World than it would have been if all men had been forcibly kept from doing wickedly To restrain the Passions and over rule all the Vices of Men and set bounds to them to bring Good out of Evil and by unexpected Ways and Methods to lead Men to Repentance and to appoint and bring to pass the whole Dispensation of the Gospel by which the Treasures and Mysteries of the Divine Wisdom are revealed and such things are discovered as even the Angels themselves desire to look into 1 Pet. i. 12. this magnifies the Wisdom of God much more than the State of Men uncapable of Sin could have done There is much more Wisdom shewn in governing Free Agents than in governing by Fate and Necessity and more Wisdom in making the worst Actions as instrumental and serviceable to the purposes of Holiness and Goodness as the best could have been than in not suffering them to be and more in Redeeming Man than in keeping him by Force in such a Condition as to stand in no need of Redemption All the Divine Attributes are much more magnified by the Incarnation of the Son of God for the Redemption of Man than they could have been if he had never fall'n The Love of God is manifested in a more wonderful manner by sending His own Son to die for us His Justice in requiring Satisfaction and His Wisdom and Truth and Faithfulness in recovering Man from his miserable Condition and perfecting the Design of his Creation in despight of his Disobedience It is the Mercy of God to save them that are saved but his Justice is executed only upon the wicked and why should we think it reasonable that God should debar himself the exercise of one of his Attributes rather than punish such Men as thro' their own Obstinacy will perish Justice is as much a Perfection of God as Mercy is and tho' it may seem terrible to us yet it is as reasonable in it self that wicked Men should perish as that the righteous should be saved And God acts upon Principles of infinite Reason and Wisdom without any mixture of Passion Therefore I demand Is it reasonable or not that the wicked should suffer And if it be why should not God act according to his own Attributes and the true Reasons of things rather than by our weak and fond Passions Since there is infinite Wisdom and Justice and Mercy in God's Proceedings it cannot be conceived why the Ruine which many Men will bring upon themselves should either alter or hinder the Divine Counsels and Decrees II. A freedom of Choice conduceth more to the Happiness of the Blessed than a Necessity of not sinning could have done The Happiness of Heaven consists in the Love and Enjoyment of God but Love is never so great nor so sensible an Happiness as when there has been some Tryal and Experience in the proof of it And it must advance the Happiness both of Angels and Men in Heaven that upon Choice and Tryal they have preferr'd God before all things and upon that find themselves confirm'd and Established in the perpetual and unalterable Love and Enjoyment of him This very Consideration that they might once have fall'n from his Love inspires them with the highest Ardors of Love when they rejoyce in the infinite Rewards of so easy and short a Tryal and the Reflection upon the Dangers escaped heightens even the Joys of Heaven it self to them and makes an Addition to every degree of Bliss The Remembrance of their past Sins and Temptations and the Sense of their own Unworthiness arising from that Remembrance will continually excite in the blessed fresh Acts of Love and Adoration of God who has raised them above all Sin and Temptation and fixt them in an everlasting State of Bliss and Glory The Tryal that the Righteous underwent here makes up some part of their Happiness in Heaven and in what degree soever their Happiness can be supposed to be yet it is in some measure encreased and as it were endeared to them by reflecting upon their former State of Tryal which they were subject to Temptation and Sin The Love and Praises and Adorations of the Father for sending his Son and accepting his Ransem of the Son as our blessed Saviour and Redeemer and of the Holy Ghost as our Guide and Conductor to Heaven must suppose that we needed a Ransom and a Redeemer and the Grace and Influence of the Holy Ghost that is we must have been capable of Sin and Misery or else we had wanted these Motives to the Love of God which the Dispensation of the Gospel affords and which will make up the Happiness of Heaven to us Creatures cannot comprehend the Divine Essence but they know and love God according as he manifests himself to them and therefore that Dispensation which doth most manifest the Love and Wisdom and Goodness of God doth most conduce to the Glory of God and the Happiness of Men. The Blessed shall see God face to face they shall enjoy his Presence and partake of his Glory and in this their Happiness will consist but the Love of God is not only the necessary consequence of this Beafitick Vision but it is antecedently necessary to qualify us for it and the more any Soul is inflamed with the Divine Love the fuller and more perfect Vision of God we must suppose it to enjoy But Goodness is the Object of our Love and not Goodness in the Idea so much as Goodness extended to us And as God's Goodness is more manifested in sending his Son to atone for our Sins than it could have been by exempting us from all possibility of Sinning so our Love to him must be more strongly excited whereby the Soul is dilated as it were and made more receptive of the Communications of the Divine Essence in the Beatifick Vision As Faith is made perfect by Works proceeding from Love in this Life and without Charity is nothing worth so in the other World where Faith shall be swallowed up in Vision Love must be that Power or Quality in the Soul whereby we become capable of receiving the Divine Communications and the more extentive and boundless this is the more happy we shall be and therefore whatever is most conducing to advance the Love of God in us is the best means of our Salvation and future Happiness The Motives which the Christian Religion affords us to the Praise and Love of God will accompany us for ever to augment and improve the Happiness even of Heaven it self where Charity never fails and it is not conceivable how the Divine Love could have been so fully manifested and set forth to us so gloriously if Man had never fall'n but by representing to him the Danger of his Fall and the gracious Design of God towards him supposing he had fall'n To have escaped Hell and to find our selves in the unchangeable Possession of Salvation by the free Mercy and Goodness of God and by the Death of his own
Mediation and Intercession of Christ for us is of greater power and efficacy than any could have been if the Son of God had not become Man to die for our sakes There is one God and one Mediator between God and Men the Man Christ Jesus 1 Tim. ii 5. he was to be Man as well as God that coming with Divine Power and Authority and yet with the Affability and Accessibleness of a Man he might in all respects be fully qualified to perform the Office of a Mediator between God and Man If he had not been God he could not have come with absolute Authority to offer us Terms of Reconciliation and unless he had been Men he could not have treated with Men in so familiar and condescending a way upon these terms And the Right and Authority of Christ's Mediation and Intercession in behalf of Sinners is founded upon his merits and satisfaction for the Sins of Men and this supposes him to be both God and Man Man that he might Suffer and Die for us and God that his Divine Nature might give an infinite value to his Death and Sufferings and render them satisfactory for the Sins of the World Tho' it should be supposed which can never be proved that God in his Mercy might have pardoned Sinners without the satisfaction of Christ yet if in mercy he might have forgiven he might in justice have punish'd them unless satisfaction had been made and nothing could have made satisfaction to his Justice but the Sufferings of his Son The Obedience and Sufferings of no Created Being could have been of that value as to make satisfaction for the Sins of Mankind and therefore no Creature could have Redeemed Man or have become Mediator for him upon the terms of his own merits in Man's behalf so as to plead the price of Redemption laid down for him God may grant the Requests of Angels and Men out of his free Mercy and Bounty but there can be no necessary force and efficacy in Intercessions where there is no precedent merit and satisfaction on the part of the Intercessor But Christ pleads his merits on our account and mediates our Cause with his Father upon the terms of strict Justice and by vertue of the Ransom of his own Blood and is so powerful an Intercessor for us that not only the Mercy and Goodness but even the Justice of God cannot deny his Intercession It was the free grace of God to send his Son to Suffer in our stead but since he was pleas'd to admit of this Commutation of the Punishment which we had deserv'd and to tranferr it upon his own Son his Death was a full perfect and sufficient Sacrifice Oblation and Satisfaction for the Sins of the whole World which the death of no Creature could have been and therefore no Created Being could have become our Mediator by vertue of his own Merit and have satisfy'd the utmost Justice of God much less could any Creature have merited the assistance of Grace and the Rewards of Glory for us IV. The Incarnation of the Son of God is the most effectual means to excite in us Faith and Hope and Charity and unfeigned Love of God and of our Neighbour the love of Vertue and the hatred of Sin and to dispose and engage us to all Vertue and Piety The Son of God assuming our Nature gives us the greatest assurance of his compassion for our Infirmities and his desire of our Happiness God is infinitely merciful in his own Divine Nature but he never could give such an instance of his mercy and love towards ours as by taking it upon himself God is essential Truth and Holiness and yet willing more abundantly to shew to the Heirs of Promise the immutability of his Counsel he confirm'd it with an Oath and in like manner in the present Case God being willing to give us all the grounds for Faith and Confidence in him that can be imagined took our Nature upon him that by two immutable things in which it was impossible for God to deceive we might have a strong Consolation both from the goodness of the Divine Nature and from the tenderness and compassions of our own For we have not an High-Priest who cannot be touched with the feeling of our Infirmities and therefore are exhorted in this confidence to come boldly unto the Throne of Grace Heb. iv 15 16. vi 17 18. We are assured that he has the greatest concern for that Nature which he has taken into a personal Union with himself and continually presents before his Father in Heaven for us And we are likewise assured of the Father's love towards us For now we know that he loves us seeing he has not withheld his Son his only Son from us but sent him into the World to die for our Salvation He that spared not his own Son but deliver'd him up for us all how shall he not with him also freely give us all things Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's Elect It is God that justifieth who is he that condemneth it is Christ that died yea rather that is risen again who is even at the right hand of God who also maketh Intercession for us Rom. viii 32 33 34. And as the manifestation of Christ in the Flesh is peculiarly adapted and design'd to raise our Faith and Hope and Trust and Confidence and Dependance upon God so it is above all the most prevailing motive to engage our Love The infinite Love of Christ in dying for us must needs require and even extort from us all possible returns of Love and Praise and Adoration (y) Chrysost 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Tom. 7. St. Chrysostome gives this as one Reason why the Son of God was Incarnate to become the Saviour and Redeemer of Mankind because if it had been possible for a Creature to undertake and effect our Redemption Men would never have thought they could have had esteem enough for him or have made due expressions of their gratitude unless they had Deified him and committed Idolatry in Worshipping him and paying him all Divine Honours and to prevent this in Moses who was but a Temporal Deliverer and but a Type of Christ his Sepulchre was conceal'd from the Israelites So dear is the memory of great and generous Benefactors wont to be that Men are apt to think they never can be sufficiently grateful to them unless they even adore and worship them which was one chief occasion of Idolatry among the Heathens therefore the Redemption of the whole World was a thing that could belong only to the Son of God to whom all Love and Reverence all Worship and Adoration is due And this being the great Aim and Design of the Christian Religion to bring us to obey God upon Principles of Love the Foundation of it is laid in the Love of God towards us Nothing can be conceiv'd which could have so powerfully prevail'd upon Men to love God as the Incarnation of his Son
it is true because it is for the benefit of Mankind that it should be so and upon that account it carries the visible Characters of Divine Wisdom and Goodness in it for it is certain that the Religion which God has established in the World must be of this nature that none but wicked men can dislike it and that all sober and good men must be well satisfied with it and mightily enclined to believe it nay even the worst men must be forced to confess that they owe their own safety and protection to the Doctrines of it And that such is the nature of the Christian Religion will be evident if we consider that I. It teacheth an universal Righteousness both towards God and Man II. It layeth down the only true Principles of Holiness III. It proposeth the most effectual Motives IV. It affords the greatest helps and assistances to an Holy Life V. It expresseth the greatest compassion and condescension to our infirmities VI. The propagation of the Gospel has had mighty effects towards the Reformation and Happiness of Mankind VII The highest mysteries of the Christian Religion are not merely speculative but have a necessary relation to Practice and were revealed for the advancement of Piety and Virtue amongst men I. The Christian Religion teacheth an Universal Righteousness both towards God and Man It teacheth us the nature of God that he is a Spirit and therefore ought to be worshipped in Spirit and in Truth and gives us an account of the Power and Wisdom and Goodness of God in the Creation of the World and in the various dispensations of his Providence in the preservation and Government of it and especially in the wonderful work of our Redemption God is represented in the Scriptures as slow to anger and great in Power and who will not at all acquit the wicked Nahum i. 3. and we are required to love and serve him with all our Abilities both of Body and Mind Deut. vi 5. Matt. xxii 37. The Duties of men towards one another are no less strictly enjoyned than our duty towards God himself For the Scriptures oblige all men to the Conscientious performance of their several Duties in their respective capacities and relations They teach Wives and Children and Subjects and Servants Obedience not only for Wrath but also for Conscience sake and they teach Princes and Husbands and Fathers and Masters a proportionable care and kindness and affection they check and restrain the rich and powerful from violence and oppression and command them to relieve those that are in want and to protect all that are in distress and to root up the very seeds and principles of Vice in us they regulate our desires and give Laws to our words and looks and thoughts they command an universal Love and Charity towards all Mankind to hurt no body so much as in a Thought but to do all the good which is in our power they oblige men to do as they would be done unto in all cases to consider others as men of the same nature with themselves and to love and respect them accordingly upon all occasions I may add what Grotius has not omitted that more favour and equity is extended to one half of humane kind by the Christian Religion than ever had been by any other for among Infidels Women are esteemed but as slaves to the Lusts of men who may have as many Wives as they please and change them as often as they think fit II. The Scriptures propound to us the only true Principles of Holiness For they teach us to perform all Duties both towards God and Man upon Principles of Love and Charity which are the only Principles that can make men happy in the performance of their respective duties and that can cause them to persevere in it What men do upon Principles of Love they do with delight and what men delight in they will be sure to do but fear hath torment and men will use all Arts to get rid of their fears and of that sense of Duty which proceeds only from an apprehension of Punishments and therefore is perpetually grievous and burthensom to them Rewards themselves may become ineffectual by proposals of contrary Rewards for smaller advantages which are present and in hand may be more prevalent than never so much greater which are future and looked upon only at a distance But a sense of Love and Gratitude and Charity can never fail of its effect because this brings its reward with it and makes our duty a delight He who loves God will certainly obey him and he that does not love him never can truly obey him as he ought but will be ever repining at his Duty and will be for seeking all pretences to excuse himself from it He who doth not love his Neighbour will be for taking all opportunities of pursuing his own advantage against him but he who loves him as himself will never do him any injury He that loveth another hath fulfilled the Law For this thou shalt not commit adultery thou shalt not kill thou shalt not steal thou shalt not bear false witness thou shalt not covet and if there be any other commandment it is briefly comprehended in this saying namely Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thy self Love worketh no ill to his neighbour therefore love is the fulfilling of the Law Rom. xiii 8. The Love of God and of our Neighbour comprehends the whole duty of man which is a Doctrine no where to be met withal but in the Holy Scriptures all the Wisdom of Philosophers could never discover this Doctrine which sets before us the only infallible principles of obedience And it must be a most gracious and wise Law which makes Love the Principle and Foundation of our whole duty both towards God and Man III. The Christian Religion proposeth the most effectual motives of Obedience and Holiness of Life The moral Reasons and Arguments for a vertuous Life are so great and evident that those who live otherwise are generally convinced that they ought not to do it but because the Arguments from Reason are to faint and lifeless to oppose to sense and passion therefore the Christian Religion is purposely fitted to every faculty and presents us with greater objects of fear and love and desire than any thing in the world can do And as God will be served by us upon no other Principle but that of love so the chiefest Motive to our Obedience express'd throughout the Scriptures is the Divine Love They represent to us all the methods which God has been pleased to use as necessary to reclaim the world by his mercies and his judgments by sending his Prophets at sundry times and in divers manners and at last by sending his own Son He saw the fondness that men have for this World and for the pleasures and sins of it how subject they are to Temptations and how prone to comply with them and therefore he has been pleased to pursue
us with the endearments of his Love and with such condescentions of Grace and Favour as must needs mightily affect the most obstinate sinner who has but the sense and gratitude of a man left in him to consider them and then he has denounced his wrath and vengeance against all such as will not be led and persuaded to their own happiness by the infinite love of Christ He was born he lived he died for us he has procured our pardon he proffers us his grace and assistance he promises us eternal happiness with himself in heaven upon our obedience and last of all he threatens us with eternal misery if we will not be happy thus forcing us as it were to happiness if we will not be perswaded to it for this is all the force that free Agents are capable of And if all that infinite Love could do to excite our Love if all the rewards that infinite Mercy and Goodness could propose and the severest punishments that Almighty Vengeance can inflict will not prevail with men to follow Vertue and refrain from Vice nothing can possibly prevail with them Love is most apt to produce Love and hopes of Reward have a mighty effect upon men of any good temper and disposition but the fears of punishment are wont to work upon the very worst men and where infinite loving kindness eternal Rewards and eternal Punishments do all concur to bring men to the practice of Vertue no motive can be wanting by which human Nature is capable of being wrought upon IV. The Christian Religion affords the greatest helps and assistances to an holy Life God who is a Spirit and is the Author of the Being and of the Life and Motion of all things doth more especially act upon the Spirits and Minds of Men by putting into them good desires and by inclining their hearts to keep his commandments and perform his will And this Grace and Favour of God towards us this spiritual aid and strength is sufficient to enable us to conquer sin and over come Temptations And we are exhorted to come boldly to the Throne of Grace that we may obtain mercy and find Grace to help in time of need Heb. iv 16. which we are assured shall be bestowed upon us for Christ's sake through his Merits and by vertue of his Mediation and Intercession All the world has been sensible of the great proneness in humane nature to evil and backwardness to what Reason it self seems to dictate as good and fit to be done but the Christian Religion only has provided a Remedy to cure this great corruption of our Nature and assist us in the performance of our duty V. The Christian Religion expresseth the greatest compassion and condescention to our infirmities Christ died to make satisfaction for our sins and to procure acceptance with God for us upon our repentance he interceeds for us and pleads the Merits of his own Death and Passion in our behalf we have an Advocate with the Father Jesus Christ the righteous and he is the propitiation for our sins though they be never so great and heinous if we do but truly repent of them and forsake them And the sins of ignorance and surprize and infirmity are not inconsistent with the terms of Salvation but a general humiliation and repentance with a constant and sincere endeavour to serve and please God will through Christ's Merits be accepted of by him for such sins as we have no sufficient means or ability of knowing to be sins and for such as by reason of the frailty of our Nature we cannot live wholly free from Nothing is required of us but a sincere and honest diligence to do what we can and a lively Faith to rely upon Christ's Merits for the pardon of what sins we are not able wholly to avoid Men are forward to complain of the uneasiness of the Christian Yoke without any true experience and trial of it and without considering the Principles and Motives and Helps and the condescending and gracious Terms which the Gospel proposes Indeed to lay some injunctions and restraints more than are absolutely necessary is but what all Lawgivers have done For some things are to be forbidden as a prevention and a preservative from the commission of sin and others commanded as preparatory qualifications and dispositions to vertue and to make the practice of it more easie and certain to us And if men are allowed in all Governments to have this Authority certainly God who has an absolute Power over us and perfectly knows what is necessary for our good and for the ends of his Government has an undeniable right to forbid or command us some things which by the Law of nature we might have been allowed or excused from But these are very few and all things considered no Religion ever was so compassionate and easie as the Christian Religion VI. The Propagation of the Gospel has ever had great effects towards the reformation and happiness of Mankind What could be more beneficial to the world and more for the peace and happiness of all Mankind than to be taught to live under a perpetual sense and awe of the love and fear of God and to be constrained to perform our several Duties to each other in our respective capacities and relations with the utmost fidelity and integrity and to have this enforced upon the Consciences of Men by the hopes and terâ—ore of a future Judgment and an eternal state of happiness or misery as they shall prove obedient or disobedient These then must be acknowledged to be Doctrines most worthy of God and the proper subject of a Revelation For however men may wish as to themselves in particular that they had not been abridged their sinful pleasures yet in respect to the common good of Society it must needs be confess'd by the most inveterate Enemies of Christianity and by those who will believe nothing of another life that if the Christian Religion were as generally practised as it is professed it would make mankind as happy as it is possible for men to be in this Life through the belief and expectation of a Life to come And as much as the Practice of the Christian Religion has been neglected it is so far from being a speculative notion only that it has a real and perpetual Influence for the good of the world even in the worst and most degenerate Ages We are not at this distance of time easily made sensible how great Blessings the Christian Religion brought to mankind in that Reformation which it soon introduced into the world For upon their Conversion there became such a visible alteration in the Tempers and Lives of men that they seemed to have changed their very Natures and to be born again and become new Creatures from whence Conversion is stiled Regeneration This the Apologists generally insist upon that the Converts to Christianity became quite other men and practised all kinds of Vertue with incredible zeal though
Composition of Cato it had been hard for him to avoid the being a Stoick and he might probably have founded that Sect if it had not been known in the World before The Philosophers had no Authority to promise rewards or to threaten punishments upon the observation or neglect of their Precepts and therefore every man was at his liberty to chuse or to reject what they taught and divers of them were sensible of this unavoidable defect in all humane Doctrines and therefore pretended to Revelation There is no inconvenience therefore in supposing that many of the Precepts contained in the Proverbs and other Books of Scripture might be known without a Revelation for there is notwithstanding very good Reason why they should be inserted into the Scripture Because the Scriptures have the Authority of a Divine Law and are to be looked upon not as a System of Ethicks or a Collection of Moral Precepts but as a Body of Laws given out upon Divers occasions and as Rules of Instruction which at the same time both shew us our Duty and command our Obedience It is not expected that Kings in their Laws shouid argue more profoundly than other men do but they should command more effectually than others can teach they do not dispute but pronounce and dictate what their subjects must take notice of at their peril And it is no diminution to a Princes Authority to command the most known and obvious things though it may be a fault in the subject to need such commands And God in his word did not design to furnish us with a Treatise of Philosophy to gratify our curiosity with strange and new notions and make us profound Scholars but to speak to the necessities of men and put them in mind of known Duties to appeal to their own Consciences and to enforce those notions of Good and Evil which natural reason perhaps might suggest to them by the authority of a revealed Religion and a Divine Law established upon Rewards and Punishments 3. Though the Philosophers were able to discern something more than other men yet they durst not openly declare what they knew but were over-born with the errors and vices the Times and Countries in which they lived even to the Commission of Idolatry and the worst of vices and therefore their Doctrines whatever they were could do but little good towards the reformation of the World I shall not enquire into the Reports concerning Socrates and Plato Seneca and Cato himself but only observe that Socrates who was the only Martyr among the Philosophers for the truth yet when he comes to die speaks with no assurance of a Future State and ordered a Cock to be sacrificed to Aesoulapius which can hardly be reconciled to that Doctrine for for which he is supposed to die And after his Death how did his Friends and Disciples behave themselves Did they openly and courageously vindicate his innocence and teach the Doctrine for which he suffered Did they not use all means to conceal and dissemble it But Mankind stood in need of a perfect example of Virtue and of such instructors as should both teach and practise the Doctrines of it at their utmost peril and of a succession of such Men as should bear Testimony to their Doctrine both by the Miracles wrought during their Lives and by the constancy of their Deaths 4. As the Heathen Philosophy wanted the Authority of a Law and the example of those who taught it so it wanted principal Motives to recommend the practice of it to the Lives of Men. The Philosophers teach nothing of the exceeding Love of God towards us of his desire of our happiness and his readiness to assist and conduct us in the ways of Virtue They owned no such thing as Divine Grace and Assistance towards the attainment of Vertue and the perseverance in it (o) Tull. de Nat. Dâ—or lib. iii. Virtutem autem nemo unquam acceptam Deo retulit nimirum recte propter virtutem enim jure laudamur in virtute recte gloriamur quod non contingeret si id donum a Deo non a nobis haberemus nam quis quod bonus vir esset gratias Diis egit unquam Jovemque optimum maximum ob eas res appellant non quod justos temperatos sapientes efficiat sed quod salvos incolumes opulentos copiosos This occasioned those (p) Sen Epist 53. insolent Boasts of the Stoicks equaling themselves to the Gods and sometimes even preferring themselves before them because they had difficulties to encounter which made their conquests of vice and their improvements in virtue more glorious than they supposed the like excellencies to be in their Gods who were good by the necessity of their own Nature Wherefore tho the Rules of Philosophy had been never so perfect yet they must needs be ineffectual being so difficult to find out and so unactive and dead when they were discovered without that Authority and Life and Energy that may be had from Divine Revelation which there was a necessity for not only to supply the imperfections and correct the errors of Philosophy but to enforce the Doctrines of it tho they had been never so true and perfect CHAP. VI. The Novelty and Defect in the Promulgation of the Mahometan Religion THE Novelty of the Mahometan Religion in respect both of the Old and New Testament is past all dispute And this Religion notwithstanding all its sensual allurement owes its Propagation solely to the â—ower of the Sword For though the Alcoran has been translated into most of the Languages in use amongst Christians yet it has never been known to make any Proselytes but by force of Arms. At first this Religion had many circumstances for its advantage which might in humane probability gain it success in the world It was begun in Rebellion and in a final Revolt from the Emperor Heraclius and besides this popular and seducing Temptation of Licence and Violence Mahomet added the enticements of Lust and Sensuality he forbad Men indeed some things but such as he could easily see they would part with for the free and unbounded enjoyment of others then he pretended to sound his Doctrine on the Authority of Moses and of Christ saying that Christ had promised to send him all which made his Religion find the more easy entertainment amongst both Jews and Christians 'T was but like the Heresy of the Gnosticks at the first and not altogether so gross and this must needs encline all of Seditious and lewd principles to come in to him being glad of such a colour for their wickedness and it had the advantage of Power and Force to make it more lasting than other such Blasphemies have been Christ on the contrary forbad Resistance of the supreme Power upon any terms whatsoever he asserted the Authority of Moses but so as to abolish the ceremonial part of the Law which was what the Jews were most fond of so that this very thing made the Jews
last Days of the Jewish Dispensation p. 388. The Times of the Gospel meant by the last Days p. 389. St. Paul did not suppose that the Day of Judgment was approaching in his time p. 391. There is no reason to suppose that the last Judgment must be confined to one Day p. 393. CHAP. XXIII Of Sacraments THE Nature and design of Sacraments p. 396. 1. They are outward and Visible Signs of our Entrance into Covenant with God or of our Renewing our Covenant with him ib. 2. They are Tokens and Pledges to us of God's Love and Favour p. 402. 3. They are means and Instruments of Grace and Salvation p. 404. 4. They are Federal Rites of our Admission into the Church as a Visible Society and of our Union with it as such p. 406. The Sacraments of Baptism and the Lord's Supper fully Answer the end and Design of the Institution of Sacraments p. 407. CHAP. XXIV Of the Blessed Trinity THere is no Contradiction in this Mistery of our Religion p. 412 The Distinction of the Three Persons in the Deity p. 413. The Unity of the Divine Nature p. 414. The Difference between the Divine Persons and Humane Persons 417. Other things are and must be believed by us which are as little understood as this Doctrine p. 421. The necessity of the Belief of this Doctrine explained and Defended p. 423. This Doctrine exceedingly tends to the Advancement of Vertue and Holiness and has a great Influence upon the Lives and Conversations of Men p. 427. CHAP. XXV Of the Resurrection of the Dead GOD is certainly able to raise the Dead p. 431. Bodies after their Corruption and the Dissolution of the Parts which Compose them may be restored to Life by the Reunion of these Parts again p. 436. We may rise again with the same Bodies which we have here notwithstanding any change or Flux of the Parts of our Bodies while we Live or any Accidents after Death p. 437. It is not only credible and Reasonable to believe that God can but likewise that he will raise the Dead p. 443. CHAP. XXVI Of the Reasons why Christ did not shew himself to all the People of the Jews after his Resurrection THere are Reasons peculiar to this Dispensation of his Resurrection why Christ should not shew himself to all the People after he was risen from the Dead p. 449. It had not been suitable to the other Dispensations of God towards mankind for him to have done it p. 451 Great Numbers of the Jews being given over to hardness of Heart would not have believed tho' they had seen Christ after his Resurrection p. 452. If the Jews had believed in Christ their Conversion had not been a greater Proof of the Truth of his Resurrection than their Unbelief has been p. 453. The Power of Christ's Resurrection manifested in the Miraculous Gifts bestowed upon the Apostles was as great a Proof of his Resurrection as the Personal Appearance of our Saviour himself could have been p. 454. CHAP. XXVII Of the Forty Days in which Christ remained upon the Earth after his â—â—â—surrection and of the manner of his Ascension MAny things in the Life of Christ before his Passion omitted by the Evangelists p. 459. And likewise after his Resurrection p. 461. What may be concluded from that which we Read of his conversing with his Disciples after it p. 463. The manner of his Ascension p. 465. CHAP. XXVIII Why some Works of Nature are more especially ascribed to God why means was sometimes used in the Working of Miracles and why Faith was sometimes required of those upon whom or before whom Miracles were wrought ALL Creatures act with a constant dependance upon the Divine Power and Influence but things may be said more especially to be done by God himself whereby upon some extraordinary Occasion his Power and his Will are more particularly manifested or his Promise fulfilled p. 469. Miracles are more peculiarly the Works of God because they are wrought without the concurrence or subserviency of Natural Means ib Means used as Circumstances to render Miracles more observable not as concurring to the Production of the effect 470. Christ had given undeniable Proof of his Miraculous Power before he required Faith as a condition in such as came to see his Miracles and to receive the benefit of them p. 471. Whether he required Faith of any before his working of a Miracle who had not already seen him work Miracles p. 481. Great Reason that no Miracle should be purposely wrought for the captious and Malicious p. 482. The case of his own Country-men was particular ib. The case of those who came to desire his Help p. 487. Our Saviour hereby signified that he requires the same Faith of those who have not seen his Miracles as he did of those who had seen them p. 489. CHAP. XXIX Of the ceasing of Prophâ—â—â—es and Miracles THe Antiquity of Prophecies adds to their force and Evidence p. 491. The Cessation of Miracles We read of no Miraculous Power bestowed upon any Man before Moses p. 492. Neither Prophecies nor Miracles in the Jewish Church for more than four hundred years before Christ p. 495. Miracles if common would lose the design and nature of Miracles p. 498. Men would pretend to frame Hypotheses to solve them p. 499. A constant Power of Miracles would occasion Impostures ib. They would occasion Pride in those that wrought them p. 501. No more Reason for Miracles to prove the Christian Religion among Christians than there is need of them to prove a God ib. A Divine Power is notwithstanding evident among Christians living in Heathen Countries p. 502. CHAP. XXX Of the Causes why the Jews and Gentiles rejected Christ notwithstanding all the Miracles wrought by him and his Apostles ASupernatural Grace necessary to True Faith p. 504. Jews and Proselytes were converted in great Numbers p. 508. Many durst not own Christ Others had their hearts hardned p. 511. They had violent prejudidices against the Gospel p. 512. The Signs and Wonders of false Prophets a cause of the Infidelity of the Jews p. 514. The unbelief of the Jews being foretold by the Prophets is a confirmation of the Gospel p. 515. Great Numbers of the Heathens converted p. 516. The cause of unbelief in the Philosophers ib. Of Epictetus and Seneca p. 518. The prejudices of the Gentiles p. 521. They would not be at the Pains rightly to understand the Christian Religion p. 522. Oracles had foretold that it should not last above 365 Years p. ib. Heresies and Schisms gave great Scandal p. 523. Many Heathens however had more favourable and just Thoughts of the Christian Religion p. 524. Of the Writings of the Heathens against it p. 528. The Writings of the ancient Jews confirm it p. 530. CHAP. XXXI That the Confidence of Men of false Religions and their Willingness to suffer for them is no prejudice to the Authority of the True Religion THe Martyrs for the Christian Religion more
the performing any good Action Every good Gift and every perfect Gift is from above Jam. i. 17. 3. We learn from hence that God can bring Good out of Evil and doth often over-rule even the worst Actions to the accomplishment of the best Ends and putteth no Trust in his Saints Job xv 15. There is a Remarkable Instance to this purpose in the Case of Jacob and Esau when Jacob came by fraud and subtilty and depriv'd his Brother of the Blessing (p) Casaub in Athenae Lib. 1. c. 11. It was in Ancient times customary to offer that of which they were to eat in Sacrifice especially on so Solemn an Occasion as a Father's giving his final Blessing and as in this Case foretelling the Fate of his Posterity And therefore when Jacob had by subtilty got the Blessing of his Father Isaac could not recall it to conferr it upon Esau because what was done in so solemn a manner had a Religious Obligation amounting to that of an Oath and Oaths tho' obtain'd by fraud were Obligatory as we learn from the Case of the Gibeonites he had blessed Jacob before the Lord and the Prediction that the Elder should serve the Younger Gen. xxv 23. with Esau's despising and selling his Birth-right might now probably come into Isaac's Mind whereupon tho' he did not approve of the fraud by which the Blessing was obtain'd yet he knew it to be irrevocable and that the Divine Purpose and Prediction would be accomplish'd thereby and what he had by a Prophetick Spirit conferr'd it was not in his power to recall The Relation therefore of this Matter doth not justifie Jacob's behaviour in it but manifests the over-ruling Providence of God to make any Means whatsoever instrumental to his gracious Ends which can never be disappointed by any Actions of Men for if they depended upon humane Actions these would often fail them the best Men being subject to so much frailty and sin 4. Tho' God of his Mercy doth accept of the imperfect Services of the Righteous forgiving upon their habitual Repentance the Sins and Frailties which are mix'd with the best Actions and pardoning the worst Actions likewise after a particular Repentance and Amendment of Life yet these stand upon Record for the glory of God's grace in their Repentance and Forgiveness and for a memorial and warning to future Ages that Men may neither presume upon their own Righteousness nor despair of God's Mercy But because they are pardon'd they are not always censur'd And I think the ill Actions of Good Men are seldom or never mention'd with a mark of God's displeasure unless the Series of the History require it and then the reproof is mention'd which pass'd at the time of the Commission of them as in the Case of David of Hezekiah and St. Peter But where no such Censure was pass'd at the time of the Action the Action it self is barely related and nothing further said of it because the Crime being forgiven God forbears to shew any further displeasure against it such is his Mercy to Repenting Sinners And there could be no necessity as I have observ'd for any Censure upon the account of others who may know by the plain Rule of God's word what Actions are sinful tho' they are not always styl'd so in relating the Commission of them CHAP. XVIII Of the Imprecations in the Psalms and other Books of the Old Testament ONE of the greatest Excellencies of the Christian Religion is the Universal Charity which it enjoyns and we shall find that Charity was likewise the Doctrine of the Old Testament and that there is nothing in the Book of Psalms or any other part of the Old Testament contrary to this Doctrine which will appear if we consider the peculiar Reasons for those expressions which may seem to imply any thing contrary to it I. Many of those Expressions are used in reference to the Nations upon whom after signal Acts of Mercy and Forbearance on his part and repeated provocations on theirs God had commanded the Israelites to execute his Judgments and the Sins of the People of Israel were the cause that this was not accomplish'd and therefore it was lawfull for them to pray that they might have grace to repent and that their Sins might be no hindrance to them in the fulfilling his will but that God would enable them to execute vengeance upon the Heathen Ps cxlix 7. And it was lawful likewise to pray against all the other Enemies of God that he would abase their Pride and make them to know themselves to be but Men Ps ix 20. lxxiv. 22 23. cxxxix 21 22. II. David being King had the Sword of Justice committed to him he was the Minister of God a revenger to execute wrath upon him that did evil and therefore when his Rebellious Subjects were too strong for him as in the Rebellion of Absalom he might make his Appeal to God and beseech him to take the matter into his own hand If he might punish his Subjects he might pray to God that he would enable him to do it And in Foreign Wars if he might kill his Enemies he might pray for Victory and Success over them III. It is lawful to pray that publick and notorious Malefactors may be punish'd for it is lawful to discover them and bring them to punishment and it must needs be lawful to pray that that may be done which it is lawful for us to do It is lawful to seek redress of private Injuries and therefore it is lawful to pray that they may be redress'd for we may pray for success upon any honest undertaking If this be done out of a love to Justice and a necessary care of our own preservation not out of malice and a thirst after Revenge but with the most favourable construction that the worst Actions are capable of and with hearty Prayers to God for his Blessing upon the Offender in giving him the grace of Repentance and granting him whatsoever happiness in this World may be consistent with the honour of God and Justice towards other Men and the Salvation of his own Soul IV. God was the peculiar Law-giver and Political Governour of the Jews and Temporal Rewards and Punishments were the Sanction of the Laws which he had given them For the Mosaical Law is called the ministration of Death and the Ministration of Condemnation 2 Cor. iii. 7 9. because the promises of the Law as such belong'd only to this Life and a Curse was denounc'd against every one that continu'd not in all things which are written in the Book of the Law to do them Gal. iii. 10 11. God had expresly threatned to inflict Punishment in this Life for the transgression of those Laws and therefore to pray to God that his Judgments might overtake Evil doers was no more than it is in other Governments to prosecute Offenders before the Magistrate they appealed to God to put his Laws in force against them and not to
suffer the wicked to go unpunish'd in contempt of those Laws which he had appointed and under that dispensation which was establish'd upon Temporal Rewards and Punishments They were not allow'd to indulge their anger and desire of Revenge yet they might pray that God would avenge himself of his Enemies and rescue his Laws from that contempt which they must lie under from wicked Men if they did not feel those punishments which the Laws of God threatned them withall But under the Gospel the Case is different for now we are not to expect that Temporal Rewards and Punishments should constantly follow upon the performance or transgression of our Duty but both of them may be commonly reserved to a future State A Christian may not pray for Judgments upon his Enemies because God has not so peremptorily declared by the Gospel that he will inflict his Punishments in this Life as he had done by the Law and we have our Saviour's Command and Example to pray for their Repentance that they be not punished in the next But a Christian may right himself in due course of Law and in order to that may Petition the Judge without any breach of Charity and this was all that the Jews did when they pray'd God to execute his own Laws by inflicting such Punishments as he had threatned to inflict upon the Transgressors of them in this Life they invoked and appealed to God as their Political Judge and Sovereign and pray'd Judgment against Offenders V. Those which seem Imprecations are oftentimes Predictions or Denunciations of Judgments to come upon Sinners as we may learn from Acts 1.20 And it can be no uncharitableness to foretell or denounce God's Judgments against Sinners but rather an effect of Charity towards them for their Repentance and Amendment Most of those places of Scripture may as properly be rendred by way of prediction in the Future Tense and when they cannot they may be look'd upon as denunciations of God's Wrath. For Prophets were sometimes employ'd to execute the Divine Judgments as we see in Elijah 2 Kings i. 9 10. and as they sometimes executed God's Judgments so they at other times denounced them and this had nothing of uncharitableness in it but is fully agreeable with the Gospel it self For thus we read that Ananias and Sapphira were punished with present death by St. Peter Acts v. But if St. Peter had denounced Death without inflicting it immediately upon them this had been less And St. Paul prays that the Lord would reward Alexander the Copper-Smith according to his works who had done him much evil 2 Tim. iv 14. which was no uncharitable imprecation but a leaving him to God's Judgment and a denunciation of punishment to befall him without Repentance it was an Authoritative Act and in consequence of that excommunication which the Apostle had inflicted upon him 1 Tim. 1.20 And when God had inspired and empower'd Men to denounce Judgments this was no more against Charity than the inflicting of them would have been or than Excommunication it self is If Magistrates are empower'd in the King's Name to give Sentence and to inflict Punishments certainly Men may be so empower'd and authoriz'd by God himself and may act or speak accordingly without breach of Charity VI. The Expressions Ps lxix and cix are to be understood concerning Judas as we find them applied Acts 1. and all other Expressions of the same nature may be understood either of him or of some others like him whom the Psalmist by inspiration might know to be hardned in Sin past Repentance and therefore might pray that God would rather cut them off than suffer them to do more mischief in this World and increase the number of their Iniquities here and of their Miseries in the World to come VII Lastly This Supposition is tacitly emply'd in Imprecations if they will persist in their Sins if they will not repent and the Penmen of the Holy Scriptures might in some Cases know by Revelation that Judgments were the only means to reclaim those Men against whom they pray'd and then it was the greatest Charity to pray that God would be pleased to make use of that Remedy which alone was lest for their Amendment aâ— Psal lxxxiii 15 16. So persecute them with thy tempest and make them afraid with thy storm Fill their faces with shame that they may seeâ— thy Name O Lord. There is nothing therefore inconsistent with the Doctrine of Charity and the Love of ouâ— Neighbour in those places of Scripture which have been liable to the mistakes of unwary Men. For either they are Prayers to God to enable the Isâ—aelites to do what he had appointed as in the destruction of the Canaanites whom God was pleased for wise and great Reasons to punish by the Sword of the Children of Israel rather than by Pestilence or any other Judgment Or they are Prayers to God to assist them in the doing what both Justice and Charity will allow to be done either by Persons in Authority as King David or even by private Men as in the prosecution of Offenders and bringing them to condign punishment and this may be without any degree of Malice or the least breach of Charity since Punishment it self may be not only an act of Justice but of Charity likewise towards divers Men. Or these Expressions may be Appeals to God as the Political Governour and Legislator of the Jews Or they are Predictions or Denunciations of God's wrath against Sinners And they may be directed against impenitent obstinate Men hardned in their Wickedness Or lastly they may be only Prayers to God â—hat he would inflict such Punishments upon Mon as may bring them to Repentance And tho' the Jews in latter Ages perverted some passages of their Law to serve their own Pride and Revenge yet as it is evident by many instances never any Law but that of Christ oblig'd Men to more Humanity towards Strangers or more Charity towards Enemies They were certainly to Covert no Man's House or Wife and therefore the word Neighbour is not to be limited to signifie only an Israelite or a Proselyte but is to be understood of any Man whatsoever Exod. xx 17. Thou shalt love him the Stranger as thy self Lev. xix 34. The Aegyptians are stiled the Neighbours of the Israelites Exod. xi 2. And Ps xv 2 3. where acts of common Justice towards Neighbours are spoken of by Neighbour must necessarily be understood any person for to all Men Justice is due Not only Justice but Charity was enjoyn'd towards Enemies If thine Enemy be hungry give him bread to eat and if he be thirsty give him water to drink for thou shalt heap coals of fire upon his head and the Lord shall reward thee Prov. xxv 21 22. which words so fully express our Duty of Christian Charity that St. Paul could find none fitter to describe it by Rom. xii 20. and Exod. xxiii 4 5. If thou meet thine Enemies Ox or his Ass going
that hearest Prayer unto thee shall all Flesh come Ps lxv 2. And all Flesh shall know that I the Lord am thy Saviour and thy Redeemer the mighty one of Jacob Isa xlix 26. All Flesh shall come to worship before me saith the Lord Isa lxvi 23. And all Flesh shall see the Salvation of God Luke iii. 6. I will pour out of my Spirit upon all Flesh Acts ii 17. Joel ii 28. By the works of the Law shall no Flesh be justified Galat. ii 16. And we say in our own Language any Body thinks or any Body understands tho' we all know it is the Soul and not the Body which thinks and understands It is very usual in other Books and very agreeable to the stile of Scripture and to the common speech and sense of Men for those Actions of a Person to be attributed to one of the united Natures which could be perform'd only in the other And the Union between the Godhead and the Manhood being like that which is between the Soul and the Body the Son of God is said to have Suffered and the Son of Man to have come down from Heaven not that the Godhead Suffered or that the Humane Nature of Christ was in Heaven before his Incarnation but according to the usual stile of Scripture the Union between the Divine and Humane Natures entitles the Person consisting of them both under the denomination of either Nature to that which was done in the other tho' as the Humane Nature did not partake of the perfections of the Divine so neither did the Divine Nature partake of the sufferings of the Humane But both Natures being personally united the person is sometimes denoted by one and sometimes by the other Nature All the Objections against the Incarnation of the Son of God proceed upon the like mistake with theirs who are apt to imagine that it is unworthy of God to be every where and in all places to behold and be present at the worst of Actions as if the Sun's brightness would not be the more resplendent and glorious if it could penetrate into the obscurest corners and recesses of the Earth or as if his Rays could be sullied and defiled by the foulness of any Object which they shine upon And if it be no diminution to God's Infinite Glory and Majesty to be Omnipresent it can be none to be more nearly and even Personally united to some part of the Creation and therefore it cannot be unworthy of God to be so united to the Humane Nature to manifest his love and favour and extend his goodness to Mankind As God is every where present so he is in a more especial manner present in some places than in others by the acts of his Power or of his Grace and Favour and he has vouchsafed a more especial presence to some Persons than to others and thus he was present with his Prophets who were sent to prepare for and foretell Christ's coming But he was personally united to the Humane Nature of Christ And this is the highest Honour and Advancement to our Nature for God thus to assume it but it can be no diminution to the Divine Majesty because God continues as he was from all Eternity without any alteration only by his personal Presence and Union with our Humane Nature he causes all the performances and sufferings of it to be meritorious for the Salvation of Mankind The Son of God did not so come down from Heaven as to be no longer there but to forsake his Father's Kingdom He still continued in Heaven in the same Bliss and Glory that he enjoy'd with his Father from all Eternity tho' he so manifested himself to the World as to come and abide in it by assuming our Humane Nature Our Saviour tells Nicodemus Joh. iii. 13. No Man hath ascended up to Heaven but he that came down from Heaven even the Son of Man which is in Heaven He who fills Heaven and Earth with his presence was still in Heaven as much as ever with respect to his Godhead tho' he made a more peculiar residence than he had before done on Earth by dwelling in our Nature here The Son of God who is at all times every where present is yet in a peculiar manner present where ever he is pleas'd to manifest himself by peculiar acts of his goodness and power as he was pleas'd to do in a most stupendous manner in that Flesh which he took upon him of the Blessed Virgin And it cannot be thought inconsistent with the Majesty of God to actuate the Humane Nature and to be joyned in the most strict and vital union with it supposing God only to act upon it and not to be acted upon by it nor to suffer the miseries and feel the pains which the Humane Nature endures which would be Blasphemy to assert of the Divine Nature of Christ but to be in Heaven still in his sull Power and Majesty But some Man will say how is this Union between the Divine and Humane Nature in Christ made or wherein doth it consist To whom we may reply as our Saviour sometimes did to the Scribes and Pharisees by asking another Question and enquiring how the Body and Soul in Man are united or how God is present in all places and how in him we live and move and have our Being And if no Man can tell how these things are tho' no Man can deny the truth and reality of them then it is not to be expected that we should be able to tell how the union between the Divine and the Humane Nature in Christ is made or in what it consists We must acknowledge it a Mystery which it is above any Man's capacity to explain but that there is such an union we learn from the Scriptures and thither we appeal for the truth of it And the putting such Questions argues either a great mind to cavil or great inconsideration and shortness of thought For what Man is there pretending to Reason and Argument of so little observation as not to take notice that of all the things which we daily see and perceive to be in the World the nature and manner of existence of very few or rather of none of them is fully understood by us It is sufficient for us to know that great Reasons may be given for this dispensation of the Son of God Incarnate and that no Material Objection can be framed against it Secondly No other way as far as we can apprehend could have been so proper and expedient as the Incarnation of the Son of God to procure the Salvation of Mankind and therefore none could so well become the Divine Wisdom and Goodness The proof of this must depend upon the Reasons for Christ's coming into the World and they are all comprehended in this one thing the abolishing or taking away of Sin And ye know that he was manifested to take away our Sins and in him is no Sin 1 Joh. iii. 5. We are
and Love being the only principle of Obedience which can be acceptable to God this must be the most proper and sitting dispensation which is most apt to excite in us the Love of God The Power and Majesty of God had been manifested before in the Creation and Preservation and Government of the World and in many signal Judgments upon Sinners the Divine Mercy and Goodness was likewise visible in the daily Blessings bestowed upon Mankind but the exceeding Riches of his Grace was made known in his kindness towards us thro' Christ Jesus Ephes ii 7. And as this must cause us to love God so â—t must make us if any thing can do it to have love one for another God Incarnate is the Head and Vital Principle the common Bond of Life and Union between Christians and we are oblig'd to mutual Love not only because we are all of the same Nature but because the Son of God has been pleas'd to dignifie that Nature in assuming it This ought to make us value our own Nature and to have a due esteem and affection for it in whomsoever it be How can we despise and one who is a Partaker of that Nature of which the Son of God has vouchsafed to partake in its meanest Condition or hate any whom he loved so well as to die for him This makes all Men worthy of our respect and love not of our contempt or hatred they are of that Nature which Christ as Man is of and they are his Purchase and we must love what is his and what he has so dearly paid for iâ—â— we love Christ himself Beloved says St. John if God so loved us we ought also to love one another 1 Joh. iv 11. And this is St. Paul's Argument to the Corinthians to excite them to Charity towards their poor Brethren For ye know the Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ that tho' he was rich yet for your sakes he became poor that ye thro' his poverty might be rich 2 Cor. viii 9. The Incarnation of the Son of God must likewise cause us to have the greatest hatred and detestation of Sin as being that which is most displeasing to God and that which occasioned the death of his only Son to atone for it And it is evident that all who neglect so great Salvation must expect the heaviest Punishment for so heinous a Contempt and Provocation if we will be gained by any methods of Love Christ has done all that is possible to effect it But if we will not be moved by all the kindness and compassions of Love it self we can hope for no further favour if the Son of God came to die for us and we will not regard it so as to be made the better by it nothing more can be look'd for but Wrath and fiery Indignation So that the manifestation of the Son of God in the Flesh was the most proper and fitting means to work upon the Love and Fear and Hope and all the Passions of Mankind and to produce all those Graces in us which the Gospel requires It is the best fitted both to the Nature and Design of the Gospel and to the Nature of Man and therefore if any other Means had been possible yet none that we can conceive could have been so effectual to procure the Salvation of Men. CHAP. XXI Of the Fulness of Time or the Time appointed by God for the Incarnation of our Blessed Saviour SInce we have so great Evidence to satisfie us that Christ did come into the World and die for us it would be the greatest ingratitude and folly as well as Impiety to reject him tho' we should not be able to give any exact account concerning the Reasons for the time of his coming It is not for us to know the Times or the Seasons which the Father hath put in his own power Acts i. 7. These things are in God's disposal and unless we can be contented to leave the manner and circumstances of our Salvation to his Wisdom we only shew how little we deserve his Mercies and how unwilling we are to believe them and to accept of them But tho' it be a mere Cavil to dispute the coming of Christ upon a bare Circumstance and Nicety concerning the Reasons for the particular time of his Incarnation yet it will be easie to give such an account of the time appointed for the Incarnation of our Blessed Saviour as may serve to silence all Objections against it and to desire to know any further of it is an useless and unwarrantable Curiosity for all must acknowledge that God may have the best and wisest Reasons for his Dispensations which yet we may not be able to comprehend and which it doth not concern us to know The Scripture teacheth us that Christ was born in the Fulness of Time when all things were fulfilled and accomplished in order to it and the World was in a due readiness and preparation for his coming 1. God had beforehand us'd all other means to shew the necessity of sending his Son at last for he was not to be sent but upon necessity and it was fit they to whom he was sent should be sensible of that necessity that they might the better know how to value the infinite mercy of God towards them in sending his only Son to be born and to die for them In the beginning of the World and at the Repeopling it after the Flood Revelations were so frequent and the Will and Commands of God so well known and his promise to send his Son so clearly understood that there could be no necessity that Christ should be Born then since their Faith in him and their Obedience to God's Commandments was as effectual to the Salvation of them that lived so long before his coming as it is to us that live so many Ages after it The Lives of Men in the beginning of the World were so long and the generations-deceased were so few before the Flood that nothing but wilfull ignorance and negligence could be the cause of so much wickedness And after the Flood the Race of Mankind being reduc'd to so few Persons the Example and Instructions of Noah and Abraham and the other Patriarchs might have been sufficient to keep Men within the measures of their Duty and to preserve a belief and expectation of the promis'd Messiah For they were saved by their Faith in Christ to come as we must be saved by Faith in him already come so many Ages past and therefore to suppose it necessary that he should be Born in those Ages we must suppose it necessary that he should be Born in every Age of the World which I think no Man will imagine But when the rest of the World was generally fallen away to Idolatry God chose to himself one Person from whom by a course of Miracles he raised a mighty Nation who by their Journeyings and Captivities and by all the dispensations of his Providence towards them were appointed
manner what our inward Faith and Resolutions are This is that sort of security which Men have of one another and when God makes a Covenant with Men he considers them as Men that is he appoints such Solemnities of it as have respect to the Body as well as to the Soul he doth not deal with us as with immaterial Spirits but as with Creatures consisting of Soul and Body and who little regard and are little affected with that which doth not some way concern the one as well as the other And it is strange to see to what Extravagancies those have proceeded who have set up for a purely Spiritual Worship without any thing Sacramental for a visible Sign in it For not to mention the Pretensions of our Enthusiasts who by decrying the use and necessity of Sacraments have made Religion nothing but an empty and uncertain Name amongst them Prophyry who was a Man of Study and Learning after he had Apostatiz'd from the Christian Religion upon a ridiculous Occasion as History relates it was ashamed to return to the Heathen Idolatry which after the appearance of Christianity in the World soon became too notoriously absurd and abominable for any Man pretending so much to Reason and good Sense to own it but he placed all Divine Worship in Mental Prayer and so far rejected all outward and Bodily Worship (g) Porphyr de Abstinent lib. 2. §. 34. that he pretended the Prayers of Men were polluted and defiled by any thing of that Nature and rendred unacceptable to the Deity and that they never were sufficiently pure and perfect if they were express'd by the Voice but were then in their highest degree of Perfection when they were all Contemplation and Rapture and Extasie And the very same Notions were taught by (h) Euseb Praepar Evang. lib. iv c. 13. Apollonius Tyanoeus and have been revived of late by such as undervalue all outward Ordinances which may be a Warning to others and an Evidence of the Divine Wisdom in appointing Sacraments as outward and visible Signs of our Covenant and Communion with God 2. As these outward Signs serve to raise our Attention and fix our Minds and to put us in Remembrance that Heaven and Earth Angels and Men are Witnesses against us if we prove treacherous and unfaithful in this Covenant so they are as Tokens and Pledges to us of God's Love and Favour and of his merciful and gracious Intentions towards us in taking us into Covenant with himself they give us sensible and visible Assurances of that Grace which is invisible and Spiritual And this seems but necessary for Creatures that are led so much by Sense as we all are in this Life that God together with his Word and Promises should besides appoint something which may be perceiv'd by our Bodily Senses in Token of those Blessings which are bestow'd upon the Soul that what is no Object of Sense may yet be represented and signified by something that is sensible to bring as far as it is possible the most Divine and Heavenly things down to our very Senses which may be a Sign and Token of present Grace and Favour and a Pledge and Earnest of future Glory and Happiness And this is what is found very useful and necessary amongst Men who are better contented with something present and in hand tho' of little value and insignificant in itself as a Token and Pledge of what is promised and made over to them than they are with the greatest Promises and Protestations without any thing as an Earnest to confirm them because this is a Natural Evidence that they are indeed in Earnest as our English word expresses it and really intend what they say and it may be produced against them if they should fail of Performance Now what is inward and invisible is absent as to Sense and what is future has need of something present to represent it to us And God who was pleased to bind himself even by an Oath for our farther Comfort and Trust in him has been pleased likewise that he might be wanting in nothing which might help our Infirmities and assist our Faith he has been pleased in condescention to the Condition and Frailty of Humane Nature to appoint visible Signs and Pledges of that which is Invisible and to give all the Assurance to our very Senses that they are capable of that all the Promises of his Spiritual Blessings and Graces shall as certainly be fulfilled to us as the outward Signs and Pledges are appointed for us and duly received by us 3. Sacraments are not only Signs and Tokens of Spiritual Gifts and Graces but they are ordained as Means and Instruments of Grace and Salvation to us that as the Body partakes in the Moral Actions of Vertue and Vice so it might concur in the Religious Acts ordained for our Sanctification For God who has made us so as to consist of Soul and Body and to have the Vital Union between Soul and Body depend upon a fit Disposition of the Body and to be maintained by the Health and Nourishment of it has been pleas'd to appoint certain Bodily Actions as the Means and Instruments of our Spiritual Life that the Soul might not even in this Case where itself is more immediately concern'd be wholly independent of the Body but that since both must be either happy or miserable together in the next Life both might concurr in the way and means of Salvation in this yet so as that the Soul should be the first and principal Agent and the Body should act only in subordination and subserviency to it in this as it doth in other Cases that as in Moral Actions the Soul acts vertuously or viciously by the Body so in Spiritual Actions the Soul might receive Advantage and Benefit by Bodily Acts and be deprived of it upon the Omission or Neglect of such Acts. The Body without the Soul is not the Man nor the Soul without the Body but both Soul and Body together and the whole Man becomes dedicated and consecrated to God's Worship and Service in the use of Actions performed outwardly in the Body And it is requisite that the Body as well as the Soul should be thus dedicated to God in Token of the Resurrection of the Body and of that Happiness which it must receive in Heaven if the Soul be happy St. Paul exhorts the Corinthians to glorifie God in their Body as well as in their Spirit 1 Cor. vi 20. he tells them that the Body is not for Fornication but for the Lord and the Lord for the Body know ye not says he that your Bodies are the members of Christ what know ye not that your Body is the Temple of the Holy Ghost There have been those in several Ages who have made such high Pretences to Spiritual Worship that they would allow the Body no part or share in it and others from the great irregularity and corruption which they could not but observe in