publikely proclaime that Jesus was not the Messiah but that he was justly put to death and this is it which makes Infidelity a sin of so deep a dye in that it doth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Undervalue and disesteem the blood of the Covenant Heb. 10.29 and conceives that it was shed by Christ not for the Remission of our sins but for the Expiation of his own He then that dares not say that Jesus was justly put to death let him forthwith believe that he was the Christ i.e. the Eternal Son of God for for the defence and in the maintenance of that Assertion he died And so much for the Second Prediction The third and last Prediction of our Saviour Predict 3. which I shall insist upon is concerning the coming and seduction of Antichrist The words of the Prediction are Then if any say unto you Mat. 24 23 24. loe here is Christ or loe there believe them not For there shall arise False Christs and False Prophets and shall shew great Signs and Wonders insomuch as they shall deceive if it were possible the very Elect. In which Prediction there are these things considerable 1. The Title which our Saviour gives to Antichrist he speaks of him in the plural Number False Christs and False Prophets implying that there should not be one single Person but a Corbination and Conspiracy of Deceivers And though the Apostle Paul 2 Thes 2.3 speaking of Antichrist calls him The Man of sin and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that lawless one And John calls him by a single name 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Antichrist yet I suppose that can be no more understood of one man than the word Satan of one Devil for in those words of our Saviour Mar. 3.23 How can Satan cast out Satan And If Satan rise up against himself and be divided he cannot stand Satan signifies the whole Commonwealth if I may so call it or Regiment of evill spirits under some one Chief Luk. 11.15 called in Scripture Beelzebub Or as the Apostle Paul in those words For even as the Body is one and hath many members 1 Cor. 12 12. but all those members of that one body though they be many make up but one body even so is Christ where the Apostle called the whole Church as it contains both Head and Members by the name of Christ So is Antichrist a collective body of many False Christs and False Prophets united under some one head for the better managing and carrying on their designs order being so necessary that as our Saviour observes Hell it self which is otherwise a place of Confusion cannot for the present subsist without it But there is a twofold Order an Order by force and constraint and that is the Order of Hell and of Antichrist and there is an Order by Consent and that is the Order of Heaven and of Christ 2. The second thing observable in this Prophecy is the way wherein Antichrist should discover himself viz. by being a False Prophet so v. 11. Many false Prophets shall arise and shall deceive many So that a False Christ and a False Prophet is the same thing the latter word being explicatory of the former And this name of False Prophet is ascribed to Antichrist by the Apostle John both in his Epistle 1 Joh. 4.1 2. Apoc. 19.20 2 Pet. 2.1 and Revelation It signifies in English a False Teacher and so Peter expresly mentions There were saith he False Prophets among the People so there shall be false Teachers among you who shall privily bring in damnable Heresies even denying the Lord that bought them In which words the Apostle cannot mean that they should deny the Person of our Saviour for then we could not have had any sufficient 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to distinguish Antichrist by since the whole Jewish Nation and almost all the Gentiles both then did and still do they deny him but as among the Jews those who were False Prophets pretended highly to honour God but yet taught lies in his Name and secretly withdrew men from his service So should these False Christs and False Prophets cry up Christ in words for saith our Saviour Mat. 24.5 they shall come in my Name and he tells us that at the last day some shall plead for themselves Have we not prophesied in thy Name Mat. 7.22 But yet both in their Doctrine and Practice they should directly oppose him and set up a Religion which should have nothing in it of Christian but the Name To find out what kind of Doctrine it would be that Antichrist should preach and what kind of Practice he should follow the best way will be to look in Scripture what it was that our Saviour and his Apostles did most inveigh against for those very things Antichrist would set up and defend 1. In Doctrine you will find these three Opinions principally condemne◠First Justification by works which the Apostle Paul spends almost two Epistles in confuring The sum of what he saies is contained in this Position We know saith he Gal. 2.16 that a man is not justified by the works of the Law but only by the Faith of Jesus Christ and we have believed in Christ Jesus that we might be justified by the Faith of Christ and not by the works of the Law for by the works of the Law no Flesh can be justified And whereas many captious men were apt to asperse this Doctrine as if it did open a way to looseness of life the Apostle proves by his own example Rom. 6.1 2. that if rightly understood it had a quite contrary effect since nothing can more effectually kill sin than to behold it as killing Christ from thence he concludes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 I abolish Ver. 21. or disanul not the Grace of Gode for if Righteousness be by the Law i. e. can be attained by the observance of the Law then did Christ die in vain for what men might have got without any satisfaction made in their behalf that Christ needed not have died to purchase And therefore he urges again 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Ye are brought to nought from Christ Gal. 5.4 i.e. Christ is become vain to you if you are justified by the Law ye are fallen from Grace i.e. Ye do declare ye have no need of Grace or free Pardon because you appeal to the sentence of that Law from the rigour of which nothing but Christs Death could free you So that Justification by Works as evacuating the Death of Christ and rendring mens Salvation as hazardous and uncertain nay Impossible as before our Saviours coming is a Doctrine persectly Antichristian Secondly The second Doctrine recorded to us for Antichristian is the Mediation of Angels this it seems under the colour that it was too bold and presumptuous a thing for frail Man to address himself immediatly unto God some false Teachers at Colosse did advise them first to pray
Rev. 19.20 So that our Saviour and his Apostles do both grant that Miracles may be done by a false Power and likewise affirm that whoever hath nothing else to alledge for his Religion but meerly Miracles that same is Antichrist For Truth stands not in need of such outward Circumstances to underprop it and according to the Scripture Miracles are not to prove the Doctrine but the Doctrine is to prove the Miracles whether they are from God or not But yet saith our Saviour with those Arts and waies he shall so far prevail as even almost to stagger the belief of the very Elect Many shall follow their destructive Doctrines 2 Pet. 2.2 Rev. 13. saith Peter the World shall wonder after the Beast saith John and he shall deceive the Inhabitants of the earth c. all which places do note an almost Universal seduction And if any ask how it comes to pass that Corruption so contrary to the received Tenets and Maximes of Christianity should be so generally embraced 2 Thes 2 10 11 the Apostle Paul hath given it Because men have not received the love of the Truth that they might be saved therefore shall God send upon them the strong working of deceit 2 Thes 2.9 that they should believe a Lye i.e. Men being unwilling to give themselves up to the guidance of Truth which shines clearly by its own Light both in Scriptures and in their own Understandings therefore shall God suffer them to be so brutish and Sottish as to quit their Reason and to be led up and down by any fond and ridiculous Errour as those Impostors shall guide them I have done with the Prediction of our Saviour concerning Antichrist V. Canenes Concil Trident. and if upon your enquiry you find that there is that Religion in the world which hath espoused and embodied into their Confession of Faith all the Opinions of Antichrist If there be that Church in the world which still pretends to do and for ought I know doth reall Miracles upon which they bottome their Plea to be the true Church if they maintain Persecution Violence and Fraud if they have dispirited and disenvigoured Religion by their worldly Pompe and Gallantry and make thriving in this world a sign that God doth love and favour them all which are Antichristian Tenets and Practices If there be that Person in the world who hath assumed the very stile of Antichrist who hath trampled upon Kings and trode upon the Necks of Emperours who in his Canon Law is called God and like God doth dispense with all both Divine and Humane Laws then first certainly Antichrist is already come and to deny it is to deny as great evidence and notoriety of fact as to deny it is day when the Sun shineth And secondly He which foretold that Antichrist should thus come with all these Circumstances that I have summed up he was undoubtedly a true Prophet the true Messiah for to repeat the Argument in my Text He told us these things before they came to pass and we find that they are come to pass and therefore he is The Use that I shall make of this whole Discourse is 1. To convince the Unresolved 2. To confirm those who are already setled Use 1 The first use shall be to convince the Unresolved I have already spoken something to awaken those that are resolute and peremptory Unbelievers but there are many who may be yet in their enquiring doubting and disputing state who are not unwilling to embrace the Faith of Christ but they find it to be so repugnant to every thing of natural Reason within them and likely to be attended with so much hazard and danger that they are either ashamed or afraid to own it but yet are not fixed in positive denial of it but through uncertainty they are alwaies Anxious and wavering Such as these ought to be tenderly and gently dealt with and two things I shall propose to them which may help to alleviate and to abate their Prejudices 1. That Christian Religion is in no part of it unreasonable for since the Proof of it in general depends upon the clearest Demonstration viz. The fulfilling of Prophesies then the belief of it must needs be rational I know very well that the things contained in the Scriptures viz. The Incarnation of the Son of God three Persons of the Godhead the Immediate Acting of the Holy Spirit upon the heart of Believers and the like are all Mysterious and no waies reconcileable to Humane Apprehension but then we must consider that these things are not proposed to our Understandings to comprehend them but meerly to our Faith to believe them which where there is a firm and demonstrable ground of Beliefe may be done even to many things that we understand not And the great hindrance that hath kept Christian Faith from entring into the minds of men is want of attendance to that distinction for many have both confounded themselves and subverted the Faith of others by pressing upon them a comprehension of what is no waies by us Intelligible And therefore all those Disputes about Predestination Trinity Resurrection Incarnation and the like are for the greatest part of them unprofitable and dangerous because they are not content barely to assert the Truth which is then best done when it is put into the plainest and most unscholastick Language of Scripture but our Arguers do over and above enquire de modo and labour to give reasons for those stupendious and amazing Mysteries which the Apostle Paul cries out 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 upon and for the most part ends the Dispute with a Reproof of the Disputer And therefore such of you as are not yet fixed in your belief set your selves purely upon this Article viz. to enquire whether Jesus be the Christ and never give it over till it hath pleased God fully to confirm you in it And my Reasons for this Advice are these three 1. Because this is the most effectual and ready way to prove unto you the Divine Authority of the Scriptures Those who set upon this work by endeavouring to prove the Scriptures to be the Word of God as they lye in gross and in their diffused Bulk proceeding by Chapter and Verse do undertake a Tedious and Impossible Task for there those ordinary and trivial Objections of mistakes and variations in Copies mistranslations and the like are never to be assoiled but if you draw the several lines in Scripture into their Center and contract them into Christ as you use to do the Sun-beams into a burning-glass then do they cast a quick and vigorous lustre sufficient to enlighten and warm even the most stiffe and rigid Opposer He that would demonstrate the Providence of God would not I suppose begin with the Minutiae mundi the lesser things of the World as Flies and Insects but he would fix as David doth upon the Sun or some noble and conspicuous part whose Use is undeniable and
of Judas for as we find v. 2. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The devil having already put or cast it into the heart of Judas to betray him our Saviour warns his Disciples of it even while they sate at Supper with him and first he tells them in general Terms that they were not all clean v. 10. to which the Evangelist adds by way of Comment for he knew who should betray him therefore he said ye are not all clean v. 11 and then more particularly our Saviour explaines what this Uncleanness was and wherein it did consist that it was not a Ceremonial but a Moral Uncleanness not a Filthiness of the Flesh but an Impurity of the Spirit for saith he He that eateth bread with me hath lift up his heel against me v. 18. i.e. shall betray me as in express words is declared v. 21. This Crime which had been strangely horrid if a professed Enemy had done it appeared to the Disciples much more incredible in that it should be attemped by one of them who knew him to be the Son of God who had confessed preached and done Miracles in his Name and now in token of perfect Amity and Friendship were all sate at an Holy Banquet together and therefore that any of their Number should consent to nay promote so great a Villany seemed a thing almost Impossible And therefore we find the Apostles did dispute and enquire among themselves and were so much surprized with wonder that they even questioned the Truth of their Masters Prediction Our Saviour knowing their Thoughts and being willing to appease and settle their Inquietudes in this Verse he seems to grant that such a thing was scarce imaginable that one so related to Christ should yet harbour such bloudy designs against him But yet saith he as strange and as incredible as it seems it will certainly come to pass and therefore I acquaint you with it before hand that when it doth come to pass you may know that I am These words I am are capable of a twofold Interpretation 1. I am God 2. I am the true Messiah First These words I am may signifie I am God so when Moses enquired after the Name of God this short Answer is returned unto him Exod. 3.14 tell the people to whom you go that I am hath sent thee And therefore in the Song which David sung for the Triumphant entry of the Arke this Name is recorded Extoll ye the Lord by his Name Jah i.e. I am which implies and contains in it all the parts of successive Beeing Apoc. 1. and therefore it is rendred by God himself He that is that was and that is to come i.e. that hath one Fixed Entire Immutable Beeing Now what God by Moses doth barely assert by Isay he doth challenge and demonstrate to be his due by those two Incommunicable Properties of the Deity viz. his Power and his Preseience Isa 41.23 And therefore when he dispures his Right with the Heathen Idolls Shew saith he the things that are to come hereafter that we may know that ye are Gods And in other places he tells his people that such and such Judgements which he had threatned should come upon them And then saith he ye shall know that I am the Lord. So our Saviour here being to take his leave of his Disciples and foreseeing how shrewdly their Faith would be shaken seems to tell them You have indeed confessed me to be the Son of God and therein One with God the Father this if you judge of me by my outward appearance or by the vile and cruell usage I shall shortly undergo must needs appear to be a strange and irreconcileable contradiction And therefore I leave you this Prediction that when you see it fulfilled ye may believe that I am God indeed And thus I am is to be understood in those words of our Saviour where he doth expresly assert his Divinity Joh. 8.38 Before Abraham was I am i.e. According to my Divine Nature by which I am from Everlasting Of which Nature it is that our Saviour speaks to Nicodemus None hath ascended up into heaven Joh. 3.13 but he that came down from heaven even the Son of man who is in heaven i.e. who is now there as God though as man he be circumscribed and limited to a place on Earth Secondly These words I am may be rendred I am the Christ or the true Messiah the Saviour of the World whose coming was so long ago foretold and prophesied of This will appear by comparing two places of Scripture together Acts 13.25 with Joh. 3.23 In Act. 13.25 the Apostle Paul repeating the words of John Baptist saith As John fulfilled his Course he said whom think ye that I am I am not which the Evangelist John relating c. 3.28 makes up the sence thus Ye your selves bear me witness that I said I am not the Christ. Thus I am is to be understood in those words of our Saviour to the Jews If you do not beleeve that I am Joh. 8.24 you shall dye in your sins i.e. If you do not believe that I am that Messiah who is to dye for the sins of the World you shall dye in your sins and take the guilt of them upon your selves And thus I take the words in this place From the words thus explained arise two Observations Doct. 1. That our Saviour is the true Messiah Doct. 2. That the way for us to be infallibly assured that our Saviour is the true Messiah is impartially to weigh the truth of his Predictions Doctrine 1 The first Observation is That our Saviour is the true Messiah and this will be of easie dispatch because it is the first known Article of our Faith I shall only briefly explain it That which in Hebrew is called Messiah in Greek Christ in English signifies Anointed And implies the solemn designation of our Saviour by God unto that great Work of Redeeming Mankind For as in the Old Law all that were called out unto any eminent Employment either in Church or State Exod. 30.23 c. had an Oyl of a peculiar composition poured out upon them which was a sign of their Inauguration and Installment from God into their Office Thus Saul and David were anointed to be Kings Aaron and his Successors were anointed to be Priests Elisha and some others were anointed to be Prophets Psal 105.15 whence is that of the Psalmist Touch not mine Anointed and do my Prophets no harm where the latter part of the Verse doth explain the former so our Saviour who was in a spiritual sense to discharge all these Offices was Anointed i.e. filled with the Spirit of God the gifts and graces of which were Typified by the Clearness and Fragrancy of Legal Oyl Ver. 7. whence that in Psal 45.7 He hath anointed thee with the Oyl of gladness above thy Fellows is by all the Jewish as well as Christian Expositors understood of the plentiful effusion
thence conclude that if Providence hath a respect to any one part of the world it cannot be imagined but it should have an Influence over all for else it must either be Finite or Partial which is absurd So in the asserting of Scriptures begin with that which they all point at and which if one place be questioned thousands of the same kind will evince viz. That the Messiah was to come which is the great design of the Old Testament That the Messiah is come which is the sum of the New and then all the other parts of Scripture will be owned as suited to the Divine and Heavenly Nature of our Messiah who took a body not only that he might dye our Price but that he might live our Pattern And almost each Line of Scripture especially in the New Testament describes either his Life or his Language 2. Here the Doubter must begin because this is the readiest way to ascertain himself whether he be guided by the Spirit of God or not So the Apostle Paul 2 Cor. 12.3 None can call Jesus the Lord but by the Holy Spirit and John 1 Joh. 4.2 Every Spirit that confesseth Jesus the Messiah to be come in the flesh is of God They do not mean that saying this in words is a sign of the Spirit for what is more easie but the owning it in heart this whoever doth may be sure he hath the Spirit And the reason is plain because where the Object proposed doth exceed any natural power there must be a new power given by which that Object is to be received Thus the Apostle John argues concerning future glory Hereafter 1 Joh. 3.3 saith he we shall be like him i. e. Christ because we shall see him as he is There will be a proportion and similitude between Christs body and ours because our visive Faculty shall be so exceedingly advanced as that we shall be able to perceive him in his utmost radiance of Glory So in belief since the soul when it doth it is heightned beyond any native Virtue of its own it is a sign that Gods Spirit hath illuminated and enlarged its Capacity Thus the Apostle We are saved by Grace through Faith Eph. 2.8 and that not of our selves it is the gift of God i. e. that very Faith by which we apprehend Christ is as much the gift of God as Christ himself that is apprehended by it I know very well this seems harsh to many who are willing to boast in themselves but if ever you come to believe indeed you will find the Difficulties your Natural Reason doth urge and vex you with to be insuperable untill the Spirit of God by infusing new light doth explain and solve them Lastly Begin with enquiring whether Jesus be the Christ because upon this depends the whole course of your future Obedience Our Saviour required no more of any that came unto him but to believe that he was the Son of God not that he did exclude good works but he knew that this was the only way to facilitate and expedite them All the while we are either uncertain that our past sins are pardoned or our present services accepted how lamely how untowardly do we set about our duty But when once we believe on Christ all that care is over and the firmer our Faith is the higher and more ardent will our Love be which like a flame shoots through the soul and carries it out with an heavenly quickness and ardency Therefore saith the Apostle Rom. 10.9 10. If thou confess with thy mouth that Jesus is the Lord i.e. If thou obeyest him and believest in thy heart that God hath raised him from the dead i.e. that he is the true Messiah of which his Resurrection is an infallible proof thou shalt be saved For with the heart men believe unto righteousness i.e. unto the justification of their Persons and with the mouth is confession made unto Salvation But to think of making confession or doing any act of Religion without Faith desire at least and the desire of Faith is Faith this is only to mock God and to undo our selves by our foolish and hypocritical presumptions in presenting unto him a Sacrifice which he abhors For without Faith i. e. reliance upon him for mercy and out of Christ God is nothing else but Justice it is impossible to please him When the Doubter hath gone thus far as to find that if he will be satisfied here he must begin his next course will be to run over in his mind those Arguments which our Saviour useth to evince his being the Messiah such are the heavenliness of his Language Joh. 8.43 Why do you not saith our Saviour know my speech i.e. Why do you not perceive even by my manner of discourse that I am come from heaven full of that God in whose Name I speak Joh. 10.21 For as some of the Jews said these are not the words of him that hath a devil These are not the words of one that came to deceive the world and to boast of himself to be that which he was not Another Argument our Saviour urges is the holiness of his Life Joh 8.46 Joh. 10.32 Which of you saith he doth convince me of sin and many good works have I done amongst you for which of them do you stone me An holy humble self-denying man who forbad even his Miracles to be published cannot without intolerable malice be supposed to assume a title which did not belong to him Add to this the God-like Patience and Resolution of his Death dying in defence of this very Tenet unprovoked with injuries breathing out his soul in charity to men Father forgive them Luk. 23.34 for they know not what they do at the same time both praying and pleading for his bitterest Enemies and then giving up himself unto his Father with perfect Affiance Father Ibid. v. 46. into thy hands do I commend my Spirit Add yet farther the Testimony of his Followers who saw him after he was risen the success of his Doctrine in spite of Persecution and above all the fulfilling of Prophesies as I have already mentioned Truly then if he that doubted be not satisfied if he that was almost doth not become altogether a Christian he is strangely wanting to himself for God is not wanting to assist those who do but begin to enquire after him every doubt that ariseth being nothing else but a Motion of Gods Spirit whereby he would draw us unto himself Having thus cleared that to believe is not unreasonable as the Unbeliever supposeth the next thing I shall propose is this That 2. To obey is not dangerous for though we may lose our Lives yet sure we shall be sufficient gainers if we save our souls And therefore let the Doubter strengthen himself with representing Heaven in its fulness of Joy alwaies before his eyes That Doctrine which teacheth that we are not to have an eye to the
deliverance that they might obtain a better Resurrection Besides these places which do imply this Doctrine there are some that do expresly mention it As that of Job Job 19. Ver. 25. whose words however controverted by many Learned men yet out of the Original are exactly thus For I know that my Redeemer i.e. promised Messiah unto whom this Term of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is most ordinarily applied as Isa 59.20 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i.e. the Redeemer shall come to Sion and unto them that turn from transgression in Jacob which no Interpreter but must needs understand of the promised Saviour liveth and at last he shall arise or stand i.e. as Judge over the Dust i.e. either upon Earth as our English Translation hath it or over all men Ver. 26. though now for the present they lye in the dust And after my skin when they i.e. the worms or the diseases he was then afflicted with have pierced through this i.e. body of mine yet out of my flesh shall I see Jehovah whom I shall see for my self and my eyes shall behold Ver. 27. and not a stranger which doth so clearly manifest his belief of the Resurrection that as the words cannot possibly be made sense without it so the Greek Translation by using the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which signifies To raise up again to life in that sense I speak of doth plainly favour it This likewise was the Faith of David where he saies Thou wilt not suffer thy Holy one to see Corruption Psal 16.11 Act. 3. For though as to the Rising on the third day i. e. before the natural Humours were resolved and Corrupted it was literally fulfilled by our Saviour and so applied to him both by Peter and Paul Act. 13. yet it is plain that he who spake those words did likewise believe a Resurrection of his own Person therefore he saies My flesh shall rest in hope But most plain is that of Daniel who Dan 12.2 speaking of Michael i.e. Messiah the Prince and we know it was the Charge against our Saviour that he made himself 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i.e. Messiah the Prince saies that in his time Many i. e. the multitude of them that sleep in the dust shall awake some to everlasting life and some to shame and everlasting contempt which is so clear a Prophecy of the Future Resurrection and in so express Terms that our Saviour in his Declaration of it seems to allude to these very words of Daniel and to have had them in his eye only what Daniel calls everlasting contempt our Saviour explains by calling it the Resurrection of Condemnation And those saith he Joh. 5.29 who do good shall go forth to the Resurrection of life but those who do evil to the Resurrection of Condemnation So that from hence it evidently appears that we Christians in this particular do own no more than what other holy men among the Jews did before us and our Apostle did very well understand what he said when in the words foregoing my Text he tells them that he was then judged for the Promise i. e. of Future life and happiness not to be attained but after the Resurrection made by God unto the Fathers whereupon he proceeds to make that query Why should it be judged incredible that God should raise the dead And so much for the first Observation Doct. 2 The second Observation is this That the Doctrine of the Resurrection though plainly revealed in Scripture seems to natural men very incredible Act. 17.18 so it appeared to the Learned Philosophers at Athens who called Paul 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Prater or Trifler for preaching it And they did so little understand what the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 meant that they took it to be the name of some Daemon for thus some said of Paul That he was a publisher of strange Daemons because he preached unto them Jesus and the Resurrection which last word should have been left untranslated for they took 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which Paul spake so much of to be the name of some New Goddess So likewise in this Chapter when Paul makes a Relation of his Conversion which yet was very miraculous Festus heard him patiently but when once he began to mention how Christ was raised from the dead Act. 26.23 24. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Festus could hold no longer but cryed out with a great deal of impatience Paul thou art mad too much learning hath quite unhinged thy braine and overturned thee into madness 2 Cor. 15. Hence the Apostle in that Chapter where he doth most elegantly dispute it brings in an heathen asking this question Ver. 35. But some man will say How are the dead raised up Which is not an How of enquiry into the manner and Method of the Resurrection in what order it shall be accomplished but an How of doubting concerning the whole thing Joh. 3.9 Like Nicodemus's How How can these things be And therefore in the Primitive Persecutions the enemies of Gods People never shewed more witty cruelty in any thing than in devising waies how to elude the Resurrection and that not only by mangling torturing and burning their bodies but by scattering their Ashes in the Rivers â—nseb l. 5. c. 1. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 saith mine Author 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. As if they had been able to conquer God and deprive the Saints of their Resurrection Neither was this only the perswasion of the Heathen world but we see oftentimes in Scripture those who owned higher Principles yet manifesting their doubts and despaires of this c. 7.9 Thus Job notwithstanding his so excellent confession in a fit of impatience cries out As the cloud is consumed and vanisheth away c. 14.7 so he that goeth down to the grave shall come up no more And again There is hope saith he of a tree if it be cut down that it will sprout again and that the tender branch thereof will not cease But if a man dye shall he live again Ver. 14. By which words he seems to conclude that by death at least the Body is utterly lost So Ezekiel when God to try his faith asked him this question c. 37.3 Son of man can these bones live That holy man durst not affirm it but uses an answer which shews that he was altogether uncertain and at a loss about it O Lord God saith he thou knowest i.e. I am not able to resolve thee that dry bones should live belongs as much to a Divine knowledge to comprehend as to a Divine Power to effect it Thus in the New Testament the Apostles though they knew their Master to be the Son of God and the Messiah which was a great master-piece of Faith yet they did not at all understand the Resurrection Mar. 9. for when our Saviour after his Transfiguration did charge them that they should not tell any
our Saviour doth often appeal to their Testimony as where he saies I have a greater witness than that of John for the works which the Father hath given me to finish the same works that I do bear witness of me that the Father hath sent me And again If I had not done among them the works which no other man did Joh. 15.24 they had not had sin But that which our Saviour most insisted upon was the Scriptures to them he refers the Jews out of these do the Apostles altogether argue and to the search of these are all conjoyn'd and still we can ground our belief upon their Testimony whatever we boast of is not Faith but Fancy and will not hold out in a time of Triall Then the soul can only sit down satisfied when by comparing the Predictions of the Old Testament with the fulfillings of the New it can subscribe probatumest I have examined and find it true Now because this is a matter of very great importance and yet too much neglected therefore I shall press it upon these Considerations 1. This will sweeten our Obedience Till we are satisfied as Men we can never obey as Christians For Faith is nothing else but another kind of Reason whose Basis and Foundation is laid in humility Therefore the Apostle calls that great Action of a Christian when he doth not as in the Old Law sacrifice an Oxe but himself up to God 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a service suiting us as reasonable Creatures In things of Art the hands will not do what the head doth not direct so in spiritual things we quite mistake our way if we think of going blindfold and hood-winck'd to Duty Ignorance and Implicite Obedience is a fit Sacrifice for the devil whose kingdom is founded in darkness when as Regeneration is nothing else but renewed Light And the clearer Discoveries are made to the Understanding the more pliant and obedient is the Will 1 Cor. 14. and the more easie doth it find the Yoke For this end is Preaching and Prophesying in a known Tongue commanded that there might be a Race of knowing Christians And Paul would not so much as Sing or Pray or do any other Act of Religious Worship with his Spirit only but with his Understanding also There cannot be a greater brand cast upon any ones devotion than to worship they know not what Joh. 4.22 for that is that which our Saviour doth especially blame the Samaritans for 2. This is the best way to win upon others And this principally concerns Ministers of the Gospel whom I may ask in the Apostles words Thou that teachest another Rom. 2.20 wilt thou not teach thy self Thou who commandest another to believe wilt thou not give him a Reason why he should believe and so leave him without excuse 1 Tim. 4.12 Thus the Apostle bids Timothy be an example to the Faithful 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i.e. in reasoning and gives this general charge that a man of God must be apt to teach in meekness instructing those that oppose themselves There are indeed some men of diseased minds who have quenched in themselves all Principles by which they may recover and be enlightened But there are in the World many sober Dissenters who stand off from embracing Christianity meerly from the apprehensions they have that the Tenets of it are Absurd and Unreasonable Act. 17.20 such as these must be won by Argument Thus Paul dealt with the Athenians who when they desired to be better informed of his Doctrine he makes a most excellent discourse to them concerning Providence and clears by unanswerable Reason that their way of Worship was false because it begot in mens minds low and mean opinions of the Deity as if he were confined to Place or did take delight in outward Representations Thus did our Saviour deal with Nicodemus In short Ignorance in a Gospel-Teacher is a capital crime for our Saviour when ever he preached he did it with this Preface Hear and Understand and when his Disciples were somewhat dull of Apprehension he sharply reproves them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 What are you whom I design to be Lights and Guides of the World without Understanding 3. The want of this is the cause why Christians stand so much at a stay and make no better Progress Total Ignorance is a certain sign of Perdition â— Cor. 4.3 If our Gospel saith the Apostle be hid it is hid to them that are lost Partial Ignorance is a sign of weakness for there is that Light that Evidence in our Religion that if it be followed it will alwaies fill the mind with fresh Discoveries They who first read the Scriptures are like such that see a glorious Palace at a distance it is wrapped up in a Mist and the Beauty of it lies concealed but the nearer we approach the more intently we view it the more is the Lustre of it manifested The World i.e. Carnal men do count the Gospel 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 an Idoll and a Foolish thing but Paul tells us and all true Believers find it to be the Wisdome of God a Plot laid from all Eternity for the effecting of which the World was made and when the Mystery of Salvation there declared is perfected the World shall be laid aside as an useless Scene Christ to invite our Study doth stile himself the Light of the World and who doth not see that all who are not enlightned by him are covered with Darkness Uncertainty and doubting But John calls our Saviour 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i.e. in the proper signification of the word Reason he being that Eternal Fountain from whom true Reason sprung and by whom our lost and ruin'd Reason is repaired 1 Cor. 2. The Spirit saith the Apostle searcheth the depths of God i.e. the Spirit of God in man makes him unquiet and restless in his search till he hath sounded those depths which the Ignorant and Lazy World pass hastily over How easily by this light would those Mists about Incarnation Providence Resurrection c. which to this day perplex the disputing world be all dispersed and scattered As to this last the Apostle here is very Positive that he would venture all upon a Dispute and that the best reason should carry it Use 2 The second Use is to shew the Necessity of Christian Life and this is so clear from the Premises that it need not be long insisted on For If the Dead rise not 1 Cor. 15.32 the consequence which Paul brings in wicked men making is very Natural Let us eat and drink for to morrow we shall dye But if the dead rise then Peter hath made a Rational Inference 1 Pet. 4.7 The end of all things is at hand let us be sober and watch unto Prayer For the time is coming when the hidden things of our shame shall be brought to light 1 Cor. 4.5 this certainly if once believed would keep us honest in the dark one Sermon about it made Felix tremble though being a Roman his Unbelief made him careless and his calling valiant Did but men once give themselves leave to think of it they would not so spend their daies as if they had nothing but this Inch of time to provide for For as our souls are alwaies on the wing so our bodies are not entirely our own but hereafter to be resumed again and made either Cages for Unclean or Mansions for Clorified Spirits And therefore that unchangeable state into which they shall once pass is by all wise and knowing men most to be secured So that I shall conclude in the words of the Prophet Hosea Who is wise Hos 14.9 and he shall understand these things Prudent and he shall know them For the waies of the Lord are right and the Just shall walk in them but the Transgressour shall fall therein FINIS Errata PAge 16. Line 2. by yet more r. yet more by p. 13. l. 24. doctrine dangerous r. doctrine is dangerous Ib. l. 26. have r. leave p. 18. l. 7. Regimenâ— r. Regâ—men p. 24. l. 34. destroyed r. descryed p. 25. l. 13 Bounds r. Mounds p. 27 l. ◠〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 r. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 32. l. 19. desire r. desired p. 56. l. 28. still r. till