Divine Truths in Jesus Christ, Chapter 6

Divine Truths in Jesus Christ · Chapter 6

p. 99CHAP. VI.

Chap. 6 The Power of God manifeſt in Chriſt. In his Incarnation and Conception. In his Miracles. Theſe were true in the Hiſtory. True in the Nature of Miracles. They were numerous and great. They were ſuited to the Evangelical deſign. Divine Power manifeſt in converting the World; notwithſtanding its deep Corruption, and the oppoſition of Potentates and Philoſophers to the Goſpel. The inſtruments mean, that the Power might be of God. The Goſpel propoſes ſuper-rational Myſteries, ſuper-moral Virtues, ſuper-mundane rewards; things ſo much above us, that without a Divine Power the propoſal would have been fruitleſs.

IN the next place I come to conſider the Power of God. Power being a Perfection, muſt needs be in him, and being (as all other Attributes are) his very Eſſence, it muſt needs be infinite. The very light of Nature reveals this Attribute. In the Grecian Philoſophers he is called foreign, Omnipotent; Nihil eſt, quod Deus efficere non poſſet, ſaith Tully. Ludovicus Vives wonders,Comment. in Aug. de Civit. l. 5. c. 10. that ſo learned a Man as Pliny ſhould cavil at Gods Omnipotence, as if he could not do all things, becauſe he could not dye. In Scripture he is called Gibbor, a mighty one; Shaddai, an All-ſufficient God: he is the only Potentate, 1 Tim. 6.15. He can do every thing, Job 42.2. Nothing is too hard for him, Gen. 18.14. Power belongeth to him, Pſal. 62.11. Whatever is an act of Power, p. 100that he can do; that he cannot do contradictories, is not Impotency, but Power and Perfection: for him to lye, were to deny his own Truth; for him to dye, were to caſt off his Immortality; for him to make a thing be, and at the ſame inſtant to make it not to be, were to act repugnantly, and overturn his own action. Theſe argue Impotency, not Power. We may more properly ſay, that theſe cannot be done, than that God cannot do them: he can do all things, which being done, do argue Power or Perfection; but what argues Impotency, can no more fall upon him, than darkneſs can ſeize upon the Sun.

This excellent Attribute of Power was eminently ſet forth in Chriſt: He is called the power of God, 1 Cor. 1.24. Divine Power ſhews forth it ſelf in him in ſeveral reſpects.

Firſt it breaks out in his Incarnation. The word was made fleſh, John 1.14. He, who was in the form of God, took upon him the form of a ſervant, Phil. 2.6, 7; that is, he, who had the Eſſence and Majeſty of God, aſſumed ſo low a thing as an humane Nature: He did not lay down his Deity, but aſſumed an Humanity; two Natures, a Divine and Humane, were in one perſon. Never did God come ſo near the Creature as here. He was in the world by his Univerſal Preſence; he was in the Temple in types and ſymbols; in the Saints he is by his Grace, in Heaven he is in immediate Glory: but in the Incarnation he is hypoſtatically in an humane Nature. The perſon of the Word, which was from Eternity an Hypoſtaſis to his Divine Nature, became an Hypoſtaſis to his humane Nature in time. O what wonders p. 101of Power are here! Here God was made Man, the Creator became one with his Creature! Had the whole world been crowded into a ſingle Atom, it would have been infinitely a leſs wonder than this; the putting a greater finite into a leſs, cannot be comparable to the taking of finite into infinite. Here are two Natures, a Divine and an Humane, in themſelves infinitely diſtant, met in perſonal conjunction; finite is not abſorp't by infinite, infinite is not changed by finite. Here Eternal dwells in the ſame perſon with Temporal, yet runs not into ſucceſſion; immortal dwells with mortal, yet falls not into paſſion. Here an humane Nature is united to a perſon infinitely ſimple, and infinitely compleat; yet he loſes not his ſimplicity, nor yet doth he receive any additional perfection. Here's an humane Nature without any Perſonality of its own. Naturally the humane Nature of Chriſt would have had a Subſiſtence of its own; a Perſonality would have flown from it: but the reſultance was miraculouſly prevented; the want of its own finite Subſiſtence was ſupplied by the Preſence of an infinite one;Mr. Jeans of the words Incarn. fol. 81. the Son of God communicated his Hypoſtaſis to it, to ſuſtain it. Here we have in ſome reſpect more of Divine Power manifeſted, than there was in the making of the World. When meer nothing was by an Almighty word elevated into Elements, Plants, Beaſts, Men, Angels, ſtill it was but into finite; but here a finite humane Nature was taken into infinite: and between the infinite God and the humane Nature, the diſparity muſt be far greater than it is between a world and nothing. Here indeed God did not create an infinite (that being impoſſible), but he came as p. 102near it as poſſibly could be, by aſſuming a finite Nature into himſelf. All other Creatures are comparatively extra Deum; but here the humane Nature was in the very inſtant of its production, interwoven with the infinite Perſon of the Son. Thus we ſee, that in this ſtupendious work, Divine Power acted magnificently and congruouſly to its own infinity; never any work did ſo fully anſwer and correſpond to Omnipotence as this.

A ſecond inſtance of Power we have in the Conception of our Saviour: his body was not formed in an ordinary way, by the concurrence of Man and Woman, but in a way ſuper-natural; A Virgin was with Child. As the body of the firſt Adam was wonderfully framed out of the duſt; ſo the body of the ſecond was admirably framed out of the Virgin. That a Virgin ſhould be with Child, was a great, an high Miracle, far above all the Power of Nature. How then was it effected? The Evangeliſt tells us, The Holy Ghoſt came upon her, the power of the higheſt did overſhadow her, Luk. 1.35. This is a ſublime tremendous Myſtery; the Holy Ghoſt, as the word (overſhadow) imports, did, as it were, caſt a Cloud over her; to teach us, that we ſhould not over-curiouſly pry into ſo great a Work as this was. The body of our Saviour was not produced ſpermatically, out of the ſubſtance of the Holy Ghoſt, but Operatively, by the Power of it. The matter of his body was from the ſubſtance of the Virgin; the active Principle was the infinite Spirit. The ſeed of Man was not here uſed; it was not congruous, that he, who had God for his Father, ſhould have any Man to be ſo: it was a miraculous extraordinary operation. p. 103Hence Chriſt is called, The ſtone cut out of the mountains without hands, Dan. 2.34. There was an Almighty Power in the framing his humane Nature; the Tabernacle of his body was not pitched by Man, but by the Lord, Heb. 8.2. There was a ſupernatural operation in the making of it; it is called a tabernacle not made with hands, that is to ſay, not of this building, Heb. 9.11. It was not made in a natural ordinary way of generation. It's true, he took part of our fleſh and blood; but the manner of framing his body was in an extraordinary way, the ſtructure of it was Divine, and much above that of our bodies.

Another inſtance of the Divine Power we have in the Miracles wrought by Jeſus Chriſt. The Jewiſh Rabbins diſtinguiſh of a twofold Work of God; they call his ordinary Works of Nature, opus Bereſhith, from the firſt words of Geneſis; and his miraculous works, opus Merchebha, from Ezekiels Chariot. A miracle is a work lifted up above the Order and Power of Nature: it is a ſpecimen of Creation, ſomething is made out of nothing. What ſecond cauſes cannot reach, that is done by the firſt; no Man, no Angel can do ſuch a work. Theſe are but parts of Nature, and therefore cannot in their Operations exceed Nature; Quod eſt totaliter ſub ordine conſtitutum, non poteſt ultra iſtius naturae ordinem agere; it is only Gods Prerogative to work Miracles. He that ſet the order of Nature, can work above it; he can lift Nature off the hinges, and ſet it on again; and when he doth it, he doth it as becomes his infinite Wiſdom, upon very great and weighty Reaſons. When he brought his People out of Egypt, p. 104then his wonders appeared; when he delivered his Law on Sinai, his wonders appeared again. In thoſe great diſpenſations he ſhewed himſelf, not in the ordinary dreſs of Nature, but in Royal State and Majeſty; much more did he do ſo, when his Son, very God, was manifeſted in the fleſh. Then the water was turned into Wine, the Wind and the Seas did obeyſance to their incarnate Creator: the blind received their ſight, the lame did walk, the Lepers were cleanſed, the deaf did hear, the dead were raiſed, the devils were caſt out of Men. Here the right hand of the Lord was glorious in Power. Nature did, as it were, leap and triumph in miraculous elevations above it ſelf, at the coming down of its Creator, to redeem the world: a mighty train of wonders attended on that greateſt wonder of all, God incarnate; a life of Miracles enſued upon his miraculous Conception. Now touching the Miracles of Chriſt, there are three or four things to be taken notice of.

1. The Miracles of Chriſt were true, and that upon a double account.

The one is this, They were true in the Hiſtory of them, they were really done: we have them upon Record in the Sacred Volume of Scripture; they were not done in a corner, or before a few, but openly, and before multitudes; there were thouſands of eye-witneſſes, from whom the truth of them hath been handed down in all ages of the Church. There is no colour at all to imagine, that thoſe firſt reporters did utter an untruth, or go about to put a cheat upon the world: their own integrity would not ſuffer it, neither was the thing it p. 105ſelf indeed practicable. How ſhould ſo many thouſands, for the moſt part unknown to, and diſtant from each other, ever agree and conſpire together in the very ſame ſtory? Or, if they could, what ſhould they propoſe to themſelves? or which way could they think, that a Relation of things to have been done openly, if falſe, ſhould ever paſs in a contradicting World? They knew very well, that there were innumerable prying malicious Enemies round about them, who would perſecute them for that Relation, though true, and brand them as lyars for it, if falſe. Chriſtianity was then a poor perſecuted thing, and it would have been ſtrange folly and madneſs in them, to have ventured their lives and eſtates meerly to broach a lye unto the world; eſpecially ſeeing it muſt have been ſuch an one, as would have been ſurely diſcovered to be ſuch, and ſeverely puniſhed upon the Authors. In all reaſon therefore, what the firſt Witneſſes ſpake was true; and what after-ages heard, was but the Eccho of their report. The Miracles wrought by our Saviour were ſo great, that none of the Adverſaries ever durſt deny, that they were done. The Jews did not deny it:P. Gal. de Arc. l. 8. c. 5. their ancient Rabbins take thoſe words of the Prophet, Then the eyes of the blind ſhall be opened, and the ears of the deaf ſhall be unſtopped: the lame ſhall leap as the hart, and the tongue of the dumb ſhall ſing, Iſa. 35.5, 6. to be ſpoken of the Meſſiah. Their own Joſephus ſpeaks of Jeſus as one more than a man, and a worker of great Miracles; only the Jews, out of their deſperate malice againſt our Saviour, defamed his Miracles as done by Magick: and, as Dr. Lightfoot tells us,Harm. fol. 30. it is ſaid in Talm. p. 106Bab. that Ben Sarda (which is a blaſphemous name they give to Jeſus of Nazareth) did bring inchantments out of Egypt in inciſion in his fleſh. But there cannot be a vainer thought than to imagine, that Satan ſhould contribute wonders to confirm that Doctrine, which he knew would utterly ruin his Kingdom. When the Phariſees ſaid, that Chriſt did caſt out Devils by Beelzebub. He anſwered two things: Firſt, that Satans Kingdom, if divided, could not ſtand, Matth. 12.26. And then, that they, in ſaying ſo, did maliciouſly oppoſe their light, and run into the unpardonable ſin, verſ. 31, 32. But when the Jews ſaw that this pretence would not ſerve their turn, they betook themſelves to a contrary ſhift, and ſaid, That the Meſſiah, when he came, ſhould do no Miracles at all. The Pagans did not deny Chriſts Miracles. In Pilates Letter to the Emperor Tiberius, there is an enumeration made of his Miracles. In the Epiſtle of Lentulus to Tiberius he is ſtiled,Magd. Hiſt. Cent. 1. l. 1. c. 10. Homo magnae virtutis. The Pagans, conſcious to themſelves that the thing was not to be denied,Aug. de Conſenſu Evang. l. 1. c. 9. cryed up Aeſculapius and Apollonins, in oppoſition to Chriſt; and withal framed an impudent lye, that our Saviour had Magical Books, according to which he did his Miracles. Such devices as theſe, were, I ſuppoſe, firſt ſtarted by Julian the Apoſtate, and by him inſtilled into others. The Mahometans, fairer than the other, confeſs Chriſts Miracles to have been done, and that from God.Morn. de Ver. Chriſt. Relig. c. 33. Their Alcoran ſaith, That Gods Spirit was a help and witneſs to Jeſus, that the Soul of God was given to him. Thus it appears on all hands, that the matter of Fact touching our Saviours Miracles, cannot be denied.

p. 107The other is this, They were true for the nature of Miracles: they were not, as the Devils wonders are, meer Spectrum's or Apparitions, but real Miracles, things which are above the order of Nature, and lye within the line of Omnipotence only; the matter, mode, and end ſignally declare them to be ſuch. Some Miracles of Chriſt, ſuch as raiſing the dead, were ſuch for the matter of them, that no conatus of nature, no concurrence or conjunction of created Powers could ever have effected them, no, not in Millions of Ages; ſome of them, ſuch as Curing the ſick, Nature might have done, but in a tract of time, and with the help of ſecond Cauſes. But our Saviour diſpatched them out of hand inſtantly, immediately, with a word or a touch: To operate after this ſort, is only proper to God, who is excellent in working. When Satan, who labours to emulate Divine Works, doth wonders, the end of them declares their Original; ſuitably to the Author they ſerve only to lead men into lies and Idolatries. Antichriſt comes with lying wonders, 2 Theſ. 2.9. Lying wonders in themſelves, as being phantaſms and mockeries of ſenſe; and lying wonders, as tending to confirm men in falſe Doctrine and Worſhip: but the Miracles of Chriſt, being real ones, were done to ratifie the ſuper-natural Truths and pure Worſhip of God. The Jews have a rule, that we ſhould believe him who doth Miracles, unleſs he be the Author of Idolatrous Worſhip: had they adhered to this rule, they could not but have embraced our Saviour, who with ſo many Miracles ſealed up the true Doctrine and Worſhip of God.

p. 1082. The Miracles of Chriſt were not a few, but very numerous; not in one or two places, but diffuſed over the Creation, thereby to proclaim that the Creator was come down to redeem the World. There were Miracles upon the Water, he turned it into Wine, John 2.9. Shewing himſelf to be the Lord of Nature; here doing that in an inſtant, which he doth every year in the Vine: Miracles in the Sea, a fiſh brings him the tribute-money, Matth. 17.27. to declare, that all Creatures were Tributaries to him. After an whole nights toil to no purpoſe, the Net being let down at his word, encloſed a great multitude of fiſhes, Luk. 5.5, 6. So that the awe of his Divine Power fell upon all the Spectators. Miracles upon the Sea and Air together; in a Tempeſt he rebuked the winds and the Sea, and there was a great calm, Matth. 8.26, as a proof that all the Elements were his ſervants. Miracles upon the loaves, in multiplying of them, John 6.11, and upon the fig-tree, in making it to wither away, Matth. 21.19; as a clear demonſtration, that his bleſſing and curſe were great things. Miracles upon the bodies of men, in healing all manner of ſickneſs and diſeaſe, Matth. 4.23; and upon their ſouls too, in making them every whit whole, John 7.23; in token that he was the great Phyſician of both. Miracles in Heaven: at his Birth a ſtar conducted the Wiſe-men to him, Matth. 2.2; at his paſſion the Sun was darkned, Matth. 27.45. The ſtar waited upon its Creator at his Birth, the Sun ſympathized with him in his Paſſion. Miracles upon the Devils, in caſting them out by his Word, Matth. 8.16. A ſure ſign, that the Powers of Hell could not ſtand it out againſt p. 109him. Very various are the Miracles of our Saviour recorded in Scripture: But if all had been written, the world could not have contained the books, ſaith St. John, Chap. 21. verſ. 25. The words are Hyperbolical, yet they import, that many of his Works were not committed to Writing. Arnobius enumerates the miraculous Works of Chriſt, and then cries out,Adv. Gent. l. 1 Quid ſimile Dii omnes, a quibus opem dicitis aegris & periclitantibus latam? When did the Pagan Cods do the like, from whom you ſay, that help is afforded to men in ſickneſs or danger? Never was there ſuch plenty of Miracles as here.

3. The Miracles of Chriſt were very great: He did thoſe works which no other man did, Joh. 15.24. It was never ſo ſeen in Iſrael, Matth. 9.33. I ſhall inſtance in two or three things: Firſt, he raiſed up the dead: The maid in her Fathers houſe, the young man carried out upon the byer, and Lazarus four days dead and ſtinking in the Grave. What things are theſe? How much above all the Powers in Nature? In the ſixth Council at Conſtantinople, Crab. Tom. 2.386.Polychronius a Monothelite, in Confirmation of his opinion, offered to raiſe up a dead man; but upon tryal he could do nothing at all, which made the people cry out, Novo Simoni Anathema, Polychronio ſeductori populi Anathema. The Emperor Baſilius being in great grief for his deceaſed Son,Spondan. Annal. 879. Theodorus Santabarenus preſented his Son to him as alive; but this was but a meer ſpectrum, an illuſion of ſenſe: After a few kiſſes and embraces, the Emperor ſaw his Son no more. Apollonius did call up the Ghoſt of Achilles, that is to ſay, a Devil,De Verit. Relig. as the noble Mornay ſpeaks. Eliſha raiſed the Shunamites Son p. 110to life, but he was only a Miniſter and a Type of Chriſt; the Power of God did the work: but our Saviour raiſed the dead by his own Divine Power. Another inſtance is, his reſtoring ſight to one born blind, John 9. Touching which the blind man ſaith, Since the world began was it not heard, that any man opened the eyes of one that was born blind, verſ. 32. It was a work fit for the Meſſiah. It is indeed ſtoried, that Veſpaſian the Emperor reſtored ſight to the blind; but it may be the perſon was not really blind, at leaſt not naturally. Satan (as Bellarmine well obſerves) might poſſibly reſide in his Eye, and impede the uſe of that part, that he might ſeem to cure, when he did but ceaſe to hurt. But our Saviour by a Power above Nature and Art, did cure one really and naturally blind, and that with Clay; a thing in it ſelf more probable to put out Eyes, than to cure them. And ſo there was, as the Rabbins ſpeak, Miraculum in miraculo, one Miracle within another; much as it was, when the bitter waters were made ſweet by ſalt, 2 King. 2.21. Another inſtance we have in his caſting out Devils: this was the Finger and Power of God. It is ſaid indeed, that Apollonius did caſt Devils out of Men: But how?Rayn. de lib. Ap. Tom. 2. fol. 990, 991. It was in the very Method and Diſcipline of Devils, by ſuch words and ſymbols as they themſelves had preſcribed; ſo it was not an ejection, but a going out by conſent, to honour the Sacraments of their own making. But our Saviour did not caſt them out in their own way; but whether they would or not, by his Almighty Power. It is further to be noted, that ſoon after the Death of our Saviour, the Devils Oracles were ſtruck Dumb. The p. 111Oracle told Auguſtus, That the Hebrew- Child bid him leave that houſe, and be gone to Hell, no more anſwers were to be expected from thence. Whereupon Auguſtus erected an Altar in the Capitol, with this inſcription upon it, Haec ara eſt primogeniti Dei; the Altar of the firſt-begotten of God. The Evangelical light made the Oracles ceaſe, the Prieſts of Delphos were brought to beggery. Plutarch, Morn. de Ver.writing touching the ceaſing of Oracles, at laſt cometh to this point, That the Spirits were mortal, and by their Death the Oracles ceaſed. Oh! what an one was our Saviour, who made the Pagan Gods ſhrink and hide their heads? What a Divine Light was he who chaſed away thoſe falſe Lights? Theſe Works were for Greatneſs, ſuch as became God manifeſt in the fleſh.

4. The Miracles of Chriſt were excellently ſuited to the Evangelical deſign. Miracles in their general Nature are exceſſes of Nature, and therefore things very congruous to ſeal up thoſe ſuper-natural Truths, which are above our Reaſon. Evangelical Myſteries are ſuch as eye hath not ſeen, nor ear heard, neither have they entred into mans heart. They are above the line of Reaſon, and ſo very aptly ratified by thoſe miraculous Works, which are above the line of Nature. We are in all Reaſon to conclude, that God, who acts above Nature, is to be believed, even when he ſpeaks above Reaſon; which, being but a part of Nature, may be as well exceeded by Myſteries, as other parts of Nature are by Miracles. But further, his Miracles had a ſpecial aptitude in them to confirm the Goſpel; they were not deſtructive, as the wonders in Egypt were, nor meerly p. 112to raiſe an admiration, as Simon Magus's were, who would preſent himſelf flying in the air,Spond. Annal. 68. frame walking-ſtatues, and make bread out of ſtones, that he might be eſteemed a great one, a kind of Deity among men: No, our Saviours Miracles were for the good of mankind; he went up and down doing of good, he healed the diſtempers of men, and caſt Devils out of their bodies. And what works could be more admirably fitted to the Goſpel, which was ordained to heal inward diſtempers, and caſt Satan out of the Souls of men? What can better accord together than healing Miracles, and healing Doctrines? It is very reaſonable to believe, that he, who did ſuch wonders on the bodies of men, can do as much and more upon their ſouls. He, who caſt Satan out of the outward man, can eject him and all his furniture out of the inward. Moreover it is to be obſerved, that his Miracles were ordinarily wrought upon Faith. Thus he ſaid to the Centurion, As thou haſt believed, ſo be it done to thee, Matth. 8.13. Thus to the blind men, According to your faith be it unto you, Matth. 9.29. Thus to the Father of the poſſeſſed Child, If thou canſt believe, all things are poſſible to him that believeth, Mark 9.23, as if the Divine Power were made over to Faith. We ſee here, how our Saviour in doing his Miracles, did put an honour upon Faith, which is the Condition of the Goſpel; and withal, what great reaſon we have to go to him for Spiritual Miracles, who hath done ſo many Corporal.

The laſt inſtance of the Divine Power, is in converting the world to Chriſtianity, in raiſing up a People to God out of the ruins of the Fall. The p. 113Son of God did not come in the fleſh, meerly to do Miracles upon the bodies of Men; No, his greateſt work is upon their ſouls. Corporal Miracles were pledges of Spiritual. Some of them, as the inlightning of the blind, and raiſing of the dead, did, as Eſtius obſerves, type out the giving of the Vital Principles of Grace,In Sent. lib. 2. fol. 337. to reſtore the faln faculties in men. Some of them, as Peters walking on the Waters by the helping-hand of Chriſt, did ſhadow forth the giving of auxiliary Grace to Saints, to keep them from ſinking under Temptations. As the external Miracles were wrought by the Power and Spirit of God, ſo are the internal alſo. When a blind mind is irradiated, there is a word of Power, ſuch as at firſt commanded light out of darkneſs. When a dead ſinner is raiſed up to a Divine Life, the Glory of God may be ſeen in it, even as it was upon Lazarus's coming out of the Grave. Now, that we may ſee ſome Rays of this glorious Power, ſeveral things are to be conſidered by us.

Firſt of all, let us look upon the ſtate of the World, as it was at our Saviours coming. The world was made up of Jews and Gentiles, both of them were not only tainted with Original ſin, but deeply corrupted with Actual; out of both God would raiſe up a Church to himſelf, to make the Power of his Grace known.

The Jews, once Gods ſpecial People, were now deſperately degenerate; blindneſs was upon them, notwithſtanding that Rabbinical learning was at the height in the Schools of Hillel and Shammai: they interpreted the holy Scriptures, as the Vail upon their hearts would let them, in a very groſs, carnal p. 114manner, as if they had loſt all ſavour of things Divine and Spiritual. Thus the eſtabliſhing the mountain of the Lords houſe in the top of the mountains, Iſa. 2.2, is with one of them, the bringing of Tabor and Carmel, and ſetting Jeruſalem upon the top of them.Buxt. Syn. c. 10. The calling the ſabbath a delight, Iſa. 58.13, is to eat and drink, and indulge their genius. They made the Sacred Law, whoſe primary aim was at the heart, to bind only the outward Man. According to their corrupt gloſs, there was no Murder, but what purpled the hand with blood; nor no Adultery, but what was in the groſs Act: evil thoughts and purpoſes were not ſo much as peccadillo's; neither did God take notice of them, ſo as to puniſh for them. A thought or purpoſe of ſacriledg in Antiochus, was nothing with Joſephus; regarding or ſeeing iniquity in the heart, was nothing with David Kimchi, as appears by his gloſs upon the 66th Pſalm. Thus the Law was diſpirited and ſtrip't of its Divinity. Religion went off from its Center, the heart, to paint and varniſh over the outward Man. Sin might reign and do what it would within, ſo as it did not break out and profane the Life. Having thus humbled the Law according to their own Model, they ſtood upon their Terms with God: they would eſtabliſh their own Righteouſneſs, though it were a poor cadaverous thing, without any Divine Life or Spirit in it; yet they would prop it up, and make it ſtand before God: they were full of their own Righteouſneſs, and compleat in themſelves; they looked only for a Temporal Meſſiah, one who by his outward greatneſs might ſubdue their Enemies, and feaſt them in the holy p. 115Land. A ſpiritual Saviour they expected not, neither could it be thought according to their Principles, what ſuch an one ſhould do for them. As for his ſuffering or dying for them, they jeſted at it as an horrible abſurdity, ſaying, Tobias deliquit, Weems of the Jew.& ſigog plectitur; their own Temporal death was expiation enough for all their ſins. Hence the ſick man was to pray thus,Buxt. Syn. c. 35. Sit mors mea expiatio pro omnibus peccatis meis. As for regenerating-Grace to be procured for them, they dream't of no Regeneration, but a ritual one. The baptized Proſelyte was accounted by them as recens natus, one new-born. The ſick man, having but his name changed, was eſteemed as nova creatura, a new creature. As for Eternal life, they thought they could earn it by their own Works. In none of theſe reſpects would the pride of their hearts ſuffer them to ſee any need of a Spiritual Saviour. Further, they advanced their Traditions above the written Word; their Talmud is, Lux illa magna, that great light, Iſa. 9.2. it is fundamentum legis, the foundation of the Law.Dr. Li. Harm. fol. 38. The words of the Scribes (ſay they) are more worthy than the words of the Law, and more weighty than the words of the Prophets. Thus departed they from the Scriptures, and run themſelves into a Labyrinth of Errors; the power and vigor of Religion was evaporated into rituals and empty formalities; if their Phylacteries were broad, it was no matter how narrow the Law or Obedience to it were. A clean outſide would ſerve the turn, though within there were nothing but helliſh pollution. Great vices might paſs, ſo as they were but ſub umbrâ virtutis, under a ſhadow of virtue; their honeſty was confined p. 116to thoſe of their own Religion, none elſe were neighbours with them: they might lye or deal falſly with a ſtranger, he was no neighbour; if they did kill a ſtranger,Seld. de ſure Nat. Dr. Li. Harm. fol. 46. they were not to dye for it by the ſentence of the Sanhedrin, he was no neighbour. Nay, and among themſelves their Corban was able to untie the bonds of Nature, and free them from Duty and Charity to their very Parents; they ſeemed to be for cleanſing the outſide, yet they fell into groſs abominations. The very Scribes and Phariſees, their great Rabbies and Leaders, (from whom they were not to decline, though they were told by them, that their right-hand were their left) would devour Widows houſes: and what but frauds and oppreſſions could be looked for among the ordinary ſort? Indeed, among great and ſmall ones, there was a deluge of iniquity; they had made their ſins great, and to fill up the meaſure, they killed the Lord of life. This was the fearful ſtate of the Jews.

The Gentile World lay foreign, 1 Joh. 5.19. in the evil one; in the hand and power of the Devil, or in that which is evil, in wickedneſs, corrupting as a dead man doth in his Grave. It's true, within they had an implanted notion of a Deity; without, they had the Creatures proclaiming their Creator. But alas, They held the truth in unrighteouſneſs, Rom. 1.18. That little ſpark in their boſom, which revealed a Deity, was but a Captive; it could not break out to give Glory to its Maker, nor was it able to bear up the Honour of God in the World. They could not but know God, yet acknowledg him they would not: though he made and bear up p. 117all things; yet they owned him not, no, not in his own World. They changed the glory of the incorruptible God, into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and four-footed leaſts, and creeping things, Rom. 1.23. And a little after, They changed the truth of God into a lye, and worſhipped and ſerved the creature more than the Creator, who is bleſſed for ever, Verſ. 25. They fell into all manner of Idolatries; any thing might be God, but the true one. An high diſhonour it was for them to prefer the vileſt Creatures before the Optimus Maximus, the beſt and greateſt of Beings. An horrible lye it was for them practically to ſay, That a brute, or a man, or a ſtar was a God; or that a ſtock, or a ſtone, or a little dead matter in an Image, did reſemble the infinite Spirit. Upon their Idolatry, being an accurſed departure from God the fountain of Goodneſs, immediately followed a black train of abominations: They were filled with all unrighteouſneſs, fornication, wickedneſs, covetouſneſs, maliciouſneſs, full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whiſperers, back-biters, haters of God, deſpiteful, proud, boaſters, inventers of evil things, diſobedient to parents, without underſtanding, covenant-breakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful, Rom. 1.29, 30, 31. They were in theſe things, as in their Element, acting out of ſinful hearts and habits, and ſo gratifying their firſt and ſecond corrupt Nature both at once. And for all this they ſeemed to have a Patent from Heaven in the Vices of their gods, which their own Authors ſet before them; they did but follow their Deities, their ſins were made Divine by the higheſt Example. This was the ſtate of the Gentiles.

p. 118And now, what manner of Power was that, which raiſed up an holy People to God out of ſo corrupted a World? And how much work was there to be done about it? The light was to be commanded out of darkneſs. The blind minds were to be opened upon Divine Myſteries. The Law was to come forth in its pure Spirituality. The great neceſſity of Chriſt and Grace was to be inwardly felt. Shadows were to be turned into ſubſtance. Religion was to be brought back to the heart. The muſty Traditions were to vaniſh before the Word. The old Idols to be caſt to the Bats and the Moles, thoſe blind Creatures. The fallen Nature was to be new-framed. The ſinful habits to be unravelled. Sinners twice dead in ſin, were to be raiſed up into a Divine Life. Here a very excellent Power was manifeſted. Hence the Apoſtle prays for the Epheſians, That they may have eyes to ſee it, that they may know what is the exceeding greatneſs of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power which he wrought in Chriſt, when he raiſed him from the dead, Eph. 1.19, 20. The words are very magnificent, Power, mighty Power, exceeding greatneſs of Power, all working, and in act, as it was in the raiſing up Chriſt from the dead; ſo great a work is it to bring home ſinners to God!

The Divine Power will yet be more illuſtrious in our Eyes, if we look upon the ſtate of the World in the great Men of it, ſuch as were great in Power or Wiſdom.

The great men in Power, the Emperors and Potentates of the World, were utter Enemies to Chriſtianity, breathing out nothing but blood againſt p. 115the Profeſſors of it. Nero firſt kindled the furnace of Perſecution againſt them; he took occaſion, as pure malice uſes to do, from his own barbarous act; firſt, cauſing Rome to be ſet on fire, and then caſting the odium of that horrid act upon the Chriſtians. He ſet forth Edicts commanding to perſecute them unto Death, as Enemies of mankind; which made Tertullian ſay, That it was grande bonum, Apol. cap. 5.ſome great good that Nero condemned. Domitian firſt ſlew his Brother Titus, and then blowed up the furnace of Perſecution againſt the Chriſtians. He ſpent moſt of his time in catching of flies, yet would not omit the Chriſtians. Trajan, no Nero, no Domitian, but in eſteem a pattern of uprightneſs, carried on the bloody work; he would not indeed have the Chriſtians ſought for, yet, if found, he would have them puniſhed. Antoninus Philoſophus was amiable to all others, yet cruel to Chriſtians. Severus, though illuſtrious in Moral virtues, was ſtained with their innocent blood. Afterwards Maximinus, Si Tyberis aſcendit in mania, ſi Nilus non aſcendit in arva, ſi coelum ſtetit, ſi terra movit, ſi fames, ſi lues, ſtatim Chriſtianos ad leonem acclamatur, Tert. Ap. cap. 39.Decius, Valerianus, Aurelianus, Diocleſianus, turned their bloody ſwords upon them. The very name of a Chriſtian was crime enough; upon every ill accident the Chriſtians were cryed out upon as worthy of death, as the only cauſes of the incumbent Calamity. Thus the Powers of the World, for the three firſt Centuries, though ordained for good, were Patrons of that great Evil, Idolatry, and utter Enemies to that great good, Chriſtianity: No Chriſtian in thoſe times could imagine to retain his Religion, unleſs he were willing to part with his life for it.

The great men in Wiſdom, the Philoſophers of p. 120the World were Adverſaries to Chriſtianity; their Wits, as well as the Emperors Swords, were bent againſt it: outwardly they were in the ſplendor of Morality, and ſeemed to make ſome approaches towards Chriſtian Virtues; but inwardly they were black with Enmity againſt the Goſpel, and at a vaſt diſtance from the holy Temper of it. Many cavils they made againſt the Chriſtians, but the root of their Enmity lay in two or three things:

1. Their carnal Reaſon would not ſtoop to the ſupernatural Truths revealed in the Goſpel: they were for Humane Wiſdom, but againſt Divine. Thoſe natural Truths which were within the ſphere of Reaſon, they looked on as Wiſdom: But thoſe ſupernatural ones, which were above it, they eſteemed no better than fooliſhneſs; ſcorning that which they could not meaſure, and caſting that down below their Reaſon, which indeed was above it. With them St. Paul was but a babler, Act. 17.18. one who had gathered up ſome vanities, that he might ſcatter them abroad to others. The Reſurrection was a matter of mockery, verſ. 32; as if the limits of Nature could not be exceeded, no, not by the God of it. They thought that there was nothing in the Chriſtian Doctrines,Magd. cent. 2. cap. 15. Fat. c. Graecos. praeter ſtultitiam & nugas, but toys and follies. That God ſhould be born a Man, was againſt Reaſon, a thing utterly incredible. That a crucified man ſhould be ſecond to God the Father of all,Juſt. Mart. ad Anton. was madneſs and intolerable folly. They thought that all the Wiſdom lay on their own ſide. Celſus could find much wiſer things in Plato, than in the Sacred Scriptures. Julian boaſted, that the Gentiles had all the learning,Spond. Ann. Nazian. Or. the Chriſtians had only p. 121their Creed; as if Faith, which is a key to infinite treaſures of Wiſdom, were a poor inconſiderable nothing. Theſe wiſe men of the World would not be made wiſer than their own reaſon had made them, and upon that account they ſet themſelves againſt the great Myſteries of the Goſpel.

2. Their corrupt hearts would not brook that ſimplicity and ſincerity, which the Goſpel called for: they knew well enough, that there was but one God; yet in their very Worſhip (in which, if in any thing, they ſhould have been ſincere and pure-hearted) they diſſembled, and made as if there were many, complying with the Idols of the place where they lived, and doing many things, Non tanquam Diis grata, ſed tanquam legibus juſſa, not as grateful to the Gods, but as commanded by the Laws. Hence St. Auſtin ſaith of Seneca, Auſt. de C. D. l. 6. c. 10.that Colebat quod reprehendebat, agebat quod arguebat: He worſhipped what he reproved, he acted what he found fault with: under all the beauty of Moral Virtues there lay a falſe heart, ſuch as could not bear a Command of internal Purity.

3. They were animalia gloriae, Creatures which lived upon popular air. Accordingly their deſign was as oppoſite to that of the Goſpel, as pride is to the Grace of God. That which the Goſpel aimed at, was, that Pride might be ſtained, that no fleſh might glory in it ſelf; that we might be ſaved by meer Grace, that God might be exalted therein. But the aim of the Philoſophers was quite contrary to this, they were lifted up in ſelf-excellencies: in all their Moral Virtues they did but ſacrifice to the pride of their own Reaſon and Will; they needed p. 122no ſuch thing as Grace or Prayer for it. Quid votis opns eſt? fac te faelicem, ſaith Seneca; What need of Prayers?Epiſt. 31. thou mayſt make thy ſelf happy. Their fundamental maxim, the very firmament of their happineſs was, ſibi fidere, to truſt to themſelves; they would be virtuous, as Ajax would be victorious, without the help of God, that the glory might be entirely their own. In homine id landandum quod ipſius eſt, that only is praiſe-worthy which is a mans own. Their Virtuoſo was Deorum ſocius, a Peer to the Gods: He did cum Diis ex pari vivere, live equally with them; nay, he did in one thing go before them, they were ſuch by Nature, he by Virtue. This makes Seneca cry out,Epiſt. 53. Ecce res magna, habere imbecillitatem hominis, ſecuritatem Dei. Behold! a great thing, to have the frailty of a Man, the ſecurity of a God. This horrible Pride, the venom in their Moral Virtues, (which was ſo near and intimate to them, that one looking into Plato's vomit, ſaid, I ſee his choler here, but not his Pride, meaning, that that ſtuck too cloſe to him to be caſt up by him) was a temper as oppoſite to the Goſpel as any thing could be; it did utterly evacuate Chriſt and Grace. What room could there be for Grace, when Nature might do the work? What need that the Eternal Word, the brightneſs of Glory, ſhould be incarnate, when the little foreign, the ſinall ſpark of Reaſon in our boſom, was enough to make us virtuous and happy? No frame of mind, no, not that of the profane man could be at a greater diſtance from Heaven than this.Salv. de Gub. l. 4. Inter maltos reos, nullus eſt criminoſior, quàm qui fe non putat criminoſum. Among many guilty perſons, none is more criminal than p. 123the preſumptuous ſelf-juſtitiary, who thinks himſelf not criminal at all. Thus ſtood the Philoſophers, all in Armor of Pride, oppoſing the Goſpel, and the Grace of it.

We ſee here, to make men Chriſtians, was an admirable work, a great deal of Power was to be laid out upon it. Such a Faith was to be raiſed up, as might render them victorious over all the Power and Wiſdom of the World.Veniant Crux, ignis, oſſium confractiones, modo Chriſtum bakeam, Ignat. Such a temper of mind was to be wrought, as might make them ready to welcom death in what ſhape or terror ſoever it came, and to pour out their deareſt blood and life for the Goſpel. Thoſe ſpirits, which before hung about Earth, and theſe lower things, were to be tuned for Heaven, and wound up to ſo Divine a pitch, that the whole world ſhould not be able to unbend them, to looſen them from Chriſt, or let them down into earthly Vanities. The great Emperors, with all their Engines of Power and Cruelty, could not rent them off from the World to come, or piece them to the preſent evil one. The Philoſophers, with all their Arts and Eloquence, could not decoy them from ſupernatural Myſteries, or induce them to take up their repoſe in humane Learning or Wiſdom. The whole World was annihilated to them, and they unto themſelves; they became fools, that they might be wiſe, and Nothing that God might be All: the Ornaments and Self-excellencies were put off, that they might be compleat in Chriſt. They lay at Gods feet for Mercy, and lived in a continual dependance upon the influences of his Spirit and Grace. In ſuch a work as this the Arm of God muſt needs be revealed in a very eminent p. 124manner. Here we have juſt cauſe to ſay, What hath God wrought!

The Divine Power will yet more appear, if we look upon the inſtruments in this Work. In making the World there were none at all, no Leavers or Engines to rear up the great Fabrick. An Almighty word abſolved it: in converting it inſtruments were uſed; but ſuch, that by the no-proportion between them and the great effect, it might appear that the Power was of God only. He ſent not the glorious Angels to Preach up a crucified Chriſt, but Men. The treaſure was in Earthen-veſſels, in poor frail Mortals, who carried about bodies of Clay, That the excellency of the power might be of God, 2 Cor. 4.7; that it might be clearly ſeen, that the great Work was Gods. Among men he ſent not the Anſhe Shem, Perſons of Renown for Learning or Wiſdom, but mean illiterate men. Hence the Apoſtle ſaith, God hath choſen the fooliſh things of the world to confound the wiſe, and the weak things of the world to confound the mighty, 1 Cor. 1.27, that the Divine Power might appear in the Work. Theſe mean men preached, not with excellency of ſpeech or wiſdom, 1 Cor. 2.1, with the charms of Eloquence, or the pomp of humane Wiſdom; but with plain words: their Preaching was look't upon as fooliſhneſs. That ſalvation ſhould be by a crucified Chriſt ſeemed fooliſh; that it ſhould be communicated by Preaching,Sclat. in Pools Synop. ſeemed more fooliſh; that it ſhould be done by Preaching in a low, ſimple, plain manner, ſeemed moſt fooliſh of all. Yet in this way it was that Chriſt would ride conquering, and to conquer the World to himſelf. The great ſucceſs of their p. 125Preaching, was a ſignal proof that God was with them of a truth. At Peters firſt Sermon three thouſand ſouls were converted unto God, Act. 2.41. and at his ſecond they were encreaſed to five thouſand, Act. 4.4. multitudes of Believers came in to Chriſtianity. In a little time the Goſpel was propagated over a great part of the World; one Paul ſpread it from Jeruſalem to Illyricum: And what did all the reſt of the Apoſtles, who carried about this Evangelical light, do? What did the ſeventy Diſciples do, who, as Eccleſiaſtical Writers ſay, had their ſeveral Provinces to Preach the Goſpel in? The word did then run, and was glorified; it paſſed through many Countries with a Divine ſwiftneſs and ſucceſs; at the ſound of the Goſpel the World was ſpiritually turned upſide down, and of Pagan became Chriſtian. Tertullian enumerates divers Nations, and at laſt adds touching us, Britannorum inacceſſa Romanis loca, Chriſto tamen ſubdita ſunt; the Evangelical Power entred there where the Roman could not. By ſuch weak means to produce ſo great an effect, was a work worthy of Omnipotence.

Moreover, the Divine Power will yet more appear, if we conſider the things propoſed in the Goſpel. Narces the Roman-General, diſcontented at the Empreſs Sophia, to invite the Lombards into Italy, ſent them many ſorts of excellent fruits from thence. The Preſent being congruous to ſenſe, the project took effect. The Goſpel indeed propoſes very excellent things to us. But they are ſo great, and ſo far above humane Nature, that the propoſal, if not accompanied with a Divine Power, p. 126would have been altogether ineffectual. I ſhall inſtance in two or three things:

1. It propoſes ſuper-rational Myſteries, ſuch as the Doctrine of the Sacred Trinity. The Incarnation of the Son of God. The Satisfaction made to Juſtice by his Blood. Theſe are objects of Faith, and ſo depend one upon another, that unleſs we believe the Trinity, we cannot believe the Incarnation; and unleſs we believe that, we cannot believe a Satisfaction; and without believing that, we cannot fulfil the condition of the Goſpel, which requires us to reſt upon Chriſt for ſalvation. Theſe therefore are neceſſary objects of Faith; but without an Act of Divine Power, Faith in theſe cannot be had. Two things evidence this: the one is ex parte objecti, the things are above Reaſon. As the things of Reaſon are above Senſe, ſo the things of Faith are above Reaſon: without a Revelation Reaſon could not have found out theſe Myſteries, after it, Reaſon cannot comprehend them. It may ſhadow them out by ſimilitudes; but there is in them a light unapproachable, ſuch as Reaſon cannot look into; an infinite Abyſs, ſuch as Reaſon cannot meaſure. The other is ex parte ſubjecti; man, who is to believe theſe things, is fallen, and in his fall not one or two faculties fell, but all of them; and among the reſt his intellectual and believing faculties fell alſo. The intellect hath loſt its ſubjection to God the Supreme Truth. The believing faculty centers in the Creature, and without the Power of Grace cannot lift up it ſelf to ſupernatural Truths. A Divine Power is requiſite, to captivate the underſtanding to the firſt Truth, to elevate the believing p. 127faculty to ſuper-rational Myſteries. Hence in Scripture Faith is called the Gift and Work of God, ſuch an one as is the product of Divine Power: it is wrought by Power, Eph. 1.19. it is fulfilled and conſummated by Power, 1 Theſ. 1.11. it is ſtiled the ſpirit of faith, 2 Cor. 4.13. It is not from our own ſpirit, but Gods outwardly revealing the myſterious object in Scripture, and inwardly inlightning and elevating the heart to entertain it. Hence Fulgentius compares the production of Faith in the heart,Carnem illam nec concipere Virgo poſſet nec parere, niſi ejuſdem carnis Spiritus Sanctus operaretur exortum; in hominis corde nec concipi ſides poterit, nec augeri, niſi eam Spiritus Sanctus infundat & nutrint: ex eodem Spiritu venati ſumus, ex spuo natus eſt Chriſtus, Fulg. de Incar. cap. 20. with the conception of Chriſt in the Virgins Womb; both are by one and the ſame Spirit. Chriſt is no leſs formed in the heart by it, than his fleſh was in the Virgin. It is therefore a work of Power to raiſe up the mind of man to believe thoſe ſupernatural Myſteries, which are far above it ſelf.

2. It propoſes ſuper-moral Virtues. It would have us to be humble and deny our ſelves. To ſanctifie the Lord in our hearts. To have a love for his Goodneſs; a fear for his Majeſty and Greatneſs; a faith for his Truth and Mercy; a ſincerity for his all-ſeeing eye; and ſuch a poſture of ſoul, that the inward affections and motions may in an holy manner anſwer and correſpond to one Divine Attribute or other. It calls upon us to have internal purity, to indulge no luſt, no, not in a thought; to baulk never an holy Duty, to love our very Enemies, and overcome evil with good. Theſe I call ſuper-moral, becauſe they are above the Power of Nature. Meer Moral Virtues may ſpring out of p. 128the Principles of improved Nature, but theſe do not do ſo. The Philoſophers, thoſe improvers of Nature, and Maſters of Morality, never arrived at them. They were ſo far from humility and ſelfdenial, that Pride was their temper, and Self their center. Their ſplendid Virtues did not glance only, but directly look at vain-glory. They did not ſanctifie God in their hearts, but ſet up their own Reaſon, taking it, not in its own place as a Miniſter of God, but abſtractively from him; they turned it into an Idol, and ſacrificed unto it in their virtuous actions, doing them as congruous to Reaſon, but not in reſpect to God, who inſpired it; or to his Will, which was declared in it; or to his Glory, which was to be promoted by it. They would talk of internal purity, but were indeed ſtrangers to it. Internal corruption was no burden to them; Regenerating-grace no deſire. They diſſembled and complied with the outward Idols of the place where they lived, and within, in the ſecret of the heart, they had their Idols and indulged luſts. Socrates had immoral impure corruptions. Zeno and Chryſippus allowed unnatural luſt. Seneca was in-inſatiably covetous. In the very beſt of them ſenſual ſins were but ſwallowed up of ſpiritual. The beauty in their life, was but to gratifie the pride in their heart, they knew nothing touching love to Enemies. Ʋltion looked like a piece of natural Juſtice. Cicero tells us, Juſtitiae primum munus eſt, ut ne cui noceat, niſi laceſſitus injuriâ; they thought that upon injury they might revenge, or if revenge might be forborn, they little thought of love to Enemies. Nature, we ſee, cannot aſcend above it p. 129ſelf, nor produce theſe Evangelical Virtues; the Divine Power and Spirit muſt do it. Hence they are called the virtues of God, 1 Pet. 2.9, as being far above the virtues of men; and the fruits of the Spirit, Gal. 5.22, as being produced by a ſpirit and power much higher than that of Man. Without a Divine Power it is not imaginable, how ſuch excellent Virtues ſhould ever be found in the heart of poor fallen Creatures.

3. It propoſes ſuper-mundane Rewards, which are no attractives to a carnal heart, unleſs it be elevated unto them by the Power of Grace. This plainly appears by comparing the heavenly Rewards and the earthly Man together. The Rewards are at a great diſtance from ſenſe. They lye in another world. The treaſure is in Heaven. The recompence is above. A red Sea of death is to be paſſed through before we can come at it. The Man, to whom the tender is made, is earthly, carnal, living by ſenſe, wrapt in the vail of time; one like the infirm Woman in the Goſpel, who is bowed together, and can in no wiſe lift up himſelf, no, not to a Heaven of Glory and Bleſſedneſs freely offered unto him. He hangs in the Clay of one earthly thing or other, and by bonds of ſtrong Concupiſcence is faſtned to this lower world; and, which is a prodigy in an immortal ſoul, he loves to be ſo, and thinks that it is good being here. A little Earth with him, is better than Heaven. Senſual pleaſures out-reliſh the pure Rivers above. O how unfit is ſuch a man to cloſe in with ſuch a reward! How much work muſt be done to make him capable of it! The man muſt be unearthed and unbound from this lower world. The p. 130concupiſcential ſtrings, which tye him thereunto, muſt be cut, that his ſoul may have a free aſcent towards Heaven. A precious faith muſt be raiſed up, that this world may appear, ſuch as it is, a ſhadow, a figure, a nothing to make man happy; that Heaven with its beatitudes may be realized and preſentiated to the mind. A Divine Temper muſt be wrought, that he may be able to rent off the Vail of time, and take a proſpect of Eternity; to put by all the World, and look into Heaven. He muſt be a pilgrim on Earth, living by Faith, walking in Holineſs, every ſtep preparing for, and breathing after the heavenly Countrey. He muſt pray, work, ſtrive, wreſtle, watch, wait, ſerve God inſtantly, and all this to be rewarded in another world; without ſuch a Temper Heaven will ſignifie nothing, and without a Divine Power ſuch a Temper cannot be had. Hence St. Peter tells us, That God hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the reſurrection of Jeſus Chriſt from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible, 1 Pet. 1.3, 4. The lively hope, which takes hold upon the great Reward, is not from the Power of Nature; no, 'tis from a Divine Generation, 'tis an heavenly touch from Chriſt riſen and ſitting at the right hand of Majeſty, from thence to do Spiritual Miracles, as upon Earth he did Corporal. Hence St. Paul argues, If you be riſen with Chriſt, ſeek thoſe things which are above, Col. 3.1. The natural man dead in ſin cannot ſeek them; only thoſe who are ſpiritual and riſen with Chriſt can do it. It is therefore from the Divine Power and Spirit, that men, naturally carnal and earthly, are made capable of cloſing with the heavenly and ſupernal Rewards, which are tendred in the Goſpel.

p. 131The Power of God being ſo gloriouſly revealed, how humble ſhould our minds be? How ſhould our Reaſon kneel and bow down before ſuch a Myſtery as that, God manifeſt in the fleſh? There was a pattern of humility in the Condeſcenſion of it, and withal there was matter of Adoration in the Myſtery. Preſume not, O man, to meaſure Divine Myſteries by thy Reaſon, which bears not ſo much proportion to them, as a little ſhell doth to the great Ocean. Remember, thy Reaſon is ſhort and finite: The Myſteries are deep and infinite. If God could not work above the meaſure of Man, he would ceaſe to be God. If Myſteries were not above the line of Reaſon, they would ceaſe to be Myſteries. When theſe are before thee, do, as an Ancient adviſes, foreign, bring forth thy Faith, ſubject thy intellect to the Supreme Truth, captivate thy thoughts to Scripture, humbly adore and confeſs, That the Lord doth great things and unſearchable, marvelous things without number, Job. 5.9. This is the way to have knowledg and eſtabliſhment, like the pious Man in Gerſon, whoſe certainty in Articles of Faith was not from Reaſon or Demonſtration, but from humiliation and illumination, a montibus aeternis. The Socinians, who in intellectual pride do foreign, fight againſt God and ſupernatural Truths, loſe themſelves and the Myſtery together. But the humble ſoul, who ſubjects his Reaſon to God and his Truth, is rooted in Faith, and eſtabliſhed by Grace.

Again, The Power of God being revealed in a way of Grace, How ſhould we look up to him by Faith, that he may do great things for us? He, who gave his own Son to come in the fleſh, can do every p. 132thing for us. He can raiſe up Children to Abraham out of the very ſtones: He can melt the Rocky heart into Repentance: He can write his Law in the inward parts: He can make us willing in the day of his Power: He can ſubdue the moſt ſtrong and inveterate luſts: He can new-frame the heart, and draw his own Image upon it: He can make all Grace abound towards us, and ſupply all our need according to his Riches in Glory by Chriſt Jeſus: Let us look unto him and be ſaved. Let our Souls ever be in a poſture of waiting and dependance upon him, that the Divine Power, which was ſo eminently manifeſted in Chriſt, may in a meaſure be felt and experimented in us, that we, who are poor impotent Creatures in our ſelves, may be able to do all things through Chriſt ſtrengthning us.