to any man an Authority to make a Religion for me or to alter that which God hath revealed And if they please to call the believing that which our Saviour and his Apostles preached and proposed alone to be believed an Historical Faith they have their liberty But they must have a care how they deny it to be a Justifying or Saving Faith when our Saviour and his Apostles have declared it so to be and taught no other which men should receive and whereby they should be made Believers unto Eternal Life Unless they can so far make bold with our Saviour for the sake of their beloved Systems as to say that he forgot what he came into the World for And that he and his Apostles did not Instruct People right in the way and Mysteries of Salvation For that this is the sole Doctrine pressed and required to be believed in the whole tenour of our Saviour's and his Apostles Preaching we have shewed through the whole History of the Evangelists and the Acts. And I challenge them to shew that there was any other Doctrine upon their assent to which or disbelief of it men were pronounced Believers or Unbelievers And accordingly received into the Church of Christ as Members of his Body as far as meer believing could make them so or else kept out of it This was the only Gospel-Article of Faith which was preached to them And if nothing else was preached every where the Apostles Argument will hold against any other Articles of Faith to be be believed under the Gospel Rom. X. 14. How shall they believe that whereof they have not heard For to Preach any other Doctrines necessary to be believed we do not find that any body was sent Perhaps it will farther be urged That this is not a Saving Faith Because such a Faith as this the Devils may have and 't was plain they had For they believed and declared Iesus to be the Messiah And St. Iames Chap. II. 19. tells us The Devils believe and tremble And yet they shall not be saved To which I answer 1. That they could not be saved by any Faith to whom it was not proposed as a means of Salvation nor ever promised to be counted for Righteousness This was an Act of Grace shewn only to Mankind God dealt so favourably with the Posterity of Adam that if they would believe Iesus to be the Messiah the promised King and Saviour And perform what other Conditions were required of them by the Covenant of Grace God would Justifie them because of this Belief He would account this Faith to them for Righteousness and look on it as making up the defects of their Obedience Which being thus supplied by what was taken instead of it they were looked on as Just or Righteous and so inherited Eternal Life But this Favour shewn to Mankind was never offered to the fallen Angels They had no such Proposals made to them And therefore whatever of this kind was proposed to men it availed them not whatever they performed of it This Covenant of Grace was never offered to them 2. I Answer That though the Devils believed yet they could not be saved by the Covenant of Grace Because they performed not the other Condition required in it altogether as necessary to be performed as this of Believing and that is Repentance Repentance is as absolute a Condition of the Covenant of Grace as Faith and as necessary to be performed as that Iohn the Baptist who was to prepare the way for the Messiah Preached the Baptism of Repentance for the remission of sins Mark 1. 4. As Iohn began his Preaching with Repent for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand Mat. III. 2. So did our Saviour begin his Mat. IV. 17. From that time began Iesus to Preach and to say Repent for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand Or as St. Mark has it in that parallel place Mark I. 14 15. Now after that John was put in Prison Iesus came into Galilee Preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom of God and saying The time is fulfilled and the Kingdom of God is at hand Repent ye and believe the Gospel This was not only the beginning of his Preaching but the sum of all that he did Preach viz. That men should Repent and believe the good Tidings which he brought them That the time was fulfilled for the coming of the Messiah And this was what his Apostles preached when he sent them out Mark VI. 12. And they going out preached that men should Repent Believing Jesus to be the Messiah and Repenting were so Necessary and Fundamental parts of the Covenant of Grace that one of them alone is often put for both For here St. Mark mentions nothing but their Preaching Repentance as St. Luke in the parallel place Chap. IX 6. mentions nothing but their Evangelizing or Preaching the Good News of the Kingdom of the Messiah And St. Paul often in his Epistles puts Faith for the whole Duty of a Christian. But yet the tenour of the Gospel is what Christ declares Luke XII 3. 5. Vnless ye repent ye shall all likewise perish And in the Parable of the Rich Man in Hell delivered by our Saviour Luke XVI Repentance alone is the means proposed of avoiding that place of Torment v. 30 31. And what the tenor of the Doctrine which should be preached to the World should be He tells his Apostles after his Resurrection Luke XXIV 27. viz. That Repentance and Remission of Sins should be preached in his Name who was the Messiah And accordingly believing Iesus to be the Messiah and Repenting was what the Apostles preached So Peter began Acts II. 38. Repent and be baptized These two things were required for the Remission of Sins viz. Entring themselves in the Kingdom of God And owning and professing themselves the Subjects of Iesus whom they believed to be the Messiah and received for their Lord and King For that was to be baptized in his Name Baptism being an initiating Ceremony known to the Iews whereby those who leaving Heathenism and professing a submission to the Law of Moses were received into the Common-wealth of Israel And so it was made use of by our Saviour to be that Solemn visible Act whereby those who believed him to be the Messiah received him as their King and professed Obedience to him were admitted as Subjects into his Kingdom Which in the Gospels is called the Kingdom of God And in the Acts and Epistles often by another name viz. The Church The same St. Peter Preaches again to the Iews Acts III. 19. Repent and be converted that your sins may be blotted out What this Repentance was which the New Covenant required as one of the Conditions to be performed by all those who should receive the Benefits of that Covenant is plain in the Scripture to be not only a sorrow for sins past but what is a Natural consequence of such sorrow if it be real a turning from them into a new and
and thereby being grown into a belief that he was the Messiah were in some degree prepared to receive the Particulars that were to fill up that Character and answer the Prophesies concerning him Which from henceforth he began to open to them though in a way which the Jews could not form an Accusation out of The time of the accomplishment of all in his Sufferings Death and Resurrection now drawing on For this was in the last Year of his Life he being to meet the Jews at Ierusalem but once more at the Passover who then should have their will upon him And therefore he might now begin to be a little more open concerning himself Though yet so as to keep himself out of the reach of any Accusation that might appear Just or Weighty to the Roman Deputy After his Reprimand to Peter telling him That he savoured not the things of God but of man Mark VIII 34. He calls the People to him and prepares those who would be his Disciples for Suffering Telling them v. 38. Whoever shall be ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful Generation of him also shall the Son of Man be ashamed when he cometh in the Glory of his Father with the holy Angels And then subjoyns Mat. XVI 27 28. two great and solemn Acts wherein he would shew himself to be the Messiah the King For the Son of Man shall come in the Glory of his Father with his Angels and then he shall render every man according to his works This is evidently meant of the Glorious Appearance of his Kingdom when he shall come to Judge the World at the last day Described more at large Mat XXV When the Son of Man shall come in his Glory and all the holy Angels with him then shall be sit upon the THRONE of his Glory Then shall the KING say to them on his right hand c. But what follows in the place above quoted Mat. XVI 28. Verily verily there be some standing here who shall not tast of Death till they see the Son of Man coming in his Kingdom Importing that Dominion which some there should see him exercise over the Nation of the Jews was so covered by being annexed to the preceding v. 27. where he spoke of the Manifestation and Glory of his Kingdom at the day of Judgment That though his plain meaning here in v. 28. be that the appearance and visible exercise of his Kingly Power in his Kingdom was so near that some there should live to see it Yet if the foregoing words had not cast a shadow over these later but they had been left plainly to be understood as they plainly signified that he should be a King And that it was so near that some there should see him in his Kingdom This might have been laid hold on and made the matter of a plausible and seemingly just Accusation against him by the Jews before Pilate This seems to be the reason of our Saviour's inverting here the order of the two Solemn Manifestations to the World of his Rule and Power thereby perplexing at present his meaning and securing himself as was necessary from the malice of the Jews which always lay at catch to intrap him and accuse him to the Roman Governour And would no doubt have been ready to have alledged these words Some here shall not tast of Death till they see the Son of Man coming in his Kingdom against him as Criminal had not their meaning been by the former Verse perplexed and the sense at that time rendred unintelligible and not applicable by any of his Auditors to a sense that might have been prejudicial to him before the Roman Governour For how well the Chief of the Jews were disposed towards him St. Luke tells us Chap. XI 54. Laying wait for him and seeking to catch something out of his mouth that they might accuse him Which may be a reason to satisfie us of the seemingly doubtful and obscure way of speaking used by our Saviour in other places His Circumstances being such that without such a Prudent carriage and reservedness he could not have gone through the Work which he came to do Nor have performed all the parts of it in a way correspondent to the Descriptions given of the Messiah and which should be afterwards fully understood to belong to him when he had left the World After this Mat. XVII 10 c. He without saying it in direct words begins as it were to own himself to his Apostles to be the Messiah by assuring them that as the Scribes according to the Prophecy of Malachy Chap. IV. 5. rightly said that Elias was to Usher in the Messiah So indeed Elias was already come though the Jews knew him not and treated him ill Whereby They understood that he spoke to them of John the Baptist v. 13. And a little after he somewhat more plainly intimates that he is the Messiah Mark IX 41. in these words Whosoever shall give you a cup of water to drink in my Name because ye belong to the Messiah This as I remember is the first place where our Saviour ever mentioned the name of Messiah and the first time that he went so far towards the owning to any of the Jewish Nation himself to be him In his way to Jerusalem bidding one follow him Luke IX 59. who would first bury his Father v. 60. Iesus said unto him let the dead bury their dead but go thou and preach the Kingdom of God And Luke X. 1. Sending out the Seventy Disciples he says to them v. 9. Heal the sick and say the Kingdom of God is come nigh unto you He had nothing else for these or for his Apostles or any one it seems to Preach but the good News of the coming of the Kingdom of the Messiah And if any City would not receive them he bids them v. 10. Go into the streets of the same and say Even the very dust of your City which cleaveth on us do we wipe off against you Notwithstanding be ye sure of this that the Kingdom of God is come nigh unto you This they were to take notice of as that which they should dearly answer for viz. That they had not with Faith received the good Tidings of the Kingdom of the Messiah After this his Brethren say unto him Iohn VII 2 3 4. The Feast of Tabernacles being near Depart hence and go into Judea that thy Disciples also may see the works that thou doest For there is no man that does any thing in secret and he himself seeketh to be known openly If thou do these things shew thy self to the World Here his Brethren which the next Verse tells us did not believe in him seem to upbraid him with the inconsistency of his carriage as if he designed to be received for the Messiah and yet was afraid to shew himself To whom he justified his Conduct mentioned v. 1. in the following verses by telling them That the World meaning the
upon you And ye shall be witnesses unto me unto the utmost parts of the Earth Their great business was to be Witnesses to Iesus of his Life Death Resurrection and Ascension which put together were undeniable Proofs of his being the Messiah Which was what they were to Preach and what he said to them concerning the Kingdom of God As will appear by what is recorded of it in the other Evangelists The day of his Resurrection appearing to the two going to Emmaus Luke XXIV They declare v. 21. what his Disciples Faith in him was But we trusted that it had been He which should have redeemed Israel i.e. We believed that he was the Messiah come to deliver the Nation of the Iews Upon this Iesus tells them they ought to believe him to the Messiah notwithstanding what had happened Nay they ought by his Suffering and Death to be confirmed in that Faith that he was the Messiah And v. 26 27. Beginning at Moses and all the Prophets he expounded unto them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself How that the Messiah ought to have suffered these things and to have entred into his Glory Now he applies the Prophesies of the Messiah to himself which we read not that he did ever do before his Passion And afterwards appearing to the Eleven Luke XXIV 36. He said unto them v. 44-47 These words which I spoke unto you while I was yet with you that all things must be fulfilled which are written in the Law of Moses and in the Prophets and in the Psalms concerning me Then opened he their Vnderstandings that they might understand the Scripture and said unto them Thus it is written and thus it behoved the Messiah to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day And that Repentance and Remission of Sins should be preached in his Name among all Nations beginning at Ierusalem Here we see what it was he had preached to them though not in so plain open words before his Crucifixion And what it is he now makes them understand And what it was that was to be preached to all Nations viz. That he was the Messiah that had suffered and rose from the Dead the third day and fulfilled all things that was written in the Old Testament concerning the Messiah And that those who believed this and repented should receive Remission of their Sins through this Faith in him Or as St. Mark has it Chap. XVI 15. Go into all the World and Preach the Gospel to every Creature He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved But he that believeth not shall be damned v. 20. What the Gospel or Good News was we have shewed already viz. The happy Tidings of the Messiah being come v. 20. And they went forth and preached every where the Lord working with them and confirming the Word with signs following What the Word was which they preached and the Lord confirmed with Miracles we have seen already out of the History of their Acts Having given an Account of their Preaching every where as it is recorded in the Acts except some few places where the Kingdom of the Messiah is mentioned under the name of the Kingdom of God Which I forbore to set down till I had made it plain out of the Evangelists that That was no other but the Kingdom of the Messiah It may be seasonable therefore now to add to those Sermons we have formerly seen of St. Paul wherein he preached no other Article of Faith but that Iesus was the Messiah the King who being risen from the Dead now Reigneth and shall more publickly manifest his Kingdom in judging the World at the last day what farther is left upon Record of his Preaching Acts XIX 8. At Ephesus Paul went into the Synagogues and spake boldly for the space of three months disputing and perswading concerning the Kingdom of God And Acts XX. 25. At Miletus he thus takes leave of the Elders of Ephesus And now behold I know that ye all among whom I have gone Preaching the Kingdom of God shall see my face no more What this Preaching the Kingdom of God was he tells you v. 20 21. I have kept nothing back from you which was profitable unto you but have shewed you and have taught you publickly and from House to House Testifying both to the Iews and to the Greeks Repentance towards God and Faith towards our Lord Iesus Christ. And so again Acts XXVIII 23 24. When they the Jews at Rome had appointed him Paul a day there came many to him into his Lodging To whom he expounded and testified the Kingdom of God perswading them concerning Iesus both out of the Law of Moses and out of the Prophets from Morning to Evening And some believed the things which were spoken and some believed not And the History of the Acts is concluded with this Account of St. Paul's Preaching And Paul dwelt two whole years in his own hired House and received all that came in unto him Preaching the Kingdom of God and teaching those things which concern the Lord Iesus the Messiah We may therefore here apply the same Conclusion to the History of our Saviour writ by the Evangelists And to the History of the Apostles writ in the Acts which St. Iohn does to his own Gospel Chap. XX. 30 31. Many other signs did Iesus before his Disciples And in many other places the Apostles preached the same Doctrine which are not written in these Books But these are written that you may believe that Iesus is the Messiah the Son of God and that believing you may have life in his Name What St. Iohn thought necessary and sufficient to be believed for the attaining Eternal Life he here tells us And this not in the first dawning of the Gospel when perhaps some will be apt to think less was required to be believed than after the Doctrine of Faith and Mystery of Salvation was more fully explained in the Epistles writ by the Apostles For it is to be remembred that St. Iohn says this not as soon as Christ was ascended For these words with the rest of St. Iohn's Gospel were not written till many Years after not only the other Gospels and St. Luke's History of the Acts but in all appearance after all the Epistles writ by the other Apostles So that above Threescore Years after our Saviour's Passion for so long after both Epiphanius and St. Ierome assure us this Gospel was written St. Iohn knew nothing else required to be believed for the attaining of Life but that Iesus is the Messiah the Son of God To this 't is likely it will be objected by some that to believe only that Iesus of Nazareth is the Messiah is but an Historical and not a Justifying or Saving Faith To which I Answer That I allow to the makers of Systems and their followers to invent and use what distinctions they please and to call things by what names they think fit But I cannot allow to them or
Deliverance of his Kingdom should enter themselves into it And by Baptism being made Denizons and solemnly incorporated into that Kingdom live as became Subjects obedient to the Laws of it For if they believed him to be the Messiah their King but would not obey his Laws and would not have him to Reign over them they were but greater Rebels and God would not Justifie them for a Faith that did but increase their Guilt and oppose Diametrically the Kingdom and Design of the Messiah Who gave himself for us that he might redeem us from all Iniquity and purifie unto himself a peculiar People zealous of good works Titus II. 14. And therefore St. Paul tells the Galatians That that which availeth is Faith But Faith working by Love And that Faith without Works i.e. the Works of sincere Obedience to the Law and Will of Christ is not sufficient for our Justification St. Iames shews at large Chap. II. Neither indeed could it be otherwise For Life Eternal Life being the Reward of Justice or Righteousness only appointed by the Righteous God who is of purer Eyes than to behold Iniquity to those only who had no taint or infection of Sin upon them it is impossible that he should Justifie those who had no regard to Justice at all whatever they believed This would have been to encourage Iniquity contrary to the Purity of his Nature and to have condemned that Eternal Law of Right which is Holy Just and Good Of which no one Precept or Rule is abrogated or repealed nor indeed can be whilst God is an Holy Just and Righteous God and Man a Rational Creature The Duties of that Law arising from the Constitution of his very Nature are of Eternal Obligation Nor can it be taken away or dispensed with without changing the Nature of Things overturning the measures of Right and Wrong and thereby introducing and authorizing Irregularity Confusion and Disorder in the World Which was not the end for which Christ came into the World But on the contrary to reform the corrupt state of degenerate Man And out of those who would mend their Lives and bring forth Fruit meet for Repentance erect a new Kingdom This is the Law of that Kingdom as well as of all Mankind And that Law by which all Men shall be judged at the last day Only those who have believed Iesus to be the Messiah and have taken him to be their King with a sincere Endeavour after Righteousness in obeying his Law shall have their past sins not imputed to them And shall have that Faith taken instead of Obedience Where Frailty and Weakness made them transgress and sin prevailed after Conversion in those who hunger and thirst after Righteousness or perfect Obedience and do not allow themselves in Acts of Disobedience and Rebellion against the Laws of that Kingdom they are entred into He did not expect 't is true a Perfect Obedience void of all slips and falls He knew our Make and the weakness of our Constitutions too well and was sent with a Supply for that Defect Besides perfect Obedience was the Righteousness of the Law of Works and then the Reward would be of Debt and not of Grace And to such there was no need of Faith to be imputed to them for Righteousness They stood upon their own legs were Just already and needed no allowance to be made them for believing Jesus to be the Messiah taking him for their King and becoming his Subjects But whether Christ does not require Obedience sincere Obedience is evident from the Laws he himself pronounces unless he can be supposed to give and inculcate Laws only to have them disobeyed and from the Sentence he will pass when he comes to Judge The Faith required was to believe Iesus to be the Messiah the Anointed who had been promised by God to the World Amongst the Iews to whom the Promises and Prophesies of the Messiah were more immediately delivered Anointing was used to three sorts of Persons at their Inauguration Whereby they were set apart to three great Offices viz. Of Priests Prophets and Kings Though these three Offices be in Holy Writ attributed to our Saviour yet I do not remember that he any where assumes to himself the Title of a Priest or mentions any thing relating to his Priesthood Nor does he speak of his being a Prophet but very sparingly and once or twice as it were by the by But the Gospel or the Good News of the Kingdom of the Messiah is what he Preaches every where and makes it his great business to publish to the World This he did not only as most agreeable to the Expectation of the Iews who looked for their Messiah chiefly as coming in Power to be their King and Deliverer But as it best answered the chief end of his Coming which was to be a King and as such to be received by those who would be his Subjects in the Kingdom which he came to erect And though he took not directly on himself the Title of King till he was in Custody and in the hands of Pilate yet 't is plain King and King of Israel were the Familiar and received Titles of the Messiah See Iohn I. 50. Luke XIX 38. Compared with Mat. XXI 9. And Mark XI 9. Iohn XII 13. Mat. XXI 5. Luke XXIII 2. Compared with Mat. XXVII 11. And Iohn XVIII 33-37 Mark XV. 12. Compared with Mat. XXVII 22. Mat. XXVII 42. What those were to do who believed him to be the Messiah and received him for their King that they might be admitted to be partakers with him of this Kingdom in Glory we shall best know by the Laws he gives them and requires them to obey And by the Sentence which he himself will give when sitting on his Throne they shall all appear at his Tribunal to receive every one his Doom from the mouth of this Righteous Judge of all Men. What he proposed to his Followers to be believed we have already seen by examining his and his Apostles Preaching step by step all through the History of the four Evangelists and the Acts of the Apostles The same Method will best and plainest shew us whether he required of those who believed him to be the Messiah any thing besides that Faith and what it was For he being a King we shall see by his Commands what he expects from his Subjects For if he did not expect Obedience to them his Commands would be but meer Mockery And if there were no Punishment for the Transgressors of them his Laws would not be the Laws of a King that had Authority to Command and Power to Chastise the disobedient But empty Talk without Force and without Influence We shall therefore from his Injunctions if any such there be see what he has made Necessary to be performed by all those who shall be received into Eternal Life in his Kingdom prepared in the Heavens And in this we cannot be deceived What we have from his own Mouth
they feared greatly saying Truly this was the SON OF GOD this was that extraordinary Person that was looked for Acts IX St. Paul exercising the Commission to Preach the Gospel which he had received in a Miraculous way v. 20. Straitway preached Christ in the Synagogues that he is the Son of God i. e. that Jesus was the Messiah For Christ in this place is evidently a Proper Name And that this was it which Paul preached appears from v. 22. Saul increased the more in strength and confounded the Jews who dwelt in Damascus proving that this is the very Christ i. e. the Messiah Peter when he came to Cornelius at Cesarea who by a Vision was ordered to send for him as Peter on the other side was by a Vision commanded to go to him What does he teach him His whole Discourse Acts X. tends to shew what he says God commanded the Apostles to Preach unto the People and to testifie That it is he Jesus which was ordained of God to be the Iudge of the quick and the dead And that it was to him that all the Prophets give witness that through his name whosoever believeth in him shall have remission of sins v. 42 43. This is the Word which God sent to the Children of Israel that WORD which was published throughout all Judea and began from Galilee after the Baptism which Iohn preached v. 36 37. And these are the words which had been promised to Cornelius Acts XI 14. Whereby he and all his house should be saved Which words amount only to thus much That Iesus was the Messiah the Saviour that was promised Upon their receiving of this for this was all was taught them the Holy Ghost fell on them and they were baptized 'T is observable here that the Holy Ghost fell on them before they were baptized which in other places Converts received not till after Baptism The reason whereof seems to be this That God by bestowing on them the Holy Ghost did thus declare from Heaven that the Gentiles upon believing Iesus to be the Messiah ought to be admitted into the Church by Baptism as well as the Jews Whoever reads St. Peter's Defence Acts XI when he was accused by those of the Circumcumcision that he had not kept that distance which he ought with the uncircumcised will be of this Opinion and see by what he says v. 15 16 17. That this was the ground and an irresistible Authority to him for doing so strange a thing as it appeared to the Jews who alone yet were Members of the Christian Church to admit Gentiles into their Communion upon their believing And therefore St. Peter in the foregoing Chapter Acts X before he would Baptize them proposes this Question to those of the Circumcision which came with him and were astonished because that on the Gentiles also was poured out the gift of the Holy Ghost Can any one forbid water that these should not be baptized who have received the Holy Ghost as well as we v. 47. And when some of the Sect of the Pharisees who believed thought it needful that the converted Gentiles should be circumcised and keep the Law of Moses Acts XV. Peter rose up and said unto them Men and Brethren you know that a good while ago God made choice amongst us that the Gentiles viz. Cornelius and those here converted with him by my mouth should hear the Gospel and believe And God who knoweth the hearts bear them witness giving them the Holy Ghost even as he did unto us and put no difference between us and them purifying their hearts by Faith v. 7-9 So that both Jews and Gentiles who believed Jesus to be the Messiah received thereupon the Seal of Baptism whereby they were owned to be his and distinguished from Unbelievers From what is above said we may observe That this Preaching Jesus to be the Messiah is called the Word and the Word of God and believing it receiving the Word of God Vid. Acts X. 36 37. XI 1. 19 20. And the Word of the Gospel Acts XV. 7. And so likewise in the History of the Gospel what Mark Chap. IV. 14 15. calls simply the Word St. Luke calls the Word of God Luke XIII 11. And St. Matthew Chap. XIII 19. the Word of the Kingdom which were it seems in the Gospel-writers Synonymous terms and are so to be understood by us But to go on Acts XIII Paul Preaches in the Synagogue at Antioch where he makes it his business to convince the Jews that God according to his promise had of the seed of David raised to Israel a Saviour Iesus v. 24. That he was He of whom the Prophets writ v. 25-29 i. e. the Messiah And that as a demonstration of his being so God had raised him from the Dead v. 30. From whence be argues thus v. 32 33. We Evangelize to you or bring you this Gospel how that the Promise which was made to our Fathers God hath fulfilled the same unto us in that he hath raised up Iesus again as it is also written in the second Psalm Thou art my Son this day have I begotten thee And having gone on to prove him to be the Messiah by his Resurrection from the Dead he makes this Conclusion v. 38 39. Be it known unto you therefore men and brethren that through this man is preached unto you forgiveness of sins and by him all who believe are justified from all things from which they could not be justified by the Law of Moses This is in this Chapter called the Word of God over and over again Compare v. 42. with 44. 46. 48 49. And Chap. XII v. 24. Acts XVII 2-4 At Thessalonica Paul as his manner was went into the Synagogue and three Sabbath-days reasoned with the Iews out of the Scriptures opening and alledging that the Messiah must needs have suffered and risen again from the dead And that this Iesus whom I preach unto you is the Messiah And some of them believed and consorted with Paul and Silas But the Iews which believed not set the City in an uproar Can there be any thing plainer than that the assenting to this Proposition that Jesus was the Messiah was that which distinguished the Believers from the Unbelievers For this was that alone which three Sabbaths Paul endeavoured to convince them of as the Text tells us in direct words From thence he went to Berea and preached the same thing And the Bereans are commended v. 11. for searching the Scriptures whether those things i. e. which he had said v. 2 3. concerning Jesus his being the Messiah were true or no. The same Doctrine we find him Preaching at Corinth Acts XVIII 4-6 And he reasoned in the Synagogue every Sabbath and perswaded the Iews and the Greeks And when Silas and Timotheus were come from Macedonia Paul was pressed in spirit and testified to the Iews that Iesus was the Messiah And when they opposed themselves and blasphemed he shook his raiment and said unto
have I spoken to you in Proverbs i. e. In General Obscure Aenigmatical or Figurative terms All which as well as Allusive Apologues the Jews called Proverbs or Parables Hitherto my declaring of my self to you hath been obscure and with reserve And I have not spoken of my self to you in plain and direct words because ye could not bear it A Messiah and not a King you could not understand And a King living in Poverty and Persecution and dying the Death of a Slave and Malefactor upon a Cross you could not put together And had I told you in plain words that I was the Messiah and given you a direct Commission to Preach to others that I professedly owned my self to be the Messiah you and they would have been ready to have made a Commotion to have set me upon the Throne of my Father David and to fight for me that your Messiah your King in whom are your hopes of a Kingdom should not be delivered up into the hands of his Enemies to be put to Death And of this Peter will instantly give you an Example But the time cometh when I shall no more speak unto you in Parables but I shall shew unto you plainly of the Father My Death and Resurrection and the coming of the Holy Ghost will speedily enlighten you and then I shall make you know the Will and Design of the Father What a Kingdom I am to have and by what means and to what end v. 27. And this the Father himself will shew unto you For he loveth you because ye have loved me and have believed that I came out from the Father Because ye have believed that I am the Son of God the Messiah That he hath anointed and sent me Though it hath not been yet fully discovered to you what kind of Kingdom it shall be nor by what means brought about And then our Saviour without being asked explaining to them what he had said And making them understand better what before they stuck at and complained secretly among themselves that they understood not They thereupon declare v. 30. Now are we sure that thou knowest all things and needest not that any man should ask thee 'T is plain thou knowest mens Thoughts and Doubts before they ask By this we believe that thou comest forth from God Iesus answered Do ye now believe Notwithstanding that you now believe that I came from God and am the Messiah sent by him Behold the hour cometh yea is now come that ye shall be scattered And as it is Mat. XXVI 31. and shall all be scandalized in me What it is to be scandalized in him we may see by what followed hereupon if that which he says to St. Peter Mark XIV did not sufficiently explain it This I have been the more particular in That it may be seen that in this last Discourse to his Disciples where he opened himself more than he had hitherto done and where if any thing more was required to make them Believers than what they already believed we might have expected they should have heard of it there were no new Articles proposed to them but what they believed before viz. That he was the Messiah the Son of God sent from the Father Though of his manner of proceeding and his sudden leaving the World and some few particulars he made them understand something more than they did before But as to the main design of the Gospel viz. That he had a Kingdom that he should be put to Death and rise again and ascend into Heaven to his Father and come again in Glory to Judge the World This he had told them And so had acquainted them with the Great Council of God in sending him the Messiah and omitted nothing that was necessary to be known or believed in it And so he tells them himself Iohn XV. 15. Henceforth I call ye not Servants for the Servant knoweth not what his Lord does But I have called ye Friends for ALL THINGS I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you though perhaps ye do not so fully comprehend them as you will shortly when I am risen and ascended To conclude all in his Prayer which shuts up this Discourse he tells the Father what he had made known to his Apostles The Result whereof we have Iohn XVII 8. I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me and they have received them and THEY HAVE BELIEVED THAT THOV DIDST SEND ME Which is in effect that he was the Messiah promised and sent by God And then he Prays for them and adds v. 20 21. Neither pray I for these alone but for them also who shall believe on me through their word What that Word was through which others should believe in him we have seen in the Preaching of the Apostles all through the History of the Acts viz. This one great Point that Jesus was the Messiah The Apostles he says v. 25. know that thou hast sent me i. e. are assured that I am the Messiah And in v. 21. 23. he Prays That the World may believe which v. 23. is called knowing that thou hast sent me So that what Christ would have believed by his Disciples we may see by this his last Prayer for them when he was leaving the World as well as by what he Preached whilst he was in it And as a Testimony of this one of his last Actions even when he was upon the Cross was to confirm this Doctrine by giving Salvation to one of the Thieves that was crucified with him upon his Declaration that he believed him to be the Messiah For so much the words of his Request imported when he said Remember me Lord when thou comest into thy Kingdom Luke XXIII 42. To which Jesus replied v. 43. Verily I say unto thee to day shalt thou be with me in Paridise An Expression very remarkable For as Adam by sin left Paradise i. e. a state of Happy Immortality Here the believing Thief through his Faith in Iesus the Messiah is promised to be put in Paradise and so re-instated in an Happy Immortality Thus our Saviour ended his Life And what he did after his Resurrection St. Luke tells us Acts I. 3. That he shewed himself to the Apostles forty days speaking things concerning the Kingdom of God This was what our Saviour preached in the whole Course of his Ministry before his Passion And no other Mysteries of Faith does he now discover to them after his Resurrection All he says is concerning the Kingdom of God And what it was he said concerning that we shall see presently out of the other Evangelists having first only taken notice that when now they asked him v. 6. Lord wilt thou at this time restore again the Kingdom to Israel He said unto them v. 7. It is not for you to know the Times and the Seasons which the Father hath put in his own power But ye shall receive Power after that the Holy Ghost is come
accounted worthy to obtain that World and the Resurrection from the Dead neither marry nor are given in marriage Neither can they die any more for they are equal unto the Angels and are the SONS OF GOD being the Sons of the Resurrection And he that shall read St. Paul's Arguing Acts XIII 32 33. will find that the great Evidence that Jesus was the Son of God was his Resurrection Then the Image of his Father appeared in him when he visibly entred into the state of Immortality For thus the Apostle reasons We Preach to you how that the Promise which was made to our Fathers God hath fulfilled the same unto us in that he hath raised up Iesus again As it is also written in the second Psalm Thou art my Son this day have I begotten thee This may serve a little to explain the Immortality of the Sons of God who are in this like their Father made after his Image and Likeness But that our Saviour was so he himself farther declares Iohn X. 18. Where speaking of his Life he says No one taketh it from me but I lay it down of my self I have power to lay it down and I have power to take it up again Which he could not have had if he had been a Mortal Man the Son of a Man of the Seed of Adam Or else had by any Transgression forfeited his Life For the wages of Sin is Death And he that hath incurred Death for his own Transgression cannot lay down his Life for another as our Saviour professes he did For he was the Just One Acts VII 57. and XII 14. Who knew no sin 2 Cor. V. 21. Who did no sin neither was guile found in his mouth And thus As by Man came Death so by Man came the Resurrection of the Dead For as in Adam all die so in Christ shall all be made alive For this laying down his Life for others our Saviour tells us Iohn X. 17. Therefore does my Father love me because I lay down my life that I might take it again And this his Obedience and Suffering was rewarded with a Kingdom which he tells us Luke XXII His Father had appointed unto him And which 't is evident out of the Epistle to the Hebrews Chap. XII 2. he had a regard to in his Sufferings Who for the joy that was set before him endured the Cross despising the shame and is set down at the right hand of the Throne of God Which Kingdom given him upon this account of his Obedience Suffering and Death He himself takes notice of in these words Iohn XVII 1-4 Iesus lift up his eyes to Heaven and said Father the hour is come glorifie thy Son that thy Son also may glorifie thee As thou hast given him power over all flesh that he should give Eternal Life to as many as thou hast given him And this is Life Eternal that they may know thee the only true God and Iesus the Messiah whom thou hast sent I have glorified thee on Earth I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do And St. Paul in his Epistle to the Philippians Chap. II. 8-11 He humbled himself and became obedient unto Death even the death of the Cross. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him and given him a name that is above every name That at the name of Iesus every knee should bow of things in Heaven and things in Earth and things under the Earth And that every Tongue should confess that Iesus Christ is Lord. Thus God we see designed his Son Christ Iesus a Kingdom an Everlasting Kingdom in Heaven But Though as in Adam all die so in Christ all shall be made alive And all men shall return to Life again at the last day Yet all men having sinned and thereby come short of the Glory of God as St. Paul assures us Rom. III. 23. i.e. Not attaining to the Heavenly Kingdom of the Messiah which is often called the Glory of God as may be seen Rom. V. 2. XV. 7. II. 7. Mat. XVI 27. Mark VIII 38. For no one who is unrighteous i. e. comes short of perfect Righteousness shall be admitted into the Eternal Life of that Kingdom As is declared 1 Cor. VI. 9. The unrighteous shall not inherit the Kingdom of God And Death the Wages of Sin being the Portion of all those who had transgressed the Righteous Law of God The Son of God would in vain have come into the World to lay the Foundations of a Kingdom and gather together a select People out of the World if they being found guilty at their appearance before the Judgment-seat of the Righteous Judge of all men at the last day instead of entrance into Eternal Life in the Kingdom he had prepared for them they should receive Death the just Reward of Sin which every one of them was guilty of This second Death would have left him no Subjects And instead of those Ten Thousand times Ten Thousand and Thousands of Thousands there would not have been one left him to sing Praises unto his Name saying Blessing and Honour and Glory and Power be unto him that sitteth on the Throne and unto the Lamb for ever and ever God therefore out of his Mercy to Mankind and for the erecting of the Kingdom of his Son and furnishing it with Subjects out of every Kindred and Tongue and People and Nation proposed to the Children of Men that as many of them as would believe Iesus his Son whom he sent into the World to be the Messiah the promised Deliverer And would receive him for their King and Ruler should have all their past Sins Disobedience and Rebellion forgiven them And if for the future they lived in a sincere Obedience to his Law to the utmost of their power the sins of Humane Frailty for the time to come as well as all those of their past Lives should for his Son's sake because they gave themselves up to him to be his Subjects be forgiven them And so their Faith which made them be baptized into his Name i.e. Enroll themselves in the Kingdom of Iesus the Messiah and profess themselves his Subjects and consequently live by the Laws of his Kingdom should be accounted to them for Righteousness i.e. Should supply the defects of a scanty Obedience in the sight of God Who counting this Faith to them for Righteousness or Compleat Obedience did thus Justifie or make them Just and thereby capable of Eternal Life Now that this is the Faith for which God of his free Grace Justifies sinful Man For 't is God alone that justifieth Rom. VIII 33. Rom. III. 26. We have already shewed by observing through all the History of our Saviour and the Apostles recorded in the Evangelists and in the Acts what he and his Apostles preached and proposed to be believed We shall shew now that besides believing him to be the Messiah their King it was farther required that those who would have the Priviledge Advantages and
He answered Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul and with all thy strength and with all thy mind And thy Neighbour as thy self Jesus said This do and thou shalt live And when the Lawyer upon our Saviour's Parable of the good Samaritan was forced to confess that he that shewed Mercy was his Neighbour Jesus dismissed him with this Charge v. 37. Go and do thou likewise Luke XI 41. Give Alms of such things as ye have Behold all things are clean unto you Luke XII 15. Take heed and beware of Covetousness V. 22. Be not sollicitous what ye shall eat or what ye shall drink nor what ye shall put on Be not fearful or apprehensive of want For it is your Father's pleasure to give you a Kingdom Sell that you have and give Alms And provide your selves bags that wax not old and Treasure in the Heavens that faileth not For where your Treasure is there will your heart be also Let your loyns be girded and your lights burning And ye your selves like unto men that wait for the Lord when he will return Blessed are those Servants whom the Lord when he cometh shall find watching Blessed is that Servant whom the Lord having made Ruler of his Houshold to give them their Portion of Meat in due season the Lord when he cometh shall find so doing Of a truth I say unto you that he will make him a Ruler over all that he hath But if that Servant say in his heart my Lord delayeth his coming And shall begin to beat the Men-servants and Maidens and to eat and drink and to be drunken The Lord of that Servant will come in a day when he looketh not for him and at an hour when he is not aware and will cut him in sunder and will appoint him his Portion with Vnbelievers And that Servant who knew his Lord's will and prepared not himself neither did according to his will shall be beaten with many stripes For he that knew not and did commit things worthy of stripes shall be beaten with few stripes For unto whomsoever much is given of him shall be much required And to whom men have committed much of him they will ask the more Luke XIV 11. Whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased And he that humbleth himself shall be exalted V. 12. When thou makest a Dinner or Supper call not thy Friends or thy Brethren neither thy Kinsmen nor thy Neighbours lest they also bid thee again and a recompence be made thee But when thou makest a Feast call the Poor and Maimed the Lame and the Blind And thou shalt be blessed For they cannot recompence thee For thou shalt be recompenced at the Resurrection of the Iust. V. 33. So likewise whosoever he be of you that is not ready to forego all that he hath he cannot be my Disciple Luke XVI 9. I say unto you make to your selves Friends of the Mammon of Vnrighteousness That when ye fail they may receive you into Everlasting Habitations If ye have not been faithful in the unrighteous Mammon who will commit to your trust the true Riches And if ye have not been faithful in that which is another mans who shall give you that which is your own Luke XVII 3. If thy Brother trespass against thee rebuke him And if he repent forgive him And if he trespass against thee seven times in a day and seven times in a day turn again to thee saying I repent Thou shalt forgive him Luke XVIII 1. He spoke a Parable to them to this end that men ought always to pray and not to faint V. 18. One comes to him and asks him saying Master what shall I do to inherit Eternal Life Iesus said to him If thou wilt enter into Life keep the Commandments He says Which Iesus said Thou knowest the Commandments Thou shalt not Kill Thou shalt not commit Adultery Thou shalt not Steal Thou shalt not bear false Witness Defraud not Honour thy Father and thy Mother And thou shalt love thy Neighbour as thy self He said All these have I observed from my Youth Iesus hearing this loved him and said unto him Yet lackest thou one thing Sell all that thou hast and give it to the Poor and thou shalt have Treasure in Heaven And come follow me To understand this right we must take notice that this Young Man asks our Saviour what he must do to be admitted effectually into the Kingdom of the Messiah The Jews believed that when the Messiah came those of their Nation that received him should not die But that they with those who being dead should then be raised again by him should enjoy Eternal Life with him Our Saviour in Answer to this Demand tells the Young Man that to obtain the Eternal Life of the Kingdom of the Messiah he must keep the Commandments And then enumerating several of the Precepts of the Law the Young Man says he had observed these from his Childhood For which the Text tells us Jesus loved him But our Saviour to try whether in earnest he believed him to be the Messiah and resolved to take him to be his King and to obey him as such bids him give all he has to the Poor and come and follow him and he should have Treasure in Heaven This I look on to be the meaning of the place This of selling all he had and giving it to the Poor not being a standing Law of his Kingdom but a Probationary Command to this Young Man to try whether he truly believed him to be the Messiah and was ready to obey his Commands and relinquish all to follow him when he his Prince required it And therefore we see Luke XIX 14. Where our Saviour takes notice of the Jews not receiving him as the Messiah he expresses it thou We will not have this man to Reign over us 'T is not enough to believe him to be the Messiah unless we also obey his Laws and take him to be our King to Reign over us Mat. XXII 11-13 He that had not on the Wedding-Garment though he accepted of the Invitation and came to the Wedding was cast into utter Darkness By the Wedding-Garment 't is evident Good Works are meant here That Wedding-Garment of fine Linnen clean and white which we are told Rev. XIX 8. is the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Righteous acts of the Saints Or as St. Paul calls it Ephes. IV. 1. The walking worthy of the Vocation wherewith we are called This appears from the Parable it self The Kingdom of Heaven says our Saviour v. 2. Is like unto a King who made a Marriage for his Son And here he distinguishes those who were invited into three sorts 1. Those who were invited and came not i.e. Those who had the Gospel the Good News of the Kingdom of God proposed to them but believed not 2. Those who came but had not on a Wedding-Garment i.e. Believed Iesus to be the Messiah but were not