or no this Collection be Logical it is not material to dispute because the Spirit of Prophecy not only in Christ but also in his Apostles doth it self declare the truth of it For easie it is to observe that those Prerogatives which the Jews ascribe to the Prophecy of Moses their Master are very discernable in theirs as will appear by a Transcript of them out of Maimonides who tells us 1 That all the other Prophets prophesied in a Dream or a Vision but Moses our Master beheld and stood while he was awake according to that that is said When Moses was gone into the Tabernacle of the Congregation to speak with him i. e. God then he heard the Voice of one speaking unto him which Text is so interpreted by the Jews as that it seems among the Talmudists it was a Rule that Moses had never any Prophecy in the Night i. e. in a Dream or Vision of the Night as the other Prophets had but when he was awake and in the full vigour of his Senses then the word of Prophecy came unto him 2 All the other Prophets prophesied by the help or ministery of an Angel and therefore whatever they saw they beheld it in Riddle and Similitude but Moses our Master prophesied without the intervention of an Angel as it is said With him will I speak mouth to mouth Thus again it is said The Lord spake unto Moses Face to Face it is also said The Similitude of the Lord shall he behold to shew not that there was any Similitude there but that he saw clearly without a Riddle or Parable which also the Law there testifies concerning him even apparently and not in dark speeches because he prophesied not in a Riddle but he perspicuously beheld the matter in Vision 3 All the other Prophets were horribly afraid and astonished and became faint but Moses our Master was not so and this the Scripture saith as a man speaketh to his Friend as if it had been said as one is not afraid to hear the speech of his Companion so could the mind of Moses our Master understand the words of Prophecy and remain in its perfect Constancy 4 None of the other Prophets could Prophesie when they would it was not so with Moses our Master but at what time soever he would he was cloathed with the Holy Spirit and Prophecy did abide upon him neither had he need to dispose or prepare his mind for it for he was alwayes disposed and in a readiness as a ministring Angel at what time therefore he would he could Prophesie according to that which is said Stand ye here that I may hear what the Lord will command concerning you and herein his considence was placed in God as it is said Go say to them get you into your Tents but as for thee stand thou here by me Thus Maimonides concerning the difference between the Prophecy of Moses and of the other Prophets I will not pass my word how little soever it may signifie either for the truth of all that he saith or yet for its consistence either with the Holy Scripture or the Writings of other Hebrew Masters or of himself yet supposing it to be all true we may thence gather that in the Mosaical degree of Prophecy i. e. the highest among the Jews imagination had nothing to do Divine Truth was represented immediately to the Understanding the Characters of it were clearly and plainly written on the Mind it self and therein the Prophet might read it without the Hieroglyphicks of Material Phantasms a soft and gentle irradiation did so enlighten his Vnderstanding as that he might know the mind of God without either Study or Teaching from Men or Angels Dreams or Visions panick Fears or Passions and this degree of Prophecy was in him not as the transient Effect of a sudden act upon the Patient but rather as an Intellectual habit whose acts he might elicit when he pleased This is that degree of Prophecy which Maimonides and his Adherents attribute to Moses their Master and we Christians may do it I think with greater truth to Christ and his Apostles For certainly the Soul of our Saviour had whatever knowledge was convenient for it to have in order to his being able to save to the uttermost them that come to God by him and forasmuch as even in the dayes of his Flesh he was as well as he now is the Captain of our Salvation it seems convenient for him even then to have had no less knowledge than that wherein it doth consist the reason is because that that is only in a possibility of being must be brought into actual Existence by that that actually is And forasmuch as men in this World being only in a possibility of attaining to the knowledge of the Blessed are and ever were to be actually brought unto it by the Man Christ Jesus it follows that He even in his staâ—e of Humiliation had that knowledge of Vision whereunto he then did and still doth conduct them and this Knowledge I suppose will be granted to exceed all that ever Moses or the Prophets or any other Mortals whatever either did or could attain to But we need not fly so high in Speculation because it was foretold of him that the Spirit of Wisdom and Understanding the Spirit of Counsel and Knowledge should rest upon him These four saith Aquinas comprehend all things whatever can be known for the knowledge of things Divine and Immaterial pertains to the Spirit of Wisdom and Understanding and the knowledge of all Practical and Speculative Conclusions to the Spirit of Counsel and Knowledge Since therefore the Spirit of these things did in an extraordinary manner or rather without measure rest upon our Messias it is to be concluded that whatever Gifts the Holy Ghost doth embellish the Souls of men withal were most eminently shed forth on the Soul of our Lord Jesus and consequently that of Prophecy far beyond the degree of Moses or all other Mortals put together and if so it were then doubtless he could elicit the acts of a Prophetick Spirit without either previous Dispositions or Preparations Dreams or Visions Angels or Consternations and that when he would in a manner far superiour to that of Moses And then for the Apostles it seems not that the Spirit of Prophecy in them was in any point inferior to that of Moses but rather more excellent for the Spirit of Truth did guide them into all Truth and shew them things to come and this he did in such a manner as that they knew the mind of God without Dreams or Visions or Angels to teach them and the Knowledge they had of Divine Truth it is evident they received without those discomposures of Soul and terrible shakings of Body which usually befell the old Prophets Evident also it is by the Sermons and Discourses that they uttered upon all occasions that the Knowledge they had they could
Latter did exceed the Former as much almost as they did Nature 'T is true iudeed had Christ fallen short of Moses either in the Number or the Quality of his Miracles the Jews had not had sin at most not so great as They had but since He did among them the Works which no other Man did their unbelief could not be Imputed to any want of Rational evidence of Truth in him but to want of good Will to hatred in them and so must it be in us because the knowledge of his Miracles is as Infallibly transmitted to us by Tradition as it was to them by their Senses since therefore such were his Works and his promise to his Disciples of doing the same or greater was undoubtedly fulfilled in his Apostles we have abundant more reason to believe that He and they were Prophets than the Jews had to think so of Moses and his Successours In which persuasion we may be yet farther confirmed by considering That the Goodness of their Miracles did bear a full proportion with their Greatness 'T is true indeed they were not such as the Jews expected nor was it requisite that they should for they being Sick of their Fore-Fathers Disease whose Low and uninstructed minds could rise no higher in their Conceptions of the promised Messias than of a King exceeding all Mortals in the Majestick Goodliness of his presence and Lovelyness of his Personage in the Wisdom of his Conduct and Victorious valour of his Battels putting to flight the Armies of the Aliens and Restoring the Kingdom and Glory to Israel They I say being Sick of this Disease dreamed of and looked for Signs from Heaven unprofitable Amazements apt only to feed their Eyes and affect their Fancies with Strange Shews and Pompous representations but there being none such Fore-told by the Prophets Christ and his Apostles were no way obliged so to humour the Extravagance of their Fancies as to fulfill their ungrounded expectations And although Christ and his Apostles had as high an esteem for Moses as could be kept within the bounds of Sobriety and really did Him and his Law more honour than the most zealous Jews themselves yet did they not take his Miracles for Patterns of theirs for we find no such affrighting and hurtfull things as Serpents Rivers of Blood or Plagues among them but Christ being surety and his Apostles Witnesses of a better Testament their Miracles were as it was fit they should be of a more Benign and better Nature The Son of Man came not to destroy mens Lives but to save them and his Gospel brought glad Tidings of great Joy that should be to all Nations How Suitable then and Decent was it that the Seals and Confirmations of it should bear the Impressions not of Wrath and Judgment but of Mercy and Goodness and accordingly so we find did their Miracles for they were like a Flock of Sheep whereof there was none Barren among them but rather every one did bear Twins viz. Instruction or assurance of Salvation for the Souls of Men and Inestimable good and great benefit to their Bodies for very easy it is to discern that the Three sorts of good things viz. of Fortune Body and Soul which all Mankind by the light of Nature perceived requisite to Happiness were conferred by our Saviours Miracles The Goods of Fortune being not desireable in themselves but only in Order to those of the Body or the Soul we do not indeed find that Christ ever made the needy exceeding Rich in Worldly Wealth and Grandure yet his own and others necessities he somtimes supplyed by his Miracles Such was the Nobleness and Generosity of his Temper as that though he had no visible Estate nor any Imployment to get one yet He never was so burdensome as to ask a Gratitude from any to whom He had been a Benefactor by his Miracles but His necessities he supplyed by doing others Thus when Tribute was demanded he sent St. Peter a Fishing and made him so lucky an Angler as that he Caught a Fish with Money in its Mouth sufficient to pay the Pole-Tax both for his Master and Himself this shewed his Goodness as well as Loyalty for though this Money was sent to Rome with thâ— rest yet was there not a Penny the less Injury no Man was the poorer and Caesar was somwhat the Richer for him But the benefit of this Miracle was far Inferiour to that of others for we read that many Thousands of the people followed him into the Wilderness where they somtimes Fasted so long as that they were ready to Faint in this their necessitous condition although Jesus very well knew that the greater part of them had no sincere affection to him yet He had compassion on them and Fed at one time about Five Thousand at another Four besides Women and Children and Feed them he did not barely to the support of Nature but even to a Satiety for the Remains of his entertainment were far Greater than the Provision for them Twelve baskâ—ts full of fragments remained of five Barley loaves at one time and seven of seven and a few small Fishes at another and since the broken Meat was not lost it is most probable that many an hungry Bâ—lly besides was filled therewith however Manifest it is that these his plentiful entertainments in the Wilderness did no way lessen but rather increase Provisions in Adjacent Towns and Villages Nor did His bounty display it self only in Cases of necessity but also in matters of Delight and Decency for to grace the Marriage at Cana in Galilee He turned Water into Wine and that such as surpassed what ever they had had before in Goodness Thus did He in great mercy and compassion kindness and urbanity furnish many Thousands with the Goods of fortune and that without the least injury yea with advantage to others this was a sort of Bounty that far exceeds the Magnificence of the greatest Princes And yet this is but a small part of the goodness in the Miracles of Christ and his Apostles for the good they thereby did to mens Bodies was far more exceeding they Cast out Devils and cleansed Lepers they made the Deaf to hear and the Blind to see the Dumb to speak and the Lame to walk they Cured the Sick and Raised the Dead and what good so great as these to the Body what benefit could the torn and distorted Bodies of the possessed receive greater than the ejection of their Tormentors what so acceptable to poor Lepers as the cleansing of their loathsome and perhaps loathed Bodies what so gladsome to the Deaf as Hearing or so joyful to the Blind as Sight what so proper for the Lame as Strength or for the Dumb as Speech and what so beneficial to the Sick as Health or to the Dead as Life could each one of These afflicted have made his own Option it is great odds but He would have Chosen what they thereby gave him How transcendent
and Compassion on us Afflictions and Temptations we know are often grievous unto us our Hearts are troubled and our Souls are sorrowful and sad under them Those good men that know our condition and love our persons especially if they are meerly related to us and have Afâ—â—ction suitable to that â—â—lation these men I say dâ— sympathiâ—e with us in soâ—e sort they feel what we â—ndâ—â—e and share with us in our sufferings And thus hath God provided that our Mediatour should to this end it behoâ—ed him in all things to be made like unot his brâ—thren by his Incarnation he was made like unto us in the parts and properties the faculties and affections the imperfections and infirmities of our Nature Sin only excepted The same affection therefore of Pity and Compassion which in us is natural was by him assumed together with the rest our sinless Nature and probable it is that this most sweet and indearing Affection was more tender in him than it is in us because it was pure and altogether unmixt with the leaven of Vice and so without any allay of Acerbity Envy or Cruelty whatsoever and besides that this affection he assumed to this very end that he might be a merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining unto God i. e. that he might have compâ—ssion on us in our Miseries and Temptations and that out of this affection of Commiseration he might faithfully and sincerely mind our business in Heaven and get it done for us with God Almighty Now unto this his merciful and faithful High-Priesâ—hood he was Consecrated i. e. set apart or rendred more apt and fit by his Sufferings and Temptations and this is his Ability to succour them that are tempted But here the Inquisitive will certainly be ready to ask not only how the Sufferings and Temptations of Christ do conduce herâ—unto but also how it can be For their satisfaction therefore I shall so far enlarge this Digression as to return Answer to these two Questions 1 How do the Sufferings and Temptations of Christ conduce to his Ability to succour them that are tempted By way of Experiment Christ in the dayes of his flesh suffered as â—ight easily be demonstrated all those Evils which are common to all Mankind and was in all points tempted like as we are yet without sin Hereby then he did experimentally find and feel the very self-same kind of Sorrows and troubles griefs and pertuâ—bations which we endure under our sufferings and temptations Now then observe That not only the Divine but also the Humane Nature of Chriâ—t in Glory hath knowledge of all occurrences that in this life do befall us were it not so it would be impossible that he should be as the Apoâ—â—le saith he is touched with a feeling of our infirmities This he affiâ—ms not of the Divine Nature but of that that was tempted in all â—oints like as we are i e. of the humane and affirm iâ— he doth for our encouragement to hold fast our profession but an incouragement it cannot be unto us unless that he knowes all our infirmities bâ—cause if otherwise we not knowing which he knowes and which not should be utterly discouraged from seeking succour from him in any The conclusion therefore must be That he knows all our infirmities and temptations and together with this his knowledge it is more than probable that he hath an act of Memory whereby he calls to mind how he himself was affectâ—d under the same or the like Trials and Temptations here on Earth for surely it is not to be doubted but the memory â—f things done and indured in this World remain with him in Glory for if the immediate seat of Memory be the Soul herself and all the representations with their circumstances be reserved in her not in the spirits nor in any part of the body then surely it remains with the Souls of all men departed either into Hell or Heaven Son remember thou in thy life-time receivedst thy good things and likewise Lazarus evil things said Abraham to Dives in Hell Remember me when thou comest into thy Kingdome said the good Thief to Christ on the Cross So that both in Heaven and in Hell there is a remembrance of things done in this life But to come nearer to the case in hand namely our Saviours remembrance Heaven of his Temptations and Sufferings here on Earth He himself said to St. John I am he that liveth and was dead He remembers then that he was dead and strange it is that he should remember his Death and forget the Temptations and Sufferings that brought him to it This cannot be By his remembrance then thereof he is able i. e. apt and inclined or affectionately disposed out of Compassion and Pity to succour them that are tempted for known it is sufficiently that there 's nothing in the World that doth so much move men to pity and compassion on others in misery as their own Mâ—mories that they themselves have suffered in the same or the like manner Hand ignara mali miseris succurrere disco said Dido to Aeneas I my self being not unacquainted with evil do now learn to succour those that are in misery Thus our Blessed Saviour having suffered in the dayes of his flesh and indured Temptations in all points like unto us He is able i. e. his Heart is fitted and disposed out of his own experience to pity and succour them that are tempted But how can this be The Humane Nature of Christ is now advanced unto Glory and made perfect in Bliss and Hâ—ppiness Surely therefore He is not now subject to Pity or Compassion for such we know is the nature of that affection as that in some sort it makes us share with others in their sufferings and to feel what they endure how then can it remain with Christ in Glory Can we throw sorrow into the regions of joy or grief into the place yea the very Fountain of gladness How can these things be This difficult Objection the Apostle foresaw and therefore by way of pre-occupation or prevention he said We have not an High-Priest which cannot i. e. We have one that can be touched with the feeling of our infirmities And forasmuch as he hath said it by what we have already discoursed concerning the reasonableness of the Christian Faith it appears that we ought believe it although we cannot apprehend the manner of it yet even here our Reason is not at a loss for it tells us that since Chriâ—t even now in his state of Exalâ—ation is our merciful and faithful High-Priest he undoubtedly hath such Affections for us as are suitable to that Office and Relation to us and he being a Man yea the very same man that he was before his Exaltation Reason again tells us that he hath all those Affections which are essential to our Nature i e. the very same Affections that he had in the dayes of his
Argument into this form and the strength of it will be evident Those whom God employes to prophesie are Fellow servants But you and your brethren the Apostles as well as I God employes to prophesie therefore we are Fellow-servants St. John could make a doubt of nothing in this Argument but the Assumption whether he and the rest of the Apostles were sent to prophesie Yes sayes the Angel that you are for the Testimony of Jesus is the Spirit of Prophecy Hereby to me it seems apparent that the Testimony of Jesus here signifies that which the Apostles gave unto him and would you know why this is called the Testimony of Jesus not of the Apostleâ— concerning him then observe that this Testimony of Jesus may be considered two wayes viz. Strictly or Largely if abstractly or strictly in it self then it is little or nothing else but the Record they gave of Christ or the Doctrine they taught concerning him and this is said to be the Testimony of Jesus because he is the principal thing it treats of but if it be considered largely it comprehends not only the Doctrine of the Apostles concerning Christ but also the Strength Power and Authority whereby they taught it Thus considered it is the Testimony of Jesus not only because they gave it to him but also because they received it from him For he gave them not only Command to bear this witness of him i. e. to go into all the World and to preach the Gospel to every creature but also Strength and Power so to do for he first opened their Vnderstandings that they should understand the Scriptures and afterwards he eâ—dued them with Power from on high by sending the Promise of the Father i. e. the Spirit upon them to lead them into all Truth and enable them to speak it to all Nations whatsoever and this was done so effâ—ctually as that men of every Nation under Heaven heard them speak in their own Language and this surely in it self considered was no small matter of Testimony to our Jesus The Apostles we know were ignorant and unlearned men that understood but little of Scripture less of Foreign Languages yet hereby on a sudden they were enabled exquisitely to understand the one and to speak the other of all sorts and doth it not surpass the Power of Nature to make so stupendious a change as this was What Creatures can make Men Wise Holy and Learned in an instant It is a work of Wonder that falls within the compass of little less than Omnipotent Power and Wisdom Surely therefore the Author of it was God and if so then Jesus to whom the Apostles were thereby enabled to give Testimony was at least a Man approved of him On that account therefore their Doctrine or rather their Preaching or Promulgation of the Gospel by it may well be called the Testimony of Jesus And this Testimony of Jesus my Text tells us is the Spirit of Prophecy The truth and Essence of Prophecy saith Maimonides is nothing else but an Influence from God by the Mediation of the active Intellect operating first upon the Rational afterwards on the Imaginable Faculty This Definition is thought somewhat too scanty and obscure to express the nature of Prophecy in its full Latitude it is therefore conceived that by a little alteration of its Definition by another Rabbi we may have a more adequate and clear conception of its nature viz. that it is an Influence from God upon the Rational Faculty either by the Mediation of the Fancy or otherwise and by this Influence whether by the Ministry of an Angel or otherwise a man attains to such knowledge as by his Natural Abilities would be unattainable In these Definitions of Prophecy we have nothing at present to observe but that wherein they both do agree namely the general Nature of it which they make to consist in Influence from God Prophecy is not an Ignis fatuus of a disturbed Fancy but an Impression of Divine Light thence perhaps it was that in old time the Prophets were called Seers not because or at least not so Properly because of their Fore-sight of things Future as of their Visions those Images or Appearances of things as Visible which by Divine Influence were represented on the stage of their Fancy to the sight of their Understandings And afterwards the Prophets were called Men of God because God was pleased immediately to reveal himself unto them and so the word rendred Prophet denotes one that receives what he saith from God It seems then that all Prophecy truly so called hath its descent from Above it is not of any Private interpretation or rather of a mans own starting or suggestion for it comes not by the Will of Man but Holy Men of God did thereby speak as they were moved by the Holy Ghost We Christians therefore believe the Holy Ghost spake by the Prophets and that Prophecy is a Gift of the Spirit For which cause no doubt it was that Justin Martyr intitles him the Spirit of Prophecy But when we consider that the Spirit of Prophecy as in my Text is affirmed of the Testimony of Jesus it seems most probable that it therein signifies not his Person but his Gift not his Essence or Subsistence but an Effect produced by him which is here called by his Name Thus the Spirit of a sound Mind the Spirit of Wisdom and Meckness the Spirit of Knowledge the Spirit of Grace and the Spirit of Prayer signifie Effects Works or Gifts which the Spirit of God produceth in the Souls of Men. So here in my Text the Spirit of Prophecy by an ordinary Metonymy of the Cause for the Effect is put for the Gift or Ability to prophesie which the Holy Ghost wrought in some of Gods Ministers This Gift the Angel had when he spake to St. John and so saith he had St. John too and the rest of the Apostles in their Testimony of Jesus i. e. in the Record they gave of Christ or in the promulgation of the Doctrine they taught concerning him from whence it apparently follows that the Angel here speaking and they were Fellow-servants But it is not this their Association with Angels which I now intend to discourse of but the Reason and Cause of it viz. their Gift of Prophecy It is we see here avouched by an Angel that the Apostles in the Promulgation of the Gospel were indued with the Gift of Prophecy or in short that they were Prophets and if they in their Testimony of Jesus were Prophets much more was He himself by whose Spirit they gave it to him a Prophet all then that remains for me to do will be to prove that Christ and his Apostles were Prophets Hereof methinks none can doubt but those that are slow of heart to believe the Holy Scriptures for therein we first find it fore-told to the Jews that God would raise them up a Prophet from among their Brethren like unto
then was the goodness of these Miracles how beneficial to their Bodies and obliging to ingenuous Spirits and that not of them only on whom they were wrought but of all their Friends yea of all in the like Condition throughout the Vicinage for they being no Select company but a Promiscuous Multitude of Foes as well as Friends on whom it pleased Christ and his Apostles to do these Miracles it was thereby made known unto all that all Men every where that were so or otherwise afflicted in Body might be relieved if either they themselves or others in their behalf would have made their due Addresses How Admirable then and Divine were these Miracles they did not only do good to the Bodies of many Thousands but proclaimed it to all that needed or desired it what a lively resemblance therefore were they of God whose mercy is over all his Works Nor was the goodness of these Miracles confined to Mens Bodies for doubtless their Souls were thereby instructed not only to make a better Use than formerly they had done of Gods Mercies but also in and by whom to seek for Salvation for thereby they might clearly perceive that He who did them or in whose Name they were done being a Teacher must needs be come from God and so had the Words of Eternal life abiding with him to whom then should they go but to Him for it But if they were so slow of understanding as not to get this good to their Souls by the Miracles wrought upon their Bodiâ—s yet doubtless there were some that did The 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the Catalogue of Miracles which our Saviour returned in Answer to St. John Baptists question were doubtless such poor as took the Stamp and received the impression of the Gospel and were thereby as really wrought upon transformed and altered in their Souls as the Blind or the Lame the Deaf or the Dead werein their Bodies The Verb 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 some it seems have here rendred Actively as if the meaning of our Saviours Words were that the poor Viz. his Apostles Preach the Gospel but this is so far from a Miracle as that it seems a Lesson too trivial for so great a Master as our Saviour so Solemnly to Teach or so great a Scholar as St. John so Solemnly to Learn as it is here proposed here therefore as well as else where it is to be taken passively and observable it is that Verbs passive often import a Real passion or true Change in the Person or thing spoken of as well as one meerly Grammatical thus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is one that not only is persuaded but also effectually wrought upon and corrupted by Seducers and thus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to be tempted and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to be offended signifie not barely to have a Temptation oâ— a Scandal cast before one but to be wrought upon by the Temptation and to be really discouraged in the ways of Godliness by the Scandal thus here the Verb 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to be Evangelized is not barely to have the Gospâ—l Preached to the Poor but moreover to be Really Wrought upon Transformed and Changed by the Preaching of it their Understandings were Englightned by the Gospel and their Hearts subdued unto it their Natures were renewed and their whole Souls or all their Faculties changed for the better by it and in them that our Saviour makes mention of this Châ—nge seems to have been made almost as suddâ—nly and conspicuously as that in Saul's heart after his Unction to be King over Israel as when Jesus walking by the Sea of Galilce called Peter and Andrew James and John and immediately upon His call they forsook their Ships and their Nets their Father and All and followed Him what a strange and wonderful Change was there on a Sudden wrought in them how else was it possible that by a Word or two speaking they should be prevailed with to quit their worldly Interests Relations and Callings to follow a private Person whom 't is likely they had not seen perhaps never so much as heard of before they therefore undoubtedly were Evangelized on a sudden and so I conceive were the poor our Saviour speaks of in His Answer to St. John's Question and if so they were then well may this be Ranked among Miracles for indeed it is the greatest in all the Catalogue If not in regard of its Advance above the Power of Nature yet of its Goodness to the Souls of them on whom 't was done for before it they seem if not to have been oppressed with the insupportable burdens of a Wounded Spirit yet to have walked in some Darkness as to their greatest i. e. Their Eternal concerns and to such benighted Souls what so good as Light to such lost wanderers what so welcome as a Guide for such dejected broken hearts what so proper as Comfort to wounded troubled Spirits what so gracious as Refreshment and what Light is there so clear as that of the Sun of Righteousness what Guide so sufficient as that of Christ his Precepts and Example what Comfort so great as that of his Promises and what Refreshment so reviving as that of his Spirit and these Goods of the Soul being Adapted to and sufficient for its faculties as large and capacious as they are ought in all Reason to be preferred as far before the Goods of the Body as that exceeds them If then the poor were Evangelized by our Saviours Miracles they thereby received the greatest good whereof in this life they were capable However though perhaps we have not Evidence enough to be confident that the poor our Saviour speaks of were suddenly and Miraculously Evangelized yet this we are or may be sufficiently assured of Namely that the Ultimate End and Scope of all His and his Apostles Miracles was that They and We should be so and since so it was they certainly wereas good and gracious to Mens Souls in their Tendâ—ncy as they were to their Bodies in the Performance the Reason hereof is because as hath already been in part and may hereafter more fully be Demonâ—â—rated Christianity affords such supplies for the Wants and objects for the Faculties of our Souls as are not to be found in any one or in all other Religions whatever Now to the end that our Wants might be supplyed thereby and our Souls possessed thereof Christ and his Apostles have abundantly confirmed it unto us by their Miracles How great then is their goodness nothing but the incapaciâ—y of the Subject hinders it from bearing a full proportion with the Power that did them For it extends it self to all Men every where throughout all generations Those that did or do live in the remotest Regions and that in these Latter Ages may have heard of Christ and his Miracles and the Design â—f them being confirming his Doctrine to convey the most excellent Religion into their Souls it is
alwayes impart they were cloathed with the Holy Spirit neither did they need to prepare themselves to prophesie but were alwayes disposed and in a readiness to deliver such Truths of God as could no way be known but by the free Influx of the Divine Mind upon theirs i. e. by Prophecy had not all this been true it would be very hard to conceive how without any premeditation they could possibly have had a Mouth and Wisdom which all their Adversaries were not able to gainsay nor resist had not the Divine Spirit been alwayes present with them it had been impossible for them on all occasions even before Kings and other Rulers so to speak as that all their Adversaries could not with any shew of truth make any opposition against it and had it not been true that so they did it is altogether unlikely that their Adversaries would have burst out into such Rage and Passion such Cruelty and Inhumanity as we find they often did against them it seems therefore the degree they had of Prophecy was no whit inserior to that of Moses But whether it were or no is a Question that I am not solicitous about From what I have discoursed concerning the Nature of Prophecy in general it may not obscurely be collected that if Christ and his Apostles were men who by immediate influence from God upon their Minds and Faculties did attain to such knowledge of his Mind as by their Natural Abilities would be unattainable it is as much as I mean and contend for in the word Prophet Now that such Knowledge they had together with Commission from God to teach it it is the primary design of this Treatise to prove Yet that is not mine ultimate aim therein but besides that I have done mine endeavour as much as I could within the bounds of the proposed method to conciliate our most excellent Religion to our Reason and to settle it as much as in me lies upon its true foundations In order to this end I have in the fourth Chapter discoursed somewhat more largely than perhaps otherwise was requisite about the transcendent Wisdom of Christianity and have added the sixth Chapter almost on purpose to shake the sandy Foundation of bare Humane Authority whereon Mr. Hobbs and his Complices would have it wholly to depend I do most freely acknowledge that the Authority of the Civil Magistrate is very great about matters of Religion and that the Church of God is exceedingly obliged to those Christian Princes who by good and wholsom Laws are become its Nursing Fathers yet can I not believe there is nothing of obligation in Christianity besides what it receives extrinsecally from the Laws of Civil Sovereigns the reasons the Leviathan gives of this position I endeavour to ansâ—er and expose To this undertaking it is I hope nothing but a just resenâ—ment of the Affronts Mr. Hobbs hath cast and Injuries he hath done to our Religion thereby I can hardly think any man worthy the name of a good Christian much less of a Minister of Christ that can read such pernicious Principles and perverse disputings against the Honour of his Religion without something of Indignation for to make Religion so to truckle under Civil Sovereigns as in and of it self to have nothing of obligation what is it less than to clip the wings of all true Devotion towards God and render it unable to fly higher than the Thrones and Scepters on Earth yea also and to null the Authority of the Lord that bought us For though all Power be given to him in Heaven and in Earth yet this opinion makes him so far from being the Prince of the Kings of the Earth as that he is at best but their Counsellour modestly proposing his Advice which it seems they are not bound to take because that neither he nor his Apostles had a Kingdom and so could make no Laws for which reason such as it is the Leviathan affirms that the Commands of the Gospel are but Precepts or Invitations of men to receive it and Invitations we know we may accept of or refuse as we think fit and yet without sin so that our Acceptance is an act of Civility rather than of Duty and our Refusal an act of Unkindness and not at all of Disobedience Had not Civil Sovereigns done Christianity the kindness to imbody it into their Laws we had been under no obligation to be Christians We might have been Turks or Jews Pagans or Atheists and yet without Sin and what would a Laodicean desire more How kindly doth it cajole his Lukewarmness and how fairly doth it promise him security from danger by being against Christ in his Heart and Life as long as he is with him in his Profession Thus doth it turn Christianity into Hypocrisie and makes us to serve God for fear of Men. But if we are not so berest of Reason as to think that God borrows his Authority from his Lieutenants then the Philosophical Rudiments of that Epiâ—urean whereof the Author of the late Reflexions on Philosophy saith Thomas Hobbs is one of the boldest of these last Ages have taken care to corrupt our Religion another way and that is by perswading us to think that the obligation of yielding God obedience lies upon us by reason of our weakness This converts Religion into Superstition for it makes us to serve God not out of love to his Goodness but only for fear of his Greatness if we could resist him and escape harmless it were no matter it seems if we did but since we cannot we must obey Thus are we dragged to Obedience by the force of meer Omnipotence and when we are so it is evident we are acted by such dreadful and terrible Apprehensions of the Deity as debauch our Religion and make it a meer slavery utterly inconsâ—stent with that Charity or Love of God without which the most liberal Alms-deeds and Martyrdom it self much less inferiour acts of Worsâ—â—p will find no Acceptance this therefore I look on as another most pernicious Principle and for that cause I have made a long digression to prove that Gods Dominion is not founded in his sole irresistable Power but that he hath a right to Rule us from his great Mercy and Goodnesâ— to us in his works of Creation Providence and Redemption and forasmuch as it is requisite for all Christians rightly to understand this latter which was at first made known unto us by the Spirit of Prophâ—â—y in Christ and his Apostles I have sâ—â—ar enlarged the Digression as to giâ—e an account of it that from thence we may see what obligations â—herefrom do arise upon us to keâ—p the Commâ—nds of the Gospel and therewâ—â—h I put an end to this Treatise Wherein perhaps the Reader may find a coinâ—idâ—nce of expression and it may be of Matter also if he be inquisitive after the occasion of it he may please to know that it was written temporibus successivis which often were so
as makes us with David to have respect to All Gods Commandments and careful to keep them as well as we can Although for the Glory of God and Honour of his Laws for the patefaction of his most Holy Nature and most Just Dominion over us I say that although for these and such like great ends the Gospel hath made the most perfect unsinning Obedience to be our Duty yet not that but only sincere Obedience is indispensably necessary in order to our Salvation For Thirdly Those Sins which are really inavoidable the Gospel doth not impute to us for our Condemnation I would not be mistaken that that I say is that though according to the Rigour and Severity of the Law as a Covenant of Works the wages of every Sin be death yet such is the Mercy of God in the Gospel of Christ as that those Sins which to us are really and truly inavoidable shall not be imputed to us for our Condemnation Hereof one Reason is because the Gospel puts us into a state of Trial and Probation in this Life in reference to another after it Surely therefore there is no inavoidable guilt thereby charged upon us to our eternal Condemnation it is not imaginable it should so Tantaliâ—e us with hopes of Heaven in the Confines and Power of Hell However evident it is Fourthly That the Gospel doth promise that our known Sins as well as others how heinous soever they be either in their Nature or their Aggravations yet if they are timely retracted by true Repentance and Humiliation Contrition and Confession change of Mind and amendment of Life they shall be forgiven us No mans Sins are either so many in Number or so heinous in their Quality but on these terms they may be forgiven insomuch that to me it seems most probable that the Sin against the Holy Ghost is impardonable not for want of Grace in the Gospel but for want of repentance in the Sinner Let then our modern Scoffers add these things as they ought to that against which they level their Objection and then let them tell us what Impossibility there is in obeying the Gospel so far forth as is necessary to Salvation Is it impossible to do what we can or to repent when we have done amiss I suppose not espâ—cially while we have those Motives and Assistâ—nces which the Gospel gives us to keep the Commandments Since the nature of reasonable Creaâ—ures is to be drawn by the Alliciency of those Proâ—itâ—râ—icks that present themselves to it we may well wondâ—r at our own Disobedience For so many and so great are the Motives the Gospel gives to keep its Commandments as that there is no active Vertue in us but may receive the highest Incitement therefrom What entertainment so fit for the Mind as Truth and what Truth so sweet as that that is eternal What so desireable to the Will as Goodness And what Goodness so great as that that is Infinite And where can you find Eternal Truth and Infinite Goodness so clearly revealed as they are in the Gospel Where can the Affections have the like Motives to set us a doing Hath not the Rule of our Life the highest Majesty and Authority instamped on it Are we not promised the greatest Reward that can be desired in case we walk by it And are we not threatened with the greatest evil that can be feared in case we neglect it Are we not assured of a suâ—â—iciency of Temporal Blessings and Spiritual Graces in this World if we will seek first the Kingdom of God and his Righteousness i. e for Glory and Honour and Immortality in the other Is it not then strange that being thus besieged with Motives to do well we should be so prone to do ill Although we know very well the Commandments are such as that it is not more our Duty than our Interest to do them we promote our own Good as much as Gods Glory by Obedience to them for they are apt not only to enlighten our Minds and perfect our Understandings to refine our Natures and sublimate our gross Affections to amend our Lives and purifie our Conversations but also to prâ—serve our Estates and advance our Fortunes to secure our Reputation and promote our Honour and that in all Conditions and Capacities whatever insomuch that their own Goodness might be their own Eternal obligation How admirable then are that Wisdom Justice and Goodness which impose them on us and require Obedience of us Especially considering the Assistance provided for us to have in well-doing and truly 't is more than a little we do or should receive in our Childhood by being brought up in the nurture and admoâ—ition of the Lord for a Child being led by little of it self but a Chain of Imaginations Education hath the force of a Natural Agent rather than a Moral hence it is that Children of the same Parents are sometimes like Lycurgus his Whelps of the same litter whereas one ran to his dish the other after the Hare because he had brought them up so to do which Experiment he made in the sight of his Subjects on purpose to teach them to train their Children in the way they should go and that when they were old they would not depart from it But if they do the Gospel hath sufficiently provided for their reduction for it doth not only encourage brotherly Admonition and oblige us to pray for each other but it hath also ordained a Sacred Function for the perâ—ecting of the Sâ—ints for the work of the Ministry for the edifying of the Body of Christ till we all come in the unity of the Faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God unto a perfect man unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ Now not only Men on Earth but also the Angels of Heaven are obliged to afford us their assistance Are they not all ministring Spirits sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of Salvation And besides the assistance of Angels we may have that of the Eternal Spirit also to help us For the Fathers of Flesh here on Earth are not so ready to give good Gifts unto their Children as our Heavenly Father is to give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him and this it seems he doth so abundantly in the dayes of the Gospel as that it is called by his Name and the ministration of the Spirit and the law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus which makes men free from the Law of Sin and Death Whereby it seems that though the History and Outward Communicatioâ—s of the Gospel be to us in Scriptis yet we are not to look upon it as a meer piece of Book-learning but as a Vital quickening thing able to give Life to those that are Dead in Trespasses and Sins to beget them again in Christ Jesus and to form divine Goodness in the Souls of Men and by so doing to help their
Infirmities Yea not only the Spirit but also the Son of God himself notwithstanding his Exaltation now in Heaven humbleth himself to sympathize with us here on earth for we have not an high Priest which cannot be touched with a feeling of our Infirmities but was in all Points tempted like as we are yet without Sin if therefore we come boldly to the Throne of Grace we may obtain Mercy and find Grace to help in time of Need. And if we may have Mercy and Grace for coming for it I hope we have no cause be our Duty what it will to complain of hard usage Let 's then lay all these Things together viz. that the Object of our Faith is most â—lâ—arly revealed by the Gospel that that of our hope is most fully dâ—clared to be most excellent and certain and that the Rule of our Lives is most becomming the Attributes of God and agreeable to the Reason of man and withal is so compleatly suited to his Ability as that no other Law can possibly be so good for him in his present State of Nature Morality and Imperfection Le ts I say lay all these things together and then methinks we must needs see something of that Stupendious Wisdom and Goodness whereby Christ and his Apostles were guided in the OEconomy of the Gospel far more excellent than the Wisdom of Moses and the Prophets in the Institution of the Law And if they did excell the Jews in Wisdom much more the Gentiles for since by the Ministry of Moses and the Prophets they were taught of God it is evident they had more excellent Wisdom not than the vulgar only but than those also that seem'd to be Philosophers Yet at the bar of their Judgment we are willing to try the Truth as it is in Jesus viz. Whether it be real and true Wisdom yea or no Whereof we shall need no longer to doubt if we consider what the most famous Philosophers have told us concerning the Nature the Object and the End of Wisdom As for its Nature in general it seems the common concession of them all that Wisdom is one of the best if not absolutely the most excellent kind of Knowledg they therefore define it by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which with them seems to denote more than a bare Perception of things viz. some knowledg of them by undeniable necessary Arguments such as Command Assent rather than Beg it Now that Christianity is a sort of Knowledg founded on such Arguments I hope you will find in the end of this Treatise the design whereof is to prove that it is so At present therefore I shall say no more of its general Nature but observe That the Object of Christian Doctrine as well as its Nature doth highly justifie its Claim to the Title of Wisdom for what I pray is it that Wisdom treats of about what is it conversant the first Causes saith Pythagoras the best things or the things that are most honourable saith Aristotle and which are those All men except Atheists will answer they are God and the things that approach nearest unto and partake most of his Nature otherwise Anaxagoras Thales and such like would not have had a Reputation for Wisdom as the Philosopher last mentioned reports they had because they knew matters of Divinity And where shall we find the greatest knowledge of these things Is it in the Wisdom of the Gentiles No verily their Philosophy is here dumb or worse Simonides though a Learned and Wise man in their esteem could give no account of the Divine Essence and those of the Heathens that undertook to do it had better been as sparing and modest as he was as is more than probable by the accounts that Plutarch and Cicâ—ro give of their Sentiments in this particular they were so weak and obscure so absurd and irrational so unworthy of God and unbecoming the Deity as that the Orator saith of them they were almost not the Judgments of Philosophers but the Dreams of Madmen We see then that men of great and excellent Wit after all their hard study and travel to find out the Truth have yet lost their labour and their Industry but blessed be God who pittying it seems the Ignorance and Weakness of Humane Nature hath sent his only begotten Son which is in the bosom of the Father and he hath declared him both his Being and his Nature his Attributes and his Will he hath more fully declared than either was or could be known without it and that which most highly commends the Revelation of God by the Gospel of Christ is that it is so far from contradicting those prime Notions of a Deity wherewith Nature hath endued us as that it doth exceedingly advance and improve them it becomes the Majesty of God and accords with the Reason of Man Hereof Origen was so confident as that he doubted not to bid Celsus see whether it were not the agreeableness of our Faith with the common sense of men from the beginning which made it so effectual as to work the Conversion of its candid and ingenuous Hearers How rash and ill-advised had he been in thus appealing to his subtile Adversary if he had not been well assured that Christianity opens and offers nothing but what is worthy of Heaven to those that embrace it here on Earth that here we may see the Express Image of that solid Wisdom and Felicity which the Jews in their Talmudical Rhapsodies and the Gentiles too in their Philosophy have hitherto sought in vain Hereof also we are assured by the designed End and Scope of it which in effect is the same with that which was pretended by the Heathen Philosophers And what was that Let Porphyrius answer for Pythagoras who as he tells us professed a sort of Philosophy the Scope whereof was to snatch and deliver the mind that is in us from Sensual Impediments and Fetters But to wave the trouble of many Quotations it seems by Maximus Tyrius that the pretended End of all sorts of Philosophy was to direct men to true Happiness They all agreed in the End but were miserably divided in the choice of the Means We need not wonder at either for as that Philosopher saith the Desire of Good God hath kindled as a spark in the minds of Men but the Finding of it he hath hid from them Thence it was that one sent his Scholars to one thing another to another to find it Pythagoras to Musick Thales to Astronâ—my Heraclitus to Solitude Socrates to Love Carneâ—des to Châ—stity Diogenes to Labour Epicurus to Pleasures They all aimed at Happiness but Epicurus was thought to have missed the mark so grosly as that the Romans and Messenians did banish and expell his followers from their respective Dominions calling them because of their softness and impiety the Pests of Youth and Spots of Philosophy They were therefore commanded to depart the Messenian Territories and being so thrust