Jesus and the Resurrection Justified by Witnesses in Heaven and Earth, Part 2 · Chapter 11

Jesus and the Resurrection Justified by Witnesses in Heaven and Earth · Part 2 · Chapter 11

p. 381CHAP. XI. Concerning the Teſtimony of the SPIRIT, the Third Witneſs on Earth.

THough the Children of Iſrael were ſo ſtrangely delivered out of their bondage, being ſaved by the Bloud of the Paſchal Lamb from the deſtroying Angel, and then freed from Pharaoh, who thought, it's like, that his bloud muſt next of all pay for the keeping them in Egypt: yet ſtill they queſtioned whether they ſhould come into the good Land or no, and were at a ſad plunge when they came to the Red Sea; imagining that they themſelves ſhould be there deſtroyed, and become the next Sacrifice to Pharaoh's cruelty. To confirm them therefore in their belief of God's kind intentions towards them, and perſwade them thoroughly that Moſes had not brought them out of Egypt to kill them, but to ſave them, He gave him power to doe great wonders at that place, and in p. 382the reſt of their journey; which, added to the Miracles in Egypt, were a ſtrong conviction that God was among them, and was conducting them by the hands of his Servant to their long-deſired Reſt This was the laſt Argument and the moſt conſtant, whereby he demonſtrated the truth and reality of his promiſes of bringing them to the land of Canaan. They ſaw his ſigns and his wonders, his mighty power and ſtretched-out arm, all the grea… acts of the Lord; (as they are called xi. Deut. 7. which Chapter be pleaſed to reade unto that verſe;) which were eminent tokens that GOD had taken the… to be a peculiar, or ſpeciall, people to himſelf, as he frequently ſpeaks, and was able to fulfill his word to their Forefathers, of giving them the Land, wherein they were then ſtrangers, for their inheritance.

Juſt ſuch as this is our caſe, whom He hath called by his Son to an inheritance incorruptible and that fadeth not away, reſerved i… heaven for us. To obtain an eternall Redemption for us, and deliver us out of the hands of all our enemies, his own moſt precious BLOUD was ſhed, as of a Lamb without ſpot or blemiſh. p. 383Whereby alſo, as you have heard, he teſtified to the World that he was no Deceiver, but came to them from God with the words of Eternall Life. Many things concurred to make this BLOUD a witneſs of his Truth, and of his power to fulfill his own promiſes. And yet, notwithſtanding, this was the very thing that offended many, and kept them from following him. They could not endure ſo much as to hear him ſpeak of giving them his fleſh to eat, and his bloud to drink; though he told them thereby he would give life to the World. And therefore to ſtrengthen this Teſtimony of his BLOUD, and to convince them evidently that he was the Lamb of God that taketh away the ſin of the World, and gives life to it, there was another Witneſs which attended it, both before his BLOUD was ſhed, and likewiſe afterward; which was the SPIRIT. That is, as I ſhewed in the former Treatiſe on this ſubject, the power he had to work wonders; and the miraculous power which raiſed him from the dead, and preſented him to God in the heavens. This was abundantly ſufficient to prevent any offence they might take at Chriſt crucified; and to ſettle in their hearts an unmovable belief p. 384that he was their mighty Redeemer, who would bring them to the eternall Reſt which he had promiſed. For this is the laſt and greateſt argument which St. John here produces, ver. 6. He came no… onelyonly by WATER, but by BLOƲD alſo; and it is the SPIRIT that beareth witneſs, for the SPIRIT is the Truth. Or, as Arias Montanus tranſlates it, the SPIRIT is (foreign) that Witneſs, that undoubted teſtimony on which we may certainly rely. For foreign that SPIRIT which I ſpeak of is truth; an… infallible Witneſs, which cannot deceive you, that Jeſus is the Son of God. And ſo it is likewiſe, that Eternall Life is in him; and that we ſhall enjoy it by his means: for this RECORD of God is given to make us as ſure of the one, as we are of the other.

Let us briefly therefore conſider, firſt, what his Miracles ſay to this; and then, ſecondly, what force there is in his Reſurrection and Exaltation to prove it.

I.

And at our entrance upon the firſt of theſe, let us, before we go any farther, p. 385weigh thoſe words of this Apoſtle St. John in his Goſpell, xx. 30, 31. where he tells us that he wrote the ſigns which Jeſus did (ſuppoſe after his Reſurrection) in the preſence of his diſciples, for this very purpoſe, that they might believe that he was the Chriſt, the Son of God; and that believing they might have LIFE through his Name. They were wrought by Him, and recorded by his Diſciples, for theſe two ends: that the World might be convinced He was the great Lord of all; and that they might, by faithfull ſubjecttion to him, look for Eternall Life from his omnipotent love. It was the deſign of all his wonderfull works throughout his whole life, (to which the Apoſtle may have reſpect as well as to thoſe after his Reſurrection,) to perſwade men to believe that he would make his followers ſo happy. For by theſe he manifeſted forth his glory, (as I obſerved before of the beginning of his Miracles in Cana of Galilee, ii. Joh. 11.) and declared to the world, he could work as great a change upon our mortall bodies as he did then upon the Water; making them as much nobler then they are now, as the Water excelled it ſelf when it was become Wine. They were mighty inſtances of his Power; and p. 386of his Goodneſs too: they made him appear to be the King of Iſrael, who was to deliver and bring Salvation to them; though much greater then they expected.

That our Lord did work Miracles, is a truth which they that crucified him can no more deny, then that he died. The wiſeſt of them could never find any colour to affirm that the Goſpel-ſtory was but a fabulous Legend, which related Wonders that were never done. For if they had been able to ſay this, Maimonides, the very beſt of them, would not have been put to ſuch diſtreſs, as to let fall theſe words, which we reade in his Treatiſe of Kings: Cap. xi.Do not imagine that the King Meſſiah ſhall have any need to work wonders, or alter the courſe of Nature, or reſtore the dead to life again, with ſuch like things, that fools talk of. Had he not known as well, that theſe things could not be denied which are related of Jeſus, as he did that, their force to prove any thing being granted, they would be an unanſwerable teſtimony to him, he would never have thus ſlighted (as he doth in many other Books) things of this nature; which brought the greateſt reputation to Moſes among their anceſtours, p. 387and were the cauſe why they believed on him, though he attempted no ſuch wonder as the raiſing dead men to life again. Our Saviour, he was not ignorant, very often appealed to his works, as the teſtimony of God to him; and thought it ſufficient to tell John's diſciples, when they came to inquire who he was, that he opened blind mens eyes, cleanſed lepers, and raiſed up the dead; by which they might anſwer their own queſtion. And therefore ſomething was to be ſaid by this Jew to diſparage theſe, upon which he ſaw the credit of our Saviour in great part relied. Now had it not been the readieſt way to deny that there were ſuch Miracles wrought? Nothing but the notoriouſneſs of the facts made him wave that courſe; which drove him upon this wretched ſhift, of denying utterly that Miracles are credible witneſſes to him that works them. By this means he thought to rob our Saviour of the glory they brought him; and was ſo blind as not to ſee that, at the ſame time, he took away from his own Maſter the greateſt ſupport he had of his Authority. And therefore herein he is deſerted by his own Country-men, particularly by Abarbinel; who, as I obſerved before, p. 388makes the power of working Miracles one of the principall gifts of the Meſſiah. In which our Lord, it is apparent to his very enemies, was ſo eminent, that one cannot imagine why he did not believe on him; unleſs, with the ſpitefull Phariſees, he imputed all his Works to the Devill. Which blaſphemy, I have ſhewn in the former Book, is ſo manifeſtly confuted by his holy Doctrine and Life, that they muſt be no leſs fooliſh then malicious who regard it. We ask no more, but to allow ſuch things were done as the Goſpell reports: (which they dare not deny us:) and then their great uncertainty what to ſay againſt them, ſhews how forcible they are to convince all indifferent men that he came from God; whoſe finger they were, pointing them to him as the Perſon whom they ſhould hear and obey.

And that they were a plain demonſtration of his power to give Eternall Life to all his followers, will appear from theſe following conſiderations.

I. If they confirmed all his Doctrine to be the Will of God, then we ought to look upon this as firmly eſtabliſht by p. 389them; for it was a known part of his Doctrine, that God ſent him to proclaim his purpoſe of giving everlaſting life by him, to all thoſe who ſhould believe on him. vi. Joh. 38, 39, 40. iii. 16. There is nothing in this aſſertion needs proof, but that they confirmed his Doctrine, (this being, it is apparent to all, a conſtant part of it;) in which the Blind man thought he could preſently ſatisfy any reaſonable perſon, when he ſaid, If this man were not of God, he could doe nothing. ix. Joh. 33. That is, no ſuch Miracle as that was, of opening the eyes of one born blind; a thing the world had never heard of, ſince it was firſt created, till that time. He preached nothing but piety and holineſs; He lived as he preached: both his Sermons and his Converſation were above all that ever had been for Sanctity: And his Works being ſo alſo, much beyond the moſt famed Prodigies the world had ever boaſted of; it was an unanſwerable argument that God was in him; who was never known to have let ſuch things be done before, in the compaſs of ſo many Ages; and therefore would not let them now doe their firſt Service to the countenancing of a lie. And therefore to theſe our Lord often p. 390refers them, as there was reaſon, for a proof of his Divine Authority. For if a falſe prophet could doe ſuch wonders, how ſhould there be any poſſibility of ever knowing a true? Reade x. Joh. 37, 38. xiv. 10. xv. 24.

That which is moſt proper for me to note is, that in that xiv. of St. John, when he bids them look upon his Works, as the beſt glaſs (that then was) wherein to ſee his Divinity, he was diſcourſing on this very ſubject, that He was the Life, ver. 6. and that He was going to the Father to live with him, and to prepare a place for them, &c. ver. 2, 3. Of this he could not give them a better evidence then the Wonders he had wrought, untill his Reſurrection. After which indeed (he ſaith ver. 12.) they ſhould doe greater works then theſe; which would more plainly tell them that he was with the Father. It will not be unprofitable if I open the whole diſcourſe, from verſ. 2. where he tells them, with a ſolemn profeſſion he would not abuſe them, that in his Father's houſe are many Manſions; and that he was going away indeed from them, but it was in order to prepare a place for them. He departed, he would have them p. 391believe, not merely to go to reſt himſelf after all his labours; but to take up lodgings, as one may ſay, for them in that bleſſed Reſt prepared for the people of God. Now the conſequence of this he tells them in the next words, ver. 3. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto my ſelf; that where I am, there ye may be alſo. He aſſures them, that is, he would not loſe the pains he had taken to procure ſuch a happineſs for them; but ſee them ſafe there, where they ſhould have their ſhare with him in that very bliſs which he was about to receive. And where I go, ye know, and the way ye know: ver. 4. As if he ſhould have ſaid, You underſtand well enough what I mean: (for I have often ſpoke of theſe things:) I go to Heaven, to live with God, and to give life to thoſe that believe on me; which that you may not miſs of, I have ſhewn you both by my doctrine and my example the way that leads to it. Alas! replies one of his Apoſtles, who ſeems to be the ſloweſt of all other to apprehend his meaning, or give credit to him, Lord, we know not whither thou goeſt; and how can we find the way? ver. 5. No? ſaith our Saviour to him again, that is ſtrange. I my ſelf p. 392am the Way, from whom you might have learnt how to arrive at this happineſs. And that this is the true way, which I have deſcribed, you need not doubt; for I am the Truth; that is, the teacher of truth, who have demonſtrated ſeverall ways, that what I declare is the very mind and will of God. And the ſame arguments which prove me to be the Truth, evidently ſhew alſo that I am the Life; who will conduct you to that bliſs unto which I am now going. And no man cometh to the Father, (and that Eternall life which is with him,) but by me; that is, by believing my words, and following my ſteps: ver. 6. And therefore if you had minded me and my words, (as it follows ver. 7. If ye had known me, ye would have known my Father alſo,) you would have known it is my Father's purpoſe to give you Eternall life: And from henceforth ſure you will not doubt of it, now that I have revealed it ſo plainly, that I may ſay you know him, and have ſeen him. Upon this Anſwer of our Saviour, another of his Apoſtles wiſht they might but ſee the Father, and that would be ſufficient: ver. 8. He deſired, that is, there might be ſome ſuch Divine appearance to them, as there was to Abraham p. 393and others of the Patriarchs in old time, and they would trouble him with no farther queſtions about this matter. How? ſaith our Saviour, have I been ſo long with you, and yet haſt thou not known me, Philip? that is, underſtood what kind of perſon I am? Doſt thou not ſee that I am the onelyonly-begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth? the expreſs image of his perſon, and the brightneſs of his glory? Was there ever ſuch an appearance of God in the world, as thou ſeeſt in me? All the Fathers enjoyed was but a little glimpſe of the Divine glory, in compariſon with that which now ſhines upon you in my face. And therefore why doſt thou ask to ſee the Father, as if there was nothing of him in me? I tell thee, He that hath ſeen me, hath ſeen the Father. And ſo it follows ver. 10. Believeſt thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I ſpeak unto you I ſpeak not of my ſelf; but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works. The properties of God are known by the works that he doeth; and there are ſuch wonderfull evidences of a Divine power as well as wiſedom in me, that all the Viſions the Prophets had, together with all the Miracles they did, p. 394were not ſuch a teſtimony of a Divine Preſence with them, as theſe are that the Father dwelleth in me. Therefore believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in me; ver. 11. (that is, take my word for it, that you See the Father, as you deſire, by ſeeing me;) or elſe believe me for the very works ſake. Let theſe, at leaſt, convince you that I am as nearly related to him as I pretend; for they are ſuch as can come from none but from God alone. foreign, as St. Greg. Nazianzen ſpeaks; Orat. xxxvi. p. 590.The Son is a brief and eaſie demonſtration of the Nature of the Father: who appeared in him, and ſpake by him, and declared both how good and how powerfull he is, not onelyonly by all that our Saviour ſaid, but by the Works that he did. Which were moſt manifeſt tokens that God was in him; and that his words were the words of God; and, conſequently, that in him we have life; and that he went to heaven, as he ſaid, to prepare a place for us; and that he will come again, and receive us unto himſelf, if we walk in that way which he hath chalked out to us by his moſt holy Life.

p. 395This our Saviour aſſerts alſo in other places, where he alledges his Works as an evidence of this very Doctrine. I ſhall mention onelyonly two more, and ſo diſmiſs this Argument. In the v. Joh. 28, 29. he tells the obſtinate Jews, it was no ſuch marvell that a dead man ſhould be raiſed up by him; if they conſidered, which was far more wonderfull, that he was the Perſon who would one day call all mankind out of their graves, and give unto the good Everlaſting Life. For proof of which he puts them in mind preſently after of his miraculous Works, (ver. 36.) which teſtified God had ſent him, and would verify all that he ſaid. And thereupon he exhorts them to ſearch the Scriptures, for in them you think ye have eternall Life; and they are they which teſtify of me. But you will not come to me, that you may have life: ver. 39, 40. Which was as much as to ſay, You all look for ETERNALL LIFE, and you hope in the Holy Scriptures to find it: I wiſh you would be more diligent in peruſing them; for they ſhew plainly that I am He who muſt bring you to it. But this is the miſery of your condition, that neither my Works, (ſpoken of before) nor the Scriptures, nor the p. 396teſtimony of John Baptiſt, (which he firſt alledged ver. 32, &c.) will perſwade you to believe on me; without which I cannot beſtow Life upon you.

The ſame he tells them x. Joh. 25. Where he ſaith, The works that I doe in my Father's name, they bear witneſs of me. They made it ſo apparent, that is, he ought with all readineſs to have been received, that he could not judge, as you reade in the next verſe, their infidelity came from any thing but improbity. Now what it was his works witneſſed, he tells us ver. 27, 28, 29, 30. viz. that to his ſheep, who were obedient to him, he would give Eternall Life: of which they ſhould have ſuch a ſure poſſeſſion, that they ſhould never loſe it; becauſe none ſhould be able to wreſt them from him, with whom God himſelf had intruſted them; who would maintain and defend them, and their right to it, without any poſſibility of plucking them out of his hands. His Father, he means, had appointed him to beſtow this Life on all his followers, who was able to make good his own purpoſe and promiſes. And therefore as the Works he did made it appear that He and the Father were one; ſo He p. 397would certainly make good the Doctrine which he preached, (and thus by Miracles confirmed,) that they ſhould have Eternall Life, and never periſh.

II. This we may reaſonably think his Miracles declared, if we conſider the nature and quality of every one of them; which, in generall, was the doing of ſome good or other to mankind. What did this ſpeak, but that He was come to be the Authour of the greateſt happineſs to them? They could not well pick leſs ſenſe out of his Works then this, when they ſaw him beſtow ſuch benefits, that He was of GOD, who is Good, and doeth good, and would never ceaſe his lovingkindneſs to the World. For the multitude and the conſtancy of his Miraculous acts of bounty, in ſo many places, to all ſorts of men, throughout his whole life, declared the largeneſs, the univerſality, and unchangeable perpetuity of his Goodneſs; which would withhold no good thing from upright perſons. And therefore in his Anſwer to the Queſtion which John's diſciples propoſed, you find his opening the eyes of the blind, cleanſing the lepers, making the lame to walk, and ſuch like miraculous works, in conjunction with p. 398his preaching the Goſpell to the pooreſt people; which was nothing elſe but this glad tidings of Eternall Life. xi. Matth. 5. This he publiſhed ſo plainly as none before him had done; and that they might be diſpoſed to believe him to be the perſon in whom all nations ſhould be bleſſed, He did ſuch Miracles as none before him had done: which were all bleſſings, the greateſt favours and kindneſſes to mankind; but no hurt to any one man in the world. This was a greater Argument to receive him as the Authour of Eternall Life, which he promiſed, then the wonders in Egypt were to perſwade the Iſraelites that Moſes ſhould redeem them, and bring them to temporall felicity: inaſmuch as the conſtant doing innumerable benefits to men renders one far more acceptable, then the killing and deſtroying them.

III. But then, if you more particularly conſider, that a great many of his Miracles were the reſtoring men to their primitive ſtate of integrity and ſoundneſs of body, by removing the ſickneſſes and diſeaſes which Sin had brought upon them it was a notable ſign… … He was the Healer of Nature, the Reſtorer of the p. 399World, the foreign Saviour of mankind; who could bring them back to that bleſſed immortality which they had loſt. Whence it was that, when he cured the man ſick of the palſy, in ſtead of ſaying, Be well, he ſaid, Son, thy ſins are forgiven thee: to ſhew that He had power to remove the puniſhment of ſin, and ſo make them immortall.

VI. The like another ſort of Miracles ſeems to ſuggeſt to us; which was his feeding ſo many thouſands at a time with a ſmall quantity of proviſions. Of which you reade (as in other places, ſo) in vi. Joh. 5, 6, &c. where you find, that with five barley loaves and two ſmall fiſhes he entertained about five thouſand people ſo plentifully, that every one of them had as much as he deſired: and when they had done, there were twelve baskets of fragments, which remained over and above to them that had eaten. This Miracle made the multitude conclude that certainly He was the Prophet who ſhould come into the world: and therefore they purpoſed, whether he would or no, to come and make him their King: ver. 14, 15. And when he avoided it by croſſing the ſea privately, (ver. 16, 17, &c.) they alſo p. 400took ſhipping to follow after him, and never reſted till they had found him: ver. 24, 25. Whereupon our Lord takes occaſion to tell them, how ſorry he was to ſee them ſo induſtriouſly purſue the food of their bodies, and not mind the food of their Souls, to which his late Miracle led them: and in plain terms tell them, that Spirituall food was himſelf; who was the Bread of life they ſhould hunger after, more then for the loaves wherewith they had been filled: and that if they did eat of him, they ſhould have everlaſting life, and he would raiſe them up at the laſt day, ver. 26, 27. and 35, &c. This they might eaſily have believed, if they had conſidered the Miracle of the loaves; which was a token from God that he could ſupport them eternally. For why ſhould not he be able to give life, who ſo ſtrangely preſerved it? and out of a little duſt make a body, as he had out of a few crums made ſo many loaves? If their deſires had been fixed upon this Eternall Life which he preached, as much as upon the preſent, they would as naturally have taken this Miracle for the Seal whereby God noted him to be the giver of it, as they took it to be a mark that he could thus fill their bellies every day, p. 401and ſave them the labour of ſeeking food; after the manner that Moſes fed their Fathers with Manna in the Wilderneſs.

V. And next to this, if you conſider how he diſpoſſeſſed Devils, which was a Wonder as frequent as any, if told the world plainly that He was come to deſtroy the works of the Devil, to overthrow his kingdom, and deveſt him of his power, unleſs they would ſtill uphold him in it. By Sin he held his Throne; this gave him all the power he had over men, and made them his vaſſals and ſlaves. Who being ſo often reſcued out of his hands, and he ſo openly foiled; it was a ſign that Jeſus was come to take away the ſins of the world, and thereby diſarm him of the power of death, and reſtore men again to that everlaſting Life, out of which the Devil had before thrown mankind, as our Saviour now threw him out of them. All this the Jews themſelves confeſs ſhall be the work of the Meſſiah. According to what we reade in the Authour of the Book concerning the Service of the Sanctuary, who ſaith, that the King Meſſiah ſhall reſtore all things to their firſt eſtate, ſo that the intention of God ſhall p. 402be fulfilled which he had in the Creation of the World; for the World ſhall return to that naturall perfection which it had before rebellious Adam ſinned. The Prophets are faithfull witneſſes of this, as it is written lxv. Iſa. 19. I will rejoyce in Jeruſalem, and joy in my people; and the voice of weeping ſhall be no more heard in her, nor the voice of crying. And ſo he ſpeaks alſo in another place of that Book, xxv. 8. He will ſwallow up death in victory, and the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces. The Authour alſo of Baal Hatturim, as I find him cited by Hackspan **Cabala Judaica Sect. 72., confeſſes as much in his Notes upon xix. Num. where he ſaith, In the times of Salvation (or the days of Chriſt) there ſhall be no uſe of the Aſhes of the red heifer, according to that, He will ſwallow up death in victory. Which words are cited by St. Paul 1 Cor. xv. 54. (as the other part of that verſe is by the voice St. John heard from heaven, xxi. Rev. 4.) when he is treating of the Reſurrection of the dead, as the great comfort of Chriſtian people. Who may well expect it, and all the bleſſings that attend upon it, from our Lord Jeſus, the true Meſſiah, if to all that hath been ſaid we p. 403adde the conſideration of what follows;

VI. That he raiſed even dead men to life again: which was the greateſt Miracle of all, and at that time the greateſt witneſs of the SPIRIT to him. This ſhew'd that indeed he had Life in himſelf, and would beſtow it upon us, as I have already noted; for he raiſed them on purpoſe to declare what he was, and what they might expect from him, viz. a perfect victory over death and the grave. Which appeared moſt remarkably in the reſurrection of Lazarus; who was the moſt famous inſtance of this power reſiding in him. For the Miracle wrought on him was not ſo little as the recovering one who drew his laſt breath, (which was the caſe of the Centurion's Servant;) nor the reſtoring one to life who was newly dead, (as in the caſe of the Ruler of the Synagogue's daughter;) nor the raiſing a young man who was carried out towards his grave, (as the Widow's ſon was:) but foreign, as Greg. Nyſſen ſpeaks **De Hominis opifici… cap. xxv., his Wonder-working proceeds to ſomething more ſublime. A man of grown years, not onelyonly dead, but muſty, already putrid, and in a diſſolution, (as he p. 404deſcribes his condition,) ſo far gone toward corruption, that his own friends thought it not fit our Lord ſhould go to uncover his tomb, becauſe of the ill ſmell which might be expected; this man, I ſay, with one word of our Lord's, was reſtored again to life, firm and compacted: and though he was bound hand and foot with grave-cloaths, it did not hinder his coming out of his grave; which, as Theophanes thinks, was a Miracle little leſs then his Reſurrection. Who can chuſe but look on this foreign, to uſe the ſame St. Gregory's words, as the beginning (the little Myſteries, as I may call them,) of the Ʋniverſall Reſurrection, into which Chriſt now initiated his Diſciples? For it is apparent by this, He is the Lord of Life, who can raiſe a putrid rotten carkaſs, as well as thoſe who are but newly departed the world.

And this was no private buſineſs tranſacted onelyonly between him and his Diſciples, but a thing ſo notorious, that the foreign the multitude who were there preſent bare record of it. xii. Joh. 17. That is, they affirmed it to be no vain report, but told thoſe of Jeruſalem (whither our p. 405Saviour was then going) who had not ſeen the Miracle done, that it was a certain Truth upon their knowledge. Which they might affirm with the greater aſſurance, becauſe, as Theophanes **Archiepiſ. Taurom. Hom. xxv.obſerves, they were confirmed in this belief by the teſtimony of all their ſenſes. By their own voice, which ſhewed him the Tomb, ſaying, Come and ſee: and his loud voice, which they heard ſaying, Lazarus, come forth. xi. Joh. 34, 43. By their ſight, when they beheld him, whom they knew very well to be dead, obeying his word. By their ſmell, when they perceived the ill ſent, as they rolled away the ſtone. By their touch, when they looſed his hands and his feet, as our Lord bad them, and let him go. By all theſe they were ſo well ſatisfied, that there was no room left for their infidelity; nor much for the Phariſees: who knew neither how to confute this Teſtimony, nor how to avoid the conſequence of it. They began now to deſpair of prevailing againſt him any other way, then by taking away his life; which their malice made them deſign againſt the cleareſt light. Though that alſo proved, as you ſhall ſee preſently, but a farther confirmation of the truth p. 406they ſought to obſcure, by his riſing again from the dead. And they could have found in their hearts to have killed Lazarus too; becauſe, as long as he lived, he would proclaim this Miracle to the honour of Jeſus: who hereby gave ſuch an illuſtrious teſtimony that he was the Authour of Eternall Life, that juſt when he was going to raiſe up Lazarus, he inculcates this Doctrine, as the fitteſt ſeaſon to impreſs it upon them. xi. Joh. 25, 26. I am the Reſurrection and the Life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet ſhall he live. And whoſoever liveth, and believeth in me, ſhall never die. Martha, it ſeems, believed this before, upon a perſwaſion that he was the Chriſt, the Son of God, that ſhould come into the world: ver. 27. But when ſhe ſaw Lazarus come out of his grave, then ſure ſhe believed it more ſtrongly; both becauſe it was a farther argument that he was the Chriſt, and likewiſe included in it that very thing which he propounded to her belief, viz. that He was the Life, and would give life unto thoſe who were dead, if they believed on him.

I ſhall conclude this part of the SPIRIT's Teſtimony with thoſe words of p. 407our Lord himſelf, viii. Joh. 50. where he proteſts that he ſought not his own glory; that is, aſſumed not to himſelf this great power, to be the Life of the world: but God the Father ſought it; i. e. perſwaded the world of it, by the illuſtrious Miracles which he wrought; whereby the Father honoured him, (as he ſays ver. 54.) and paſſed ſuch a judgment on him, that we may all conclude, as he doth ver. 51. Verily, verily, if a man keep his words, he ſhall not ſee death.

II.

Of which we ſhall be the more confident, if we adde now the other Witneſs of the SPIRIT to him, which was in raiſing him from the dead, and giving him Glory at God's right hand. This was a greater Wonder then all that preceded; ſufficient to ſatisfie thoſe who ſtill remained doubtfull. For if any body (as St. Greg. Nyſſen diſcourſes in the Book before mentioned) ſhould uſe thoſe words of our Lord in another caſe, and apply them to this buſineſs, ſaying, Phyſician, cure thy ſelf: it is but meet that he who did ſuch wonders on other mens bodies to prove a Reſurrection, p. 408ſhould give an example of it in his own. We have ſeen one nigh to death, another newly dead, a young man ready to be laid in his grave, and Lazarus already rotten; all theſe by his word recalled to life: Let us ſee one live again who was wounded, and had his heart pierced, and his bloud ſhed, one who we are ſure was dead. Come then, and look upon Jeſus himſelf; whoſe hands and feet were pierced, into whoſe ſide a ſpear was thruſt. Come, and look upon him who bled to death. And if this man was raiſed from the dead, (nay more then that, aſcended into heaven,) as abundance of credible witneſſes teſtifie; what doubt is there left, that by him God will give us a bleſſed Reſurrection unto immortall Life, if we be obedient to him? They that ſaw the one (viz. his Reſurrection and Aſcenſion) could not but ſtedfaſtly believe the other: and have told us that he was raiſed and glorified on purpoſe that our faith and hope might be in God. 1 Pet. 1.21. This was the great deſign and end of firſt opening his grave, and then opening the heavens to him; that our confidence in God might revive again, and we might hope by his favour to have the honour of being p. 409made the ſons of God, by being the children of the Reſurrection.

That our Bleſſed Saviour was really dead, as the Hiſtory teſtifies, his greateſt Enemies always confeſſed, and ſtill acknowledge. He hung a long time upon the Croſs; there he bled; and at laſt his ſide was wounded with a ſpear in the vitall parts. All the ſpectatours were ſatisfied that he had given up the ghoſt: and the Souldiers, when they came to break his legs, as the manner was, found the work already ſo effectually done, that there was no need of it. He was wrapt in Cerecloaths, laid in a grave, and given up by all his Friends for a loſt man. But that after all this he was as really alive again as he had been before, is teſtified by divers ſufficient Witneſſes; and among the reſt by one of his principall Enemies, who was throughly convinced of it. The Apoſtles ſaw him very often; they ſpake with him; they felt and handled him; one of them put his finger into the very print of the nails, and thruſt his hand into his wounded ſide. They eat and drank with him; they received Commiſſions from him: and after he had ſhewn himſelf alive to them by many infallible p. 410proofs, being ſeen of them forty days, he aſcended up to heaven in their ſight; and from thence, according to his promiſe, they received the Holy Ghoſt; i. e. in his Name did all ſorts of Miracles, raiſing even dead men to life again. And after all he appeared from heaven to St. Paul, (a man that ſet himſelf vehemently againſt him, and breathed nothing but threatnings and ſlaughters againſt his Diſciples,) whom he turned quite to be on his ſide; perſwading him ſo fully that he was indeed riſen from the dead, that he became, as you have heard, a moſt zealous preacher of it with the continuall hazzard of his life. This is a more credible Hiſtory then any other: (as it were eaſie to ſhew, if it were my preſent buſineſs:) and we may better doubt of all Records, then of thoſe wherein the memory of theſe things is preſerved. They were holy, devout and ſelf-denying perſons, who report theſe things upon their own knowledge. And they are reported not by one or two, but by many of them; who met with nothing in the world to tempt them to tell a lie, but with a great many things to deterr them from publiſhing ſo odious a Truth. And therefore if we will not doubt of every thing we p. 411do not ſee, we cannot refuſe to believe that Jeſus did indeed riſe again after he was dead and buried, and aſcended into heaven. Which being ſuppoſed, (for I ſhall ſay no more of it here,) there is no man can have the face to deny the Reſurrection of the body, and Life everlaſting, which Chriſt our Lord hath promiſed us. There can be no truer reaſoning then that of St. Paul, 1 Theſſ. iv. 14. If we believe that Jeſus died and roſe again, even ſo them alſo that ſleep in Jeſus will God bring with him.

I. For thus much is evident at firſt ſight, and is included in the thing it ſelf, that this work of the SPIRIT proves a poſſibility of the Reſurrection of the dead, and ſhews that we mortal creatures, who live on the earth, may live in the heavens. So the ſame Apoſtle argues elſewhere againſt thoſe who denied this Truth. 1 Cor. xv. 12. If Chriſt be preached (upon ſuch credible teſtimonies as he mentions in the foregoing verſes) that he roſe from the dead, how ſay ſome among you that there is no reſurrection of the dead? It is the groſſeſt abſurdity, that is, to ſay there can be no ſuch thing as the reſtoring of a dead body to life; when it is p. 412ſo evidently verified in Chriſt's reſurrection. Which ſhews it is ſo far from being impoſſible or incredible, that it is a thing which hath been done already; as is very well atteſted by Witneſſes that cannot with any equity be rejected. And by the ſame reaſon he proves we ought not to deſpair of ſeeing our bodies made glorious and incorruptible. For if He be not in his grave, (as none could ſhew him there after the third day,) but is made glorious; why may not we partake of the ſame favour, by that power which raiſed Chriſt from the dead, and ſet him at God's right hand? There is no reaſon to doubt of it; but the greateſt reaſon to hope and be confident, that He who raiſed up the Lord Jeſus (as St. Paul ſpeaks in the next Epiſtle, 2 Cor. iv. 14.) will raiſe up us alſo by Jeſus, and ſet us in his preſence in the heavens.

II. For by his Reſurrection the SPIRIT proved the truth of all that the other Witneſſes, the Water, the Bloud, and his Miraculous Works too, teſtified. Particularly it demonſtrated the truth of his Doctrine, by which, as you have ſeen, life and immortality was brought to light. If this had not been true, that we ſhall p. 413live for ever by him, Jeſus would have periſhed, and never have come to life again, to deceive the World the ſecond time. But ſeeing God did not leave his Soul in hell, nor ſuffer his Holy (i. e. his anointed) one to ſee corruption; it is an uncontroulable argument that thoſe who believe on him ſhall not periſh neither, but be made alive as he is. Becauſe He that ſaid he would riſe again the third day, ſaid likewiſe with the ſame aſſurance, that at the laſt day he will raiſe up us alſo, and beſtow upon us everlaſting Life. When God (who alone could doe it) verified the one, and according to his word raiſed up Jeſus the third day; He bid us be aſſured of the other, that this Jeſus hath Life in himſelf, and will by his power raiſe up us, according to his promiſe, unto a never-dying life.

This is the Character He had given of himſelf, I am the Reſurrection and the Life; that is, the Authour, the Cauſe of both: He that believeth on me ſhall have everlaſting life, and I will raiſe him up at the laſt day; nothing of him ſhall periſh, neither his Soul nor his body; for even they that are in their graves ſhall hear his voice, and ſhall riſe again to liſe. This p. 414he often preached, and proved many ways: but after all he ſealed it with his bloud, and bad them expect a little, and they ſhould ſee it ſealed by his reſurrection from the dead. Which inſuing at the time appointed, was a perfect demonſtration that he ſaid true, when he affirmed that He is the Reſurrection and the Life; by whom we ſhall receive this ineſtimable benefit of riſing again after death, to live for ever with him. Of this as well as the former Conſideration I may poſſibly ſay ſo much elſewhere, that I ſhall ſpare any farther pains about them now.

III. Let us rather remember how ſeverall perſons roſe from the dead at that very time when he left his grave: (xxvii. Matt. 52, 53.) which were notable inſtances of his power to give life; and put us in hope that we ſhall all riſe again as they did. There is no cauſe but his Reſurrection to be aſſigned of this Miracle, which fell out the ſame time that he was miſſing in his grave; as the opening of their tombs, at that very moment when he died. Never was any ſuch thing heard of before or ſince; and therefore it was intended to demonſtrate the mighty power p. 415of his Reſurrection: when many bodies of Saints which ſlept aroſe, and came out of their graves, and went into Jeruſalem, and appeared unto many. Whoſe teſtimony none have had the confidence to contradict by endeavouring to diſprove it; but the Jews rather by ſome conceſſions of theirs confirm us in the belief of it. For it is a common opinion now among their Doctours, that the Kingdom of the Meſſiah ſhall begin with the Reſurrection of the dead. Bury me, ſaid R. Jeremiah, with ſhoes on my feet, and my ſtaff in my hand, and lay me on one ſide; that when Chriſt comes, I may be ready. But of this conceit we can find no footſteps in the Old Scriptures; which makes it probable that they have borrowed this, as they have done many other things, from the Holy Goſpell, in which it is recorded, that he began his entrance upon his Kingdome with the Reſurrection of ſome pious perſons, as an earneſt of the reſtoring all the reſt to Eternall Life. And thus it is likely they have learnt to diſcourſe of the bodies of the juſt after they are raiſed; concerning which ſome of them ſpeak ſo ſublimely, above the dull and groſs conceptions of the reſt of their Nation, that one can ſcarce look upon p. 416it otherwiſe then as Chriſtian language. When the Soul is in the ſtate of glory, Vid. Jo. de Voyſin in Pug. fid. part. iii. diſt. 2. c. 8.(ſaith the Book Zohar,) it ſuſtains it ſelf with the light above, wherewith it is alſo cloathed: and when it ſhall return to the body, it ſhall come with the ſame light, and with the body ſhall ſhine as with the brightneſs of heaven. More there is in other Authours to the ſame purpoſe, which ſay, God can give us bodies ſtrong and vigorous like the Angels; and that the bodies of the juſt after the reſurrection ſhall be ſubtil like the globe of the Moon, Vid. eum de Lege Div. in xxii. Matt. 3….Matt 3and ſo give no impediment to the Soul, in its enjoyment of the Splendour of the Divine Majeſty.

But ſuppoſing this to be their own language, without any tincture they had received from the Chriſtian Doctrine, it will be ſtill more remarkable, that our Lord Jeſus (according to their expectations from the Meſſiah) ſhould begin to raiſe the dead, when he went to take poſſeſſion of his throne. A plain ſign that he is the Reſurrection and the Life; from whom we may confidently look for bodies, not onelyonly bright as the Moon, but that ſhall ſhine, according to his faithfull promiſe, like the Sun, in the Kingdom p. 417of the Father. Concerning which things if the Apoſtles had written falſe, and there had not been many able to bear record of the riſing of theſe holy perſons, and coming into Jeruſalem, as well as of the riſing of Lazarus; there would have been pens enough in thoſe days imployed to confute them, and proclaim the forgery. And theſe Jews would have been as carefull preſervers of ſuch confutations, as of any their moſt beloved Traditions; which can never doe them ſo much ſervice, as thoſe volumes would have done.

VI. Nor is there the leaſt ſhadow of reaſon to queſtion the Teſtimony of thoſe who ſaw him aſcend into heaven, and, as a token of his being inthroned there, received from him, ten days after, the gift of the Holy Ghoſt. Which compleated the demonſtration of his power and purpoſe to give Eternall Life to all his followers. For,

1. His very Aſcenſion into heaven (as it breeds in us a belief of a glorious ſtate in the other World, ſo it) evidently ſhews that it is poſſible ſuch as we may be tranſlated thither: And though our p. 418Bodies now be but lumps of living clay, yet they may one day be ſnatched, as he was, from this dull globe, to ſhine among the Stars. And the Angels alſo appearing both at his reſurrection and aſcenſion, and waiting upon him unto heaven, ſhew that its gates are no longer barred againſt us, but ſet open again to give us a free admiſſion into it. For they who were ſet to watch the way to Paradiſe, and guard it ſo that none ſhould enter, voluntarily lent their aſſiſtence to tranſport Him thither, after they had brought the joyfull news of his being riſen from the dead.

2. But this is the leaſt comfort we receive from thence; for his glorification at God's right hand, when he came thither, advances our hope to a greater height; and ſhews that it is not onelyonly poſſible, but certain, we ſhall be taken up above to be with him. His Kingdom, it is apparent now, (by his ſending the Holy Ghoſt,) is ſupereminent over all; and nothing can be out of the reach of his power. For it is a power over all Creatures in heaven and earth and under the earth, who doe obeiſance to him, and cannot reſiſt him. ii. Phil. 10. 1 Pet. iii. p. 419ult. And a power to doe all things: for God hath put all things under his feet. 1 Cor. xv. 27. A power of conferring all dignities and honours; iii. Phil. 21. and of removing all impediments to our preferment, He having the keys of hell and death. i. Rev. 18. In ſhort, a perfect power to doe all things to make us glorious. For in that he put all in ſubjection under him, he left nothing that is not put under him, as the Apoſtle argues ii. Heb. 8. And though he hath not yet exerciſed his whole unlimited power, as it there follows, yet we are ſure he hath it; becauſe we ſee (by manifeſt arguments) Jeſus crowned with glory and honour for the ſuffering of death. By which the allwiſe God thought fit to conſecrate this Captain of Salvation; who he deſigned ſhould bring many Sons unto glory together with himſelf.

3. Which He will not fail to doe, we may be ſure, being thus perfected and compleatly furniſhed for the very purpoſe: becauſe this Royall power wherewith he is inveſted is a kind of Truſt; and he hath received it (as St. Paul plainly ſuppoſes 1 Cor. xv. 24, 25, &c. where he ſpeaks of his Kingdom) not onelyonly for himſelf, but p. 420for the good of all thoſe whom he rules and governs. For the Apoſtle concludes that he, having a Kingdom which muſt at laſt be reſigned into the hands of God the Father, will firſt put down all rule, all authority and power, and leave no enemy unconquered; no not Death, which will onelyonly be the laſt that ſhall be ſubdued, but ſubdued and deſtroyed it muſt be: ver. 26, 27. Nay, our Lord himſelf acknowledges his Kingdome to be a truſt, when he ſays, xvii. Joh. 2. Thou haſt given him power over all fleſh, that he ſhould give eternall life to as many as thou haſt given him. Whence it is that he often proteſts, it is his Father's will, that of all he hath given him he ſhould loſe nothing, but ſhould raiſe it up again at the laſt day, &c. vi. Joh. 39, 40. For as the living Father hath ſent me, and I live by the Father; ſo he that eateth me, even he ſhall live by me: ver. 57. And in expreſs terms he ſaith, as I have ſhewn before, that he went away to prepare a place for us. And therefore is bound by his office, we may conclude, to promote us to that glory and honour in the heavens, which it is his Father's will, he knows, ſhould be beſtowed on us.

p. 4214. And who can doubt at all of his fidelity in this, who was ſo faithfull in all other things; moſt punctually, for inſtance, making good his promiſe of ſending the Holy Ghoſt, as an earneſt, I have often ſaid, of this immortall inheritance? None can imagine he will now prove negligent in that, which by his place he ſtands ingaged to perform; when upon Earth he did the will of him that ſent him with ſuch exactneſs, that he rewarded him for it with that high dignity which he now enjoys in the heavens. Therefore his greateſt care was to aſſert and prove his power to give Eternall Life. Of his will he thought there need not much be ſaid; for none could doubt of it, after they ſaw him die for them, and then expreſs ſuch love, after his reſurrection, as to ſend the Holy Ghoſt upon them.

5. This is abundantly ſufficient to ſecure all conſidering perſons of ſo deſirable a Good. Which the Apoſtles began confidently to expect, as ſoon as ever they were ſatisfied of the reſurrection of our Lord from the dead. Before he aſcended to heaven their thoughts ran p. 422thither, and they began to ſee that he was the Lord of life and glory. For as ſoon as St. Thomas was convinced by a palpable demonſtration that he was riſen, he cried out, My Lord, and my God. xx. Joh. 28. This is the firſt time that any of his Apoſtles gave him the title of their GOD; when they were fully ſatisfied, as Grotius obſerves, by his Reſurrection, that he would give Eternall Life to them. And then it was alſo, you may note, that he firſt gave them the title of his Brethren, who ſhould ſhare with him in the glory to which he was going. xx. Joh. 17. xxviii. Matth. 10. Go tell my Brethren that they go into Galilee, &c. In which words he alludes, as Euſebius obſerves, to thoſe xxii. Pſal. 22. I will declare thy name unto my brethren. He never called them ſo before, till he was after a new manner declared the Son of God with power by the reſurrection from the dead: And now to own them for his Brethren, was as much as to ſay, that they ſhould be made the Sons of God by their reſurrection, and be coheirs with him. To prove which new Brotherhood the Apoſtle to the Hebrews brings that place of the Pſalmiſt now mentioned, ii. Heb. 11, 12. He is not aſhamed to call p. 423them Brethren, ſaying, I will declare thy name unto my brethren. Whence he is called the firſt-born among many brethren, viii. Rom. 29. Whom he bids them that firſt ſaw him alive again inform, that he aſcended to his God and to their God, and to his Father and their Father: to ſhew them, that they might ſafely repoſe ſuch a confidence in God as he had done; and hope to be raiſed by him from the dead, as he was, and receive a portion with him in the heavenly inheritance.

6. This Relation which he owns to us gives us the greateſt confidence to look upon him as our HOPE, (as St. Paul ſpeaks 1 Tim. i. 1.) the HOPE of Glory, 1 Col. 27. For it is certain that when any perſon is advanced to a throne, his bloud is thereby inriched: all his family, I mean, are raiſed and dignified; his children eſpecially put into the quality of royall perſons, though never ſo mean before; nay, made capable of ſucceeding him in his ſtate and greatneſs. Now our Lord hath a family as well as other perſons; all thoſe who believe on him being acknowledged by him, not onelyonly to be his brethren, but his children: who, living by his faith, are really deſcended p. 424from him; and therefore by his reſurrection are alſo begotten again unto a lively hope of an incorruptible inheritance. 1 Pet. i. 3, 4. Whence the ſame Divine Writer, who obſerves how he calls them Brethren, immediately ſhews how he owns a nearer relation to them, ſaying, Behold, I, and the children which God hath given me: ii. Heb. 13. who in him are all advanced to the higheſt honour. His glory makes them illuſtrious: for if children, ſaith St. Paul, then heirs; heirs of God, and joyntheirs with Chriſt. viii. Rom. 17.

Who is not to be conſidered merely as a ſingle perſon, but as the Lord and Head of a Body or Corporation of men; who are ſo one with him, that the raiſing him to ſo great a glory as he inherits, is the raiſing and ennobling them. A ſure pledge, that is, that the ſame ſhall be done for the Members, which was for the Head; who will not be without them, but make them partakers of the ſame benefit which is beſtowed on him. He is like the firſt-fruits, as St. Paul diſcourſes, (in his Chapter of the Reſurrection, 1 Cor. xv. 20, &c.) a ſecond Adam, the head and beginning of a new Creation; by whom all ſhall as ſurely be p. 425made alive, as in the firſt Adam all died.

7. Why ſhould we doubt of it, ſince he was carried to heaven, as they that received the Holy Ghoſt teſtified, to appear before God with his bloud for us? ix. Heb. 23, 24. This is a very great argument that we have Eternall Life, and that it is in him; for this Sacrifice of himſelf being accepted by God, (the Eternall SPIRIT, which offered him to God, preſenting him before him without ſpot or blemiſh,) muſt needs take away ſin, and remove all hindrances to our admiſſion into the very ſame place where he is, as that Epiſtle proves at large. By this offering he hath perfected for ever them that are ſanctified; and we have foreign, liberty and freedom (without any lett or impediment) to enter into the Holieſt by the bloud of Jeſus. x. Heb. 14, 19. Who is ſuch an Highprieſt over the family of God as is ſet on the right hand of the throne of the majeſty in the heavens; (viii. 1.) and being conſecrated for evermore, is become the Authour of eternall Salvation unto all them that obey him. v. 9. vii. 28.

p. 4268. To whom therefore we ought to draw near with a true heart, in full aſſurance of faith, that he will not fail to imploy his power to make us happy with himſelf. Which, you may conſider once more, he moſt earneſtly prayed for when he was on earth: it being one of his laſt requeſts to his Father, that thoſe whom he had given him, might be with him where he is; that they might behold the glory which he hath given him. xvii. Joh. 24. And therefore having obtained ſuch a power over all as hath been deſcribed, by his precious bloud which he was then going to offer; we may reſt aſſured he will not let us be without that of which he was ſo deſirous before he left the World, now that he is in heaven with full power to fulfill his own deſires. For it is unreaſonable to ſuppoſe that a Friend, who carneſtly beſeeches another to grant us a favour, will not moſt readily doe it himſelf, when he becomes as able to beſtow it as he of whom before he askt it.

But the fear of ſwelling this Treatiſe into over-great a bulk makes me paſs over theſe things with the bare mention p. 427of them, and omit many other. I ſhall put an end therefore to this laſt Teſtimony of the SPIRIT with thoſe remarkable words of St. Peter, in his ſecond Epiſtle, ver. 3, 4. of the firſt Chapter: Where he ſaith, as we tranſlate him, that the Divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godlineſs, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and vertue: whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promiſes, &c. The meaning of which in a larger form of words is plainly this. Account that grace and peace which I have wiſht you in abundance (ver. 2.) from God and our Saviour, no ſmall bleſſing: For God hath in a moſt excellent, omnipotent manner beſtowed on us all things that are neceſſary for our future happineſs and felicity, and for our preſent conduct in piety, which is the onelyonly way to that Eternall life. And if you ask me how he hath given us theſe things in ſo reſplendent, godlike a manner; I'le tell you: it is through the knowledge of him that hath called us; that is, through Jeſus Chriſt, the true Word of God, who hath called us to piety and happineſs. And if you enquire again, how you ſhall p. 428know that what he ſaith is true, and that he calls us not merely from himſelf, but from God, who directs us by him in the right way of godlineſs, which will bring us to everlaſting Life; I'll reſolve you in that alſo: for he hath called us foreign, by (ſo it is in the margin) glory and vertue. How we come to render it to glory and vertue, I know not, for it makes the ſenſe obſcure; whereas otherwiſe it is perſpicuous and clear: and as if the Apoſtle had ſaid, The Glory and Vertue which accompanied his preaching, or preſently followed it, is a very ſtrong argument to induce you to believe that he taught the way of God in truth; having revealed all things pertaining to life and godlineſs, as God himſelf atteſts. For by the Glory wherewith he called us, i. e. preached the Goſpell and perſwaded us to believe, we are to underſtand his Transfiguration on the holy Mount; where they ſaw his glory: ix. Luk. 32. and to which the Apoſtle afterward appeals ver. 16, 17. of this Chapter, as a juſtification of the truth of their Miniſtry. The coming down alſo of the Holy Ghoſt at his Baptiſm, the voices from heaven, (in one of which God ſaid he would glorifie p. 429him again as he had done already,) and the deſcent of the Holy Ghoſt upon the Apoſtles, are here alſo to be underſtood by Glory: for by theſe we are called and moved to receive the knowledge of him. And then by Vertue is undoubtedly meant that very thing which I laſt treated of, his mighty power in miraculous works, and the mighty power of the SPIRIT in raiſing him from the dead. For it is well obſerved by Druſius and others, that foreign Vertue in theſe holy Writings never ſignifies, as it doth in heathen Authours, Piety and morall goodneſs in oppoſition to Vice; but power and might in oppoſition to weakneſs. And therefore by this word the Greek Interpreters of the Old Teſtament render the Hebrew word foreign, which denotes the Greatneſs, Majeſty and height of God's excellency; and ſometimes the word foreign, which ſignifies ſtrength and ſtoutneſs. According to which in the New Teſtament it denotes either the mighty power of God, (as here in this place;) or elſe our courage and valour, as in the fifth verſe of this Chapter. But it is no-where found in the ſacred ſtyle uſed for piety: and therefore we muſt not render the particle foreign to, p. 430but by, vertue; that is, the power and mightineſs of God's arm or ſtrength, (as the Scripture ſpeaks) by which our Saviour convinced the World that God the Father had ſent him to give Life unto it.

Thus the Apoſtle St. Paul ſaith, (which will very much explain this,) that He was raiſed up from the dead foreign, by the glory of the Father. vi. Rom. 4. That is, by his glorious power, as Camero well renders it: for his power appeared moſt gloriouſly in that wonderfull Work, whereby, as St. Peter here ſpeaks, he called us to believe on him. So we are to underſtand him, it appears by another Argument. For if we ſhould ſay we are called to glory, (underſtanding thereby heaven,) we could not be ſaid to have precious promiſes (as it follows) hereby given to us: For this would be to ſay, that by calling us to heaven he hath called us to heaven. But if we take theſe words the other way, then the ſenſe runs currently, and delivers to us this excellent Truth; That by ſuch means as I have treated of, (the Deſcent of the Holy Ghoſt, the Transfiguration of our Saviour, the Voices from heaven, the Miracles he wrought, the might of p. 431his power which wrought in him when God raiſed him from the dead,) he perſwaded men to receive him as the onelyonly-begotten of the Father; who was come, by his authority, to ſhew them the true way to everlaſting life. By theſe we know that we are not cheated, but that he who hath called us is the Son of God; by whom we are ſure to attain everlaſting life, if we follow thoſe directions he hath given us, which will infallibly bring us to it.

And then the next words (ver. 4.) are ſtill more pertinent to my purpoſe, foreign, or by which, (GLORY and VERTUE) are given unto us exceeding great and precious promiſes. We are ſo ſure to attain eternall life, that we have many promiſes of it; which are ſo ſtrongly confirmed, that we cannot doubt of them, being delivered in ſuch a divine manner. For when he gave them it was foreign, by glory and vertue, with ſuch demonſtrations of his Authority to promiſe them, and of his power to make them good, that we cannot but depend upon his word. None, I ſuppoſe, queſtion but by theſe great, theſe precious, yea exceeding great and precious p. 432promiſes, he means thoſe of raiſing us from the dead, and carrying us to heaven, to live with God, and that eternally. Theſe are the chiefeſt things of which our Lord hath given us ſuch aſſurance, when he called us to believe on his Name. Things which as much exceed all that was promiſed Iſrael, as the heavens are wider then the ſmalleſt ſpot of this earth. More precious are they then all lands, if they flowed with milk and honey: more to be deſired then gold, yea then much fine gold, then all the gold of Ophir: more to be valued then the Crowns of Kings, which are not ſo much as an Emmet's Egge in compariſon with this Happineſs. Now as there is nothing that can be compared with theſe promiſes; ſo we have no teſtimony on Earth comparable to this of the SPIRIT, that exceeding greatneſs of his power, whereby theſe promiſes were brought to us, and aſſured to be infallible. For by this we know that He hath all power in heaven and earth, and is able to doe whatſoever the Father Almighty doeth; that is, give life to the dead, which is the property of the Almighty alone. So the Enemies of our Religion are forced to confeſs, who ſay there are three keys which God keeps to p. 433himſelf, and commits to none of his Embaſſadours, the keys of the womb, the keys of heaven, and the keys of the grave. Thy power, ſaith Joſeph Albo ſpeaking of God, is not the power of fleſh and bloud; for the power of fleſh and bloud is to put thoſe to death who are alive, but thy power is to raiſe thoſe to life who are dead. The very ſame we may juſtly ſay of our Lord Jeſus Chriſt, who challenges this power to himſelf, as I have noted before out of the firſt of the Revelation, where he tells St. John, I have the keys of hell and of death, ver. 18. He was no ordinary Embaſſadour, but can doe more then any whom God ſent into the world ever did or could. He can raiſe even the dead bodies of his ſubjects to life again. And when he hath lifted them out of the duſt, (if I may apply the Pſalmiſt's words to this purpoſe,) can ſet them with Princes; even with the Princes of his heavenly Court, to praiſe and bleſs his love among thoſe great Miniſters, the Angelicall powers, for ever and ever. Which is a power he doth not aſſume to himſelf vainly, but was conferred on him by God the Father; who raiſed him from the dead, and gave him glory: wherein St. John beheld him p. 434when he ſaid, I am he that liveth, and was dead; and behold, I live for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death.

Great is thy Majeſty, O thou moſt mighty Jeſus! whoſe power is not the power of fleſh and bloud, but the power of God, who raiſes thoſe to life who are dead. Great was the joy which filled thy Diſciples hearts when they firſt ſaw thee alive from the dead, and called thee their God. Georg. N…comed. Serm. ix.None can underſtand the beauty of that ſight. O the brightneſs of that appearing! What a light diffuſed it ſelf then through the whole Creation? What a fragrant ſmell did the very earthquake breath forth, when like a publick crier it proclaimed the Reſurrection? What was the ſavour of the ointment which was then poured out? How was the whole world then transformed and made new? The Angels themſelves leaped for joy to ſee it. How ſweet was the ſound then of their doxologies? With what divine ſplendours were they then adorned? How beautifull did thoſe preachers of thy reſurrection appear? and how great was the glory and the happineſs which they came then to proclaim? O p. 435thoſe Words of theirs, which brought us the news of victory over the Enemy! which proclaimed the deſtruction of Death; and publiſhed thee to the World, the Reſurrection and the Life!

O that ſweet and above all things deſirable voice of thine, which, by the women that were carrying ſpices to thy grave, ſounded joy to the World! The Heavens then opened their gates, and received the glad tidings which were brought to us, as if they had been their own. The Intellectuall powers rejoyced, and took a pleaſure in our happineſs. The Spirituall as well as Senſible World was inlightned. The clouds of ſadneſs were diſpelled, from one end of the world to the other; and the rays of joy poſſeſſed all. Guilty Nature put off the robes of heavineſs, and was cloathed with garments of light. The hand-writing of the Curſe was torn in pieces, and promiſes of Bleſſing were ſealed in the room thereof. By that new Salutation, when thou ſaidſt ALL HAIL, the world was filled with the ſweeteſt and everlaſting joy.

For thou art the Preacher, and the Cauſe, and the very Exultation of all joy; p. 436the Authour of good things; the giver of pleaſure; the joy which can never be taken away; the ſweet light; the ſpectacle above all others deſirable; the intellectuall tranquillity and peace; Wiſedom it ſelf, and Power; Incorruption and Eternity; Security and Delight; the onelyonly unchangeable and inconceivable Beauty; Sanctity it ſelf, and Honour and Righteouſneſs, and Glory above meaſure glorious. O how many Names would my Mind bring forth to expreſs thine unutterable excellency! It is onelyonly my weakneſs that hinders, and want of words. But thou who art the infinite, not to be named Good, far above all the titles that Mind can invent; who regardeſt not words, but rather an inflamed heart; who thy ſelf broughteſt the joyfull news of thy Reſurrection; ſhine now into our Minds by the bright beams of thy appearing. Let us ſee intellectually the ſuperexcellent beauty of the intellectuall Sun. Let us inwardly injoy the incomparable ſight of our Lord and Maſter. Let us hear his divine voice ſpeaking ſome ſweet and joyfull word to us. O thou gracious Lord, come; and draw us from theſe preſent thi…, … deeps: and … never-decay… the quires of p. 437thoſe that keep perpetuall feſtivals above. For thou art both light and life, and reſurrection, and the joy of thoſe that triumph in the heavens. To thee it becomes us to give, together with the Father and the Holy Ghoſt, glory, honour and adoration, now and ever, world without end. Amen.