The Christian Life Part 2 Volume 2, Section 3

The Christian Life Part 2 Volume 2 · Section 3

p. 101SECT. III. Of the Prophetick Office of Iesus Christ.

COnsidering the manifold Errors, and the deep Ignorance in which Mankind was almost universally lost and bewilder'd, it was absolutely necessary that he who Mediated for God with men, in order to the reconciling them to him, should in the first place take care to inform them of the Nature, and instruct them in the Will of God; without which it was impossible for them so much as to know what it is to be reconciled to him. And accordingly this was the first Mediatorial Office that our Saviour undertook, p. 102viz. to Prophesie to the World, i. e. to reveal and publish the Gospel to Mankind, wherein the Nature and the Will of God, and the Method of our Salvation, are plainly stated and described, so far forth at least as it is necessary to our reconciliation to him. Upon which account he is called the Light of the World, the Sun of Righteousness, the Way, and the Truth, and the bright Morning Star; all which refer to his Prophetick Office, which is the fountain of all that spiritual light that shines through the World. For long before our Saviour was born, it was foretold of him that he should execute the Office of a Prophet; so Deut. 18.15. The Lord thy God shall raise up unto thee a Prophet, from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me, unto him ye shall hearken; which prophecy S. Peter applies to our Saviour, Acts 3.22. And upon this and other Prophecies of the Old Testament it is evident, it was a general anticipation among the Iews in our Saviour's time, that the Messias should be a Prophet. For thus upon Christ's feeding five thousand men with five Loaves and two Fishes, they cried out, This is of a truth that Prophet that should come into the world, John 6.14. so upon his restoring the Centurion's Servant, they were amazed, and glorified God, saying that a great Prophet was risen up among them, Luke 7.16. And so also his own Disciples stile him, A Prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the People.

Now this Prophetick Office of Christ consisted not so much in foretelling of future events (though this he also did so far as it was needful p. 103for the Church) as in expounding, declaring, and making known the Will of God to us by divine revelation. For so, to Prophesie signifies no more than to speak from, or in the stead of another; foreign in composition, being all one with foreign: thus Exod. 7.1. God said to Moses, I have made thee a God to Pharaoh, and Aaron thy brother shall be thy Prophet, that is, he shall be thy mouth to deliver to Pharaoh what I shall deliver to thee. For so the word is explained, Exod. 4.16. He shall be thy spokes-man, he shall be to thee instead of a Mouth. And in this sence the Poets were anciently called the Prophets of the Muses; so Theocritus, foreign. i. e. the sacred Prophets of the Muses; and Saint Paul himself, Tit. 1.12. calls the Heathen Poets their Prophets, quoting a passage out of Epimenides, who though he is stiled by Laertius foreign, a great Favourite of the Gods, and, as he relates the Story, directed the Athenians how to Lustrate their City in a time of Pestilence, yet if we may credit Aristotle, foreign, i. e. he never prophesied of things to come, Rhet. l. 3. c. 17. but was only a Divine, as Plutarch calls him, and foreign, i. e. a friend of God, and one that had a deep insight into divine things. By which it is evident that Prophesying doth not necessarily include, in the true acceptation of it, foretelling futurities, but only denotes declaring the Mind and Will of God in any matter by divine inspiration. For so Iustin Mart. in Cohortat. ad p. 104Graec. tells us, that the Prophets declared those things to the World, foreign, i. e. which the Holy Ghost descending upon them had intended by them to teach those persons who were truly willing to be instructed in the true Worship of God. And accordingly S. Chrysostom, foreign, a Prophet is only an Interpreter, but an Interpreter of God. And so also Dionys. the Areop. stiles the Prophets foreign, i. e. the Fathers of secret wisdom, Epist. 9. because they discovered those things to the World which were discoverable only by divine inspiration. And in this large sence of the word, Christ's Prophetick Office is to be understood, viz. as a declaring and signifying the Will of God to Mankind, concerning the Way and Method of our reconciliation to God, and eternal salvation by him. But for the fuller explication of this his Mediatorial Office, I shall endeavour first, to shew how excellently he was fitted and accomplished for it; and secondly, how fully and effectually he hath discharged it. As for the first, how excellently he was fitted and accomplished for this Office will evidently appear by these three considerations:

I. That when he came down to Prophesie to us, he came immediately from the bosom of the Father. For as he was the Eternal Son of God he was always with him from all Eternity, and always intimate and infinitely dear and familiar to him; and therefore as such, must not only be supposed fully to comprehend his Nature, p. 105and perfectly to know his Will, but also to be privy to his most secret Thoughts and Councils. And it is upon this account perhaps chiefly that he is called the Logos, or Word of God, because as S. Gregory Nazianzen discoursed, Orat. 36. he hath the same relation to God the Father that a word or inward thought hath to the mind; not only in regard of his generation without any passion, but because of his intimate conjunction with him, by which he perfectly understands him, and so hath full power to declare him. For the Father is known, saith he, by the Son, and the Son is a brief and easie demonstration of the Father, as every thing that is begotten is foreign, the silent word of that which begat it. So that as it is the Office of our Speech to declare our Minds to one another, so it is the Office of this Eternal Word of the Father to declare his Mind and Will to the World; and who can be so proper to declare the Father's mind to us as he who from all Eternity hath been so familiar to his inmost thoughts and purposes? Hence S. Iohn, John 1.18. No man hath seen God at any time, the only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him; and indeed his being in the bosom of the Father, i. e. being most near and intimate to him, did perfectly qualifie him to declare him; for in that nearness and intimacy he could not but have a most perfect knowledge of him, and this not by the Instructions of Angels, nor by Dreams or Visions, as other Prophets had; no nor meerly by the Holy Ghost neither, but by an immediate personal Intuition of his Father's thoughts and purposes which from all Eternity were exposed to his view and prospect.

p. 106II. It is also to be considered, that as he came down immediately from God, to Prophesie to us, so he came down into our own nature, which gave a vast advantage to his ministry. For had he preached to us, as he did to the Iews, from Mount Sinai, in his divine person, the Glory and Majesty thereof would have so amazed and confounded us, that like them we should not have been able to attend to him, and our minds would have been so struck with the terrible manner of his Ministry, that we could never have fixed our thoughts as we ought upon the matter of it. For so the Jews upon God's preaching personally to them, in the proper equipage of his divine Majesty, were struck with such a sacred Horrour, as that they were not able to bear it, but made it their request that they might not hear the voice of the Lord any more, and that for the future he would speak with them by Moses, whose voice they could more easily bear, and better attend to; which request of theirs God thought so reasonable, that he promises to raise up unto them a Prophet of their own Brotherhood, like unto Moses, meaning the Word incarnate, and bids them hearken to him, Deut. 18.15, 16. i. e. since you cannot endure to hear me speaking to you in the Majesty of my Divinity, I will hereafter allay and qualifie it, by assuming one of your own kind and kindred into personal union with it; in and by whom I will vouchsafe to speak to you in such a familiar and condescending manner, as that you shall be able freely to attend without any terrour or disturbance. And indeed the most natural way of instructing humane minds is by humane means; p. 107as for voices from Heaven, or from bright and glorious appearances on earth, they are more apt to confound than to edifie our understandings, and therefore for this reason, among others, Christ thought meet to assume our natures, that so he might treat with us in such a way as is most accommodate thereunto, and deliver his divine Doctrines to us in a humane form and voice, that so being conveyed to us in the most natural and familiar manner, they might not so alarm our dread as to confound our attention, but might instruct our minds instead of scaring and amusing them. And therefore he did not only qualifie the terrour and dreadfulness of his divine Majesty by putting on our nature, but together with it he put on all the condescensions and sweetnesses of a most familiar and endearing conversation, and conversed among men in such a generous, friendly, and courteous manner, as charmed and enamoured all ingenuous minds, and thereby attracted their attention to his Doctrine. So that as Christ was the Son of God he perfectly understood his Father's Will, and as he was the Son of Man he was perfectly fitted to reveal and declare it to Mankind.

And as by being God-man he was most perfectly accomplished to declare God's Will to us, so he was also to give us a perfect Example of Obedience to it; which, as I shall shew hereafter, was a necessary part of his Prophetick Office. For without assuming humane Nature he could never have been an example of humane Vertue, which consists in acting sutably to the nature of a Man, who is a Compound of Spirit and Matter, Reason and Sense, Angel and Brute, from which contrary p. 108Principles there arise in him contrary inclinations and affections, in the good or bad government whereof all humane Vertue and Vice consists. How then could he have practised those vertues which consist in the dominion of spiritual and rational faculties over brutal and sensitive, such as Temperance, Chastity, Equanimity, and the like, had he not assumed that nature which is compounded of both? How could he have shewn us by his own example how to govern the Passions, and conduct our selves in the Circumstances of men, had he not communicated with us in the Passions and Circumstances of humane Nature? He might have come down from the Heavens to us inrobed with splendor and light, or have preached his Gospel to the World in the midst of a Choir of Angels from some bright Throne in the Clouds, and it would have been more convenient for himself to have done so, because more sutable to the natural Dignity and Majesty of his Person; but he consulted not so much his own convenience as ours; he knew well enough that his appearance among us in such an illustrious equipage would have been more apt to astonish than to instruct us, to have amused our thoughts into a profound admiration of his glories, than to have directed our steps in the paths of Piety and Vertue, and that it would be much more for our interest that he should conduct us by his example than amaze us by his appearance; and therefore he rather chose to appear to us in our own nature, that so by going before us as a man, he might shew us by his example what became men to do, and trace out to us the way to our happiness with the print p. 109of his own footsteps. So that his coming among us in our own nature was of vast moment to his Prophetick Office, both in declaring his Father's Will to us, and setting us an example of obedience to it.

III. And lastly, It is farther to be considered, that as he came down immediately from the Father to Prophesie to us in our own natures, so while he abode among us he was always endued with the Holy Ghost; the Spirit of the Lord, from whom all Prophetick Inspiration proceeds rested on him, and made its constant residence and abode in his humane nature. So that whereas it descended upon other Prophets only at certain times, and upon certain occasions, by reason of which it was not in their power to Prophesie when they pleased, but they were fain to attend the arbitrary motions of the Holy Ghost, and, like dead Organ Pipes, were mute and silent as oft as he withdrew, and ceased to breath into them his divine Enthusiasms; our blessed Saviour had the Prophetick Influx at command, and could Prophesie whensoever he pleased. For the Holy Ghost resided in his mind, and like an assisting Form or Genius was always present with his Understanding, and being, as was shewed before, subordinate to him, both by personal Property and Agreement with the Father, it operated in him whensoever, howsoever, and whatsoever he pleased; and was as intirely at his disposal as his own most voluntary motions. So that whensoever he had occasion for a Revelation, he no sooner willed it, but the Holy Ghost immediately inspired it into him, and whensoever he p. 110wanted a Miracle to confirm a Revelation, he no sooner called for it but the Holy Ghost immediately exerted it by him. For, as I shewed before, he did both Prophesie and effect his Miracles by the Holy Ghost that was in him, and that was so entirely subject to him through the whole course of his Ministry, that he could Prophesie, and do Miracles by him whensoever he pleased; and hence he is said to be anointed with the Holy Ghost, and with power, Acts 10.38▪ that is, to be consecrated to the Prophetick Office by the descent of the Holy Ghost upon him, by whom he was impowered to Prophesie, and to confirm his Prophecy by Miracles; for so it follows, He went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed with the Devil, for God was with him; and accordingly at his Baptism he was solemnly consecrated the great Prophet of God by a visible Vnction of the Holy Ghost, who, as St. Luke tells us, descended on him in a bodily form or appearance, Chap. 3. ver. 22. which St. Matthew thus expresses, the Spirit of God descended like a Dove, and light upon him, Chap. 3. ver. 16. not as if he descended in the form of a Dove, but, as it seems most probable, he assumed a body of light or fire, and therein came down from above, just as a Dove with its Wings spread forth is observed to do, and gathering about our Saviour's head crowned it with a visible Glory. For so in the Nazaren Gospel, as Grotius observes, it is said that upon this descent of the Holy Ghost, foreign, i. e. there immediately shone a great light round about the place; and Iustin Martyr tells us, that when Christ was p. 111Baptized, foreign, that there was a fire lighted in the River Iordan, that is, by the reflection of that bright and flaming appearance, in which the Holy Ghost descended, the River seemed to be all on fire. So that as God did signalize his presence in the Old Tabernacle by a visible Light or Glory, so the Holy Ghost by descending on our Saviour in this shining appearance, declared him to be the Tabernacle of his divine Presence, wherein he meant from thenceforth to reside and make his constant abode, and from whence and by whom he would for the future communicate himself to Mankind. And accordingly the sign which God gave to Iohn Baptist, by which he might know the Messias when he saw him, was this, VponUpon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending and remaining on him, the same is he which baptizeth with the Holy Ghost, i. e. who from himself, or from his own fulness shall communicate the Holy Ghost to the World, Ioh. 1.33. For so full was Jesus of the Holy Ghost, that he not only prophesied himself, and did miracles by it whensoever he pleased, but he also communicated it to his own immediate Disciples, and impowered them to communicate it to others; and hence it is said, that God gave not the Spirit by measure to him, John 3.34. i. e. with limitations, and restrictions to such particular times, or ends and purposes, but in that unlimited manner, as that he could not only act by it himself whensoever or howsoever he pleased, but also communicate it to others in what degree or measure soever he pleased. For so Ioh. 20.22. it is said, that he breathed upon his Disciples▪ and bid them p. 112receive the Holy Ghost; and Acts 8.17. we are told, that upon their laying their hands upon others they also received the Holy Ghost. And by this unlimited fulness of the Holy Ghost, which our Saviour received at his Baptism, he was perfectly accomplished for his Prophetick Office. For the Holy Ghost abode in him after that visible glory in which he descended, disappeared, even throughout the whole course of his Ministry; and hence Luke 4.1. we are told, that being full of the Holy Ghost he returned from Iordan; and after he had finished his forty days Fast in the Wilderness, he returned from thence in the power of the Spirit into Galilee, ver. 14. where in his own City of Nazareth he began to Prophesie, declaring and manifesting that the Spirit of the Lord was upon him, vers. 18, to 23. and at Cana in Galilee he began to work Miracles, and thereby to manifest forth his Glory, Joh. 2.11. Thus by Prophesying, and confirming his Prophecies by Miracles, he exerted that fulness of the Holy Ghost which was communicated to him at his Baptism. And now, since before he came down to Prophesie to us he was from Eternity in the bosom of the Father, and since when he came down he was clothed in humane nature, and in that nature was inspired with such an unbounded fulness of the Holy Ghost, as that he could not only Prophesie himself, and confirm his Prophecy by Miracles, when he pleased, but also communicate these his Gifts to others in what measures and proportions he thought fit, to enable them to Prophesie for him wheresoever he thought meet to send them, what can we imagine farther p. 113necessary to compleat and accomplish him for the Prophetick Office?

I proceed therefore in the next place to shew how throughly and effectually he discharged this Office; which will plainly appear by considering briefly what those things were which as a Prophet he performed; all which are reducible to these six Heads:

First, He made a full Declaration of his Father's Will to the World.

Secondly, He proved and confirmed what he had declared by Miracles.

Thirdly, He gave a perfect Example of Obedience to what he had declared and proved to be his Father's Will.

Fourthly, He sealed his declaration with his own Bloud.

Fifthly, He instituted an Order of men to preach what he had declared to the World.

Sixthly, He sent his Holy Spirit, when he left the World, to recollect and explain to those men what he had declared, and to enable them also to prove and assert it by Miracles.

I. He made a full Declaration of his Father's Will to the World, viz. in those Sermons, Parables, and Discourses of his which we find recorded in the four Evangelists, in which the whole Will of God concerning the Way and Method of our Salvation is fully and perfectly revealed. For thus S. Paul declares to the Elders of the Church of Ephesus, that he had kept back nothing that was profitable for them, but had testified both to the Iews and Greeks repentance towards God, and Faith towards our Lord Iesus Christ, Acts 20.20, 21. and p. 114ver. 27. he tells them, that he had not shunned to declare unto them all the Counsel of God. Now it is certain that this whole Counsel of God, which he had preached, was only that account of our Saviour's Discourses and Actions which S. Luke gives us in his Gospel, who, as Irenaeus tells us, was a follower of S. Paul, and did compile into one Book that History of our Saviour's Life and Doctrine which S. Paul had taught and delivered; and if so, then the whole Counsel of God must be contained in this Gospel; and accordingly S. Luke tells his Theophilus in the beginning of his Gospel, That forasmuch as many had set forth a declaration of those things that were surely believed among Christians, it seemed good unto him also, having had a perfect understanding of all things from the first, to write them down in order, that he might know the certainly of those things wherein he had been instructed. From whence I infer, that supposing that S. Luke performed what he promised, his Gospel must contain a full declaration of the Christian Religion. For, first, by promising to give an account of those things that were surely believed among Christians, he engaged himself to give an entire account of Christianity, unless we will suppose that there were some parts of Christianity which the Christians of that time did not surely believe. Secondly, In promising to give an account of those things of which he had perfect understanding from the first, and in which his Theophilus had been instructed, he also engaged himself to give a compleat account of the whole Religion, unless we will suppose that there were some parts of this Religion which S. Luke did not perfectly p. 115understand, and in which Theophilus had not been before instructed. And the s…me may be said of the three other Evangelists, viz. that their Gospels do severally contain all the necessary Articles of Christianity, though the last of them seems to have been wrote upon a more particular design▪ viz. more fully to explain, than any o… the former Evangelists had done, the Article of the Divinity and eternal generation of Jesus Christ the Son of God. And if the whole of Religion be contained in these Gospels, which are only Histories of our Saviour's Preaching and Actions, then it cannot be denied but that he made a full revelation of God's Will to the World. It is true, there are sundry other divine Writings annexed to these Gospels▪ which together with them compleat the New Testament, viz. the Acts and Epistles of the Apostles; but these pretend not to declare any new Religion to the world. For as for the Acts of the Apostles, it is only an Historical account of the Preparations of Christ's Ministers for the preaching that Gospel to the World which he had taught them, and of the Way and Method of their procedure in it, in despite of all those oppositions they met with. And as for the Epistles, they are partly Comments and Enlargements on our Saviour's Actions and Discourses, and partly Decisions of such Controversies as arose among them, according to the Analogie of that Faith which our Saviour had before declared and revealed; but in all these Writings there is no one Article of Faith but what was before declared and defined in the Sermons and Discourses of our Saviour. And then as for the Primitive Writers, who lived in or near p. 116the Apostolical Age, and upon that account had much greater advantages of understanding the truths of Christianity than we who live at this remote distance, they are at best but genuine Commentators on that Doctrine which our Saviour first taught, and his Apostles afterwards more fully explained to the World; but as for declaring any new Doctrines, or defining new Articles of Faith, that is an upstart invasion of Christ's Prophetick Office, which they never so much as pretended to. So that the Prophecy of our Saviour is the Fountain from whence all Christian truth is derived, as containing in it a compleat and entire Sum of God's Will and Counsel concerning the Salvation of Mankind.

II. As he taught the whole Will of God, so he proved that what he taught was the Will of God by sundry miraculous operations, which are the great evidences by which God always demonstrated the truth of his divine revelations, and which of all others are the most popular, easie, and convincing proofs that can be given of them. For as for the Prophets themselves, they might be very well assured that their Enthusiasms were divine, by the vehement impressions they made on their minds, which were such as did as fully satisfie them that they were from God, as the strokes of the Sun beams on our eyes do us that it is day at Noon; but no other man could be satisfied that what they spoke was by divine inspiration, without either being divinely inspired himself, or confirmed by them in the belief of it by some miraculous sign of the Divine Power; which latter was the way by which the Prophets of Old did ordinarily p. 117confirm their Doctrines, when they delivered any thing new to the World. And accordingly though our Saviour had all along sufficiently confirmed his Doctrines to the Iews by the Authorities of the Old Testament, yet this confirmation of his Miracles he more particularly insists on, and appeals to; thus Iohn 10.25. The works, saith he, that I do in my Father's name they testifie of me; And again, vers. 37, 38. If I do not the works of my Father, believe me not, but if I do, though ye believe not me, believe the works; and herein he places the inexcusable sin of their unbelief, that they persisted in it notwithstanding he had done among them the works which none other man did, John 15.24. And indeed well he might, considering the miraculous powers he exerted among them; for how often did he even before their eyes subpoena in whatsoever was in Heaven, or Earth, or Sea, to give their testimony to his Doctrine; he made the Angels minister to him, and the Devils tremble and fly before him, and the Plants and Animals, the Winds and Seas obeyed him, and Health and Sickness, and Life and Death and the Grave did by their obedience to his Word bear witness to the truth of his Doctrine. By his powerful voice he shook the Heavens, and sent down the Holy Spirit on his Followers; he tore the Rocks, and opened the Graves, and at his command the bodies of his Saints arose; and, which was more miraculous than all, he raised himself the third day after his Crucifixion, and having finished his Course upon Earth, ascended Triumphantly into Heaven in the view of a numerous assembly of Spectators. All which were such illustrious demonstrations p. 118of his being inspired by God, as nothing but an incurable infidelity could ever be able to withstand. But wh…t proper arguments these Miracles of his we…e to convince men, and what evidence there is o… the truth and reality of them, will be shewn at l…rge hereafter, and therefore it will be needl…ss at present to insist any farther on this particular.

III. Therefore as a Prophet he gave us a perfect Example of Obedience to that which he had declared and proved to be his Father's Will. He did not only reveal his Father's Will to mens Ear's in his excellent Sermons and Discourses, but he also set it forth before their Eyes in the glorious Example of his Actions. For what he taught in Words he exemplified in Deeds, and his Conversation was a lively Picture of his Doctrine, wherein all that Humility and Self-denial, that Temperance and Iustice, that Charity and Heavenly-mindedness, th…t invincible Constancy of Mind, and generous Contempt of the World, which he taught Mankind, were drawn to the life, and expressed in their fairest colours and proportions. So that what he taught in Words he taught over again in Actions, and explained his Rules still by his own Example; for his Conversation was all along a most genuine Comment and Paraphrase on his Religion; by casting their eyes on which those who did not fully understand the sence of his Precepts by his Words, might very easily expound it by his Actions. For there is no doubt but a good Example doth far more effectually instruct than good Precepts; because it doth not only express the same vertues that the Precepts enjoyn, but also expresses p. 119them with much more grace and Emphasis. For whereas Precepts and Discourses of Vertue are only the dead Pictures and artificial Landskips and Descriptions of it, a vertuous Example is Vertue it self, informed and animated, alive and in motion, exerting and exhibiting it self in all its natural Charms and Graces. And therefore as we know a man much better when we see himself alive and in action, than when we only see his Picture, so we understand Vertue much better when we see it living and acting in a good Example, than when we only behold it described and pictured in vertuous Precepts and Discourse. So that by giving us a compleat and perfect Example of Piety and Vertue, the blessed Jesus hath far more effectually instructed us in our duty than by all those heavenly Sermons which he preached to the World; because his whole life was nothing else but a continued series of living and moving Vertue, or rather it was nothing but Piety and Vertue acting their several parts in their own proper Forms, and exhibiting themselves to the Eyes of men in all their natural Graces. And as the Holiness of his life did most effectually instruct men in their duty, so it could not but very much confirm them in the truth of his Doctrine; for it is certain if his Doctrine were false, it was not a simple Error, but a downright Lye, i. e. a known and wilful falsehood; because it depended, as I shall shew by and by, upon matters of fact, which he could not but know whether they were true or false. So that if these facts were false, he was a wilful Deceiver in affirming them, and building his Doctrines upon them. But how could he be reasonably p. 120suspected of lying whose whole life was such an illustrious example of goodness and unspotted integrity of manners? For it is to serve either their Covetousness or Ambition, their Envy or their Revenge, that men turn wilful Deceivers▪ none of which Vices, nor so much as the least appearance of them are visible in the life of Iesus, but their contraries continually shone through the whole course of his Actions; and if none of those Vices ever appeared in him, that could any way tempt him to lye and deceive, it is not only unjust but unreasonable to suspect him. Thus by the sanctity of his life he not only instructed men in his Father's Will, but also confirmed them in the belief of it.

IV. As a Prophet also he sealed his Doctrine with his bloud; which is the highest pledge that any Mortal can give of his truth and integrity. While he was preaching his Doctrine to the World, he foresaw all along that he must either recant it, or die for it; and therefore it is not imaginable that he would have proceeded to divulge it, had he not believed it to be true. For what man in his wits would ever publish a lye to the world, when he knows beforehand he must either recant it with shame, or assert and maintain it with his bloud? But such was the nature of his Doctrine, that he could not believe it to be true, unless it were so; because the truth or falsehood of it depended upon matters of fact, wherein he could not be deceived; namely, that he was the Son of God, that he came down from him, and had dwelt with him in unspeakable glory and happiness from the foundations of p. 121the world, Iohn 17.5. upon the truth of which facts depended the Authority of his whole Doctrine; but whether these were true or false he could not be ignorant if he were in his wits, which no body can doubt, that considers the exactness of his Conversation, and the wisdom and dependence of his Doctrine. Now if he were first in Heaven, and was sent down from thence to preach to the World, there is no doubt to be made of the truth of his Doctrine; and whether he were or no he could not be ignorant; if he were not there, he not only died with a wilful lye in his mouth, which is not reasonably imaginable of a person of his unspotted Piety and Vertue, but he also published it to the World in his life, notwithstanding he knew it to be a lye, and foresaw he must either dye for it, or shamefully recant it, which is not imaginable of a person of his wisdom and soundness of mind. So that considering that he could not but certainly know whether his Doctrine were true or false, his sealing it with his bloud is an unanswerable attestation of the truth of it; and accordingly his bloud is made a great Testimony of the truth of his Gospel, 1 Iohn 5.8. and S. Paul tells us that he witnessed a good confession before Pontius Pilate, 1 Tim. 6.13. that is, in affirming before Pilate that he was the Son of God, and King of the Iews; even when he certainly foresaw that he should forfeit his life by it, he took it upon his death that he had preached nothing but the truth to the world.

V. As a Prophet he also instituted an Order of men to publish and declare his Doctrine to the World. Whilst the gift of Prophecy continued p. 122in the Iewish Church, there were certain Schools called the Schools of the Prophets, in which men were trained up under some great and eminent Prophets, who were the Masters of those Schools, in the knowledge of divine things, and the practice of Piety and Vertue, that so being educated in wisdom and goodness, they might be the better disposed and qualified to receive the Prophetick influx, and deliver God's Messages to the people. For out of these schools God ordinarily called those persons whom he imployed and sent forth to prophesie to their Kings and People; and accordingly our Saviour, when he began to revive the spirit of Prophecy in his own Person, (which from Malachi till then, which was for the space of four hundred years, had been utterly extinct) immediately erected a School of Prophets ▪ consisting of his twelve Apostles and seventy Disciples, to whom, as it seems, he afterwards added thirty eight more, Vide Acts 1.15. over whom he himself presided as the great Master Prophet, in order to the instructing their minds in all divine wisdom, and forming their manners by the strictest rules of Piety and Vertue; that so, when ever occasion required, they might be duly qualified to Prophesie to the World. And accordingly as those ancient Masters of the Prophetick Schools had ordinarily their Scholars personally attending on them, and, upon emergent occasions, did frequently send them forth as their Ministers upon Prophetick Messages, Vid. 2 Kings 9.1. and 1 Kings 20▪35. so our blessed Saviour kept his in ordinary attendance about him, that so they might hear his Doctrine, and see his Miracles, and observe his p. 123Conversation; and, upon particular occasions, he sent them forth as his Ministring Disciples to Prophesie in his name; Vid. Luke 10.1. And out of this Prophetick School of our Saviour the Primitive Prophets of our Religion were called and sent forth to preach the Gospel through the World. For that his Gospel might be taught through all succeeding Ages to the end of the World, he first erected this sacred School, and when he was to leave it, he deposited a standing Commission in the hands of his twelve Apostles, whom he ordained to preside in it in his room, by which he impowered them not only to ordain and send forth the present Disciples of it, viz. the Presbyters and Deacons, to teach his Gospel to all Nations, but also to derive down the same authority to their Successors through all Generations to come; For as the Father hath sent me, saith he, so send I you, Iohn 20.21. and as he sent them, so they still sent others, and so in an uninterrupted line of Succession hath this Commission been handed and derived from one Generation to another; the Bishops who next succeeded the Apostles in presiding over the Sacred School, not only still ordaining other Bishops to succeed them, but also still admitting other Presbyters and Deacons, who are as the Disciples of that School to Minister under them in the propagation of the Gospel. Thus Christ as the Great Prophet of the Church hath erected a standing Prophetick School or Order of men authoritatively to teach and declare his Gospel to all succeeding Ages of the World.

VI. And lastly, As he was a Prophet also he sent his Holy Spirit, when he left the World, to p. 124recollect and explain to his Disciples the Doctrine he had taught them, and to enable them also to prove and assert it by Miracles ▪ For as Elias, the Great Prophet of Israel, when he was snatched up into Heaven, let drop his Mantle, and, with that, derived that holy Spirit on his Disciple Elisha, by which he Prophesied and wrought his Miracles, so Iesus, the Great Prophet of the World, when he ascended into Heaven, derived that divine Spirit upon his Apostles and Disciples, by which he himself Prophesied and confirmed his Prophecies by miraculous Evidences while he was upon Earth; Vid. supra p. 66, 67▪ &c. For in all likelihood the Holy Ghost descended on the day of Pentecost not only on the Apostles, but also upon all the rest of the hundred and twenty Disciples, of whom we read in Acts 1.15. For of these consisted the Prophetick School of our Saviour, who in all probability separated them while he was yet upon Earth from the rest of his Followers to be the Heralds and Preachers of his Gospel to the World; and if so, we may reasonably conclude that the Holy Ghost fell on them all as well as on the Apostles, to qualifie them for that work, which together with the Apostles they had been fore-ordained to. Indeed, as the Apostles were placed in a higher station than any of the rest, as being authorized by Christ to superintend and preside over them, so they received a peculiar Gift of the Holy Ghost, in which none of the rest communicated with them, and that was conferring by imposition of hands the Holy Ghost upon others. For so in Acts 8. we find that when Philip had converted the People p. 125of Samaria, he could not confer the Holy Ghost on them, but Peter and Iohn are sent thither for that purpose, who laid their hands upon them, and they received the Holy Ghost, verse 17. Now by thus deriving his Holy Spirit on his Apostles and Disciples, the blessed Iesus still proceeded by them to Prophesie to the World, till through their Ministry he had fully consummated his Prophetick Office, and revealed and explained the whole Doctrine of the Gospel. For till such time as the whole New Testament was compleated, his Ministers generally preached by the immediate inspiration of the Holy Ghost, who, as I have shewn at large, p. 67, &c. not only recollected to their memories those Doctrines which Christ himself had taught them, but also explained them fully to their minds, and thereby enabled them to explain them fully to the World; and when this was once finished, and the whole Doctrine of the Gospel committed to Writing, and collected into a Volume, the Spirit of Prophecy was withdrawn from the Ministers of Christianity, who were from thenceforth obliged to supply the want of it by their own study and industry. For now the Gospel being fully revealed, there needed no farther Revelation; and for the Holy Spirit to reveal over again to mens minds what he had plainly enough revealed already, and set before their eyes, would have been but actum agere, to multiply actions to no purpose. Whilst the Gospel lay hid in the Eternal Counsel of God, out of the reach and prospect of humane understandings, it was necessary that the Holy Ghost should immediately reveal it to the minds of p. 126those who were to declare it to the World; otherwise it is impossible it should ever have been known to Mankind; but when once he had fully revealed it to them, and declared it by them, and transmitted their declaration by a standing Scripture to all succeeding Generations; to what end should he still proceed to make new Revelations of it, unless it were to gratifie mens sloth and idleness, and excuse them from the trouble of searching and studying that Scripture in which he had taken care to transmit his Gospel to them? But though that blessed Spirit hath never been wanting to Mankind in any necessary assistance, yet when once he hath put things within our own power, he always expects that we should do them, and not sit still with our hands in our Pockets, expecting that he should do them for us. Since therefore by transmitting to us the Scripture, he hath put it within the power of its Ministers to understand and teach the Gospel, he expects that they should exercise that power in a diligent study of those things which lead to the true understanding of Religion▪ and not depend upon new Revelations for the understanding of that which he hath already sufficiently revealed to them. For thus till the whole Old Testament was finished, God continued the Spirit of Prophecy in the Iewish Church, after which he immediately withdrew it, and wholly remitted his People to the conduct of the Priests and Levites, who in their forty eight Cities, which were so many Vniversities for their education in divine Learning, diligently read and studied the Law, and thereby accomplished themselves to preach and explain it to the People. And in like manner p. 127God continued the same Spirit of Prophecy in the Christian Church till the whole New Testament was revealed and written, and Copies of it dispersed through all the Churches, and from thenceforth the Spirit of Prophecy ceased, and in the room of its first inspired Ministers there succeeded an ordinary standing Ministry, who by their Learning, and Industry, and diligent search of Scripture were to supply the defect of immediate Revelation, and to qualifie themselves to teach and instruct the several Flocks that were committed to their Charge. In short therefore, the Spirit of Prophecy remained upon the Ministers of Christ till such time as it had fully revealed and clearly explained the Gospel to them, and when this was done, and they had transmitted its Revelations to writing, there could be no farther need of it, unless it be supposed either that he had not sufficiently revealed the Gospel to them, or that he hath some new Gospel to reveal. And thus you see what it is that our Saviour hath done in the discharge of his Prophetick Office. And considering all, I know not what farther he could have added to compleat and perfect it, and to render his Prophecy effectual to teach and instruct the World. So that if after all these mighty performances we still remain in darkness and ignorance, the blame of it wholly redounds upon our selves; for he hath in all respects abundantly performed his part towards the enlightening of the World, and chalked out to us the way to our happiness with such plain and visible lines, that if we are but willing to walk in it, we cannot mistake or wander from it; but if we will be so supine and negligent as to concern our p. 128selves no more about it than if it were only a Fanciful description of the Road to Vtopia, or the High-way to the World in the Moon, it is impossible we should be throughly acquainted with it how plainly soever it is described. It is true, there are some Doctrines in Christianity which are not so clearly revealed, but that the most honest minds may be mistaken about them; but then these are such as are far remote from the necessary and fundamental Articles, upon which our Salvation depends, all which are so clearly and distinctly revealed, that there is nothing but a perverse Will, that is either prejudiced against them by some sinful affection, or through a profane disregard of God and Religion utterly unconcerned about them, can hinder men from apprehending them; and if when the divine Light shines so clearly round about them, men will be so obstinate as to shut their eyes against it, it is at their own eternal peril, and they are as justly accountable for their ignorance, as if they had sinned against the clearest knowledge. For this, saith our Saviour, is the condemnation of the World, that light is come into the World, and men love darkness more than light. If therefore through any wicked prejudice against the truth, or through a profane neglect to enquire after it, we continue ignorant of it, this will be no excuse at all for our sinning against it, but we shall be as certainly condemned for our affecting Ignorance, and loving darkness more than light, as if we had sinned against the clearest light and conviction. For what a monstrous instance is it of stupidity and impiety together to shut our eyes against that light which is of p. 129such infinite moment to us, and which the Son of God thought worth his while to come down from Heaven to reveal to us; what is this, but to tell him to his face, that if he had pleased he might have spared his pains, and not have come so far on such an impertinent Errand as is not worth a man's while to listen to? O prodigious supineness and stupidity! that men who are so inquisitive about the little affairs of this life, as that when they receive but a Letter in which they imagine any of their worldly interests are concerned, they cannot forbear one moment breaking it open and perusing the Contents of it, should yet receive a Message from the God of Heaven by his own Son, in which their everlasting happiness or misery is concerned, and take no notice of it, but let it lie by them day after day without ever enquiring into the Contents of it, or taking the least care and pains to inform themselves about it. Good God! what reverence have these wretched Creatures for thee, or what regard for themselves, that can thus receive thy Messages, and with them their own Eternal Fate, with the same unconcern and indifferency, as they would the most impertinent Tales of Bedlam? Wherefore as we regard either God or our own Souls, let us from henceforth be perswaded seriously to attend to this great and momentous Revelation of our Saviour, and throughly to inform our minds with its Doctrines and Precepts; for which end let us avoid, as much as in us lies, busying and entertaining our thoughts with nice and curious Speculations, or remote and disputable Opinions; and betake our selves to the study of things upon which p. 130our Eternal life and happiness depends, viz. of the Duties which the Gospel exacts and requires of us, and of the Motives by which it presses and inforces them; which when once we have digested into a clear and distinct Scheme of practical knowledge, that will be a standing light to our Wills and Affections, by which we shall always see our way before us, and be secured from wandering into dangerous errors, and at length safely conducted to eternal light and happiness.