Discourse in College-Hall 27 March 1722, Text 1 – Author to the reader

Discourse in College-Hall 27 March 1722 · Text 1 – Author to the reader

p. 1Moſes a Witneſs unto our Lord and Saviour JESUS CHRIST.

JOH. 5.46.

For had ye believed Moſes, ye would have believed Me; for he write of me.

OUR Lord Jeſus is here diſcourſing with the unbelieving Jews, affirming himſelf to be the Meſſiah whom they looked for and ought to believe in. At the 17. v. of the Chapter he told them that GOD was his Father, and that He was One with Him in Eſſence and Working. At this they took great Offence, becauſe he made himſelf equal with GOD. But our LORD juſtified what he had ſail, and added many like glorious Words thereunto, reſpecting his own Eternal God-head and Divine Nature.

HE told 'em, that as the Father hath life in Himſelf, ſo he hath given to the Son to have life in Himſelf: that a … raiſeth up the Dead and quickneth the… … …in Sin or in p. 2the Grave) even ſo the Son quickneth whom he will: that the Father hath committed all Judgment (the preſent Government of the World and the final Judgment of it) to the Son, that all men ſhould honour the Son even as they honour the Father.

AND then in Confirmation of all that he had ſaid concerning Himſelf he produces three Witneſſes. 1. He appeals to the Teſtimony of John the Baptiſt, whoſe words concerning Christ ſome of them had heard, and they had born him (as he well deſerv'd) a high Reverence. This was He of whom Maiachi, the laſt of the Prophets of the Old Teſtament had ſpoken, ſaying, Behold I ſend my Meſſenger, and he ſhall prepare the way before me, and the LORD whom ye ſeek ſhall ſuddenly come into his Temple. 2. Our Lord appeals to the Works and Miracles which he had wro't, as a greater Teſtimony than that of John. And laſtly, He refers 'em to the Scriptures of the Old Teſtament, and particularly to the Writings of Moſes. 1. To thoſe Scriptures in general: v. 39. Search the Scriptures (and none other were then extant but the writings of Moſes and the Prophets) for in them ye have Eternal life, and theſe are they which testify of me. 2. To the Writings of Moſes in particular: v. 45, 46, 47. Do not think that I will accuſe you to the Father, (i. e. I am not your only Accuſer) there is one that accuſeth you, even Moſes in whom you trust: For had ye believed Moſes, ye would have believed Me, for he wrote of me: But if ye believe not his writings, how ſhall ye believe my words?

THE Jews had and ever will have a great and juſt Veneration for Moſes. They are his known and profeſſed Diſciples. He was under God the Lawgiver to and founder of the Jewiſh Church. In him they truſted, as our Context ſpeaks; and they did well to truſt and conſide in his Veracity; for he was faithful in all his houſe, as the Apoſtle to the Hebrews ſays.

p. 3HE was the first Inſpired Writer and Pen man of Scripture … the Father of the Prophets and a Prince among 'em. Like him there aroſe not another in Iſrael whom the Lord knew face to face. He ſtands liken'd to CHRIST the Lord of the Prophets: A Prophet like unto thee ſhall the LORD thy GOD raiſe up.

THE higheſt ſort of Revelation was among the Jews called Gradus Moſaicus ‖‖See Arch-Bp. Tillotſon's Sermons, Vol. 5. p. 404.They conceive of it as an Immediate Divine Impreſſion on the Underſtanding, without fear, amazement or fainting. They think that He only among the Prophets preſerv'd his ordinary temper under the higheſt Revelations of GOD to Him. Whereas Daniel and John, the favourite Prophet and Apostle, fainted under their Viſions; yet were they Men highly beloved and of an excellent Spirit.

TO this Moſes now our LORD JESUS appeals in my Text: He ſhall ſpeak and witneſs for Him to the Jews: He their own Prophet and Lawgiver ſhall be their Judge: By his writings they ſhall be Convinced or Condemned. He accuſes them for their Unbelief and Infidelity. Had the Jews but heeded and rightly underſtood what Moſes had wrote, they would have believed in and received our LORD JESUS. In rejecting Him they did in effect deny and reject Moſes himſelf.

THIS is our SAVIOUR's Argument in my Text, and it was ad Homines; the beſt that could be to have convinc'd the Jews, and I hope it appears to You much to our preſent purpoſe on ſuch a Ones Converſion to the Faith in Chriſt, and Submiſſion to the Baptiſm of JESUS. Had ye believed Moſes ye would have believed Me, for he wrote of Me.

HOW forcible are right words! this is open, ſincere, p. 4bold and daring Argument. And this was the manner of our LORD and his Apoſtles always. See Luk. 24.27. And beginning at Moſes and all the Prophets, he expounded thro' all the Scriptures the things concerning himſelf. And ſo the Apoſtles converted the World, witneſſing both to ſmall and great and ſaying none other things than thoſe which the Prophets and Moſes did ſay ſhould come. This way Paul took (in the wiſdom of GOD) to convince his Countrymen at Rome; Acts 28.23. He expounded and teſtified the Kingdom of GOD, perſwading them concerning Jeſus, both out of the Law of Moſes, and out of the Prophets, from morning till evening. A moſt delightful Argument, and which would hold one much longer and not tire him. I may ſay of it, as the Diſciples in the preſence of their transfigured LORD did, while Moſes and Elias talked with Him, — It is good to be here

BUT I have only a few minutes allow'd me to ſhow you from Moſes that JESUS is the Chriſt. I can only give you a ſhort Specimen out of his writings. We believe the writings of Moſes, therefore we believe in CHRIST. I can only lay before you a few ſelect Instances out of the firſt Book of Moſes, called Geneſis. As, 1. the Promiſe of the ſeed of the Woman to break the Serpents head. 2. Abel's acceptable Sacrifice. 3. The promiſes and Covenant of GOD given to Abraham. And 4. The Bleſſing of Judah. — In many other Inſtances, Moſes wrote of Chriſt, but theſe are ſome of the moſt Eminent which ly first in the Order of his Writings.

I. PASSING over what the Apoſtle ſays concerning Adam that he was the figure of Him that was to come; I inſiſt upon the first and very famous Promiſe of a SAVIOUR unto miſerable Man upon his fall; Namely, that HE ſhould be the Seed of the Woman and ſhould bruiſe the Serpents p. 5head, which ſhould bruiſe his heel. Gen. 3.15. This is ſo fully anſwer'd and explained in the Account we have of the Conception, birth and death of our LORD JESUS, that nothing can be more plain and familiar. He was born of a Virgin, made of a Woman, by the power of the Highest: A Virgin did conceive and bare a Son, and the Holy thing born of Her was the Son of GOD. See and compare Iſai. 7.14. with Matth. 1.23. Luke. 1.35. and Gal. 4.4. Chriſt's heel was His Humane Nature wherein He trod upon our Earth: This was bruiſed in His Crucifixion and Death: But at the ſame time the Serpents head was broken hereby, the Kingdom and works of the devil deſtroyed by it.

Maimenides, the great Jewiſh Doctor and Interpreter, juſtly admir'd this paſſage, (as Bp. Patrick quotes him) That the Seed of the Woman ſhould be only mentioned an not of Adam. This (ſaid he) is one of the paſſages in Scripture which is moſt wonderful, and not to be underſtood according to the Letter, but contains great wiſdom in it.

VERY true, Great is this Myſtery of Godlineſs, God manifested in the firſh, to deſtroy the Works of the devil. The Son of GOD too… our Nature of the Bleſſed Virgin Mary; the Old Serpent, which is the devil and ſatan, did all that he could to deſtroy Him by Temptations and Perſecutions; in the first way be prevailed nothing, the Evil one came and found nothing in Him; in the laſt way he reach'd his heel. His Holy and Fleſh, which was bruiſed indeed in His Crucifixion; but by that very means the devil himſelf was conquer'd and van… … and Mankind redeemed; and ſo the Serpents head was broken. Heb. 2.14. Thro' death He deſtroyed him that had the power of death, that is, the devil.

SO that CHRIST our Saviour, as revealed to us by the Goſpel, in the manner of His Incarnation and in the End and glorious fruit of His Death, was p. 6more obſcurely revealed to Adam as ſoon as he had fallen. The Sum of the Myſtery of CHRIST is undeniably contained and delivered in this Prediction; It ſhall bruiſe thy head, and thou ſhalt bruiſe his heel.

CHRIST's heel was literally bruiſed, when His feet were pierced and nailed to the Croſs, but then the Serpents head was broken becauſe CHRIST did on the Croſs ſpoil Principalities and Powers, triumphing over them, Col. 2.15. This then as it is among the firſt, ſo the moſt Eminent paſſages in the Writings of Moſes to be Interpreted concerning CHRIST.

II. I Inſtance in Abel's Sacrifice and Sufferings. Righteous Abel ‖‖Mat. 11.23, 35. Heb. 11.4.Matt 11:23Matt 11:35Heb 11:4. who has been eſteemed a beautiful Type of Chriſt in his Sanctity, in his acceptable Sacrifice, and in his Sufferings and Martyrdom: Only the Blood of JESUS ſpeaketh better things than the blood of Abel, Heb. 12.24.

IT appears from Abels Offering, of the firſt-lings of his flock and of the fat thereof, and the LORD's having reſpect thereto; Gen. 4.4. That Sacrificing was certainly an Instituted mode of Worſhip from the fall of Man, a Poſitive Law given to Adam; without which it would never have enter'd into Adams or Abels heart to have offer'd the bloody Victims of Peaſts unto GOD.

I am not ignorant that ſome of the Learned Rabbi's, ††See Outram de Sacrif. p. 9.and by name Maimonides, R. Levi Ben Gerſon, and Iſaac Abrabenel, and with them the Learned Hugo …rotius, have thought and taught otherwiſe: But I think I have right Reaſon and the whole Tenor of Scripture, as well as the Conſent of Christian Doctors in what I have ſaid. It doth not ſeem at all probable, as Bp. Patrick on the place ſays, that Adam would have preſumed to have invented p. 7a way of Worſhip, by killing Beaſts and burning their fat: Eſpecially ſince one cannot find any Inclination to it in Nature. Doubtleſs he had the Direction of God herein, and probably thoſe Beasts of whoſe Skins the Lord made Cloathing for our fallen Parents were the first Sacrifices offer'd to GOD. Euſebius therefore well judges that this way of Worſhip was not taken up by chance, nor by a Humane Motion. I wonder not therefore at all that Plate ſhould be at ſuch a loſs about this Rite of Worſhip, "as to ſay that it was not poſſible for our mortal Nature to know the reaſon of it. Nor has it ſurpriz'd me to find thoſe that were eno' Masters of Reaſon among the Gentiles, who having long before loft the Notices of the Divine Original Institution and of the reaſon thereof, did ridicule as far as they durſt the Sacrifices of their days as a fooliſh piece of Superſtition; it ſeeming very Abſurd to them to ſuppoſe the Deity ſhould be pleaſed in, or ſerved acceptably by, the blood of Beaſts. And I confeſs that to the bare reaſon of Mankind, unenlightened by the Holy Scriptures, it might well look ſo. But now Chriſtianity makes plain to us the Reaſon and End of the Inſtitution of Sacrifices from the beginning.

MAN had by Sin forfeited his life, his Soul, into the hand of GOD's avenging Juſtice. GOD had given unto Man the promiſe of a Saviour, and a Covenant of Life, Pardon and Salvation. To obtain this for us the SON of GOD was to take our Nature in his appointed time, and therein die a Sacrifice for Sin, and make his Soul an Offering by the ſhedding his precious blood. Now as typical hereof and to direct the eyes and Faith of Mankind to the Great Sacrifice in the Death of their Saviour, GOD inſtituted to Adam and to his Poſterity until the time of the Death of CHRIST the Worſhipping him by Sacrifices; being the Offering of the Lives and blood of p. 8ſome Beaſts to Him in a ſolemn and religious manner directed by Him.

ACCORDINGLY we may be ſure that Adam practis'd himſelf, and alſo inſtructed his Children in the Mode of worſhipping GOD by Sacrifice, and in the meaning thereof. Whence it was that Abel offer'd his excellent Sacrifice: He exercis'd Faith in the great Sacrifice of his SAVIOUR, which was to take away Sin; he look'd to the Great Sacrifice of Attonement in the ſenſe of Mans Sin and Apoſtacy from GOD: He humbled himſelf before his Judge, deprecated Divine Wrath, and implored Forgiveneſs, by Faith in the promiſed Saviour.

CERTAINLY Abel's faith, celebrated by the Apoſtle, had this reſpect to GOD's Inſtitution, and to the Promiſe of a Redeemer, who in the typical Reference of theſe firſt Sacrifices was the Lamb ſlain from the foundation of the World, Rev. 13.8. It is the firſt Figure left on Record of CHRIST's death, and of the infinite pleaſure that GOD hath therein.

I paſs over Enoch's tranſlation, and Noah's preſervation; and come to the third Inſtance.

III. IN the Covenant and Promiſes of GOD given unto Abraham. On this I ſhall enlarge a little. "Abraham was a typical Head of GOD's Church and Covenant People: CHRIST is the true Head. To Abraham and to his Seed were the Promiſes made, ſo are the Promiſes of the Eternal Inheritance to the Elect in Christ. In Abraham were the two Diſpenſations of the Covenant of Grace ſhadowed out, the Legal and the Evangelical. See Gal… 22, 25. Moreover, Abrahams illuſtrious Submiſſions to the Will of GOD, and the Glorious Inſtances of his entire and abſolute Obedience thereunto, may be eſteemed very bright Figures of the perfect Obedience of our LORD JESUS, both Active and Paſſive. His p. 9offering up his Iſaac at GOD's Call is a kind of figure of the FATHER's not ſparing his Only begotten Son, but delivering Him up for us all. And his prevailing Interceſſions for others, is no obſcure Shadow of the Efficacious Mediation of CHRIST. To be particular,

1. VERY famous is the Promiſe and Bleſſing given to Abraham, and three times over repeated to him, Gen. 12.3. In thee ſhall all the Families of the Earth be bleſſed. 18.18. All the Nations of the Earth ſhall be bleſſed in him. 22.18. And in thy Seed ſhall all the Nations of the earth he bleſſed. Verily there is ſome mighty Bleſſing contained in theſe Words; of Univerſal and Everlaſting extent, not only to the Natural ſeed and Poſterity of Abraham, but to all People and Languages under Heaven; to be obtained for them and derived to them by this Promiſed SEED. The Apoſtle to the Galatians gives us the true Interpretation and only Fulfilment of this Promiſe. Gal. 3.7, 8, 9, 14, 16. The Scripture foreſeeing that GOD would justify the Heathen through faith, preached before the Goſpel unto Abraham, ſaying, In thee ſhall all Nations be bleſſed. So then they which be of Faith are bleſſed with faithful Abraham. — To Abraham and his ſeed were the Promiſes made. He ſaith not, and to Seeds, as of many; but as of One, And to thy SEED, which is CHRIST.

THE Sum and Subſtance of the Goſpel was thus preached to Abraham in a very few words. CHRIST is the Grand Bleſſing to the World: All the Families of the Earth that are bleſſed by GOD are bleſſed in Him; All that believe in Him are bleſſed of whatever Families of the Earth they be; The Meſſiah was to come from Abraham's joins as CHRIST did, the common Saviour and higheſt Bleſſing of loſt Sinners. Act. 3.25. Unto you GOD having raiſed up his Son JESUS, hath ſent him to p. 10bleſs you by turning you every one from his Iniquity.

CHRIST is this Singular, Eminent and particular Seed promiſed to Abraham, the Author of all Bleſſings (the Author of Eternal Salvation) to Mankind.

2. THE great Rite and Sacrament of Circumciſion which GOD gave to Abraham and his Seed, the Sign and Seal of His Covenant in their fleſh: Gen. 17.10, 11. contained in it much Goſpel Myſtery. It is called the Covenant of Circumciſion, Act. 7.8. And a Seal of the Righteouſneſs of Faith. Rom. 4.11. And we are ſaid upon our believing in CHRIST to be circumciſed with the Circumciſion made without hands, in putting off the ſins of the fleſh by the Circumciſion of Christ. Col. 2.11. By all which it appears that this great Article in the Jewiſh Religion had a ſingular Aſpect on CHRIST and Accompliſhment in Him.

THE Covenant of Circumciſion, and my Covenant in your fleſh: "It is a Sacramental phraſe, ‖‖The learned Mr. Samuel Mather, on the Figures and Types of the Old Teſtament.the Sign for the thing ſignified; as the Lamb was call'd the Paſſover, and as the Bread and Wine are called the Body of CHRIST: So Circumciſion was called the Covenant, i. e. the inſtituted Memorial of it. Thus Chriſt was given for a Covenant to the people; Iſai. 49.8. And this was ſeal'd to Abraham in Circumciſion, that GOD would give him a bleſſed SEED, even CHRIST.

CIRCUMCISION indeed look'd to a Church-ſeed, a believing Seed: But it ſeems Ordained primarily with an Eye unto the promiſed Seed that ſhould proceed from the loins of Abraham. And ſome give this particular Reaſon why it was peculiar to the Males, from the Reſpect it bare to CHRIST's blood. "It was a bloody Ordinance, and one kind of Inſtance (ſays Mr. Henry) how that all things by p. 11the Law were purged with blood. Heb. 9.22. Surely it was a ſort of the Blood of the Covenant which the LORD made with that People.

IT was (as Baptiſm now is) ‖‖Mather, on the Figures and Types.a Sacrament of Initiation into the Covenant of Grace: A ſign to repreſent, and a Seal to ratify and confirm, the Bonds and Bleſſings of it. It held forth the ſufferings of CHRIST, whoſe blood began to be ſhed in His Circumciſion. He bare our ſorrows even from His Cradle in His holy fleſh: for as He know no Sin, ſo He needed not to have been Circumciſed, but as He was made Sin, and under the Law for us. Circumciſion ſhadowed forth the ſpotleſs and glorious Righteouſneſs of the Promiſed Seed; His Perſonal Purity and Holineſs and the Spirituality and Sanctity of His Laws: That the Sinner muſt be Holy and Spiritual like Him in heart and life, and by faith in Him ſtand Holy and as without Sin in the ſight of GOD.

AS therefore we now are buried with Christ in Baptiſm, ſo they of old were myſtically Ingraffed into Him by Circumciſion: And in the Baptiſm of our Children we are compleat in Chriſt, even as the Jews were by the Extent of GOD's Covenant unto their Children, in the Faederal Rite of Circumciſion.

THERE are moreover ſome other Illuſtrious Figures of CHRIST that belong unto the Story of Abraham.

3. ONE is the famous Character of Melchizedek, and His bleſſing Abraham upon his Return from the ſlaughter of the Kings. We have the Story written by Moſes, Gen. 14.18, 19, 20. And the Apostle expounds it for us concerning CHRIST, Heb. 5.6, 10. and 6.20. and again through out the whole Seventh Chapter of that Epistle, where the Apoſtle opens at large and applies to Chriſt the Pſalmists words, in Pſal. 110. Thou art a Prieſt for ever after the order of Melchizedek.

p. 12WHO this Melchiſedec was we know not, and therefore is it hidden from us, that he might be the more Illuſtrious a Type of Chriſt: for being introduced without Father, without Mother, without beginning of days or end of life, he was made like the Son of GOD, of Wh…m it is ſaid, — And who ſhall declare his Generation?

MELCHIZEDEC was King of Salem, ſo Chriſt is the Prince of peace. Melchizedec was both King and Prieſt together, and ſo is Chriſt unto His Church for ever. Chriſt abideth a Prieſt continually, as of Melchizedec it is witneſſed that be liveth: Heb. 7.8. i. e. The Scripture ſpeaks only of his living and nothing of his death; as if he had liv'd for ever, and were like CHRIST a Prieſt for ever after the power of an endleſs life.

THIS Melchizedec bro't forth Bread and Wine unto Abraham, as Chriſt has leſt the ‖‖Mr. Henry.ſame Memorial of Himſelf to his Church, to repreſent the ſpiritual Proviſion of ſtrength and comfort laid up for us in the Covenant of Grace, for our refreſhment in our ſpiritual Warfare and conflicts. Melchizedek appears in this Act and in his Office greater than Abraham, for he received Tithes from him, and bleſſed him in the Name of the Moſt High GOD; and without all Contradiction (ſays the Apoſtle) the leſs is bleſſed of the Greater: Yea Levi alſo, and the Aaronical Prieſtnood it ſelf, paid tithes to this Melchizedec in the loins of Abraham. Heb. 7.7, 9. Agreeably you know to whom it was ſaid,—Art thou greater than our Father Abraham? and who it was that ſaid of himſelf,— Before Abraham was I am. As Melchiſedec bleſſed Abraham, ſo GOD has ſent His SON JESUS to bleſs us,— and whom he bleſſeth are Fleſſed indeed. Melchiſedec bleſſed GOD for Abraham, ſo Chriſt is the Mediator both p. 13of our prayers and praiſes, to offer up ours and his own for us. Abraham gave the tithes of all his ſpoil to Melchiſedek, which Homage and Acknowledgment is due from us to Chriſt, whoſe we are and all that we have.

IN this Bleſſing of Abraham by Melchiſedec all Believers are virtually bleſſed by Jeſus Chriſt: (ſays the devout Mr. Burkit.) For Melchiſedec repreſented Chriſt in what he did, and Abraham repreſented all his believing ſpiritual Seed in his receiving the Bleſſing. And truly it looks as if our Tithes were the Proportion due ſtill to Christ out of our Eſtate under the Goſpel; becauſe Abraham paid it to Chriſt, in Him who was ſo great a Type of Him, ſo long before the Days of Moſes. For therefore the T…the is not to be reckoned to belong to the Ceremonial Law, or to be only of the Levitical Obligation and Antiquity; for though Moſes requir'd it as he did Circumciſion alſo, yet neither of 'em were Originally of Moſes, but of the Fathers, John 7.22.

TO conclude, Melchizedek as a Prieſt had no Predeceſſor nor Suc…, ſo neither is the glorious Prieſthood of Chr… derived from or tranſmitted unto any, but it is an Unchangeable Prieſthood. Now conſider how Great this Man was! — but why? — even becauſe he was the Repreſentative of Him who is the King and Priest of His Church.

4. THE other Figure and Type of CHRIST in the History of Abraham is his Offering up his Son, his Only Son, Iſaac, whom he loved, at the command of GOD. Gen. 23. Iſaac was the promiſed and bleſſed Seed, the choſen of GOD, and the Darling of his Father: Abraham was bid to offer him up with his own hands in Sacrifice. So GOD ſpared not His Only begotten Son, but delivered. Him up for us all. The Wood for the fire was ſaid on Iſaac to bear as a figure of Chriſt's bearing p. 14His Croſs. Iſaac was the Lamb for the Burnt-Offering: Chriſt is the Lamb of GOD whoſe blood was ſhed for us, as of a Lamb without blemiſh and without ſpot. GOD freely gave his Son to die for us, the Son of GOD freely laid down his own life, he made it his own Act: So Obedient and Innocent Iſaac ſeems to have ſubmitted freely to his Father, in the offering of himſelf; without objecting againſt the Will of GOD, without any ſtruggling or reſiſtance, without any attempt to eſcape. Iſaac was bound however for the Altar and laid upon it, ſo Chriſt was bound in order to his death. Moreover, In the very Mountains of Moriah where Iſaac was offer'd, the Temple which was the Place of Sacrifices was afterward built: See the 2 Chron. 3.1. And here was Mount Calvary where Chriſt was crucified. At laſt Iſaac was releaſed by the Angels Voice from Heaven, and a Ram (provided by the hand of Heaven and preſented there) was offer'd in his ſtead; which Ram was the figure of Chriſt Sacrificed in our place, and of the Believers diſcharge from death by his death. It might moreover ſignify, that the offering up that Bleſſed Seed lately promiſed, and typified by Iſaac, ſhould be ‖‖So Mr. Mede, Dr. Patrick, and Mr. Henry.ſuſpend… till the fulneſs of time, and that in the mean w…e the Sacrifices of beaſts ſhould be ſtill accepted, as they had hitherto been; to be unto the Church the pledges of that great Expiation which ſhould one day be made by the death of Chriſt. In a word, the Ram was a Sacrifice of God's providing and not Mans: So the Incarnation and Death of Chriſt was the gracious and bleſſed proviſion of Heaven for us, and not ours for our ſelves; and ſhould be to our ſurprize and joy, as it was to Abraham to hear the Angels words, and to ſee the Ram faſt in the thicket.

p. 15I paſs over Jacobs Ladder, and Joſeph; Sufferings and Exaltation, and ſhall only lay before you,

IV. THE Bleſſing of Judah from the dying lips of Jacob. Ger. 10.8, 10. Judah, thou art He whom thy Brethren ſhall praiſe; thy band ſhall be in the neck of thine Enemies; thy Fathers children ſhall how down before thee; — the Scepter ſhall not depart from Judah, nor a Langiver from between his feet until Shileb …, and unto Him ſhall the gathering of the People be. From this Prediction the Chriſtian Church has always prov'd againſt the Jews that the Meſſiah is come, that JESUS is HE, and that we are not to look for another.

THE name Judah ſignifies praiſe: his Mother gave it him to expreſs her Thankfulneſs to GOD, but Providence had a further meanning in it, becauſe of the future Honours and Fame or that Neble Tribe; particularly the Royal Dignity its refting in it, and the Meſſiah's coming cut of it. This was the praiſe of Judah. It was a numerous and warlike Tribe; for Courage and valour, Conqueſt and victory likned to a Lion: and you know who it is that is called, the Lion of the Tribe of Judah; even our Victorious, riſen, aſcended and reignite JESUS. Rev. 5.5.

BUT the moſt Eminent Prophecy is in the tenth verſe; The Scepter ſhall not depart from Judah, nor a Lawgiver from between his feet until Shiloh come; and unto Him ſhall the Gathering of the People be.

THE Jews have been as much confounded by the Interpretation and Application of this Prophecy to the Perſon and Time of our Saviour, as almoſt by any one in the Old Testament. They generally own that by Shilch is meant the Meſſiah. So the Talmudiſts, Cairites, Cabbaliſts, Targum, Onkelos and others do agree, as Monficur Baſnage proves. The p. 16various Interpretations given of this Myſterious Word do all agree to the Meſſiah. Some read Shiloh—Him that is Sent; a well known Name of Christ: Others read it — His Son or Seed; others the Peaceable, the proſperous, August, renown'd. The Meſſiah or Chriſt is all theſe in a way of Eminence.

JUDAH by this Prophecy was to have the Scepter, and the Lawgiver was to be of him, till about the time of the Coming of Chriſt it ſhould fore this Honour and Pre-eminence above the other Tribes; while at the ſame time the Gentile Nations ſhould be called.

THE word Schevet, which we read Scepter, might alſo be tranſlated Tribe. Moſes ſeveral times uſes the Word in this ſenſe, and Mr. Baſnage thinks him the beſt Interpreter of himſelf. The ſenſe then would be — Judah ſhall remain a Tribe until Shiloh come. Now if this be the true Reading it was wonderfully fulfill'd, as every child knows. For the Kingdom of Judah were not captivated and loft with the ten Tribes of Iſrael, who broke off under Jeroboam from the Houſe of David, and were carried away by Salmanaſſer, and we ſcarce know what became o… 'em unto this day. But Judah continued a Kingdom about a hundred Years after, and then was carry'd Captive to Babylon, where the poor Tribe was in a manner preſerv'd Entire, and after Seventy Years as many as would return'd & rebuilt Jernſalem, under the favour of Cyrus and other Perſian Empetors; and in time it reviv'd again into a kind of Kingdom, and gave the Name of Judea to the Land of Iſrael, and ſo continued to the Coming of Chriſt: For the little Tribe of Benjamin, the Remains of Levi, and ſome few poor Families of ſome other Tribes were in a manner Incorporated into, and loſt in this of Judah. But ſoon after the death of Chriſt came on the deſtruction of Jeruſalem, and the diſperxſion p. 17of the Tribe of Judah, and theſe Remains of that woful People are diſſipated thro' the Earth, no more a diſtinct Tribe; their Genealogies are loſt and confounded; there's not a Family, no not the Houſe of David, that know certainly or can prove their line and deſcent.

BUT let us read the Word Schebet Rod; and the Queſtion is, What kind of red is here meant? The Jews perverſly ſay, in ſpite of the ſcope of the whole Bleſſing here given, It is the Rod of Correction: which they are indeed under in the utmoſt Emphaſis of the Word. But this Interpretation does the utmoſt Violence to the Context, which ſpeaks altogether of Judahs Preheminence, Honour, Superiority, plenty felicity; Majeſty, Victory and Empire. This therefore ought to determine the ſenſe for us, that it is the Red of Dignity and Government that is here meant, which is to ſay a Scepter; the ſtrong Red of them that hear rule. Ezek. 10.11.

THE LXX therefore read it foreign, the Ruler; of whoſe Authority and Dignity the Rod, Staff and Scepter is the Enſign. Amos 1.5. Him that holdeth the Scepter: i. e. the King or Chief Ruler. Very juſtly therefore do we tranſlate it Scepter, and the Prophecy was that Judah ſhould hold it.

THE other Word Mech…kek, which we tranſlate Lawgiver, ſignifies, (as Bp Patrick obſerves both from the Scripture and Jewiſh uſe of the word) a Power and Government inferiour to the Royal Dignity; Governours dependent on and deriving from Another that is Supream; ſuch as after the Captivity were ſet over the Jews by the Kings of Perſia, and afterward by the Roman Empire.

FROM the days of David to the Babyloniſh Captivity Judah had properly the Scepter or Royal Power: And after their return from Babylon to the days of our Saviour and a few years after, they had a Government and Governours among them; and generally before our Saviours time the Governour p. 18in Chief was of themſelves; and the Government was mostly Jewiſh, the Great Council or Sanedrim having great power and Authority unqueſtionably lodged in them. At the Birth of CHRIST the Romans had the Sovereignty over 'em, and the poor Remains of Power and Dignity were departing apace from Judah.

Mr. Baſnage thinks we have been too much cazled with the word Scepter, as if it muſt neceſſarily imply a proper Regal Authority. This (he thinks) has run Chriſtian Exp…ſitors into inextricable Lybyrinths; in as much as there were no Kings of Judah from Moſes to David; ſo neither any from the Captivity in Babylon to the laſt deſtruction of Jeruſalem. So that the prope Scepter or Regal Authority began 600 Years after the Oracle of Jacob, continued but about 500 Years, and ended 500 before Chriſt; and ſo in no wife ſeems to anſwer the Prophecy.

BY Scepter therefore he would have us to underſtand only a High Degree of Preheminence, which was the portion of Judah when it did not hold the Regal Scepter. Judah excell'd the other Tribes in Numbers and in Valour. When the Government was Ariſtocratical Judah had the firſt port, and march'd at the head of the Tribes. When it was Monarchial, the Kings were chiefly of this Tribe, yea in a conſtant Succeſſion they were ſo from the time of David. And wh… the Council or Sanedrim govern'd, Judah was the Tribe in Being, and Jeruſalem the Seat of the Government. Thus in all reſpects it had the Preheminence.

BUT now the laſt Deſtruction of Jeruſalem has confounded this Tribe of Judah and ſcatter'd them thro' the Earth. It has only this Shadow of Preheminence left, that in its diſperſion it is preſerved a diſtinct Body among the Nations, here a Perſon and there a Family or two, but uncertain for the moſt part whether they belong to Levi, to Benjamin or to Judah. The Scepter ſubſiſts no where, nor has it been any where for more than Sixteen whole Centuries p. 19paſt. Judah is a Vegab…nd and Fugitive; the Scepter is departed, not by an Interruption of 70 Years as before, but thro' a Duration of 1700 Years.

ALL this proves that Shil…b is come, and points unto our LORD JESUS as the Bleſſed Perſon ſo called, upon whoſe death the diſperſion of Judah followed, as He with tears foretold and threatned. And unto Him we have ſeen the G…th…ing of the People to be; and we cur ſelves (among the Gentile Nations) are a part of the happy Inſtance and proof of it. Mr. Mede therefore judges, that this Prophecy was not fulfilled till the time of the Deſtruction of the Jewiſh ſtate by Titus, which he thinks agrees to the letter of our Saviours words, Mat. 24.14. This Goſpel of the Kingdom ſhall be preached in all the World, for a Witneſs unto all Nations, and them ſhall the End (ſoil. of the Jewiſh State) come.

THUS dying Jacob at a great diſtance ſaw Chriſt's day, and it was his great Comfort and Support on his Death-bed; as Mr. Henry ſays on the place. He foretells that the Scepter ſhould come into the Tribe of Judah, that Shilob the promiſed Seed ſhould be of it; that in Judah a Government of its own ſhould continue till the Coming of the Meſſiah; long after the Kingdom of Iſrael or the Ten Tribes had ceas'd, without any Revival. And ſo it was: Our LORD came of Judah, the Praiſe of all his Saints; To Him belongs the Scepter, and He is the Lawgiver. In the day when the Jews rejected him, they confeſſed the Scepter departed from themſelves: We have no King but Caſar, ſaid they to Pilate, and again, It is not lawful for us to put any man to death. See John 18.31. & 19.15.

On theſe grounds we ſay then that our LORD JESUS is the CHRIST, the promiſed Shiloh; juſt about whoſe time on Earth the Scepter departed from Judah, and upon their diſperſion the Nations p. 20were Converted to Christ and taken into his Church; which is the Kingdom of GOD in the World. Gen. 19.18. I have waited for thy Salvation, O Lord.

THUS I have given a Specimen out of the Writings of Moſes, in his firſt Book which is called Geneſis, by which we may ſee how much he wrote of CHRIST; and that if we believe his Writings we muſt needs believe in Chriſt, that He is the true Meſſiah and the Saviour of Men.

THE time would ſail me ſhould I now look into the other Books of Moſes, to interpret what he there writes concerning Chriſt. The Deliverance of the Jewiſh Church out of Egypt was a great and ſingular Type of the Redomption of Souls from the more cruel and miſerable ſervitude of Sin and Saran: The Paſchal Lamb was an Eminent figure of the Son and Lamb of God ſlain for us; our Sacrificed Saviour: The Manna from Heaven was a figure of Him the true Bread, and bread of Life: The water from the ſmitten Rock which followed the thirſty Camp of Iſrael and ſatisfy'd 'em, was a figure of the Overflowing and ever flowing refreſh. wants and Conſclations for every famiſhing and thirſty Soul from a Smitten Saviour: The Levitical Tabernacle; Priesthood, Sacrifices; Ceremonial Uncleanneſſes and Cleanſings; were full of ſpiritual Myſtery pointing to Christ, His Natures, Offices, Sacrifice and Benefits: And finally, The Moſaical Festivals and Solemnities; the Day of Atonement, the feaſt of Penticoſt and Tabernacles, Trumpets and New Moons, the Sabbatical Year and the "Jubilee, did in many reſpects refer to him: According to that of the Apoſtle to the Galatians, The Law was a School-maſter to bring us to Chriſt.

p. 21BUT I ſhall not enter into any of theſe particulars: I ſpeak in the preſence of them that need it not, and to a Maſter in Iſrael that happily knows theſe things; who having been a Diſciple of Moſes from his Infancy appears now among us openly to profeſs himſelf a Diſciple of JESUS; becauſe he finds that Moſes and the Prophets of a truth wrote of Him, and that their Writings are fulfilled in Him; and that therefore He muſt be and is that Prophet which ſhould come into the World.

SIR, We thank GOD for the Illumination he has given you, and your profeſſed Subjection this day unto the Goſpel of Chriſt. We rejoyce and give Glory to GOD in your Converſion from Judaiſm to Chriſtianity. You come not to Jeſus by Night, as Nic…demus a Matter in Iſrael once did under ſome good Convections, but ſtill in darkneſs and fears: You come to CHRIST in open day, and to his Baptiſm in this compicuous Place, and with a full perſwaſion of the Verity of the Chriſtion Doctrines, and with a full purpoſe of heart by the Grace of Christ to walk in all his bleſſed Laws and Ordinances all the days of your life; entirely placing your truſt and hope in Him for Salvation. We alſo are aſſembled this day in ſolemn and awful form to receive your open profeſſion of his Name, and bid you welcome (ſo far as in us lies) unto his bleſſed ſect and ſaving Arms.

AND now what Words more appoſite and awful can I direct unto you on this Occaſion, than thoſe of our LORD's unto Nichodemus? St. John 3.3, 5. Verily, verily I ſay unto thee, Except a man be born again he cannot ſee the Kingdom of God: Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit he cannot enter into the Kingdom of God.

p. 22GIVE me leave to explain and preſs thoſe words upon you, as bringing you the moſt pertinent Direction and proper Exhortation, and receive them as from the mouth of CHRIST unto You upon your preſent Coming to Him.

SOME of our learned Chriſtian Doctors ‖‖See Dr. Hammond in loc.tell us that the phraſe foreign, born again, denotes no more than becoming a Proſelyte of Chriſt; and conſequently the Confeſſing him publickly in his appointed way. And then foreign, born of water, means only being received as a Proſelyte to Chriſt by Baptiſm. The Proſelytes among the Jews were Initiated by waſhing or Baptiſm, and it was a kind of putting off all their former Relations, kindred and Conſanguinity, and ſo a being as it were new born. Our Saviour therefore wonders (ſay ſome) that Nichode…es, a Maſter in Iſrael ſhould not underſtand this Mode and Form of Speech, You must be born again. For as a Heathen proſelyted to the Jewiſh Religion did in a manner like Abraham leave his Country and Fathers houſe, his Brethren and Siſters, in renouncing their Idolatries; So a Jew becoming a Chriſtian Proſelyte forſakes his Jewiſh Principles, cuſtoms and Communion, and comes over entirely into a new Diſpenſation, a new worſhip, Doctrine and way of Salvation.

BUT this Interpretation, tho' it looks ingenious and has a face of Learning, does by no means come up to the ſenſe and life and power of our Saviour's Words. You muſt underſtand Him to mean nothing elſe than a Divine Celeſtial Birth, a bleſſed Regeneration, a heavenly Ren…vation paſſing on the Soul from the power of the HOLY GHOST. This new-Birth is the thing ſignified, repreſented and ſealed by p. 23Baptiſm, and is the Soul and Subſtance of that Sacred Ceremony ††See Pools Annot. in loc, and the learned Stephen Charnock.: For the Grace of the Holy Spirit in purifying the Soul is fitly repreſented by the waſhing with water: See Iſai. 44.3. Ezek. 36.25.

SO then to be born of Water and of the Spirit means a Soul renewed by the Power of the HOLY GHOST, working and cleanſing like Water. Accordingly we read Titus 3.1. of the waſhing of Regeneration and the Renewing of the Holy Ghoſt. Which means the ſame with, 1 Pet. 1.2. The Sanctification of the Spirit unto Obedience: In ſhort, He that will enter into the State of the Goſpel muſt be baptized, and he that enters into a State of Grace is Regenerated.**Clarks Annot.

"THERE muſt be a Change from Nature to Grace, or elſe no change of Principles or Profeſſion will ſave a Man. Nichodemus may own and confeſs Chriſt, and ſubmit to him from a real Conviction in his Conſcience that He is the Great Teacher and Meſſiah come from God; and ſo a Jew may receive the Baptiſm of Chriſt; but if a regenerating Change does not paſs upon his Soul, producing a new Heart and Life, his Baptiſm will not ſave him. The Anſwer of a good Conſcience toward God is all in all in a Proſelyte coming to Baptiſm.

NICHODEMUS ‖‖Mr. Henry in loc.was no doubt one of thoſe that expected the Kingdom of the Meſſiah, and was looking for Redemption in Iſrael; and it may be he came early to Chriſt (ſays one) to ſecure a Place for himſelf in the expected temporal Reign and Kingdom of the Meſſiah. But our Lord ſurpriſes him by telling him that His Kingdom was a p. 24Spiritual thing, and if any Man would ſhare in the Benefits and Advantages thereof it muſt be by a Change wro't in his Spirit: A new Nature muſt be given him, he muſt become a New Creature, a New Man: New Principles, new Affections, new Aims muſt govern in him and produce a new, holy heavenly and divine life. The Phariſees plac'd their Religion in an External purity and in outward performances; but Chriſt requires Internal Sanctity and heart purity: Pſalm 51.5, 10. Behold thou deſirest truth in the Inward part: Create in me a clean heart, O GOD, and renew a right ſpirit within me.

THE learned Mr. Charnock excellently paraphraſes on our Lord's words to Nichodemus after this mander: "You muſt become a New Man if you come to me: Away with your old notions and Phariſaical pride: deny your honour, credit, and worldly Intereſt, and confeſs me openly before the World: a legal frame and a Phariſaical Righteouſneſs will never advance you to or in my Kingdom: Think not to ſay within your ſelf, I am a Son of Abraham: You muſt become a Son of GOD by Grace and Sanctification.

I tho't it proper thus to inlarge on and illuſtrate our Bleſſed SAVIOUR's Words to a Maſter of Iſrael upon his Coming to him. I have done it in the beſt words of our Christian Expoſitors as I could haſtily collect them. And now I leave them with You that have been a Rabbin, and pray you to apply them unto your Self in this ſingle ſerious Enquiry,— Am I born again? has a new Birth paſſed on me? Am I a new Creature? What have I experienced of a Work of Grace begun and carrying on in my Soul?

BELIEVE me, Sir, our Chriſtian Baptiſin is a great Solemnity in our Holy Religion! it is a very p. 25reverend and hely Ordinance; ſuppoſes you in a state of Grace and calls for a very gracious Frame.

IT is eaſy for you to receive a place in the viſible Church and Kingdom of the Meſſiah, but w…n it there is an Inviſible State of Grace and Salvation; Are you in that?

IS your Heart right with God this Day? Are you upright in the ſight of Chriſt, wh… ſearches your Heart, in this Dedication of your ſelf unto Him? What ſignifies Baptiſm without this? Be ſure that you have no By-ends, no finifter and corrupt Views, no worldly Advantages, in what you do this day. GOD torbid, that theſe ſhould act you. We hope, we believe they don't: You have ſolemnly profeſſed that they do not.

WE can't be content with your good Profeſſion: we ſeek your ſaving Converſion to Eternal …. Is there a Change in your heart as well as in your Principles? You renounce your Jewiſh Infidelity, do you renounce alſo all Sin, every evil way… Is your deſire true and ſervent after inward Grace and Holineſs? and is your purpoſe and reſolution firm, by the help of God, to endeavour after that …ory heavenly life which the Goſpel requires, in Conformity to the Example and Life of the Bleſſed JESUS?

IF it be thus, then admire and adore the Distinguiſhing Grace of God unto you! B…indneſ…, has hapned to Iſrael, but bleſſed are your Eyes or you ſee! The Grace is Sovereign and free which has touched you, while your dear Nation yet remain hardned. O had they known, they would not have crucified the Lord of Glory! — and yet they will not know him, tho' they have born ſo long the p. 26Curſe your Fathers im…recated on you when they rejected him before Pilate.

WE lock for the happy day of the Converſion of the Jews and of Iſraels Salvation; we daily and earneſtly pray for it with great deſire; we wait for it with a holy Impatience; It will be life from the dead to the Chriſtian World: — What hinders it? You may read 2 Cor. 3.14, 15, 16. Even unto this day when Moſes is read the vail is upon their heart: Nevertheleſs when it ſhall turn to the Lord the vail ſhall be taken away: Now the Lord is that Spirit and where the Spirit of the Lord is there is Liberty. There is a vail of Spiritual Blindneſs upon the Jewiſh Nation, judicially laid on them for their rejecting Chriſt. This hinders 'em from ſeeing in the reading of the Old Testament, how Moſes and the Prophets wrote of him. But the day is coming when God will open their eyes to ſee this and then they will immediately relent, and look unto him whom they have pierced. The bleſſed and holy Spirit of Grace will fall upon 'em, enlighten, convince, convert 'em; and free 'em from their preſent prejudices. The Son of God will make 'em free and they ſhall be free indeed.

IF you, Sir, are freed from the Prejudices of your unhappy Nation, once the moſt honoured and dignified upon Earth, it is Chriſt has freed you, Give him the Glory. I ſalute you this day as Philip did Nathanael: Joh. 1.45. We have found him of whom Moſes in the Law and the Prophets did write, Jeſus of Nazareth. You believe, and are going to Him. O may the All-ſeeing Lord ſay of you and to you as he ſees you coming, — Behold an Iſraelite indeed, in whom is no Guile.

p. 7HE I truſt has ſeen you in your ſecret Solemn Conſecration of your Self to Him. Now do it again in the preſence of us all, and ſay to our Gracious SAVIOUR,—Rabbi, thou art the Son of GOD, thou art the King of Iſrael.

THE END.

THE TRUTH, Being a DISCOURSE Which the Author Delivered at his BAPTISM, Containing Nine Principal Arguments the Modern Jewiſh Rabbins do make to prove, the MESSIAH is yet to Come: With the Anſwers to each, not only according to the Orthodox Opinion, but even with the Authority of their own Authentick Rabbins of Old.

And Likewiſe, With the Confeſſion of his Faith, At the Latter End.

Dedicated to the Jewiſh Nation. And Prefac'd by the Reverend INCREASE MATHER, D.D.

By R. Judah Monis.

BOSTON: Printed by S. KNEELAND, for D. HENCHMAN, at the Corner Shop on the South ſide of the Town-Houſe. 1722.

Advertiſement.

THe Author Hopes the Engliſh Reader will afford the following Diſcourſes his Candour, and Excuſe any want of Accuracy in the Engliſh Idiome, (& punctation,) conſidering the Engliſh Tongue is what he has not been very long uſed to, and for that reaſon does not pretend to be a compleat Maſter of. As to the Quotations for want of the Hebrew Types in this Country, he is obliged to give them only in Engliſh, but he refers to the particular places of the Reſpective Authors, and Submits to the Cenſure of the Learned, whether they be miſrepreſented or no. Where any Hebrew Words are written, he has uſed ſuch Engliſh Letters, as he apprehends will beſt convey the ſound and pronounciation of the Hebrew Word: to the Reader.