so he CAME and by these three Witnesses proved that he was the Person who God promised should come and was now sent whose testimony let us prepare our selves to hear and examine diligently that the faith of Christ may still be rooted deeper in our hearts And let us hear them if you please in that order wherein they stand in the sixth Verse the place where we first meet with them receiving first the testimony of the WATER then of the BLOUD and then of the SPIRIT Of the WATER And by WATER sure can be meant nothing else but either Purity and innocence or else Baptism which we use as a sign and a means of those We may consider it in both sences and not be in any danger to wander from the scope of the Apostle or do any wrong to the argument in hand but receive most satisfactory evidence from both that Jesus is the Son of God I. First then let us take it in the notion of PURITY which we use the help of Water to procure in bodily defilements And therefore when the Prophet would express the intention of God to purifie his people from moral filthiness he says he will pour clean WATER upon them xxxvi Ezek. 25. and in other places he calls upon them to WASH themselves when he would have them amend their ways and lead new and holy lives And when we speak of the PURITY of Jesus wherewith he CAME that is demonstrated himself to be the Christ we must consider that there is a double Sanctity or holiness for which He was eminent above all other persons which may both be denoted by WATER The one is of his DOCTRINE wherewith Christ is said to cleanse his Church for which he died v. Ephes 26. He gave himself for it that he might sanctifie it having cleansed it with the Washing of WATER by the Word Where the Word the preaching of the Gospel is either the explanation of washing with Water or else denotes that Christian Instruction which succeeds Baptism to which by our being washed with Water in the Name of Christ we are bound to attend as the great instrument of our purification The other is holiness of LIFE and conversation which the same word WATER is used to express in the Epistle to the Hebrews x. 22. where the Apostle exhorts all those who believed there was such a royal High Priest as Jesus set over the family of God to worship him with integrity of heart and sincere affection to him nothing doubting of the truth of his promises and having their hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and their bodies washed with pure WATER Now by a short view of the perfect spotlesness of Jesus in both these in regard of his Doctrine and in regard of his Life we shall be able from thence strongly to draw this conclusion that he must needs be the Son of God I. First for the PURITY of his DOCTRINE it is such that it not only teaches no evil at all but teaches all manner of Goodness and severely prohibits every vice There is not the least sin to which the Holy Jesus gives any countenance no he declares the wrath of God from Heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men whom he fully instructs likewise and encourages in every piece of true piety and vertue So perfectly Holy is his Word that if we did entertain it the power of it would throughly wash us from all uncleanness and not leave the least speck of dirt in our hearts For he intends by that as the Apostle tells the Ephesians in the words following those now named ver 27. to present to himself a glorious Church not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing but that it should be holy and without blemish Whatsoever belongs either to our knowledge of God or to our Duty in every respect condition and relation His Doctrine completely comprehends it He hath first of all so clearly revealed to us the ONE GOD Creator of Heaven and Earth that none could do it more expresly or with greater
unto them So S. Paul writes to the Thessalonians 1 ii 8. every one of whom he exhorted and comforted and charged as a Father doth his children ver 11. But he never used any flattering words towards them nor spake as pleasing men but God who trieth the hearts nor carried on any design of covetousness or winning of glory to himself nor would be in the least burdensom to them but was gentle among them even as a nurse cherisheth her own children ver 4 5 6 7. Show me the man that ever spoke with such wisdom and judgment as they did and with so much tenderness of heart None but their Master ever preached or wrote with so Divine a Spirit which John the Baptist describes in such words with which I shall content my self as prove the excellence of his Person from the excellence of his Doctrine which he delivered unto men They are in the iii. John 31. where he says He that COMETH from above is above all He that is of the Earth is Earthly and speaketh of the Earth He that COMETH from Heaven is above all That is He who appears from Heaven with such a Divine Authority who delivers the mind of God in so rare a manner that one may see he hath been with God must needs excel all other persons in dignity Moses and the Prophets and me also who am of an Earthly extraction born like other men and can speak only like a man poor and low things in comparison with those which that Heavenly teacher delivers who I must needs again confess is far superiour to me because he is not a mere man but comes from Heaven and so is above all Prophets whatsoever who had more of the Earth than of Heaven in them that is knew none of those secret counsels of God concerning mans everlasting bliss nor could direct us in so short but plain and sure a way to it as he hath done And then it follows ver 32 33. And what he hath seen and heard that he testifieth c. He that hath received his testimony hath set to his seal that God is true For he whom God hath sent speaketh the words of God That is he speaks such things that a man may easily see he is the only begotten of the Father who is in his bosom and knows his very mind having as certain an understanding of Heavenly things as we have of what we see and hear And therefore whosoever believes him does no more but assent to God whose words he speaks by a particular commission he received from him to act in his Name It is very observable that just after the mention of these Witnesses 1 John v. 10. S. John adds that He who believes not this record which God gives of his Son hath made him a liar as on the other side John the Baptist here says That he who doth receive his testimony i. e. believes solemnly acknowledges God to be true From whence I conclude that what is said in this Epistle hath a relation to that which is writ in the Gospel which I take to be no more than this That the Divineness of Jesus his Doctrine the purity and Heavenly strain of his discourses his preaching as if he had heard and seen the Father and knew the state of things above his speaking the Words of God not as anothers like the Prophets before him but as his own was a great testimony to him that he was sent of God in that quality that he pretended So that they who received him did but rely upon the Truth of God and give up their faith to him who hereby as well as other ways perswaded them that this was his Son 2. But then that which I mainly insist upon is this second consideration That his pure most holy Doctrine and Life was a great argument of his Divinity because this was part of his Doctrine that he was the Son of God For who can think that a person of his vertue who taught men both by word and deed such reverence to God and such justice and charity to men could be guilty of putting such an open affront upon the one and such an abuse upon the other as to challenge this title and propound himself to be received in this quality if he had not a just and undoubted right to it He that came with so much sanctity and holiness in all his other words and all his other actions one cannot but conclude was as holy and free from sin in this as much as in any thing else that he said he was the Christ and perswaded the people to believe he was the Son of the blessed This is certain He affirmed himself to be the Christ the Son of God first to his Disciples And that both before his sufferings xvi Matth. 16 17. ix Mark 41. and also after his resurrection xxiv Luke 46. And then to others also who were as yet none of them as 1. to the woman of Samaria iv John 26. Then 2. to the blind man whose eyes he opened ix John 35 36 37. And lastly he asserted it when he was brought before his Judges as you have heard already and this very matter was brought in question yea when they adjured him by the true God and as he bare any respect to him to tell them the very truth in this thing Now who is there that would not infer from hence that all the rest of his Doctrine being so opposite to all lying and every other vice and his whole life giving such a proof of his perfect vertue that they had nothing to ground a charge upon against him but merely this profession of his own wherein if he had pleased he might have been silent it is not in the least credible that a person of his integrity should after so long speaking truth now at the last be guilty of speaking a lye And 2. a lye of such a dangerous consequence as this by which if it were one he and a world of Souls must be undone Yea 3. that he should tell it so often to so many persons And that 4. before the Magistrates who are Gods in this world And that 5. when they were desirous and very importunate to know the truth Yea 6. before God himself by whose name he was solemnly adjured to speak nothing but the truth How is it possible that such a man as he should be so void of all fear of God as to offend him in so high a manner There are none sure whose unstandings are sound or whose consciences are not crackt who can so much as fancy much less perswade themselves to believe that a person whose innocence was so great that all the false witnesses they could find men who cared not for their own lives could not be masters of his should now in such a serious manner when he was going out of the world put such an horrid cheat upon it and with the loss of his life too upon a shameful gibbet as
to say that he came from God if he had no warrant for it All sober men must rather confidently believe that He who arrived as I have often said at such an height of blameless purity in all other points whatsoever was as free from blame in this also and said nothing but the very Truth when He so solemnly and so frequently before God and before men in his life-time and at his death professed that he was the Son of God And if any man still object that his uprightness indeed was so great that without all doubt he would not invent such a tale as this and affirm what he did not believe but yet he might be mistaken and believe that which was not true He may answer himself from his own concessions For if he consider how free our Saviour was from all ambitious desires how modestly he refused to be advanced how void he was of covetousness and all other worldly appetites which may blind a mans reason and abuse his understanding and likewise how admirably he discourses how rational and convincing how sublime and heavenly all his Sermons are He will soon be satisfied that it is not credible a person of his wisdom should be ruled by mere fancy or of his goodness be carried into a vain dream by any sensual affections which had no place in him This is the first acception of the word WATER which you see clears our Lord from all imputation of fraud and washes off all aspersions that might be cast upon him of imposture For there is not the least spot or blemish appears in the whole course of his Life to render him suspected of any guile much less of so great a deceit as this to feign himself the Son of God Nay his Doctrine is so Divine so much beyond the strain of the wisest men that ever spake that it demonstrates he was as little obnoxious to be deluded himself as he was inclined and disposed to delude others II. Let us now proceed to see what testimony may be drawn from this WATER in behalf of our Lord if we take it in the other sence for BAPTISM in which we make a profession of PURITY And there is a twofold BAPTISM by which our Lord may be said to COME that is to appear a Person sent of God as his only begotten Son The first is the Baptism of John the second is his own Baptism I. As for the Baptism of John it may be said that our Saviour CAME by or with this WATER both because John when he baptized men with Water preached that He was coming iii. Matth. 11. i. John 30. and because He brought this Baptism along with him or rather sent it a little before him as a testimony of him which would prepare his way and dispose their hearts to receive him as the Christ of God For it is manifest that it was intendded as a proof of this from those words of our Saviour himself by which he stopt the mouths of the Pharisees and took away all matter of cavil from them when he asserted his supreme Authority both over them and over their Temple xxi Matth. 23 24 25 26. There you read that our Saviour having come in Triumph to Jerusalem ver 8 9. and there received Hosanna's from old and young and been saluted as the Son of David that is their KING who the Prophet had said ver 5. should come unto them meek and sitting upon the Foal of an Asse and he having cast the buyers and sellers out of the Temple ver 12. and prohibited them to carry so much as a vessel through it as S. Mark tells us xi 16. and being now teaching the people there the Chief Priests and the Elders came to him and examined him by what Authority he did these things and who gave him this Authority That is they bid him produce his Commission if he had any and show them from whom he was SENT and CAME to take this Office not only of a Teacher but of a Reformer and that of the Temple it self and likewise who warranted him to ride in such pomp to Jerusalem as the Son of David the Lord of that Country The Answer of our Saviour to this question is that they might soon be resolved if they would but satisfie him in another question concerning another person who was come also in an unusual manner among them And that was whether John had a Commission from God to baptize or came of himself by the allowance of men only Answer me but this question says he and I will tell you by what authority I do these things Consider of it and tell me what you think whence was John's Baptism from Heaven or of Men That is who gave him his power to preach to reprove to call men to repentance to receive confession of sins and to do all other things belonging to his Ministry which Baptism accompanied and constantly waited upon Did God bid him go or was it from a motion of his own While they consulted for an Answer to this question of our Saviours they clearly saw their own answered And they were not so dull but that they could easily discern our Lord would irrefragably prove his Divine Authority and make them confess he was the Messias unless they would adventure to say that which all the Country would decry not only as a falsity but an egregious calumny For if they had affirmed that John entred upon the Office of Baptizing and Teaching the people out of his own private will and inclination or by commission from some men in this opinion they knew they should be singular because all the people held him to be a Prophet That is it was the sence of the whole Nation then and so it was afterward as appears by Josephus that the Baptist was a Divine Man inspired by God and sent of him to do what he did which would have made them the publick scorn and hatred if without a reason able to confute all the Country they should have denied it But then if they should grant this and say He was sent of God which was the only thing they could say with safety if they would affirm either they saw themselves in as ill or worse a case another way being as much afraid of what Jesus would say if this were confessed as they were of what the people would say if it were contradicted For as the people would have cried shame on them if they had disparaged John's ministry so if they allowed it to be from Heaven then they knew Jesus would unanswerably prove his Commission to be from Heaven too and tell them that John whom they took for a Divine Man should acquaint them with his authority and from whom he had it for he bare witness in express words that he was the Christ the Son of God They thought it a safer course therefore to leave this question undetermined and to say they could not tell whence his Baptism was than by
resolving it either way to give with their own mouths so great an advantage to him whom they questioned and opposed But by saying nothing they plainly confessed that if they had gone on to dispute with him He would have had the better of them and have made it appear from John Baptists testimony that He had an authority far greater than that which they must have acknowledged in him For though our Saviour thought good for brevity-sake to propound this argument to them by way of question and so let them reason it out within themselves yet it was as forcible they plainly felt as if he had pleaded with them in this manner My Authority which you call in question is every evident I have it from Heaven and not from Men as I prove by this argument If the Baptism of John be from Heaven then from thence I come now you cannot deny if you will speak out that his Baptism is from thence and therefore I make the conclusion that my Authority is Divine The consequence was as clear as the Sun that if John was sent by God then so was Jesus in that quality wherein he appeared because John as you shall see gave this testimony to him which could not be questioned after they had granted him to be a Prophet The only thing that could be denied in this Argument was that John's Baptism was from Heaven or that God authorized him to say and do what he did But this they durst not oppose because then to rid themselves of one Enemy they should bring the whole Nation as we say about their ears who did not take John for a counterfeit but thought that he was a Prophet INDEED xi Mark 32. Nay they themselves never adventured to call John before their Council much less advised how they might put him to death as they did our Saviour But on the contrary many of the Pharisees and the Sadducees came to his Baptism iii. Matth. 7. They were as inclinable to reverence him as the people For God who had spoken heretofore to that Nation so long by Prophets whom they thought themselves bound to believe had plainly manifested him to be one Nay he was not a common Prophet but one of an extraordinary rank The Prophet of the Highest his Father calls him and more than a Prophet in the language of our Saviour as you shall hear presently What should they do then which way should they turn themselves now that they durst not deny the Proposition upon which this consequence evidently depended that Jesus was the Christ Their only resuge was silence For though thereby they acknowledged him too hard for them and suffered his Divine authority to stand supported by this unanswered Argument yet they had rather part so and shamefully break off the disputation which they themselves had begun than let him go away with their express confession and testimony that if the Prophet of the Highest might be believed he was their Christ It was no disadvantage to our Saviour but to their own cause that they answered they could not tell whence John's Baptism was For hereby it appeared He had so much to say for himself that if they would say any thing in this matter and not obstinately hold their peace they must say as He did that He was the Son of God For John Baptist whose Heavenly authority they durst not deny though they would not confess it received all men into this belief when they came to him that there was one COMING after him who should gather Disciples as he did and that he was the Christ This he told them was the very end of his Preaching and Baptizing to prepare the way of the Lord to make them fit and ready to entertain the next Prophet that should appear as greater than him even as the Son of God And therefore when Jesus did openly appear and come to his Baptism and John saw the Spirit descend and remain on him then he told them in plain terms that this was the person whose way he came to prepare and that they must receive him as the Son of God and the Lamb of God that taketh away the sins of the world i. John 29 30 34. And that which he said at this time there is no doubt he declared at all times when the people came to be baptized For thus the Jews describe Jesus when they disputed with some of John's Scholars about his Baptism iii. Joh. 25. HE TO WHOM THOU BAREST WITNESS behold the same baptizeth c. ver 26. Thence he is frequently called one of his WITNESSES and said to come for this end that he might be a WITNESS to him that ALL men through him might believe that is might be perswaded that Jesus was the WORD of God by this testimony of John i. John 6 7 8. And our Saviour afterwards appeals to this Testimony of his and bids the Jews consider it v. John 32 33. For you know says he that he bare WITNESS to me when ye sent to him And I know that the WITNESS which he WITNESSETH of me is true And great reason there was that they should consider it and be convinced by it For John was a burning and a shining light as it there follows ver 35. and they themselves were willing for a season to rejoyce in his light If that fit was over and now they were less delighted in him it was merely because he testified of Jesus There was nothing else to damp their affection for otherways they could not but confess him to be an illustrious person Who shined with the greater splendour because He was miraculously conceived in his Mothers old Age and his Birth was predicted by an Angel and his Father struck dumb because he believed not his Word and this Angel appeared in the very Temple at the Altar of Incense and therefore was not like to be a delusion And his Father was indued with the Spirit of Prophecy and his tongue unloosed when this Child came to be Circumcised Then He spake concerning his quality by the inspiration of the Holy Ghost and John appeared to be prophetically endowed from a child God also took care of his education in the Wilderness where he was trained up to a resemblance of Elias so that his life and manners transcended all in that Age and his Spirit and Doctrine was so powerful and convincing that it was hard for them to say who he was the people admiring his sanctity and preaching held him for a Prophet and some of the Priests and Levites having such an esteem of him that it was a question among them whether he was not the CHRIST They were sent you know from Jerusalem to enquire about it i. John 19 20 c. and yet this Person who shined with such a lustre whom Jesus himself calls the greatest that had been born of women of whom he was baptized declares to these persons who came to ask who he was that he was not worthy so much
proved John's words to be true which he spake of him that he should be preferred before him be the true Joshua whom they must all follow the Messiah the KING of Israel to whose conduct they must trust if they meant to enter into rest I have done with the first BAPTISM that of John which if you consider throughly the Person from whom Jesus received it the place where he went into the water the testimony that was here given him both by the Father by the Holy Ghost and by John you will easily grant it might well be affirmed in respect to all these that he came by WATER and that this was one of his WITNESSES II. It is time now to come to the second particular and take into consideration awhile his OWN BAPTISM which he administred For that is not without some proof that he was the CHRIST Indeed Jesus himself baptized not but his Disciples as you read iv John 2. But yet because whatsoever a Servant doth by the authority of his Master it is reputed the Masters Act and he himself is said to do it therefore Jesus also is said to baptize in the same Evangelist iii. 26. iv 1. Now this was an argument to the Jews that he was the Messiah 1. First because all expected that the Messiah or CHRIST should come with Baptism and thereby renew the world as the Hebrew Doctors sometime speak It began they say in the time of Moses when he brought them to receive the Law from God and entred them by this Ceremony of washing into a new Religion xix Exod 10 14. By which they tell us Proselytes were received into their communion in succeeding times when they passed from the state of Gentilism and were regenerated to worship God with the Israelites And therefore when CHRIST came and with him a new world for there is nothing more common in their Books than to call his days The WORLD TO COME they concluded he should begin it with Baptism as Moses did that frame of things which he erected This is certain it was one of their marks of him that in his days there should be an universal Baptism and cleansing of the people Which they gather from xiii Zach. 1. where we read of a FOUNTAIN opened for sin and for uncleanness and from several places in the Prophet Isaiah where he speaks of the Waters in the wilderness in which S. Mark tells us John baptized i. 4. and from the xxxvi Ezek. 25. where he says I will sprinkle Water upon you c. a new heart also will I give you which is applied by the Apostles to the days of Christ who began his new Kingdom with washing with Water or Baptism in his name And therefore when John the Baptist came with this Water they sent as I noted before to know of him who he was thinking he might be the Christ For which there appears no reason for he did not work so much as one miracle but that all Judea and all the region about Jordan went out to him and were BAPTIZED of him in Jordan confessing their sins iii. Matth. 5 6. And therefore when He told them that he was not the CHRIST nor Elias nor that other Prophet whom they expected to accompany him they ask him then i. John 25. Why BAPTIZEST thou if thou art none of these They thought it was not in the power of any man to institute and introduce this new Ceremony unless he was either the CHRIST or his Forerunner or some other Prophet Jeremiah it is like who they fansied should rise from the dead and come along with him A new Ceremony I call it because though we should grant that Baptism was in use among them as much hath been said by Mr. Selden * Lib. de Jure Nat. L. de Succession among others to prove it yet thereby they only received Proselytes and their children from other Countries But it was not the manner to baptize Jews such as were grown and adult much less did any of the Masters in Israel gather Disciples after this fashion and therefore the Sanhedrim might well send to enquire who this was that took upon him to call all the Country to repent and sanctifie themselves and also like a Prophet had particular scholars ministring unto him The most learned of the Jews indeed had but confused notions of things to come and the Priests and Levites you see here by their questions did not certainly know whether Baptizing with such an authority was a sign that a man was the Christ or not yet they generally inclined to believe that it was a note of him as may be gathered I think from iii. Luke 15. where you read that the people were in expectation knew not what to think but waited that John would declare the Christ to them and ALL MEN mused in their hearts of John that is debated and reasoned within themselves as it is in the Margin whether John would at last declare himself to be the Christ or not And another Argument there is to prove that they lookt upon Baptism as a mark of the Messiah for as soon as our Saviour began to make this his business and to authorize his Disciples to baptize then they were more in suspense as that word expectation in S. Luke now mentioned may be rendred than ever And knew not what to imagine when they saw two great men doing one and the same thing and thereby drawing the people after them But after they had debated the matter better it seems they began to leave their opinion of John's being the Messiah and to look rather upon Jesus as the person at least to have some thoughts that it might be so For we find in iii. John 25. that there arose a controversie between some of John's Disciples and some Jews who were not his Disciples about purifying or cleansing by which may be understood Baptism which was the sign and the instrument of it And the dispute as far as the following discourse directs our conjectures was this Whether their Master John's Baptism or that of Jesus was the best and which of them a Jew should receive For they saw them both baptise Jesus in Judea ver 22. and John in Enon near to Sabim ver 23. To which of these places therefore they should resort seems to be the question If John's baptism was from Heaven why should it be laid aside or why should another come and take his work out of his hand Was Jesus now sent with a greater authority so that they must leave John and go to him To this his Disciples being able to give no satisfaction they go to the Master himself for a resolution and tell him Rabbi he that was with thee beyond Jordan to whom thou barest witness behold the same baptizeth and all men come to him As much as to say we are much perplexed being in doubt which of you two to receive for our Master For Jesus who was baptized of thee
at Bethabara a note they imagined of his inferiority to John and yet had a testimony from thy self that he was sent of God too does not only now take upon him thy office and thereby lessen and extenuate thy authority but quite eclipses and obscures thee baptizing far more than thou dost Which shows that they began to conceive John was not the man they had taken him for but that Jesus rather should enjoy that name which they had been apt hitherto to bestow upon him and their Argument was because Jesus baptized more Disciples than the other did To this John answers in the next words ver 27. A man can receive or take unto himself nothing except it be given him from Heaven That is let not this trouble you that Jesus Baptizes and all come to him it is no more than I told you that I was no body in comparison with him For no man can honestly assume more authority to himself than his Commission gives him And for that reason I could not do so much as Jesus does because I have not received so much nor can pretend so large a power from God who alone can give it And then he adds that it is strange they should forget what he had told them in express words ver 28. Ye your selves bear me witness that I said I AM NOT THE CHRIST but that I am sent before him That is it is a wonder you raise this dispute when I never gave you any occasion to fancy me to be as great as he but told you plainly as you your selves may remember that I was not your KING anointed by God to rule over you all the honour that I had being no more than this to be ordered to come and prepare his way for him I never intended that my washing you with Water or gathering Disciples should be a mark that I was the CHRIST Alas I only baptized you with the water of repentance that you might be disposed to believe on him who I told you was coming To whom you would do well now that he is come to go and be baptized of him For he brings a nobler baptism than that of mine being as much above me as the Bridegroom at a wedding is above him who only waits upon him and prepares things belonging to the marriage That 's the sence of the 30. verse I never intended to set up my self as the Principal person in this business that we are come about For I know very well that he who hath the bride is the bridegroom that is he is the Head of the Church or people of God to whom God hath designed that high honour And that is Jesus not I who am only his Friend sent before to make things ready for him It is a great honour for me to be one of his Disciples and to receive his instructions And I am glad with all my heart that I live to hear him preach It is an exceeding great pleasure to me all the joy I can desire to hear him the Bridegroom speaking to his Bride the Church and telling her himself what he intends to do for her and what he would have her to do Question no more therefore to whom you should go for purifying from your sins nor think it strange that he Baptizes more than I. For He must increase but I must decrease ver 30. There remains now nothing for me to do but I must be obscure as Theophylact glosses like the day-Star when the Sun arises All must become his Disciples even they who now are mine and I my self too as in truth I am For he says the Friend of the Bridegroom that is himself standeth which was the posture of a Scholar before his Master and heareth him rejoycing greatly because of his voice that is because he is come to teach who could do it better than himself For there is as much difference he presently adds in the next words ver 31. which I have explained before between their two doctrines as there is between the Heaven and the Earth And therefore they must needs be inexcusable who did not receive his testimony ver 32. and become his Disciples Who came with such authority from God ver 33. and had not the Spirit by measure ver 34. but the power to reveal the whole will of God and do all his pleasure ver 35. For as he concludes everlasting life is the portion of him who believeth on Jesus but if a man believe not he shall never see life but the wrath of God abideth on him Thus you see John himself directs them again unto Jesus and bids them go to his Baptism become his Disciples and no longer doubt whether he was the Christ or not For as he did not pretend to an equality with Jesus so they should see his fame continually decline and grow less by the growth of the Glory of Jesus who should shine alone by himself and quite darken him So Gregory * Hom. 20. in Evang. the Great expounds those words now mentioned ver 30. He must increase and I must decrease the sence of which he seems to have hit better than any that I have seen when he says In what was John diminished and our Saviour advanced but in this that the people seeing the abstinence of John and his retirement from the society of the world imagined him to be the Christ whereas our Saviour whom they beheld eating with Publicans and keeping the company of sinners they fancied was not the Christ but only a Prophet But when in process of time both Jesus who was taken for a Prophet appeared to be the Christ and John who was taken for the Christ was discovered to be but a Prophet then was fulfilled what he had foretold He must increase and I must decrease For both our Saviour increased in the esteem of the people because he was acknowledged to be what he was and John decreased because he ceased to be called what he was not 2. And this leads me to the next consideration which I shall but briefly mention That as John directed them to prefer our Saviours Baptism before his and to become the Disciples of a far greater Master so the end of the Baptism of Jesus was to entertain men for his Disciples that thereby they might make profession of their belief in him And here now our Saviour began to eclipse the lustre of John and showed himself much superiour to him both in that he did not administer Baptism himself by his own hands as John did but appointed his Disciples to do it who thereby became equal with John and that he gathered Disciples to himself whereas John Baptized them into the belief of him that was to come after him as you read expresly xix Acts 4. None I suppose can doubt of this but that they who received baptism from our Saviour's Disciples who waited constantly upon him did thereby own Jesus for a Teacher or Master sent of God as Nicodemus speaks
iii. John 2. and consequently professed themselves desirous to learn of him and ready to believe what he taught But I cannot say that they baptized them now into the Name of Jesus or into a belief that he was the Christ as they did after his ascension into Heaven For they were forbid to publish this openly xvi Matth. 20. men were to learn it by degrees under his discipline to which they delivered themselves by being baptized of him Yet this prepared them for the belief that he was their Christ which his Apostles afterward most zealously and strongly asserted by Baptism For when he was exalted at Gods right hand they went according to his Commission and Discipled all Nations baptizing them into his name as well as into the name of the Father That is they engaged them to believe that Jesus was the Christ the Son of God otherways they would not baptize them By this WATER therefore he may be said to come because he hereby made proselytes to himself whom he undertook to teach and instruct after the manner of the Prophets but with an authority which spoke him to be greater than all Prophets and because it was not a baptism like John's with simple water but was presently after accompanied with the Holy Ghost Nay the Baptism it self was a WITNESS to him joyned with what went before because it argued authority and such as was much superiour to that of John though he was greater than any Prophet which could be no other therefore but that of Christ For who beside could baptize the whole Nation and into an higher Institution than his whom they took for the Christ who confessed and asserted and no body appeared to contradict it that he was not that light by whom they must begin to be illuminated by Baptism but Jesus was the true light which coming into the world lighteneth every man John's baptism therefore as S. Basil * Exhort ad Bapt. aptly calls it was only 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 introductory to something else more perfect than it self that is to our Saviour's baptism which was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that which completed men in a full belief that he was the Christ 3. For lastly the Baptism which the Apostles administred especially after his Resurrection and Exaltation was an entrance of men into a new Religion For they did not baptize them into Moses but into another Name that of the Lord Jesus This was a sign that He who had so many ways been approved of God among them as S. Peter speaks was indeed the Christ For what greater mark could there be of supreme authority than the setting up in such a manner as he did an Institution and Discipline which was not known before and teaching those who received his baptism to observe a new Law without those rites which had been hitherto used Who could repeal the Ordinances of Moses nay abrogate Circumcision which was ancienter than Moses but only He who had the same power with him that gave the Law to Moses and Circumcision to Abraham their Father viz. the Son of God himself Yet this did our Jesus and Baptism was the Rite appointed by him for the admission of Disciples into the profession of this new Religion which took away the old as unprofitable By this they were born again and became his children that is his scholars for the sons or children of the Prophets were their disciples those who learnt of them whom he indued with his principles and called after his name And he plainly declared as you read in his discourse with Nicodemus that no man could have any part in that Kingdom which the Messiah was setting up in the world if he contented himself with the old Religion and were not by baptism born again that is suffered himself to be further informed and proceeded to entertain the Religion which he delivered Thus far Nicodemus was gone already to believe him to be a Master sent of God which was the opinion of others of their Rulers besides himself for he says WE know it Why then did he not own it by receiving his baptism and thereby put himself under the discipline of this Master That being instructed by him till he acknowledged that he was the Christ he might be taught at last by the Spirit when it came down upon the Apostles and so be perfectly born again or informed in the Christian Religion Till this was done he was but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as Gregory Nazianz * Orat. 16. calls him a lover of Christ by halves To make him an intire Christian he was to receive his Baptism and to own him to have full power and authority from God to make what change he pleased so far as to turn them into new men and to make them over again The Pharisees one would think saw very well that this was the consequence of his gathering so many disciples by baptism that he out-did John the Baptist For to avoid their rage which they had conceived against him upon this account but never expressed against John he left Judea where he was baptizing as you heard before iii. 22. because they had great power there and departed into Galilee again where their authority was less iv 1 2 3. They were afraid of an innovation in the state of things which they had a mind should continue as they were Their Baptism they saw would signifie nothing if he went on thus to make disciples Whom he informed according to his own mind and perswaded to believe on him as their King in whose Sovereign power it was to make all old things pass away and cause all things to become new By this WATER therefore He may be said to COME and it may be called one of his WITNESSES as he baptized that is gave his Apostles authority to baptize men not into Moses but into himself to learn new lessons of him and to leave the old though they had been taught by God himself Who found no fault at all with this baptism but justified it as you shall see many ways to be according to his mind and in pursuance of his will And so much pains may suffice about the examination of the first WITNESS of these three that speak on Earth which is WATER The Holiness of Jesus both in his Doctrine and Life and the Baptism both of John and of Jesus I wish that every one who considers how great and necessary a proof this was of Jesus his being the Son of God would labour to prove himself to be indeed born of him by the same argument of purity and holiness For as we could never have believed Jesus to have been God's Son unless he had come thus by Water no more can any man rationally conclude that he is one of those whom he will own for his children unless he conform to his holy will by washing himself from all filthiness and becoming clean every whit Read over the Sermons and the Life of Christ and
the raising of Lazarus which had drawn many of the Jews to him and he promises shortly to make it appear more brightly by raising up Jesus from the dead which would draw also many such Gentiles as these to believe on his name To conclude this that which the above named Jewish writer pretends in favour of Moses that he appeared and did his wonders in an age when the world was full of wisdom and knowledge is a great deal truer of our blessed Saviour For as he rightly notes * Sepher Cosri Par. 1. Sect. 63. that Learning still went along with the Monarchies so it never was at a greater height than in the greatest Empire that of the Romans and in the highest pitch of that Empire when our Saviour appeared Upon which account there cannot be any suspicion of fraud in this or the rest of our Saviours miracles which were not wrought in an ignorant age nor in an obscure and barbarous Nation nor in some blind corner of the Country but openly near a famous City for Bethany was hard by Jerusalem where there were professors of wisdom and in a time when men could easily distinguish between a real miracle and a mere delusion This therefore ought to have opened their eyes to see who he was whose miraculous works they could not but see And it is justly mentioned to their eternal reproach in the conclusion of this story xii John 37. that though he had done so many miracles before them yet they believed not on him For they could not with any colour ascribe them to any power but that of Gods who hereby told them what the voice from Heaven told him that this was his beloved Son in whom he was well pleased II. And truly there can no good reason be given which is the second thing that I told you should be considered why the Apostles should spend so great a part of the short History they have left of his Life in relating his miraculous works if they had not both known them to be evident and notorious things which all the Country could witness and likewise esteemed them mighty demonstrations that he was the Son of God Why else are they so large in describing his cures of several sorts with the manner of them if they were not sure that they could not be contradicted and if they did not desire they should be carefully heeded and concluded likewise that if they were men would acknowledge him to be the CHRIST whom God had sanctified and sent into the world to declare his will to them Which belief if it were once rooted deeply in their hearts the Apostles knew very well would irresistibly constrain them to be obedient to him in every thing This is that which gives his words such authority which makes them sink into our hearts and possesses them of our very Souls and turns all other opinions and perswasions which are inconsistent with them out of doors a belief that our Creator speaks unto us by his mouth They were well aware that it was no easie thing to perswade the world of this but that men might justly doubt of so strange a report For there is such a vast distance between God and us as the Jews make that Gentile King Cosar discourse in the foremention'd Book called after his Name that a man will be apt to think the Majesty of Heaven will not enter into such familiarity and friendship with flesh and bloud as to talk with them Before we can believe this says He we must see prodigies and miracles and behold the course of nature inverted by such astonishing works as can be done by none but him that created all things And it is well if after all this the mind of man will rest satisfied that the Lord of the World the Lord of the Sun and Moon and Stars the Lord of Angels as well as all inferiour Creatures will have society with such vile clay such contemptible dirt as we are And therefore as the Jew in that Discourse with him declares how God demonstrated his presence with Moses by mighty miracles seen by all the people and by their enemies too which were the fittest argument for God to use far beyond the little reasonings and disputings of Philosophers even so the Apostles prove to us that God was in our Saviour and that we ought to believe what he says of himself or concerning us by enumerating many of the mighty wonders which he did in the midst of the people wonders that amazed all beholders and of which they could give no account but that God was with him and spake by him as his Son else he could not have done those things which so much exceeded all the power of Creatures nay all that his own power had wrought for the honour of his servant Moses It was unreasonable that they should in those days ask any greater tokens of a Divine authority and when they did our Saviour told them they should have none but the sign of the Prophet Jonas that is his Resurrection of which I shall speak presently And it is as unreasonable in us now to expect any thing should be better attested than this truth That our Saviour did all those things which the Apostles have recorded We have them reported from those that saw them and that had all opportunities to examine them from those that beheld more of them than they could number men of great fidelity and admirable vertue men that had no interest so great as this to declare the truth for the good of mankind whatsoever they lost by it Unless we will demand that Christ should come again in every Age and also work his wonders in every Nation in every place before every particular mans eyes we can have no better assurance than we have of these things Now how absurdly unreasonable is he who will not be satisfied without such a new descent of our blessed Saviour from Heaven continually repeated and unless he may see him crucified afresh before his eyes For men may as well disbelieve that part of the story as all the rest and require that they may see all those barbarous cruelties and indignities which we read of acted over again upon our Saviour perpetually to the end of the World The very mention of which as it is horrible so should it be done it would destroy the very nature of faith which is the receiving of something upon report And that is one sure way of conveying the notice of things to us which we could not otherwise know And things so made known if the Witnesses be good are accounted by all mankind to be as sufficient a ground to proceed upon in the most considerable actions of humane life as the knowledge of them by seeing feeling and by the rest of our senses is Let us therefore receive the Testimony of the Apostles of our Lord seeing there is no exception as you may hear more before I have done that lies against their
to prove the truth of that which the person that wrought them delivered And therefore as their miracles demonstrated the truth of that message which Moses and the Prophets brought from God So our Saviour's evinced the truth of his which was that they were only the Servants but He the Son of God This was as strongly attested by what he did as any thing the Men of God taught in former times was by their works Yea his miracles bare as fair a proportion in their bigness and number to this high and great thing which they were to prove that he was Gods Son as the miracles of Moses and the Prophets bare to those lesser truths which they were brought to establish And here for to put a period to this part of my discourse it will be very useful to observe the different way of proceeding for the establishing and promoting a Religion instituted by men and a Religion whose author is God This I find very well noted to my hand in a learned Writer of the Jewish Nation whom I have already mentioned * Sepher COSRI Part 1. sect 80 c When men says he make Laws and setle a Religion whose original is from their own minds and devised by themselves though they may pretend that it comes from God yet they are not able to make it take place without the power of the Sword or the countenance and assistance of some Prince who by his Authority shall cause it to be received But a Religion that is indeed Divine is planted in a Divine manner When Laws are derived from God he establishes them by his power and might and over-aws men by such wonders as without any humane force procure obedience Thus says he our Religion began When the Children of Israel were in grievous servitude and when the Land promised to their Fathers was in the hand of potent Kings God sent Moses and Aaron armed with no power but that of working miracles changing the ordinary and usual course of Nature and inflicting in a moment grievous plagues upon the Water the Earth the Air the Plants the Beasts and the Bodies of Men throughout all the Land of Egypt whereby the Prince that kept them in bondage was forced to let them go And in their Journey they were conducted by the guidance of a bright Cloud and they passed through the Sea and they were fed with Manna in the Wilderness XL. Years and saw one Miracle after another which convinced them they ought to submit to that Word of the Lord which Moses spake unto them To this purpose that Writer very rationally discourses Now just as He shows that Moses proved his Mission from God so I have briefly related how our Saviour likewise demonstrated that he was the Royal Prophet whom Moses foretold God would send into the World In an Age when they not only groaned under the Roman Yoke but were also superstitiously inthral'd to a number of Rites and Ceremonies devised by their Elders superadded to all the burden of the Law of Moses and moreover grievously oppressed by the Devil as all the rest of the World likewise were far more than they God raised up a mighty Salvation to them out of the house of his servant David Our Lord that is on a sudden appeared as a Redeemer and Deliverer from the bondage in which they lay not with any worldly policy or force but meerly with the Spirit and Power of God 1 Cor. ii 5. who sent an Herald but without the power of Miracles to proclaim his coming And as soon as he had done crying his mouth being stopt by Herod's throwing him into Prison our Lord presently came forth shining most gloriously in the illustrious works that he did every where which were such as that time called for as Moses his miracles were proper to the occasions and necessities of his days And some of them were very like those wrought by Moses and others bear as great a resemblance to them as twins are wont to do to each other who lie together in the same womb He healed more than Moses killed He turned their water into wine as Moses did the water of the River into bloud He walkt upon the very surface of the Sea and called one of his Disciples to accompany him there He fed multitudes with a little quantity of bread as Moses had fed the Israelites in the Wilderness This he did more than once and that in a Desart too showing what he was able to do if there had been the like need that there was in former times Then they should not have asked what sign shewest thou equal to Moses they mean what dost thou work vi John 30. For it was plain enough he could have fed them forty years in that manner as well as once which was the thing they seem to desire when they say in the next words ver 31. Our Fathers did eat Manna in the Desart as it is written He gave them bread from Heaven to eat That is He did not feed them for one day or two as thou hast done but a long time and that from Heaven let us see thee do so that we may leave him and follow thee And if he had not done enough already to work faith in them and they had lived now alway in a Desart as their Fathers did then no doubt he would for that he could was evident else how should he have fed them thus miraculously at all Many other miracles also declared that he had the same power in the Air that he had on the Earth and could as easily have brought bread from Heaven as multiplied the Loaves which had now filled so many of them The very Devils were as subject to him as the meanest creature in the World And He raised the Dead by his powerful word which Moses never did All which is recorded by the Apostles to show what cause they had to believe in Jesus and how his Religion was planted and propagated in the world as the other wonders are recorded by Moses to show with what authority he came and how he setled the Israelites in the belief of his Laws And there is no more cause to question whether Jesus be the Son of God the Lord of the World who came with such a SPIRIT than there was then to doubt whether Moses was his servant and the Lawgiver of that people among whom he did such wonders Nor so much neither for the greater his pretences were the greater reason there was that they should have been discountenanced by such a SPIRIT as was in him if they had not been true It is incredible that God should let the world be abused so long by so many miracles and so great that never was the like without any the least confutation and abused by a lye of so dangerous a nature and so reproachful to his Name and so directly opposite to his Government which this Person if he were an Impostor and said he was his Son
it was no common thing but the BLOUD of the Holy one of God It witnessed to that WITNESS and proved that as he did not speak contrary to his knowledge so he did not speak contrary to the truth And if the SPIRIT could not be believed in this it would have lost all its credit and never have been believed more we could never have known any thing by the greatest wonders it can work if such things had been done for a deceiver as it is apparent were done for Jesus For that he was raised up to life again we are assured by the testimony of the Apostles and by the testimony of the Holy Ghost of which none can reasonably doubt as it were easie to show if it were not my present business rather to demonstrate that this was an irrefragable testimony of the SPIRIT to him a most powerful means to beget faith and assurance in mens minds that Jesus is the Son of God It was for this very end that S. John wrote the History of his Resurrection and the several signs and tokens they had of it as he tells us in those words xx John 30 31. Many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his Disciples which are not written in this Book But these are written that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ the Son of God and that believing ye might have life through his Name For this plainly reversed the sentence of condemnation which the Jews had pass'd upon him It showed that he was acquitted in a far higher Court than that which judged him worthy of death Whose decree it rescinded and openly declared that he was no Blasphemer when he said he was the Son of God If he had God would have been more concern'd than they to have kept him fast in his grave for ever that there so great a lye might have been buried together with himself For the further clearing of which it will be fit to consider briefly these three things First that before he died he promised his Apostles that he would rise again and gave this also as a sign to all the people whereby they should know that he was the Christ And secondly that he declared this to be the greatest sign he had to give of it And thirdly that his very enemies confess it is a sufficient sign and satisfactory testimony of any truth I. For the first of these that it was a sign promised to his Apostles and predicted to the people there is nothing more easie to be observed in the Gospel story For he tells his Apostles very often that they should see him betrayed and killed but on the third day he would rise again No sooner had S. Peter confessed that he was the CHRIST but from that time forth Jesus began to shew them how that he must go to Jerusalem and there suffer many things and be killed and be raised again the third day xvi Matth. 21. For he would not have them expect a Christ that should reign here on Earth but in Heaven And till he went thither he would not have them so much as preach that he was the CHRIST ver 20. And what he had said here at Caesarea he repeats again when they were in Galilee xvii Matth. 22 23. And again when they were going up to Jerusalem xx 19. And not many hours before he was apprehended he said again A little while and ye shall not see me and again a little while and ye shall see me because I go to the Father xvi John 16. At which words they were greatly troubled because they minded more what he said about his death than they regarded his resurrection which was to follow But the greater their trouble was then the greater their satisfaction was afterwards when they saw him alive again The less disposed they were to believe it the more confident they grew when they saw such a wonder They wept and lamented when he was gone as he told them they would ver 20. But when he came to see them again their heart rejoyced with such a joy as none could dispoil them of ver 22. The ground of which joy you shall see presently when I have also remembred you how he foretold his Resurrection to the people as a testimony that he was the CHRIST It was their wont in all Ages and with great reason to ask for a sign that a man was sent of God And therefore now that Jesus came with such authority as to redress many abuses among them and to reform that Nation and Temple they ask him what sign shewest thou unto us seeing that thou doest these things ii Joh. 18. He had given them signs enough already and therefore makes no other answer but this to let them know what should be the last sign Destroy this Temple pointing to his own body and in three days I will raise it up vers 19. From whence we may safely argue that Jesus having given this as a sign and token whereby it should evidently appear more than by all his miracles that he was the Son of God the Almighty would never have fulfilled this promise and prediction if He had usurped his authority and taken upon him to be his ANOINTED without his leave Nothing was more easie than to quash all his pretences which relyed upon his Resurrection without which his Apostles as I told you had no authority to Preach that he was the Christ It had been but letting him rot in his grave as all men naturally do when they are dead and all the World would have been of the mind of the Pharisees that he was a Deceiver And God sure hath not so little care of the World as to deny them such ready and obvious means of satisfaction about the most important truth We ought to think rather that he would have concerned himself to see that this Temple which he spake of should lye for ever in its ruines and be turned to dust and ashes He who alone could do it would have been so far from rearing it up again that he would have provided it should be prophaned and made the vilest rubbish in the World But there being very good proofs many infallible proofs as S. Luke speaks i. Act. 3. that it was quite otherwayes and that indeed it was raised after three days as he had told the People it was a Testimony from God most high that He dwelt in that Temple and that it was his Holy place where he manifested his glory He declared to them by this that Jesus was no Deceiver but that they ought to believe he was the Christ of God For that a man should be raised from the dead by any other power than that of God's all the World concludes is impossible If any of those lying spirits which love to cheat and abuse the world could do such feats why do we not see this frequently happen that so they might break the force of this testimony and overthrow our belief Above
all things they should be concerned one would think to work this wonder for then we should be forced to confess that there is nothing so eminent and singular in this thing as to move us to give credit unto Jesus But since it never has been done but only in this instance and it was also a fulfilling of his word when he gave it as a token of this truth we have reason to conclude as S. Paul did after he had seen him alive that this is very CHRIST Upon this ground it was that the Apostles so much rejoyced when they saw him again for now as S. John tells us ii 22. when he was risen from the dead they remembred that he had said this unto them concerning the raising up the Temple of his Body and they believed the Scripture and the word which Jesus had said Now they were assured they had not been deluded and yielded their assent all this while to a fancy They saw clearly that he was their KING though he had been vilely disgraced and crucified And therefore when they parted with him again after his Resurrection they did not lament and mourn as they had done before but worshipped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy and were continually in the Temple praising and blessing God xxiv Luk. 52 53. II. But it is time to add that as it was a sign which he gave them before-hand of this Truth so he told them it was the greatest sign which he had to give He had done many things in his life time to perswade the Jews that he was the CHRIST But still they were so perverse as to ask for more signs of it Though he had done more miracles than ever Moses or all the Prophets had done from the beginning yet the Pharisees continue to say Master we would see a sign from thee xii Matth. 38. One would think they had a mind to learn of him since they call him Master but it was only a complement as S. Luke informs us xi 16. And therefore our Saviour calls them an evil and adulterous generation who were degenerated from the manners of their pious ancestors for they were contented with less proofs of that which God required them to believe and would have been ashamed to seek after a sign as these men did after such evident tokens of a Divine presence in him as they beheld Why should he gratifie men of so naughty a humour whom nothing would satisfie but a sign from Heaven which S. Luke says they demanded nor would be convinced then neither he clearly discerned by their frivolous cavils at all that he had already done Therefore he tells them no sign shall be given them but the sign of the Prophet Jonas which was not a sign from Heaven but from the bowels of the Earth For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the Whales belly so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the Earth vers 39 40. Which was as much as to say It is in vain to attempt the conviction of such corrupt and depraved minds as yours are by such means as these And therefore I must tell you all that is remaining for the opening your eyes and conquering your perversness is my Resurrection As Jonas was miraculously restored again to live upon the earth after he had been swallowed up by a Whale in the Sea and layn there three days which was a notable sign that he was a Prophet and could not but obtain him credit with the Ninevites when they came to the knowledge of this wonder So will I be restored again to life after you have killed me and I have layn three days in the bowels of the earth and if this will not satiffie you there is no other sign to follow this for your conviction But let me tell you as he adds vers 41. if you still persist in unbelief when this is fulfilled the men of Nineveh shall rise in judgment with you and condemn you for they repented at Jonas his preaching and behold a greater than Jonas is here That is though Jonas was not really dead but only had his life wonderfully preserved yet the report of it wrought faith and the fruits of faith repentance and amendment in the hearts of the Ninevites and what a condemnation will it prove to you if after you have seen me actually dead and it be demonstrated to you that I am raised to life again you will not believe on me The very same thing is repeated again xvi Matth. 4. where they having once more demanded a sign from Heaven ver 1. He answers them that they should have none but this of Jonas and he left them and departed As if he had said I have nothing more to say to you now all that remains is that I dye and rise again which is the last and greatest token that I am the CHRIST And indeed this was a sign so great that it gave force and strength to the other signs which had been given of this Truth For in the next Chapter Matth. xvii 9. we read that Three Apostles having been confirmed in this belief by a voice from Heaven which said This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased hear ye him Jesus charges them saying Tell the Vision to no man until the Son of man be risen again from the dead Till He had taken possession of his Kingdom and was set upon his Throne and thence sent the Holy Ghost He saw it would be to no purpose for the Apostles to publish this testimony of God the Father to him For they had already slighted the testimony of John Baptist who heard the like Voice from Heaven at his Baptism and thereupon bare witness that Jesus was the Christ And therefore it was not likely that they would listen to the Apostles when they came and testified that the same words were spoken in their hearing until their testimony should be justified by the authority of such a proof as this that he was risen from the dead This would mightily back all that they said and make it undeniable by any but those who would still deny his Resurrection which was wilfully and without any reason not only to call them lyars but to affront the Holy Ghost who witnessed together with them that he was risen from the dead Which being a proof of such strength that our Saviour relyed upon it above all other it is manifest to common reason that if there be a God as we are sure there is who loves sincerity and truth he should above all things have taken order that this should not have had such evidence as it hath if indeed Jesus was not his Son Though he had suffered wonders to be done by him and voices from Heaven had been heard yet still he gained not much belief in the most considerable part of the Jewish Nation and therefore appealing in conclusion to this Grand Testimony sure there
but continued blinder than the Egyptian Magicians when it did so many wonders would shut their eyes against any other means of conviction which could not be expected it must also be remembred because God himself had no higher evidence to give them than this of his SPIRIT But then you must not understand this speech of our Saviour as if he meant that those persons to whom he spake these words had run themselves at that instant into this unpardonable sin but that if they still proceeded to blaspheme it when the SPIRIT had finished its testimony that is done all those things which still were behind for their conviction then they would fall into it and remain in it irrecoverably For you must remember that under the word SPIRIT is comprehended the power that raised Christ from the dead and presented him to God in the Heavens that he might receive of him the promise of the Holy Ghost which he shed upon the Apostles abundantly as a witness of his Resurrection and glorious Exaltation If after this that Jesus was risen again from the dead ascended into Heaven and showed himself to be there by sending the Holy Ghost upon his Apostles they did not believe but still blasphemed the holy name of Jesus and the SPIRIT of God saying That they were drunk who were filled with the Holy Ghost as here they said Jesus had a Devil then they were uncapable of obtaining remission of sin because there was nothing more to be done for their conversion but they must be abandoned to the hardness and impenitence of their hearts This I am sure must be the meaning because our Lord himself after he had pronounced the Pharisees unpardonable who spake against the SPIRIT whereby he cast out Devils tells them expresly that there was one sign more remaining to convince them which is a demonstration they had not yet sinned incurably nor could not till that sign was past and that was the sign as you heard of the Prophet Jonas ver 39 40. which he grants them again xvi 4. should not be denied them Now every body understands by this His Death and Resurrection with those things that followed upon it the sending of the Holy Ghost to enable his Apostle to go and teach all Nations as Jonas went after he came as we may say out of his grave and preached to the great City Nineveh But then this was still the SPIRIT that was thus continued to them by that our Lord being raised and it working wonders also at his Death which if they continued to resist when it had fully done the whole office of a witness and was all poured forth then they were under the absolute sentence of condemnation In brief To blaspheme the SPIRIT in this comprehensive sence of the Word including the Resurrection and that which followed to prove it was the unpardonable sin and none else And thus our Saviour's meaning is to be expounded if one should speak a word against the Son of man that is Him despising him because of his poor Parentage and calling him the Son of a Carpenter or some such name this though blameable might be pardoned propter corporis vilitatem as S. Hierom speaks because of the meanness of his outward appearance Nay if a man proceeded so far as to call him a glutton a Wine-bibber a friend of Publicans and sinners this also might find pardon because he did not hitherto speak evil of the works proper to a God but only of those belonging to a man And more than this should he call him deceiver or seducer when he heard him teach the people it would not be unpardonable because no man is to be believed merely upon his own word But if when these men saw the mighty works of the SPIRIT justifying his preaching to be Divine they still continued to speak evil of him this was a very dangerous blasphemy because they could not after this call him a seducer or false Teacher but they must reproach the holy SPIRIT as well as him and call that the work of the Devil which was performed by the power of the Spirit of God And if when the HOLY GHOST was come from Heaven upon the Apostles witnessing that he was quickned by the SPIRIT and by the same SPIRIT presented to God in the Heavens they still went on to speak evil of him then there was no hope of remission because they blasphemed the last remedy for their recovery which was the Holy Ghost sent down from Heaven to perswade them to repent and believe on his name And that we must take our Saviour in this sence is further apparent from the name of the HOLY GHOST which he uses when he speaks of this unpardonable sin never calling it the blasphemy against the SPIRIT but always the blasphemy against the HOLY GHOST which you know was not as yet given when our Saviour spake these words In the beginning of this discourse xii Matth. 28. he mentions only the SPIRIT But then coming to describe the danger of blaspheming it he doth not say that the blasphemy of the SPIRIT simply that is of those present works of his was unpardonable but that the blasphemy against the HOLY GHOST when it was come should never be forgiven Which must needs be understood as I have already argued concerning the contempt and reproachful usage of those following witnesses the Resurrection Ascension and the preaching of the Apostles endowed with power from on high because though the SPIRIT now wrought among them yet the HOLY GHOST was not come to be his ADVOCATE and plead his cause and therefore could not as yet be blasphemed by them By HOLY GHOST then in our Saviour's language here I suppose is meant all that was left still to be done for his Justification and that it is so wide a word in this place as to include in it the SPIRIT also For he was speaking before of the SPIRIT and therefore when he alters the phrase he doth not leave out the testimony of that but imbraces it within the compass of a larger word which it was necessary to use that he might show when that sin which they had begun in a desperate manner would be so complete that it could never be undone And that was when the HOLY GHOST had consecrated the Apostles to their great office which supposes his Resurrection and filled them with all Divine gifts among which you know was a power xiv John 12. to do greater works than these which our Saviour is here speaking of called the SPIRIT Then if they did not believe there was no remedy but they must perish in their infidelity But till then they to whom our Saviour speaks were not arrived at this hopeless condition because they had hitherto only blasphemed the SPIRIT not the HOLY GHOST which was not yet given because Jesus was not yet glorified But when it was given and they reproached that as they had done the SPIRIT then they were under irrecoverable condemnation
forth and witness against them and say if he could whom they had wronged but of whom they had expected any gratuity for all their kindness to them That was all that Samuel said Whose Oxe or Ass have I taken whom have I defrauded whom have I oppressed or of whose hand have I received any bribe and I will restore it you 1. xii 3. And Moses in that great rebellion against him xvi Num. 15. thinks it sufficient to purge himself in the same manner saying I have not taken one Asse from them nor hurt one of them But S. Paul makes a more noble protestation saying I have COVETED no mans silver or gold or apparel Yea you your selves know that these hands have ministred unto my necessities and to them that were with me xx Act. 33 34. Here was Vertue which made him so far even from desiring any thing of others that he chose by his own hard labour to be both his own benefactor and his Families And what he affirms of himself he also tells us was the pious inclination of several of his Companions such as Silvanus and Timotheus Whose exhortation the Thessalonians knew was not of deceit nor of uncleanness nor of guile for they studied not to please men but God Unto whom they appeal as their Witness that they never used any flattering words nor sought to inrich themselves or to advance their own glory as you read 1 Thess ii 3 4 5. And they were witnesses he adds vers 10. as well as God how holily and justly and unblameably yea how lovingly as it follows vers 11. they behaved themselves among them Now what should tempt such pious Men who so much despised worldly goods and sought not to get any credit to themselves to preach that Jesus was the Son of God if they had not been very sure of this truth which was the constant matter of their Sermons throughout the World Is it likely that such Men should feign a story of things which they never heard nor saw that all their talk of voices from Heaven and Miracles and appearances of Jesus to them after he was dead were only devices and contrivances of their own brain For what end I beseech you should they invent them If their tongues were so well hung and they were so eloquent as to hope to perswade the world to be of their mind it had been wisdome to have imployed them more for their own gain and advantage and not to have preached such a strange and unprofitable Doctrine as this of the crucified Jesus There were far easier tasks to undertake than this and which would have turn'd to a better account here on earth and therefore they who had so much with as to invent would have let this alone had they not known it to be both sure and undoubted and also worthy of all their pains to reveal it that this crucified Jesus was the Son of God But besides this it ought to be considered that from the very beginning our Saviour had taught them to be content with a mean and poor kind of life when he sent them forth to preach in Judaea Go says he x. Matth. 7.9 10. preach and say the Kingdom of God is at hand Freely you have received freely give Provide neither gold nor silver nor so much as a brass token in your purses nor scrip for your Journey neither two Coats neither shoes nor yet staves For the Workman is worthy of his Meat and eat such things as they set before you That is be not curious and doubt not of it God will provide for you Was it likely that men thus bred to so great plainness simplicity contentedness and dependence on God should go about to abuse the world with false stories Nay before they came to him their education and way of life was so low and poor that they were the unfittest men in the world to devise and make Romances if they should have had a mind to it This was the very thing the Heathens objected to them that they were illiterate not trained up in study but got their living many of them Piscatorio artificio as they speak in Lactantius by the trade and labour of fishing Of which He makes this advantage very justly in his reply to them Abfuit ergo ab his fingendi voluntas * Lib. 3. Inslit c. 3. c. You must needs confess therefore that these Men had not the inclination nor the craft to contrive and feign such a story as this because they were so rude Or what unlearned Man is there that can devise things so coherent and that sute so well one with another since even the most excellent of all your Philosophers as we see plainly have involved themselves in many contradictions and spoken things contrary and repugnant to what they have elsewhere delivered For this is the nature of lies that they never hang well together One end of the tale is wont to discover the falseness of the other But what they deliver undique quadrat perfectly agrees with it self from top to bottom because it is true and no device of their own And then he adds which is the greatest evidence that can be of their honesty they could not invent this for the sake of any thing in this world and without some such respect what should incline them to invent it for as much as they both taught and followed that course of life which regarded not sensual pleasures and undervalued those things which the world admires and cries up for goods and likewise they dyed for the Faith which was not the effect of a rash and sudden fit of zeal for they knew very well and foretold they should dye upon this account and they also resolvedly suffered the most cruel and sharpest torments that could be devised before they dyed and they took it all patiently nay gave God thanks that they were counted worthy to suffer for the Name of Jesus But this belongs to the Testimony of their BLOUD To which before I proceed let me observe that the Apostles were not only men of great knowledge in the things of God and very innocent and holy in their lives but they were men extraordinarily qualified in both those regards and therefore are the more to be believed in what they say they saw or heard For what Philosopher ever spake so plainly and clearly of all things that concern the amendment of Mankind or gave them such hopes in the World to come without which it was not likely they should amend as these poor Fishermen did They wanted nothing but their eloquence which they purposely avoided because they would have naked truth prevail by its own force and by the power of God and not by those ornaments and dressings which had been so often imployed to commend falshood to the World Setting this aside there was no comparison between the Doctrine of the Apostles and that which had been formerly published They comprehended in a few plain and
Verse why they gave themselves as whole burnt offerings to Christ but that by the example of their Faith and Martyrdom they might instruct many more to be Martyrs Nay their BLOUD did not only water many young plants and made them grow to their perfection but He tells us a little after in his exposition of the same Psalm Plures scimus c. We know many who were wholly ignorant of the Divine Sacraments i. e. the Christian Religion that by the example of the Martyrs run to Martyrdom No wonder then that these above all others have been called the WITNESSES of Jesus for that 's the interpretation of the word MARTYR and that Christians were forward even to kiss their wounds and to embrace their dead bodies as the remains of those who had done most eminent service to our Lord. Who himself therefore witnessed to them after they were dead and declared that their bloud was very dear and precious in his sight and that it had sealed nothing but the truth For there can no other reason be given but this why at the Monuments of these MARTYRS or WITNESSES our Saviour was pleased to have so many miracles wrought afterward and before such a number of people that Porphyry himself as we learn both from S. Cyril and S. Hierom though an avowed enemy of our Religion could not but acknowledge them They still spake and bare Witness to Jesus by these wonderful works when they were dead or rather Jesus spake for them as I said and declared from Heaven that these were his faithful Witnesses whose word ought to be believed whereby they had declared him to be the Lord. A PRAYER WHO would not believe on thee O Lord who would not magnifie thy Name For great and marvellous are thy works just and true are thy ways thou King of Saints All Nations ought to come and worship before thee whose Majesty and Glory is so many ways made manifest Thou hast raised poor and ignorant men to be mighty Ministers of thy Grace and Witnesses of thy Resurrection and co-workers with thee for the illumination and conversion of the world Blessed be thy name for all the glorious Lights which have been in thy Church in every Age by whom thy holy Faith hath been preserved and propagated to our days Blessed be thy name for all the Martyrs who sealed it with their Bloud and for all the Confessors who freely acknowledged thee with the danger of their lives Great was thy glory which shone in their most exemplary holiness fortitude patience love unseigned both to friends and enemies and in that mighty power whereby they approved themselves as the Ministers of God Thanks be to thee O God the Lord of Heaven and Earth for the comfort of thy holy Scriptures wherein we read the story of our Saviours wondrous love and of that most miraculous power which appeared in him to testifie unto him and at last raised him from the dead and advanced him to the throne of Glory From whence he sent the Holy Ghost to endue his Apostles Prophets Evangelists Pastors and Teachers with power from on high that they might be his Witnesses and commit that which they had received to faithful men who should be able to teach others also O God I cannot but again adore thy incomprehensible love which can never be sufficiently praised Who can understand the exceeding riches of thy grace that thou whose naked glory is too bright for our weak minds to fix their eyes upon wouldest be pleased in most admirable condescending love to manifest thy self and visit us in our flesh Thou art infinitely above the greatest of us who are far less worthy to approach thee than the lowest creature in this world is fit for our friendship and society So much the more marvellous is thy unheard of love that thou wouldest admit us to such a near relation unto thee So much the greater is our happiness that in Christ Jesus thou hast made thy self our portion and designed us to be eternally blessed with thee Great was his care and kindness all the days of his flesh towards the most miserable wretches who received the greatest tokens of his love I rejoyce now to think with what tenderness he received the poor fed the hungry visited the sick cured the diseased and when he had left the world communicated the same power unto others that they might exercise the same charity that he had done I see both the power and goodness of our Lord in all those works of wonder which he did I see that his mercy endureth for ever which hath preserved a faithful record of these things that we through patience and comfort of the holy Scriptures might have hope Now the God of all grace inspire me and all other Christian Souls with the same faith love and ardent zeal which was in those burning and shining Lights the Witnesses of Christ. That we may be followers of them as they were of him and acknowledging the same Lord being members of the same body partaking of the same Sacraments and living upon the same Heavenly food we may lead the same holy lives in hope to shine one day with them in the same celestial glory Help us to continue in the things which we have learnt and have been assured of knowing of whom we have learnt them that we may not at any time let them slip For how shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him thou O God also bearing them witness both with signs and wonders and with divers miracles and gifts of the Holy Ghost according to thine own will May we always carefully lay up and preserve these sacred truths in our heart which were in so glorious a manner delivered to us May they work there perpetually with great power and be reverenced as the holy Oracles of God! May they be the spring of all our motions throughout the whole course of our life That with an even steddy pace whatsoever dangers come in our way we may walk on towards that happy place where those holy ones rejoyce for ever with our Lord. To whom with the Father and the Holy Ghost be given by us and by those glorified Spirits and by all the Angels in Heaven everlasting Praises Amen CHAP. IX The Vse we are to make of their Testimony IT is time now to bring this Discourse to an issue and having examined all these Divine Witnesses taken their proofs and depositions and found their testimony upon due enquiry to be good and legal to consider with our selves what we have to do and what judgment we will pass now that we have heard their evidence God the Father of all says that Jesus is his Son the Word himself appeared oft to justifie this Truth the Holy Ghost came down from Heaven to attest it the Prophet of the Highest proclaimed it the holy life of our
Saviour spake as much and his Bloudy Death sealed it to which the Spirit set its seal also and undeniably witnessed that bloud was sacred which he shed for a testimony upon the Cross All these have done their part all that Witnesses by their office are to do for the making of this good that Jesus is the Son of God That which remains is our task who are bound to consider and seriously ponder and impartially judge and then faithfully improve their sacred Testimony that Jesus may have the glory that is due unto him and we may have that benefit which God by him designs to bestow upon us I. And first of all let us consider a-while the great weight and importance of this Truth that Jesus is Gods Son If the whole frame of Christian Religion did not rely upon it there would not have been such care taken to settle it and lay it deep in our hearts by so much labour and strength of argument It is equally blameable to be laborious about a trifle and to be superficial and slight in things of greatest moment No man of sense will with a great deal of diligence summon together a number of Witnesses to make good that which when it is proved it is indifferent as to any thing that depends upon it whether it be true or false No question there is a considerable interest of ours which is concerned in this truth else the Holy men of God would not have called HEAVEN AND EARTH TO WITNESS and bear their testimony to it The Father the Word the Holy-Ghost would not have concurred with the Water the Bloud and the Spirit to assert and maintain it but that all is little enough to justifie it and that it is a thing of which we cannot but desire the greatest assurance It is 1. the Foundation of all other Truths in the Christian Religion as you may read 1 Cor. iii. 11. xvi Matth. 17 18. It is the Rock on which the Church is built the Ground that supports the whole Fabrick which if it be infirm and rotten all falls to rubbish and confusion And therefore 2. the Devil laboured to undermine this Truth above all others Like a subtile Enemy when the Apostles as wise Master-builders had laid this foundation he imployed false Teachers and counterfeit Apostles as so many Pioneers to work under this and lay their trains to blow it up which he knew was a nearer way to ruine all than to plant his Batteries against the building onely The History of the first times afford too plentiful instances of this For we find there arose many Anti-christs 1 Joh. ii 18. and many false Prophets went out into the World iv 1. And the very spirit of Antichrist as he tells us vers 3. was this to deny that Jesus who came in flesh in a mortal condition and subject to our miseries was Christ. They would not have it thought that any one who suffered so vilely was the great KING that had been so long expected Or if they believed Jesus to be a great Prophet and that he was raised from the dead and rewarded for his labours in Heaven as other Prophets were yet they denied that he was made LORD OF ALL the Head of the Church and of all Principalities and Powers who was to be honoured by all Men even as they honour the Father And therefore 3. the Apostles imployed as great care and earnest indeavour for to strengthen and support this weighty truth as the Enemies of Religion laboured might and main as we say to weaken and overthrow the belief of it This was the thing they every where preached as you read in the History of the Acts of the Apostles And for this very end S. John wrote this Epistle to confirm his Disciples in this Faith against all the subtile opposition of their adversaries as you may collect from many passages beside that which I have expounded And it was the thing aimed at also in his second Epistle where he rejoyces to hear that they walkt in the truth vers 3. and cautions them against those deceivers and Antichrists vers 7. And indeed 4. it was the great note of difference between the true Prophets and the false as you may see 1 Cor. xii 3. and in the place now mentioned in this Epistle iv 1 2. which also 5. makes him command his Disciples that if any one pretending to the Spirit did not acknowledge this they should not use the common civility to him of bidding him God speed ii Epist 10. And if any man apostatiz'd from this faith which is the last thing I shall mention S. Paul pronounces a most dreadful curse upon him and wishes or predicts the Lord would come and speedily execute it 1 Corinth xvi 22. For whosoever transgresseth and abideth not in the Doctrine of CHRIST hath not God 2. epist of S. Joh. 9. This being a truth therefore of so great moment as appears by these considerations and by the many Witnesses to which S. John here appeals for the proof of it let us be sure to settle a sense of its concernment to us in our hearts and then to think often of it and study it so thoroughly that we may perceive both the truth and importance of it or else we shall prove our selves despisers of God who do as bad as say that it was a needless pains which he bestowed in giving so many evidences of that for which we have no regard or no list to bring to trial and examination And that truly I doubt is the temper of most Christian People at this day They think all discourses on this subject useless or little worth because they prove that which they believe already Heathens might reap some profit by them but what say they have we to do with them But while such thoughts as these have too long possessed the drowsie Christian world they remain alas in the very dregs of Heathenism with a little smack or taste of Christianity It is a sad thing to consider but so it is that they who cannot endure to think upon what ground their belief stands because they would not put themselves to the trouble of understanding it are of that base temper which is the mother of Idolatry of Mahometism and of all spurious Religions in the World For what is it makes Men worship the Sun Moon and Stars or address their services to dead men nay to a piece of wood or a red cloth or some such paultry thing what makes Mahomet so reverenced by a great part of the World as the Prophet of the Highest but that they have ever been so taught and it is the custome to honour him They examine no further nor enquire for any other reason that is do not observe that there is no other reason for their belief Upon the very same account do many receive Jesus for the Son of God He hath no better footing in their Souls nor stands upon firmer grounds than Mahomet or
to lurk in the dark and put off their stuff when no body can see what it is who know it is deceitfully wrought and will not abide the light They do wisely and as cunning Merchants who make up in words and great assurances of their honesty what is wanting in the goodness of their wares But why we should have so little wit as to take their words who can tell We must answer for this folly no doubt to Almighty God who hath given us more understanding if we would use it and taught us by himself to call for good witnesses of that which is offered to us for a truth And the more strictly we examine these which S. John here alledges the better we shall be satisfied that they intend not to deceive us Which is a mark we should always have much in our eye when we are enquiring after Truth If the more we search consider and ponder the proofs which are brought the better they appear and the clearer they grow it is a very good sign there is nothing wanting to make it fully entertain'd but only longer thoughts and greater and more serious consideration As on the other hand we have great reason to suspect and turn away from that which the longer we weigh its proofs the lighter they seem and the propounders of them also begin to shift and shuffle till they have put all into a mist in which we can see nothing but that they are at a loss and are fain to puzzle us because they cannot clear that which they were about Thanks be to God there is nothing of this in the evidences we give for the true Christian Religion They are plain and perspicuous and show themselves in a greater brightness the more we look upon them and the better we are acquainted with them Search and try what has been said and the light of the glorious Gospel of Christ will shine with greater lustre in your eyes and you will confess with S. Peter 2 i. 3. that he hath called us to the knowledge of him by glory and vertue that is by a most amazing power of God which declared him to be his only Son our Lord. II. Let us therefore in the next place consider seriously how excellent and perfectly rational the Faith of Christians is There is nothing founded upon such Authority as our most holy Religion It is no childish silly thing to be a believer A man doth not betray his weakness and easie credulity when upon examination and search he suffers his Soul to be planted with these new Principles but demonstrates the strength the nobleness and ingenuity of his mind which can discern and judge aright for nothing can pretend to so much reason as they There are a vast heap of things which I could here accumulate beside those which I have treated of to make good this assertion But because the method of the Apostle which I have followed is so clear and easie and the Witnesses so full and pregnant that every one of them affords us many evidences I will content my self with a brief review of what hath been said Which will be sufficient to convince us that our Faith is the highest improvement of our Reason and doth not debase but clevate and raise our understanding upon the surest grounds of Divine demonstration For if you consider what Testimonials they brought along with them who have pretended to speak in God's name you will find there is nothing comparable to the Witness which God hath given of his Son No not in that Religion which was really founded by his Authority much less in that where there was only the Name of God pretended without any Power I. Mahomet I mean to begin first with the latter of these took upon him to be the Apostle and the Prophet of God greater not only than Moses but than Jesus himself And such was his confident brags of Revelations from God that among a company of wild Arabians whom Algazel acknowledges to have approached the nearest to Beasts of all other men He made some proselytes to his belief But what proof did he give that he was divinely sent Was it ever heard that God spake to him so much as once as he did often to our Saviour At what time or in what place and in whose audience did God say to him Thou art my Prophet When did a voice from Heaven come to any three or but one man and say This is the Apostle of God hear him It is a marvellous Providence of God that this Impostor who wanted no confidence should never adventure in all the relations he hath made of himself quite contrary to our Lord who wrote nothing of his own life but left all to his Disciples to tell any such story as this for his greater credit and glory among his followers We read indeed of some idle tales which he reports of an Angel speaking to him and of his ascension into Heaven I know not how many millions of miles But what witness was there of these things what was his name who saw the Angel appear to him or who stood by when he was transported and carried out of sight as he dreamed Or when and to whom did Moses or any one else appear and verifie it that he had been with them in glory If we must take his own word which is all we can hear of to vouch it then we must not refuse to believe every foolish fellow who has impudence enough to pretend to prophesie But what then will become of the faith of Mahomet himself if the sword were out of his hand Let us hear such a man as John the Baptist whose piety and vertue is attested by those who were no Friends of our Religion affirm that he heard and saw such things as he reports and we will be content to abate them the Apostles and such a multitude of people as heard God say he would Glorifie his Name in our Saviour And in what Glory hath that false Prophet appeared since he left the World Whose eyes hath he struck out with the brightness of his countenance Nay by whom hath he been so much as seen since he was buried I need not put the question about his Resurrection for they never pretended it Only the sottish people would not believe when he died that he was really dead but said he was taken up to Heaven as Jesus was And Omar one of his successors threatned death to them that should say he was dead for he was only gone away as Moses did into the Mount and would return again From whence perhaps arose that vulgar error among us that the Mahumedans expect the return of their Prophet * See Poceek in Gregor Abul Phar. p. 180. 264. But Abu Becri proved to them out of the Alcoran that He was to die as other Prophets before him and so appeased Omar and the multitude And was it ever heard that the Holy Ghost sell down upon him in a
Moses then had need to do some miracles to confirm his prophecy since he fell short in many other things of giving satisfaction Such as we have I mean who abound in Witnesses to our belief and hear even this Witness on which the Jews heretofore relied speak more plainly and powerfully to us than it did to them The SPIRIT of the Lord was upon Moses the people saw by the wonders he did which moved them to follow him Though now they are so foolishly mad against our Saviour that to rob us of this Argument the Jews say Moses his miracles did not prove him to be sent of God yet it is manifest by their story they were in a manner his only glory I am sure the principal or that which first induced their forefathers to give any credit to him For when he asked of God a sign to give the people who otherwise he foresaw would question the apparition of the Angel to him that they might believe as much as himself and acknowledge that God sent him He granted him a power of doing such wonders as flesh and bloud could not do which it seems he thought the properest means to convince them What is that in thy hand saith the Lord immediately after the words mentioned before iv Exod. 1. and he said a rod. And the Lord said Cast it on the ground And he cast it on the ground and it became a Serpent and Moses fled from before it And the Lord said unto him again Put forth thine hand and take it by the tail and he put forth his hand and caught it and it became a rod in his hand that they may believe the Lord God of their Fathers hath appeared unto thee ver 2 3 4 5. This was the end for which this miracle was to be wrought To which he adds another that if they would not believe him nor hearken to the voice of the first they might be convinced by the second or if they would believe neither he gave him power to do a third and bade him turn the water of the river into bloud ver 7 8. And accordingly you read he went and did the signs in the sight of the people and the people believed and when they heard God had visited them bowed their heads and worshipped ver 30 31. After this indeed they disbelieved again till God drowned their enemies in the red Sea and then the people feared the Lord and believed the Lord and his servant Moses xiv Exod. 31. But were any of these works so wonderful and so powerful to move belief as those which our Saviour did It may deserve a discourse on a fitting occasion on purpose to show how much Moses came behind him in this as well as in all the rest Both the number and greatness of our Saviour's works were as far beyond his as the strength of a Gyant is beyond that of an Infant He was cut off in the midst of his days and yet in that three years and an half wherein he lived after the SPIRIT of God came upon him at his Baptism he did more wonders than Moses did in forty years nay more than had been done from the beginning of the world to that time And if you regard the quality of them Moses his taking the Serpent by the tail and turning it into a rod again was not comparable to our Saviour's casting out Devils treading upon the old Serpent breaking in pieces all his power by healing all manner of sickness and disease and giving his Disciples also the same authority and power which was visible in himself Nor was Moses his hand becoming leprous when he put it into his bosom and its being restored again by the same means any thing like to the miracles of Jesus in curing so many old Lepers of all forts both Jews and Samaritans wheresoever they came to him to implore his charity Moses brought a strong East wind which caused the Sea to go back and leave the bottom dry for the Israelites to march through but this was nothing so wonderful as our Lord 's walking upon the Sea as it had been dry land and commanding Peter to accompany him in the midst of a boisterous wind and his laying his commands upon such tempests and raging waves and the fishes also which all obeyed him Nay that great miracle of feeding them with Manna was not so strange as our Lord 's satisfying great multitudes with five or seven loaves and two small fishes which were not proportionable to so many thousand stomachs as were filled by them as the quantity of Manna was to the Armies of the Israelites Besides that you never read a word of Moses his opening the eyes of the blind much less of his raising the dead which our Lord did sundry times I need say no more to show how inferiour he was to Jesus even in regard of his miracles concerning which the multitude said truly It never was so seen in Israel ix Matth. 33. And yet this was the only thing that convinced that Nation at the first and made them believe in Moses as I have prov'd before they heard God speak to them by an Angel from mount Sinai at the giving of the Law That was the most amazing thing of all but was after they came out of Egypt and a great while after they had believed Moses was sent of God as they saw then more fully and was nothing comparable neither to Jesus's speaking himself to some of the Apostles out of Heaven and sending the Holy Ghost from thence with the gift of tongues and divers others upon them all And after all that hath been said of the miracles which the SPIRIT wrought by him where are the miracles that it wrought for him Did Moses prove himself a true Prophet by rising again after he was dead and buried To whom did he appear With whom did he eat and drink Or who can say that he ascended up into Heaven To whom did he appear in glory except it was to our Saviour and some of his Disciples in honour of whom it seems he had then the favour and not before to shine in that lustre wherein they beheld him In short God gave not the Spirit by measure unto Jesus as you have heard before He had not such a limited portion of it as Moses had who appears by these things to have been only a servant over the house of God in which our Saviour had a power as a Son and that over his own house iii. Hebr. 5 6. Thus much hath been said to show the great honour God hath done us in making us Christians Whose Faith you see stands upon such well-laid grounds that even they who were taught by God had none comparable to them Herein we have a felicity above all other men that have ever been if we be but sensible of it that we are not required to receive any thing from God but upon such reasons as far excel those which demanded belief of
words as these Lay not up your treasures upon Earth and the luxurious are told that he who soweth to the flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption and the proud are told that he who exalteth himself shall be abased the angry are exhorted when one cheek is smitten to turn the other they that live in discord are taught to love their enemies the superstitious are instructed that the Kingdom of God is within us to the curious it is said continually look not at the things that are seen but to those which are not seen and lastly it is said to all Love not the world nor the things that are in the world if these things are read throughout the world if they be chearfully heard with great veneration if after so much bloud such fires so many crucifixions of Martyrs the Church is grown more fertile and hath propagated it self to the most barbarous Nations and to omit the rest if men are every where so converted to God that every day all mankind answers almost with one voice LIFT UP YOUR HEARTS UNTO THE LORD why should we drowsily still continue in a sottish unbelief There is nothing can be said in the excuse of such Souls as having received notice of such a marvellous Love of God to mankind and such evident proofs that it is no fancy will not be perswaded to entertain the belief of it But when light is come into the world chuse to remain in darkness and will be guided merely by themselves when there is a revelation come from God Which ought to be entertained with the greatest joy as the thing which the world wanted and wisht for and without which they could meet with no resolution of their doubts nor certain directions how to please God whom they had so highly offended In this the Christian Religion gives us full satisfaction and propounds nothing to our practice but what the wisest men ever said was best to be done and took for the most excellent piety As for that which it propounds to our belief it is all made credible by this one great Truth which is proved by a number of Witnesses that Jesus is the Son of God We ought to receive that which such a person taught either with his own mouth or by those whom he inspired and sent in the same manner as the Father sent him For if it be so reasonable as I have demonstrated to be a Believer then it is as unreasonable to be an Unbeliever and no man will be able to open his mouth to justifie such a sin against so many Witnesses as will appear to testifie that they called him to the faith by the clearest and the most powerful evidences that ever were For if the Jews were bound to believe in Moses having no more testimony from God than you have heard we are much more bound to believe in Jesus who hath more and greater Witnesses that he not only came from God but is gone to God and hath all things given into his hands whether in Heaven or in Earth As it was said of them therefore xiv Exod. ult that they believed the Lord and his servant Moses so let it be said of every one now that we believe the Lord and his Son Jesus For this very end were these words written by S. John that we may believe on his Name ver 13. And this is the summ of what God would have us to do the Commandment he hath given us That we should believe on the Name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another iii. 23. If we do the former we shall see an evident consequence of the latter For when we are perswaded that He is the Son of God we cannot but see that we ought to receive every word that he says with affectionate reverence and to let every thing that is said concerning him into our very hearts so that we fear him and love him and become obedient to him and depend upon his word and as he himself hath taught us honour him as we do the Father Almighty For we are assured by those who heard him and were with him from the beginning and were witnesses of his Resurrection and received the Holy Ghost from him that He was the WORD MADE FLESH and that the Word was God and all things were made by him and is the Son of God not by office only but in his nature and essence and having assumed our Flesh therein reigns Lord of all for ever For what reason should we refuse to receive that which is so credibly witnessed to be the very Truth of God They that report these things were so pious as I have proved that they cannot be suspected to have invented them nay the very end for which they published them quits them from all suspicion of fraud and forgery For they aimed at nothing but by making man sensible of his great Dignity and the high honour God hath put upon him to possess his heart with an ardent love to God and to his Neighbour and to make him perfectly subject unto his will And is there not great reason if we believe what these Witnesses say that we should apply our best endeavours to please him by living soberly righteously and godly and by abstaining from the least appearance of evil Think what Jesus was and then resolve with your selves what regard is due to his Word Will not the wicked man tremble when he hears him say that none shall go to Heaven but they that do the will of his Father which is in Heaven Then he does not believe that these are the words of the Son of God or does not mind what he reads Who can with any face call him Lord Lord and not acknowledge that he ought to do the things that he says And to acknowledge this and not do those things what a madness is that if we believe our Lord is able to call us to a severe account for our neglect of his will What is there that can recommend chastity and purity of heart to our affection together with mercifulness meekness peaceableness poverty or contentedness of spirit the humility of little children saith in God's providence and such like vertues if this will not that the Son of God hath preacht them to the world as the most amiable qualities in the eyes of God without which we shall never see him nor inherit his Heavenly Kingdom Are not these his words Do not his Sermons teach us these Lessons And if we do these things does he not say we shall have everlasting life and enter into his joy and see the glory which God hath given him For what cause do we question whether this be the way to happiness Do not the same Witnesses which tell us that he is the Son of God testifie withall that he came to teach us Gods will and that this is his will which by the Gospel is declared unto us Why do we not seriously believe it then let me ask again
our neighbours will we not allow God says the Apostle as much as we yield to them Shall not his word determine and conclude us When he gives evidence of a thing shall we still dispute it with him That besides the undutifulness of it is too great a stubborness We may rather be taught how to behave our selves towards him by the measure men expect from us and we from them Yea God does more deserve credit than any man for as he adds the witness of God is GREATER i. e. is of far more validity and certainty it may more securely be relied on than the witness of any men whatsoever God is not only greater than men but his Witness also or Testimony is greater which must be carefully noted it is of more force and strength to support any conclusion we may more undoubtedly found our faith upon it because it is not liable to any of those exceptions which may prejudice the best testimony of men Two things there are that lessen the testimony of men if we compare it with God's and make it to be of a nature more weak and infirm The one is that though a man be reputed honest and therefore we cannot legally except against his Testimony yet it is possible he may be a deceiver and we cannot look into his heart to know whether he be or no. We may not be able to prove the least deceit by him in what he says or ever has said or done and it is possible he never delivered any thing contrary to truth or did any thing contrary to justice but yet we can never free our mind from this thought since we know not his inward man that there is a possibility also it may be otherwise with him But then secondly suppose him perfectly honest and that it is impossible he should put a cheat upon us yet it will be always possible that he may be cheated himself because all men are fallible and may be mistaken The greatest integrity in the world cannot secure a man but the weakness of his understanding and the subtilty of others may sometimes impose upon him so that though he thinks what he says to be true it may be otherwise in it self than it is in his thoughts Herein therefore the Testimony of God is GREATER than the testimony of men that it is not liable to either of these suspicions it being utterly impossible that he should either be deceived himself or that he should deceive us He can neither lead us into an error which we all acknowledge to be contrary to his Goodness and Truth nor fall into one himself which is as contrary to the perfection of his understanding and his Omnipresent being The testimony of God then being so indubitable that it is above the testimony of any men it ought with all reverence to be received when he declares that Jesus is his Son for if it were but equal to humane testimony it ought not to be refused Now this is the WITNESS OF GOD says the Apostle which he hath testified of his Son That is It being granted to be most rational that we should receive the testimony of God nay give it greater respect than we bear to that of men I assure you that the evidence which we give you concerning Jesus is the very testimony of God and therefore do not slight it It is not we that bear witness to him so much as God We do not desire you to hear merely what we say but what God himself hath said who hath given many assurances of this truth If there were but two of them they might by your own rules very well expect to find entertainment but there are no less than six witnesses every one of them Divine they all speak from God and therefore you cannot deny your assent to what they prove For the first witness is God the Father himself who called Jesus his well-beloved Son And the second is the Word of God upon which account whatsoever he says is God's testimony also The Holy Ghost which is the third that proceeds from the Father and came on purpose to bear witness to his Son As for the fourth Water the Doctrine was of GOD his life was the life of GOD John's Baptism was from Heaven and he is called i. John 6. a man sent from GOD. Then for the Bloud which is the fifth witness it is called GOD's own Bloud xx Acts 28. And it appeared to be his by his gathering it up again after it was shed and taking it into the Heavens where he appears with it in the presence of God for us And the last of these witnesses is expresly called the Spirit of GOD xii Matth. 28. So that it is GOD you see who so many ways bears witness of his Son there is something Divine in every one of these Witnesses in those on Earth as well as in those in Heaven and therefore we cannot without an affront to GOD reject their testimony For then He would have worse measure from us than men have and we should give less respect to six Witnesses of his than to two or three of our neighbours If Jesus came not with clear demonstrations with fulness of proof then deny him any admittance but if God hath so many ways justified him to be his Son if his Life was so excellent his Bloud so holy his Spirit so Divine then we shall never be able to justifie it before any knowing man much less before God if we do not believe him and that heartily and fully in every thing no more doubting of the truth of what he says than we do of those things which our eyes and our ears report to us or of those which are delivered unto us upon the faith of the whole world For which end it should be our endeavour that our Faith may rest upon a sure and strong foundation and be laid on such grounds that it may stand the faster in a time of temptation The ignorant man's Faith indeed may be as strong as his that knows most and what he hath learnt by Education may be so confirmed by Custom that he will never stir from it but is only the effect of Nature which produces the same resolutions in those who are of other Religions The Christian way of obtaining a strong Faith is first to see the Son and then to believe on him to everlasting life as our Saviour himself teaches us vi John 40. To see him is to perceive and discern by evident tokens that he is the Son of God the true way to life upon which sight and plain demonstrations we ought to believe in him and submit unto him as our Lord. That 's the true Christian Faith which flows from knowledge and is founded upon the understanding of what such Witnesses as these say concerning Jesus It relies upon the testimony of the Father of the Word and of the Holy Ghost is wrought by the Spirit and confirmed by Water and Bloud And
therefore we ought to study this place of holy Scripture and have it much in our thoughts that so our Faith may stand in the Power of God For otherwise how shall we be able to follow the Apostolical Precept which would have us when we are questioned to render a reason of the hope that is in us 1 Pet. iii. 15. We may be able to stand our ground though we be ignorant of the true causes of belief but the enemies of it will look upon it as a foolish obstinacy if we have not so much understanding as to give some other account of our Faith than they give for theirs Suppose they should say Why are you a Christian whence is it that you look for a Resurrection a Glorious body and Eternal life in another world Would they not think us very stupid if we could say nothing to them but that so we have been always taught and are resolved to believe Would not this be as good a reason for them as it is for us and make us unworthy of the name of Christians who know our Books no better which bid us give and furnish us with a reasonable account Consider therefore what Answer you would shape to them that should make such a demand The Apostle says it is fit they should have a reason what is the best that you can offer for their satisfaction shall I tell you The plain Answer is this That Jesus whose Religion we follow was the Son of God and therefore we believe these things because the Son of God taught us so who cannot deceive us and we will not exchange this for any other perswasion though we should die for it It is certain enough that every body who hears this will presently consent to us that he is a fool who doth not stoop to him and comply with us if it be certain that Jesus is the Son of God But how do you prove that will be the next question Here is the labour this is our work and whence will you fetch convincing Arguments to make them yield to you this weighty point There is no such Compendious Abridgment of them any where that I know of as in this place of S. John which furnishes us with reasons both many and mighty to perswade us and others that Jesus is the Son of God You may tell them that the Father Almighty said so by voices from Heaven in the audience of credible persons and that the Word said so as they may be informed of S. Paul who had no reason greater than this to force him to leave all and with the daily hazard of his life to follow Jesus You may alledge the testimony of the Holy Ghost both at his Baptism and afterward the marvellous sanctity of his Doctrine and Life the Confession he made at his bloudy Death the Glory of his Miraculous works his Resurrection from the Dead the Power of the same Spirit in his Apostles after he was gone to Heaven all the Miracles which were wrought long after their times in the places where the holy Martyrs of Jesus suffered together with the wonderful success of these Witnesses who perswaded innumerable People in all Countries to become the subjects of this crucified King Christ Jesus Study this place therefore I say again very well that you may be able to oppress any gain-sayer with the great weight of those reasons which you render of your faith And study it likewise till you feel the faith of Jesus doing something in your hearts till that faith which hath so good a cause have sutable effects that is till it change you as it is ever apt to do into the nature of that cause from whence it flows It comes from God see that it carry you to him and change you into his likeness It relies on his Testimony be sure that it make you perfectly of his mind It comes with the authority from the Word of God it self and from the Holy Ghost let it mightily inspire you with devotion to him and set your affections on things above where Christ is now at God's right hand It relies upon the Purity of his holy Doctrine and Life and therefore ought to purifie our hearts that we may behave our selves in all holy conversation and godliness It is founded on his Bloud on which we can never look but it will deaden our affections to this World and make us crucifie the flesh with its passions and lusts It stands upon the power of God and should therefore make us strong in the Lord and in the power of his might It grows as you see upon sundry roots and flows from several heads and therefore should dispose those in whose hearts it is planted to be abundant in the work of the Lord and to bring forth much fruit that we may be known to be indeed the Disciples of Jesus whose faith is supported by such numerous Witnesses And this now will lead me to the next thing which S. John here makes to be the necessary consequent of this faith and therefore ought not to be omitted IV. If there be such great such abundant reason to believe that Jesus is the Son of God then there is as great a necessity lying upon us to be obedient unto him and punctually to observe all his commands This Faith both requires our submission and obedience to him and also gives us power and ability to perform it It is a meer trick of the Devil another piece of his Sophistry when He cannot dig up the foundation of Christianity which I told you was his first indeavour to hinder all superstructure upon it by perswading Christian People that Faith and Obedience are no necessary Companions but that they may be good believers and yet not keep Christ's Precepts Some think they need not and others which is the same cheat in another shape think they cannot But I appeal to every Man's conscience if he be a believer whether he do not perceive his heart over-awed and his will inclined to reverence and subjection and all his powers mightily moved to tender their service when he seriously thinks that Jesus is the Lord to whom God the Father hath committed all Judgment and will render to every Man according to his works Do you not feel this faith carrying a great authority with it Nay is there not an irresistable energy and vertue in it while you attend to it pressing you to conformity with his holy will Who can gain-say this And who can say then that his Faith does not both engage and inable him to be obedient to his Saviour if he do but mind what he believes He never thinks of that but it powerfully urges and constrains him to yield himself to be a faithful Servant of Jesus in every thing that he declares to be the mind and will of God These uncontrollable inclinations declare to us so plainly the tendency and natural disposition of Christian Faith that we cannot but see it is so far from
good works ii Tit. 14. To the doing of which 6. he hath given us the Spirit for our helper Every Miracle that it wrought to say nothing but what is within the verge of these words bids us consider what a Potent Lord we serve for whom nothing is too hard By a Thousand Wonders by more miraculous works than we could have had time to read should they have been all written did he awake the sleepy World commanding them to arise and go about his work and he would be with them his Power which nothing can withstand should aid and succour them The obedience me thinks which the Winds and the Sea and the Fishes and the Graves and the Devils themselves paid him call upon us and tell us both what we ought to do and what assistance we may expect from the power of his might to make us obedient to his Faith Who can resist the joynt importunity of so many Witnesses who can hear all these tell us that the Son-of-God is come by whom we must be governed and yet be so senselesly obstinate as to say We will not have this man to rule over us O deaf ears O hearts harder than the nether Milstone which will not let such loud voices sink into them such mighty arguments penetrate and mollifie them into compliance with him What can reduce such Souls and bring them under any government who will not be reclaimed by the authority of the Son of God I may call Heaven and Earth to Witness against such obdurate hearts The Father Word and Holy Ghost these are Witnesses in Heaven that testifie it is our duty and interest too to submit our selves unto him The Water Bloud and the Spirit they are Witnesses on Earth which agree together to perswade us to take his easie Yoke upon us Can neither Heaven nor Earth prevail with us Is not God the Father Almighty great enough to lay his commands upon us Is the WORD of God of less credit than the common vogue and opinion of the World with us Cannot the Holy Ghost be believed concerning the place from whence it comes when it says that no unclean thing shall enter in thither Do we think his holy life to be a troublesome folly and despise his bloud and resist his spirit and receive all the grace of God in vain Hear O Heavens and give ear O Earth after God had sent many of his Servants who were disregarded He last of all sent his Son into the World saying surely they will reverence my Son but they have rebelled against him I might call for Hell it self to witness against such perverse and disloyal Creatures The Devils will not fail to accuse such men hereafter for they believe and tremble they acknowledge this great Truth that Jesus is the Holy one of God iv Luke 34. which is the very same that Jesus himself said when he tells us the Father hath sanctified him i.e. made him his holy One and sent him into the world x. John 36. And that is more I doubt than a great many irreligious spirits will confess in their works I am sure the most of the Christian world utterly deny it Do you think the Devils who made that confession would have disobeyed him if they might have taken our place and had his Salvation offered to them Would they not have shaken off their chains and taken upon them his yoke had they received such gracious invitations as he hath made to us Let us not be worse than they I beseech you by casting away that hope which was never given them and slighting such tenders of mercy which are peculiarly directed to the children of men But let us rather admire adore and magnifie this amazing love of God who sent his Son so kindly to speak to such wretches as we are And let us show that we are sensible of his love by hearkening to his voice and readily submitting our selves with all dutiful nay joyful affection to his commands See I beseech you again that you refuse not him that speaketh for if they escaped not who refused him that spake on Earth much more shall not we escape if we turn away from him that speaketh from Heaven Let all his Laws be held most sacred and be devoutly reverenced and observed Know that this is your wisdom and understanding nay remember that it is your life And therefore keep your Souls diligently lest you forget those things which you have heard and lest they depart from your hearts all the days of your life Chuse death rather than the life of the unrighteous fornicators idolaters adulterers thieves covetous drunkards revilers and extortioners who he hath pronounced shall not inherit the Kingdom of God Do you not remember how observant the children of Jonadab the son of Rechab were of their Fathers Commandment and how they could not be tempted no not by a Prophet to contradict it xxxv Jer. 6. What Arguments I pray you had they so reasonable and moving as those which urge us for this injunction Might they not have slipt many ways with better colour than we can do from this obligation Did there want plausible pretences to plead their excuse if they had absolved themselves and not observed it Might they not have said that every Creature of God was good and none to be refused That their stomachs sometimes required a little Wine and that it was reasonable to give them satisfaction That their Father had gone beyond his Authority and taken away the just liberty which God had left them That they were restrained enough by the Divine Laws and that there needed no more of his making O the insensibleness and ingratitude of Christian people that can think of these mens reverence to so severe and hard a command of their Father and be less obedient to their most gracious Lord What a forehead hath that man who dares venture to break any of his Precepts when he hath so many Reasons to believe that he hath laid none upon us but those which are the very mind and will of God and are such a necessary indispensable burden that unless we carry them we cannot be saved There is nothing that can be pretended why we should not strictly tye our selves to his will Not only the love which engaged the Rechabites enforces our obedience but infinitely more reason than there was in their Fathers will and pleasure for we are assured that Jesus is the Son of God He could not but have a perfect understanding of what was fit and convenient for us If there had been any other way more easie to Heaven than this he hath set before us we cannot but think He would have revealed it unto us If there were any license that could be granted us to dispense with our obedience He was not so unkind as to conceal it much less would he have taken it upon his death that none will be allowed For he declared openly in his Sermons that he will not only take
Our Passions are not mastered Forgetting our heavenly Originall we let anger swell and rage and take no care to suppress that pride and haughtiness which will at last lay us low We do not chastise irrational sadness nor foolish pleasure nor unchaste laughter nor disorderly aspects nor unsatiable hearing nor immoderate talking nor absurd thoughts nor any of those things by which the Evill one takes advantage against us to our ruine There is nothing like to this but quite contrary we give liberty to other mens evill affections and like Princes when they have got the Victory require nothing of them but onely that they be on our side and take our part though they oppose God the more impiously and audaciously These things it seems were then too manifest to be denied and notwithstanding these reproaches of holy men the humour propagated it self to after-times For the cure or prevention of which nothing is so necessary to be believed and preserved perpetually in mind as that Counsel which the same great Doctour gives in another place * Orat. xxix p. 493. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. Wouldst thou be a Divine and worthy of God 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Keep the Commandments Go in the way of God's precepts Practice is the best step thou canst take to contemplation Which is the surest advice for all Christians to follow who must not think by any other means to arrive at that blissfull sight of God in which our knowledge of him will be perfected in the other World Of which Beatificall Vision I have not adventured to say much in the ensuing Treatise because our manner of living as Saint Augustine * Epist cxii ad Paulinam speaks in an Epistle of his upon this very subject is of more consideration in this inquiry then our manner of speaking Nam qui didicerunt à Domino Jesu mites esse humiles corde plùs cogitando orando proficiunt quà m legendo audiendo For they that have learned of the Lord Jesus to be lowly and humble in heart profit more by meditation and prayer then they can by reading and hearing But something I have said as far as I could find any directions in the Holy Scriptures which warrant us to conclude that the participation we have of God now shall be so improved in the other World that whatsoever we enjoy of him here we shall in a higher and after a more perfect manner with the addition of immortality enjoy when we rise from the dead We are now the Sons of God by faith in Christ Jesus who bids us be confident of it and rejoyce in it And yet he mentions this as a speciall priviledge belonging to us after the resurrection when we shall not marry nor die any more but be equall to the Angels and be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Sons of God being the children of the Resurrection xx Luk. 35 36. Just as it was with our Lord Christ himself who was in a more speciall and excellent manner called the Son of God after his rising from the dead when God said to him Thou art my Son this day have I begotten thee advanced him that is to a more excellent degree of likeness to him in power and dominion putting all things under his feet So it shall be with all those Sons whom he brings unto glory They shall be more nearly related to God at the Resurrection and resemble him more exactly whose Image they now bear in Wisedom and Goodness But how much he will then impart of himself to us the Apostles themselves were not able to inform us We are now the Sons of God faith Saint John 1 Ep. iii. 2. but it doth not yet appear 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 how we shall be the Sons of God in the other world We now find I may adde by a parity of reason a great pleasure in holy thoughts we feel the joys of ardent love are ravisht with the melody of Songs of praise and with the sweet violence of a glance of light from heaven upon us and we are fure we shall be so happy as to have a great increase of this pleasure when we remove from hence But it doth not appear how we shall think nor what will be the satisfaction of heavenly Love nor what new Songs shall be put into our mouths nor how God will look in upon us when we shall see him as he is We must be content to know that all these will bear a proportion to the infinite Goodness of Him who is Omnipotent and hath loved us so much as to purchase us with a great price and to give his Holy Spirit to us and according to the Love of him that died for us and is gone to prepare a place for us that where he is there we may be also In this hope we may now rejoyce though we do not at present see our Lord with joy unspeakable and full of glory For I have proved by undeniable arguments that God the Father hath given power to his Son Jesus to make us more happy then we can now conceive and that He will undoubtedly bring us to live with himself What greater Good can we desire then this Or what greater Motive can be thought of to perswade us sincerely to embrace the Christian Religion whose business it is as Lactantius concludes his Book of a Blessed Life to direct us to the Eternall Rewards of the heavenly Treasure Of which that we may be capable we must presently disingage our selves from the insnaring pleasures of this Life which deceive mens Souls by their pernicious sweetness And how great a felicity ought we to esteem it to go being delivered from the impurities of this Earth to that most equall Judge and most indulgent Father who for our labours will give us rest for death life for darkness light for earthly short goods those that are celestiall and eternall None of the sharpnesses and miseries which we endure here while we are employed in the works of righteousness are in any manner to be compared with that reward Therefore if we will be wise if we will be happy let us propose the worst things that can be to our selves and resolve to suffer them since it is manifest that this frail Pleasure we have here shall not be without punishment nor Vertue without a divine reward All mankind ought to endeavour with all speed to direct themselves into the right way that having undertaken and performed the duties of a vertuous life and patiently endured its labours they may be worthy to have God for their Comforter For our Father and Lord who made and settled the Heaven who brought the Sun and the rest of the Stars into it and out of Nothing raised the rest of the World to this perfection wherein we see it beholding the Errours of mankind sent a Leader who should lay before us the way of righteousness Him let us all follow Him let us hear Him let us most
persons use are to the Nobleness of this Life In which saith Maimonides Cap. viii de Poenitent there is no room for meat and drink and such like pleasures but the just sit with Crowns on their heads and delight themselves in the Splendour of the Divine Majesty There are many names whereby this Life is called Derech Mashal after the figurative way of speaking in the Holy Books For example the Mountain of the Lord the place of his Holiness the Courts of the Lord the Beauty or Sweetness of the Lord the Tabernacle of God the House of God his holy Temple the Gate of the Lord. And after the same way of similitude and figurative speech Wise men call this Good prepared for the Just by the name of a Banquet or Feast and most commonly the World to come Let not this Good seem light to thee nor do thou imagine the reward of Piety to be so little as to drink the richest wines to eat the best victuals to have the most beautifull wives to be cloathed in silk and scarlet to dwell in ivory palaces and to have all the furniture of gold and silver and such like things But understand that there is no Good in this world to which that supreme Good can be compared but onely by way of figure and similitude In truth there is no proportion between the Good of the Soul in the other World and the Goods of the Body such as meat and drink in this But that Great Good is incomprehensible and incomparable according to those words of David xxxi Psal 19. O how great good hast thou laid up for those that fear thee He could not tell how great but with what desire did he long after the life of that world when he said xxvii Psal 13. I believe to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living That 's another name whereby they called this place of Bliss For wheresoever their ancient Wise men saith their Mysticall exposition of the Psalms meet with this phrase in Scripture the land of the living Manasseh Ben Isr Probl. xvii de Creatione they expound it of Paradise because that is the country where men live for ever But there are no words like those of our Blessed Lord to represent this surpassing Happiness of the pure in heart who he promises shall SEE GOD. Let us therefore here fix our minds and stay a while before we pass on any farther to search into the meaning of this phrase which is the sublimest and most comprehensive of all other whereby this ETERNALL LIFE is described to us I. And the least that can be meant by it is that we shall be there where He hath his most special residence and shall dwell in his House in the Heavens where there are so many Mansions There the Angels are said to stand before God to behold the face of our heavenly Father And therefore for us to see GOD or behold him must in generall denote that we shall be more like Angels then Men and being admitted into the society of those heavenly Ministers shall take up our habitation in the same place where they wait upon the Divine Majesty Whence it is that as the Angels are called the Sons of God i. Job 6. ii 1. so are all those who shall be accounted worthy to obtain that World and the Resurrection of the Dead xx Luk. 35. We are now the Sons of GOD saith St. John 1. Epist iii. 1 2. in a state that is of great favour with him and therefore need not care if the world hate us But we have far greater things in hope and look for a more excellent relation to him it not appearing yet what we shall be The meaning of which last words in all probability is this that the manner wherein we shall be the Sons of God in the other world is not now manifest There is no body knows how near we shall be to him when we shall be the Children of God being the children of the Resurrection as our Saviour speaks in the place before mentioned Onely this is certain as I said just now that we shall be Companions of Angels and such Sons of God as they are And withall St. John here tells us that when He or it shall appear we shall be like him it being naturall that the Child should bear some resemblance to its Father II. Now from hence it follows that to SEE GOD is to enjoy such favours as He will be pleased to impart unto us in that high and holy place where he dwells yea to have some participation with him in his Blessedness who is most Blessed for evermore For to See in the language of the Hebrews is to enjoy when it is applied to a thing desirable or to be in that state when it is applied to that which is hurtfull Thus to see good xxxiv Psal 12. is to possess it and to lead an happy life and to see the good of Jerusalem cxxviii 5. is to partake of its peace and prosperity and to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living xxvii Psalm 13. is in its first sense to be delivered by God and to enjoy the sweet fruits of it before he died Nor is there any other meaning of seeing life and seeing the kingdom of God but this that the parties to whom those promises are made shall be put into the possession of such blessings And on the other side to see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power and coming in the clouds xxvi Matth. 64. is to feel his heavy wrath the stroke of his revengefull hand upon their nation as may be gathered from i. Revel 7. And to see death lxxxix Psal 48. ii Luk. 26. is no more then to die This is so plain that those things that belong to other senses yet are said to be seen which can signifie nothing else but that they are perceived or enjoyed O generation saith Jeremiah ii 31. see ye the word of the Lord that is hear it mind and consider it or as Maimonides expounds it * More Nev. par 1. c. 46. the intention of the Prophet is that they should apprehend the sense of God's word And that likewise which is said to be seen in one place is said to be tasted in another as to see death viii Joh. 51. is the same with tasting of death ver 52. Which is a demonstration that to See in their language is frequently used for having a sense perception or enjoyment of any object And therefore we cannot necessarily draw any more out of these words of our Saviour which promise that we shall see God but that we shall have as reall an enjoyment of him and as sensibly perceive him as we do now any good in this world though the manner of it be not certainly known as not so plainly deducible from these words Let us conceive with our selves as well as we can what his
God v. 1. and xviii 5. from this glorious presence here which appeared afterward also to give the Law from the same place After which you find that he and Aaron with his sons and the seventy Elders of Israel being invited by God to approach towards the foot of that Mount where he spake with Moses it is said that they saw the God of Israel xxiv Exod. 10. In both which places though Maimonides would willingly understand a spirituall sight of God with the mind being afraid lest any man should imagine God to be corporeall More Nevoc part 1. cap. 5. yet he acknowledges it is safe enough to interpret it as the Chaldee doth of a sight of that Glory which I treated of in my former Book Chap. IV. or of an Angel which in a luminous Body appeared to them But this last is rejected by a Rule in the Talmud * Tit. Kid. â—u hinc 11. where this very place last named is explained It is this He that interprets a verse of Holy Scripture always according to the literall sound is a Liar and he that addeth to it is a Blasphemer As for example when it is said they SAW THE GOD of Israel if any body interpret it literally he is a Liar for the God of Israel cannot be seen And if any one adde that they saw the Angel of God he blasphemously gives the honour of God to Angels The Chaldee onely is in the right who says They saw the GLORY of the God of Israel And so S. Cyrill of Alexandria understood it in the like case L. 3. Glaphy in Exod. when he observes the people were brought to Mount Sinai that they might be both Auditours and Spectatours of God 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or of his Divine and secret Glory Which having never been seen out of the Secret place made now a most illustrious appearance and at the bottom of it called his feet there was a pavement on which the Glory stood very bright and becoming the Majesty that was upon it For the Text says it was like a Sapphire-stone and as clear as the purest and serenest sky A token I suppose of the Divine favour towards them which the clearness of the Heavens very well represented as clouds and darkness were signs of God's displeasure And accordingly it follows v. 11. that he did not lay his hand upon the nobles of Israel i. e. did not hurt them though the common opinion was that if men saw such a sight they should die presently No so far were they from receiving any harm by it that they did not merely see God but also eat and drink of the reliques of the Sacrifices that had been v. 5 newly offered to him He entertain'd them with provision taken from his own Table and they feasted with his Majesty to their great joy and satisfaction Such a Glory I told you S. Stephen saw when his persecutours were going to stone him And it is reasonable to suppose that in some part of the Heavens God now manifests himself in a most glorious visible Majesty to the exceeding ineffable joy not terrour and affrightment of those who shall be admitted to approach to that Light which is now inaccessible So that this will be a part of our eternall happiness to live in those pure clear Regions where unknown Glories and most splendid magnificent sights will present themselves to us where we our selves shall be cloathed with a brightness like that wherein our Lord appeared to S. Stephen and S. Paul and behold him in a greater Majesty and brightness then that was because our capacities will be inlarged to make room for more illustrious manifestations of God to us We shall live in that place as was said before where he dwells in light unapproachable by mortall men in the company of the holy Angels who as so many Stars of glory will add if it be possible to the splendour of that place and with our Blessed Saviour God-Man whose glorified Body we shall behold And so behold it that we shall bear the image of the heavenly as we have born the image of the earthy We shall be made immortall that is we shall be ever with the Lord in such glorious Bodies as his is so that in our selves we may see the Glory of God For it must be noted here that though our Happiness will begin when our Spirits depart this life yet it will not be perfected till the Son of God shall come the second time to raise our bodies out of the dust that they may have a part with our Souls in a never-dying Life Till then the Happiness I speak of it must be confessed will not have its Crown or utmost Consummation But yet the Soul in the mean time I shall prove in its proper place doth not lie asleep nor hath all its Powers bound up in a cold and lethargick dulness though it have not attain'd the utmost enjoyment of that Good for which it hopes Our Saviour seems to make these two distinct things the putting us in possession of everlasting life and the raising us up at the last day vi Joh. 40. This is the will of him that sent me that every one which seeth the Son and believeth on him may HAVE EVER LASTING LIFE and I will RAISE HIM VP at the last day which he repeats again v. 54. The former of which expressions may well denote the comfortable Hope we have of Happiness when Soul and Body shall be united and the other the perfection of this Happiness when they shall be again united We shall enter into a great part of Felicity when we quit these Earthly Tabernacles our Souls shall then feel themselves alive and alive in the midst of those delights that will still increase and never have any end and they shall joyfully expect the Resurrection of the dead and the Glory wherein our Saviour shall then appear and all his Saints together with him who having received abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by Jesus Christ Thus I have said a little concerning this great promise of SEEING GOD and it is so little that I feel my self unsatisfied and would fain penetrate farther or at least speak more distinctly of this ETERNALL LIFE But this small glance we have had of it may well awaken our Souls and excite them in the worst condition here to burst out into those words which the Authour of the Commentaries upon Job under the name of Origen puts into that Holy man's mouth Lib. I. p. 448 449. Thither will I go where the Tabernacles of the Righteous are where are the Glories of the Saints where is the Rest of the Faithful where is the Consolation of the Godly where is the Inheritance of the Mercifull where is the Blessedness of the Vndefiled Thither will I goe where Light and Life dwells where Glory and Mirth where Gladness and Exultation inhabit from whence Grief Sadness and Sighing fly
capacities so much inlarged And therefore you may consider farther 5. that if this capacity and this desire in our Souls be not filled we shall be so far from leading an happy life that we shall be more miserable then we are now because we shall be more able to discern our wants And thence we may conclude that to make us happy our Mind shall be gratified and it s widened enlarged Faculties filled with a Divine light proportionable to the power it hath to apprehend Well then 6. considering that all objects are finite and limited both in their nature and number except God alone who contains in his own Being all things that are and can possibly be our Minds will certainly be carried to him as the onely object that can perfect their Happiness by satisfying their boundless desire of wisedom and knowledge He alone can fill those Minds who long to know all things and who have an aptitude to a vaster knowledge then now can be conceived And 7. who can doubt but he will fill them since he hath promised as you have heard by our Saviour that the pure in heart shall see him that is know him and contemplate him in that Eternall LIFE which Christ hath revealed For in this our enjoying God must begin and it may well be called SEEING in Scripture because Knowledge to the Mind is the same with Seeing to the Eyes and the Vnderstanding to the Soul is the same with the Eye to the Body And 8. we can as little doubt but that their Souls will be most happy who shall lead such a Life which begins in their admission to this blessed Sight The contemplative Life even in this world hath been thought by the greatest Philosophers to be the most excellent and in a manner Divine as Aristotle endeavours to prove by severall Arguments in the conclusion of his Ethicks Lib. x. c. 7 8. Now the more excellent the object is which we contemplate the more excellent is the contemplation it self From whence he concludes xii Metaphys in another place that God must needs be the most Blessed because he perfectly and perpetually contemplates himself whom all acknowledge to be the most excellent and perfect object And since the Understanding says he conceives by a kind of conjunction with that which it understands so that in some sort they are made one from thence also we may argue that his Contemplation of himself must needs be the most excellent because it is the most intimate as well as constant and never interrupted enjoyment of the most excellent Being The more then our mind can be fixed on God and the more we understand of him and the nearer we approach to him the more we shall partake of his most blessed Life who being most intimately One with himself never ceases to contemplate his own most adorable Perfections You will be the more sensible of this if you do but imagine how happy many a man would think himself could he but raise his mind to understand the wonderfull frame of the World and discover the rare wisedom that lies hid in the contrivance of every part of so goodly a Fabrick If there be such pleasure in looking into the curious composure of this great Book of the Creatures and searching after all the mysterious learning contained in it which employs the study of innumerable souls night and day you may easily conceive it must needs be a most sublime satisfaction to know him clearly who is the Authour of this Structure whose Artifice now ravishes contemplative minds into such admiration They seem to have meant nothing else anciently who discoursed of the Musick of the Spheres or celestiall Orbs but the extraordinary pleasure and delight wherewith the minds of those Philosophers were struck who beheld the orderly and gracefull motion of those heavenly bodies And the same men said the Mind of man was an Harmony because of the well-set notions whereof it is composed and the sweet touches that it gives us when it is in tune and runs into coherent thoughts and orderly speculations Now look what joy it would be to a contemplative man if he could know the Art there is in the frame of the Heavens or if he could but so reflect upon his own Soul as to know its nature all its motions the spring and the manner of them nay but to know his own Body which as the Psalmist says is so fearfully and wonderfully made that it astonishes our minds when we seriously think of it and by this you may judge what an happy life it will be to be acquainted with God by whose wisedom the heavens were made and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth and who fashioned all our Souls and curiously wrought all the members of our bodies where no eye could see but onely his own yea to know so much of him that But it is not in my power to make you understand what this Knowledge shall be for that would be to place you in Heaven Nay we cannot conceive how God himself should make us know it in this state unless he work a change in us and cause these bodily operations to cease All that I can doe is to make you understand that our Souls shall be enlarged to know more then now we can conceive and that we shall be as inconceivably pleased in that knowledge for the very hope of it now is not without its singular pleasure You will ask perhaps But what is it that we shall know of him Do you tell us of a mysterious Darkness or which is all one an inapprehensible Light This is but to know that we are ignorant And who can fasten his heart on things of which he hath no perception or delight in the thoughts of that with which he hath no acquaintance I answer We are already acquainted blessed be God with something of him though as I have said before we see but through a glass darkly 1 Cor. xiii 12. As a glass represents not the thing it self but its image and he that sees a thing in a glass doth not know it immediately from its self but from its image such is the knowledge we have of God in this life We know him by the effects of his Wisedom Power and Goodness and by the revelation he hath made of his Mind and Will in his Gospel We know him not immediately and by himself but we know as it were an Image of him in his Works and in his Word And though this knowledge be but obscure and not so clear as we desire yet so much is plainly revealed that one day we shall see him face to face that is we shall be more nearly present to him and immediately contemplate him who is a Mind and Spirit joyning himself to our very Mind by himself and not by an image What that is some excellent Souls seem also to have had a little tast of here in this world by gasping with the mouth
after millions of ages are spent in the heavenly mansions as there was at the very first entrance into them Death being destroyed by him who is the Resurrection and the Life and who dieth no more an immortall Soul shall inhabit an immortall Body and they shall be for ever with the Lord. Where they shall be for ever employed in those happy exercises before mentioned which will for ever be to be done again In the doing of them there will be infinite pleasure and in the repetition of them there will be no disrelish but an infinite increase of pleasure As they always know so they shall always be knowing more For new beauties we may well think will discover themselves in an infinite object and this will excite a fresh love and that a more vigorous joy And so for ever round again there will be knowing loving and rejoycing more and more without any end It is but a little that can be said of ETERNITY though we should speak of it to the end of Time Nay in Eternity it self we shall not be able to come to the End of it in our thoughts no more then in our being because it hath none We can never know it all because it is still to come And therefore how little of it will this leaf of paper contain or should we write never so much how shall we be able now to reach the description of a thing so sublime Thankfull acclamations to the goodness of our Saviour for bringing life and immortality to light and serious admirations at the amazing greatness of what we know of it will be far more acceptable as well as more easie then a long discourse about it And therefore I shall end this Chapter with my wishes that this Blessedness I am speaking of may not seem small in our eyes because we can relate so little of it but rather appear the greater and the more desirable because we see it is beyond our present understanding Though this vast Circle of Eternity cannot be measured by our thoughs that makes it but so much the more excellent then our Span of time And though this LIFE comprehend such pleasures as we cannot now enjoy that doth but exalt it above the poor pleasures of this present life which we can first enjoy and then contemn We are not able it is true to conceive nor can it enter into our hearts what God hath in store for those that love him but this should onely excite our longings to conceive it and make us sigh and say when we think of enjoying God himself and of an eternall enjoyment of him O the fulness of God! O the infiniteness of him that is the Life of this LIFE Who can tell what thou art O most Blessed for ever by whom all things were made and who art All that can possibly be What comforts shine from the brightness of thy face How joyfull wilt thou make us with the light of thy countenance when we shall see thee as thou art It will put greater gladness into our hearts then if all the glory of the world should smile upon us But what eye can be strong enough to behold so great a Splendour what excellent creatures must they be made who shall be capable to SEE GOD It casts us into a trance when we do but think of being eternally beloved of thee O what will it doe to feel our selves ever ever the objects of thy infinite love The beauteous frame of the Heavens is exceeding admirable in our eyes O what a goodly World is this in which thou sufferest thine Enemies to live What a glorious torch is the Sun which thou hast lighted to shine on the unjust as well as on the just Who then can hope to know till he sees what the pleasures are which thou hast prepared for thy Friends what a glorious Light shall shine from thy presence upon the face of those that love thee Their hearts now cannot hold the smallest glimpse of that which shall for ever bless and ravish them with its joys But how can we hope to see it unless thou wilt raise us above our selves and make us no longer men of this world but children of the Resurrection and equall to the holy Angels We believe and rejoyce to think that thou wilt account us worthy to obtain that World and the resurrection of the dead It is the greatest pleasure we have here to hope we shall enjoy all the happiness of which we now discourse nay far more infinitely more then can be conceived For how great will that happiness be August de Civ Dei cap. ult where we shall neither feel any evill nor want any good where all our work will be the praises of God who shall be all in all where no sloth shall make us cease to praise him nor any necessity call us to other employment There will be true glory indeed where no man shall be praised either by the errour or the flattery of him that praiseth True honour that will be which shall be denied to no worthy person nor given to any unworthy Nay the unworthy shall not so much as seek it there where none are permitted to come but such as are worthy True peace is there where nothing shall fall cross to our desires either from our selves or any other There He who gave Vertue will be its Reward having promised that he himself then which nothing can be greater nothing better will be the portion of it What else shall we understand by those words I will be their God and they my people but that I will be their Satisfaction I will be all that every one can honestly desire both life and health and sustenance and riches and glory and honour and all good For so we reade that God will be all in all He will be the End of our desires who will be seen without end and loved without lothing and praised without weariness This will be the office this will be the inclination this will be the work of all in that Eternall Life which is common to all There we shall sing the mercies of the Lord for ever There we shall keep that truly greatest Sabbath which hath no Evening There we shall rest from labour and see we shall see and love we shall love and praise Behold what will be in the End without end For what else is our End but to come to the Kingdom which hath no End Amen CHAP. V. Of the Certainty of this ETERNALL LIFE whose Excellency is a little farther illustrated out of the Holy Scriptures WHen I reflect upon the foregoing Meditations concerning the LIFE to come and the ETERNITY of it I begin to think I have wrong'd it much by so poor and dull a description of so great a Good and by endeavouring to draw that into a few particular considerations which hath in it innumerable perfections It had been more becoming our ignorance perhaps to have admired its fulness then to undertake
those who overcome includes in it the bestowing on us the most excellent benefits Because he will be our GOD in a more excellent manner then he ever was yet to men such a GOD as he was to our Blessed Lord himself He will prefer us to live with him in great splendour and glory He will give us an inheritance in a better Country which is an heavenly where all delights flow and never cease to spring up to those happy Souls who shall enjoy the eternall fruits of his greatest love For so he adds 4. and he shall be to me a Son A Son you know expects the Inheritance of his Father because to him it properly belongs and upon him it descends And therefore to be to GOD a Son is to be made like him and to live with him in that very happiness and bliss which he enjoys So St. Paul expresses it viii Rom. 17. he shall be an heir of GOD a co-heir with Jesus who as the Son of God inherits his Glory He shall participate that is with God in his everlasting life kingdom honour and joy which what it is we are not able to tell no more then we can comprehend what his Majesty is who possesses heaven and earth and is infinite in all perfections But we have the greatest reason that can be to expect so great a bliss because we know that God loves his Son Jesus and hath given ALL THINGS into his hand iii. Joh. 35. We are sure that God hath made him most blessed for ever He hath made him exceeding glad with his countenance Honour and Majesty hath he laid upon him and his glory is great in his Salvation xxi Psal 5 6. Now it is most evident you may again observe 5. that the generall intendment of this promise is to put us in hope of being made like to Christ our Elder Brother For he is not ashamed to call us by that name And this being his great Prerogative that he is Heir of all things when the Father of mercy assures us that we shall inherit all things it is as much as to say we shall share with Christ in his large possessions It is easy to note how the Holy Gospell describes our expected felicity in the same terms wherein it speaks of that which Christ our Head enjoys with whom St. Paul says we shall appear in glory and reign with him and have a glorious body like his and in order to it be caught up in the clouds 1 Thess iv 17. which was the manner of his ascension to heaven i. Act. 9. And accordingly here God promises to him that overcomes that he shall inherit all things in conformity still with our Saviour whom he hath appointed heir of all things i. Heb. 2. I cannot say there is any allusion in these words to the Olympick rewards given to the Conquerours in those Combats but so it is that they who overcame there were accounted 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 equall to their Gods that is their Hero's or deified men Fabri Agonist L. ii c. 11.16 17. and therefore had Statues erected to their honour and an annuall Pension settled on them for their more noble maintenance But what was this to the reall Divine honour and glory which God will give to victorious Souls To whom he promises not a small Pension or Annuity but an inheritance and that of all things i. e. to shine in the glory of our Blessed Saviour who is King of kings and Lord of lords and can prefer all his Subjects to such a greatness that they shall be more like Gods then men So St. Greg. Nazianzen often speaks that * Orat. xxxvi p. 592. we shall be made Gods in the other World by him that was made Man for us in this It is hard to tell what Heraclitus meant by that speech recorded in Clemens Alexandrinus * L. iii. Padag c. 1. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Men are Gods Gods are men But it is verified in the Christian Religion which reveals a Divine state to which we shall ascend when we leave the earth by him who came down from Heaven into a vile condition that he might promote us thither Let us study then these words very hard and think often what it is to have ALL THINGS that the love of the Almighty will bestow when in the most eminent sense and in another World he shall become OUR GOD and what it is to have an estate in him that can never be cut off but remains as firm as the Throne on which he sate when he spake these words And then if you believe in him it will fill you with unspeakable joy without entring into particular enquiries to think that you shall be so happy as to be his Sons and Heirs who want nothing that can be desired or he can give And indeed these other words ETERNALL LIFE wherein God's gracious promise commonly runs are of the same import and force with those now mentioned All that we hope for is contained in them As 1. Pardon of Sin without which we cannot take one step toward so great a bliss For death the fruit and punishment of sin will still remain unless sin be pardoned and then what hope can we have of life much less of Eternall life which is therefore perhaps called by the name of Righteousness v. Gal. 5. because it includes our perfect justification and absolution from the guilt of sin without which we could not attain it And 2. it supposes the Adoption of Sons which is begun in this life but not perfected till the next when we shall be made the children of God by receiving a new life from him at the Resurrection of the dead And 3. the Redemption of the Body is another blessing included in it For being raised again it will be freed from its present weaknesses alterations and pains to which it is obnoxious and stand in need of not so much as food and raiment And therefore the time when he will bestow it is called the day of our Redemption iv Eph. 30. To which must be added 4. the carrying of it up to heaven to meet the Lord For being raised a spirituall body it will not be fit for this World but for the other Where 5. we shall rest with him in the celestiall Inheritance and enjoy all the happiness it affords for LIFE you have heard signifies all good things And lastly the Perpetuity of them is plainly expressed in the word ETERNALL which makes the happiness of this heavenly LIFE appear so exceeding great that our present Life compared to it is as Censorinus says of Time in regard of Eternity no more then a Winter's day Let this then suffice us to know that we shall have a perfect enjoyment of all the Good we are capable to receive when we are made greater then we are by the change that shall be wrought in us at our departure hence and at the resurrection of the dead And let our pains
would not be such a Son as he now declared him able to bless all Nations Who it is manifest had him not for their visible Leader as the Israelites had Moses and Joshua to give them a temporall inheritance and therefore were to have his spirituall Divine Benediction in another world where He is the authour of eternall Salvation to all that obey him And lest you should imagine this to be merely a collection of mine own which I have forced out of these words I will refer you to our Saviour's own interpretation of them in that speech of his v. Joh. 26. For as the Father hath life in himself so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself Here he teaches us to argue that if he be the SON of God as this voice said he was then he is by the same voice declared to have LIFE in himself because the Father hath so whom his SON his onely SON doth perfectly resemble And he teaches us withall that this is a power communicated to him as he is the Christ for he saith the Father hath given him to have life in himself and that as you reade in the next verse because he is the Son of man that is the great person he promised to send of the seed of Abraham Now we reade of no other time when the Father might be said to have given him this power but now when he owned him for his SON and anointed him as you shall hear with the Holy Ghost to preach the glad tidings of immortal life Now God the Father sealed and authorized him to be the person to whom we must repair for the meat that endureth to everlasting life vi Joh. 27. He declared him now to be the bread of God as he calls himself which gives life to the world ver 33. the bread of life ver 35. the living bread ver 51. the manna which came down from heaven and nourishes to eternall life in short to have all things committed to him that whatsoever things the Father doeth these also you may be sure the Son doeth likewise v. Joh. 19. He doeth them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 after the same equality and perfect likeness of power as Greg. Nazianz * Orat. 36. p. 584. D. expounds the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 likewise in this place So that we need no more doubt of his ability then we do of God the Father's to give eternall life to all his followers II. And that he will imploy his power to make us partakers of it which is the other part of the Record concerning this Eternal Life is manifest from the next part of this voice of God the Father which said in thee I am well pleased He expresses here that he takes a singular delight in this person and bears such a dear affection to him that there is nothing he will deny him Now that hereby is denoted also his exceeding great love and good will towards all those that belong to his Son you may be soon satisfied by observing that these are the very words wherein God declares his loving-kindness towards his Church in the days of Christ lxii Isa 4. There the Lord calls her 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Hephzi-bah 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as some Greek versions render it my delight is in her That 's the reason he himself gives of her name as it there follows for the LORD delighteth in thee Where the LXX use the very word in which this voice from heaven is recorded 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for the LORD is well pleased in thee From whence I think it reasonable to conclude that the same thing being said of both God declared his delight in all Christians and the pleasure he will take in bestowing his benefits on them when he declared himself to be well pleased in this his dear Son whom they acknowledge for their Lord and Master He tells us by this voice that he will be reconciled to us and forgetting our ill behaviour towards him will espouse us to himself as it follows in the Prophet in the tenderest love and rejoice to bestow his choisest favours on us And that this is no inference merely wrung from these words or a notion of my own contrivance you may presently agree if you consider that thus John Baptist in all likelihood understood them For seeing Jesus a little after he had baptized him coming towards him he cried out Behold the Lamb of God that taketh away the sins of the world i. Joh. 29. And again the next day after this he pointed two of his Disciples unto Jesus and said in part the very same words Behold the Lamb of God ver 36. Now what is it to be the Lamb of God but to be a Sacrifice of God's own appointment so pleasing and acceptable to him that it obtains all the ends for which it was offered And what is it to take away the sins of the world but by overcoming all the temptations to which Adam yielded and being obedient even to the death to restore us unto a right of entring Paradise again from whence our Sins have excluded us to open the Kingdom of heaven to all believers by removing as I may say the flaming Sword that is taking those obstacles out of the way that debarred us from approaching to the Tree of life This no doubt is the compleat meaning of Carrying away the sins of mankind which are the onely impediments that hinder us from the enjoyment of immortality and therefore being gone we have free leave to return to it Now John the Baptist had no other ground that we can find for this Conclusion but onely this Voice which I proved he heard from the Father concerning the pleasure which he took in his Son Whereby he did as good as affirm that his delight in Jesus who delighted to doe his will was so great that he would restore us into his ancient love for his sake and be perfectly appeased and reconciled to us by his means so that we should be no longer banished from his blessed presence but by the forgiveness of our sins be placed again in that happy state from which we had stood so long exiled II. Now from hence let us pass to take a review of the Second Testimony of the Father to him where we shall find the same thing recorded again that He hath given us eternall life and that this life is in his Son i.e. it is in his power to give it The places are well known where we may meet with it in xvii Matt. and other Evangelists which tell us that Jesus being on an high Mountain with three of his Disciples who were wont to attend him on particular occasions was transfigured before them and a voice came from Heaven which said This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased hear him It would be too tedious to speak of this Mountain and his Transfiguration there in such a glorious manner that his Countenance
shone as the Sun though this may reasonably be thought as I shewed in the former Treatise to be a representation of his Ascension into heaven where he shines at the right hand of the Father and is the Lord of glory And therefore I shall onely observe two things first the words now added to the voice formerly delivered secondly the manner wherein they were spoken in the audience of those Apostles I. As for the words now added in this second voice to those of the first wherein he had declared him as he doth here again his beloved Son in whom he delighted they are these HEAR YE HIM Which are the very words that Moses spake to the Children of Israel when he prophesied of the Messiah and said xviii Deut. 15. unto him ye shall hearken And it may be one reason why Moses was now present when God spake these words in the Mount that he might consent to this truth which was now so solemnly pronounced in his hearing that Jesus was the Great person of whom he had prophesied Now God bidding the Apostles HEAR HIM and Moses himself to whom they had hearkened all this while being content that he should take his room it is an argument of something to be declared by him that Moses had not spoken And what should that be but onely the words of Eternall Life which was but obscurely intimated and shadowed in the ancient Law but by him was preached so clearly and distinctly that the voice of the Heavens is not more audible There is nothing I shall shew in due place that our Saviour preached so frequently nothing upon which he insisted so long and earnestly and took such pains to settle in mens minds as this belief that Eternall Life shall be the portion of all that doe well And therefore when God the Father bad them hear him who made it his principall business to publish this glad tidings to the World it was the very same as if this Voice had said in express words This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased believe it He shall give you eternall life This is the Commandment his Father gave him as you heard before xii Joh. 50. This is the will of him that sent him vi Joh. 40. This is the promise that he hath promised us even eternall life 1 Joh. ii 25. And therefore he stands engaged to bestow it and we agree with him for it when we enter into his service For you may observe farther that as to hear Moses was to embrace the Covenant that God made with them by him so we can understand no less by hearing the Son of God then our entring into the New Covenant of which he is the Mediatour which is founded upon better promises then the former whereby we have a title to a celestiall not an earthly inheritance whereof he is the Lord and to which he hath engaged himself to be our Conductour And indeed Moses and Elias who were never called the Sons of God much less by a voice from heaven so termed appearing now with our Saviour in glory it was a notable sign that He should be taken up to a far greater glory then theirs and have power of changing men into such a condition as that wherein he was now transfigured and in the mean time should preach that life and immortality which they saw conferred upon those two persons to honour him Whom the Disciples you may observe again saw in a glory so much greater then the Law-giver himself now had that if the voice from heaven had been silent it would have been an argument our Saviour should be the Lord of glory For when they desired to make their abode there and for that purpose to build three Tabernacles they say one for thee and one for Moses and one for Elias putting him in the first place before the other two which they would not sure have done had not Moses and Elias done reverence to him as a greater person then themselves I shall end this with a Tradition among the Hebrews which if it signifie any thing may serve to shew that Jesus is their long-expected Christ For R. Bechai saith * in xlix Gen. 10. that when Jacob speaks of the coming of Schilo he comprehends not onely the last Redeemer the Messiah but the first Redeemer also i. e. Moses who shall have the honour then to attend upon the Messiah and enter into the holy land according to what the Masters say upon xv Exod. 1. where the words are then Moses 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 shall sing And in the great Commentary upon Deuteronomy they write as the same Authour goes on that God said to Moses Because thou didst give thy life for them in this world desiring that God would blot his name out of the book of life to preserve theirs in the world to come i.e. the days of the Messiah when I shall bring Elias to them you two shall enter in together Which may possibly be the meaning of those words i. Joh. 21. Art thou Elias and he said I am not Art thou that Prophet i. e. Moses who alone was worthy of the name of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Prophet above all others Now if there were any ground of such expectation that these two should come in their own persons you see it here fulfilled on this holy Mount where Moses who was so much in mount Horeb and Elias who used mount Carmel now appeared and had communication with him about his 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 departure out of this world unto his heavenly Kingdome ix Luk. 31. The Mount where they met and where Jesus was transfigured is generally believed to be Tabor as Hermon a little hill near Jordan there is a tradition was the place from whence Elias was taken up to heaven In these two Mountains saies Proclus * Orat. viii our Lord Jesus was proclaimed the Beloved Son of God from whom we may expect immortall bliss At Hermon when he was baptized in Jordan on Tabor when he was transfigured and appeared in a glory as much greater then Elias's as the high mountain Tabor was above the little hill of Hermon And so was fulfilled says he that prophecie of the Psalmist lxxxix 12. Tabor and Hermon shall rejoyce in thy Name In both places was published this joyfull news that God had sent his Son to be the Saviour of the World First in the mount from whence Elias was transported into heaven and then in the mount where he came to attend on our Lord when he was transfigured God the Father 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 confirming his Sonship proclaimed again with a loud voice This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased hear him For he that heareth him heareth me as Proclus there glosses and he that is ashamed of him and his words of him will I be ashamed in my glory Let us listen to him therefore and since we hear him say as I noted before Verily
long ago Whether the Scripture be glorifie thy Son or glorifie thy Name 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 it is all one in exact contemplation of things Now if the truth of these words be throughly examined how he had glorified him and how he would glorifie him again we shall meet in both with a plain testimony that Eternall Life is in his Son to bestow on us Let us consider them briefly apart I. As for the former I find that God had already glorified him before he spake these words three ways 1. By his Transfiguration of which I now discoursed for then St. Luke saith ix 32. they saw his glory And that by this Glory which they saw the Father testified he should be made glorious in the heavens and able to make us so I refer you to what I have said already on this Argument 2. And I need not use many words to shew that he had also glorified him very frequently by the many wonderfull works which he had wrought for in them it is likewise expresly said ii Joh. 11. he manifested forth his Glory and the multitude were excited by them to magnifie him with Hosanna's and to cry out Glory in the highest xix Luk. 37 38. By these also he shewed the power wherewith he was indued to doe any thing that he had promised and they moved his Disciples hearts as you reade in the place now mentioned ii Joh. 11. to believe on him 3. But there was a third glorification of him to which I believe these words have a more speciall reference because it was very famous and but newly passed Which was his raising Lazarus from the dead By this Jesus said expresly that glory should redound to God the Father and that He the Son of God should also be glorified thereby xi Joh. 4. For this very end he there teaches his Disciples Lazarus fell sick and he therefore delayed to go and recover him though his great friend that there might be a fit opportunity by the miraculous resurrection of so noted a person as Lazarus was it appears by the coming of such numbers to comfort his sisters vers 19. and in a place so nigh to Jerusalem vers 18. where the greatest opposition was made against him to doe honour to Jesus and to make it known that he assumed not more glory to himself then God the Father gave him This was a very great testimony from God that indeed LIFE was in him and that he did not vainly call himself vers 25. the resurrection and the life because he now with his almighty word restored one to life who had been so long dead that there was no possibility of his reviving but by the very LIFE it self Hereby he declared that as the Father hath Life in himself so he hath given the Son to have Life in himself v. Joh. 26. What he had said before in his preaching he now justified by his works according as he himself foretold he would when he said Verily verily the hour is coming and now is when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God ver 25. The hour which was then coming yea was just at hand seems to be this time when he raised Lazarus up out of his grave declaring thereby both the truth of what he had said v. Joh. 26. that he had life in himself and likewise that there would be another hour as it presently there follows ver 28 29. wherein all men whatsoever shall rise out of their graves at his voice and they that have done good shall come forth unto the resurrection of life as they that have done evill unto the resurrection of damnation They might well believe it because he said it who proved himself to be the Truth by such works as none could doe but he that was the Life II. But this is not all that we are to consider in this Testimony of the Father who doth not onely say that he had glorified him but that he would glorifie him again which was done also at three severall times 1. At his Death when many of the graves of the Saints that slept were opened xxvii Matth. 52. For the very rocks rent and the earth did quake and the veil of the temple was torn in sunder from the top to the bottom and the Sun refused to give its light and such an amazement came upon the Centurion who was then upon the guard that he glorified God xxiii Luk. 47. by confessing that Jesus was a righteous man and no pretender to a title that did not belong to him but as other Evangelists express it the Son of God To these wonderfull things concurring at his death to glorifie him and doe him honour the voice from Heaven seems to have had some respect because of what follows ver 31 32 33. Now shall the prince of this world be cast out And I if I be lifted up from the earth will draw all men unto me This he said signifying what death he should die For even now when he seemed most weak he began to tread the Devill under his feet Now he began to draw not onely the Jews to him but other men the Romans also one of whose Captains in the midst of his reproach confessed him to be the Son of God The very opening of the graves served to adorn the triumph he was about to make over the powers of darkness being a sign that he had now despoiled him who hath the power of death which is the Devill and that he had Life in himself and will give it us especially now that he hath finished his triumph and is glorified at God's right hand Of which the rending of the veil also was no obscure token shewing that we have liberty as the Apostle speaks x. Heb. 19. to enter into the Holiest by the bloud of Jesus It may seem indeed an uncouth form of speech to call his Crucifixion by the name of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 lifting up from the earth or exaltation but one may say and with great truth that Christ's death upon the Cross as S. Fragment L. viii in Joh. Cyrill of Alexandria speaks 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 was his promotion contrived for his fame and glory for he is glorified perpetually for this having procured many benefits to mankind by its means This is one part of the Record of the Father to this Truth when he said he would glorifie our Saviour Which you see was as much as to say He would make it appear even when he hung upon the Cross that he was able to open mens graves and unloose the chains of death and in due time raise them up to everlasting life For 2. God farther glorified him at his Resurrection which was attended with the resurrection of the dead bodies of those Saints whose graves were opened at his death xxvii Matth. 52 53. There were severall witnesses of this in Jerusalem to whom those persons deceased appeared as there were of his own resurrection which
and let it into the dwelling of God as soon as he should put off his mortality There he beheld Jesus standing whereas he is commonly represented as sitting at God's right hand that he might know He was ready to meet his Spirit and entertain it into his heavenly mansions as well as that He was coming to destroy his persecutors and put an end to their power and nation And he saw also the Glory of God as the Crown he should win by his Martyrdom which had as sensible an effect upon his heart for the confirming of his faith and constancy as if he had heard the Almighty call to him and say 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Be not faint-hearted O Stephen nor suffer any degenerous thoughts to enter into thy breast Though there is no man to stand by thee no Friend on earth to assist thee in this distressed season yet I with my beloved Son behold what is a doing A happy Rest and repose is ready for thee The gates of Paradise stand wide open to thee Have patience a while and leaving this temporary life make hast to that which is eternall Still thou seest God is in humane Nature a thing beyond all worldly thoughts Thou hast been taught by the Apostles that the Father hath a genuine beloved Son behold I shew him to thee as much as thou canst bear And he stands at my right hand that by the very site of the place thou mayst know the dignity he hath It was a scandall heretofore to many that God should be on the Earth cloathed with flesh But behold him now with me on high in a celestiall supercelestiall condition still having the form of man to confirm thee in the belief of the gracious dispensation which is now compleated Be not disturbed be not dejected though for his sake thou beest stoned Beholding the Dispenser of Rewards do not fear the combate Forsake thy body and despising it as an earthly Prison as a ruinous house as a potter's vessel easily broken come run hither being set at liberty to the portion and inheritance here reserved for thee For the crown of brave atchievements is ready and expects thee Step over from the earth to heaven and take it Leave thy body to the bloudy murtherers as a morsel to dogs Leave the mad inraged multitude and come to the quire of Angels In these words Asterius expresses the sense of this heavenly Vision Encomium in Protomart wherein God shewed himself to this valiant man that he might not be struck with any fear by the greatness of the danger For this cause he did not send an Angel to assist him as to the Apostles in prison nor any ministring power and fellow-servant as he speaks 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but he presented himself that being the first-fruits of the Martyrs he might leave a noble example to all that followed And indeed what could more incourage them then to hear so holy a man departing the world with these words in his mouth I see the heavens opened and the Son of man standing at the right hand of God This was a notable Testimony which the heavenly WORD gave that he was possessed of ETERNALL LIFE whereby he animated this blessed Martyr from what he saw Him enjoy to doe as He had done Which could have no force in it to persuade him unless his meaning had been that he should no sooner leave the World but ascend up thither where he was And so St. Stephen understood it for as they were stoning him the greatest punishment the Jews could inflict he called upon our Saviour saying Lord Jesus receive my Spirit vii Act. 59. He doubted not of audience when he beheld him who is sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high i. Heb. 3. in another posture Proclus Orat. xvii not sitting but standing there What was the business to use the words of another ancient Bishop that made him rise thus out of his Father's throne He saw this noble Combatant in his Agony and rose up to crown his victory And it was as if he had said Fear not Stephen there is none shall beguile thee of thy reward I am risen out of my throne to reach thee my right hand Beholding me who was crucified grapple with the danger that presents it self to thee I am he whom thou sawest hanging on a tree by virtue of that crucifixion I will reward thee I preside in these Combats and deal the Crowns to Conquerours Fear not therefore those that go about to stone thee they do but rear thee a ladder against their wills to heaven Do not fear them the stones will be but as so many steps to that blessed place where thou seest me It is not for thee to fear the stones who art built on me the chief Corner-stone and therefore canst not fare worse then I do who am in glory for ever and ever With such thoughts as these this good Man laid down his life which is as great an argument as any of this nature can be that Jesus both can and will give Eternall Life to his followers For else a person so full of Wisedom that they were not able to dispute with him vi Act. 10. would not have ventured his life and endured the worst of deaths having nothing to comfort him in his agony but onely the hope he had from Jesus that he would receive his Spirit This was it that gave him such boldness and full assurance of faith With these words in his mouth he would have died but that he pitied those who did not see as much as he did Which made him expire in prayer for his persecutours wishing them no worse then that they might not be hindred by this sin from believing in Jesus and going thither where he hoped presently to be received So the same Asterius rightly understands those words LORD lay not this sin to their charge He doth not wish them absolute impunity which had been openly to oppose 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Divine Ordinance and constitution and to correct the judgment and decree of the most Just who hath appointed a deserved punishment to murtherers but he begs of God that notwithstanding this crime he would give them true compunction and bring them to repentance It being as if he had said Do not let them die in their uncircumcision Draw them by repentance to the acknowledgment of thee Kindle the flame of the Spirit in their hearts By the means of my bloud let them be converted that being washed in the laver of thy grace and in thy bloud they may be delivered from their iniquities A most pious conclusion of this bloudy Tragedy one of the principal Actours in which was presently after so miraculously touched from heaven that it was visible our Lord had heard the devout prayer of his Martyr in this particular and therefore had not denied his other request but received his Spirit also unto himself II. For if any thing could be clearer
then this to demonstrate the truth I am endeavouring to prove the great love of our most Blessed Lord would not deny it Who appear'd again as I shew'd in the former Treatise to a very learned person of great note and great sanctity among the Jews and as great an enemy to him being consenting as he himself confesses xxii Act. 20. unto his death when the bloud of his Martyr Stephen was shed St. Paul I mean who travelling towards Damascus in a burning rage and fury and with a sharp commission against Christians and therefore in no fit disposition to receive a truth or to fall into a fancy directly opposite to his present temper and interest was suddenly surprized with a great light from heaven and beheld that Jesus whom he no more thought to be so glorious then he did the Thieves that were crucified with him presenting himself and distinctly speaking to him in such a splendid manner that he fell down to the ground and could not see for the glory of that light vers 7 11. Whosoever will carefully observe what he was and how far as I said from any such thoughts and how desperately he had been lately ingaged against St. Stephen and now was prosecuting other of Christ's Disciples will easily conclude that he had now a reall sight of the Majesty of the Lord Jesus at whose feet he fell whom otherwise no man should have despised and blasphemed more then He. Now if the Vision be considered you will find that it contains in it this Truth that Jesus is possessed of Eternall Life to give unto us as well as that he is the Son of God For I. He beheld him appearing in such a brightness as that before mentioned far exceeding the splendour of the Sun at noon-day according as he himself tells the story xxvi Act. 13. Which plainly declared him to be the King of Glory cloathed with the Majesty of God and possessed of an heavenly Kingdom and therefore able to give ETERNALL LIFE to his servants which is one of the things that St. John here saith God hath testified to us How should he come by such a robe of light and how should he appear thus first to St. Stephen and now to St. Paul and how should he present himself thus near to him and perfectly astonish his bold spirit if he had not power to doe what he pleased And therefore St. Paul is told by our Lord at this very time when he saw him in such Majesty that he should be a witness of what he had seen Which had been to no purpose unless this Apparition had something remarkable in it to prove that he was what he pretended to be in his life-time the Son of God most High whom according to his word which he passed by a voice from heaven he had glorified and given him power over all flesh II. And accordingly you find that the thing St. Paul witnessed was that Jesus was over all God blessed for ever ix Rom. 5. and had sent him to preach the Resurrection and everlasting life xiii Act. 46. xvii 18. These doctrines our Lord himself had taught him when appearing and speaking to him in such a glorious light he said I am Jesus As much as to say I am he whom you buffeted Afterius 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. whom you scourged whom you dragged about first to Caiaphas then to Pilate whom you called continually the Carpenter's son whom you number among the dead laughing aloud at those that preach the Resurrection It is I that speak and therefore believe that which my servant Stephen saw though when he told you so you would not believe it Thus he learnt saith Asterius by experience that Christ was alive and was neither corrupted by death nor stoln away secretly by his Disciples but risen from the dead 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and reigned over the whole world This he preached with as great a zeal as before he persecuted He was such an Auxiliary as before he had been an enemy 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 both strong and resolute III. For you may observe that he did not merely rationally conclude from the glory wherein Jesus was that all he had said was true and that he was able to give Everlasting Life but he heard him also say expresly at this time when he appeared to him that he would bestow this celestial Inheritance upon us even us Gentiles who were shangers to the promises foreiners and aliens from the Common-wealth of Israel having no such hope There was nothing against which the Pharisaicall spirit was more imbittered then this that other Nations should share with them and be equall to them in the blessings of the Messiah The Religion wherein St. Paul had been bred was concerned in no principle more then this that the rest of the world were all unclean and never to be united to them unless they would be circumcised and observe the Law of Moses And therefore had he not been pressed with undeniable evidence he would never have consented to this truth which was so much against the grain of that spirit which possessed him and which he but once mentioning to his Country-men they were ready to tear him in pieces xxii Act. 21 22. And yet he reports this for a certain Truth from the mouth of Jesus himself who bad him as he relates this glorious Vision to Agrippa a Prince well skilled in the Law go unto the Gentiles to open their eyes as He had done his to turn them from darkness unto light and from the power of Satan unto God that they might receive forgiveness of sins and INHERITANCE among them that are sanctified by faith in him xxvi Act. 17 18. And accordingly he went and preached every-where in obedience to this heavenly Vision the comfortable doctrine of the Resurrection and Eternall Life to us Gentiles as well as others witnessing both to small and great that as the Prophets had foretold Christ ought to suffer and should be the first that should rise from the dead and shew LIGHT unto the people of Israel that is and to the Gentiles vers 22 23. By Light in the holy language is meant the gladsome discovery of God's good will and pleasure For as by Darkness it expresses ignorance sorrow and heaviness so by its opposite knowledge joy and chearfulness And the Light which we have by Christ's sufferings and rising from the dead can be nothing else but the blessed hope of immortality This St. John tells us is the light of mankind i. 4. In him was LIFE and the life was the LIGHT of men that is their singular comfort and satisfaction which makes their life not to be irksome to them and with this Light St. Paul endeavoured to fill the world that they might all know how much they were indebted to Jesus who brought Life and immortality to light by his Gospell And can it enter into any man's thoughts that he would have set himself to preach this
pragmatically inquire after those things which the Holy Ghost it self hath not mentioned in the Scripture Thou who knowest not all that is written why dost thou busy thy self curiously about those things which are not written Let it suffice thee to know that God hath but one onely-begotten Son Be not ashamed to be ignorant of the rest for thou art ignorant of it together with the Angels Which is the same with what a more modern Writer hath said Nescire velle quae Magister Maâ—imus Docere non vult erudita est inscitia To be willing not to know what our Supreme Master will not teach is a learned Ignorance With which I shall content my self and not envy to those who have a list to handle these things more nicely their ignorant Learning They may venture as far as they please if they think it safe but ought not to be angry with those who had rather expect farther discoveries in the other world where we shall be more knowing by a purer and more perfect illumination of the most high Trinity Oâ—at xi 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. as St. Greg. Naz. speaks elsewhere and yet more modest and apt to adore the incomprehensible God the Father Son and Holy Ghost Whose Testimony is so full to satisfy us there will be such an happy State that before I pass to the other Three Witnesses on Earth I cannot but rest a while and consider what a great way we are advanced towards a strong and settled belief of Eternall Life if these things be well digested in our minds If we would but always lay before our eyes these Records and were as well acquainted with them as we are with our Evidences for our Estates if they were as fresh in our minds as the words of a Record which we are to plead in some Court where we have a Cause to be heard or the Title to our whole Estate tried and determined I do not see how we should possibly doubt of this Promise which our Lord hath made to his followers nor how we should lose the joy and comfort of it in this world of sorrows Let all those who have taken the pains to reade thus far in this Treatise be so kind to themselves as on all occasions to recollect what they have read and in their quiet thoughts to put themselves often in mind that the Father hath said this is true by a voice from heaven at severall times when Jesus was baptized when he was upon the holy Mount and before a multitude of people He testified that ETERNALL LIFE is in him The Word also hath shewn us this glorious State when he appeared to St. Stephen to St. Paul to his beloved St. John who have all communicated their knowledge to us and told us that he assured them He lives and that we shall live by him The Holy Ghost likewise hath declared this by coming down upon Him and upon his Apostles and upon his faithfull ones And then they cannot chuse but rely most firmly upon such ample and unquestionable Testimonies and be very much affected with this full assurance of Faith which God works in us There would be no reason I am sure why they should not as strongly believe and expect the glory that Jesus will give us though they do not now see it as we all do the performance of the promise of any person of known honesty and ability though at a great distance from us No doubt the faith of Christians would be immovable did they ponder these things they would never call it into dispute after such demonstrations whether there be another Life or no. Yea they themselves would become immovable and stedfast and abundant in the work of our Lord because the very same Witnesses tell them that this is the onely way to eternall Happiness which cannot be compassed by any means but by patient continuance in well-doing How well then would it be with them could we but prevail with all Christian Souls to spend some time every day in calling to mind what they have heard these Heavenly Witnesses say If they would but cast up their eyes every morning towards heaven and think There Jesus is there he lives in great honour and glory there he sits at the right hand of the Throne of God there St. Stephen saw him in such glory St. Paul and St. John beheld him from thence they heard him speak and make most gracious promises to them he sent the Holy Ghost from thence to be his Witness there he is preparing a place for all them that have the heart to follow him thither he will receive our Spirits to behold his glory and with him shall all good men live for ever in unconceivable joy How would these thoughts inspire and ravish their hearts How would they change and transform them into quite other things How mean and contemptible would our petty injoyments which now so tempt us seem in comparison with that divine condition How impossible would it be to perswade us to yield to the breach of any of his commands and thereby forfeit such happiness Yea how easy sweet and pleasant would it be to doe as he bids us in hope of such an incomparable recompence I leave every one to make triall of it that he may be able to tell if he can what power and force there is in this settled belief It is reported by him that writes the Life of Laurentius Justinianus that when he was a youth about nineteen years old which is an age you know most slippery and subject to danger he thought he saw one day or night I know not well whether a very beautifull virgin approaching towards him and thus addressing her speech to him Why dost thou O young man thus disquiet thine heart and wast thy strength in a vain pursuit of many things whereon thou pourest forth thy affections why dost thou seek for rest in such triviall injoyments That which thou art so desirous of is in my power to bestow upon thee And if thou wilt resolye to take me for thy Spouse I promise to bring with me such a portion of peace and contentment as no other person can inrich thee withall The young man you may well suppose was much taken with so rare a feature and such fair promises which moved him to crave that he might know her name and the family from which she was descended To which she answered I am the Wisedom of God that is my Name thence is my Parentage if thou wilt accept of the offer I will be thine and give all I have to thee The youth says the story instantly consented and after he had drawn a contract between them thought she took her leave of him and went away to provide for the wedding Upon this he awaked and imagined the Vision instructed him to betake himself to a Monasticall life Which he presently vowed concluding that in that retirement he was to compleat his marriage to the
us for arrant fools Do you think we are mere Mushromes that our brains are made of a sponge or our heads stuft with wet straw What do you make of us or what have we done that argues us to be such blocks and trunks as you suppose us And yet such was the constant preaching of our ever-Blessed Saviour that if he had not made his promises as plain and certain as his commands he would have been liable to such language For he calls men as you reade in that Parable xx Matth. to a laborious life of piety From the beginning of his preaching to the end of it he had no other design Early in the morning vers 1. when he first appeared in the world he went out and what was it to doe but to hire labourers into his vineyard At the third hour he went out again and said to those whom he found idle Go ye also into the vineyard vers 4. At the sixth and the ninth hour of his life he still followed the same business At the eleventh also vers 6. he finds other loiterers and says to them also Why stand you here all the day idle Would they have moved from their place think you if he had not agreed with them to pay them for their pains Would they have returned no other answer but that No man hath hired us and not have also added What will you give us what shall we gain by our labour had he not satisfied them about that matter If there had been no wages to be expected they had better have stood idle still or have staid for some other Master Had it not been evident that the Lord of the vineyard was a wealthy person able to give every man his peny i. e. a reward for his service he might have called long enough and seen his ground all overrun with briars and thorns before he had procured any labourers to go into it Certainly if we will but allow our Saviour to have been a person of ordinary reason and common capacity we cannot imagine he would have endured so long toil and travell and walkt all the countrey of Judaea over to win proselytes to him if he had not made it as visible that he would bring men to the blessed sight of God in eternall rest and peace as it was that he called them to a God-like life of piety righteousness and true holiness during their stay in this present world We must depress him into the rank of the most witless men or else believe that He who required so much work from his servants demonstrated he was a good Master rich and furnished with the most ample rewards And therefore 3. we may well believe that He came with such Testimonies from above from the Father and from the Holy Ghost and intended Himself to appear from heaven as the Authour of Eternall Life without which he could not have gone about to establish such a Doctrine or if he had would not have succeeded One of these Witnesses exceedingly justify the other and are not to be divided We have reason to think a person of his Understanding who spake as never man spake his very enemies being judges would not have attempted the settlement of such a strict rule of life as his Doctrine contains without such countenance from Heaven as I have mentioned to perswade the world that he would lead them thither Though I must add 4. that the strict purity and holiness of his Doctrine singly considered is of great weight and moment to perswade us that ETERNALL LIFE is in him because this is a part nay a principall part of his Doctrine Which He who in all other things that he said was unreprovable would not have affirmed so expresly and constantly if he had not been fully assured it was true Do but observe how this Doctrine is constantly intermixed with all his Sermons It is the very strain of his Preaching that if any man would follow him and doe as he did he should find rest for his Soul and that God the Father of all would honour those who did him service xii Joh. 26. This he proclaims in the plainest terms and the clearest manner viii Joh. 12. I am the Light of the World Illuminator Deductor humani generis as Tertullian excellently expresses it * Apolog. cap. xxi the Inlightner and the Conducter or guide of mankind He that follows me shall have the light of life the wisedom that is which shall lead him to immortall blifs And to make this more manifest let it be noted 1. how he proclaims this to every man iii. Joh. 15 16. that the Son of man must die that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have eternall life For God so loved the world that he gave his onely-begotten Son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life And 2. he asserts it with the greatest earnestness with the strongest and most vehement asseverations vi Joh. 47. Verily verily I say unto you he that believeth on me hath everlasting life He tells them also 3. with the same assurance that God had sealed him for this purpose or set a plain mark upon him whereby all might see that he was to be the Authour of everlasting life vi Joh. 27. And observe 4. that having told them it was visible if they pleased to open their eyes that God the Father had designed him to give them immortall satisfaction he repeats this Doctrine a great many times in that Chapter vers 33 35 39 40 47 48 51 54 57. Insomuch that St. Peter concludes at the latter end of that Sermon there was no Master comparable to him who had the words of eternall life ver 68. And it is farther observable that he affirms 5. he came to bring his followers to the greatest happiness x. Joh. 10. I am come that they might have life and that they might have it more abundantly And 6. that he tells them again he came to publish this glad tidings by the appointment of the Father xii Joh. 50. I know that his commandment is life everlasting whatsoever I speak therefore even as the Father said unto me so I speak And 7. that he affirms he hath power to make good what he promises x. Joh. 28. And I give unto them eternall life and they shall not perish neither shall any pluck them out of my hand xvii 1 2. Glorify thy Son as thou hast given him power over all flesh that he should give eternall life to as many as thou hast given him And lastly he tells them that he was such a person as might well be credited in all this since he came down from heaven and was at that moment in heaven iii. Joh. 13. Which he repeats again viii 23. I am from above I am not of this world and ver 38. I speak that which I have seen with my Father and ver 42. I proceeded forth and came from God neither came I of
my self but he sent me For which reason he doth not discourse of immortall life as a Philosopher going about to prove it by reasons and arguments but onely asserts it as one that had Divine Authority for which he was to be believed and could himself make men eternally happy This was the onely thing that could be disputed and needed proof that he came from heaven to illuminate the world by his instructions And this he did not desire they should take upon his bare word but abundantly demonstrated it and told them ver 28. that after his death they should still see it made more evident that he did nothing of himself but as the Father had taught him he spake these things For then as you shall see in due place God the Father declared all these words to be true by raising him from the dead These things he said so often so openly so confidently and with such appeals to God who bare him witness as you have heard and never in the least contradicted what he said that we have great reason to believe he did not forge all this but delivered the mind and will of God as sincerely when he said he would give men Eternall Life as he did when he charged them to live soberly righteously and godly in this present world Certain it is that He himself believed what he preached and had no doubt but a perfect assurance of it as will appear if we pass to the Second thing which we are briefly to consider II. His own most holy Life in the strictest obedience to God the Father This Abarbinell in his discourse upon xi Isa which I have so often mentioned makes one of the marks of the Messiah the perfect temper of his desires and affections and the direction of them according to the measures of the Divine Law Which he thinks is the meaning of those words ver 3. He shall be of quick understanding in the fear of the Lord. This was so remarkable in Jesus who was so truly so compleatly and constantly pious that there never was any person so qualified to lay claim to this Dignity as he was His Life was so free from all blame such a perfect abstinence from all the pleasures of this world such a contempt of all that which we think most worthy of our indefatigable labours that it hath a strong force in it to perswade us that he indeed sought Eternall Glory and was fully assured he should be possessed of it for Himself and for all His. Who but a man so perswaded of his Doctrine would have lived in poverty when he might no question by the multitude and devotion of his followers have made himself incredibly rich What should incline him to remain all his days without an house so big as a fox or the smallest bird is owner of but an expectation of that house which is eternall in the heavens Could any thing move him to give away to the poor all that was given him but a certain knowledge of great treasures above We cannot conceive what should make him refuse the dignity of a King when the people intended to proclaim him if it were not this undoubted perswasion that he was the King of Heaven and should sit down at the right hand of the Throne of God Would any of those that doubt this labour as he did night and day for nothing Would any poor man cure multitudes of all diseases and take not a farthing for his pains Would any body live if he could help it and not know where he should eat the next meal's meat And who is he that can find in his heart to endure the hatred of the chiefest of the people and to be in perpetuall danger of snares and treacherous designs for the taking away his life without any hope to be a gainer by it Is there any likelihood that our Lord would have laboured in such sort as not to have leisure so much as to eat and after all that kind pains be content to be called Deceiver and Devill and to run the hazzard of being stoned and killed and yet have no assured expectation to reap some fruit hereafter from all his toil and trouble Let him believe it that loves to sting his fingers with nettles or to roll his naked body in snow we that have a more tender sense of our own pleasure must have leave to be of another mind Let any man try to perswade himself to lead such a life and by his unwillingness he will easily be convinced that our Lord who could look for nothing in this world from what he did and suffered would never have so chearfully freely and without any regret followed such a course had he not known as surely that he should be made glorious thereby hereafter as he knew that he must be made miserable by it here Ask his Poverty then and that will bear witness that he laid up treasures in the heavens Ask his Humility and that will tell you that he sought for the Glory of God onely Inquire of his Charity and Bounty his wonderfull bounty to all men and that will bear Record both that all fulness is in him and that he will not envy any thing he hath to his followers Let his Contentedness speak and that will assure you he was possessed of something greater then all worldly goods which he could tell better how to live without then others to live comfortably withall Examine his Labours and pains his travells and journeys trace his steps over sea and land and they will all confess that he sought a better Country which is an heavenly Ask him what he meant by his Patience his willing endurance of all reproaches calumnies hatreds persecutions and they will likewise conclude in the same testimony that he had a joy set before him which made him despise them all In short consult his Fasting forty days his enduring so many temptations of the Devill slighting his offers rejecting his counsels and you can have no account of them but this that he had indeed the meat that endures to everlasting life that he verily believed the voice from heaven which said he was the Son of God and that he knew he had a greater Glory then all the Kingdoms of the world which the Devill offered him And after all this I suppose there is no considering man but will think the unquestionable belief of such a person as he was to be of very great moment to settle ours in this weighty business It is safest for us without all dispute to follow the judgment of one so well able to discern truth from falshood that he was of as quick understanding in all things else as he was in the fear of the Lord. We have great reason to think that he was in the right and was no more deluded himself then he intended to delude others There was not the least flaw as I shewed in the former Treatise that appeared in his Understanding nor could
he be seduced into this belief by any earthly appetite or desire and therefore we ought to conclude he was abundantly satisfied by the most evident demonstrations that he should live for ever and be the Authour of Eternall Life to others which among other reasons should very much satisfy us III. Who may farther consider also the Baptism of that famous person St. John the Baptist That is his whole Ministry which is comprehended under the name of his Baptism as Circumcision sometimes includes the whole Law of Moses In this we shall find if we examine it a plain testimony to the great truth we are treating of that ETERNALL LIFE is in Jesus for all the faithfull All that Nation who persecuted our Saviour held John for a Prophet and went to be baptized of him Insomuch that the wisest of them durst not affirm that his Commission was from men or that he taught and baptized the people from a private motion of his own but rather that he undertook this office by authority from heaven Upon which account they were bound to receive his testimony concerning our Saviour as unquestionable which they themselves clearly discerned to be a good consequence and therefore would not reason this matter out with our Saviour but let it fall to the ground when they themselves had begun the dispute Now He testified as plainly that by him we shall have Eternall Life as he did that he is the Son of God For 1. as soon as ever he began to preach he told them the Kingdome of heaven was at hand iii. Matt. 2. Which language the Jews understood well enough and therefore never askt what he meant for so they had learnt out of the Prophet Daniel to call the Kingdome of Christ Whose throne was to be erected by an heavenly power and not by any humane means and under whose government they expected the greatest blessings that heaven ever meant to bestow upon them Now that under this name the Baptist comprehends the Eternall Felicity which Christ should bring is apparent from the exposition which he makes of it in the following part of the Chapter Where he tells those who were dubious that he was not the Christ but they might shortly expect him and that when he came he would gather the wheat into his garner as well as burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire iii. Matt. 12. This he said when the chief of the Jews came to his Baptism which was a testimony that Jesus who presently came after him was to open the Kingdome of heaven and gather all pious men thither as wheat into a garner Which though it denote first of all the Church of Christ yet must needs include in it the notion of a Church to be made exceeding glorious because the King of it hath his seat and throne no-where but in Heaven And then 2. after this the Baptist gave a more express testimony of what they were to expect from Jesus when he said Behold the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the World i. Joh. 29. Which words must needs intend as hath been said already that He is to restore us to the favour of God wherein our first Parents stood to take away that which separates between God and us and to make us capable of Paradise again And still more expresly 3. he says iii. Joh. 36. He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life Unto which testimony our Blessed Saviour himself appeals v. Joh. 33. after he had been discoursing ver 25 26 c. of his power to give life to mankind Indeed there was a witness he shews which in itself was far stronger then this and that was the Works which he did but this was a better witness to them and therefore our Saviour uses it who durst not affirm John's Baptism was not from heaven whereas they boldly said the works of our Saviour were not from thence but from the Devill This is the meaning of those words that follow ver 34 35 36. after his appeal to John's witness But I receive not testimony from man but these things I say that ye might be saved He was a burning and shining light and ye were willing for a season to rejoyce in his light But I have greater witness then that of John c. That is Though I do not chiefly rely on any humane testimony such as John's was and indeed do not need it having one more immediately divine and heavenly yet for your sakes who have a good opinion of him and own him for a Prophet and whom I would willingly convince and save by any means I instance in him so much and re-mind you of what he said concerning me That which makes me first of all speak of his testimony and so often refer you to it is not because it is the first and chiefest in its own nature much less the onely testimony I have but because I think it will be most effectuall to doe you good He being in himself a most excellent person shining among you in great wisedom and zeal and also by you so esteemed and received among you at least for a season with a great deal of satisfaction And to this now adde 4. another thing which I took notice of in the former Treatise and must here just call to remembrance that our Saviour himself was baptized of him at Bethabara a place that denoted him to be the person who should lead men to their Rest the Joshua that should conduct them into the land of promise and you will confess this WATER we are speaking of to be the Water of life which if we drink of it will revive and chear our fainting spirits If we do but receive I mean the Doctrine of the Lord Jesus into our hearts if we seriously consider it together with the strain of his Life if we mark the office of St. John Baptist the end of his Ministry and the testimony which his Baptism gave to our Saviour we shall find them all leading us into this comfortable belief that He is the Prince of life and that none can miscarry who live as he taught and tread in his steps but have good hopes in this world which shall not make them ashamed in the world to come IV. This Jesus himself also bad his Disciples believe by the same Authority whereby he baptized and gathered Disciples to himself Which none could doe I shew'd you as he did but the Christ in whose days the Jews expected an Universal Baptism and cleansing of the people Now the very end and intention of his Baptism was it is very well known for the Remission of sins and consequently for Eternall life This he taught men to believe and then authorized his Disciples to receive men to these high and noble Privileges by baptizing them in his Name Upon which followed such a marvellous change in their Souls they were so inlightned renewed and transformed
profanation This was a preface as he calls it to the utter subversion and extinction of the rest of their Ordinances and their legall Worship The consequence of which was as he likewise notes that the knowledge and service of God according to the Law which had been so long circumscribed and shut up in one city and country being to be abolished that worship which by the Passion of our Saviour was revealed was to be established and spred to the uttermost parts of the Earth And therefore the rending of the veil did as good as proclaim to all the world and cry with a loud voice saying Come hither and behold the invisible things Come 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to the sight of the divine Mysteries from whence you have been so long excluded Here is free leave for you all to enter who have as much right as any to that which before was inaccessible And since this most holy place was a type of Heaven God commanding Moses to make all things according to the pattern in the Mount the shutting up of this from the people and hiding the things contained in it by a veil drawn before their eyes was an acknowledgment that by the legall worship there was no entrance into the heavens but the way was unpassable by those that stuck onely to its rites and ceremonies And therefore the tearing of this veil by the death of Christ signified as plainly that the obstacle was removed and preached to the world as with the sound of a trumpet that every one of us by his BLOUD may hope to come thither For He that emptied himself for this very cause as the same Photius writes and took upon him our flesh and suffered all things for our sake Christ I mean our God hath opened a new passage into the kingdom of heaven by his life-giving death Which both dissolved that old Religion as the very same thing you see foresignified and introduced such an one as will certainly bring us into the high and holy place whether Jesus our forerunner is entred for us And that this tearing of the veil in sunder was the effect of our Saviour's passion and precious BLOUD-shedding is visible from the relation which the Evangelicall story makes of this Prodigy So I call it because you reade that it was not rent from the bottom to the top as it would have been if the Earthquake as some may be prone to suspect had been the cause of it but from the top to the bottom xxvii Matt. 51. This evidently shews it was an hand from above that made this breach which following immediately upon our Saviour's giving up the ghost was as sensible a token that it depended upon no other cause but that The most impious are not able to devise any other reason of so strange an accident Which could have no naturall cause as an Earthquake may but proceeded from a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as Photius his phrase is Divine vengeance which gave the veil this stroke and cut it quite in two as an indeleble proof that it was the BLOUD of an innocent person which they now had shed And indeed the Earthquake there mentioned was so far from being the cause of this rent that it followed after it that Power from on high which first slit the veil next of all shaking the earth and cleaving the rocks in sunder To which I think it may be fit to adde that the Jews themselves tell us the gates of the Temple used after this to open of their own accord forty years before its destruction * Tzemach David ad an 3785. Which made R. Jochanan ben Zaccai cry out O Temple Temple why dost thou affright thy self I know that thou shalt be destroyed in the end for Zachariah prophesied of thee Open thy doors O Lebanon that the fire may devour thy Cedars xi 1. Which new prodigy confessed by many of their Writers together with the extinction of the Lamp that used to burn there was a witness that God was going away from that place and intended no longer to dwell in it but would shew his Glory which for many years had heretofore filled that house to all the Earth Now then if the Partition-wall was thus broken down through the BLOUD of Jesus and all laid open and common that we might enter upon the possession of the Divine promises as well as others it is certain by the Witness of this BLOUD that there is an Heavenly Inheritance for us for Earthly there is none Either we must obtain Eternall Life by him that died for us or nothing at all For there is no land of Canaan nor any thing like it given to us Gentiles who are now called to inherit the promises We have no assurance of any worldly purchaces no portion of money vine-yards olive-yards or other goods of that nature assigned to us as there was to the ancient Israelites But quite contrary they that enjoyed the very first-fruits of the Divine Love were told that every one who would live godly in Christ Jesus must suffer persecution and take up their cross and forsake all if they would be his followers Accordingly we have examples of those who sold their lands and when they had done gave away the price of them so far were they from thinking of any temporall rewards Undoubtedly then the Blessing which Jesus purchased for us by his BLOUD whereby he laid waste all former inclosures can be nothing else but great Possessions in another World where we have the promise of an eternall Inheritance This we ought to expect with the most assured confidence for we cannot make any doubt of it unless we will look upon the BLOUD of Jesus as more ineffectuall then the bloud of bulls and goats whereby they held the Earthly Canaan VIII And now let us once more look upon the BLOUD of Jesus as the bloud of a Sacrifice whereby all Covenants were anciently sealed and without which there could be no entrance no not for the High-priest himself into the Holy place where God dwelt Those inspired persons whom as I said before our Saviour bids all men hear and reverence frequently call his Death by this name And common reason also leads us to have the same thoughts of it For if it was not the BLOUD of the most precious and acceptable Sacrifice which He offered upon the Cross how could it put an end as it hath done to all the old Sacrifices which had stood so long by God's appointment and make all the bloud that was afterward offered of no force at all for their preservation from ruine That it did so is manifest by the experience of near sixteen hundred years And the Hebrew Writers themselves confess that the scarlet tongue as they call it that is the list of that colour and figure which was hung between the Scape-goat's horns or as others will have it at the door of the Temple and always used to turn white according to that in Isaiah
1.18 would never alter for forty years before the destruction of the Temple but still continued red on the great day of Expiation Which if it be true as we have their own faith for it was a shrewd token that their most excellent Sacrifices were now able to doe them no service and that their Sins were of so deep a dye having crucified the Prince of life that nothing in the old Religion could purifie them In vain did they expect to hear that tongue speaking peace to them which was wont to publish good tidings for it still lookt as red as bloud and told them there was no hope for them but in Jesus who alone could make their crimson sins as white as wool By his bloudy Death they might sue out a pardon of those very crimes which they had committed against himself For it being a Sacrifice was for the remission of Sins or else the World had been in a worse case then it was before now that all other Bloud to cleanse them was quite taken away And there was no reason to doubt but God was perfectly well pleased and satisfied with this one Sacrifice of his else he would not have raised him from the dead nor admitted him into the heavens where as He himself hath since declared he appears in the presence of God and by virtue of his Sacrifice makes perpetuall intercession for us Now this plainly infers as hath been said before the hope of Eternall Life For if there be remission of sins then we are restored to the state of innocence again We are put into the state and condition of the sons of God and there is nothing to hinder our being re-possessed of Paradise and the Tree of Life To which we not being restored in this World it remains that we be admitted to it and re-instated in it in another IX Unto all which let the consideration of the time be added when our Saviour suffered for that is not without its instruction in this business but contributes something to the confirmation of our faith It was at the Feast of unleavened Bread as they themselves cannot deny a solemn time appointed by God to be observed at their departure out of Egypt when they were ransomed by a mighty hand and purchased to be God's peculiar people and began their journey towards the Land of Canaan which he had promised to their forefathers At this Feast it is well known a Lamb immaculate and pure was ordered to be slain whose bloud was that which saved them from the strokes of the Angel of Death who destroyed the Egyptians Now our Lord the Lamb of God without spot and blemish the Lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world as St. John Baptist testified being slain at this very time and hanging on the Cross after the same fashion wherein the Paschall Lamb was wont to be killed it was a Testimony clear enough to those that observed and laid things together that his BLOUD was their ransome from a greater slavery and was shed to deliver them from eternall death and destruction and after they had travelled a while through the wilderness as I may call it of this world and overcome there all difficulties and temptations would procure their entrance into a better and more glorious Rest then that wherein they were The Holy man who writes the Epistle to the Hebrews proves unanswerably chap. iv that the Rest into which Joshua brought the Children of Israel was not all that good men expected and which God intended to bestow upon them For if that great Captain had brought them to their finall Rest there would not have been mention made by the inspired Psalmist many years after their settlement in Canaan of another Rest which as the words there are remaineth for the people of God Now who can pretend to be the Captain of their Salvation to conduct them thither but onely our Blessed Saviour whose Name is the same with that of the ancient Joshua or Jesus who was baptized at that very place where they entred into their Rest in the promised Land to whom the heavens there opened and God the Father spake by an audible voice and the Holy Ghost fell down in a visible shape who at last after many promises and assurances that he would bring them to the heavenly Country was offered at that very time when their forefathers began their travells to their resting-place and hereby sealed what he had promised by his bloud as God the Father sealed to it by divers acts of his that He was a Lamb without spot an offering and a sacrifice to him of a sweet-smelling savour Well might St. Paul call him our Passeover that is sacrificed for us 1 Cor. v. 7. For it is as visible that he was slain for the salvation of mankind as that the Paschall Lamb was slain for the preservation of Israel and that as the destroying Angel passed over those houses where he found the bloud of that Lamb upon the door-posts and spared the lives of the inhabitants so all those Souls that are sprinkled with the bloud of Jesus i. e. believe on him shall be delivered by him from perishing and preserved to eternall Life Which Salvation he procured by offering himself freely as our Passeover that is for the like end but as much excelling as Eternall life doth temporary for which the Paschal Lamb was sacrificed And he made his sacrifice the more remarkable by offering it at that very time when the other was offered and when they themselves expected it For some of the Jews say expresly which adds much weight to this observation that on the same day of the month Nisan Israel shall be redeemed in the days of the Messiah Vid P. Fagium in xii Exod. 13. on which they were redeemed when God wonderfully brought them out of the land of Egypt Now our Saviour made good his word which he had often passed that he would give them his very flesh to eat whereby they might feast with him as they had done that day on the Paschal Lamb. He gave them also his very bloud to drink which was the price of their redemption that which saved them from the destroyer and overcame those enemies which opposed their entrance into the Eternall Rest For his flesh as he speaks vi Joh. 55. being offered on the Cross was meat indeed and his bloud drink indeed That is the most perfect food and excellent nutriment which hath a power to give not a temporary as the Paschal Lamb did but an Eternall life to those that partake of it by a lively faith in him Some of the Jews themselves thought there was some greater Mystery in the Passeover then the commemoration of their deliverance out of Egypt and say expresly that then God communicated his Divinity to men They are the words of R. Judah * apud Masâ—um in v. Jesh 1â— By the Sacrifice of the Passeover God joyns men so closely to himself that
brethren He never called them so before till he was after a new manner declared the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead And now to own them for his Brethren was as much as to say that they should be made the Sons of God by their resurrection and be coheirs with him To prove which new Brotherhood the Apostle to the Hebrews brings that place of the Psalmist now mentioned ii Heb. 11 12. He is not ashamed to call them Brethren saying I will declare thy name unto my brethren Whence he is called the first-born among many brethren viii Rom. 29. Whom he bids them that first saw him alive again inform that he ascended to his God and to their God and to his Father and their Father to shew them that they might safely repose such a confidence in God as he had done and hope to be raised by him from the dead as he was and receive a portion with him in the heavenly inheritance 6. This Relation which he owns to us gives us the greatest confidence to look upon him as our HOPE as St. Paul speaks 1 Tim. i. 1. the HOPE of Glory 1 Col. 27. For it is certain that when any person is advanced to a throne his bloud is thereby inriched all his family I mean are raised and dignified his children especially put into the quality of royall persons though never so mean before nay made capable of succeeding him in his state and greatness Now our Lord hath a family as well as other persons all those who believe on him being acknowledged by him not onely to be his brethren but his children who living by his faith are really descended from him and therefore by his resurrection are also begotten again unto a lively hope of an incorruptible inheritance 1 Pet. i. 3 4. Whence the same Divine Writer who observes how he calls them Brethren immediately shews how he owns a nearer relation to them saying Behold I and the children which God hath given me ii Heb. 13. who in him are all advanced to the highest honour His glory makes them illustrious for if children saith St. Paul then heirs heirs of God and joynt-heirs with Christ viii Rom. 17. Who is not to be considered merely as a single person but as the Lord and Head of a Body or Corporation of men who are so one with him that the raising him to so great a glory as he inherits is the raising and ennobling them A sure pledge that is that the same shall be done for the Members which was for the Head who will not be without them but make them partakers of the same benefit which is bestowed on him He is like the first-fruits as St. Paul discourses in his Chapter of the Resurrection 1 Cor. xv 20 c. a second Adam the head and beginning of a new Creation by whom all shall as surely be made alive as in the first Adam all died 7. Why should we doubt of it since he was carried to heaven as they that received the Holy Ghost testified to appear before God with his bloud for us ix Heb. 23 24. This is a very great argument that we have Eternall Life and that it is in him for this Sacrifice of himself being accepted by God the Eternall SPIRIT which offered him to God presenting him before him without spot or blemish must needs take away sin and remove all hindrances to our admission into the very same place where he is as that Epistle proves at large By this offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified and we have 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 liberty and freedom without any lett or impediment to enter into the Holiest by the bloud of Jesus x. Heb. 14 19. Who is such an High-priest over the family of God as is set on the right hand of the throne of the majesty in the heavens viii 1. and being consecrated for evermore is become the Authour of eternall Salvation unto all them that obey him v. 9. vii 28. 8. To whom therefore we ought to draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith that he will not fail to imploy his power to make us happy with himself Which you may consider once more he most earnestly prayed for when he was on earth it being one of his last requests to his Father that those whom he had given him might be with him where he is that they might behold the glory which he hath given him xvii Joh. 24. And therefore having obtained such a power over all as hath been described by his precious bloud which he was then going to offer we may rest assured he will not let us be without that of which he was so desirous before he left the World now that he is in heaven with full power to fulfill his own desires For it is unreasonable to suppose that a Friend who carnestly beseeches another to grant us a favour will not most readily doe it himself when he becomes as able to bestow it as he of whom before he askt it But the fear of swelling this Treatise into over-great a bulk makes me pass over these things with the bare mention of them and omit many other I shall put an end therefore to this last Testimony of the SPIRIT with those remarkable words of St. Peter in his second Epistle ver 3 4. of the first Chapter Where he saith as we translate him that the Divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and vertue whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises c. The meaning of which in a larger form of words is plainly this Account that grace and peace which I have wisht you in abundance ver 2. from God and our Saviour no small blessing For God hath in a most excellent omnipotent manner bestowed on us all things that are necessary for our future happiness and felicity and for our present conduct in piety which is the onely way to that Eternall life And if you ask me how he hath given us these things in so resplendent god-like a manner I 'le tell you it is through the knowledge of him that hath called us that is through Jesus Christ the true Word of God who hath called us to piety and happiness And if you enquire again how you shall know that what he saith is true and that he calls us not merely from himself but from God who directs us by him in the right way of godliness which will bring us to everlasting Life I 'll resolve you in that also for he hath called us 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by so it is in the margin glory and vertue How we come to render it to glory and vertue I know not for it makes the sense obscure whereas otherwise it is perspicuous and clear and as if the Apostle had said The Glory and Vertue which accompanied
constant Auditours of Which made them the more confident to declare these things to others because they had them not at the second hand but immediately from himself And because it is the least of testimonies to say we have heard a thing therefore he adds in the second place that they had SEEN it beheld that is all the marvellous works he did to confirm this Doctrine which he delivered as the word Seen seems to be understood xv Joh. 24. If I had not done among them the works which none other man did they had not had sin but now they have SEEN and yet hated both me and my Father They saw the vast numbers that he fed with a little food the sick that he cured with speaking a word the dead that he raised when all their friends gave them for lost and despaired of seeing them again in this world In short so many instances of his Divine power and authority that if they should have been written every one this Apostle supposes the World would not have been able to contain the Books that should have been written xxi ult But these are recorded which we find in the Gospell as he concludes the foregoing Chapter that we might believe that Jesus is the Son of God and that believing we might have Life through his Name And lest any should imagine it was but a transient sight they had of these things and their eyes might be deluded as we sometimes are when a thing suddenly flies away from us or that they were but seldom spectatours of these things and so could not gather much from thence he adds in the third place that they had LOOKED on it that is had this evidence continually before their eyes They scarce saw any thing else but miracles They had not leisure ofttimes so much as to eat their meat by reason of the great multitude of people that came to be healed by him They conversed a long time with Lazarus after he was risen and our Lord himself was seen of them forty days after his resurrection speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God And when the Holy Ghost came they themselves to whom the Apostle here writes could testifie the wonderfull variety of spirituall gifts that were poured on believers But because we imagine that to feel a thing is far more considerable for our satisfaction then to see it or look upon it as St. Thomas would not believe those who had seen our Lord and heard him speak but he would put his hands into his wounds before he would be satisfied therefore the Apostle tells us farther that they declared nothing but what they had HANDLED of the word of life That is there was most palpable evidence and demonstration given of the truth of their report They were so near as to touch and feel that their eyes were not deceived when they thought they saw such miracles wrought For their own hands distributed the bread and the fish to the hungry multitude And some of them untied the grave-cloaths of Lazarus when he was raised from the dead And to give one instance for all when he himself rose again from his grave they not onely discoursed with him and saw him eat and drink and beheld him severall times and in severall places but he called them to him and said Behold my hands and my feet handle me and see for a spirit hath not flesh and bones as you see me have xxiv Luk. 39. This very handling of him was a great argument of the Eternall Life which was with the Father but was hereby made manifest unto us for it proves his resurrection and that is a proof of ours Now they having thus heard and seen and beheld and handled these things how could they chuse but publish that Jesus is the Authour of Eternall Life And we receiving such testimony from them how can we refuse to believe their word that we may have fellowship with them in God and his Son i. e. be partakers as they were in that most blessed Life of God and our Saviour Jesus Christ If we do but believe there were such men as St. John and St. Paul and all the rest and if they had eyes and ears and hands like other men if they were men of sound brains and understandings as it appears by their writings they were if any credit may be given to sober persons who protest they heard those voices from heaven saw those miracles which they have recorded conversed with our Saviour after he rose from the dead as there are no Writers in the world deserve credit if they do not nay if they deserve more credit then any considering what they did and suffered as you shall hear for the testimony of that which they saw and heard and wrote to the world there is no doubt this Life was manifested most apparently to them and they had reason to bear witness of it and shew it to us And we cannot but rest satisfied that it is the will of God to give Eternall Life by his Son Jesus Christ our Lord. No question to be made of it unless we will question all Histories in the world and believe nothing that is reported and delivered to us by others Which if it were once resolved there would be an end of most of the trade commerce and business that is managed in the world And deeds and evidences which men have from their ancestours would become void and present possession would be the onely title they could have to their estates But for our farther satisfaction let me briefly shew that the APOSTLES gave a continued Testimony to this truth all the three ways whereby St. John saith He came by WATER by BLOVD and by the SPIRIT I. As for the purity of their Doctrine which is one part of the Testimony of Water I have given an account of it in the first part of this Discourse Which demonstrates it was of that nature that it had been an idle attempt to preach it and endeavour to plant it in the World had they not believed and been able to prove that their Master who employed them would give them and all those who obeyed their word the reward of Eternall Life To which if you adde the holiness of their Life which is another part of this Testimony you cannot think that men of such sincerity in all other things would have affirmed so confidently as they did that which they did not take to be true nor have protested they saw and heard and felt such things as they never had any notice of But if you will needs suppose they might be so vile which is very unreasonable yet who can think they would have denied themselves so much as they did for their Master's sake in which a great part of their piety consisted if they had not been sure that he would lead them by such means to everlasting life This extraordinary contempt of all present things even of life it self as you shall
hear plainly shewed they were not merely big words which they spake of being with God and our Saviour to see the Glory which the Father had given him but things which they heartily expected For does any man find such inclinations in himself as should make him imagine they would have left their trades their houses their possessions their wives kindred friends all that is desirable in this world and perswade those who were the dearest to them to doe so too if they had not had an assurance upon such grounds as were apt to convince others as well as them of the recompence they should meet withall hereafter in a better life Who can believe that St. Paul would have quitted all his Dignities his hopes of greater preferment his esteem and reputation with the wisest and chiefest persons in the Nation his ease and quiet and every thing else and betaken himself to the troublesome service of a despicable Master if he had not known and seen it as clearly as the Sun in the firmament that Jesus whom he served was raised from the dead and made the King of Glory and would prefer all those that proved faithfull to him unto the greatest honour in the heavens For what reason should those good men live as having nothing and all the time be as chearfull as if they possessed all things Did they not look upon themselves think you as heirs of a Kingdom which could not be taken away from them Reade St. Paul's description of himself to Timothy 2. iii. 10 11. who he says had fully known his doctrine and manner of life not onely what he had been wont to teach but how he had followed his own instructions what his purpose and aim had ever been his fidelity his lenity towards offenders his charity to all Christians his patience under troubles of all sorts for he was persecuted and endured great afflictions by that means at Antioch where they thrust him out of the city at Iconium where an assault was made upon him to stone him at Lystra where they actually stoned him And in how many other places he had been vilely used Timothy he says could not be ignorant having been a companion with him in his travels xvi Act. 3. Now what think you of such a person as this Do you take him for a dolt and an ignorant sot Was this great Apostle a mere lump of clay who was sensible of nothing and imagined others so senseless as that he might without any reason propound this example to Timothy for his imitation How came they to be so stupefied as to chuse rods and whips and stones and all other miseries when they might have lived in ease and peace Nay to glory in these things alone as if there had been nothing that could have done them such honour 2 Cor. xii 5 They did both hunger and thirst as I noted from the same Apostle in my former Book 2 Cor. iv 11. they were naked and buffetted they had no certain dwelling-place they laboured working with their own hands being reviled they blessed being persecuted they suffered it they were made as the filth of the world and the off-scouring of all things Which things no body in his wits can think men of their understanding would have endured if they had not been provided of meat which the world knew not of and been nourished and sustained with the hope of glory and assured of eternall mansions in the heavens and known that they should inherit a blessing and be made more honourable and glorious with Jesus for ever then the World for the present could make them vile and contemptible These things are so clear that the bare recitall of them is sufficient to satisfie us they were no deceivers nor men of light belief who took things upon trust without good evidence but had the greatest reason to endeavour to baptize all Nations into this belief as they did by an indefatigable diligence which was no small testimony of the power and glory of the Lord Jesus II. And their BLOUD speaks as much For as none of them saith St. Paul xiv Rom. 7. lived to himself so none of them died to himself but consecrated even his bloud to the Service of Christ if he pleased to command it Whereby they sealed to this Truth and shewed they were so far from doubting of immortall Life by the Lord Jesus that they unfeignedly desired to be dissolved and to be with him Witness St. Stephen who was stoned because he said he saw the Lord Jesus in the highest glory which he was never more assured of then when he died for then he recommended his Spirit to him as our Saviour had done his to God the Father Witness Antipas a faithfull Martyr Witness all those Souls whom St. John saw beneath the Altar who had all learnt from our Saviour what they must expect in his Service when he said The Brother shall deliver up the Brother to death and the Father the Child and the Children shall rise up against their Parents and cause them to be put to death And ye shall be hated of all men for my Name 's sake Under which afflictions they had nothing to support them but that which he immediately adds He that endureth to the end shall be saved x. Matth. 21 22. These few words were a sufficient incouragement to them and made them not regard their lives for the sake of Christ Jesus who hath abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the Gospell For the which cause saith St. Paul I suffer these things and am not ashamed for I know whom I have believed and am perswaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed to him against that day 2 Tim. i. 10 12. And for this cause he would not have Timothy to be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord nor of him his prisoner ver 8. but to imitate him by being partaker of the afflictions of the Gospell which he endured as he adds in the next Chapter ver 10. for the elects sake that they also might obtain the Salvation that is in Christ Jesus with eternall glory The Apostles nothing doubted that they themselves should obtain Salvation and immortall glory this way and they hoped likewise by their constant sufferings even to the death to draw others also to the faith or confirm them in it that they might have a share with them in this happiness and be willing to suffer for it For it is a faithfull saying he adds that if we be dead with him we shall also live with him if we suffer with him we shall also reign with him ver 11 12. I shall conclude this with that Discourse of St. Paul 1 Cor. xv 30 31 32. where he alledges this among other reasons to confirm that Church in the belief of the Resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come that He and the rest of the preachers of Christian Religion would not
godliness Rom. vi Col. iii. which they supposed all Christians had already felt these men fansied there was no other affirming the resurrection was past and none to come If they had onely doubted of it the Apostle it is like would not have so sharply punished them no more then he did the Corinthians But they blasphemed as he expresly tells us of Hymeneus 1 Tim. i. 20. that is reproached this Doctrine as a foolish opinion and reviled it is like the Apostles who were the preachers of it And therefore he inflicted on them the most grievous punishment by delivering them up to Satan which was not so little as merely banishing them the Christian Society but turning them over to the power of the Devill 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as unto a publick Executioner to torture and scourge them They are the words of St. Basil * Homil. in princip Proverb p. 439. with whom agree divers others of the ancient Doctours who think the Apostle speaks of surrendring such persons into his hands that he might inflict bodily diseases or pains upon them to humble and bring them down to submit to the Apostolicall doctrine when they felt the miraculous effects of their Authority For that 's the reason this punishment is called delivering up to Satan because it visibly appeared by some plagues on the body that they were faln under his power by being thrown out of the Church He was as a common Galoer and Executioner in a City or Kingdome the Apostles as the Magistrates and Governours as was said before sitting upon thrones to judge and pass sentence on men either by giving the Holy Ghost to those who sincerely believed or by delivering those to be tormented and set on the rack by this Evill spirit who blasphemed the Christian Religion There was then no other power in the Church to correct and punish them for so high a crime and this being done by the power of our Lord Jesus Christ as you reade 1 Cor. v. 4. was a notable testimony of the SPIRIT to the truth of Christianity and bad all men beware how they spake evill of this holy Doctrine especially of this fundamentall part of it that the Lord Jesus will give us everlasting life and raise us up at the last day The terrible execution which they saw done upon those who subverted this foundation of all piety was a great means to confirm all Christian people in the faith and to make them reverence those who had this mighty power either to give men ease or to torment them to restore men to life or to strike them dead to give them as was said before the gifts of the Holy Ghost or to put them into the possession of the Devill There is a great deal of difference it is observed by Tertullian * L. de Pudicitia c. xiii between an Angel of Satan sent to buffet a man and being delivered up or put into the possession of Satan himself To the former St. Paul himself was by the Divine permission obnoxious for his exercise 2 Cor. xii 7. The latter was the punishment of blasphemers and other horrid offenders for their cure But both served to give a testimony to our Saviour and to settle the hope of immortall Life For by the Angel of Satan which buffeted that is disgraced and vexed St. Paul a great many ancient Writers * S. Chrysostom Theodorer Photius apud Oecumen Ambros Theophylact understand those troubles and sore afflictions all sorts of injuries and reproaches which infidels and wicked men by the instinct of some of the Devil's agents tormented the Apostle withall Alexander the Coppersmith saith St. Chrysostom who did St. Paul so much mischief Hymeneus and Philetus all those that set themselves against the Gospell cast him into prison beat him drove him out of their cities were Ministers of Satan 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 because they did Satan's business who by such instruments laboured all he could to dishearten the Apostles and hinder the free course of the Gospell Here now appeared the mighty power of Christ which rested as the Apostle speaks or took up its dwelling in them 2 Cor. xii 9. They were never so strong as when they were thus afflicted Then they mightily prevailed and advanced the Kingdom of Christ by whose powerfull grace they endured all hardships and distresses courageously and demonstrated they had a strong and immovable hope of being with him in that blessed place unto which St. Paul was rapt just before this Messenger of Satan as we render it raised such a terrible storm of persecution against him By that glorious sight he was fortified against it and standing as firm as a rock himself confirmed others in that faith which made him so invincible that he gloried and took pleasure in all those infirmities and reproaches and necessities and persecutions and distresses which that Angel of Satan stirred up against him ver 9 10. That was all the Devill got by his ill usage of him which onely gave the Apostle matter of glory For when our Saviour pleased not to grant his desire of having this Angel removed but onely told him his grace should be sufficient for him immediately he adds that he would gladly glory more then ever in his afflictions Which plainly shews both what he meant by that Angel of Satan and how much hereby the Christian Religion was promoted and the Souls of believers strengthened in the faith They might easily believe he had been in the third heavens when they saw him so much superiour to all the power on earth and the powers of the air too who conspired to beat him down and oppress him All the art in the world could not so declare the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the unutterable words St. Paul heard which the impious Cainites and Gnosticks * Epiphan Haeres xxxviii in a Book of theirs called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 concerning St. Paul's ascent pretended to relate as this inexpressible power of Christ residing in him and supporting him under the greatest miseries which declared those words remained still imprinted in his Mind And that other power of Christ whereby the Apostle delivered up high offenders to Satan that he might inflict plagues and diseases or aches and pains on their bodies as evidently shewed what a great Minister he was in Christ's Kingdom and how credible the Doctrine was which he preached to them For he was ready to revenge all disobedience with remarkable punishments and alledges this power as a proof of his authority in the next Chapter 2 Cor. xiii 2 3 4. If I come again I will not spare since you seek a proof of Christ speaking in me He is not weak indeed towards you but is mighty in you having given by me exceeding great demonstrations of his power and my Apostleship xii 12. Yet since you are not convinced it seems by what you have seen already and desire a farther proof that Christ speaks in me you shall
in heaven binding whom it would and loosing there according to the power given him As a lion let loose among a company of foxes so did he fall upon the societies of Daemons and Philosophers and like a thunderbolt struck through all the armies of the Devill who was so afraid of him that he trembled at his shadow and ran away if he did but hear his voice He delivered the incestuous Corinthian to him being far distant from the place and again he snatcht him out of his hands being perfectly acquainted with his devices And in like manner he taught others by the same severity not to blaspheme But let us not content our selves merely to admire him let us not onely be astonisht at him let us imitate and follow him What though we cannot doe such miracles as the Apostles did and there is no hunger and other miseries to be endured the times being peaceable and quiet God be blessed yet there is their piety and the holiness of their life to be transcribed which was no less admirable And this is the noblest conflict this is the syllogism which cannot be contradicted this by our Works Should we discourse never so excellently but live no better then others we gain nothing For unbelievers do not mind what we say but what we doe saying Do thou first of all follow thine own words and then perswade others For if thou tellest us of millions of good things in the other world but art so intent upon the things of this as if there were no other we believe thy works rather then thy words For when we see thee greedy to snatch other mens goods bitterly bewailing thy friends deceased and in many other things offending how shall we believe thee that there is a Resurrection Thus unbelievers are hindred from being Christians And therefore having seen how glorious our Saviour is Id. Homil. xii in Johan being instructed in his Religion and made partakers of so great a gift let us lead a life agreeable to our principles that so we may injoy those good things which Christ hath promised For He therefore appeared not onely that his Disciples might behold his glory in this world as they say they did i. Joh. 14. but also in the world to come For I will saith he that where I am they may be and see my glory And if he appeared so illustriously here what shall we say of his glory there O happy thrice happy they more happy then can be expressed who shall be thought worthy of that glory Which if we should be so unhappy as not to see better had it been for us if we never had been born To what purpose do we live and breath what are we if we miss of that Light if we may not be permitted then to see our Lord and Master If those who enjoy not the light of the Sun lead a life more bitter then death how miserable will their condition be who are deprived of that light This loss will be punishment sufficient though this is not all they must expect For being banished from this Light they shall not onely be cast into outer darkness but there burn perpetually and miserably consume and gnash their teeth and suffer a thousand other miseries Let us awake therefore let us look about us let us use our utmost endeavours that we may enjoy the happiness Christ designs for us and be far remote from the river of fire which runs with great noise before the dreadful tribunall Into that if we fall there is no redemption And therefore let us purify our life let us make it bright and shining so that we may have boldness of access to the blessed sight of our Lord and obtain the promised good things through the grace and loving-kindness of Christ Jesus by whom and with whom to the Father and the Holy Ghost be glory world without end Amen CHAP. XIII The Vse we are to make of this RECORD I. AND in the very entrance of so pious a design to improve the great grace which Heaven hath bestowed on us it becomes us to stand amazed at the transcendent love of God our Saviour who not contenting himself to have thoughts and intentions of good towards such wretched Sinners hath been pleased to make us a gracious promise that he will bless us and to acquaint us by no less Messenger then his own Eternall Son appearing from heaven in our flesh with the secret purposes of his heart to give us the greatest Blessedness There is nothing so astonishing as this whether we consider the incomparable excellency of the Good he designs us or the favour he hath done us in revealing it to us or the glory of that person by whom he reveals it or the certainty we have that this is a true report that God hath given to us Eternall Life and this Life is in his Son O most joyfull news shall we poor mortalls live for ever and live there where Jesus is May such as we presume to expect such glory honour and immortality as he hath brought to light by his Gospell O wonderfull love which might have concealed its kindness and yet eternally obliged us It had been enough if we had got to heaven without knowing before-hand we should be so happy Why should such offenders injoy the comfort of hoping for so great a Happiness while we are here in these earthly prisons Might we not have been well contented to creep upon our hands and knees to so high a glory Had we not been fairly used if with our heads hanging down and not daring so much as to lift up our eyes to that holy place we had travelled through this world and at last found our selves beyond all expectation at rest with Jesus But O the love of God which hath bid us hold up our heads and look above and behold our Lord in his glory and hope well yea be confident that he hath seated us together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus We are indebted to him beyond all thoughts for promising us so freely out of his exceeding great love and giving us so evident a right to such glory and honour as our own unworthiness and guilt forbad us to promise our selves or to have the least expectance of And what is it that he hath so freely promised To look into that high and holy place where he is at some distance to behold his glory to have an Angel come sometimes to visit us and bring us some message from him in some of the suburbs of heaven And a great favour too I assure you A very singular kindness it ought to be esteemed if we vile wretches may be permitted to be so happy as but to come near the gates of the celestiall palace Well would it be for us to come but within the sound of those melodious hymns which the heavenly host continually sing or to live but in some of the most remote corners of that heavenly countrey and there enjoy for
other end but to shew how stupidly blind men are when they are left to walk in the ways of their own hearts and how deeply we are indebted to the exceeding great love of God who when he saw the minds of men too weak to comprehend such things and that they stood in need of a Divine Teacher as Clemens Alexandrinus * L. v. Stromat p. 548. speaks was pleased in his infinite condescension to send one from the very place his own dear Son from heaven 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 both the Teacher and the Giver of that possession of Good the secret holy token of that great Providence which took care when men had lost themselves in vain imaginations to lead them right by Him who is the Way the Truth and the Life Who hath made that certain which was dubious and that plain to every body which was the hardest thing in the world to know before and bids us lift up our Minds to God himself with whom he dwells and to whom he will bring us that we may rejoyce in his Love for ever in the happy company of Angels and good men and in that place of which the Divine Majesty is the glory And it was but needfull we shall see he should send us such a Conductour when we consider how little even they who were instructed by God himself understood of this Eternall Life before our Saviour appeared It cannot be denied that the greatest part of the Jews before our Saviour's coming did expect the Resurrection of the dead and Eternall Life v. Joh. 39. xxvi Act. 6 7. And their pious Ancestors before the giving of the Law xi Heb. 9 10 16 26. as well as after ver 35. sought an heavenly country and had respect to the recompence of reward and refused deliverance from their tortures that they might obtain a better resurrection And their Writers in all Ages have spoken much of the World to come whereby they understand sometimes the days of the Messiah and sometimes the future State which we expect after death All this is true but it is as certain I. That they had no such express promises of these things either in the Law or in the Prophets as we have in the holy Gospell Where do you reade one such saying as this which we frequently meet withall in the whole Law of Moses Verily verily I say unto you He that believeth on me hath everlasting life I am the living bread which came down from heaven if any man eat of this bread he shall live for ever and the bread that I will give is my flesh which I will give for the life of the world vi Joh. 47 51. Promises indeed of the good things of this world are very rife to those that diligently keep God's commandments to whom he says I will give you the rain of your land in due season that thou mayest gather in thy corn and thy wine and thine oil And I will send grass in thy fields for thy cattel that thou mayest eat and be full xi Deut. 14 15. Which is repeated again more largely xxviii Deut. 2 3 c. And all these blessings shall come upon thee and overtake thee if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God Blessed shalt thou be in the city and blessed shalt thou be in the field Blessed shalt thou be in the fruit of thy body and the fruit of thy ground c. Blessed shall be thy basket and thy store Blessed shalt thou be when thou comest in and blessed shalt thou be when thou goest out But in what place do you find any such promises as these BLESSED are the poor in Spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven Blessed are they that mourn for they shall be comforted Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall SEE GOD Blessed are they that doe his commandments that they may have right to the tree of life with such like of which the New Testament is so full that a little time will not serve to number them all v. Matt. 3 4 8. xxii Rev. 14. Alas when their Writers undertake to prove the life of the World to come out of their Law it is out of places so far from the purpose that this endeavour is a plain confession they have no express promises of it but are fain to squeez the words to speak that which is not in them Shall I give a few instances of this truth Joseph Albo a famous man of that Nation and of good reason from that place xiv Deut. 1 2. Ye are the children of the Lord your God ye shall not cut your selves nor make any baldness between your eyes for the dead For thou art an holy people c. thus fetches about his discourse Behold one would think the quite contrary should be concluded They should the rather mourn and grieve because they are the children of God as the Son of a King is more to be lamented when he is dead then the child of an ordinary man But the true interpretation is as if he had said Seeing the most Blessed God is holy and his Ministers are holy thou also art an holy people All things are joyned to that which is like themselves and therefore without doubt your Soul is joyned to the Angels because it is holy as they are holy for which cause you must not cut your selves for the dead nor mourn more then is fit And this teaches us that there is a blessed immortality for the Soul after death Such is his conclusion from those words which rather teach us how hard it is to find anything in the Law to that purpose and how much we are bound to magnify the love of God for the revelation of his blessed will in the Gospell He argues something better when he gathers it from those words xxxii Deut. 47. where he saith there is a twofold happiness or reward spoken of one spirituall it is your life the other corporall because it is said through this ye shall prolong your days And yet so weak and infirm are their reasonings that at another turn they shall prove Eternall Life from this promise of prolonging their days though it be expresly added in the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee For there being the letter Jod wanting in the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the Fifth Commandment where God promises to prolong their days they conclude that there is no prolongation of days in this world but it belongs to the next Nor can he find any clearer place to prove the Resurrection of the body then that in the same book xxxii Deut. 39. I kill and I make alive Nay our Lord himself alledges a place for it which was but dark till he illustrated it and proved by consequence not an express promise that Abraham Isaac and Jacob should be rewarded by him who called himself their God But we cannot I think learn this truth better from any then from Philo a
his father's house were many Mansions xiv 1 2. that is there was room for all comers though never such multitudes The discourse indeed of our Saviour there shews that this is but a fancy yet if we consider the haste men make in any other advantageous offers and how they will strive to prevent and circumvent one another to gain any preferment here in this world they might well think that men would come in as great crowds to heaven as we have seen them sometime come to Church and would all run as men do in a race contending earnestly who should carry away the crown For bonorum quorundam sicut malorum est intolerabilis magnitudo the greatness of some goods as well as of some evills is so excessive and intolerable as Tertullian if I forget not somewhere speaks that it weighs down all that can be cast into the scale against it and suffers not our wills as you have heard to deliberate about it Whence is it then that we see so little care and concern about that far more exceeding eternall weight of glory that good which is so vast that in this state we cannot bear the very thoughts of it In stead of that forwardness which might have been expected there is a strange backwardness so much as to think of these things A prodigious numness and stupidity hath seized on the hearts of Christian people who seem to have no life at all in them To what shall we impute it seeing the Sun of righteousness hath shone so brightly and strongly on them with these chearfull beams of Eternall Life which he hath brought to light through his Gospell Is there any thing here that can pretend to vie with the Eternall Life he hath revealed I will not stay for an Answer the disparity is so great between this and all other goods What is it then which makes men so indifferent Is there little or no hope that God will bestow such great and glorious things upon such vile wretches as we are No he hath promised and prepared them as you have heard and he cannot be worse then his word nor lose all his own preparations What is it then that stifles their endeavours after this immortall bliss Will he not give it but upon very hard terms and such rigorous conditions as are enough to freez the warmest resolutions when we think of them Not this neither For he hath prepared these good things for those that love him And what is there more easie what more pleasant and chearfull then love especially of the first and chiefest Good which will certainly make all our duty as easie and delightfull as it self is Or will you say that we cannot love him it is an impossible Condition For shame consider that the very offer of such glorious things is enough to make us love him intirely if we did believe them Were we perswaded that he will bestow upon good men such happiness with himself so great so long it would inflame our hearts with the most ardent passion towards his service Therefore I have already named the true cause of all mens coldness and sloth After all our search we shall find it nothing else but this They do not believe They are not perswaded of the certainty of the rewards in the other World or have not fixed this belief in their Minds for if they had it would not easily slip out again They are moved strongly by what they see with their eyes and feel with their hands and taste with their tongues but faith hath little or no place or power in their hearts This is proved to be too true by the lives of men which are so base and unworthy as if they did not hope for the happiness of a fly in the other World Therefore every one of our business must be to awaken that faith in our Souls which we profess that Divine principle which is of such force as to overcome the World For it is manifestly true which the Apostle writes that without faith it is impossible to please God We shall never doe any thing worthy of him unless we believe that God is and that he is the rewarder of them that diligently seek him As on the contrary it is no less manifest that if we do believe we shall not onely please him but we shall please our selves in doing so and find it most delightfull to be religious It will marvellously inliven us and infuse as it were a new spirit and soul into us so that we shall differ as much from our selves as the corn doth when it is sown in the ground and when it shoots up again in all its verdure and beauty It will make us adorn our selves I mean with all the fruits of righteousness and beget in us such a spirituall life as will fructify and increase in all good works And here consider first That the things themselves propounded to our belief are such as we cannot but desire it should be true that God intends to bestow them on us Who is there that would not willingly live for ever that doth not think Immortality the greatest prerogative of humane Nature provided we may live always in joy and pleasure in uninterrupted contentments and never-fading delights Though they should be less then our Lord hath promised there is no heart but above all things wishes to be so happy To see onely the beautifull orders of the heavenly hosts the glorious Company of the Apostles the goodly Society of the Prophets the noble Army of Martyrs the venerable Quire of Pastors the whole multitude of holy men and women who celebrate a perpetuall feast of joy to live in happy friendship with them to love them and to be beloved of them to bear a part in their eternall Song of praise and thanks to God how desirable is it above any thing that we can fansy in this world No man hath so little love to himself as not to wish he might be numbred among those Saints in glory everlasting It 's impossible we should not be pleased with the thoughts of having a consortship in such an incomparable happiness were we but perswaded that it is not a dream but a reall truth There needs nothing more to bring it into all mens favour but onely to be satisfied that there is such an Happiness And that 's the other thing I would propound to your thoughts That as we naturally desire such an Happiness so if we consider the evident demonstations we have of it in the Gospell this and a great deal more appears to be the undoubted inheritance of all good Souls who shall see God and be with our Lord and behold his glory Which wonderfully recommends the Christian Religion to us wherein we are gratified in our most important desires and have those things made sure and certain to us which we would all fain have for our portion For what is the generall intent of the Gospell but to discover to mankind immortall life
and the way to it This was the great end of our Saviour's appearing who brought that glimmering light that was in mens minds of the other world to a more perfect day And upon this errand the Apostles were sent as you have heard to call men to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ 2 Thess ii 14. Which made the Jews so unexcusable that they would not come unto our Lord that they might have life v. Joh. 40. though there was the greatest reason in the world to believe this Record that God hath given us Eternall life and this life is in his Son A voice from heaven I have shewn you often testified as much and so did the Holy Ghost which descended on our Saviour at his baptism and the many signs and wonders whereby God the Father sealed him and set as it were his mark stamp and character upon him that all might know who he was and believe his word as undoubtedly as if they heard God the Father himself speaking to them continually with his own voice out of heaven From thence our Saviour came it was apparent and therefore did not pretend to discover things of which he had no certain knowledge but onely revealed that happy Country from whence he descended So he professes to a very wise man among the Jews who was convinced by his many Miracles that he was a Teacher come from God iii. Joh. 2. Verily verily I say unto thee We speak that we do know and testify that we have seen ver 11. For as he came down from heaven as he farther tells him ver 13. so at that very moment he was there and had a most intimate familiarity and communication therewith and therefore might well say he had seen the things he reported from thence What they were you may reade in the following verses 15 16. That whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life c. The very same as I have likewise shewn John Baptist testified ver 36. And so did Moses and Elias who appeared in glory and discoursed with him concerning his return to the other world after he had done the will of God here ix Luke 30 31. At that time our Saviour was transfigured an evident token of the glorifying even of our bodies in the other state as three persons of integrity witness who saw his glory and the two men that stood with him ver 32. and were themselves overshadowed with a bright cloud an emblem of the glory to come in another World and so ravisht with the sight that they wisht they might always remain in that happy place Neither was this onely a sudden transport but it made such a lasting impression upon their minds that ever after they lookt upon it as a notable proof of the majesty and glory of our Saviour 2 Pet. i. 16 17. And so did the ancient Christians as appears by the Syriack Translatour of the New Testament who before the Epistle of St. James takes notice that now follow the Epistles of the three Disciples before whom our Lord was transfigured This we are to mark diligently and take it for an eminent token of the glory to which our Lord was to go and which he should be able to give For it relies upon the report of those who were persons of known worth and uprightness of heart who had no design in the world to serve but onely to promote such an important truth of which they were fully assured They appeal to all that had any acquaintance with them whether ever they saw or had reason to suspect any false or double dealing in them and had not rather been witnesses of their honesty and simplicity in the whole course of their Ministry For we are not as many saith St. Paul 2 Cor. ii 17. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that sell the word of God and make merchandize of it to inrich themselves thereby such might not stick to corrupt God's word as we render it and mix their own dreams with it but with all sincerity as men who are authorized by God and have him before our eyes to whom we must give an account of our actions we publish the Gospell of Christ Whom they accounted it a great mercy and favour from God to serve And therefore having received this ministry saith he iv 1 2. we are not sluggish in doing our duty nor do we perform it in a base unworthy manner but have so renounced or thrust away far from us all secret devices of inriching our selves that we do not blush to think of our designs for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 are such practices as for mere shame men hide and cover pretending for instance onely the good of Souls when they intend nothing but to get their money nor do we walk in craftiness appearing one thing and being another nor corrupt the word of God by mixing any of our own inventions with it but in a free open and plain manner we commend our selves to all mens consciences as having God looking on us All that know us cannot but approve us if they be not led by passion more then reason and if they do not God doth This he repeats again Chap. vi where he gives a proof of their sincerity in the exercise of their Ministry from these two things first that they got nothing by it but many afflictions and then that they did nothing but good to others in recompence for all the trouble they gave them Of the former he speaks ver 4 5. of the second ver 6 7. and then returns to the other again Which argument he handles also at large towards the conclusion of the same Epistle xi 23 24 c. and once more xii 10. And thus he writes also to the Church of Thessalonica 1 Thess ii 4. who knew very well how faithfully they had discharged their trust and that they did not accommodate themselves to any man's humour but plainly delivered the message which God had committed to them No body could say that they had used any flattering speeches to sooth them up in a vain conceit of themselves ver 5. nor used any colours to hide a covetous design no as to their words and addresses the Thessalonians could testify the contrary and as to their mind and heart which God onely could know they call him to witness it never entred into their thoughts Nor did they seek glory and fame either from them or any body else but despised it as much as riches unless it were the honour of obliging them by communicating the blessings of the Gospell to them and receiving no reward from them ver 6. They might indeed have put them to charge and lived upon their cost as other Apostles of Christ did and that honestly too But He and his companions were among them with more gentleness ver 7. they parted that is from their own undoubted right to spare the Thessalonians and as a good nurse cherishes her children so they
in the city and Gabriel to Mary and Elizabeth and Anna and Symeon to those in the Temple Nor were men and women onely transported with the pleasure but an infant that had not seen the light leapt in its mother's womb and all were strangely lifted up in hopes of what was a-coming These things all fell out straightway after his birth But when he appeared in the World there were more Miracles and greater then the former appeared again For not so little as a Star and the Heavens not Angels or Archangels not Gabriel or Michael but the Father himself proclaimed him from heaven and with the Father the Comforter came down with a voice and remained on him And therefore well might the Apostle say We have seen his glory the glory as of the onely-begotten of the Father And not by these things alone but by those which followed after For now not merely Shepherds and an aged Prophetess and reverend men published the glad tidings of the Gospell but the voice it self of the things he did louder then the sound of any trumpet which was heard presently every-where For the fame of him saith the Evangelist went into all Syria and revealed him to all and cried every-where that the King of heaven was come to men For Daemons every-where fled and got away and the Devill departed and Death began to give place and not long after quite vanished and all manner of infirmities were loosed and the tombs dismissed the dead the Daemons left those that were mad and Diseases those that were sick Wonderfull and strange things were to be seen which the Prophets desired to see and did not For one might have seen eyes new made paralytick lims strengthened motion given to withered hands and lame feet ears that were stopt up opened and the tongues of the dumb loosed In one word like an excellent workman that comes into an house which is decayed and rotten by time he repaired or re-built rather humane Nature For who can tell how he made the Souls of men new which is a greater wonder then all the rest For the wills of men oppose their cure which the body doth not They will not yield we see no not to God himself And yet these were reformed by him and all kind of wickedness expelled Nor were they onely freed from Sin but like the bodies to which he gave the best habit after he had cured their diseases they were advanced to the highest degree of vertue A Publican became an Apostle A persecutour a blasphemer a reproacher of Christianity turned the Preacher of the Word A thief was made a Citizen of Paradise and a strumpet became illustrious by a great faith And abundance of others worse then these were listed in the number of the Disciples till whole cities and countries were strangely reformed by the Gospell Who is able to declare the wisedom of his Precepts the vertue of his heavenly Laws the excellent order of his Angelicall Conversation For he hath taught us such a life he hath given us such laws and instituted such a polity that they who use them though before the worst of men straightway become Angels and like to God according to our power The Evangelist therefore recollecting all these things the Miracles he wrought upon mens bodies upon their Souls and upon the elements the Precepts the secret Gifts the Laws the Polity the power of perswasion the future Promises his Sufferings he pronounced this wonderfull lofty voice We beheld his glory the glory as of the onely-begotten of the Father full of grace and truth For they did not admire him onely for his Miracles but for his Sufferings As for example because he was nailed to a Cross and scourged because he was beaten because he was spit upon because those buffeted him to whom he had been a benefactour upon the account even of these which seem most shamefull that voice is worthy to be repeated again because he himself hath called this a Glory For then Death was destroyed the Curse was dissolved Daemons were put to shame and he triumphed over them openly and the hand-writing of sins or obligation to punishment was nailed to the Cross and cancelled And besides these wonders which were invisible there were others apparent unto all which shewed he was the onely-begotten Son of God and the Lord of all the Creation For while his blessed body yet hung upon the Cross the Sun withdrew its beams the earth was astonished and wrapt in darkness the ground shook the tombs were broke open a great many dead people walkt out of their graves and went into the City the stone upon his grave was rolled away and he arose He that was crucified he that was fastned with nails to the cross he that was dead arose and filling his Apostles with great power sent them to all the World as the common physicians of humane Nature the rectifiers of mens lives the sowers of the knowledge of heavenly Doctrine the loosers of the Devill 's tyranny the teachers of the great and hidden Goods the preachers of the glad tidings of the immortality of the Soul the Eternall life of the body and the rewards which as they pass all understanding so never have any end These and many more such like this blessed man beholding which he knew but was not able to write because the world could not have contained the Books he cried out We beheld his glory the glory as of the onely-begotten of the Father full of grace and truth Who is now as able I may adde to give us new bodies and inconceivably-improved Souls and then to perpetuate the happiness of both in heaven as he was to cure diseases and raise dead bodies and purify mens minds when he was here on earth Let our conclusion therefore as he says elsewhere be sutable to our discourse Hom. xiii p. 607. 5. And what 's so sutable as Doxologies and giving glory to God in such manner as is worthy of him Not by our words onely that is but much more by our deeds So our Saviour himself exhorts us saying Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorifie your Father which is in heaven For there is nothing more bright and shining then an excellent conversation as one of the wise men hath said The ways of the just shine like the light And they shine not onely to those that light their lamps by their works but to all that are near unto them Therefore let us pour oyl continually into these lamps that the flame may rise higher and the light shine more abundantly Having received such grace and truth by Jesus Christ Id. p. 611. let us not grow the lazier by the greatness of the gift For the greater honour hath been done us the more we are bound to excell in vertue Let that therefore be our business to purify our selves so throughly that being thought worthy to see Christ we may not at that Day
the victory by mere railing at his enemy but as the Apostle speaks 2 Tim. ii 3 c. endures hardness and entangles not himself with the affairs of this life And it is the labouring husbandman as it there follows who partakes of the fruits All things in the world as Solomon saith are full of labour And do we think that our Souls onely are exempted and may be saved by doing nothing that Vertue will grow there without our care or that an eternall harvest of joy will spring up to us without labouring to doe vertuously It is a great shame to say it but such are the hopes of foolish men who are perfectly like the Israelites of whom God says x. Hos 11. Ephraim is an heifer that is taught to plow but loveth onely to tread out the corn That is as D. Kimchi glosses they were taught the Law and instructed to doe good but minded nothing else but merely to enjoy the promises in a fat and fruitfull Land which God had given them Let such remember for a story sometimes sticks longer in their minds then the greatest reason what a Wise man among the Jews said to a Friend of his whom he met exceeding sad and dejected about some affairs which went cross to his designs What 's the matter said he that thou goest so heavily doth any thing of this world trouble thee Yes said the other And what hast thou got said the Wise man again by all thy care solicitude and vexation Alas replied his Friend thou seest by my troubled countenance how little I have got Then said the Wise man consider if of this World which thou hast followed with such diligence thou hast got so little what art thou like to get of the other World which thou mindest not at all A very good Meditation for those who after all their labour and thoughtfulness are like to leave no great matters to their posterity and for those whose greatest cunning and industry is not able to bring about their ends And it may lead us to another profitable Meditation how unequall we are in our dealing while we lay out so many thoughts and so much labour upon things we are not sure to obtain and so few and so little upon those which as sure as God is true shall be the portion of them that diligently seek them The Souldier is not sure to win the victory after all the hardship he has endured And the frost may nip and the bitter winds blast the laborious Husbandman's fairest hopes There is no design save onely that we have for Heaven but after our best diligence may miscarry What madness then is it thus to misplace our endeavours by imploying them so seriously about those things which frequently avoid us and fly from us in the mean time neglecting those of infinite more value which earnestly court us and are desirous to bestow themselves upon us But there is no need of so many words to awaken our thoughts to judge aright in these matters And yet this is all we have to doe for our Salvation when we believe the Gospell to think often what we believe and expect to receive from the bounty of Heaven II. Which if every one did it might spare me the labour of asking again whether we think in our conscience it is any great matter God demands of us when he bids us if we will obtain eternall life obey his will revealed to us by Christ Jesus Review the Christian Doctrine a brief account of which I gave in the former Book Chap. v. and when you have seen all that you are to doe or to deny and suffer for righteousness sake consider to what it will amount If we take it comparatively and cast it into the scales against immortall Life and the weight of Glory it will presently seem so little light and inconsiderable that we shall not think it worth the speaking of But let us wave that advantage and onely consider every thing in it self absolutely 1. What great matter is it that we find God expects we should doe for him Had he bid us govern the World and rule the Nations of the earth he had set us a difficult task indeed But when he requires us onely to govern our selves to set in order our affections and to subdue our unruly passions which give us no small trouble and expose us to great danger what a reasonable demand is this and upon what easie terms does he offer Eternall life We might have complained if he had but required every one of us to be rich and to get great estates much more if he had expected we should be Philosophers and be able to give an account of the secrets of Nature and resolve all the questions we meet withall about the air and the water and the rest of the Elements But when he onely bids us be content with our portion and stay for what his wisedom will dispense to us and make a sober use of it and be so wise as to acknowledge him in all things and to discern good from evill and live vertuously in the enjoyment of him and of our selves and give a reasonable account of all our actions one may well wonder what men would have God to say if they call this a very heavy burthen But what if he should command us with Abraham to offer up an onely Son or to feed all our life upon bread and water or with the Anchorets dig our graves in the wilderness and have no other tools but our nails to doe it should we not think it very hard though we cannot say as we may of the former that it is impossible And yet comparatively speaking Heaven would be a great bargain after all this What a purchace then is it when he calls for no Sacrifice but that of our own bodies which we are to present him holy chast and pure with true devotion and humility of spirit together with the sacrifice of praise continually giving thanks unto him for all his benefits and not forgetting to doe good and to communicate which are all reasonable services and sacrifices with which God is well pleased xii Rom. 1. xiii Heb. 15 16. At what lower rate can Eternall life be set then this that we will not be unreasonable When will we be pleased if it will not satisfie us to know that God will give us Eternall life provided we will live soberly and be gratefull to him who is the giver of all good things and doe to others as we would that they should doe to us Is God beholden to us when we accept of these terms of Salvation They that imagine this too great a mortification and that they doe some mighty matter when they take this course to go to heaven must mortifie that conceit or it is not likely they will come thither 2. But let us proceed to consider what it is we must deny and suffer to attain this Felicity and see to what the reckoning will come If
we put our sins into the number of those things we must forsake it is apparent already it would be a trouble to keep them We are required indeed to crucifie the flesh which seems an hard saying But when we have enquired the meaning of it there is no severity to be found in it For it doth not oblige us to destroy or so much as to impair any faculty belonging to us neither to weaken the Understanding nor dull the Apprehension nor overload the Memory no nor consume our spirits nor deform our bodies nor prejudice our healths nor spoil our beauty or any thing else that God hath made There is no true pleasure of which he deprives us unless it be sometimes for a better and more excellent end He onely abridges our unjust liberty and limits the hurtfull excesses of our desires and passions which we are not to gratifie against our reason to the injury of our selves or our neighbours and to the indangering the loss of some better good In brief He allows us to please our selves so that every part of us be pleased our Judgment and Conscience as well as the lower Appetites And what now doth all this amount unto but the doing our selves a reall and intire kindness But in some state of things God will have us forsake all our worldly goods and possessions for the kingdom of heaven's sake as he required the Apostles and the first Disciples to Christianity True But do we not set too high a price upon these things if we value our obedience at a great rate upon this account I will let alone the comparison we ought to make between our loss and our gain Weigh things impartially by themselves and consider what it is we part withall should we suffer all our worldly goods to be taken from us rather then part with our Religion Do we lose any more then a Philosopher hath left of his own accord for the convenience of his study and that he might not be incumbred in his contemplations And while we had them were all those things necessary for us Doth Nature require so much Did not a great many of them lie by us unused What a small matter now does the account come to when we have made this abatement And how little reason is there that the parting with these things should make such a noise as if we had made some exceeding rich present to God's almighty love from whom we received them But let us look upon them again together with the loss of life and consider Are they things which we could have kept very long Do we any more then part with them a little before the time And what difference is there between their leaving us and our leaving them but the advantage we have by living a while after them to give a proof of a little very short patience and of intire trust in God and absolute resignation to his will Let the things we leave for God's sake be rated as high as we please all that can be made of them comes at last to this that in obedience to God we let them go a little before we could not enjoy them And suppose we be required to die it is but to go another way out of the world then we must shortly perhaps presently have done There is no difference at all but onely as much as there is between a sword and an acute disease between the flames of fire and those of a burning fever But we may endure many torments perhaps in the world before we die which are worse then death it self It may be so and there is a possibility it may not be so Now supposing we do not suffer any torments what a small matter is it that God asks that we may go to Heaven where we shall have an Happiness so great that we may well if need be as St. Peter speaks consent to endure something that looks more like self-deniall then any thing I have mentioned to obtain it And yet when that necessity comes this will arise to no great expense It is no more then we may naturally suffer by the stone or the gout or by some such disease which may seize upon us and not carry us to heaven neither And it is likewise considerable that wicked men many times take more pains and endure a great deal more then this comes to to go to hell Do we not see what attendance their lusts require from them and that they make provision for their satisfaction with much solicitude and trouble Nay do not their expences frequently run very high to gratifie some worldly or fleshly desire One man breaks his sleep another pines his body a third consumes his estate a fourth nourishes loathsome and foul diseases a fifth breeds cruell and tormenting pains which set him upon the rack a sixth ventures his life and runs the hazzard of the gallows or of a severer death And all sinners contrive and plot and trouble their brains to find opportunities and are often vexed with disappointments and as often put to shame and always troubled with their desires till they meet with some satisfaction and being never satisfied are always troubled with their restless desires Let all these things be considered soberly and then tell me whether God demands great things of us to obtain Eternall Life and doth not rather wonderfully oblige us in accepting so graciously our poor services nay carries us from the happiness of doing his will here to the happiness of having it rewarded with a most glorious recompence in another world And cast in this consideration also which Clemens Alexandrinus * Admon ad Gentes p. 55. propounds to the Gentiles how much many men would be willing to give if it were set at a price to purchase everlasting Salvation And therefore what account can they give of their unwillingness to accept of that on such easie terms which cannot be bought with all the gold if we had it of the fabulous Pactolus We may purchase this most precious Salvation if we will 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 with our own Treasure which we have within our selves viz. Charity and a lively Faith This is its just price saith he which God will gladly accept For we hope in the living God who is the Saviour of all men especially of the Faithfull But it cannot be obtained by any other means For they that stick to this World as weeds do to the rocks in the sea slight immortality and judge themselves unworthy of the other World which at so low a rate offered it self to their Faith and Charity But we have just reason to proceed a great deal farther then all this and supposing a man could alway live here without the least trouble and in the fullest contentment that either his Soul or body can now enjoy I ask again whether a man that believes the Gospell would be willing to have his Eternall life in this World and not rather chuse to go thither
hath so contemned it as to prefer a little of this World before it be used as favourably in hell as if he had never heard of it What doth our Saviour mean then when he saith It shall be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment then for those places where the Gospell of God's grace was preached This very thing will make the fire more devouring to think for what poor pleasures or gains they set at nought so stupendious a grace and that withall they have lost those things for which they lost Heaven When they see how inconsiderable all their past delights were it will make the madness seem greater and the more distract and torment their inraged Minds to think how dear they now pay for them The miserable Soul will then continually pour upon it self the hottest and most scalding thoughts of its own gross stupidity and senseless negligence It will flame with anger and burning wrath against it self for the frantick choice which it hath made And rolling it self in the fire of its own fretfull and impatient displeasure will take such a furious revenge upon it self as to become its own dreadfull executioner In this misery it will lie frying for ever sibique perpetuum pabulum subministrabit and afford to it self perpetuall fewell to keep alive the boiling rage and fierce displeasure it hath conceived against it self The stings thereof will be sharper and more frequently returning then any pain which we are now sensible of can represent The flashes of Lightning are not so searching and they will be as quick as the thoughts of a Spirit And what the hideous and dolefull groans of a Spirit are we cannot tell especially that lies under the load of this thought that it might have been as happy as now it is miserable You may take a review of what was said in the beginning concerning ETERNALL LIFE and by that make some judgment of the Misery of those who are so unhappy as to lose it They will be deprived of all that Bliss which the Souls and bodies of the just shall injoy and not be able to avoid the sorest pains which even from thence will necessarily arise For the greater you can suppose their knowledge of God to be in the other World which is the Life of pious Souls so muâ—â— the greater will their sorrow and heaviness be to think that they have lost the favour of the Creatour of the World the Fountain of all Good And when they behold the glory wherein the just appear with our Blessed Lord this will be a new grief to them and most miserably afflict their hearts whensoever they think what praise is given to those holy men whom they despised in what glory they shine and unto what dignity they are preferred and on the other side consider their own shame and reproach and how vilely they lie under a perpetuall curse pronounced against them before Angels and men by the Lord of all And it will increase the torment to consider that they are the cause of all this misery which they have drawn upon themselves Their negligence will come to mind which gave no heed to the Divine illuminations Their contumacy also which resisted the Divine motions Their horrid wickedness into which they ran against the cries even of their own consciences And these considerations they will not be able to avoid nor put off the thoughts of the greatness of their misery But they will stick close to them and perpetually sting them so that all their Knowledge which is so comfortable to others will breed in them the most exquisite grief and sorrow This our Saviour means by outer darkness into which they shall be cast From whence we may guess in what conditions their Wills and their Affections must needs be in which there will be no love of God at all nothing that we can conceive but envy at the glory of the blessed hatred of themselves as the cause of all this mischief vexation of heart to see how great it is and desperation of seeing it grow less But I shall pursue it no farther because it would take up too much room in this discourse which already begins to grow too big I shall onely adde that none knows what flames the breath of the Lord will kindle The power of his anger is inconceivable especially when incensed by the slighting of his love And therefore what can we say of the dolours which the fire that never goes out and the worm that never dies when they meet together will cause both in the Souls and bodies of such contemptuous sinners Who will begin then to wish they had never been acquainted with the glad tidings of Salvation that so they might have lain in some more private corner of the miserable World in a bed of softer and more gentle flames and without that open disgrace to which they will be exposed What an ease would they think it if they might but have the favour to houl among the poor Indians and shriek no louder then other wicked Pagans and have no worse Devills to lash them then the leud Mahometans who never had a thought of any thing higher then a fleshly Paradise And yet the Pagans themselves thought their condition would be bad enough if they lived impiously and that it was impossible to escape a just punishment in another world As appears among a number of other records from that discourse I mentioned of Gobryas who saith the first place men come into when they depart this life is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Field of truth So called because there Judges sit to examine how every one hath passed his life and there is no way to evade their sentence by subterfuges or lies as his words are but they will dispose of all men with exact justice according as they deserve What they had some dark fancy of is now plainly and clearly revealed unto us who are instructed that God hath appointed a day in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained whereof he hath given assurance unto all men in that he hath raised him from the dead xvii Act. 31. And therefore we ought to be afraid of treasuring up unto our selves wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God Who will render to every man according to his deeds To them who by patient continuance in well-doing seek for glory honour and immortality eternall life But unto them that are contentious and do not obey the truth but obey unrighteousness indignation and wrath Tribulation and anguish upon every Soul of man that doeth evill of the Jew we may say Christian first and also of the Gentile ii Romans 5 6 7 8 9. VI. Consider then I beseech you once more which is all the questions I shall ask what you are now resolved to doe Will you put it to the venture whether you be immortally happy or no Is it
and a glory Let us deceive the grave and make that peculiar which is common By death let us make a purchace of life Let none of us faint in our undertaking nor be desirous to live here any longer Let us make the Tyrant despair of moving others by seeing our constancy Let him appoint our sufferings we will put an end to them Let us make it appear that as we are Brethren by birth so we are in all things else not excepting death Such was the resolution saith he of these men who did not serve pleasure nor suffered themselves to be governed by their passions but purified their bodies and their spirits and in this manner were translated 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to that life which is incapable of any passion and free from all the troubles and miseries to which here we are exposed It would be too long to relate the speech of the Mother who likewise gave an illustrious testimony of her faith in God and hath left a rare example to all posterity of constancy and patience under the greatest sufferings The Apostle himself hath perpetuated their Memory in his Epistle to the Hebrews and made it sacred to all generations Where it will stand to our great confusion if we should not learn of those who had so great a Faith under so dark a revelation What would not these persons have done saith the forenamed Father if they had lived in our times who were so courageous before the sufferings of Christ and the glory I may adde that followed after If without example they behaved themselves so undauntedly what rare Souls would they have been with one especially with the example of Christ Jesus Such we ought to strive to be not onely as they were but as we conceive they would have been under our Master Strengthened I mean as St. Paul speaks with all might according to his glorious power unto all patience and long-suffering with joyfulness giving thanks unto the Father which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the Saints in light i. Col. 11 12. And so we shall if the same spirit of faith be in us that was in them For it tells us how Jesus went this way to heaven and that if we overcome we shall shine with him in his glory and sit down with him in his throne and inherit all things There need no more be said to encourage even those Christians who have been most delicately bred or that are of the tenderer Sex to wade through the greatest difficulties Let them but look up unto Jesus and He will inflame them with such ardent love that they will be glad to follow him to his Cross if they must go that way to come where He is This moved Dorotheus and divers other Courtiers who as Eusebius * L. viii Eccles Histor c. 6. reports were 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of the Emperour's Bedchamber and in such high favour that they were no less beloved then if they had been the Emperour 's own children to prefer the reproaches and pains of piety and the new-devised deaths they were to suffer for its sake before all the glory and delights wherein they lived And St. Peter we are told by Clemens Alexandrinus * L. vii Stromat p. 756. seeing his own Wife led to death rejoyced at the grace to which she was called thinking now she was upon her return home And chearfully exhorting her to proceed to the execution he called her by her name saying onely these few words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 REMEMBER THE LORD That was sufficient he knew to make her constant and courageous It being a faithfull saying an undoubted principle of Christianity on which we may ever safely build For if we be dead with him we shall also live with him if we suffer with him we shall also reign with him 2 Tim. ii 11 12. And it was no less stedfastly believed that they who suffered with him should also reign with him in a greater glory then others as we heard before from St. Paul who saith their afflictions would work for them a most ponderous crown of glory Nay they gave the like encouragement to all those who did any eminent service to our Blessed Lord. They that laboured hard for instance in the Word and Doctrine St. Paul saith were worthy of double honour or reward in this World 1 Tim. v. 17. Which few receiving but quite contrary they were least esteemed as he himself found by experience who took the most pains there was the greater reason to hope to find it in another life when the chief Shepherd appearing they were sure to receive an excellent crown of glory 1 Pet. v. 4. To every Saint our Lord promises a crown of glory as those crowns were wont to be called that they used in times of greatest joy the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 added to it which is never used in any other place of Scripture and is that whereby some of the crowns given to persons of desert in other Nations are called denotes I think something extraordinary in the glory of those good Shepherds who fed the flock of God according to the directions the Apostle had been giving them The Martyrs we are sure expected it who building on this foundation that they who suffer with him shall reign with him gave God thanks when they received the sentence of death and went to the execution singing and expired with hymns in their mouths and exhorted others in the midst of their torments to the like chearfull constancy Of all which I could produce instances out of the Ecclesiasticall story but I shall onely set down that of Liberatus and his Monks Who defending the Christian Faith against the Heresy of Arius when they were condemned to be thrown bound into a ship full of faggots and there to be burnt in the midst of the Sea sang aloud this hymn Victor Uticensis L. iv Vandal Persec Glory be to God in the highest Behold now is the acceptable time Behold now is the day of Salvation in which we suffer punishment for the faith of our God And why should not this faith much more easily comfort us against the death of our dearest Friends when we can reasonably hope they depart from us to go into the eternall Happiness of a better World Their gain is so great which they have made by the exchange that we ought not so heavily as we are wont to take our own loss This Photius represents very handsomely to his Brother Tarasius after he had said a great many other things to stop the tears that he shed immoderately for a daughter who was dead Suppose saith he Epist ccxxxii p. 352. thy Daughter should appear to thee and taking thee by the hand should kiss it with a chearfull and smiling countenance saying My Father why dost thou afflict thy self in this manner why dost thou bemoan me as if I was gone to an evill condition My lot is faln
to the Throne of thy glory in Heaven The hearts of all mankind with all the love they have is too small a Sacrifice to be offered unto thee whose love is like thy self far beyond all that we are able to express O that our love and affection to thee were so likewise a most grateful resentment of thy kindness to us greater than can be uttered O that our minds and wills to make some poor expressions of their thankfulness may most humbly bow themselves and perfectly stoop to thee who hast thus graciously condescended unto us That we may with the most thankful hearts receive thy testimony concerning thy Son sincerely reverence him as our Lord and Saviour and obediently hearken to his voice believing his Revelations following his Instructions submitting to his Precepts and rejoycing for ever in the comfort of his precious Promises There is all reason that we should thus study to approve our selves to thee And it is our interest also to be careful to fulfil all righteousness as our Saviour did That we may have the testimony of a good Conscience at present and a joyful hope to be openly commended and praised by thee hereafter when we shall hear that voice of the King of glory calling to us and saying Come ye blessed of my Father inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world Amen CHAP. III. Concerning the Testimony of the WORD IT is time now to proceed to the Examination of the next Witness which is the WORD and to weigh the evidence which He gives concerning Jesus that is concerning him who was born of the blessed Virgin Mary and called by that Name who said He was the Son of God I make no doubt but we shall find his testimony as full and as strong as the former to verifie this when we have in a few words according to my intended brevity declared who this WORD is who now comes and desires to be heard as a Witness for Jesus And we are told by this very Apostle in the first Verse of his Gospel that the WORD is a Divine being which had a subsistence in the beginning of all things For he was then with God the World was made by him and therefore He was God That is God of God the Father to whom he hath such a relation to speak in the words of S. Greg. Nazianzen as a word or inward thought hath to the mind Not only in regard of his generation 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Orat. 36. without any passion but because of his intimate conjunction with Him and of his power to declare Him For the Father is known by the Son who is a brief and easie demonstration of the nature of the Father as every thing that is begotten is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the silent Word of that which begat it Now this WORD whom the Ancients call the Eternal Reason the Wisdom the Power of the Father S. John there tells us ver 14. was made flesh and became so related to that Man who was born of the Blessed Virgin as to dwell in Him and be made one with Him A mystery as Gregory Thaumaturgus excellently speaks 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. Serm. 3. in Innunc which is to be adored not scrupulously and nicely weighed to be discoursed of in Divine words not measured by humane reasons And therefore I shall say no more of it but that from hence it is that afterward the whole person God-man is called the WORD as you read in the very entrance of this Epistle of S. John Where the WORD is described to be such a person as may be seen and felt and handled as well as heard And He is very properly called by this Name because it is his office to declare the mind and will of God to men as we by our speech declare ours one to another which otherways we could not know For no man hath seen God at any time i. John 18. the only begotten Son which is in the bosom of the Father he hath declared him In these words we have a plain and full account why our Lord Jesus is called the WORD of God Not merely because he hath revealed to us the Counsel and the pleasure of God for so did the ancient Prophets and the holy Apostles but First because he was the immediate Interpreter of the Divine mind and will as the word which we speak is of ours For he was in the very bosom of the Father that is knew his mind not by the instructions of an Angel not by Visions or Dreams nor only by the Holy Ghost but by a more intimate discovery of Gods counsels and purposes to him as a person that was one with him We cannot understand less by his being in his Fathers bosom which is a phrase that signifies He had the nearest familiarity with Him and was privy to his most secret counsels Which He was able also to accomplish and bring to pass and for that reason which is the second may be called the WORD of God Because he hath such a power in Heaven and Earth that at his word or command all things are presently done according to his will For Jesus being represented you may observe in a vision to S. John as the King of Kings and Lord of Lords clothed in a purple i.e. a royal robe is called by the name of the Word of God xix Rev. 13 after he had done publishing God's mind and will and was then only executing some of his Decrees by that power which he hath at God's right hand A power so great that he can by his Word alone as the Scripture speaks in other cases of God Almighty xxxiii Psalm 6. without any visible means to effect it compass his ends and fulfil what he hath spoken either in his threats or promises And lastly the Article before this Name 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the WORD denotes Him to be the person to whom this Title so particularly and eminently belongs that it can be given to none else Because he hath most perfectly declared God's mind and will to us and revealed to us all his secret purposes concerning us in the fullest manner that can be and hath a power far surmounting all creatures to do every thing as he hath declared And thus I suppose we are to take the word in this place for the WORD made flesh that is for Jesus himself Who manifested his own greatness and glory as you have begun to discern already and bare witness concerning himself in a very eminent and glorious manner that he was the Son of God But you must not expect that I should here produce all the demonstrations which He gave of this Truth from the time of his being made flesh and coming to dwell among us No we are to consider that the Apostle is now speaking of those Witnesses which are in Heaven and thence give their testimony And therefore we must not at present seek for any
and ever Which was accomplished also with very great speed as he saw represented by an Angel which appeared flying in the midst of Heaven xiv 6. Having the everlasting Gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the Earth That motion of flying seems to signifie the haste which the great Ministers of Christ made who are compared in this book to Angels to publish his Gospel to the world Which had mighty success because it came with authority from Heaven as is represented by the Angels flying 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the midst of the air between Heaven and Earth to denote something he had in hand which was decreed above and to be done here below The greatest powers on Earth indeed set themselves against it and made war with the Lamb xvii 14. that is persecuted Christianity But he foretells his conquests even over these Kingdoms who were such furious enemies as to seek to destroy his Religion For which he gives only these two reasons because God had made him Lord of Lords and King of Kings and because those who followed him were such choice persons that their patient constant perseverance in his service to which he had called them helpt to overcome his and their Enemies and to bring them in subjection to him I can think of nothing that can be objected against what hath been said but two things which deserve briefly to be considered One of them concerns this last particular now handled and the other seems to cross all that hath been delivered in this Chapter Against what hath now been alledged from the Revelations it may be objected that this Book of Visions was doubted of among some of the ancient Christians To which the Answer is very obvious That there was a particular reason why this Book did not always go along with the rest into every bodies hands and by that means being not so generally known was afterward questioned because the making of it as publick as the Christian doctrine might have too much incensed the power of the Roman Empire whose downfall is here so plainly predicted Yet it was not kept so private but that it is cited very early both as a Divine Book and as the writing of S. John the Apostle by those who deserve to be believed Justin Martyr had that opinion of it and so had Irenaeus as I have already said and Theophilus Antiochenus and Origen especially S. Cyprian who I have observed produces testimonies out of no book of the New Testament so oft as this From whence he encourages Christians to follow their Master and all that worthy company who had hazarded their lives for him It being the peculiar glory saith he * De Exhort Martyr of our time that whereas ancient examples might be numbred now there is such an exuberant abundance of vertue and faith that Christian Martyrs cannot So the Revelation witnesses I beheld and lo a great multitude which no man could number of all nations and kindred and people and tongues stood before the Throne and before the Lamb with white robes and palms in their hands vii 9. And these he was told are they which came out of great tribulation and have washed their robes and made them white in the bloud of the Lamb. I shall not produce the words of any of the rest nor of divers others who without any manner of doubting pronounce this to be the Revelation of the WORD of God to his servant John But pass to the other thing which may be alledged to the prejudice of the whole foregoing discourse For I produce nothing some may say but the testimony which one gives of himself which all confess to be of no validity This WORD of God himself saith so as this very Apostle hath recorded v. John 31. If I bear witness of my self my witness is not true And yet what is all that S. Steven saw or that he spake to S. Paul and S. John but his witness of himself I answer in his own words also which you read in another place of that Gospel viii 14. where the Pharisees objecting to him his own concession ver 13. that a mans testimony to himself is nothing worth he seems to revoke but in truth only explains it by telling them in terms quite contrary though I bear record of my self my record is true The former words are not so to be understood as if what a man says of himself were always false or not to be regarded when he hath a concurrent testimony from others no it may be true though it will perswade no body else to believe it without other evidence That 's all our Saviour means in the Fifth Chapter if he had alone born witness to himself and there had been no other testimony given him it had not been true that is not a valid unexceptionable testimony by which he might demand credit from them So the word true is used viii John 17. in the sence of the Law which required two or three witnesses for the establishing or setling any thing in question They had no reason to believe he was Gods Son but might still have disputed it if he had been the only person that said so and could have brought no other to witness for him And yet notwithstanding He tells them here that even in this case his testimony of himself is true as truth is opposed to falshood though it wanted that truth which was necessary to make it a legal testimony That is though it could not have passed in Law nor stopt the mouth of gainsayers because it was a single testimony and the Law required more than one yet it would have had nothing of a lie in it but his words would have been perfectly true when he affirmed himself to be the Son of God But 〈◊〉 was not his case He alone did not bea◠witness to himself but there were others beside him who bare witness of him and said the same thing that he did as he shows v. John 32 33 36 c. and said it before he assumed this name to himself And therefore his testimony which single would have had no strength being joyned to the other is of great force and ought to be regarded He did not desire to be received merely because he said he was the Son of God though he ought not to be accounted a liar for saying so alone no he referred them to other proof of that truth But when they had heard and considered them then there was reason they should hear what he affirmed concerning himself and not think the worse of him because he spake those words which were no other than the very words of the Father whereby he bare witness to him So he tells them in the viii John 17 18. It is written in your Law that the testimony of two men is true I am one that bear witness of my self and the Father that sent me beareth witness of me That is you have no reason to disparage my