17. 29. SERM. things; for neither can he bring death upon himself, if he XXIX. would, nor bestow eternity on mortals, nor recall the dead to life: but it is no wonder, that he, who thought the foul quite to perish by death, fhould conceive the reftitution thereof impoffible; although even fuppofing that, his opinion was not reasonable; for even any thing, how corruptible foever by diffolution of its ingredients, or alteration of its temperament, may, by recollecting and rejoining those ingredients, or by reeftablishing the causes of fuch a temperament, be restored, (as a house whose materials are dispersed may be reedified, or as a liquor by a new fermentation may be revived ;) which to effect may not be deemed hard to him that made the whole world: however to fuch as him we may fay, as our Saviour did to the Jer. xxxii. Sadducees, Ye err, not knowing the Scriptures, nor the Matt. xxii. power of God. Efpecially to those who acknowledge the immortality of the foul, or its permanence in a separate ftate, and who admit the truth of the ancient hiftories among the Jews, it is not only most evidently possible, but very credible, that God upon any confiderable occafion should perform it: with fuch St. Paul might well Acts xxvi. thus expoftulate; What? doth it feem incredible to you, that God fhould raife the dead? to you that have fuch previous notions and perfuafions about God's omnipotency; (such as the prophet Jeremiah expreffeth when he Jer. xxxii. faith, Ah Lord God! behold, thou haft made the heaven and the earth by thy great power and stretched-out arm, and there is nothing too hard for thee :) to you who avow God Heb. xii. 9. to be the Father of Spirits, who formeth the Spirit of man Num. xvi. within him, and that when man dieth, his spirit returneth to God who it: to you who believe that our fouls are cfpiritual fubftances, like unto angels, fubfifting after death, Eccles. xii. and deftined to future rewards: to you, in fine, who may in your holy records find fo many experiments of this power exerted by God in his Prophets; fuch as that of Elias's reftoring the widow of Sarepta's fon; of Elisha 2 Kings iv. raifing the fon of the Shunamite; that of the dead man 35. xiii. 21. reviving when his body touched the Prophet's bones: to 8. 17. Zech. viii. 6. Job xlii. 2. 22. xxvii. 16. Ifa. 16. 1. 1 Kings xvii. 21. gave you therefore this fact cannot be in itself incredible; nor indeed can it, for the reason suggested, to any man reason- SERM. ably feem impoffible. 2. Nor was it apparently in its defign unworthy of God, or inconfiftent with his holy will: for the ends thereof (fuch as were pretended by the attefters of it) were, as very great and important, fo moft good and reafonable; it aimed at no flight or trifling matter, but such as in appearance highly concerned the glory of God, and conduced to the welfare of mankind; it profeffing itself to be a credential of the greatest embaffy that ever came down from heaven to men, importing the complete revelation of God's will and procurement of falvation to the world; and did therefore in that respect well become the wisdom and goodness of God to use it. It pretended to confirm a doctrine containing moft true and worthy representations of God, the best that could be; declaring most gracious intentions in God of mercy and kindness toward men; no lefs proper for him than grateful and needful for us ; prescribing most excellent rules and patterns of life, (wherein the most genuine piety and virtue, most exact justice and hearty charity, most strict purity and fobriety are prescribed,) yielding the most effectual helps to the practice of all goodness, and tendering the best encouragement thereto; and upon this account therefore alfo moft worthy of God. So that indeed God could not be conceived to perform fuch a miracle to better purpose, than for promoting the defigns it pretendeth, being fo very great, and fo very good: it could not be improper for the Divine power to be thus exerted in favour of a religion fo apt to promote his glory, and to procure our benefit. If it be faid, that it is abfurd or improbable, that God should choose to perform this miracle upon a perfon of this fort; one fo mean and obfcure in the state of his life, fo wretched and infamous for the manner of his death; that God rather fhould have chofen for the interpreter of his mind, and minifter of his purposes, a perfonage more illuftrious in rank, and clear in repute; I answer, first, that our fhallow fancy is a bad and incompetent judge of what XXIX. 7. Ifa. lv. s. xl. 13. 15. 1 Cor. v. 13. Rom. xi. 33. Job xi. 7. SERM. is reasonable or abfurd, convenient or unfit, in fuch cafes, XXIX. touching the counfels of God; who feeth not as man feeth; 1 Sam. xvi. whofe thoughts are not as our thoughts, nor ways as our ways; whofe folly is wifer than men, (that is, whofe counfels, however seeming strange to our dim apprehenfions, 2 Cor. i. 25. do yet far excel the refults of our best wisdom;) before Luke xvi. whom, whatever is high among men is abominable; with whom the wisdom of this world is folly; whofe judgments are unfearchable, and his ways are past finding out; as the (Pf. xcii. 5. holy Scriptures teach us; and as good reason, confidering xxxvi. 7.) the vaft diftance between God and us, muft acknowledge: fo that no fuch appearance of incongruity can bottom a good exception against this, or any fuch matter, otherwife well attested. I fay farther, that God's choice herein, being weighed by a pure and well disposed mind, will appear upon many accounts full of admirable reafon and wifdom; all the divine economy concerning our Lord, 1 Cor. ii. 6, being rightly apprehended, will foon appear wisdom to the Matt.xi. 19. perfect, and will be juftified by the children of wisdom; as that wherein God's tranfcendent goodness, and perfect juftice, and glorious power are with greatest advantage difplayed; whereby the hearts of men are most sweetly comforted under their fenfe of fin and fear of misery, their minds are most clearly inftructed in the ways of duty and happiness, their affections are moft ftrongly excited and encouraged to the practice of all goodness: to fuch purposes (for caufes which, were it now seasonable, we could produce) our Saviour's low condition and hard circumftances did admirably ferve; and therefore upon that score it could not be unlikely, that God should raise him from the dead. 7, 14. The de 3. But neither (which is the most confiderable point) is the teftimony afferting this fact anywife defective or infufficient, but hath all the conditions imaginably requifite to the most entire affurance of any fuch matter. fect in the testimony, if any be, must arise from weakness or from wilfulness in the witneffes, (their want of knowledge, or mistake, their want of honesty or their unfaithfulness,) or from fome circumftances belonging to their XXIX. perfons, or their teftimony, able to invalidate their attefta- SERM. tion; but none of these things can with reafon be fupposed; they were in all refpects more than competently qualified to atteft, and all confiderable circumftances do affift in confirming their atteftation; as by weighing the confiderations following may appear. 1. As for their number, it was not one or two perfons, (although one or two ordinarily do fuffice for decifion of the greatest cafes among men,) but many who confpired in afferting it. He was (faith St. Paul, one who was con- 1 Cor. xv. verfant with these witneffes, who, of a zealous adversary and fierce persecutor of this teftimony, did become an earnest avoucher thereof) feen of Cephas, then of the twelve: after, he was feen of above five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain unto this prefent. And, This Jefus, fay the twelve Apostles, hath God raised A&ts ii. 14, up, whereof all we are witneffes: twelve there were who principally were defigned, and did take it for their especial duty to atteft this matter, befide many others, who in their order were able and ready.to do it. i. 22. x. 39. 2. These witneffes were no ftrangers to Jefus, but perfons by long conversation most familiarly acquainted with him; who had (as it is faid, and as it was notorious) been John xv.27. with him from the beginning, who went out and in with Acts i. 21, him all the time (that is, for three years' space) from his baptifm to his afcenfion. 22. 3. They did aver themselves to be autótlas toũ λóyou, or Luke i. 2. auτηóes, eye or ear-witneffes of the matter, as fully in formed about it as fenfes could make them; We cannot A&ts iv. 20. but speak what we have heard and feen: What we did fee 1 John i. 1. with our eyes, and what our hands did handle of the word of life, that we report unto you; fo St. John (the beloved difciple, who conftantly attended on his dear Mafter) ex preffeth his teftimony: and, We have not followed cun- 2 Pet. i. 16. ningly devifed fables, when we made known unto you the power and prefence of our Lord Jefus Chrift, but were eyewitnesses of his majefty; fo St. Peter affirmeth concerning the manner of their teftifying thefe matters. They did, I SERM. fay, hear and fee him, and that with all advantage poffible or XXIX. needful, not once or twice, not in paffing, or at distance, not in way of glimpse or rumour; but often, for a good time, thoroughly; many days converfing and interchangActs x. 41. ing difcourfes with him; who, as St. Peter in the name of the rest faith, did eat and drink with him after that he As i. 3. rofe from the dead: and, To whom, as St. Luke, their companion, from their mouth in our text faith, alfo he fhewed himself alive after his paffion by many infallible proofs, being feen of them forty days, and Speaking of the things A&ts xiii. pertaining to the kingdom of God: and, He was, faith St. Paul, another familiar of theirs, feen many days of them which came up with him from Galilee to Jerufalem, who are his witnesses to the people. And two of these witnesses, St. John and St. Matthew, are in writings extant relaters of paffages occurring in their conversation with him, very many, very fenfible as can be. 31. 11. Matth. 4. We may also confider, that the chief of these witneffes, the Apostles themselves, were at firft (as St. Luke of them and from them confeffeth) fo far from being eafy or credulous in regard to this matter, that, hearing it from others, who before had seen our Lord risen, they took it for a trifle, or a fiction, and gave no credence thereto : Luke xxiv. their words, faith the text, spávnoav wosì λñpos, did feem to them (a toy, or) an idle tale, and they believed them not. xxviii. 17. Yea, fome of them would hardly confide in their own eyes, nor would yield affent unto the fact appearing to them, until, by letting them touch him, and shewing them the marks of his crucifixion remaining on his body, he demonftrated himself to be the very fame perfon who had Luke xxiv. lived with them and died before them; They were terrified and affrighted, and fuppofed they had feen a Spiritand while they yet believed not for joy, and wondered, &c. are words in the history. 37, 41. John xx. 27. 5. Upon these grounds, as they profeffed, they did, without any mincing, hefitancy, or reservation, in the most full, clear, downright, and peremptory manner, with firm Acts iv. 31, confidence and alacrity, concurrently aver the fact; They 33. xiv. 3. |