The works of Dr. Isaac Barrow

LIBEARY

OF THE

Theological Seminary,

PRINCETON, N. J.

A ■. .

BX5037 .B32 1830 v. 5
Barrow. Isaac. 1630-1677.
Works of Dr. Isaac Barrow /

THE WORKS

OF

ISAAC BARROW.

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the Internet Archive

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THE WORKS

DR. ISAAC BARROW.

SOME ACCOUNT OF HIS LIFE,

SUMMARY OF EACH DISCOURSE, NOTES, fvC.

BY THE REV. T. S. HUGHES, B. D.

LONDON:
PRINTED AND PUBLISHED BY A. J. VALPY, M.A.

AND SOLD BV ALL BOOKSELLERS.

1831.

CONTENTS

THE FIFTH VOLUME.

SERMONS ON THE APOSTLES' CREED.

J' AGE

I. — Of the evil and unreasonableness of infidelity.

Hebrews hi. 12. — Take heed, brethren, lest there be
in any of you an evil heart of unbelief. 1

II. — Of the virtue and reasonableness of faith.

n Peter i. I. to them that have obtained like

precious faith with us 27

III. — Of the virtue and reasonableness of faith.

ii Peter i. 1. to them that have obtained like

precious faith with us 64

CONTENTS.

IV. — Of justifying faith.

Romans v. 1. — Therefore being justified by faith, we
have peace with God, through our Lord Jesus Christ. . 89

V. — Of justification by faith.

Romans v. 1. — Therefore being justified by faith, we
have peace with God, through our Lord Jesus Christ. . 117

VI. — The being of God proved from the frame of the world.

Jeremiah m. 15. — He hath made the earth by his
power, he hath established the world by his wisdom, and
hath stretched out the heaven by his understanding. . 143

VII. — The being of God proved from the frame of human
nature.

Genesis I. 27. — So God created man in his own image ;
in the image of God created he him. .... 164

VIII. — The being of God proved from universal consent.

Psalm xix. 3. 4. — There is no speech nor language
where their voice is not heard : their line (or rather,
according to the LXX, their voice) is gone out through
all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. . 184

IX. — The being of God proved from supernatural effects.

John v. 17. — But Jesus answered them, My Father
hitherto worketh, and I work 207

X. — I believe in God the Father.

Ephesians iv. 6.— One God and Father of all. . . 226

CONTENTS.

vii

PACE

XI. — Revelations xi. 17.— O Lord God Almighty. . .250

XII. — Acts iv. 24.— O Lord, thou art God, which hast made
heaven and earth, and the sea, and all that in them is. . 277

XIII. — Of the truth and divinity of the Christian religion.
Ephesians i. 13.— In whom ye also (trusted), having

heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. . 310

XIV. — Of the impiety and imposture of Paganism and Maho-
metanism.

Ephesians I. 13. — In whom ye also (trusted), having
heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. . 322

XV. — Of the imperfection of the Jewish religion.

Ephesians i. 13. — In whom ye also (trusted), having
heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. . 33G

XVI. — Of the excellency of the Christian religion.

i Corinthians ii. 6. — We speak wisdom to those which
are perfect 360

XVII. — That Jesus is the true Messias.

Acts ix. 22. Proving that this is the very

Christ 384

XVIII. — That Jesus is the true Messias.

Acts ix. 22. — But Saul increased the more in strength,
and confounded the Jews, which dwelt at Damascus, prov-
ing that this is the very Christ. ..... 414

CONTENTS.

PAGE

XIX. — That Jesus is the true Messias.

Acts rx. 22. Proving that Jesus is the Christ. . 439

XX. — That Jesus is the true Messias.

John v. 37. — And the Father himself, which hath sent
me, hath borne w itness of me. ...... 407

XXI. — John i. 14. — And we beheld his glory, the glory as

of the only begotten of the Father Ml

CHRISTIAN FAITH

EXPLAINED AND VINDICATED

IN SEVERAL

SERMONS

ON

THE CHIEF ARTICLES OF IT

CONTAINED IN

THE APOSTLES' CREED.

3f %<£%%£Vl£ in <£od tiie tfattiet aimigjjtp, iftafcer of
teamen anD eajctf) :

3nD in <3e£u£ <tffjrigt fjijS onlp ,§>on our £orD, tnfjo toa£
ronrerbeD bp tjje $oIp «5fjo^t, born of tije ilirgin jttarp, £of*
fereo unDcr JJontiujS pilate, ina^ rrucifieD, DeaD, anD burieD,
i?e De^cenDeD into b^eli ; tfje tjjiro Dap i>e ro.se again from tb.e
DeaD, as"cenDeD into Ijcanen, and sfitteth, on t^e right ijanD
of 43oD the father £Umightp; from thence he shall come to
juDge the quick anD the DeaD.

3J belicbe in tfjc Ifofp 4&I)0?tj the hoi? Catholic Church ;
the (Communion of .f>amts; the forgrbenes's- of s"ins; tjje re;
.surrection of the boDw, anD the life eberiasting. amen.

r PaiKojsTour

SERMONS.

SUMMARY OF SERMON I.

HEBREWS, CHAP. III. — VERSE 12.

If the causes of all the sin and mischief in the world were
carefully sought, we should find the chief to be infidelity ;
either total or gradual : hence the use of dissuading men
from it.

That infidelity is a sinful distemper of the heart, appears by
divers express testimonies of Scripture, and good reasons
grounded thereon : this illustrated. But the sinfulness will
appear more fully by a consideration of its nature and ingre-
dients; its causes; its properties and adjuncts ; its effects and
consequences.

I. In its nature it involves an affected blindness and ignorance
of the most noble and useful truths ; a bad use of reason ; dis-
regard of God's providence ; abuse of his grace ; bad opinions
of him, and bad affections towards him : this fully shown.

II. With regard to its causes: 1. It commonly proceeds
from negligence, drowsy carelessness, or a spirit of slumber
with regard to religious matters. 2. From sloth, which indis-
poses men to undergo the fatigue of seriously attending to the
doctrine proposed, of examining its grounds, and of weighing
the reasons to believe it, &c. 3. From stupidity or dulness of
apprehension not natural, contracted by voluntary indisposi-

SUM MARY OF

tions and defects; arising from the mists of prejudice, steams
of lust and passion, &c. 4. From bad judgment, corrupted
by prejudicated notions and partial inclination to falsehood.
5. From perverscness of will, which hinders men from enter-
taining notions disagreeable to their fond or froward humor ;
they are a faithless, because a perverse generation. 6. From
hardness of heart, which is so often represented as an obstruc-
tion to belief ; which hindered Pharaoh from hearkening to
God's word. 7. Of kin to such perverseness of heart is that
squeamish delicacy and niceness of humor, which will not let
men entertain or savor any thing, anywise seeming hard or
harsh to them, if they cannot presently comprehend all that is
said, or if they can frame any cavil, or little exception to it :
affected with this were the Apostles themselves in their mino-
rity. 8. With such a disposition is connected a want of love
to truth ; the which if a man have not, he cannot well enter-
tain such notions as the gospel propounds, being nowise grate-
ful to carnal sense, &c. 9. A grand cause of infidelity is
pride, which interposes various bars to the admission of Chris-
tian truth, filling a man with vanity and an affectation of
seeming wise above others, &c. contrary to the prime notions
of Christianity, which all tend to debase human conceit : this
topic enlarged on. 10. Another spring of infidelity is pusilla-
nimity, or want of good resolution and courage ; for Christia-
nity is a warfare, &c. 11. Infidelity also arises from sturdi-
ness, fierceness, untamed wildness of spirit : 12. Also from
blind zeal grounded on prejudice, disposing men to adhere to
that which they have been addicted to. 13. Infidelity issues
from corruption of mind by any kind of brutish lust, irregular
passion, or bad habit : faith and conscience are twins, insepa-
rable from each other : if a man be covetous, he can hardly
submit to that heavenly law which forbids us to treasure up
treasures on earth : if ambitious, he will not approve that
which teaches all kinds of humility, &c. 14. In fine, from

SERMON I.

5

what spirit infidelity proceeds we may see by the principles,
commonly with it espoused ; and by its patrons ; all which do
rankly savor of baseness and ill-nature : this topic enlarged on.

III. Farther, the naughtiness of infidelity will appear by
considering its effects and consequences ; which are plainly
a deluge of all mischiefs and outrages : for faith being removed,
together with it all conscience goes ; no virtue can remain ;
nothing rests to encourage men in what is good, or restrain
them from evil, &c. The consideration of which ills hath en-
gaged statesmen in every commonwealth to support some kind
of faith, as necessary to public order, traffic, and peace among
men.

An infidel that hath any wit, might be persuaded for his own
interest, safety, and pleasure, to cherish faith in others.

But it may be said, is there such a thing as infidelity in
Christendom ? are we not all Christians ? all baptised into the
faith, and professors of it ?

This may be said : but if we consider better, we shall find
ground more than enough for this discourse ; and that infidelity
has a larger territory than we suppose : for to pass over swarms
of atheistical apostates, many infidels lurk under the mask of
Christian profession. It is not the name, or badges of religion
that make a Christian, any more than the cowl makes a monk,
or the beard a philosopher : there may be a creed in the mouth,
when there is no faith in the heart : if no works be shown,
no faith is to be granted : concluding observations on this
head.

0

BARROW. — SERMON I.

2 Sclicbc, &c.
SERMON I.

OF THE EVIL AND UXREASOXAELEXESS OF
INFIDELITY.

HEBREWS, CHAP. III. — VERSE 12.

Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart
of unbelief.

If the causes of all the sin and all the mischief in the world
were carefully sought, we should find the chief of all to be infi-
delity ; either total or gradual, t herefore to dehort and dis-
suade from it is a very profitable design ; and this, with God's
assistance, I shall endeavor from these words ; in which two
particulars naturally do offer themselves to our observation; an
assertion implied, that infidelity is a sinful distemper of heart;
and a duty recommended, that we be careful to void or correct
that distemper : of these to declare the one, and to press the
other, shall be the scope of my discourse.

That infidelity is a sinful distemper of heart appeareth by
divers express testimonies of Scripture, and by many good rea-
sons grounded thereon.

It is by our Saviour in terms called sin : ' when he is come,
he will reprove the world of sin, — of sin, because they believe
not in me :' and, ' If I had not come, and spoken unto them,
they had not had sin ; but now they have no cloak for their sin :'
and, ' If ye were blind, ye should not have had sin ; but now
ye say, We see, therefore your sin abideth.' What sin ! that

OF INFIDELITY.

7

of infidelity, for which they were culpable, having such power-
ful means and arguments to believe imparted to them, without
due effect.

It hath a condemnation grounded thereon ; ' He,' saith
our Saviour, ' that believeth not is condemned already, be-
cause he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten
Sou of God :' but condemnation ever doth suppose faultiness.

It hath sore punishment denounced thereto; 'God,' saith
St. Paul, ' shall send them strong delusion, that they should
believe a lie, that they all might be damned who believed not
the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness ;' and, our Lord,
saith he, at his coming to judgment, will 'take vengeance on
them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our
Lord Jesus Christ ;' whence among those, who ' have their part
in the lake burning with fire and brimstone, the fearful, and un-
believers' (that is, they who fear to profess, or refuse to believe
the Christian doctrine) are reckoned in the first place ; which
implieth infidelity to be a heinous sin.

It is also such, because it is a transgression of a principal law,
or divine command ; ' This,' saith St. John, ' is »/ eyro\t) avrov,
the command of him, That we should believe;' this, saith our
Lord, is 70 epyov rov Qeov, the signal work of God, (which God
requireth of us,) that ' ye believe on him, whom he hath sent :'
that was a duty which our Lord and his Apostles chiefly did
teach, enjoin, and press ; wherefore correspondency infidelity is
a great sin ; according to St. John's notion, that sin is avofiia,
' the transgression of a law.'

But the sinfulness of infidelity will appear more fully by
considering its nature and ingredients; its causes; its properties
and adjuncts ; its effects and consequences.

I. In its nature it doth involve an affected blindness and ig-
norance of the noblest and most useful truths ; a bad use of
reason, and most culpable imprudence ; disregard of God's pro-
vidence, or despite thereto ; abuse of his grace ; bad opinions
of him, and bad affections toward him ; for

God in exceeding goodness and kindness to mankind hath
proposed a doctrine, in itself' faithful and worthy of all accepta-
tion,' containing most excellent truths instructive of our mind
and directive of our practice, toward attainment of salvation

8

BARROW.— SERMON I.

and eternal felicity ; special overtures of mercy and grace most
needful to us in our state of sinful guilt, of weakness, of wretch-
edness; high encouragements and rich promises of reward for
obedience : such a doctrine, with all its benefits, infidelity doth
reject, ' defeating the counsel of God,' crossing his earnest
desires of our welfare, ' despising his goodness and patience.'

To this doctrine God hath yielded manifold clear attesta-
tions, declaring it to proceed from himself; ancient presignifi-
cations and predictions ; audible voices and visible apparitions
from heaven, innumerable miraculous works, providence con-
curring to the maintenance and propagation of it against most
powerful oppositions and disadvantages : but all these testimo-
nies infidelity slighteth, not fearing to give their author the
lie, which wicked boldness St. John chargeth on it; 'He,'
saith the Apostle, ' that believeth not God, hath made him a
liar ; because he believeth not the testimony that God gave of
his Son.'

Many plain arguments, sufficient to convince our minds, and
win our belief, God hath furnished ; the dictates of natural
conscience, the testimony of experience, the records of history,
the consent of the best and wisest men, do all conspire to
prove the truth, to recommend the usefulness of this doctrine ;
but infidelity will not regard, will not weigh, will not yield to
reason.

God by his providence doth offer means and motives inducing
to belief, by the promulgation of his gospel, and exhortation of
his ministers : but all such methods infidelity doth void and
frustrate; ' thrusting away the word, turning away the ear from
the truth, letting the seed fall beside us, casting away the law
of the Lord of hosts;' in effect (as those in Job) ' saying to
God, Depart from us, for we desire not the knowlege of thy
ways.'

God by his grace ' doth shine on our hearts,' doth attract our
wills to compliance with his will, doth excite our affections to
relish his truth : but infidelity doth ' resist his Spirit,' doth
quench the heavenly light, doth smother all the suggestions and
motions of divine grace within us.

What God asserteth, infidelity denieth, questioning his ve-
racity ; what God commandeth, infidelity doth not approve,

OF INFIDELITY.

9

contesting his wisdom; what God promiseth, infidelity will
not confide in, distrusting his fidelity, or his power : such is its
behavior (so injurious, so rude, so foolish) toward God, and
his truth ; this briefly is its nature manifestly involving great
pravity, iniquity, and impiety.

II. The causes and sources from whence it springeth
(touched in Scripture, and obvious to experience) are those
which follow.

1. It commonly doth proceed from negligence, or drowsy in-
observance and carelessness ; when men being possessed with a
' spirit of slumber, 'or being amused with secular entertainments,
do not mind the concerns of their soul, or regard the means by
God's merciful care presented for their conversion ; being in re-
gard to religious matters of Gallio's humor, ' caring for none of
those things :' thus, when the king in the gospel sent to invite
persons to his wedding feast, it is said, Oi hi a/ieXiiaavTes uti/\-
dov, they ' being careless, or not regarding it, went their ways,
one to his field, another to his trade.' Of such the Apostle to
the Hebrews saith, ' How shall we escape, roiaurr/s d^eXi'/ira*-
Tes owTr)pias, who regard not so great salvation,' exhibited to us !
Of such Wisdom coniplaineth ; ' I have called, and ye refused ;
I have stretched out my hand, and no man regarded.' — ' No
man :' the greatest part indeed of men are on this account infi-
dels, for that being wholly taken up in pursuit of worldly affairs
and divertisements, in amassing of wealth, in driving on pro-
jects of ambition, in enjoying sensual pleasures, in gratifying
their fancy and humor with vain curiosities or sports, they can
hardly lend an ear to instruction ; so they become unac-
quainted with the notions of Christian doctrine ; the which to
them are as ' the seed falling by the way side,' which those

' fowls of the air' do snatch and devour before it sinketh clown
into the earth, or doth come under consideration. Hence is
unbelief commonly termed not hearing God's voice, not heark-
ening to God's word, the din of worldly business rendering
men deaf to divine suggestions.

2. Another source of infidelity is sloth, which indisposeth
men to undergo the fatigue of seriously attending to the doc-
trine propounded, of examining its grounds, of weighing the
reasons inducing to believe; whence at first hearing, if the

10 BARROW. — SERMON I.

notions hap not to hit their fancy, they do slight it before they
fully understand it, or know its grounds; thence at least they
must needs fail of a firm and steady belief, the which can alone
be founded on a clear apprehension of the matter, and per-
ception of its agreeableness to reason : so when the Athenians
did hear St. Paul declaring the grand points of faith, somewhat
in his discourse uncouth to their conceit falling from him, some
of them did scorn, others did neglect his doctrine ; ' some
mocked ; others said, We will hear thee again of this matter;' so
Agrippa was 'almost persuaded to be a Christian,' but had not
the industry to prosecute his inquiry, till he arrived to a full
satisfaction. A solid faith (with clear understanding and firm
persuasion) doth indeed, no less than any science, require
sedulous and persevering study ; so that as a man can never be
learned, who will not be studious; so a sluggard cannot prove
a good believer.

3. Infidelity doth arise from stupidity, or dullness of appre-
hension, (I mean not that which is natural ; for any man in his
senses, how low soever otherwise in parts or improvements, is
capable to understand the Christian doctrine, and to perceive
reason sufficient to convince him of its truth ; but) contracted
by voluntary indispositions and defects ; a stupidity rising from
mists of prejudice, from steams of lust and passion, from rust
grown on the mind by want of exercising it in observing and
comparing things ; whence men cannot apprehend the clearest
notions plainly represented to them, nor discern the force of
arguments, however evident and cogent ; but are like those
wizards in Job, who ' meet with darkness in the daytime, and
grope at noonday, as in the night.'

This is that which is so often charged on the Jews as cause
of their infidelity ; who ' did hear but not understand, and did
see but not perceive ; because their heart was gross, and their
ears were dull of hearing, and their eyes were closed ;' this is
that -iLpoxris tapiias, that numbness of heart, which is repre-
sented as the common obstruction to the perception and admis-
sion of our Lord's doctrine : this our Lord blamed in his own
disciples, when he rebuked them thus ; * O fools, and slow of
heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken !' Of this the
Apostle doth complain, telling the Hebrews that they were un-

OF INFIDELITY.

11

capable of improvement in knowlege, because they were vuiOpol
ra'is aicoais, dull of hearing for want of skill and use, 'not
having their senses exercised to discern both good and evil :'
there is indeed to a sound and robust faith required a good
perspicacy of apprehension, a penetrancy of judgment, a vigor
and quickness of mind, grounded in the purity of our faculties,
and confirmed by exercise of them in consideration of spiritual
things.

4. Another cause of infidelity is a bad judgment; corrupted
with prejudicate notions, and partial inclinations to falsehood.
Men are apt to entertain prejudices favorable to their natural
appetites and humors; to their lusts, to their present interests;
dictating to them, that wealth, dignity, fame, pleasure, ease,
are things most desirable, and necessary ingredients of happi-
ness; so that it is a sad thing in any case to want them : all
men have strong inclinations biassing them toward such things;
it is a hard thing to shake off such prejudices, and to check
such inclinations ; it is therefore not easy to entertain a doctrine
representing such things indifferent, obliging us sometimes to
reject them, always to be moderate in the pursuit and enjoy-
ment of them : wherefore infidelity will naturally spring up in
a mind not cleansed from those corruptions of judgment.

5. Another source of infidelity is perverseness of will, which
hindereth men from entertaining notions disagreeable to their
fond or froward. humor : J yewa uttiotos cat bteorpafj/uevi), 'O
faithless and perverse generation!' those epithets are well
coupled, for he that is perverse will be faithless; in proportion
to the one the other bad quality will prevail. ' The weapons
of the apostolical warfare (against the infidel world) were,' as
St. Paul telleth us, ' mighty to the casting down of strong
holds:' so it was ; and the Apostles, by their discourse and
demeanor, effectually did force many a strong fortress to sur-
render: but the will of some men is an impregnable bulwark
against all batteries of discourse ; they are so invincibly stub-
born, as to hold out against the clearest evidence and mightiest
force of reason : if they do not like what you say, if it cross any
humor of theirs, be it clear as day, be it firm as an adamant,
they will not admit it; you shall not persuade them, though
you do persuade them. Such was the temper of the Jews,

12

BARROW.— SERMON I.

whom St. Stephen therefore calleth ' a stiff-necked people,
uncircumcised in heart and ears;' who although they did hear
the most winning discourse that ever was uttered, although they
saw the most admirable works that ever were performed, yet
would they not yield to the doctrine ; the mean garb of the
persons teaching it, the spirituality of its design, the strict
goodness of its precepts, and the like considerations, not sort-
ing with their fancies and desires ; they hoping for a Messias
arrayed with gay appearances of external grandeur and splen-
dor, whose chief work it should be to settle their nation in a
state of worldly prosperity and glory.

6. This is that hardness of heart, which is so often repre-
sented as an obstruction of belief ; this hindered Pharaoh, not-
withstanding all those mighty works performed before him,
from hearkening to God's word, and regarding the mischiefs
threatened to come on him for his disobedience ; ' I will not,'
said he, • let Israel go ;' his will was his reason, which no per-
suasion, no judgment could subdue : this was the cause of that
monstrous infidelity in the Israelites, which baffled all the
methods which God used to persuade and convert them ; ' Not-
withstanding,' it is said, ' they would not hear, but hardened
their necks, like to the neck of their fathers, that did not believe
in the Lord their God:' whence that exhortation to them;
' To-day if you will hear his voice, harden not your hearts.'
And to obduration the disbelief of the gospel on the Apostles'
preaching is in like manner ascribed ; St. Paul, it is said in the
Acts, ' went into the synagogue, and spake boldly for the
space of three months, disputing and persuading the things con-
cerning the kingdom of God : but divers were hardened, and
believed not :' and ' Exhort one another daily,' saith the
Apostle, 'lest any of you be hardened (in unbelief) through the
deceitfulness of sin.'

7. Of kin to that perverseness of heart is that squeamish
delicacy and niceness of humor, which will not let men enter-
tain or savor any thing, anywise seeming hard or harsh to them,
if they cannot presently comprehend all that is said, if they can
frame any cavil or littie exception against it, if every scruple
be not voided, if any thing be required distasteful to their
sense; they are offended, and their faith is choked; you must,

OF INFIDELITY.

13

to satisfy them, ' speak to them smooth things,' which nowise
grate on their conceit or pleasure : so when our Lord discoursed
somewhat mysteriously, representing himself in the figure of
heavenly bread (typified by the manna of old) given for the
world, to sustain men in life ; ' Many of his disciples, hearing
this, said, This is a hard saying, who can hear it?' and ' from
that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more
with him :' this is that which is called being ' scandalised at
the word, and stumbling at it;' concerning which our Saviour
saith, ' Biessed is he, whoever shall not be offended in me.'

In regard to this weakness, the Apostles were fain in their
instructions to use prudent dispensation, proposing only to some
persons the most easy points of doctrine, they not being able to
digest such as were more tough and difficult: 'I have,' saith
St. Paul, ' fed you with milk, and not with meat; for hitherto
ye were not able to bear it — for ye are yet carnal ;' and, ' Ye,'
saith the Apostle to the Hebrews, ' are such as have need of
milk, and not of strong meat.'

Such were even the Apostles themselves in their minority ;
• not savoring the things of God ;' being offended at our Lord's
discourses, when he spake to them of suffering; and with his
condition, when he entered into it.

8. With these dispositions is connected a want of love to
truth ; the which if a man hath not, he cannot well entertain
such notions as the gospel propoundeth, being nowise grateful
to carnal sense and appetite : this cause St. Paul doth assign
of the Pagan doctors falling into so gross errors and vices, ' be-
cause they did not like to retain God in their knowlege,' and
of men's revolting from Christian truth to antichristian impos-
ture— ' because tliey received not the love of truth, that
they might be saved : for which cause God shall send them
strong delusion, that they should believe a lie :' nothing indeed,
but an impartial and ingenuous love of truth (overbalancing all
corrupt prejudices and affections) can engage a man heartily to
embrace this holy and pure doctrine, can preserve a man in a
firm adherence thereto.

9. A grand cause of infidelity is pride, the which doth inter-
pose various bars to the admission of Christian truth ; for before
a man can believe, xav v^topa, 'every height (every towering

L4

BARROW. — SERMON I.

imagination and conceit) that exalteth itself against the know-
lege of God, must be cast down.'

Pride fills a man with vanity and an affectation of seeming
wise in special manner above others, thereby disposing him
to maintain paradoxes, and to nauseate common truths received
and believed by the generality of mankind.

A proud man is ever averse from renouncing his prejudices
and correcting his errors ; doing which implieth a confession of
weakness, ignorance, and folly, consequently depresseth him in
his own conceit, and seemeth to impair that credit which he
had with others from his wisdom ; neither of which events he is
able to endure.

He that is wise in his own conceit, will hug that conceit, and
thence is uncapable to learn ; ' there is,' sailh Solomon, 'more
hope of a fool than of him ;' and he that affecteth the praise of
men, will not easily part with it for the sake of truth ; whence,
' How,' saith our Lord, ' can ye believe, who receive glory one
of another ?' how can ye, retaining such affections, be disposed
to avow yourselves to have been ignorants and fools, whenas ye
were reputed for learned and wise ? how can ye endure to be-
come novices, who did pass for doctors ? how can ye allow your-
selves so blind and weak, as to have been deceived in your
former judgment of things?

He that is conceited of his own wisdom, strength of parts,
and improvement in knowlege, cannot submit his mind to no-
tions which he cannot easily comprehend and penetrate; he will
scorn to have his understanding baffled or puzzled by sublime
mysteries of faith ; he will not easily yield any thing too high
for his wit to reach, or too knotty for him to unloose : ' How
can these things be V what reason can there be for this ? I
cannot see how this can be true; this point is not intelligible :
so he treateth the dictates of faith ; not considering the feeble-
ness and shallowness of his own reason : hence ' not many wise
men according to the flesh,' (or who were conceited of their own
wisdom, relying on their natural faculties and means of know-
lege,) not many scribes, or ' disputers of this world,' did em-
brace the Christian truth, it appearing absurd and foolish to
them ; it being needful that a man should ' be a fool, that he
might, in this regard, become wise.'

OF INFIDELITY.

IS

The prime notions of Christianity do also tend to the debas-
ing human conceit, and to the exclusion of all glorying in our-
selves ; referring all to the praise and glory of God, ascribing
all to his pure mercy, bounty, and grace ; it represented] all
men heinous sinners, void of all worth and merit, lapsed into a
wretched state, altogether impotent, forlorn, and destitute of
ability to help or relieve themselves; such notions proud hearts
cannot digest ; they cannot like to avow their infirmities, their
defects, their wants, their vileness, and unworthiness ; their
distresses and miseries ; they cannot endure to be intirely and
absolutely beholden to favor and mercy for their happiness :
such was the case of the Jews ; who could not believe, be-
cause, ' going about to establish their own righteousness, they
would not submit to the righteousness of God.' Dextra mihi
Deus, every proud man would say, with the profane Mezen-
tius.

Christianity doth also much disparage and vilify those things,
for which men are apt much to prize and pride themselves ; it
maketh small account of wealth, of honor, of power, of wit, of
secular wisdom, of any human excellency or worldly advan-
tage : it levelleth the rich and the poor, the prince and the pea-
sant, the philosopher and idiot in spiritual regards ; yea far
preferreth the meanest and simplest person, endued with true
piety, above the mightiest and wealthiest, who is devoid there-
of : in the eye of it, ' The righteous is more excellent than his
neighbor ;' whatever he be in worldly regard or state : this a
proud man cannot support; to be divested of his imaginary
privileges, to be thrown down from his perch of eminency, to
be set below those whom he so much despiseth, is insupportable
to his spirit.

The practice of Christianity doth also expose men to the
scorn and censure of profane men ; who for their own solace,
out of envy, revenge, diabolical spite, are apt to deride and
reproach all conscientious and resolute practisers of their duty,
as silly, credulous, superstitious, humorous, morose, sullen folks :
so that he that will be good, must resolve to bear that usage
from them ; like David ; ' I will yet be more vile than thus,
and will be base in my own sight :' but with these sufferings a

16

BARROW. — SERMON I.

proud heart cannot comport ; it goeth too much against the
grain thereof to be contemned.

Christianity doth also indispensably require duties, point-
blank opposite to pride ; it placeth humility among its chief
virtues, as a foundation of piety ; it enjoineth us to think
meanly of ourselves, to disclaim our own worth and desert, to
have no complacency or confidence in any thing belonging to
us ; not to aim at high things ; to waive the regard and praise
of men ; it exacteth from us a sense of our vileness, remorse and
contrition for our sins, with humble confession of them, self-
condemnation and abhorrence; it chargeth us to bear injuries
and affronts patiently, without grievous resentment, without
seeking or so much as wishing any revenge ; to undergo
disgraces, crosses, disasters, willingly and gladly ; it obligeth
us ' to prefer others before ourselves,' sitting down in the
lowest room, yielding to the meanest persons : to all which
sorts of duty a proud mind hath an irreconcilable antipathy.

A proud man, that is big and swollen with haughty conceit
and stomach, cannot stoop down so low, cannot shrink in him-
self so much, as to ' enter into the strait gate, or to walk in the
narrow way, which leadeth to life :' he will be apt to contemn
wisdom and instruction.

Shall I, will he say, such a gallant as I, so accomplished in
worth, so flourishing in dignity, so plump with wealth, so highly
regarded and renowned among men, thus pitifully crouch and
sneak? shall I deign to avow such beggarly notions, or bend to
such homely duties ? shall I disown my perfections, or forego
my advantages ? shall I profess myself to have been a despicable
worm, a villainous caitiff, a sorry wretch ? shall I suffer myself
to be flouted as a timorous religionist, a scrupulous precisian, a
conscientious sneaksby ? shall I lie down at the foot of mercy,
puling in sorrow, whining in confession, bewailing my guilt,
and craving pardon ? shall I allow any man better or happier
than myself ? shall I receive those into consortship or equality
of rank with me, who appear so much my inferiors ? shall I be
misused and trampled on, without doing myself right, and
making them smart who shall presume to wrong or cross me ?
shall I be content to be nobody in the world ? So the proud

OF INFIDELITY.

17

man will say in his heart, contesting the doctrines and duties of
our religion, and so disputing himself into infidelity.

10. Another spring of infidelity is pusillanimity, or want of
good resolution and courage ; bei\o\ teat uiriOTOt, ' cowards and
infidels,' are well joined among those who are devoted to the
fiery ^ lake ; for timorous men dare not believe such doctrines,
which engage them on undertaking difficult, laborious, dan-
gerous enterprises ; on undergoing hardships, pains, wants, dis-
graces ; on encountering those mighty and fierce enemies, with
whom every faithful man continually doth wage war.

They have not the heart to look the world in the face, when
it frowneth at them, menacing persecution and disgrace ; but
' when affliction ariseth for the word, they are presently scanda-
lised.' It is said in the gospel, that ' no man spake freely of
our Lord for fear of the Jews :' as it so did smother the profes-
sion and muzzle the mouth, so it doth often stifle faith itself,
and cpjell the heart, men fearing to harbor in their very thoughts
points dangerous and discountenanced by worldly power.

They have not also courage to adventure a combat with their
own flesh, and ' those lusts, which war against their souls;' to
set on correcting their temper, curbing their appetites, bridling
their passions ; keeping flesh and blood in order ; on pulling
out their right eyes, and cutting off" their right hands, and
crucifying their members ; it daunteth them to attempt duties so
harsh and painful.

They have not the resolution to withstand and repel temp-
tations, and in so doing to ' wrestle with principalities and
powers ;' to resist and. baffle the ' strong one.' To part with
their ease, their wealth, their pleasure, their credit, their ac-
commodations of life, is a thing, any thought whereof doth
quash all inclination in a faint and fearful heart of complying
with the Christian doctrine.

Christianity is a warfare ; living after its rules is called ' fight-
ing the good fight of faith ;' every true Christian is a ' good sol-
dier of Jesus Christ ;' the state of Christians must be sometimes
like that of the Apostles, who were ' troubled on every
side ; without were fightings, within were fears :' great courage
therefore, and undaunted resolution, are required toward

18

BARROW. — SERMON I.

the undertaking this religion, and the persisting in it cor-
dially.

11. Infidelity doth also rise from sturdir.ess, fierceness, wild-
ness, untamed animosity of spirit; so that a man will not en-
dure to have his will crossed, to be under any law, to be curbed
from any thing which he is prone to affect.

12. Blind zeal, grounded on prejudice, disposing men to stiff
adherence unto that which they have once been addicted and
accustomed to, is in the Scripture frequently represented as a
cause of infidelity. So the Jews being ' filled with zeal, con-
tradicted the things spoken by St. Paul ;' flying at his doctrine,
without weighing it : so ' by instinct of zeal' did St. Paul him-
self persecute the church; being 'exceedingly zealous for the
traditions delivered by his fathers.'

In fine, infidelity doth issue from corruption of mind by any
kind of brutish lust, any irregular passion, any bad inclination
or habit : any such evil disposition of soul doth obstruct the
admission or entertainment of that doctrine, which doth pro-
hibit and check it ; doth condemn it, and brand it with infamy ;
doth denounce punishmeut and woe to it: whence 'men of
corrupt minds, and reprobate concerning the faith ;' and ' men
of corrupt minds, destitute of the truth,' are attributes well
conjoined by St. Paul, as commonly jumping together iu prac-
tice ; and ' to them,' saith he, 4 that are defiled and unbelieving
is nothing pure, but even their mind and conscience is defiled :'
such pollution is not only consequent to, and connected with,
but antecedent to infidelity, blinding the mind so as not to see
the truth, and perverting the will so as not to close with it.

Faith and a good conscience are twins, born together, inse-
parable from each other, living and dying together ; for the
first, faith is (as St. Peter telleth us) nothing else but ' the
stipulation of a good conscience,' fully persuaded that Christia-
nity is true, and firmly resolving to comply with it: and, ' The
end (or drift and purport) ' of the evangelical doctrine is charity
out of a pure heart, and a good conscience, and faith un-
feigned :' whence those apostolical precepts, ' to hold the mys-
tery of faith in a pure conscience;' and, ' to hold faith and a
good conscience, which some having put away, concerning the

OF INFIDELITY.

19

faith have made shipwreck :' a man void of good conscience
will not embark in Christianity; and having laid good con-
science aside, he soon will make shipwreck of faith, by apos-
tasy from it. Resolute indulgence to any one lust is apt to
produce this effect.

If a man be cbvetous, he can ' hardly enter into the kingdom
of heaven,' or submit to that heavenly law, which forbiddeth us
' to treasure up treasures on earth;' which chargeth us to be
liberal ' in communication of our goods ;' so as to ' give unto
every one that asketh;' which in some cases requireth to ' sell
all our goods, and to give them to the poor ;' which declareth
that ' whosoever doth not bid farewell to all that he hath, can-
not be a disciple of Christ ;' which ascribeth ' happiness to the
poor,' and denounceth ' woe to the rich, who have their conso-
lation here.' Preach such doctrine to a covetous person, and
as the young gentleman who ' had great, possessions,' he will
' go his way sorrowful ;' or will do like the Pharisees, who
* were covetous,' and having heard our Saviour discourse such
things, 'derided him :' for ' the love of money,' saith St. Paul,
' is the root of all evil, which while some coveted after, they
have erred from the faith ;' aTteirXavi'idtinav, ' they have wan-
dered away,' or apostatised from the faith.

If a man be ambitious, he will not approve that doctrine,
which prohibiteth us to affect, to seek, to admit glory, or to do
any thing for its sake ; but purely to seek God's honor, and in
all our actions to regard it as our principal aim : which greatly
disparageth all worldly glory as vain, transitory, mischievous;
which comraandeth us ' in honor to prefer others before our-
selves,' and to ' sit down in the lowest room ;' which promiseth
the best rewards to humility, and menaceth, that whoever 'ex-
alteth himself shall be abased;' the profession and practice
whereof are commonly attended with disgrace : such doctrines
ambitious minds cannot admit; as it proved among the Jews;
who therefore ' could not believe, because they received glory
from one another;' who therefore would not profess the faith,
' because they loved the glory of men rather than the glory of
God.'

If a man be envious, he will not like that doctrine, which
enjoineth him to desire the good of his neighbor as his own ;

20

BARROW. — SERMON I.

to have complacence in the prosperity and dignity of his bre-
thren ; ' not to seek his own, but every man another's wealth,'
or welfare ; ' to rejoice with them that rejoice, and mourn with
those that mourn ;' which chargeth us ' to lay aside all envy-
ings and emulations,' under pain of damnation : he therefore
who is possessed with an envious spirit, or evil eye, will look
ill on this doctrine ; as the Jews did, who being full of envy
and emulation, did reject the gospel ; it being a grievous eye-
sore to them, that the poor Gentiles were thereby admitted to
favor and mercy.

If a man be revengeful or spiteful, he will be scandalised at
that law, which coinmandeth us ' to love our enemies,' to ' bless
those that curse us,' to ' do good to them that hate us,' to
pray for them that despitefully use us ;' which forbiddeth us to
' resist the evil,' ' to render evil for evil, or railing for railing ;'
which chargeth us to bear patiently, and freely to remit all in-
juries, under penalty of forfeiting all hopes of mercy from God ;
which requiieth us to ' depose all wrath, animosity, and ma-
lice,' as inconsistent with our salvation : which doctrine how
can a heart swelling with rancorous grudge or boiling with an-
ger embrace ? seeing it must be ' in meekness that we must re-
ceive the engrafted word, that is able to save our souls.'

If a man be intemperate, he will loathe that doctrine, the
precepts of which are, that we be ' temperate in all things,'
that ' we bring under our bodies,' that we ' endure hardship as
good soldiers of Christ;' to ' avoid all excess;' to possess our
vessels in sanctification and honor ;' to ' mortify our members
on earth ;' to ' crucify the flesh with its affections and lusts ;'
to ' abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul :'
with which precepts how can a luxurious and filthy heart
comport ?

In fine, whatever corrupt affection a man be possessed with,
it will work in him a distaste and repugnance to that doctrine,
which indispensably, as a condition of salvation, doth prescribe
and require universal holiness, purity, innocence, virtue, and
goodness; which doth not allow any one sin to be fostered or
indulged ; which threateneth wrath and vengeance on all im-
piety, iniquity, impurity, wherein we do obstinately persist;
indifferently, without any reserve or remedy ; ' wherein the

OF INFIDELITY.

'21

wrath of God is revealed from heaven on all ungodliness
and unrighteousness of men, that detain the truth in unrighte-
ousness.'

An impure, a dissolute, a passionate soul cannot affect so
holy notions, cannot comply with so strict rules, as the gospel
doth recommend ; as a sore eye cannot like the bright day; as
a sickly palate cannot relish savory food. ' Every one that
doeth evil hateth the light,' because it discovereth to him his
own vileness and folly ; because it detecteth the sadness and
wofulness of his condition ; because it kindleth anguish and
remorse within him ; because it checketh him in the free pursuit
of his bad designs, it dampeth the brisk enjoyment of his unlaw-
ful pleasures, it robbeth him of satisfaction and glee in any
vicious course of practice.

Every man is unwilling to eutertain a bad conceit of himself,
and to pass on himself a sad doom : he therefore will be apt to
reject that doctrine, which being supposed true, he cannot but
confess himself to be an arrant fool, he cannot but grant him-
self a forlorn wretch.

No man liketh to be galled, to be stung, to be racked with a
sense of guilt, to be scared with a dread of punishment, to
live under awe and apprehension of imminent danger ; gladly
therefore would he shun that doctrine, which demonstrated
him a grievous sinner, which speaketh dismal terror, which
thundereth ghastly woe on him.

He cannot love that truth which is so much his enemy,
which so rudely treateth and severely persecuteth him ; which
telleth him so bad and unwelcome news.

Who would be content to deem Omnipotency engaged
against him ? to fancy himself standing on the brink of a fiery
lake ? to hear a roaring lion ready to devour him ? to suppose
that certain, which is so dreadful and sad to him ?

Hence it is, that ' the carnal mind is enmity to God ;' hence
do bad men 'rebel against the light;' hence, 'foolish men
shall not attain to wisdom, and sinners shall not see her ; for
she is far from pride, and men that are liars cannot remember
her.'

Hence a man resolvedly wicked cannot but be willing to be
an infidel, in his own defence, for his own quiet and ease ; faith

•22

BARROW. — SERMON I.

being a companion very incommodious, intolerably troublesome
to a bad conscience.

Being resolved not to forsake his lusts, he must quit those
opinions which cross them ; seeing it expedient that the gospel
should be false, he will be inclinable to think it so: thus he
sinketh down, thus he tumbleth himself headlong into the gulf
of infidelity.

The custom of sinning doth also by degrees so abate, and at
length so destroy, the loathsomeness, the ugliness, the horror
thereof, doth so reconcile it to our minds, yea conciliateth such
a friendship to it, that we cannot easily believe it so horrid and
base a thing as by the gospel it is represented to us.

Vicious practice doth also weaken the judgment and stupify
the faculties. So that we cannot clearly apprehend, or judge
soundly about spiritual matters.

The same also queucheth God's Spirit, and driveth away his
grace, which is requisite to the production and preservation of
faith in us.

14. In fine, from what spirit infidelity doth proceed we may
see by the principles, commonly with it espoused, for its sup-
port and countenance, by its great masters and patrons; all
which do rankly savor of baseness and ill-nature.

They do libel and revile mankind as void of all true good-
ness; from the worst qualities, of which they are conscious
themselves or can observe in others, patching up an odious
character of it ; thus shrouding themselves under common
blame from that which is due to their own wickedness ; and
dispensing with that charity and honesty, which is by God's
law required from them toward their neighbor : and having so
bad an opinion of all men, they consequently must bear ill-will
toward them ; it not being possible to love that which we do
not esteem.

They allow nothing in man to be immaterial, or immortal ;
so turning him into a beast, or into a puppet, a whirligig of
fate or chance.

They ascribe all actions and events to necessity, or external
impulse, so rasing the grounds of justice and all virtue ; that
no man may seem responsible for what he doth, commendable
or culpable, amiable or detestable.

OF INFIDELITY.

28

They explode all natural difference of good and evil ; de-
riding benignity, mercy, pity, gratitude, ingenuity, that is,
all instances of good-nature, as childish and silly dispositions.

All the relics of God's image in man, which raise him above
a beast, and distinguish him from a fiend, they scorn and ex-
pose to contempt.

They extol power as the most admirable, and disparage
goodness as a pitiful thing; so preferring a devil before an
angel.

They discard conscience, as a bugbear, to fright children
and fools ; allowing men to compass their designs by violence,
fraud, slander, any wrongful ways; so banishing all the secu-
rities (beside selfishness and slavish fear) of government, conver-
sation, and commerce ; so that nothing should hinder a man (if
he can do it with advantage to himself and probable safety) to
rebel against his prince, to betray his country, to abuse his
friend, to cheat any man with whom he dealeth.

Such are the principles (not only avowed in common dis-
course, but taught and maintained in the writings) of our infi-
dels; whereby the sources of it do appear to be a deplorable
blindness, and desperate corruption of mind ; an extinction
of natural light, and extirpation of good-nature. Farther,

III. The naughtiness of infidelity will appear by considering
its effects and consequences; which are plainly a spawn of all
vices and villanies, a deluge of all mischiefs and outrages on
the earth : for faith being removed, together with it all con-
science goeth ; no virtue can remain ; all sobriety of mind, all
justice in dealing, all security in conversation are packed away ;
nothing resteth to encourage men unto any good, or restrain
them from any evil ; all hopes of reward from God, all fears of
punishment from him being discarded. No principle, or rule
of practice, is left, beside brutish sensuality, fond self-love,
private interest, in their highest pitch, without any bound or
curb ; which therefore will dispose men to do nothing but to
prey on each other, with all cruel violence and base treachery.
Every man thence will be a god to. himself, a fiend to each
other; so that necessarily the world will thence be turned into
a chaos and a hell, full of iniquity and impurity, of spite and
rage, of misery and torment. It depriveth each man of all

"24

BARROW. — SERMON I.

hope from providence, all comfort and support in affliction, of
all satisfaction in conscience ; of all the good things which
faith doth yield.

The consideration of which numberless and unspeakable
mischiefs hath engaged statesmen in every commonwealth to
support some kind of faith, as needful to the maintenance of
public order, of traffic, of peace among men.

It would suffice to persuade an infidel, that hath a scrap
of wit, (for his own interest, safety, and pleasure,) to cherish
faith in others, and wish all men beside himself endued with it.

It in reason obligeth all men to detest atheistical sup-
planters of faith, as desperate enemies to mankind, enemies to
government, destructive of common society; especially consi-
dering that of all religions that ever were, or can be, the
Christian doth most conduce to the benefit of public society;
enjoining all virtues useful to preserve it in a quiet and florish-
ing state, teaching loyalty under pain of damnation.

I pass by, that ' without faith no man can please God ;' that
infidelity doth expose men to his wrath and severest ven-
geance ; that it depriveth of all joy and happiness ; seeing
infidels will not grant such effects to follow their sin, but will
reject the supposition of them as precarious and fictitious.

To conclude therefore the point, it is, from what we have
said, sufficiently manifest that infidelity is a very sinful dis-
temper, as being in its nature so bad, being the daughter of so
bad causes, the sister of so bad adjuncts, the mother of so bad
effects.

But this you will say is an improper subject : for is there
any such thing as infidelity in Christendom ? are we not all
Christians, all believers, all baptised into the faith, and pro-
fessors of it? do we not every day repeat the Creed, or at least
say Amen thereto ? do we not partake of the holy mysteries,
sealing this profession ? what do you take us for? for Pagans?
this is a subject to be treated of in Turkey, or in partibus
iiifidtlium. This may be said : but if we consider better, we
shall find ground more than enough for such discourse ; and
that infidelity hath a larger territory than we suppose: for (to
pass over the swarms of atheistical apostates, which so openly
abound, denying or questioning our religion) many infidels do

OF INFIDELITY.

25

lurk under the mask of Christian profession. It is not the
name of Christian, or the badges of our religion, that make a
Christian ; no more than a cowl doth make a monk, or the
beard a philosopher : there may be a creed in the mouth,
where there is no faith in the heart, and a cross impressed on
the forehead of an infidel ; ' with the heart man believeth to
righteousness.' ' Show me thy faith by thy works,' saith St.
James: if no works be showed, no faith is to be granted ; as
where no fruit, there no root, or a dead root, which in effect
and moral esteem is none at all.

Is he not an infidel who denieth God? such a renegado is
every one that liveth profanely, as St. Paul telleth us. And
have we not many such renegadoes? if not, what meaneth that
monstrous dissoluteness of life, that horrid profaneness of dis-
course, that strange neglect of God's service, a desolation of
God's law? Where such luxury, such lewdness, such avarice,
such uncharitableness, such universal carnality doth reign, can
faith be there ? can a man believe there is a God, and so affront
him.' can he believe that Christ reigneth in heaven, and so
despise his laws ? can a man believe a judgment to come, and
so little regard his life ; a heaven, and so little seek it; a hell,
and so little shun it? — Faith therefore is not so rife, infidelity
is more common than we may take it to be; every sin hath a
spice of it, some sins smell rankly of it.

To it ate attributed all the rebellions of the Israelites, which
are the types of all Christian professors, who seem travellers in
this earthly wilderness toward the heavenly Canaan ; and to
it all the enormities of sin and overflowings of iniquity may be
ascribed.

I should proceed to urge the precept, that we ' take heed
thereof ;' but the time will not allow me to do it : I shall only
suggest to your meditation the heads of things.

It is infidelity that maketh men covetous, uncharitable, dis-
content, pusillanimous, impatient.

Because men believe not Providence, therefore they do so
greedily scrape and hoard.

They do not believe any reward for charity, therefore they
will part with nothing.

BAR. VOL. V. B

26

BARROW.— SERMON I.

They do not hope for succor from God, therefore are they
discontent and impatient.

They have nothing to raise their spirits, therefore are they
abject.

Infidelity did cause the Devil's apostasy.

Infidelity did banish man from Paradise, (trusting to the
Devil, and distrusting God's word.)

Infidelity (disregarding the warnings and threats of God)
did bring the deluge on the world.

Infidelity did keep the Israelites from entering into Ca-
naan, the type of heaven ; as the Apostle to the Hebrews doth
insist.

Infidelity indeed is the root of all sin ; for did men heartily
believe the promises to obedience, and the threats to disobedi-
ence, they could hardly be so unreasonable as to forfeit thc-
one, or incur the other : did they believe that the omnipotent,
all-wise, most just and severe God did command and require
such a practice, they could hardly dare to omit or transgress.

Let it therefore suffice to have declared the evil of infidelity,
which alone is sufficient inducement to avoid it.

SERMON ir.

•27

SUMMARY OF SERMON II.

II PETER, CHAP. I. — VERSE 1.

The Holy Scripture recommends faith, as a most precious
and honorable practice ; as a virtue of the very first magnitude,
commendable in itself, acceptable to God, beneficial to us, &c.

It is in a special manner commanded ; and obedience to that
command is reckoned a prime instance of piety : 1 John iii. 23.
It is the root of our spiritual life : Heb. xi. 6. It is the prin-
cipal conduit of divine grace : this shown by numerous quo-
tations. In fine, it is that, which, being retained in a good con-
science, and maintained by virtuous practice, keeps us in a
state of salvation, and will finally bring us to eternal life ; for
by grace we are saved, through faith.

That faith should be thus highly dignified, has always ap-
peared strange to the adversaries of our religion ; and has sug-
gested to them matter of obloquy against it : reasons assigned.
To clear this matter and vindicate the Christian religion from
their misprisions, our consideration is called to the nature and
ingredients of faith ; its rise and causes ; its efficacy and con-
sequences.

I. As to its nature : it involves knowlege of the most
worthy and important truths ; knowlege not otherwise attain-
able ; knowlege in way of great evidence and assurance.

1. Truth is the natural food of our soul, the special orna-
ment of our mind, the proper wealth of reason, &c. : all know-
lege therefore, which is in the possession of truth, is much
esteemed ; and if ignorance, error, and doubt, are defects and
deformities of the soul, then that knowlege which removes

•2 a

SUMMARY OF

(hem, implies the perfection, beauty, and vigor thereof. Faith
therefore, as implying knowlege, is valuable.

2. But it is much more so, in regard to the quality of its
objects; which are most worthy and most useful, advancing
our soul into a better state, ennobling, enriching, and embel-
lishing our nature ; a knowlege. enlightening the eyes, convert-
ing the soul, rejoicing the heart, &c. : objects of this knowlege
fully dilated on.

3. Faith also hath this excellent advantage, that it endueth
us with such knowlege in a very clear and sure way ; it not
being grounded on any slippery deduction of reason, nor on
slender conjectures of fancy, nor on musty traditions or popular
rumors ; but on the infallible testimony of God, conveyed by
powerful evidence, striking all capacities, equally apt to en-
lighten the simple, and to convince the wise: this topic fully
enlarged on. Thus is faith in its nature honorable.

II. It hath also divers ingredients, or inseparable adjuncts,
which it implies, rendering it commendable and acceptable to
God.

1. Faith implies a good use of reason. It was a foul asper-
siou cast on our religion by its ancient opposers, that it required
a mere belief, void of reason ; challenging assent to its doctrines
without trial or proof. It indeed ordinarily refuses a sudden
and precipitate assent, admitting no man, capable of judging
and choosing for himself, to the participation of it, until after
competent time and opportunities of instruction, he can approve
himself to understand it well : this point examined and ex-
plained. Hence God doth not only allow, but enjoin us to
use our best reason in judging of his doctrine, &c.

2. Faith implies a compliance with the providence and gTace
of God ; with his providence framing the economy of things to
be believed, discovering it to us by revelation, furnishing
motives to faith and opportunities of knowlege leading thereto ;
with his grace operating in our souls, illuminating our minds to

SERMON CI.

•29

discern, attracting our wills to embrace, inclining our affec-
tions to relish the heavenly truths exhibited to us : this topic
enlarged on and illustrated.

3. Faith implies good opinion of God, and good actions
towards him. God our parent has stamped on our nature some
lineaments of himself, which are not wholly defaced ; wherefore
he that believeth has managed himself so as to have preserved
in his soul the seeds of piety, &c. It is a great instance of
respect to a person, when we yield assent to his words, though
they appear incredible : this applied to Christian doctrines.

III. 1. To the engendering of faith there is required a mind
sober, composed, and wakeful ; ready to observe what befals,
and embrace what is offered, conducive to our good ; a mind
not so drowned in worldly cares and sensual enjoyments, as to
oversee or neglect the concerns of a better and eternal state.

That we may believe, we must have eyes to see, and ears to
hear, and a heart to understand.

2. Faith requires much diligence and industry. We must
have patience to give God the hearing, carefully attending to
what is propounded ; as it is said of Lydia, that she did attend
to the words spoken by St. Paul.

3. Faith must needs proceed from sincerity and soundness of
judgment; for the gospel comes under trial in a guise nowise
plausible or advantageous to human conceits : it tempts us not
with any bribe of earthly gain ; soothes us not with courtly
speech ; but advances pleas against the bent of our inclina-
tions, &c.

4. To the begetting of faith there must concur humility,
together with suitable affections and desires ; for he who em-
braces Christianity, does thereby stoop to many things very
cross to the vain conceits, proud humors, and haughty stomach
of man : this enlarged on.

5. To faith must conspire much fortitude, much resolution,
and great courage ; for he that firmly persuades himself to be

30

SUMMARY OF

a Christian, embarks in a most difficult and dreadful warfare,
and in the most bold adventures, setting himself in array against
the world, the flesh, and the Devil, &c.

6. The noble virtue of patience is likewise accessary to
faith; patience of labor in God's service ; patience of hope ;
patience of persecution ; patience of crosses and afflictions,
allotted us for trial and correction.

7. M ith faith also must concur the virtue of prudence, iu
all its parts and instances ; that prudence which guides and
prompts us to walk by the best rules, to act in the best manner,
to apply the best means to the attainment of the best ends.

8. In fine, the embracing of Christian doctrine supposes a
mind imbued with all kinds of virtuous disposition iu some
good degree, for seeing that doctrine doth highly command
and strictly enjoin all virtue, he must needs be a friend to all
virtue, who can heartily approve and relish it : this topic eu-
larged on.

- "Where then are they who wonder that faith is so commended,
is so accepted by God, and so crowued with reward ? If from
the foregoing premises it appears that faith is voluntary, it
surely is very commendable.

Experience fully shows what a mighty influence in all prac-
tical matters, our will or appetite has on our judgment: this
topic enlarged on.

All faith therefore, even in common things, may be deemed
voluntary no less than intellectual ; and Christian faith
especially is such, as requiring more application of soul,
manased by choice, than any other; this the opinion of the
ancients: the same supposed in holy Scripture; wherein to
defect of will infidelity is often ascribed.

To prevent faith being a forced act, and therefore not moral,
God has not done all he might have done to convince men :
he has raised some mists of difficulty and doubt, to exercise
our eves in looking attentively, and our willingness to see, <&c.

SERMON II,

31

He deals with us as he did with his ancient people: this
shown. Indeed more abundant light of conviction, as it would
deprive good men of much praise and reward, so might it be
very hurtful to many persons, who, being indisposed to comply
with truth, would outbrave it, however clear and evident.
Moreover, on those whom sufficient reasons will not convince,
the greatest motives would have small efficacy : this enlarged
on. So much for the causes and adjuncts of faith ; the effects
and consequences are reserved for the next discourse.

32

BARROW. — SERMON II.

3! 23clutoe, &c.
SERMON II.

OF THE VIRTUE AND REASONABLENESS OF
FAITH.

II PETER, CHAP. I. — VERSE 1.

to them that have obtained like precious faith with us.

The Holy Scripture recommendeth faith (that is, a hearty
and firm persuasion concerning the principal doctrines of our
religion, from divine revelation taught by our Lord and his
Apostles) as a most precious and honorable practice ; as a
virtue of the first magnitude, very commendable in itself, very
acceptable to God, very beneficial to us; having most excel-
lent fruits growing from it, most noble privileges annexed to it,
most ample rewards assigned for it.

It is in a special manner commanded, and obedience to that
command is reckoned a prime instance of piety : ' This is his
commandment, that we should believe; this is the work of God,
that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.'

It is the root of our spiritual life ; for, ' He that cometh to
God must believe;' and, ' Add to your faith virtue,' saith St.
Peter, supposing faith to precede other virtues.

It is the principal conduit of divine grace ; for

By it we are regenerated, and become the sons of God ;
1 Ye all,' saith St. Paul, ' are the sons of God by faith in
Christ Jesus.'

OF FAITH.

33

By it we ' abide in God,' and do possess him, saith St
John.

By it ' Christ dwelleth in us,' saith St. Paul.

By it we obtain God's Spirit: 'Did ye,' saith St. Paul,
' receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing
of faith ?'

By it we are justffied, or acquitted from guilt, and condem-
nation for sin : for, ' Being justified by faith we have peace
with God.'

By it our 'hearts are purged,' saith St. Paul; 'our souls are
purified,' saith St. Peter.

By it we are freed from the dominion of sin ; according to
that of our Saviour ; ' If ye abide in my word, — ye shall know
the truth, and the truth shall set you free.'

It procureth freedom of access to God ; ' We have,' saith
St. Paul, 'boldness and access with confidence by the faith of
him.'

It is the shield, whereby we resist temptations; and the wea-
pon, whereby we overcome the world.

In fine, it is that, which being ' retained in a good conscience,'
and maintained by virtuous practice, doth keep us in a state of
salvation, and will assuredly convey us into eternal life and fe-
licity; for, ' by grace we are saved, through faith.'

That faith should be thus highly dignified, hath always ap-
peared strange to the adversaries of our religion ; and hath
suggested to them matter of obloc|uy against it: they could not
apprehend why we should be commanded, or how we can be
obliged to believe ; as if it were an arbitrary thing, depending
on our free choice, and' not rather did naturally follow the re-
presentation of objects to our mind: they would not allow that
an act of our understanding, hardly voluntary, as being ex-
torted by force of arguments, should deserve such reputation
and such recompenses ; for if, argued they, a doctrine be pro-
pounded with evident and cogent reason, what virtue is there
in believing it, seeing a man in that case cannot avoid believ-
ing, is therein merely passive, and by irresistible force subdued ?
if it be propounded without such reason, what fault can it be
to refuse assent, or to suspend his opinion about it ? can a wise

^4

BARROW. — SERMON II.

man then do otherwise ? is it not in such a case simplicity, or
toud credulity, to yield assent ? yea, is it not deceit or hypo-
crisy to pretend the doing so ? may not justly then all the
blame be charged rather on the incredibility of the doctrine, or
the infirmity of reasons enforcing it, than on the incredulity of
the person who doth not a'dmit it ? whence no philosophers
ever did impose such a precept, or did assign to faith a place
among the virtues.

To clear this matter, and to vindicate our religion from
such misprisions, and that we may be ensrased to prize and
cherish it; I shall endeavor to declare that Christian faith
doth worthily deserve all the commendations and the advan-
tages granted thereto : this I shall do by considering its
nature and ingredients, its rise and causes, its efficacy and
consequences.

I. As to its nature; it doth involve knowlege, knowlege of
most worthy and important truths, knowlege peculiar and not
otherwise attainable, knowlege in way of great evidence and
assurance.

1. Truth is the natural food of our soul, toward which it
hath a greedy appetite, which it tasteth with delicious compla-
cency, which being taken in and digested by it doth render it
lusty, plump, and active : truth is the special ornament of our
mind, decking it with a graceful and pleasant lustre; truth is
the proper wealth of reason, whereof having acquired a good
stock, it appeareth rich, prosperous, and mighty : what light
is without, that is truth within, shining on our inward
world, illustrating, quickening, and comforting all things
there, exciting all our faculties to action, and guiding them in
it. All knowlege therefore, which is the possession of truth,
is much esteemed ; even that which respecteth objects mean,
and little concerning us, (such as human sciences are conver-
sant about; natural appearances, historical events, the proper-
ties, proportions, and powers of figure, of motion, of corporeal
force,) doth bear a good price, as perfective of rational nature,
enriching, adorning, invigorating our mind ; whence Aristotle
doubteth not on all those habitual endowments, which so ac-
complish our understanding, to bestow the name of virtues ;

OF FAITH.

35

that with him being the ' virtue of each thing, which anyw se
perfecteth it, and disposeth it for action suitable to its nature.'*
And if ignorance, error, doubt, are defects, deformities, infir-
mities of our soul, then the knowlege which removeth them
doth imply the perfection, beauty, and vigor thereof. Faith
therefore, as implying knowlege, is valuable.

2. But it is much more so, in regard to the quality of its
objects, which are the most worthy that can be, and most use-
ful for us to know ; the knowlege whereof doth indeed advance
our soul into abetter state, doth ennoble, enrich, and embellish
our nature; doth raise us to a nearer resemblance with God,
and participation of his wisdom ; doth infuse purest delight and
satisfaction into our hearts ; doth qualify and direct us unto
practice most conducible to our welfare ; it is a knowlege,
enlightening the eyes, converting the soul, rejoicing the heart;
sweeter than honey, and the honeycomb ; more precious than
rubies ; which giveth to our head an ornament of grace, and
a crown of glory. For,

Thereby we understand the nature, or the principal attributes
of God, of whom only the Christian doctrine doth afford a
completely true and worthy character, directive of our esteem,
our worship, our obedience, our imitation of him ; whereby our
demeanor toward him may become him, and please him.

By it we are fully acquainted with the will and intentions of
God, relating both to our duty and our recompense ; what he
requireth from us, and what he designeth for us ; on what terms
he will proceed with us in way of grace, of mercy, of justice.

By it we are informed concerning ourselves, what our frame
is, whence our original; to what ends we are designed, wherein
our felicity doth consist, and how it is attainable.

Itenableth us rightly to distinguish between good and bad,
right and wrong ; what is worthy of us, and pleasing to God,
what misbecoming us, and offensive to him ; both absolutely
and comparatively, according to the degrees of each case re-
spectively.

It prescribeth us an exact rule of life, comprising all our
duties toward God, our neighbor, ourselves; to observe which
will be most decent, and exceedingly profitable to us.
* Arist. Eth. ii. 6.

36

BARROW. — SERMON" II.

It teacheth us from what principles, and on what around-"'
we should act, that our practice should be truly good and lau-
dable.

It proposeth the most valid inducements to virtue, tenderiue
the favor of God and eternal bliss in reward thereof, menacing
divine wrath and endless woe on its neglect.

It discovereth the special aids dispensed to us for the support
of our weakness against all temptations and discouragements
incident to us through the course of our life.

The knowlege of these things is plainly the top of all know-
lege whereof we are capable ; not consisting in barren notion,
not gratifying idle curiosity, not serving trivial purposes, but
really bettering our souls, producing most soodly and whole-
some fruits, tendins to ends most noble and worthy : this indeed
is the highest philosophy ; the true culture and medicine of our
soul ; the true guide of life, and mistress of action ; the mother
of all virtues ; the best invention of God, aud rarest gift of
heaven to men : for these commendations, bv Pagan sages as-
cribed to their philosophy, do in truth solely belong to that
knowlege which by faith we do possess : their philosophy
could not reach such truths ; it could not so much as aim at
some of them ; it did but weakly attempt at any : it did in-
deed pretend to the knowlege of divine and human things,
(this being its definition, current among them,) but it had no
competent means of attaining either in any considerable mea-
sure ; for divine things (the nature of him who ' dwelleth in
light which no man can approach unto;' the intentions of him,
who ' worketh all things after the counsel of his will the
' ways of him, which are more discosted from our ways, than
heaven from earth;' the 'depths of God, which none but his
own Spirit can search out,' or discover) do lie beyond the
sphere of natural light, and inquisition of 01 r reason ; and as for
human things, the chief of them have such a connection with
divine things, that who were ignorant of the one could nowise
descry the other ; wherefore those candidates of knowlege, not-
withstanding their lofty pretences, were fain to rest in a low
form, employing their studies on inferior things, the obscurity
of nature, the subtilty of discourse, and moral precepts of life ;
such precepts, as their glimmering light and common experience

OP FAITH.

37

did suggest; for even in points of common morality and pru-
dence human wit can but fumble, as by the great clashing and
jangling about them is very notorious.

3. Faith also hath this excellent advantage, that it endueth
us with such knowlege in a very clear and sure way, compa-
rable to that whereby the theorems of any science are known ;
it not being grounded on any slippery deduction of reason, nor
on slender conjectures of fancy, nor on musty traditions or
popular rumors; but on the infallible testimony of God, con-
veyed unto us by powerful evidence, striking all capacities,
apt with equal iufluence to enlighten the simple and to convince
the wise. For want of this all human wisdom was so blind
and lame; so various, so uncertain; nothing but confusion,
unsettlement, and dissatisfaction arising from mere ratiocina-
tion ; which being destitute of light and aid from heaven, doth
ever grope in the dark, doth rove after shadows of truth, is
bewildered in mazes of intricacy, wherein things lie involved ;
whence all philosophy did consist in faint guesses, plausible
discourses, and endless disputes about matters of highest con-
sequence, such as the original of the world, the administration
of human things, the nature and subsistence of our soul, the
way to happiness ; none being able about such points to con-
clude with resolution, or to assert with confidence ; so that in
effect all the philosophers might be ranged under one great sect
of sceptics, or seekers, the most advised and best disposed among
them, in result of their most diligent speculations, appearing
very doubtful.

But we have, as St. Peter saith, fiefiawTepnv \6yov, ' a more
sure word of prophecy, whereunto we do well to give heed, as
unto a lamp shining in a dark place/ guiding us in the obscu-
rities and uncertainties of life ; we have ' a hope, as an anchor
of the soul both sure and stable;' which stayeth and settleth
our mind, being tossed with winds and waves of uncertain cogi-
tations, suggested by different appearances of things.

Hence, as St. Chrysostom is wont to insist, by virtue of faith
rustic and mechanic idiots do in true knowlege surpass the
most refined wits, and children prove wiser than old philoso-
phers: an idiot can tell us that which a learned infidel doth
not know; a child can assure us that wherein a deep philoso-

38

BARROW. — SERMON II.

pher is not resolved : for ask a boor, ask a boy educated in our
religion, who made him, he will tell you, God Almighty ;
which is more than Aristotle or Democritus would have told :
demand of him why he was made, he will answer vou, to serve
and glorify his Maker J and hardly would Pythagoras or Plato
have replied so wisely: examine him concerning his soul, he
will aver that it is immortal, that it shall undergo a judgment
after this life, that accordingly it shall abide in a state of bliss
or misery everlasting ; about which points neither Socrates nor
Seneca could assure any thing : inquire of him how things are
upheld, how governed and ordered, he presently will reply, by
the powerful hand and wise providence of God ; whereas
among philosophers one would ascribe all events to the current
of fatv, another to the tidesof fortune ; one to blind influences of
stars, another to a confused jumble of atoms: pose him about
the main points of morality and duty, and he will in few words
better inform you than Cicero, or Epictetus. or Aristotle, or
Plutarch, in their large tracts and voluminous discourses about
matters of that nature.

So real a property it is of God's law ' to give subtilty to the
simple, to the young man knowlege and discretion ;' so true it
is that our Lord affirmeth of himself, ' I came a light into the
world, that he who believeth in me may not abide in darkness ;"
so justly doth St. Paul affirm concerning divine revelation,
that ' it is able to make a man wise unto salvation, through
faith, which is in Christ Jesus ;' being ' profitable for doctrine,
for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that
the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto
all good works.' This is that highway of holiness, of which
the prophet saith, ' the wayfaring men, though fools, shall not
err therein." Thus is faith in its nature honorable.

II. It hath also divers ingredients, or inseparable adjuncts,
which it doth imply, rendering it commendable and acceptable
to God. As,

1. Faith implieth a good use of reason. This is that which
commendeth any virtue, that a man acting after it doth act
wisely, in conformity- to the frame and design of his nature, or
like a rational creature; using his best faculties in the best man-
ner, and in their proper operations toward the end intended by

OF FAITH.

89

the all-wise Creator : this is that on which all dispensation of
justice is founded, a man being accountable for the use of his
reason , so as to deserve reward for the right management, and
punishment for the misuse thereof; this is that consequently,
whereon God so often declareth himself to ground his judgment;
so that in effect he will justify men for being wise, and con-
demn them as guilty of folly ; whence in the holy style wisdom,
and virtue or piety, are terms equivalent ; and a fool doth sig-
nify the same with a vicious or impious person. And if ever a
man deserveth commendation for well using his reason, it is
then, when on mature deliberation he doth embrace the Chris-
tian doctrine ; for so doing is a most rational act, arguing the
person to be sagacious, considerate, and judicious; one who
doth carefully inquire into things, doth seriously weigh the
case, doth judge soundly about it.

It was a foul aspersion cast on our religion by its ancient op-
posers, that it did require \pt\i)v cat aKoyov Ttiariv, ' a mere
belief, void of reason ;'* challenging assent to its doctrines with-
out any trial or proof. This suggestion, if true, were, I confess,
a mighty prejudice against it, and no man indeed justly could
be obliged to admit it on such terms: but it is really a gross ca-
lumny ; such a proceeding being disclaimed . by the teachers and
advocates of our religion, being repugnant to the nature and
tenor thereof ; being prejudicial to its interest and design ;
being contrary to its use and practice. Never any religion was
indeed so little liable to the censure of obtruding itself on men's
credulity, none ever so freely exposed itself to a fair trial at the
bar of reason ; none ever so earnestly invited men to scan and
sift its pretences; yea provoked them for its sake and their
own, on most important considerations, (at the peril of their
souls, as they tendered their own best advantage,) to a fair, dis-
creet, careful examination thereof. Other religions have for
their justification insisted on the examples of ancestors, custom
and prescription of times, large extent and prevalence among
crews of people, establishment by civil laws, and countenance
ofsecular powers, (arguments extrinsecal, and of small validity
in any case,) declining all other test and verdict of reason : but

• Mi) iterate, a\\a niarevaov — Orig. in Cels. (p. 84.)

40

BARROW.— SERMON II.

our religion confideth in itself, and the pure merit of its cause ;
and therefore warneth men, in a case of such moment, laying
aside all prejudice, to employ their best understandings on an
industrious and impartial search of the truth ; referring the
decision and result, so far as concerneth each particular man,
to the verdict of that reason and conscience with which God,
in order to such purposes, hath endued every person.

It indeed ordinarily doth refuse a sullen and precipitate
assent, admitting no man, capable of judging and choosing
for himself, to the participation of it, or to the name and pri-
vileges of a worthy believer, until after a competent time and
opportunities of instruction, he can approve himself to under-
stand it well, and doth avow himself to be cordially persuaded
of its truth.

Such is its method, and it hath not any need of other; God
having provided and exhibited arguments abundantly sufficient
to convince any man of its truth, who is not affectedly blind
and stupid, or wantonly slothful and careless, or frowardly stiff
and obstinate,

What indeed better arguments (considering the nature of the
objects which faith respecteth, being things spiritual and invi-
sible ; considering also the capacities of persons concerned,
being all sorts of people, wise and simple, learned and rude)
could we have, or could we need, than the conspicuous excel-
lency and usefulness of the doctrine, approving itself to the
mind, and confirming itself by palpable experience of most
happy fruits, springing from a practice conformable thereto ;
than its exact correspondence to manifold ancient presignifi-
cations and predictions concerning it ; than special attestations
of God thereto, not only by audible voices, and visible appa-
ritions from heaven, but also by innumerable miraculous works ;
than the concurrence of divine Providence in strange methods
to the propagation and maintenance of it ; than the blessings
and consolations attending a faithful observance of it ? what
subtilty of discourse, what charm of eloquence could serve to
evince and impress the great truths concerning the attributes,
providence, will, commands, and promises of God ; concerning
the immortal subsistence of our soul, the future judgment, the
everlasting rewards hereafter, with such evidence and such

OF FAITH.

41

force, to the common and vulgar reason, or indeed to any rea-
son of man, as do these plain arguments, needing no reach of
wit or depth of judgment to sound their meaning, or feel their
strength ?

But if any man be too wise to be pleased with such down-
right and easy ways of conviction, reason itself, well followed,
would lead him hither, and serve to produce faith in him ; for
that there is a God, reason from observation of appearances in
nature and providence will collect; that goodness is one of his
principal attributes, reason from the same grounds will infer ;
that God hath an especial regard to men will thence also be-
come notorious; that consequently God will vouchsafe his guid-
ance to men in their way toward happiness, will appear reason-
able to conceive : that God hath not done this in any other
way, reason, comparing and weighing things, will easily dis-
cern ; that Christian doctrine may fairly pretend thereto^ rea-
son soon will admit ; so hath reason led us to the door of faith,
and being arrived thither, will (if our will be not averse) easily
find entrance.

Hence God doth not only allow, but enjoin us to use our
best reason in judging of this doctrine, whether it be from him,
and worthy of our acceptance ; he doth not bid us to retire into
the dark, to shut cur eyes, or to wink, when we receive it ;
but chargeth us to go into the clearest light ; to open our eyes
wide, to view it thoroughly with our best senses and sharpest
attention, before we do yield our consent and approbation to
it : his precepts are, that ' we examine all things, and hold fast
that which is good ;' that we ' believe not every spirit,' (or
revelation pretended,) but ' try the spirits, whether they be of
God;' that we stand on our guard, and 'take heed that no
man deceive us;' that we 'be not fools,' nor 'children in
understanding;' but 'wise and perfect men;' that we 'com-
pare things different,' and ' try what is well pleasing to God ;'
that we be * always ready with meekness and modesty to ren-
der unto every man demanding it an account of the hope in us.'

He therefore doth expostulate with men for their dulness,
their incogitancy, their sluggishness, their folly, as the causes
of their unbelief; declaring that in respect to such defaults,
wilfully incurred, he will proceed to condemn it; ' He,' saith

42

BARROW. — SERMON II.

our Lord, ' that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words,
hath one that judgeth him; the word that I have spoken, the
same shall judge him in the last day;' and, ' If I do not the
works of my Father, believe me not ;' ' If I had not come and

spoken unto them if I had not done among them the works

which no other man did, they had not had sin.' Our Lord, we
see, did not urge his bare authority, or exact a faith without
ground ; but he claimeth it as due on two most rational ac-
counts ; his convincing discourses, and his unparalleled works ;
which from any well advised and well disposed person could
not but win belief, that he was ' a teacher sent from God.'

Indeed, if we seriously do weigh the case, we shall find that
to require faith without reason is to demand an impossibility ;
for faith is an effect of persuasion, and persuasion is nothing
else but the application of some reason to the mind, apt to
draw forth its assent ; no man therefore can believe he knoweth
not what or why : he that truly believeth, must apprehend the
proposition, and he must discern its connexion with some prin-
ciple of truth, which as more notorious to him he before doth
admit ; otherwise he doth only pretend to believe, out of some
design, or from affection to some party; his faith is not so much
really faith, as hypocrisy, craft, fondness, or faction.

God therefore neither doth nor can enjoin us faith without
reason ; but therefore doth require it, as matter of duty, from
us, because he hath furnished sufficient reason to persuade us;
and having made his doctrine credible, (a faithful, or credible,
word, and worthy of all acceptation ;) having given us reason
chiefly to be employed in such matters, as he justly may claim
our assent, so he will take well our ready surrendry of it to
him, as an act of reason and wisdom becoming us.

To yield unto reason fairly proposed and proved is in any
case a laudable quality, signifying that a man hath his reason to
purpose, that he is guided and governed thereby-, not by humor
or fancy ; qualifying him for conversation and business, for
which nothing rendereth a man more unfit than humorous in-
credulity, or obstinacy against reason. It is especially' com-
mendable in these cases, concerning our better part and final
state, arguing a man to be sober and advised, affording regard
to things best deserving it, employing his consideration in due

OF FAITH.

43

place, being faithful and just to himself, in attending to his main
concernments.

2. Faith implieth a compliance with the providence and
grace of God; with his providence framing the economy of
things to be believed, discovering it to the world by special
revelation, furnishing motives apt to work faith, dispensing op-
portunities of knowlege leading thereto ; with his grace ope-
rating in our souls, by illustration of our minds to discern, at-
traction of our wills to embrace, inclination of our affections to
relish and like the heavenly truths exhibited to us.

There is no man to whom means are not administered, suffi-
cient to produce in him that measure of faith, which is requisite
toward the good management of his life, and his rendering an
account for it at God's tribunal ; there is no man also, to whom
such means are afforded, whom the grace of God, who ' de-
sireth that all men should be saved, and come to the knowlege
of the truth,' doth not in some degree excite to the due im-
provement of them ; but in effect the case is varied, because
some men do embrace those means, and comply with that
grace, while others do reject or neglect them.

Our Lord saith, that ' every one, who hath heard of the
Father, and hath learned, doth come unto him :' but some there
are, to whom the Father speaketh, yet they ' stop their ears,
and refuse to hear;' some do hear in a sort, but do not learn,
ill prejudices or depraved affections barring instruction from
their mind ; being like those of whom the Apostle saith, ' The
word heard did not profit them, being not mingled with faith
in those which heard it.'

' No man,' saith our Lord again, ' can come unto me ex-
cept the Father draw him :' but this attraction is not com-
pulsory; we may hold back; we may withstand it, and not
follow.

* Faith,' saith St. Paul, 'is a gift of God,' and ' a favor
granted to us;' IfTiv k-^apiaQt], ' To you,' saith he, ' it hath been
graciously vouchsafed not only to believe in him, but also to
suffer for him ;' and, ' To you,' saith our Lord, ' it is given to
know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven :' but this gift is
not always accepted, this favor is not always entertained ; God

44

EARROW. — SERMON II.

doth not so obtrude it on us, but that we may reject or de-
cline it.

Faith is ' a fruit of God s Spirit ;' but such as will not grow
in a bad soil, not purged from weeds of corrupt prejudice, of
vicious affection, of worldly care ; which will not thrive with-
out good care and culture.

God inviteth us to believe by the promulgation of his gospel,
aad exhortation of his ministers ; he declareth abundant reason
to persuade us ; he representeth to our minds the beauty of
Christian truth and virtue ; he speaketh from without unto us
by manifold arguments, able, if we are not verv stupid, to con-
vince us ; he speaketh within by strong impressions on our
consciences, apt, if we are not very stubborn, to subdue us;
• Behold," saith he. 1 I stand at the door, and knock; if any
man will hear my voice, and will open the door, I will come
in unto him :' such is the case ; God standeth at the door of
our heart by the ministry of his word, he knocketh at it by the
impulse of his grace : but to hear is the work of our vigilance,
to open is an act of our voluntary compliance.

« God,' saith St. Paul, 1 who commanded the light to shine
out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of
the knowlege of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ ;'
God shineth on us by revelation of his truth, God shineth into
us by illumination of his Spirit : the which through the ear
doth convey the light of truth unto the heart: but we may by
wilful obstruction exclude that light, shutting the windows of
our heart against it ; we may there quench it by foul affections,
we may smother it in fogs of evil prejudice; we may dissipate
it by troublesome cares; we may. by affected blindness, or
drowsy negligence, render it indiscernible, or ineffectual to us;
like those, of whom the Apostle there saith. that 'the god of
this world had blinded the minds of those which believe not.
lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image
of God, should shiue unto them.'

A man may a-uleladm -6v \6yov, ' thrust away the word,'
as it is said of the Jews; he may, as others of the same stamp
did, 'resist the Spirit;' he may. as those worldlings in the
gospel, let the seed fall beside him, or not fall deep into him.

OF FAITH.

45

or fall into thorns, which may choke it ; he may hate the light,
and therefore not come unto it ; or rebel against it, as those
did in Job; he may, as the Pharisees did, 'defeat the coun-
sels,' and ' cross the desires of God.'

And as to deal thus with God's word and providence, thus
to treat his Spirit and grace, is heinously criminal, so to use
them well is very acceptable to God's goodness : if we yield
due regard to his providence, and an obseepjious ear to his
word ; if we cheerfully do accept his gifts, and close with his
overtures of mercy ; if we concur with his motions, and farther
his gracious designs, he will take it kindly of us ; as therein
acting becomingly toward him, and gratifying him in that
wherein he most delighteth, which is the procurement of our
good.

3. Faith doth imply good opinion of God, and good actions
toward him.

God our parent hath stamped on our nature some lineaments
of himself, whereby we resemble him ; he hath implanted in
our soul some roots of piety toward him ; into our frame he
hath inserted some propensions to acknowlege him, and to affect
him ; the which are excited and improved by observing the
manifest footsteps of diviue power, wisdom, and goodness,
which occur in the works of nature and providence; to pre-
serve and cherish these is very commendable ; a man thereby
keeping the precious relics of the divine image from utter de-
facement, retaining somewhat of his primitive worth and inte-
grity ; declaring that by ill usage he hath not quite shattered
or spoiled his best faculties and ijicliuations.

Now that he who believeth hath thus managed himself, so
as to have preserved in his soul those seeds of piety, apt to
conspire with the influences of grace drawing to belief, doth
appear from hence, that faith doth include an assent to divers
points, so thwarting our carnal sense and gust, that without a
good esteem of God, and good affection toward him, we hardly
could admit them ; ' the carnal mind,' or hrutish part within
us, being, as St. Paul saith, ' enmity to God,' and ' uncapable
of submission to his law ;' the ' sensual man being not able to
receive the things of God, for they are foolishness to him ;' to
balance which repugnance and iudispositiou there must be some

1G

BARROW. — SERMON II.

good notions and good affections in the mind, disposing it to
comply with the revelation of truth and operation of grace.

There can hardly be any greater instance of respect and love
toward any person, than a ready yielding of assent to his
words, when he doth aver things to our conceit absurd or in-
credible ; than resting on his promise, w hen he seemeth to offer
things impossible, or strangely difficult ; than embracing his
advice, when he recommendeth things very cross to our inte-
rest, humor, and pleasure ; whence Abraham's faith (expressed
in hoping for a son in his decrepit age, and in offering up that
son, who was so dear to him, who was ' the heir of promise,'
the prop of his family and hope) is so magnified, as an argu-
ment of exceeding respect and affection toward God : ' Abra-
ham believed God, and it was imputed to him for righteousness,
and he was called the friend of God;' it was a great evidence
of his friendship, that ' against hope he believed in hope, being
fully persuaded that what God had promised, he was able to
perform ;' and therefore ' it was imputed to him for righteous-
ness ;' or accepted by God, as a signal act of goodness, whereby
he did testify his immovable opinion concerning the power,
fidelity, and benignity of God, together with answerable good-
will toward him.

And many things doth the Christian doctrine propose, apt
to try such a friendship ; many a hard saying doth it assert,
which a profane mind can hardly swallow or digest ; there is
indeed scarce any article of faith, at which we shall not boggle;
any matter of duty, which we shall not start at, any promise
of God, whereat we shall not stagger, if we be not seasoned
with favorable apprehensions and inclinations toward him, who
recommendeth them to us, as endued with those attributes
which secure their credibility.

That God Almighty should erect this stately fabric of heaven
and earth, decked with so rich and goodly furniture, with es-
pecial regard to man, so puny and mean a creature, whom he
foresaw so ready to offend and wrong him ; that on his foul
misdemeanor God should not withdraw his gracious protection
and care from him, but thence should take occasion of design-
ing and capacitating him for a state far more happy than that
whence he had lapsed, making his punishment a benefit, and

OF FAITH,

47

his deserved death a gate of immortality ; that for the redemp-
tion of him, continuing in apostasy and rebellious enmity, God
should please to send down out of his bosom, from the height
of glory and blessedness, his own dearest Son, to partake the
baseness and infirmity of our flesh, to endure the inconveni-
ences and troubles incident to our condition, to undergo a most
painful and ignominious death for the expiation of our offences;
these are mysteries to which we should not easily give cre-
dence, did we not conceive God immensely good and gracious.

That God could not pitch on more compendious and com-
modious ways of expressing his goodness and mercy, we hardly
should admit, if we did not take him to be transcendently wise,
far beyond our reach and comprehension.

That Jesus, a man in appearance like to ourselves ; of mean
parentage, of poor estate, who lived as a beggar and a vagrant,
who died as a malefactor and a slave, in semblance forlorn to
God and man, should be the Lord of life and glory, the general
Author of salvation, the Judge of all men, the King of all the
world, is a point which cannot but appear very strange, very
scandalous to minds not imbued with special reverence of the
divine power and wisdom.

That God, who is so perfectly holy, so exactly just, so ex-
tremely displeased with iniquity, should yet bear so patiently,
and so easily pardon enormous transgressions against himself;
that he should accept so mean services, and to so slight perform-
ances should dispense so precious rewards, who would believe,
that is not possessed with conceptions of his admirable clemency
and bounty ?

That God one day will raise the dead, re-collecting our
scattered dust, and rearing our dissolved frame, we should not
easily grant, had we not a strong opinion of God's power, and
that nothing is too hard for him to accomplish.

That to deny ourselves in all ways, to ' hate our own souls,'
to take up a cross, to forsake kindred and friends, to quit houses
and lands, ' to renounce all that we have,' to reject the profits,
the honors, the delights of the world, to cut off our right hands,
to pluck out our right eyes, to mortify our members, and crucify
our flesh, to be dead to the world, to expose our lives unto

48

BARROW. — SERMON II.

greatest dangers, yea, to sacrifice them unto certain loss, are
often things very good, most advisable and eligible, how could
we be ever induced to conceive, if we did not take God to be
most wise, who hath prescribed such duties ; most faithful, who
hath engaged to satisfy us for the discharge of them ; most able
fully to requite us for the pains and damages which we sustain
in such practice ?

That the methods of Providence should be so intricate and
unaccountable ; that the passage to happiness should be so
rough, and that to misery so smooth ; that He who disposeth
all things, should to those whom he most liketh and loveth
dispense temptations, crosses, disgraces, all kinds of hardship
and sorrow ; permitting those whom he disapproveth and detest-
eth to live without interruption in quiet, splendor, and jollity;
would stumble one, who hath not entertained a general assu-
rance concerning the wisdom and equity of God.

Faith, therefore, in most of its chief parts, doth imply him
that owneth it to be well conceited and well affected toward his
Maker ; thereby avowing his most glorious perfections, the
which do assure the truth of his word and doctrine ; ' He," saith
our Lord, ' that hath received my testimony, hath set his seal,
that God is true :' that is, most evidently he doth signify his
opinion of God's veracity and fidelity, together with the divine
perfections requisite to make them good ; for be (saith the
believer in his mind) the proposition never so uncouth to my
apprehension, yet God is true who affinueth it ; be the duty
never so harsh to my sense, yet God is wise and good who
appointeth it; be the promise never so uulikely in appearance
to find effect, yet God is faithful and able to perform it : and
he that is thus disposed in judgment and affection toward
God, no wonder if his demeanor be very acceptable to him.

Thus is faith precious, considering its nature, and those essen-
tial ingredients, or inseparable adjuncts, which it doth include
or imply. It will also appear to be so, if we consider its rise,
and those good dispositions which concur in its production.

III. 1. To the engendering of faith there is required a mind
sober, composed, and wakeful ; ready to observe what befall-
eth, apt to embrace what is offered, conducible to our good and

OF FAITH.

40

advantage ; a mind not so drowned in worldly care, sensual
enjoyment, or impertinent sport, as to oversee or neglect the
concerns cf our better part and eternal state.

That we may believe, we must have ' eyes to see,' and 'ears
to hear,' and ' a heart to understand ;' we must attentively look
with our eyes, we must ' incline our ears to God's word,' we
must ' apply our heart to instruction.'

Thus in the apostolical history we may observe that when
the Apostles, in a manner apt to stir any man, being awake, to
remark, did propose their doctrine, some readily did yield
their ears and hearts to their discourse ; while others did not
mind or regard it.

2. Faith doth require much diligence and industry. We
must have the patience to give God the hearing, carefully
attending to what is propounded ; as it is said of Lydia, that
she did -rrpoai-^iv, ' attend to the words spoken by St. Paul ;'
and Set wepitrirorepius Trpunex€iv, ' we must,' saith the Apostle to
the Hebrews, ' yield extraordinary attention to the things
heard ;' we must, as our Saviour warneth, let the evangelical
'word sink down into our ears:' we must take the pains to
consider the notions, and to weigh the reasons enforcing them ;
as the Bereans did, who did avunplvetv ras ypn<f>us, ' examine
the Scriptures, whether those things were so,' as St. Paul did
teach out of them. We must evhelKwoBat t>)v oirovb))v, exert
and demonstrate that studious care, which is requisite to get a
clear knowlege and firm persuasion concerning the points of
belief ; for ' he that received the seed into the good ground,' was
6 t6v \<>yav aKovwt' Ka\ owiiov, ' he that heard the word, and did
understand it,' or well consider it ; God for this reason doth
lay his truth not so open or obvious, that we may be somewhat
exercised, and put to use a pious diligence in finding it; it
lieth under the surface, that we may delve for it; searching
the Scriptures, weighing reasons, comparing things.
- 3. 1'aith must needs proceed from sincerity and soundness
of judgment.

The assent, which on contemplation and considering of things
we do yield to them, is usually termed judgment ; and it much
resembleth that act, whose name it borroweth : for as he is a
good judge, who after a full cognisance and careful discussion
BAR. vol. v. C

50

BARROW. — SERMON II.

of the case with its pleas, doth pronounce freely and fairly,
being no way swayed either by his own inclination, or by temp-
tation from without ; who is not biassed by any previous affec-
tion or dislike, not drawn by favor, not daunted by fear, not
bribed by profit, not charmed by flattery, not dazzled by
specious appearance, not gulled by crafty insinuations or by fine
speech, not tired by solicitation or importunity , not seduced by
precedents or custom ; not perverted by any such means, which
are indirect, impertinent, or extrinsical to the cause, so as to
give a wrong sentence ; so is he that assenteth to Christian
truth : many considerations will exempt him from any suspicion
of being anywise so corrupted.

For the gospel cometh under trial in a guise nowise plausible
or advantageous to human conceit : its garb and circumstances
are nowise taking, or attractive of any favor to it; hut such
rather as are apt to raise dislike and scandal against it ; it being,
as St. Paul saith, presented up ' in earthen vessels,' in a way
very homely and contemptible. It representeth a mean, a
poor, a persecuted, a crucified man offering salvation, and
claiming obedience ; attended by persons of like condition and
fortune, urging the same overtures and pretences on us : and
what impression is such an appearance likely to work on our
fancy, which is prone to affect splendid and pompous shows?

The same doth not present to us any bribe of gain, doth not
tempt us with any hope of preferment, doth not allure us w ith
any bait of pleasure ; but challengeth a free sentence ; and that
such an one, which may greatly prejudice our worldly interests,
may spoil our profit, may stop our preferment, may dash all
our pleasure ; ' In the world ye shall have tribulation :' ' We
must through many tribulations enter into the kingdom of
God :' ' Every one that will live godlily in Christ Jesus must
sutler persecution :' ' If any man will come after me, let him
deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.' Such are
the promises and enticements it useth.

Neither doth it sooth or court us by glozing speech, so as to
recommend itself to our fancies by raising in us a good conceit
of ourselves; but dealeth bluntly and coarsely with us; faith-
fully and plainly acquainting us with our own case, involved in
its cause ; how grievous sinners we be, how obnoxious to jus-

OF FAITH.

hi

lice we stand ; how worthless we are, how wretched we shall
be, secluding that mercy and grace of Cod, which it tendereth
on its own terms, of confessing our guilt, disclaiming- our merit,
humbly seeking mercy, forsaking our own ways, and submit-
ting to God's will.

It doth not solicit us in trim language, nor by sly insinua-
tions doth inveigle us to embrace it; but in downright terms,
in a plain dress of speech, in a resolute strain doth charge us,
on our peril, to do it right, denouncing on our refusal extremi-
ties of wrath and vengeance.

It advauceth pleas against the bent of our temper, which
ever is prone to things forbidden, and averse from things en-
joined by it: against the prejudices of our mind, which is
always apt to approve or to admire things which it condemneth
or vilifieth ; to dislike or despise things which it commendeth
and magnifieth : against the affections of our heart, the dearest
objects of whose love, delight, and care it would discard and
drive from us; the most unwelcome and disgustful things
whereto it would introduce and bring to us: against our
strongest appetites, and most earnest passions; the violent
motions of which it doth curb and check ; doth quell, or doth
allay : against many temptations, potently drawing us to things
which it reclaimeth, stoutly driving us from things which
it recommendeth : against the stream of habitual usage, and
the torrent of common example, things so prevalent on us:
in fine, against ourselves, such as we naturally are, such as we
by education and custom are made ; whom it impeacheth of
heinous guilt and enormous folly; whose conceit and credit
it debaseth ; whom it depresseth into the confines of hell and
misery : all within us, all about us, do with might and main
oppose it ; our lust, our fancy, our honor, our interest, our re-
putation, our principles, our customs, our friends, our enemies;
the flesh, the world, the devil, all cornbinedly are so many
fierce adversaries, so many shrewd advocates, so many clamor-
ous solicitors against its cause.

He therefore, who notwithstanding all these disadvantages
determineth in favor of it, must assuredly be a very upright,
impartial, and incorrupt judge; declaring his sense purely ac-
cording to the dictates of his reason and conscience.

"What indeed greater integrity can a man express, than in

:.2

EARROW. — SERMON II.

thus deciding a cause referred to him so much against himself,
as he is naturally affected, and standeth related to things
here ? What greater equity can he show, than in avowing so
harsh, so rough, so unpleasing truths, so little gratifying his
own sense or fancy, so Little favoring his profit or pleasure ?
What greater ingenuity can there be, than to espouse that doc-
trine which pincheth our liberty within so narrow bounds ;
which layeth such restraints on our thoughts, our words, our
actions; which interdicteth to us so many enjoyments, which
exacteth from us so great pains ?

4. To the begetting faith there must concur humility, or a
readiness to entertain sober and moderate opinions of ourselves,
together with suitable affections and desires ; for he that with
hearty persuasion and serious resolution erubraceth Christi-
anity, doth thereby stoop to many things very cross to the
vain conceit, the proud humor, and haughty stomach of man.

The first step into the Christian state is a sight and sense of
our own imperfection, weakness, baseness, and misery : we
must discern and feel that our mind is very blind and our rea-
son very feeble ; that our will is very impotent, lame, de-
praved, prone to evil, and averse from good ; that our life is
void of merit, and polluted with guilt ; that our condition is
deplorably sad and wretched; that of ourselves we are insuffi-
cient to think or do any good, in order to our recovery or de-
liverance ; whence we are obliged to sore compunction of
spirit for our deeds and our case, to humble confession of our
sins and miseries, to earnest supplication for mercy and grace,
to heal and rescue us from our sad estate : ' Lord have mercy
on n;e, a sinner :' ' What shall I do to be saved ?' ' Wretched
man that I am, who shall deliver me from this body of death ?'
Such are the ejaculations of a soul teeming with faith.

He that entereth into the faith, must therewith intirely sub-
mit his understanding, and resign his judgment to God, as his
master and guide ; being ready to believe whatever God de-
clareth, however to his seeming unintelligible or incredible ; to
follow whither God conducteth, although like Abraham he
' knoweth not whither he goeth ;' to approve that which God
ordaineth, however distasteful to his sense ; to undertake that
which God requireth, however difficult ; to bear that which God
imposeth, how burdensome soever ; being content that Divine

OF FAITH.

53

wisdom shall absolutely sway and reign over his wisdom; that his
reason shall be puzzled, shall be baffled in many cases ; that his
mind shall be rifled of all its prejudices, its fond curiosities, its
presumptuous confidences, of 'every thought and device ' ad-
vancing itself against divine truth.

He must abandon all good opinion of himself, all conceit-
edness of his own worth, merit, excellency, felicity in any
kind ; slighting bis wealth, his power, his dignity, his wit, his
wisdom, and the like advantages natural or secular, which are
so much prized in vulgar and worldly esteem ; as things in
themselves of no consideration, nor otherwise valuable than as
talents entrusted by God, or instruments of his service; dis-
owning them from himself, as things freely dispensed by God,
and absolutely depending on his disposal : saying with St.
Paul, ' Yea doubtless, I count all things but loss for the ex-
cellency of the knowlege of Christ Jesus my Lord : for whom
I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but
dung, that I may win Christ, and be found in him, not having
mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is
through the faith of Christ.'

He also that cordially doth embrace the Christian doctrine,
with resolution of conforming his practice thereto, must look
for it to sustain much disgrace; to be hated, to be censured
and taxed, to be slighted and scorned, to be reproached, to be
spurned as a fool, an idiot, a humorist, a silly, superstitious,
fantastical, morose body, by the world, and the adherents to
its corrupt principles, its vicious fashions, its depraved senti-
ments and practices; ' who will wonder (with indignation and
scorn) at those who do not run into the same excess of riot,
speaking evil and railing at them :' especially in times when
wickedness 'doth lift up its horn,' when profaneness doth not
only much prevail, but doth insult, and vapor over piety.

Every Christian as such immediately doth admit notions
quite debasing high conceit, which ascribe all our good things
purely to divine bounty, which allow us to own nothing but
evils springing from our defects, infirmities, and corruptions,
from our guilty naughtiness and folly ; which display our great
imperfection, indigency, impotency, ignorance, error, unworthi-
ness, and forlorn wretchedness ; which assure that we do sub-

54 BARROW. — SERMON IT.

sist in total dependence on God, continually needing his pro*
tection, succor, and mercy.

He must undertake the practice of duties extremely cross to
proud humor; to comport with injuries and affronts, without
revenge, without resentment of them ; to place himself beneath
others; to be content with his state, how mean and poor
soever; to bear patiently all events incident to him, however
sad and grievous; with the like, contrary to the gust of a proud
heart.

He that doth thus demean himself, embracing such notions,
and complying with such duties, how can he otherwise than be
a very humble, sober, and modest person ?

5. To faith much fortitude, much resolution, and courage
must conspire ; for he that firmly persuadeth himself to be a
Christian, doth embark in a most difficult and dreadful warfare,
doth undertake most high and hazardous enterprises, doth en-
gage in the boldest adventures that a man can set on ; he in-
tendeth to encounter most puissant, stout, and fierce enemies ; to
fight many a bloody battle ; to attack many a stronghold, to
sustain many a sharp brunt, to endure many sore hardships, to
run into many terrible dangers, to break through many tou^h
difficulties, to surmount many great discouragements, impedi-
ments, and oppositions.

Hedoth set himself in array against the world, the flesh, and
the devil, that strong confederacy banded against him with
their utmost force of strength and subtilty.

He must combat the world, by its fair looks, flatteries, and
caresses, enticing to sin ; by its frowns, menaces, aud rough
treatments, deterring from duty ; ensnaring us by its profits, its
glories, its pleasures; seducing us by its bad customs and ex-
amples ; distracting us with its cares and amusements of busi-
ness.

He must cope with the flesh, that intestine and treacherous
foe; which with its corrupt prejudices and imaginations, with
its stubborn proclivities, with its impetuous appetites, with its
boisterous passions, doth ' war against our soul, strivingto bring
our minds into captivity under the law of sin which is in our
members.'

He must grapple with the devil, that strong one, that

OF FAITH.

greedy lion, that wily snake, that rueful dragon always wait-
ing to surprise us, always gaping to devour us, always laying
close trains to entrap us, always throwing fiery darts of tempta-
tion, to consume or scorch us ; ' Our wrestling,' as the Apostle
doth express it, ' is against principalities, against powers, against
the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wick-
ednesses in high places.'

In these conflicts he must expect to meet with many a griev-
ous repulse, to bear many a hard knock, to feel many a sore
wound ; to be often beat back, often knocked down, often
thrust through, often trampled on, and insulted over.

To set on these things is surely the highest gallantry that
can be ; he that hath the heart to attempt and undergo
such things, is a daring and brave man indeed ; he that
successfully can achieve such exploits is truly a hero; most,
deserving notable trophies, and everlasting monuments of le-
nown.

The undertakings of Alexander, of Hannibal, of Caesar, did
not signify valor like to this ; their achievements were but toys
in comparison to these : those famous gallants would have found
it infinitely harder to conquer the world in this way ; to have
subdued their lusts, and mastered their passions, would have
proved far more difficult, than to get advantage in scuffles with
armed men ; to discomfit legions of devils would have been to
them another kind of work , than was the vanquishing squa-
drons of Persians, of Gauls, of Romans: to have set on their
own ambition and vanity, their intemperance, their revenge ;
to ha\e quelled those inward enemies; to have sustained
affronts, disgraces, afflictions, with a calm and contented mind,
would have more tried their courage, than all which they at-
tempted ; making a great show, but signifying little of true for-
titude.

G. The noble virtue of patience is likewise accessary to faith ;
thereto all kinds of patience must concur ; patience of labor
in God's service, and obedience to all his commands; ' patience
of hope,' in waiting for the accomplishment of Ciod's plea-
sure ; patience of persecution for God's sake, and in conscience
of our duty to him ; patience of crosses and afflictions by
God's disposal allotted to us for our instruction, our exercise,

BARROW. — SERMON II.

our probation, our correction, and improvement in goodness.
For,

Christianity is the great school and special academy of pa-
tience, wherein we are informed, are inured, are trained up
and tried to bear all things : the cross is ihe badge of our pro-
fession, without willingly carrying which, we cannot be the
children of God or disciples of Christ; whereby we are ' con-
formed to the image of our Lord,' the ' man of sorrow, and ac-
quainted with grief ;' tribulation is our lot, to which we are
appointed, and to which we are called ; persecution is the
condition proposed to us; it being told us, that ' every one who
will live godlily in Christ Jesus must suffer persecution:' afflic-
tion is the way toward happiness, ' for by many afflictions we
must enter into the kingdom of heaven ;' it is represented as a
favor granted to us to suffer ; for vfiiv i^apiadri, ' to you,' saith
St. Paul, ' it hath been indulged, not only to believe in Christ,
but to suffer for him :' it is our glory, our joy, our beatitude.
Our work is ' to run with patience the race that is set before us :'
in fine, faith and patience are the pair, which being coupled
together draw us to the ' inheritance of the promises ;' patience
being needful to introduce and support faith.

7. With faith also must concur the virtue of prudence in all
its parts and instances : therein is exerted a sagacity, discerning
things as they really are in themselves, not as they appear
through the masks and disguises of fallacious semblance, whereby
they would delude us ; not suffering us to be abused by the
gaudy shows, the false glosses, the tempting allurements of
things ; therein we must use discretion in prizing things rightly,
according to their true nature and intrinsic worth ; in choosing
things really good, and rejecting things truly evil, however
each kind may seem to our erroneous sense ; therein we must
have a good prospect, extending itself to the final consequences
of things, so that looking over present contingencies we descry
what certainly will befal us through the course of eternal
ages.

In faith is exercised that prudence, which guideth and
prompteth us to walk by the best rules, to act in the best
manner, to apply the best means toward attainment of the best
ends.

OF FAITH.

The prudence of faith is indeed the only prudence consider-
able; all other prudence regarding objects very low and ig-
noble, tending to designs very mean or base, having fruits very
poor or vain. To be wise about affairs of this life (these fleet-
ing, these empty, these deceitful shadows) is a sorry wisdom ;
to be wise in ' purveying for the flesh,' is the wisdom of a beast,
which is wise enough to prog for its sustenance ; to be wise in
gratifying fancy is the wisdom of a child, who can easily en-
tertain and please himself with trifles ; to.be wise in contriving
mischief, or embroiling things, is the wisdom of a fiend, in whieh
the old serpent, or grand politician of hell, doth exceed all the
Machiavels in the world : this, as St. James saith, is ' earthly,
sensual, devilish wisdom ;' but the wisdom of faith, or that
' wisdom which is from above, is first pure, then peaceable,
gentle, easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good works.'

8. In fine, the embracing Christian doctrine doth suppose a
mind imbued with all kinds of virtuous disposition in some good
degree ; for seeing that doctrine doth highly commend and
strictly prescribe all virtue, he must needs be a friend to all
virtue, and a devoted servant thereto, who can heartily approve
and like it: his eye must be sound, and clear from mists of bad
prejudice, who can ken the beauty, and bear the lustre of it ;
his palate must be pure from vicious tinctures, who can relish
its sweetness; his heart must be void of corrupt affections and
desires, who sincerely doth affect it, and firmly doth cleave
thereto ; his conscience must be good, who can hope for the
excellent rewards which it proposeth, who can stand proof
against the terrible menaces it denounceth ; his intentions must
be upright, who dareth offer them to be scanned by so exact
rules ; his life must in good measure be blameless, who can
present it before the bar of so rigorous judgment ; he must be
a man of much goodness, ingenuity, and integrity, who can
think it expedient, who can be content and willing that such a
doctrine be accounted true, which so plainly discountenanceth,
which so peremptorily condemneth, which so severely punisheth
all kinds of wickedness ; for ' He,' as our Saviour saith, and he
alone, 1 who doeth the truth, doth come to the light, that his
deeds may be manifested.' Faith therefore, and good con-

38

BARROW. — SERMON II.

science, are well by St. Paul so often coupled as inseparable

associates.

Where now are they, who wonder that faith is so com-
mended, doth find such acceptance with God, and is so crowned
with reward ; who would banish it from the company of vir-
tues, and out of all moral consideration ; who would have it
taken for an involuntary act, forced on the mind, and issuing
from dry speculation ? for seeing so many excellent disposi-
tions of soul are its ingredients, essentially connected with it ;
seeing so many noble acts of will do concur to its production ;
seeing it hath so many choice virtues inseparably adherent, a»
previous or concomitant to it; it is no wonder that they should
moralise it, should render it very considerable, so capable of
praise, so worthy of recompense.

If we therefore do believe, because we will apply our minds
to regard our best concerns, because we will yield due atten-
tion to the declarations and overtures of God, because we will
take the pains to weigh the reasons persuasive of truth, because
we look on things with an indifferent eye, and judge uprightly
about them, because we have the courage, the patience, the
prudence, the innocence, requisite for avowing such truths ;
then surely faith is voluntary, and therefore very commen-
dable.

Whoever indeed will consider the nature of man, or will
consult obvious experience, shall find that in all practical mat-
ters our will or appetite hath a mighty influence on our judg-
ment of things; causing men with great attention to regard
that which they affect, and carefully to mark all reasons mak-
ing for it ; but averting from that which they dislike, and mak-
ing them to overlook the arguments which persuade it ; whence
men generally do suit their opinions to their inclinations ; warp-
ing to that side where their interest doth lie, or to which their
complexion, their humor, their passions, their pleasure, their
ease doth sway them ; so that almost any notion will seem
true, which is profitable, which is safe, which is pleasant, or
anywise grateful to them ; that notion false, which in any such
respect doth cross them : very few can abstract their minds
from such considerations, or embrace pure truth, divested of
them; and those few who do so, must therein most employ

OF FAITH.

their will, by strong efforts of voluntary resolution and pa-
tience disengaging tlieir minds from those clogs and biasses.
This is particularly notorious in men's adherence to parties,
divided in opinion, which is so regulated by that sort of causes,
that if you do mark what any man's temper is, and where his
interest lieth, you may easily prognosticate on what side lie
will be, and with what degree of seriousness, of vigor, of zeal
he will cleave thereto : a timorous man you may be almost
sure will be on the safer side ; a covetous man will bend to
that party, where gain is to be had ; an ambitious man will
close with the opinion passing in court; a careless man will
comply with the fashion ; affection arising from education or
prejudice will hold others stiff; few do follow the results of
impartial contemplation.

All faith, therefore, even in common things, may be deemed
voluntary, no less than intellectual ; and Christian faith is espe-
cially such, as requiring thereto more application of soul, ma-
naged by choice, than any other ; whence the ancients, in their
description of it, do usually include this condition, supposing
it not to be a bare assent of the understanding, but a free con-
sent of the will : ' Faith,' saith Clemens Alexandrinus,* 'is a
spontaneous acceptance, and compliance with divine religion ;'
and, ' To be made at first was not in our power ; but God per-
suadeth us to follow those things which he liketh, choosing by
the rational faculties which he hath given us, and so leadeth us
to faith ;' saith Justin the Martyr. f

The same is supposed in holy Scripture ; where of believers
it is said that they did dtr/ueywr, gladly, or willingly receive the
word, and they received it yuera iraeris irpoQufitas, with all wil-
lingness, or readiness of mind.

And to defect of will infidelity is often ascribed : ' Ye will
not come unto me,' saith our Saviour, ' that ye might have
life;' and, ' How often would I have gathered thy children
together as a hen doth gather her brood under her wings, and
ye would not!' and, 'The kingdom of heaven is like unto a
certain king, which made a marriage for his son, and sent forth
his servants to call them that were bidden to the wedding,

* Clem. Strom, ii. p. 265. t Just. Mart. Apol. ii. (p. 58.)

60

BARROW.— SERMON It.

and they would not come :' and, < Of this,' saith St. Peter of
some profane infidels,' they are willingly ignorant, that by the
word of God the heavens were of old :' and of the like St.
Paul saith, ' That they received not the love of the truth, but
had pleasure in unrighteousness.'

Indeed to prevent this exception, that faith is a forced act,
and therefore not moral; or to render it more voluntary and
worthy, God hath not done all that he might have done to con-
vince men, or to wring belief from them : he hath not stamped
on his truth that glaring evidence, which might dazzle our
minds ; he doth not propose it armed with irresistible cogency ;
he hath not made the objects of faith conspicuous to sense, nor
the propositions thereof demonstrable by reason, like theorems
of geometry: this indeed would be to depose faith, to divest it
of its excellency, and bereave it of its praise ; this were to de-
prive us of that blessedness, which is adjudged to those who
believe and do not see ; this would prostitute wisdom to be de-
floured by the foolish, and expose truth to be rifled by the pro-
fane ; this would take from our reason its noblest exercise, and
fairest occasion of improvement ; this would confound persons
fit to be distinguished, the sagacious and the stupid, the dili-
gent and the slothful, the ingenuous and the froward, the sober
and the vain, the pious and the profane; the children of wis-
dom, which are apt to justify it, and the sons of folly, who
hate knowlege ; the friends of truth and virtue, and the lovers
of falsehood and unrighteousness.

God therefore hath exhibited his truth, shining through some
mists of difficulty and doubt, that only those who have clear
eyes, who do look attentively, who are willing to see, may
discern it ; that those who have eyes may see, and ' those who
have ears may hear.' He meaneth this way of discovering his
mind for a test to prove our ingenuity, for a field to exercise
our industry, for an occasion to express his goodness in crown-
ing the wisdom and virtue of good believers ; that ' the trial of
your faith,' saith St. Peter, ' being much more precious than of
gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be
found unto praise and honor and glory at the appearing of Je-
sus Christ : whom having not seen, ye love ; in whom, -though
ye 6ee him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable

OF FAITH.

61

and full of glory.' He meaneth also thence to display his jus-
tice in punishing the slothful, the vain, the perverse, the pro-
fane; that, as the Apostle saith, ' all men might be judged,
who believed not the truth — but had pleasure in unrighteous-
ness :' hence, ' There must of necessity be scandals,' said our
Saviour ; hence our Lord was ' set for a mark to be contra-
dicted, that the thoughts of many hearts might be revealed ;'
and, « There must be heresies,' saith St. Paul ; why ? that
' they which are approved (01 boKtfioi, persons that can bear
the test) may be manifested.'

God dealeth with us as he did with his ancient people. He,
to assure them of his gracious protection and providence over
them, or to persuade them of the truth of what he by Moses
taught them, did before their eyes perform stupendous works
in their behalf, affording them miraculous deliverances from
their enemies, and prodigious supplies of their needs ; the sight
of which did extort a temporary belief; ' Then,' it is said,
' they believed his words, and sang his praise ;' and, when
' Israel saw that great work which the Lord did on the Egyp-
tians, the people feared the Lord, and believed the Lord, and
his servant Moses.' Yet withal God suffered divers things to
fall out, ' to humble them,' as it is said, ' and to prove them,
and to know what was in their heart, whether they would keep
his commandments, or no :' the result of which dispensations
was, that they being inconsiderate, impatient, and refractory,
' believed not in God, and trusted not in his salvation ;' ' they
despised that pleasant land, and gave no credence to his word :'
so God dealt with that typical people ; and in like manner
doth he proceed with us: he hath ministered signal attestations
to the gospel ; he hath dispensed arguments abundantly suffi-
cient to convince well disposed minds of its truth ; but he hath
not cleared it from all scruples, which may disturb the frovvard
or the delicate; he hath not exempted it from all scandals
which may disgust the perverse and stubborn ; he hath not pre-
vented all exceptions or cavils devisable by curious or captious
wits against it ; he hath not guarded it wholly from the mali-
cious opposition of those, whose interest it might seem, in favor
of their vices and follies, to impugn it : just it was, that to such
the gospel should be ' a stone of stumbling, and a rock of of-

82

BARROW. — SERMON If.

fence ; who stumble at the word, being disobedient, unto which
they were appointed,' (that is, God having so purposely ordered
the evangelical dispensation, that such persons should not ap-
prove it, or comply with it;) just it was, that they should be
debarred from a knowlege of that truth which they should
abuse, and 'detain in unrighteousness;' just it was, that they
should be punished with such temptations unto doubt and er-
ror, ' who would not receive the love of the truth, that they
might be saved.'

Indeed, more abundant light of conviction, as it would de-
prive good men of much praise and reward, so it might be hurt-
ful to many persons ; who having affections indisposed to
comply with truth, would outface and outbrave it, however
clear and evident ; ' they would,' as Job speaketh, ' rebel
against the light,' although shining on them with a meridian
splendor; they would plunge themselves into an inexcusable
and incorrigible state of impiety, 'doing despite to the Spirit
of grace,' and involving themselves in the ' unpardonable sin ;'
as we have many instances in the evangelical history of those,
who beholding unquestionable evidences of divine power at-
testing to our Lord's doctrine, which they could not but ac-
knowlege, did yet oppose it, did blaspheme against it, did out-
rageously persecute it.

Should God, as he once did in a dreadful manner, thunder
out his laws, and ' shake the earth with his voice,' yet many
would little regard them ; should God, in confirmation of his
will, perform every day as many miracles, as he did once in
Egypt, yet there would be Pharoahs, ' hardening their hearts '
against it : should God himself descend from heaven, as once
he did, and converse with us, instructing us by discourse and
practice, displaying among us conspicuous evidences of his
power and goodness, yet ' who would believe his report, to
whom would the arm of the Lord be revealed ?' how few cor-
dially would embrace his doctrine, or submit to his law!
As it was then, so it would be now; he would be hated, be
scorned, be affronted, and abused, by persons qualified with
like affections, as those were, who so then did serve him ; for
in all times like persons will do like things : as then only his
sheep (that is, well disposed persons, like sheep, simple, harm-

OF FAITH.

83

less, and ductile) ' did hear his voice, and follow him ;' so
others ' would not believe him, because they were not of his
sheep,' being imbued with swinish, currish, wolvish disposi-
tions, incapacitating them to follow his conduct : there would
be persons like to those, of whom it is said, ' Behold, ye scorn-
ers, and wonder, and perish : for I work a work in your days,
a work which you shall no wise believe, though a man declare
it unto you.'

(It is with instituted religion as it is with natural ; the works
of nature are so many continual miracles of divine power and
wisdom; in the common track of Providence many wonderful
things do occur ; yet who by them is moved to acknowlege
and adore God? notwithstanding them, how many Atheists
and Epicureans are there ! So will it be in regard to divine
revelations, which, however clearly attested, will yet be ques-
tioned.)

Those indeed whom sufficient reasons (such as God hath dis-
pensed to us) will not convince, on them the greatest motives
would have small efficacy; so father Abraham told the rich
man; ' If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will
they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead.'

They may pretend, if they had more light, they would be
persuaded ; like those who said, ' Let him now come down
from the cross, and we will believe;' but it would not in effect
prove so, for they would yet be devising shifts, and forging ex-
ceptions ; or, however, they would oppose an impudent face,
and an obstinate will against the truth.

Wherefore it was for -the common good, and to Divine wis-
dom it appeared sufficient, that on the balance truth should
much outweigh falsehood, if the scales were held in an even
hand, and no prejudices were thrown in against it; that it
should be conspicuous enough to eyes, which do not avert
themselves from it, or wink on purpose, or be clouded with
lust and passion ; it was enough that infidelity is justly charge-
able on men's wilful pravity ; and that npotyaviv cvk e^ovai,
' they have not,' as our Saviour saith, ' any reasonable excuse'
for it.

But so much for the causes and adjuncts of faith ; the effects
and consequences of it I reserve for another occasion.

81

SUMMARY OF

SUMMARY OF SERMON III

II PETER, CHAP. I. — VERSE 1.

Of all Christian virtues, as there is none more approved by
God, so there is none less considered or valued by men, than
faith ; always attacked by the adversaries of our religion : but
that it worthily deserves the praise and privileges assigned to
it, we may be satisfied, if we consider well its nature and in-
gredients ; its causes and rise ; its effects and consequences :
w hat has been said on the two former topics briefly recapitu-
lated : the last only now insisted on at large.

Its effects are of two sorts; one springing naturally from
it, the other following it in way of recompense from divine
bounty. The first sort only touched on ; because in this its
virtue is most seen, as in the other its felicity.

Faith is naturally efficacious in producing many rare fruits,
&c. Even in common life it is the compass by which men
steer their practice, the main spring of all action. What but
this moves the husbandman to take such pains in cultivating
his ground? &c. What but faith, eyeing the prize, quickens
us to run patiently the race that is set before us ?

In reason a steady belief of one point or two only would
suffice to engage us on all duty, and restrain us from all sin :
instance of the future judgment and its results — the favor of
Almighty God secured by a pious course of life — his wrath by
vicious conduct : these points enlarged on. Such a general
influence is faith (looking with provident eye on the future
consequences of things) apt to have on our practice.

We are told that faith doth purify our souls, and cleanse

SERMON III.

$5

our hearts ; that is, our whole interior man, all the faculties of
the soul, &c. Add to your faith virtue, saith St. Paul ; im-
plying the natural order of things.

The chief of all virtues, piety, seems according to reason
inevitably consequent from it : this point enlarged on and ex-
plained.

After piety, the next great virtue is charity, the which also
is easily derived from a pure heart, as St. Paul saith, and
faith unfeigned ; it representing particular obligations and in-
ducements thereto, from the peremptory commands of God, the
strict relations between Christians, and the stupendous patterns
of charity set before us: this enlarged on.

In like manner is faith productive of meekness, in bearing
injuries, neglects, and provocations of any kind: for who can
entertain any long or rancorous grudge against him whom he
believeth his brother, and that on so many accounts he is
obliged to love him ? This shown.

Again, faith is the mother of sincerity, that comprehensive
virtue which seasons all others and keeps them sound; for as
it assures us that an all-seeing eye views our very hearts, how
vain must dissimulation appear to us ! &c.

Likewise the admirable virtue of humility sprouts up from
faith, informing us that we have nothing of our own to boast
of; &c.

It also engages us to the virtue of temperance, discovering
not only the duty, but the necessity thereof, in regard to our
state, which is one of continual exercise and strife; and every
man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things.

Again, it produces contentedness in our state; for how can
he, who is satisfied that God appoints him his station, &c. be
disconsolate or despair ?

It also begets a cheerful tranquillity of mind and peace of
conscience, in regard to our future state ; which St. Paul calls
all joy and peace in believing: &c.

6G

SUMMARY OF SERMON III.

Again, it is faith which breeds the courage, and upholds the
patience requisite to support us in our spiritual course ; for he
who believes himself in his undertakings backed by Omnipo-
tence, and that, as St. Paul, he can do all things through,
Christ strengthening him, what should he fear to undertake ?
Armed with spiritual panoply we may face our most redoubt-
able enemies, the world, the flesh, the devil. With respect to
patience, faith will also arm us with it, to endure all events with
alacrity and comfort, lightening the most heavy burdens, and
sweetening the most distasteful occurrences; persuading us that
for any damage suffered here we shall hereafter become great
gainers, receivers, as the gospel promises, a hundred fuld, &c.
This point enlarged on.

But it may perhaps be said ; These are indeed fine sayings,
but where do such effects appear? who is found to act accord-
ing to these notions? To this objection, which is a shrewd
one, it maybe replied : You say where are such effects? where
are such men? I ask then, where is faith? where are be-
lievers ? Show me the one, and I will show you the other.
This point enlarged on.

To our infidelity therefore, to the insincerity, or deadness of
our faith, the great defects of our practice are to be ascribed.
But if such effects can now rarely be found, yet time was wheu
they were more rife ; scarce any time has been quite destitute
of them : instances of the powerful effects of faith given ; of
Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Moses, Job, David, of many
judges and prophets in Israel ; but especially of the Apostles
and primitive saints. This principle it was that enabled them
to perform such prodigious acts, and to endure things so insup-
portable ; &c. A grain of faith, saith our Saviour, is able to
remove mountains ; that is, to accomplish things in appearance
very strange and difficult. Concluding observations.

OF FAITH.

67

51 Selirte, &c.
SERMON III.

OF THE VIRTUE AND REASONABLENESS OF
FAITH.

II PETER, CHAP. I. VERSE 1.
to them that have obtained like precious faith with us.

Of all Christian virtues, as there is none more approved and
dignified by God, so there is none less considered or valued by
men, than faith ; the adversaries of our religion have always
had a special pique at it ; wondering that it should be com-
manded, as if it were an arbitrary thing, or in our choice to
believe what we please; why it should be commended, as if it
were praiseworthy to be subdued by reason ; either by that
which is too strong for us to resist, or by that which is too weak
to conquer us.

But that faith worthily deserveth the praises and privileges
assigned thereto, we may be satisfied, if we do well consider
its nature and ingredients, its causes and rise, its effects and
consequences.

In its nature it doth involve knowlege, or the possession of
truth, which is the natural food, the proper wealth, the special
ornament of our soul ; knowlege of truths most worthy of us,
and important to us, as conversing about the highest objects,
and conducing to the noblest use; knowlege peculiar and not
otherwise attainable, as lying without the sphere of our sense,
and beyond the reach of our reason ; knowlege conveyed to us

68 BARROW.— SERMON III.

with great evidence and assurance ; the greatest indeed that
well can be, considering the nature of its objects, and the ge-
neral capacities of men, and the most proper way of working
on reasonable natures.

It implieth (that which giveth to every virtue its form and
worth) a good use of our reason, in carefully weighing and up-
rightly judging about things of greatest concernment to us ; it
implieth a closing with God's providence dispensing opportu-
nities, and representing motives serving to beget it ; a com-
pliance with God's grace attracting and inclining our souls to
embrace his heavenly truth: it implieth also good opinions of
God, and good affections toward him, which are requisite to
the believing (on his testimony, promise, or command) points
very sublime, very difficult, very cross to our fancy and humor.

The causes also, which concur in its production, are very
excellent; many virtuous dispositions of soul are requisite to
the conception and birth of it : there must be a sober, com-
posed, and wakeful mind, inquisitive after truth, apt to observe
it starting, and ready to lay hold on it: there must be diligence
and industry in attending to the proposals, and considering the
enforcements of it : there must be sincerity and soundness of
judgment, in avowing its cause, against the exceptions raised
against it by prejudice and carnal conceit, by sensual appetites
and passions, by temptation and worldly interest : there must
be great humility, disposing us to a submission of our under-
standing, and a resignation of our will unto God, in admitting
notions which debase haughty conceit, in espousing duties
which repress sturdy humor : there must be much resolution
and courage, in undertaking things very difficult, hazardous,
and painful ; much patience, in adhering to a profession, which
exacteth so much pain, and exposeth to so much trouble:
there must be great prudence, in applying our choice (among
so many competitions and pretences claiming it) to that which
is only good; in seeing through fallacious disguises, and look-
ing over present appearances, so as to descry the just worth
and the final consequence of things : there must, in fine, be a
love of truth, and a liking of all virtue, which is so highly
commended, and so strictly prescribed by the Christian doc-
trine.

OF FAITH

GO

These particulars, commending faith to us, I have already
largely prosecuted ; I shall only therefore now insist on the
last head, concerning its effects, whereby (as the goodness of
a tree is known by its fruits) the great excellency thereof will
appear.

Its effects are of two sorts; one springing naturally from it,
the other following it in way of recompense from Divine bounty :
I shall only touch the first sort; because in this its virtue is
most seen, as in the other its felicity.

Faith is naturally efficacious in producing many rare fruits;
naturally, I say, not meaning to exclude supernatural grace,
but supposing faith to be a fit instrument thereof ; for ' God
worketh in us to will, and to do,' but in a way suitable to our
nature, employing such means as properly serve to incline and
excite us unto good practice ; and such is faith, supported and
wielded by his grace ; for indeed

Even in common life faith is the compass by which men steer
practice, and the main spring of action, setting all the wheels
of our activity on going ; every man acteth with serious inten-
tion, and with vigor answerable to his persuasion of things,
that they are worthy his pains, and attainable by his endeavors.
What moveth the husbandman to employ so much care, toil,
and expense in manuring his ground, in ploughing, in sowing,
•in weeding, in fencing it, but a persuasion that he shall reap a
crop, which in benefit will answer all ? What stirreth up the
merchant to undertake tedious voyages over vast and dangerous
seas, adventuring his stock, abandoning his ease, exposing his
'i to the waves, to rocks and shelves, to storms and hurri-
ies, to cruel pirates, to sweltry heats and piercing colds, but
rsuasion that wealth is a very desirable thing, and that
by he may acquire it ? What induceth a man to conform
. strictest rules of diet and abstinence, readily to swallow
vn the most unsavory potions, patiently to endure cuttings
burnings, but a faith that he thereby shall recover or pre-
e health, that highly valuable good ? From the same prin-
e are all the carking, all the plodding, all the drudging, all
the daring, all the scuffling in the world easily derivable. In
like manner is faith the square and the source of our spiritual
activity, disposing us seriously to undertake ; earnestly, reso-

70 BARROW. — SERMON III.

lutely, industriously, and constantly to pursue the designs o
virtue and piety, brooking the pains and hardships, breaking
through the difficulties and hazards which occur in religious
practice ; engaging us to the performance of duty, deterring us
from the commission of sin.

What but faith, eyeing the prize, will quicken us ' to run
patiently the race that is set before us?' what but faith, appre-
hending the crown, will animate us to ' fight stoutly the good
fight ?' what but faith, assuring the wages, will support us in
working all the day with unwearied industry and patience?
what can raise pious hope, what can kindle holy desire, what
can spur on conscientious endeavor, but a faith of attaining
worthy recompenses for doing well ? what can impress an ef-
fectual dislike and dread of offending, but a faith of incurring
grievous punishment and sad mischiefs thence ?

In reason a strong and steady belief but of one point or
two, would suffice to engage us on all duty, and to restrain us
from all sin. Did only we believe the future judgment, with the
results of it, that alone would be an effectual both spur and
curb to us : for who believing that his soul then shall be laid
bare, that his inmost thoughts and secretest purposes shall be
disclosed unto the view of all the world, will presume to har-
bor in his breast any foul thought or base design ? who believ-
ing that he shall then be obliged to render an account of
every idle word, will dare to utter villanous blasphemies,
wicked curses, fond oaths, profane jests, vile slanders or de-
tractions, harsh censures, or bitter reproaches ? who being per-
suaded that a rigorous amends will then be exacted from him
for any wrong he doeth, will not be afraid with violence to
oppress, or with fraud to circumvent his neighbor ? who deem-
ing himself accountable then for every talent and opportunity
will find in his heart to squander aw ay or misemploy his time,
his power, his wealth, his credit, his wit, his knowlege, his ad-
vantages in any kind of doing God service? who knowing
himself obnoxious, to a sudden trial, whereat his estate, his
reputation, his life, all his interest and welfare must lie at
stake, will contentedly lose his mind in wanton sports or wild
frolics? In fine, if we are really persuaded that presently
after this short and transitory life we shall openly, iu the face

OF FAITH.

71

of God, angels, and men, be arraigned at an impartial bar,
where all our thoughts, our words, our actions shall most
exactly be sifted and scanned ; according to which cogni-
sance a just doom shall be pronounced, and certainly exe-
cuted on us ; how must this needs engage us to be very sober
and serious, very circumspect and vigilant over our mind, our
tongue, our dealings, our conversation, our whole life !

Again, if a man firmly belicveth that by a pious course of
life he shall gain the present favor and friendship of the
Almighty, with all the real goods whereof he is capable ;
and that hereafter he shall be rewarded for it with an eternal
life in perfect rest, in glory, in joy, in beatitude unspeakable;
that he shall obtain an incorruptible inheritance, a treasure
that can never fail, a crown that will not fade, a kingdom that
cannot be shaken ; wherein he shall enjoy the blissful vision
of God, smiling in love on him; the presence of his gracious
Redeemer, embracing him with dear affection ; the most de-
lightful society of blessed angels, and 'just spirits made per-
fect;' a state of felicity, surpassing all words to express it, all
thoughts to conceive it ; of which the brightest splendors, and
the choicest pleasures here can yield but a faint resemblance ;
how can he forbear earnestly to embrace and pursue such a
course of practice ! what zeal must such a persuasion inspire ;
what vigor must it rouse within him ! who on any terms
would forfeit the hopes of such a happiness? who would not
be glad to undertake any pains, or endure any hardships
for it ?

And who likewise heartily is persuaded that by vicious con-
versation he shall incur the wrath of Almighty God, and stand
obnoxious to the strokes of his severe justice ; that persisting
therein he infallibly must drop into the bottomless pit, into
that utter darkness, that furnace of fire unquenchable, that
lake of flaming brimstone ; where is weeping and gnashing of
teeth, where the immortal worm shall gnaw on his heart, and
he must feel the pangs of a never-dying death ; that state of
most bitter remorse, of most horrid despair, of most forlorn dis-
consolateness, of continual and endless torment ; wherein he
shall be banished from the face of God, and by immutable
destiny barred from all light, all ease, all solace ; from any

BARROW. — SERMON III.

glimpse of hope, from any respite of pain ; the wretchedness
of which condition not the sharpest pain of body, not the
sorest anguish of mind, not the saddest distress here can any-
wise reach or represent; whoever, I say, is possessed with a
belief of these things consequent on a wicked life, will he not
thence be effectually scared from it ? what bait of temptation
shall allure him, what force shall drive him thereto? will he
for a flash of pleasure, for a puff of fame, for a lump of
pelf; will he in compliment or complaisance to others, in apish
imitation or compliance with a fashion, out of mere wanton-
ness, or in regard to some petty interest; will he in hope of
any worldly good, or fear of any inconvenience here, suffer
himself to be cast into that dismal state ? will he not sooner
go and shake a lion by the paw, sooner provoke an adder to
bite him, sooner throw himself down a precipice, or leap into a
caldron of burning pitch ? Certainly in reason to believe such
things, and to sin, can hardly be consistent.

Such a general influence is faith, looking with a provident eye
on future rewards and consequences of things, apt to have on our
practice: the which collaterally taking in the glorious attributes
of God, the gracious performances of our Saviour, the beauty
and sweetness of each divine precept, the manifold obligations
and encouragements to duty, the whole latitude and harmony
of evangelical truth, all tending to the recommendation of
holiness, what efficacy must it needs have ! how powerfully
must it incite us to good practice !

We are told that faith doth ' purify our souls, and cleanse
our hearts;' that is, our whole interior man, all the faculties of
onr soul ; disposing them to an universal obedience and con-
formity to God's holy will ; and so it is ; for faith not only doth
clear our understanding from its defects, (blindness, ignorance,
error, doubt,) but it cleanseth our will from its vicious inclina-
tions, (from stubborn, froward, wanton, giddy humors;) it
freeth our affections from disorder and distemper, in tendency
toward bad objects, and in pursuit of indifferent things with
immoderate violence; it purgeth our conscience, 01 reflexive
powers, from anxious fear, suspicion, anguish, dejection, des-
pair, and all such passions which corrode and fret the soul :
how it effecteth this we might declare; but we cannot better

OF FAITH.

73

set forth its efficacy and puissance, than by considering the
special and immediate influence it plainly hath in the produc-
tion of each virtue, or on the performance of every duty :
' Add to your faith virtue,' saith St. Peter; implying the natu-
ral order of things, and that if true faith precede, virtue will
easily follow.

The chief of all virtues, piety, (comprising the love of God,
fear and reverence of him, confidence in him, gratitude for his
favors and mercies, devotion toward him, a disposition to wor-
ship and serve him,) seemeth according to reason inevitably
consequent from it ; for can we believe God superexcellent in
all perfection, and immensely benign toward us; can we be
persuaded that in free goodness he did create us, and doth con-
tinually preserve us in being; that his bounty hath conferred
on us all our endowments of soul, and all our accommodations
of life ; that he hath a tender desire of our welfare, from which
even our most heinous offences and provocations cannot divert
him ; that he most wonderfully hath provided for our happi-
ness ; in order thereto, when we had rebelled and revolted
from him, sending down out of his bosom, from the top of ce-
lestial glory and bliss, his only dear Son, into this base and
frail state, to sustain the infirmities of our nature, the inconve-
niences of a poor life, the pains of a bitter and shameful death,
for our recovery from sin and misery; that with infinite patience
he driveth on this gracious design, continually watching over
us, attracting us to good, and reclaiming us from evil by his
grace, notwithstanding our frequent and stiff reluctances
thereto; can, I say, we heartily believe these points, and not
love him ? Can the eye of faith behold so lovely beauty, so
ravishing sweetness in him, and the heart not be affected ? Can
we apprehend so many miracles of nature, of providence, of
grace performed by him for our sake, and not be thankful to
him? Can we likewise believe God infinitely powerful, infi-
nitely just, infinitely pure, and withal not dread him, not adore
him ? Can we believe him most able, most willing, most ready
to do us good, and not confide in him ? or can we take him
to be most veracious, most faithful, most constant, and not rely
on his promises ? Can we avow him to be our Maker, our
Patron, our Lord, our Judge, and not deem ourselves much

BAR. VOL. V. D

74

BARROW. — SERMON III.

obliged, much concerned to serve him ? Can we believe that
God in our need is accessible, that he calleth and inviteth us
to him, that lie is ever willing and ever ready to hear us, that
he is by promise engaged to grant us whatever we do with
humble fervency and constancy request ; yet forbear to pray,
or easily desist from it? Do we believe his omnipresence and
omniscience ; that he is with us wherever we go, doth know
all we think, hear all we say, see all we do ; and will not
belief engage us to think honestly, to speak reverently, to act
innocently and decently before him ? Do we believe that
God's commands do proceed from that will, to which rectitude
is essential ; from that wisdom, which infallibly discerneth
what is just and fit ; from that goodness, which will require
from us nothing but what is best for us; from that unquestion-
able and uncontrollable authority, to which all things are subject,
and must submit ; will not this sufficiently engage us to obedi-
ence? Surely the real belief (such as we have about com-
mon things, apprehended by our reason or by our sense) of any
such divine act or attribute, cannot fail to strike pious affec-
tion, and pious awe into us.

After piety, the next great virtue is charity, the which also is
easily derived ' from a pure heart,' as St. Paul speakelh, ' aud faith
unfeigned ;' it representing peculiar obligations and inducements
thereto, from the most peremptory commands of God, from the
signal recompenses annexed to that duty, from the strict rela-
tions between Christians, from the stupendous patterns of cha-
rity set before us. Who can withhold love from him, whom he
believeth his brother, in a way far nobler than that of nature,
so constituted by God himself, the common Father, by spiritual
regeneration, and adoption of grace ; whom he believeth bom
of the same heavenly seed, renewed after the same divine
image, quickened by the same Holy Spirit; united to him not
only in blood, but in soul; resembling him, not in temper of
body or lineaments of face, but in conformity of judgment and
practice ; partner of the one inheritance, and destinated to lead
a life with him through all eternity, in peaceful consortship
of joy and bliss ? Who can deny him love, whom he believeth
out of the same miserable case by the same price redeemed
into the same state of mercy ? for whom he by faith vieweth

OF FAITH.

the common Saviour divesting himself of glory, pinching him-
self with want, wearying himself with labor, loaded with con-
tumelies, groaning under pain, weltering in blood, and breath-
ing out his soul, propounding all this as an example of our
charity, and demanding it from us as the most special instance
of our grateful obedience to him ? What greater endearments
can be imagined, what more potent incentives of love, what
more indissoluble bands of friendship, than are these ? Can
such a believer forbear to wish his neighbor well, to have compla-
cence in his good, to sympathise with his adversities, to perform
all offices of kindness to him ? Can he in the need of his bro-
ther 'shut up his bowels of compassion,' or withhold his hand
from relieving him ? Can a man know that God requireth this
practice as the noblest fruit of our faith, and most acceptable
part of our obedience, which he hath promised to crown with
most ample rewards ; can he believe that God will recom-
pense his ' labor of love' with everlasting rest, and for a small
expense of present goods will bestow immense treasures in the
other world, and yet abstain from charitable beneficence ?
Who can forbear sowing, that believeth he shall reap so plen-
tiful a crop ; or abstain from dealing in that heavenly trade,
whereby he is assured to be so vast a gainer?

In like manner is faith productive of meekness, in comporting
with injuries, discourtesies, neglects, and provocations of any
kind : for who can be fiercely angry, who can entertain any
rancorous grudge or displeasure against him, whom he believeth
his brother, and that on so many accounts he is obliged to love
him ? Who that believeth God hath pardoned him so much,
and doth continually bear so many wrongs, so many indignities
from him, will not in conscience and gratitude toward God,
and in compliance with so great an example, bear with the in-
firmities of his neighbor ? Who can look on the pattern of his
Saviour, patiently enduring so many grievous affronts, without
a disposition to imitate him, and to do the like for his sake ?
Who that taketh himself for a child of God, a citizen of
heaven, an heir of eternal glory, can be so much concerned in
any trivial accident here ; can design to have his passion
stirred for any worldly respect ? as if his honor could be im-

Id BARROW. — SERMON III.

paired, or his interest suffer diminution by any thing said or
done here below.

Again, faith is the mother of sincerity, that comprehensive
virtue, which seasoneth all other virtues, and keepeth them
sound : for it assuring us that an all-seeing eye doth view our
heart, doth encompass our paths, is present to all our closest
retirements; that ' all things are naked and open to the eyes of
him with whom we have to do,' how vain must it appear to us
anywise to dissemble, or prevaricate, speaking otherwise than
we think, acting otherwise than we pretend, seeming otherwise
than we are ; concealing our real intents, or disguising them
under masks of deceitful appearance ! If we believe that we
shall be judged, not according to the opinions of men concern-
ing us, or our port and garb in this world, but as we are in our-
selves, and according to strictest truth ; that in the close of
things we shall be set forth in our right colors and complexion,
all varnish being wiped away ; that all our thoughts, words,
and deeds shall be exposed to most public censure ; that
hypocrisy will be a sore aggravation of our sin, and much in-
crease our shame ; how can we satisfy ourselves otherwise than
in the pure integrity of our heart, and clear uprightness of our
dealing ?

Likewise the admirable virtue of humility, or sobriety of
mind, doth sprout from faith; informing us that we have
nothing of our own to boast of, but that all the good we have,
we can do, we may hope for, are debts we owe to God's pure
bounty and mercy ; prompting us to assume nothing to our-
selves, but to ascribe all the honor of our endowments, of our
performances, of our advantages unto God; keeping us in con-
tinual dependence on God for the succors of his providence
and his grace ; representing to us our natural weakness, vile-
ness, and wretchedness, together with the adventitious defects
and disadvantages from our wilful misbehaviour, the unworthi-
ness of our lives, the many heinous sins we have committed,
and the grievous punishments we have deserved.

lie who by the light of faith doth see that he came naked
into the world, heir to nothing but the sad consequences of the
original apostasy ; that he is a worm, crawling on earth, feeding

OF FAITH.

77

on dust, and tending to corruption ; that he Iiveth only by re-
prieve from that fatal sentence, ' The day thou sinnest thou
shalt die;' that he was a caitiff wretch, a mere slave to sin, a
forlorn captive of hell ; and that all his recovery thence, or
capacity of abetter state, is wholly due to mercy ; that he sub-
sisted only on alms, and hath nothing but his sins and miseries
which he may call his own ; he that believeth these things, what
conceit can he have of himself, what confidence in his own
worth, what complacency in his estate?

Faith also doth engage to the virtue of temperance ; dis-
covering not only the duty, but the necessity thereof, in regard
to our state, which is a state of continual exercise and strife ;
wherefore as wrestlers with many strong adversaries, as racers
for a noble prize, we by good diet and constant labor must keep
ourselves in heart, in temper, in breath to perform those com-
bats; according to that of St. Paul, ' Every man that striveth
for the mastery is temperate in all things.'

Again, faith is productive of conlentedness in our state : for
how is it possible that he, who is fully satisfied that God
appointeth his station, and allotteth his portion to each one ;
that all occurrences depend on his will, and are managed by
his providence, should take any thing amiss ; as if it could hap
better, than as infinite goodness pleaseth, and infinite wisdom
determineth ? How can he, that believeth God most powerful
and able, most kind and willing, ever present and ready to help
him, be in any case disconsolate, or despair of seasonable relief?
What can discompose him, who knoweth himself, if he pleaseth,
immovably happy ; that his best good is secure from all
attacks, and beyond the reach of any misfortune ; that desiring
what is best, he cannot fail of his desire ; that (himself ex-
cepted) all the world cannot considerably wrong or hurt him ?

He that is assured, those precepts (' Be careful for nothing ;'
■ Cast all your burden on God ;' ' Be content with such things
as ye have') were not given to mock and gull us ; that those
declarations and promises (' There is no want to them that fear
God ;' ' No good thing will God withhold from them that walk
uprightly;' 'There shall no evil happen to the just;' 'The
desire of the righteous shall be granted :' ' All things work
together for good to them who love God ;' ' Seek ye first the

78

BARROW. — SERMON III.

kingdom of God, and his righteousness, and all these things
shall be added unto you') were seriously made, and will surely
be performed, how loose must his mind be from all solicitude
and anxiety ! how steady a calm, how sweet a serenity will
that faith spread over his soul, in regard to all worldly contin-
gencies !

It will also beget a cheerful tranquillity of mind and peace
of conscience in regard to our future state ; that which St.
Paul calleth ' all joy and peace in believing;' which the
Apostle to the Hebrews termeth ' the confidence and rejoicing
of hope ;' of which St. Peter saith, ' Believing, ye rejoice with
joy unspeakable and full of glory :' for he that is persuaded that
God (in whose disposal his fortune and felicity are) is recon-
ciled and kindly affected toward him ; that he doth concern
himself in designing and procuring his salvation ; that to pur-
chase the means thereof for him, the Son of God purposely
came down, and suffered death ; that an act of oblivion is past,
and a full remission of sins exhibited to him, if he will embrace
it ; that now ' there is no condemnation to them that are in
Christ Jesus ;' and that, ' being justified by faith, we have peace
with God ;' that blessing is his portion, and that an eternal
heritage of joy is reserved for him, what ease must he find in
his conscience, what comfort must possess his heart ! how effec-
tually will that of the prophet be accomplished in him, 'Thou
wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee,
because he trusteth in thee !'

Again, it is faith which breedeth the courage, and upholdeth
the patience requisite to support us in our spiritual course.

It doth inspire courage, prompting to attempt the bravest
enterprises, disposing to prosecute them resolutely, and enabling
happily to achieve them : for he that believeth himself in his
undertakings backed by Omnipotence, and that, as St. Paul,
' he can do all things through Christ strengthening him,' what
should he fear to set on, what difficulty should keep him off,
what hazard should dismay him ? he that knoweth himself, by
reason of the succor attending him, infinitely to overmatch all
opposition, whom should he not dare to encounter ? May he
not well say with David ; ' The Lord is my light and my sal-
vation, whom shall I fear? the Lord is the strength of my life,

OF FAITH.

79

of whom shall I be afraid ?' Let all the world, let earth and
hell combine to invade him, how can that mate his spirit, if he
believe they cannot overthrow him, or hurt him, being secured
by the invincible protection of him, to whose will all things do
bow ; in comparison to whom nothing is puissant, beside whom
nothing is really formidable ; seeing none but he can kill, none
can touch the soul ?

If we be armed with the spiritual panoply, having our
head covered ' with the helmet of salvation,' our heart guarded
with ' the breast-plate of righteousness,' our ' loins girt about
with truth,' our ' feet shod with the preparation of the gos-
pel of peace,' all our body sheltered by the impenetrable
' shield of faith ;' and wielding in our hands by faith the ' pene-
trant two-edged sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God ;'
what assaults may we not sustain, what foes shall we not easily
repel ?

The most redoubtable enemy we have is our own flesh,
which, with a mighty force of violent appetites and impetuous
passions, is ever struggling with our reason, and warring against
our soul ; yet it faith alone dareth to resist, and is able to
quell ; opposing to the present delights of sense the hopes of
future joy ; quashing transitory satisfactions by the fears of
endless torment.

The world is another powerful enemy; ever striving, by its
corrupt principles, by its bad examples, by its naughty fashions,
by its menaces of persecution, damage, and disgrace, by its
promises of vain honor, base profit, and foul pleasure, to over-
throw and undo us ; but a resolute faith will defeat its attempts ;
for, ' He,' saith St. John, ' that is born of God, overcometh
the world ; and this is the victory that overcometh the world,
even our faith :' the faith of a better world will defend us
from the frowns and the flatteries of this ; the riches, glories,
and joys of heaven, thereby presented to our minds, will secure
us from being enchanted with the wealth, splendors, and pleasures
of earth.

Another fierce adversary is the cursed fiend ; who ever,
' like a roaring lion, goeth about seeking to devour us,' or like
a treacherous snake lieth in wait to bite us ; raising panic fears
to daunt and affright us; laying subtle trains of temptation to

80

BARROW.— SERMON III.

abuse and seduce us ; but him by resistance we may easily put
to flight, for, ' Resist the devil,' saith St. James, ' and he will
flee from you ;' and how we must resist him St. Peter telleth us,
' Whom resist steadfast in faith ;' and St. Paul also, ' Above
all,' saith he, ' taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be
able to quench the fiery darts of the wicked one :' if we hold
forth this glittering shield, it will dazzle his sight, and damp
his courage ; being not able to endure its lustre, or stand its
opposition, he will instantly retire ; fearing that by our victory
over his temptations (through reliance on God's help, and ad-
herence to his truth) our reward shall be heightened, and his
torment (the torment of improsperous envy and baffled malice)
be increased.

Faith also will arm us with patience to endure whatever events
shall be dispensed with alacrity and comfort ; lightening the
most heavy burdens imposed on us, sweetening the most dis-
tasteful occurrences incident to us : for,

He who is persuaded that by any damage here sustained for
conscience toward God, he shall become a huge gainer, ' re-
ceiving,' as the gospel promiseth, ' an hundred fold, and inhe-
riting eternal life,' what will he not gladly lose ? will he not
willingly put forth all he hath in this most profitable usury ?
will he not, as those Hebrews did, ' take joyfully the spoiling
of his goods, knowing that he hath in heaven a better and an
enduring substance ?'

He who believeth that in regard to any disgTace cast on
him for his virtue, he shall be honored by God, and crowned
with heavenly glory, will he not in a manner be proud and
ambitious of such disgrace? will he not, as the Apostles did,
' rejoice that he is counted worthy to suffer shame for the name
of Christ.'

He who trusteth that for a little pains taken in God's service,
he shall receive ttoXvv pioduv, ' abundant wages,' far exceeding
the merit of his labor, will he not cheerfully bear any toil or
drudgery therein ?

He who, with St. Paul, ' computeth that the light afflic-
tions, which are but for a moment, are not worthy to be com-
pared with the glories that shall be revealed;' and that ' those
light momentary afflictions do work for us a far more exceeding

OF FAITH.

81

weight of glory;' will they not indeed be light unto him ;
will he not feel them lying on him as a few straws or feathers ?

He who conceiveth our Lord's word true, that ' by losing his
life he shall find it,' or that death shall become to him a door
into a happy immortality, would he not gladly on such terms
be ' killed all the day long,' and ' be always delivered unto
death for Jesus ?'

He who by faith is assured that any disasters befalling him
are not inflictions of wrath, but expressions of love toward
him, by God in kindness dispensed as trials of his faith, as
exercises of his virtue, as occasions of his acquiring more
plentiful rewards, how can he be disgusted at them, or discom-
posed by them ? why should he not rather accept them as fa-
vors, as felicities, with a thankful and joyful heart ; 'counting
it,' as St. James adviseth, ' all joy, when he falleth into divers
temptations V

In fine, it is faith alone which can plant in us that which is
the root of all contentedness and all patience; a just indiffer-
ence and unconcernedness about all things here : it alone can
untack our minds and affections from this world, rearing our
souls from earth, and fixing them in heaven ; for if we are per-
suaded there is a state of life infinitely more desirable than the
best condition here ; if we believe there are things attainable
by us, incomparably better than any which this world affordeth,
in respect to which all these glories are but smoke, all these
riches are but dirt, all these delights are but dreams, all these
businesses are but triflings, all these substances are but sha-
dows ; how in our minds can we prize, how in our affec-
tions can we cleave unto these things ; how then can we find
in our -hearts to spend on them more care or pain than is
needful !

He that taketh himself here to be out of his element, that he
is but ' a stranger and sojourner on earth,' that he ' hath here
no abiding city,' no country, no house, no land, no treasure,
no considerable interest, but that he is merely wayfaring, in pas-
sage toward his true home and heavenly country ; • the Jerusa-
lem above,' whereof he is a citizen, where his grand concerns
do lie, where he hath reserved for him immovable possessions

82

BARROW. — SERMON III.

and unvaluable treasures; where he is designed to enjoy most
noble privileges and most illustrious dignities in the court of
the great King ; how can he have his heart here sticking in this
earthly clay, entangled with the petty cares, amused with the
sorry entertainments of this life ? how can he otherwise than
with St. Paul be dead, and ' crucified to this world?' how can
he withhold hismindfrom soaring thither in contemplation, and
in affection dwelling there, whither his desires and hopes do all
tend, where his joy and felicity are found, where the great ob-
jects of his esteem and love do reside ?

But you will perhaps interpose, and say ; These are indeed
fine sayings, but where do such effects appear ? who, I pray,
doth practise according to these notions ? where is that gallant
to be found, who doth work so great exploits? where may we
discern that height of piety, that tenderness of charity, that
meek comportment with injuries and affronts, that clear sin-
cerity, that depth of humility, that strictness of temperance,
that perfect contentedness, and undisturbed calmness of mind,
that stoutness of courage and stiffness of patience, which you
talk of as the undoubted issues of faith ? who is the man that
with such glee doth hug afflictions, or biddeth adversity so wel-
come to his home ? where dwell they who so little regard this
world, or so much affect the other ? do we not see men run as
if they were wild after preferment, wealth, and pleasure ?
what do they else, but scrape and scramble and scuffle for these
things? doth not every man moan the scantness of his lot, doth
not every man flinch at any trouble, doth not every one with
all his might strive to rid himself of any thing disgustful to
his sense or fancy ? Are not therefore such encomiums of faith
mere speculations, or brave rhodomontades of divinity ?

The objection, I confess, is a shrewd one; but I must reply
to it : you say, Where are such effects, where are such men ? I
ask then, where is faith, where are believers? show me the one,
and I will show you the other : if such effects do not appear,
it is no argument that faith cannot produce them, but a sign
that faith is wanting ; as if a tree doth not put forth in due
season, we conclude the root is dead; if a fountain yield no
streams, we suppose it dried up : « Show me,' saith St. James,

OF FAITH.

83

' thy faith by thy works;' implying that if good works do not
shine forth in the conversation, it is suspicious there is no true
faith in the heart ; for such faith is not a feeble weening, or a
notion swimming in the head, it is not a profession issuing from
the mouth, it is not following such a garb, or adhering to such
a party, but a persuasion fixed in the heart by good reason, by
firm resolution, by lively sense; it is 'with the heart,' as St.
Paul saith, ' man believeth unto righteousness ;' that is the faith
we speak of, and to which we ascribe the production of so great
and worthy effects : if a man wanteth that, attested by prac-
tice suitable, though he know all the points exactly, though he
readily will say amen to every article of the creed, though he
wear all the badges of a Christian, though he frequent the con-
gregations, and comply with the forms of our religion, yet is he
really an infidel : for is he not an infidel who denieth God ? and
is he not such a renegado who liveth impiously ? he is so in St.
Paul's account; for, ' They profess,' saith he of such persons,
' that they know God, but in works they deny him ;' and, ' He
is not a Jew,' saith the same Apostle, (he is not a Christian,
may we by parity of reason affirm,) ' who is one outwardly ;
but he is a Christian who is one inwardly, and faith is that of
the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter, whose praise is not
of men, but of God :' we may attribute to a barren conceit, or
to a formal profession, the name of faith, but it is in an
equivocal or wide sense ; as a dead man is called a man, or a
dry stick resting in the earth a tree ; for so ' faith,' saith St.
James, ' without works is dead ;' is indeed but a trunk, or car-
cass of faith, resembling, it in outward shape, but void of its
spirit and life.

To our infidelity therefore, that overspreading vice ; to the
unsincerity, or deadness of our faith, the great defects of our
practice are to be imputed; that is the grand source from
which impiety doth so overflow ; that so few instances of
sprightly virtue are visible, may be a sign the time is the same,
or very like to that, of which our Lord saith, ' When the Son
of man cometh, shall he indeed find faith on the earth V

But if such effects can now rarely be found, yet time hath
been when they were more rife, scarce any time hath been
quite destitute of them ; every age since the foundation of

■34

BARROW. — SERMON III.

things may have tokens and trophies to show of faith's victo-
rious efficacy ; so many actions as there have been truly great
and glorious, so many gallant feats have been achieved by
faith : if we survey the lives of the ancient patriarchs, of the
prophets, of the apostles, of the martyrs and confessors of true
religion, their faith in all their works is most conspicuous.

Faith recommended that excellent sacrifice of Abel to divine
acceptance, and advanced him to the rank of first martyr for
piety.

On the wings of faith did Enoch mount to heaven, snatching
the reward due to his faithful, and therefore well-pleasing obe-
dience.

Faith preserved Noah from two mighty deluges, one of sin,
the other of water overflowing the earth ; by it he stemmed
the torrent of the one, and rode on the back of the other ; it
encouraged him to be a preacher of righteousness against the
grain, and a practiser of it against the fashion of the world, not
regarding the common hatred and envy which he did incur
thereby ; it moved him to undertake that great and strange
work of building the ark, for a sanctuary and seminary of man-
kind ; the type of that spiritual vessel, by embarking into which
through faith we are saved from utter ruin.

Faith disposed Abraham to forsake his country and home,
his estate, his kindred, following divine conduct he knew not
whither ; to wander abroad and sojourn among barbarous
strangers : faith inclined him, at God's command, to sacrifice
his only son, a goodly youth in the flower of his age and hopes,
worthily most dear unto him ; the son of his old age, and the
comfort thereof, given to him by miracle and in special favor ;
the prop of his family, and the heir of promise, by whom his
seed was to be propagated, and his memory to flourish ; him
was he ready in obedience with his own hand to slay, quelling
nature and his bowels, thwarting his own hopes, defying all
semblances of contradiction, or clashing between the commands
and promises of God.

Faith, through the rudest efforts of envy and malice, through
the dismal calamities of exile and slavery, through hideous
snares of temptation, through villanous slanders, through loath-
some prisons and fetters of iron, all along sustained with admi-

OF FAITH.

85

rable moderation and presence of mind, did rear up Joseph to
the helm of that great kingdom.

The same inclined Moses to exchange the dignities and de-
lights of a court for a state of vagrancy and servility ; it heart-
ened him to outbrave the invincible obstinacy of a mighty
prince ; it steeled him with patience to conduct for the space of
forty years, through a wild desert, a most perverse and mutinous
herd of people.

Faith was mother of that renowned patience, which ex-
hausted Satan's quiver, spent all his artillery, and wore out
his invention in suggesting mischiefs ; ' I know that my Re-
deemer liveth,' was the rock, on which that unshakeable pa-
tience of Job was founded.

That pricked the ruddy stripling forward, naked and un-
armed, with undaunted heart and countenance, to invade the
monster of Gath, that tower of flesh, swelling with rage and
pride, and all fenced with brass and steel ; ' Thou comest to
me,' said he, ' with a sword, and with a spear, and with a
shield ; but I come to thee in the name of the Lord of hosts :'
there lay his confidence, thence sprung his admirable courage.

To this the bold attempts, and the glorious victories of Joshua,
of Gideon, of Barak, of Jephtha, of Samson, of Jonathan, of
the Maccabees, are worthily ascribed, who with small forces,
on great disadvantages, did assault, did vanquish mighty ene-
mies and oppressors.

This inflamed the zeal of Elias, by which he alone did check
and control the degenerate follies of his nation, surmounting
the indignation of princes which favored them ; it fed him in
the wilderness by the purveyance of ravens ; it framed the
wheels of that fiery chariot, which transported him into heaven.

This made Jeremy, with like zeal and courage, dare to carry
most unwelcome news and unpleasant messages to an out-
rageous people, not daunted by their angry menaces or cruel
misusages ; ' his feet sunk into the mire,' but faith bore up his
heart above all discouragement.

This saved the conscience of those three brave youths clear
from that impiety into which barbarous violence would have
driven them, so that neither the fury of that great monarch nor
his gaping furnace could terrify them into sin ; faith putting into

86

BARROW. — SERMON III.

their mouths those manful words, ' O Nebuchadnezzar, we are
not careful to answer thee in this matter; if it be so, our God
whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery fur-
nace, and ' he will deliver us out of thy hand, O king ; but if not,
be it known unto thee, that we will not serve thy gods, nor
worship the golden image, which thou hast set up :' their faith
carried them undaunted into the flames, and kept them untouched
within them ; so that they became as gold not wasted, but tried
and purified in the furnace.

Neither could a danger no less terrible scare the noble
Daniel from his devotions ; his faith did ' stop the lions' mouths;'
and, ' he,' saith the text, ' was taken up out of the den, and no
manner of hurt was found on him, because he trusted in his
God.'

Such exploits of spiritual prowess were achieved by an Old
Testament faith, relying on God's attributes and providence,
although wanting a clear revelation of the promises, which then
lay wrapped up in mysteries and shadows; but more heroical
acts of fortitude and patience did the bright sunshine of grace
and glory on the minds of our apostles and primitive saints pro-
duce : animated by faith, a little troop of them marched out
with resolution to attack all the powers of hell, and to beat
down the kingdom of darkness, to dispatch all the prejudices
and errors of mankind, and to subdue the world to the obedience
of Christ; so armed, successfully did they knock down and
trample on all opposition to their glorious designs ; they de-
feated all the secular power and policy, they baffled all the
wit, the learning, the eloquence, which stood in their way, or
gave them resistance; they triumphed over persecutions, and in
regard to all sufferings were more than conquerors ; to forsake
and forfeit all they had was their gain ; to have nothing was
their wealth ; to incur disgraces was their glory ; to be in con-
tinual labor and travail was their ease ; fastings, hunger, and
thirst, were their pleasure, their feast, their luxury ; prisons
were chapels to them, in which they preached, and prayed, and
sang praises to God ; their joy was to suffer ; to receive stripes,
and undergo torments, was their triumph and their glory ; they
constantly defied, they often courted death.

That they were able to perform such prodigious acts, and to

OF FAITH.

87

endure things so insupportable, was not from a stupid insensibi-
lity of things, from a sturdiness of spirit, or stiffness of humor ;
but from a true magnanimity inspired by faith ; because they
were persuaded of God's will, because they confided in God's
help, because they relied on God's word, because they did ex-
pect rewards from God able to satisfy for all their pains and
losses ; this made them to undertake so bold enterprises, and
carried them with insuperable constancy through all; hence
were they glad to abandon their ease and pleasure, to pros-
titute their honor and reputation, to part with their sub-
stance, to venture their safety, to sacrifice their lives for God's
truth ; ' Therefore do we both labor and suffer reproach, be-
cause we trust in the living God, who is the Saviour of all men,
specially of those that believe,' is the short account which St.
Paul rendereth of it : and infallibly the like effects will faith
produce, wherever it is found, in a degree proportionable to its
sincerity and strength.

' A grain of faith,' our Saviour saith, ' is able to remove
mountains;' that is, to accomplish things in appearance very
strange and difficult : and, ' To him that believeth all things
are possible,' saith the same mouth of truth ; and, • He,' saith
our Lord again, ' that believeth in me, the works that I do, he
also shall do, and greater works than these shall he do.' If
this be true in reference to works concerning the frame of nature,
it is surely no less true in regard to those which lie within the
more proper sphere of faith, to moral and spiritual operations :
if faith can obtain the help of God, enabling to transfer a
mountain, it also can procure his grace disposing to restrain an
appetite, or repress a passion.

Now that which is in itself so worthy and lovely, which is
attended with so good consorts, which is the daughter of so ex-
cellent causes, the sister of so great virtues, the parent of so
admirable effects, how can it otherwise than be very precious,
very laudable, very acceptable ? how can we at all wonder
that it should be graced with such commendation, and crowned
with such rewards ?

Let us therefore (to conclude) be exhorted, if we do want it,
to endeavor the acquist of it, by all proper means, (by serious
contemplation and study, by prayer to God, by voiding all ob-

88

BARROW. — SERMON III.

structions of it:) if we have it, to hold it fast, to cherish it, to
improve it, as by all good ways, so especially by good practice ;
that we may produce the good fruits, and obtain the happy
rewards thereof, through the mercies of God in Jesus Christ our
Lord ; to whom for ever be all praise.

• Now the God of all hope fill you with all joy and peace in
believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of
the Holy Ghost.' Amen.

SERMON IV.

39

SUMMARY OF SERMON IV.

ROMANS, CHAP. V. — VERSE 1.

The word therefore implies the text to be a conclusion, by
way of inference, resulting from the precedent discourse : im-
portance of the text : manner in which it should be treated
described. Here the notion only of such faith as is proper to
this place is insisted on ; in order to which inquiry some useful
observations are laid down.

1. It is observed that faith, or belief, in the vulgar accepta-
tion, signifies an earnest opinion or persuasion of mind, con-
cerning the truth of some matter propounded, whether it be
one single proposition, or a system of propositions : instances
given.

2. Whereas frequently some person or single thing is repre-
sented verba tenus as the object of faith, this does not alter the
notion first mentioned ; for it is only a figurative manner of
speaking : thus when the Jews were required to believe in
Moses, it is meant, in the truth of his divine revelation : this
enlarged on.

3. The word belief is by a kind of synecdoche so commonly
extended in signification, as to imply whatever by a kind of
necessity, natural or moral, doth result from it : this explained
and enlarged on.

4. It may be observed, more nearly to the present purpose,
that the faith here spoken of, without any adjunct or limita-
tion, is often set down with terms annexed, explaining and de-
termining it; being sometimes styled the faith of Christ, the
belief of the gospel, the believing, hearing, receiving the word

90

SUMMARY OF

of God, &c. The result of which is, that by this faith (as to
the first and primary sense) is the being truly and firmly per-
suaded that Jesus was what he professed to be, and what his
Apostles testified, &c. Such a faith shown to be, in its kind
and order, apt and sufficient to promote God's design of saving
us, and to render us capable of his favor, &c. It may be ob-
served in the history concerning our Lord and his Apostles,
that no other faith was required by them from their converts :
this also was the common and current notion of faith among
the ancient Christians.

5. But more particularly this faith not only denotes pre-
cisely and abstractedly such acts of mind, opinions, and per-
suasions concerning the truth of matters specified, but also (ac-
cording to the meaning of those who use the word) such acts of
will, as, supposing those persuasions real, are naturally conse-
quent on them, and in a manner coherent with them : this ex-
plained and enlarged on.

0. But farther, to prevent mistakes and remove objections,
it may be observed that this faith hath, though not an adequate,
yet a peculiar respect to that part of Christian truth, which
concerns the merciful intentions of God toward mankind, and
the gracious performances of our Saviour in accomplishing
them, &c.

7. Moreover, this faith relates only to propositions revealed
by God, and not to others concerning particular matters of fact,
subject to private conscience or experience ; nor to any con-
clusions depending on such propositions : for instance, it is a
part of this faith to believe that God is merciful and gracious,
and disposed to pardon every repentant sinner, &c. ; but the
persuasion that God doth love me, or hath pardoned my sins,
&c. may, as my circumstances may be, not be my duty : this
topic enlarged on. That this faith doth not essentially include
a respect to such particular propositions, appears from hence,
that faith is in holy Scripture represented as preceding God's

SERMON IV.

91

especial benevolence, to his remission of sins, to bis accepting
and justifying- our persons : it is a previous condition, &c.

That notion shown to be still less right, which defines faith
to be a firm and certain knowlege of God's eternal good-will
towards us particularly, and that we shall be saved, &c. ; a no-
tion taught by Calvin in the beginning of the Reformation.

That notion plainly supposes the truth of the doctrine, that
no man being once in God's favor can ever quite lose it ; which
is shown to subvert the notion itself.

It may also be added, that, according to this Calvinistic no-
tion, before the late alterations in Christendom, scarcely any
man was a believer; for before that time it hardly appears
that any one did believe, as the Calvinists do, that a man can-
not fall from grace. St. Augustine himself (who is supposed
to favor them on other occasions) shown to oppose them here.

But there is another notion of faith, which, if it be not so
plainly false as the preceding one, seems more intricate and
obscure : namely, that faith is not an assent to propositions of
any kind, but a recumbency, leaning, resting on ; an adherency
to the person of Christ, or an apprehending and applying to
ourselves his righteousness. This notion shown to be obscure
and false. Conclusion.

92

BARROW. — SERMON IV.

31 25eltebe, &c.
SERMON IV.

OF JUSTIFYING FAITH.

ROMANS, CHAP. V. — VERSE 1.

Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God, through
our Lord Jesus Christ.

' Therefore ;' that word implies the text to be a conclusion
(by way of inference, or of recapitulation) resulting from the
precedent discourse; it is indeed the principal conclusion,
which (as being supposed a peculiar and a grand part of the
Christian doctrine, and deserving therefore a strong proof and
clear vindication) St. Paul designed by several arguments to
make good. On the words being of such importance, I should
so treat, as first to explain them, or to settle their true sense;
then to make some practical application of the truths they
contain.

As to the explicatory part, I should consider first, what the
faith is, by which we are said to be justified ; 2. what being
justified doth import; 3. how by such faith we are so justified ;

4. what the peace with God is, here adjoined to justification ;

5. what relation the whole matter bears to our Lord Jesus
Christ; or how through him being justified, we have peace
with God ; in the prosecution of which particulars it would
appear, who the persons justified are, and who justifies us;
with other circumstances incident.

OF JUSTIFYING FAITH.

93

I shall at this time only insist on the first particular, con-
cerning the notion of faith proper to this place ; in order to
the resolution of which inquiry, I shall lay clown some useful
observations : and,

1. First, I observe that faith, or belief, in the vulgar ac-
ception, doth signify (as we have it briefly described in Aris-
totle's Topics*) a tjfobpii vrroXrjipis, an earnest opinion or per-
suasion of mind concerning the truth of some matter propoun-
ded. Such an opinion being produced by or grounded on
some forcible reason, (either immediate evidence of the matter,
or sense and experience, or some strong argument of reason, or
some credible testimony; for whatever we assent unto, and
judge true on any such grounds and inducements, we are com-
monly said to believe,) this is the popular acception of the word ;
and according thereto I conceive it usually signifies in holy
Scripture ; which being not penned by masters of human art
or science, nor directed to persons of more than ordinary capa-
cities or improvements, doth not intend to use words otherwise
than in the most plain and ordinary manner.

Belief therefore in general, I suppose, denotes a firm persua-
sion of mind concerning the truth of what is propounded ;
whether it be some one single proposition, (as when Abraham
believed that ' God was able to perform what he had pro-
mised ;' and Sarah, that ' God, who had promised, was faith-
ful,') or some system of propositions, as when we are said to
' believe God's word,' (that is, all which by his prophets was
in his name declared;) to ' believe the truth,' (that is, all the
propositions taught in the true religion as so ;) to ' believe
God's commandments,' (that is, the doctrines in God's law to
be true, and the precepts thereof to be good ;) to ' believe the
gospel,' (that is, to be persuaded of the truth of all the propo-
sitions asserted or declared in the gospel.)

2. I observe, secondly, that whereas frequently some person,
or single thing, is represented (verbo tenus) as the object of
faith, this doth not prejudice, or in effect alter the notion I men-
tioned ; for it is only a figurative manner of speaking, whereby
is always meant the being persuaded concerning the truth of

* Top. 4. 5.

04

BARROW. — SERMON IV.

some proposition, or propositions, relating to that person or
thing: for otherwise it is unintelligible how any incomplex
thing, as they speak, can be the complete or immediate object
of belief. Beside simple apprehension (or framing the bare
idea of a thing) there is no operation of a man's mind termi-
nated on one single object; and belief of a thing surely implies
more than a simple apprehension thereof : what it is, for in-
stance, to believe this or that proposition about a man, or a
tree, (that a man is such a kind of thing, that a tree hath this
or that property,) is very easy to conceive ; but the phrase
believing a man, or a tree, (taken properly, or excluding figures,)
is altogether insignificant and unintelligible : indeed to believe,
ntoTeveiv, is the effect tov vrenetadat, of a persuasive argument,
and the result of ratiocination ; whence in Scripture it is com-
mended, or discommended, as implying a good or bad use of
reason. The proper object of faith is therefore some propo-
sition deduced from others by discourse; as it is said, that
' many of the Samaritans believed in Christ, because of the
woman's word, who testified that he told her all that ever she
did;' or as St. Thomas ' believed, because he saw ;' or as when
it is said, that ' many believed on our Lord's name, beholding
the miracles which he did :' when then, for example, the Jews
are required to believe Moses, (or to believe in Moses, after the
Hebrew manner of speaking,) it is meant, to be persuaded of
the truth of what he delivered, as proceeding from divine re-
velation; or to believe him to be what he professed himself, a
messenger or prophet of God. So ' to believ e the prophets,'1 or
in the Prophets, (VN^JZl) was to be persuaded concerning the
truth of what they uttered in God's name, (that the doctrines
were true, the commands were to be obeyed, the threats and
promises should be performed, the predictions should be accom-
plished ; ' to believe all which the prophets did say,' as our
Saviour speaks ; ' to believe all things written in the prophets,'
as St. Paul.) So to ' believe God's works' (a phrase we have
in the Psalms) signifies, to be persuaded that those works did
proceed from God, or were the effects of his good providence :
to ' believe in man' (that which is so often prohibited and dis-

* 2 Chron. xx. 20.

OF JUSTIFYING FAITH.

95

suaded) denotes the being persuaded that man in our need is
able to relieve and succor us : lastly, ' to believe in God' (a
duty so often enjoined and inculcated) is to be persuaded thit
God is true in whatever he says; faithful in performance of
what he promises; perfectly wise, powerful, and good; able
and willing to do us good: the being persuaded, I say, of all
these propositions, or such of them as suit the present circum-
stances and occasion, is to believe in God : thus, in fine, to be-
lieve on a person, or thing, is only a short expression (figura-
tively) denoting the being persuaded of the truth of some propo-
sition relating, in one way or other, to that person or thing,
(which way is commonly discernible by considering the nature,
or state of such a person, or such a thing;) the use of which
observation may afterward appear.

3. I observe, thirdly, that (as it is ordinary in like cases con-
cerning the use of words) the word belief is by a kind of synec-
doche (or metonymy, if you please) so commonly extended in
signification, as, together with such a persuasion as we spoke
of, to imply whatever by a kind of necessity, natural or moral,
doth result from it ; so comprehending those acts of will, those
affections of soul, and those deeds, which may be presumed
consequent on such a persuasion : for instance, when God com-
manded Abraham to forsake his country, promising him a happy
establishment in the land of Canaan, with a perpetual blessing
on his posterity; Abraham was persuaded concerning the
power and fidelity of God, and concerning the truth of what
was promised and foretold ; in that persuasion his faith, ac-
cording to the first, proper, and restrained sense, did consist:
but because from such a persuasion (being sincere, and strong
enough) there did naturally and duly result a satisfaction, or
acquiescence in the matter enjoined as best to be done ; a choice
and resolution to comply with God's appointment ; an effectual
obedience ; a cheerful expectation of a good issue thereon ;
therefore all those dispositions of soul and actions concurring
become expressed by the name of faith, (that first persuasion
being the principle and root of them:) for it is for his faith that
he is highly commended ; it is for it that he obtained so favor-
able an approbation and acceptance from God. Yet supposing
Abraham to have had such a persuasion concerning God ; and

96

BARROW. — SERMON IV.

yet to have disliked what God required, or to have resolved
against doing it, or to have indeed disobeyed, or to have disre-
garded the happy success ; it is plain that Abraham as to the
whole matter deserved rather much blame than any commen-
dation ; and would not on that account have had ' righteousness
imputed to him,' and have been ' called the friend of God:'
when therefore his faith is so magnified, that word comprehends
not his bare persuasion only, but all those concomitants thereof,
which if they had not gone along therewith, it had been a
proof that such a persuasion was not sincere, (not awrroKpiTos
ttIvtis, ' an undissembled faith ;' such as St. Paul commends in
Timothy,) or not strong enough, (not dbtaKptros niarts, ' an un-
doubting faith,' (but a weak, a small, a dead, an ineffectual
faith ; which come under blame and reproof ; but the effect
showed that he did not, as St. Paul says, voBeveiv tt) iriarei,
had not a weak, or sickly faith ; nor ' staggered at the promise
of God ;' but ' was strong in faith, giving glory to God ;' which
he did not only in believing his word, but in suiting his affec-
tions, and yielding obedience thereto : (niuTei viriinovoev l£e\-
Oe'tv) ' by faith he obeyed, so as to forsake his country,' says
the Apostle to the Hebrews; and faith thus taken is not only
a single act of a man's understanding, or will, but a complex
of many dispositions and actions diffused through divers facul-
ties of a man, denoting the whole complication of good dispo-
sitions and actions relating to one matter ; which attend on a
true and earnest persuasion concerning it; right choice, sub-
mission, and satisfaction of mind, firm resolution, dutiful obe-
dience, constant and cheerful hope, or the like.

4. I observe more nearly to our purpose, fourthly, that the
faith here spoken of (being here and otherwhere put absolutely,
or by itself, without any adjunct of limitation or distinction) is
often set down with terms annexed thereto, explaining and de-
termining it; being sometimes styled the faith of Christ, of
Jesus, of God, (roO Xpta-ov, rov 'Irjoov, tov Qeov,) sometimes
faith on Christ, (els XpioTvv, and inl Xptarvv,) faith in
Christ, (e>' Xpiory,) faith to Christ, to the Lord, to God,
(wiortveiv tu Xpio-ai, rip Kv/ilh), T<j> Oe<p ,) faith on the name of
Christ, (eis ovojua,) faith of his name, (niuTts tov ovufiaros,)
faith to his name, (-Q vfu/jari :) which phrases, all question-

OF JUSTIFYING FAITH.

07

less denoting the same thing, do imply this faith to consist in
being persuaded concerning the truth of some propositions
chiefly relating to our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, either
as grounded on his authority, or appertaining to his person.
Now what such propositions are, we may learn from other
expressions, descriptions, or circumlocutions declaring the
nature and quality of this faith : it is sometimes called ' the
belief of the gospel,' (that is, of the whole system of doctrines,
and laws, and promises, and prophecies taught, delivered, or
declared by Christ, and his Apostles : ' Repent,' said St. John
the Baptist, ' and believe the gospel,') ' the belief of the truth,'
(that body of truth, signally so called, which was taught by
the same authors,) the * acknowlegement of the same truth,'
(wiijtos, and eireyvuKws Trjv d\^0etav are ill St. Paul the same.)
Equivalent to those descriptions of this faith are those expres-
sions, which set it out by yielding assent (generally) to what
our Lord Christ and his Apostles taught, or to some chief
points of their doctrine, inferring the rest; the believing,
hearing, receiving the word of God, of Christ, of the Apostles,
the receiving Christ's testimony, and (which is the same) re-
ceiving Christ himself; coming unto Christ, (that is, as dis-
ciples to their Master, as servants to their Lord, as persons
oppressed and enslaved to their Deliverer:) the believing (and
knowing) that Jesus was sent by God, and came from him ; the
believing that Jesus was what he professed himself to be; the
confessing that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh; that Jesus
is the Christ, the Son of God, he which should come into the
world ; the King of Israel ; that God raised him from the
dead; by the belief of which one point, as involving the rest,
St. Paul expresseth this faith: 'If thou,' saith he, ' shalt
confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shall believe with thy
heart that God raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.'

The result, on considering all which expressions declaratory
of the nature of this faith (for this surely is not different from
that, which is so commonly otherwhere represented in our Sa-
viour's aud his Apostles' discourses and writings, as a great
duty required of us ; as a virtue (or act of virtue) highly com-
mendable, as an especial instrument of our salvation, as a ne-
cessary condition prerequisite to our partaking the benefits and

BAR, VOL. V. E

BARROW. — SERMON IV.

privileges by divine favor conferred on Christians) — the result,
1 say, is this, that by this faith (as to the first and primary
sense thereof) is understood the being truly and firmly per-
suaded in our minds, that Jesus was what he professed himself
to be, and what the Apostles testified him to be; the Messias,
by God designed, foretold, and promised to be sent into the
world, to redeem, govern, instruct, and save mankind ; our
Redeemer and Saviour, our Lord and Master, our King and
Judge; the great High Priest, and Prophet of God; the
being assured of these, and all other propositions connexed
with these ; or, in short, the being thoroughly persuaded of the
truth of that gospel which was revealed and taught by Jesus
and his Apostles. That this notion is true, those descriptions
of this faith, and phrases expressing it, do sufficiently show ;
the nature and reason of the thing doth confirm the same; for
that such a faith is, in its kind and order, apt and sufficient
to promote God's design of saving us, to render us capable of
God's favor ; to purge our hearts, and work that change of
mind, which is necessary in order to the obtaining God's favor,
and enjoying happiness; to produce that obedience, which
God requires of us, and without which we cannot be saved ;
these things are the natural results of such a persuasion con-
cerning those truths; as natural, as the desire and pursuit of
any good doth arise from the clear apprehension thereof, or as
the shunning of any mischief doth follow from the like appre-
hension : as a persuasion that wealth is to be got thereby,
makes the merchant to undergo the dangers and pains of a long
voyage, (verifying that, fmpiger extremos curril mercator ad
Indos, Per mare pauprriem fiigiens, per saxa, per ignes ;) as
the persuasion that health may thereby be recovered, engages
a man not only to take down the most unsavory potions, but
to endure cuttings and burnings, (itt vafeas ferritin palhris et
ignes;) as a persuasion, that refreshment is to be found in a
place, doth effectually carry the hungry person thither: so a
strong persuasion that Christian religion is true, and the way
of obtaining happiness, and of escaping misery, doth naturally
produce a subjection of heart and an obedience thereto ; and
accordingly we see the highest of those effects which the gospel
offers, or requires, are assigned to this faith, as results from it,
or adjuncts thereof. Regeneration ; ' Whosoever,' saith St.

OF JUSTIFYING FAITH.

99

John, ' believeth thnt Jesus is the Christ is born of God.'
Spiritual union with God; 'Whosoever shall confess that
Jesus is the Son of God, God abideth in him, and he in God :'
' If what ye have heard from the beginning abide in you, ye
shall also abide in the Father and the Son.' The obtaining
God's love ; ' The Father loves you, because you have loved
me, and have believed that I came from God.' Victory over
the world ; ' Who is he that overconieth the world, but he
who believeth that Jesus is the Son of God V Freedom from
spiritual slavery, and becoming true disciples of Christ ; 'If
ye abide in my word, ye are truly my disciples; and ye shall
know the truth, and the truth shall set you free.' Obtaining
everlasting life ; ' He that heareth my word, and believeth
him that sent me, (that is, who believeth my word, which is
indeed the word of God, who sent me, and in whose name I
speak.) hath everlasting life.' And, 'These things were
written, that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son
of God, and that believing it, you may have life in his name.'
Interest in God and Christ; ' He that abideth in the doctrine
of Christ, he (ouros) hath the Father and the Son.' ' Verily,
verily, I say unto you, he that believeth on me hath eternal
life.' Rising with Christ, (that is, as to capacity and right;)
' Buried with him in baptism, wherein you are risen with him
through faith of the operation of God ; who raised him from
the dead.' Being saved ; ' Whoever confesses with his mouth
the Lord Jesus to be the Son of God ; and in his heart believes
that God raised him from the dead, shall be saved.' Lastly,
being justified ; for, St. Paul adjoins, 'a man believeth (in the
manner before mentioned) to righteousness ; and with the
mouth confession is made to salvation.' So we see that the
chief of those excellent benefits, to the procuring of which
faith (however understood) is anywise conducible, or requisite,
do belong to the persuasion concerning evangelical truths. We
may also observe in the history concerning our Lord, and his
Apostles' proceedings toward persons, whom they had con-
verted to Christianity, and did admit to a participation of the
privileges thereof, that no other faith was by them required in
order thereto : on such a persuasion appearing, they received
them into the church, baptised them, pronounced unto them an

1 00

BARROW. — SERMON IV.

absolution from their sins, and a reception into God's favor.
This was the faith of Martha, which gave her interest in the
promise of eternal life : ' Every one,' said our Saviour to her,
' living, and believing in me, shall never die : Dost thou believe
this ? She saith unto him, Yes, Lord, I have believed that
thou art the Christ, the Son of God, which should come into
the world.' This was the faith for which our Saviour com-
mends St. Peter, and pronounces him happy. On appearance of
this faith, St. Peter baptised and admitted into the church the
three thousand persons whom he had converted. (' Then,'
says the text, ' they who gladly (or willingly) received his word
(that is, were persuaded of the truth of that doctrine, which
is before set down concerning our Lord) were baptised ; and
the same day were added (to the church) about three thousand
souls.') On the like faith the Samaritans were baptised, (ore
iniarevoav ru <l>(Xi7r7T6>, * when they gave credence to Philip's
doctrine.') And on the same account did the same evangelist
say it was lawful to baptise the Eunuch, and accordingly did
perform it : 'If,' saith Philip, ' thou believest with thy whole
heart, it is lawful, (or thou mayest be baptised.) He answer-
ing said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. So
he baptised him.' This was the faith on which St. Paul bap-
tised Lydia, ' when she had yielded assent unto (so TTpoce\eiv
doth import in the Acts ; not only irpoai^eiv vovv to yield at-
tention, but npiHrexeiv tt'iotiv to give assent unto) the things
spoken by St. Paul.' Thus also of those Jews in another place
of the Acts, when St. Paul had ' opened and alleged, out of the
Scriptures, that Christ was to suffer, and to rise again from the
dead, and that Jesus was the Christ,' it is said rcves e£ ai/rdv
kireiaQtioav, oai TrpotrenXripwdriaav, ' were persuaded, and consorted
with Paul and Silas,' (that is, were received into Christian
communion with them.) The same is intimated in other pas-
sages of the apostolical history; by all which it appears that
the Apostles' method was to declare and inculcate the maiu
points of the Christian history and doctrine, attesting to the
one, and proving the other by testimonies and arguments proper
to that purpose ; and whoever of their hearers declared himself
persuaded of the truth of what they taught, that he did heartily
assent thereto, and resolved to profess and practice accord-

OF JUSTIFTING FAITH.

101

ingly, him, without more to do, they presently baptised, and
instated him in the privileges appertaining to Christianity ; or,
in St. Paul's language, did justify them, according to their
subordinate manner, as the ministers of God. And thus did
the primitive church practise after the Apostles ; as Justin the
Martyr fully relates of it :• — oaoi av neiadiotTi, Kal Triorevuxriv
nXrjdij ravra to. vip' ijfiwv bthacKOfieya, Kal \ey6fieva eivai, Kal
■n-oie'ty ovrus hivaaOai vmrT^uiVTai, &C — ayovrai v<jj i)jxu>v evda
vbwp karl, Kal rpuirov uvayevviiaews, ov Kal »;/Ltets avrol aveyevvif-
Brjfiev, aiayewwvTai — Apol. 2. ' Whoever,' saith he, ' are per-
suaded, and do believe these things by us taught, and said to
be true, and undertake that they can live so according to them ;
— are brought thither, where water is, and are regenerated after
the same manner as we have been regenerated.' I farther add,
that even this faith is expressed to be the effect of divine grace and
inspiration ; for when St. Peter had confessed that ' Jesus was
the Christ the Son of the living God,' our Saviour tells him, 'that
flesh and blood had not revealed that unto him, but his Father
in heaven ;' and, ' No man,' St. Paul tells us, ' can call Jesus
Lord, but by the Holy Ghost :' and, ' Every spirit, which con-
fesseth Jesus Christ to have been come in the flesh, is of God,'
saith St. John. So that even this is a faith, in respect to which
the Holy Ghost is called ' the Spirit of faith,' which is the
'fruit of the Spirit,' and 'the gift of God;' that which no
man can have without God's drawing him, and teaching him ;
' No man can come unto me, except the Father, that hath sent
me, shall draw him (kXuvari uvtov.) Every one that hath
heard from the Father, and hath learned, cometh unto me :' to
which it is ordinarily required, that God should open the heart,
as he did Lydia's heart, ' to attend and assent unto what St.
Paul taught:' neither doth the Scripture, as I conceive, at-
tribute any thing unto faith, which doth not agree to this
notion.

We might lastly adjoin, that this was the common and current
notion of faith among the ancient Christians ; neither do we, I
suppose, meet with any other in their writings ; all which things
do abundantly confirm the truth thereof.

5. But I must farther observe particularly, (in correspon-
dence to what was before more generally observed,) that this

102

BARROW. — SERMON IV.

faith doth not only denote precisely and abstractedly such acts of
mind, such opinions and persuasions concerning the truth of
matters specified, but doth also connote and imply (indeed com-
prehend according to the meaning of those who use the word)
such acts of will, as, supposing those persuasions to be real and
complete, are naturally consequent on them, and are in a man-
ner necessarily coherent with them ; a firm resolution constantly
to profess and adhere unto the doctrine, of which a man is so
persuaded ; to obey all the laws and precepts, which it con-
tains; forsaking in open profession, and in real practices, all
principles, rules, customs inconsistent with those doctrines and
laws ; that which i3 called conversion, or returning to the
Lord, (that is, leaving a course of rebellion, and disobedience
to those laws, which the Lord in the gospel commands, and
resolvedly betaking themselves to the observance of them,)
noXvs re o\\ns Tricrrevcras knktnpeifyev ejri rev Kupior, 'a great
multitude,' it is said, ' believing, did return unto the Lord
their faith did carry with it such a corversion. Hence this
faith is styled Tre idap^ely Qeui, ' to obey God's command ;' vwa-
Kovetv -ai evayyeXioi , ' to obey the gospel ;' bxaKOvetv rj; mure*,
' to obey the faith;' birorayi) rfjs bfiuXoyias eis to evayykXtov,
(' subjection of professing the gospel of Christ,') ' with purpose
of heart to adhere unto God ; stipulation of a good conscience
toward God,' (that which St. Peter intimates as a necessary
concomitant of baptism, it being a sincere undertaking, and
engaging one's self to obey God's commandments;) in fine, to
repent ; which is either adequately the same thing with faith,
or included therein, according to the apostolical meaning of the
word ; for that remission of sins, which is sometime made the
consequent of faith, is otherwhere expressly annexed to repen-
tance : the sum of the gospel our Saviour himself expresses by
the preaching in his name ' repentance, and remission of sins in
all nations :' and, ' Repent,' St. Peter preached, ' and let every
one of you be baptised :' and, ' Repent,' said he again, 'and
return, that your sins may be blotted out:' and, 'Then to the
Gentiles,' say those in the Acts, 'hath God give?] repentance
unto life :' which signifies the same with that other expression
concerning the same persons, ' God's having purified their hearts
by faith;' in which places I take repentance to import the

OF JUSTIFYING FAITH.

i i 13

same thing with faith ; being in effect nothing else but sincere
embracing Christian religion. Now the word faith is thus
extended (beyond its natural and primary force) to comprehend
such a compliance of will, or purpose of obedience, because
this doth naturally arise from a persuasion concerning the truth
of the gospel, if it be real and strong enough in that degree,
which Christianity requires, and supposes to the effects men-
tioned in the gospel ; if it be ev rij Kapbiq, ' in the heart,' (or a
hearty faith,) as St. Paul speaks; if it be such as Philip exacts
of the Eunuch, * a belief ef SXijs rijs Kaphlas, from the whole
heart ;' if it have that due plerophory, that stability, that soli-
dity, which the Apostles speak of; for a weak, faint, slight,
ill-grounded, ill-rooted opinion concerning the truth of the
gospel, (such as those in another case had, whom our Saviour
rebuked with a rl betXot tare, xtXiytnrioTin ; ' Why are ye fearful,
O ye small in faith ?' such as St. Peter had, when our Saviour
said to him, oXiyowia-e , els rt ebioraoas ; ' O thou of small
faith, why didst thou doubt?' which faith could not keep them
nor him from sinking ; not such as those had, who ' heard the
word, and gladly received it; but wanted root, so that, when
persecution or affliction did arise for the word, they were pre-
sently scandalised ;' not such a faith as those many rulers had,
who are said to have ' believed in Jesus, but for fear of the
Pharisees did not confess him ;' not such as Simon Magus had,
who is said to have believed Philip, but to no good effect,
' because his heart was not right before God ;' he having not
thoroughly resolved to obey the gospel ; not such as Agrippa
had, whom St. Paul had. ' almost persuaded to be a Christian')
— these sorts of faith are, in comparison to that we speak of,
but equivocally so called : it includes a firm resolution to per-
form carefully all the duties enjoined to Christians, to undergo
patiently all the crosses incident to Christianity ; it is the same
with becoming a disciple of Christ, which a man cannot be
without renouncing all other interests and concernments, with-
out denying one's self, forsaking all and following him ; with-
out taking his yoke on him, going after, and bearing his
cross : it supposes (as our Saviour also teaches us) that a
man hath cast up with himself the gain and loss he is like to
receive by the bargain, and being satisfied therein, to contract

104

BARROW. — SERMON IV.

bona fide with God; that a man hath weighed all the pains
and dangers he shall be put on by entering into this warfare,
and so resolvedly to adventure on it ; it is productive of love
to the truth, yea of love to God, and charity to men, without
which all faith is unprofitable and ineffectual, as St. Paul
teaches us. In short, this faith is nothing else but a true, seri-
ous, resolute embracing Christianity ; not only being persuaded
that all the doctrines of Christ are true, but submitting to his
will and command in all things.

But to prevent mistakes, and remove objections, I shall yet
farther observe,

G. That this faith hath, although not an adequate, yet a pe-
culiar respect unto that part of Christian truth, which concerns
the merciful intentions of God toward mankind, and the gra-
cious performances of our Saviour in order to the accomplish-
ing them ; the promises of pardon to our sins, and restoral into
God's favor on the terms propounded in the gospel, of sincere
faith and repentance ; whence the gospel is called \6yos Kmak-
\ayijs, (' the word of reconciliation ;') and this is expressed as a
summary of the apostolic ministry or message ; that ' God was
in Christ reconciling the world, not imputing their sins:' and
this our Saviour did order in especial manner to be preached in
his name ; this accordingly they did mainly propound and in-
culcate ; that God had exalted ' Jesus to his right hand as a
Prince and a Saviour, to give repentance unto Israel, and re-
mission of sins ; that he should receive remission of sins, who-
ever did believe in his name :' ' Let it be known unto you,
brethren, that by this man remission of sins is denounced unto
you ;' (so did they preach.) Whence this faith is (signanter)
called ' belief in the blood of Christ :' indeed, of all Christian
doctrines, this is most proper first to be propounded and per-
suaded, as the most attractive to the belief of the rest ; most
encouraging and comfortable to men ; most apt to procure
glory to God by the illustration of his principal attributes, his
justice and his goodness ; most suitable to the state of things
between God and man ; for men being in a state of rebellion
and enmity toward God, in order to their reducement and re-
covery thence, it was most proper that in the first place an
overture of mercy and pardon should be made, an act of ob-

OF JUSTIFYING FAITH.

-105

livion should be passed and propounded to them : yet are not
these propositions and promises the adequate or intire object
of this faith ; for other articles of faith are often propounded in
a collateral order with those ; yea sometimes (as in the case of
the Eunuch) others are expressed, when that is not mentioned,
but only understood : neither if any one should believe all the
doctrines of that kind, if he did not withal believe that Jesus
is his Lord, and shall be his Judge ; that there shall be a resur-
rection of the dead, and a judgment to come, with the like
fundamental verities of our religion, would he be a believer in
this sense.

7. I observe farther, that this faith doth relate only to propo-
sitions revealed by God, (or at least deduced from principles
of reason, such as are, that there is a God ; that God is good,
veracious, and faithful ; that our religion is true in the gross ;
that the holy Scriptures were written by divine inspiration ;
which propositions we believe on rational grounds and mo-
tives,) not unto other propositions concerning particular matter
of fact, subject to private conscience or experience ; nor to any
conclusions depending on such propositions. For instance, it
is a part of this faith to believe that God is merciful and gra-
cious, that he bears good-will unto, and is disposed to pardon,
every penitent sinner ; or (which is all one) that supposing a
man doth believe, and hath repented, God doth actually love
him, and doth forgive his sins ; this is, I say, indeed a part of
the faith we speak of, its object being part of the gospel re-
vealed unto us : but the being persuaded that God doth love
me, or hath pardoned my sins, or that I am in a state of favor
with God, may, as my circumstances may be, not be my duty ;
however it is no part of this faith, but a matter of opinion, de-
pendent on private experience : for such a persuasion must be
grounded on my being conscious to myself of having truly and
thoroughly repented, (this being required by God, as a neces-
sary condition toward my obtaining pardon and his favor;) of
having performed which duty I may presume, when it is false,
(and therefore cannot, then be obliged to believe it,) and may
doubt, when it is true : and that not without good reason, con-
sidering the blindness and fallibility of man's mind, and that
man's ' heart is deceitful above all things,' as the prophet tells

106 BARROW. — SERMON IV.

us : on which account then a man may not be obliged to have
such a persuasion. It is indeed a great fault to doubt, or dis-
trust, on that hand which concerns God ; about his goodness,
his truth, his wisdom, or power : but it is not always (perhaps
not commonly) blameable to question a man's own qualifications,
or his own performances, whether in kind or degree they be
answerable to what God requires ; that is inconsistent with true
faith, but this not: we cannot have any good religious aifections
toward God, if we do not take him to be our gracious lather;
but we may have in us such affections toward him, and he may
be favorably disposed toward us, when we suspect ourselves to
be untoward children, ' unworthy (as the prodigal son in the
gospel confessed himself) to be called the sons of God.' The
centurion iu the gospel did confess himself ' unworthy that
Christ should enter under his roof :' but he declared his per-
suasion that ' if Christ should only speak a word, his child
should be healed;' and our Saviour thereon professes, ' that he
had not found so much faith in Israel.' To the blind men im-
ploring his relief, our Saviour puts the question, ' Do ye believe
that I can do this? They answered, Yes, Lord :' he required
no more of them ; but said thereon, ' According to your faith
let it be done unto you.' And that for which Abraham the
father of believers, his faith is represented so acceptable is, his
firm persuasion concerning God's power ; 'because,' saith St.
Paul, ' he had a plerophory, that what was promised, God was
able to perform ;' by doing thus, he was a believer, and thereby
' gave glory to God,' as the Apostle there adds. If we do not
then distrust God, we may have faith, although we distrust
ourselves. It is true (generally and absolutely speaking) we
should endeavor so fully and clearly to repent, and to perform
whatever God requires of us, that we may thence acquire a good
hope concerning our state; we should labor that our hearts
may not condemn us of any presumptuous transgressing our
duty, and consequently, that we may become in a manner con-
fident of God's favor toward us : but when we have done the
best we can, even when we are not conscious of any enormous
fault or defect, yet we may consider with St. Paul, ' that we
are not thereby justified,' but abide liable to the more certain
cognisance and judgment of God, ' who seeth not as nlan seeth ;'

OF JUSTIFYING FAITH.

107

that we are not capable, or competent judges of ourselves ; nor
are ever the better for thinking well of ourselves ; since, as St.
Paul tells us again, ' he is not approved that commends him-
self, but whom the Lord commendeth :' for that, delict a sua
guis intclligit ? ' who can thoroughly understand and scan his
own errors?' ' Who can say, I have made my heart clean, I
am purged of my sin V Who can know, (if the psalmist
implieth that he could not,) until God hath searched him and
discovers it, ' whether there be any secret way of wickedness
in him ;' whether he be sufficiently grieved for having offended
God, fully humbled under the sense of his sins, thoroughly re-
solved to amend his life ? However, it often happens that true
faith and sincere repentance are in degree very defective ; in
which case we may, without prejudicing the truth of our faith,
suspect the worst ; yea, I conceive it is more safe and com -
mendable so to do: if in any, then chiefly, I suppose, in this
most important and critical affair, the wise man's sentence doth
hold, ' Blessed is he that feareth always ;' so feareth as thereby
to become more solicitous and watchful over his heart and
ways ; more careful and studioirs of securing his salvation finally,
to render his calling and election in the event more firm, and
in his apprehension more hopeful. I dare say, of two persons
otherwise alike qualified, he that on this ground (fearing his
own unvvorthiness, or the defect of his performances) is most
doubtful of his state, doth stand really on better terms with
God; as the pharisee, who justified himself, and took him-
self to be in a very good condition, was indeed less justified
(somewhat the less for that conceit of his) than the poor publi-
can, who was sensible of his own unworthiuess, and condemned
himself in his own opinion : the great danger lies on that hand
of being presumptuous, arrogant, and self-conceited, which
God hates; and on this hand there usually lies humility, mo-
desty, and poverty of spirit, which God loves. As ' every high
thing (every elevation of mind) is abominable in God's sight,'
and he ' depresseth him that exalteth himself;' so lowly
thoughts are gracious in God's regard : ' he raiseth him that
hunibleth himself, and is lowly in his own eyes :' he hath an
especial respect to him ' that is of a poor and contrite heart,
and trembleth at his word.' It is a property of good men

108

BARROW. — SERMON IV.

(being such as often reflect on their own hearts and ways, and
thence discern the defects in them,) with Jacob, to think them-
selves ' less than the least of God's mercies :' with David, to be
' afraid of God's judgments :' it is their duty to pass the time
of ' their sojourning herein fear,' ' to work out their salvation
with fear and trembling.' I may add, that sometime a person
much loving God, and much beloved of him, may be like ' a
pelican of the wilderness, and an owl of the desert;' from an
apprehension of God's anger, may have ' no soundness in his
flesh, nor rest in his bones, by reason of his sin ;' may have his
' spirit overwhelmed, and his heart within him desolate;' may
fear that his sins have ' separated between him and his God;'
and that he is 'forsaken of God; God hiding his face, and
withdrawing the light of his countenance,' he may be troubled,
may have ' his soul cast down, and disquieted within him ;'
may be ready to say, ' I am cut off from before thine eyes :'
even such a man, in such a state of distress and doubt, may
continue a believer ; he retaining honorable thoughts of God,
(in which the worth and virtue of true faith consisteth,) al-
though dejected by the conscience of his own infirmities, by sus-
picion of his own indispositions, and consequently by the fear
of God's displeasure.

Farther, that this faith doth not essentially include a respect
to such particular propositions, or does not (as many in these
two latter ages have deemed and taught) consist in our being
persuaded that our sins are pardoned, or our persons just in
God's esteem ; that we are acceptable to God, and stand pos-
sessed of his favor, it appears from hence, that faith is in holy
Scripture represented in nature precedaneous to God's bene-
volence, (especial I mean, not general benevolence, for that
prevents all acts and dispositions of us, or in us,) to his con-
ferring remission of sins, accepting and justifying our persons ;
it is a previous condition, without which (as the Apostle teaches
us) ' it is impossible to please God ;' it is a reason of God's
love, (' The Father,' saith our Lord, 'loves you, because ye
have loved me, and believed that I came from God ;') it is a
ground of Divine acceptation and good-will, (' Abraham be-
lieved God,' saith St. James, ' and it was accounted unto him
for righteousness, and he was called the friend of God ;') it is a

OF JUSTIFYING FAITH.

109

mean, or instrument, (so it is constantly represented,) by which
we are justified, obtain God's favor, and the remission of our
sins; and therefore is in order of nature previous and prerequi-
site thereto ; it is therefore required before baptism, in which
remission of sins is consigned : God justifies, accepts, and par-
dons him, that hath been impious, but not him that is an infidel.
This is the method plainly declared in Scripture ; wherefore if
faith implies a persuasion that God hath remitted our sins, it
must imply an antecedent faith, (even a justifying faith, ante-
cedent to itself,) or that we believe before we believe, and are
justified before we are justified. I add, that by this notion
many, or most (I will not, after the council of Trent, say all)
humble and modest Christians are excluded from being be-
lievers ; even all those who are not confident of their own sin-
cerity and sanctity, and consequently cannot be assured of their
standing in God's favor : and on the other side, the most pre-
sumptuous and fanatical sort of people are most certainly the
truest and strongest believers, as most partaking of the most
essential property thereof, according to that notion ; for of all
men living, such are wont to be most assured of God's especial
love unto them, and confident that their sins are pardoned : ex-
perience sufficiently shows this to be true, and consequently
that such a notion. of faith cannot be good.

Much less is that notion of faith right, which defines faith to
be a firm and certain knowlege of God's eternal good-will to-
ward us particularly, and that we shall be saved ;* which notion
(taught in the beginning of the Reformation, by a man of great-
est name and authority) was thus lately expressed by the pro-
fessors of Leyden in their Synopsis purioris Theologia. : ' Faith
(they say in their definition thereof) is a firm assent — by which
every believer, with a certain trust resting in God, is persuaded
not only that remission of sins is in general promised to them
who believe, but is granted to himself particularly, and eternal
righteousness, and from it life, by the mercy of God,' &c.
Which notion seems to be very uncomfortable, as rejecting
every man from the company of believers, who is either ignorant
or doubtful, not only concerning his present, but his final state ;

* Calv. Inst. lib. vii. §. 7. ct 28. compar.

1 10

BARROW. — SERMON IV.

who hath not, not only a good opinion, but a certain knowlege
of his present sincerity and sanctity; yea, not only of this, but
of his future constant perseverance therein : so that if a man be
not sure he hath repented, he is (according to this notion) sure
that he hath not repented, and is no believer. How many good
people must this doctrine discourage and perplex ! To remove
it, we may consider, 1. that it altogether inverts and confounds
the order of things declared in Scripture, wherein faith (as we
observed before) is set before obtaining God's good-will, as a
prerequisite condition thereto ; and is made a means of salva-
tion, (' without faith it is impossible to please God :' ' By grace
we are saved, through faith.') And if we must believe before
God loves us, (with such a love as we speak of,) and before we
can be saved ; then must we know that we believe, before we
can know that God loves us, or that we shall be saved ; and
consequently we must indeed believe before we can know that
God loves us, or that we shall be saved. But this doctrine
makes the knowlege of God's love and of salvation in nature
antecedent to faith, as being an essential ingredient into it;
which is preposterous. Consider this circle of discourse : a
man cannot know that he believes, without he does believe ;
this is certain: a man cannot know that he shall be saved,
without knowing he doth helieve; this is also certain : for on
what ground, from what evidence can he know his salvation,
but by knowing his faith ? But again backward : a man, say
they, cannot believe (and consequently not know that he
believes) without being assured of his salvation. What an
inextricable maze and confusion is here ! This doctrine indeed
doth make the knowlege of a future event to be the cause of its
being future; it supposes God to become our friend (as Abra-
ham was by his faith) by our knowing that he is our friend ; it
makes us to obtain a reward by knowing that we shall obtain
it ; it supposes the assurance of our coming to a journey's end,
to be the way of getting thither ; which who can conceive in-
telligible or true ? Our Saviour doth indeed tell us that it is
the way to life everlasting (or conducible to the attaining it) to
know (that is, to believe, as it is interpreted in the 8th verse of
that chapter ; for what on good grounds we are persuaded of,
or judge true, we maybe said to know) 'the true God, and

OF JUSTIFYING FAITH.

Ill

Jesus Christ, whom he hath sent :' but he doth not say, it is life
everlasting (or conilucible to the obtaining it) to know that we
shall have life everlasting ; that were somewhat strange to say.
St. Peter exhorts us to ' use diligence to make our calling and
election sure,' (or firm and stable ;) but he doth not bid us know
it to be sure. If we did know it to be so, what need should we
have to make it so ? yea, how could we make it so? He doth
not enjoin us to be sure of it in our opinion, but to secure it in
the event by sincere obedience and a holy life ; by so im-
pressing this persuasion on our minds, so rooting the love of
God and his truth in our hearts, that no temptation may be
able to subvert our faith, or to pluck out our charity.

2. This notion plainly supposes the truth of that doctrine,
that no man being once in God's favor can ever quite lose it ;
the truth of which I shall not contest now, (nor allege the many
clear passages of Scripture, nor the whole tenor of the gospel,
nor the unanimous consent of all Christendom for fifteen hun-
dred years against it,) but shall only take notice, that their
notion of faith necessarily presupposing the truth of this doe- -
trine, is yet thereby everted : for it follows thence, that no
man, who doth not assent to that doctrine, is or can be a
believer ; for he that is not assured of the truth of that opinion
(although we suppose him assured of his present sincerity, and
being in a state of grace) cannot know that he shall be saved :
so that only such as agree with them in that opinion can be
believers, which is somewhat hard, or rather very absurd. And
to aggravate this inconvenience, 1 adjoin, 3. that, according to
their notion, scarce any man, (except some have had an espe-
cial revelation concerning their salvation,) before the late alter-
ations in Christendom, was a believer ; for before that time it
hardly appears that any man did believe, as they do, that a
man cannot fall from grace ; and therefore scarce any man
could be assured that he should be saved ; and therefore scarce
any man could be a believer in their sense.

St. Augustine* himself (whose supposed patronage stands
them in so much stead on other occasions) hath often affirmed
that divers have had given them that faith, that charity, that

* Dc Corr. et Gr. cap. 9. et 13. De bon. Persev. cap. viii. 13.

112

BARROW. — SERMON IV.

justification, wherein if they had died, they should have been
saved ; who yet were not saved : which persons surely, when
they were in that good state, (admitting them, according to St.
Augustine's supposal, to have been in it,) were as capable of
knowing their salvation as any other man can be ; yea, St.
Augustine himself (considering that accidere cuiquam quod po-
test, cuivis potest, what was another man's case might be his,
there being no ground of difference) could not be more sure of
his own salvation at any time than such persons were at that
time: according to St. Augustine's judgment therefore, no
man could know that he should be saved, (his salvation de-
pending on perseverance, which in his opinion not being given
to all, must as to our knowlege, whatever it might be in res-
pect to God's decree, be contingent and uncertain) — it follows,
I say, on his suppositions, yea he expressly affirms it; lib. ii.
de bono Pers. Itaque, says he, utrum quisque hoc (perseve-
rantiee) munus acceperit, quamdiu kanc vitam ducit, incertum
est : ' whether any have received this gift of perseverance while
he leads this life, is uncertain.' Wherefore St. Augustine *
could not be assured of his own salvation ; and therefore (ac-
cording to these men's sense) he was no believer, no Christian ;
which I suppose yet they will not assert, though it be so plainly
consequent on their own position. I might, 4. ask of them, if
a man should confess ingenuously, that although he did hope
for mercy from God in that day, yet that he was not assured of
his salvation, whether such a person should be rejected from
Christian communion, as no believer. It seems, according to
their notion of faith, he should ; since by his own (in this par-
ticular infallible) judgment, it is notorious that he, as being no
believer, hath no title unto, or interest in, the privileges of
Christianity : but this proceeding would very much depopulate
the Church, and banish from it, I fear, the best (the most
humble and modest, yea the wisest and soberest) members
thereof.

But so much I think suffices for the removal of that new
harsh notion, to say no worse of it.

+ There is another more new than that, devised by some,

* Aug. Ep. 121. ad Probam. t Vid. Ames. Med. lib. i. cap. 27.

OF JUSTIFYING FAITH.

113

(who perceived the inconveniences of the former notions, yet,
it seems, did affect to substitute some new fine one in their
room,) which if it be not so plainly false, yet is, it seems, more
obscure and intricate : it is this ; that faith is not an assent to
propositions of any kind, but a recumbency, leaning, resting,
rolling on, adherency to (for they express themselves in these
several terms, and others like them) the person of Christ; or an
apprehending and applying to ourselves the righteousness of
Christ; his person itself, and his righteousness, as simple in-
complex things; not any proposition (that they expressly cau-
tion against) are the objects, say they, of our faith : they com-
pare our faith to a hand that lays hold on Christ, and applies
his righteousness; and to an eye that looks on him, and makes
him present to us; and by looking on him (as on the brazen
serpent) cures us. But this notion is so intricate, these phrases
are so unintelligible, that I scarce believe the devisers of them
did themselves know what they meant by them ; I do not, I
am sure : for what it is for one body to lean on, or to be rolled
on another ; what for one body to reach at, and lay hold on
another; what it is to apply a garment to one's body, or a
salve to one's wounds, I can easily understand : but what it is
for a man's mind to lean on a person, (otherwise than by as-
senting unto some proposition he speaks, or relying on some
promise he makes,) to apply a thing, otherwise than. by con-
senting to some proposition concerning that thing, I cannot
apprehend or reach ; there is not, as we noted before, any fa-
culty or operation of a man's mind, which answers the intent
of such notions or phrases. Let me put this case : suppose a
great province had generally revolted from its sovereign,
whereby the people thereof had all deserved extreme punish-
ment suitable to such an offence ; but that the king, moved
with pity, and on the intercession of his only beloved son, (to-
gether with a satisfaction offered and performed by him,)
should resolve to grant a general pardon to them, on just and
fit, and withal very easy terms ; and that, for the execution of
this gracious purpose toward them, he should depute and send
his son himself among them to treat with them, by him declar-
ing his merciful intentions toward them, with the conditions,
on compliance wherewith, all, or any of them, should be par-

114 BARROW. — SERMON IV.

doned their offence, and received into favor ; those conditions
being, suppose it, that first they should receive and acknowlege
his son for such as he professed himself to be, (the king's son
indeed, who truly brought such a message unto them from
his majesty;) then that they should seriously resolve with
themselves, and solemnly engage to return unto their due alle-
giance ; undertaking faithfully for ever after to observe those
laws, which the said prince in his father's name should propound
unto them. Suppose farther, that the prince in pursuance of
this commission and design, being come into the country,
should there send all about officers of his, enjoining them to
discover the intent of his coming, what he offered, and on what
terms ; withal, empowering them in his name to receive those
who complied into favor, declaring them pardoned of all their
offences, and restored to the benefit of the king's protection, and
all the privileges of loyal subjects: suppose now that these
officers should go to the people, and speak to them in this man-
ner : The king makes an overture of pardon and favor unto you,
on condition that any one of you will recumb, rest, lean on, or
roll himself on the person of his son, (rest on his person, not
only rely on his word, that you are to understand,) or in case
you will lay hold on and apply to yourselves his son's righte-
ousness, by which he hath procured of the king his father this
mercy and favor for you, (not only being persuaded that he
hath performed thus much for you, this is not enough ;) do you
think these messengers should thus well express themselves, or
perform their message handsomely and with advantage ? Should
not they do much better, laying aside such words of metaphor
and mystery, to speak in plain language ; telling them that
their king's son (by plain characters discernible to be truly
such) was come among them on such an intention; that if they
would acknowlege him, and undertake thereafter to obey him,
they should receive a full pardon, with divers other great fa-
vors and advantages thereby ? The case is apparently so like to
that which stands between God and man, and doth so fully re-
semble the nature of the evangelical dispensation, that I need
not make any application, or use any more argument to refute
that notion : I shall only say, that I conceive these new
phrases, for such they are, not known to ancient Christians,

OF JUSTIFYING FAITH.

115

nor delivered either in terms or sense in Scripture ; for the
places alleged in favor or proof of them by Ames, one of the
first broachers of them, (all, we may presume, that they could
find anywise seeming to favor their notion,) do not, as, if time
would permit, might easily be showed, import any such thing,
but are strangely misapplied — that, I say, these phrases do
much obscure the nature of this great duty, and make the state
of things in the gospel more difficult and dark than it truly is ;
and thereby seem to be of bad consequence, being apt to beget
in people both dangerous presumptions and sad perplexities :
for they hearing that they are only or mainly bound to have
such a recumbency on Christ, or to make such an applica-
tion of his righteousness, they begin (accordingly as they take
themselves to be directed) to work their minds to it ; and when
they have hit on that posture of fancy, which they guess to
suit their teachers' meaning, then they become satisfied, and
conceit they believe well, although perhaps they be ignorant of
the principles of the Christian faith, and indisposed to obey the
precepts of our Lord. Sometimes, on the other side, although
they well understand, and are persuaded concerning the truth
of all necessary Christian doctrines, and are well disposed to
observe God's commandments, yet because they cannot tell
whether they apprehend Christ's person dexterously, or apply to
themselves his righteousness in the right manner, as is pre-
scribed to them, (of which it is no wonder that they should
doubt, since it is so hard to know what the doing so means,)
they become disturbed and perplexed in their minds; question-
ing whether they do believe or no. Thus by these notions (or
phrases rather) are some men tempted fondly to presume, and
other good people are wofully discouraged by them ; both
being thence diverted, or withdrawn from their duty : whereas
what it is to believe, as Christians anciently did understand it,
and as we have assayed to explain it, is very easy to conceive ;
and the taking it so, can have no other than very good influ-
ence on practice, as both reason (as we have insinuated) shows,
and the Scripture largely and plainly affirms. But let thus
much suffice for the inquiry concerning the genuine nature and
notion of faith proper to this place, (that faith by which in this

116

BARROW.— SERMON IV.

text we are said to be justified :) the other particulars I cannot
so much as touch on at this time.

I end with those good prayers of our church :
' O Lord, from whom all good things do come, giant to us
thy humble servants, that by thy holy inspiration we may think
those things that be good ; and by thy merciful guiding may
perform the same, through our Lord Jesus Christ.' Amen.

' Almighty and everlasting Lord, give unto us the increase
of faith, hope, and charity ; and, that we may obtain that
which thou dost promise, make us to love that which thou dost
command, through Jesus Christ our Lord.' Amen.

SERMON V.

I 17

SUMMARY OF SERMON V.

ROMANS, CHAP. V. — VERSE 1.

The next thing to be considered is ; what justification im-
ports ? a term which has been in latter times canvassed with
much vehemence of discussion.

In former times there does not appear to have been any
difference or debate about it : reasons for this given. The dis-
putes on this point arose about the time of the Reformation.

With a hope of reconciling such disputants, it is proposed to
consider the several divine acts to which the term justification
is, according to any pretended sense, applicable. According to
the tenor of Christian doctrine, these are as follow :

1. God (through the obedience and intercession of his be-
loved Son) is so reconciled to mankind, that unto every person
who sincerely believes the gospel, repents, and amends his life,
he doth on the solemn profession of that resolution in baptism,
remit all past offences, accepting his person, and receiving him
into favor, &c.

2. As any person persisting steadily in that sincere faith, as-
suredly continues in a state of grace ; so when such a one, out
of human frailty, falls into the commission of sin, God, through
regard to his Son, doth, on the confession and repentance of
such a person, remit his sins and restore him to favor ; accord-
ing to the Evangelist, 1 John i. 9.

3. To each person sincerely embracing the gospel, and con-
tinuing steadfast therein, God doth afford his Holy Spirit, as a
principle producing inward sanctity or virtuous dispositions, and

SUMMARY OF

enabling him to discharge all the conditions of faith and obe-
dience required of bim, &c.

Now all these acts are generally acknowleged and ascribed
unto God ; but with which of them the act of justification
is solely or chiefly coincident, &c. is a question coming under
debate. To clear up this, some observations are propounded.

I. We need not search into the primitive sense of the word,
since in common use it often declines from that : nlere grammar
will not here help us.

II. The sense is not to be searched for in extraneous writers ;
both because no such subject ever came under their considera-
tion, and because they seldom or never use the word in a sense
at all congruous with it.

III. In the sacred writings at large, it is commonly applied
to persons, according to various senses, some wide and general,
others more restrained and particular: these stated.

IV. The word seems somewhat peculiar to St. Paul, and
is hardly by the other Apostles applied to that matter which
he expresses by it : the right sense of it therefore seems best de-
rivable from considering the nature of his subject, the drift of
his discourse and reasoning, and the other equivalent phrases
which he uses.

V. With this method of inquiry it may be observed that the
notion of the word which is evidently the most usual in Scrip-
ture, is best suited to the meaning of St. Paul here, and com-
monly elsewhere ; namely, that God's justifyingsolely. or chiefly,
doth import his acquitting us from guilt, condemnation, and
punishment, by free pardon, ike. accounting us, and dealing
with us, as righteous, &c.

1. This sense best agrees with the nature of the subject-mat-
ter, and the design of St. Paul's discourse; viz., the asserting
the necessity, sufficiency, and excellency of the Christian dis-
pensation, in bringing men to happiness, and consequently the

SERMON V.

119

rendering men acceptable to God, who is the sole author and
giver of happiness : this enlarged on.

2. Again, the manner of prosecuting his discourse, and the
arguments by which he infers his conclusions concerning the •
gospel, confirm this notion : this fully shown.

3. Farther, the same notion may be confirmed by comparing
this term with other terms and phrases equivalent, or opposite
to this of justification : examples quoted.

4. Moreover this notion may be strengthened by excluding
that sense, which in opposition thereto is assigned, according
to which justification is said to import, not only remission of
sin, and acceptance with God, but the making a man intrin-
sically righteous, by infusing into him, as it is said, a habit of
grace or charity.

Admitting this to be true, as in some sense it is, yet that sort
of righteousness does not seem implied by the word justification,
according to St. Paul's intent, in those places where he dis-
courses about justification by faith ; such a sense not consisting
well with the drift of his reasoning, nor with divers passages
in his discourse : this fully shown in eight instances.

VI. So much may suffice for a general explication of the
notion: but for a more full clearing of the point it may be re-
quisite to resolve a question concerning the time when this act is
performed or dispensed. It may be inquired when God justi-
fied; whether once, or at several times, or continually. To
which it may be answered briefly,

I. That the justification spoken of by St. Paul seems, in his
meaning, only or especially to be that act of grace which
is dispensed to persons at their baptism, or entrance into the
church, when they openly profess their faith, and undertake
the practice of Christian duty : Jive reasons given for this opi-
nion.

II. The virtue and effect of that first justifying act con-
tinues (that is, we abide in a justified state) so long as we per-

120

SUMMARY OF SERMON V.

form the conditions imposed by God, and undertaken by us at
our first justification : this enlarged on.

III. Although justification chiefly signifies the first act of
grace towards a Christian at his baptism, yet (according to
analogy) every dispensation of pardon granted on repentance,
may be styled justification : this topic enlarged on.

According to each of these notions, all good Christians may
be said to have been justified. Conclusion.

OF JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH.

121

3j SBeuebt, &c.
SERMON V.

OF JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH.

ROMANS, CHAP. V. — VERSE 1.

Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God, through
our Lord Jesus Christ.

In order to the understanding of these words, I did formerly
propound divers particulars to be considered and discussed : the
first was, what that faith is by which Christians are said to be
justified? This I have dispatched: the next, what justifica-
tion doth import? The which I shall now endeavor to explain;
and I am concerned to perform it with the more care and dili-
gence, because the right notion of this term hath in latter
times been canvassed with so much vehemence of dissension
and strife.

In former times, among the fathers and the schoolmen, there
doth not appear to have been any difference or debate about
it ; because, as it seems, men commonly having the same ap-
prehensions about the matters, to which the word is applicable,
did not so much examine or regard the strict propriety of ex-
pression concerning them : consenting in things, they did not
fall to cavil and contend about the exact meaning of words.
They did indeed consider distinctly no such point of doctrine
as that of justification, looking on that word as used incident-
ally in some places of Scripture, for expression of points more
BAR. VOL. V. F

122

BARROW.— SERMON V.

clearly expressed in other terms ; wherefore they do not make
much of the word, as some divines now do.

But in the beginning of the Reformation, when the discovery
of some great errors (from the corruption and ignorance of
former times) crept into vogue, rendered all things the subjects
of contention, and multiplied controversies, there did arise hot
disputes about this point ; and the right stating thereof seemed
a matter of great importance ; nor scarce was any controversy
prosecuted with greater zeal and earnestness : whereas yet (so
far as I can discern) about the real points of doctrine, whereto
this word, according to any sense pretended, may relate, there
hardly doth appear any material difference; and all the ques-
tions depending, chiefly seem to consist about the manner of
expressing things, which all agree in ; or about the extent of
the signification of words capable of larger or stricter accep-
tion : whence the debates about this point, among all sober and
intelligent persons, might, as I conceive, easily be resolved or
appeased, if men had a mind to agree, and did not love to
wrangle ; if at least a consent in believing the same things, al-
though under some difference of expression, would content
them, so as to forbear strife.

To make good which observation, tending as well to the il-
lustration of the whole matter, as to the stating and decision
of the controversies about it, let us consider the several divine
acts to which the term justification is, according to any sense
pretended, applicable : I say divine acts; for that the justifi-
cation we treat of is an act of God simple or compound (in
some manner) respecting, or terminated on man, is evident,
and will not, I suppose, be contested ; the words of St. Paul
in several places so clearly declaring it; as in that, ' "Who
shall lay any thing to the charge of God's elect ? It is God that
justifieth;' and in that, 'To him thatworketh not, but believeth
on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for
righteousness.' Now according to the tenor of Christian doc-
trine such acts are these.

1. God (in regard to the obedience performed to his will by
his beloved Son, and to his intercession) is so reconciled to
mankind, that unto every person who doth sincerely believe
the gospel, and repenting of his former bad life, doth seriously

OF JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH.

123

resolve thereafter to live according to it, he doth (on the solemn
obsignation of that faith, and profession of that resolution in
baptism) intirely remit all past offences, accepting his person,
receiving him into favor ; assuming him into the state of a
loyal subject, a faithful servant, a dutiful son ; and bestowing
on him all the benefits and privileges suitable.to such a state ;
according to those passages : ' It behoved Christ to suffer — and
that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his
name among all nations:' 'Then Peter said unto them, Re-
pent, and be baptised every one of you in the name of Jesus
Christ, for the remission of sins;' and, ' To him give all the
prophets witness, that through his name whosoever believeth
in him shall receive remission of sins;' and, 'God was in
Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their
sins;' and in other places innumerable.

2. As any person persisting in that sincere faith, and serious
purpose of obedience, doth assuredly continue in that state of
grace, and exemption from the guilt of sin ; so in case that, out
of human frailty, such a person doth fall into the commission
of sin, God (in regard to the same performances and interces-
sions of his Son) doth, on the confession and repentance of
such a person, remit his sin, and retain him in or restore him
to favor ; according to those sayings of St. John, ' If we confess
our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to
cleanse us from all unrighteousness:' and, 'If any man sin,
we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the
righteous.'

:J. To each person sincerely embracing the gospel, and con-
tinuing in steadfast adherence thereto, God doth afford his
Holy Spirit, as a principle productive of all inward sanctity
and virtuous dispositions in his heart, enabling also and
quickening him to discharge the conditions of faith and obe-
dience required from him, and undertaken by him ; that which
is by some termed making a person just, infusion into his soul
of righteousness, of grace, of virtuous habits ; in the Scrip-
ture style it is called acting by the Spirit, bestowing the gift
of the Holy Ghost, renovation of the Holy Ghost, creation to
good works, sanctification by the Spirit, &c, which phrases

12 4

BARROW. — SERMON V.

denote partly the collation of a principle enabling to perform
good works, partly the design of religion tending to that per-
formance.

Now all these acts (as by the general consent of Christians,
and according to the sense of the ancient Catholic church, so)
by all considerable parties seeming to dissent, and so earnestly
disputing about the point of justification, are acknowleged and
ascribed unto God; but with which of them the act of justifi-
cation is solely or chiefly coincident; whether it signifieth
barely some one of them, or extendeth to more of them, or com-
prehendeth them all, (according to the constant meaning of
the word in Scripture,) are questions coming under debate, and
so eagerly prosecuted : of which questions whatever the true
resolution be, it cannot methinks be of so great consequence
as to cause any great anger or animosity in dissenters one to-
ward another, seeing they all conspire in avowing the acts,
whatever they be, meant by the word justification, although in
other terms ; seeing all the dispute is about the precise and
adequate notion of the word justification : whence those ques-
tions might well be waived as unnecessary grounds of conten-
tion ; and it might suffice to understand the points of doctrine
which it relateth to in other terms, laying that aside as ambi-
guous and litigious. Yet because the understanding the
lightest, or most probable notion of the word, may somewhat
conduce to the interpretation of the Scriptures, and to clearing
the matters couched in it, somewhat also to the satisfaction of
persons considerate and peaceable, I shall employ some care
faithfully (without partiality to any side) to search it out and
declare it: in order whereto I shall propound some observations-,
seeming material.

I. Whereas it were not hard to speak much, and criticise
about the primitive sense of the word, and about its various
acceptions both in holy Scripture and other writings, I do
question whether doing that would be pertinent or conducible
to our purpose of understanding its right notion here : for
knowing the primitive sense of words can seldom or never de-
termine their meaning any where, they often in common use
declining from it ; and the knowing variety of acceptions doth

OF JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH.

125

at most yield only the advantage of choosing one suitable to
the subjacent matter and occasion. We are not therefore to
learn the sense of this word from mere grammarians.

II. The sense of this word is not to be searched in extraneous
writers ; both because no matter like to that we treat on did
ever come into their use or consideration, and because they do
seldom or never use the word in a sense anywise congruous to
this matter : in them most commonly the word biKaioto doth sig-
nify (as the like word dli6b>) to deem a thing just, equal,
or fit, (or simply to deem about a thing.) Sometimes also, yet
not often as I take it, being applied to an action, or cause, it
importeth to make it appear lawful, or just, as when we ordina-
rily say, to justify what one saith or doth, (whence Stica/wjua in
Aristotle is an argument proving the justice of a cause, firma-
mentum causes ;) but in them very seldom or never it is applied
to persons ; and an example, I conceive, can hardly be pro-
duced, wherein it is so used.

III. In the sacred Writings at large it is commonly applied
to persons, and that according to various senses, some more
wide and general, some more restrained and particular. It
there sometime denoteth generally to exercise any judicial act
on, in regard unto, or in behalf of a person ; to do him right,
or justice, in declaring the merit of his cause, or pronouncing-
sentence about him ; in acquitting or condemning him for any
cause, in obliging him to, or exempting him from any burden,
in dispensing to him any reward or punishment, indifferently :
thus Absalom said, ' O that I were made a judge in the land,
that every man, which hath any suit or cause, might come unto
me, Vnpl^m Kal biKaiwau) avrov, and I would justify him,' that
is, I would do him right : and in the 82nd Psalm, this charge is
given to the princes, or judges; ' Defend the poor and father-
less, IpHUH SaaidiCTare, justify the poor and needy ;' that is, do
right and justice to them.

But more particularly the word signifieth (and that accord-
ing to the most usual and current acception) so to do a man
right, as to pronounce sentence in his favor, as to acquit him
from guilt, to excuse him from burden, to free him from punish-
ment; whence we most often meet with the word placed in
direct opposition to that of condemnation : as in that law, ' If

12G

BARROW. — SERMON V.

there be a controversy between men, and they come unto judg-
ment, that the judges may judge them, then they shall justify
the righteous, acd condemn the w icked :' and in Solomon's
prayer, 'Then hear thou in heaven, and do, and judge thy
servants, condemning the wicked, to bring his way on his head,
and justifying the righteous, to give him according to his righ-
teousness :' and in the Proverbs, * He that justifieth the
wicked, and he that condemneth the just, even both are an
abomination unto the Lord ;' and in the gospel our Saviour saith,
' By thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou
shalt be condemned.'

In consequence on this sense, and with a little deflection from
it, to justify a person sometime denoteth to approve him, or
esteem him just, a mental judgment, as it were, being passed
on him : so wisdom is said to be justified, that is, approved, by
her children : so in the gospel some persons are said to justify
themselves, that is, to conceit themselves righteous: and the
1 Publican went home justified rather than the Pharisee,' that
is, more approved and accepted by God: so also it is said,
that ' all the people and the publicans justified God, being
baptised with John's baptism :' they justified God, that is,
they declared their approbation of God"s proceeding, in the
mission of John.

In like manner, justification is taken for exemption from
burdens; es whire in the Acts St. Paul saith, ' And from all
things, froLi which by the law of Moses yc could not be justi-
fied, in this is every one that believeth justified.'

It may also sometimes be taken for deliverance from punish-
ment; as where in the law God saith, 1 The innocent and
righteous slay thou not; for I will not justify the wicked;'
that is, rot let him escape with impunity ; according to that in
the Proverbs, ' Though hand join in hand, the wicked shall not
go unpunished.'

IV. We may observe that (as every man hath some phrases
and particular forms of speech, in which he dslighteth, so) this
term is somewhat peculiar to St. Paul, and hardly by the other
Apostles applied to that matter, which he expresseth thereby :
they usually in their sermons and epistles do speak the same
thins, whatever it be, in other terms more immediately ex-

OF JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH.

127

pressive of the matter. St. James indeed doth use it, but not
so much, it seemeth, according to his usual manner of speech,
as occasionally, to refute the false and pestilent conceits of
some persons, who mistaking St. Paul's expressions and doc-
trine, did pervert them to the maintenance of Solifidian, Euno-
mian, and Antinomian positions, greatly prejudicial to good
practice. And seeing the term is so proper to St. Paul in rela-
tion to this matter, the right sense and notion thereof seemeth
best derivable from considering the nature of the subject he
treateth on, observing the drift of his discourse and manner of
his reasoning, comparing the other phrases he useth equivalent
to this, and interpretative of his meaning.

V. Following this method of inquiry, I do observe and affirm
that the last notion of the word, as it is evidently most usual in
the Scripture, so it bestsuiteth to the meaning of St. Paul here,
and otherwhere commonly, where he treateth on the same
matters; that God's justifying solely, or chiefly, doth import
his acquitting us from guilt, condemnation, and punishment,
by free pardon and remission of our sins, accounting us and
dealing with us as just persons, upright and innocent in his
sight and esteem : the truth of which notion I shall by divers
arguments and considerations make good.

1. This sense doth best agree to the nature of the subject
matter, and to the design of St. Paul's discourse ; which I
take to be this ; the asserting the necessity, reasonableness,
sufficiency, and excellency of the Christian dispensation ; in
order to that, which is the end of all religion, the bringing men
to happiness, and consequently to the rendering men acceptable
to God Almighty, who is the sole Author and Donor of hap-
piness : this is that, which in general he aimeth to assert and
maintain.

This, I say, is that which he chiefly driveth at, to maintain,
that it is not unreasonable that God should so proceed with
men (whose good and felicity, as their gracious Maker, he
greatly tendereth) as the Christian gospel declareth him to do,
but that rather such proceeding was necessary and fit, in order
to our salvation ; and withal conformable to the ordinary
method of God's proceedings toward the same purpose.

Now God's proceeding with man according to the gospel,

128

BARROW. — SERMON V.

the general tenor thereof doth set out to be this ; that God out
of his infinite goodness and mercy, in consideration of what his
beloved Son, our blessed Lord, hath performed and suffered,
in obedience to his will, and for the redemption of mankind,
(which by transgression of his laws, and defailance in duty
toward him, had grievously offended him and fallen from his
favor, was involved in guilt, and stood obnoxious to punish-
ment,) is become reconciled to them, (passing by and fully
pardoning all offences by them committed against him,) so as
generally to proffer mercy, on certain reasonable and gentle
terms, to all that shall sincerely embrace such overtures of
mercy, and heartily resolve to comply with those terms required
by him : namely, the returning and adhering to him, forsaking
all impiety and iniquity, constantly persisting in faithful obe-
dience to his holy commandments; this, I say, is the proceed-
ing of God, which the Christian gospel doth especially hold
forth, and which, according to our Lord's commission and com-
mand, the Apostles did first preach to men ; as whosoever will
consider the drift and tenor of their preaching, will easily dis-
cern ; which therefore St. Paul may reasonably be supposed
here to assert and vindicate against the Jews, and other adver-
saries of the gospel : consequently the terms he useth should be
so interpreted as to express that matter ; whence being justified
will imply that which a person embracing the gospel doth
immediately receive from God, in that way of grace and mercy,
viz. an absolution from his former crimes, an acquittance from
his debts, a state of innocence and guiltlessness in God's sight,
an exemption from vengeance and punishment ; all that which
by him sometimes, and by the other Apostles, is couched
under the phrases of ' remission of sins,' having sins * blotted
out and washed away,' being ' cleansed from sin ;' and the like :
thus considering the nature of the matter, and design of his dis-
course, would incline us to understand this word.

2. Again, the manner of his prosecuting his discourse, and
the arguments by which he inferreth his conclusions concerning
the gospel, do confirm this notion. He discourseth, and proveth
at large, that all mankind, both Jews and Gentiles, were ' shut
up under sin,' that ' all had sinned, and did fall short of the
glory of God,' (that is. of rendering him his due glory by dutiful

OF JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH.

J 29

obedience,) that ' every mouth was stopped,' having nothing to
say in defence of their transgressions, and ' that all the world
stood obnoxious to the severity of God's judgments;' that
not only the light of nature was insufficient to preserve men
from offending inexcusably, even according to the verdict of
their own consciences, but that the written law of God had (to
manifold experience) proved ineffectual to that purpose, serving
rather ' to work wrath,' to bring men under a curse, to aggra-
vate their guilt, to convince them of their sinfulness, to dis-
courage and perplex them ; on which general state of men (so
implicated in guilt, so liable to wrath) is consequent a neces-
sity either of condemnation and punishment, or of mercy and
pardon.

He doth also imply (that which in the Epistle to the Gala-
tians, where he prosecuteth the same argument, is more ex-
pressly delivered) that no precedent dispensation had exhibited
any manifest overture, or promise of pardon ; for the light of
nature doth only direct unto duty, condemning every man in his
own judgment and conscience who transgresseth it ; but as to
pardon in case of transgression, it is blind and silent ; and the
law of Moses rigorously exacteth punctual obedience, denoun-
cing in express terms a condemnation and curse to the transgres-
sors thereof in any part ; from whence he collecteth that ' no
man can be justified by the works of the law,' (natural or Mo-
saical; or that no precedent dispensation can justify any man,)
and that ' a man is justified by faith,' or hath absolute need of
such a justification as that which the gospel declareth and ten-
dereth : Xoy<£d//e0a olv, ' we hence,' saith he, ' collect,' or argue,
' that a man is justified by faith, without the works of the law :'
which justification must therefore import the receiving that free
pardon, which the criminal and guilty world did stand in need
of, which the forlorn and deplorable state of mankind did
groan for, without which no man could have any comfort in his
mind, any hope, or any capacity of salvation. If the state
of man was a state of rebellion, and consequently of heinous
guilt, of having forfeited God's favor, of obnoxiousness to God's
wrath ; then that justification which was needful, was a dis-
pensation of mercy, remitting that guilt, and removing those
penalties.

ISO

BARROW. — SERMON V.

Again, St. Paul commendeth the excellency of the evange-
lical dispensation from hence, that it intirely doth ascribe the
justification of men to God's mercy and favor, excluding any
merit of man, any right or title thereto, grounded c.i what man
hath performed ; consequently advancing the glory of God, and
depressing the vanity of man ; ' If,' saith he, ' Abraham were
justified by works, he had whereof to boast; for that to him
who worketh, wages are not reckoned as bestowed in favor, but
are paid as debt :' so it would be if men were justified by
works ; they might claim to themselves the due consequences
thereof, impunity and reward ; they would be apt to please
themselves, and boast of the effects arising from their own per-
formances : but if, as the gospel teacheth, ' men are justified
freely (gratis) by God's mercy and grace,' without any regard to
what they formerly have done, either good or bad, those who
have lived wickedly and impiously (on their compliance with
the terms proposed to them) being no less capable thereof than
the most righteous and pious persons : then « where is boasting ?
It is excluded;' then surely no man can assume any thing to
himself, then all the glory and praise are due to God's frank good-
ness ; the purport of which reasoning (so often used) doth imply
that a man's justification signifieth his being accepted or ap-
proved as just, standing rectus in curia ; being in God's es-
teem, and by his sentence, absolved from guilt and punishment ;
the which cannot otherwise be obtained than from divine favor
declared and exhibited in the gospel; according as St. Paul
otherwhere fully speaketh : * To the praise of the clory of his
grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved ; in whom
we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins,
; according to the riches of his grace.'

Again, St. Paul expresseth justification as an act of judg-
ment performed by God, whereby he declareth his own righte-
ousness or justice ; that justice consisting in acceptance of a
competent satisfaction offered to him in amends for the debt due
to him, and in reparation of the injury done unto him, in con-
sequence thereof acquitting the debtor, and remitting the of-
fence ; so those words declare : ' Being justified freely by his
grace, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus; whom
God hath set forth to be a propitiation, through faith in his

OF JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH.

isi

blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that
are past, through the forbearance of God ; to declare at this
time his righteousness, that he might be just, and the justifier of
him which believeth in Jesus.' Justification there we see is ex-
pressed a result of Christ's redemption, and the act of God con-
sequent thereon ; so is remission of sins ; God by them jointly
demonstrating his justice and goodness, so that they may be
well conceived the same thing diversely expressed, or having
several names according to some divers formalities of respect.
So in other places, sometimes justification, sometimes remission
of sins are reckoned the proper and immediate effects of our Sa-
viour's passion; 'Being (saith St. Paul in the 5th to the
Romans) justified by his blood, we shall be saved by him from
wrath:' and, 'In whom (saith he again in the first of the
Epistle to the Ephesians) we have redemption through his
blood, the forgiveness of sins;' which argueth the equivalency
of these terms.

So likewise a main point of the evangelical covenant on
God's part is made justifying of a man by his faith, or on it :
and remission of sins on the same condition is also made the
like principal point, which sometime is put alone, as implying
all the benefits of that covenant.

Again, justification is by St. Paul made the immediate con-
sequent, or special adjunct, of baptism ; therein, he saith, we
'die to sin,' (by resolution and engagement, to lead anew life
in obedience to God's commandment,) and so dying we aresaid
to be justified from sin, (that which otherwise is expressed or
expounded, by being freed from sin :) now the freedom from
sin obtained in baptism is frequently declared to be the remis-
sion of sin then conferred, and solemnly confirmed by a visible
seal.

Whereas also so frequently we are said to be ' justified by
faith,' and according to the general tenor of Scripture, the imme-
diate consequent of faith is baptism ; therefore dispensing the
benefits consigned in baptism, is coincident with justification;
and that dispensation is frequently signified to be the cleansing
us from sin by intire remission thereof.

3. Farther, the same notion may be confirmed by comparing

132

BARROW. — SERMON V.

this term with other terms and phrases equivalent or opposite to
this of justification.

One equivalent phrase is imputation of righteousness ; ' As,'
saith St. Paul, « David speaketh of that man's blessedness, unto
whom God imputeth righteousness without works ; Blessed are
they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered.
Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin :'
whence to him that considers the drift and force of St. Paul's
discourse, it will clearly appear that justification, imputing
righteousness, not imputing sin, and remission of sin, are the
same thing: otherwise the Apostle's discourse would not signify
or conclude any thing.

For confirmation of his discourse (arguing free justification
by God's mercy, not for our works) St. Paul also doth allege
that place in the psalm, ' For in thy sight shall no man living be
justified;' the sense of which place is evidently this, that no
man living, his actions being strictly tried and weighed, shall
appear guiltless, or deserve to be acquitted ; but shall stand in
need of mercy, or can no otherwise be justified than by a spe-
cial act of grace.

Again, imputing faith for righteousness is the same with jus-
tifying by faith, (' Abraham believed God, and it was counted
unto him for righteousness:') but that imputation is plainly
nothing else but the approving him, and taking him for a righte-
ous person in regard to his faith.

Again, justification is the same with being righteous before
God. as appeareth by thoso words : ' Not the hearers of the
law are just before God, but the doers of the law shall be
justified:' but being just before God, plainly signifieth nothing
else but being accepted by God, or approved to his esteem and
judgment.

Being reconciled to God seemeth also to be the same with
being justified by him ; as appeareth by those words, 'Much
more then, being now justified by his biood, we shall be saved
from wrath through him. For if, when we were enemies, we
were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more,
being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life :' where ttoXX^
HuWoy biKaiwdei tcs, and s-oXXw paWov Ka-aWaycvres, seem to

OF JUSTIFICATION EY FAITH.

133

signify the same ; but that reconciliation is interpreted by re-
mission of sins: 'God was in Christ, reconciling the world
unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them.'

To obtain mercy is another term signifying justilication ; and
what doth that import but having the remission of sins in mercy
bestowed on us ?

Again, justification is opposed directly to condemnation :
' As,' saith he, ' by the offence of one man (judgment came)
on all men to condemnation ; so by the righteousness of one
man (the free gift came) on all men to justification of life ;
('justification of life,' that is, a justification so relating to life,'
or bestowing a promise thereof, as the condemnation opposite
thereto respected death, which it threatened.) In which place
St. Paul comparing the first Adam with his actions, and their
consequences, to the second Adam with his performances, and
what resulted from them, teacheth us, that as the transgression
of the first did involve mankind in guilt, and brought conse-
quently on men a general sentence of death, (forasmuch as all
men did follow him in commission of sin ;) so the obedience of
the second did absolve all men from guilt, and restored them
consequently into a state of immortality, (all men, under the con-
dition prescribed, who, as it is said, should ' receive the abun-
dance of grace, and of the gift of righteousness' tendered to them ;)
the justification therefore he speaketh of doth so import an ab-
solution from guilt and punishment, as the condemnation signi-
fieth a being declared guilty, and adjudged to punishment.

Bellarmine* indeed (who, in answering to this place objected
against his doctrine, blunders extremely, and is put to his
trumps of sophistry) telleth us that in this place, to maintain
the parallel or antithesis between Adam and Christ, justifica-
tion must signify infusion of grace, or putting into a man's soul
an inherent righteousness ; because Adam's sin did constitute
us unjust with an inherent unrighteousness : but (with his favor)
justification and condemnation being both of them the acts of
God, and it being plain that God condemning doth not infuse
any inherent unrighteousness into man, neither doth he justifying,
formally (if the antithesis must be pat) put any inherent righte*

• De Justif. ii. 3. i. 1.

131

BARROW. — SERMON V.

ousness into him ; inherent unrighteousness in the former case
may be a consequent of that condemnation, and inherent righte-
ousness may be connected with this justification ; but neither
that nor this may formally signify those qualities respectively :
as the inherent unrighteousness consequent on Adam's sin is
not included in God's condemning, so neither is the inherent
righteousness proceeding from our Saviour's obedience con-
tained in God's justifying men.

But however most plainly (and beyond all evasions) justi-
fication and condemnation are opposed otherwhere in this
Epistle : ' Who,' saith St. Paul, ' shall lay any thing to the
charge of God's elect?' (or criminate against them.) ' It is
God who justifieth ; who is he that condemneth V What can
be more clear, than that there justification signifieth absolution
from all guilt and blame ?

4. Farther, this notion may be confirmed by excluding that
sense, which in opposition thereto is assigned, according to
which justification is said to import, not only remission of sin,
and acceptance with God, but the making a man intrinsically
righteous, by infusing into him, as they speak,* a habit of grace,
or charity ; the putting into a man a ' righteousness, by which
(as the council of Trent expresseth it) we are renewed in the
spirit of our mind, and are not only reputed, but are called, and
become truly righteous, receiving righteousness in ourselves.'

Now admitting this to be true, as in a sense it surely is, that
whoever (according to St. Paul's meaning in this Epistle) is
justified, is also really at the same endued with some measure
of that intrinsic righteousness which those men speak of, (for-
asmuch as that faith, which is required to justification, (being
a gift of God, managed by his providence, and wrought by his
preventing grace,) doth include a sincere and steadfast purpose
of forsaking all impiety, of amendment of life, of obedience to
God, which purpose ' cleanseth the heart,' and is apt to pro-
duce as well inward righteousness of heart, as outward righte-
ousness of practice ; for that also to every sound believer on
his faith is bestowed the Spirit of God, as a principle of righte-
ousness, dwelling in him, directing, admonishing, exciting him

• Bell. i.3.

OF JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH.

135

to do well ; assisting and enabling him sufficiently to the per-
formance of those conditions, or those duties, which Christianity
requireth, and the believer thereof undertaketh ; which, the
man's honest and diligent endeavor concurring, will surely
beget the practice of all righteousness, and in continuance of
such practice will render it habitual ;) — avowing, I say, wil-
lingly, that such a righteousness doth ever accompany the justi-
fication St. Paul speaketh of, yet that sort of righteousness
doth not seem implied by the word justification, according to
St. Paul's intent, in those places where he discourseth about
justification by faith; for that such a sense of the word doth
not well consist with the drift and efficacy of his reasoning, nor
with divers passages in his discourse. For,

1. Whereas St. Paul, from the gentral depravation of man-
ners in all men, both Jews and Gentiles, argueth the necessity
of such a justification, as the Christian gospel declareth and
exhibiteth, if we should take justification for infusing an inhe-
rent quality of righteousness into men, by the like discourse we
might infer the imperfection and insufficiency of Christianity
itself, and consequently the necessity of another dispensation
beside it; for that even all Christians, as St. James saith, do
offend often, and commission of sin doth also much reign among
them ; so that St. Paul's discourse (justification being taken in
this sense) might strongly be retorted against himself.

2. Supposing that sense of justification, a Jew might easily
invalidate St. Paul's ratiocination, by saying, that even their
religion did plainly enough declare such a justification, which
God did bestow on all good men in their way, as by their fre-
quent acknowlegements and devotions is apparent ; such as those
of the psalmist: ' Create in me a clean heart, O God, renew
a right spirit within me.' ' Teach me to do thy will, for thou art
my God.' ' Make me to go in the path of thy commandments ;
incline my heart unto thy testimonies.' Which sort of prayers
God hearing did infuse righteousness, and justified those persons
in this sense ; so that Christianity herein could not challenge
any thing peculiar, or could on this score appear so necessary
as St. Paul pretendeth.

3. From the justification St. Paul speaketh of, all respect

130

BARROW. — SERMON V.

to any works, and to any qualifications in men, (such as might
beget in them any confidence in themselves, or yield occasion
of boasting,) is excluded ; it cannot therefore well be under-
stood for a constituting man intrinsically righteous, or infusing
worthy qualities into him ; but rather for an act of God termi-
nated on a man as altogether unworthy of God's love, as im-
pious as an enemy, as a pure object of mercy ; so it is most
natural to understand those expressions, importing the same
thing ; ' Godjustifieth the ungodly ;' ' we being sinners, Christ
died for us;' (purchasing, as the following words imply, justi-
fication for us ;) ' being yet enemies, we by his death were re-
conciled,' or justified, for reconciliation and justification, as we
before noted, do there signify the same.

4. Abraham is brought in as an instance of a person justified
in the same manner as Christians are according to the gospel :
but his justification was merely the approving and esteeming
him righteous, in regard (not to any other good works, but) tohis
steadfast faith, and strong persuasion concerning the power and
faithfulness of God — because ' he was fully persuaded that what
God had promised he was able to perform;' to which faith and
justification consequent thereon, St. Paul, comparing those of
Christians, subjoineth ; ' Now it was not written for his sake
alone, that it was imputed to him, but for us also, to whom it
shall be imputed, if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our
Lord from the dead.' As then it were an idle thing to fancy a
righteousness on the score of that belief, dropt into Abraham ;
and as his being justified is expressly called, having righteous-
ness, on the account of his faith, imputed or ascribed to him ;
so our justification (like and answerable to his) should corre-
spondently be understood, the approving and accounting us, not-
withstanding our former transgressions, as righteous persons, in
regard to that honest and steadfast faith wherein we resemble
' that father of the faithful.'

Even St. James himself, when he saith that Abraham and
Rahab were justified by works, it is evident that he meaneth
not that they had certain righteous qualities infused into them,
or were made thence by God intrinsically more righteous than
they were before, but that they were approved and accepted by

OF JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH.

137

God, because of the good works they performed, (in faith
and obedience to God,) one of them offering to sacrifice
his son, the other preserving the spies sent from God's people.

5. The so often using the word imputation of righteousness,
instead of justification, doth imply this act not to be a tran-
sient operation on the soul of man, but an act immanent to
God's mind, respecting man only as its object, and translating
him into another relative state : with this sense that word ex-
cellently well agreeth, otherwise it were obscure, and so apt
to perplex the matter, that probably St. Paul would not have
used it.

6. Again, when it is said again and again, ' that faith is im-
puted for righteousness;' it is plain enough that no other thing
in man was required thereto : to say that he is thereby sanctified,
or hath gracious habits infused, is uncouth and arbitrarious :
the obvious meaning is, that therefore he is graciously accepted
and approved, as we said before.

7. We might in fine add, that the word justification is very
seldom or never used in that sense of making persons righteous,
or infusing righteousness into them. Bellarmine and Grotius,
having searched with all possible diligence, do allege three or
four places wherein (with some plausible appearance) they pre-
tend it must be so understood : but as they are so few, so are
they not any of them thoroughly clear and certain ; but are
capable to be otherwise interpreted without much straining ;
the clearest place, Dan. xii. 3. the LXX. read D'p^O a^o
Suca/wr, which the Hebrew and sense will bear. Wherefore
the other sense, which we have maintained, being undeniably
common and current in the Scripture, and having so many par-
ticular reasons showing it agreeable to St. Paul's intent, seem-
eth rather to be embraced.

In St. Paul's Epistles I can only find three or four places,
wherein the word justifying may with any fair probability be
so extended as to signify an internal operation of God on the
soul of men ; they are these :

' And such were some of you ; but ye have been washed, but
ye have been sanctified, but ye have been justified in the name
of Christ Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God;' where justi-
fication being performed by the Spirit of God, seemeth to

1 38

BARROW. — SERMON V.

imply a spiritual operation on a man's soul, as an ingredient
thereof.

' According to his mercy he saved us, by the laver of rege-
neration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; which he poured
on us richly by Jesus Christ our Saviour ; that being justi-
fied by his grace, we may be made heirs, according to the
hope of everlasting life:' where God's justifying us by the
grace of Christ seemeth to include the renewing by the Holy
Ghost.

' He that dieth, is justified from sin :' where St, Paul speak-
ing about our obligation to lead a new life in holy obedience, on
account of our being dedicated to Christ, and renouncing sin
in baptism, may be interpreted to mean a being really in our
hearts purified and freed from sin.

' Whom he predestinated, those he called ; and whom he
called, those he justified ; and whom he justified, those he glo-
rified :' where the chief acts of God toward those who finally
shall be saved, being in order purposely recited, and justifica-
tion being immediately (without interposing sanctification)
coupled to glorification, the word may seem to comprise sancti-
fication.

If considering these places (which yet are not clearly pre-
judicial to the notion we have made good, but may well be in-
terpreted so as to agree thereto) it shall seem to any, that St.
Paul doth not ever so strictly adhere to that notion, as not some-
time to extend the word to a larger sense, I shall not much con-
tend about it : it is an ordinary thing for all writers to use their
words sometimes in a larger, sometimes in a stricter sense ; and
it sufliceth to have shown that where St. Paul purposely treat-
eth about the matter we discourse on, the purport of his dis-
course argueth that he useth it according to that notion which
we have proposed.

8. I shall only add one small observation, or conjecture, fa-
voring this notion ; which is the probable occasion of all St.
Paul's discourse and disputation about this point, which
seemeth to have been this : that Christianity should (on so slen-
der a condition or performance as that of faith) tender unto all
persons indifferently, however culpable or flagitious their for-
mer lives had been, a plenary remission of sins and reception

OF JUSTIFICATION BY FA^TH.

13'.'

into God's favor, did seem an unreasonable and implausible
thing to many : the Jews could not well conceive, or relish,
that any man so easily should be translated into a state equal or
superior to that, which they took themselves peculiarly to
enjoy : the Gentiles themselves (especially such as conceited
well of their own wisdom and virtue) could hardly digest it ;
Celsus in Origen could not imagine or admit that bare faith
should work such a miracle, as presently to turn a disso-
lute person into a saint, beloved of God, and designed to hap-
piness.

Zozimus saith of Constantine, that he chose Christianity as
the only religion that promised impunity and pardon for his
enormous practices ; intimating his dislike of that point in our
religion. This prejudice against the gospel St. Paul removeth,
by showing that, because of all men's guilt and sinfulness,
such an exhibition of mercy, such an overture of acceptance,
such a remission of sin was necessary in order to salvation,
so that without it no man could be exempted from wrath and
misery ; and that consequently all other religions (as not ex-
hibiting such a remission) were to be deemed in a main
point defective : when therefore he useth the word justifica-
tion to express this matter, it is reasonable to suppose that he
intendeth thereby to signify that remission, or dispensation of
mercy.

It may be objected that St. Austin and some others of the
Fathers do use the word commonly according to the sense of
the Tridentine Council. I answer, that the point having never
been discussed, and they never having thoroughly considered
the sense of St. Paul, might unawares take the word as it
sounded in Latin, especially the sense they affixed to it, signi-
fying a matter very true and certain in Christianity. The like
hath happened to other Fathers in othei cases ; and might hap-
pen to them in this, not to speak accurately in points that never
had been sifted by disputation. More, I think, we need not say
in answer to their authority.

VI. So much may suffice for a general explication of the
notion ; but for a more full clearing of the point, it may be re-
quisite to resolve a question concerning the time when this act is
performed of dispensed. It may be inquired, when God justi-

140

BARROW. — SERMON V.

fieth, whether once, or at several times, or continually. To
which question 1 answer briefly :

1. That the justification which St. Paul discourseth of,
seemeth in his meaning, only or especially to be that act of
grace, which is dispensed to persons at their baptism, or at
their entrance into the Church ; when they openly professing
their faith, and undertaking the practice of Christian duty, God
most solemnly and formally doth absolve them from all guilt,
and accepteth them into a state of favor with him : that St.
Paul only or chiefly respecteth this act, considering his design,
I am inclined to think, and many passages in his discourse
seem to imply.

If his design were (as I conceive it probable) to vindicate
the proceeding of God, peculiarly declared in the gospel, in
receiving the most notorious and heinous transgressors to grace
in baptism, then especially must the justification he speaketh
of relate to that ; to confirm which supposition, we may con-
sider, that,

1. In several places justification is coupled with baptismal
regeneration and absolution : ' Such were some of you ; but ye
have been washed, ye have been sanctified, ye have been justi-
fied in the name of Christ Jesus :' (where, by the way, being
sanctified and being justified seem equivalent terms; as in that
place where Christ is said ' to have given himself for the church,
that he might sanctify it, and cleanse it with the washing of
water by the Word,' sanctification, I conceive, importeth the
same thing with justification.) Again, ' He saved us by the
laver of regeneration, that having been justified by his grace,
we may be made heirs of everlasting life.'

2. St. Paul in expressing this act, as it respecteth the faith-
ful, commonly doth use a tense referring to the past time : he
saith not ItKawvfio-oi, ' being justified,' but bmatmOetrres, ' having
been justified ;' not biKatovode, ' ye are justified;' but btmai-
Byre, ' ye have been justified ;' namely, at some remarkable
time, that is, at their entrance into Christianity. (Our transla-
tors do render it according to the present time ; but it should
be rendered as I say, in our text, and in other places.)

3. St. Paul in the 6th to the Romans discourseth thus :
Seeing we in baptism are cleansed and disentangled from sin,

OF JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH.

Ill

are 'dead to it, and so justified from it,' God forbid that we
should return to live in the practice thereof, so abusing and
evacuating the grace we have received ; which discourse
seemeth plainly to signify, that he treateth about the justifica-
tion conferred in baptism.

4. He expresseth the justification he speaketh of by the
Words 7rupearts tu>v TtpoyeyovoTuiv apaprr)fj.aTwv, ' the passing over
foregoing sins,' which seemeth to respect that universal absolu-
tion, which is exhibited in baptism. ' Being,' saith he, 'justi-
fied freely by his grace, through the redemption that is in
Christ Jesus; whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation
through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the
remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God.'

5. The relation this justification hath to faith, being dis-
pensed in regard thereto, (or on condition thereof,) doth infer
the same : faith is nothing else but a hearty embracing Christi-
anity, which first exerteth itself by open declaration and avowal
in baptism, (when we 'believe with our hearts to righteousness,
and confess with our mouth to salvation ;') to that time there-
fore the act of justification may be supposed especially to ap-
pertain : then, when the evangelical covenant is solemnly rati-
fied, the grace thereof especially is conferred. On such consi-
derations I conceive that St. Paul's justification chiefly doth
respect that act of grace, which God consigneth to us at our
baptism. But farther,

2. The virtue and effect of that first gratifying act doth
continue (we abide in a justified state) so long as we do per-
form the conditions imposed by God, and undertaken by
us at our first justification; 'holding fast the profession of
our hope without wavering ; keeping faith, and a good con-
science;' so long as we do not forfeit the benefit of that grace
by ' making shipwreck of faith and a good conscience,' relaps-
ing into infidelity, or profaneness of life. Our case is plainly
like to that of a subject, who having rebelled against his prince,
and thence incurred his displeasure, but having afterward on
his submission, by the clemency of his prince, obtained an act
of pardon, restoring him to favor and enjoyment of the pro-
tection and privileges suitable to a loyal subject, doth continue
in this state, until by forsaking his allegiance, and running

142

BARROW.— SERMON V.

again into rebellion, he so loseth the benefit of that pardon,
that his offence is aggravated thereby : so if we do persevere
firm in faith and obedience, we shall (according to the purport
of the evangelical covenant) continue in a state of grace and
favor with God, and in effect remain justified ; otherwise the
virtue of our justification ceaseth, and we in regard thereto are
more deeply involved in guilt.

3. Although justification chiefly signifieth the first act of
grace toward a Christian at his baptism, yet (according to ana-
logy of reason, and affinity in the nature of things) every dis-
pensation of pardon granted on repentance may be styled jus-
tification ; for as particular acts of repentance, on the commis-
sion of any particular sins, do not so much differ in nature, as
in measure or degree, from that general conversion practised
in embracing the gospel ; so the grace vouchsafed on these pe-
nitential acts, is only in largeness of extent, and solemnity of
administration, diversified from that; especially considering
that repentance after baptism is but a reviving of that first
great resolution and engagement we made in baptism ; that re-
mission of sin on it is only the renovation of the grace then
exhibited ; that the whole transaction in this case is but a re-
instating the covenant then made (and afterward by transgres-
sion infringed) on the same terms, which were then agreed on ;
that consequently, by congruous analogy, this remission of sins,
and restoring to favor, granted to a penitent, are only the
former justification reinforced ; whence they may bear its name :
but whether St. Paul ever meaneth the word to signify thus, I
cannot affirm.

Now according to each of these notions all good Christians
may be said to have been justified ; they have been justified by
a general abolition of their sins, and reception into God's favor
in baptism : they so far have enjoyed the virtue of that gra-
cious dispensation, and continued in a justified state, as they
have persisted in faith and obedience ; they have, on falling
into sin, and rising thence by repentance, been justified by
particular remissions. So that ' having been justified by faith,
they have peace with God, through our Lord Jesus Christ.'

SERMON VI.

SUMMARY OF SERMON VI.

JEREMIAH, CHAP. LI. — VERSE 15.

An attentive observation of this world, or visible frame, is
not only a worthy employment of our thoughts, but even a con-
siderable duty : for it is what affords most cogent and satis-
factory arguments for that foundation of all religion, the being
of one God, incomprehensibly excellent in all perfections : it
also serves to beget in our minds suitable affections towards
him, &c. General view of those footsteps or signs which dis-
cover the work of one wise, powerful, and good Being.

I. Things viewed singly, which are most familiar and obvious
to our senses : first, for example, those plants which we every day
see, smell, and taste ; the construction and propagation, &c. of
these specified. Inquiry whence all this fitness of things can
arise : whether from chance or casual motions of matter 1
Answered : that it is repugnant to the name and nature of
chance, that any thing regular or constant should arise from it :
this enlarged on. Whether from necessity ? In this case the
phrase only is altered ; for necessary causality, taken without
relation to some wisdom or counsel that established it, is but
another name for chance : this topic dilated on. These effects
therefore must proceed from wisdom, such as surpasses our
comprehension, joined to power equally great, &c.

And if we have reason to acknowlege so much wisdom and
power discovered in one plant, and multiplied in so many
thousands of different kinds, how much more may we discern
them in any one animal ; in all of them ? The animal structure,
&c. enlarged on. And can this proceed from mere chance or

144 SUMMARY OF

bliud necessity ? Could ever senseless matter jumble itself into
such wonderful postures, so that of innumerable myriads of
atoms none should in roving miss their way ? none fail to seat
themselves in the order ofexactest art ? This subject dilated on.

II. But if, passing from particulars, we observe the relation
of several kinds of things each to other, we shall find more
reason to be convinced concerning the same excellent perfec-
tions farther extending themselves. Is there not, for example, a
palpable relation between the frame, the temper, the natural
inclinations, or instincts of each animal, and its element or
natural place of abode, wherein it only can live, finding therein
its food, its harbour, its refuge ? Is not to each faculty within
an object without prepared, exactly correspondent thereto ?
which were it wanting, the faculty would become vain and
useless, yea, sometimes hurtful, &c. This topic dilated on, with
the various products of nature, formed for the purpose of minis-
tering to our preservation, ease, and delight, &c. And must
we bless fortune for all this? did she so especially love us, and
tender our good ? does she so crown us with lovingkinduess,
and daily load us with benefits? Shall we, in her favor, dis-
claim so noble a parent, as omnipotence in wisdom and in good-
ness ? This topic enlarged on.

III. The last consideration intimated was, that all these
things join together in one universal consort, with one harmo-
nious voice, to proclaim one and the same Wisdom, as having
designed ; one and the same Power, as having produced ; one
and the same Goodness, as having set both wisdom and power
to work in designing and producing their being, in preserving
and governing it. For this whole system of thiDgs, what is it
but one goodly body, as it were, compacted of several members
and organs, so aptly, that each confers its being and its opera-
tion to the ornament and stability of the whole ? All the parts
of the world, said a philosopher, are so constituted, that they
could not be either better for use, or more beautiful for show.

SERMON VI.

145

This topic dilated on. If (hen, as Plutarch observes, no fair
thing is ever produced by hazard, but with art framing it ;
how could this most fair comprehension of all fair things be,
not the lawful issue of art, but a by-blow of fortune ; of fortune,
the mother only of broods monstrous and misshapen ? If the
nature of any cause be discoverable by its effects; if from any
work we may infer the workman's ability ; if in any case the
results of wisdom are distinguishable from the consequences of
chance ; we have reason to believe that the Architect of this
magnificent frame was one incomprehensibly wise, powerful,
and good Being. Conclusion.

CAR.

vol. v.

141-

BARROW. — SERMON VI.

21 93elicbe in <8ou,
SERMON VI.

THE BEING OF GOD PROVED FROM THE
TRAME OF THE WORLD.

JEREMIAH, CHAP. LI. — VERSE 15.

He hath made the earth by his power, he hath established the
world by his wisdom, and hath stretched out the heaven by his
understanding.

The attentive observation of this world, or visible frame, is
not only in itself a most worthy employment of our thoughts,
(much more noble than any of those petty cares, which com-
monly possess or distract our minds,) but, if either the example
of the best men, or the great usefulness thereof, to the best
purposes, can oblige us, even a considerable duty not to be
neglected by us. For it is that which affords most cogent and
satisfactory arguments to convince us of, and to confirm us in,
the belief of that truth which is the foundation of all religion
and piety, the being of one God, incomprehensibly excellent in
all perfections, the maker and upholder of all things ; it instructs
us not only that God is, but more distinctly shows what he is ;
declaring his chief and peculiar attributes of wisdom, goodness,
and power superlative ; it also serves to beget in our minds
affections toward God, suitable to those notions; a reverent
adoration of his unsearchable wisdom ; an awful dread of his
powerful majesty ; a grateful love of his gracious benignity and
goodness : to these uses we find it applied by the best men, not

THE BEING OF GOD PROVED, &C. 147

only by the wisest philosophers among heathens, but by the
holy prophets of God ; who frequently harp on this string, and
make sweetest melody thereon ; exciting both in themselves
and others, pious thoughts and holy devotions therewith ;
strengthening their faith in God ; advancing their reverence to-
ward him ; quickening and inflaming their love of him ; magni-
fying his glory and praise thereby ; by the consideration, I say,
of those wonderful effects discernible in nature, or appearing to
us in this visible world. And if ever to imitate them herein
were necessary, it seems to be so now, when a pretence to
natural knowlege, and acquaintance with these things, hath
been so much abused to the promoting of atheism and irreli-
gion ; when that instrument which was chiefly designed, and is
of itself most apt, to bring all reasonable creatures to the know-
lege, and to the veneration of their Maker, hath (in a method
most preposterous and unnatural) been perverted to contrary
ends and effects. To the preventing and removing which abuse,
as every man should contribute what he can, so let me be al-
lowed to endeavor somewhat toward it, by representing briefly
what my meditation did suggest, serving to declare that (as
the prophet asserts, or implies in the words I read) even in this
visible world there are manifest tokens, or footsteps, by which
we may discover it to be the work, or product, of one Being,
incomprehensibly wise, powerful, and good ; to whom, conse-
quently, we must owe the highest respect and love, all possible
worship and service. Of these footsteps, or signs, there be in-
numerably many, which, singly taken, do discover such per-
fections to be concerned in the production of them ; the relation
of several to each other do more strongly and plainly confirm
the same ; the connection and correspondence of all together
doth still add force and evidence thereto, each attesting to the
existence of those perfections, all conspiring to declare them
concentred and united in one Cause and Being.

I. View we first, singly, those things, which are most fami-
liar and obvious to our senses, (for only some such I mean to
consider, such as any man awake, and in his senses, without
any study or skill more than ordinary, without being a deep
philosopher or a curious virtuoso, may with an easy attention
observe and discern ;) view we such objects, I say ; for instance,

148

BARROW. — SERMON VI.

first, those plants we every day do see, smell, and taste : Have
not that number, that figure, that order, that temperament, that
whole contexture and contemperation of parts we discern in
them, a manifest relation to those operations they perform ?
Were not such organs so fashioned, and so situated, and so
tempered, and in all respects so fitted, some of them in order
to the successive propagation of them, (that they might in kind
never fail or perish, but in that respect become as it were im-
mortal ;) some in regard to their present nutrition and mainte-
nance, (that the individuals themselves might not, before their
due period of subsistence run through, be spent, or destroyed ;)
some for shelter and defence against all sort of causes prejudi-
cial to either of those continuances in being respectively ; to
omit those, which serve for grace and ornament? (Do not, I
say, the seed most evidently respect the propagation of the
kind ; the root the drawing of nourishment, the nervous fila-
ments the conveyance of that ; the skin or bark, the keeping
all together close and safe ; the husks and shells, preservation
of the seed; the leaves, defence of the fruit?) That such a con-
stitution of parts is admirably fit for such purposes, we cannot
be so stupid as not to perceive ; we cannot but observe it ne-
cessary, for that by detraction, or altering any of them, we ob-
struct those effects. Whence then, I inquire, could that fitness
proceed ? from chance, or casual motions of matter ? But is it
not repugnant to the name and nature of chance, that any thing
regular or constant should arise from it ? that by it causes
vastly many in number and different in quality, (such as are
the ingredients into the frame of the least organ in a plant,)
should not once, not sometimes, not often only, but always, in
one continual unaltered method concur to the same end and
effect, (to the same useful end, to the same handsome effect?)
Are not confusion, disparity, deformity, unaccountable change
and variety, the proper issues of chance ?* It is Aristotle's dis-
course : • That one or two things,' saith he, ' should happen to
be in the same manner, is not unreasonable to suppose ; but
that all things should conspire by chance, it looks like a fiction
to conceive : what is universal and perpetual cannot result from

* Cic. de Nat. Deor. 2. Arist. Pol. vii. 4.

THE BEING OF GOD PROVED, &C. 149

chance.' ' We can only,' saith he again, 'with good reason
assert, or suppose such causes of things, as we see generally or
frequently to occur.'* Now did we ever observe (or ever any
man through the whole course of times) any new thing like or
comparable to any of these, to spring up casually ? Do we not
with admiration regard (as a thing very rare and unaccountable)
in other pieces of matter any gross resemblance to these, that
seemeth to arise from contingent motions and occurrences of
bodies? If chance hath formerly produced such things, how
comes it, that it doth not sometime now produce the like ;
whence becomes it for so many ages altogether impotent and
idle ? Is it not the same kind of cause ? hath it not the same
instruments to work with, and the same materials to work on ?
The truth is, as it doth not now, so it did not, it could not ever
produce such effects; such effects are plainly improper and in-
congruous to such a cause : chance never writ a legible book ;
chance never built a fair house ; chance never drew a neat
picture ; it never did any of these things, nor ever will ; nor can
be without absurdity supposed able to do them ; which yet are
works very gross and rude, very easy and feasible, as it were,
in comparison to the production of a flower or a tree. It is not
therefore reasonable to ascribe those things to chance : to what
then ? will you say, to necessity ? If you do, you do only alter
the phrase ; for necessary causality (as applicable to this case,
and taken without relation to some wisdom or counsel that
established it) is but another name for chance ; they both are
but several terras denoting blindness and unadvisedness in
action ; both must imply a fortuitous determination of causes,
acting without design or rule. A fortuitous determination, I
say ; for motions of matter, not guided by art or counsel, must
be in their rise fortuitous, (insomuch as that according to the
nature of the thing there is no r< pugnance, and we may easily
conceive it possible that the natter might have been moved
otherwise; there being therein no principle originally determin-
ing it to this more than to that sort of motion ;) and the same
motions in their process must be determinate, because in their
subject there is no principle, whereby it can alter its course.

* Arist. de Coslo, ii. 8.

ISO

BARROW.— SERMON VI.

The same effect therefore of this kind, if necessary, is casual as
to its original, and in that respect may be said to come from
chance ; if casual, is necessary in the progress, and may thence
be said to proceed from necessity. And although we should
suppose the beginning of these causes in their action, or motion,
to be eternal, it were all one; for whether now, or yesterday,
or from eternity, infers no difference (except the entangling our
minds, and incumbering the case with impertinent circum-
stances) as to our purpose ; not the circumstance of the time,
but the quality of the cause being only here considerable ; the
same causes (abstracting from all counsel ordering them) being
alike apt or inept yesterday as to-day, always as sometimes,
from all eternity as at any set time, to produce such effects.
Neither can we therefore reasonably attribute the effects we
speak of to necessity ; except only to such an hypothetical ne-
cessity, as implies a determination from causes acting by will
and understanding ; of such a necessity matter is very susceptive ;
being perfectly obedient to art directing it with competent
force ; as on the other hand we find it by reason and experience
altogether unapt, without such direction, of itself (that is, either
necessarily or contingently) to come into any regular form, or
to pursue any constant course ; it being, as we see, shattered
into particles innumerable, different in size, shape, and motion,
according to all variety more than imaginable; thence only fit
in their proceedings to cross and confound each other : the de-
termination therefore of such causes as these to such ends and
effects, can be only the result of wisdom, art, and counsel ;
which alone (accompanied with sufficient power) can digest
things, void of understanding, into handsome order, can direct
them unto fit uses, can preserve them in a constant tenor of
action ; these effects must therefore, I say, proceed from wis-
dom, and that no mean one, but such as greatly surpasses our
comprehension, joined with a power equally great: for to digest
bodies so very many, so very fine and subtile, so divers in mo-
tion and tendency, that they shall never hinder or disturb one
another, but always conspire to the same design, is a perform-
ance exceedingly beyond our capacity to reach how it could be
contrived or accomplished ; all the endeavors of our deepest
skill and most laborious industry cannot arrive to the producing

THE BEING OF GOD PROVED,

151

of any work not extremely inferior to any of these, not in com-
parison very simple and base ; neither can our wits serve to de-
vise, nor our sense to direct, nor our hand to execute any work,
in any degree like to those. So that it was but faintly, though
truly, said of him in Cicero, concerning things of this kind ;
' Xature's powerful sagacity no skill, no hand, no artist can
follow by imitation .'

And if we have reason to acknowlege so much wisdom and
power discovered in one plant, and the same consequently mul-
tiplied in so many thousands of divers kinds ; how much more
may we discern them in any one animal, in all of them ? the
parts of whom in unconceivable variety, in delicate minuteness,
in exquisiteness of shape, position, and temper, do indeed so far
exceed the other, as they appear designed to functions far more
various and more noble ; the enumeration of a few whereof, ob-
vious to our sense, in some one living creature, together with
conjectures about their manner of operation and their use, how
much industry of man hath it employed; how many volumes
hath it filled, and how many more may it do, without detecting
a ten thousandth part of what is there most obvious and easy ;
without piercing near the depth of that wisdom, which formed
so curious a piece ? So much however is palpably manifest,
that each of these so many organs was designed, and fitted on
purpose to that chief use, or operation, we see it to perform ;
this, of them to continue the kind; that, to preserve the indi-
viduum ; this, to discern what is necessary, convenient, or plea-
sant to the creature, or what is dangerous, offensive, or de-
structive thereto ; that, to pursue or embrace, to decline or shun
it ; this, to enjoy what is procured of good ; that, to remove
what is hurtful or useless, or to guard from mischief and injury ;
that each one is furnished with such apt instruments, suitable
to its particular needs, appetites, capacities, stations, is most
apparent; and I must therefore here ask again, (and that with
more advantage,) whence this could proceed; whence all these
parts came to be fashioned and suited ; all of them so necessary,
or so convenient, that none without the imperfection and the
prejudice of the creature, some not without its destruction, can
be wanting ? who shaped and tempered those hidden subtile
springs of life, sense, imagination, memory, passion ; who im-

152 BARROW.— SERMON VI.

pressed on them a motion so regular and so durable, which
through so many years, among so many adverse contingencies
assailing it, is yet so steadily maintained ? Can this however
proceed from giddy chance, or blind necessity ? could ever (of
old or lately, it is all one) senseless matter jumble itself so for-
tunately into so wonderful postures, so that of those innumer-
able myriads of atoms, or small insensible bodies, (which com-
pose each of these curious engines) none should in its roving
miss the way; none fail to stop and seat itself in that due place
where exactest art would have disposed it ? Could so many,
so dim, so narrow marks be hit without the aim of a most
piercing and unerring eye ; without the guidance of a most
steady and immovable hand ? All that grace and beauty,
which so delights our sense beholding it ; all that correspond-
ence and symmetry, which so satisfies our mind considering it;
all that virtue and energy, extending to performances so great
and admirable, must they be ascribed to causes of no worth,
and supposed done to no purpose ? that eye which reaches the
very stars, and in a moment renders all the world, as it were,
present to the creature that useth it ; that ear which perceives
the least stirring of the air about it, and so subtly distinguishes
the smallest differences in its motion ; that tongue which so
readily is composed to imitate so many petty diversities of tune :
those other organs which are affected by the least breath or
vapor, by the least tang or savor, so that it by them can both
perceive the presence, and distinguish the quality of whatever
is near, that it may not be disappointed in missing what is be-
neficial, nor be surprised by the assault of what is noxious
thereto; all these and many more, the defect, distemper, or
dislocation of which would be disgraceful, incommodious, or
destructive to the creature ; all these, I say, can any man, in-
dued with common sense, or ordinary ingenuity, affirm to have
proceeded from any other cause than from a wisdom and power
incomprehensible ? May not the most excellent pieces of human
artifice, the fairest structures, the finest portraitures, the most
ingenious and useful inquiries, such as we are wont most to
admire and commend, with infinitely more ease, happen to
exist without any contrivance or industry spent on them ? If
we cannot allow those rude imitations of nature to spring up of

THE BEING OF GOD PROVED, &C.

153

themselves, but as soon as we espy them are ready to acknow-
lege them products of excellent art, though we know not the
artist, nor did see him work ; how much more reason is there
that we should believe those works of nature, so incomparably
more accurate, to proceed also from art, although invisible to
us, and performing its workmanship by a secret hand ? lean
assure you of those who have with greatest attention contem-
plated these things, and who pass for men most able to judge in
the case, (even those who have discovered least affection to
religion, or indeed are more than suspected of an aversion from
it ; whose words therefore may be taken at least for impartial
dictates of common sense,) that even from such the irresistible
force and evidence of the thing hath extorted clear and ample
confessions to this purpose : that in nature nothing is performed
without reason or design ; but every thing in the best manner
and to the best end, beyond what is done in any art, is fre-
quently asserted and assumed by Aristotle himself as a most
evident truth : that in contriving the frame of our bodies, (and
the same holdeth concerning the bodies of other animals,) a
wisdom inscrutable ; in accomplishing it, a power insuperable ;
iu designing to them so much of decency and convenience, a
benignity worthy of all veneration are demonstrated, Galen in
several places, with language very full and express, yea very
earnest and pathetical, doth acknowlege. That who doth at-
tently regard a locust, or a caterpillar, or any other viler
animal, shall everywhere therein discover a wonderful art and
diligence, is an aphorism dropt even from the gloomy pen of
Cardan.* That if any man shall view thoroughly all the in-
struments both of generation and nutrition, and doth not per-
ceive them to have been made and ordered to their respective
offices by some mind, (or intelligent agent,) he is to be reputed
himself void of mind, (or out of his wits,) is the expression of
another person well known among us, whom few do judge
partial to this side, or suspicious of bearing a favorable preju-
dice to religion. Thus doth common sense from these sort
of beings, whereof there be innumerable exposed daily to our
observation, even singly considered, deduce the existence of a

* Card, de Variet. vii. 27. pag. 283. Hobbes. de Horn. cap. 1.

154

BARROW.— SERMON VI.

wisdom, power, and goodness unconceivably great ; and there
are probably divers others (stones, metals, minerals, &c.)
no less obvious, even here on the earth, our place of dwelling,
which, were our senses able to discern their constitution
and texture, would afford matter of the same acknowlege-
ment.

II. But if, passing from such particulars, we observe the re-
lation of several kinds of things each to other, we shall find more
reason to be convinced concerning the same excellent perfec-
tions farther extending themselves. By such comparison we
may easily discern, that what speaks much of art in itself singly
considered, declares more thereof in respect toother things;
and that many things, in which, separately looked on, we could
perceive but small artifice, have indeed much of it in such re-
lation, (which although seeming in themselves mean and de-
spicable, are yet very useful and necessary to considerable pur-
poses, in subserviency to the convenience of more noble beings ;)
and though perhaps we cannot thoroughly penetrate the rela-
tive use and design of every thing which hangs up before us in
Nature's shop, (by reason of our incapacity, or unskilfulness in
her trade,) yet we shall have reason from what we can plainly dis-
cover, to collect that each piece there is a tool accommodate to
some use. Is there not, for instance, a palpable relation between
the frame, the temper, the natural inclinations or instincts of each
animal, and its element or natural place and abode; wherein
it can only live, finding therein its food, its harbor, its re-
fuge ? Is not to each faculty within (or to each sensitive
organ) an object without prepared, exactly correspondent
thereto; which were it wanting, the faculty would become vain
and useless, yea sometime harmful and destructive ; as reci-
procally the object would import little or nothing, if such a
faculty were not provided and suited thereto? As for exam-
ple, what would an eye (or the visive power) signify, if there
were not light prepared to render things visible thereto ? and
how much less considerable than it is would the goodly light
itself be, were all things in nature blind, and uncapable to dis-
cern thereby ? What would the ear serve for, if the air were
not suitably disposed (made neither too thick nor too thin ;
neither too resty nor too fleeting, but) in a due consistency, and

THE BEING OF GOD PROVED, &C.

] :>:>

capable of moderate undulations distinguishable thereby ? The
like we might with the same reason inquire concerning the
other senses and faculties, vital or animal, and their res-
pective objects, which we may observe with admirable con-
gruity respecting each other. Have not all those goodly
colors, and comely shapes, which in the leaves, the flowers, and
the fruits of plants (I might add in gems and precious stones ;
yea in all sorts of living creatures) we behold, an evident re-
spect to the sight, and the sight a no less visible reference to
them ? Those many kinds of 'pleasant fragrancy in herbs,
flowers, and spices, have they not a like manifest relation to
smell, and it to them ? Could all that great variety of whole-
some, savory, and delicious fruits, herbs, grains, pulses, seeds,
and roots become so constantly produced, otherwise than for
the purpose of feeding and sustaining living creatures with
pleasure and content ? Is there not a notorious correspondence
between them and the organs of taste, digestion, and nutrition .'
Are there not appetites prompting, yea with intolerable pain
provoking each living creature to seek its proper sustenance 1
and doth it not find in the enjoyment hereof a pleasure and sa-
tisfaction unexpressible ? Let me add: whence comes it to
pass, that ordinarily in nature nothing occurs noisome or
troublesome to any sense ; but all things wholesome and com-
fortable, at least innocent or innoffensive ? that we may wan-
der all about without beiug urged to shut our eyes, to stop our
ears, our mouths, our noses ; but rather invited to open all the
avenues of our soul, for the admission of the kind entertain-
ments nature sets before us ? Doth she not every where pre-
sent spectacles of delight (somewhat of lively picture, some-
what of gay embroidery, somewhat of elegant symmetry) to
our eyes, however seldom any thing appears horrid or ugly to
them ? Where is it that we meet with noises so violent, or so
jarring, as to offend our ears ? is not there rather provided for
us, wherever we go, some kind of harmony grateful to them ;
not only in fields and woods the sweet chirping of birds; by
rivers the soft warbling of the streams; but even the rude winds
whistle in a tune not unpleasant; the tossing seas yield a kind
of solemn and graver melody ? All the air about us, is it not
(not only not noisome to our smell, but) very comfortable and

166

BARROW. — SERMON VI.

refreshing? and doth not even the dirty earth yield a whole-
some and medicinal scent ? So many, so plain, so exactly
congruous are the relations of things here about us each to
other ; which surely could not otherwise come than from one
admirable wisdom and power conspiring thus to adapt and con-
nect them together; as also from an equal goodness, declared
in all these things being squared so fitly for mutual benefit and
convenience. These considerations are applicable to all (even
to the meaner sorts of ) animals ; which being the only crea-
tures capable of joy and pleasure, or liable to grief and pain,
it was fit, that insensible things should be disposed to serve
their needs and uses, which hath been with so wonderful a
care performed, that of so vast a number among them there is
none so vile or contemptible, (no worm, no fly, no insect,) for
whose maintenance, whose defence, whose satisfaction, compe-
tent (shall I say, or abundant) provision hath not been made,
both intrinsical (by a frame of organs fitting them to obtain
and to enjoy what is good for them, to shun and repel what is
bad ; by strong appetites inciting them to search after and pur-
sue, or to beware and decline respectively ; by strange instincts
enabling them to distinguish between what is fit for them to pro-
cure or embrace, to remove or avoid ;) and being extrinsical
also, by a great variety of conveniences, answerable to their
several desires and needs, dispersed all about, and every where,
as it were, offered to them. So that the holy psalmist (consi-
dering this, and taking on him to be, as it were, their chaplain)
had reason to say this grace for them : ' The eyes of all wait
on thee, and thou givest them their meat in due season ; thou
openest thine hand, and satistiest the desire of every living
thing.' But especially (that which as reason enables us, so due
gratitude obliges us, and prompts us especially to observe)
there is an evident regard (so evident, that even Pliny, a pro-
fessed Epicurean, could not forbear acknowledging it) which all
things bear to man, the prince of creatures visible ; they being
all as on purpose ordered to yield tribute unto him; to supply
his wants, to gratify his desires ;' with profit and pleasure to
exercise his faculties; to content, as it were, even his humor
and curiosity. All things about us do minister (or at least may
do so, if we would improve the natural instruments, and the

THE BEING OF GOD PROVED, &C

157

opportunities afforded us) to our preservation, ease, or delight.
The hidden bowels of the earth yield us treasure of metals and
minerals, quarries of stone and coal, so necessary, so service-
able to divers good uses, that we could not commodiously be
without them ; the vilest and most common stones we tread on
(even in that we tread on them) are useful, and serve to many
good purposes beside : the surface of the earth how is it be-
spread nil over, as a table well furnished, with a variety of de-
licate fruits, herbs, and grains to nourish our bodies, to please
our tastes, to cheer our spirits, to cure our diseases! how many
fragrant and beautiful flowers offer themselves for the comfort
of our smell, and the delight of our sight ! Neither can our
ears complain, since every wood breeds a quire of natural mu-
sicians, ready to entertain them with easy and unaffected har-
mony. The woods, I say, which also adorned with stately
trees afford us a pleasant view and a refreshing shade, shelter
from weather and sun, fuel for our fires, materials for our
houses and our shipping; with divers other needful utensils.
Even the barren mountains send us down fresh streams of
water so necessary to the support of our lives, so profitable
for the fructification of our grounds, so commodious for con-
veyance of our wares, and maintaining intercourse among us.
Yea the wide seas are not (altogether unprofitable) wastes ; but
freely yield us without our tillage, many rich harvests, trans-
mitting our commerce and traffic, furnishing our tables with
stores of dainty fish, supplying the bottles of heaven with
waters to refresh the earth, being inexhaustible cisterns, from
whence our rivers and fountains are derived; the very rude and
boisterous winds themselves fulfil God's word (which once
commanded all things to be good, and approved them to be
so) by yielding manifold services to us; in brushing and
cleansing the air for our health, in driving forward our ships,
(which without their friendly help could not stir,) in gathering
together, in scattering, in spreading abroad the clouds; the
clouds, those paths of God, 'which drop fatness' on our fields
and pastures. As for our living subjects, all the inferior sorts
of animals, it is hardly possible to reckon the manifold benefits
we receive from them ; how many ways they supply our needs
with pleasant food and convenient clothing, how they ease our

158

BARROW. — SERMON VI.

labor, how they promote even our recreation and sport. Thus
have all things on this earth (as is fit and seemly they should
have) by the wise and gracious disposal of the great Creator, a
reference to the benefit of its noblest inhabitant, most worthy
and most able to use them : many of them have an immediate
reference to man, (as necessary to his being, or conducible to his
well-being; being fitted thereto, to his hand, without his care,
skill, or labor,) others a reference to him more mediate indeed,
yet as reasonable to suppose ; I mean such things, whose use-
fulness doth in part depend on the exercise of our reason, and
the instruments subservient thereto : for what is useful by the
help of reason, doth as plainly refer to the benefit of a thing
naturally endowed with that faculty, as what is agreeable to
sense refers to a thing merely sensitive : we may therefore, for
instance, as reasonably suppose that iron was designed for our
use, though first we be put to dig for it, then must employ
many arts, and much pains before it become fit for our use; as
that the stones were therefore made, which lie open to our
view; and without any preparation we easily apply to the
pavement of our streets, or the raising of our fences : also, the
grain we sow in our grounds, or the trees which we plant in
our orchards, we have reason to conceive as well provided
for us, as those plants which grow wildly and spontaneously ;
for that sufficient means are bestowed on us of compassing such
ends, and rendering those things useful to us, (a reason able to
contrive what is necessary in order thereto, and a hand ready
to execute,) it being also reasonable that something should be
left for the improvement of our reason, and employment of our
industry, lest our noblest powers should languish and decay by
sloth or want of fit exercise.

Well then, is it to a fortuitous necessity (or a necessary
chance) that we owe all these choice accommodations and pre-
eminences of nature ? must we bless and worship fortune for
all this ? did she so especially love us, and tender our good ?
was she so indulgent toward us, so provident for us in so many
things, in every thing; making us the scope of all herworkings
and motions here about us? Must we change style, and say,
fortune pours down blessings on our heads, fortune crowns us
with loving-kindness, fortune daily loads us with her benefits?

THE BEING OF GOD PROVED, &C.

159

Shall we not only esteem these good things her gifts, but even
acknovvlege ourselves her offsprings, and reverence her as our
mother ; disclaiming so noble a parent, as Wisdom Omnipo-
tent; disowning so worthy a benefactor, as Sovereign Good-
ness ? O brutish degeneracy ! O hellish depravedness of mind !
Are we not, not only wretchedly blind and stupid, if we are
not able to discern so clear beams of wisdom shining through
so many perspicuous correspondences ; if we cannot trace the
Divine power by footsteps so express and remarkable; if we
cannot read so legible characters of transcendent goodness; but
extremely unworthy and ungrateful, if we are not ready to
acknowlege, and with hearty thankfulness to celebrate all these
excellent perfections, by which all these things have been so
ordered, as to conspire and co-operate for ourbenefit ? Methinks
the very perception of so much good, the continual enjoyment of
so many accommodations, the frequent satisfaction of so many
senses and appetites, should put us in so good humor, that
when we feel our hearts replenished with food and gladness,
when we so delightfully relish nature's dainties, when we with
pleasure view this fair scene of things, when our ears are
ravished with harmonious sounds, when our spirits are exhi-
larated with those natural perfumes shed about our gardens,
our woods, and our fields, we should not be able to forbear
devoutly crying out with the psalmist ; ' O Lord, how mani-
fold are thy works! in wisdom hast thou made them all ;
the earth is full of thy riches :' ' The earth, O Lord, is full of
thy mercy and bounty ;' ' Lord, what is man, that thou art so
mindful of him; or the son of man, that thou makest such ac-
count of him ?' that thou hast made him to have dominion over
the works of thy hands, and hast put all things under his feet V
Under his feet : and such in a manner, according to proper and
direct meaning, are all those things which we have as yet
touched on ; so many arguments of the Divinity even looking
downwards, as it were, (if we do not look so rather like beasts
than men,) we may on this little spot of our habitation perceive :
but if, employing our peculiar advantage, we lift up our eyes
and minds toward heaven, there in a larger volume, and in a
brighter character, we shall behold the testimonies of perfec-
tion, and majesty stupendous described: as our eyes are

160

BARROW. — SERMON VI.

dazzled with the radiant light coming thence, so must the vast
amplitude, the stately beauty, the decent order, the steady
course, the beneficial efficacy of those glorious lamps, astonish
our minds, fixing their attention on them ; he that shall, I say,
consider with what precise regularity, and what perfect con-
stancy those (beyond our imagination) vast bodies perform
their rapid motions, what pleasure, comfort, and advantage
their light and heat do yield us, how their kindly influences
conduce to the general preservation of all things here below,
(impregnating the womb of this cold and dull lump of earth
with various sorts of life, with strange degrees of activity,) how
necessary (or how convenient at least) the certain recourses of
seasons made by them are ; how can he but wonder, and won-
dering adore that transcendency of beneficent wisdom and
power, which first disposed them into, which still preserves
them in, such a state and order ? That all of them should be so
regulated, as for so many ages together, (even through all
memories of time,) to persist in the same posture, to retain the
same appearances, not to alter discernibly in magnitude, in
shape, in situation, in distance from each other; but to abide
fixed, as it were, in their unfixedness, and steady in their rest-
less motions ; not to vary at all sensibly in the time of their
revolution, (so that one year was ever observed to differ in an
hour, or one day in a minute from another,) doth it not argue a
constant will directing them, and a mighty hand upholding
them ? it did so, Plutarch tells us, to the common apprehensions
of men in ancient times ; who from these observations deduced
the existence and notion of a God ; because, saith he, ' they
took notice that the sun, the moon, and the rest of the stars,
taking their course about the earth, did constantly arise alike in
their colors, equal in their bignesses, in the same places, and at
the same times.'* Reason dictated to them what the inspired
psalmist sings concerning the heavenly host ; that God ' com-
manded, and they were created; he hath also stablished them
for ever and ever, by a decree that should not pass.' And
surely, those celestial squadrons could never be ranged in a
form so proper, and marcli on so regularly without the mar-'

* Plut. de Plac. i. 6.

THE BEING OF GOD PROVED, &C. IGL

shalling, and without the conduct of a most skilful captain.
He that can seriously ascribe all this to an undisciplined and
unconducted troop of atoms rambling up and down confusedly
through the field of infinite space, what might he not as easily
assert or admit? Certainly, he that can think so, can think
any thing ; and labor were vainly spent in farther endeavor to
convince him. So even Pagan philosophers have judged ; on
whom what impression this consideration hath made, we may
learn from these words of one among them, Cicero : ' Who,'
saith he, ' would call him a man, that beholding such certain
motions of heaven, thus settled ranks of stars, all things there
so connected and suited together, should deny there were a
reason in them, or should affirm those things done by chance,
which by no understanding we can reach with how great
counsel they are performed ? And, ' What other thing,' adds
he, ' can be so open and so perspicuous, to us that shall behold
the heavens and contemplate things celestial, as that there is a
most excellent Divinity, by which these things are governed?'*
Thus do ' the heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament
showeth his handy work :' yea, thus we have reason to acknow-
lege with Nehemiah ; 'Thou, even thou, art the Lord alone;
thou hast made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their
hosts; the earth and all things that are therein, the seas and all
that is therein ; and thou preservest them all.' Thus, every
thing above and below us, before and behind, on this, on that,
on every side of us, yields more than a simple attestation to
the existence of its glorious Maker; each of them singly,
several of them together, giving their vote and suffrage thereto.
' III. Yea, which was tlie last consideration intimated, all
of them join together in one universal consort, with one harmo-
nious voice, to proclaim one and the same wisdom to have de-
signed, one and the same power to h ive produced, one and the
same goodness to have set both wisdom and power on work in
designing and in producing their being ; in preserving and
governing it: for this whole system of things what is it, but
one goodly body, as it were, compacted of several members and
organs ; so aptly compacted together, that each confers its

* Cic. de Nat. Deor. ii. 38. Ibid. ii. 2.

L62

BARROW- — SERMON VI.

being and its operation to the grace and ornament, to the
strength and stability of the whole; one soul (of Divine pro-
vidence) enlivening in a manner, and actuating it all? Survey
it all over, and we shall have reason to say with the philo-
sopher; 'All the parts of the world are so constituted, that
they could not be either better for use, nor more beautiful
for show.'* In it we shall espy nothing in substance super-
fluous or defective ; nothing in shape deformed, in position
misplaced, in motion exorbitant, so as to prejudice the beauty
or welfare of the whole. We may perhaps not discern the
use of each part, or the tendency of each particular effect ;
but of many they are so plain and palpable, that reason obliges
us to suppose the like of the rest. Even as a person whom we
observe frequently to act with great consideration and prudence,
when at other times we cannot penetrate the drift of his pro-
ceedings, we must yet imagine that he hath some latent reason,
some reach of policy, that we are not aware of ; or, as in an
engine consisting of many parts, curiously corrfbined, whereof
we do perceive the general use, and apprehend how divers
parts thereof conduce thereto, reason prompts us (although we
neither see them all, nor can comprehend the immediate service-
ableness of some) to think they are all in some way or other
subservient to the artist's design : such an agent is God, the
wisdom of whose proceedings being in so many instances noto-
rious, we ought to suppose it answerable in the rest; such an
engine is this world, of which we may easily enough discern
the general end, and how many of its parts do conduce thereto ;
and cannot therefore in reason but suppose the rest in their
kind alike congruous, and conducible to the same purpose :
our incapacity to discover all doth not argue any defect, but
an excess of wisdom in the design thereof ; not too little per-
fection in the work, but too great an one rather, in respect to
our capacity : however, we plainly see the result of all to be
the durable continuance of things, without interruption or
change, in the same constant uniform state ; which shows that
in the world there is no seed of corruption, as it were ; no in-
clination to dissolution or decay ; nothing that tends to the

* Cic. de Nat. Deor. ii. 34.

THE BEING OF GOD PROVED, &C.

t$3

discomposure or destruction of the whole : each ingredient
thereof (of those so unconceivably numerous) consists within its
proper limits; not incroaching immoderately on, not devouring
or disturbing another in its course ; contrary qualities therein
serving to a due temperament, opposite inclinations begetting a
just poise, particular vicissitudes conferring to a general settle-
ment ; private deaths and corruptions maintaining the public
life and health, producing a kind of youthful vigor in the whole:
so that six thousand years together hath this great machine
stood, always one and the same, unimpaired in its beauty, un-
worn in its parts, unwearied and undisturbed in its motions.
If then, as Plutarch says, 'no fair thing is ever produced by
hazard, but with art framing it ;'* how could this most fair
comprehension of all fair things be not the lawful issue of art,
but a by-blow of fortune ; of fortune, the mother only of
broods monstrous and misshapen ? flf the nature of any cause
be discoverable by its effects ; if from any work we may infer
the workman's ability ; if in any case the results of wisdom are
distinguishable from the consequences of chance, we have reason
to believe that the Architect of this magnificent and beautiful
frame was one incomprehensibly wise, powerful, and good
Being ; and to conclude with Cicero, Esse prcestanlem aliquam
aternamquc naturam, et earn suspicie?idam, adorandamque
hominum generi pulchriludo mundi, ordoque rerum coelestium
cogit conjiteri ; the sense of which saying we cannot better
render or express, than in St. Paul's words, 'The invisible
things of God by the making (or rather by the make and con-
stitution) of the world are clearly seen, being understood by
the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead ;'
so that, I adjoin after him, ' they are inexcusable, who from
hence do not know God ;' or knowing him do not render unto
him his due glory and service.

• Plat, de Plac. i. 6. t Cic. de Nat. Deor. ii. 37

164

SUMMARY OF

SUMMARY QF SERMON VII.

GENESIS, CHAP. I. — VERSE 27.

The belief of God's existence is the foundation of all reli-
gion : hence the usefulness of such discourses as tend to esta-
blish that foundation by convincing arguments : this topic
enlarged on.

Subject of the present discourse, the consideration of man,
both as taken singly, and in conjunction with the rest of his
kind.

I. We may consider any one single man, who consists of two
parts, the one external or material, the other, that interior invi-
sible principle of operations peculiarly called human : the
former has been, as it were, discussed : the latter is now chiefly
taken into consideration ; and in this express signs of the
Creator may be discovered.

1. And first, that man's nature did proceed from some effi-
cient cause, it will (as of other tilings in nature) be reasonable
to suppose ; for if not so, it must either have sprung up of
itself, so that at some time, or from all eternity, some one man,
or some number of men did of themselves exist; or there hath
been a succession, without beginning, of continual generations,
&c: both these suppositions shown to be absurd.

•2. It could not come from any sensible or material cause, nor
from any complication of such causes; for the properties,
powers, and operations of man's soul are wholly different from
in kind, highly elevated in worth, above all the properties,
powers, and operations of things corporeal, however framed or
tempered : this topic enlarged on.

SERMON VII.

165

3. AVe are not only God's works, but his children ; our
souls bearing in their countenance and complexion various ex-
press features of him ; especially as they were made at first,
and as by improvement they may again become : this fully
shown.

II. Thus doth human nature, being in each singular man,
show the existence of God, as its original author. Considering
also men as related and combined together in society, some
glimpse of Divine power and wisdom, ordering them towards it,
and preserving them in it, may be perceived.

As in the natural world, the parts thereof are fitted with
admirable propriety, in varieties of size, of quality, of aptitude
to motion, &c. ; so in the world political we may observe
various propensities and aptitudes, disposing men to combine
together and co-operate in society ; all things being so ordered,
that even contrarieties of humor serve to settle them in their
due place and posture, &c. And since it is plainly best for
man thus to live in society, the fact that he is so disposed and
suited thereto, is an argument of mighty wisdom and goodness
in that cause from whence all this proceeded ; and such a cause
is God. The same also may be reasonably deduced from the
care and preservation of society ; for though man be inclined to
and fitted for it, yet being'a free agent, no ordinary banks will
constantly restrain him in due place and order; so that the
course of affairs, perverted by some men's irregular passions,
would run into confusion, without a wise and provident super-
intendence : this topic enlarged on. Conclusion.

16G EARROW. — SERMON VII.

% 2?dicbe in <6oD,
SERMON VII.

THE BEING OF GOD PROVED FROM THE
FRAME OF HUMAN NATURE.

GENESIS, CHAP. I. — VERSE 27.

So God created man in his own image ; in the image of God created
he him.

If the belief of God's existence, which is the foundation of
all religion, be not well laid in our minds by convincing rea-
sons, the superstructures standing thereon may easily be in
danger of being shaken and ruined ; especially being assailed
by the winds of temptation and opposition, which every where
blow so violently in this irreligious age. No discourses there-
fore can perhaps be more needful, (or seasonably useful,)
than such as do produce and urge reasons of that kind, apt to
establish that foundation. Of such there be, I conceive, none
better, or more suitable to common capacity, than those which
are drawn from effects apparent to men's general observation
and experience, the which cannot reasonably be ascribed to
any other cause than unto God ; that is, (according to the
notion commonly answering to that name,) to a Being incom-
prehensibly wise, powerful, and good. Of such effects there
be innumerably many in this sensible world, among things na-
tural, more strictly so called, that is, subsisting and acting
without immediate use of understanding or choice ; the consti-

THE BEING OF GOD PROVED, &C. 167

tutions and operations of which (being evidently directed ac-
cording to very much reason, and to very good purpose) do
evince their being framed and ordered by such a Being ; as I
have formerly, with a competent largeness, endeavored to
show. But beside those, there is exposed to our observation,
yea subject to our inward conscience, another sort of beings,
acting in another manner, and from other principles ; having in
them a spring of voluntary motion and activity ; not, as the
rest, necessarily determined, or driven on, by a kind of blind
violence, in one direct road to one certain end ; but guiding
themselves with judgment and choice, by several ways, toward
divers ends ; briefly, endued with reason, to know what and
why ; and with liberty, to choose what and how they should
act ; and that this sort of beings (that is, we ourselves, all man-
kind) did proceed from the same source or original cause, as it
is in way of history delivered and affirmed in our text, so' I
shall now endeavor by reason (apt to persuade even those, who
would not allow this sacred authority) to show. Indeed, if
the ' eternal power and divinity of God may,' as St. Paul tells
us, ' be seen in all the works of God ;' the same peculiarly
aud principally will appear observable in this masterpiece, as
it were, of the great Artificer; if the meanest creatures reflect
somewhat of light, by which we may discern the Divine exist-
ence and perfections ; in this fine and best polished mirror we
shall more clearly discover the same : nowhere so much of
God will appear as in this work, which was designedly formed
to resemble and represent him. This then is the subject of our
present discourse, That in man, well considered, we may dis-
cern manifest footsteps of that incomprehensibly excellent
Being impressed on him ; and this doubly, both in each man
singly taken, and in men as standing in conjunction or relation
to each other : considering man's nature, we shall have reason
to think it to have proceeded from God ; considering human
societies, we shall see cause to suppose them designed and go-
verned by God.

I. Consider we first any one single man, or that human na-
ture abstractedly, whereof each individual person doth partake;
and w hereas that doth consist of two parts, one material and
external, whereby man becomes a sensible part of nature, and

168

BARROW. — SERMON VII.

hath an eminent station among visible creatures ; the other,
that interior and invisible principle of operations peculiarly
called human : as to the former, we did, among other such
parts of nature, take cognisance thereof, and even in that dis-
covered plain marks of a great wisdom that made it, of a great
goodness taking care to maintain it. The other now we shall
chiefly consider, in which we may discern not only arjut'ia, but
ofjoiui/unTa, of the Divine existence and efficiency ; not only
large tracks, but express footsteps ; not only such signs
as smoke is of fire, or a picture of the painter that drew it ;
but even such, as the spark is of fire, and the picture of its
original.

1. And first, that man's nature did proceed from some effi-
cient cause, it will (as of other things in nature) be reasonable
to suppose. For if not so, then it must either spring up of
itself, so that at some determinate beginning of time, or from
all eternity, some one man, or some number of men did of
themselves exist; or there hath been a succession, without be-
ginning, of continual generations indeterminate (not termi-
nated in any root, one or more, of singular persons).

Now, generally, that man did not at any time in any man-
ner spring up of himself, appears, 1. From history and common
tradition ; which (as we shall otherwhere largely show) deliver
the contrary ; being therein more credible than bare conjecture
or precarious assertion, destitute of testimony or proof. 2. From
the present constant manner of man's production, which is not
by spontaneous emergency, but in way of successive derivation,
according to a method admirably provided for by nature. 3. Be-
cause if ever man did spring up of himself, it should be rea-
sonable that at any time, that often, that at least sometime in
so lon°- a course of times, the like should happen, which yet
no experience doth attest. 4. There is an evident relation be-
tween our bodies and souls ; the members and organs of our
bodies being wonderfully adapted to serve the operations of
our souls. Now in our bodies (as we have before showed)
there appear plain arguments of a most wise Author, that con-
trived and framed them ; therefore in no likelihood did our
souls arise of themselves, but owe their being to the same wise

THE BEING OF GOD PROVED, &C.

169

Also particularly, that not any men did at some beginning
of time spring up of themselves is evident, because there is even
in the thing itself a repugnance ; and it is altogether uncon-
ceivable that any thing, which once hath not been, should ever
come to be without receiving its being from another : and sup-
posing such a rise of any thing, there could not in any case be
any need of an efficient cause ; since any thing might purely
out of nothing come to be of itself.

Neither could any man so exist from eternity, both from the
general reasons assigned, which being grounded in the nature of
the thing, and including no respect to this circumstance of now
and then, do equally remove this supposition, (for what is in
itself unapt or unnecessary or improbable to be now, was al-
ways alike so ; the being from eternity or in time not altering
the nature of the thing;) and also particularly, because there
are no footsteps or monuments of man's (not to say eternal,
but even) ancient standing in the world; but rather many good
arguments (otherwhere touched) of his late coming there-
into ; which consideration did even convince Epicurus and his
followers, and made them acknowlege man to be a novel pro-
duction. I add, seeing it is necessary to suppose some eternal
and self-subsistent Being distinct from man, and from any
other particular sensible being, (for there is no such being,
which in reason can be supposed author of the rest ; but rather
all of them bear characters signifying their original from a
Being more excellent than themselves ;) and such an one
being admitted, there is no need or reason to suppose any other,
(especially man and all others appearing uuapt so to subsist,)
therefore it is not reasonable to ascribe eternal self-subsistence
'to num. This discourse I confirm with the suffrage of Aris-
totle himself ; who in his Physics hath these words : ' In natu-
ral things, that which is definite and better, if possible, must
rather exist : but it suffices that one, the first of things immov-
ble, being eternal, should be to others the original of motion ;'
(I subjoin, and by parity of reason it is sufficient, that one and
the best thing be eternally subsistent of itself, and the cause of
subsistence to the rest.)

As for the last supposition, that there have been indetermi-
nate successions of men, without beginning, it is also liable to
BAR. vol. v. H

170

BARROW.— SERMON VII.

most of the former exceptions, beside that it is altogether un-
intelligible, and its having this peculiar difficulty iu it, that it
ascribes determinate effects to causes indeterminate. And
indeed it hath been to no other purpose introduced, than to
evade the arguments arising from the nature of the thing, by
confounding the matter with impertinent intrigues, such as the
terms of infinite and indeterminate must necessarily produce
in man's shallow understanding. I therefore, on such grounds,
assume it as a reasonable supposition, that man's nature is no-
wise avrofviis, but hath proceeded from some cause.

2. I adjoin, secondly, that it could not come from any sen-
sible or material cause, nor from any complication of such
causes ; for that the properties, the powers, the operations of
man's soul are wholly different from in kind, highly elevated in
worth, above all the properties, powers, and operations of things
corporeal, in what imaginable manner soever framed or tem-
pered : the properties, faculties, and operations of our souls are,
or refer to, several sorts or ways of knowlege, (sense, fancy,
memory, discourse, mental intuition;) of willing, (that is, of
appetite toward and choice of good, or of disliking and refus-
ing evil ;) of passion, (that is, of sensible complacency or dis-
pleasure in respect to good and evil apprehended under several
notions and circumstances ;) of a'v-onn>i)<jia, or self-moving, (the
pow er and act of moving w ithout any force extrinsical working
on it.) The general properties of things corporeal are extension
according to several dimensions and figures ; aptness to receive
motion from, or to impart motion unto, each other in several
degrees and proportions of velocity ; to divide and unite, or
to be divided and united each by other ; and the like, coherent
with and resulting from these : now to common sense it seems
evident that those properties and these are toto genere different
from each other; nor have any conceivable similitude unto,
connexion with, dependence on eacli other, as to their imme-
diate nature. Let any part of this corporeal mass be refined
by the subtlest division, let it be agitated by the quickest mo-
tion, let it be modelled into what shape or fashion you please ;
how can any man imagine either knowlege or appetite or pas-
sion thence to result? or that it should thence acquire a power
of moving itself, or another adjacent body ? Even, I say, this

THE BEING OF GOD PROVED, &C. 171

inferior locomotive faculty is too high for matter, by any change
it can undergo, to obtain : for we (as inward experience, or
conscience of what we do may teach us) determine ourselves
commonly to action, and move the corporeal instruments subject
to our will and command, wot by force of any precedent bodily
impression or impulse, but either according to mere pleasure, or
in virtue of somewhat spiritual and abstracted from matter,
acting on us, not by a physical energy, but by moral represen-
tation, in a manner more easily conceived than expressed ; (for
no man surely is so dull that he cannot perceive a huge differ-
ence between being dragged by a violent hand, and drawn to
action by a strong reason ; although it may puzzle him to ex-
press that difference) : such a proposition of truth, such an ap-
prehension of events possible, such an appearance of good or
evil consequent, (things no where existent without us, nor
having in them any thing of corporeal subsistence ; nor there-
fore capable of corporeal operation,) are all the engines that
usually impel us to action ; and these, by a voluntary applica-
tion of our minds, (by collecting and digesting, severing and re-
jecting, sifting and moulding the present single representations
of things, by an immediate interior power, independent from
any thing without us,) we frame within ourselves. And even
such a self-moving or self-determining power we cannot anywise
conceive to be in, or to arise from, any part of this corporeal
mass, however shaped or fixed, however situated or agitated :
much less can we well apprehend the more noble faculties to be
seated in or to spring from it ; of them the grossest and the
finest, the slowest and the nimblest, the roughest and the smooth-
est bodies are alike capable, or rather unlike, uncapable. To
think a gross body may be ground and pounded into ration-
ality, a slow body may be thumped and driven into passion, a
rough body may be filed and polished into a faculty of discern-
ing and resenting things ; that a cluster of pretty thin round
atoms, (as Democritus forsooth conceited,) that a well mixed
combination of elements, (as Empedocles fancied,) that a har-
monious contemperation (or crasis) of humors, (as Galen,
dreaming it seems on his drugs and his potions, would persuade
us,) that an implement made up of I know not what fine springs,
and wheels, and such mechanic knacks, (as some of our mo-

17-2

BARROW. — SERMON VII.

dern wizards have been busy in divining,) should, without
more to do, become the subject of so rare capacities and en-
dowments, the author of actions so worthy, and works so won-
derful ; capable of wisdom and virtue, of knowlege so vast, and~
of desires so lofty; apt to contemplate truth and affect good ;
able to recollect things past, and to foresee things future; to
search so deep into the causes of things, and disclose so many
mysteries of nature ; to invent so many arts and sciences, to
contrive such projects of policy, and achieve such feats of
prowess; briefly, should become capable to design, undertake,
and perforin all those admirable effects of human wit and in-
dustry which we daily see and hear of ; how senseless and ab-
surd conceits are these ! how can we, without great indignation
and regret, entertain such suppositions ! No, no : it is both
ridiculous fondness and monstrous baseness for us to own any
parentage from, or any alliance to, things so mean, so very
much below us. It is indeed observable that no man can well,
or scarce any man hath disowned the receiving his being from
God, but hath also in a manner disavowed his own being what
he is; that no man denying God hath not also withal denied
himself; denied himself to be a man; renounced his reason,
his liberty, and other perfections of his nature ; rather than
acknowlege himself so well descended, hath been ready to con-
fess himself uo more than a beast, yea much less than probably
beasts are ; a mere corporeal machine, a ball of fate and chance,
a thing violently tossed and tumbled up and down by bodies
all about it. But let these degenerate men vilify their own
nature, and disparage themselves as they please, yet those
noble perfections of our soul speak its extraction from a higher
stock; we cannot, if we consider them well, but acknowlege
that,

Mcntem e coelesti demissam traximus arce ;
or, as Epicharmus said of old, that • man's reason did sprout
from the Divine reason ;'* they plainly discover their original to
be from a cause itself understanding and knowing, willingfreely,
resenting things, (if I may so speak,) and moving of itself in a
more -excellent manner and degree.

« Epic. CI. Alex. Ser. v. pag. 441.

THE BEING OF GOD PROVED, &C.

173

And indeed it is very considerable to our purpose, that while
we assert the existence of God, we assert no other thing to be,
than such as whereof we can assign a manifest instance or exam-
ple, as it were, although in degree much inferior ; for what can
in any degree exist, it is not hard to conceive that possible to
exist in any degree, how high soever ; what is in kind possible,
is in any perfection of degree possible; yea, what we see in a
lower degree somewhere to exist, doth probably otherwhere
exist in higher perfection. There is therefore scarce any attri-
bute commonly ascribed to God, the existence whereof we can-
not show possible, yea very credible, by showing some degree,
(I us,e this word in a large and popular sense, not regarding
scholastical nicety,) some participation, some semblance (or, if
you please, some shadow) thereof discernible in man ; he being
indeed a small picture, as it were, wherein God hath drawn and
represented himself, giving us to read that of himself in this
small volume, which in its proper character and size we could
never be able to apprehend ; each letter, each line of his excel-
lency being in itself too large for our eye perfectly to view and
comprehend.

3. We are, I say, not only God's works, but his children ;
our souls bearing in their countenance and complexion divers
express features of him ; especially as at first they were made,
and as by improvement of our capacities they may again be-
come. In the substance of man's soul, in its union with things
corporeal, in its properties and powers, we may observe divers
such resemblances, declaring it in a manner to be what Seneca
did say of it, ' a little God harboured in human body.' For
as God, (inhabiting light inaccessible,) being himself invisible,
and subject to no sense, discovers himself by manifold effects
of wisdom and power; so doth our soul, itself immediately ex-
posed to no sense, show itself by many works of art and in-
dustry, wherein she imitates nature and the works of God ;
although her works in fineness and greatness do indeed come
infinitely short of his.

As God by his presence and influence doth, as the philoso-
pher speaks,* ' contain and keep together the whole frame of

* Arist. de Muiulo.

174

BARROW. — SERMON VII.

things,' so that he withdrawing them, it would fall of itself into
corruption and ruin ; so doth the soul, by its union and secret
energy on the body, connect the parts of its body, and preserve
it from dissolution, which presently, they being removed, do
follow.

As he, in a manner beyond our conception, without any-
proper extension or composition of parts, doth coexist with,
penetrateth, and passeth through all things; so is she, in a
manner also unconceivable, every where present within her
bounds, and penetrates all the dimensions of her little world.

As he incomprehensibly, by a word of his mind, or by a
mere act of will, doth move the whole frame or any part of
nature ; so doth she, we cannot tell how, by thinking only, and
by willing, wield her body, and determine any member thereof
to motion.

As he, not confined by the extension or duration of things,
doth at one simple view behold all things, not only present, but
past and future, yea, whenever, wherever, however possible ;
so doth she, making wide excursions out of her narrow mansion
in an instant, as it were, or with a marvellous agility, transcend
any fixed bounds of time or place ; surveys in her thought the
most remote regions, stopping no where, and passing over the
world's bounds into spaces void and imaginary ; reviews ages
long since past, and looks forward into those long after to
come ; sees things in their causes, and, as it were, beyond them,
even the possibilities of things that never shall be.

As he performs nothing rashly or vainly, but always with
wisest design to the best end ; so doth she never set herself on
action without some drift, or aim at good apparent to her.

As he among all the agitations and changes of things without
him abides himself immovable, impassible, and immutable ; so is
she, immediately at least, not disturbed, not altered, not affected
by the various motions that surround her ; they do not touch
her, they cannot stir her ; among the many tumults and tempests
blustering all about her, she can retain a steady calm and rest:
Aristotle himself concluded her to be unruovable, impassible,
unmixed, and uncompounded. So fair characters are there of
the Divine nature engraven on man's soul : but one chief pro-
perty thereof we have not as yet touched ; whereof, alas ! the

THE BEING OF GOD PROVED, &C. 17«>

neaments are more faint and less discernible ; they being in
themselves originally most tender and delicate, and thence apt
by our unhappy degeneration to suffer the most, and have
thence accordingly been most defaced ; goodness I mean ;
whereof yet, I shall not doubt to say, many goodly relics are
extant, and may be observed therein. There do remain, dis-
persed in the soil of human nature, divers seeds of goodness, of
benignity, of ingenuity, which being cherished, excited, and
quickened by good culture, do, to common experience, thrust
out flowers very lovely, yield fruits very pleasant of virtue and
goodness. We see that even the generality of men are prone to
approve the laws and rules directing to justice, sincerity, and
beneficence ; to commend actions suitable unto them, to honor
persons practising according to them ; as also to distaste, detest,
or despise such men, whose principles or tempers incline them
to the practice of injury, fraud, malice, and cruelty; yea, even
them men generally are apt to dislike, who are so addicted to
themselves, as to be backward to do good to others. Yea no
man can act according to those rules of justice and goodness
without satisfaction of mind ; no man can do against them
without inward self-condemnation and regret, (as St. Paul did
observe for us.) No man hardly is so savage, in whom the
receiving kindnesses doth not beget a kindly sense, and an
inclination (eo nomine, for that cause barely) to return the like ;
which inclination cannot well be ascribed to any other prin-
ciple than somewhat of ingenuity innate to man.

All men, I suppose, feel in themselves (if at least not har-
dened by villainous custom) a disposition prompting them to
commiserate, yea (even with some trouble and some damage to
themselves) to succor and relieve them who are in want, pain,
or any distress; even mere strangers, and such from whom they
can expect no return of benefit or advantage to themselves.

Many examples occur, in experience and in history, of men
who, from dictates of common reason and natural inclinations,
(which in this case are not to be separated, both arising from
the same source of human nature,) have been very apt freely
and liberally to impart unto others somewhat of any good thing
they possessed ; to sacrifice their own ease, pleasure, profit
unto others' benefit ; to undergo great pains and hazards for

176

BARROW. — SERMON VII.

public good, (the good of their family, of their friends, of their
country, of mankind in general ;) and all this without any hope
of recompense ; except perhaps that commonly they might have
some regard to the approbation and acceptance, to the good-
Mill and gratitude of them, whom their beneficence obliged ;
which in real esteem is no great derogation to their noble
performances; and argues only, there is, together with such
a laudable benignity or goodness of nature, (to excite and en-
liven it,) implanted a natural ambition also, or generosity in
man's soul ; which being well moderated seems not culpable ;
since God himself, in return to his most free beneficence, doth
expect and recpiire somewhat of thanks and praise ; so much as
we are able to render to him.

Yea, (although our adversaries will scarce admit so much,
for that not supposing any good original, they are unwilling to
allow nny good derivative ; they are as ready to exclude all
humanity as divinity ; they have commonly, as no opinion of
God, so no good opinion of men ; feeling little good in them-
selves, they are willing to think less to be in others; so pro-
jecting to excuse themselves, and shroud their own particular
faults under the covert of a general naughtiness,) I doubt not
to say, there have been many persons in all ases full of very
single and sincere good-will toward men, heartily desiring the
public good, and compassionating the evils of mankind; ready
with their best endeavors to procure and promote the one, to
prevent and remove the other, from principles of mere ingenuity
or pure nobleness ; that with unmovable resolution have per-
sisted in courses tending to such ends, although in them they
have encountered dangers, disgraces, and troubles from the in-
grateful world, or rather from some men prevalent therein,
their envy or spite.

In fine, the wisest observers of man's nature have pronounced
him to be a creature gentle and sociable, inclinable to and fit
for conversation, apt to keep good order, to observe rules of
justice, to embrace any sort of virtue, if well managed, if in-
structed by good discipline, if guided by good example, if
living under the influence of wise laws and virtuous governors.
Fierceness, rudeness, craft, malice, all perverse and intract-
able, all mischievous and vicious dispositions do grow amoDg

THE BEING OF GOD PROVED, &C.

17 7

men (like weeds in any, even the best soil) and overspread the
earth, from neglect of good education ; from ill conduct, ill
custom, ill example; (it is the comparison of St. Chrysostom
and of Plutarch.) It is favor therefore, I conceive, to their
own habitual depravations of nature (or perhaps to some preju-
dicate opinions) which hath induced some men to make so dis-
advantageous a portraiture of human nature, in which nothing
lightsome or handsome, no lines of candor or rectitude do ap-
pear, but all seems black and crooked ; all is drawn over with
dusky shades, and irregular features of base designfulness, and
malicious cunning; of suspicion, malignity, rapacity; which
character were it true, (in that general extent, and not proper
only to some monsters among men,) we need not farther seek
for hell, since as many men, so many fiends appear unto us.
But so commodious living here ; so many offices daily performed
among men, of courtesy, mercy, and pity ; so many constant
observances of friendship and amity ; so many instances of
fidelity and gratitude; so much credit always (even among
Pagans and Barbarians) preserved to justice and humanity,
(humanity, that very name doth fairly argue for us,) do suffi-
ciently confute those defamers and slanderers of mankind; do
competently evidence that all good inclinations are not quite
banished the world, nor quite razed out of man's soul; but that
even herein human nature doth somewhat resemble its excellent
original, the nature Divine.

Thus doth man's nature in its substance, as it were, its facul-
ties, its manner of operation, resemble God : but we may
farther observe, that as children are indeed in complexion and
feature usually born somewhat like to their parents, but grow
daily more like unto them, (those smaller lineaments conti-
nually with their bulk and stature increasing and becoming
more discernible;) so is man improvable to more exact resem-
blance of God ; his soul hath appetites and capacities, by
which well guided and ordered, it soars and climbs continually
in its affection and desire toward Divine perfection. Man
hath an insatiable curiosity and greediness of knowlege, (' his
eye is never satisfied with seeing, nor his ear filled with hear-
ing;') he never rests content with, but in a manner despises the
notions already acquired ; always striving to enlarge and enrich

178

BARROW.— SERMON VII.

his mind with intellectual treasure. So doth he tend nearer to
Divine omniscience.

And as his searches after truth, so his desires of good are in
a manner boundless. No present, no definite good can long
detain his liking, or fully content him : he soon doth suck it
dry, and leaves it insipid ; then longs and hunts after fresh
entertainments: he seems poor to himself in the greatest plenty,
and straitened in the most ample condition. In short, he ever
aspires to somewhat more great and high than what he enjoys ;
finding in himself a kind of infinite (at least indefinite) ambi-
tion and covetousness, a restless tendency after farther degrees
of joy and happiness, so doth he shoot himself on toward that
highest mark of Divine felicity.

Being sensible of his own mortal and transitory condition, he
yet seeks to live for ever in his name and memory, labors to
perform memorable actions, rears lasting monuments of his art
and knowlege, of his wealth and power, of his bounty and
munificence, by all means studying and striving to commend
himself to the regard of posterity ; thus affects he another
sort of likeness unto God, even a kind of immortality and
eternity.

If also, being through Divine grace awakened out of that
drowsy state, (which naturally in great measure hath seized on
all men,) he discovereth his moral or spiritual wants and imper-
fections ; he is then apt to breathe and endeavor a nearer
similitude to God, even in goodness, righteousness, and purity ;
to labor in getting continually his inclinations more rectified,
and his passions better composed : in restraining, subduing,
destroying inordinate self-love, with the sensuality, the per-
verseness, the pride, the malice growing from that evil root ; in
promoting all virtuous desires and affections, especially reverence
toward God his father, and charity toward man his brother ;
neither then can he be at ease or well content, till he arrive in
such dispositions of mind to that nearness of perfection which
his capacities do admit. And a man thus qualified in degree,
thus tending in desire toward higher perfection in goodness, is
indeed the most lively image that can be framed of God ; being,
as St. Paul expresseth it, ' renewed to an acknowlegement (or
bett.er understanding of himself, of his 3Iaker, of true good-

THE BEING OP GOD PROVED, &C.

L79

ness) according to the image of him that made him.' I might
also propound to your consideration that <pi\Tpov fwixov to
npos tov KTiaarra, (as one of our Fathers doth call it,) that
' natural proclivity observable in man to acknowlege and
worship God ;'* to embrace religion both in opinion and prac-
tice, and especially on all occasions of need or distress to have
recourse unto him, as an argument of his relation to God. It is,
we see, common in nature for all creatures to be readily ac-
quainted with their parents, to run after them, to expect from
them supply of wants, succor in straits, refuge and defence in
dangers ; from hence we may easily discern to what parent any
child belongs : and since there appears the like instinct and ca-
pacity innate to man, (and indeed to him alone, whence some
philosophers thought good from this property to define man, a
creature capable of religion ;) since he is apt to entertain
notions of God, to bear in his mind awe and respect toward
him ; since he is ready in all his straits (when other helps and
hopes fail him) to lift up his heart and voice toward Heaven
for assistance; why may we not in like manner hence discern,
and with like reason infer, that man is also in especial manner
God's child and offspring ?

I might also adjoin that the very power of framing concep-
tions, although imperfect and inadecpjate, concerning God, is
in itself a faculty so very spiritual and sublime, that it argues
something divine in man's soul. ' That like is known by its
like,' was an axiom among ancient philosophers; and that
spiritual things are spiritually discerned, is the rule of a better
master in wisdom than they ; and beasts surely, because not
endued with reason, have no conceptions concerning man's
nature or the matters proper to him, (according to what rules,
by what methods, to what purposes he doth act ;) so in likeli-
hood should we not be able to apprehend and discourse about
things appertaining to God, his nature, the methods and reasons
of his proceedings ; the notions of eternal truth, the indispen-
sible laws of right, the natural differences of good and evil,
with such like high objects of thought, except our souls had in

* Orig. in Cels. Testimonium animae naturaliter religiosae.—
Tertull.

180

BARROW.— SERMON VII.

them some sparks of divine understanding ; some cognation
with, and communication from, heaven.

I shall to these only subjoin one farther consideration worth
attending to ; that the wisest and most considerate men in seve-
ral times, only by reflecting on their own minds, and observing
in tliem what was most lovely and excellent, most pure and
straight, have fallen on, and conspired in notions concerning
God, very suitable to those which we believe taught us by re-
velation ; although contrary to the prejudices of their educa-
tion, and to popular conceits: many admirable passages to
this purpose we may find dropped from the mouth of Socrates
and the pen of Plato ; in Cicero, in Epictetus, yea, in the least
credulous or fanciful of men, Aristotle himself. Whence
plainly enough we may collect how near affinity there is be-
tween God and us; how legible characters of the divinity are
written on our souls; how easily we may know God, if we be
not ignorant of ourselves ; that we need not go far to fetch ar-
guments to prove that God is, nor to find lessons to learn what
he is; since we always carry both about us, or rather within
us ; since our souls could indeed come from no other than such
a Being, whom they so resemble and represent.

I have indulged my thoughts somewhat freely in this specu-
lation, yet I hope not altogether impertinently, for that (as I
alleged) in the chief of God's works (observable by us) we
may reasonably suppose that his glory doth chiefly shine ; and
will therefore be most discernible to us, if we open our eyes
and apply our minds thereto.

II. Thus doth human nature, being in each singular man,
show the existence of God, as its original author and pattern ;
considering also men as related and combined together in so-
ciety, some glimpse of a divine power and wisdom ordering
them toward it, and preserving them in it, may be perceived.
As in the world natural, the parts thereof are so fitte d in varieties
of size, of quality, of aptitude to motion, that all may stick
together, (excluding chasms and varieties,) and all co-operate
incessantly to the preservation of that common union and har-
mony which was there intended ; so in the world political we may
observe various propensions and aptitudes disposing men to col-
lection and coherence and co-operation in society. They are apt

THE BEING OF GOD PROVED, &C. 181

to flock together, not only from a kind of necessity, discovered
by reason, for mutual help and defence ; but from a natural
love to company and conversation, with an aptness to delight
therein, and from an inbred aversion to that solitude, wherein
many great appetites natural to man must needs be stifled.
They are also marvellously fitted to maintain intercourse not
only by the principal guide thereof, reason, but by that great
instrument of it, speech ; whereby men impart, and, as it were,
transfuse into one another, their inmost thoughts ; which faculty
doth evidently relate unto, and plainly shows men naturally
designed for, society. In order thereto, men are also endued
with several subordinate inclinations and cpialitications (arising
from different temper of body, or disposition of mind) requisite
to cement society, and preserve it for a competent durance in
peace and order; some few being made very sagacious and pro-
vident, and thence fit to direct others; very quick and active,
thence able to execute ; others of a high spirit and courage,
thence affecting and disposed to command ; most others being
dull in conceit, or heavy of temper, or of a soft spirit, and
thence apt to follow, content to rest in mean state, willing to
obey. All these things being so ordered, that even contrari-
ties of humor in men do serve to settle them in their due place
and posture ; to beget and preserve a peaceful union, and a
decent harmony of action in society ; which, supposing all men
in ability and inclination more like or equal, (able to do, apt
to affect the same things,') could hardly be; for then all men
would be competitors and stragglers for the same thing, and so
none would easily obtain, or peacefully enjoy it.

Now since it is plainly best for man to live thus in society,
many great benefits thence accruing to him, (security to his
life, safe enjoying the fruits of his industry, much ease by mu-
tual assistance, much delight in conversation ; all that civil
people enjoy of convenience beyond barbarians and savages, or
indeed above beasts;) that men are so disposed and suited
thereto, is an argument of mighty wisdom and great goodness
in that cause from whence all this proceeded ; and such a cause
is God.

Thus from the constitution of societies we may collect a pro-
vident care over human affairs; the same also may be reasonably

BARROW. — SERMON VII.

deduced from the preservation of them ; for although man be in-
clined unto and fitted forsociety, yet being an agent very free and
loose in his action, (acting contingently, and without necessary
subjection to any settled law or rule, as do other things in
nature,) no ordinary banks will constantly retain him in due
place and order ; so that the course of affairs, perverted by
some men's irregular wills and passions, would run into great
confusion, did not a wise care also continually govern things,
seasonably interposing its hand, and thereby upholding, retain-
ing, establishing them in order, or reducing them thereinto;
did not a superintendent power restrain the fierceness of tyrants,
the ambition of grandees, the greediness of oppressors, the
wildness and precipitancy of factious multitudes : did not God
sometime ' break the arm of the wicked;' or, as Job speaks,
' pour contempt on princes,' and ' weaken the strength of the
mighty;' if he, 'that stilleth the noise of the seas,' did not
also ' repress the tumults of the people.' Indeed, as in nature
it is wisely provided that tigers, wolves, and foxes on the
earth, that kites in the air, and sharks in the sea, shall not so
multiply and abound, but that many tame and gentle creatures
shall abide there by them ; so among men, that (among divers
fierce, ravenous, crafty, and mischievous men) so many poor,
simple, and harmless people do make a shift to live here in
competent safety, liberty, ease, and comfort, doth argue his
especial overwatching care and governance, who (as we are, in
conformity to experience, taught by sacred Scripture) hath an
especial regard unto the poor and unto the meek ; providing
for them, and protecting them.

I might subjoin thote significations of providence, which the
general connection of mankind doth afford ; things being so
ordered, that several nations and societies shall be prompted,
by need or by advantage mutual, to maintain correspondence
and commerce with each other ; under common laws and com-
pacts, that so there should become a kind of union and har-
mony even among the several parts and elements, as it were, of
the human world. I might consider the benefit that arises (as
in the natural world from contrary cpualities and motious, so) in
the human world even from wars and contentions ; how these
rouse men from sloth, brush away divers vices, ferment and

THE BEING OF GOD PROVED, &C. 133

purge things into a better condition : but I will not strive to be
so minute and subtile.

Here I shall conclude these sorts of argumentation, inferring
the existence of God from the common effects obvious to our
sense and experience, either in the greater world of nature, or
lesser world of man ; by which God doth continually, in a
still, though very audible voice, whisper this great truth into
our ears. There be other sort of effects, more rare and extra-
ordinary, which go above or against both those streams of na-
tural and human things, whereby God doth more loudly, as it
were, and expressly proclaim his being and providence; the
consideration of which I shall reserve to another time.

' Grant, we beseech thee, Almighty God, that the words,
which we have heard this day with our outward ears, may
through thy grace be so grafted inwardly in our hearts, that
they may bring forth in us the fruit of good living, to the
honor and praise of thy name, through Jesus Christ our Lord.'
Amen. ty

184

SUMMARY OF

SUMMARY OF SERMON VIII.

PSALM XIX. — VERSES 3. 4.

The Psalmist in this text observes and affirms the univer-
sality of religion. He supposes the heavens to speak an uni-
versal language, heard and understood by all people, glorifying
God, and declaring him their Maker. On this supposition the
present argument is grounded, to prove the existence of God.
The argument is, according to Lactantius, that universal and
unanimous testimony of people and nations, through all
courses of time, who, otherwise differing in language, customs,
and conceits, only have agreed in this one matter of opinion.
Opinion of Aristotle as to degrees of probability : that which
arises from this source approaches near to demonstrable truth.
Testimonies of ancient philosophers to this agreement, as well
as to its force and efficacy.

But if an adversary should refute the verdict of this grand
jury, we may assert its authority, in respect also to the causes
whence it proceeded, or from the manner by which this general
consent can be conceived to have been produced and propagated
among men.

That men should thus conspire in opinion must need arise
either, 1. from a natural light implanted in man's nature; or, 2.
from a common inclination in his soul ; or, 3. from some pre-
valent reason, obvious to all men ; or, 4. from some common
fountain of instruction, or primitive tradition.

And from any one of these ways being allowed, our argu-
ment will gain weight and force. If we acknowlege either of

SERMON VIII.

185

the two first, we do in effect yield the question : if nature for-
cibly drives men into this persuasion, how extravagant will it
be to oppose her ! And if we grant that plain reason, apparent
to the generality of men, hath moved them to this consent, do
we not, by dissenting from it, renounce common sense? But
if we say that it arose in the last manner, from a common
instruction, or primitive tradition, we shall be thereby driven
to inquire, who that common master, or author of the tradition
was: of any such we have no name recorded ; we find no time
designated when it began to arise. Who then were the teach-
ers, but the first parents of mankind ? Thus does this consider-
ation lead to another very advantageous to our purpose : that
mankind hath proceeded from one common stock ; which
doubly confirms our assertion; first, as proving the generations
of men had a beginning; secondly, as affording us their most
weighty authority for the doctrine we assert. For, 1. supposing
mankind had a beginning on this earth, whence could it pro-
ceed but from such a Being as we describe ? This point enlarged
on. 2. Supposing this notion derived from the first men, who
instilled it into them ? Why should they conceive themselves
to come from God, if he that made them did not discover him-
self to them? This enlarged on.

Thus do these two notions, that of general tradition concern-
ing God, and that concerning man's origin on earth from one
stock, mutually support each other. And indeed concerning
the latter, there be divers other arguments of the same kind con-
firming it, such as common opinions, stories, and practices,
which cannot otherwise be accounted for.

Testimonies of Aratus and Cicero, as to our being God's
offspring, and having our souls from his nature : those of
Aristotle, Ovid, Plato, Seneca, &c. concerning similar opinions.
Those of Plato and Cicero concerning man's having been once
in a better state, and having fallen into a more wretched one.

186

SUMMARY OF

Story of Pandora from Hesiod applicable to the evil intro-
duced into the world by Eve. Other traditions from Plato,
Plutarch, &c. instanced. These chiefly concern man.

Divers others concerning God and religion, sprouting
probably from the same root : several of which are pro-
duced from Aristotle, &c. many collected by Clemens Alex-
andrinus.

To these may be added various evil customs, wherein most
nations did from this cause probably conspire : for example,
their stopping at decades, their adherence to the number 7 in
the division of time, &c.

These traditions shown to have been, in substance, univer-
sally received, notwithstanding the negligence of some people,
and the affected wisdom of others : also notwithstanding their
adulteration through ignorance, fancy, craftiness, ambitious
designs, &c. This argument summed up.

In the preceding discourses, the existence of God has been
proved by arguments which more immediately evince those
their principal attributes, wisdom, power, and goodness incom-
prehensible; but which also consequentially declare all the
other attributes commonly esteemed ingredients of that notion
which answers to the name of God.

The uniformity, concord, and perfect harmony which appears
in the constitution and preservation of things ; their conspiring
to one end ; their continuing in the same order and course, do
plainly declare the unity of God. And hereto also the com-
mon suffrage of mankind doth in a manner agree : for although
they worshipped a multitude of inferior deities, yet there was
one Supreme God, Author and Governor of the rest, and of all
things besides : this point enlarged on and illustrated. So
much for God's unity.

His eternity deduced from his having made all things : also
his immortality and immutability. From his making, uphold-

SERMON VIII.

11(7

ing, and governing all things, it follows that he was ever and is
every where ; from his over-reaching wisdom, power, and good-
ness, his perfect veracity and justice proceeds. Lastly, from
the excellency of his nature, from the abundance of his goodness,
from his creation and preservation of all things, his rightful title
to supreme dominion, &c. is inferred.

188

BARROW. — SERMON VIII.

SERMON VIII.

THE BEING OF GOD PROVED FROM
UNIVERSAL CONSENT.

PSALM XIX. — VERSES 3. 4.

There is no speech nor language where their voice is not heard :
their line (or rather, according to the LXX,* their voice) is'
gone out through all the earth, and their words to the end of'
the world.

The psalmist doth in this place observe and affirm (very
plainly) the universality of religion; that all nations did con-
spire in acknowleging a divinity, and ascribing thereto the
framing and conservation of the heavens. He supposes the
heavens to speak an universal language, heard and understood
by all people, therein glorifying God and declaring him their
Maker.

On which supposition I purpose now to ground an argume nt,
to prove (that which formerly by several other kinds of discourse
I have endeavored to evince) that great fundamental truth
concerning the existence of God, that is, of one incompre-
hensibly excellent Being, the Maker and Governor of all
things.

The argument (to be short) is that (as Laclantius speaks t)
universal and unanimous testimony of people and nations,
through all courses of time, who (otherwise differing in lan-

* Who read D^lp instead of Qlp. t Lacf. i. 2.

THE BEING OF GOD PROVED, &C.

180

suage, custom, and conceit) only have agreed in tins one matter
if opinion. This testimony, in itself simply taken, hath indeed
'according to the rules of reason and judgments of wise men)
10 small force ; but seems to have much greater, if we consi-
ler the source, whatever that could be, whence it was derived.
| As to the thing absolutely taken, Aristotle thus ranks the
degrees of probability: what seems true to some wise men is
somewhat probable ; what seems to the most or to all wise
[men, is very probable ; what most men, both wise and unwise,
jissent unto, doth still more resemble truth ; but what men gene-
ally consent in hath the highest probability, and approaches
near to demonstrable truth ; so, near, that it may pass for
L-ildiculous arrogance and self-conceitedness, or for intolerable
pbstinacy and perverseness, to deny it. ' A man,' saith the
philosopher, ' may assume what seems true to the wise, if it do
not contradict the common opinion of men ;'* no man's wisdom
he suppose s) sufficient to balance the general authority of men.
(□deed, when extravagant wits, and pretenders to wisdom, (or
o an extraordinary reach in kuowlege,) shall assert things
hvidently repugnant to sense or reason ; that snow and coal
nave the like appearance, (as did Anaxagoras ;) that all
[notion is impossible, (as Zeno;) that contradictory proposi-
tions may be consistent, (as Heraclitus;) we may add to those
Instances, that all things in nature proceeded from chance, (as
[Epicurus and his followers;) what other means have we, (since
1 10 principles can be more evident than such propositions as
|;hey reject) to confute them, or to decide the cause, than mak-
ing appeal to the common sentiments of mankind? which if
l.hey decline, what have we more to do than to laugh at or pity
I hem ? however, surely, he needs to have a very strong and
l/ery clear reason to show, who dares to withstand the common
liurTrage of mankind, and to challenge all the world of mistake.
iNbw somewhat to enforce this discourse ; but more to evidence
l.he matter of fact on which it is grounded, and withal to make
[>ood that confirmation thereof, which was intimated ; I shall
lillege some few testimonies of ancient philosophers, (that is, of
■witnesses in this cause most impartial and unsuspected,) se-

» Top. i. 8.

190

BARROW. SERMON VIII.

lected out of innumerable others extant and obvious, serving
the same purpose : ' We are wont to attribute much.'saith Se-
neca, ' to what all men presume ; it is an argument with us of
truth, that any thing seems true to all; as that there be gods we
hence collect, for that all men have engrafted in them an opinion
concerning gods ; neither is there any nation so void of laws, or
good manners, that it doth not believe there are some gods ;:*
so doth he assert the matter of fact, and argue from it. The like
doth Cicero in many places, sometimes in the person of his dialo-
gists, sometimes according to his own sense ; pressing this argu-
ment as very weighty. • This,' saith he, in his Tusculan Ques-
tions, ' seems a most firm thing, which is alleged, why we should
believe gods to be, because no nation is so fierce, no man so wild,
whose mind an opinion concerning gods hath not imbued ;
many think amiss concerning gods, for that uses to proceed
from bad custom, but all do however conceive a Divine
power and nature to exist — Now in all things the consent of all
nations is to be supposed a law of nature.' f We shall have
other occasion to cite divers places out of Plato and Aristotle,
confirming the same thing; I shall now only add these preg-
nant words of Maximus Tyrius : ' In such a quarrelling, and
tumult, and jangling, (about other matters of opinion,) you
may see this one by common accord acknowleged law and
speech, that there is one God, the King and Father of all ; and
many gods, children of God, and ruling together with him :
this the Greek says, and this the Barbarian says ; the inhabiter
of the continent, and the islander; the wise aud the unwise
do say the same. 'J:

Thus it appears, by testimony abundantly sufficient, (to
which also all histories ancient and modern c!o agree,) that our
conclusion hath been the catholic and current doctrine of all
times and of all places ; so that who denies assent thereto, is
beyond measure paradoxical, and belongs to a sect very thin
and weak ; is in opinion what a monster is in nature, a thing

* Sen. Epist. cxvii. vid. de Benef. iv. 4.

t Tusc. i. p. 299. "Vid. de Nat. Deor. i. pag. 22. et ii. pag. 53.
57, &c.

I Diss. i. p. 5.

THE BEING OF GOD PROVED, &C. 101

extraordinary and uncouth ; as a lion without courage, an ox
without horns, a bird without wings, (as the philosopher speaks;)
a thing which seldom haps to be, and that never without some
great error or defect.*

But if, as surely he will, our haughty adversary shall refute
the verdict of this grand jury, we may assert its authority, not
only as competent in itself, but as more considerable in respect
to the causes whence it proceeded, or from the manner by
which this general consent can be conceived to have been pro-
duced and propagated among men. That men should thus
conspire in opinion must needs proceed either, 1. from hence,
that such an opinion was by way of natural fight or instinct (as
the first most evident principles of science are conceived to be,
or as the most effectual propensions toward good are) implanted
in man's nature; thus Cicero and other philosophers suppose
it to have come : in him it is thus said, and argued : 'Since not
by any institution, or custom, or law, this opinion is established,
and among all, without exception, a firm consent doth abide,
it is necessary there should be gods; we having implanted, or
rather inbred notions concerning them ; but about whatever
men naturally do agree, that must needs be true : we must
therefore confess there are gods.'t Thus doth he draw this opi-
nion from original light of nature. Or, 2. it may come from
a common inclination in man's soul naturally disposing every
man to entertain this opinion, whenever it is propounded, as
there is in our eyes a natural readiness to perceive the light,
whenever it shines before us ; thus others explain the rise
thereof, as Julian particularly: ' We all,' saith he, ' without being
taught, (without any painful or long instruction,) are persuaded
that a divinity exists; and to regard it, and to have, we may
suppose, a speedy tendency (or recourse) thereto ; being in such
manner disposed thereto in our souls, as things endued with the fa-
culty of seeing are to the light :'l the same similitude is, as I re-
member, used by Plato to the same purpose. Or, 3. it may
come hence, that some very prevalent reason (obvious to all

• Diss. i. p. 16 JEYian. Var. ii. 31.

t De Nat. Door. i. pa£. 22. vid. ii. de Nat. Deor. 53. 57, &c.
I Jul. ad Hcraclitum.

1.02

BARROW. — SERMON VIII.

men, even to the most rude and barbarous, and flowing from
common principles or notions of truth) did beget this agreement
in them : thus Plutarch* derives it from men's common obser-
vations of the stars' constant order and motion ; so St. Paul
also seems to imply the knowlege of God manifest to all men
from the creation of the world, and the works of God visible
therein ; and here {in this 19th Psalm) the prophet may seem
to intend the san.e, although it be not certain he does ; for that
general acknow'egement and glorifying of God as maker of
the heavens, which he avouches, may be understood as well the
consequence as the cause of this religious opinion. Or, 4. it
might from some common fountain of instruction (from one an-
cient master, or one primitive tradition) be conveyed, as from
one common head or source, into many particular conduits.
Thus the author of the book de flfundo (dedicated to Alexan-
der) seems to deduce it : ' It is an ancient saying,' says he,
' and running in the race of all men, that from God all things,
and by God all things were constituted, and do consist. 'f The
like Aristotle^ himself implies in a not.ible place, which we
shall afterward have occasion to produce.

No other way beside one of these can we (following expe-
rience or reason) imagine, by which any opinion or practice
should prevail generally among men, who otherw ise are so apt
to differ and assent in judgment about things. And be it any-
one or more of these ways that this opinion became so univer-
sally instilled into men's minds, our argument w ill thereby gain
weight and foice : if we Assign or acknowlege any of the two
first ways, we do in effect yield the question ; and grant it un-
reasonable to deny our conclusion : if nature forcibly drives
men, or strongly draws men into this persuasion, (nature, w hich
always we find in her notions and in her instincts very sincere
and faithful, not only to ourselves, but to all other creatures,)
how vain an extravagancy will it then be to oppose it ? also,
if we grant that plain reason, apparent to the generality of
men, hath moved thera to consent herein, do we not therefore,
by dissenting from it, renounce common sense, and confess our-
selves unreasonable ? but if we say that it did arise in the last.

* Pint, dc Phc. i. 6. t Cap. 6. t Mctaph. xii. 8.

THE BEING OF GOD PROVED, &C.

193

manner, from a common instruction or primitive tradition, (as
indeed, to my seeming-, from that chiefly, assisted by good rea-
son, it most probably did arise,) we shall thereby be driven to
inquire, who that common master, or the author of such tradi-
tion was ; of any such we find no name recorded, (as we do of
them, who have by plausible reasons or artifices drawn whole
nations and sects of people to a belief of their doctrine ;) we
find no time when, no place where, no manner how it began
to grow or spread, as in other cases hath been wont to appear ;
what then can we otherwise reasonably deem, than that the
first deliverers and teachers thereof were none other than the
first parents of mankind itself, who, as they could not be igno-
rant, of their own original, so could not but take care by ordi-
nary education to convey the knowlege thereof to their chil-
dren ; whence it must needs insensibly spread itself over all
posterities of men, being sucked in with their milk, being taught
them together with their first rudiments of speech ? Thus doth
that consideration lead us to another, very advantageous to our
purpose ; that mankind hath proceeded from one common stock
of one man or a few men gathered together ; which doth on a
double score confirm our assertion : first, as proving the genera-
tions of men had a beginning; secondly, as affording us their
most weighty authority for the doctrine we assert. For, 1.
supposing mankind had a beginning on this earth, whence
could it proceed but from such a Being as we assert? who but
such an one (so wise, powerful and good) could or would form
these bodies of ours so full of wonderful artifice ? who should
infuse those divine endowments (not only of life and sense,
but) of understanding and reason ? Aristotle,* discoursing about
the generation of animals, says, ' If man (or any other perfect
animal) were yjjyefijs, he must be necessarily produced, either
as out of a worm, or as from an egg ;' but is it not ridiculous
to suppose him to arise in either of those manners ? did we,
did ever any one in any age observe any such production of a
man ? yet, why if once it could be, should it not happen some-
time, yea often again, in some part of the earth, in so many
thousand years ? what peculiar lucky temper of slime can we

* De Gener. Anim. iii. cap. alt.

BAR. VOL. V. I

104

BARROW.— SERMON VIII.

imagine to have been then, which not at sometime afterward,
not somewhere should appear again ? Experience sufficiently
declares, that more is required to so noble a production, that
men no otherwise come into the world, than either from ano-
ther man, (fitted in a manner curious above our conception
with many organs most exquisitely suited to that purpose,) or
immediately from a cause incomprehensibly great and wise.
And could we without fondness conceive man's body possibly
might arise (like mice, as Diodorus Siculus tells us, out of the
mud of Nilus) from earth and water fermented together, and
organised by the sun's heat ; yet (as more largely we have dis-
coursed at another time) we cannot however well suppose his
soul, that principle of operations so excellent, (so much diffe-
rent from, so far elevated above all material motions,) to spring
up from dirty stuff, however baked or boiled by heat. I ask
also, (supposing still this notion derived from the first men,)
2. who instilled even this notion into them ? why they should
conceive themselves to come from God, if they did not find it
so; if he that made them, did not sensibly discover himself to
them, and show them, that to him they owed their being? In
short, if they did testify and teach their posterity, that they
came from God, we can have no reason to disbelieve them ;
nor can imagine more credible witnesses, or more reasonable
instructors than themselves concerning their own original : it
is a discourse, this, which we find even in Plato : ' We must,'
saith he, 'yield credence to them, who first avouched them-
selves the offspring of God, and did sure clearly know their
own progenitors; it is indeed impossible to distrust the chil-
dren of the gods, although otherwise speaking w ithout plausible
or necessary demonstrations; but, following law, we must be-
lieve them, as testifying about matters peculiarly belonging to
themselves.'*

Thus do these two notions, that of general tradition concern-
ing God, and that concerning man's origin on earth from one
stock, mutually support and defend each other. And indeed,
concerning the latter, there be divers other arguments of the
same kind, although perhaps hardly any so clear and valid.

* Tim. p. 1053.

THE BEING OF GOD PROVED, &C.

195

confirming it ; I mean divers common opinions, stories, and
practices, of an unaccountable rise, which cannot be well
deemed to have been introduced, and so universally diffused
among' men, otherwise than from this fountain. I think it
worth the while to propound some instances thereof, of each
kind.

•Even this opinion or story itself, concerning mankind pro-
ceeding from one single or very narrow stock, was commonly
received, and that from this head of tradition ; as also divers
other concerning the nature and state of man. That God did
form man and breathe his soul into him, (as Aratus says, that
' we are God's offspring,' and as Cicero speaks, that ' we have
our souls drawn and dropped from the Divine nature, 'f) might
be shown by innumerable testimonies to have been a general
opinion ; which although it have a very strong foundation in
reason, yet it seems rather to have obtained by virtue of tradi-
tion.

That man was formed after the image of God,t and doth
much resemble him, was also a general opinion, as Aristotle
himself observes ; and Ovid most expressly, according to what
he found set down in ancient stories.

That man's soul is immortal, and destined to a future state of
life, in joy or pain respectively, according to his merits or de-
merits in this life ; that there should accordingly pass severe
scrutinies and judgments after death on the actions of this life ;
that there were places provided of rest and pleasure for good
men, of horror and misery for bad men departed ; were opinions
that did commonly possess men's minds ; none of them, it
seems, on the force of any arguments having a common influ-
ence on men's minds, (such as philosophers did by speculation
invent, being indeed too subtile for vulgar capacities to appre-
hend, and scarce able to persuade themselves,) but rather from
their education, continued through all times, and Commencing
from that head we speak of ; as even such philosophers them-
selves confess : ' We must,' says Plato, ' believe the reports of
this kind, (speaking about these matters,) being so many and so

* Vi.l. Clem. Alex. Sir. v. p. 401. f Cic. Ditto. 1.

I 'Ai'0p«7roe.8e7s 0tovs, &.C.— Metaph. xii. 8.

196

E ARROW. — SERMON VIII.

very ancient :'* and, 'We suppose,' saith Cicero, 'that souls
abide after death from the consent of all nations.'! And,' I
cannot,' saith he again, ' assent unto those who have lately
begun to discourse, that souls do perish together with bodies,
and that all things are blotted out by death : the authority of
the ancients doth more prevail with me. 'J And, 'When,' saith
Seneca, ' we dispute concerning the eternity of souls, the con-
sent of men either fearing or worshipping the Inf°ri (that is, the
state of things after death) hath no slight moment with us. 'i
Even Celsus himself (an Epicurean philosopher, and great
enemy of our faith) confesses that ' divine men had delivered
it. that happy souls should enjoy a happy life hereafter. '(j

The opinion concerning man having sometimes been in a
better state, (both in regard to complexion of mind and out-
ward accommodations of life,) but that he did by his wilful mis-
carriages fall thence into this wretched condition of proneness
to sin, and subjection to sorrow, was an ancient doctrine, (if
we take Plato's word ;) and concerning it Cicero hath these
remarkable words : ' From which errors and miseries of human
life we may,' saith he, ' conclude that sometime those ancient
prophets, or interpreters of the Divine mind in the delivery of
holy mysteries, who have said that we are born to undergo pu-
nishments for the faults committed in a former life, may seem
to have understood somewhat.' 11 — (It is true, these authors
assign this fall to the souls of singular persons in a state of pre-
existence ; but it is plain enough how easy it might be so to
mistake and transform the story.) To the same head may be
referred that current story concerning the golden age, in which
men first did live so happily without care and pain ; which so
livelily expresses man's condition in Paradise. As also thereto
may belong that relation concerning man's being thrown into
this miserable state, because of a rapine committed against
God"s will, and that by the means of a woman sent down ; who
' with her hands opened the lid of a great vessel, (fraught with
mischiefs,) and thence dispersed sad disasters and sorrows

• Plat, de Leg- 2. Vid. Gorg. sub fin. t Cic. Tusc. 1.

J In Lael. § Sen. Ep. 117. || Celsus apod Oiig. pag-. 350.

% Cic. Fragm. pag. 79.

THE BEING OF GOD PROVED, &C. 1!»7

among men ;' as Hesiod expresseth it, in words very applicable,
to the fact of our mother Eve, and t e event following it.*

I do not know also whether what Platof says concerning
man's being at first hvhpoyvvos, (of both sexes,) and being
afterward cleaved into two, was borrowed from tradition, or
devised from his own fancy ; it surely well comports with the
sacred history concerning woman being taken out of man. That
there are two prime causes or principles, one of good things,
the other of bad, was the ancient doctrine among all the ancient
nations ; of the Persians, (who called one of them Oromasdes,
the other Arimanius ;) of the Egyptians, (who had their Osiris
and Typhon ;) of the Chaldeans, (who had their good and bad
planets;) of the Greeks, (who had their good and bad demon,
their Zei)$ and "A6»/s ;) we have reported by Plutarch in his
tract de hide et Osiride, by Laertius in his Proceme, and
others, (Aug. de Civ. Dei, v. 21 ) which conceits seem derived
from the ancient traditions concerning God the author of all
good, and Sathan the tempter to all evil, and the minister of
divine vengeance; (Plutarch expressly says the good principle
was called God, the bad one, Daemon.) Indeed there were
many other relations concerning matters of fact, or pieces of
ancient story, agreeing with the sacred writings, which did
among the ancient people pass commonly, although somewhat dis-
guised by alterations incident from time and other causes ; which
seem best derivable from this common fountain : such as that con-
cerning the sons of God and heroes dwelling on the earth ; con-
cerning men of old time exceeding those of following times in
length of life, in stature, in strength of body, whereof in ancient
poets there is so much mention ; concerning men's conspiring in
rebellion against God, affecting and attempting to climb heaven ;
concerning mankind being overwhelmed and destroyed by an
universal deluge, and that by divine justice, because of cruelty
and oppression (with other enormous vices) generally reigning :
— Qua terra patet, fera rcgnat Erinnys,
In facinus jurasse putes : dent ocyus omnes
Quas meruere pati (sic stat sententia) poenas.

* Sen. Ep. 90.

Xf'V€(T0'1 7r'<?0" fJ-iya ttZ/x atpeAovaa

'Eo-KeSao-', avBpwiroicn 5' £)ii]tja.TO K-qSea \vypi. — Hes."'Ep7.

t In Phadr.

198

BARROW. — SERMON VIII.

'All over the earth fierce rage doth reign ; you would take
them to have sworn to do mischief ; let them all immediately
undergo the pains which they have deserved ; this is my reso-
lution :' so God, in Ovid's style, declared the reason why he
decreed to bring that sore calamity on mankind ; I might add
that prophecy, commonly known, that this world shall finally
perish by a general conflagration.

These opinions and stories chiefly concern man ; there were
divers others concerning God and religion, sprouting probably
from the same root. That divine goodness was the pure motive
of God's making the world, seems to have been a tradition;
implied by their saying, that ' Love was the first, and the chief
ot the God's :'* npuTioTOV pev epwra dewv pr)Qtaaro itairoiy, said
Parmenides; and, 'Hb'"Epos, bs TravTsooi fieraTrpeirei adaia-oioi,
said Hesiod. That God made the world out of a chaos, or
confused heap of matter ; which is so plainly expressed in
Hesiod, in Ovid, and in other ancient writers. That God did
make or beget, inferior insensible powers, (of great understand-
ing and ability; whom they called gods, and the children of the
sovereign God;+) whom God immediately did converse with,
and in royal manner did govern ; whom he did employ as spies
and agents in providential administrations of human affairs;
who did frequently appear uuto, and familiarly converse with
men; who do walk up and down the earth, observing men's
actions; secretly assisting and comforting good men, restrain-
ing and crossing and punishing the bad ; whereof we have so
many instances in Homer, in Hesiod, and in other ancient
writers ; showing as to those matters the general conceits of the
old world. That God's especial presence and residence was
above, in heaven, Aristotle expressly tells us was the belief of
all men: 'All men,' saith he, 'have an opinion concerning
gods, and all men assign the highest place to the gods, both
Greeks and Barbarians. %

That God's providence did extend itself to all particularities
of affairs ; and that all things were ordered by him ; he con-
stantly exercising both benignity and justice suitably to the
deserts and needs of men ; encouraging and assisting; blessing
and rewarding virtuous and pious men ; relieving the distressed

* Arist. Metanh. i. 4. t Arist. Pol. i. 1. t De Coelo, i. 3.

THE BEING OF GOD PROVED, &C. 199

and helpless ; controlling and chastising such as were outrage-
ously unjust or impious. That God at seasons used to de-
clare his mind to men (his approbation or displeasure in regard
to their doings) by accidents preternatural or prodigious ; did
presignify future events ; did impart foreknowlege of them in
several ways ; by dreams, by visions, by inspirations, &c. To
these opinions were answerable divers common practices : in-
vocating divine help in need ; consulting God by oracle in case
of ignorance or doubt ; deprecating divine vengeance ; making
ackiiowlegements to God in hymns and praises; returning
oblations for benefits received, both common and special ;
expiating guilt, and appeasing God's wrath by purgations
and by sacrifices, (a practice peculiarly unlikely to proceed
from any other reason than institution ;) fortifying testi-
monies and promises by oath, or appeal to divine knowlege
and justice ; invoking (on condition) God's judgments on them-
selves or others, what is called cursing; appointing priests for
God's service, and yielding them extraordinary respect ; con-
secrating temples and altars ; making vows, and dedicating
gifts; celebrating festivals; paying tithes (that very deter-
minate part) of the fruits of the earth, of the spoils in war, of
the gains in trade, by way of acknowlegement and thankfulnesB
to the Donor and Disposer of all things : in which, and the like
opinions and performances, (which it would be a long business
particularly to insist on,) men's general concurrence doth fairly
argue, that their religion did peculiarly result from one simple
institution common to mankind.

To these we might adjoin divers civil customs, wherein most
nations did, from this cause probably, conspire : for instance,
their counting by decades, or stopping at ten in their nume-
rical computations; which Aristotle says, all men, both Barba-
rians and Greeks, did use, noting, that so common an agree-
ment could not arise from chance, but from nature ; but it is
much more plausible to assign its rise to tradition. Their
having every where anciently the same number of letters, and
the same names (or little varied) of them. Their dividing time
into weeks, (or systems of seven days ;) of which practice to
have been general, there be many plain testimonies. Their
beginning the vv^hfiepov (or account of the daily revolution

•21),)

BARROW.

. — SERMON VIII.

of the heavens) from the night, grounded probably on the
report that night did precede day ; as Hesiod phraseth it, that
' night did beget day.'* Their general abhorrence of incestuous
copulations ; of which there is indeed some ground in nature,
but none, I suppose, so very clear or discernible, as might serve
alone to produce such a consent ; yea, perhaps, if one consider
it, the whole business concerning matrimony will seem drawn
from the head we discourse of. Their great care of funerals,
and decently interring the dead; which Cicero indeed deduces
as a consequence on their belief of the soul's immortality. In
fine, the consent of the old world in all moral notions of
moment doth (to my sense) much imply the same thing; which
notions although natural reason well used might suggest to all
men, yet men, it seems, were never so generally disposed to
reason well, as thereby alone to discern and approve unani-
mously the same truths; especially truths of this nature ; which
many men are apt to dislike, (as repugnant to their desires,)
and consequently not ready to believe ; which yet might easily
by education be infused into their minds, and by virtue of the
prejudice thereby begot, (assisted by plausible reason and po-
pular consent,) be preserved and rooted in them.

Now these (with divers more, perhaps, which they who
are curiously inquisitive might observe) common persuasions
(whether concerning matters of universal truth, or of particular
facts) and those common usages having little or nothing of
foundation apparent in man's nature, or in the clear reason of
the thing, no prevailing appetite or inclination of man's soul
prompting to them, no occasion commonly incident to human
affairs being apt to suggest them, (at least divers of them ;
there being indeed rather an aptitude in nu n to disapprove and
resist them, as cross to their dispositions,) we cannot reasonably
deduce them from any other cause than such as we have
assigned, men's being, as St. Paul speaks, ' made of one blood,'
and receiving, as their nature, so their principles of opinion and
practice from the same common parents.

To confirm which discourse, and to prevent farther objections
against it, we may consider, that however perhaps among some

* Nukt&s 5' air' al0yp re Kal v^p-q {tyybom, — Hesiod. Theosr.

THE BEING OF GOD PROVED, &C. 201

very barbarous nations this principal tradition (together with
others mentioned, attending thereon) may have been almost
worn out by time and men's stupid negligence ; that however
also among some people, affecting semblances of singular
wisdom, as among the Greeks, the matter thereof might fall
under cmestion, and some might doubt thereof, others contradict
and deny it ; yet most ancient histories (particularly that of
Moses, far most ancient of all, and therefore, even secluding its
special and more sacred authority, of all most credible) do
attest them to have been, in substance, universally received,
running with a strong and clear current among the eastern
people, (the Chaldeans, Phoenicians, and Egyptians;) who
that they were the most ancient inhabiters of the earth, from
whom the rest of mankind was propagated, the antiquity of
empires among them, the first use of letters, the rise of arts, the
greater progress in all kinds of civil culture, (which things argue
a longer continuance in one place and state,) beside express
records of story and visible monuments of things performed
among them, do sufficiently declare ; whose consent therefore
doth in reason, so far as serves our purpose, involve the consent
of all mankind ; and doth confirm those notions to have flowed
from the clear spring of our first parents their instruction.

It is also true, I must confess, that these original traditions,
(concerning the being and providence of God,) as must neces-
sarily happen not only by the malice of evil spirits, but from
man's natural infirmity and proneness to change, even to the
worse, (as also from men's aptness to mistake, from rude igno-
rance, from wantonness of fancy, from craftiness in promoting
designs of ambition and covetousness by introducing novelties,
and from such like causes,) did soon begin to be adulterated
by many corrupt mixtures, did by degrees degenerate exceed-
ingly into various shapes of superstition, falsehood, and futility.
Yet even so was Judaism depraved by the Scribes ; and Chris-
tianity itself hath been strangely debased by a long course of
ignorant and bad times ; yet who can doubt but both these
were derived from one pure instruction ; that of Moses, this of
Christ our Lord ? That it might so fare with the primitive tra-
ditions of religion is evident; that it really did so, we have
even the judgment and assertion of Aristotle himself, in those

202

BARROW. — SERMON VIII.

remarkable words of his to this purpose : ' There were,' saitb
he, ' things conveyed traditionally by the primitive and ancient
men, and left in a fabulous dress to their posterity; that there
are these gods, and that Divinity maintains (or encompasses)
all nature : but other things were to these fictitiously superin-
duced for persuasion of the vulgar sort, and for the use of laws
and public commodity : hence they speak of the gods, as
having a human shape, or resembling other living creatures,
and other things consequent on, or agreeable to, these sayings;
from which things if we separate that only which was first de-
livered, that they deemed the gods the first beings, we may
suppose what they said divinely spoken. And it is according
to probability, all art and philosophy being, as might possibly,
often invented and lost again, that even these opinions of them
have as relics been preserved until now : the opinion then of
our fathers, and that which came from the first men, is only
thus far manifest to us.'

Thus did the philosopher, with a sagacity worthy so great a
man, discern, that through that coarser ore, consisting in great
part of dross and feculency, (taken from the fondness or fraud
of human invention, or from diabolical suggestion,) a pure vein
of truth did run, drawn from the source of primitive tradition ;
from which being supposed, we do infer, what he acknowleges
divinely said, that there doth exist one first being or substance,
incomprehensibly excellent in all perfection. The like obser-
vations and judgments might be produced out of divers other
wise men, (Plato, Cicero, and the like,) who acknowlege and
urge this common tradition as a good argument of the truths we
maintain, as to the substance of them ; yet scruple not to dis-
sent from and to reprehend the vulgar errors and bad customs
which had crept in and became annexed to them. But let
thus much suffice for this whole argument; being the last of
those I intend to use for the proof of that fundamental point,
which is the root of all religiou and piety.

I have produced several arguments to that purpose, (or rather
several kinds of argument, each containing many subordinate
ones,) most proper, I conceive, and apt to have a general effi-

* Arist. Mctapbys. xii. 8.

THE BEING OF GOD PROVED, &C. 203

cacy on men's minds, in begetting and confirming a belief
thereof. Each of them have indeed, to my seeming, even
singly taken, a force irresistible; and the greatest in its kind,
that any such conclusion, not immediately apparent to sense, is
capable of. The existence of any one cause in natural philo-
sophy, is not there demonstrable by effects in any proportion so
many or various, so conspicuous or certain. No question can
be determined by an authority so ample and comprehensive, so
express and peremptory. No doctrine can to its confirmation
allege so general, so constant, so uniform a tradition. No
matter of fact can be assured by testimonies so many in num-
ber, so various in kind, so weighty in quality, as those, on
which this conclusion doth stand. And if we join together all
these, in themselves so considerable and powerful forces, how
can we be able to resist them ? how can we dare to doubt of
that, which they conspire to infer? When, I say, to the uni-
versal harmony of nature the common voice of. nations doth
yield its consent; when with the ordinary course of things, so
many extraordinary accidents do concur in vote ; when that
which so many reasons prove, continual tradition also teaches ;
what can the result be, but firm persuasion in every wise and
honest heart of the proposition so confirmed ? except we can
suppose, that, by a fatal conspiracy, all the appearances in
nature, and all the generations of men ; the highest reason, and
the greatest authority imaginable, have combined to deceive us.

In the precedent discourses I have endeavored to prove the
existence of God, by arguments, which do indeed more imme-
diately evince those three principal attributes, wisdom, power,
and goodness incomprehensible, but which also consequentially
declare all other the attributes commonly esteemed ingredients
of that notion, which answers to the name of God ; (absolutely
put, and without any adjunct limiting and diminishing it;) all
those attributes, which Aristotle's definition, ' The eternal most
excellent living thing;'* or that of Tertullian, ' The supreme
great thing;'f do include or imply; namely, his unity first;
then his eternity and indefectibility ; his immense omnipresence,
his spirituality ; his justice and veracity; his Sovereign Ma-

* Arist. Metaph. xii. 7.

t Tert. adv. Marc. i. 3.

20,

BARROW.— SERMON VIII.

jesty and authority ; with the like connected to those, (for I
cannot prosecute all the Divine perfections, according to that
multiplicity of distinction, which our manner of conceit and
expression is wont to assign.)

The uniformity, concord, and perfect harmony which appears
in the constitution and conservation of things ; their conspiring
to one end, their continuing in the same order and course, do
plainly declare the unity of God ; even as the lasting peace of
a commonwealth (composed of persons different in affections
and humor) argues one law, that regulates and contains them ;
as the orderly march of an army shows it managed by one
conduct; as the uniformity of a house, or of a town, declares
it contrived by one architect.

And hereto also the common suffrage of mankind doth in a
manner agree: for, however that they worshipped a multitude
of inferior deities, yet that there was one Supreme God, Author
and Governor of the rest, and of all things beside, transcending
in power and wisdom, and all kind of perfection, was evidently
the common opinion ; whom therefore we see the poets (the
best interpreters of the popular opinions) do style the Father
of gods and men; the King of the gods; the most high, most
great, most excellent, &c. ' The greater popularity,' as Ter-
tullian speaks, 'of mankind, even when idolatry obscured the
sense of Divine providence, did however appropriate the name
of God especially to one, in their usual expressions ; being wont
to say, If God grant ; and, What pleases God; and, I com-
mend it to God.'* And if the vulgar had in some measure
this conceit, the wiser sort appear to have had more clear and
full appreheusions and persuasions concerning it : Plato refers
the making of the world to one whom he calls -arepa ra! rr<,ii)Tiiv
(the Father and 3Iaker of the universe.) Aristotle, when he
hath occasion to speak of God, doth usually speak in the singu-
lar ; so do other philosophers, as the Stoics, in their famous pre-
cept Deum sequi, (to follow God, that is, to accpjiese in, or sub-
mit to, Divine providence,) sometime they do expressly signify
this to be their opinion : 'There are many popular gods,' said
Antisthenes, ' but one natural one :' els be uiv ttoXvuii v^os kan ;

* Tertull. adv. Marc. i. 10.

THE EEING OF GOD PROVED, &C.

205

' Being really one,' saith the author de Mundo, ' he hath many
names ; according to the several affections he discovers, and
the operations he exerts :' with whom Seneca thus agrees :
' So often as you please, you may diversely name the Author
of things : there may be so many appellations of him, as there
be gifts or offices and operations ; him our people fancy to be
father Bacchus, and Hercules, and Mercury ; call him also
Nature, Fate, Fortune : all these are but names of the same
God, variously using his power.'* If they ever speak of gods
plurally, they are to be understood to speak with the like
opinion of them, as we of angels, that is, of invisible, intelli-
gent powers, created by the supreme God, dependent of him,
subject to him ;f Mars. Ficinus's caution concerning Plato
being applicable to the rest : — sed ne turbet quteso Deorum
numerus, quern non turbat numerus angelorum. Nihil enim
plus apud Platonem tot possunt Dii, quarn apud nos lot an-
geli, tolque beati. So much for God's unity.

As to his eternity: if God made all things, he could not
receive being from another ; and he who made this world, what
reason can there be to suppose him to be from another ? Nor
can any thing receive a being from itself, or from mere nothing
spring up into being ; therefore the Maker of the world must
be eternal. Something of necessity must be eternal, otherwise
nothing could have been at all ; other things show themselves
to have proceeded from the wisdom, power, and goodness of
One; whence that One is eternal ; and so all nations have con-
sented that God is.

That he is immortal and immutable doth also follow plainly :
for he not depending for his being, or any thing thereto belong-
ing, on any other thing, neither can he depend for his conti-
nuance or conservation; having power superior to all things,
as having conferred on them whatever of power they have,
nothing can oppose him, or make any prevalent impression on
him, so as to destroy or alter any thing in him.

Also, from his making, his upholding, his governing all

♦ Sen. de Benef. iv. 7.

J See that most remarkable saying of Sophocles, (apud Grot, in
Excerpt, pag. 149.) els reus a.\i)6dai<Tiv, eh iariv Bebs, &C— Mars. Fie. in
Arg. lib. x. dc Leg.

206

BARROW. — SERMON VIII.

things, is consequent, that he was ever and is every where :
where his power is, there his hand is ; for every action with
effect requires a conjunction of the agent and patient ; nothing
can act on what is distant. That with his presence and power
he doth penetrate all things, operating insensibly and imper-
ceptibly, doth argue the spirituality of his being ; and that he
doth not consist of such matter (so extended, so divisible) as
those things do, which we by sense perceive.

His overreaching wisdom implies him uncapable of being
deceived ; and his overbearing power signifies that he doth not
need to deceive; and his transcendent goodness proves him un-
willing to deceive : the like we may say of doing wrong ;
whence are consequent his perfect veracity and justice.

Lastly, the excellency of his nature, the eminency of his
wisdom and power, the abundance of his goodness ; as also, his
having given being, then preserving it to all things, do infer his
rightful title to supreme dominion ; and accordingly, that all
love, all obedience, all praise and veneration are due to him ;
according to the devout acknowlegement of those blessed
elders : ' Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive the glory and
honor and power, (or authority,) because thou hast made all
things; and for thy will they are and were created.'

SERMON IX.

•207

SUMMARY OF SERMON IX.

JOHN, CHAP. V. — VERSE 17.

When at first by the divine power this visible system of
things was consummated, it is said that God rested from all his
work which he had made. Meaning of this rest explained :
it does not extend to an Epicurean indolence ; but his wisdom
is constantly displayed in his superintending- care and good-
ness, &c. ; particularly in his command and control over
nature, in the suspension of his own laws, and the perform-
ance of marvellous actions, to excite our minds towards him.
That this is the case we learn from the words of truth
itself in the text; whose affirmation it is intended to second
with particular instances well attested : these distributed into
two classes ; those which are above or against the power of
nature, and those which surmount or cross the stream of
human affairs.

The first kind considered ; of which it may be generally
affirmed, that no man can deny many such to have been per-
formed, without giving the lie to the most authentic records of
history, and disparaging the credit of mankind, &c.

To this kind may be referred the presignification and pre-
diction of future events : this head enlarged on and illustrated
by examples from profane and sacred history.

But especially works usually styled miraculous, which ex-
ceed or contravene the ordinary course or power of nature,
and which therefore all men refer to an agent exceeding their

208

SUMMARY OF

comprehension in power or knowlege : such described : their
reality vindicated.

Consideration of other extraordinary events, as apparitions
from another world ; spirits ; visions ; the power of enchant-
ments, &c. The truth of some of these asserted and distin-
guished from the falsity of others; which truth, inferring the
existence of powers invisible, if it be admitted, may confer
much to the belief of that supreme Deity, which these dis-
courses strive to maintain.

The objections of those who argue from the impossibility of
the existence of such things, answered. The folly of those,
who think it a mark of wisdom to be very incredulous, ex-
posed.

The second sort of extraordinary events touched on ; such as
are observable in the transaction of human affairs, and surpas-
sing the common efficacy of human causes; by which God,
as it were, in a louder tone declares his presence and provi-
dence.

1. Slender instruments raised up to overthrow long esta-
blished iniquity, &c. Examples given.

2. Examples of consummate justice or vengeance on re-
markable sinners.

3. Similar ones on ambitious conquerors.

4. The generally lamentable end of great tyrants and oppres-
sors.

5. The judgments of God on persons and families raised to
wealth and splendor by oppression, fraud, and rapine, &c.

6. The detection of murders and other enormous crimes done
in secret.

7. The like strange discoveries of plots against the common-
weal and lives of princes, &c.

8. The remarkable providences that occur in the recompense
and encouragement of virtue, the protection of good men from
dangers, &c. Such considerations as the above, taken singly,

SERMON IX.

■20!)

have not the greatest force and evidence ; nor can they be so
strongly insisted on as the arguments drawn from the course of
nature : reasons for this stated at large.

But however general providence may work in convincing
some, particular providence will at least produce that effect in
many : reasons for this alleged. Conclusion.

210

BARROW. — SERMON IX.

3 28efiefce in -Cod,
SERMON IX.

THE BEING OF GOD PROVED FROM SUPER-
NATURAL EFFECTS.

JOHN, CHAP. V. — VERSE 17.

But Jesus answered them, My Father hitherto worketh, and
I work.

When at first by the divine power this visible system of
things was consummated and settled in that course wherein it
now stands, it is said that ' God rested from all his work which
he had made :' the plain meaning of which saying is, that
God so framed all the parts of nature, and several kinds of
things, and disposed them into such an order, and inserted
into them such principles of action, that thereafter (with-
out more than an ordinary conservation or concourse from
him) things generally should continue in their being, sta-
tion, and course, without any great change, for ever ; that is,
for so long as God had determined, or till their due period was
run through : (' He established them,' as the psalmist speaks,
' for ever and ever ; he made a decree, that shall not pass :
His word was settled in the heavens, and his faithfulness unto
all generations : they continue this day according to his ordi-
nances:' ' He made a covenant with day and night, and ap-
pointed the ordinances of heaven and earth :') thus God rested
and ceased from his work of creation. But it is not said, nor
intended, that God did absolutely give over or forbear work-
ing ; that he withdrew his care, and tied up, as it were, his own
hands by a resolution not to intermeddle more with any thing,

THE BEING OF GOD PROVED, &C.

an

but to enjoy a kind of Epicurean ease and unpa^a. No : his
wisdom hath so ordered things, that there should be need and
reason of his acting continually ; that there should be frequent
occasion of variously displaying his glorious attributes ; of
exercising his power, of demonstrating his goodness. Indeed,
as to beings merely natural and unintelligent, there were no
need of his doing more ; for they are all thoroughly his obedi-
ent servants, and exactly fulfil his word ; never straggling
from the station in which he placed them ; never transgressing
the rule that he prescribed them : but he hath also made other
beings, by nature uncapable of such uniformity and settlement;
very free, and therefore very mutable ; to the well governing
of whom therefore a continual intention and activity is requi-
site. For the use and benefit of which beings, as a great part
of nature was designed and made by God, so it was not unmeet,
that for their sake he should sometime alter the course of
nature, and cross or check the stream of things. The fuller
and clearer illustration of his glory, the showing that all things
do not pass on in a fatal track ; the confirming that he made
nature, because he can command and control it ; the demon-
stration of his especial care over and love toward men, in sus-
pending or thwarting his own established laws and decrees, as
it were, for their sake ; the exciting men the more to mind
God, and impressing on them a respect toward him ; the be-
getting faith in him, and hope in his providence, are fair ac-
counts, for which God sometimes should perform (even in a
mauner notorious and remarkable to us) actions extraordinary.
And that God doeth so, we learn in the words I read from
the mouth of truth itself ; whose affirmation (for persuading the
incredulous) I intend to second with particular instances, at-
tested to by reasonable proof, suitable to the nature of the
matter ; and this with design to infer from such operations (as
effects assignable to no other cause) the existence of God ;
having endeavored formerly to deduce the same from the com-
mon ordinary works, appearing in both worlds, natural and
human. And as we before distinguished the ordinary works
or actions, so here we shall distinguish the extraordinary ones,
into two sorts ; into those which are above or against the course
(or power) of nature ; and those, which surmount or cross the

212

BARROW.— SERMON IX.

stream of human affairs ; such as being evidenced and granted
to have been really performed, either all men will believe, or
the wisest men will readily confess the being of such a cause
as we assert.

I. Let us first consider the first kind : and of these we may
generally affirm, that no man can deny many such to have
been performed, without giving the lie to the most authentic
records of history that are or have been extant; without ex-
tremely disparaging the credit of mankind; without impeach-
ing all nations and all ages not only of extreme weakness, (in
credulous assent unto, regarding and relying on, such appear-
ances ; which not only the vulgar sort, but even princes and
statesmen, learned men aud philosophers, every where have
done,) but of notorious baseness and dishonesty, in devising
and reporting them; without indeed derogating utterly from all
testimony that can be rendered to any matter of fact, and ren-
dering it wholly insignificant; for that if we may disbelieve
these reports, there is no reason we should believe any thing
that is told us.

To this kind we may refer the presignification and predic-
tion of future events, especially those which are contingent,
and depend on man's free choice ; to the doing of which nothing
is more evident in itself, nor more acknowleged by all, than that
a power or wisdom supernatural is required ; concerning which
we have the (not despicable) consent of all times, continued
down from the remotest antiquity, that frequently they have
been made: 'There is,' saith Cicero, 'an ancient opinion,
drawn even from the heroical times,' (that is, from the utmost
bounds of time spoken of,) ' that there is among men a certain di-
vination, which the Greeks call prophecy,' (or inspiration,) ' that
is, a presension and knowlege of future things.'* And of this kind
even profane story doth afford many instances ; there indeed
having scarce happened any considerable revolution in state, or
action in war, whereof we do not find mentioned in history
some presignification or prediction ;f whereof though many
were indeed dark and ambiguous, or captious and fallacious,
yet some were very clear and express, (according as God was

* De Div.

t Idem.

THE BEING OF GOD PROVED, &C.

us

in his wisdom pleased to use the ministry of those spirits, which
immediately conveyed them, in directing men for their good,
or misguiding them for their deserved punishment;) such as
were for instance, that concerning Cyrus's conquering the Ly-
dians ; that concerning the battle at Salamis ; that concerning
the battle of Leuctres ; and divers others which occur in stories
composed by wise men of the wisest nations ; even the life of
one man, (good Socrates,) described by excellent persons his
most intimate acquaintance, (Xenophon and Plato,) affords
divers ; and Cicero acquaints us that Chrysippus did collect
(and it is great pity his collection hath perished) an innume-
rable store of them, all confirmed by good authority and tes-
timony.* I cannot stand to relate many of them particularly,
or discuss the validity of relations concerning such instances :
1 shall only say, that discourse in Tully, concerning the oracle
at Delphos, which may be extended to the rest of that sort,
doth not seem contemptible : ' I defend,' saith he, « this one
thing; that never would that oracle have been so renowned,
nor so stuffed with the gifts of all nations and kings, if every
age had not experienced the truth of those oracles ;'f for it is
hard that a mere imposture should, to the expense and damage
of so many persons, so long continue in credit. I will adjoin
but one observation to this purpose, that even among those
Pagans who regarded these things, it was known and acknow-
leged, that such portending, or predicting future things, al-
though immediately conveyed by inferior powers, did originally
proceed from the one Supreme God : so the wise poet implies,
when he makes the prophetic fury say, that she received her
prediction from Apollo, and Apollo from the Almighty
Father ;

Accipite ergo animis, atque haec mea tigite dicta,
Qiue Phoebo Pater omnipotens, milii Phoebus Apollo
Prsedixit, vobis Furiarum ego maxima pando :J

* De Div. 172.

t Defcndo unum hoc, nunquam illud oraculum Delphis tam ce-
lebre, et tain clarum fuisset, neque tantis donis refertum omnium
populorum atque regum, nisi omnis aetas oraculorum illorum veri-
tatcm csset experta, &c. P. 172.

t ^Eneid. 3.

214

BARROW.— SERMON IX.

where Servius notes, that even Apollo (he who among their
deities was in chief esteem for rendering oracles) is ' said to de-
rive his knowlege from Jove,' or the Sovereign God.

It seemed not amiss to touch those instances of this kind which
profane story yields, but the holy Scriptures afford most evi-
dent and eminent ones; some of them extant in books written
and in use long before the events foretold ; as that of Abra-
ham's concerning his posterity sojourning and being afflicted in
Egypt four hundred years ; of the prophet concerning Josiah,
some hundred years before his birth,) that such a prince should
be, and what he should do; of Isaiah concerning Cyrus by
name, his conquests, his restoring the Jews from exile, his re-
edifying Jerusalem ; of Jeremiah concerning the captivity, and
its duration for seventy years; of Daniel concerning the grand
revolutions of empire in the world, (wherein the achievements
of Alexander and his successors are so plainly described, that
Porphyrins could not but acknowlege the consonancy of them
to the events;) of our Saviour concerning the siege and destruc-
tion of Jerusalem : the truth of which reports, although we
should allow those writings which contain them an authority
no greater than human, there were no reason to question ;
since most of those writings were extant a good time before
the events specified. Now if but one of these innumerable
instances were true, if ever one event hath been presignified
or predicted, (and it were a hard case that among so many
not one should prove so,) it sufficiently evinces what we in-
tend.

But to our purpose especially do appertain the works usu-
ally styled miraculous, which exceed or contravene the ordi-
nary course or power of nature; which therefore all men will
readily confess performable only by an agent in power or know-
lege exceeding their comprehension, (such as are, for example,
the fire being withheld from burning, and the waters from
flowing ; the sick being (without medicinal applications) cured
of long chronical distempers; limbs being (in the like manner)
restored to persons maimed, and senses to them who from their
birth (or otherwise for a long time) had been deprived of their
nse ; restoring the dead to life, (a thing which Pliny mentions

THE BEING OF GOD PROVED, &'C.

213

as impossible in his conceit to God himself,*) and the like:) of
these, although all nations have had so many performed
among them, as sufficed to breed everywhere a constant opi-
nion that a divine power did frequently interpose, so as to con-
trol and overbear the force of nature, (which opinion could not
in likelihood so generally and constantly prevail without any
ground at all ;) yet the holy Scriptures do most fully and clearly
testify concerning them to have been in great number performed,
(for the confirmation of that divine truth and will of God,
which they declare him pleased to reveal ; for guiding men into
or setting them in right opinions or good practices; for dis-
abusing and withdrawing them from ways of error and vice ;
for the encouragement and relief of good, or the restraint, dis-
couragement, and chastisement of evil men ; which in reason
are the most proper causes, why by such a Being, as we sup-
pose, (so wise, so good,) such works should be effected;) the
testimonies concerning which there can be no good reason as-
signed of refusing, but very great to admit them, as we hope at
another time satisfactorily to declare. Indeed God's patefac-
tion of himself, his mind, his will, (in many kinds and man-
ners particularly to the Fathers of old, and afterward generally
to all the world by his Son; on purpose sent from heaven to
publish and accomplish his designs of mercy and favor to all
mankind,) accompanied with so many prodigious works of
power, and so many glorious circumstances of providence con-
spicuous to all the world, and withal so accommodated as to
beget lirst of all this assurance in us, that a divine power doth
exist and preside over all affairs both natural and human, is an
argument which in all honest and well-disposed minds (not
possessed with false prejudices, nor depraved by vicious incli-
nations) cannot but obtain effect ; the fuller urging and con-
firming of which 1 shall refer to another season, when it will
serve a more general purpose, even the confirming not only this
part, but even the whole of our religion in gross : I shall only
now briefly say concerning them, that considering the works
themselves, they were in number so many and various ; in kind
so great and high ; as to the manner of performance so naked

* Nat. Hist. ii. 7.

216

BARROW. — SERMON IX.

and open, (being done in the face, and exposed to the senses of
all men ;) that there could be no reason to suspect any juggling
or human artifice used about them : considering the witnesses
that asserted them, they were persons who by their writings,
by their behavior, by the effect of their endeavors, approved
themselves very intelligent; in their intentions very honest and
free from any sinister design, in their conversations very inno-
cent and virtuous, in their attestation very consistent and con-
stant; so that there could be desired no w itnesses of any fact
better qualified, or more credible than they : considering the
design of those works, there could be none more noble and ex-
cellent, more worthy of God, more beneficial to man; it being
chiefly the confirmation of a doctrine, incomparably the most
reasonable and most useful that ever appeared among men ;
productive of the best fruits, apt (being entertained heartily) to
make men highly good and truly happy ; to promote the honor
of God and the interests of goodness; to secure as much as can
be both the public and private welfare of mankind. Considering
which things, we can have no good reason to distrust the per-
formance of such works, by authentic records, by constant tra-
dition attested to us.

I may adjoin to the former sorts of extraordinary actions,
some other sorts, the consideration of which (although not so
directly and immediately) may serve our main design ; those
(which the general opinion of mankind hath approved, and
manifold testimony hath declared frequently to happen) which
concern apparitions from another world, as it were, of beings
unusual ; concerning spirits haunting persons and places, (these
discerned by all senses, and by divers kinds of effects;) of
which the old world (the ancient poets and historians) did speak
so much, and of which all ages have afforded several attesta-
tions very direct and plain, and having all advantages imagi-
nable to beget credence ; concerning visions made unto persons
of especial eminency and influence, (to priests and prophets;)
concerning presignifications of future events by dreams ; concern-
ing the power of enchantments, implying the co-operation of
invisible powers ; concerning all sorts of intercourse and con-
federacy (formal or virtual) with bad spirits : all which things
he that shall affirm to be mere fiction and delusion, must

THE BEING OF GOD PROVED, &C.

217

thereby with exceeding immodesty and rudeness charge the
world with extreme both vanity and malignity ; many, if not
all, worthy historians, of much inconsiderateness or fraud;
most lawgivers, of great silliness and rashness; most judica-
tories, of high stupidity or cruelty; a vast number of witnesses,
of the greatest malice or madness ; all which have concurred to
assert these matters of fact.

It is true, no question, but there have been many vain pre-
tences, many false reports, many unjust accusations, and some
undue decisions concerning these matters ; that the vulgar sort
is apt enough to be abused about them ; that even intelligent
and considerate men may at a distance in regard to some of
them be imposed on ; but as there would be no false gems
obtruded, if there were no true ones found in nature ; as no
counterfeit coin would appear, were there no true one current ;
so neither can we well suppose that a confidence in some to
feign, or a readiness in most to believe, stories of this kind
could arise, or should subsist, without some real ground, or
without such things having in gross somewhat of truth and
reality. However, that the wiser and more refined sort of
men, highest in parts and improvements both from study and
experience, (indeed the flower of every commonwealth; states-
men, lawgivers, judges, and priests,) on so many occasions of
great importance, after most deliberate scanning such pretences
and reports, should so often suffer themselves to be deluded, to
the extreme injury of particular persons concerned, to the com-
mon abusing of mankind, to the hazard of their own reputation
in point of wisdom and honesty, seems nowise reasonable to
conceive. In likelihood rather the whole kind of all these
things, were it altogether vain and groundless, would on so
frequent and so mature discussions have appeared to be so, and
would consequently long since have been disowned, exploded,
and thrust out of the world ; for, as on this occasion it is said
in Tully, ' Time wipeth out groundless conceits, but confirms
that which is founded in nature, and real.'

Now if the truth and reality of these things, (all or any of
them,) inferring the existence of powers invisible, at least
inferior ones, though much superior to us in all sort of ability,
be admitted, it will at least (as removing the chief obstacles of

BAR. VOL. V. K

1 8

BARROW. — SERMON IX.

incredulity) confer much to the belief of that supreme Divinity,
which our discourse strives to maintain.

I must acknowlege that both these arguments, drawn from
testimonies concerning matters of fact, (and indeed all other
arguments,) were invalid and insignificant, could any demon-
stration or any argument weighty enough be brought to show
the impossibility of such a thing to exist, as we infer to exist
from them. But, as it is a very easy thing (so whoever is
versed in speculation and reasoning about things cannot but
find) to prove many things possible to be, which do not actually
exist ; so it is hard to prove the impossibility of a thing's being ;
yea there is plainly no other mean of doing this, than the
manifesting an evident repugnance between being itself, and
some property assigned to that thing ; or between several pro-
perties attributed thereto ; as if we should suppose a square
circle, or a round square to exist. But in our case no man can
show such a repugnance ; between being and wisdom, power or
goodness, there is no inconsistence surely ; nor can any man
evince one to be between being and coexisting with matter, or
penetrating body ; between being and insensibility ; between
being and any other property which we ascribe to God ; nor is
there any clashing between those properties themselves : it is
therefore impossible to show that God cannot exist ; and there-
fore it is unreasonable to disbelieve the testimonies (so many,
so pregnant) that declare him to exist.

Men indeed, who affix themselves to things which their sense
offers, may be indisposed to abstract their minds from such
things, may be unapt to frame conceptions about any other sort
of things ; but to think there can be no other things than such
as we see and feel, that nothing, endued with other properties
than such as these objected to our sense have, can exist, implies
a great dulness of apprehension, a greater shortness of reason
and judgment ; it is much like the simplicity of a rustic, who,
because he never was above three miles from home, cannot
imagine the world to reach ten miles farther ; and will look on
all that is told him, concerning things more distant, to be false,
and forged to abuse him. I add, that these men's incredulity
is hence more inexcusable, because the possibility of such a
being's existence, the compatibility and concurrence of such

THE BEING OF GOD PROVED, &C.

210

properties in one thing, is (as we otherwhere have largely
showed) by a very plain instance declared, even by that being
within every man, which in a degree partakes of all those pro-
perties.

I shall leave this head of discourse with this one remark ;
that they are much mistaken, who place a kind of wisdom in
being very incredulous, and unwilling to assent to any testi-
mony, how full and clear soever : for this indeed is not wisdom,
but the worst kind of folly. It is folly, because it causes
ignorance and mistake, with all the consequents of these ; and
it is very bad, as being accompanied with disingeuuity, obsti-
nacy, rudeness, uncharitableness, and the like bad dispositions;
from which credulity itself, the other extreme sort of folly, is
exempt. Compare we, I say, these two sorts of fools ; the
credulous fool, who yields his assent hastily on any slight
ground; and the suspicious fool, who never will be stirred by
any the strongest reason or clearest testimony ; we shall find
the latter in most respects the worst of the two ; that his folly
arises from worse causes, hath worse adjuncts, produceth worse
effects. Credulity may spring from an airy complexion, or
from a modest opinion of one's self; suspiciousness hath its
birth from an earthy temper of body, or from self-conceit in
the mind : that carries with it being civil and affable, and apt
to correct an error ; with this a man is intractable, unwilling to
hear, stiff and incorrigible in his ignorance or mistake : that
begets speed and alacrity in action ; this renders a man heavy
and dumpish, slow and tedious in his resolutions and in his
proceedings : both include want of judgment; but this pre-
tending to more thereof, becomes thereby more dangerous.
Forward rashness, which is the same with that, may sometimes,
like an acute disease, undo a man sooner ; but stupid dotage,
little differing from this, is (like a chronical distemper) com-
monly more mischievous, and always more hard to cure. In
fine, were men in their other affairs, or in ordinary converse, so
diffident to plain testimony, as some do seem to be in these mat-
ters concerning religion, they would soon feel great incon-
veniences to proceed thence ; their business would stick, their
conversation would be distasteful ; they would be much more
offensive, and no less ridiculous than the most credulous fool in

220

BARROW.— SERMON IX.

the world. While men therefore so perversely distrustful affect
to seem wise, they affect really to be fools ; and practice ac-
cording to the worst sort of folly.

Thus have I, although very cursorily, considered the first
kind of works extraordinary that appear in the world : T pro-
ceed briefly to touch the other sort, observable in the transac-
tion of human affairs; for even in these there do happen things
in a sort miraculous or prodigious; according to reasonable esti-
mation surpassing the common efficacy of human causes; by
which G-od in a language more express, as it were, and in a
louder tone, declares his presence and providence here ; so that
they must be very deaf and stupid who do not from them learn
lessons of piety and reverence toward God ; who do not in them
hear Heaven thundering forth that proclamation to us all :
Dlscite justitiam monili. For instance,

1. We may observe, when any where things are come to such
a pass, that iniquity and outrage do extremely prevail, so that
the most of men's lives become intolerably grievous, that in
such cases often the state of things, how seemingly stable and
robust soever, in a manner sudden and strange, by means to
appearance small and weak, to be overturned, and reduced to a
more tolerable form; no strugglings of might, no fetches of
policy, no circumspection or industry of man availing to uphold
it, an invisible hand checking all such force, and crossing all
such devices. ' A stone cut out of the mountains without
hands,' (that is, a slender instrument coming forth out of some
remote or secret place, without any considerable influence of
human endeavor,) * breaking in pieces the iron, and the brass,
the clay, the silver, and the gold ;' there being raised up in-
stantly a Moses or a Maccabseus ; an Ehud or a Gideon ; a
Dion or a Timoleon, by a single stroke or a sudden impression,
to deliver oppressed nations from slavery.

2. How many examples do experience and history afford us
of justice and vengeance, in ways for their kind and for their
circumstances very remarkable, executed in the face of the
world on persons (such as Corah and his fellows, Sennacherib,
Herod, Brennus) notoriously wicked and mischievous, Mho
have outbraved Heaven by their impiety, or horribly abused
mankind by their injustice !

THE BEING OF GOD PROVED, &C.

221

3. Yea, we may take notice that even few of those men,
whose actions have been illustrious for greatness void of good-
ness ; who have climbed to height of power and state by the
ruins and slaughters of mankind ; that, I say, few of such per-
sons have departed off the stage in peace or honor. That Alex-
ander was snapt in the flower of his age and glory ; that Csesar
was no sooner arrived to the top of his fortune than to the bot-
tom of his life ; neither having time allowed them to enjoy,
scarce to taste, those fruits which they so eagerly sought and
toiled for : both perhaps (one without any peradventure) being
speeded away by violent and treacherous hands. Not to men-
tion Ponipey or Hannibal, or other such like men of exorbitant,
ambition, whose fortunes were so strangely changed, and whose
ends were so dismal.

4. We may however observe that few great tyrants and op-
pressors, few persons insolently profane or sacrilegious, have
escaped the visible stroke of divine vengeance ; a stroke in-
flicted in ways not only violent, but shameful ; and that usually
by means most unexpected, by the hands of their own guards,
their own servants, their own favorites, the very instruments of
their mischief, and these stirred up by slight causes, by some
little disgrace or disgust received by them from their master.*
What a long black legend of Caligula's, Nero's, Domi-
tian's, Commodus's, Heliogabalus's, Maximinus's, may any
man's observation even out of profane histories easily com
pose, of whom the divine justice in such ways hath rid the
world ?

5. I might also mention the judgments of God on persons
and families raised to wealth and splendor of estate by oppres-
sion, fraud, sacrilege, rapine, or such bad means; whose estates
without any visible ordinary means do moulder and decay; a
secret moth devouring them ; a thing which falls under common
observation.

G. The same providence hath more clearly discovered
itself in the strange detections of murders, and other enor-
mous mischiefs committed in darkness, and revealed by a
light unaccountably darted from Heaven. Of which kind

* Vid. Plut. in Pelopida ad fin.

•2-22

BARROW. — SERMON IX.

not only books, but common experience doth furnish with
stories and instances very remarkable both for number and
weight.

7. The like strange discoveries of plots, contrived secretly
against the public peace, and against the lives of princes, fre-
quently offer themselves in story, and the like experience sug-
gests concerning private men : ' a bird of the air carrying the
voice ' of the wicked traitor to the ears of him who is designed
against ; ' the stones of the wall crying out ' treason and mur-
der. Yea, generally, according to the psalmist's observa-
tion, when men have ' encouraged themselves in an evil
matter, and have communed about laying snares privily — say-
ing, who shall see them? — God doth shoot at them with an
arrow, suddenly they are wounded.' So that all men have rea-
son, as he adds they will do, ' to fear, and to declare the work
of God,' if they ' wisely consider his doing :' and himself had
reason to pronounce in another place ; ' The Lord is known by
the judgment that he executeth ; the wicked is snared in the
work of his own hands.'

8. I might adjoin the remarkable providences which also
occur, concerning the recompenses and encouragements of
virtue ; in the protecting good men from imminent dangers,
delivering them from grievous straits, supplying them fn ex-
treme needs, prospering them in their undertakings, raising
them (as Joseph, David, Daniel, &c.) by wonderful means to
wealth and dignity, for their own encouragement, or for public
benefit ; concerning which occurrences the psalmist had reason
to say, ' Whoso is wise will observe these things, and they shall
understand the lovingkindness of the Lord.'

These considerations, with divers others of the same kind,
grounded on Providence, I must confess have not, singly taken,
the greatest force and evidence to infer our purpose, nor can
they with the same assurance and peremptoriness be urged to
every adversary or disbeliever, as some other arguments may ;
those, which we have formerly insisted on, drawn from nature.
For in nature, all causes there being themselves destitute of im-
mediate reason or choice, and subject to no chance or contin-
gency, (properly so called,) we may indeed confidently ascribe
all effects, in which any reason or counsel doth appear, whether

THE BEING OF GOD PROVED, &C.

2-2 3

ordinary or extraordinary, to divine efficacy ; there being no
other cause to which we can reasonably impute them : but in
human affairs, seeing man is an understanding and free agent,
and few effects happen without some act of his intervening,
there can hardly occur any passage, how rare and strange so-
ever, which our incredulous adversaries, with some kind of
color or plausible shift, will not be ready to attribute unto some
reach of man's wit, or to some capricio of his humor, or to some
unaccountable casualty, incident to matters of this kind ; (as
we see the Philistines were apt to impute the plague of eme-
rodsto chance ; the Israelites did presently charge that terrible
judgment on Corah and his complices on Moses and Aaron.)
And commonly divine and human influences on these effects
(even as in nature the influences of Heaven and of inferior par-
ticular causes) are so complicated and interwoven together, that
it is not so easy to distinguish the one from the other, either in
whole or in part, to separate the bounds of providence ordinary
and extraordinary, to discern what God performs by usual in-
struments, what by his immediate hand. As also the actions
of the wisest men are often grounded on reasons remote from,
and impenetrable by, vulgar conceit ; so are the reasons of
God's proceedings with men various and often mysterious ;
above the reach of our capacity with distinction to apprehend
them : as who, for instance, can oftentimes readily distinguish
between God's merciful patience toward bad men, and his gra-
cious recompensing the good ; between God's just vengeance on
the one sort, and his fatherly correction of the other ; between
his reclaiming one from vice, either as particular circumstances
require, by adverse or prosperous events, and his trying or ex-
ercising the other's virtue by the like proceedings ? Who can
distinguish between what is performed or permitted on general
or on particular accounts; in respect to the public, or in regard
to private men; in relation to present times, or to posterity ; on
absolute and immediate accounts, or in order to some farther,
more remote designs ? Who, I say, can pretend skill enough
to define what or how much is best to be done in these cases ;
when it is fit to allow men to proceed in the use of their free-
dom, when to interrupt them ? Who, but he that exactly

224

BARROW.— SERMON IX.

knows the limits of just and fit, the qualities and tempers of men,
the state and circumstances of every tiling ?

I add, that God's governance of things hath no complete
issue here ; that this is not the only nor the chief place of dis-
pensing rewards and punishments ; that things are but doing
here, and not done ; in a progress and tendency toward some-
what beyond, not in a state of final resolution or perfection :
wherefore as we cannot fully judge of an artificial work by its
first draughts, nor of a poem by some scenes, but must stay
till all is finished and acted through ; so we cannot so clearly
discern the intire wisdom and justice of Divine dispensations
here ; not till that day, when, as St. Paul tells us, God's
btKatoKpuria, ' his righteous judgment, shall be made apparent.'
Whence discourse grounded on present events may not prove
so convincing or satisfactory, except unto the children of wis-
dom, who by a sharper sense can discover even the smaller
lines and more occult tracts of God's hand ; who with an espe-
cial attention and sagacity do, as the prophet expresseth it,
' regard the works of the Lord, and consider the operations of
his hands.' However, the frequent occurrences in human
affairs of passages, such as we mentioned, so rare and remark-
able, if they do not, singly and solitarily taken, thoroughly serve
to demonstrate the hypothesis of Divine providence, yet at
least they do much favor and strengthen it, being very con-
gruous thereto. Supposing such a Providence, it is most pro-
bable (I may say necessary) that such events would happen ;
whence there can be no absurdity in ascribing them thereto,
but much of reason in doing it. They are digni vindice nodi,
difficulties not otherwise easily resolved, and therefore God
may be most fitly introduced, as the most probable cause of
them; if strict discourse cannot compel us, yet ingenuity will
incline us, and wisdom will oblige us, to do so. ' They that
are wise will consider these things, and they shall understand
the lovingkindness (I add, and also both the wisdom and power)
of the Lord.' » A brutish man knoweth not, neither doth a
fool understand this,' saith the psalmist, concerning the pro-
cedings of Providence.

But however general providence doth work in convincing

THE BEING OF GOD PROVED, &C. 225

some, particular providence will at least produce that effect in
many : for I dare appeal to most men (to those especially,
who have ever had any fear of God, or sense of goodness in
them,) if, sometime or other, in their lives, they have not in
their pressing needs and straits (especially on their addresses
to God for help) found help and comfort conveyed unto them
by an insensible hand ; if they have not sometimes in a
manner unaccountable escaped imminent dangers ; if they have
not in the performance of their duty and devotion toward God
experienced a comfort more than ordinary ; if they cannot to
some events of their life aptly apply those observations of the
psalmist : ' This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him,
and delivered him out of his troubles. The angel of the Lord
encampeth round about them that fear him, and delivereth
them. O taste and see that the Lord is good.' ' O taste and
see;' he appeals to experience ; he supposes the Divine good-
ness may be seen and felt ; that surely will be a most effica-
cious argument of God's existence and providence. And so it
is indeed to all good men, for whose comfort and confirmation
it is chiefly mentioned, though it is not likely to have much in-
fluence on them, who have alienated themselves from God,
and driven him 'out of their thoughts;' except they should
(beyond what can be expected from them) be so civil and can-
did, as to believe the testimony of others, who assert this great
truth unto them from their own inward conscience and expe-
rience.

But let thus much serve, at present, for the showing that
God doth, as our Lord tells us, hitherto work ; and conse-
quently that, as we thence meant to infer, God doth exist.

226

SUMMARY OF

SUMMARY OF SERMON X.

EPHESIANS, CHAP. IV. — VERSE 6.

It has already been proved that there is one God. The fol-
lowing parts of our creed are now proceeded in.

The Father. This term is sometimes put absolutely or singly,
referring to the first person of the blessed Trinity ; but com-
monly it is to be understood of God essentially considered, to
whom in that respect all the divine attributes agree, &c. The
accounts on which God is so called first considered : next the
terms or objects in relation to which he is so called : then the
consideration is applied to practice.

One God and Father of all. Every attribute, title, or re-
lation of God, grounds an obligation, and affords an induce-
ment to good practice and obedience ; but none more than that
of Father ; which title is on several accounts commonly given
to things : one of these is causality : another is sustenance or
preservation ; another governance , with beneficent affection and
care : these briefly illustrated. On all these it is plain that
the title of Universal Father may truly be ascribed unto
God.

1. God is the Father of all things, or of us as creatures ; being
the efficient cause and creator of them all : he made the world,
says St. Paul, and all things therein; &c. The title, Pater
Omnipotens, was given to the Supreme Being by the Pagans.

2. More especially God is the Father of intellectual beings :
he is styled the Father of Spirits ; and the angels, by way
of excellency, are called the sons of God : this topic dilated
on.

SERMON X.

227

3. God is, in a more especial manner, the Father of man-
kind : have we not, saith the prophet, one Father ? hath not
one God created us ? Thus Adam is called the son of God,
the genealogy of all men terminating in him : this subject en-
larged on.

4. Yet farther, God is more especially the Father of all
good men ; such a relation being built on higher grounds and
respects ; for as good they have another origin from him ; virtue
springeth up from an heavenly seed ; &c.

5. Moreover we may observe that God, when he particularly
designs to contain men within bounds of duty, and thereby
lead them to happiness, delights to represent himself under
this endearing relation : this shown in the case of his ancient
people.

6. But in the Christian dispensation, God more signally re-
presents himself in this quality : all his performances towards
us, and in our behalf, are of such a nature, and are set forth in
such terms, as import this relation : for,

1. The reception of a believer into the privileges of Chris-
tianity is termed v'u&eoia, the making him a son ; &c.

2. That renovation of our nature which the gospel requires,
is called regeneration, a new birth, &c.

3. The resurrection of good Christians after death to a state
of glory, is worthily styled iraXiyyeveaia, a being generated
and born again.

4. It might be added, that Christians do become the sons of
God by the intervention of our Saviour, assuming our nature,
whereby he becomes the first-born of many brethren ; &c.

In so many respects is God our Father, and we are his
children. The consideration of which has manifold good
uses.

I. It in general may teach, and should remind us, what re-
verence and observance is dne from us to God in equity, jus-

228

SUMMARY OF SERMON X.

tice, and gratitude. If I be a father, where is my honor?
Mai. i.6.

2. It may instruct and admonish us how we should behave
ourselves ; for if we he God's children, it becometh us, in
our disposition and demeanor, to resemble and imitate him ;
&c.

3. It may raise us to a just regard, esteem, and valuation
of ourselves, inspire noble inclinations, and withdraw us from
all base and unworthy practices.

4. It is an especial motive to humility ; for if we are God's
children, so as to have received our being and all things from
him, what reason can we have to ascribe or assume any thing to
ourselves ?

5. This consideration shows us the reason we have to sub-
mit intirely to the providence of God, as being his possessions ;
&c.

0. It also obliges us to be patient and cheerful in the sorest
afflictions, as coming from a paternal hand, and designed for
our good.

7. It shows the reason we have to obey those precepts which
enjoin us to rely on God's providence ; to cast all our burden
and care on him ; as children do commonly live, without care,
on the maintenance of able and kind parents, &c.

8. It doth more generally in all regards serve to breed and
cherish our faith, to raise our hopes, to quicken our devotion :
for in whom shall we confide, if not in such a father ? from
whom expect good, if not from him who has already given us
so much ?

9. Lastly, it will direct and prompt us how to behave our-
selves towards God's creatures ; who, if he be their father, are
all of them in some sort our brethren : this topic enlarged on.
Conclusion.

I BEUEVE IN GOD THE FATHER.

22:)

SERMON X.

I BELIEVE IN GOD THE FATHER.

EPHESIANS, CHAP. IV. — VERSE G.
One God and Father of all.

I HAVE formerly discoursed concerning the nature of that
belief which we here profess : I did also endeavor by several
arguments to evince the truth and credibility of the first article
of our Creed, which is indeed the foundation of all the rest,
and of all religion, ' That there is one God.' I proceed to the
following parts.

' The Father.' The appellation of God not improperly
taken, (as when it is attributed to creatures, on some resem-
blance in nature or office which they bear to the supreme God,)
but relating to him who only, truly, and properly is styled God,
is sometimes put absolutely, sometime hath a relative apposi-
tion going along with it. Being absolutely or singly put, it
sometimes refers, by way of eminency, particularly to the first
Person in the blessed and glorious Trinity ; as when Christ is
called the Son of God ; when God is put in distinction from
the other persons, (when, for instance, it is said, 'That they
may know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom
thou hast sent.' ' Blessed be God and the Father of our Lord
Jesus Christ.' ' The Word was with God.' ' To serve the living
and true God, and to wait for his Son from heaven.' And in

200

BARROW. — SERMON X.

that form of blessing, ' The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and
the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost be
with you all;') but commonly it is to be understood for God
essentially considered, (according to the Divine essence com-
mon to all three Persons,) to whom in that respect all the Divine
attributes agree, and from whom all Divine operations (absolute
et ad extra) do jointly proceed. And to this sense or notion
we have hitherto supposed that the name of God might be here
applied. For, that there is one God, having such essential at-
tributes, is the first principle and foundation of all religion,
which we must therefore suppose, if not directly expressed, yet
at least sufficiently implied in the Creed.

And supposing the word in part doth imply this sense, the
attribute or title of Father doth on many accounts truly and
properly belong to God, (God absolute and essential,) in rela-
tion to all things generally, and to some things particularly;
especially, which is the most fruitful consideration, in respect
to ourselves.

Let us first consider the accounts on which, then the terms
(or objects) in relation to which, God is so called; then let us
apply the consideration to practice.

One God and Father of all.

Every attribute, every title, every relation of God doth
ground an obligation, doth afford an inducement to good prac-
tice; but none other doth ground higher obligation, or yieldeth
stronger inducement to all kinds of obedience, than doth this of
Father, which here, and frequently otherwhere in holy Scrip-
ture, is ascribed to God : unto which purpose, of exciting us
to good practice, (to all good practice generally, and particu-
larly to some kinds thereof,) I do now intend to apply the
consideration thereof : but first let us consider in what respects,
or on what grounds, this title is attributed to God ; then let us
reflect somewhat on the term, in respect to which God is
styled ' Father of all,' that is, in a larger sense of all things,
in a stricter sense of all persons, in the most restrained sense of
all us Christians.

The title of father is on several accounts commonly given
to things ; one is causality ; for the efficient cause, or author of

I BELIEVE IN GOD THE FATHER.

•231

any thing, is called its father ; any work is said to be the child
or offspring of him that maketh or inventeth it; ' Hath the
rain a father,' (or, ' Who is father of the rain ?' as the LXX
render it,) ' or who hath begotten the drops of the dew?' saith
God in Job : another ground thereof is sustenance, or preser-
vation ; so Job saith of himself, that ' he was a father to the
poor and fatherless,' because he yielded them protection and
relief; so, Roma patrem patrice Ciceronem libera dixit, Rome
called Cicero father, because he preserved it from the attempts
of wicked conspirators against its liberty and safety : educa-
tion also and instruction intitle to this name ; whence St.
Paul calleth Timothy and Philemon, the Corinthians and Ga-
latians, whom he had instructed in the Christian faith, his chil-
dren: lastly, governance, attended with beneficent affection
and care, doth found this appellation ; whence princes are
usually styled the ' fathers of their country,' being supposed to
desire and to provide for the public good ; so we have the
'fathers of tribes,' that is, the principal persons of them, who
did preside over them : I do omit antiquity and age, for which
we know that persons are vulgarly called fathers.

On all these accounts it is plain that the title of Universal
Father may truly be ascribed unto God ; especially in respect
to ourselves, who may be considered as equivalent to all other
objects, as comprehending in us somewhat common to them
all : God in some of those respects is the Father of all things,
or of us as beings ; God is more especially the Father
of intelligent beings, and of us as such ; God is the Father of
all men, of all good men, and peculiarly of Christians ; which
respects all of them do or should concur in us. Let us survey
those particulars somewhat distinctly, then apply them as obli-
gations and inducements to good practice.

1. God is the Father of all things, or of us as creatures; as
the efficient cause and creator of them all : ' He made the
world,' as St. Paul telleth the Athenians, ' and all things
therein;' 'He commanded,' saith the psalmist, 'and they were
created ;' ' The world and the fulness thereof,' (that is, all where-
with it is replenished, and which it contains,) ' he hath founded
them ;' ' All these things,' saith God in the prophet, ' hath mine
hand made :' and koii)t))v, Kal Trartpa Tovhe tov naPTus, ' the

232

BARROW. — SERMON* X.

Maker and Father of this universe,' even Plato styleth God.
God is also the Father of all things, because he preserveth and
sustaineth them by his power; ' He,' saith the Apostle to the
Hebrews, ' beareth up all things by the word of his power;'
• He,' saith the psalmist, ' hath established them for ever and
ever; he made a decree which shall not pass,' by virtue of which
they subsist: also because he by a continual care doth provide
for them ; ' They all,' saith the psalmist, ' wait on him, that he
may give them their meat in due season ; what he giveth them,
they gather ; he openeth his hand, they are filled with good :'
he also governeth, and containeth them in good order; for,
' his kingdom ruleth over all ;' and, ' whatsoever the Lord
pleaseth, thatdoeth he in heaven and earth :' all this he doeth
with goodness and affection ; for, ' his tender mercies are over
all his works :' whence even among Pagans the word Pater
absolutely put, did signify the Supreme God, they understand-
ing thereby the Author, Preserver, and Governor of all things ;
and Paler omnipotens is the periphrasis, whereby the wisest
poet doth usually express God.

2. More especially God is the Father of intellectual beings ;
he is styled ' the Father of spirits :' particularly the angels in
way of excellency are called the sons of God : 1 There was a
day when the sons of God came to present themselves before
the Lord :' and, ' When the morning stars sang together, and
all the sons of God shouted for joy;' in which place of Job
the LXX. have «yye\u« /.iov, 'my angels;' (although perhaps
there all God's creatures may be understood rejoicing and ex-
ulting, as it were, in their being, newly by the goodness of
their Maker conferred on them :) agaiu, ' Who,' saith the
psalmist, ' in heaven can be compared unto the Lord V ' who
among the sons of the mighty can he likened unto the Lord ?'
the sons of the mighty ; it is in the Hebrew, ' the sons of God,'
and so the LXX. render it ; and what precedeth, ' who in hea-
ven,' doth make it, as it seems, best interpretable of the angels.
Of such beings God is more especially the Father, because he
did produce them in a more excellent manner ; for other things
he made as it were by his hand, these he breathed out of his
mouth ; as it is said of Adam, when God infused his soul
into his body, that ' God breathed into his nostrils the breath

1 BELIEVE IN GOD THE FATHER.

2:5:;

of life;' because they more nearly resemble God in their nature
and properties, (in spirituality, and independence on matter ; ill
life, and self-moving; in immortality, and perpetuity of being;
in understanding, and wisdom; in will, and goodness; or in a
capacity at least of such perfections ;) because also he ruleth
them in a nobler way ; a way, not of blind and constrained
obedience, but of wise and free choice, according to laws of
justice, by obligations of ingenuity; because he likewise
beareth a more dear affection unto them, and a peculiar care
over them : in respect to these beings indeed the relation of
father is more proper, because they only can be sensible thereof,
and capable to render the duties of piety, gratitude, and will-
ing obedience suitable thereto ; ' Rational beings,' saith an
Ethnic philosopher, ' are the sons of God, because they only
are naturally fit to converse with God, being conjoined to him
by participation of reason :'* and thus indeed even the Pagan
theologers, commonly from primitive general tradition we may
suppose, did conceive the Supreme God to be the Father of the
gods, (intending not such gods as were of man's devising, crea-
tures deified by the flattery or fondness of the vulgar, but of
higher rank, answering to our angels, whom they supposed
as to approach in excellency of nature nearest to God, so
to have derived their being from him, and to attend con-
stantly on him, partaking of his glory, and observing his
pleasure;) whence Divum pater, 'Father of the gods,' is a
common periphrasis, or title of God among them; and
particularly in the Timreus of Plato there is an oration,
which he representeth God making unto those creatures pre-
sently on their creation, beginning thus ; 'O ye chief gods,
of whom I am the Framer and Father;' concerning which
gods that which he can say, he pretendeth to deduce from
ancient original tradition. But to come nearer to our more
particular concernment.

3. God is the Father, in a more especial manner, of man-
kind : 'Have we not;' saith the prophet, 'one Father? hath
not one God created us?' and Adam is called ' the son of God,'
the genealogy of all men terminating in him ; and, ' We are all

* Arr. Epict. i. 9.

234

BARROW. — SERMON X.

God's offspring,' saith St. Paul : we are so, for that ' his hands
made and fashioned our bodies;' and for that he ' formed our
spirit within us,' as the prophet speaketh. He made us after
his own image, so as signally to represent and resemble him-
self, in properties of nature, and in eminence of condition ; in
this great family of visible creatures he hath assigned unto us
the principal station, so that other creatures there are but as
servants waiting on us; we are as children, depending only on
him; he hath showed an especial tenderness of affection and
good-will toward us, in providing for us all manner of needful
sustenance and comfortable accommodation ; continually watch-
ing over us for our good, and ' holding us up,' as the psalmist
speaketh, 'from our mother's womb;' bestowing on us good
education, (instructing us by the light of nature, or dictates of
natural reason and conscience, by civil conversation, by the
precepts of wise men, and examples of virtuous persons, by pro-
vidential encouragements to good, and determents from evil ;
together with the secret whispers, advices, and motions of his
grace ;) bearing with excessive patience our infirmities, mis-
carriages, and offences; using seasonable and moderate chas-
tisements to reclaim us from bad courses to those which our
duty and our advantage do require : in short, all God's deal-
ings and demeanor toward mankind do argue in him a paternal
regard thereto : whence even the blind Heathens discerned
and acknowleged this general relation of God to men; and,
Gentis kumance Pater, atque custos, (' O father, and keeper
of mankind!') was an invocation suitable to their notion con-
cerning him : from him they deduced our original ; to him
they ascribed the formation of our bodies, so full of won-
derful artifice ; from him they affirm our souls to be extracted ;
from his goodness and care they supposed all the conve-
niences of life which we enjoy to be derived ; they con-
ceived him to bear a kind affection unto man, and to have
a constant care over him ; as by many express testimonies
might be showed, and from their practices evidently may be
inferred.

4. Farther, yet more especially God is the Father of all good

* Hor. Carm. i. 12. Epict. i. 3. 9.

I BELIEVE IN GOD THE FATHER.

235

men ; such a relation being yet built on higher grounds and
respects; for as good they have another original from him;
virtue springeth in their hearts from a heavenly seed ; that
emendation and perfection of nature is produced by his grace
enlightening and quickening them ; they are images of him,
resembling him in judgment and disposition of mind, in will
and purpose, in action and behavior; the which resemblances
do argue them to be the sons of God, and indeed do constitute
them such ; for, ' Love your enemies,' saith our Lord, ' bless
those that curse you, do good to those that hate you — that you
may be the sons of your Father in heaven ;' and ' Love your
enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing thence ;
and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be the sons of the
Most High.' Imitation of God in goodness and beneficence
doth, we see, found a filial relation unto God : to such, God
answerably doth bear a paternal kindness and compassion ;
for, ' Like as a father pitiethhis children, so,' saith the psalmist,
' the Lord pitieth them that fear him.' He in all respects
dealeth with them as with his children ; (it vi'oTs TrpotrtpepeTai,
as the Apostle to the Hebrews speaketh : he teacheth and
guideth them with wholesome advice on all occasions; for,
' What man is he that feareth the Lord ? him shall he teach in
the way that he shall choose ;' and, ' The steps- of a good
man are ordered by the Lord :' he gently removeth anu _or-
recteth them ; 1 Whom,' saith the wise man, ' God loveth he
correcteth, even as a father the son in whom he delighteth :' he
maintaineth them with all needful sustenance and accommo-
dation without their care or trouble ; for, ' Take no care,'
saith our Saviour, ' saying, '■ What shall we eat ? or, What shall
we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? — for your
heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things ;'
he so knoweth and considereth it, as to provide, that ' there
shall not be,' as the psalmist affirmeth, ' any want unto them
that fear him :' he protecteth them from all danger, supporteth
them in all distress, and rescueth them from all mischief ; for,
' His eyes are open on the righteous — to deliver his soul from
death, and to keep him alive in famine ; he keepeth all his
bones, so that none of them is broken — -though he fall, he shall
not utterly be cast down, for the Lord upholdeth him with his

236

BARROW.— SERMON X.

hand ; many are his afflictions, but the Lord delivereth him out
of all.' Such paternal affections doth God bear, such paternal
acts doth he exercise, toward good men ; the which even Pagan
wise men did apprehend ; of whom one thus expresseth him-
self; ' God,' saith he, ' hath a fatherly mind toward good men,
and strongly loveth them — between them and God there is a
friendship which virtue doth conciliate ; a friendship, do I say ?
yea, a kindred and similitude ; for that a good man is God's
disciple and imitator, and his true offspring, whom that magni-
ficent Father, no softly exacter of virtue, doth, after the man-
ner of severe parents, educate hardly.'*

5. We may farther observe, that God in his proceedings
with men, whereby he particularly designeth to contain them
within bounds of duty, and thereby to lead them unto happi-
ness, delighteth to represent himself under this obliging and
endearing relation : thus he did in regard to his ancient people
on all occasions express himself: ' Who are Israelites, whose
is the adoption?' saith St. Paul, reckoning this as the first of
those privileges which appertain to the Jews; it was the com-
mission to Moses ; ' Thou shah say unto Pharaoh, Thus saith
the Lord, Israel is my son, even my firstborn ; and I say unto
thee, Let my son go, that he may serve me :' Moses also, fore-
seeing how that people would misbehave themselves, doth thus
in God's name expostulate with them : ' Do you thus requite
the Lord, O foolish people and unwise ? is not he thy Father
that bought thee? hath he not made thee, and established
thee?' ' Of the Rock that begat thee thou art unmindful, and
hast forgotten God that formed thee :' David also thus address-
eth himself to God in their behalf; ' Blessed be thou, Lord
God of Israel our Father, for ever and ever ; thine, O Lord, is
the greatness, and the power, and the glory, and the victory,
and the majesty:' and, 'Doubtless,' saith Isaiah, 'thou art our
Father, though Abraham be ignorant of us, and Israel acknow-
lege us not; thou, O Lord, art our Father, our Redeemer ; thy
name is from everlasting :' and, ' I am,' saith God in Jeremiah,
' a Father to Israel, and Ephraim is my firstborn ;' ' Is Ephraim
my dear son, is he a pleasant child V He is, the LXX. render
it, in way of assertion, not of interrogation.

* Sen. de Provid. 1.2.

I BELIEVE IN GOD THE FATHER.

•237

6. But in the Christian dispensation God more signally re-
presented himself in this quality and notion. God herein treat-
eth us, not so much as our Lord and Master, with imperious
rigor and awfulness, as our Father, with most gracious conde-
scension, and allurements of kindness : ' Our Lord (the only
Son of God in a sense infinitely most peculiar and high) was
not,' saith the Apostle, ' ashamed to call us brethren ;' ' Go,'
said our Lord, for instance of that gracious condescension, ' to
my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and
to your Father ; both my God, and your God :' and such are
the advantages peculiar to Christians, grounding this relation
toward them, that St. Paul, comparing our state in regard to
God with that of the Jews, doth thus infer ; ' So that thou
(O Christian) art not now a servant, but a son :' so it is
asserted, and accordingly (which is worth our while distinctly
to observe) all the performances of God toward us, and in our
behalf, are of such a nature, and are set out in such terms, as do
ground and import this relation : for,

1. The reception of a believer into the participation of the '
privileges and advantages which Christianity tendereth, is
termed vwQenia, the making him a son; the adopting him into
God's family, the conferring on him the title and quality of
God's child; together with the internal disposition of mind,
and the liberty of access and intercourse, which do suit that
relation : ' Whosoever,' saith St. John, ' did receive him, to
them he gave the power (or privilege) to become the sons of
God, even to them who believed in his name :' and, ' Ye are
all,' saith St. Paul, ' the sons of God by faith in Christ Jesus ;'
that is, by sincerely embracing Christianity: and, 'Behold,'
saith St. John again, ' what manner of love the Father hath
given us, that we should be called the sons of God :' and, ' Ye
'tave not received the spirit of servitude unto fear, but ye have
received the spirit of adoption, by which we cry, Abba, Fa-
ther :' that is, by which in our prayers with humble affection
we freely, confidently, and readily, according to our Saviour's
institution, do say, ' Our Father.'

2. That renovation of our nature, and qualifying our minds,
as the Gospel prescribeth and requireth, is called regeneration,

238

BARROW. — SERMON X.

a new creation, a new birth, the begetting a new man within
us : ' If a man be not born from above, he cannot see the king-
dom of God ;' that is, he cannot be a good Christian : ' Who-
ever is begot of God doth not sin ;' that is, good Christians do
not live in a course of disobedience : ' We are avrov nolrnxa,
God's work,' or production, ' being created in Christ Jesus to
good works :' ' Ye have been taught — to put on the new man,
that is created according to the image of God in righteousness
and true holiness.' In such terms is the effect of the Christian
dispensation on our hearts and lives described ; and that with
the greatest reason ; for no act of God toward us c?.v be more
fatherly, than working in us by his grace the principles of
Christian life, and the practices springing from it ; nothing
doth nearer advance us to a similitude with God, and a ' par-
ticipation of the Divine nature ;' nothing doth conciliate from
God a more tender affection to us, or worketh in us a more
dutiful affection toward him, answerable to this relation, than
doth a hearty compliance with the grace of the Gospel.

3. The resurrection of good Christians after death to a better
state of life, their entering into immortal bliss and glory, is
worthily styled waXiyyeyeala, a being generated and born again ;
whereby they receive from God another more excellent life aud
state of being, more like and conformable to God : for, ' We
know,' saith St. John, ' that if he shall appear, (or, that when
he shall appear, as some copies read it,) we shall be like him ;'
and, ' As,' saith St. Paul, ' we have borne the image of the
earthly (Adam,) we shall also bear the image of the heavenly :'
' We shall,' saith he, ' be metamorphosed,' or transfigured ' into
the same image :' and, ' They,' saith our Saviour, ' which shall
be accounted worthy to obtain that world, and the resurrection
of the dead — are the sons of God, being the sons of the resur-
rection :' that state of bliss is therefore styled a portion or in-
heritance, allotted to sons, and consequent on such a relation :
' If sons,' saith St. Paul, ' then heirs ; heirs of God, and co-
heirs with Christ, receiving the reward and promise of an eter-
nal inheritance :' ' Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord
Jesus Christ,' saith St. Peter, ' who according to his abundant
mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resur-

I BELIEVE IN GOD THE FATHER.

•239

rection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incor-
ruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in
heaven for us.'

4. I might adjoin, that Christian men do become the sons of
God by the intervention of our Saviour, assuming our nature,
and conforming himself to the likeness of men ; whereby he
becomes ' the firstborn of many brethren :' ' God,' saith St.
Paul, 'sent forth his son, born of a woman, that we might
receive the privilege of being made sons:' and, 'Children,'
saith the Apostle to the Hebrews, ' partake of flesh and blood;'
whence (as he meaneth to infer) our Lord being the Son of
God, we on conjunction of nature with him, and as his brethren,
become also such : he farther intimateth, that on this score we
do surpass angels themselves ; for that ' he took not on him
the nature of angels, but took on him the seed of Abraham :'
they were not, as we, dignified with a fraternal relation to the
Son of God.

In so many several respects is God our Father ; we are his
children, as being his creatures, made, preserved, and main-
tained by him; as we are intellectual creatures, being placed
in degree and quality of nature so near him ; as we by virtue
and goodness (produced in us by his grace) do anywise ap-
proach him, resemble him, and partake of his special favor;
as we are Christians, adopted into his heavenly family, re-
newed by his holy grace, and destinated to a participation of
bis eternal glory.

Now the consideration of these grounds, (each one of them,
and all of them together,) on which this relation of God unto
us is founded, hath manifold good uses ; it is apt to inform
and admonish us concerning many necessary duties resulting
from it ; and to enforce on us the practice of them.

1. It in general may teach, and should mind us, what reve-
rence, honor, and observance is due from us unto God, in
equity and justice, according to ingenuity and gratitude : ' If,'
saith God in the Prophet, ' I be a Father, where is my honor ?'
Our believing and acknowleging this relation is vain, if we do
not yield the respects, and perform the duties answerable there-
to. And if indeed we are obliged to love, to respect, to ob-
serve those, who have been the instruments of God in pro-

240

BARROW. — SERMON X.

ducing, in nourishing, in breeding us, how much more are we
bound to yield the same to him, who principally did, who con-
tinually doth, bestow on us our being, together with all the
supports, the conveniences, the comforts thereof ; from whose
free bounty we derive not only the benefits of this transitory
life, but the inestimable privileges and blessings relating to the
future incomparably better state ? If we neglect our duty so
grounded, may not God justly expostulate with us, as he did
of old with those children of his : ' Do ye thus requite the
Lord, O foolish people, and unwise :' ' Is he not thy Father,
who bought thee V (or rather, who got thee, os i^-ijanro at,
saith the Greek ; and both that and the Hebrew do agree in
expression of that thing with our common manner of speech ;)
' hath not he made thee, and established thee ?' It is, as is there
intimated, a part of extreme folly, no less than of injustice and
ingratitude, to disregard and disobey him, to whom by such
bands of duty and obligation we are allied : indeed the excel-
lency of God's nature doth justly require honor and reverence
to him ; his sovereign power may also reasonably extort obe-
dience from us ; but his paternal benevolence and beneficence
are the most obliging grounds, the most kindly inducements,
to the practice of all piety toward him : we are foolishly un-
worthy in not being good on the other accounts; in not being
so for these reasons we are monstrously base.

2. This consideration may instruct and admonish us what we
should be, and how we should behave ourselves; for that, if
we be God's children, it becometh us, and we are obliged, in
our disposition and demeanor, to resemble, to imitate him : it
is natural and proper for children to resemble their parents in
their complexion and countenance ; to imitate them in their
actions and carriage : ' If ye,' argueth our Lord, « were Abra-
ham's children, ye would do the works of Abraham ;' ye vould
imitate him in readily believing and obeying God : and, ' Ye,'
saith he again, ' are of your father the Devil, because ye per-
form the lusts of your father :' because in his envious, trea-
cherous, murderous disposition and practice, ye resemble him :
so if we be God's children, we must, according to St. Paul's i
exhortation, ' imitate God, as dear children ;' we must, in all
imitable perfections, strive to be like him ; so doth the Scrip- |

I BELIEVE IN GOD THE FATHER.

241

ture frequently (both in general, and as to particular oases or
matters) apply and inculcate this point : God is holy and pure,
so therefore ought we to be ; ' As obedient children,' saith St.
Peter, ' not fashioning yourselves according to the former
lusts in your ignorance, but as he which hath called you is
holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation ;' and, ' That,'
saith St. Paul, ' ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons
of God without rebuke, (or irreprehensible sons of God,) in
the midst of a crooked and perverse nation;' and, ' Beloved,
now are we the sons of God,' saith St. John, subjoining — and
every one that hath this hope (a hope grounded on, or spring-
ing from, such a relation) purifieth himself, as God is pure:'
God is perfectly just and righteous, thence we likewise should
labor to be such; for, 'Every one,' saith St. John, 'that
doeth righteousness is righteous, as he is righteous :' God is
perfect in all goodness ; so must we endeavor to be, as our
Saviour enjoineth us; 'Be ye,' saith he, ' therefore perfect, as
your Father is perfect :' GoJ is bountiful, gracious, and mer-
ciful unto all ; we thence should learn to be so also ; ' I say
unto you, (they are our Saviour's lessons to us,) Love your
enemies, bless those that curse you, do good to those that hate
you, and pray for those who despitefully use you, and perse-
cute you ; that ye may be the children of your Father which is
in heaven ; for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on (lie
good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust;' and
again ; ' Love your enemies, do good, and lend, hoping for
nothing again ; and your reward shall be great, and ye shall
be the children of the Highest ; for he is kind to the unthank-
ful and to the evil ; be ye therefore merciful, as your Father
also is merciful.' So are we admonished by the holy writers
of our engagements to be good on this account. And reason
indeed showeth this relation to be inconsistent with our being
otherwise ; for similitude only can preserve cognation ; things
very unlike become formally different in kind and nature there-
by; diversity of manners signify a difference in blood : if there-
fore we be closely affixed to material things, or pronely ad-
dicted to brutish pleasures, how can we be the children of him,
that is purely spiritual, altogether intellectual ? If we be
fierce, hardhearted, unmerciful, or uncharitable, how can we

BAR. VOL. V. L

242

BARROW.— SERMON X.

claim kindred with hira, who is all love and benignity, all mu-
nificence and mercy ? there can be no affinity in relation,
where there is such a dissimilitude in nature : God also cannot
deal with us as children, cannot affect or like us, if we do not
resemble him ; he can only love good men, and the most certain
Wtn'ipiov (the most perfect rule, the most evident mark) by
which we can discern or distinguish what goodness is, is con-
formity to God's nature, discovered by his actions ; for that
cannot otherwise than be very good, wise and reasonable,
comely and commendable, convenient and beneficial to us,
wherein we resemble God ; God's example cannot misguide
us, his law and his practice ever consent, his will and na-
ture cannot disagree ; nothing therefore can more please him
than what is like him; as even Plato could observe : ' What
practice,' saith he, ' is acceptable and suitable to God ? One;
even that, which the old saying implies, Like is ever a friend
to like.'* Nothing likewise is more certainly bad, or more dis-
pleasing to God, than that which rendereth us in our com-
plexion of mind, or in our behavior, unlike to God : we by
being such, or doing so, must necessarily fall from this high
dignity, must ipso facto forfeit this excellent privilege of being
thus related to God ; we thereby become exiles and aliens from
his name and family; we prove rebels and foes, instead of sons
and friends, unto him.

3. This consideration may raise us to a just regard, esteem,
and valuation of ourselves; may consequently inspire noble
thoughts, and breed generous inclinations in us ; may withdraw
us from mean, base, and unworthy designs or practices ; may
excite and encourage us to handsome, brave, worthy resolutions
and undertakings, suitable to the dignity of our nature, the no-
bleness of our descent, the eminency of so high a relation, of so
near an alliance to God : even natural light dictateth this use
of the notion, and heathen philosophers do apply it: ' If any-
one,' saith Epictetus, ' could be affected with this opinion, that
we are all originally descended from God, and that God is both
the Father of men and. gods, he would not, I suppose, conceive
any thing ignoble or meau concerning himself ; If Ciesar should

» Plato de Leg. 4.

I BELIEVE IN GOD THE FATHER.

243

adopt thee, none could endure thy superciliousness ; and if thou
knowest that thou art God's son, shall it not elevate thy
mind V So that great philosopher discourseth. And St.
Austin relateth this discourse of Varro, the most learned Roman
of his time : ' It is,' said he, ' useful for cities, that valiant men
should (although it be false) believe themselves born of the gods,
that their minds thence bearing a confidence of their divine ex-
traction, may more boldly undertake great enterprises, pursue
them more earnestly, and hence accomplish them more happily,
from the security this conceit produceth.' Shall we then, who
in so many respects are so highly born, and of so illustrious an
extraction, (we that are allied to God by our intelligent nature,
that are by the heavenly seed of Christian regeneration more
deeply implanted into his stock,) so far debase ourselves as to
affect and pursue trivial, abject, dishonorable things ? Are we
not ashamed of so vile a degeneracy ? Can we dare so to dis-
parage our high relations ? God our heavenly Father ; Christ owr
elder Brother ; the holy angels and blessed saints, our kindred
in nature, our brethren in grace ? Shall we not be afraid for
such unworthiness to be degraded, to be rejected, to be disin-
herited by our holy Father ; who is jealous of his honor, who
cannot brook to have his blood so stained and defiled, or that
such blots and disgraces should stick to his lineage; that his
image impressed on us should be so deformed and disfigured ;
that such disorders and misbehaviors should be committed in
his family? If we do not behave ourselves as children, he
hath declared that he will disavow and cast us off from being
so ; ' Every plant,' our Saviour telleth us, ' that beareth
not good fruit, he loppeth it from his stock, and casteth it
away.'

4. This consideration is an especial motive to humility, apt to
depress vain conceit and confidence in ourselves : for, if we arc
God's children, so as to have received our beings, all our powers
and abilities, all our goods and wealth, both internal and ex-
ternal, both natural and spiritual, from his free disposal, so as to
be continually preserved and maintained by his providence, to
depend for all our subsistence on his care and bounty ; what

* De Civ. D. iii. 4.

211

E ARROW. — SERMON X.

reason can we have to assume or ascribe any tiling to ourselves ?
How vain is it to rely on any strength or wisdom, any posses-
sion or endowment we have, or seem to have ? How extremely
fond are we if we be raised in our conceit, or are ambitious of
reputation, on the score of any such things ? for, ' Who,' as the
Apostle invincibly discourseth, ' made thee to differ ? what hast
thou that thou didst not receive ? and if thou hast received it,
why dost thou glory, as if thou hadst not received it ?' To him
alone, who is the Author and Donor of all good things; to the
Fountain of all power, all joy, all blessings ; to ' the Father of
lights, from whom every good and perfect gift descendeth ;' all
praise and glory is due.

5. This consideration showeth us the reason we have to sub-
mit intirely to the providence of God, with contentedness and
acquiescence in every condition ; for seeing we are God's pos-
sessions, (QeoD KTiifiara, as Plato calleth us,) he having made
us whatever we are, according to all accounts and capacities,
whether as men by his common providence, or as Christians by
his especial grace ; he surely hath the best right and title that
can be on us ; he may justly dispose of us and use us as he thinks
good ; we may well thence be obliged, according to the apos-
tolical precept, ' to glorify God in our body, and in our spirit,
which are God's ;' if we repine at or complain of God's dealing
with us, may he not justly return to us that answer in the gospel,
' Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own ?'
Shall we not suffer God to order his own family according to
his discretion and pleasure ; to assign what station, to allow what
portion he pleaseth to his own children, without our offence or
displeasure ? Shall we pretend to know better than he what is
fit to be clone ? shall we claim a right to dispense his goods, or
desire to be carvers for ourselves? If it be unjust and unrea-
sonable to do thus, then in all reason we ought to be content in
every state that he disposeth us into, and to undergo patiently
whatever he imposeth on us; yea we have reason to be more
than content with every thing incident, not only as justly pro-
ceeding from him, but as presumable to be good and convenient
for us; for is it not fit that we should think that God will order
things for the best good of his own children ? Can we conceive
that he willingly will hurt, or will not rather help them ; that

I BELIEVE IN GOD THE FATHER.

243

he will design them any mischief, yea that he will easily suffer
it ? ' Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should
not have compassion on the son of her womb ? Yea, they
may,' God telleth us, ' forget; yet he will not forget us :' sooner
indeed may the most tender parents become unnaturally re-
gardless, spiteful, and cruel toward their children, than the
immutable God (who in his nature is unexpressibly benign
and compassionate) shall neglect the good of his offspring :
good reason therefore have we to be satisfied with all that be-
falleth us.

6. Particularly this consideration obligeth us to be patient
and cheerful in the sorest afflictions, as deeming them to come
from a paternal hand, inflicted with great affection and com-
passion, designed for, and tending to, our good : ' Thou shalt,'
saith God to the Israelites, • consider in thy heart, that as a
man chasteneth his son, so the Lord thy God chasteneth thee :'
and, ' We,' saith the Apostle, ' have had fathers of our flesh,
which corrected us, and we gave them reverence : shall we not
much rather be in subjection to the Father of spirits, and live ?
For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own
pleasure ; but he for our profit, that we might be partakers of
of his holiness.' The punishments inflicted on us by men may
perhaps proceed from passion ; but God assuredly never in-
flicts any thing grievous on us, but out of pure good-will : and
what sweeter consolation can there be, than to know that the
most cross and distasteful accidents befalling us do (according
to the intention of him that bringeth them on us, and manageth
them) conduce to our profit, and shall in the event, if we do
patiently receive them, and by our untowardness do not hinder
their effect, prove wholesome and advantageous to us?

7. This consideration doth also show the reason we have to
obey those precepts, which injein us to rely on God's provi-
dence ; ' to cast all our burden and care on God ;' to be soli-
citous and anxious about nothing which concerneth our suste-
nance : for children commonly (especially such as have able
and kind parents) do live altogether void of care concerning
their maintenance, being assured that their parents will concern
themselves to provide whatever is necessary or convenient for
them : and how much more have we reason to live free of soli-

2 16

BARROW. — SERMON X.

citude in such respects, who have a Father so infinitely suffi-
cient to supply all our wants, and so tenderly affected toward us ;
so ever present with us, and always vigilant over us; who
cannot but see and know our needs ; and can most easily satisfy
them, and is no less willing and ready, if we trust in him, to
do it? ' Do not,' saith our Lord, ' take care, saying, What
shall we eat? or, What shall we drink ? or, Wherewithal shall
we be clothed? — for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye
have need of all these things.' The like reason did even na-
tural light suggest to a philosopher :* ' If,' saith he, ' kindred
with Caesar, or with any other great man in Rome, is suffi-
cient to make a man live securely, without contempt, and with-
out fear, will not the having God our Maker and Father and
Guardian, free us from griefs and fears?' It is extreme infide-
lity concerning either the providence of God, or his power, or
his goodness, (that is, the practical disbelief of this point, or
in our hearts disavowing God to be our Father,) which causeth
all that carking and distraction of mind, that fear of wants,
that grief for losses and disappointments, which do commonly
possess men, together with those covetous desires and unjust
practices, with which the world abouudeth : he can hardly be
guilty of them, who believeth and considereth that God doth
thus stand related and affected toward him.

8. This consideration doth more generally in all regards
serve to breed and cherish our faith, to raise our hope, to
quicken our devotion : for whom shall we confide in, if not in
such a Father ? from whom can we expect good, if not from
him who hath already given us so much, even all that we
have ? to whom can we have recourse freely and cheerfully,
on any occasion, if not to him, who so kindly inviteth and
calleth us to him, in so endearing terms, with so obliging an
appellation ? If we in any need, corporal or spiritual, request
succor or supply from him, can we suspect that such a Father
(so infinitely wise, so able, so good) will refuse us, or can fail
us ? No ; ' What man is there of us, that if his son ask him
bread, will give him a stone ? or if he ask a fish, will give him
a serpent? If we then, who are evil, know how to give good

* Epict. Arr. i. 9.

I BELIEVE IN GOD THE FATHER.

241

gifts to our children, how much more shall your Father in hea-
ven give good things to them that ask him V So doth our Sa-
viour with most convincing force of reason move us to the duty
of prayer, with faith and confidence of good success. St. Luke
hath it, ' How much more shall your heavenly Father give the
Holy Spirit to them that ask him?' implying that, on account
of this relation, we may in all our spiritual needs (if we do need
light and direction in our doubts, or strength against tempta-
tions, or comfort in our distresses) be assured of finding requi-
site assistance and relief. We should therefore, on all exigen-
cies, address ourselves to God, not with the fear of slaves, nor
with the suspicion of strangers, but with dispositions of heart
suitable to children, with a reverent love, and humble confi-
dence, and cheerful hope.

9. Lastly, considering this point will direct and prompt us how
to behave ourselves towards all God's creatures, according to
their respective natures and capacities : if God be the father of
all things, they are all thence in some sort our brethren, and so
may claim from us a fraternal affection and demeanor answer-
able thereto. Shall we then scorn, abuse, trample or ty-
rannise over any of them ? doth it become us to do so ? will
our common Father like it, or endure it? If we are all
branches sprouting from one stock, or streams issuing from the
same source of divine beneficence and fecundity ; if we are
members of one body, of one commonwealth, of one family,
we are then surely obliged to an universal benevolence; to be
kind and compassionate, to be helpful and beneficial unto all,
so far as our capacity reacheth ; we are to endeavor, as we
can, to preserve the order and promote the welfare of the world,
and of all things in it : even on this score the meanest of God's
creatures is not to be despised, the vilest worm is not to be
misused by us ; since even it is the work of his hands, and the
subject of his care, yea the object of his kindness, ' who,' as
the psalmist telleth us, ' is good unto all, and whose tender
mercies are over all his works :' but especially toward those
beings, who according to a more peculiar and excellent sense
are intitled the sons of our Father, and to whom we are more
nearly allied by our better part, (that divine breath, which
both they and we drew from God,) toward all intellectual

2115

BARROW. — SERMON X.

beings, we do learn hence our respective duties : of love and
respect toward those our elder brethren, the angels, (those of
them, which have not degenerated from their nature, and apo-
statised from their duty;) of charity and good-will toward
each other ; which if we do not maintain, we may consider that
we thereby are first undutiful and unkind to God our common
Father, and then even to ourselves; we do hate and harm both
Gods relations and our own (God's children, and our brethren)
by hating or harming any man whatever ; especially any good
man, any Christian brother; who by other more peculiar
bands is straitly tied to us ; who on so many better and higher
accounts standeth related unto God, and to ourselves. Ari-
stotle saith, that all men, on grounds of natural cognation and
similitude, are naturally friends to one another; much more are
all good men so by participation of a more excellent nature,
and by a nobler resemblance; whence it is St. Paul's precept
to Christians, that they should be rij >piXaheX<pla, eh aXXt'/Xnvs
QtXiiirropyoi, that they should ' bear a natural affection each to
other in brotherly love :' Christians are in a more peculiar and
eminent manner styled brethren ; and that charity, which in
respect to others is called philanthropy, (or humanity,) in re-
gard to them is named philadelphy, (or brotherly affection :)
hence to perform all fraternal offices toward every Christian, to
wish heartily and earnestly to promote his good, to compas-
sionate and, as we are able, to relieve his evils, to bear bis infir-
mities, and to comport with unkindnesses from him, and
the like duties, are incumbent on us, as peculiar to our pro-
fession.

These are the principal uses which the consideration of this
point suggesteth. Now God Almighty, the great Father of all
things, and especially our gracious Father in Christ Jesus,
grant that by his holy grace we may perform all filial duty to-
ward him, (rendering unto him all love and reverence, all
praise and thanks, all worship and obedience, together with all
faith and hope in him,) that we may behave ourselves in all
things as becometh this relation, that we may resemble
him in all goodness, that we may persist here continually
in his favor, and obtain hereafter the blessed inheritance
from him; this he of infinite mercy vouchsafe unto us,

I BELIEVE IN GOD THE FATHER.

249

through Jesus Christ our Lord; to whom for ever be all glory
and praise. Amen.

' Even to God the Father, the Creator, Preserver, and Go-
vernor of all things, the Author and Donor of all good ; to God
the Son, the Redeemer of all the world, and foundation of all
spiritual blessings ; to God the Holy Ghost, the fountain of
all true goodness, joy, and comfort, be for ever and ever all
glory and praise.' Amen.

250

SUMMARY OF

SUMMARY OF SERMON XI.

REVELATIONS, CHAP. XI. — VERSE 17.

Every attribute of God is a proper and useful object of
our consideration, as being apt to remind us of our duty, and
excite us to the practice of it; for which purposes this of omni-
potence, mentioned in the text, is of much avail, and deserves
serious consideration : some reasons for this assigned. Expla-
nation of the title or attribute iravTVKpaTwp, which we render
Almighty or omnipotent, as frequently ascribed to God in a pecu-
liar and characteristical manner: the use of it in the New Tes-
tament is by citation or imitation transferred from the Greek of
the Old Testament, where it serves to express those two famous
and usual names of God, Sabaoth and Shaddai : it is shown
especially to answer to the former, which primitively seems to
import God's universal conduct and management of all crea-
tures.

But the sense of the word need not be so limited ; for its
common latitude hath been authenticated in the holy fountains of
truth, the New Testament; and is there taken to signify the
sum of divine perfections and pre-eminency : it may accordingly
denote, 1. right or authority over all beings : 2. power to do all
things : 3. the actual exercise of such authority and power in
ruling all things : 4. the possession of all things : 5. the pre-
servation or upholding all things: these particulars are next
surveyed.

1. God is rarrok-poroip, as having a just right and authority
over all things, being naturally the sovereign Lord and Empe-
ror of the world ; this shown to have been the opinion of

SERMON XI.

•201

Pagan philosophers, as well as of the Prophets and Christian
Apostles ; &c.

2. He is also such in regard to his infinite power, as that
word may signify omnipotent : this head enlarged on and illus-
trated from Scripture.

3. He is also so, because he doth actually exercise all do-
minion, and continually exert his power, according to his good
pleasure ; for the Lord hath prepared his throne in heaven, and
his kingdom ruleth over all ; &c. This dilated on.

4. God is TravroKparwp, as the true proprietary and just pos-
sessor of all things : the heavens, saith the Psalmist, are thine ;
the earth also is thine; &c.

5. Also as containing and comprehending all things by his
immense presence and infinite capacity. / Jill heaven and
earth, saith God in Jeremiah ; and king Solomon in his prayer
observes, the heaven of heavens cannot contain thee ; &c.

6. Lastly, God is TravTOKparwp, in regard that he sustains and
preserves all things : see Nehemiah ix. G. Col. i. 17. &c.

The belief and consideration of these particulars are of
great importance, and may have a very useful influence on our
practice : for,

I. If God be the just Sovereign of all things, having aright
to govern the world, and actually exercising it; then

I. We see our condition here; that we live not in an
anarchy, or in perfect liberty to follow our own will, &c.

2. We understand our duty, as subjects and vassals, &c.

3. We may hence discern the heinousness of every sin, as com-
mitted against the crown and dignity of God. 4. We may
learn what reason we have to be content in every condition,
since our station is allotted to us by unquestionable right,
&c. 5. It is matter of great consolation to reflect that we
and all the world are under such a governor, who is no usurper
and tyrant, but a most just, wise, and gracious sovereign, &c. :
this point dilated on.

262

SUMMARY OF

II. The belief of God's immense and uncontrollable power
is also of great importance and influence on practice. 1. It
serves to beget in us a due awe and dread of him ; &c. 2. It
consequently dissuades and deters us in a high manner from sin,
nothing being more reasonable than that advice of the prea-
cher, contend not with him that is mightier than thou. 3.
Whence the consideration of this point may dispose us to
weigh well our counsels, &c. 4. It may also serve to depress
confidence in ourselves, and in all other things, as to any secu-
rity they can afford : 5. it therefore may be of special efficacy
to quell and mortify in us the vices of pride, arrogance,
self-will, &c. 6. Also to breed and nourish faith in God, as
to the certain performance of his word and promises, which,
be they never so difficult, he is so able to perform, Sec. 7-
Hence also particularly it may produce and cherish faith in
the sufficiency of God's Providence, and induce us intirely to
rely on it : this topic enlarged on. 8. Farther, it affords com-
fort and encouragement to us in the undertaking and prosecu-
tion of honest and prudent enterprises, giving us hope and con-
fidence in their success : this head also enlarged on.

III. That notion of the word Almighty, which implies
God's being universal proprietary and possessor of all things,
has also many good uses. We may thence learn,

1. That we are not our own, and therefore are obliged to sub-
mit with patience to his disposal of us. 2. We ought to be con-
tent with that share of accommodations which he allows, since
all things are his, and we can claim nothing from him : 3. to be
satisfied when he withdraws that of which he has before
afforded us the enjoyment : 4. to be heartily thankful for all
we ever have or enjoy : 5. carefully to manage and employ
all which is put into our hands for his interest and service :
6. to be humble and sober, not to be conceited, or to glory In
regard to any thing we love.

IV. That sense, according to which the word signifies

SERMON XI.

God's containing all things by his immense presence, is also of
most excellent use.

We thereby may learn with what care, circumspection,
modesty, and integrity we ought always to manage our conver-
sation and behavior; since we continually think, and speak,
and act in the immediate presence of God, whose eyes are
on the ways of men, &c. Hence also we are prompted to
frequent addresses of prayer, thanksgiving, and all kind of
adoration.

V. Lastly, the consideration that God upholds all things,
and consequently ourselves, in being, may powerfully deter us
from offending him : for put the case, that our life and all the
comforts of living depended on the bounty and pleasure
of any person ; should we not be very wary and fearful
of offending such an one? Application of this in respect to
God. Conclusion.

254

BARROW.— SERMON XI.

Che father 2lmig]htri,
SERMON XI.

REVELATIONS, CHAP. XI. — VERSE 17.

O Lord God Almighty.

Every attribute of God is a proper and useful object for our
consideration ; as being apt to mind us of our duty, and to
excite us to the practice thereof ; to beget in us those disposi-
tions of mind (that love and reverence toward God, that faith
and hope in him) which we ought to have ; and to draw from
us real performances of obedience to him : each of them doth
ground obligations to piety, and yieldeth arguments to the
practice thereof ; to which purposes, that considering this di-
vine attribute, 'Almighty,' (mentioned in our text,) doth much
avail, and that it therefore well deserveth to be pressed on us,
will appear more distinctly from the application we shall make
thereof: at present we may perceive how considerable it is,
by observing in gross ; 1. That it is frequently in holy Scrip-
ture singled forth, as most proper to God; as most fully ex-
pressive of his glorious excellency and majesty ; particularly
the most illuminate ministers of God's praise, the seraphim's in
Isaiah, the four wights (or living creatures) in this book ; and
the twenty-four elders in this place, do therefore use it. 2. It
is that attribute, which is alone most expressly set down in our
Creed, as especially necessary to be believed and considered :
we say therein, 3J faelicbe in 4?0D the father ailtligfjtp.
3. It is that with which we daily address our devotions unto
God; in our prayers we say, ' Almighty and most merciful
Father ;' in our praises we cry, ' Holy, holy, holy, Lord God

THE FATHER ALMIGHTY.

'250

Almighty,' or (which is the same) ' Lord God of Sabaoth.' It
seems therefore fit and useful, that we should well understand
the proper and full meaning thereof, together with the obliga-
tions grounded thereon, and the inducements it affordeth to
good practice ; that so when we hear it used in Scripture,
when we profess to believe it, when we apply it to God in
our devotions, we may so reflect thereon, as to be admonished
of our duty, and moved to the performance thereof. First
therefore I will endeavor somewhat to explain it; then shall
make a practical application thereof.

The title, epithet, or attribute 7ruvToKpaTtop, which we (find-
ing no other word more properly and fully to express it) do
render Almighty, or omnipotent, is frequently in a manner pe-
culiar and characteristical ascribed to God : the use thereof in
the New Testament is, by citation or imitation, transferred
from the Greek of the Old, where it serveth to express those
two famous and usual names of God, ' Sabaoth and Shaddai :
especially it answereth to the former; for the latter is only ren-
dered thereby in some places of the book of Job : but the for-
mer, Sabaoth, (when interpreted and not left in its own sound,)
is constantly rendered -navTOKpuTuip. I call Sabaoth a name of
God ; for that it is so, it is in several places expressly
affirmed; as in Jeremiah ; ' Their Redeemer is strong, Jehovah
Sabaoth is his name :' and in Isaiah ; ' For they call them-
selves of the holy city, and stay themselves on the God of
Israel ; the Lord of hosts is his name :' and in Amos ; ' He
that formeth the mountains, and createth the wind, and de-
clareth unto man what is his thought — Jehovah Elohei Saba-
oth is his name,' (from a sort of Jove, called Zei/s Zafijlaaws,
mentioned in some Pagan writers,* was, as some critics suppose,
deduced.) Now as all the names and appellations of God are
significant, and denote some perfection, or some prerogative
belonging to him, (as Jehovah signifieth his self-subsistence,
independency, immutability , and eternity; Elohim his omnipo-
tence ; Shaddai his all-sufficiency; Adonai his supreme domi-
nion and authority,) so doth this name or title, Sabaoth, primi-
tively seem to import God's universal conduct and roanagery

* Cicero, Aristoph. &c. Seld. de Diis S. cap. 3.

256

BARROW. — SERMON XI.

of all creatures: for all things in the world, as being ranged in
a goodly and convenient order, (like an army marching in
array, or marshalled to battle,) are called armies, or Sabaoth.
Thus, (after the history of the creation it is said,) « The hea-
vens and earth were finished, and all the host of them,' (s-at
koohos abruii>, all the furniture, or all the battalion of them :)
and, ' By the word of the Lord were the heavens made,' saith
the psalmist, ' and all the host of them :' and, • Bless the Lord
all ye his hosts, ye ministers of his, that do his pleasure ;' that
is, all creatures which are subject to his command, and subser-
vient to his will : and, ' Lift up,' saith Isaiah, ' your eyes on
high, and behold who hath created these things ; that bringeth
out their host by number: he calleth them all by names, by the
greatness of his might, for that he is strong in power ; not one
faileth :' where God is represented to us as the general of an
army, drawing forth and ordering his creatures, as a general
summoneth to a rendezvous, mustereth and embatelleth his
troops : hence this title of Sabaoth, which is rendered wavro-
KpaTup, doth seem derived.

But we need not deal so strictly, as to limit the sense of this
word, according to its original rise, or its use in translation ;
but since it hath been authenticated by its use in the holy
fountains of truth, the New Testament, and is there used so as
to signify or imply the sum of divine perfections and pre-emi-
nences ; being, as it seems, selected especially for that purpose,
we may presume to take it in its common latitude, for !> iravrav
Kparwv, or 6 travTbiv Kparos e^uii' ; according to wThich extent, it
may have various importances, somewhat different ; it may ac-
cordingly denote, 1. right, or authority, over all beings, omni-
potestas ; and, 2. a power, or ability, to do all things, omni-
potentia : 3. the actual exercise of such authority, and such
power in ruling and disposing all things; omni-pottnlatus :
4. the possession of all things; or the containing and holding
all things in his hand; omni tenentia , (it is St. Augustine's
word :) 5. the preservation or upholding of all things in their
being and state : for the word upare'tv, according to its pro-
priety and ordinary use, may infer and ground all these
significations; and according to them all, God is truly Trav-
TOKpuTwp. Let us survey the particulars, and show how

THE FATHER ALMIGHTY.

God, especially in holy Scripture, is represented in respect
to them.

I. God is irat TOKpuTtop, as having a just right and authority
over all things: he naturally is the sovereign Lord and Em-
peror of the world ; for whatever imaginable reason or ground
there is of authority, doth in respect to all things agree unto
God. Aristotle, in his Politics, discourseth thus : Government
doth aim at and tend to the mutual benefit of the governor and
governed; he therefore who is most able and best disposed to
provide for and procure the common benefit, is according to na-
tural reason and justice (secluding other considerations of laws
and compacts, of former constitutions, of present possession,
and the like) to be the governor ; or he deserves, and is fit to
be so, and (no other reason hindering) becometh such. (' That,'
saith the philosopher, ' which naturally is apt or able to pro-
vide, doth naturally rule, and naturally lordeth :') whence the
soul hath a right to govern the body ; and men naturally do
rule over beasts ; and were there any such persons as did with-
out any question very eminently exceed others in wisdom and
goodness, to them, according to natural congruity, the govern-
ment of others would appertain ; the common advantage so re-
quiring : and if such excellency of nature be a foundation of
authority, then God, who in wisdom and goodness doth incom-
parably surpass all things, hath assuredly the right to govern
all : so a Pagan author could discourse ; ' There is,' saith
Cicero, ' nothing better than God ; therefore it is necessary the
world should be ruled by him :'* he is the only wise, (as St
Paul telleth us,) and thence most able ; he is only good, (as
our Saviour teacheth us,) and thence most apt to manage all
things for the general welfare and benefit of the world. If also
eminency of power doth qualify for dominion, (as it surely
doth ; for that which cannot be withstood must in reason be
submitted to ; it is vain to question that authority, which by
force altogether irresistible can assert and maintain itself,) God
hath the only right, nothing in the world being able to contest
his title; for, * Who in the heaven can be compared unto the
Lord ? who among the sons of the mighty can be likened unto

* De N. D. 2.

258

BARROW. — SERMON XI.

the Lord ? O Lord God of hosts, who is a strong Lord like unto
thee?' says the holy psalmist contemplating this divine attri-
bute : all things are weak and feeble in comparison ; are alto-
gether in his hand, and under his feet ; are throughly at his dis-
cretion and disposal : ' The Lord,' saith the prophet, ' is the
true God, and the everlasting King ; at his wTath the earth
shall tremble, and the nations shall not be able to abide his in-
dignation :' and, ' How terrible,' saith the psalmist, 'art thou
in thy works ! through the greatness of thy power shall thine
enemies submit themselves unto thee — He ruleth by his power
for ever, his eyes behold the nations; let not the rebellious exalt
themselves.'

If also to have made all things, and to preserve them, doth
create a right of governing, (as it must needs do so : for what
can we justly challenge a dominion over, if not over our own
works, over that which we continually keep and nourish ; over
that which altogether depends on us, and which subsists at our
pleasure ?) then well may the apocalyptical elders thus acknow-
lege : ' Worthy art thou, O Lord, to receive glory and honor
and power,' (that is, to possess the royal majesty and sovereign
dominion over the world :) ' for thou hast made all things, and
for thy will they are and were created :' well might ' every
creature that is in the heaven, and in the earth, and under the
earth, and those things which are in the sea, and all things in
them, cry out there ; To him that sitteth on the throne (and
to the Lamb) be the blessing, and the honor, and the glory,
and the dominion for ever and ever :' well might king Heze-
kiah say, ' O Lord of hosts — thou art the God ; thou alone, of
all the kingdoms of the earth : thou hast made heaven and
earth :' and the Levites in Nehemiah ; ' Thou, even thou,
art the Lord alone ; thou hast made heaven and earth ; the
heaven of heavens, with all their hosts ; the earth, and all
things that are therein ; the sea, and all that is therein ; and
thou preservest them all ; and all the host of heaven worshippeth
thee.' Thus is God wavroKparwp ; as he is on all imaginable
accounts, and according to all reasonable grounds of right, the
rightful Sovereign of all things : as he is *Divumque homi-

• Virg. JEn. 10.

THE FATHER ALMIGHTY.

259

numqtie potestas, as the wisest poet doth acknowlege and style
him.

2. He is also such in regard to his infinite power, as that
word may signify omnipotent. Natural tight aftbrdeth pregnant
arguments of the greatness of his power, displayed in the con-
stitution and conservation of the world ; his disposing so stu-
pendously vast, so unconceivably various creatures into so
comely and stable a posture, whence ' his eternal power and
divinity are discerned,' as St. Paul telleth us ; for he that
could effect so much, his power must needs be far greater than
we can imagine or comprehend ; to natural light, I say, it is in-
comprehensibly great, and exceedeth all definite limits ; but
holy Scripture more clearly and fully declareth the extent of his
power; asserting that it is not only in respect to our weak con-
ceit and narrow capacity, but in itself truly infinite, reaching
the utmost possibility of things : it teacheth us that whatever is
not contrary to his nature, or to his essential perfections, (to his
goodness, fidelity, holiness, wisdom ;) which it doth not mis-
become him to do ; or which is not repugnant to the nature of
things to be done, (that is, which doth not imply a contradic-
tion, and thereby is impossible, and becomes no object of
power;) for such things ' he cannot do, because he is omnipo-
tent :' as St. Austin acutely says ;* he is able with perfect
ease and facility to achieve it : there is among things good and
possible nothing so difficult but he can perform it; nothing so
strong and stubborn but he can subdue it: 'Is any thing too
hard for the Lord ?' said God to Abraham, when Sarah doubted,
or wondered concerning the promise that she in so extreme an
age should become fruitful : ' Behold,' said the prophet Jere-
miah in his prayer, ' thou hast made the heaven and the earth
by thy great power and thy stretched out arm, and there is no-
thing too hard for thee ;' o'vk ahvvariian 0ey wav prj/ua' ' Nothing
(that can be said, or conceived, or performed) shall be impos-
sible to God,' if he pleaseth to design or undertake it, said the
angel to the blessed virgin, when he delivered so strange a mes-
sage to her concerning an event so wonderful and supernatural
as our Saviour's conception of her : that a rich man should be

* De Civ. D. v. 10.

'200

BARROW.— SERMON XI.

induced intirely to comply wtth God's will, and willingly to
part with all, our Saviour affirmed exceedingly difficult, (hardly
any thing could be supposed more difficult; harder it was than
' for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle ;') but to sa-
tisfy his disciples' scruple thence arising, he subjoins; ' With
men (or according to the common sense of men) this is impossi-
ble, but to God all things are possible :' ' In thine hand,' said
king Jehoshaphat, ' there is power and might, so that none is
able to withstand thee :' and king Nebuchadnezzar having felt
an experiment of his power, and being returned to a right un-
derstanding, coufesseth thus : ' He doeth according to his will
in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth,
and none can stay his hand, or say unto him, What doestthou V
' The Lord of hosts,' saith the prophet, ' hath purposed, and
who shall disannul it? his hand is stretched out, and who shall
turn it back ?' To stop the sun in his career, to make the sea
stand on an heap, to draw streams of water from a rock, to
restrain fire from burning, to restore the blind and lame, to raise
the dead, to suspend, thwart, invert the course of nature, with
all such things which we so wonder at, and term miracles, are
comparatively but slender, and, as it were, perfunctory instances
of his power ; for with the greatest ease, by the least exertion
of his power, by a thought, a look, a touch, a word, the greatest
things are performed ; ' He looketh on the earth, and it trem-
bleth ; he toucheth the hills, and they smoke :' ' He overturn -
eth the mountains in his anger, and shaketh the earth out of her
place :' ' The pillars of heaven tremble, and are astonished at his
reproof.' These seem great and strange effects of power ; yet
in respect to what he can do and hath done, they are small ;
for he at first made the whole world with a word ; so the his-
tory of the creation expresseth it, and so the psalmist telleth us;
' By the word of the Lord were the heavens made, and all the
host of them by the breath of his mouth ;' and by a word he
doth preserve it, ' upholding,' as the Apostle to the Hebrews
speaketh, ' all things by the word of his power,' or by his
powerful word ; and by a word he can destroy and annihilate
all things ; yea more easily, in a manner, he can do it, even by
his mere silence, or by withdrawing that salutary breath, by
virtue of which all things subsist ; ' Thou hidest thy face,' saith

THE FATHER ALMIGHTY.

261

the psalmist, ' they are troubled ; thou withholdest thy breath,
they die and return to their dust.' For we may consider that
in this respect also God is all-powerful, as being the source from
which all power is derived, by which all power is sustained, on
which all power doth depend : he not only can do all things in-
clusively, but exclusively, or so that nothing can be done with-
out him : that of our Saviour, ' Without me ye can do nothing,'
is not only true in spiritual, but in all other matters : ' He,' as
St. Paul preached at Athens, ' giveth life (or being, with all
vital faculties) and breath, (that is, all natural powers) and
all things unto all :' ' In him (or rather, by him) we live, and
move, and have our being :' that is, whatever we are, what-
ever we have, whatever we can do, doth proceed from him,
doth depend on him. Thus is God KavTOKparuip, as all-power-
ful.

3. God is also so, by reason that he doth actually exercise
all dominion, and doth exert his power continually, according
to his good pleasure : he not only hath ajust title to govern all
things, and a perfect ability to sway in all matters, but he con-
stantly useth them : ' The Lord hath prepared his throne in
heaven, and his kindoni ruleth over all :' ' God is the King of
all the earth ; God reigneth over the heathen,' (or the nations ;)
• God sitteth on the throne of his holiness :' ' The Lord is high
above all nations, and his glory above the heavens : Who is
like unto the Lord our God, who humbleth himself to behold
the things that are in heaven and earth?' It is indeed, as the
holy man saith, a great condescension in God, that he will
vouchsafe to have the inspection and administration of things
so much inferior to him ; yet for the common good of his crea-
tures he is pleased to do it : ' Thine,' saith king David, ' O
Lord, is the kingdom, and thou art exalted as head above all ;
both riches and honor come of thee, and thou reignest over all ;
in thine hand is power and might,' &c. He is indeed the only
Governor, absolutely, originally, and independently so ; 6 fivvos
hwanTTjs, the only Potentate, as St. Paul calleth him ; all au-
thority and power are imparted by him, and subordinate to
him; from his disposal and direction all potentates do receive
them ; in his name and behalf, by virtue of his commission and
command, as his delegates and ministers, for his honor, in-

262

BARROW. — SERMON XI.

terest, and service, they administer any just dominion or power.
It was Nebuchadnezzar's doom to be driven from men, until
he did understand and embrace this truth, so necessary for all
governors to know and consider; that, 'The Most High ru-
leth in the kindoni of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he
will;' that, 'His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all
dominions shall serve and obey him :' ' Promotion conieth nei-
ther from the east, nor from the west, nor from the south : but
God is the Judge ; he putteth down one, and setteth up ano-
ther:' ' There is no power but from God ; the, powers that are,
are appointed by God:' 'The judgment is God's,' (as Moses
said in his charge to the judges of Israel,) being exercised by
his order, and in his behalf._ Thus is God 7ra i-ot.parc.jp, as
the only absolute sovereign Lord, the Author and Fountain of
all just authority, ' the Lord of lords, and King of kings,' as the
Scripture often doth style him.

4. God is also ravrocparup, as the true proprietary and just
possessor of all tilings. ' Blessed be Abraham,' said king
Melchizedek, ' of the most high God, possessor of heaven and
earth:' and, 'Behold,' said Moses to his people, ' the heaven
and the heaven of heavens is the Lord's thy God ; the earth
also, with all that is therein :' and, ' The earth,' saith the
psalmist, 'is the Lord's, and the fulness thereof; the world,
and they that dwell therein ; for he hath founded it on the
seas, and prepared it on the floods :' and, ' The heavens,' saith
he again, ' are thine, the earth also is thine ; as for the world,
and the fulness thereof,' (that is, all which the world contains,
all witli which it is furnished and replenished,) ' thou hast
founded them :' and, ' The sea is his, and he made it, and his
hands formed the dry land.' All things, they say, are the
goods and possessions of God ; proving it from hence, that he
made them, and thereby acquired a propriety in them: for
there is no more evident and perfect ground of propriety than this.
The products of our invention and care, the fruits of our en-
deavor and industry, even we do think that reasonably we may
call our own, and justly claim the enjoyment of: how much
more he, that by an original, uncommunicated, independent
wisdom and power, hath contrived and produced all things !
From thence surely doth result such a title to them all, that

THE FATHER ALMIGHTY.

263

the intire and absolute disposal of them doth appertain to him;
so that he may apply them, as the potter doth the vessels which
he maketh, (it is the Scripture comparison,) to what use he
thinketh good ; that he may freely place and bestow them
where he pleaseth ; that he may take them away, or transfer
them, when he seeth fit: they can never be so alienated from
him, that the enjoyment of them doth not wholly depend on
him, and that at pleasure (his wisdom and goodness permitting,
his truth and word being solved) he may not resume them to
himself.

5. God is also ■KavroKpnrwp, as containing and comprehend-
ing all things by his immense presence and infinite capacity :
it is a name which the Jewish doctors commonly apply to God,
hamakom* the place, because all things do subsist in him ;
he being, as St. Hierome speaks, ' infused through all things,
and circumfused about all things ; so as to penetrate them
within, and to contain them without;' so as to be 'within all
things not included, and without all things not excluded :' and,
1 We do not,' saith Minutius Felix, ' only live in the eye, but
in the bosom of God.'f The whole world, how vast soever it
seemeth to our narrow conceit, is but as a drop, or as an atom
of dust, in his hand : • Behold,' saith the prophet elegantly and
truly, ' the nations are as a drop of a bucket, and are counted
as the small dust of the balance : behold he taketh up the isles
as a very little thing ; all nations are before him as nothing,
and they are counted to him less than nothing, and vanity :'
and, • I fill heaven and earth,' saith God in Jeremiah : and
king Solomon in his prayer saith more ; ' Behold, the heaven
of heavens cannot contain thee :' and, ' Whither,' saith the
psalmist, ' shall I go from thy spirit ? or whither shall I flee
from thy presence ? If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there :
if I make my bed in hell, behold thou art there : if I take the
wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the
sea, even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand
shall hold me.'

6. Lastly, God is nav-oKpaTcjp in regard that he sustains and
preserves all things. ' When,' saith St. Gregory Nyssen, « we

* Dipnn

t Hier. ad Marcell. 5.

2(54

BARROW. — SERMON XI.

hear the word ?rai ToxpuTtop, we understand this, that God con-
tained all things in being:' < Thou,' say the Levites in Nehe-
miah, 'even thou, art God alone; thou hast made heaven and
earth, the heaven of heavens, with all their hosts, the earth,
and all things that are therein, and thou preservest them all;
and the host of heaven worshippeth thee.'

In all these respects and senses doth the title iravTOKpa-wp
(which we for want of a word more adequate and expressive,
do render Almighty) belong to God : the Greek word, in
the latitude of its signification, according to its etymology,
comprehendeth all these senses, and the design in its use, as
we before touched, warranteth the taking it in the largest ac-
ception ; but however it certainly respecteth the former senses,
denoting the absolute universal sovereignty and the immense
irresistible power of God : the belief and consideration of which
particulars is of great importance, and may have a very useful
influence on our practice : for,

I. If God be the just Sovereign of all things, having a right
to govern the world, and actually exercising it ; then,

1. We see our condition and state here in this world. We
live not in an anarchy, or in perfect liberty ; we are not our own
masters, or have a right to guide our actions according to our
own will, or after our own fancy ; but are under government ;
a government most absolute and arbitrary ; the laws whereof
we may not dispute, the proceedings whereof we cannot resist.
Whence,

2. We understand our duty; that as subjects and vassals we
are obliged to render all awful reverence, worship, and obedi-
ence to God ; humbly to adore the majesty, readily to perform
the commands, and patiently to submit to the will of our great
Sovereign ; to conform all our actions to that heavenly law,
under which we are born and live in the world. ' We do not,'
even Plutarch could tell us, ' come hither into life to make
laws, but to obey those which are appointed by God, who
ordereth all things ; to observe the decrees of destiny and Pro-
vidence.'*

3. Hence we may discern the heinousness of every sin, or

* Consul, ad Apol.

THE FATHER ALMIGHTY.

865

transgression of God's law; it receiving great aggravation
hence. It hence appeareth not only a matter of simple folly,
or private inconvenience, (contrary to our reason,) but of public
mischief and general ill consequence; being committed against
the crown and dignity of God Almighty ; against the peace
and order of the w orld ; which subsist by the observation of his
laws. Every sin is an act of high rebellion, a breach of our
natural allegiance, ' a lifting up ourselves,' as is said of Bel-
shazzar, ' against our Sovereign ; an infringing that right, and
violating that honor of his, which he by his place and office is
concerned to maintain and vindicate.

4. We may hence learn what reason we have to be content
in every condition, and to undergo patiently every event be-
falling us : for that our station is allotted to us by an unques-
tionable right, and all things are dispensed to us by a common
law, from which nothing can be exempted ; for that things
come not by a blind necessity or chance, but are disposed and
managed by sovereign reason and wisdom. ' We must,' saith
an Ethnic philosopher, ' not be displeased at any of these
things; for we are come into that world, where we must live
by these laws :' and, ' A good man must needs be granted to
be highly pious toward God ; he therefore will sustain all ac-
cidents with equanimity ; as knowing them to happen unto
him by a divine law, by which all things proceed.'* It were
indeed intolerable arrogance and frowardness in us to desire an
exemption from that common law, to which all things are sub-
ject; to wish ourselves out of that order, in which the all-
guiding Providence hath set us ; to be dissatisfied with any
thing, which by the Supreme Wisdom is assigned to us : it be-
cometh us to say with old Eli, ' It is the Lord, let him do what
| seemeth him good;' to say on all occasions with David; 'I
i was dumb, I opened not my mouth, because thou didst it.' On
this consideration we should not only be satisfied with, and ac-
quiesce in, but praise and adore all occurrences of Providence,
( how unkindly soever and distasteful they appear to us ; sup-
(posing a just and reasonable cause to lie under them, although
■ indiscernible to us. Yea, farther,

BAR.

• Sen. Ep. 91.
VOL. v.

M

266

BARROW. — SERMON XI.

5. It is a matter of great consolation to reflect that we and
all the world are under such a government ; it is a common fe-
licity, it is our particular happiness, that we are so ; for it is no
unjust usurper, it is no merciless tyrant, it is no fond, no weak,
no careless person that we are in subjection to, but a most just,
most mild, most gracious, most wise, most powerful, most vi-
gilant Lord ; who will deal most equally and most benignly
with us; who sincerely and earnestly tenders our welfare; who
is watchful and careful for our good ; who is able to provide
for all our needs, and to protect us from all mischief; all
whose laws do only aim at our benefit; all whose proceedings
toward us are full of equity, goodness, and truth ; who will
not only favorably accept, but most bountifully recompense
our obedience ; whom to serve and obey is a privilege far bet-
ter and more desirable for us, than to be free, than to be
wholly at our own disposal, and under our own guidance; the
very nature and the end of his government being only to pre-
serve us, and to rescue us from the errors, the slaveries, the
vexations and miseries we are apt to incur ; by virtue of whose
universal dominion we are secured, that no malice of devil, no
unjustice of men, no sort of enemy whatever, (excepting our
own wilful disobedience to his laws and directions,) shall be
able to do us harm ; for all them he governs and he curbs no
less than ourselves. Of this our King it is truly said, that 'jus-
tice and judgment are the establishment of his throne; mercy
and truth go before his face ;' that, ' He is righteous in all his
ways, and holy in all his doings;' that, 'The sceptre of his
kingdom is a right sceptre ;' that ' His yoke is easy, and his
burden light.' In confidence of his protection we may say
with the psalmist, ' The Lord is my light and my salvation, whom
shall I fear ? The Lord is the strength of my life, of whom
shall 1 be afraid ! God is our refuge and strength — therefore
will I not fear, though the earth be removed, and though the
mountains be carried into the midst of the sea. In God have
I put my trust, I will not fear what flesh can do unto me.
Well therefore may we, may the whole world, in consideration
of our being under so good a Governor, be excited to joy and
jubilation with the psalmist; * O clap your hands, all ye peo-
ple ; shout unto God with the voice of triumph : for the Lord

THE FATHER ALMIGHTY.

■207

most high is terrible ; he is a great King over all the earth.'
• Say among the nations, that the Lord reigneth ; the world also
shall be established, that it shall not be moved ; he shall judge
the people righteously : let the heavens rejoice, and let the
earth be glad,' &c. ' Let the floods clap their hands, let the
hills be joyful together before the Lord ; for he cometh to
judge the earth : with righteousness shall he judge the world,
and the people with equrty.' Or with those in the Revelation ;
' Alleluia ; for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth ; let us be
ilad, and rejoice, and give honor unto him.' All the world
hath exceeding reason not only to be content, but to rejoice
and triumph in being subject to such a Governor, so able, so
willing to maintain peace, good order, and equity therein : so
that we also are obliged to bless and thank God, that he con-
descends so far, and vouchsafes to undertake the tuition and
oversight of the world; obeying the psalmist's exhortation;
' The Lord,' saith he, ' hath prepared his throne in heaven, and
his kingdom ruleth over all :' therefore, ' Bless the Lord, ye
his angels — Bless the Lord, all his hosts — Bless the Lord, all his
works in all places of his dominions ;' imitating herein those
elders in the Revelation, who say, 'We give thee thanks, O
Lord God Almighty, which art, and wast, and art to come;
because thou hast taken unto thee thy great power, and hast
reigned.' They who imagine the world is not governed at all,
but that with unloosed reins it runneth on at random, are very
foolish : but more such are they who wish it to be so, and in
their desires depose God from his throne ; for they do wish for
anarchy and confusion in their country, instead of the most ex-
cellent establishment and order, maintained by the wisest and
ablest government. That good emperor was better advised,
and better affected, who said, ' What good were it for me to
live in a world void of a deity and providence V and, ' Why
should I desire to continue in such a casual jumble and rout of
things V* The world, he well supposed, divine governance being
excluded, would be a strange, disorderly, and uncomfortable
place to abide in. And old Socrates, in the Pheedon, discours-
ing about his departure hence, comforts himself in that, as ho

* Ant. ii. §. 11.

26S

BARROW. — SERMON XI.

hoped, he was going thither, where the Gods did preside with
a nearer inspection and a more apparent influence. These were
worthy desires and nohle hopes proceeding from natural reason
and moral virtue in such persons ; but much more reason and
mnch greater obligation have we to be satisfied with, and to
comfort ourselves in the assurance, that all things, even at pre-
sent, here are moderated by a superintendency far more equal
and more propitious than they could imagine or hope. These
and such like practical uses the belief and consideration of
(rod's sovereign authority and dominion do afford.

II. The belief and consideration of God's immense and un-
controllable power is also of very great importance and influ-
ence on practice.

1. It serveth to beget in us a due awe and dread of God :
considering God's other attributes may breed in us a high
esteem and hearty love of God ; but the consideration of his
power is that which naturally and reasonably produceth a gTeat
fear of him : he is most amiable for his goodness, and in regard
to his wisdom gTeatly venerable ; but his power, arming the
rest, renders him exceedingly terrible. ' Hear ye this,' it is
said in the prophet Jeremiah, ' O foolish people, and without
understanding ;' 1 Fear ye not me ? saith the Lord : will ye not
tremble at my presence, which hath placed the sand for the
bounds of the sea?' and, ' Forasmuch as there is none like unto
thee O Lord ; thou art great, and thy name is great in might :
who would not fear thee, O thou king of nations V and, ' I
will show you,' saith our Saviour, 'whom ye should fear;'
* Fear him, who after he hath killed (or who beside killing)
hath power to cast into hell ; I say unto you, Fear him :' great
reason he had so earnestly to inculcate that admonition, the
case being so apparent and so important.

2. This point doth consequently in high measure dissuade
and deter us from sin, implying the extreme folly in committing
it, and the inevitable mischief following it. The consideration
of God's other attributes infer it to be gTeat baseness and stu-
pidity to oppose or displease God, but the consideration of this
demonstrateth it to be infinite madness to do so. For to wrong,
dishonor, and displease him, that is so good and beneficent to
us, is great disingenuity and unworthiness ; to swerve from his

T:-i= ~ a t i-i £ ?. a:m::-htv.

trice and direction, who is only and perfectly wise, is highly
iin and unreasonable; b«t for so feeble and impotent things
> we are to contest with and withstand, to provoke and offend
•mnipoteacv, | that which with infinite ease can defeat ami
ibdne «>, can depress as into misery, can crash as into nothing,)
most palpably the top of insolent wildness. It is Moses's
rgvmeet, whereby he presseth obedience to his law; ' CLrcma-
ise therefore/ saith he, ' the foreskin of yonr heart, and be no
■ore strffnecked ; for the Lord your God is God of gods, ami
«rd of Lords, a great God, and a migfety. and a terrible. 7 It
i no less an evidently convincing, than a vehemently alerting
icrepation, that of St. Panl ; * Do we provoke the Lord to
akmsy » are we stronger than he V And God himself m Jot
seth the like scheme of speech ; ' Hast thoa an arm like God ■
ml canst thoa thander with a voice like him T If thon art as
:t*:h:-u bis: «-_;'_ zl — . Liyis: perbizi -----
o contend with him, and advent are to provoke him : bat if thoa
owise art his match, it thon art infinitely short of him in
treagtfa, bow vain and rash a thing is it for thee to defy him

ssed mam-: - He

and in effect pre-
power of God ; or

coping, contention, and righting with him : i
styled the adversaries of God, and rebels at
rise Tip. and lift up themselves, aad raise
him ; which doth either imply in them a i
pride and arrogance, in overvaluing their am
valutas the power of God. ( which doth ah
•ad disbelief of Gods omnipotence; for he
cannot take himself for God's match, or d
him;) or it argneth a most strange ia<
vanity, in presuming, at so infinite a disadv
groand of confidence, without any hope o
God's will and power. Oi ?4><u£s, Sc i
* He is not long lived, who fighter* with

270

BARROW.— SERMON XI.

Homer could tell us; the same which the prophet says;
•Woe unto him that striveth with his Maker!' Nothing
indeed can be more reasonable than that advice of the
preacher; ' Contend not with him that is mightier than thou :'
which in this case in effect is the same with this : Do not, by
sinning, offend or provoke God.

3. Whence likewise the consideration of this point may
dispose us to weigh our counsels, and thereon not to adventure
on any unwarrantable resolution or design ; there being so
apparent reason to despair of success, an insuperable power
being always ready to obstruct and cross us in the carriage of
such designs, with whatever cunning laid, or backed with what-
ever might ; for hence those sayings in Scripture are manifestly-
verified : 'There is no wisdom, nor understanding, nor counsel
against the Lord :' and, ' No weapon that is formed against
thee shall prosper:' and, ' He is wise in heart, and mighty in
strength ; who hath hardened himself against him, and pros-
pered ?'

4. It also likewise serveth to depress in us all confidence in
ourselves, and in all other things, as to any security in them or
succor from them : for all things in the world, though they
conspire and combine together all their forces, will be alto-
gether unable to support us, to assist us, to defend us against
the Divine power, or indeed without it; they being all, other-
wise than as maintained by him, infinitely feeble and frail :
' Though hand join in hand, (that is, notwithstanding the con-
junction of all powers whatever,) the wicked shall not be un-
punished,' saith the wise man : and, ' I kill,' saith God, ' and
I make alive; I wound, and I heal; neither is there any
thing that can deliver out of my hand :' and, ' No king is saved
by the multitude of an host ; a mighty man is not delivered by
much strength; ahorse is a vain thing for safety.'

5. It therefore also may be of a special efficacy to quell and
mortify in us the vices of pride, haughtiness, arrogance, self-
will, stubbornness, and contumacy ; since contemplating the
power of God we cannot but perceive ourselves to be very piti-
ful, impotent, and insignificant things; who without permis-
sion cannot effect any thing ; who cannot expect in any case
to have our will ; who have continually curbs in our mouths,

THE FATHER ALMIGHTY.

•271

and manacles on our hands; so that we cannot say or do any
thing, cannot so much as stir, or endeavor any thing, without
check or control; being under a predominant force, ' which
always resisteth the proud ;' under the power of him who hath
said, 'The lofty looks of man shall be humbled, and the haugh-
tiness of men shall be bowed down;' whose character and
peculiar work it is to • behold every one that is proud, and to
abase him ; to cause the arrogancy of the proud to cease, and
to lay low the haughtiness of the terrible ;' to ' break the high
arm, and to bring down the high looks ;' and to ' stain the pride
of all glory.' Whence there is all the reason in the world that
we should obey St. Peter's injunction ; to ' humble ourselves
under the mighty hand of God.'

6. The consideration of God's omnipotence serveth to breed
and nourish faith in God, as to the certain performance of his
word and promises : for let the accomplishment of them be to
appearance never so difficult or improbable, yet he is able to
perform them, and will therefore do it. 'The Strength of
Israel,' as Samuel said, ' will not lie, nor repent:' and, ' Hath
he said it, and shall he not do it ? or hath he spoken it, and
shall he not make it good?' said Balaam, inspiredly : and,
' The Lord of hosts,' saith Isaiah, hath purposed it, and who
shall disannul it ? His hand is stretched out, and who shall
turn it back ?' and, ' My counsel shall stand, and I will do all
my pleasure ; I hav e spoken it, I will also bring it to pass ;
I have purposed, I will also do it :' and, ' My word that
goeth out of my mouth, it shall not return unto me void, but it
shall accomplish that which I please ; it shall prosper unto the
thing whereunto I sent it :' and, ' The counsel of the Lord,'
saith the psalmist, ' standeth for ever, the thoughts of his heart
to all generations:' ' Let all the earth fear the Lord; let all
the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him ; for he spake,
and it was done; he commanded, and it stood fast;' and,
' Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not
pass away.' So doth God assert his immutable fidelity, and
considering his indefectible power doth assure us that we may
rely on his word ; and the doing so is very grateful and accept-
able to God ; for it was that virtue for which Abraham is so
highly commended and so richly rewarded: 'He did not,'

V32

EARROW. — SERMON XI.

saith St. Paul of him, ' stagger at the promise of God through
unbelief, but was strong in faith, giving glory to God ; being
fully persuaded, that what God had promised, he was able to
perform :' to do otherwise is very displeasing and offensive to
God; for we do thereby either doubt of his veracity, so, as
St. John saith, ' making him a liar;' or we disbelieve his
power, and make him impotent in our conceit : which to do is
high injury to God, and detestable sacrilege. Hence also,

7. Particularly this consideration may produce and cherish
our faith in the sufficiency of God's providence, and may in-
duce us intirely to rely on it. For if God be omnipotent, then
he is easily able to supply us in all our needs, to relieve us in
all our straits, to protect us from all danger and mischief ; and
being able, he will not fail to do it, since his goodness also dis-
poseth him thereto, and his word engaseth him; he having
declared himself to be the patron, protector, and benefactor of
the needy ; he having promised to help, relieve, and comfort
those who seek and cry unto him. Distrust in God's providence
is always grounded either in the disbelief of God's goodness
or of his power; either in supposing him to be unwilling
or unable to do us good ; and that is commonly grounded on
the latter, the Israelites' constant behavior in the wilderness
(representing the ordinary conversation of men in this world)
doth inform us ; who conceived their needs greater, than that
God was able to supply them ; their enemies stronger, than
that by God's assistance they could withstand or subdue them ;
the obstacles to their proceedings such, that God himself could
not carry them through them ; for, as the Psalmist representeth
their behavior and discourse, 'They spake against God, say-
ing, Can God furnish a table in the wilderness? Behold, he
smote the rock, that the waters gushed out, and the streams
overflowed ; can he give bread also ? can he provide flesh for
his people?' and that from their conceiting God unable to con-
vey them through all dangers and difficulties, to render them
victorious over the tall men and the fenced cities of Canaan,
they, notwithstanding God's presence with them, and ready
aid, desponded in heart, and murmured, and provoked God,
and in consequence of such misbehavior forfeited obtaining the
rest propounded to them, many passages in the story do show

THE FATHER ALMIGHTY.

273

us. We in practice do commonly follow them, notwithstand-
ing the many experiments of God's wonderful power and good-
ness, frequently suspecting that God cannot supply our neces-
sities or satisfy our desires ; whence we are either overborne
with anxiety, and become disconsolate, or have recourse for
succor and relief to other aids; deserting God, as the prophet
intimates, when he (withal declaring the offence God taketh
at such miscarriages, with the guilt and mischief we thereby
incur) pronounceth thus : « Cursed be the man that trusteth in
man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from
the Lord ; for he shall be like the heath in the desert, and
shall not see when good cometh, &c.' Whence our Saviour
took it ill of his disciples, and rebuked them, when even in the
most imminent and affrighting dangers they gave place to fear
or doubt ; as when in a great tempest, 4 the ship being even
covered with waves, they being afraid, cried out, Lord save
us, we perish ;' he said unto them, ri bet\ot core, dXiyoiriuToi;
'Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith ?' And when St.
Peter, walking on waves, and beginning to sink, his heart mis-
giving, in like manner cried out, ' Lord save me ;' our Lord
also reproves him with an oXiyo-Kiore, ri khlaraaas; ' O thou
of little faith, why didst thou doubt V Whence we both learn
that it is our want or weakness of faith which makes us in our
greatest needs ready to sink, and that it is not excusable for us
in the extremity of danger to doubt of God's protection and
succor. Farther,

8. This consideration affordeth comfort and encouragement
unto us in the undertaking and prosecution of honest and pru-
dent enterprises, giving us to hope confidently for success, how
difficult or dangerous soever it appear unto us ; all difficulties
and improbabilities vanishing before that Omnipotency which
abetteth and backeth such endeavors ; the which is by faith
imparted and appropriated unto us ; so that we, with St. Paul,
' are able to do all things by God strengthening us.' Nothing
is so high or difficult (if just and reasonable) which a resolute
faith in the divine power canuot easily surmount and achieve:
a word, seconded therewith, can transplant trees and transfer
mountains any whither : ' If ye,' saith our Lord, ' have faith as
a grain of mustard-seed, ye shall say to this mountain, Be thou

274

BARROW. — SERMON XI.

removed hence to yonder place, and it shall be removed :' ' Ye
may say to this sycamine tree, Be thou plucked up by the
roots, and be thou planted in the sea, and it shall obey you ;'
Kal ovbev abwari'ioei vfilv, and there is nothing,' adds our Sa-
viour, ' which shall be impossible unto you for, as he saith
again, ' All things are possible to him that believeth :' that is,
unto him who relieth on the divine power ; for that the faith
he speaks of referreth thither, appeareth by several like passages
in the gospel ; as for instance, in that, where to the blind men
imploring his relief, our Lord puts this question : ' Do ye be-
lieve that I can do this V and they answering, ' Yes, Lord ;' he
thereon replies, ' According to your faith be it done unto you.'
In contemplation of this power, we may, if our duty or good
reason do call us forth, how small or weak soever in ourselves,
how destitute soever of defensive arms or offensive weapons,
naked and unarmed, ' with a sling and a stone,' go out against
the biggest and best-armed Philistine, nothing doubtful of vic-
tory ; it will be enough if we can say with David, ' I come
unto thee in the name of the Lord of hosts ;' that is, confiding
in his powerful help, as my invincible weapon and defence.
But so much for this particular.

III. That notion of the word Almighty, which implieth
God's being universal proprietary and possessor of all things,
hath likewise many good uses ; we shall only name them, with-
out enlarging on them : we thence learn,

1. That we ourselves are not our own, and therefore ought
to submit ourselves with content and patience to God's dis-
posal ; for that, as it is in the gospel, God may ' do what he
pleaseth with his own.' Whence also we are bound, as St.
Paul enjoineth us, ' to glorify God with our bodies and spirits,
which are God's.'

2. That also therefore we ought to be content with that
portion of accommodations here which God alloweth us ; for
that since every thing is his, we can claim nothing to our-
selves ; all we have doth proceed from mere liberality and
bounty.

3. The same reason obligeth us to be satisfied, whenever Pro-
vidence withdraweth what it did afford us the enjoyment of;
for God doth never so communicate any thing as to divest him-

THE FATHER ALMIGHTY.

2*6

self of the paramount title and propriety therein; all things
have an immutable relation to him as Lord, and cannot be
alienated from him; whence he may justly, when he pleaseth,
recal or resume them into his hand.

4. Yea, hence we are obliged to be heartily thankful for all
we ever have or enjoy ; for that nothing is on any account
ours, or can be due to us from him ; all proceeding from pure
kindness and goodness.

5. We are hence obliged carefully to manage and employ all
which is put into our hands, for his interest and service ; as ho-
nest tenants and faithful stewards, making just returns and im-
provements ; not embezzling nor abusing any of his goods com-
mitted to us.

(>. Lastly, we may learn hence to be humble and sober ; not
to be conceited or elevated in mind, or apt to glory, in regard
to any thing we have ; since we have nothing that we can justly
esteem or properly call our own.

IV. That sense, according to which the word doth signify
God's containing all things by his immense presence, is also of
most excellent use and influence on our practice. We thereby
may learn with what care and circumspection, with what reve-
rence and modesty, with what innocence and integrity, we
ought always and in all places to manage our conversation and
behavior; since we continually do think, and speak, and act
in the immediate presence and under the inspection of God ;
whose ' eyes are on the ways of man, and he seeth all his
goings;' who ' searcheth and trieth our hearts,' and ' posses-
seth our reins;' who ' encompasseth our path,' and 'is ac-
quainted with all our ways ;' to whose ' eyes all things are
naked and dissected ;' according to the significant and enipha-
tical expressions of Scripture. Did we stand in the sight of
our king, we should not dare to behave ourselves rudely and in-
decently ; were a virtuous person conscious of our doings, we
should be ashamed to do any base or filthy thing ; the oversight
of a grave or a wise person would restrain us from practising
vanities and impertinences; how much more should the glori-
ous majesty of the most wise and holy God, being ever present
to all our thoughts, words, and actions, if duly considered and
reflected on, keep us within awe and compass ! how can we, if

&76

BARROW. — SERMON XI.

we remember that we abide always iu a temple sanctified by
God's presence, not contain ourselves in a careful and devout
posture of soul !

This consideration also prompteth us to frequent addresses
of prayer, thanksgiving, and all kind of adoration toward God :
for all reason dictateth it to be unseemly to be in his presence
with our back turned unto him, without demonstrations of re-
gard and reverence to him, without answering him when he
speaketh to us ; that is, without corresponding to the invita-
tions which he frequently by his providence maketh to us, of
conversing with him, of seeking his favor and imploring his help,
and returning thanks for his mercies.

V. Lastly, the consideration that God doth uphold all
things, and consequently ourselves, in being, may on several
good accounts be influential on our practice ; particularly it
may powerfully deter us from offending and displeasing him ; for
put case our life, our livelihood, all the conveniences and com-
forts of our being, should wholly depend on the bounty and
pleasure of any person, should we not be very war}7 and fearful
to affront, or injure, or displease such a person ? It is in the
highest degree so with us in respect to God ; and why are we
so inconsiderate, that the same reason hath not the same effect
on us?

This consideration also should mind us how infinitely we are
obliged to the goodness of God, who when he may by the bare
withdrawing his conservative influence utterly destroy us, and
suffer us to fall to nothing, doth, notwithstanding our many pro-
vocations, the many neglects and injuries he receiveth from us,
continually preserve us in his hand, and every moment impart-
eth a new being to us. For which, and all his infinite mercies
and favors toward us, let us for ever yield unto him all thanks
and praise. Amen.

SERMON XII.

277

SUMMARY OF SERMON XII.

ACTS, CHAP. IV. — VERSE 24.

It may be demanded ; why, besides that of Almighty, no
other attribute of God is expressed in our Creed ? Three rea-
sons for this assigned. Maker of heaven and earth. This
clause was of later times inserted in the Creed, to obviate the
heresies of Marcion, Manichreus, &c. The ancient Hebrews
having no word properly expressing the universe, used this
phrase, adding sometimes the sea also. What is to be under-
stood by heaven explained, and illustrated from Scripture :
opinions of the ancient philosophers on this subject, in which
they seem to have in great part agreed with the tenets of revela-
tion. One particular however in which they dissented from
what Christian piety inclines us to acknowlege, that is, the
origin of matter, which they generally supposed to have ex-
isted from all eternity : their opinions on this head cited. Our
reason shown to be deficient on this and other such topics.
That in truth all the matter of things both could be, and really
was, created by God, may appear from several reasons.

1. It is often in general terms affirmed in Scripture, that
God did make all things ; all things in heaven and earth. Now
it is never, without urgent reason, allowable to make limita-
tions of universal propositions, especially of such as are fre-
quently so set down : this subject enlarged on.

2. Again, God is in Scripture affirmed to be the true pro-
prietary and possessor of all things, none excepted : but how
could he be so, if he did not make them ? &c.

278

SUMMARY OF

3. The supposing any thing to be eternal, uncreated, and
independent of God, advances that being in those respects
unto an equality with God, depriving him of those special per-
fections, independency and all-sufficiency, &c.

4. It may be asked, if God produced and inserted an active
principle into nature, why might he not produce a passive one,
such as matter is ? what greater difficulty is there in this?

5. Yea farther, if he hath produced immaterial beings, such
as angels and the souls of men, merely out of nothing, why
might he not so produce matter?

6. The manner of God's making the world by mere will
and command, argues that matter, or any other thing possible,
might easily by the divine power be so produced : this ex-
plained.

7. Lastly, the holy text, describing the manner and order of
creation, insinuates this truth : this shown. From these pre-
mises we may conclude, against the ancient philosophers, and
those Christian sects who followed them, that God did in the
strictest sense create all things out of nothing ; and that this
is the meaning of the title, Maker of heaven and earth.

Which title, as due to the true God only, divers heretics of
old (especially those of the Gnostic sect) did contradict : their
opinion, that the God who made the world and enacted the law,
was different from him by whom the gospel was sent; the first
being an angry and implacable Deity, the second a mild and
beneficent one.

Akin to this error was that of the Manicha?ans, who sup-
posed two first causes of things, from one of which proceeded
good, and from the other evil : origin of this error, <&c : strongly
stated and laid down by Plutarch. His discourse however has
two faulty suppositions : it supposes some things to be imper-
fect and evil which are not truly such ; and to those which are
truly such it assigns an imaginary and wrong cause.

SERMON XII.

279

1. First supposition shown to be false ; for there is no sort of
creature, which did not at first receive the Divine approbation :
there are degrees indeed of perfection ; but every thing contri-
butes to the use and ornament of the whole. That which we
call poison, is such only relatively : that which we call a mon-
ster, is not unnatural with regard to the whole contexture of
causes : pain and grief, incident to the nature of things, are not
properly evils, but adherences to the less perfect nature of
things, &c.

2. But as for those real imperfections and evils, truly so
called, habitual distempers of the soul, &c. ; the true cause
of them, is not the will or power of the Creator, but the wil-
fulness or impotency of creatures : the mischief also of pain and
grief, consequent on those distempers, are partly to be imputed
to us, and partly attributed to God ; we by our faults deserve
and draw them to ourselves; God in justice and wisdom in-
flicts them on us : this enlarged on.

Considerations on the manner how, and the reason why, God
made the world.

He created it from a wise and free choice : he so made the
world, that he could wholly have abstained from making it, or
could have made it otherwise. He could not be fatally deter-
mined, since there was no superior cause to guide or constrain
him, &c. And how he produced it, the Scripture teaches us :
it was not by any laborious care and toil, but solely by his
will and word, &c.

But since God did not only make the world freely but
wisely ; and since all wise agents act for some purpose, why
(it may be asked) did God make the world ? We may answer
with Plato, He was good ; and he that is good doth not envy
any good to any thing. His natural benignity and munifi-
cence was the pure motive : this subject enlarged on. Some
points of application stated.

280

SUMMARY OF SERMON XII.

1. The belief and consideration, that God is the Maker of
heaven and earth, must necessarily beget in us the highest
esteem, admiration, and adoration of him and his divine excel-
lencies, &c.

2. It may produce in us hearty gratitude and humble affec-
tion towards God ; since we ourselves, and all we have or en-
joy, proceeded from him ; and that with an especial good-will
towards us.

3. It is also a great ground and motive to humility : for
what is man in comparison with him who made heaven and
earth, &c.

4. It is, farther, a proper inducement to trust and hope in
God ; a ground of consolation in every distress : for he that
made all things can dispose of all : this enlarged on.

5. Finally, it ministers a general incitement to all obedi-
ence : all other things obey his laws ; and shall we, who are
placed, as it were, at the top of nature, and whom all nature
serves, shall we alone transgress against its author and go-
vernor? Conclusion.

MAKER OF HEAVEN AND EARTH.

V>,1

Ittafcer of tyttfotn ant) €artf),
SERMON XII.

ACTS, CHAP. IV. — VERSE 24.

O Lord, thou art God, which hast made heaven and earth, and the
sea, and all that in them is.

It may be demanded, why besides that of Almighty, no
other attribute of God is expressed in our Creed ? why for
instance, the perfections of infinite wisdom and goodness arc
therein omitted ? I answer,

1. That all such perfections are included in the notion of a
God, whom when we profess to believe, we consequently do
ascribe them to him (implicitly.) For lie that should profess to
believe in God, not acknowleging those perfections, would be
inconsistent and contradictious to himself. Deum negaret,
as Tertullian speaks, auferendo quod Dei est. He would
deny God by withdrawing what belongs to God.

2. The title 7raiTo<cpdrwp, as implying God's universal pro-
vidence in the preservation and government of the world, doth
also involve or infer all Divine perfections displayed therein ;
all that glorious majesty and excellency, for which he is with
highest respect to be honored and worshipped by us, which
added to the name of God dotli determine what God we mean,
such as doth in all perfection excel, and with it doth govern
the world.

a. I may add, thirdly, That the doctrine of God's universal
providence being not altogether so evident to natural light as
those attributes discovered in the making of the world, (more

282

BARROW. — SERMON XII.

having doubted thereof, and disputed against it with much
more plausibility,) it was therefore convenient to add it ; as a
matter of faith clearly and fully (as we did show) attested unto
by Divine revelation. So much may suffice to remove such a
scruple concerning the fulness and sufficiency of the Creed in
that particular. I proceed ;

Maker of Heaven and Earth.
This clause is one of those which was of later times inserted
into the Creed ; none of the most ancient expositors thereof
(Austin, Ruffin, Maximus Taurinensis, Chrysologus, Ac.) ta-
king any notice thereof. But Irenaeus, Tertullian, and other
most ancient writers, in their rules of faith, exhibit their sense
thereof, and the Confessions of all General Councils (the Ni-
cene, and those after it) express it. And there is great reason
for it ; not only thereby to disavow and decry those prodigious
errors of Marcion, Manicha?us, and other such heretics, which
did then ascribe the creation of the world (or of some part
thereof, seeming to their fancy less good and perfect) to another
God, or Principle, inferior in worth and goodness to that God
which was revealed in the gospel ; or did opinionate two Prin-
ciples, (not distinct only, but contrary one to the other ;) from
one whereof good things did proceed, from the other bad things
were derived : but for that the creation of the world (which
the holy Confessors of Christ do here in the text ascribe unto
God) is that peculiarly august and admirable work, by which
we learn that he is, and in good measure what he is ; by which,
I say, the existence of God is most strongly demonstrated, and
in which his Divine perfections are most conspicuously dis-
played ; which is the prime foundation of his authority over
the world, and consequently the chief ground of all natural re-
ligion ; of our just subjection, our reasonable duty, our humble
devotion toward him : the title, ' Creator of heaven and earth,'
is that also, which most especially characterises and distin-
guishes the God whom we believe and adore, from all false and
fictitious deities; for, as the psalmist sings, ' All the gods of
the nations are but idols, but the Lord made the heavens :' and,
' Thou,' prayeth Hezekiah, ' art the God, thou alone, of all
the kingdoms of the earth, thou hast made heaven and earth :'

MAKER OF HEAVEN AND EARTH.

283

and, 'The gods,' saith the prophet Jeremiah, 'that have not
made the heavens and the earth, they shall perish from the
earth, and from under the heavens:' and, ' AVe preach unto
you,' said St. Paul to the ignorant Lycaonians, ' that ye should
turn from those vanities unto the living God, which made hea-
ven and earth.' It is therefore a point, which worthily hath
been inserted into all creeds, and confessions of our faith, as a
necessary object of our belief ; and it is indeed a subject no
less wholesome and fruitful, than high and noble ; deserving
that we employ our best thoughts and most careful attention
on it : to the commemoration thereof God consecrated the
great sabbatical festivity among his ancient people ; nor should
even the consideration of the great work concerning our re-
demption abolish the remembrance of it : to confer some ad-
vantage thereto, we shall now so discourse thereon, as first to
propound some observations explicative thereof, and conducing
to our information about it, then to apply the consideration
thereof to practice.

We may observe that the ancient Hebrews, having, as it
seems, in their language no one word properly signifying the
world or universal frame and complex of things created, (that
system, as the author de Mundo defines it, ' consisting of hea-
ven and earth, and the natures contained in them,'*) did for to
express it use a collection of its chief parts (chief absolutely in
themselves, or such in respect to us,) ' the heaven, and the
earth,' adding sometimes, because of the word earth its ambi-
guity, the sea also : yea sometimes, for fuller explication, sub-
joining to heaven its host, to earth its fulness, to the sea its
contents. So, ' In six days the Lord made heaven and earth,'
saith Moses: and, 'Do not I fill heaven and earth? saith the
Lord, (in Jeremiah :) and, • It is easier for heaven and earth
to pass, than for one tittle of the law to fail,' saith our Saviour :
and, ' God,' saith St. Paul, ' who made the world, and all
things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth;'
(where the world and all things therein do signify the same
with heaven and earth ; he first uses the word (world) which
the Greek language afforded, then adds the circumlocution,

« De M. 2. Lips. Pbys. St. ii. 7.

284

BARROW. — SERMON XII.

whereby the Hebrews did express it.) By heaven and earth
therefore we are, I say, to understand those tw o regions supe-
rior and inferior, into which the whole system of things is di-
vided, together with all the beings that do reside in them, or
do belong unto them, or are comprehended by them ; as we
see fully expressed in our text and otherwhere ; particularly
with utmost distinction by the angel in the Apocalypse ; who
swears ' by him that liveth for ever, who created the heaven,
and the things that are therein, and the earth, with the things
that therein are, and the sea, with the things therein.'

By heaven then is undersood all the superior region encom-
passing the globe of earth, and from it on all sides extended to
a distance unconceivably vast and spacious, with all its parts,
and furniture, and inhabitants; not only such things in it as
are visible and material, but also those which are immaterial
and invisible ; so we are plainly taught by St. Paul : 1 By
him,' saith he, ' were created all things, which are in heaven,
and which are in earth, both those that are visible, and those
that are invisible; whether they be thrones, or dominions, or
principalities, or powers ; all things were created by him, and
for him :' that is, not only the material and sensible parts, or
contents of heaven, (those bright and beautiful lamps exposed
to our view, with the fluid matter, in which they may be con-
ceived to float or swim,) but those beings of a more pure and
refined substance, and thence indiscernible to our sense, how-
ever eminent in nature, mighty in power, exalted in dignity,
whose ordinary residence and proper habitation (their 'ibcov ot-
cijr^jtoi', as St. Jude termeth it) is in those superior regions; in
that they are courtiers and domestic officers of God,) whose
throne, and special presence, or the place where he more pecu-
liarly and amply discovereth himself, and displaycth his glory,
is in heaven,) attending on him, and ministering to him ; ' en-
circling his throne,' (as it is in the Revelation,) and always (as
our Saviour telleth us) ' beholding his face;' even these all
were made by God : the time indeed when, and the manner
how those invisible sublime creatures were made, is not in the
history of the creation, or otherwhere manifestly expressed,
(because perhaps it doth exceed the capacity, or doth not suit
the condition of man to understand them ; or because it doth

MAKEK OF HEAVEN AND EARTH.

286

not much concern us, or not much conduceth to our edifica-
tion to know them :) but that they were made by God, and
that when we call God the ' Maker of heaven,' they are com-
prehended, as the creatures of God, dwelling there, is evidently
declared in Scripture;* for beside the fore-mentioned clear and
full place of St. Paul, the angel fore-cited in the Revelation
saith, that God ' created the heaven, koi rk ev ahru, and the
things in it ;' and in our text it is said that God ' made heaven
and all things in it,' (vAyra rii h'avry,) which plainly includeth
the angels ; if all things in it, then surely the angels ; who are
often expressed to be in heaven, being indeed the principal and
most considerable things therein, And, ' Thou hast made hea-
ven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host,' (pray the Levites
in Nehemiah,) where, according to the Jews' notion, who say
there are three heavens; Caelum nubifcrum, or the firmament;
Caelum astriferum, the (starry) heavens; Caelum tinge lifer um,
or the heaven of heavens ; where the angels reside, (the third
heaven in St. Paul ;) by the hosts of heaven, are meant the
angels ; as also the hosts of God do seem to signify in the
103rd psalm ; where it is said, ' Bless the Lord, ye his angels,
that excel in strength, that do his commandments, hearkening
unto the voice of his word ; Bless ye the Lord, all his hosts, ye
ministers of his, that do his pleasure.' Whence they are termed
' the sons of God ;' as whore in Job it is said, * There was a
day, when the sons of God came to present themselves before
the Lord ;' and in several other places: and St. Jude telleth us
of the lapsed angels, that they did not retain t>)v uivtwv apx>)v,
' their beginning,' or primitive state ; wherefore they had a
beginning, and whence could they have that, but from God ;
who alone is eternal, (who alone originally, intrinsecally, and
necessarily, hath, as St. Paul saith, immortality; and conse-
quently alone, (as Aristotle by several arguments proveth
against Plato,) hath eternity.) The angels also are subject
to God's jurisdiction and governance, which argueth their

* The Greek Fathers commonly (and St. Hierome after them)
conceived they were made before the creation of this material
world: St. Austin thinks them meant under fiat lux.— DeCiv. Dei,
xi. 9.

28G E ARROW. — SERMON XII.

proceeding from him, and dependence on him : in fine, thv
psalmist reckons them among the works of God ; for having:
9aid, ' Bless the Lord, ye his angels;' and, ' Bless the Lord,
all ye his hosts;' he recapitulating and concluding subjoins,
' Bless the Lord, all his works in all places of his dominion :'
and again, in the 148th Psalm, summoning all the creation to
a consort of doxology, he begins with the heavens, then pro-
ceeds to the earth, making a very particular recitation of the
chief parts and inhabitants belonging to each ; and in the first
place mentioning the angels, then the stars, then the heaven of
heavens, he subjoineth the reason why they ought all to praise
God : ' Let them,' saith he, ' praise the name of the Lord ; for
lie commanded, and they were created; he hath also esta-
blished them for ever and ever ; he hath made a decree, which
shall not pass.' Thus we are by Divine revelation instructed
concerning the existence and original of those heavenly invisi-
ble beings, to the knowlege of whom, that they are, what they
are, whence they are, natural light could not reach; although
from the relics of primitive tradition even the Pagans them-
selves commonly in part did acknowlege this truth, calling all
the inferior or secondary gods, whom they conceived to con-
verse together happily (ev rJ arwrdry roiru) in the highest
place above, as Aristotle saith in subjection to God, and at-
tendance on him, the children of the Supreme God : Plato
calls God Waripa Kai Arjfiiovpyuv, the Father and framer of
them all, according (as he avoweth himself) to ancient tradi-
tion. And thus concerning those beings piety doth oblige us
to believe and profess that God is their Maker, it especially
conducing to his glory to believe that he is the Author of their
sublime natures, and donor of those excellent properties with
which they are endowed, and wherein they so far surpass all
other beings.

As for all other things both in heaven and earth, the material
frame of the visible world, with all its parts compacted to-
gether in so fair, so fit, so firm and stable an order, they (as we
have sometime sufficiently discoursed) even to natural under-
standing speak themselves to have been produced by a most
wise, most powerful, most beneficent author, that is, by God ;
the which is confirmed by innumerable testimonies of holy

MAKER OF HEAVEN AND EARTH.

28"7

writ, so evident and obvious, that we need not to cite them :
and to thus much the generality of mankind hath always con-
sented ; as also the most and best reputed philosophers did in
general terms avow it, acknowleging God the Author and
Builder of the world.

But there is one particular, wherein they seem unanimously
to have dissented from what Christian piety inclines us to ac-
knowlege, as most suitable to the Divine perfection and majesty ;
which concerns the origin of that matter, of which corporeal
things do subsist. For even Plato himself, who so positively
doth assert the world to have been framed by God, is yet con-
ceived (I speak so dubiously, because his writings about this
point are somewhat obscure, and, as Justin Martyr proves, in-
consistent with themselves) to suppose the matter of things to
be eternal : he ascribing only to God the forming and dis-
posing it into a good order, answerable to some patterns pre-
existent in his wise understanding ; even as a good artist doth
out of an UDshapen lump of stuff frame a handsome piece of
work, conformable to some idea (or image) preconceived in his
fancy ; so that he represents God, rather as a builder out of
prepared materials, than as a Creator of the world. ' Socrates
and Plato,' saith Plutarch, ' did suppose three principles of
things, God, matter, ideas: God is the mind; matter the first
subject of generation and corruption ; idea an incorporeal sub-
sistence in the conceptions of Got!.' Anaxagoras also, as the
same author (and Aristotle before him) telleth us, did assert two
principles; the one passive, the matter, consisting of an infinite
number of small particles like to one another in shape ; the
other active, understanding, which ranged those troops of little
bodies into order : to the same effects Pythagoras his conceits,
though expressed with much obscurity, are reduced. Thales
his opinion was in effect the same, who, as Cicero telleth us,
'said, that water was the principle of things, and God that
mind, which fashioned all things out of water.' The Stoics
also were of the same opinion : ' It seems to them,' saith Laer-
tius in Zeno's life, ' that there are two principles of all things,
the agent, and the patient ; that the patient is the matter void
of qualities, but the agent, reason, which is therein, that is,
God.' Tertullian against Hermogenes saith, that ' he did take

288

BARROW. — SERMON XII.

from the Stoics to place matter with God ; which matter did
always exist, being neither born nor made, and nowise having
either beginning or end, out of which afterward the Lord made
all things :' and, ' Come now,' saith the same Father in his
book against the Valentinians, ' let the Pythagoreans learn, let
the Stoics acknowlege, and even Plato himself, whence matter,
whom they would have unmade, did draw its both origin and
substance toward all this structure of the world.' Yea,
Aristotle tells us, that generally all natural philosophers before
him did conceive, and did assume it for a principle, that nothing
was made out of nothing, or that every thing produced had
necessarily some preexistent matter, out of which it was pro-
duced : ' It is,' saith he, ' the common opinion of naturalists,
that nothing can be made out of nothing ;' and, ' That it is
impossible that any thing should proceed from nothing, all that
have studied about nature do consent :'* which principle Aris-
totle himself not only admits, but extends farther, affirming it
impossible that any thing should be produced out of matter not
predisposed to admit the form which is to be produced ; ovbe
yiverai on ovv 0, orov olv, ' Neither can,' saith he, 1 every thing
be made of every thing, but out of some subject fitted thereto,
(or susceptive thereof,) as animals, and plants out of their seed.'t
Which principles deduced from the observing natural effects, or
works of art performed always by alterations, additions, sub-
tractions, or transpositions of some matter subjacent, we may
safely, in respect only to such kinds of effects, proceeding in
the ordinary course of nature, admit ; allowing no natural
agent, no created artificer, sufficient to produce any thing with-
out some matter or subject aptly qualified and prepared to
receive its influence; but from hence to conclude universally,
that every action possible doth require a matter pre-existent, or
a predisposed subject, is nowise reasonable : because such a
thing doth not usually according to the course of nature happen ;
because there is no cause obvious that can perform so much ;
because we are not acquainted with the manner of way of doing

* Phys. i. 4. 8. Vid. de Gener. et Corrup. i. 3. et Metaph. i.
1. 3.
t Phys. i. 8.

MAKER OF HEAVEN AND EARTH.

2! 19

such a tiling, that therefore the thing is in itself absolutely im-
possible, is no warrantable argumentation : no logic will allow
us from particular experiments to establish general conclusions,
especially such as do concern the determination of what is
absolutely impossible ; that must be fetched from abstracted
notions of reason, not from singular appearances to sense : there
may be, for all that we (we pitifully shortsighted creatures in
this our dark state) can by any means know, agents of another
sort, and powers in manner of efficacy much differing from all
those which come within the narrow compass of our observa-
tion. Especially to imagine that the Supreme Being, who
made the world in a manner, whatever that manner were, in-
comprehensible, cannot himself act otherwise than we see these
inferior things (not only infinitely lower in degree, but wholly
different in nature) do act, is grossly vain and unreasonable:
' It is impossible,' saith St. Chrysostom well, ' for man's nature
by curious inquiry to penetrate the workmanship of God.'
From sense or experience then such conclusions cannot well be
derived ; it assures us that some effects are possible, but cannot
help us to determine what is impossible. Neither are there
any certain principles of reason, from whence it may be col-
lected that it is impossible that some substances should be
totally produced de novo, or receive completely an existence
which they had not before : that no such principles are innate
to our minds, (if indeed there be at all any innate principles,
which some philosophers deny,) every man's experience can
tell him : neither do these philosophers allege any such ; nor
(as we before showed) can any such be drawn from experience.
If they say the proposition is avroinaTos, or evidently credible
of itself, without any proof, it is a precarious and groundless
assertion ; such as ought not to be admitted in any science, or
any disceptation ; except they can show that the terms of these
propositions, (or of the like equivalent ones,) A substance is
producible altogether de novo ; A substance may exist, which
did not exist ; Something may be produced out of nothing ; do
involve a contradiction; which it rather is evident they do not,
there being nothing contained in the notion of substance incon-
sistent with such a producibility, or with novity of existence,
no more than there is in the notion of figure or of motion, which
BAR. VOL. V. N

290

BARROW. — SERMON XII.

things no man hardly denies to receive a new existence. In
fine, nothing is more reasonable than to confess that our reason
can nowise reach the extent of all powers and all possibilities ;
and that we much, as St. Chrysostom speaks, do transgress our
measures and bounds, if we pretend to know what things God
is able to produce, or how he doth produce any : ' His woiks,'
as Lactantius speaketh, ' are seen with eyes ; but how he made
them, the mind itself cannot see.' Those opinions therefore of
the ancient philosophers, that the matter of the world (or of
natural things) was eternal and necessarily preexistent, and that
there could be no creation out of nothing, were assumed alto-
gether without any clear or sure foundation. We may say
unto them, as our Lord did once say to the Sadducees, ' Ye
err, not knowing the Scriptures, nor the power of God.' • The
poverty and narrowness of man's natural understanding, (not
going usually beyond matters obvious to sense) and their inabi-
lity, by the meanness of their reason, to look up to the height of
truth, did,' as St. Basil says, ' deceive them.'* And that these
opinions (revived and embraced by divers persons in our days)
are false, and contrary to our faith, that in truth all the matter
of things both could be, and really was, created by God, may
from several reasons appear.

1. It is often in general terms affirmed in Scripture, that
God did make all things; all things in heaven and earth.
Now it is unsafe, and never without urgent reason allowable,
to make limitations or restrictions of universal propositions,
especially of such as are frequently and constantly thus set
down : and, like as St. Paul somewhere discourses, because it
is said in the prophets, ' Every one that believeth in him shall
not be ashamed ;' and, ' Whosoever shall call on the Lord
s'lall be saved ;' therefore both Jews and Greeks, in case of
their belief and invocation of God, are capable of acceptance
and salvation ; ov yap eon biatrTo\i), for that there is no distinc-
tion or exception made : so it being said universally and un-
limitedly, that all things were made, and no reason appearing
which compels to restrain that universality, therefore the mat-
ter of things was also made ; the matter being one thing, yea

* Bas. Hcxaem. Horn. j8.

MAKER OF HEAVEN AND EARTH,

•21)1

in the opinion of most philosophers, as well ancient as modern,
the principal thing, the only substantial thing in nature ; all
other things being only modes, affections, or relations thereof.
Whence Aristotle telleth us that most of the first philoso-
phers did affirm nothing at all really to be made, and nothing
ever to be destroyed ; because matter did always subsist and
abide the same, as if no other thing beside in nature had any
being considerable. If God therefore did not produce matter
itself, he could hardly be accounted author of any thing in na-
ture, so far would he be from being truly affirmed the maker
of all things : on this ground Cicero, as Lactantius cites him,
denied that God was the author of any of the elements : ' It
is not probable,' said he, ' that the matter, whence all things
did arise, was made by divine Providence ;' and, ' If matter
was not made by God, then neither earth, nor water, nor air,
nor fire, were made by him ;'*' to invert which discourse, we
say that God did make all these things, (earth, sea, fire, and
air,) as the holy Scripture frequently asserts, wherefore the
matter of them was also his work : he was not only, as St.
Basil speaks, ' an inventor of figures,' (or a raiser of motions,)
' but the maker of nature itself ;'f and of all that is substantial
therein.

2. Again, God is in Scripture affirmed to be the true pro-
prietary and possessor of all things, none excepted ; how so,
if he did not make them ? for ' he that did not make, cannot,'
as Justin Martyr argues, ' have any right to that which is not
made. 'I It is the argument by which the Scripture frequently
proves God to be the owner and disposer of things, because he
made them : ' The earth,' saith the psalmist, * is the Lord's,
and the fulness thereof ; the world, and they that dwell therein :
for he hath founded it on the seas, and prepared it on the
floods.' So, because (we may say) he did produce matter,
and doth sustain its being; therefore he, by the most excellent
sort, and on the best ground of right, doth own it, and may
justly use it at his pleasure ; otherwise might we not say with
Tertullian, ' If God did not make matter, he using a thing not

* Cic. apud Lactant. ii. pag. 150. t Bas. Hex. $.

X Just. M. Cohort, ad Gr. i. p. 22.

802

BARROW. — SERMON XII.

his own, because not made by him, either he used it pre-
cariously, as needing it, or injuriously, as usurping on it by
force.'*

:3. The supposing any thing to be eternal, uncreated, and
independent on God, doth advance that being in those respects
unto an equality with God, imparting thereto so great and di-
vine attributes: ' It will become,' as St. Basil saith, ' God's
peer, or equal in dignity, being dignified with the same privi-
leges.' That supposition likewise in effect depriveth God of
those special perfections, independency and all-sufficiency ;
making him in his operations and performances to depend on,
and to be in a manner subject unto, matter ; to need its con-
course, and to be unable to perform any thing farther than it
admits: for, 'None,' as Tertullian discourseth, ' is free from
needing that, whose stock he useth ; none is exempt from sub-
jection to that, which he needs that he may use ; and none who
lends of his own to use, is not in this superior to him, to whom
he lends it for use.'f The very doubting about this made Se-
neca put such absurd and impious questions as these : How
God's power is limited ? whether he effects whatever he pleas-
eth, or is disappointed by want of matter? whether he doth
not form many things ill, not from defect of art in himself, but
from disobedience of the subject-matter ?J Which questions we
easily resolve by saying, nothing is impossible to God ; his
will can never be crossed or disappointed ; he can never do any-
thing bad, or imperfect in its kind ; because he createth matter
itself answerable to his design.

4. As Aristotle well discoursed against the ancient philoso-
phers, who, before Anaxagoras, did assign but one principle of
things, a material and passive one, as if no active principle
were required ; so may we argue against him and them toge-
ther. If God did produce and insert an active principle into
nature, (as who can imagine those admirable works of nature,
the seminal propagation and nutrition of plants, and however
more especially the generation, motion, sense, fancy, appetite,
passion of animals, to be accomplished by a mere passive agi-
tation of matter, without some active principle distinct from

* Adv. Hermog. 9. t Ibid. iv. 5. } Sen. Praef. Nat. Qu.

MAKER OF HEAVEN AND EARTH.

2!J3

matter, which disposeth and determinelh it to the production of
such effects ?) if God could, I say, produce and insert such an
active principle, (such an evreXexeia, as the philosopher calleth
it,) why might he not as well produce a passive one, such as
the matter is ? what greater difficulty could he find in doing it ?

5. Yea farther, if God hath produced immaterial beings, or
simple and uncompounded substances distinct from matter,
such as angels and the souls of men, merely out of no-
thing, (for out of what preexistent stuff could they be made ?)
then may he as well create matter out of nothing ; for what
greater difficulty can we conceive in creating so much lower
and more imperfect a thing, than in creating those more excel-
lent substances, so much fuller, as it were, of entity, or so far
more removed from nothing ? If any one thing is producible
out of nothing, why may not all things capable of existence be
so produced by a competent and omnipotent virtue ? ' Why
not,' as Tertullian argued, ' all things out of nothing, if any
thing out of nothing; except if the divine virtue, which drew
somewhat out of nothing, was insufficient to produce all things
thence?'* But that such immaterial substances were produced by
God, we before, from many plain testimonies of Divine revela-
tion, did show: and particularly the souls of men are produced
from God's breath, or by the efficacy of his word.

6. The manner of God's making the world, expressed in
Scripture, by mere will and command, ('He spake, and it
was done ; he commanded, and it stood fast ;' ' he commanded,
and they were created,') that only by uttering the word fiat,
(not audibly, but mentally, that is, by an act of volition,) all
things should be formed and constituted in their specirical
natures and perfections, doth argue that matter, or any other
thing possible, might easily by the divine power be produced
out of nothing. Likewise effecting miracles superior or con-
trary to the law and course of nature, without any prepara-
tory dispositions induced into the suscipient matter, in the
same manner, by mere willing, saying, or commanding, where-
of there be in the Scripture frequent instances, doth persuade
the same ; 6£\u>, Kadapiadriri, ' I will ; be thou cleansed :'

* Adv. Herm. 15.

291

BARROW. — SERMON XII.

' Woman, great is thy faith, yevridriTw 001, &s 8e\etf be it to
thee, as thou desirest :' veavtaice, ao\ Xeyw, eyep9ijrt, ' Young
man, I say to thee, Wake,' from the sleep of death : so did
our Saviour speak, and the effect immediately followed ;
whereby, as he demonstrated his divine power, so he declared
the manner whereby divine power doth incomprehensibly ope-
rate in the production of things ; and that it therein nowise
dependeth on matter : for it is nowise harder or more impos-
sible to produce matter itself, than to produce a form therein
without or against an aptitude to receive it : nay, it seemeth
more difficult ' to raise children unto Abraham out of stones,'
than to draw them out of nothing ; there being a positive ob-
stacle to be removed, here no apparent resistance ; there as
well somewhat preceding to be destroyed, as somewhat new
to be produced, here only somewhat simply to be produced:
especially considering, as we said, that God useth no other
means, instruments, or applications in these productions, than
his bare word or command ; which there is no reason why we
should not conceive as able immediately to make the matter, as
to produce the forms of things.

7. Lastly ; the holy text, describing the manner and order
of the creation, doth insinuate this truth. ' The Scripture,'
saith Tertullian well, ' doth first pronounce the earth to be
made, then setteth out its quality; as likewise first professing
the heaven made, it in the sequel doth superinduce its dispo-
sition.'* ' In the beginning,' saith Moses, ' God made heaven
and earth ; now the earth was without form that is, it seems,
God at first did make the matter of heaven aud earth devoid of
aliform and order, a confused and unshapen mass; then he
digested and distinguished the parts of them, by several steps,
orderly raising thence all those various kinds, and well arrayed
hosts of goodly creatures : first he made the stones and timber,
and all requisite materials, then did he rear and frame this
stately fabric. So the words do sound, aud may well be un-
derstood.

From these premises we may conclude against those philo-
sophers, who, destitute of the light of revelation, did conceit

* Contra Hennog. 26.

MAKER OF HEAVEN AND EARTH.

29o

otherwise, and against those Christians who have followed the
philosophers, (as Herniogenes of old, and Volkelius of late,
together with the sectators of their opinions,) that God did
create, (in the most strict and scholastical sense of that word,
did create,) that is, either immediately or mediately did produce
out of nothing, or did bestow intirely a new existence unto
every thing, which is, not excepting any one ; and that is the
sense of the words, having ' made heaven and earth ;' or of the
title, ' Maker of heaven and earth,' ascribed unto God.

Which title as all sober Christians have always acknow-
leged, and the holy oracles do most plainly avouch, due to the
one true God alone, (for, ' to us there is but one God, the
Father, from whom are all things,') so there were divers here-
tics of old, Marcion and others of the Gnostic crew, who con-
tradicted it; affirming that the God of the Old Testament,
who made the world and enacted the ancient Law, whom
Moses and the Prophets did declare was not the same God
with him from whom the gospel proceeded, and who is preached
therein; the Mosaic God being a worse conditioned God,
fierce and rigid, angry and implacable, delighting in wars and
mischiefs; but the evangelical God, the Father of our Lord,
being mild and gentle ; void of all wrath and spleen ; very
indulgent and beneficent. Of kin to that fancy of Marcion
was the error of the Manichees, who supposed two first causes
of things; from one whereof good, from the other evil, did
fatally proceed ; which conceit, it seems, they drew from the
Persian, Egyptian, or other ethnical doctrines; the which we
have recited by Plutarch in his discourse about Isis and Osiris ;
' The Persian magi,' said he, ' had their Oromazes and Ari-
manius; the Egyptians, their Osiris and Typhon ; the Chal-
deans, their good and bad planets ; the Greeks, their Zeus and
Hades; the Pythagoreans, their Monas and Dyas ; Empe-
docles, his Concord and Discord,' &c.* The like report we
have in divers other writers: the common reason, or ground,
on which these erroneous conceits were built, was this ; there
appearing to be in nature some things imperfect, and some
things bad, (as ill dispositions, inclinations, and passions oi'
mind ; ill tempers and diseases of body, attended with pains

* Pint, de Iside et Osiride, &c.

296

BARROW. — SERMON Xlt.

and troubles in life ; vices, discords, deformities, antipathies,
irregularities, monsters, poisons, and the like things dispersed
in nature,) this sort of things they supposed could not proceed
from perfect goodness, the fountain of what was good, lovely,
orderly, convenient, pleasant, and desirable : ' If (discourseth
Plutarch, expressing the main of their argument) nothing can
naturally arise without a cause, and good cannot afford causa-
lity to evil, it is necessary that nature should have a proper
seed and principle of evil as well as good : and thus it seems
to the most and wisest; for they indeed conceive two gods as
it were counterplotting each other ; one the contriver and pro-
ducer of good things, and the other of bad; calling the better
one God ; the other, Daemon.'* But this discourse hath two
faulty suppositions : it supposeth some things to be imperfect
and evil, which are not truly such ; and to those things, which
are truly such, it assigneth an imaginary and wrong cause.

1. It supposeth some beings according to their original nature
and constitution to be evil and imperfect; which supposition
is, 1 say, false ; for there is no sort of creature, which did not
at first pass the Divine approbation : ' God saw every thing
which he had made, and behold it was very good :' good, that
is, convenient and suitable to its design, (or its Author's idea,)
fair and decent in its place, according to its proportion ; very
good, that is, perfect and complete in its degree, without any
defect, blemish, or flaw ; not liable to any reasonable blame or
exception. There are indeed among the creatures some degrees
of perfection, (it was fit there should be so in great variety,
that things might by comparison illustrate and commend one
another ; that there might be regular subordinations, and sub-
serviencies, and harmonies ; that several faculties of intelligent
creatures might be exercised, and improved, and delighted;
that the iroXviroiKiXos aotyin, the manifold, or multiform, wisdom
of the Creator might be displayed, acknowleged, and cele-
brated ; there are, I say, for such purposes in nature creatures
gradually different in excellency,) whence some things may b(
said comparatively imperfect, or rather less excellent and noblt
in respect to other things, endued with higher faculties, or (a
they be sometimes called) perfections of nature; some thing

• De Is. et Osir.

MAKER OF HEAVEN AND EARTH.

•2!)7

are less active, and more passive than others ; are not so ca-
pable of enjoyments delectable unto, and more subject to im-
pressions distasteful to, their particular nature ; which passi-
vities and displeasures are not simply wills, because they do
suit the degree of the particular natures of those subjects, being
also ever overbalanced with other pleasing activities and en-
joyments: so have things different measures of excellency;
but nothing, as it conies from God's hand, or stands in its rank
in nature, is positively imperfect, or void of that perfection
which is due to its kind; much less is any creature absolutely
bad, that is, ugly, or noxious, or troublesome, or cumbersome
to the universe ; so that it were better away out of it, than in
it. ' God,' saith the Hebrew Wise Man, ' created all things,
that they might have their being, and the generations of the
world were healthful, and there is no poison of destruction in
them.' Every thing contributes somewhat to the use and
benefit, or to the beauty and ornament of the whole : no weed
grows out of the earth, no insect creeps on the ground, which
hath not its elegancy, and yields not its profit; nothing is abo-
minable or despicable, though all things are not alike amiable
and admirable : there is therefore nothing in all the compass of
I nature unfit or unworthy to have proceeded from God ; nothing
! which he beseemingly, without derogation to his excellencies,
|l may not own for his work ; nothing which in its rank and degree
r doth not confer to the manifestation of his glorious power, ad-
s mirable wisdom, and excellent goodness : ' O Lord,' (cried the
\ devout psalmist on particular survey and consideration of them,)
ie ' how manifold are thy works ! in wisdom hast thou made them
t- all: the earth is full, of thy riches.' That which we call poison,
A is such only relatively, being noxious or destructive to one
1; part, but innocent, wholesome, and useful to some other part ;
m and never prejudicial to the whole body of things: yea, even
Is- to that part itself it is commonly beneficial in some case or
■ season ; affording, if not continual alimony, yet sometime
lie physic thereto, and serving to expel another poison or mischief
Wei more imminently dangerous. That which we call a. monster
as is not unnatural in regard to the whole contexture of causes, but
m ariseth no less methodically, than any thing most ordinary ; and
it also hath its good end and use, well serving to illustrate the

298

BARROW.— SERMON XII.

beauty and convenience of nature's usual course. As for pain
and grief incident to the natures of things ; without regard to
any demerit or justice, they are not properly evils, but adhe-
rences to the less perfect natures of things; in a state liable to
which God not only justly, but wisely, according to his plea-
sure, might constitute things, for the reasons and ends before
insinuated ; for no reason obliged him to confer on every thing
extreme perfection ; he might dispense his liberalities in what
kind and measure he thought good. In fiue, the reason of
offence we take at any thing of this kind, seeming bad or ugly
to us, ariseth from our defect of knowlege and sagacity, we not
being able to discern the particular tendency of each thing to
the common utility and benefit of the world.

2. But as for those real imperfections and evils, truly so
called, (which alone, as St. Paul speaketh, ' are properly evil,
and most worthy of the appellation of evils,') habitual distem-
pers of soul, and irregular actions ; errors, and vices, and sins ;
we need not search for any one eternal or primitive cause of
them : although order, uniformity, beauty, and perfection, do,
yet disorder, confusion, deformity, and defect do not, argue any
unity of cause whence they should spring ; the true causes of
them are sufficiently notorious; not the will or power of a Crea-
tor, but the wilfulness and impotency of creatures are the foun-
tains of them. They are no substantial beings, and so do not
need an infinite power to create them ; they do hardly need a
positive cause ; being themselves rather defects than effects ;
privations of being, than positive beings: ' Let no man,' saith
St. Austin, ' seek an efficient cause of a bad will ; for there is
no efficient, but a deficient thereof ; for that itself is not an
etfection, but a defection:' and, 'An evil will,' saith he
again, f is the efficient cause of an ill work ; an evil will hath
no cause ;' that is, none beside itself, or its own deficiency. And
again : ' Evil hath no nature, but the loss of good hath received
the name of evil:' however, most certainly, ' the rise and root
of sin is our free will and choice ;' it is twcov fSXaanyn wpoat-
perreus, as Cyril Hier. saith, ' a bad sprout from our choice.'
iMen, or other intellectual and free agents, their voluntarily
averting themselves from the supreme true good to inferior ap-
pearing goods ; their wilfully declining from the way which

i

MAKER OF HEAVEN AND EARTH. •I'JU

God doth show and prescribe to them ; their rejecting the ad-
vice, and disobeying the laws of God ; their thwarting the dic-
tates of that reason which God did put in them ; their abusing
their natural faculties ; their perverting and corrupting them-
selves, and others also, by ill example, persuasion, allurement,
violence ; these causes of such evils are most visible and pal-
pable : we need not go far, nor rise to the top of things, to find
an author on whom we may charge our evils ; they are most
truly called our ways, our works, our imaginations, our inven-
tions, and devices ; they are the children of our affected stu-
pidity and our naughty sloth ; of our precipitant choice, of our
stubborn will, of our unbridled passion; they are wholly im-
puted to us; we are blamed, we are condemned, we are pu-
nished for them : as it is horrible blasphemy to ascribe them to
the most good God, so it is vain to imagine any other necessary
principle, any uncreated mischievous Arimanius, any spiteful
Cacodaemon, any eternal Fate, to father them on.

The mischiefs also of pain and grief consequent on those dis-
tempers and misdemeanors (' that unwilling brood of wilful
evils,'* as Damascene calls them) have very discernible origi-
nals : they are partly to be imputed to us, and partly attributed
to God : we by our faults deserve and draw them to ourselves :
God in justice and wisdom doth inflict them on us: Perditio
tua ex le ; ' O Israel, thou hast destroyed thyself;' and, ' Woe
unto their soul ! for they have rewarded evil unto themselves :'
so doth God charge the cause of such evils on us; and, ' Shall
there be any evil in the city, and the Lord hath not done it V
' Doth not evil and good proceed out of the Most High ?' ' I am
the Lord, and there, is none else ; I form the light, and create
darkness ; I make peace, and create evil:' so God assumes the
causality of them to himself. We need therefore not to inquire
after any other cause of these evlis, (mala poena,) so called
because they are displeasing to sense or fancy ; although con-
sidering the needfulness and usefulness of them in respect to
public benefit (as they are exemplary and monitive,) and their
wholesomeness for particular correction and cure, (for, ' No
chastening,' as the Apostle saith, ' for the present seemeth to

• De Orth. F. iv. 20.

300

BARROW. — SERMON XII.

be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the
peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised
thereby,') in such respects they may rather be called good
things : however, as they have any thing bad in them, they pro-
ceed from us; as they contain somewhat good, they are from
God: which sufficiently confuteth those heretical opiniators,
and decideth the controversy; itbeingvain to suppose any other,
beside these most apparent causes of such evils : our bad de-
sert and God's just providence. It is considerable that even
vice (although the worst thing in the world, and bad to the
subject thereof) is yet in some respects useful : it in regard to
the whole is not unprofitable; it serveth to the illustration of
God's holy attributes ; it is a foil to virtue, and setteth off its
lustre. But let thus much suffice concerning the objects of the
creation.

I shall next touch a consideration or two concerning the
manner how, and the reason why, God did make the world ;
which will commend to us his doing it, and intimate some
grounds of duty, and both direct and excite our practice in re-
spect thereto. The manner of God's producing the world was
altogether voluntary, and absolutely free ; it did not issue from
him u7rpnaipeTws, without counsel or choice, not (as some philo-
sophers have conceited) by natural or necessary emanation or
result ; as heat from fire, or light from the sun, or shadow from
a body; but from a wise free choice: he so made the world,
that he could wholly have abstained from making it, that he
could have framed it otherwise, according to an infinite variety
of ways. He could not be fatally determined, there being no
superior cause to guide him, or to constrain him anywise ; (to
do or not to do ; to do thus, or otherwise ;) he could not be
obliged to impart any perfection, being absolute master of all
things possible, and debtor unto none on any account ; it is his
privilege therefore and property to perform all things Kara fiov-
\i)v Tui BeXi'ifiuros ah-ov, ' according to the counsel of his will,'
or according to his wise pleasure, as St. Paul expresseth it; and
accordingly we hear the Elders in the Revelation acknowleg-
ing, ' Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory, and honor,
and power; for thou hast created all things, rai bia to 0eXr)ud
<rou,;ntd for thy will they are and were created :' they do affirm

MAKER OF HEAVEN AND EARTH. 301

God's pleasure to be the cause of his creating- things, and they
imply its being so to be the ground of our due veneration, gra-
titude, and all devotion ; these being tributes due unto free
goodness and bounty: if he made all things fatally, no praise
or thanks were due to him ; if he doeth things so, there is no
reason to offer thanks to him, to seek his aid, or implore his
favor ; no devotion toward him hath a ground, or can subsist.
It is also evident, if the world had been produced in way
of necessary emanation, that it should have been eternal ; as if
the sun had been eternal, his light had been eternal also ; if fire
had been, its heat likewise had been from eternity : but that the
world was produced in time, not long since, within six or seven
thousand years, not only faith and divine chronology do assure
us, but reason also shows, and all history conspires to persuade
us ; there being no plain monument, or probable memory of
actions beyond that time ; and by what progressions mankind
was propagated over the world ; how, and when, and where
nations were planted, empires raised, cities built, arts invented
or improved, it is not very hard to trace near the original
times and places. The world therefore in respect of time
conceivable by us is very young, and not many successions of
ages, or lives of men, have passed between its beginning and
ours ; whence it plainly appears that it was freely produced by
God.

And how he produced it, the Scripture farther teacheth us.
It was not with any laborious care or toil ; not with the help
of any engines or instruments subservient ; not by inducing any
preparatory dispositions or aptitudes, but \pi\<p rm fiovXevdat,
by his mere willing, as Clemens Alexandrinus speaks ;* his will
and word were, as Tertullian expounds it, the hands, by which
it is said that God made the heavens ; at his call they did all
immediately spring up out of nothing ; at his command they pre-
sently ranged themselves into order : it was not a high strain of
rhetoric in Moses, as Longinus deemed, thus to describe the
creation, but a most proper expression of that incomprehensible
efficacy, which attends the divine will and decree.

But since God did not only make the world freely, but

* Adv. Hermog. 45.

302

BARROW. — SERMON XII.

wisely • and since all wise agents act to some purpose, and
aim at some end, why (may it be inquired) did God make the
world ? what impulsive reason or inducement was there moving
his will to do it? We may answer with Plato; ayados
' He was good ; and he that his good, doth not envy any good
to any thing :'* his natural benignity and munificence was the
pure motive that incited or invited him to this great action of
communicating existence and suitable perfection to his crea-
tures, respectively : no benefit or emolument could hence accrue
to him; he could receive no accession of beatitude ; he did not
need any profit or pleasure from without, being full within,
rich in all perfection, completely happy in the contemplation
and enjoyment of himself. ' Can a mau,' can any creature,
' be profitable to God ?' No ; ' our goodness doth not extend
to him ;' we cannot anywise advauce or amplify him thereby ;
it is because goodness is freely diffusive and communicative of
itself; because love is active and fruitful in beneficence; be-
cause highest excellency is void of all envy, selfishness, and tena-
city, that the world was produced such as it was ; those per-
fections being intrinsical to God's nature, (for 'God is love,'
that is, essentially loving and good,) disposed him to bestow so
much of being, beauty, delight, and comfort to his creatures.
Hence, ' The earth,' saith the psalmist, ' is full of the goodness
of the Lord ;' that is, every thing therein, according to its state
and degree, is an effect of the divine goodness, partakes thereof
both in its being and in its enjoyments ; and, 'The Lord,' saith
he again, ' is good to all, and his tender mercies (or bis bowels
of affection) are over all his works :' he is good, and tenderly
kind toward all his works, as well in producing them as pre-
serving them ; in freely rendering them capable of receiving
good, as in carefully providing, and liberally dispensing good
unto them ; ' That thou givest them (saith the psalmist, speak-
ing with respect to the university of things) they gather; thou
openest thine hand, they are all filled with good:' it is from
God's open hand (that is, from his unconfined bounty and li-
berality) that all creatures do receive all that good which fills
them ; which satisfieth their needs, and satiateth their desires :

* Sen. Ep. G'j.

MAKER OF HEAVEN AND EARTH.

303

a glimpse of which truth the ancient Pagans seem to have had,
when they, as Aristotle observed,* did commonly suppose love
to have been the first and chief of the gods; the original
source and framer of things. But I will no longer insist on
this point in way of doctrine or disquisition ; I shall only ad-
join a little application.

1. The belief and consideration of this point (that God is the
Maker of heaven and earth) must necessarily beget in us
highest esteem, admiration, and adoration of God, and his di-
vine excellences, his power, wisdom and goodness : for what
a power must that be (how unconceivably great, both inten-
sively and extensively, must it be ?) which could so expeditely
and easily rear such a stupendously vast frame? vast beyond
the reach of our sense, of our imagination, of any rational col-
lection that we can make? the earth, on which we dwell, di-
vided into so many great empires, full of so many inhabitants,
bearing such variety of creatures different in kind, having in
respect to the whole but the like proportion, as a little sand
hath to the earth itself, or a drop of water to the great ocean ?
What a wisdom must that be, how unconceivably large and
penetrant, that could contrive such an innumerable number of
creatures, (the artifice which appears in one, in the least of
which, doth so far transcend our conceit,) could digest them so
fitly, could connect them so firmly in such an order ? What a
goodness and benignity must it be, (how immense and bound-
less !) that did extend itself in affection and care, for so many
creatures, abundantly providing for the need and comfort of
them all! how transcendently glorious is the majesty of him,
that was Author of all those beauties and strengths, those splen-
dors and magnificences we do with so much pleasure and so
much wonder behold ! Well might the devout psalmist and
divine prophet hence frequently take occasion of exciting us
to praise and celebrate the perfections of God : well might
even heathen philosophers from contemplation of the world
be raised into fits of composing hymns and elogies of its great
Maker.

2. This consideration likewise may confer to the breeding of

* Metaph. i. 4.

804 BARROW. SERMON XII.

hearty gratitude and bumble affection toward God ; for that
we are on many accounts very nearly and highly concerned in
this great production. AVe ourselves, whatever we are, and all
we have, and all we enjoy ; all our intrinsical endowments,
and all our extrinsical accommodations are parts thereof, and
did proceed from God; yea, all the whole frame was designed
by him with a particular regard, and from an especial good-
will unto us; was fitted for our enjoyment and use : the world
was made as a convenient house for us to dwell in, as a plea-
sant theatre for us to view, as a profitable school for our in-
struction, as a holy temple for us to perform offices of no less
sweet than reasonable devotion ; for our benefit those huge orbs
roll incessantly, diffusing their glorious light, and dispensing
their kindly influences; for our sake the earth is decked with
all that goodly furniture, and stored with all that abundance of
comfortable provisions : all these things out of pure benevo-
lence, not being moved with any desert of ours, not regarding
any profit of his own, before any desire or any thought of ours
(before we were capable of wishing or thinking) God was
pleased to contrive, and to accomplish for us. ' We,' said a
philosopher, ' regard and esteem ourselves overmuch, if we think
ourselves worthy, that so great matters should be agitated for
our sake :'* and the psalmist signifies the same, when, on con-
templation of the world, he saith, ' When I consider the hea-
vens, the works of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which
thou hast ordained, what is man that thou art mindful of him V
That the Author of so great and glorious a work should vouchsafe
to regard so mean things as us, to visit us continually with a
provident inspection and care over our welfare, to lay so vast
projects, and accomplish so mighty works in regard to us ;
what a demonstration of admirable condescension, what a
ground of wonder and astonishment, what an argument of love
and thankfulness toward God is this !

3. Yea what a ground and motive to humility should this
consideration be unto us ! What is man ? what, I say, is man,
in comparison to him that made the world ? what is our
strength, what our wit, what our gooduess, what any quality or

« Sen. de Ira, 27.

MAKER OF HEAVEN AND EARTH.

30-3

ability of ours, in respect to the perfection of those things in
him ? how weak, silly, narrow, poor and wretched things must
we needs appear to ourselves, when seriously we consider the im-
mense excellences displayed in the world's creation ! how should
this depress and debase us in our conceits about ourselves !
Especially if we reflect on our own unprofitableness, our in-
gratitude, and our injustice toward our Creator; how none, or
how scant returns we have made to him, who gave unto us, and
to all things for us, our being and theirs, our all and theirs ;
how faint in our acknowlegements, how negligent in our ser-
vices we have been ; yea how preposterously, instead of our
due homage and tribute, we have repaid him affronts and
injuries; frequently opposing his will, and abusing his good-
ness !

4. This consideration is farther a proper inducement unto
trust and hope in God ; and withal a fit ground of consolation
to us in all our needs and distresses. He that was able to do
so great things, and hath been willing to do so much for us ; he
that having made all things, can dispose of all, and ' doeth (as
king Nebuchadnezzar, taught by experience, confessed) ac-
cording to his will in the armies of heaven, and among the
inhabitants of the earth, so that none can stay his hand, or say
unto him, What doest thou ?' how can we distrust his protec-
tion or succor in our exigencies? This consideration good
men have been wont to apply to such purposes : ' My help,'
saith the psalmist, * cometh from the Lord, which made heaven
and earth :' well might he be assured, having so potent and
faithful an aid : and, ' Happy,' saith he again, ' is he that hath
the God of Jacob for his help; whose hope is in the Lord his
God, which made heaven and earth ; the sea, and all that
therein is :' happy indeed he surely is ; no disappointment or
disaster can befall him, who doth with reason confide in him
that made the world, and can manage it to his advantage. The
prophet Jeremiah begins his prayer thus: 'O Lord God, be-
hold, thou hast made heaven and earth by thy great power and
stretched out arm ; and there is nothing too hard for thee.'
The creation of the world is such an experiment of God's
power and goodness, as may support our faith in all encoun-
ters; so that we should not think any thing so difficult, but

306 BARROW.— SERMON XII.

that God is able ; nor so high, but that God is willing to per-
form for us, if it make toward our real good.

5. Finally, this consideration ministereth a general incite-
ment unto all obedience ; which from God's production of alL
things doth appear, on several accounts, due and reasonable;
all other things do constantly obey the law imposed on them,
insist in the course defined to them ; and shall we only be dis-
obedient and refractory, irregular and exorbitant? shall all
the hosts of heaven most readily and punctually obey God's
summons? shall ' the pillars of heaven tremble, and be asto-
nished at his reproof ?' shall ' the sea, with its proud waves' be
curbed and confined by his decree? shall ' fire and hail, snow
and vapor, and stormy winds, (such rude and boisterous
things,) fulfil his word?' as they are all said to do ; and shall
we be unruly and rebellious? we, who are placed in the top
of nature, from whom all nature was made, to whom all na-
ture serves ; shall we only, of all things in nature, transgress
against the Author and Governor of nature ?

But I leave the farther improvement of this grand point
to your meditation, concluding with the exhortation of that
angel in the Apocalypse : ' Fear God, and give glory to him ;
worship him that made heaven and earth, and the sea, and
the fountains of water :' even to him be all obedience, and
adoration, and praise for ever and ever. Amen.

SERMON XIII.

307

SUMMARY OF SERMON XIII.

EPHESIANS, CHAP I. — VERSE 13.

That our religion is true and agreeable to reason, is a ground
on which the truth of its single doctrines and articles of faith
leans : it is therefore requisite that we be well assured thereof.
In the words of the text St. Paul styles the Christian doctrine,
as elsewhere, the word of truth, and the gospel of our salva-
tion, that is, a most true doctrine, brought from heaven to
secure our eternal happiness.

It was anciently objected by Celsus and others, that Christi-
anity exacted a bare groundless faith, or imposed laws un-
capable of proof ; debarring all inquiries, &c.

This mistake arose from their not distinguishing that belief,
whereby we embrace Christianity itself in the gross, from that
whereby, consequently on the former, we assent to the parti-
cular doctrines thereof. For as to the first kind, so far from
obstructing inquiry, it obliges men to it ; it refuses ordinarily
a precipitate assent, and provokes a fair trial : it inveigles no
man ; but proclaims to all men, examine all things ; hold fast
that which is good. '

Indeed, after it hath convinced men of its truth in general, it
then requires a full and cordial assent to its particular doctrines :
the propriety of this fully shown.

This proceeding, proper to Christianity, is in itself very
plausible, &c. The first principle of Christianity (common to
it and to all religions) is, that there is one God, Maker and
Governor of all things. The next (which no religion denies)
is, that God is perfectly veracious, so that whatever appears to

308 SUMMARY OP

be asserted by him, is certainly true. A third is, that God is
the Author of the Christian doctrine and law; that he hath
revealed this doctrine to mankind, and confirmed it by histesti
mony; that he hath imposed this law on us, and established it
by his authority. This principle (the foundation of our faith)
involves matter of fact, and consequently requires a rational
probation. This then is to be shown by several steps or de-
grees.

I. It is reasonable to suppose that God should at some time
or season fully and clearly reveal unto men the truth concern-
ing himself and them, as they stand related to each other, &c.

It is apparent to common experience, that mankind being
left to itself, in such matters, is very insufficient to direct itself,
&c. The two only remedies of this ignorance and of its con-
sequent evils, natural light and primitive tradition, did little
avail to cure them : this fully shown. The miserable state of
mankind under such endurance described.

Hence the necessity of another light to guide men out of this
darkness. And is it not reasonable to suppose that God, who
is alone able, will also be willing in due time to afford it?
Reasons why he would be so disposed, assigned.

1. His goodness. Can a woman forget htr sucking child?
Yea; though it be unnatural, it is yet possible she may; be-
cause nature in her is not unalterably constant and the same :
but the immutable God cannot so cease to be mindful of, and
compassionate toward, his children : this subject enlarged on.

2. Moreover his wisdom enforces the same. God made the
world to express his goodness, and to display his glory : and
who can be sensible of and promote these, but man ? but he
who is endued with reason and intelligence, &c? which pur-
poses would be frustrated, should God for ever suffer men to
continue in ignorance, doubt, or mistake concerning himself :
this topic dilated on.

3. God's justice also seems not a little to favor it: every

SERMON XIII.

309

good governor thinks it just to take care that his subjects should
understand his pleasure, and be acquainted with his laws, &c. :
and is it likely that the sovereign Governor and Judge of all
the world should be less equitable in his administration ? &c.

4. It might be added, that generally it seems unbecoming
the Divine Majesty, that he should endure the world, his king-
dom, to continue under a perpetual usurpation and tyranny, &c.

We cannot indeed judge concerning the special circumstances
or limits of God's dealing towards man in this particular ; or
concerning the time when, the manner how, the measure ac-
cording to which he will dispense any particular revelation of
himself. That he should for a while connive at men's igno-
rance, for various purposes, some plain, and others inscrutable
to us, is not strange or unlikely : but that for ever he should
leave mankind in so forlorn a condition, in such ignorance,
under such a captivity to sin, and subjection to misery, seems
not probable ; much less can it seem improbable that he hath
done it. This may tend to remove all obstruction to belief,
and dispose us more readily to admit the reasons for it which
follow. So much for the first step of our discourse.

310

EAR ROW. — SERMON XIII.

3nD in 3;csu£ Christ, &c.

SERMON XIII.

OF THE TRUTH AND DIVINITY OF THE
CHRISTIAN RELIGION.

EPHESIANS, CHAP. I. — VERSE 13.

In whom ye also (trusted), having heard the word of truth, the
gospel of your salvation.

That our religion in gross is true and agreeable to reason, is
a ground on which the truth of its single doctrines and articles
of faith doth lean : it is therefore requisite that it first be well
supported, or that we be thoroughly assured thereof. Being
therefore engaged at other times to discourse on the particular
points of Christian doctrine, which suppose this general one ; I
shall take occasion collaterally in these exercises to insist on
this subject ; supposing in those, what in these we shall en-
deavor to prove ; so both avoiding there such grand digressions,
or the treating on matters not directly incident; and supplying
here what seems necessary or useful there to the confirmation
of our faith.

Now in the words I did now read, St. Paul styles the
Christian dootrine (and in many other places of Scripture it is
also so called) ' the word of truth,' (that is, a most true doc-
trine,) and ' the gospel of our salvation,' (that is, a message
brought from heaven by our Saviour and his Apostles ; in
which the ways and means of attaining salvation, (that is, of

TRUTH AND DIVINITY OF THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 311

that best happiness which we are capable of,) the overtures
thereof from God, and the conditions in order thereto required
from us, are declared.) And that we have reason to entertain
it as such, I shall immediately address myself to show.

It was anciently objected by Celsus* and other adversaries of
our religion, that Christianity did exact from men \pt\i]v cat
a\oyov itioriv, ' a bare groundless faith ;' did impose vt'i/jiovs
avanobctKTovs, ' laws uncapable of proof,' (that is, as to the
goodness and reasonableness of them;) did inculcate this rule,
fi>) eleraie, a\\a [xivov Trtoreve, ' Do not examine or discuss,
but only believe ;' that it debarred inquiries and debates about
truth, slighted the use and improvement of reason, rejected
human learning and wisdom, enjoining men to swallow its dic-
tates, without chewing, or any previous examination concerning
the reason and truth of them.

The ground of this accusation was surely a great mistake,
arising from their not distinguishing that belief, whereby we
embrace Christianity itself in gross, from that belief, whereby
in consequence to the former we assent to the particular doc-
trines thereof : especially to such as concern matters super-
natural, or exceeding the reach of our natural understanding to
penetrate or comprehend. For as to the first kind, that belief
whereby we embrace Christianity itself, as true in the gross ; I
say, it is nowise required on such terms ; our religion doth not
obtrude itself on men in the dark, it doth not bid men to put
out their eyes, or to shut them close ; no, nor even to wink,
and then to receive it : it rather obliges them to open their
eyes wide, to go into the clearest light; with their best senses
to view it thoroughly, before they embrace it. It requires not,
yea it refuses, ordinarily, a sudden and precipitate assent;
admitting no man (capable of judging and choosing for himself)
to the participation thereof, or acknowleging him to be a
believer indeed ; till (after a competent time and means of
instruction) he declares himself to understand it well, and
heartily to approve it. Never any religion was so little liable
to that censure ; none ever so freely exposed itself to a fair trial
at the bar of reason ; none ever so earnestly invited men to

• Orig. i. pag. 8. 9. Orig. vi. pag. 282.

312

BARROW.— SERMON XIII.

consider and weigh its pretences; yea, provoked them, for its
sake and their own, (at the peril of their souls, and as they
tendered their own best good and safety,) to an ehypwfjwv,
kleraais, an equal and discreet examination thereof. Other
religions have for their justification insisted on the examples of
ancestors, the prescriptions and customs of times, their large
extent and prevalence among multitudes of people, their
establishment by civil laws, and countenance of secular powers,
(arguments wholly extrinsecal and of small validity,) declining
all other test or trial of reason : yea, it is remarkable how
Celsus, and others who made the foresaid objection, did con-
tradict and confute themselves, affirming men ought without
scruple to conform in opinion and practice to the religion pre-
scribed by the laws of their country, be they what they will,
never so absurd or dishonest. Ae< tyvkatroeiv ri els koivov kekv-
pwfieva, (things established by common authority must be ob-
served :) and, to nap' eKaorois npduis av irpriTroiTO tuvtti bpuifieva,
otttj itxlvmx (piXov, (things are every where rightly done, being
done according to the fashion of each place.) Such were the
rules and maxims those men urged. And this was indeed
exacting irrational belief ; a stifling men's reason, and muzzling
their judgments ; this was a method enforcing men blindly to
yield consent to errors and inconsistences innumerable. But
the teachers and maintainers of Christianity proceeded other-
wise ; confiding in the pure merit of their cause, they warned
men to lay aside all prejudices ; to use their best understand-
ings ; in a case of such moment, to apply themselves to an
industrious and impartial search of the truth : let one for the
rest speak their sense: Oportet in ea re ma.xime, in qua vita
ratio versatur, sibi quemque confidere, suoque judicio ac propriis
sensibus nili ad investigandam et perpendendam vtritatem,
quam credentem alienis erroribus decipi tanquam ipsum ralionis
appertain : dedit omnibus Deus pro virili portione sapicntiam,
ut et inaudita investigare possent, et audita perpendere : ' We
ought especially,' says he, ' every one of us in that matter,
which chiefly concerns our manner of life, to confide in our-
selves; and rather with our own judgment and our proper
senses strive to find out and judge of the truth, than believing
other men's errors to be deceived, like things void of reason :

TRUTH AND DIVINITY OF THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 313

God hath given all men a competent share of wisdom that they
might both search out things not told them, and weigh what
they hear ' So especially just and candid was Christianity in
its first offering itself to the minds of men. It propounds
indeed and presses, as evident in itself, the worth and con-
sequence of the matter ; but refers the decision on either part

j (so far as concerns every particular man) to the verdict of that
reason and conscience, with which to such purposes God hath
indued every man. And that it can proceed no otherwise
appears farther, from the nature of that faith it requires : it
commends faith as a great virtue, and therefore supposes it both
voluntary and reasonable ; it promises ample rewards thereto,
and so implies it a work not of necessity or chance, but of care
and industry ; it declares infidelity to be very blamable, and
threatens severe punishment thereto ; why ? because it signifies
irrational negligence or perverseness.

In line, Christianity doth not inveigle any man by sleight,
nor compel him by force, (being indeed commonly destitute of

I those advantages ; nor being able to use them, if it would,) but
fairly by reason persuades him to embrace it ; it doth not there-
fore shun examination, nor disclaim the judgment of reason ;
but earnestly seeks and procures the one, cheerfully and con-
fidently appeals to the other. ' Examine all things ; hold fast
that which is good.' ' Believe not every spirit, but try the
I spirits, whether they be of God.' ' See that no man deceive
you.' ' Be always ready, with meekness and respect, to give
to every one that demands it of you an account of the hope in
you.' These are the maxims which Christianity goes on in the
propagation and maintenance of itself.

Indeed after it hath convinced men of its truth in general,
having evidenced the truth of its fundamental principles, it then
requires a full and cordial assent, without exception, to its par-
ticular doctrines, grounded on or deduced from them. When,
I say, it hath, to the satisfaction of a man's mind, with solid
reason made good its principles, it then enjoins men to sur-
cease farther scruple or debate concerning what it teaches or
draws from them ; which is a proceeding most reasonable and
conformable to the method used in the strictest sciences : for the

' principles of any science being either demonstrated out of soma
BAR. vol. v. o

314

BARROW. SERMON XIII.

higher science, or evidenced by fit experiments to common
sense; and being thence granted and received, it is afterward
unlawful and absurd to challenge the conclusions collected
from them ; so if it have been proved and acknowleged that
our principles are true, (for instance, that God is perfectly ve-
racious, and that Christian religion hath his authority or attesta-
tion to it,) it will then be a part of absurd levity and inconsis-
tency to question any particular proposition evidently contained
therein ; and in this sense or in these cases it is true indeed
that Christianity doth engage us to believe simply and purely,
doth silence natural reason, and condemn curious inquiry, and
prohibit dispute, especially to persons of meaner capacities or
improvements. And thus, I take it, those Christians of old
were to be understood, who so much commended immediate
faith, excluded reason from being too busy in matters of reli-
gion, discountenanced that curiosity which searched into, and
w ould needs sound, those inscrutable mysteries which our reli-
gion teaches. Our religion then will allow (yea it invites and
exhorts) an infidel to consider and judge of its truth, although
it will not allow a Christian to be so vain and inconstant as to
doubt of any particular doctrine therein ; seeing by so ques-
tioning a part, he in effect renounces the whole, and subverts
the foundation of his faith ; at least ceases thereby to be a
steady Christian. I might then well invert our adversaries'
discourse, and offer it as a good argument of our religion its
truth, that it alone among all religions, with a candor and confi-
dence peculiar to truth, calls us to the light, is willing, yea
desirous, to undergo trial; I add, yea challenges, as it? due
from all men, and demands it of them as a necessary duty to
hear it, to consider it seriously, to pass sentence on it ; for as
commonly error and groundless conceit, being conscious of their
own weakness, are timorous and suspicious, and thence ready
to decline all proof and conflict of reason ; so truth, know ing
its own strength, is daring and resolute ; enters boldly into the
lists, being well assured (or hopeful) of good success in the
combat.

Which proceeding, proper to Christianity, is in itself very
plausible, and may well beget a favorable prejudice on its
side ; and that it is not confident without reason will appear on

TRUTH AND DIVINITY OF THE CHRISTIAN RELIOION. 315

our examining the principles and grounds on which it stands.
The first principle of Christianity (common thereto and all other
religions) is, that there is one God, (sovereign and transcendent
in all perfections, the Maker and Governor of all things.) The
next (which also no religion doth not acknowlege ) is, that God
is perfectly veracious, so that whatever appears to be asserted
or attested to by him, is certainly true ; which principles (by
reasons I hope proper and sufficient) I partly have proved, and
partly shall hereafter on occasion show. A third is, that God
is the author of the Christian doctrine and law ; that he hath
revealed this doctrine to mankind, and confirmed it by his tes-
timony ; that he hath imposed this law on us, and established
it by his authority. This principle (being the foundation and
sum of our faith) involves matter of fact ; and consequently
being not evident immediately in itself, doth (for a full convic-
tion of a man's mind, and producing therein a solid persuasion)
require a rational probation ; and that it may appear we believe
it like reasonable men, not (as Pagans and Mahometans, and
those of other sects do,) on wilful resolution or by mere chance,
as also for settling the ground of particular articles compre-
hended under this, I shall endeavor to show the reasonable-
ness thereof; advancing my discourse by several steps and de-
grees. I observe first, that,

I. It is reasonable to suppose that God should at some time
or season fully and clearly reveal unto men the truth concern-
ing himself and concerning them, as he and they stand related
to each other ; concerning his nature and will, concerning our
state and duty, respectively : the nature and attributes of God,
the nature and qualities of man, being compared, do persuade
thus much.

It is apparent to common experience that mankind being left
to itself (especially in matters of this kind) is very insufficient
to direct itself; that it is apt to lie under woful ignorance, to
wander in uncertainty, to fall into error, to possess itself with
vain conceit, to be abused with any sort of delusion, which
either the malice of wicked spirits, or the subtilty of naughty
men, or the wildness of its own fond passions and desires can
put on it or bring it under; it is consequently exposed to all
those vices, dishonorable, hurtful, and destructive to its nature ;

316 BARROW.— SERMON XIII.

and to all those miseries, which from ignorance or error, from
vice and wickedness, do naturally spring ; especially to an es-
trangement from God, and an incapacity of his love and favor.
The two only remedies of all these mischiefs, natural light and
primitive tradition, how little they did avail to cure them ; how
the one was too faint in itself, and easily lost in mists of preju-
dice from ill education and bad custom, prev ailing generally ;
how the other (besides its other defects) soon was polluted, and
indeed quite spoiled by adulterate mixtures of fond, impure,
and vile superstitions, woful experience doth more than enough
evince. We see that not only the generality of mankind did
sometime lie in this sad condition, but that even the most ele-
vated and refined wits (those among men who by all possible
improvement of their reason did endeavor to raise themselves
from this low estate; to rescue their minds from the common
ignorance, the mistakes, the superstitions and follies of the
world) could by no means in any good measure attain those
ends; for what did their earnest inquiries or their restless stu-
dies produce, but dissatisfaction and perplexity of mind ? where-
in did their eager disputations conclude, but in irreconcilable
differences of opinion, and greater uncertainties than were when
they began ? Most were plunged into a desperate scepticism,
(a doubt and diffidence of all things ;) none arrived higher than
some faint conjectures on some unsteady opinions concerning
those matters of highest consequence ; such notions as were
not effectual enough to produce in them a practice, in any good
measure, suitable to the dignity of man's nature, to the duty he
owes to God, to the capacities man hath of doing and receiving
good ; from which due glory to God or much benefit to man did
accrue. 'E/ja-nuudrj/rnv iv to'is bia\oyi(Tfin'is , ' they were made
vain' (or, they were frustrated, deluded, befooled) in their rea-
sonings and disputes; the result of their busy speculations was,
that ' their foolish heart was darkened ;' so darkened, that with
all the light they had, they could not see any thing ; at least
not clearly discern what chiefly it concerned them to know ;
■ The world by wisdom (by all the wisdom it could get) did not
know God ;' did not acquire a requisite measure of knowlege in
divine things : did not however know him so as to glorify him ;
as to thank him for the benefits received from him ; as to bring

TRUTH AND DIVINITY OF THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 317

forth worthy fruits of piety and virtue. So much St. Paul ob-
served of them ; and not he alone did observe it, but even
themselves were sensible of this their unhappiness ; whence so
many complaints concerning the blindness and infirmity of man's
mind, concerning the obscurity and uncertainty of things, con-
cerning the insuperable difficulty of finding truth, concerning
the miserable consequences from these, do occur among them.

Now this being the natural state of men, destitute of divine
conduct and assistance ; do they not (I pray) greatly need ano-
ther light to guide them in this darkness, or to bring them out
of it; a helpful hand, to free them from these inconveniences?
and is it not reasonable to suppose that God, who is alone
able, will also be willing in due time to afford it? He, who in
nature is most benign and bountiful, most pitiful and gracious ;
whose goodness fills the earth, and whose mercy is over all his
works ; he, who bears to man the special relation of a Father,
and bears to him a suitable tenderness of affection and good
will; he, all whose attributes seem concerned in engaging him
on this performance ; not only his goodness to instigate him,
and his wisdom to direct him, but even his justice in some
manner to oblige him thereto.

1. His goodness: ' Can a woman forget her sucking child,
that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb V
Yea ; though it is unnatural and unusual, it is yet possible she
may, because nature in her is not unalterably constant and the
same; but the immutable God cannot so cease to be mindful
of, to be compassionate toward, his children. That gracious
ear cannot hear mankind groan so dolefully under bitter op-
pressions ; that pitiful eye cannot behold his own dear off-
spring, the flower of his creation, lying in so comfortless, so
remediless distress, without feeling some pity, without being
moved to reach some relief ; such notes surely cannot be
grateful, such spectacles cannot be pleasant to him, nor can he
then forbear long to provide means of removing them from his
presence. We esteem it want of goodness (yea an effect of
very bad disposition) not to direct a bewildered traveller, nor
to relieve, if we can, even a stranger fallen into great distress :
and if we being in such degree bad, are inclinable to perform
such good offices, how much more ready may we suppose him,

318

BARROW. — SERMON XIII.

who is goodness itself, (goodness infinite and absolute,) to do
the like for all mankind, so much needing his guidance and
help ! He who hath settled out outward estate in so advan-
tageous a posture, who hath made provisions so various and
ample for the needs and conveniences (yea for the pleasure) of
our bodies, would he have so little care over our better part, and
leave our souls so slenderly furnished, letting them pine, as it
were, for want of spiritual sustenance ? How can we think his
good providence defective in so main, so principal a part
thereof? Thus doth divine goodness (to my apprehension) very
strongly confirm our supposition.

2. And his wisdom enforces the same : God made the world
to express his goodness and to display his glory ; and his good-
ness who can be sensible of, his glory who can perceive, who
can promote, but man ? but he who is endued with reason, ena-
bling him to reflect on the good he feels, to admire the excel-
lency he discovers, to render grateful acknowlegements for the
one, to utter acclamations of praise to the other ? which pur-
poses yet will be utterly (or at least in great measure) frus-
trated, should God for ever suffer men to continue in such
ignorance, doubt, or mistake concerning himself; if men are
not fully persuaded that he made the world and governs it,
how can they pay those due homages of dread to his glorious
power, of admiration to his excellent wisdom, of love to his
transcendent goodness? This grand theatre would, as it were,
stand useless, and all the wonders acted thereon would appear
in vain, should there be wanting a spectator ; should man be
altogether blind or heedless ; yea man's faculty itself, that his
seeing faculty of mind, would signify nothing, were there not a
light rendering things visible to him. Common sense hath dic-
tated to men that man is capable of showing respect, of per-
forming duty and service to God, that also God requires and
expects them from him ; the same declares that God best
knows what kind of service, what expressions of respect best
please him. Reason tells that God would have man act in
the best manner, according to the design of his nature ; that he
would have the affairs of men proceed in some good order;
that he even desires earnestly the good of men, and delights in
their happiness : and if so, it is reasonable to suppose that

TRUTH AND DIVINITY OF THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 31U

being- most wise he should dispose fit means for accomplishing
those ends ; for securing himself, as it were, from disappoint-
ment ; that therefore he should impart to men a competent
knowlege of himself, should declare his good-will and pleasure
to them, should reveal both the best way of their serving him,
and the best means of their attaining happiness to themselves.
So divine wisdom grounds an argument for our supposition.

3. God's justice also seems not a little to favor it : every
good governor thinks it just to take care that his subjects
should understand his pleasure, and be acquainted with his
laws; he causes them therefore to be solemnly promulgated,
that all may take notice ; if any of them by long disuse are
become unknown, he revives the knowlege of them by new pro-
clamations ; to quicken obedience he propounds fit rewards,
and deters from disobedience by menacing suitable punish-
ments, knowing man's nature, resty and unapt to move without
these spurs : and is it likely the sovereign Governor and Judge
of all the world should observe less equity in his administra-
tions? that he should neglect any means necessary or apt to
promote his subjects' performance of their duty, to prevent the
breaches of his laws ? He that loves righteousness above all,
he that so earnestly desires to be duly obeyed, he that infinitely
delights in his subjects' good ; can he fail sufficiently to declare
his will, to encourage men to comply with it, to terrify them
from transgressing it? will he sutler his laws to remain un-
known or uncertain ; will he not consider the infirmities of his
subjects, will he leave any fair apology for disobedience ? No,
the superlative justice of God seems to persuade the contrary.

4. I might add that generally it seems unbecoming the Ma-
jesty Divine, that he should endure the world, his kingdom,
to continue under a perpetual usurpation and tyranny; to suffer
that his imperial throne should be possessed, his authority
abused, his name insulted over, by enemies and rebels against
him, (by evil spirits, whether those of hell, or those on earth ;)
that a cruel fiend, that a cursed ghost, that a brute beast, that
a chimera of man's fancy should be worshipped, while himself
is forgotten and neglected, is dishonored and despised ; that
iniquity and wickedness (with all the filthy brood of ignorance
and error) should every where flourish and domineer, while

320

BARROW.— SERMON XIII.

righteousness and virtue lie prostrate, and are trampled on :
this surely the King of Glory, the great Patron of Goodness,
will not permit to be ; sooner rather may we conceive that, to
remove these indecencies and these mischiefs, he would pre-
sently turn the world into a desert and solitude, or pour a de-
luge of water over the face of the earth, or with flames of ven-
geance consume it into ashes.

We cannot indeed judge or determine concerning the special
circumstances or limits of God's dealing toward man in this
particular; concerning the time when, the manner how, the
measure according to which, God will dispense those revela-
tions of himself : those depend on mysteries of counsel and
wisdom surpassing our comprehension. That God should for a
while connive at men's ignorance, and suffer them to grope
after divine truth ; to try them, as he did the Israelites in the
wilderness, how they would behave themselves in that state ;
to prove how they would use their talent of natural light, to
make them sensible of their own infirmity, to show them whence
all their welfare must proceed, on whom all their happiness de-
pends, to make them more able to value, more desirous to
embrace, the redress vouchsafed them ; as also, to demonstrate
his own great clemency, longsuffering, and patience ; that, I
say, for such purposes, and others unsearchable by our shallow
understanding, God should for some time forbear with a full
evidence to declare all his mind to men, is not so strange or
unlikely ; but that for ever, through all courses of time, he
should leave men in so forlorn a condition, in such a depth of
ignorance, such perplexity of doubt, such captivity under sin,
such subjection to misery, seems not probable, much less
can it seem unprobable that he hath done it : it cannot, I say,
in any reason seem misbecoming the goodness, wisdom, or jus-
tice of God, clearly to discover to us what he requires us to do,
what good he intends for us, what way leads to our happiness,
how we may avoid misery. This consideration, if it do not
prove peremptorily that God cannot but sometime make such a
revelation, nor that he yet hath actually done it, (forasmuch as
we cannot reach the utmost possibilities of things, nor are fit
judges of what God must necessarily do; although to my ap-
prehension this sort of reasoning, with due caution used, sub-

TRUTH AND DIVINITY OF THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 321

sisting in general terms, and not over precisely applying it to
particular cases, (implicated by circumstances and specialties
not falling under our judgment) hath great force ;) yet it re-
moves all obstruction to our belief, and disposes us with more
readiness to admit the reasons which follow : for it being not
unprobable, yea, according to the reason of the thing, very
probable that he should do it, we have cause with attention
and expectation of success on this hand to regard the argu-
ments that pretend to prove he hath done it.

This is the first step of our discourse, at which we shall stop
for the present.

322

SUMMARY OF

SUMMARY OF SERMON XIV.

EPHESIANS, CHAP. I.— VERSE 13.

That the Christian doctrine is what St. Paul here calls it,
the word of truth, is our proposition to be verified : to which
purpose it has been already shown how very probable it is
that God should sometime clearly and fully reveal his mind
to men.

II. We now proceed another step, and assert that no other
levelation of that kind and importance hath been made; that
no other religion can with good probability pretend to have
thus proceeded from God. There have appeared but three
pretences to it : that of ancient Paganism ; that of Mahometan-
ism ; and that of Judaism. These briefly discussed.

For the first, ancient Paganism, it did indeed, (in the parcels
thereof, or by retail) pretend to a kind of divine revelation:
this shown : but put the whole body of that religion together,
and you have nothing but a lump of confusion, deformity,
filthiness, and folly, as little tending to the glory of God as to
the good of man : the texture and state of it fully dilated on.
If any good did appear in the conversation of some men who
followed its doctrines, this is not to be imputed to the influence
of that religion, but to some better cause, to the relics of a
good nature ; to the glimmerings of natural light breaking
forth, &c. No really wise men among the heathen believed in
the divine inspiration of such a religion : opinions of philoso-
phers on this head quoted. Moreover it may be added, that
all the Pagan religions vanished together with the countenance

SERMON XIV.

of secular power sustaining them. And this much may suffice
to show that Paganism did not proceed from divine authority.

The consideration of this case of the heathens may be of
good use in confirming, what has before been urged, the great
need of some full and plain revelation to the world of God's
mind, &c. ; and may- serve to discover our great obligations to
him.

The pretence just considered was ancient in standing; but
there hath, even since Christianity, started up another, (Maho-
metanism,) which demands notice ; for it hath continued a long
time, and hath greatly overspread the earth : neither is it more
formidable in its looks than peremptory in its words ; vaunt-
ing itself to be a complete and ultimate declaration of God's
will and pleasure, &c. But examining the substance and cir-
cumstances thereof, we shall not find it stamped with the genu-
ine characters of divine authority.

In times of great disturbance, confusion, and impiety, in a
very obscure corner of the earth, anior.g a crew of wild robbers,
<\:c. this doctrine had its birth and growth ; into this sort of
people it was insinuated by juggling tricks, or driven by sedi-
tious violence : the first author of it had all the marks of an
impostor; he was rebellious, perfidious, cruel, lascivious, pre-
tending to enthusiasm and the working of wonders : by him it
was proposed to barbarous people, with all the incitements of
sensual pleasures.

Afterwards, being furnished with such champions, it diffused
itself by rage and terror of arras, convincing men's minds by
the sword instead of argument. On the same ground of igno-
rance and force it still exists ; neither offering any reason, nor
admitting any examination, &c.

Now that divine wisdom should choose those black and
boisterous times to publish his will, is as if a king should pur-
posely order his proclamation to be made in a tempestuous
night, when scarcely a man could stir out, or see what was

321

SUMMARY OF SERMON XlV\

done, and hear what was said : much fitter surely to that pur-
pose were serene and calm days, a time of general civility and
peace, like that of Augustus C?esar : similar illustration applied
to theplace, and to the people. Thus even the exterior circum-
stances of Mahometanism, belonging to its rise, growth, and
continuance, ground strong presumptions against its divinity.

But farther, if we look into the matter and inward frame
thereof, we shall find it a mass of absurd opinions, odd stories,
and uncouth ceremonies. From Christian heresies it seems to
have derived its negative doctrines, opposite to Christianity :
this explained. The Jew contributed his ceremonies of circum-
cision, frequent worships, abstinence from swine's flesh, allow-
ance of polygamy and divorce ; together perhaps with that
proud, inhuman trait of monopolising to itself divine favor and
good-will ; of despising and hating all the world besides its
own disciples, &c. In its notion of God, his nature and attri-
butes, Mahometanism is shown to be very peccant. Also in
its description of the state of men after death ; both in matter
of rewards and punishments.

Farther, how Mahomet was inspired, his stories alone will
evince : these dilated on : the same may be said regarding the
silly ceremonies which he prescribed. Two more considerations
maybe added; 1. that whatever is good or plausible in this reli-
gion, may reasonably be supposed taken from Christianity,
which is the older. 2. This religion, by its own concessions,
destroys itself ; for it admits Christianity once to have been a
true doctrine proceeding from God : but Christianity did ever
declare itself to be a general, perpetual, and immutable rule
of faith and practice, to the exclusion of all others: this en-
larged on. Conclusion.

THE IMPIETY AND IMPOSTURE OF PAGANISM, &C. 325

3nt) m Sfc&ig €£)ri£t, &c.
SERMON XIV.

OF THE IMPIETY AND IMPOSTURE OF
PAGANISM AND MAHOMETAN ISM.

EPHESIANS, CHAP. I. — VERSE 13.

In whom ye also (trusted), having heard the word of truth, the
gospel of your salvation.

That the Christian doctrine is what St. Paul here calls it,
'a word of truth,' and did proceed from the God of truth, is
the proposition we are endeavoring to verify and persuade. To
that purpose we did first discourse, that it is very probable God
should sometime clearly and fully reveal his mind to men con-
cerning matters relating to his own glory and service, their
good and happiness.

II. I now proceed another step, and assert that no other
revelation of that kind and importance hath been made; that
no other religion, which hath been or is now in being, can with
good probability pretend to have thus proceeded from God ;
so as by him to have been designed for a general, a perpetual,
a complete instruction and obligation of mankind. There have
appeared but three pretences thereto ; that of ancient Pagan-
ism, that of Mahometanism, and that of Judaism, (for the
more particular pretensions of enthusiastical impostors have
been subordinate either to Christianity itself, or to one of those :
and besides having found no considerable progress or continu-
ance in the world, nor countenance, as it were, from Providence,

326

BARROW. — SERMON XIV.

are not pertinent to this consideration, besides that they are all
generally disclaimed ;) but that none of those three pretences
are well grounded, I shall, examining each briefly, show :
(briefly, I say, for I need not insist on them largely, the matter
having passed so many good pens, especially that excellent one
of Grotius; however, it falling in my way and method, I shall
offer what hath concerning it occurred to my thoughts.)

For the first, ancient Paganism ; it did indeed (in the par-
cels thereof, or by retail) pretend to a kind of divine revela-
tion ; that it derived its notions and its forms of practice from
the direction of invisible powers, given to single persons or
places, in several ways, (by immediate apparition, by prophe-
tical inspiration, by significant events or prodigies ;) but it did
not, nor could pretend to any one uniform revelation from the
sovereign God, solemnly delivered and directed to all man-
kind; which is an argument, not only that those pretended
revelations were imperfect and insufficient to the ends pro-
pounded, but also false and counterfeit: for we may well sus-
pect those edicts which are clancularly set up in corners, and
which run not in the king's name, nor are marked with his
royal signature, to have proceeded from impostors or from
rebels ; especially if the matter of them doth not advance, but
depress his authority; doth not promote, but prejudice his
interest; doth not comport with, but contravene his pleasure,
otherwise declared. And such was the manner, such the
matter of those Pagan revelations. Put the whole body of
that religion (if I may so call it) together, and you have nothing
but a lump of confusion and inconsistency, of deformity aud
filtliiness, of vanity and folly, little as may be therein tending
to the reverence of God, or to the good of man ; to the pro-
moting virtue and goodness in human conversation, to the
breeding love and good-will in men toward one another, to the
maintaining justice, peace, and good order in societies ; much
apt to produce the contrary effects. It Mas not, I say, ever
one simple or uniform, one fixed or constant thing, but, ac-
cording to difference of place and time, various and mutable ;
diversely shaped and modelled, according to the fancy and
humor, design or interest of the state that allowed it, the priests
that managed it, and the people that received it; a plain sign

THE IMPIETY AND IMPOSTURE OF PAGANISM, &C. 3'27

that (excepting some general scattered notions deduced from
ancient tradition) it did wholly proceed from human device,
or from a worse cause, the suggestion of evil spirits, abusing the
fondness and pravity of men. Survey it, and what shall you
rind therein but a bundle of idle, ill-contrived, incredible, and
inconsistent stories, (arguing nothing of truth or sincerity, little
of wit or discretion in those who invented them ;) those attended
by practices foolish, lewd, and cruel ; unworthy of human nature,
contrary to common sense and honesty ? Their worship (that
of the supreme Lord being neglected, &c.) you will see directed
towards objects most improper and unbecoming : to the ghosts
of dead men ; men in their lives (if we may trust the reports of
their devoutest adorers) famous for nothing so much as for
vicious enormities, for thefts and rapines, for murders and parri-
cides, for horrid lusts, adulteries, rapes, and incests; and such
persons, alive or dead, what good or wise man would not
rather loathe and despise than worship or respect ? to some-
what, though not otherwise, yet in degree of nature, worse than
those, even to brute beasts ; to the most vile, the most mis-
chievous of them, (dogs, serpents, crocodiles ;) to pay vene-
ration unto which, how unspeakably abject a mind doth it
argue ! Y ea they stooped lower, even to creatures inanimate,
to the stars and elements, to rivers and trees, and other such
things, which we see acting by natural necessity, not yielding
any signification of understanding, of sense, of life, in them ;
which therefore, so far inferior to us in nature, how sottish a
baseness was it to adore ! nay, they descended to a lower
degree, if it may be, of folly, dedicating temples and offering
sacrifices to things even void of subsistence, to mere qualities
and accidents of things, to the passions of our minds, to the
diseases of our bodies, to the accidents of our lives. Who
would think any man could be so mad as to reckon impudence,
that odious vice ; a fever, that troublesome disease ; or fortune,
(that unaccountable name of nothing, which wise men so little
trust, and fools so much complain of,) among things divine and
venerable ? Can I mention any thing worse than all these,
which the degenerate ignorance and naughtiness of man hath
crouched to? Yes, (with a folly of all most wretched and
deplorable,) they fawned on, they obeyed, they offered their

328

BARROW. — SERMON XIV.

dearest pledges of life and fortune to the sworn enemies, as of
God and goodness, so of their own good and welfare, to the
very cursed fiends of hell ; whom, if they had not been ex-
tremely blind and senseless, by the quality of those rites and
mysteries they suggested, (so bloody and cruel, so lewd and
foul,) they might easily have detected to be so. Such objects
as these was their devotion spent on, to these they paid their
respect, in these they reposed their confiden e. And was such
a religion likely to proceed from God ? was it like to produce
any glory to him, or any benefit to man ? From such thorns,
what fruits can we hope should sprout of good life, of sound
morality? what piety toward God, what justice, truth, or
goodness toward man ; what sobriety or purity in themselves,
can we expect should arise from such conceits and such prac-
tices? Surely no other than those which St. Paul describes
in the first chapter of his Epistle to the Romans, and in the
second of the Epistle to the Ephesians, and St. Peter 1 Ep.
iv. 3. which history plainly shows to have been no slanderous
imputations on Gentilism. If any good did appear in the con-
versation of some men who followed that religion, it is not to
be imputed to the influence of that, but to some better cause ;
to the relics of good nature ; to the glimmerings of natural light
breaking forth in some, and by their precept or example con-
veyed to others; to the necessary experience concerning the
mischiefs of vice and advantages of virtue ; or perhaps also to
secret whispers and impressions of divine grace on some men's
minds, vouchsafed in pity to them, and others whom they might
teach or lead into ways somewhat better than those common
ones of extreme wickedness and folly : to these, I say, or such
causes, all instances of practice in any measure innocent or
commendable may rather be ascribed, than to that religion,
which was much apter to corrupt and debauch, than to better
or civilise men ; for with what intention soever they were
spoken, there was not much of real calumny in those words of
Lucretius,

swpins olim

Religio peperit scelerata, atque improba facta.

But it is needless to discourse much against that which hath

THE IMPIETY AND IMPOSTURE OF PAGANISM, &C. 320

no reasonable patron, and which scarce any wise man, when it
was in fashion, did seriously think to have had any truth or
reality in it. Plato, you know, often inveighs against the
inventers of those beastly fables in heathen theology, (on which
yet all the economy of their religious practice did depend ;)
Aristotle* attributes the constitution of those religions to the
subtiltyof statesmen : there is none of the Fathers, I think, or
any other disputer against heathenism, who hath more directly
or earnestly oppugned it than Pliny hath.f There was few, or
none, of the philosophers, who did not signify his dislike or
contempt of the vulgar opinions and practices concerning reli-
gion : what Cicero saith of one part, the wiser sort did judge of
all : Tola res est inventa fal/aciis aut ad queestvm, aut ad super-
stitionem, aut ad errorcm, (The whole business was deceitfully
forged either for gain, or out of superstition, or from mistake). I
They did indeed, most or all of them, in their external behavior,
comply with common practice, out of a politic discretion, for
their safety and quiet sake ; but in their inward thoughts and
judgments they (as by many passages in their writings doth
appear) believed nothing, nor liked any thing in it : they ob-
served those things, as Seneca said, tanquam legibus jussa, non
tanquam diis grata, (not as acceptable to the gods themselves,
but as commanded by the laws of their country.) And indeed
this dissimulation was so notorious, that even the vulgar dis-
cerned it; and therefore seldom the wiser men were reputed
among them the most religious, but liable to accusation for
impiety; and some of them, ye know, suffered extremities on
that score, who could not altogether conceal that contempt,
which the vanity of popular superstitions had begotten toward
them in their hearts.

I might add, that all those Pagan religions did vanish
together with the countenance of secular authority and power
sustaining them; which shows plainly enough that they had

* Meiaph. xii. 8.

t Lib. ii. cap. 7. Vid. Pint, de superst. p. 291. De Leg. x. &c.
De Div. ii. p. 240. Tu'sc. ix. I. Ep. 301.

% Balbus in Cic. de N. D. 2. Vid. August, de Civit. D. lib. iv.
33. vi. 10.

330

BARROW. — SERMON XIV.

little or no root in the hearty belief or approbation of those
who professed them.

And thus much may suffice, I suppose, to declare that
Paganism did not proceed from divine revelation, but from
human invention or suggestion diabolical.

( I shall only adjoin that the considering this case of heathens
may be of good use (and to that use indeed St. Paul hath
largely applied it) in confirming what we before urged, the
great need of some full and plain revelation to the world of
God's mind, in order to God's glory and man's good ; as also
it is of singular use, (which also the same Apostle frequently
did put it to,) by the contemplation thereof, to discover our
great obligations to bless and thank God for his great mercy
in revealing his heavenly truth to us, from whence we are
freed from errors and mischiefs so deplorable ; which otherwise,
from human infirmity and the Devil's malice, we should easily
(and in a manner necessarily) have incurred.

That pretence was ancienter in standiug ; but there hath,
even since Christianity, started up another, (Mahometanism,)
which, if not on other accounts, yet in respect to its age, and
to the port it bears in the world, demands some consideration ;
for it hath continued a long time, and hath vastly overspread
the earth : neither is it more formidable in its looks than pe-
remptory in its words ; vaunting itself to be no less than a
complete, a general, an ultimate declaration of God's pleasure,
cancelling and voiding all others that have gone before. But
examining both the substance and circumstances thereof, con-
sidering the quality of the instruments by whom, of the times
when, it was introduced ; of the places where, of the people
who first or afterward did receive it ; the manner of its rise, pro-
gress, and continuance ; as also the matter it teaches or enjoins ;
we shall not find stamped on it the genuine characters of a
divine original and authority, but have great reason to deem it
a brood of most lewd and impudent cozenage. In times of
great disturbance and confusion, when barbarous nations, like
torrents, did overflow the world, and turned all things upside
down ; in times of general corruption and disorder in men's
minds and manners, when, even among Christians, ignorance
and superstition, dissension and uncharitableness, impiety and

THE IMPIETY AND IMPOSTURE OF PAGANISM, &C. 331

iniquity did greatly prevail ; in a very blind and obscure corner
of the earth, among a crew of wild thieves and runagates, (such
have those Arabians been always famed and known to be,) this
sect had its birth and fosterage ; among those fierce and savage
overrunners of the world it got its growth and stature ; into this
sort of people, (being indeed in its constitution well accommo-
dated to their humor and genius,) it was partly insinuated by
I juggling tricks, partly driven by seditious violence ; the first
I author hereof being a person, according to the description given
of him in their own legends, of no honest or honorable quali-
I ties, but having all the marks of an impostor; rebellious and
| perfidious, inhuman and cruel, lewd and lascivious, of a base
I education, of a fraudulent and turbulent disposition, of a vicious
I life, pretending to enthusiasms, and working of wonders ; but
these such as were both in their nature absurd and incredible,
and for their use vain and unprofitable : at such a season and
| in such a soil, by such means and by such a person, (abetted

I by associates like himself, whom his arts or their interests had

II inveigled to join with him,) was this religion first planted; and
I for its propagation it had that great advantage of falling in the
V. way of barbarous people, void of learning and civility, and not
I prepossessed with other notions or any sense of religion; who
Jithence (as mankind is naturally susceptive of religious impres-
' sions) were capable and apt to admit any religion first offering
|j itself, especially one so gross as this was, so agreeable to their
I furious humors and lusts. Afterward being furnished with
I such champions, it diffused itself by rage and terror of arms,
I convincing men's minds only by the sword, and using no other
largunients but blows.. On the same grounds of ignorance and
Iforce it still subsists, neither offering for, nor taking against
Itself any reason; refusing all examination, and, on extreme
I >ena!ties, forbidding any dispute about its truth ; being indeed
ho far (whether out of judgment or fatal instinct) wise, as con-
scious to itself, or foreboding, that the letting in of a little
jjight, and a moderate liberty of discussing its pretences, would
lasily overthrow it. Now that divine wisdom should choose
jihose black and boisterous times to publish his will, is as if the
l ing should purposely order his proclamation to be made in a
llenipestuous night, when no man scarce dared to stir out, nor

832

BARROW. — SERMON XIV.

any man could well see what was done, or hear what was said :
much fitter surely to that purpose were serene and calm days,
a time of general civility and peace, like that of Augustus
Caesar. That the declaration of God's mind should issue from
the deserts of Arabia, (that den of robbers,) is as if the king
should cause his edicts to be set up in the blindest and dirtiest
nook of the suburbs : the market-cross surely, or the exchange,
(the place of most general and ordinary concourse,) such as, in
respect to the world, was the flourishing empire of Rome, were
more convenient, and wisely chosen for that purpose. That,
passing over the more gentle and tractable part of his people, a
prince should send his laws to a rabble of banditti ; should pick
out for his messenger a most dissolute varlet, attended with a
crew of desperate ruffians, resolved to buffet and rifle all they
met, were an odd way of proceeding : to communicate his
pleasure unto the better and more orderly sort of people, (such
as were the subjects of that well governed empire ;) by persons
of good meaning, mild disposition, and innocent behavior, (such
as were the Apostles of our Lord ;) in a quiet and gentle man-
ner, (such as these only used ;) would surely better become a
worthy prince. Thus even the exterior circumstances of Ma-
hometanism, (both absolutely and in comparison,) belonging
to its rise, its growth, its coutinuance, (so full of indecency, of
iniquity, of inhumanity,) ground strong presumptions against
its divinity ; or rather, plainly demonstrate that it could not
proceed from God, whose truth cannot need such instruments or
such courses to maintain it, whose goodness certainly abhors
them. But farther, if we look into the matter and inward
frame thereof, we shall find it a mass of absurd opinions, odd
stories, and uncouth ceremonies ; compounded chiefly of the
dregs of Christian heresies, together with some ingredients of
Judaism and Paganism confusedly jumbled, or unskilfully tem-
pered together. From Christian heresies it seems to have de-
rived its negative doctrines, opposite to Christianity; as for
instance, when allowing Christ much respect, it yet denies his
being the Son of God, and that he did really suffer; rejecting
his true story, it affixes false ones on him : as also some positive
ones; for example, that unreasonable opinion, so much misbe-
seeming God, that God hath a body, (Mahomet, forsooth, once

THE IMPIETY AND IMPOSTURE OF PAGANISM, &C. 333

touched his hand, and felt it very cold,) might be drawn from
the Anthropomorphites ; that doctrine concerning the fatal
determination of all events, (so prejudicial to all religion, sub-
verting the foundations of justice hetween God and man, man's
free choice in serving God, God's free disposal of rewards suit-
able to men's actions,) they probably borrowed from the Ma-
nichees, a sect that much obtained in those eastern parts. The
Jew contributed his ceremonies of circumcision and frequent
purgations by washing, his abstinence from swine's flesh, his
allowance of polygamy and divorce : I might add, that perhaps
from him they filched that proud, inhuman, and uncivil humor
of monopolising divine favor and good-will to themselves ; so
of restraining their own kindness and respect to persons of
their profession or sect ; condemning, despising, and hating
all the world beside themselves ; calling all others dogs, and
', adjudging all to certain damnation; and, which is more, affirm -
1 ing that all of their belief, how wicked soever their lives have
been, shall at length assuredly partake of salvation : so partial
do they make Almighty God, so addicted to a mere name and
outward show, feigning him, as in shape so in passions, human
and like themselves. Indeed in this main part of religion, a
true notion of God, his nature, his attributes, his method of
providence, their doctrine is very peccant, representing him, in
his nature and actions, very unworthily. Their descriptions
concerning the state of men after death, (that main and prin-
cipal part of religion, which gives life and vigor to the rest,)
whence can we better deduce its original, than from the Pagan
notions or stories of Elysium and Hades? what better pattern
can we find, whence that paradise of corporeal delight, or rather
of brutish sensuality, should be transcribed, which any man
sees how poor an encouragement it is, how unworthy a reward,
to virtue; yea, how much it is apt to detract from, to discou-
rage all performances of reason and honesty? The like we
might say of the punishments (which in due correspondence to
j the rewards they propound) they only or chiefly inflict on the
i body ; the main part, it seems, of which a Mahometan man
j consists. And must he not be very stupid, who can suffer
himself to be persuaded that such conceits (conceits favorable
indeed to pleasure, and indulgent to the flesh, but contrary to

33 I

BARROW. — SERMON XIV.

virtue, prejudicial to the spirit and reason of man) should come
from the God of wisdom and holiness 7 Farther, how Maho-
met was inspired, his stories alone will evince ; stories patched
up out of old histories corrupted, mangled, and transplaced ;
interlarded with fabulous legends, contrary to all probable
records of history, (the names, places, times, and all the cir-
cumstances whereof he most unskilfully changes and confounds,)
yea repugnant to the nature and possibility of things ; so that
in a manner every tale he tells is an evident argument of an
ignorant and an impudent impostor ; and he that so blunders
and falsifies about matters of fact, who will trust him in mat-
ters of right and reason ? which things, if it were worth the
while, might by various instances be showed ; and you may
every where receive satisfaction therein. The like might be
said concerning its multitude of silly ceremonies, grounded on
no reasonable design, nor subservient to any purpose of virtue;
the institution whereof no man therefore, without injury to the
divine wisdom, can impute thereto. But I shall only add two
farther considerations on this matter : one, that whatever is
good or plausible in this religion, (such as are some precepts of
justice and charity, although these confined among themselves,)
may reasonably be supposed taken from Christianity, which
being senior in standing, may (in points wherein both agree)
well go for the mistress ; and however that, on the score of
such doctrines or laws, we have no reason to think this religion
came from God ; for why should he reveal that again, w hich
in a larger extent, on better grounds, with more advantage, he
had declared before; which also then was commonly embraced
and acknowleged ? I also observe that this religion, by its
own free concessions, doth evidently destroy itself ; for it ad-
mits Christianity once to have been a true doctrine, proceeding
from and attested to by God : but Christianity did ever declare
itself to be a general, perpetual, perfect, and immutable rule of
faith and practice ; that never any accessions thereto, any al-
terations thereof, ought to be made or admitted ; that whatever
spirit, coming after it, should offer to innovate, or pretend to
new discoveries contrary to, or different from it, must be sus-
pected of delusion, foretelling and forewarning against such
endeavors that should appear, as fallacious and mischievous :

THE IMPIETY AND IMPOSTURE OF PAGANISM, &C. 33.)

this, it appears, (by the writings of those who first planted
Christianity, writings which no man in his wits can question
to be theirs; being- through a continual uninterrupted course
bf times, from the beginning, by general consent of both friends
and adversaries, acknowleged and attested to as so; all cha-
racters within them imaginably proper for that purpose, con-
firming the same ; as also by the current tradition of their dis-
ciples, immediate and mediate, extant in records unquestion-
able, and by all other means conceivable,) this, I say, it most
plainly appears, was one grand doctrine and pretence of Chris-
tianity at first, which the Mahometans acknowleging originally
true and divine in the gross, must consequently grant itself to
be an imposture.

And thus much seems sufficient to demonstrate that religion
not to be of a divine extraction. I shall next proceed to con-
sider the pretences of Judaism, and to show that neither it was
such a perfect revelation as we proved it probable God would
vouchsafe to make. But that shall be the subject of another
discourse.

33G

SUMMARY OF

SUMMARY OF SERMON XV.

EPHESIANS, CHAP. I. — VERSE 13.

The plea of Judaism examined. This religion we acknow-
lege to have had its birth from God : its truth and goodness we
do not question : but we find it in many respects defective,
and without the conditions due to such a revelation as we
require ; for it was not universal ; nor full and complete ; nor
designed to be of perpetual obligation and use.

1. It was not general, nor directed to, or intended to in-
struct and oblige mankind : itself expresses so much ; its whole
tenor and frame shows it: so do all the circumstances of its
rise and progress. This illustrated by the words of Scripture;
by divers of its laws; St. Paul calling the whole law a. parti-
tion wall ; by the covenant made between God and a parti-
cular nation ; a covenant in formal terms declaring this. In
the body of the law there is often a distinction made between
them who were bound to observe it, and others that were
not ; there are duties enjoined, which others could not properly
or decently perform : these stated : the same inference drawn
from the peculiar rewards of obedience, and punishments of
disobedience, &c.

It may be added that, as the laws and rites of this religion
were designed only for the Jews; as they did only agree to
their circumstances; so they were only suited to their incli-
nations and capacities : this topic enlarged on. From which
and many other obvious considerations it may appear that
this dispensation was not, in its nature or design, general; but

SERMON XV.

was designedly restrained to one peculiar people and place, &c. :
it is not therefore in reason to be taken for such a revelation
as was argued to be needful for us, or to be expected from him,
who is good to all, and whose tender mercies are over all his
works: this enlarged on.

2. Farther, as this revelation was particular, so was it also
partial ; as God did not by it speak his mind to all, so did he
not therein speak out all his mind. The Apostle to the
Hebrews charges it in this respect with blameableness, imper-
fection, weakness, and unproiitableness : (Heb. viii. 7. vii. 18.)
This charge made good by a consideration of the parts thereof
which direct, and those which lead to practice ; also the aids
and means facilitating obedience to the laws or rules enjoined.
Neither in discoursing thus do we lay any unseemly imputation
on God, the Author of that religion ; the making so imperfect
a revelation being nowise at variance with his wisdom, good-
ness, or justice : reasons for this given ; in particular the
character of that people, to whose disposition and capacity its
laws and institutions were adapted : this character fully de-
veloped, as well as the institutions themselves ; whence it is
inferred that such a dispensation could not be convenient for
the rational nature of man generally, and for perpetuity.

It may be objected to our line of argument, that God did
afterwards annex some labels, as it were, to this deed ; that he
imparled by degrees farther manifestations of light and grace
to the Jews, through prophets and holy men, &c. ; but that
may be taken as a good confirmation of our argument : this
explained.

It may be added that Judaism did not serve, in effect, suffi-
ciently to better men's lives ; to qualify a competent number of
men for God's favor and their own happiness : this fully shown.
Nqw the tree which has always borne such fruits, so unsavory
and unwholesome, we cannot admire as excellent and perfect,
i though it might be good for those early times, &c.

BAR. VOL. V. p

SUMMARY OF SERMON XV.

3. We proceed to the third defect which was observed iu
this religion, that it was not designed for perpetual obligation
and use. As it was particular in respect of the persons to
v\hora it was directed; as it was partial and incomplete in its
frame ; so it was, according to its design, temporary and
mutable.

This conclusion indeed might be inferred from what has been
said concerning the narrow extent and intrinsic imperfection
thereof ; but we have another more convincing sort of evidence,
in many pregnant intimations, many express remonstrances and
predictions, that God did intend in due time to introduce a
great change and reform, and enlarge the bounds of his domi-
nions, and to receive all nations into the fold of his special
care and love ; in fine, to dispense a general and full revelation
of his mind and will, of his grace and favor to mankind, &c.
This fully shown and illustrated by quotations from holy Scrip-
ture. And what God declared by verbal testimonies, the
same we see iu real effects : his providence has made good his
word ; he hath not only released men from that religion, but
hath manifestly discountenanced it : present state of the Jewish
nation considered. Thus is the second step of these discourses
concluded. Two others still remain. Conclusion.

THE I M PERFECTION OF THE JEWISH RELIGION. 3:59

2Lni> m 3,e?'u£ Cfcrtft, &c.
SERMON XV.

OF THE IMPERFECTION OF THE JEWISH
RELIGION.

EPHESIANS, CHAP. I. — VERSE 13.

In whom ye also (trusted), having heard the word of truth, the
gospel of your salvation.

That it is probable God should vouchsafe to mankind a
full and clear declaration of his mind and will concerning their
duty and their welfare, 1 did show: that Paganism and Ma-
honietanism, without reason and truth, did or does pretend
thereto, I also briefly discoursed : I now proceed to examine
the plea which Judaism puts in, and to make good that neither
it is well grounded, (which, as the cause deserves, I shall do
somewhat more largely.) The Jewish religion we acknow-
lege had its birth from the revelation and appointment of God ;
its truth and its goodness we do not call in question : but yet
looking into it, we shall find it in many respects defective, and
wanting the conditions due to such a revelation as we require.
For it was not universal, (neither being directed to, nor fitted
for, the nature and needs of mankind;) it was not full and
complete, it was not designed to be of perpetual obligation
or use.

1. First, I say, this revelation was not general ; not directed
to, or intended for to instruct and oblige mankind: itself ex-
pressly affirms so much ; the whole tenor and frame thereof
shows it ; so do all the circumstances of its rise and progress.

310

BARROW.— SERMON XV.

That it was intended peculiarly for that small nation, possessing
a very inconsiderable portion of the earth ; distinguished, and
indeed, as it were, concealed from the rest of mankind both on
purpose and in effect ; for it so remained for many ages (till
the Macedonian first, and afterward the Roman conquests
opened the world, and disclosed them) hid in a solitary ob-
scurity ; even so far as to scape the observation of the most
inquisitive surveyors of the earth, the most curious searchers
into the customs of all people, (as of Herodotus for instance,
who, nicely describing the places and manners of the people
all about them, could not discern them, and takes no notice
of them, although for their peculiar manners otherwise
most remarkable, and deserving his mention ;) appears by ex-
press passages in their law and holy writings ; 'He showeth
his word unto Jacob, his statutes and his judgments unto
Israel ; He hath not dealt so with any nation ; and his judg-
ments they have not. known them.' It is plainly affirmed that
God did make that discovery of his will and mind peculiarly to
that people, and to no other ; ' I the Lord am holy, and have se-
vered you from other people, that ye should be mine,' saith God
to the Jews ; ' So shall we be separated , I and thy people, from
all the people that are on the face of the earth,' saith Moses in
his address to God; ' Thou art a holy people unto the Lord thy
God ;' ' The Lord hath chosen thee to be a special people unto
himself, above all people that are on the face of the earth,' saith
Moses to that people : which passages (together with divers others
of the same import) being used to engage and encourage a singu-
lar obedience, do plainly say that God transacted with that
people singly and separately from all other; taking them on
purpose, as it were, into a corner, at a good distance, and be-
yond hearing of others, that he might there signify alone to
them his pleasure, peculiarly concerning them. Yea to this
purpose, of maintaining a distance and distinction from the rest
of mankind, divers of their laws were appointed ; as not only
the nature of such laws doth imply, but words annexed to them
sometimes express; ' I am the Lord your God, which have
separated you from other people ; ye shall therefore put dif-
ference between clean beasts and unclean.' Whence St. Paul
calls their law fitaoToi-^ov fpay/jtov, a partition wall, that fenced

THE IMPERFECTION OF THE JEWISH RELIGION. 341

that nation, and severed it from others; and an enmity, being
framed to set them in distance and variance from the rest of
men. That whole business also of this constitution is frequently
styled a covenant, made, not between God and mankind, but
between God and that single nation ; a covenant in formal
terms mentioning them, and them only ; sealed with marks and
characters peculiar to them ; requiring conditions and duties
possible or proper only for them to perform ; exhibiting pro-
mises only suitable to them ; propounding rewards which they
only were capable to receive, and punishments which they only
could undergo. ' Hear, O Israel,' is the usual style, accord-
ing to which those laws are directed ; ' I am the Lord thy
God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt,' is the in-
troduction to the decalogue itself, (which among all parts of
that law looks fairest toward a general importance and obli-
gation ; which yet is so specially directed, and is indeed pecu-
liarly called the covenant between God and that people ; viz.
synecdochically, as being the principal part directive of their
duty.) In the body of the laws itself, there is often made a
distinction between them who were bound to observe it, and
others that were not; between 'brethren and strangers;' be-
tween ' Hebrews and aliens ;' with duties suited and limited
in regard to that distinction, (as in the cases of remitting
debts, releasing servants, exacting use, and the like :) there
are injoined duties, which others could not properly or decently
perform ; such as observation of feasts in commemoration and
thankfulness for mercies vouchsafed to that nation ; as also
others which could not be observed by all men with any possi-
bility or convenience ; such as those of repairing thrice a year
to one certain place, established for God's worship; of bring-
ing tithes and oblations thither, and the like ; neither was the
number of priests and Levites, set apart for God's service,
proportioned otherwise than in respect to that one people. The
encouragements also and rewards promised to obedience do in-
communicably pertain to them, as also the discouragements
from, and punishments for, disobedience ; a long and prosper-
ous enjoyment of the land of Canaan was the meed set before
them, if they should obey and make good their part of the

34-2

BARROW.— SERMON XV.

covenant; a dispossession thereof, or affliction in it, was the
punishment threatened, if they should presume to disobey and
violate those engagements ; ' Ye shall walk in all the laws,
which the Lord your God hath commanded you ; that ye may
live, and that it may be well with you ;' and ' that ye may pro-
long your days in the land which ye possess. Hear therefore,
O Israel, and observe to do it ; that it may be well with thee,
and that ye may increase mightily, as the Lord God of thy
fathers hath promised thee, in the land that floweth with milk
and honey.' Such were the promises exciting to obedience ;
and the threatenings deterring from disobedience were answer-
able, as every where in their law and story is visible.

I may also hereto add, that as the laws and rights of this re-
ligion were designed only for this people, as they did only agree
to their circumstances ; so they were only suited to their incli-
nations and their capacities ; their inclinations, which were
very stubborn and perverse ; their capacities, which were very
low and gross, as their own prophets do on many occasions
affirm and complain ; being dissentaneous and repugnant to the
common humor and genius of mankind : so experience disco-
vered them to be, when they became more apparent and observ-
able ; Judaorum mos absurdus, sordidusque ; (' The Jewish
way of life is uncouth and sordid,' was Tacitus his censure;
Hist. v. 5.) and, They run counter to all men, was St. Paul's
imputation on that people ; 1 Thess. ii. 15. to which the general
conceit of men concerning them did agree ; so little plausible
or probable was their way, so liable to dislike and contempt :
which argues it unfit to be commended by the God of wisdom
to the generality of mankind.

By which and many other like considerations obvious enough
may appear that this dispensation was not (either according to
its nature or in its design) general, or such as respected rhe main
body of mankind, but rather very particular and restrained ;
designedly restrained to the obligation and use of one place or
people, if compared to the world of men, inconsiderably nar-
row and small ; (the fewest of all people God himself says they
were.) That, in fine, this constitution had only the nature of a
municipal law, imposing burdens and indulging privileges on

THE IMPERFECTION OF THE JEWISH RELIGION. 343

one city or territory ; not of a common civil sanction, established
tor the obligation, use, and benefit of the whole common-
wealth, or empire subject to the Almighty King.

It is not therefore in reason to be taken for such a revela-
tion as we argued needful for us, and to be expected from him,
who, as the psalmist, as reason, as experience tells us, ' is good
to all, and whose tender mercies are over all his works;' from
him who is the common Father of all, and, as St. Paul express-
ed it, ' hath made of one blood irtxv 'iBvos dvQpwvmv, the whole
nation and commonwealth of mankind ;' from him who cannot
be in affection anywise fond or partial, a respecter of persons
or of nations, as St. Paul in the second to the Romans, and St.
Peter in the Acts also implies. From him who is not only the
Maker, but, as our Apostle also styles him, ' the Saviour of
all men and, as even the Hebrew wise man asserts, ' caretli
for all alike ;' being ' desirous that all men should be saved, ami
come to the knowlege of the truth ; not willing that any should
perish, but that all men should come to repentance.' From
him who is not only <j>t\e(3fj(uos, or <j>t\e\\rii>, (a lover of Jews, or
of Greeks ;) but <pt\avQpunros, ' a lover of men ;' and </h\o»//i>x"s>
' a lover of souls ;' who, lastly, ' is not the God of the Jews
only, but of the Gentiles also,' as St. Paul urges this argument ;
and as also the reason of the thing and the voice of nature doth de-
clare : from this God, I say, so disposed, so related toward us all,
so equally concerned in regard to us ; so impartial in his affec-
tion, so unconlined in his bounty; we should have reason to
expect rather no revelation at all, than one so scant, and
pinched in such narrow bounds; so ill proportioned to the glory
due to himself, to the need and benefit of mankind. We can-
not reasonably imagine that he should contiact the effects of his
goodness, or the manifestations of his glory, to so slender a par-
cel of mankind, (no better qualified, no more deserving such
special regard than the rest ; as himself, to repress their fond
conceits, and probably in way of anticipation, to intimate his
design of farther extending that favor in due season to others,
who might pretend thereto with as much right and reason as
themselves, doth sometime declare ;) that he who hath freely
dispensed the influences of sun and stars to all alike, should
cause the light of his heavenly truth to shine, as it were, but

344

BARROW.— SERMON XV.

into one small closet of his spacious house ; leaving all the rest,
so many stately rooms thereof, encompassed with shades of ig-
norance and error; that he should pour down the showers of his
blessings spiritual (otherwise than he hath done those natural)
on one only scarce discernible spot of ground ; letting all the
world beside (like a desert of sand) lie parched with drought,
overspread with desolation aud barrenness.

This revelation therefore was not in this respect sufficient ;
wanting in its nature aud design that due condition of generality
and amplitude. But

2. Farther ; as this revelation was particular, so was it also
partial ; as God did not by it speak his mind to all, so did he
not therein speak out all his mind. Our Apostle to the He-
brews chargeth it with blameableness : (el irpuirr) »]» afiefxirros,
' if the first covenant had been blameless ;') with imperfection,
with weakness, with unprofitableness, (ade-r)ois fikv yap yiverai
Trpoayovarjs ey-(i\ijs hia to avrfjs aodeve*' teal arw<pe\es' ovbky yap
ereXettDaev b t ocos' ' There is made an abolition of the pre-
cedent commandment for the weakness and unprofitableness
thereof: for the law made nothing perfect ;') he means all this
in degree, and in comparison to what was possible, and in some
respects needful. Which charge may be easily made good, (a
priori,) considering both the parts thereof which direct, and
those which excite to practice ; together with the means and
aids enabling and facilitating obedience to the laws or rules en-
joined ; also, (« posteriori,) if we regard the fruits and effects
thereof. Surveying first, I say, the directive part, we may
observe both a redundancy in things circumstantial or exterior,
and a defectiveness in things substantial and interior: there be
ritual institutions in vast number very nicely described and
strongly pressed ; the observation of times and places, the dis-
tinction of meats and of habits, (' touch not, taste not, handle
not,') corporeal cleansings and purgations ; modalities of exte-
rior performance in sacrifices and oblations, those Suaiu^ara
aapKus, (justifications of the mere flesh, that only concerned the
body or outward man, and could not perfect the observer's con-
science ; could neither satisfy nor edify his mind and inward
man,) we see with extreme punctuality prescribed and enjoined,
some of them under very heavy penalties, (of utter extermiua-

THE IMPERFECTION OF THE JEWISH RELIGION. 315

tion and excision.) While moral duties (duties of justice and
charity, yea of temperance and sobriety itself) and spiritual
devotions (so exceedingly more agreeable to rational nature, and
which could not but be much more pleasing to God) were more
sparingly delivered in precept, less clearly explained, not so
fully urged with rational inducements, nor in a due proportion
guarded with rewards. Many things were plainly permitted,
or tacitly connived at, (as polygamy and divorce, some kinds of
retaliation, cursing, revenge ; some degrees of uncharitableness,)
which even natural reason dislikes or condemns. So faulty was
that dispensation, as to the part thereof directive of life ; and
it was no less in that part which promotes and secures good
practice, by applying fit excitements to obedience, and fit re-
straints from disobedience ; rightly managing those great in-
struments and springs of human activity, natural courage, hope,
and fear. Nothing so damps men's alacrity in endeavor, as
desperation or diffidence of good success ; nothing so quickens
it as a confidence or strong presumption thereof: and how then
could they be very earnest in endeavors to please God, who
were not assured of (yea, had so much reason to diffide in) God's
placability and readiness, on repentance, to forgive sins wil-
fully and presumptuously committed, such as no man surely
lives altogether free from? The not opening a door of mercy
seems discouraging and apt to slacken performance of duty ;
what was then the shutting it up close, the bolting it with that
iron bar : ' Cursed is he that abides not in all things written
in this law to do them which at least will exclude assurance,
will quash the hopes of mercy ; will consequently enervate the
sinews of care and industry in serving God. Neither were the
rewards of either kind (those that spurred to o edience, those
that stopped from disobedience) in measure or in kind such as
the reason of things doth afford and require. They were only
temporal, and chiefly corporeal or sensible ; such as belonged
to the outward state of this transitory life, which neither can
deserve much regard, nor are apt to have great efficacy ; for who
will in effect, why should any man in reason, highly value the
accommodations of this short and uncertain life ? who will, who
should be greatly terrified with the inconveniences thereof ?
whom, probably, would such considerations sufficiently animate

346

BARROW. — SERMON XV.

to encounter and sustain the perils, the difficulties, the troubles,
and the disgraces, to which often the practice of virtue is ex-
posed ? whom would they guard from the enchantments of plea-
sure, profit, and honor, alluring men to sin ? the pleasures of
sense, how improper an encouragement, how unworthy a recom-
pense are they for the labors and achievements of virtue ! in-
comparably better surely, more worthy of regard, and more ef-
fectual on man's reason, more apt to produce and to promote
real virtue and hearty piety, are the rewards concerning the
future state of our immortal soul ; which yet it is a question
whether the law doth ever mention ; it is plain it doth not
clearly propound and apply them. Indeed as to evident dis-
covery concerning the immortality of man's soul, or the future
state, so material a point of religion, of so grand moment and
influence on practice, even the Gentile theology, assisted by
ancient common tradition, seems to have outgone the Jewish,
grounding on their revealed law ; the Pagan priests more ex-
pressly taught, more frequently inculcated arguments drawn
from thence, than the Hebrew prophets; a plain instance and
argument of the imperfection of this religion.

I subjoin, God's not thereby (in an ordinary certain way,
according to any pact or promise) affording or exhibiting such
interior influences of grace on the minds of men, as, considering
the natural frailty, blindness, and impotency of men, appears
necessary to render them obedient to the rules of duty, to guide
them in the ways of truth and goodness, to free them from error
and sin, to shield and animate them against temptation; is a
main defect in that religion ; apt to breed fear in the onset on
duty, to nourish doubt in the performance thereof, to settle
despair on a fall or defeat. It presented to men's eyes the
obligation to duty, the difficulty thereof, the danger of trans-
gressing it, but did not openly represent the means requisite to
perform it. And what can be more discouraging or discom-
forting than to see oneself, on great peril and penalty, obliged
to that, which is apparently very hard, or, considering his
>trength, impossible, no help or support being visible ? espe-
cially joining the consideration before touched, that no evasion
by pardon, no rise by repentance doth appear. Whence we
may well infer that indeed, in effect, this dispensation was

the imperfection of the jewish religion. :347

what St. Paul calls it, biaKOita Onvurov, and htaKovia KaraKptaeus,
a ministry of death and condemnation ; a subjection to a curse ;
a killing letter ; bearing nothing less in the looks and language
thereof, than certain death and unavoidable ruin ; a lying under
insupportable slavery, both to the guilt and punishment of sin.
' If thou doest ill, sin lieth at the door.'

Neither in discoursing thus do we lay any misbeseeming im-
putation on God, the author of that religion ; the making so
imperfect a revelation nowise being disagreeable to his wisdom,
his goodness, or hisjustice. As for a time he might withhold
the declaration of his mind to all mankind, so might he, on the
same or like grounds of wise counsel, forbear to declare some
part thereof to that people : no special reason appears that
could oblige, that might induce him not to be reserved, as well
in part to these few men, as in whole to those, all the rest of
men ; yea, there be good reasons assignable why the divine
wisdom should be then so sparing of its mind, why God should
only show his back parts, as it were, to Moses, and 4 not let him
see his face ;' not discover all of his nature and of his pleasure
to him ; why then he should seem to delight in, to lay so much
stress on those carnal and ceremonious observances ; why he
should forbear to exact that height of spiritual duty, and not
draw men to compliance with the best motives of pure reason.
A dawning of light perhaps more became that morning- of
times than a meridian brightness; that infancy of the world
was not, it may be, ripe for a more deep and perfect instruc-
tion ; that nation, however, to whose state, to whose disposi-
tion and capacity those laws and institutions were adapted, was
very unfit for the .highest and hardest lessons. For a nation it
was (as from infallible hands we have it) not wise, or consider-
ate ; not grave, or constant ; not meek, or pliable ; but a very
stupid and heady, a very fickle and humorous, a very froward
and stubborn generation of men ; 'They are a nation void of
counsel, neither is there any understanding,' was said of them
at first by him who delivered their law, or rather by God him-
self who enjoined it : and, ' I knew that thou art obstinate, and
thy neck is an iron sinew, and thy brow brass; I have even
from the beginning declared it to thee,' saith the prophet con-
cerning the house of Jacob ; alluding, it seems, to those mauy

348

BARROW. — SERMON XV.

passages in the law, where they are termed ' a stiff-necked
people :' uncapable thence both of the finest notions and the
more rigorous precepts ; like children, by reason of the gross-
ness of their apprehension, and the unruliness of their passion,
they were not oliceiot fapoarat, proper auditors, of a more pure
and accurate discipline; wherefore as such the divine wisdom
and goodness was pleased to deal with them ; dispensing with the
infirmities of their age, condescending to the meanness of their
capacities, feeding them with milk, alluring them with petty
shows, scaring them with frightful appearances, indulging them
innocent trifles, pastimes, and sports; so tempering his ordi-
nances as might best serve to keep them in good humor ; to
draw and entice them easily unto somewhat good, to curb and
restrain them from mischief. Whence St. Paul calls those
institutions with good reason elements ; (poor and mean elements,
and elements of the world ; rudiments of knowlege and disci-
pline, suited to the capacity of the first age, and the meanest
rank ; such as vulgar and silly people were fit to learn, and
able to practise ;) with good reason he calls the law a pedagogue,
that by instilling into those vifrrioi (those infants, or little
children, so also he terms them,) some imperfect notions of
truth ; by keeping them in some good order, did prepare them
for a higher instruction, did predispose them toward a better
course of life. Indeed, we may easily conceive that such
variety of superficial formalities might well agree to childish
and plebeian fancies ; but to men of somewhat elevated minds,
and well improved reason ; of sound judgment, and large ex-
perience ; who had tasted, and could relish rational entertain-
ments, (and such in some measure and comparatively are men
generally born and brought up in countries and places where
civility hath obtained ; at least they are capable of being so,
fit means beins used to render them so,) they must needs be
insipid and disgustful. In the study of truth and practice of
virtue, there are alluring beauties and sweetnesses ; which it
cannot but displease him, who hath seen and felt them, to be
diverted from, by an obligation to attend so precisely on such
an abundance of petty, circumstantial, exterior observances;
to be forced, I say, to chew such husks of things, to him, who
thereby must neglect so delicious kernels, cannot but be grievous

THE IMPERFECTION OF THE JEWISH RELIGION. 349

and irksome. Wiser men are never much affected with labo-
rious and tedious pomps ; they are designed always to amuse
children, and the common sort. I add, that this dispensation
was suited not only to the childish fancy, but to the slavish
spirit of that people; who, having in them little of ingenuity,
or willingness freely to do good, would be apt to wax not only
dronish and lazy, but sturdy and insolent, had they not been
kept under and inured to something of burden and toil. Such
all wise men know to be the proper course of managing people
of slavish temper ; but toward men of a disposition more in-
genuous, tractable, and free, such as commonly men civilised
and well governed are or may become, such a proceeding were
incongruous ; they will either refuse to undergo such unneces-
sary burdens, or bear them unwillingly ; their obedience wdl
be none, or lame, or unkindly and heartless. God therefore
dealt according to wisdom with the Jews, when he imposed
such burdens on their shoulders, when he pinched their stiff
necks with such yokes, when he detained them in such fetters ;
so they were, and so they are truly called by our Apostles ;
burdens intolerably heavy ; yokes very galling and vexatious ;
fetters very strait and grievous ; which they reasonably there-
fore reckon it a very valuable privilege and benefit, purchased
by our Saviour for us, to be loosed from. But such a dispen-
sation could not be convenient for the rational nature in com-
mon, and for perpetuity : it neither becomes God himself, who
will not without need or profit vex his creatures ; A'ho cannot
be fully satisfied with performances of so mean a sort ; who
necessarily doth affect services of a more excellent nature and
importance ; (those spiritual services of love, reverence, and
gratitude ; of purity, righteousness, and goodness.) It doth
not suit man, not being apt to perfect his nature, not being able
to satisfy his mind. As he, by the improvement and use of
his reason, will easily discern the small worth of such per-
formances, so will he not readily comply with them without
regret; but will soon apprehend the matter to be indeed, as
St. Paul represents it, that an obligation to such rites is a bond
against us (i^aXeixpas to Kad' iifiutv -^ipuypacpov ro'ts buyjxaaiv, o
i\v hnevavrlov f/ju'">) which in reason he may expect to be wiped
out and cancelled ; that a law consisting of such precepts hath

350

BARROW. — SERMON XV.

an enmity, or repugnance to his nature; that such a dispensa-
tion is a pupillage, and a slavery, which he earnestly must
desire to be redeemed and mancipated from.

' Thus doth this revelation on many respects, grounded on the
very intrinsic nature thereof, appear partial and imperfect ; and
consequently not such as that which we reasonably may expect
from the divine wisdom and goodness.

It is true, which some may deem an objection against our
discourse, but I should rather take for a good confirmation
thereof, that God did afterward annex some labels, as it were,
to this deed ; that he imparted by degrees farther manifestations
of light and grace to that people, by the instructions, and by the
exemplary practices of prophets and holy men raised up among
them by his especial instinct and order; in a manner and on
occasions extraordinary. The prophets frequently declared
that God had not much delight in those ceremonious obser-
vances ; nor would accept them otherwise than as proceeding
from good dispositions of mind, and as accompanied with prac-
tices of moral duty and more spiritual piety : that he chiefly
did require of them hearty reverence toward himself, and sub-
mission to his will; strict justice, and tender charity toward
their neighbors ; meekness and patience in their behavior ; tem-
perance and sobriety in all their conversation. By them also
he discovered more of his gracious disposition, and of his mer-
ciful intentions toward them ; that he would not be extremely
rigorous in punishing the transgressions of his law ; that he
would not refuse pardon to the most grievous sins, not remain
irreconcilable toward the most heinous offenders, on their
sincere repentance and amendment of life. By the practices
of holy men he also showed that the rigor of that ceremonious
law was mitigable ; that in some cases its obligation might be
relaxed, and its observance dispensed with; that a service more
refined and rational was especially acceptable to God ; that he
loved a purer devotion, a perfecter righteousness, a higher
charity than such as the letter of their law prescribed. By
them also he intimated, which their devotions plainly infer, that
he not only exacted such duties, but was ready to afford them
his assistance to the performing them ; by teaching and ad-
monishing them within ; enlightening their minds, and inila-

THE IMPERFECTION OF THE JEWISH RELIGION. 351

ming their affections; directing, exciting, and quickening them
to obedience. Thus did that morning of divine knowlege,
from the first dawning, by degrees grow more lightsome; yet
never arrived to a perfect day-light; the shadows were not
quite dispersed ; the whole horizon of heavenly truth was not
disclosed thereby. Even those arbitrary and extraordinary
dispensations of farther instruction are so many good argu-
ments that God did not primarily intend the Jewish law for a
complete delivery of his mind ; his reserving so much to be on
occasion detected, implied that more still might rest behind ;
accordingly, as indeed we see, that the future state, and
immortality itself, was not by the prophets fully brought to
light; that the better covenant, established on better assu-
rances, was not yet revealed; that all means requisite for the
glory of God, for the good of man, were not thoroughly pro-
vided for.

Of which conclusion we shall add this one farther probation,
that Judaism did not serve, in effect, sufficiently to better men's
lives; to qualify a competent number of men for God's favor,
or for their own happiness; by disposing their minds to any
tolerable degree of true sanctity, piety, and righteousness, ac-
ceptable to God, profitable to human society, perfective of man's
nature. It is a point that St. Paul in his Epistle to the Ro-
mans insisteth much on, and excellently applies to this same
purpose. The Jews were highly conceited of their way, scorn-
ing the rest of men as altogether ignorant of God's will, and
uncapable of his favor ; but St. Paul represses their arrogance,
by showing the difference was not so great as they imagined,
between them and others, not even in those respects; for that
the special revelation, which they were so proud of, had not
produced effects considerably better in them, than the light of
reason and the law of nature (means so despicable in their es-
them) had brought forth in others ; which charge being made
good, it is evident they had no reason to prize their way so
much; or to confide therein, as perfect ; as thoroughly, in the
best manner, and in reasonable measure sufficient to qualify
them for God's favor, or to bring them into a state of happi-
ness; yea.it is plain, on that supposition, in some respects
their way had the disadvantage, and made their condition worse

352

BARROW. — SERMON XV.

than that of other men ; rendering their faults more grievous
and inexcusable, more provoking God's displeasure against
them; especially seeing, on the tenor of their religion, they
had scarce any better ground to presume of pardon or impu-
nity, than other men had from instincts of nature, from rational
conjecture. Now that such a charge on them is no slander, we
need no other probations than what the continual stream of
their own histories doth represent concerning their manners;
than the many full and plain testimonies of their own prophets
concerning them ; than the extreme punishments by divine jus-
rice inflicted on them ; than the common reputation they have
continually had among men, grounded on experience. AVhat
is their history but one continued tragedy, as it were, setting out
the various strange rebellions and apostasies of that people,
with the miserable consequences proceeding from them ? What
do their prophetical writings contain beside pathetical expostu-
lations, severe reproofs, dreadful comminatious of judgment on
them for their prodigious impieties, inicpjities, and lewdnesses;
general in extension over all persons, excessive in degree, by no
means curable or corrigible ? ' Run ye to and fro through the
streets of Jerusalem,' (Jerusalem, that place of universal con-
course, the heart of that nation, the special seat and sanctuary
of their religion,) ' see now and know, and seek in the broad
places thereof, if ye can find a man, if there be any that exe-
cuteth judgment, that seeketh the truth, and I will pardon it,'
says Jeremiah, v. 1. ' There is a conspiracy of her prophets
in the midst thereof, (of Jerusalem,) like a roaring lion ravening
the prey ; her priests have violated my law, and have profaned
my holy things ; her princes are like wolves ; the people of the
land have used oppression and exercised robbery : and I sought
for a man among them, that should make up the hedge, and
stand in the gap before me for the laud, that I should not de-
stroy it; but I found none,' saith Ezekiel : and the rest fre-
quently harp on the same thing. But these prophets, you will
say, lived in unhappy times; so circumstantiated, that no reli-
gion could have much prevailed on men's miuds and lives;
such as make every religion liable to the same exceptions:
well, but Isaiah, one would think, lived in better times ; for
how many better kings had that nation, that more strictly prac-

THE IMPERFECTION OF THE JEWISH RELIGION. 353

tised or earnestly promoted piety, than Hezekiah ? yet, ' A
sinful nation, a people laden with iniquities, a seed of evil
doers,' were they, it seems, even then ; ' the land was defiled
under the inhabitants thereof ; the whole head was sick, and
the whole heart faint ; from the sole of the foot even to the
head there was no soundness in the body of that nation.' Yea,
when did that religion flourish in greater vigor and strength,
when had it more advantage of exerting its best virtue, than
in the peaceful and prosperous times of that great and mighty,
that good and zealously pious prince, king David ? yet, even
in his reign, according to his own observation and testimony,
' they were generally corrupt, and did abominable works ;
they all were gone aside, and were altogether become filthy ;
there was none that did good, no, not one.' But we need not
urge particular instances, since we have it so often affirmed in
gross, that the manners of that people, from first to last, were
constantly naught and offensive to God : ' The children of
Israel, and the children of Judah,' saith God himself in Jere-
miah, ' have only done evil before me from their youth.' And
again ; ' Since the day that your fathers came forth out of the
land of Egypt unto this day, I have even sent you all my ser-
vants the prophets, daily rising up early, and sending them ;
yet they hearkened not unto me.' The law, although by extra-
ordinary persons, in fittest opportunities, with utmost vehe-
mence and diligence inculcated and urged on them, proved con-
tinually ineffectual to produce the fruits of piety and righte-
ousness. The same you may see confessed by Ezra ; and not
only acknowleged, but evidently demonstrated by Nchemiah,
in a punctual narration, deduced from the beginning to his
time, in the ninth chapter of that book. Again ; the heavy
calamities by divine justice so often inflicted, so long continued
on them ; and, at last, God's so visible utter dereliction and
disowning them, do also sufficiently declare what their deserts
and what their qualities have been ; as also what good may
ever be expected from them. For as God never punishes griev-
ously without a proportionate cause, so he never quite deserts,
but in a desperate case, when no competent emendation may be
expected. He is not wont to lop off the branches, but when
they grow dead and barren ; he never cuts down the tree,

3-34 B ARROW. — SERMON XV.

while there is any hope of fruit. This providence therefore to-
ward that people shows that in God's esteem that law is to be
laid aside, as an instrument grown useless, and unfit for his
purposes ; unfit to serve his glory to further men's good.

1 add; that through all course of times their manners have
not procured in a manner from any men any good-will or re-
spect ; but indeed the common dislike, contempt, and hatred
ot men : they have always (since well known and observed in
the world) been reputed a sort of people not only above all
men vain and superstitious, addicted to fond conceits and fabu-
lous stories, but extremely proud and arrogant, churlish and
sour, ill natured and false-hearted toward all men j not good
or kind, yea not so much as just or true, toward any but them-
selves ;

(Non monstrare vias eadem nisi sacra colenti;

Qaaesilom ad fontein solos deducere verpos ; Juv. Sat. xiv.

Apud ipsos fides obstinata, misericordia in promptu, sed ad-

versus omnes alios hostile odium. Tacitus. )
Such are the obvious characters of them, such were their hu-
mors noted to be ; humors not only implausible, but really
blameable, deservedly offensive and odious; being contrary to
the common sense, to the natural ingenuity of man. They
have been long, as we see them now to be, partly for the vanity
of their conceits, partly for the baseness of their minds and
manners, and partly also for the wretchedness of their condi-
tion, the scorn and obloquy of all nations.

Now the tree, which hath always bore such fruits, (so unsa-
vory, so unwholesome,) we have no reason to admire, to esteem
excellent and perfect. It might be good for those times, when
men willingly did feed on acorns, on crabs, on bramble-ber-
ries ; but cannot so well serve now, when higher improvements
of reason, when philosophy and learning by a general influ-
ence on the world, have prepared the palates of men to relish,
their stomachs to digest, more delicious and more wholesome
fare. But,

3. I proceed to show the third defect, which I at first ob-
served in this religion, that it was not designed for perpetual
obligation and use. (As it was particular in respect of the per-

THE IMPERFECTION OF THE JEWISH RELIGION. 355

Sons to whom it was directed, whom it obliged ; as it was
partial and incomplete in its frame, so it was, according to its
design, temporary and mutable.) This conclusion we might
infer from what hath been said concerning the narrow extent,
and concerning the intrinsic imperfection thereof; for suppos-
ing a new general and perfect revelation made to mankind,
(such as we asserted probably should be,) that would naturally
swallow and void those which are particular and imperfect; as
comprehending them, it would render them useless; as supply-
ing the defects, correcting the defaults, or removing, paring
away the superfluities of them, it would discover them unfit
for continuance. As rivers run into the sea, as shadows flee
before the sun, so these small and shallow, these dusky and
faint revelations would discharge themselves into, would vanish
before a complete and universal one. Nothing in nature or in
providence that is scant or defectuous, can be stable and last-
ing. Thus, I say, is this a conclusion, a consequence of those
which preceded ; but we have another more convincing sort of
evidence to prove it by, (most valid ad homines,) even by many
pregnant intimations; yea many express remonstrances and
predictions, that God did intend in due time to introduce a
great change in affairs of this kind ; to refine and reform the
state of things ; to break open those inclosures, and to remove
those bars of separation ; to enlarge the bounds of his domi-
nion, and to receive all nations into the fold of his most special
care and love : in fine, that he would dispense a general full
revelation of his mind and will, of his grace and favor to man-
kind, such as should not be consistent with that particular and
partial law, such as. implies a disannulling thereof for obliga-
tion, and disabling it for use. The holy writings of that peo-
ple acquaint us that God intended ' to raise up another pro-
phet (for extraordinariness and eminency) like to Moses,
which should have words by God put into his mouth ;' (new
words surely, new revelations from God ; for why should he
with that solemnity be sent to utter stale matters ') whom
they should, on peril of their lives and welfare, be particularly
obliged to hearken (that is, to yield attention and obedience)
unto: that 'the days should come, when the Lord would
make a new covenant with the house of Israel,' different from

356

BARROW. — SERMON XV.

that which he made with their fathers after their delivery from
Egypt ; not to be written on stones, but impressed on men's
hearts; in regard to which passage we may with the Apostle
to the Hebrews well argue : ' If the first had been faultless,'
and designed to abide in force, ' there would have been no
place found for the second ;' and, that by speaking of a new
covenant, he antiquated, or declared his intention to antiquate,
the old one.

' That time should be, when they should say no more, The
ark of the covenant of the Lord ; neither should it come to
mind, neither should they remember it, neither should they visit
it ;' they are the words of the prophet Jeremiah, concerning
better times to come ; wherein God ' should give them pastors
according to his own heart, which should feed them with
knowlege and understanding;' but in a way, it is evident, al-
together different from the Jewish institution ; without any re-
gard to the ark of their covenant, that seat and emblem of
God's especial presence among them.

That another priesthood should infallibly (for God swore
so much) be established, not ' after the order of Aaron, but
after the order of Melchizedek ;' (not appointed to offer carnal
sacrifices, but to impart spiritual benedictions.)

That time should be, ' when God would gather all nations
and tongues, and they should come and see his glory ;' and
out of them ' God would take (that which the Mosaical con-
stitution would not anywise permit) for priests, and for
Levites.'

That there should appear a Zion ; a mountain seated
above all mountains, (visible and conspicuous to all the world,)
wherein God would place his perpetual residence, the seat of
his worship, of his especial presence and influence, to ' which
all nations should flow,' or willingly resort to learn God's will,
and walk in his ways ; which Zion could not be that literal
one, long since desolated and disregarded ; and which, how-
ever, did it stand in repute, could be no convenient receptacle,
or resort, for all the world ; it is surely another spiritual Zion,
or mystical rock, which is prophesied of.

'That God will create new heavens and a new earth;' (a
thoroughly new world, or nsw stite of things ;) such 1 as

THE IMPERFECTION OF THE JEWISH RELIGION. 357

that the former should not i be remembered, nor come into
mind.'

That God would pour his spirit of prophecy on all flesh ;
(although we see the prophetical spirit hath long- deserted the
Jewish nation, not so much as any pretence thereto remaining.)
' That the earth should be filled with the knowlegeof the glory
of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea;' (Judaism surely is
not this knowlege, which never did, nor is ever likely to fill
the earth.) That ' from the rising of the sun to the going
down thereof, God's name should be great among the Gen-
tiles ;' and ' in every place incense should be offered unto his
name, and a pure offering.' (In every place incense, accepta-
ble to God, should be offered ; not only at Jerusalem, to which
the Jewish service was confined.) That a time was ' deter-
mined to finish transgression, and make an end of sins; to
make a reconciliation for iniquity, and to introduce everlasting
righteousness, to seal up the vision and prophecy ; and to
anoint the most Holy.'

That God would send him, so much needed and ' desired
by all nations, to whom the gathering of the people should be ;'
' the Sun of righteousness, arising with salvation in his wings ;'
' the Redeemer that should come to Zion ;' ' the Messenger of
the covenant, whom God would give for a covenant of the peo-
ple, to establish the earth, to cause to inherit the desolate heri-
tage ;' ' the righteous Branch, to be raised up unto David ; to
reign and prosper, executing judgment and justice in the earth ;
whose name should be called, The Lord our Righteousness;'
whom God ' would anoint to preach good tidings to the meek,
and bind up the brokenhearted,' &c. that is, in fine, God in
due time would send the Messias, to enlighten the world with
a perfect instruction; to reveal God's will, and declare his
mercy to mankind ; to erect a universal spiritual kingdom in
the minds and hearts of men, reducing them to fuller know-
lege and to better obedience of God. These places of Scrip-
ture, to which many others might be added, do sufficiently
evince that the Mosaical dispensation was in the design thereof
mutable and transitory ; that God intended, what the Apostle
affirms effected by our Saviour, an abrogation of the precedent
command, for its weakness and unprofitableness. Thus doth

358

BARROW. — SERMON XV.

God's design concerning the abolition of this religion appear
by verbal testimonies ; the same we see also declared by real
effects : his providence hath made good his word ; he hath not
only disobliged men from that religion, but hath manifestly
discountenanced it ; yea, hath disabled even the most obsti-
nate adherents in opinion and will thereto from the practice
and exercise thereof, according to its primitive rules and pre-
scriptions. Long is it (for above fifteen hundred years) since
they, exiled from their ancient country, and scattered over the
world, have wanted a place whither to resort, wherein to per-
form those most weighty parts of worship and service to God,
oblation of sacrifices, incense and tithes ; their tribes being
confounded, the distinction of priesthood and people seems
taken away ; all the mysterious emblems of God's special
presence, all the tokens of God's favor and endearment to
them are embezzled and quite lost ; nothing is left substantial
or solemn in their religion, which if they would they could put
in practice : all that they retain of their ancient institution is
the observation of some petty formalities, in matters of less im-
portance ; which also they have so blended and corrupted with
impure mixtures of their own device and forgery, false and im-
pious opinions, ridiculous and uncouth ceremonies, idle and
absurd stories, that we may justly suppose genuine Judaism
nowhere to be found ; that it cannot be, nor is indeed any
where, practised.

So that what reason showed fit to be, what God had de-
clared should be, that experience doth attest to be done ; the
cessation and abolition of that way of religion, both as to obli-
gation and use.

So I pass over this second step of my intended discourse :
that no other religion, excepting Christianity, which hath been,
or is in being, can reasonably pretend to have proceeded from
God, as a universal, complete, and final declaration of his
mind and will to mankind. Such as we argued it probable
that so wise a God, so just a Lord, so gracious a Father would
sometime afford to his poor miserable creatures and children,
the sons of Adam.

I have two great steps yet to take : one, that Christianity is
in itself a doctrine and law endued with the forementioned con-

THE IMPERFECTION OF THE JEWISH RELIGION. 3)0

ditions; in all respects worthy to come from God, apt to pro-
mote his glory, and procure man's benefit. Another, that it
de facto did proceed from God, was attested to by him, and
established by his authority. Which propositions I shall here-
after, by God's grace, endeavor to prove.

30"

SUMMARY OF

SUMMARY OF SERMON XVI.

I CORINTHIANS, CHAP. II. — VERSE C.

Meaning of the text considered; that however such parts
of the Christian doctrine which St. Paul discovered unto those
whom he began to instruct therein, might seem to ignorant, pre-
judiced, and dull or corrupt persons, foolish and unreasonable;
yet that the whole doctrine, such as it is in itself, being intirely
disclosed unto perfect men, (that is, to men of improved minds
and good dispositions,) would be wisdom; that is, not only
exactly true, but highly important, and well suited to the at-
tainment of the best ends, &c. Some of its chief excellencies
briefly recommended.

1. The first peculiar to it is, that it gives a true, proper, and
complete character or notion of God ; not indeed absolutely,
but in respect to our condition and capacity : such a notion as
agrees thoroughly with what the best reason dictates, the
works of nature declare, ancient tradition attests, and common
experience intimates : this topic enlarged on : inferences drawn
from it favorable to Christianity.

2. A second is, that it faithfully informs us concerning our-
selves, our nature, our origin, our end, &c. points about which,
otherwise, by no reason, history, or experience, could we be
w ell resolved and satisfied : what it teaches us in these respects
dilated on.

3. It is a peculiar excellence of our religion, that it pre-
scribes an accurate rule of life, most congruous to reason, and
suitable to our nature ; most conducive to our welfare ; most

SERMON XVI.

861

apt to promote each man's private good, and the public benefit
of all, &c. Its precepts directing our practice in relation to
God fully considered : those by which our deportment towards
our fellow creatures should be regulated : consideration also of
the laws and directions prescribed by it for the regulation of
our own souls and bodies.

4. In addition to the above, this consideration may be an-
nexed ; that as it delivers so excellent and perfect a rule of
life, so it delivers it unto us pure from any alloy debasing, free
from any clog incumbering it; for that it chiefly requires of us
only a rational and spiritual service, not withdrawing us from
good practice by tedious and external rites, &c.

5. Our religion hath also this especial advantage, that it sets
before us a living copy and visible standard of good practice ;
wherein we have all its precepts compacted, as it were, into
one body, and at once exposed to our view : great efficacy of
example pointed out : that of our blessed Lord fully shown.

0. Farther, our religion doth not only thus truly and fully
acquaint us with our duty ; but, which is another peculiar vir-
tue thereof, it buildeth our duty on the most solid grounds,
presseth it with the most valid inducements, draweth it from
the best principles, and driveth it to the best ends : the ad-
vantage which it possesses over any system of philosophy, in
these respects, pointed out, &c.

7. It is a peculiar advantage of Christianity, which no other
law or doctrine so much as pretends to, that it not only clearly
teaches, and strongly persuades us to so excellent a way of life,
but provides us also with sufficient help and ability to practise
it ; our law is not a dead letter, but has a quickening spirit
accompanying it, &c.

8. Another peculiar excellence is, that it alone can appease
and satisfy a man's conscience, breeding therein well-grounded
hope and comfort, healing the wounds of bitter remorse and
fear, which the sense of guilt inflicts : this topic enlarged on.

BAR. VOL. V. Q

362

SUMMARY OF SERMON XVI.

9. The last advantage now mentioned of this doctrine is,
that it propounds and asserts itself in a manner very convincing
and satisfactory ; in a plain style of speech, becoming the ma-
jesty and sincerity of divine truth ; simply, without affectation
or artifice ; but yet with an imperious and awful confidence in
its own wisdom and authority, &c. This topic enlarged on.
Conclusion.

THE EXCELLENCY OF THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 3G:5

HnD in 3Je£u£ <£hri£t, &c.

SERMON XVI.

OF THE EXCELLENCY OF THE CHRISTIAN
RELIGION.

I CORINTHIANS, CHAP. II. — VERSE 6.

We speak wisdom to those which are perfect.

The meaning of these words, on viewing the context, and
weighing the scope of St. Paul's discourse, I take to be in effect
this ; that however such parts of the Christian doctrine, which
St. Paul discovered unto those whom he began to instruct
therein, ' the milk which he gave the babes in Christ to drink,'
especially as propounded, proved, and persuaded in so plain
and simple a manner, without advantages of subtile reasoning
or elegant language, might seem to persons really ignorant, un-
skilful, and dull of apprehension, (although much conceited of
their own knowlege, wit, and reach,) or to men prepossessed
with contrary notions and corrupt affections to be foolish and
unreasonable : yet that the whole doctrine, such as it is in
itself, being intirely disclosed unto perfect men, that is, to men
of an adult and improved understanding, well disposed and
capable, void of prejudicate conceits, and cleansed from vicious
dispositions, would appear wisdom; wisdom, that is, not only
exactly true, but highly important, and very well suited to the
attainment of the best ends ; even those ends, which it pre-
tendeth to bring about, which are manifestly the most excellent

364

BARROW. — SERMON XVI.

that any knowlege can aim at; the glorifying of God, and sal-
vation of man : this I suppose to be St. Paul's assertion here ;
and thereof it is my intent, by God's assistance, to endeavor
now some declaration and proof, by representing briefly some
peculiar excellencies and perfections of our religion ; which
may serve to evince the truth, and evidence the wisdom thereof ;
to make good, that indeed our religion well deserveth the pri-
vilege it doth claim of a divine extraction, that it is not an in-
vention of man, but, as St. Paul calleth it, ' the wisdom of
God,' proceeding from no other author but the God of truth
and wisdom. It is indeed a common subject, and so the best
ever should be ; it is always profitable, and now seasonable to
inculcate it, for the confirmation of ourselves, and conviction
of others, in this age of wavering and warping toward infide-
lity ; wherefore, regarding more the real usefulness of the mat-
ter than the squeamish fancy of some auditors, I shall without
scruple propound what my own meditation hath suggested
about it.

1. The first excellency peculiar to the Christian doctrine I
observe to be this ; that it assigneth a true, proper, and com-
plete character or notion of God; (complete, I mean, not ab-
solutely, but iu respect to our condition and capacity ;) such a
notion as agreeth thoroughly with what the best reason dicta-
teth, the works of nature declare, ancient tradition doth attest,
and common experience doth intimate concerning God; such
a character as is apt to breed highest love and reverence in
men's hearts toward him, to engage them in the strictest prac-
tice of duty and obedience to him. It ascribeth unto him all
conceivable perfections of nature in the highest degree; it as-
serteth unto him all his due rights and prerogatives ; it com-
mendeth andjustifieth to us all his actions and proceedings.
For in his essence it representeth him one, eternal, perfectly
simple and pure, omnipresent, omniscient, omnipotent, indepen-
dent, impassible, and immutable ; as also, according to his
essential disposition of will and natural manner of acting, most
absolute and free, most good and benign, most holy and just,
most veracious and constant ; it acknowlegeth him the maker
and upholder of all beings, of what nature aud what degree
soever ; both material and immaterial, visible and invisible ; it

THE EXCELLENCY OF THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION.

iittributeth to liim supreme majesty and authority over all. It
informeth us that he framed this visible world with especial
regard to our use and benefit; that he preserveth it with the
same gracious respect; that he governeth us with a particular
care and providence ; viewing all the thoughts, and ordering all
the actions of men to good ends, general or particular. It de-
clared) him in his dealings with rational creatures very tender
and careful of their good, exceedingly beneficent and merciful
toward them ; compassionate of their evils, placable for their
offences, accessible and inclinable to help them at their entrea-
ty, or in their need; yet nowise fond or indulgent to them;
not enduring them to proceed in perverse or wanton courses ;
but impartially just, and inflexibly severe toward all iniquity
obstinately pursued ; it, in short, describeth him most amiable
in his goodness, most terrible in his justice, most glorious and
venerable in all his ways of providence : whatever perfections
in essence, state, or practice, either philosophers (by rational
collection from innate notions, or from contemplation of na-
tural effects, or on observing occurrences in human affairs) or
other institutions from the relics of primitive tradition, by po-
litic reflexion on things, from other fountains, or by other means
whatever, have by parts (imperfectly, obscurely, and faintly)
attributed to God, all those our religion, in a full, clear, and
peremptory manner, with advantage beyond what I can ex-
press, doth ascribe and assert unto him ; not intermixing there-
with (as other doctrines and institutions may be observed to do)
any thing unworthy of him, or misbecoming him; adjoining
nothing repugnant to that which natural light discerneth or
approveth ; but showing somewhat beyond what it can descry,
concerning God'sincomprehensible nature and manner of sub-
sistence, his unsearchable counsels of wisdom, his admirable
methods of providence, whereby he hath designed to commend
his goodness to us, and to glorify his justice; which sorts of
truths exceeding man's reach to devise or comprehend as it
becometh God (who so far transcendeth us in wisdom and
knowlege) to reveal them ; so they, wondrously conspiring with
the perfections of God otherwise discernible by us, do argue or
confirm the divinity of the doctrine, which acquainteth us with
them : for a doctrine, how plausible soever, which should teach

BARROW. — SERMON XVI.

us nothing about God, that by other means could not be found
out, and whose bottom common sense might not fathom, there
were no urgent cause why we should derive it from heaven, or
why we should not rather deem it the invention of some witty
or subtile man. But such a doctrine as this, (which as it tel-
leth us nothing about divine things, that contradicteth reason,
so it informeth us many things, which no understanding of
man had ever conceived, none can penetrate,) we may justly
presume to come from a superior wisdom, we must at least avow
it worthy of God ; in the contrivances of man's wit or fancy
about things of this nature, as in divers instances it hath hap-
pened, most probably many flaws and incongruities presently
would have appeared ; they would have clashed with them-
selves, or with the dictates of common reason : that, for in-
stance, God should out of his own bosom send down his eternal
Son to partake of our nature, and appear in our flesh, that with
utmost advantage he might discover God's will and merciful
intentions toward us, that he might set before us an exact pat-
tern of good life ; that by his obedience and patience he might
expiate our sin, and reconcile God to mankind ; that he might
raise in us a hope of, and lead us in the way to, happiness ;
this indeed is a mystery, and a depth of wisdom, which we
should never have thought of, nor can yet thoroughly sound by
thinking, which we better may admire, than we can under-
stand : but neither doth good reason disallow it, nor can dis-
prove it; yea, good reason so far confirmeth it, as it cannot
but admit it to import nothing but that which is plainly true
and most credible, the immense goodness and justice of God ;
concerning which nothing ought to seem strange or uncouth
to us, since even by the care expressed in matters of ordinary
providence divine goodness appeareth so unaccountably vast
and high, that on consideration thereof worthily might Job and
the psalmist exclaim ; ' What is man, that thou shouldest mag-
nify him ? and that thou shouldest set thy heart on him ?'
' Lord, what is man, that thou takest knowlege of him ? or the
son of man, that thou makest such account of him ?'

Now thus to instil into the minds of men a right and worthy
notion of God, is palpably a great excellency of any doctrine
or religion : for beside that a true knowlege of God (even

THE EXCELLENCY OF THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 307

barely considered as in way of theory most perfective of our
understanding, it being conversant on the noblest object of con-
templation) is in itself very desirable ; and on the same ground
error in divine things is no small evil or defect; both these, such
knowlege and such error respectively, are very considerable,
as having a powerful influence on action ; for according to
men's conceptions about God is their practice, religious and
moral, very much regulated; if men conceive well of God,
they will be guided and moved thereby to render him a worship
and an obedience worthy of him, and acceptable to him ; if they
are ignorant of him, or mistake about him, they will accor-
dingly perform services to him, or pretences of service, which
shall neither become him nor please him ; (God by such mis-
conceptions being transformed into an idol, their religion will
become vile or vain superstition.) And since all men appre-
hend the example of God a perfect rule of action, that they
cannot do better than to resemble and imitate him, such as they
conceive God to be, such in good measure they will endeavor
to be themselves, both in their disposition and demeanor ;
whence infallibly the virtues and defects which lie in their no-
tion will exert and diffuse themselves into their life.

2. A second great excellency peculiar to the Christian in-
stitution is this, that it faithfully informeth us concerning our-
selves, concerning our nature, our original, our end, all our
state past, present, and final ; points about which otherwise
by no reason, no history, no experience, we could be well re-
solved or satisfied : it teacheth us that we consist of a frail
mortal body, taken from the earth and fashioned by God's
hand, and of an immortal spirit, derived from heaven, and
breathed out of God's mouth; whereby we understand the dig-
nity of our nature and nobleness of our descent, our near alli-
ance and our great obligation to God ; and consequently how
it concerneth us to behave ourselves, both in regard to God
and toward ourselves, in a manner answerable to such a relation,
worthy of such a high birth and quality: it showeth us that we
were originally designed by a voluntary obedience to glorify
our Maker, and in so doing to partake of joy and felicity from
him ; that accordingly we were created in a state agreeable to
those purposes, wherein we were fit to serve God, and capable

368

BARROW. — SERMON XVI.

thereby ever to continue happy : but that by our unworthy dis-
trust and wilful disobedience we cast ourselves from thence, and
lapsed into this wretched state of inward blindness, error, and
disorder, of outward frailty, sorrow, and trouble : it acquainteth
us farther how being thus estranged from God, and exposed to
the effects of his just displeasure, we are yet again, by his ex-
ceeding mercy and favor, put into a capacity of recovering our-
selves, of being reinstated in a condition happy far beyond that
from which we fell, by returning unto God and complying with
his will declared unto us ; as also how continuing obstinately in
our degeneracy and disobedience we shall assuredly plunge our-
selves deeper into an abyss of endless misery : it fully repTesent-
eth unto us what shall be our future state and final doom, how
it shall be suited to our demeanors and deserts in this life; what
a strict trial, what a severe judgment, all our actions (even our
passant words and our secret thoughts) must hereafter undergo ;
and how on the result, we shall become either exceedingly
happy or extremely miserable for ever. It is indeed this doc-
trine only which fully resolveth us about this weighty inquiry,
which hath so much perplexed all men, and with so much irre-
solution exercised philosophers, wherein the final end and hap-
piness of man consisteth, and what is the way of attaining it ;
assuring us that it consisteth not in any of these transitory
things, nor in a confluence of them all, but in the favor and
the enjoyment of God, with the blessings flowing thence ; that this
happiness is only by a sincere and constant obedience to God's
holy laws, or by the practice of such a piety and such a virtue
which this doctrine prescribeth, to be obtained. These most im-
portant truths, so useful both for the satisfaction of our minds,
and the direction of our lives, this doctrine unfoldeth : I call
them truths, and that really they are such even their harmony
and consistence between themselves, their consonancy with in-
ferences from all sorts of principles, which we can apply for
learning of truth, with what about these matters reason col-
lecteth, tradition reporteth, experience doth imply, may well
persuade us : for that man was first made and constituted in a
happy state ; that he was for his misbehavior detruded thence ;
that hence he is become so very prone to vice, and so much sub-
ject to pain; that our souls do abide after death ; that after

THE EXCELLENCY OF THE CHIUSTIAN RELIGION. 360

this life there shall be a reckoning and judgment, according to
which good men (who here are often much afflicted) shall be re-
warded with joy, and bad men (who commonly prosper here) shall
be requited with pain, the wisest men, on these grounds, always
have surmised ; and their rational conjectures our religion with
a positive and express assertion doth establish. So great a light
doth it afford (which is no small perfection thereof) to the kuow-
lege of ourselves and our chief concernments, the objects, next
to God and what concerneth him, best deserving our inquiry
and information.

3. It is a peculiar excellency of our religion, that it pre-
scribed an accurate rule of life, most, congruous to reason, and
suitable to our nature; most conducible to our welfare and our
content; most apt to procure each man's private good, and to
promote the public benefit of all ; by the strict observance whereof
we shall do what is worthy of ourselves and most becoming us;
yea, shall advance our nature above itself into a resemblance
of the divine nature ; we shall do God right, and obtain his
favor; we shall oblige and benefit men, acquiring withal good-
will and good respect from them ; we shall purchase to our-
selves all the conveniences of a sober life, and all the comforts
of a good conscience. For if we first examine the precepts di-
rective of our practice in relation to God, what can be more
just, or comely, or pleasant, or beneficial to us, than are those
duties of piety which our religion doth enjoin ? What can be
more fit than that we should most highly esteem and honor him
who is most excellent ? that we should bear most hearty ad>c-
tion to him who is in himself most good, and most beneficial to
us? that we should have a most awful dread of him who is so
infinitely powerful, holy, and just? that we should be very
grateful unto him from whom we have received our being, with
all the comforts and conveniences thereof? that we should in-
tirely trust and hope in him who can do what he will, and will
do whatever in reason we can expect from his goodness, and
can never fail to perform what he hath promised ? that we should
render all obedience and observance to him whose children,
whose servants, whose subjects we are born ; by whose protec-
tion and provision we enjoy our life and livelihood ? Can there
be a higher privilege than liberty of access, with assurance of

370

BARROW. — SERMON XVI.

being favorably received in our needs, to him who is thoroughly
able to supply them ? Can we desire on easier terms to receive
benefits than by acknowleging our wants, and asking for them ?
Can there be required a more gentle satisfaction from us for our
offences, than confession of them, accompanied with repentance
and effectual resolution to amend? Js it not, in fine, most
equal and fair that we should be obliged to promote his glory,
who hath obliged himself to further our good ? The practice
of such a piety as it is apparently Xoyu-r) Xarpeia, ' a reasonable
service,' so it cannot but produce excellent fruits of advantage
to ourselves, a joyful peace of conscience, and a comfortable
hope, a freedom from all superstitious terrors and scruples,
from all tormenting cares and anxieties; it cannot but draw
down from God's bountiful hands showers of blessings on
our heads, and of joys into our hearts ; whence our obli-
gation to these duties is not only reasonable, but very de-
sirable.

Consider we next the precepts by which our religion doth
regulate our deportment toward our neighbors and brethren ;
(so it styleth all men, intimating thence the duties it requireth
us to perform toward them ;) and what directions in that kind
can be imagined comparably so good, so useful, as those which
the gospel affordeth ? An honest Pagan historian saith of the
Christian profession, that nil nisi justum suadet et lene ;* the
which is a true, though not full character thereof. It enjoineth
us that we should sincerely and tenderly love one another,
should earnestly desire and delight in each other's good, should
heartily sympathise with all the evils and sorrows of our
brethren, should be ready to yield them all the help and com-
fort we are able, being willing to part with our substance, our
ease, our pleasure, for their benefit or succor ; not confining
this our charity to any sorts of men, particularly related or
affected toward us, but, in conformity to our heavenly Father's
boundless goodness, extending it to all ; that we should mutu-
ally bear one another's burdens, and bear with one another's
infirmities, mildly resent and freely remit all injuries, all dis-
courtesies done unto us; retaining no grudge in our hearts, ex-

Am. Marc. 1. 22.

THE EXCELLENCY OF THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 371

ecuting no revenge, but requiting them with good wishes and
good deeds. It chargeth us to be quiet and orderly in our
stations, diligent in our callings, veracious in our words, upright
in our dealings, observant of our relations, obedient and respect-
ful toward our superiors, meek and gentle to our inferiors ;
modest and lowly, ingenuous and compliant in our conversa-
tion, candid and benign in our censures, innocent and inoffen-
sive, yea courteous and obliging, in all our behavior toward all
persons. It commandeth us to root out of our hearts all spite
and rancor, all envy and malignity, all pride and haughtiness,
all evil suspicion and jealousy; to restrain our tongue from all
slander, all detraction, all reviling, all bitter and harsh lan-
guage; to banish from our practice whatever may injure, may
hurt, may needlessly vex or trouble our neighbor. It en-
gageth us Xm prefer the public good before any private con-
venience, J^efore our own opinion or humor, our credit or fame,
our profit or advantage, our ease or pleasure ; rather discarding
a less good from ourselves, than depriving others of a greater.
Now who can number or estimate the benefits that spring from
the practice of these duties, either to the man that observeth
them, or to all men in common ? *0 divinest Christian charity,
what tongue can worthily describe thy most heavenly beauty,
thy incomparable sweetness, thy more than royal clemency and
bounty? how nobly dost thou enlarge our minds beyond the
narrow sphere of self and private regard into an universal care
and complacence, making every man ourself, and all concern-
ments to be ours ! how dost thou entitle us unto, how dost thou
invest us in, all the goods imaginable ; dost enrich us with the
wealth, dost prefer us with the honor, dost adorn us with the
wisdom and the virtue, dost bless us with all prosperity of the
world, whilst all our neighbor's good, by our rejoicing therein,
becometh our own ! how dost thou raise a man above i!i : reach
of all mischiefs and disasters, of all troubles and griefs, since
nothing can disturb or discompose that soul, wherein thou dost
constantly reside, and absolutely reign ! how easily dost thou,
without pain or hazard, without drawing blood or striking
stroke, render him that enjoyeth thee an absolute conqueror over

• Chrys. 'AvSp. 19.

■■',-■>

E ARROW. — SERMON XVI.

all bis foes, triumphant over all injuries without, and all
passions within ; for that he can have no enemy, who will be
a friend to all, and nothingis able to cross him, who is disposed
to take every thing well ! how sociable, how secure, how
pleasant a life might we lead under thy kindly governance !
what numberless sorrows and troubles, fears and suspicions,
cares and distractions of mind at home, what tumults and
tragedies abroad, might be prevented, if men would but hearken
to thy mild suggestions ! what a paradise would this world
then become, in comparison to what it now is, where thy good
precepts and advices being neglected, uncharitable passions and
unjust desires aft predominant ! how excellent then is that
doctrine, which brought thee down from heaven, and, would
but men embrace thee, the peace and joy of heaven with thee !

If we farther survey the laws and directions which our reli-
gion prescribeth concerning the particular management cf our
s,>uls and bodies in their respective actions and enjoyments, we
shall also find that nothing could be devised more worthy of
us, mere agreeable io reason, more productive of our welfare
and our content. It obligeth us to preserve unto our reason
its natural prerogative, or due empire in our souls, and over our
bodies, not to suffer the brutish part to usurp and domineer over
us; that we be not swayed down by this earthly lump, not
enslaved to bodily temper, not transported with tumultuary
humors, not deluded by vain fancy ; that neither inward pro-
pensions nor impressions from without be able to seduce us to
that which is unworthy of us, or mischievous to us. It enjoin-
eth us to have sober and mode; ate thoughts concerning our-
selves, suitable to our total dependence on God, to our natural
meanness and weakness, to our sinful inclinations, to the guilt
we have contracted in our lives; that therefore we be not
puffed up with self-conceit, or vain confidence in ourselves, or
in any thing about us ; (any wealth, honor, or prosperity.) It
directeth us also to compose our minds into a calm, serene, and
cheerful state ; that we be not easily distempered with anger,
or distracted with care, Or overborne with grief, or disturbed
with any accident befalling us ; but that we be content in every
condition, and entertain patiently all events, yea, accept joy-
fully from God's hand whatever he reacheth to us. It com-

THE EXCELLENCY OF THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 373

mandeth us to restrain our appetites, to be temperate in all our
enjoyments, to abstain from all irregular pleasures, which are
base in kind, or excessive in degree ; which may corrupt our
minds, or impair our health, or endamage our estate, or stain
our good name, or prejudice our peace or repose : it doth not
prohibit us the use of any creature, whence we may receive
innocent convenience or delight, but indulgeth us a prudent
and sober use of them all, with the sense of God's goodness,
and thankfulness to him, who bestoweth them on us. Our reli-
gion also farther ordereth us (so far as our necessary occasions
or duties permit) to sequester and elevate our minds from these
low and transitory things, from the fading glories, the unstable
possessions, the vanishing delights of this world ; things indeed
unworthy the attention, unworthy the affection of an heaven-
bom and immortal spirit; that we should fix our thoughts, our
desires, our endeavors on objects most worthy of them, objects
high and heavenly, pure and spiritual, infinitely stable and
durable ; not to love the world, and the things therein ; to be
careful for nothing, but to cast all our care on God's provi-
dence ; not to labor for the meat that perisheth, not to trust in
uncertain riches ; to have our treasure, our heart, our hope,
our conversation above in heaven. Such directions our reli-
gion prescribeth ; by compliance with which, if man be at ail
capable of being happy, assuredly his happiness m. st be at-
tained ; for that no present enjoyment can render a man happy,
all experience proclaimeth: the restless motions we continually
see, the woful complaints we daily hear, do manifestly demon-
strate.

And who seeth not the great benefits and the goodly fruits
accruing from observance of these laws and rules? Who dis-
cerneth not the admirable consent of all these particular injunc-
tions in our religion with that general one, ' Whatever things
are true, whatever things are just, whatever things are honest,
whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever
things are of good report, if there be any virtue, or any praise,
that we should mind such things,' and practice them ? Such,
and far more excellent than I am able to describe, is the rule of
Christian practice ; a rule in perfection, in beauty, in efficacy
far surpassing all other rules ; productive of a goodness more

374

BARROW. — SERMON XVI.

complete, more lovely, more sprightful than any other doctrine
or institution hath been or can be able to bring forth; much
exceeding, not only ' the righteousness of blind Pharisees,' but
all the virtue of the most sage philosophers; somewhat in part
concurrent therewith philosophy hath descried and delivered ;
(it is no wonder it should, since all of it is so plainly consonant
to reason ;) yet what philosophy hath in this kind afforded, is
in truth, if compared with what our religion teacheth, exceed-
ingly meagre, languid, and flat: two words here, 'Thou shalt
love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and thy neighbor as
thyself,' do signify more, do contain in them more sense and
savor, to the judgment and relish of a well disposed mind, than
the Ethics of Aristotle, the Offices of Cicero, the Precepts and
Dissertations of Epictetus, the many other volumes of philo-
sophical morality all put together ; in matter our rule is far
more rich and full, more sweet and sapid than theirs ; in force
and efficacy it doth also (as we shall hereafter see) far excel
them.

4. We may hereto annex this consideration, which may pass
for another peculiar advantage of our religion, that as it deli-
vereth so excellent and perfect a rule of life, so it delivereth it
unto us pure from any alloy debasing, free of any clog incum-
bering it ; for that it chiefly, and in a manner only requireth of
us a rational and spiritual service, consisting in performance of
substantial duties, plainly necessary or profitable ; not with-
drawing us from the practice of solid piety and virtue by obli-
gations to a tedious observance of many external rites ; not
spending the vigor of our minds on superficial formalities, (or
busy scrupulosities, as Tertullian termeth them,*) such as serve
only to amuse childish fancies, or to depress slavish spirits.
It supposeth us men, men of good understanding and ingenuous
disposition, and dealeth with us as such ; and much more such
it rendereth us, if we comply therewith. The ritual obser-
vances it enjoineth are as few in number, in nature simple and
easy to perform, so evidently reasonable, very decent, and
very useful ; apt to instruct us in, able to excite us unto, the
practice of most wholesome duties : which consideration show-

* In Marc. 2.

THE EXCELLENCY OF THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 375

eth this doctrine to bxa complete, suitable to the most adult
age and best constitution, to the most ripe and improved capa-
cities of man. But farther,

5. Our religion hath also this especial 'advantage, that it
setteth before us a living copy and visible standard of good
practice; wherein we have all its precepts compacted as it
were into one body, and at once exposed to our view. Example
yieldeth the most compendious instruction, together with the
most efficacious incitement to action ; but never was there or
could be any example in either respect comparable to this ;
never was any so thoroughly perfect in itself, so purposely de-
signed, so fitly accommodated for imitation, or so forcibly en-
gaging thereto, as this : there is not one flaw, one spot, one false
or uneven stroke in all this copy, so that we are secure from
doing amiss in transcribing any part thereof ; it was intended
to conduct us through all the parts of duty, especially those
which are most high and difficult to our frail and decayed na-
ture, general charity, self-denial, humility, and patience : it
was admirably squared for the imitation of all men, the person
in whom it shined being, as it were, indefinite, and unrestrained
to any single condition ; he being in right and power superior
%o the greatest princes, though according to choice and in out-
ward parts inferior to the meanest subjects ; having under his
command the largest wealth, although enjoying none; being
able readily to procure to himself what glory and respect he
pleased, yet pleasing to pass obscure and disregarded ; so teach-
ing those of highest rank to be sober and condescensive, those
of lowest degree to be patient and content in their respective
states; teaching all men not to rest in, nor much to regard,
these present things, but singly in all their doings above all
things to seek God's honor, with main resolution and diligence
to prosecute his service : and as to all degrees, so to all ca-
pacities, was his practice suited, being neither austere nor re-
miss, formal nor singular, careless nor boisterous ; but in a mo-
derate, even, and uniform course so tempered, that persons of
all callings and all complexions easily might follow him in the
practice of all true righteousness, in the performance of all sub-
stantial duties toward God and toward man. It is also an
example attended with the greatest obligations and induce-

376

BARROW. — SERMON XVI.

meuts to follow it; the great excellency and high dignity of
the person, being the most holy, first-born Son of God, heir of
eternal majesty ; our manifold relations to him, being our Lord
and Master, our best friend, our most gracious Redeemer ; the
many inestimable benefits received by us from him, all that re-
demption from extreme misery, and capacity of perfect happi-
ness do import, are so many potent arguments engaging us to
imitate him.

(5. Farther, our religion doth not only thus truly and fully
acquaint us with our duty ; but, which is another peculiar vir-
tue thereof, it buildeth our duty on most solid grounds, presseth
it with most valid inducements, draweth it from the best prin-
ciples, and driveth it to the best ends : no philosophy can in
any measure represent virtue so truly estimable and eligible,
can assign so evident and cogent reason why we should em-
brace it and strictly adhere thereto, can so well discover or de-
scribe the excellent fruits that grow on it, as doth this phi-
losophy of ours, as the ancient Fathers are wont to call it.
Other philosophies have indeed highly commended virtue, and
vehemently exhorted thereto ; but the grounds on which they
laid its praise are very sandy, the arguments by which they en-
forced its practice are very feeble, the principles from which they
deduced it, and the ends which they propounded thereto, are
very poor and mean, if we discuss them ; at least if they be
composed with ours : virtue, said they, is a thing of itself, on
account of its own native beauty and worth, abstracting from
all reward or profit springing from it, very admirable and de-
sirable ; it is beside a very pleasant and very useful thing, be-
getting tranquillity and satisfaction of mind ; yielding health,
safety, reputation, pleasure, quiet, and other manifold conve-
niences of life : but can so magnificent and so massy a fabric
of commendation stand firm on such foundations as these ? are
these principles of love and admiration toward we know not
what, these ends of temporal advantage and convenience, so
noble or worthy ? are the accommodations of this short and un-
certain life a proper eucouragement or a just recompense for
the laborious achievements of true virtue ? are these weapons
sufficient to fortify men, or these discourses able to animate
them in resisting the temptations which avert from virtue, or

THE EXCELLENCY OF THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 377

avoiding the enchantments which allure to vice ? Will men, I
say, readily, for the sake of an imaginary or insensible thing,
(a goodly name only, for all they see,) which reprcsenteth no
more of benefit attending it, cross the bent of their natural in-
clinations, forfeit their present ease, reject certain fruitions of
pleasure, waive occasions of getting to themselves profit, honor,
and power, goods so manifestly substantial and grateful to na-
ture ? will they undergo contentedly the difficulties, encounter
the clangers, sustain the pains, the disgraces, the losses com-
monly incident to virtue ? No surely, when it cometh to earnest
trial, it will hardly seem reason or wisdom so to do. But the
Christian doctrine, as it compriseth, and in an inferior order
urgeth also such grounds and arguments, so it doth exhibit
others far more solid and forcible : it comniendeth goodness to
us, not only as agreeable to man's imperfect and fallible reason,
but as conformable to the perfect goodness of God, as the dic-
tate of his infallible wisdom, as the resolution of his most holy
will ; as enjoined by his unquestionable authority, as our in-
dispensable duty, and only way to happiness : the principles,
from which it willeth us to act, are love, reverence, and grati-
tude to God, hearty good-will toward men, and a sober regard
to our own true welfare ; the ends which it prescribeth are
God's honor, public edification, and the salvation of our own
souls: it stirreth us to good practice, by minding us that we
shall thereby resemble the Supreme Goodness, shall express
our gratitude toward that great Benefactor, unto whom we
owe all that we have ; shall discharge our duty, pay due ho-
nor, perform faithful service to our Almighty Lord and King.;
that we shall thereby surely decline the wrath and displeasure
of God, shall surely obtain his favor and mercy, with all sorts
of blessings needful or profitable for us ; that we shall not
only avoid regrets and terrors of conscience here, but escape
endless miseries and torments ; we shall not only procure pre-
sent comfort and peace of mind, but shall acquire crowns of
everlasting glory and bliss. These surely are the truest and
firmest grounds on which a right estimation of virtue can sub-
sist ; these are motives incomparably most effectual to the em-
bracing thereof ; these are the purest fountains whence it can
spring, the noblest marks whither it can aim; a virtue so

37S

BARROW. — SERMON XVI.

grounded, so reared, is certainly most sound and genuine, most
firm and stable, most infinitely beneficial. But farther,

7. It is a peculiar advantage of Christianity, (which no
other law or doctrine so much as pretendeth to,) that it not
only clearly teacheth us and strongly persuadeth us to so ex-
cellent a way of life, but provideth also sufficient help and
ability to practise it ; without which (such is the frailty of our
nature, as experience proveth, that) all instruction, all exhor-
tation, all encouragement, would avail little. Other laws, for
want of this, are in effect 'ministries of condemnation,' racks
of conscience, parents of guilt and of regret ; reading hard les-
sons, but not assisting to do after them ; imposing heavy bur-
dens, but not enabling to bear them : our law is not such; it
is not a dead letter, but hath a quickening spirit accompanying
it ; it not only soundeth through the ear, but stampeth itself
on the heart of him that sincerely doth embrace it; it always
carrieth with it a sure guide to all good, and a safe guard from
all evil : if our mind be doubtful or dark, it directeth us to a
faithful oracle, where we may receive counsel and information : if
our passions are unruly, if our appetites are outrageous, if temp-
tations be violent, and threaten to overbear us, it leadeth us to
a full magazine, whence we may furnish ourselves with all
manner of arms to withstand and subdue them : if our condi-
tion, in respect to all other means, be disconsolate or desperate,
it sendeth us to a place where we shall not fail of refreshment
and relief; it offereth, on our earnest seeking and asking, the
wisdom and strength of God himself for our direction, our aid,
our support and comfort, in all exigencies. To them, who with
due fervency and constancy ask it, God hath in the gospel
promised to ' grant his holy Spirit,' to guide them in their
ways, to admonish them of their duty, to strengthen them in
obedience, to guard them from surprises and assaults of temp-
tation, to sustain them, and cheer them in afflictions. This
advantage, as it is proper to our religion, so it is exceedingly
considerable ; for what would the most perfect rule or way
signify, without as well a power to observe it, as a light to dis-
cern it? and how came man, (so ignorant, so impotent, so in-
constant a creature ; so easily deluded by false appearances,
and transported with disorderly passions ; so easily shaken

THE EXCELLENCY OF THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 379

and unsettled by any small assault,) either alone without some
guidance perceive, or by himself without some assistance pro-
secute, what is good for him, especially in cases of intricacy
and difficulty ? how should he who hath frequent experience of
his own weakness, not be utterly disheartened and cast into
despair either of standing fast in a good state, or of recovering
himself from a bad one ; of rescuing himself from any vicious
inclination, or attaining any virtuous habit, if he did not appre-
hend such a friendly power vigilantly guarding him, ready on
all occasions to succor and abet him ? this consideration it is,
which only can nourish our hope, can excite our courage, can
quicken and support our endeavor in religious practice, by
assuring us that there is no duty so hard, which by the grace
vouchsafed us we may not achieve ; that there is no enemy so
mighty, which by the help afforded us we cannot master; so
that, although we find ourselves ' able to do nothing of our-
selves, yet we can do all things by Christ that strengtheneth
us.'

8. Another peculiar excellency of our religion is this, that
it alone can appease and satisfy a man's conscience, breeding
therein a well-grounded hope and a solid comfort; healing
the wounds of bitter remorse and anxious fear, which the sense
of guilt doth inflict : ' There is no man,' as King Solomon said,
and all men know, ' who sinneth not ;' who doth not find him-
self in thought, word, and deed, frequently thwarting the dic-
tates of reason, violating the laws of piety and justice, trans-
gressing the bounds of sobriety ; who consequently doth not in
his own judgment condemn himself of disorder, and of offence
committed against the world's great Lawgiver and Governor,
the just Patron of right and goodness ; who thence doth not
deem himself obnoxious to God's wrath, and is not fearful of
deserved punishment from him : which fear must needs be fos-
tered and augmented by considering, that as past facts are ir-
revocable, so guilt i3 indelible, and punishment, except by the
voluntary remission of him that is offended, inevitable; as also
that there are no visible means of removing or abating such
guilt by any reparation or amends that he can make, who is
more apt to accumulate new offences, than able to compensate
for what he hath committed : now in such a case, some man

300

BARROW.— SERMON XVI.

indeed may frame to himself hopes of mercy ; may from the
experience of God's forbearance to punish, and continuance of
his bounty to sinners, presume that God is placable, and will
not be rigorous in his proceedings with him ; may hopefully
guess that in favor God will admit his endeavors at repentance,
will accept the compensations he offereth in lieu of his duty,
may suffer his guilt to be atoned by the sacrifices he presenteth ;
yet can no man on such presumptions ground a full confidence
that he shall find mercy ; he cannot however be satisfied on
what terms mercy will be granted, in what manner it shall be
dispensed, or how far it shall extend ; God never having ex-
hibited any express declarations or promises to those purposes ;
no man therefore can otherwise than suspect himself to be in a j
bad state, or esteem himself secure from the pursuits of justice
and wrath ; as he knoweth that ' sin lieth at the door,' so he
cannot know but that vengeance may lie near it ; hence com-
mon reason, as well as the Jewish law, is a ministry of death,
and a killing letter, carrying nothing in the looks or language
thereof but death and ruin ; hence is a man (if at least he be
not besotted into a careless stupidity) shut up in an irksome
bondage of spirit, under the grievous tyranny, if not of utter
despair, yet of restless suspicion about his condition ; which as
it quencheth in his mind all steady peace and joy, so it damp-
eth his courage and alacrity, it enervateth his care and industry
to do well, he doubting what success and what acceptance his
undertakings may find ; it also cooleth in him good affections
towards God, whom that he hath offended he knoweth, and
questioneth whether he can be able to reconcile.

From this unhappy plight our religion thoroughly doth rescue
us, assuring us that God Almighty is not only reconcilable,
but desirous, on good terms, to become our friend, himself
most frankly proposing overtures of grace, and soliciting us to j
close with them ; iton our compliance teudereth, under God'sowu
hand and seal, a full discharge of all guilts and debts, however
contracted ; it receiveth a man into perfect favor and friendship,
if he doth not himself wilfully reject them, or resolve to con-
tinue at distance, in estrangement and enmity toward God.
It proclaimeth that, if we be careful to amend, God will not be
• extreme to mark what we do amiss ;' that iniquity, if we do

THE EXCELLENCY OF THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 381

not incorrigibly affect and cherish it, ' shall not be our ruin f
that although by our infirmity we fall often, yet by our re-
pentance we may rise again, and by our sincerity shall stand
upright; that our endeavors to serve and please God (although
imperfect and defective, if serious and sincere) will be accepted
by him : this is the tenor of that great covenant between
heaven and earth, which the Son of God did procure by his
intercession, did purchase by his merits of wonderful obedience
and patience, did ratify and seal by his blood; did publish to
mankind, did confirm by miraculous works, did solemnise by
holy institutions, cloth by the evangelical ministry continually
recommend to all men; so that we can nowise doubt of its
full accomplishment on God's part, if we be not deficient on
ours : so to our inestimable benefit and unspeakable comfort
doth our religion ease their conscience, and encourage them in
the practice of their duty, who do sincerely embrace it, and
firmly adhere thereto.

9. The last advantage which I shall mention of this doctrine
is this ; that it propoundeth and asserteth itself in a manner
very convincing and satisfactory : it propoundeth itself in a
style and garb of speech as accommodate to the general capacity
of its hearers, so proper to the authority which it claimeth, be-
coming the majesty and sincerity of divine truth ; it expresseth
itself plainly and simply, without any affectation or artifice,
without ostentation of wit or eloquence, such as men study to
insinuate and impress their devices by : it also speaketh with
an imperious and awful confidence, such as argueth the speaker
satisfied both of his own wisdom and authority ; that he doubt-
eth not of what he saith himself, that he knoweth his hearers
obliged to believe him ; its words are not like the words of a
wise man, who is wary and careful that he slip not into mistake,
(interposing therefore now and then his raay-be's and per-
chances,) nor like the words of a learned scribe, grounded op
semblances of reason, and backed with testimonies ; nor as the
words of a crafty sophister, who by long circuits, subtile fetches,
and sly trains of discourse doth inveigle men to his opinion ;
but like the words of a king, carrying with them authority and
power uncontrollable, commanding forthwith attention, assent,
and obedience ; this you are to believe, this you are to do, on

302

BARROW. — SERMON XVI.

pain of our high displeasure, at your utmost peril be it ; your
life, your salvation dependeth thereon : such is the style and
tenor thereof, plainly such as becometh the sovereign Lord of
all to use, when he shall please to proclaim his mind and will
unto us. It freeth us from laborious.and anxious inquiries, from
endless disputes and janglings, from urging ineffectual argu-
ments, and answering cross difficulties, &c. It doth also assert
itself and approve its truth to the reason of man the most ad-
vantageously that can be ; with proofs most suitable to itself,
and in themselves most effectual ; waiving those inferior methods
of subtile argumentation and plausible language with which men
are wont to confirm or set off their conceits ; which how weak
they are, how unfit to maintain truth, their unsuccessfulness
doth evince ; seeing by those means scarce any man hath been
able thoroughly either to settle himself in or to draw others to
a full persuasion concerning any important truth discosted from
sense : such methods therefore the Christian doctrine bath
waived, (or rather slighted, as beneath itself,) applying argu-
ments to the demonstration of its truth, far more potent, more
sublime, and indeed truly divine ; beside its intrinsic worth,
or the excellency shining in itself, (which speaketh it worthy
of God, and goeth more than half way in proving it to proceed
from him,) there is no kind of attestation needful or proper,
which God hath not afforded thereto ; God is in himself invisi-
ble and undiscernible to any sense of ours, neither could we
endure the lustre and glory of his immediate presence ; it must
be therefore by effects of his incommunicable power, by works
extraordinary and supernatural, (such as no creature can per-
form or counterfeit,) that he must, if ever, convincingly signify
his purpose or pleasure to us; and such innumerable hath God
vouchsafed to yield in favor and countenance of our religion ;
bv clearly predicting and presignifying the future revelation of
this doctrine by express voices and manifest apparitions from
heaven, by suspending and thwarting the course of natural
causes in many ways and instances, by miracles of providence
no less remarkable than those of nature, by internal attesta-
tions to the minds and consciences of men ; things too great
slightly to be passed over, and the particular mention of which
I must therefore now omit; by such wonderful means, I say,

THE EXCELLENCY OF THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 383

hath God taken care to convince us that our religion came from
him, which is a peculiar advantage that it hath, such as no other
institution (except that of the Jews, which was a prelude thereto,
and whose truth serveth to confirm it) can reasonably pretend
unto ; and a great perfection it is thereof, since as it is no small
content to a traveller, by a direction which he can fully con-
fide in, to know that he is in the right way to his journey's end ;
so it cannot but prove an exceeding satisfaction and encourage-
ment to us to be assured, by infallible testimony of God him-
self, that our religion is the true and direct way unto eternal
happiness.

These considerations may, I conceive, be sufficient, as to vin-
dicate our religion from all aspersions cast on it either by in-
considerate and injudicious, or by vain and dissolute persons ;
so to confirm us all in the esteem, and incite us to the prac-
tice thereof ; which use of them God in his mercy grant,
through Jesus Christ our Lord ; to whom for ever be all praise.
Amen.

Now ' the God of grace who hath called us unto his eternal
glory by Christ Jesus — make you perfect, stablish, strengthen,
settle you ; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever.'
Amen.

' Now our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God, even our Fa-
ther, which hath loved us, and hath given us everlasting conso-
lation and good hope through grace, comfort your hearts, and
stablish you in every good word and work.'

964

SUMMARY OF

SUMMARY OF SERMON XVII.

ACTS, CHAP. IX. — VERSE 22.

As for the name of Messias, there is evident reason why it
should not be openly expressed in the ancient predictions : this
shown.

It was anciently a method of Divine Providence to impose
on persons, destined to be especial subjects of his favor, and
ministers of his glory, names answerable thereto : this shown
in several instances.

This method with great reason we may suppose would be
used by the same Divine Being, in assigning a name to
that person, whom, from the beginning of things, he had pro-
mised, &c.

Now since of all the Messias's performances none was to
be more signal than that of saving, inasmuch as he was to be
the Saviour of the world, etc., the name Jesus, which was im-
parted by particular revelation, was very appropriate to the

Messias.

It was indeed a name not in its immediate application al-
together new ; yet it was questionless by God's providence, or
by Moses, through divine instinct, first produced with relation
to the Messias : farther shown to be most apposite to him.

That Jesus (he whose birth, life, death, resurrection, and
ascension, are related in the evangelical histories) is the Christ,
is the principal article of pure faith, virtually comprehending
all other doctrines of great momeut : this explained.

It is therefore very requisite that we should well understand

SERMON XVII.

985

the meaning thereof, and that we should be firmly persuaded
of its truth. The following method observed in the ensuing
discourses on this subject.

1. The notion and reason of this name or title, Christ, is
explained.

2. It is shown that there was by God's appointment to come
into the world one person, signally that which the name im-
ports, the very Christ. 3. That Jesus was that person. 4. It
is explained, in what manner and respects, and to what pur-
poses, Jesus, in the New Testament is represented as Christ.
5. Some practical application of the point is made.

I. For the first particular. Christ is a name or title, im-
porting office and dignity, being the same with Messias ; that
in Greek, this in Hebrew, signifying the Anointed. Of an-
cient times, in the Eastern countries, which abounded with the
finest oil and odoriferous spices, it seems generally to have
been the custom (and it was such among the Jews) to separate
or consecrate persons, and things also, designed to any great or
extraordinary employment, by anointing them with ointments
composed of those ingredients : reason of this given : instances
also of prophets, priests, and kings so anointed. These things
being considered, it appears that the name Christ imports a
person in a special and signal manner designed and ordained
by God to one, or some, or all of these charges and functions ;
an extraordinary king, a great priest, and an eminent prophet.

II. Now that there was a person supereminently endued
with all these characters, (a Christ in all these respects,) de-
creed by God in due time to come into the world to accom-
plish the vast purposes answerable to the title, many express
passages in the ancient Scriptures declare.

That such a prophet should be sent, Moses in express terms
foretold (Deut. xviii. 15. 18.) : and the latter prophets agree
with him : this shown.

The ancient Scriptures do also plainly signify, concerning

BAR. VOL. V. R

38G

SUMMARY OF

the same person, that he should be a great prince, constituted
by God to govern his people for ever, in righteousness, peace,
and prosperity, &c. : so Isaiah ix. 6. xi. 10. &c. Other scrip-
tural passages quoted to this purpose.

That he also should assume and execute the priestly func-
tion, may be learned from prophetical instruction : instances
given.

These things being considered, it is no wonder that the an-
cient Jews (though the text of Scripture doth perhaps only
once explicitly and directly apply the name of Christ or J\Jes-
tiaata this illustrious person so prophesied of and promised,) did
especially assign the title to him : this point enlarged on : in-
stances quoted of their applying to him the character of Prince
and Prophet. That the Messias in their opinion was also to be
a priest, is not so clearly apparent ; yet it may be probably in-
ferred : this explained. Thus, according to the ancient Scrip-
tures, interpreted and backed by the current tradition and
general consent of God's people, it is sufficiently apparent
that a Messias (according to the notion promised) was to come
into the world.

III. Now farther, that Jesus, whom we acknowlege, was
indeed that Messias, may appear plainly from the perfect cor-
respondency of all circumstances belonging to the Messias's
appearance, of all characters suiting his person ; of all things
to be performed by him ; of whatever was to be consequent on
his presence and performances, according to ancient predic-
tions, &c. ; which things cannot possibly suit with any other per-
son that hath come, or may be expected to come.

Among circumstances the most considerable, is the time,
which did fully agree to Jesus : this shown.

Other circumstances also explained : the family out of which
he was to be born ; the place where he was to be born ; the
manner in which he was to be born. All these shown accu-
rately to correspond with Jesus.

SERMON XVII.

387

The state and condition also, in which the Messias was pre-
dicted to appear, shown to agree with that in which Jesus ap-
peared.

The same observed concerning the qualities and endowments
of the Messias's personal character, such as should dispose and
fit him for his great task, &c. His supereminent piety and
sanctity, with perfect innocence and integrity, implied in all
descriptions of his person and performances ; wherein an un-
spotted innocence, an excellent faculty of speaking and teach-
ing, &c. ; an invincible fortitude ; a most quiet and peaceable
disposition ; an exceeding meekness and gentleness; a marvel-
lous humility ; an unparalleled patience ; an inconceivable
charity ; in fine, all virtue and all goodness, suitable to his cha-
racter, do shine with transcendent lustre. His performances
are next to be considered. Conclusion.

388

BARROW. — SERMON XVII.

2nD in %zsu$ £fjn'£t, &c.
SERMON XVII.

THAT JESUS IS THE TRUE MESSIAS.

ACTS, CHAP. IX. — VERSE 22.

Proving that this is the very Christ.

As for the name of Messias, there is evident reason why it
should not be openly expressed in the ancient predictions ;
it being an easy thing for any persons, out of imposture or
wantonness, to have assumed that name ; and consequently it
would not have suited so well the true person. It was there-
fore more expedient that his name should rather only be co-
vertly signified or intimated ; it was sufficient that a name
should be imposed on him well agreeing to his office and chief
performances. There be indeed several names attributed to the
Messias; ' They shall call his name Immanuel,' said Isaiah;
' This is his name, whereby he shall be called,' ' The Lord our
Righteousness,' (Jehovah tsidkenu;) and, 1 His name shall be
called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlast-
ing Father, The Prince of Peace,' said Isaiah again ; but it is
apparent that these were not intended to be so much his pro-
per names, as attributes or epithets congruous unto him in re-
gard to the eminency of his person and performances.

The prophet Zechariah seemeth also (insisting in the foot-
steps of Isaiah and Jeremiah) to assign him the name Xetser,
(or the Branch ;) ' Behold the man whose name is The

THAT JESUS IS THE TRUE MESSIAS.

889

Branch :' but this only denoted an appellation suiting him, as
derived from the stock of David, and might beside mystically
allude to some circumstance concerning him. It doth not
therefore appear that the one proper name, by which the Mes-
sias, as the Son of man, should be known and called, is directly
forementioned ; yet it is reasonable to suppose that God
would have an especial care that he should have one befitting
him. It was one of the seven things which the Talmudists say
were constituted before the world : the law, repentance, pa-
radise, hell, the throne of glory, the sanctuary, the name of
the Messias ; according to that in the seventy-second Psalm,
verse 17. Ante solem primum nomen ejus ; so it seems they
read it: the LXX. have it, npo tov jjAi'ov biafievel to uvo^a
avrov.

It was anciently a method of Divine Providence to impose
on persons (destinated by God to be especial subjects of his
favor and eminent ministers of his glory) names answerable to
the nature of their employment, or to the design which was by
their means and ministry to be accomplished. Whereby as
God's care and providence over human affairs was declared, so
men on the mention of such names were admonished to con-
sider the divine benefits, and the duties correspondent to them.
The particular reason of imposing such names is sometime
expressly set down ; as in the cases of Seth, Abraham, Israel,
Solomon ; sometime it seems tacitly implied, the actions of
the persons interpreting the reason of their names, as in
Melchizedek, Joshua, Malachi, and perhaps in many others.

This method with great reason we may suppose that the
same divine wisdom would use in assigning a name to that per-
son, whom from the beginning of things he had promised, and
before the foundation of the world had designed to sanctify and
send into the world, for achieving the most high and excellent
design that ever, for the glory of God and the good of his
creation, was to be undertaken in this world. Most fit it
would be that God himself should be his godfather ; that he
should have no ordinary, no casual, no insignificant name ; but
such an one, which being heard might instruct and admonish
us, might raise in us a sense of God's infinite mercy and bounty
toward us ; might breed love in our hearts, and impress vene-

390

BARROW. — SERMON XVII.

ration on our minds toward him, who should bear that auspi-
cious and comfortable name ; that name, which, as the spouse of
the mystical Solomon in her mystical song did sing, is ' as an
ointmeut poured forth,' full of most wholesome and most plea-
sant fragrancy.

Now since of all the Messias's performances none was to be
more signal than that of saving; to publish, to purchase, to
effect salvation, were to be (according to what the prophets
expressly and frequently say) his peculiar works ; to be the
Saviour of the world was (as we before touched, according
to the common opinion of the Jews) a proper attribute
of his.

Wherefore the name Jesus (which we are told in the gospel
was by direction from God imparted by particular revelation,
brought by an archangel from heaven, imposed on our Lord)
<!id very well suit the Messias. No other name could be more
sweet or acceptable ; no other name could better become him,
who was to redeem men from all their enemies, their slaveries,
their errors, their sins, their miseries.

It was indeed a name not in its immediate application alto-
gether new, for many others had borne it: Jesus, the son of
Justus, we have mentioned in St. Paul ; Jesus the son of
Sirach, that excellent writer, we know ; and divers others so
named occur in Josephus : yet was it questionless by God's
providence, or by Moses, by divine instinct, first produced with
relation to the Messias; ' 3Ioses called Oshea the son of Nun
Jehoshua,' saith the text : being in a mysterious exchange from
a former name assigned to the famous Jesus (as not only Ben-
sirach, but the Apostle to the Hebrews write him) the son of
Nun, who of all the ancient types did most exactly (in office
and performance) represent and presignify the Messias ; being,
as Bensirach speaks, 'great for the saving of God's elect;'
whose actions are wonderfully congruous to those which we
attribute to our Jesus. For, by the way, to show the resemb-
lance, (omitting less and more nice congruities,) as Joshua did
bring the good report, and evangelised concerning the promised
land, (when other false or faint inquirers defamed it, and dis-
couraged the people from entering ;) as he was educated under
M<_ses, and served him faithfully ; as he succeeded in the admi-

THAT JESUS IS THE TRUE MESSIAS.

391

iiistration and government of God's people, perfecting what
Moses had begun of deliverance and settlement to them ; as he
brought the Israelites (not that old disbelieving, mutinous, and
repining generation, but a new progeny of better disposed peo-
ple) finally out of the wilderness into Canaan, by God's mira-
culous assistance, subduing their enemies, and establishing
them in a quiet possession of the promised land, allotting unto
each tribe its inheritance ; and as he did re-circumcise the
children of Israel : so did our heavenly Jesus first make a true
and faithful discovery concerning the mystical land of promise
(that better country) flowing with spiritual milk and honey,
(abundant with all spiritual comforts and pleasures, for the
food, sustenance, ami refreshment of our souls.) He was born
under the law, and submitted to its injunctions, fulfilling all
righteousness. He survived it, (the part of it which was purely
Mosaical and arbitrary,) and did complete it. He doth con-
duct God's regenerate people (such as believe, and wil-
lingly follow him) out of the desert state of error, guilt, and
sin, into the superior state of happy rest and joy, with miracu-
lous power and efficacy ; vanquishing all the spiritual Amo-
rites, (the devil, world, and flesh,) which infest, obstruct, and
oppose them ; settling them in a perpetual, undisturbed, and
immovable enjoyment of that blissful region; having also by a
spiritual circumcision prepared and consecrated them to God.
Our Saviour therefore, not only when he at last in fulness
of truth did come into the world, but anciently in type and
shadow, may be supposed to have received this name Jesus,
conferred on him in the person of Joshua, his most illustri-
ous representative. It certainly was most apposite to the
Messias.

That Jesus (that Person, whose birth, life, death, resurrec-
tion, and ascension hence, are related in the evangelical his-
tories) is ' the Christ,' is the principal article of pure faith ; the
most peculiar doctrine of our religion as such, and as distinct
from all other religions : it indeed virtually comprehends all
other doctrines of moment therein, regarding either faith or
practice. For that our being persuaded that ' Jesus is the
Christ,' implies that we apprehend ourselves obliged to em-
brace for truth whatever was taught by him and his Apostles,

392

BARROW.— SERMON XVII.

to obey all his laws, to rely on him for attainment of all the
mercies, and blessings, and rewards, which he promised to dis-
pense, in that order and on those terms, which the gospel de-
clareth. Whence to the hearty belief of this point such great
commendations are given, so high rewards are offered, so ex-
cellent privileges are annexed in the Scriptures. Whence also
the declaring, proving, and persuading this doctrine was the
chief matter of the Apostles' preaching, as both their profes-
sion and practice do show. ' The Jews,' saith St. Paul to the
Corinthians, ' require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wis-
dom ; but we preach Christ, that was crucified.' And, 'I
determined,' saith he again of himself, ' not to know any thing
among you,' (that is, not to discover any other knowlege, not
to insist on any other subject,) ' save Jesus Christ, even him
that was crucified.' This, St. John tells us, was the drift of
his writing the gospel, (which is a more extensive and durable
way of preaching.) ' These things,' saith he, ' were written,
that ye may believe that Jesus is the Christ.' And their prac-
tice, suitable to such professions, is apparent in clivers passages
of this book, wherein their acts and their discourses are re-
ported. This text particularly represents the scope to which
St. Paul mainly directed his preaching, which was the mainte-
nance and persuasion of this point, that ' Jesus is the Christ.'

It is therefore very requisite that we should well understand
the meaning thereof, and that we should firmly be persuaded of
its truth. To which purpose I shall endeavor, by God's assist-
ance, to imitate St. Paul's practice here, who did avfifiifiuiitv,
(that is the Greek word here signifying primarily to put or bring
things together, and thence in a way of collection or argumen-
tation to teach,) who, I say, did instruct his auditors, collecting
it from testimonies of ancient Scripture, and confirming it by
arguments grounded thereon. In performing which I shall ob-
serve this method :

1. I shall explain the notion and reason of this name or title,
< Christ.'

2. I shall show (that which is here tacitly supposed) that there
was by God's appointment to be, or to come into the world
from God, one Person, signally that which this name or title
imports, 6 Xpioros, 'the very Christ.'

THAT jESUS tS THE TRUE MESSIAS.

31):;

3. I shall argue that Jesus was that Person.

4. I shall explain in what manner, in what respects, to what
purposes, Jesus in the New Testament is represented as
Christ.

5. I shall make some practical application of the point.

I. For the first particular. Christ is a name or title import-
ing office and dignity ; being the same with Messias, that in
Greek, this in Hebrew, signifying the Anointed; the which
appellation we find attributed to several persons on the follow-
ing ground : Of ancient times, in the eastern countries, (abound-
ing as with good oil, so with many delicate odoriferous spices,)
it seems generally to have been the manner, (as from Hazael
the Syrian his being anointed may probably be collected,) it
was however such among the Jews, to separate or consecrate
persons, and things also I might add, designed to any great or
extraordinary employment, by anointing them with ointments
composed of those ingredients ; they symbolising or denoting
thereby, as it seems, both a plentiful effusion on them of gifts
and faculties qualifying them for such services ; and also a
comfortable and pleasant diffusion of good and grateful effects
expected from them ; (from the use of things, the performances
of persons thus sanctified.) 'Thy name,' saith the spouse in
the Canticles, ' is as ointment poured forth;' that is, thy name
is very delightful, very acceptable. And ' Behold,' saith
David, commending brotherly love and concord, ' how good
and pleasant a thing it is for brethren to dwell together in
unity : it is like the precious ointment on the head, that ran
down on the beard, even Aaron's beard ;' so good and pleasant
were those employments hoped to be, to which men were by
such unction inaugurated. We find especially three sorts of
persons to whom this consecration did, by divine appointment,
belong ; kings, priests, and prophets ; persons by whose minis-
try God of old did manage his intercourse with men, in govern-
ing them and communicating his blessings to them, both in an
ordinary way (so he used kings and priests) and in an extraor-
dinary manner, therein he employed prophets ; which sorts of
persons are therefore styled God's anointed ; kings and priests
more frequently, but sometimes also prophets; as in that of the
psalm ; ' Touch not mine anointed, and do my prophets no

394

BARROW. SERMON XVII.

harm;' where prophets and the anointed of God do seem to
denote the same thing, and one to expound the other : however
they belong to the same persons ; for Abraham, whom together
with the other patriarchs those words concern, is expressly
called a prophet. (' Now therefore,' saith the text, ' restore
the man his wife ; for he is a prophet, and he shall pray for
thee, and thou shalt live.') And that Isaac was a prophet, the
Apostle to the Hebrews intimates, saying ; ' By faith Isaac
blessed Jacob and Esau concerning things to come.' The
same is plain of Jacob, who before his death uttered many
great and remarkable predictions. The patriarchs therefore
probably as prophets were styled ' God's anointed.' But to
remark somewhat of these great offices, and their anointing
singly :

For priests, although at first all the sons of Aaron were thus
consecrated, according to that law in Exodus, ' Thou shalt
anoint Aaron and his sons, that they may minister unto me in
the priest's office ;' yet the Jewish masters tell us that afterward
in all the course of times only the high-priest was so conse-
crated. Whence by the anointed, or the priest that is anointed,
is, say they, meant the high-priest, in distinction from other in-
ferior priests.

For kings, the Jewish doctors also (as Master Selden re-
ports) do tell us that such of them who in a legal, orderly, and
unquestioned course of right did succeed into the kingdom,
were not themselves in person anointed, (they being conceived
to derive a sufficient consecration from their ancestors;) but
all those who in an extraordinary way by special designation,
(as Saul, David, Jehu, Hazael,) or on a doubtful and contro-
verted, or opposed title, (as Solomon and Joas,) did assume
the royal charge, were thus initiated : (how ancient also
the custom of anointing princes was, may be seen from that ex-
pression in Jotham's parable ; ' The trees went forth to anoint a
king over them, and they said to the olive tree, Reign thou
over us,')

As for prophets, we do not find that they were commonly, or
according to ordinary rule, anointed ; but one plain instance
we have of Elisha, substituted to Elijah, (the chief of prophets
in his time,) in this manner : ' Elisha,' it is said by God, ' the

THAT JESUS IS THE TRUE MESSIAS.

395

son of Shaphat, shalt thou anoint to be prophet in thy room ;'
who was thus consecrated, probably, because he was to be a
prophet more than ordinary, endued with higher gifts, and de-
signed to greater actions than common prophets were then ; or
perhaps because he was to be the archprophet, or head of the
prophets at that time.

We may also farther observe that some persons, who (in pro-
bability) did not partake any material unction, but were yet
destinated by God, and qualified and employed as special in-
struments of his providence or grace for producing effects suit-
able to any of those offices, have been therefore styled ' God's
anointed.' On which score the patriarchs (by whom God's true
religion was maintained and conveyed) do seem to have been
called God's anointed. And king Cyrus (whose ministry God
used in the re-edifying his temple and refreshing his people) is
therefore termed God's Christ, or anointed ; (' Thus saith the
Lord to his anointed, to Cyrus my Christ ;' r« Xpurrw /.wv Kvptp-)
the name of the sign being imparted to persons who were en-
dued with the qualities, or did perform the effects signified
thereby.

These things being considered, it appeareth that the name
Christ doth import a person in a special and signal planner
designed and ordained by God to one, or some, or all of these
charges and functions ; an extraordinary king, or a great priest,
or an eminent prophet; or one in whom either more or all of
these did concur. So much may suffice for the notion and rea-
son of this tide, ' Christ.'

II. Now that there was a person supereminently endued
with all these characters, (a Christ in all these respects,) de-
creed by God in due time to come into the world for accom-
plishment of the greatest purposes answerable to that title, (for
the instruction and reformation of the world, for the erecting
and managing an universal and perpetual kingdom, for the re-
conciliation and benediction of mankind, for the reduction of
all nations to the acknowlegement of God, and obedience to his
will, and hope in his mercy,) many express passages in the
ancient Scripture declare.

That such a prophet should be sent, Moses in express terms
foretold: 'The Lord thy God,' saith he, 'shall raise up unto

S06

B ARROW. — SERMON XVII.

thee a prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like
unto me; unto him shall ye hearken:' and, ' I will,' saith
God himself, ' raise them up a prophet from among their bre-
thren, like unto thee; and I will put my words into his mouth,
and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him,'
&c. which words plainly describe a very extraordinary prophet
some time to come, who was (signally and especially, beyond
all other prophets) to resemble Moses ; who consequently was
to accomplish high designs, and to achieve wonderful acts; to
conduct and deliver God's people, to reveal God's mind and
will, to promulge a new law, and establish a new covenant ; so
his resembling Moses doth imply, so his mission doth signify ;
(for why, if he were not intended for the performance of some-
what great and new, even beyond what Moses did, should he
be designed so formally ; what need or reason had there been
of his mission, after Moses?) and so the later prophets do in-
terpret the great Lawgiver's words : who largely predict con-
cerning one, ordained by God to come, who should eminently
discharge all parts of the prophetical function; who should
disclose new truths to men, should proclaim a new law to the
world, should ' establish a new covenant with the house of Is-
rael, and with all people;' who should propagate the knowlege
and worship of God, enlightening the Gentiles, and converting
them unto God ; who should instruct the ignorant, strengthen
the faint, comfort the afflicted ; according to divers passages
concerning him; as, for instance, that in Isaiah, cited by St.
Luke : 1 The Spirit of the Lord is on me ; because the Lord
hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek ; he
hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted;' — and that in the
same prophet alleged by St. Matthew ; ' Behold my servant,
whom I uphold, mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth ;
I have put my spirit on him ; he shall bring forth judgment
unto the Gentiles, he shall not cry,' &c. which being anointed
to preach tidings and to bring forth judgment from God, being
elected and inspired by God in order to such performances,
are peculiar marks of a prophet; such promulgation of God's
will, such ministration of direction and comfort from God,
are the proper employment of a prophet ; that is, of an
especial agent sent and qualified by God to transact spi-

THAT JESUS IS THE TRUE MESS1AS. 397

ritual affairs with men, and to declare or denounce his plea-
sure to them.

The ancient Scriptures do also plainly signify concerning the
same person, that he should be a great prince constituted by
God to govern his people for ever in righteousness, peace, and
prosperity ; endued with power requisite for delivering them
from oppression and slavery ; for subduing their enemies, for
reducing the nations under subjection unto God. So Isaiah :
' For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given ; and the
government shall be on his shoulders' — ' Of the increase of his
government and peace there shall be no end, on the throne of
David, and on his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with
judgment and with justice for ever.' Jeremiah : ' Behold, the
days come, saith the Lord, that I will raise unto David a righteous
Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute
judgment and justice in the earth : in his days Judah shall be
saved, and Israel shall dwell safely.' ' Ezekiel : ' I will save
my flock, they shall be no more a prey' and I will set up one
shepherd over them, and he shall feed them' — ' they shall also
walk in my statutes, and observe my statutes, and do them.'
Daniel : ' I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the
Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the
Ancient of days' — 'And there was given him dominion, and
glory, and a kingdom, that all people, and nations, and lan-
guages shall serve him : his dominion is an everlasting do-
minion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that
which shall not be destroyed.' Hosea : ' The children of Israel
shall return, and seek the Lord their God, and David their king;
and shall fear the Lord and his goodness in the latter days.'
The psalmist : ' I have set my king on my holy hill of Sion ;
ask of me, and 1 will give thee the uttermost parts of the earth
for thy possession.' In these and in many other places do the
prophets speak (very perspicuously and magnificently) con-
cerning the kingdom, royal state, and princely achievements of
this great personage who should come.

That he also should assume and execute the priestly function
may also be learned from prophetical instruction. Tor of him
Zechariah thus spake : ' Behold the man whose name is The
Branch ;' (a name, which so often (in sense) is attributed to

308

BARROW.— SERMON XVII.

this person, as sprouting from the stock of David;) ' he shall
grow up out of his place, and he shall build the temple of the
Lord ; and he shall bear the glory, and shall sit, and rule on
his throne ; and he shall be a priest on his throne ; and the
counsel of the Lord shall be between them both.' Of him also
David spake : ' The Lord hath sworn, and will not repent,
Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek.' To
" make reconciliation for iniquity,' (which Daniel ascribes to
him;) to ' bear the sins of the people,' and to ' make interces-
sion for the transgressors,' (which are assigned to him by
Isaiah;) are also performances, from which his sacerdotal
office may be collected.

These things being considered, it is no wonder that the an-
cient Jews (although the text of Scripture doth seldom, perhaps
not oftener than once, (in the ninth of Daniel,) explicitly and
directly apply this name of Christ, or Messias, to this illustrious
person, so prophesied of and promised to come) did especially
assign this title unto him ; it seeming of any most congruous
and most comprehensive of what appertained to him ; most
apt to denote all the prerogatives, the endowments, the achieve-
ments, the effects, which should belong to him, or proceed from
him. Whence it is observed by the learned, that the Chaldee
paraphrase (composed, as they say, before Jesus our Lord's
time, by the priests, as an interpretation of the not so exactly
understood Hebrew Scripture, for edification and instruction
of the people) doth very often apply unto him this name of the
Messias : according to whose exposition and style, together
with tradition continually deduced down from the prophets
themselves, (as is probable,) we see plainly from the New Tes-
tament, and from other history conspiring therewith, that
God's people'unanimously did expect a person under this name
and notion, who should be endued with qualities and should
perform actions conformable to the characters mentioned, to
come in determinate time into the world. Of Anna the pro-
phetess it is said, that ' she gave thanks likewise to the Lord,
and spake of him niiai rois irponhe-^ofikvciis \vrpwotv, to all that
expected redemption in Jerusalem.' Hence when St. John
the Baptist did live, and teach in a manner extraordinary, ' the
people did expect, and all men mused in their hearts concern-

THAT JESUS IS THE TRUE MESSIAS. 390

ing him, whether he were the Christ.' Yea, ' the Jews (that
is, their Senate, or great Sanhedrim) sent Priests and Levites
to inquire of him, whether he were the Christ or no :' and when
Jesus's admirable discourses and works had convinced divers
persons, they said, ' When Christ comes, shall he do greater
miracles than this man hath done V and the report which
Philip made to Nathanael concerning Jesus was this ; ' We
have found him, of whom Moses in the Law, and the prophets,
did write :' so at large they did presume concerning ■ a Christ
to come.' That they particularly did conceive he should be a
great prophet, who should abundantly declare God's truth and
will, may be gathered from divers passages; as from that in
St. John : ' Men therefore seeing the miracle that Jesus had
done, said, That this is in truth the prophet, who was to come
into the world.' Thus may that in St. Luke be taken ; ' And
there came a fear on all ; and they glorified God, saying,
That the great prophet is risen up among us ; and, That God
hath visited his people:' and this the Samaritan woman im-
plied, when she said, ' I know that the Messias comes; and
when he shall come, he will tell us all things.' That they sup-
posed he should be a king, who should be furnished with mighty
power, and should perform wonderful acts; who should assume
the government of God's people with royal majesty, and exe-
cute it with glorious success, is most clear. It was no wonder
to King Herod to hear the wise men's inquiry, ' Where is he
that is born King of the Jews?' On it he immediately demands
of the Scribes ' where Christ is to be born.' Hence no sooner
did Nathanael believe in Christ, but he cries out, ' Master,
thou art the Son of God, thou art the King of Israel.' It was
on this supposition that the priests grounded their calumny ;
' We have found this man perverting the nation, and forbid-
ding to give tribute to Cresar, saying, that he himself is Christ,
the King ;' as also hence (on information arid by instinct from
them) Pilate asked him that question, ' Art thou the king of
the Jews ?' hence likewise proceeded that acclamation ; EuAo-
y»?/Liei os o ep)(o/je>'os flaaiXeiis, ' Blessed is the King, that is to
come in the name of the Lord.' And it was from this ancient
popular prejudice, that the Apostles asked Jesus after his resur-
rection, ' Lord, wilt thou at this time restore tlie kingdom to

400

BARROW SERMON XVII.

Israel V It is indeed the ordinary title, which the Talmudists
and ancient Rabbins give the Messias, ' Hammelech Messiah,'
Messias the King.

That the Messias in their opinion was also to be a priest, is
not so clearly apparent ; yet it may probably be inferred :
that they understood the 110th Psalm to respect the Messias
is very likely, or rather certain, from that passage in the gos-
pel, in which Jesus asked the Pharisees, ' What think ye of
Christ? whose son is he?' and they answering, 'The Son of
David,' he returned on them this puzzling question; 'How
then doth David in the spirit (that is, prophetically) call
him Lord, saying, The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou on
my right hand?' which question confounded them, they not
daring to deny that Psalm to respect the Messias, (it being the
received opinion among the doctors,) nor yet seeing how the
relations of Son and Lord were reconcilable : and admitting
that Psalm was to be referred unto the Messias, they must con-
sequently acknowlege him to be a priest; for it is there said,
' The Lord hath sworn, and will not repent, Thou art a priest
for ever after the order of Melchizedek.' It was also an opi-
nion passing among them, that the Messias should be the Sa-
viour of the world, as may be collected from that saying of the
Samaritans; ' We have heard him ourselves, and know that
this is indeed the Christ, the Saviour of the world :' which
being their opinion, and toward the salvation of men it being
needful that a reconciliation of them unto God, and an ex-
piation of their sins, (which are sacerdotal acts,) should be pro-
cured by him, it seems to follow that they had some notion
of his priesthood. Indeed the persuasion concerning a Messias
to come, about the time when our Lord appeared, became dif-
fused over the whole eastern parts; as even Pagan historians
(Tacitus and Suetonius) do report.* And the conceit thereof
was so vigorous in the Jews, that it excited them to rebellion,
and encouraged them with great obstinacy to persist therein, as
not only those historians, but Josephus himself tellethus;t he
also together with them (which is somewhat strange) referring
the intent of those prophecies, and the verifying of that opi-

* Suet, in Vesp. Tacitus Hist. v. t Jos. o.W. vi. 31.

THAT JESUS IS THE TRUE MESSIAS.

401

nion, to the person of the emperor Vespasian. The same con-
ceit did then likewise occasion many pretenders and impostors
(such as Theudas, and Judas the Galilean) to arise, disposing
also the people so easily to be deluded by them, and so readily
to run after them, as they did to their own harm.

Thus according to the ancient Scriptures, interpreted and
backed by the current tradition and general consent of God's
people, it is sufficiently apparent that a Messias (according to
the notion premised) was to come into the world.

III. Now farther, that Jesus, whom we acknowlege, was in-
deed that Messias, may appear plainly from the perfect corres-
pondency of all circumstances belonging to the Messias's appear-
ance, and of all characters suiting his person, and of all things
to be performed by him ; together with whatever was to be
consecpaent on his presence and performances ; according to
ancient presignifications and predictions, and according to
the passable opinions of God's people concerning him ; the
which, as they cannot possibly suit with any other person that
hath yet appeared, or may reasonably be expected to come
hereafter, so they exactly agree to the coming, and person, and
practice, and success of Jesus.

Among circumstances the most considerable is the time ; the
which (both when it was said that he should come, and when
it was fit that he should come) did very well agree to Jesus.
' But when the fulness of time was come, God sent forth his
Son,' &c. Fulness in regard to ancient prediction, in regard
to fitness of season. For as the Messias was to be ' the desire
of all nations,' so Jesus did come then, when by special in-
stinct a general expectation and desire of his coming was raised
in the world ; at the time when the Patriach Jacob foretold
that ' Shiloh would come,' viz. ' when the sceptre was just de-
parted from Judah, and a Lawgiver from his feet;' Judea
being brought under the dominion of strangers ; (such were the
Romans, such was King Herod.) About the expiration of
Daniel's weeks, (however commenced or computed,) ' the time
determined to finish transgression, and to make an end of sins,
to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to introduce everlasting
righteousness, to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to

402

BARROW. — SERMON XVII.

anoint the most Holy,' (as the prophet speaks.) Shortly be-
fore the destruction of Jerusalem, according to that of Daniel ;
' And after sixty and two weeks shall Messias be cut off, but
not for himself : and the people of the prince that shall come
shall destroy the city and the sanctuary.' When that Zion,
' out of which,' as Isaiah tells us, ' the law was to go forth ; and
out of which the Redeemer should come, and turn ungodliness
from Jacob,' did stand and florish. When the temple did
stand, which the prophets Malachi and Haggai did predict
should be illustrated by the presence of the Messiah : 1 The
Lord, whom ye seek,' saith Malachi, ' shall suddenly come to
his temple ; even the messenger of the covenant, in whom ye
delight :' and, ' I will,' saith Haggai, ' shake all nations, and
the desire of all nations shall come ; and I will fill this house
with glory, saith the Lord : the glory of this latter house shall
be greater than the glory of the former, saith the Lord of
hosts.' Before Jewry was desolated, Jerusalem destroyed,
the tribes and families of Israel confounded, all that people
wofully dispersed, and in a palpable manner deserted by God.
When the Jewish religion (which the Messias was to complete)
was by a numerous accession of proselytes disseminated and
diffused through many provinces of that one vast empire, under
which a great part of the world was united and settled durably
in a calm state of peace and order : when one or two languages
were commonly understood by all, and men thereby more easily
conversed together; and when the ancient Scriptures being
translated into Greek were so widely intelligible. When
mankind was become generally civilised and cultivated with
laws, and policy, and learning; with knowlege of arts and phi-
losophy ; the world then beginning of itself to open its eyes,
so as to discern the errors and deceits by which it long had
been abused ; and was thence well prepared to learn, and ren-
dered very susceptive of divine truth ; when all things thus
conspired with good advantage to entertain the Christ, then
' in the fulness of time,' in the right and proper season, («u-
pols tbioif, as St. Paul speaketh) Katpy 2>eK-<p, ' in an acceptable
time,' as Isaiah prophesied, did Jesus come, to instruct and
reform the world, as he professed. It was Porphyry's objec-

THAT JESUS IS THE TRUE MESSIAS.

103

tion against Christianity, and an obvious one, why Christ did
not come before, but in the latter days ; to which the particu-
lar fitness of this time is an answer.

The other circumstances ; the family out of which, the place
where, the manner in which, Jesus was born, did also punc-
tually correspond. He was to be an Israelite, according to
the promise made of old to Abraham, that • in his seed all the
nations of the earth should be blessed ;' and according to Mo-
ses's prophecy ; ' The Lord thy God shall raise up unto thee
a prophet from the midst of thee of thy brethren.' He was to
come out of the tribe of Judah ; as the patriarch Jacob in his
last prophetical rapture did by various expressions intimate
and signify. Particularly he was to rise out of the family of
David, as the prophets frequently and clearly did avouch ; for
he was, as Isaiah said, ' to be a rod out of the stem of Jesse,
and a Branch going out of his roots;' 'a righteous Branch,' ac-
cording to Jeremiah, ' whom God would raise to David.' He
whom Solomon (that most wise, peaceable, and prosperous
prince, who raised that glorious temple, the emblem of God's
Church) did presignify ; and in whom the promises made to
David concerning the perpetuity of his throne should be made
good; ' There shall not fail thee a man,' &c. ' Thine house
and thy kingdom shall be established for ever before thee ;'
' thy throne shall be established for ever;' especially that abso-
lute and irrevocable promise ratified by God's oath ; ' I have
made a covenant with my chosen, I have sworn unto David
my servant, Thy seed will I establish for ever, and build up
thy throne unto all generations :' who consequently by reason
of conjunction in blood, and mutual representation, David pre-
figuring him, and he by succession into the imperial right ex-
pressing David, is by several of the prophets (by Jeremiah, by
Ezekiel, by Hosea) called David : whence the learned among
the Jews did consent that the Messias was to be the Son of
David ; ' How say the Scribes, that Christ is the Son of Da-
vid ?' and, ' What think ye of Christ ? whose son is he ? (it is
our Lord's question to the Pharisees;) They say unto him,
The Son of David.' Yea the people were generally informed
herein, and possessed with this sentiment ; ' Hath not the Scrip-
ture said, that Christ cometh of the seed of David V was a po-

404

BARROW SERMON XVII.

pular speech in St. John. ' And all the people were amazed,
and said, Is not this the Son of David ?' Now accordingly that
Jesus came out of this country, tribe, and family, (that he was,
as St. Luke speaketh, 'of the house and lineage of David,' both
according to natural and legal succession,) the express affirma-
tion of angels, the positive attestation of his parents and kin-
dred, (who best knew,) the genealogies (according to the man-
ner of those times and that nation) carefully preserved and
produced by the Evangelists, do assure us; neither doth it ap-
pear that Jesus's adversaries did ever contest this point, but
seem by their silence to have granted it, as easily and evi-
dently provable by authentic records and testimonies.

More precisely yet for the place of the Messias's birth, it
was to be the town of Bethlehem ; so the Prophet Micah
foretold ; thus cited by St. Matthew : ' Thou Bethlehem, in
the land of Judah, art not the least among the princes of Judah ;
for out of thee shall come a Governor, that shall nils my peo-
ple Israel.' So from thence did the learned judge ; for being
consulted by king Herod 'where Christ was to be born,' they
answered, ' that in Bethlehem :' and so also did the people
commonly believe, as appears by the aforesaid passage in St.
John ; ' Hath not the Scripture said, that Christ cometh of the
seed of David, and out of the town of Bethlehem, where David
was ?' Now that Jesus should be there born, God himself took
especial care, ordering it by his providence, that by imperial
edict the world should be taxed, or registered ; and that in
order thereto the parents of Jesus should be forced to go from
a distant place of their habitation unto Bethlehem, the place
of their stock and family ; that so both Jesus might be born
there, and that good circumstance might appear certain by the
unquestionable testimony of the censual tables, unto which
(extant even in their times) Justin Martyr, Tertullian, and St.
Chrysostom refer those, who would be certified in that parti-
cular.*

That place also of his parents' abode in Xazareth of Galilee,
on which was consequent his first appearance in way of action,
was so ordered as to answer ancient predictions ; according to

* Just. Martyr. Apol. 2. Tertull. in Marc. iv. 19.

THAT JESUS IS THE TRUE MESSIAS. 405

which it was said, that ' in the land of Zabulon and Nephthali,
by the way of the sea, beyond Jordan in Galilee of the nations,
the people that walked in darkness did see a great light, and
they that dwelt in the land of the shadow of death, on them the
light shined.'

The manner also of the Messias's birth was, as became such
a Person, to be very extraordinary, and different from the com-
mon generation of men : for he was not only to be ' one like
the Son of man,' as the Prophet Daniel terms him, and indeed
' the Son of David,' as all the prophecies declare of him, but
' the Son of God' also ; for, ' Thou art my son, this day have
I begotten thee,' saith God of him in the second Psalm. And
that which in the less perfect sense was said of Solomon, (who
prefigured him,) was, according to a more sublime meaning,
and more exactly to agree unto him : ' He shall be my son,
and I will be his father; and I will establish the throne of his
kingdom over Israel for ever :' • Also I will make him my
first-born, higher than the kings of the earth :' and accordingly
we see that the Jews (both the wise and the vulgar sort) did
suppose that he should be ' the Son of God ;' so St. John the
Baptist, so Nathanael, so Martha, so St. Peter, and the other
Apostles, when they became persuaded that Jesus was the
Christ, did presently, according to anticipation of judgment
common to them with the people, confess him to be ' the Son of
God;' the high-priest himself intimated the same, when he
asked Jesus, ' Art thou the Christ, the Son of the Blessed V
Yea, the devils themselves were learned and orthodox in this
point; who cried out, ' Thou art the Christ, the Son of God.'
Now that, according to those prophecies and those traditions,
the Messias should be in a more than ordinary way, and (for
the justifying of God's truth together with the satisfying men)
should evidently appear to be the Son of God, it was requisite
(at least convenient) that his birth should be procured by di-
vine operation, without concurrence of a human father ; (how
otherwise, at least how better, could it be apparent that he
was both the Son of God and of man ?) It was consequently
either necessary or fit that he should be born of a virgin : and
that he should indeed be so born, the Prophet Isaiah did sig-
nify, when he said, « The Lord himself shall give you a sign,'

406 BARROW. — SERMON XVII.

(that is, shall perform somewhat very remarkable and strange :
what was that?) ' Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a
son, and shall call his name Immanuel ;' which prophecy that it
belonged to the Messias appears from the report and descrip-
tion which follows in the continuation of this particular pro-
phecy concerning this child : ' For unto us a child is born,
unto us a son is given, and the government shall be on his shoul-
ders, and his name shall be called Wonderful,' &c. which de-
scription questionless appertaineth to the Messias. The same
prophet signifies the same concerning him, when he introduceth
him speaking thus ; ' And now, saith the Lord, that formed
me from the womb to be his servant,' &c. Now that Jesus in
correspondence to this admirable character was born of a vir-
gin, his parents (persons of unblamable integrity and inno-
cence ; so that even the adversaries of Jesus appear not ever to
have offered to impeach them of imposture, or to have troubled
them about this report coming from them) did constantly aver,
angels did attest to their report, and God himself at several
times by audible voices from heaven declared Jesus to be ' his
beloved Son.'

The state and condition also, in which the Messias was first
to appear, was described to be a state of external meanness and
obscurity, of poverty and wretchedness, in the eye of man : a
state indeed most convenient and proper for a spiritual king, a
most holy priest, an absolute prophet ; who was to teach, exer-
cise, and exemplify the most rough and harsh pieces of righte-
ousness and piety, (contempt of worldly vanities and pleasures;
all sorts of self-denial and abstinence; the virtues of meekness,
humility, and patience ;) who was to manage and execute his
great undertakings, not by natural or human force, but by a
virtue supernatural and divine ; whose power consequently
would be more conspicuous in a state of visible meanness and
impotency, than in a condition of worldly splendor and strength;
that also which he was to merit from God, and to undergo for
the sake of men, doth argue the same : that such the 3Iessias's
state was to be, there are divers mystical intimations in the
ancient Scripture ; but the Prophet Isaiah speaks it out most
plainly : ' He shall grow up (says he describing that state) be-
fore the Lord like a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry

THAT JESUS IS THE TRUE MESSIAS.

407

ground ; he hath no form nor comeliness ; and when we shall
see him, there is no beauty that we should desire hiin.' And
again : ' Thus saith the Lord, the Redeemer of Israel, and
his Holy one ; To him whom man despiseth, to him whom the
nation abhorreth, to a servant of rulers, kings shall see and
arise, princes also shall worship.'

Now that Jesus appeared thus in a poor, servile, and despic-
able condition, we need not for to prove ; for as his followers
avow it, so his adversaries are most ready to grant it ; in the
haughtiness of their conceit taking it for an advantage against
him, it proves a scandal to them. ' Is not this the carpenter's
son V ' Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary ? said they ;
and they were offended at him.' Hence was it that, as the
prophet foretold, ' He was despised and rejected of men, and
they esteemed him not.' Thus all the circumstances of the
Messias's coming were answered by those of Jesus.

Now concerning the qualities and endowments of the Mes-
sias, which constitute his personal character, they are, as was
expedient, such as should dispose and fit him for the discharge
of his great employment and duty with utmost advantage, and
especial decency : in general, he was to be endued with super-
eminent piety and sanctity, with perfect innocence and inte-
grity ; so it is implied in all the descriptions of his person and
performances : ' The sceptre of thy kingdom is a right sceptre :
thou lovest righteousness, and hatest iniquity ; wherefore God,
even thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above
thy fellows,' said the psalmist of him ; and, ' Righteousness
shall be the girdle of his loins, and faithfulness the girdle of his
reins,' said Isaiah of him, (denoting the ready disposition of his
mind to do whatever was good :) and, ' He had done no vio-
lence, neither was there any deceit in his lips,' saith the same
prophet of him again. Some particular virtues and abilities
are also ascribed to him in an eminent degree : excellent wis-
dom and knowlege in spiritual matters, thus represented by
Isaiah : ' The Spirit of the Lord shall rest on him, the spirit of
wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the
spirit if knowlege and fear of the Lord ; and shall make him
of quick understanding in the fear of the Lord.' Eloquence
also, skill and aptitude to instruct men ; which that most evan-

408

BARROW.— SERMON XVII.

gelical prophet thus sets forth : ' The Lord hath given me the
tongue of the learned, that 1 should know how to speak a word
in season to him that is weary.' That he should be meek, and
gentle, and compassionate toward men, in regard to their infir-
mities and afflictions ; mild and lowly in his conversation, the
prophets also signify : ' He shall,' saith Isaiah, ' feed his flock
like a shepherd ; he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry
them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with
young :' ' A bruised reed shall he not break, and the smoking
flax shall he not quench :' and, ' Behold,' saith Zechariah,
' thy King cometh unto thee ; he is just, and having salvation ;
lowly, and riding on an ass.' That he should be of a quiet and
peaceable disposition, nowise fierce or contentious, turbulent or
clamorous, Isaiah declares, thus saying of him, (as St. Matthew
cites him ;) ' He shall not strive, nor cry, neither shall any
man hear his voice in the streets.' To his admirable patience
in bearing afflictions and contumelies, Isaiah thus renders ex-
press testimony : ' He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet
he opened not his mouth ; he was brought as a lamb to the
slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he
opened not his mouth.' And, • I gave my back to the smiter,
and my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair : I hid not my
face from shame and spitting.' His invincible courage and re-
solution in God's service, together with his strong confidence in
God and intire submission to God's will, is thus described by
the same prophet : 'The Lord God,' saith he, ' will help me,
therefore I shall not be confounded ; therefore have I set my
face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be ashamed.' —
' The Lord God hath opened mine ear, and I was not rebellious,
neither turned away back.' His general goodness and bound-
less charity toward men, the nature of his office and design, to-
gether w ith the whole course and tenor of his practice, such as
they are represented, do suppose and imply.

Now that Jesus (our Lord) did in his person fully correspond,
and did by his practice thoroughly make good this moral high
character ; the story of his life with admirable simplicity and
sincerity, without any semblance of disguise or artifice, repre-
sented by persons who most intimately were acquainted and
long conversed with him, (or by persons immediately informed

THAT JESUS IS THE TRUE MESSIAS.

489

by them,) and with greatest constancy attested to and main-
tained by them, doth plainly show; wherein his incomparable
piety toward God, his readiness to fulfil all righteousness, his
intire submission and resignation of himself to God's will, the
continual fervency, (devotion of all kinds, prayer, thanksgiv-
ing, fasting, practised in the most intense degree and in the
most reverent manner,) his pure and ardent zeal for God's glory,
his steadfast resolution, and indefatigable industry in God's
service (making it his meat to do the will of him that sent
him, and to perform his work.)

Wherein an unspotted innocence, not only exempted from
the vices and defilements, but raised above the vanities and im-
pertinences of the world ; secured by a magnanimous con-
tempt, or neglect and abstinence from all worldly grandeur and
splendor ; all secular wealth and profit, all bodily delight and
ease, wherein an admirable wisdom and prudence, expressed in
all his demeanor and his discourse ; in his discerning the secret
thoughts and dissembled intentions of men ; in his declaring
and defending truth, detecting and confuting errors; in baffling
learned and wily opposers ; iu eluding captious questions, and
evading treacherous designs; in not meddling with the secular
affairs and interests of men ; in not incumbering himself with
the needless cares and occupations of this life, nor intangling
himself in the snares of this world; in dexterously accommo-
dating his behavior and his speech to the dispositions, the capa-
cities, the needs of men ; to the circumstances of things and
exigences of occasion, so as did best conduce to the promoting
his great design and undertaking; so that the people observing
his proceedings, could not but be astonished, and ask, ' Whence
hath this man this wisdom V so that they could not but acknow-
lege, ' He hath done all things well.'

Wherein particularly an excellent faculty of speaking and
teaching, of interpreting and applying the holy Scriptures,
of proving and persuading God's truth, whereby he drew the
people after him, converted many of them to amendment of
life, convinced the most averse and incredulous ; so that
' all that heard him were amazed at his understanding and
answers ;' so that • all bare witness, and wondered at the gra-
BAR. vol. v. s

410 BARROW. — SERMON XVII.

cious words which proceeded out of his mouth;' so that the offi-
cers sent to apprehend him did confess, ' Never man spake like
this man.'

Wherein an invincible fortitude and gallantry, expressed in
his most constant profession and undaunted maintenance of
truth and goodness ; in his encountering the prejudices, detect-
ing the frauds, reproving the vices of the age, though upheld by
the greatest persons and by prevalent factions; in his plain
dealing and free speaking with all sincerity and all authority,
in his zealous checking and chastising profane abuses ; in his
disregarding the rash and fond opinions of men, their spiteful
obloquies, harsh censures, slanderous imputations, and unjust
reproaches ; in his foreseeing the greatest of dangers and
worst of mischiefs that could arrive to man, yet cheerfully en-
countering and firmly sustaining them ; sustaining all the vio-
lent oppositions and assaults which the most virulent malice
and envy inflamed with superstition and blind zeal could set
against him.

Wherein a most quiet and peaceable disposition, apparent
from his never attempting any resistance, or any revenge on
provocation of frequent great affronts and injuries; from his
never raising any tumults, nor fomenting any quarrels, nor
meddling with any litigious matters, nor encroaching on any
man's right or office ; by his ready compliance with received
customs, by his paying tribute, although not due from him, to
prevent offence ; by his frequent instructions and exhortations
to peace, to innocence, to patience, to due obedience, to per-
forming due respect to superiors, and paying customs to
governors ; to the yielding a docile ear, and an observance to
those who ' sat in Moses's chair.'

Wherein an exceeding meekness and gentleness, demon-
strated in all his conversation ; in resenting very moderately,
or rather not resenting at all, most unjust hatreds, outrageous
calumnies, bitter reproaches and contumelies from his adver-
saries ; very perverse neglects and ingratitudes from multitudes
of people ; many infirmities, stupidities, distrusts, basenesses
and treacheries from his own nearest friends and followers.
In his passing over and easily pardoning the greatest offences

THAT JESUS IS THE TRUE MESSIAS.

411

committed against him, yea sometime extenuating and excusing
them. In the mildness of his censures, expostulations, and
reproofs; in his tempering the fierce zeal, hard censure, and
rigorous proceeding against persons unhappy, or faulty ; in
his tender pity of all persons in any want, distress, or trouble ;
in his earnest commiseration and bewailing the vengeance he
foresaw impendent on his persecutors, and in his praying for
their pardon.

Wherein a marvellous humility and lowliness of mind ex-
pressed by his not seeking honor or applause from men, but
shunning and rejecting it; his not assuming to himself, but
ascribing all to God, and referring all to his glory, by his
making no ostentation of his miraculous power and high endow-
ments, but, so far as would comport with the prosecution of his
main purpose, (the glory and service of God, the good and
welfare of men,) carefully suppressing and concealing them ;
in his without dissatisfaction or discouragement bearing scorn,
and contempt, and obloquy ; in his willing condescension to
the meanest offices and employments ; in his free and familiar
conversation with all sorts of people, with the lowest and most
despicable, with the worst and most odious, for their good ; he
not despising the poorest or vilest wretch, who seemed capable
of receiving any benefit from him ; in his easiness to be in-
treated, and readiness to comply with the desires of any man
imploring succor or relief from him ; in his being ready, not
only to oblige, but to be obliged and receive courtesies from
any man ; to answer the invitation of a pharisee or of a pub-
lican ; to accept favorably the well-intended respect of a poor
woman ; in the softness and sweetness of his language to all
men, particularly .to his disciples; 'Be of good courage,
daughter;' 'Son, be of good cheer;' 'I say unto you, my
friends;' « Little children, I am a little while witli you.' Such
was his style and conversation toward his inferiors.

Wherein an unparalleled patience is contentedly and cheer-
fully, through all the course of his life, undertaking and under-
going whatever by God's will and providence was imposed on
him, how grievous and distasteful soever to human apprehen-
sion or sense ; the extreniest penury, the hardest toil, the vilest
disgraces, the most bitter pains and anguishes incident to body

412

BARROW. — SERMON XVII.

or mind, the most horrid and most sorrowful of deaths, all these
aggravated by the conscience of his own clearest innocence, by
the extreme ingratitude of those who misused him, by the sense
of God's displeasure for the sin of man, by all the embittering
considerations which a most lively piety and tender charity
suggested ; in submitting to all this most freely and most calmly
without any regret, any disturbance.

Wherein an unexpressible and unconceivable charity, (' a
charity indeed which surpasseth knowlege,' as St. Paul speak-
eth,) evidenced in the constant strain and tenor of his whole
life, passing through all his designs, all his words, and all his
actions ; for bifj\6ev evepyerwv, as St. Peter says in the Acts,
he did nothing else, but ' go about doing good,' and benefiting
men ; curing their diseases, relieving their wants, instructing
their minds, reforming their manners, drawing them to God and
goodness, disposing them to the attainment of everlasting bliss
and salvation. It is love, we may observe, which was the soul
that animated and actuated him in all things ; which carried
him with unwearied resolution and alacrity through all the cruel
hardships and toils, through all the dismal crosses and igno-
minies he endured : his life was in effect but one continual ex-
pression of charity, (differently exerting itself according to
various opportunities, and circumstances, and needs of men,)
the which was consummated, and sealed by his death ; the
highest instance of charity that could be; for, ' Greater love
hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his
friend.'

Wherein, finally, (in which life, I say, of Jesus,) all holi-
ness, all virtue, all goodness (suitable to him, who was to be
not only the teacher and the persuader of the best life, but a
living standard and pattern thereof ; who was to merit of God
in man's behalf, to conciliate God's favor towards us, and
appease his anger against us) do shine and sparkle with a beauty
and a lustre transcending all expression. All which particu-
lars might, were it now proper and seasonable, be thoroughly
declared by instances extant in the evangelical history. So
that the characteristical qualities of the Messias do clearly and
abundantly agree to Jesus our Lord.

His performances should next be considered and compared ;

THAT JESUS IS THE TRUE MESSIAS. 413

but the time doth not admit that we should now proceed any
farther.

Now, ' blessing, and honor, and glory, and power be unto
him that sitteth on the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and
ever.' Amen.

414

LMMARY OF

SUMMARY OF SERMON XVIII.

ACTS, CHAP. IX. — VERSE 22.

The five particulars proposed for explanation repeated. The
first and second of these having been dispatched, we entered
into the third, which is of the highest consequence, beginning
to declare that Jesus, our Lord, is the Christ, from the circum-
stances of his advent, and from his personal qualifications : we
now proceed to declare the same from the exact correspondence
of his undertakings, &c. to those which were predicted of the
Messias ; together with the consequences of what the Messias
was to do, and what Jesus did answerably effect.

1, One great performance of the Messias was, by inspiration
and in the name of God, to make a complete discovery of
divine truth ; to publish a law of perpetual obligation ; to in-
stitute a religion perfect in all respects, &c. The doctrine which
Jesus taught is shown to have done this in the completest man-
ner, with regard to the character of God himself ; concerning
our own nature, origin, and end, &c. ; also with regard to the
most accurate rule of life, suitable to our nature and our wel-
fare : it is also shown that no religion can be purer from super-
stitious alloys and useless incumbrances ; none can have the
like advantage of setting before us a living copy and visible
standard of good practice ; none can build our duty on more
solid grounds, and direct it to better ends ; no doctrine can
afford more and greater encouragements to the practice of it ;
none can: in a more sure or kindly manner, appease and satisfy
the conscience. Such is the doctrine, law, and religion of

SERMON XVIII.

415

Jesus ; so that hence we may reasonably infer that the doc-
trine taught, the law promulgated, the religion instituted by
him in God's name, are the very same which the predictions
concerning the Messias refer unto, as the last which should
come from God.

2. But of his doctrine particularly, it was signified that it
should be very comfortable, joyful, and acceptable to mankind :
this enlarged on, and illustrated from Scripture.

Now to all this the preaching of Jesus did exactly corres-
pond ; it being, as it was named, a gospel, or message of good
and joy : this explained.

3. Collateral unto, or coincident with those performances,
namely, the teaching such a doctrine, publishing such a law,
&c, was the formal institution of a new, everlasting covenant,
dissolving all other ; a covenant between God and man ; a
-covenant of grace and mercy, and salvation, &c. : this cove-
nant described at large.

Now that Jesus did iustitute such a covenant, wherein all
the benefits promised on God's part, and all the duties required
on ours, do punctually correspond to the terms of that pre-
designed by the prophets, is apparent from the whole tenor of
the Christian gospel : this shown.

4. In coincidence also with these performances, it is de-
clared that the Messias should erect a kingdom, spiritual in
nature, universal in extent, and perpetual in duration ; by the
power and virtue of which the enemies of God's people should
be curbed and quelled ; the subjects of it should live together
in peace, and safety, and prosperity.

The chief testimonies of ancient Scripture predicting this
kingdom have been already mentioned : at this time therefore,
the nature and extent of it only are treated of, for the illustra-
tion and proof of our main purpose.

5. If we singly compare the particular consequences and
successes of the Messias's performances, expressed by the pro-

416

SUMMARY OF SERMON XVIII.

phets, we shall find an exact correspondence in what hath fol-
lowed our Lord's undertakings.

This shown, with regard to the great opposition that should
be made against his doctrine by Jews and Gentiles ; with regard
to his person, which should be acknowleged, worshipped, and
blessed over all the world ; with regard to a diffusion of the
knowlege of God over all nations; also to that righteousness
which in the times of the Messias should commonly prosper;
to the peace, love, charity, and justice which should ensue on
the entertainment of the Messias's doctrine and laws ; to the
great princes and potentates which should submit to him,
avowing his authority and reverencing his name, &c. ; also
with regard to a particular consequence of what the Messias
should do, that, by virtue of his performances, idolatry, or the
worship of wicked spirits, should be conspicuously vanquished
and destroyed ; also with regard to the state of things conse-
quent on all these performances, a state so different from the
former state of mankind, that it is called the creation of a new
world.

Other important considerations of this kind still remain :
these reserved to a future occasion. Conclusion.

THAT JESUS IS THE TRUE MESS1AS. 417

Sno m 3Je.siujS €^cis't, &c.
SERMON XVIII.
THAT JESUS IS THE TRUE MESSIAS.

ACTS, CHAP. IX. — VERSE 22.

But Saul increased the more in strength, and confounded the
Jews, which dwelt at Damascus, proving that this is the very
Christ.

In conformity to St. Paul's design and practice implied
here, I have formerly propounded to explain and persuade
these particulars. 1. What is the right notion and reason of
this name or title, Christ. 2. That there was destinated to
come into the world a Person, who signally, according to that
right notion, should be the Christ. 3. That Jesus, whom we
avow, is that Person, the very Christ. 4. In what man-
ner, and on what accounts, the New Testament representeth
Jesus to be the Christ. 5. What application the point re-
quireth.

In prosecution of which particulars, having dispatched
the first and second, I did enter into the third, which is of
highest consequence, beginning to declare that Jesus, our Lord,
is the Christ, from the circumstances of his coming into the
world, and from his personal qualifications; which having in
some measure performed, I shall now proceed to declare the
same from the exact correspondency of his undertakings and
performances to those, which, according to ancient presig-
nifications and prophecies, the Messias was designed to un-

BARROW. — SERMON XVI11.

dertake and accomplish ; together with the consequences of
what the Messias was to do, and what answerably Jesus did
effect.

1. One great performance of the Messias was, by inspi-
ration and in the name of God, to make a complete dis-
covery of divine truth ; to publish a law of universal and per-
petual obligation ; to institute a religion consummate in all
respects, which should correct the faults and supply the defects
of all precedent dispensations, which should therefore be, as it
were, God's last will and testament, after which no other re-
velation was to be expected : ' I will,' said Moses of him,
' put words into his mouth ; and he shall speak unto them all
that I command him; and it shall come to pass, that whoever
will not hearken unto my words, which he shall speak in my
name, I will require it of him :' by him Isaiah foretold that
' God shall teach us of his ways, and we shall walk in his
paths ; for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of
God from Jerusalem : by him Jeremiah signified, that ' God
would put his law into the inward parts of men, and write it in
their hearts ;' it was, as it is said in Daniel, part of his work
' to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision
and prophecy ;' and his days in the prophets are commonly
styled ' the last days,' because, it seeraeth, of the perfection of
his doctrine, and immutability of his law ; where such an intire
instruction and final resolution in all points was commonly ex-
pected by the Jews, as the Samaritan woman did intimate;
' I know,' said she, according to the current persuasion then,
' that the Messias cometh ; and when he shall come, he will
tell us all things.'

Now accordingly Jesus (our hope, and author of our faith)
hath taught a doctrine, hath proclaimed a law, hath instituted
a religion, which on strict and careful examination will be
found most perfect in all respects ; such in its nature as cannot
but indispensably oblige all that understand it ; such as is
worthy of God, and suitable to his designs of glorifying him-
self, and obliging his creature; in short, he hath been author
of such an institution, as may be demonstrated the most excel-
lent and complete that can be. For (briefly to show this by
considering the main, if not all imaginable excellences of any

THAT JESUS IS THE TRUE MESSIAS. 410

religion, law, or doctrine) it is impossible that any doctrine
should assign a more true, proper, complete notion or character
of God himself, more congruous to what reason dictateth, the
works of nature declare, the purest tradition attesteth, or
common experience doth intimate concerning God ; more apt
to breed in our hearts the highest affection and reverence to-
ward him, or to engage us in the strictest practice of duty and
obedience to him ; none can ascribe unto God higher perfections
of nature, can more assert unto him all his due rights and prero-
gatives, can better commend and justify to us all his actions and
proceedings, can represent him more amiable in his goodness,
more terrible in his justice, more glorious and venerable in all
his ways of providence ; can consequently better direct or dis-
pose us to render unto him a worship worthy of him and accep-
table to him ; can also therefore with more security and advan-
tage commend unto us the imitation of him in our disposition
and demeanor.

Nor could any doctrine more clearly and fully inform us
concerning ourselves ; concerning our nature, our original, our
end, all our state, past, present, final ; what the dignity of our
nature is, for what purposes we were designed and framed,
wherein our happiness doth consist, what shall be our state
after death, how we shall be judged and dealt with then ; the
knowlege of which particulars is of so immense consequence,
for the satisfaction of our minds and direction of our lives;
concerning which therefore men in all times have so ear-
nestly inquired and disputed, without any sure resolution but
from hence.

Nor could a more accurate rule of life (more congruous to
reason and suitable to our nature, or perfective thereof ; more
conducible to our welfare and our content ; more apt to pro-
cure each man's private good, and to promote the public
benefit of all) have been prescribed ; nothing can be more
just, or comely, or pleasant, or beneficial to us, than are the
duties of piety (consisting in love, reverence, gratitude, devo-
tion, obedience, faith and repentance toward God) which
Christianism doth require. No directions concerning our de-
portment toward our neighbors and brethren can be imagined
comparable to those (those of hearty love, good-will, beneficence,

1-20

BARROW.— SERMON XVIII.

compassion, readiness to forgive, meekness, peaceableness, and
the like) which the Christian law injoineth. No precepts or
advices concerning the management of ourselves (the ordering
our souls and our bodies in their respective functions and frui-
tions) can be devised more agreeable to sound reason, more
productive of true welfare and real delight unto us, than are
those of being humble and modest in our conceits, calm and
composed in our passions, sober and temperate in our enjoy-
ments, patient and contented in our state, with the like, which
the Christian doctrine doth inculcate. No other method can
raise us up so near to heaven and happiness as that which we
here learn of abstracting and elevating our minds above the
fading glories, the unstable possessions, the vanishing delights
of this world ; the fixing our thoughts, affections, and hopes ou
the concernments of a better future state.

No religion also can be purer from superstitious alloys, or
freer from useless incumbrances (or from, as Tertullian* calleth
them, ' busy scrupulosities') than is this, (such as it is in its
native simplicity, and as it came from its author, before the
pragmatical curiosity, or domineering humor, or covetous
designings of men had tampered with it,) it only requiring a
rational and spiritual service, consisting in performance of sub-
stantial duties plainly necessary or profitable ; the ritual obser-
vances it injoineth being, as very few in number, in nature
simple and easy to observe, so evidently reasonable, very de-
cent and very useful, able to instruct us in, apt to excite us to,
the practice of most wholesome duties.

No religion also can have the like advantage of setting before
us a living copy and visible standard of good practice, afford-
ing so compendious an instruction, and so efficacious an incite-
ment to all piety and virtue : so absolutely perfect, so pur-
posely designed, so fitly accommodated for our imitation,
and withal so strongly engaging us thereto, as the example of
Jesus our Lord, such as it is in the gospels represented to us.

Neither can any religion build our duty on more solid
grounds, or draw it from better principles, or drive it to better
ends, or press it with more valid inducements than ours; which

* Tert. in Marc. lib. ii.

THAT JESUS IS THE TRUE MESSIAS. 421

builds it on conformity to the perfect nature of God, and to the
dictates of his infallible wisdom, on the holy will and most
just authority of our natural Lord and Maker ; which draweth
it from love, reverence, and gratitude to God, from a hearty
goodwill to men, and from a sober regard to our own true
welfare ; which propoundeth God's honor, our neighbor's edi-
fication, and our own salvation, as the principal ends of action;
which stirreth up good practice by minding us that we shall
thereby resemble God, express our thankfulness, and discharge
our duty to him, obtain his mercy and favor, acquire present
comfort of mind and future bliss, avoid regrets of conscience
here, and endless torments hereafter.

Neither cau any doctrine afford more encouragements to the
endeavors of practising it than doth this, which tendereth suffi-
cient help and ability toward the performance of whatever it
enjoineth ; offering (on our seeking them or asking for them)
God's infallible wisdom to direct us in our darknesses and
doubts, God's almighty strength to assist us in our temp-
tations and combats, God's loving spirit to comfort us in our
afflictions and distresses.

Nor can any doctrine in a more sure or kindly manner ap-
pease and satisfy a man's conscience, so as to produce therein
a well-grounded hope and solid comfort ; to heal the wounds
of bitter remorse and anxious fear, which the sense of guilt
doth inflict, than doth this, which assureth us that God Al-
mighty, notwithstanding all our offences committed against
him, is not only reconcilable to us, but desirous to become our
friend; that he doth on our repentance, and compliance with
his gentle terms, receive us unto perfect grace and favor, dis-
charging all our guilts and debts, however contracted ; that
our endeavors to serve and please God, although imperfect and
defective, if serious and sincere, shall be accepted and rewarded
by him.

Such is the doctrine, law, and religion of Jesus ; expressed
in a most unaffected and perspicuous way, with all the gravity
and simplicity of speech, with all the majesty and authority of
proposal becoming divine truth ; so excellent, and so complete
in all respects, that it is beyond the imagination of man to con-
ceive any thing better, yea, I dare say, repugnant to the nature

422

BARROW. — SERMON XVIII.

of things that there should be any other way of religion (dif-
ferent substantially from it) so very good. God himself, we
may presume to say, cannot infuse truer notions concerning
himself or concerning us, cannot reveal more noble or more
useful truths ; cannot prescribe better laws or rules, cannot
afford more proper means and aids, cannot propound more
equal and reasonable terms, cannot offer higher encouragements
aaid rewards, cannot discover his mind in a more excellent way
than he hath done by Jesus, for his own glory and service, for
our benefit and happiness : so that hence we may reasonably
infer that the doctrine taught, the law promulgated, the reli-
gion instituted by Jesus in God's name, are the very same
which the predictions concerning the Messias do refer unto, as
the last which should ever come from God, most fgll and per-
fect, universally and perpetually obliging.

2. Thus in general the prophets spake concerning the Mes-
sias's doctrine, and so that of Jesus corresponded thereto : but
of that doctrine particularly it was signified that it should be
very comfortable, joyful, and acceptable to mankind ; as con-
taining a declaration (peculiar thereto) of God's kind and gra-
cious intentions toward us, overtures of especial mercy and
love, dispensations of all sorts of spiritual blessings ; the pardon
and abolition of sins committed, peace and satisfaction of con-
science, deliverance from spiritual slaveries and captivities ;
' Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion ; shout, O daughter of
Jerusalem : behold, thy King cometh unto thee :' so Zecha-
riah speaketh of his coming, and implieth the joyful purport of
his message: and, 'How beautiful,' saith Isaiah, 'on the
mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that
publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good, that
publisheth salvation ; that saith unto Zion, Thy God reisneth !'
and, ' The Spirit of the Lord is on me ; because the Lord hath
anointed me to preach good tidings to the meek ; he hath sent
me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the
captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound ;
to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of
vengeance,' or of recompense, as the LXX. render it, 1 of our
God ; to comfort all that mourn ; to give unto them that mourn
in Zion beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the gar-

THAT JESUS IS THE TRUE MESSIAS. 423

ment of praise for the spirit of heaviness.' It is a part of what
God in Jeremiah promised to dispense by him ; ' I will forgive
their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.' It is
one of the Messias's performances, ' to finish transgression, and
to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity;'
to ' sprinkle clean water' on God's people, and ' to save them
from their uncleannesses.' In fine, the prophet Zechariah saith
of his time, that ' in that day there shall be a fountain opened
to the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem for
sin and for uncleanness.'

Now to all this the preaching of Jesus did exactly corres-
pond ; it being indeed, as it was named, a gospel, or message
of good and joy ; declaring the special good-will of God, and
his merciful willingness to be reconciled to mankind ; offering
peace and pardon to all that are sensible of their guilt, and
penitent for their sin ; imparting rest, comfort, and liberty to
all that are weary and afflicted with spiritual burdens, griev-
ances, and slaveries ; taking off all grievous yokes of supersti-
tion, servility, and sin ; and in their stead imposing a no less
sweet and pleasant, than just and reasonable obedience; mi-
nistering all sorts of blessings needful for our succor, relief,
ease, content, and welfare ; wholly breathing sweetest love,
(all kinds of love ; love between God and man, between man
and man, between man and his own conscience ;) filling the
hearts of those who sincerely embrace and comply with it,
with present joy, and raising in them gladsome hopes of future
bliss. It was indeed the most joyous sound that ever entered
into man's ears, the most welcome news that ever was reported
on earth ; news of a certain and perfect salvation from all the
enemies of our welfare, from all the causes of mischief and
misery to us ; well therefore deserving that auspicious gratu-
lation from the angel — ' Behold, I bring you tidings of great
joy, which shall be to all people.'

3. Collateral unto, or coincident with, those performances,
(the teaching such a doctrine, publishing such a law, dispensing
such blessings,) was the formal institution and establishment of
a new, everlasting covenant, (different from all precedent
covenants, and swallowing them up in its perfection,) a cove-
nant between God and man, wherein God, entering into a most

124

BARROW. — SERMON XVIII.

strict alliance and relation with us, should be pleased to dis-
pense the blessings of spiritual illumination and assistance, of
mercy and favor, of salvation and felicity ; wherein we in way
of condition, according to obligations of justice and gratitude,
should engage to return unto God by hearty repentance, and
to persist in faithful obedience to him : of such a covenant the
Messias was to be the messenger and mediator, or the angel
thereof, (as the prophet Malachi speaketh, alluding, it seems,
to that angel of God's presence, who ordained the Jewish law,
and conducted the Israelites toward the promised land ;) of
which covenant and its mediator, God in Isaiah thus spake :
' I the Lord have called thee in righteousness, and I will hold
thine hand, and I will keep thee, and give thee for a covenant
of the people, for a light of the Gentiles; to open the blind
eyes, to bring out the prisoners from the prison, and them
that sit in darkness out of the prison-house :' and of the same
he again ; ' Incline your ear, and come unto me ; hear, and
your soul shall live ; and I will make an everlasting covenant
with you, even the sure mercies of David — Behold, I have
given him a witness to the people, a leader and commander to
the people:' so in general he speaketh thereof, and inviteth
thereto : then a special part thereof he expresseth thus ; ' Let
the wicked man forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his
thoughts; and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have
mercy on him ; and to our God, and he will abundantly par-
don.' Of the same covenant God in Ezekiel speaketh thus ;
' I will set up one shepherd over them' — ' and I will make with
them a covenant of peace, and it shall be an everlasting cove-
nant with them' — ' and 1 will set my sanctuary in the midst of
them for evermore' — ' they shall also walk in my judgments,
and observe my statutes, and do them.' Of the same, God thus
declareth in Jeremiah, most fully and plainly reckoning the
particular blessings tendered therein : ' Behold, the days come,
saith the Lord, that I will make a new covenant with the house
of Israel, and the house of Judah ; not according to the cove-
nant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them
by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt — but this
shall be the covenant that I will make with the bouse of Israel ;
After those days, saith the Lord, I will put my law into their

THAT JESUS IS THE TRUE MESSIAS.

125

inward parts, and write it in their hearts ; and I will be their
God, and they shall be my people : and they shall teach no
more every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord : for they
shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest, saith
the Lord ; for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember
their sin no more :' which words signify the tenor of that cove-
nant on God's part to import that God would impart a full
and clear discovery of his will unto them, whom it should con-
cern ; that he would afford to them all requisite means and
helps, qualifying them for the performance of their duty ; that
he would bestow on them (complying with the terms of this
covenant, and performing their duty) an intire remission of all
their sins, with an assurance of his constant and perpetual
favor.

Now that Jesus did institute such a covenant, wherein all
the benefits promised on God's part, and all the duties required
on our parts, do punctually correspond to the terms of that pre-
designed by the prophets, is apparent by the whole tenor of the
Christian gospel ; wherein a full declaration of God's will is
held forth, so that no man (except out of wilfulness or negli-
gence) can be ignorant thereof; wherein, on condition of faith
and repentance, God's mercy and pardon are exhibited and
offered to all ; wherein the communication of God's holy Spirit
of grace (for directing and assisting the embraces of this cove-
nant in the practice of their duty) is promised and dispensed ;
wherein on our part faith in God (or heartily returning to him)
and faithful observance of God's laws are required ; wherein
God declareth a most favorable regard and love (together with
very near and endearing relations) to those who undertake and
conform to his terms ; of which new covenant Jesus is repre-
sented the Angel, the Mediator, the Sponsor; having by his
preaching declared it, by his merits and intercessions purchased
and procured it, by his blocd ratified and assured it to us.

4. In coincidence also with those performances, it is declared
that the Messias should erect a kingdom spiritual in nature,
universal in extent, and perpetual in duration ; by the power
and virtue whereof the enemies of God's people should be
curbed and quelled ; the subjects of which should live together
in amity and peace, in safety and prosperity ; wherein truth

426

BARROW. — SERMON XVIII.

and righteousness should gloriously flourish. The chief testi-
monies of ancient Scripture predicting this kingdom I had occa-
sion before to mention, and shall not repeat them now ; only
concerning the nature and extent thereof I shall add some-
what, serving for illustration and proof of our main purpose.

That it was to be a spiritual kingdom (not a visible dominion
over the bodies and estates of men, managed by external force
and co-action, but a government of men's hearts and consci-
ences by secret inspirations, and moral instructions or persua-
sions) may be several ways collected and argued : it appeareth
from the temper and disposition of its Founder, who was to be
' a Prince of Peace ;' of a peaceable, meek, patient, and
humble disposition : it may be inferred from his condition,
which was not to be a state of external grandeur and magnifi-
cence, but of poverty and afflictiou ; for he was to be as he is
described, mean and despicable in appearance ; haviug ' no
form or comeliness, no beauty, that when we should see him,
we should desire him ;' being ' a man of sorrow, and acquainted
with grief:' it also followeth from the events happening to him,
which were not to conquer and triumph openly in view of
carnal eyes ; but to be despised and rejected, to be afflicted,
oppressed, and slaughtered by men ; the same we may learn
from the manner of its establishment and propagation ; which
was not to be effected by force and violence, but by virtue of a
quiet and gentle instruction ; by reasonable words, not by hard
blows: so doth the prophet signify, when he saith of the
Messias, that, ' with righteousness shall hejudge the poor, and
reprove with equity for the meek of the earth ; and he shall
smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath
of his lips he shall slay the wicked :' not by force of hands, or
terror of arms, not in furious and bloody combats, but by the
spiritual ' rod of his mouth,' with the soft breath of his lips he
was to slay the wicked, converting them unto righteousness :
so doth Daniel also imply when he saith, that ' a stone cut out
of the mountains without hands should break in pieces and con-
sume all other kingdoms.' Yea the nature thereof itself doth
argue the same ; for the laws enjoined and duties required, the
blessings ministered and rewards propounded therein are purely
spiritual, not relating to a temporal state, yea hardly consisting

THAT JESL'S IS THE TRUE MESSIAS.

with secular domination ; as may appear by attending to its
fundamental constitution, or to the covenant settled between
the Prince and subjects thereof ; wherein the divine spirit and
grace, light and knowlege, mercy and pardon for sins, comfort
of mind, and peace of conscience, God's especial love and
favor, things merely spiritual, are expressly promised ; but
worldly power, wealth, and prosperity are pretermitted ; and
thence mayjustly be presumed no ingredients, or appurtenances
thereof. Indeed the constitution of a temporal or worldly
kingdom, with visible pomp and lustre, such as the Jews (a
grossly conceited and sensually affected people) did, mistaking
the prophets, desire and expect, had been a thing, as very
agreeable to the carnal or childish opinions of men, so in reason-
able esteem of no considerable value, benefit, or use to man-
kind : such a domination could only have concerned the mortal
part aud temporal state of man ; it could only have procured
some trivial conveniences for our bodies, or gratifications to our
sense : the settlement also, and preservation of such a kingdom
(according to that vast extent and long duration which the
prophets imply) seemeth, without quite altering the whole frame
of human nature, scarce possible ; and reasons there are obvious
enough, why it would not be expedient or beneficial for men :
but the founding and upholding a spiritual kingdom (such as we
described) is evidently of inestimable benefit to the nobler and
more divine part of men ; may serve to promote the eternal
welfare of our souls ; may easily, without changing the natural
appetites of men, or disturbing the world, be carried on any
where, and subsist for ever by the occult influences of divint;
grace; it consequently is most worthy of God to design anil
accomplish. Such a kingdom therefore was meant by the
prophets, being indeed no other than a church, or society of
persons, with unanimous consent heartily acknowleging the one
true God of Israel, Maker of heaven and earth, for their Sover-
eign Prince and Lawgiver ; submitting themselves in all their
actions to his laws and commands, expecting protection and
recompense of their obedience from hini.

As for the general extent of this kingdom, and the Messias's
proceedings in settling and propagating it, that is also very
perspicuously and copiously represented in the ancient prophets,

428

BARROW. — SERMON XVIII.

who declare that by him mankind (then immersed in deep
ignorance and error, in wretched impiety and wickedness, in
utter estrangement and aversion from God and goodness) should
be reduced to the knowlege, worship, and obedience of God ;
that they should be received into God's protection, and should
partake of his special favor; that all nations of men should by
the Messias be enlightened with saving knowlege, and con-
verted to the practice of true righteousness; that all men every
where (all that would regard and observe his word, all in
God's design and desire, in effect a numerous company of men)
should by his means be aggregated to God's church, and ren-
dered God's people ; enjoying the benefits and privileges suit-
able to that state or relation : in expressing these things the
ancient Scriptures are very pregnant and copious : Moses, in
that most divine song (endited by God himself, and uttered in
his name) which seemeth to contain the history and the con-
tinual fate of the Jewish people, doth foretell this, and con-
cludeth his song therewith ; as with the last matter, which
should happen during God's special relation to that people,
importing the period of Judaism, or of the Israelitish theocracy.
1 Rejoice,' saith he, ' O ye nations, with his people.' God in
the second Psalm thus speaketh to the Messias : ' Ask of me,
and I will give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the
utmost parts of the earth for thy possession :' and in the 72nd
Psalm ; ' His name,' it is said, ' shall endure for ever ;' ' his
name shall be continued as long as the sun ; and men shall be
blessed in him; all nations shall call him blessed; he shall
have dominion also from sea to sea, and from the river to the
ends of the earth :' and otherwere ; ' All the ends of the earth
shall remember and turn unto the Lord ; and all the kindreds
of the nations shall worship before thee :' and, ' I will,' saith
God in Isaiah concerning him, ' give thee for a light to the
Gentiles, that thou mayest be my salvation to the ends of the
earth :' and, ' The glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all
flesh shall see it together; for the mouth of the Lord hath
spoken it:' ' The Lord hath made bare his holy arm in the
eyes of all nations ; and all the ends of the earth shall see the
salvation of our God :' and, ' He shall not fail nor be dis-
couraged, till he have setjudgment in the earth ; and the isles

THAT JESUS IS THE TRUE MESSIAS. 429

(that is, the European nations) shall wait for his law:' and,
' In this mountain shall the Lord of hosts make unto all people
a feast of fat things, a feast of wine on the lees, of fat things
full of marrow, of wine on the lees well refined ; and he will
destroy in this mountain the face of the covering cast over all
people, and the veil that is spread over all nations :' and, ' In
that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an
ensign of the people ; to it shall the Gentiles seek ; and its rest
shall be glorious :' and, ' I am sought of them that asked not
for me ; I am found of them that sought me not : I said, Behold
me, behold me, unto a nation that was not ealled by my name
and, ' It shall come to pass in the last days,' say both Isaiah
and Micah in the same words, ' that the mountain of the
Lord's house shall be established in the top of the mountains,
and shall be exalted above the hills, and all nations shall flow
unto it :' and, ' From the rising of the sun,' saith God in
Malachi, ' even unto the going down of the same, my name
shall be great among the Gentiles; and in every place incense
shall be offered unto my name, and a pure offering :' and, • I,'
saith God in Hosea, ' will have mercy on her that had not ob-
tained mercy; and I will say unto them which were not my
people, Thou art my people ; and they shall say, Thou art my
God: in the place where it was said unto them, Ye are not my
people, it shall be said unto them, Ye are the sons of the living
God :' and, ' The abundance of the sea shall be converted
unto thee,' saith God to his church ; ' the forces of the Gentiles
shall come unto thee :' ' Fear not, for I am with thee ; I will
bring thy seed from the east, and gather thee from the west ; I
will say to the north, Give up; and to the south, Keep not
back ; bring my sons from far, and my daughters from the ends
of the earth :' and, ' Sing, O barren, thou that didst not bear,'
it is said to the Gentile church ; ' break forth into singing, and
cry aloud, thou that didst not travail with child; for more are
the children of the desolate than the children of the married
wife, saith the Lord :' ' Enlarge the place of thy tent, and let
them stretch forth the curtains of thine habitations ; for thou
shalt break forth on the right hand and on the left ; and thy
seed shall inherit the Gentiles ; for thy Maker is thine husband,
(the Lord of hosts is his name ;) and thy Redeemer the Holy

430

B ARROW, — SERMON XVIII.

One of Israel ; The Lord of the whole earth shall he be
called ;' ' The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad
for them ; the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose,' &c.

Such is the nature and such the extent of the Messias's king-
dom ; now that Jesus hath erected and settled a kingdom of a
spiritual and heavenly nature, (the which is therefore in his
gospel styled the ' kingdom of heaven,' the * kingdom of God,'
the ' kingdom of Christ,' the ' kingdom that was to come,')
whereof God is the absolute Sovereign ; the throne whereof is
in heaven above, which beareth sway in the souls of men ;
wherein God governeth in effectual manner, (most righteously
and sweetly, with admirable wisdom, justice, and clemency ;
with mighty power also, and awful authority,) according to
most excellent laws, by his holy word and powerful spirit; pro-
posing most precious rewards to the obedient subjects thereof,
and threatening dreadful punishments to the rebellious ; pro-
tecting and saving the faithful people from all their enemies,
(from the powers of darkness, from the temptations, allurements,
menaces of the flesh and the world here, from death and hell
hereafter ;) that also Jesus (who, as Mediator between God and
man, doth according to the gospel, by authority derived from
God, and in God's name, administer the government hereof)
hath in effect been avowed as Lord and King ; that his autho-
rity hath had great efficacy on the minds and consciences of
men ; what noble trophies over sin and wickedness his word
halh raised ; in what glory and majesty through many ages he
hath reigned, is evident from obvious records of history and
from plain experience.

The extent of this spiritual empire raised by our Lord (of that
doctrine which he taught, of that reformation which he intro-
duced, of that church or spiritual society, knit together in faith
and charity, which he founded, of that whole dispensation
which he managed) is also thoroughly commensurate to the ex-
tent of whatever in these kinds the Messias was to achieve : the
empire of Jesus in its nature and design, according to right and
obligation, is declared universal and boundless, coextended
with the world itself, and comprehending all generations of
men ; all nations being summoned to come under the wings of
its jurisdiction ; all persons being invited to partake the bene-

THAT JESUS IS THE TRUE MESSIAS.

48i

fits, and enjoy the privileges thereof: The Lord, and Judge
of all men ; the Saviour and Redeemer of the world ; the
common light of men ; and Captain of human life ; are titles
which Jesus assumed to himself: ' All things are delivered to
me of my Father ;' ' Thou hast given him power over all flesh ;'
'All judgment is committed to the Son ;' yea, ' All power is
given unto me in heaven and earth ' — Such is the authority he
claimeth and asserteth to himself : ' Going into the world, preach
the gospel to every creature ;' ' Go and discipline all nations,
baptising them ' — such was the commission and charge delivered
by Jesus to his officers and ministers : ' The grace of God which
bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men ;' ' The times of
ignorance God having winked at, doth now invite all men every
where to repent;' 'God was in Christ reconciling the world
unto himself, not imputing their sins ;' * God our Saviour will
have all men to be saved, and to come to the acknowlegement
of the truth;' ' The gospel hath been preached to every crea-
ture under heaven ' — so do the Apostles declare the latitude of
the evangelical dispensation according to its nature and design;
so that well may we cry out with Clemens Alexandrinus,
' Hearken ye that are afar off, hearken ye that are near ; the
word is not hid from any, it is a common light, it shineth to all
men ; there is no Cimmerian in respect to the gospel.'* So in
design and of right is Jesus's doctrine and dispensation common
to all nations and to all persons ; all in duty are obliged to en-
tertain it; all may have the benefit thereof who are fit and
willing to embrace it ; it doth not indeed obtrude its benefits on
unwilling, and thence unworthy persons; it useth no unkindly
violence or rude compulsion; but it alloweth, it inviteth, it
entreateth, it engageth all men to come, excluding only those
from a participation therein who will not hear its call, who do
not like or love it.

In effect also this kingdom hath been very large and vast, a
considerable part of the world having very soon been subju-
gated by its virtue, and having submitted thereto. ' As the
lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the
west, so shall the coming (or presence) of the Son of man be;'

* Clem. Al. Protrept.

432

BARROW. — SERMON XVIII.

said he concerning the sudden and effectual spreading of his
doctrine ; and the event answered his prediction ; for the evan-
gelical light did in an instant dart itself all about, so as in many
places to dispel the night of ignorance, and to dissipate the fogs
of wickedness ; so that ' the utmost ends of the earth '(of which
according to the most literal sense we ourselves are a most pro-
per instance) are come under the possession and government of
Jesus; are reduced to the acknowlegement and veneration of
the only true God; do partake of God's favor, and hope in his
mercy ; do with good conscience (in that measure which is ex-
pectable from the natural infirmity and pravity of man, in va-
rious degrees, some more, some less strictly) serve God and obey
his laws : a church and spiritual Zion, (spread over divers re-
gions and countries, consisting of several nations and lan-
guages,) compacted in good ordt;r and sweet communion, hath
through a long course of times visibly flourished in competent
degrees of peace, prosperity, and glory ; commending and
cherishing true religion, charity, and sobriety ; offering conti-
nual sacrifices of holy devotion unto God, celebrating the
divine name and praises ; producing many noble examples
of all piety and virtue ; a church in all regards adequate to
the prophetical expressions concerning that which was out
of the whole world to be collected and constituted by the
Messias.

5. If we do singly compare the particular consequences and
successes of the Messias's performances expressed by the pro-
phets, we shall find an exact correspondence to what hath fol-
lowed the undertakings and performances of our Lord.

They tell us that great opposition should be made against it
by the Jews and by the Gentiles.

They tell us that the Messias's person should be acknow-
leged, worshipped, and blessed all over the world ; ' All
nations,' say they, ' shall serve him' — ' all nations shall call
him blessed :' this we see for almost seventeen hundred years
abundantly performed in respect to Jesus, by the daily ser-
vices of praise and thanksgiving yielded to him in the universal
church.

They say that the knowlege of God shall be far extended
and diffused over the world ; ' The earth,' say they, 1 shall be

THAT JESUS IS THE TRUE MESSI VS.

433

full of the knowlege of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea :'
this we see fulfilled by the large propagation of Christian doc-
trine.

They affirm that righteousness in the times of the Messias
should commonly prosper and be in high request, according to
that ; ' In his days shall the righteous flourish :' so we see that
virtue and piety have, ever since Jesus commended them to the
world, enjoyed much repute ; having been practised among the
professors of his religion in such degrees and according to such
manner, as the condition of this world, the humors of men, and
the nature of human affairs do admit; nor reasonably can any
prophecies be understood to mean farther.

They farther intimate that on the entertainment of the Mes-
sias's doctrine and law, abundance of peace and concord, of
love and charity, of innocence and justice, should ensue ; so
that the fellow-subjects of this kingdom, although of different
states and complexions, (the wolf and the lamb, the leopard
and the kid, the lion and the ox, the asp and the young child ;
that is, the rich and the poor, the mighty and the weak, the
fierce and the gentle, the crafty and the simple sorts of men,)
should live and converse together amicably, safely, and plea-
santly, without molesting, wronging, oppressing, and devouring;
but rather helping and benefiting each other ; ' They shall not,'
saith the prophet, ' hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain :'
to the making good of which particular, the doctrine of Jesus
doth temper and compose the minds of those who do truly un-
derstand and embrace it : such as are Christians indeed (careful
followers of Jesus's rules and example) are thereby disposed to
maintain peace and amity between themselves, yea to perform
all offices of charity and kindness to one another, although their
conditions in the world, their complexions, their endowments
and abilities be however different ; for the Christian doctrine
representeth all that embrace it as fellow-servants of the same
Lord, as brethren and children of the same Father, as members
of the same body, as objects of the same divine regard and
love, as partakers of the same privileges, professors of the same
truth, consorts of the same hope, coheirs of the same glory and
happiness, as thence united and allied to one another by the
strictest bands and most endearing relations; hence it suppleth

434

E ARROW. — SERMON XVIII.

the stoutest heart, and sweeteneth the fiercest tempers ; it in-
clineth persons of highest state, power, wealth, knowlege, to
condescensive humility and meekness toward the meanest ;
this reason presently occurring to every Christian mind, that no
Christian brother is indeed contemptible, can without folly,
may without sin be contemned : whence although Jesus's doc-
trine hath not quite removed wars and contentions out of the
world, yea not out of that part thereof which doth acknowlege
him, (for that were a thing impossible, without a total altera-
tion of human nature, or rooting out of it those appetites of
pride, voluptuousness, self-love, and covetousness, which are the
seeds of strife ; the effecting which it cannot be supposed that
the prophets did intend,) yet hath it done considerably toward
it; it hath disposed many persons (many great and considerable
in the world) to a very just, innocent, and peaceable conversa-
tion ; it hath kindled ardent love and compassion toward all
mankind in many hearts! it hath produced great fruits of cha-
rity and bounty in persons of all sorts; it hath had no small in-
fluence on the common state of things, causing human affairs to
be managed with much equity and gentleness, restraining out-
rageous iniquity and oppression.

It was also farther particularly foretold that great princes
and potentates should submit to the Messias, seriously avow-
ing his authority over them, yielding veneration to his name,
and obedience to his laws ; with their power and wealth pro-
moting and encouraging the religion instituted by him, defend-
ing and cherishing his faithful people : ' All kings,' said the
psalmist of him, ' shall fall before him ; all nations shall do
him service :' 'To a servant of rulers,' said Isaiah also of him,
' kings shall see and arise, princes also shall do worship :' and
the same prophet concerning his church ; * Kings,' saith he.
' shall be thy nursing fathers, and cj'ieeus thy nursing mothers ;
they shall bow down to thee with their face toward the earth,
and lick up the dust of thy feet :' ' The Gentiles shall come tc
thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising ;' ' The som
of strangers shall build up thy w alls, and their kings shall mi-
nister unto thee;' ' Thou shalt suck the milk of the Gentiles, anc
shalt suck the breasts of kings;' ' The Gentiles shall see thy
righteousness, and all kings thy glory.' All this we see plainly

THAT JESUS IS THE TRUE MESSIAS.

433

to have been accomplished, for that soon the highest of earthly
powers did submit and stoop thereto ; that many great princes
(great and glorious as even the world hath known any ; such
as Constantine, Theodosius, Charlemagne, and others of like
illustrious renown) have willingly entertained Jesus's doctrine,
and gladly undergone his yoke; that long successions of em-
perors and kings through the best frequented and most civilised
part of the world have seriously professed themselves the sub-
jects and servants of Jesus ; expressing humble adoration of
his person, and yielding observance to his laws; maintaining
the profession of his religion by their power, supporting the
ministers of it by their bounty, cherishing the practice thereof
by manifold helps and encouragements ; they have seemed
ambitious of titles drawn from performances of this nature,
affecting and glorying to be styled, Most Christian Kings,
Catholic Kings, Defenders of the Faith, and Sons of the
Church.

It was also to be a particular consequence of what the Mes-
sias should do, that by virtue of his performances idolatry (that
is, the worship of wicked spirits, or of fictitious deities) should
in a conspicuous manner be vanquished, driven away, and de-
stroyed ; the worship of the only true God being substituted in
its room ; ' The Lord alone,' saith Isaiah concerning his times,
' shall be exalted in that day, and the idols he shall utterly
abolish :' and, ' It shall come to pass,' saith Zechariah, ' in
that day, saith the Lord of hosts, I will cut off the name ot
the idols out of the land, and they shall be no more remem-
bered ; and also I will cause the prophets, and the unclean
spirits to pass out of the land.' Now this we know was soon
effected by the doctrine of our Lord, in a most remarkable
manner: idolatry, in all places where it came, did flee and
vanish before it; the Devil's frauds (whereby he so long had
abused and befooled mankind) being detected, and that autho-
rity, which he had usurped over the world, being utterly disa-
vowed ; all the pack of infernal apostate spirits being not only
rejected and disclaimed, but scorned and detested. Jesus (as
the gospel telleth us, and as experience confinneth) did combat
the strong one, did bafHe and bind him ; he disarmed and
rifled him ; he triumphed over him, and exposed him to shame ;

43G

BARROW.— SERMON XVIII.

he cast him out, and dissolved all his works. At the appearance
of Jesus's doctrine, and the sound of his name, his altars were
deserted, his temples fell down, his oracles were struck dumb,
his arts were supplanted, all his worship and kingdom were
quite subverted. The sottish adoration of creatures (by the
suggestion also of Satan, and by man's vain fancy, advanced
to a participation of divine honor) was also presently banished,
and thrown away ; the only true God (the Maker and Lord
of all things) being thenceforth acknowleged and adored as the
only fountain of good, and the sole object of worship.

Again, whereas in regard to all these performances the state
of things constituted by the Messias is described so different
from the former state of mankind, that it is called the creation
of a new world: • For behold,' saith God in Isaiah concerning
the Mrssias's times, ' I create new heavens and a new earth,
and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind,'
(whence the Jews commonly before our Lord's time were used
to call the Messias's time, the world to come, the future age;)
it is plain that Jesus may well be esteemed to have accom-
plished the intent of those expressions ; he (as the iiravoi>6iDT>)s
tov Koufinv, the rectifier and rearer of the world, as Ori gen *
calleth him) having wrought so huge alterations in the minds, and
hearts, and lives of men, in their principles and opinions, in
their dispositions and in their practices ; having so changed the
face of affairs, and reformed the course of things in the world ;
bringing men out of lamentable darkness and error into clear
light and knowlege, rescuing them from superstition, impiety,
and wickedness, and engaging them into ways of true religion,
holiness, and righteousness ; so many persons being apparently
' renewed in the spirit of their minds;' being made ' new crea-
tures, created according to God in righteousness and true holi-
ness ;' so that, as the Apostle speaks, ' old things are passed
away, behold all things are become new ;' so that what the
contumacious Jews in anger and ill-will did call Jesus's instru-
ments, had a true sense ; they were o't rijv ohov^eirjv ovuotutu)-
cavrts, they ' who had turned the world upside down ;' they
did so indeed, but so as to settle it in a better posture.

* Orig. in Cels. 3.

THAT JESUS IS THE TRUE MESSIAS.

43?

Concerning which good effects of Christian religion the
ancient Christians had good reason to glory, and to say with
Origen ; ' The adversaries of Christianism do not discern how
many men's diseases of soul, and how many floods of vices,
have been restrained; and how many men's savage manners
have been tamed by reason of the Christian doctrine ; where-
fore being satisfied with the public beneficialness thereof,
which by a new method doth free men from many mischiefs,
they ought willingly to render thanks thereto, and to yield
testimony, if not to the truth of it, yet to its profitableness to
mankind.' *

There remain behind several important considerations ap-
pertaining to this purpose, concerning the performance of the
Messias, and events about him ; his being to suffer grievous
things from men, and for men; his performing miraculous
works; the yielding various attestations from heaven to his
person and doctrine ; from the congruity of which particulars
to what Jesus did endure and act; and to what God hath
done in regard to him, the truth of our conclusion, that ' Jesus
is the very Christ,' will be manifest: but time now forbiddeth
the prosecution of those matters ; and I must therefore reserve
it to other occasion.

Now, ' To him that is able to keep from falling, and to pre-
sent us blameless before the presence of his glory with exceed-
ing joy, To the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and ma-
jesty, dominion and power, both now, and for ever.'

' Unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise
God, be honor and glory for ever and ever.' Amen.

' Blessing, and honor, and glory, and power, be unto him
that sitteth on the throne, and unto the Lamb, for ever and
ever.'

' Salvation be unto our God which sitteth on the throne, and
unto the Lamb.'

' Amen ; Blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiv-
ing, and honor, and power, and might, be unto our God for
ever and ever.' Amen.

' Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and

* Orig. in Cels. lib. i. p. 50.

4«*° BARROW. — SERMON XVIII.

riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honor, and glory, and
blessing.'

» Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his
own blood, and hath made us kings and priests unto God and
his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever.'
Amen.

SERMON XIX.

|39

SUMMARY OF SERMON XIX.

ACTS, CHAP. IX.— VERSE 22.

Brief repetition of what has been done : we now proceed to
show that Jesus was the Messias, from other very considera-
ble particulars foretold, and suiting to him ; and first from
those things which the Messias was to undergo and suffer.

The humble birth, the sufferings, and the death of the Mes-
sias as predicted, set forth : yet all this the Jews, though they
expected a Messias, did not, and hardly could believe : reasons
of this given ; and their conduct described when Jesus did
appear : prejudices even of his disciples. This degradation,
of all things notifying the Messias, was that which the Jews
would not acknowlege ; and this in fact caused them to over-
look all the rest, however clear. Yet notwithstanding their
(affected) blindness, there is no particular concerning the Mes-
sias in the ancient Scripture either more frequently glanced
at, or more clearly expressed. Thus it was written, and thus
it behoved Christ to suffer.

For the explaining and confirming which truth, a digression
is here made concerning the nature of divine presignifications.
We may consider then, that the allwise God, having before
eternal times determined in due season to send the Messias for
accomplishing his great design, did by his incomprehensible
providence so order things, that all the special dispensations
preceding it, should have a fit tendency and reference thereto;
so that when it came on the stage it should appear the main
plot; &c. Hence the most eminent men whom he raised up
and employed in his affairs tending to this end, as they did re-

410

SUMMARY OF

semble the Messias in being instruments of his particular grace
and providence, (being as it were inferior Christs and media-
tors, &c.) so were they ordered to represent him in several
circumstances of their lives, and divers actions, &c. : so also
the rites and services instituted by them were adapted to the
same purpose. Thus was Adam a type of Christ. Thus also
Abel, Melchizedek, Isaac, Moses, David, &c, are intimated
to have been such. They served to the subindication and
shadowing of heavenly things. This in particular true of
David.

It is also to be observed that, because those eminent ser-
vants of God were representatives of Christ, many things
are spoken of them as such ; many things are ascribed
unto them, which only or chiefly were intended of him ; their
names are used as veils to cover divers things concerning him,
which it seemed not to Divine Wisdom convenient to disclose
promiscuously to all men : this topic enlarged on. Many cir-
cumstances also are attributed, not only to persons, but to
things, which do not intirely agree with them : many things
were promised, which appear never to be accomplished, except
after an improper and hyperbolical manner of expression: this
point enlarged on, and instances given.

Neither are these only said according to suppositions as-
sumed in the Xew Testament, but they agree, as to their gene-
ral importance, with the sense of the ancient Jews, who con-
ceived such mysterious references often to lie couched under
the letter of their Scriptures, in which they supposed there
was a midrash, or mystical sense : this enlarged on.

These things being premised, we return and say, that the
Messias being to suffer, was in various passages of the ancient
Scriptures prefigured : this topic dilated on, aud instances
specified.

Which being admitted, on a comparison of the passages
which we have there with what actually befel Jesus, we shall

SERMON XIX.

44 1

find an admirable harmony : this instanced by various quota-
tions respecting his low and despicable estate ; the hatred and
persecution of his enemies, &c. ; his desertion by his followers;
the sense of God's withholding his favor and help ; his charity
and conduct towards his persecutors ; &c.

But there are not only oblique intimations, shrouded under
the cover of other names, but direct and immediate predictions
concerning the Messias's being to suffer : the whole 53rd
chapter of Isaiah specified as an example. The same things
are also by parts clearly predicted in other places of this pro-
phet, and in other Scriptures : instances given : from which
passages we may well say with our Lord, that thus it was
written, and thus, according to prediction, it was to happen,
that the Messias should suffer, in a life of penury and con-
tempt, in a death of shame and sorrow.

That it was thus to be, might also be inferred from the
qualities of the Messias's person, and the nature of his per-
formances, such as they are described in Scripture : this point
enlarged on and explained. Conclusion.

442

BARROW. — SERMON XIX.

2nD in 3J*jSUg €Jjn£t, &c.
SERMON XIX.

THAT JESUS IS THE TRUE MESSIAS.

ACTS, CHAP. IX. — VERSE 22.
— Proving that Jesus is the Christ.

What is the true notion of the name or title Christ, we (iu
discoursing formerly on this text) did explain. That one per-
son, to whom that notion signally doth agree, was by God's
especial determination to come into the world, we did also iu
the next place, from prophetical instruction (backed w ith the
common tradition and current opinion of God's people) de-
clare. We farther in the sequel did propound to show that
Jesus (whom we acknowlege) was that very person ; the Mes-
sias predicted by the prophets, and expected by the Jews.
This we have already (in the foregoing discourses) proved from
several circumstances of his birth and coming among men ;
from his personal qualifications, and from divers illustrious per-
formances managed by him, in correspondency to what the
prophets foretold concerning the Messias. The same we now
proceed to confirm from other very considerable particulars
foretold by them, and suiting to him; and first from those
things, which the Messias was to undergo and suffer.

That the Messias was to come in a humble and homely man-
ner, (without appearances of worldly splendor or grandeur;)
that he was to converse among men in a state of external po-
verty and meanness; that he was to be disregarded and de-

That jesus is the true messias. 443

spised by men ; that he was to cause oft'ences, and to find op-
positions in his proceedings ; that he was to be repulsed and
rejected, to be scorned and hated, to be disgracefully and
hardly treated, to be grievously persecuted and afflicted ; yea,
that at last he was to be prosecuted, condemned, and executed
as a malefactor, is a truth which the Jews (although they firmly
believed and earnestly expected the coming of a Messias) did
not, and indeed were hardly capable to entertain. It was a
point repugnant to the whole frame of their conceits, yea in-
consistent with the nature and drift of their religion, as they
understood it. For their religion in its surface (deeper than
which their gross fancy could not penetrate) did represent
earthly wealth, dignity, and prosperity as things highly valua-
ble ; did propound them as very proper (if not as the sole) re-
wards of piety and obedience ; did imply consequently the
possession of them to be certain arguments of the divine
good-will and regard; they could not therefore but esteem
poverty, affliction, and disgrace, as curses from heaven, and
plain indications of God's disfavor toward those on whom
they fell : they particularly did conceit that to be rich was
a necessary qualification to a prophet, (no less necessary, than
to be of a good complexion, of a good capacity, of a good
life ;) Spiritus Dei non requiescit super pauperem ; ' the Spi-
rit of God rests not on a poor man,' (that is, no special com-
munications of grace, wisdom, goodness, are ever by God af-
forded to persons of a low or afflicted condition,) was a rule
they had framed, and which passed among them. That he
therefore, who was designed to be so notable a prophet ; who
was to have the honor of being so special an instrument of pro-
moting God's service and glory; who therefore must be so
highly favored by God, should appear despicable, and undergo
great afflictions, was a notion that could not but seem very ab-
surd, could not otherwise than be very abominable to them.
They had also (in congruity to those prejudices, abetted by that
extreme self-love and self-flattery, which were peculiar to that
nation) raised in themselves a strong opinion that the Messias
was to come in a great visible state and power ; to do acts of
great prowess and renown, to bring the nations of the world

444

BARROW. — SERMON XIX.

into subjection under him, and so to reign among them in glo-
rious majesty and prosperity. When Jesus therefore (however
otherwise answerable in his circumstances, qualifications, and
performances to the prophetical characters of the Messias) did
appear, such as he did, with pretences (or intimations rather)
that he was the Messias, their stomach rose at it, they were
hugely offended at him, they deemed him not only a madman
(one possessed or distracted) and an impostor, but a blasphe-
mer ; for to be no less than blasphemy they took it, for so piti-
ful a wretch to arrogate unto himself so high a dignity, so near
a relation to God, as the being the Messias did import. We
see even the disciples of our Lord so deeply tainted with this
national prejudice, that (even after they had acknowleged
him to be the Christ) they could not with patience hear him
foretelling what should befall him, (St. Peter, on that occasion,
even just after he had confessed him to be the Christ, did, as
the text says, take him, and began to. rebuke him, saying, ' Be
it far from thee, Lord.') Yea, presently after that he most
plainly had described his sufferings to them, they could not
forbear dreaming of kingdoms, and being grandees in them ; yea,
even after our Lord's passion and resurrection this fancy still
possessed them ; for even then they demand of him whether he
would ' at that time restore the kingdom unto Israel,' (meaning
such an external visible kingdom.)

This hence of all things notifying the Messias seems to be
the only particular which in general the Jews did not, or would
not, see and acknowlege ; and this caused them to oversee
all the rest, how clearly soever shining in and about the person
of Jesus. This cloud hindered them from discerning the excel-
lency of his doctrine, from regarding the sanctity of his life,
from being affected with the wonderful ness of his works; from
minding or crediting all the testimonies ministered from heaven
unto him. This, as St. Paid tells us, was the great scandal
which obstructed their embracing the gospel. We cannot
therefore here, as in other particulars, allege the general con-
sent of God's people, in expounding the prophets according to
our sense ; this being one of those points, in respect to which
the prophets did foresee and foretell their perverse stupidity

THAT JESUS IS THE TRUE MESSIAS. 445

and incredulity ; that they should < look and not see, hear and
not understand ;' yielding herein special occasion to that com-
plaint, 1 Who hath believed our report?'

Yet notwithstanding their (affected) blindness, there is no
particular concerning the Messias, in the ancient Scripture,
either more frequently (in way of mystical insinuation, or
adumbration) glanced at, or more clearly (in direct and plain
language) expressed, or which also by reasonable deductions
thence may be inferred more strongly than this. St. Peter
affirms that ' God had foreshowed it by the mouth of all his
prophets' (not only of some, but of all his prophets :) the same
our Lord himself did signify before his departure to his disci-
ples out of Moses, the Prophets, and Psalms, showing them this
particular, and opening their minds to understand the Scrip-
tures concerning it ; concluding his discourse to them thus,
"Ori ovrui yiypaiTTat, Kat ovrws ebei Trade'iv to v Xpiarov, 'Thus it
was written, and thus ought Christ (according to the prophe-
tical presignifications and predictions) to suffer.'

For the explaining and confirming of which truth, let us pre-
sume here to make a preparatory discourse or digression (not
unseasonable perhaps, or improper to our purpose) concerning
the nature of divine presignifications, which may serve to declare
the pertinency of many citations produced out of the ancient
Scripture in the New Testament, (the which, together with
others connected to them, or bearing analogy to them, we also,
being assured of their design by the authority of our Lord and
his Apostles, may safely presume after them to apply to the
same purposes.) We may then consider that the allwise God
(who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will, and
to whom all things are present) having before eternal times, as
St. Paul speaketh, determined in due time to send the Messias
for accomplishing the greatest design that ever was to be
managed in this world, (which should bring the highest glory
to himself, and procure the greatest benefit to the principal of
his creatures here,) did by his incomprehensible providence so
order things, that all the special dispensations preceding it
should have a fit tendency and advantageous reference thereto ;
so that when it came on the stage, it might appear that the
main of the plot consisted therein, and that whatever before was

lie.

E ARROW. — SERMON XIX.

acted, had a principal respect thereto. As therefore from the
beginning of things God did in a gradual method make real
preparations toward it, by steps imparting discoveries of his
mind about it, or in order to it, (somewhat lo Adam himself,
more to Abraham and the patriarchs, somewhat farther to
Moses, much more yet to divers of the prophets among his
chosen people, who not only foretold largely concerning it, but
delivered several instructions conf rmable to it, and nearly con-
ducing to the promoting thereof;) so he did also fake especial
care by many apposite resemblances, handsomely inserted into
all his dispensations, to set it out, and to insinuate his meaning
about it ; that so at length it might show itself with more solem-
nity, and less surprise. The most eminent persons therefore,
whom he raised up and employed in his affairs tending to that
end, as they did resemble the Messias in being instruments of
his particular grace and providence (being indeed ii.ferior
Christs and mediators, and partial saviours of his people, as
they are sometimes called,) so they were ordered in several
circumstances of their persons, in divers actions they did, in the
principal accidents befalling them, to represent him ; as also
the rites and services instituted, by them were adapted to the
same purpose ; they and all things about them being fitted by
God's especial wise care, so as to be congruous emblems and
shadows presignifying the Christ, and what appertained to him ;
his circumstances and accidents, his performances, his institu-
tions. Thus was Adam, as St. Paul calls him, a type of
Christ; Abel, Melchizedek, Isaac, Moses, Joshua, David,
Solomon, Zorobabel, are also intimated to have been such ;
the most signal things done by them, or befalling them, having
been suited to answer somewhat that was remarkable concern-
ing himl we may say of them all, as the Apostle to the
Hebrews says of the Jewish priests ; ' They served to the sub-
indication and shadowing of heavenly things' (olrtves vwoteiy-
fxan icn! ff/ciri Xarpevovm tuiv kirovpaviwv.) lu David particu-
larly this relation is so plain, that because thereof often (as we
before noted) in the prophets, (Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Hosea,) the
Messias is called by his name. It indeed well suited the dig-
nity of this great person, and the importance of his business,
that he should have such notable ushers, heralds, and har-

THAT JESUS IS THE TRUE MESSIAS.

4 17

bingers ' going before bis face ;' furnished with conspicuous
badges and ensigns denoting their relation to him ; it was pro-
per that God should appear always to have had an express care
and especial regard toward him. It consequently serves for
our edification ; for that we duly comparing things, and dis-
cerning this admirable correspondence, may be somewhat in-
structed thereby, and somewhat confirmed in our faith ; may
be excited to the admiration of God's wisdom and goodness,
(so provident for our good;) may also be induced thereby the
more highly to adore the Messias, and to esteem his design.
' All these things' (saith St. Paul, having compared divers
things concerning Moses to things concerning Christ) 'happened
as types, and they were written for our admonition, on whom
the ends of the world are come.' It is also (for illustration, and
also for proof of these things) to be observed that, because
those eminent servants of God were representatives of Christ,
many things are spoken of them as such; many things are
ascribed to them, which only or chiefly were intended of him ;
their names are used as veils to cover divers things concerning
him, which it seemed not to divine wisdom convenient or sea-
sonable in a more open and clear manner to disclose promiscu-
ously to all men, (why God should choose to express things of
this nature in such a manner, we need not to determine ; it may
be perhaps for reasons best known to himself, and above our
ken or cognisance ; yet probable reasons may be assigned for
it, yea some more than probable being hinted in Scripture ; it
may be for a decent and harmonious distinction of times, of
dispensations, of persons ; it may be from the depth of things
to conciliate a reverence to them, and to raise the price of
knowing them, by the difficulty of doing so ; it may be to
exercise and improve men's understanding, to inflame their
desire, to excite their industry, to provoke their devotion, to
render them humble; it may be to reward an honest and
diligent study of God's word ; it may be for occasion of freely
conveying special gifts of interpretation ; it may be to conceal
some things from some persons unfit or unworthy to know
them, especially from persons haughty and self-conceited ; it
may be to use the ignorance of some as a means to produce
some great event, (' If they had known, they would not have

448

E ARROW. — SERMON XIX.

crucified the Lord of glory;') it cannot be supposed necessary
that all things should be plainly discovered to all persons; it
is evident that some things are purposely couched in parabo-
lical and mysterious expression ; it is particularly the manner
of prophetical instruction frequently to involve things, the full
and clear knowlege of which is not congruous to every season
and every capacity : but to return from out of this parenthesis
to our case.) That under the names of persons representing
Christ (or of things we may add adumbrating his things) many
things are intimated concerning him and his dispensations, may
be collected and confirmed from hence, that many things are
attributed to persons (and to things also) which do not agree to
them ; many things were promised, which appear never accom-
plished, except after a very improper and hyperbolical manner
of expression, or according to an enormous wideness of interpre-
tation ; such as doth not well suit to the nature of true histories
and serious promises. Thus, for instance, are many things
foretold concerning the large extent and prosperous estate of
the Jewish church, which history and experience testify never
(according to strictness of literal acception, yea not in any
tolerable degree near the height of what the words import) to
have happened. Thus also, as the Apostle to the Hebrews
well argueth, effects are attributed to the Jewish rites and
sacrifices, which according to the nature of the thing cannot
belong to them, otherwise than as shadows and substitutes of
higher things. Thus also what is with solemn oath promised to
Solomon (concerning the vast extent and endless duration of
his empire in righteousness, peace, and prosperity ; together
with his mighty acts and victorious achievements) doth not
appear directly in any competent measure to have been per-
formed. Thus also David, as St. Peter observes and argues
in the second of the Acts, speaketh many things of him-
self, which cannot be conceived properly and literally agree-
able to him. Such things therefore are reasonably supposed to
be intimations of somewhat appertaining to the future more per-
fect state of things under the Messias ; to concern him (who
was to be the end of the law) and his dispensation, which was
to contain the accomplishment of all things predicted and
presignified. This is that which St. Austin signifies when he

THAT JESUS IS THE TRUE MESSIAS.

4 19

says, ' Which Christ' (saith he, • and what concerns him') — * all
the promises of that nation, all their prophecies, priesthoods,
sacrifices, their temple, and altogether all their sacraments did
resound, or express.'*

Neither are these things only said according to suppositions
assumed in the New Testament, but they agree (as to their
general importance) to the sense of the ancient Jews, who did
conceive such mysterious references often to lie couched under
the letter of their Scriptures. They supposed a midrash or
mystical sense of Scripture, which they very studiously (even
to excess commonly) did search after. It was, as Lud. Capel-
lus affirms, f a confident and constant opinion of their doctors,
that all things in Moses's law were typical, and capable of
mystical exposition. And Philo's writings (composed in or
immediately after our Saviour's times) are a plain confirma-
tion of what he saith ; we have also several instances and in-
timations thereof in the New Testament. Neither probably
would the Apostles in their discourses and disputations with
the Jews have used this way of interpreting and citing pas-
sages of Scripture, if they in general had not admitted and ap-
proved it.

Now these things being (cursorily) premised, we return into
our way, and say that the Messias's being to suffer was in
divers passages of the ancient Scripture prefigured. Supposing
the thing itself should be, there is a peculiar reason why it should
be so represented, thus expressed by Tertullian :% 'The sacra-
ment indeed,' saith he, ' of Christ's passion ought to have been
figured in the (ancient) predications; forasmuch as that the
more incredible it was, if it should have been preached nakedly,
the more offensive if would have been ; and the more magnifi-
cent it was, the more it was to be shaded, that the difficulty
of understanding it might cause the seeking of God's grace.'
Supposing also it should be, the passages about Abel, Isaac,
Josias, Jeremiah, (and the like,) may congruously be applied
thereto ; the elevation of the brazen serpent, and the killing of
the paschal lamb, may appositely represent it ; the Jewish

* Aug. ad Volus. Ep. iii. , f In Excrc. ad Zohar.
t Tertall. in Jud«os, cap. 10.

$50

BARROW. — SERMON XIX.

priests, with all their sacrifices, may also with reason be
brought in and accommodated thereto : these things are not in-
deed by themselves alone apt peremptorily to evince that it
should be ; yet do they handsomely suit it, and adorn the sup-
position thereof, according to the notion we touched about the
typical relation between the matters of the old world before
the Messias, and those of the new one after him. But with a
clearer evidence and stronger force we may affirm that the
Messias's sufferings were implied in the afflictions of his repre-
sentative king David, such as he in several Psalms (the 3oth,
69th, 109th, 118th, and especially in the 22nd Psalm) describeth
them : wherein divers passages (expressing the extreme sadness
and forlornness of his condition) occur, which by the history
of his life do not so well, according to the literal significa-
tion of words, appear congruous to his person ; which there-
fore there is a necessity, or (at least) much reason, that
they should be applied to the Messias, whom David did
represent.

Which being admitted, comparing then the passages we
have there to what befell Jesus, we shall find an admirable
harmony, there being scarce any part of his affliction in his life,
or any circumstance thereof at his death, which is not in empha-
tical and express terms there set out. There we have expressed
his low and despicable estate ; (' I am a worm, and no man ;
the reproach of men, and despised of the people.') — The
causeless hatred and enmity of the populacy and of the great
ones toward him ; (' They that hate me without a cause are
more than the hairs of my head ; they that would destroy me,
being mine enemies wrongfully, are mighty : they compassed
me about with words of hatred, and fought against me with-
out a cause.') The ingrateful requital made to him for all the
good done by him, and intended by him ; (' They rewarded me
evil for good, and hatred for my love') — Their rejecting him ;
(' The stone which the builders refused is become the head-
stone in the corner.') Their insidious and calumuious proceed-
ings against him ; (Without cause have they hid for me their
net in a pit, which without cause they have digged for my
soul :' and, ' false witnesses did rise up ; they laid to my
charge things that I knew not :' and, ' The mouth of the

THAT JESUS IS THE TRUE MESSIAS. 451

wicked and the mouth of the deceitful are opened against me j
they have spoken against me with a lying tongue.') Their bit-
ter insulting over him in his affliction ; (' But in mine adver-
sity they rejoiced, and gathered themselves together; yea the

j abjects gathered themselves together against me:' 'They perse-
cute him whom thou hast smitten, and they talk to the grief of
those whom thou hast wounded :' koi eiri to ciXyos rwv Tpav/xu-
twi> fiov TTpoaeQi)Knv, ' and to the smart of wounds they added,'
say the LXX.) Their scornful reviling, flouting, and mocking

i him ; (' All they that see me laugh me to scorn ; they shoot
the lip ; they shake the head, saying, He trusted in the Lord
that he would deliver him : let him deliver him, seeing he de-
lighteth in him.' ' I became a reproach unto them : when they
looked on me they shaked their heads.' ' They opened their
mouth wide against me, and said, Aha, Aha ! our eye hath
seen it.' 'Eirelpaaav fie, klefivKriipiahv fie flVKrr/pitrfiov, eflpv^av
Itt' ink rovs ubdvras avrSv ' They tempted me, they extremely
mocked me, they gnashed their teeth on me.') The cruel man-
ner of their dealing with him ; (' Dogs have compassed me ;
the assembly of the wicked have inclosed me ; they pierced my
hands and my feet. I may tell all my bones : they look and
stare on me.') — Their dealing with him when in his distress he
called for some refreshment ; (' They gave me gall for my

I meat, and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink') — Their
disposal of his garments on his suffering ; (' They part my gar-

i ments among them, and cast lots on my vesture') — His being
deserted of his friends, and destitute of all consolation ; (' I
am become a stranger to my brethren, and an alien unto my
mother's children : I am full of heaviness ; and I looked for
some to take pity, but there was none ; and for comforters, but
I found none') — The sense of God's withholding his favor and
help ; (« My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? why

| art thou so far from helping me ?') His charitable disposition
and behavior toward his persecutors; (' But as for me, when
they were sick, (or as the LXX, ' when they did trouble me,'
'E»- T<3 avrovs Trapevo)(\e'ii> fioi,) my clothing was sackcloth : I

| humbled myself with fasting; and my prayer returned into
mine own bosom ; I behaved myself as though it had been my
friend or brother ; I bowed down heavily, as one that niourneth

BARROW. — SERMON XIX.

for his mother.') Which passages and the like, how patly and
punctually they do square to respective passages in the gospels,
I need not to show; we do all, I suppose, well enough re-
member that both most doleful and comfortable history, to be
able ourselves to make the application.

But there are not only such oblique intimations, shrouded
under the coverture of other persons and names, but direct
and immediate predictions concerning the Messias's being to
suffer most clearly expressed. That whole famous chapter in
Isaiah (the 53rd chapter) doth most evidently and fully declare
it, wherein the kind, manner, causes, ends, and consequences
of his sufferings, together with his behavior under them, are
graphically represented. His appearing meanness; ('He
hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there
is no beauty that we should desire him')— The disgrace, con-
tempt, repulses, and rejection he underwent ; (' He is despised
and rejected of men — we hid our faces from him ; he was
despised, and we esteemed him not') — His afflicted state ;
(' He is a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief ; we did
esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted') — The bit-
ter and painful manner of his affliction ; (' He was stricken ;
bore stripes, was wounded, was bruised') — His being accused,
adjudged, and condemned as a malefactor; (' He was taken
from prison and from judgment — he was numbered among the
transgressors') — His consequent death ; (' He poured out his
soul unto death ; He was cut out of the land of the living') —
The design and end of his sufferings ; they were appointed and
inflicted by Divine Providence for our sake, and in our stead ;
for the expiation of our sins, and our salvation ; (' It pleased
the Lord to bruise him : he hath put him to grief : when thou
shalt make his soul an offering for sin :' — ' He was wounded for
our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities : the chas-
tisement of our peace was on him ; and with his stripes we are
healed :' — ' Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sor-
rows :' — ' For the transgression of my people he was smitten :' —
'The Lord hath laid on him the iniquities of us all')— His sus-
taining all this with a willing patience and meekness ; (' He
was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his
mouth : he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a

THAT JESUS IS THE TRUE MESSIAS. 453

sheep before the shearer is dumb, so he opened not his mouth')
— His charitable praying for his persecutors; so that maybe
understood, (' He made intercession for the transgressors') —
The consequence and success of his sufferings ; (' He shall see
his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the
Lord shall prosper in his hand. He shall see of the travail of
his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowlege shall my
righteous servant justify many;' and, 'I will divide him a
portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the
strong.') Which passages as they most exactly suit to Jesus,
and might in a manner constitute an historical narration of
what he did endure, together with the opinions taught in the
gospel concerning the intent and effect of his sufferings ; so
that they did (according to the intention of the Divine
Spirit) relate to the Messias, may from several considera-
tions be apparent ; the context and coherence of all this pas-
sage with the preceding and subsequent passage, which
' plainly respect the Messias, and his times : ' How beautiful
Ijon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good
tidings!' and, ' Behold, my servant shall deal prudently,' &c.
II are passages immediately going before, of which this 53rd
! chapter is but a continuation ; and immediately after it fol-
! loweth, ' Sing, O barren, thou that didst not bear,' &c. being
a very elegant and perspicuous description of the church aug-
mented by accession of the Gentiles, which was to be brought
I to pass by the Messias. The general scope of this whole pro-
Iphecy argues the same; and the incongruity of this particular
i prediction to any other person imaginable beside the Messias
doth farther evince it ; so high are the things which are attri-
buted to the suffering person ; as that he should « bear the sins'
hi all God's people, and heal them; that he should ' by his
iknowlege justify many;' that 'the pleasure of the Lord should
prosper in his hand ;' that God would 'divide him a portion
with the great,' and that he should ' divide the spoil with the
htrong;' the magnificency and importance of which things do
jwell agree to the Messias, but not to any other person : whence
lif the ancient Jews had reason to believe a Messias, they had
lis much reason to apply this place to him as any other, and to
icknowlege he was to be a great sufferer; and indeed divers

•54 BARROW. — SERMON XIX.

oftlie ancient Targumists and most learned IiabLins did ex-
pound this place of the one Messias that was to come, as the
Pugio Fidei and other learned writers do by several testimo-
nies show. This place also discovers the vanity of that fig-
ment devised by some later Jews, who, to evade and oppose
Jesus, affirmed there was to be a double Messias, (one who :
should be much afflicted, the other who should greatly prosper,)
since we may observe that here both great afflictions and glorious
performances are ascribed to the same person.

The same things are also by parts clearly predicted in other
places of this prophet, and in other Scriptures : by Isaiah again
in the chapter immediately foregoing; ' Behold,' saith he,' my f
servant shall deal prudently, he shall be exalted and extolled,
and be very high,' (there is God's servant (he that is in way of
excellency such, that is, in this prophet's style, the Messias) in 1
his real glorious capacity ; it follows concerning his external
appearance,) ' his visage was so marred more than any man, and
his form more than the sons of men :' and again, in the 49th
chapter, ' Thus saith the Lord, the Redeemer of Israel, and his |
Holy One ; To him whom man despiseth, to him whom the na- r
tion abhorreth, to a servant of rulers, kings shall see and arise, t
princes also shall worship.' What can be more express and
clear, than that the Messias, who should subject the world,
with its sovereign powers, to the acknowlegement and adoration
of himself, was to be despised by men, to be detested by the
Jews, and to appear in a servile and base condition ? The I
same prophet again brings him in speaking thus : ' I gave my
back to the smiters, and my cheeks to them that plucked off the
hair ! I hid not my face from shame and spitting.' His offend- •
ing the Jews and aggravating their sins is also expressed by this
same prophet j ' And,' saith he, ' he shall be for a sanctuary ;
but for a stone of stumbling, and for a rock of offence to both
the houses of Israel; for a gin and for a snare to the inhabi-
tants of Jerusalem.' The opposition also he should receive is
signified in the second Psalm ; ' The kings of the earth set them-
selves, and the rulers take counsel together against the Lord, i
and against his anointed.' The prophet Zechariah doth also in
several places very roundly express his sufferings : his low con- L
dition in those words; ' Behold, thy King cometh unto thee

THAT JESUS IS THE TRUE MESSIAS.

455

lowly, (pauper,) and riding on an ass :' his manner of death in
those ; ' Awake, 0 sword, against my shepherd, and against
the man that is my fellow, saith the Lord of hosts ; smite the
shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered :' and again ; ' I
will pour on the house of David, and on the inhabitants of Jeru-
salem, the spirit of grace and of supplications ; and they shall
look on me, whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn,' &c.
The prophet Daniel also in that place, from which probably the
name Messias was taken, and which most expressly mentions
him, saith, that ' after threescore and two weeks the Messias
shall be cut off, but not for himself.' Now from these pas-
sages of Scripture we may well say with our Lord ; "Ort nvrui
yiypaTiTiii, Ka\ ovTwi ebei iraQeiv Toy Xpiordv- ' That thus
it was written,' and thus, according to the prophet's fore-
telling, it was to happen, that the ' Messias should suffer ;'
suffer in a life of penury and contempt, in a death of shame
and sorrow.

That it was to be thus might also be inferred by reasons
grounded on the qualities of the Messias's person, and the na-
ture of his performances, such as they are described in the
Scripture. He was to be really and to appear plainly a person
of most admirable virtue and good worth; but never was-there
or can be any such, (as even Pagan philosophers, Plato, Se-
neca, and others, have observed) without undergoing the trial
of great affliction. He was to be an universal pattern to men
of all sorts, (especially to the greatest part, that is, to the poor,)
of all righteousness ; to exemplify particnlarly the most diffi-
cult pieces of duty, (humility, patience, meekness, charity,
self-denial, intire resignation to God's will ;) this he should
not have opportunity.or advantage of doing, if his condition had
been high, wealthy, splendid, and prosperous. He was to ex-
ercise pity and sympathy towards all mankind ; the which to do
it was requisite he should feel the inconveniences and miseries
incident to mankind. He was to advance the repute of spi-
ritual and eternal goods; and to depress the value of those cor-
poreal and temporal things which men vainly admire ; the most
ready and compendious way of doing this was by an exemplary
neglecting and refusing worldly enjoyments, (the honors, pro-
fits, and pleasures here.) He was by gentle and peaceable

456

BARROW. — SERMON XIX.

means to erect a spiritual kingdom, to subdue the hearts and
consciences of men to the love and obedience of God, to raise
in men the hopes of future rewards and blessings in heaven ; to
the accomplishment of which purposes temporal glory had been
rather prejudicial than conducible. He was to manage his
great designs by means supernatural and divine, the which
would be more conspicuous by the visible meanness and im-
potency of his state. He was to merit most highly from God
for himself and for all men ; this he could not do so well as in
enduring for God's sake and ours the hardest things. He was
to save men, and consequently to appease God's wrath and
satisfy his justice by the expiation of our sins; this required
that he should suffer what we had deserved. But reasons of
this kind I partly before touched, and shall hereafter have
occasion to prosecute more fully in treating on the article of
our Saviour's passion.

Now that Jesus (our Lord) did most thoroughly correspond
to whatever is in this kind declared concerning the Messias, we
need not by relating minutely the known history of his life anu
death make out farther ; since the whole matter is palpably
notorious, and no adversary will deny it. I conclude this point
with St. Peter's words, (for the illustration and proof of which
this discourse hath been made ;) ' But those things which God
before had showed by the mouth of all his prophets, that Christ
should suffer, he hath so fulfilled.'

SERMON XX.

453

SUMMARY OF SERMON XX.

JOHN, CHAP. V. — VERSE 37.

Our Lord, here and in the context, affirms that Almighty
God his Father had granted him several kinds of extraordinary
attestation, sufficient to convince all well-disposed persons that
he truly was the predicted Messias : it is now intended to re-
present those several ways of divine attestation, &c. But first
some reasons are assigned why it was requisite that they should
be afforded to our Lord.

1. The nature of the Messias's office required such attesta-
tions. So high and eminent was it ; so new, strange, and im-
portant was his revelation ; that the excellency of his doctrine,
the sanctity of his life, the wisdom of his discourse, &c. would
not have been enough to produce faith and submission : this
topic enlarged on and explained.

2. The effects which he was to produce required such. So
great were the exploits he was to achieve against sin and
Satan, that they could not have been encountered without re-
markable testimonies of the divine presence, especial aids of
the divine power, and large influences of the divine Spirit :
this enlarged on.

3. We may farther consider that the Christ was designed to
present himself first to the Jews, that is, to a people wholly
addicted to this sort of proof, and incapable of conviction by
any other : they did not, as did the Greeks, seek wisdom, but
required a sign.

4. It was agreeable to God's usual method of proceeding in
bar. vol. v. u

403

SUMMARY OF

cases resembling this, although very unequal thereto in weight
and consequence : this shown at large.

5. If we consider the general reasons assignable, why God
hath been wont to proceed in this manner, or why he should
use it on any occasion, they are with strongest force applicable
to this case : this explained.

But in opposition to this, it may be said that no such tes-
tifications can well serve to such purpose ; for that the like
have been and may be applied to the persuasion of error and
impiety, by false prophets and antichrists, by magicians and
wizards.

This objection answered generally : also in a more distinct
and particular manner.

Having thus showed reasons why, and signified to what
purposes, the Messias was to receive special testimonies from
God, we proceed to survey those which were in fact ex-
hibited.

1. God did attest to him long before his coming, by presig-
nifying and predicting at several times, in several ways, by
several persons, many and indeed all considerable things con-
cerning him. This however is a matter of very large con-
sideration, which has been already insisted on, and may be
now omitted.

2. God did in attestation to him immediately send before .
his face, as his herald and harbinger, a prophet, or one more Li
than a prophet, for his extraordinary integrity, &c. : this topic ..
enlarged on.

3. God attested unto our Lord by visible apparitions from ..
heaven, at several times, in fit seasons, made in presence of T
very good witnesses : this shown.

4. He also by vocal attestation did expressly at several
times own and approve Jesus ; as at his baptism, his transfigu- ^
ration, &c.

5. God attested to our Lord, in that he was endued with a .

SERMON XX.

450

power constantly residing in him of performing miraculous
works, such as could only proceed from a divine source ;
works of a stupendous greatness and difficulty : such specified :
works proper unto God ; such also specified : the manner also
of their performance seemed to emulate the creative power of
God, &c. : they had also no less of goodness than of greatness
divine : considering which things, we may well discern by what
power, and to what purpose Jesus did perform his admirable
works : the multitude of them, and the various places in which
they were performed, considered : we may observe that he did
not affect to perform wonders out of any vanity, or to humor
men's curiosity ; but from piety and charity, and other
righteous causes : this topic enlarged on. We may also,
with Irenaeus, observe that Jesus, in performing his cures and
other miracles, never used any profane, silly, fantastic cere-
monies, &c. : that also the whole tenor of his proceedings was
directly levelled against the kingdom of darkness and power of
Satan, &c. Whence we may well apprehend the validity of
our Lord's own argument for confirming John the Baptist iu
his opinion of him ; go your way, and tell John what things ye
have seen and heard, &c.

6. God did most signally attest to our Lord by miraculously
raising him from the dead ; or in that by a divine power he
raised up himself from the grave ; which is indeed the point
that invincibly guards and fortifies all other testimonies ; but
its discussion would require more time than can be now spared.

7. A farther attestation was given to our Lord by the power
of working miracles in his name imparted to the disciples; who
were by him commissioned to prosecute the great design which
he had commenced : this topic enlarged on.

| 8. God also did attest to our Lord by accomplishing his
prediction and promise, in a plentiful effusion of the divine
Spirit on his church and followers, for their instruction,
guidance, comfort, and support : this subject dilated on.

460

SUMMARY OF

9. Lastly, God has attested unto him by the wonderful
success which has attended his gospel, in its conveyance and
propagation. They were not many wise, not many mighty,
not many noble, but a very few, mean and poor, unlearned
and simple men, whom no outward circumstances or worldly
advantages recommended, who boldly set about this great
work, &c.

All their great exploits they were to achieve in a most
quiet peaceable manner, without any terror or tumult, without
any plausibility of language, or subtilty of reasoning, &c. :
they were indeed to do little more than barely report a story,
and affirm it true of their own knowlege, &c. and with such
weapons of their war/are, God's help concurring, they did
pull down strong holds, &c, and did maintain their cause. .

The little plausibility of this cause ; the few apparent in-
ducements to embrace it; its doctrines so adverse to worldly
gratifications, &c. considered. Now to what or to whom is
it to be ascribed, that a handful of such persons, against such
obstacles, in ways so different from the course of human pro-
ceedings, &c. Mere able to render such a cause victorious ?
This point enlarged on.

Having thus seen how Jesus our Lord is the Messias, let us
briefly recapitulate, and explain in what manner, and in what
respects the New Testament represents him as Christ ; how,
according to that, Jesus was signally chosen and consecrated
by God, supereminently, to all the offices denoted by the title
Christ, and how he effectually executes them.

Him, saith St. Peter in general, God anointed with the
Holy Spirit and power, &c. : he was by this unction consti-
tuted in right and effect a Prophet, a King, a Priest.

1. A Prophet: for they were not mistaken, who, on his
raising the widow's child, were amazed, and glorified God,
saying, that a great prophet was raised up among them, &c.
This topic enlarged on and illustrated.

SERMON XX.

461

2. He is also a King, by many unquestionable titles : by
nature and birth, as the only Son of God, &c. ; by divine
designation and appointment, for God hath wade him Lord
and Christ, &c. : also by merit and purchase, &c. This topic
enlarged on.

3. He is likewise a Priest, and that much above an ordi-
nary one : he hath obtained a more excellent function, says the
Apostle to the Hebrews, than any other priest had : this head
dilated on.

IV. The consideration of these things ought to beget in us
a practice answerable to the relations between him and us,
grounded thereon.

If Jesus be such a Prophet, we must with docile mind
hearken to his admonitions, believe his doctrine, and obey
what he teaches.

If he be a King, we must bold fast our due allegiance
to him, pay him reverence, and submit to his laws, &c. If
he be a Priest, we must with sincere faith and hope apply
ourselves unto him for, and rely on, his spiritual ministry
in our behalf, &c.

In short, if Jesus be Christ, let us be Christians ; Chris-
tians, not only in name, but in very deed and reality, &c.
Conclusion.

462

BARROW. — SERMON XX.

2Lr\H in !Iesu£ €i)ii$t, &c.
SERMON XX.

THAT JESUS IS THE TRUE MESSIAS.

JOHN, CHAP. V. — VERSE 37.

And the Father himself, which hath sent me, hath home witness
of me.

Jesus, our Lord, here and in the context doth affirm that
Almighty God, his Father, had granted unto him several kinds
of extraordinary attestation, sufficient to convince all well-dis-
posed persons, unto whom they shall be discovered, that he
truly was that Messias, whom God before all beginning of time
had designed, and frequently by his prophets had promised to
send for the reformation of the world and salvation of mankind :
to represent those several ways of divine attestation w ith some
reflexions on them, serving both to the confirmation of our
faith, and improving our affection and our reverence thereto, is
my chief design at this time.

But first, in preparation to what we shall say concerning
those particulars, and for declaration of the divine wisdom in
this manner of proceeding, I shall assign some reasons why it
was requisite that such attestations should be afforded to our
Lord.

1. The nature of the Messias's office required such attesta-
tions ; for since he was designed to the most eminent employ-
ment that ever was or could be committed to any person ; since

THAT JESUS IS THE TRUE MESSIAS. 463

he was to reveal things no less great and important than new
and strange; since he was to assume a most high authority unto
himself ; since he was to speak and act all in the name of
God ; since also all men under great penalties were obliged to
yield credit and obedience to him, there was great reason that
God should appear to authorise him ; that he should be able to
produce God's hand and seal to his commission ; for that other-
wise he might have been suspected of imposture ; his doctrine
might have been rejected, his authority disclaimed, and his
design frustrated, without great blame, or however without
men's being convincible of blame : for well might the people
suspect that person, who, professing to come in such a capacity
an extraordinary agent from heaven, brought no credentials
thence, (no evidence of God's especial favor and assistance;)
well might they reject that new doctrine, which God vouch-
safed not by any signal testimony to countenance ; well might
they disclaim that authority, which offering to introduce so
great innovations (to repeal old laws, to cancel settled obli-
gations, to abolish ancient customs ; to enact new laws and
rules, exacting obedience to them from all men) should not be
able to exhibit its warrant, and show its derivation from
heaven : well might such peremptory assertions and so confi-
dent pretences, without confirmations answerable in weight,
beget even in wise men distrust and aversation. The reason-
ableness and excellency of his doctrine, the innocence and
sanctity of his life, the wisdom and persuasiveness of his dis-
course would not, if nothing more divine should attend them, be
thoroughly able to procure faith and submission ; they would
at best have made his precepts to pass for the devices of a wise
man, or the dictates of a good philosopher. They were there-
fore no unreasonable desires or demands (if they had proceeded
from a good meaning, and had been joined with a docile and
tractable disposition) which the Jews did make to our Lord ;
' Master, we would see a sign from thee ; what sign therefore
dost thou do, that we may see, and believe thee? what dost
thou work ? what sign dost thou show to us, that thou doest
these things?' that is, how dost thou prove thy doctrine credi-
ble, or thy authority valid, by God's testimony and warrant ?
This challenge our Lord himself acknowleged somewhat

1G4

BARROW. — SERMON XX.

reasonable ; for he not only asserts the truth of his doctrine
and validity of his commission by divine attestation, (in words
and works,) nor only exhorts them to credit him on that
account, but he also plainly signifies that his bare affirmation
did not require credit, and that if he could produce no better
proof, they were excusable for disbelieving him : ' If,' saith he,
' I witness of myself, my witness is not true ;' not true, that is,
not credible ; or not so true, as to oblige to belief : and, 'If I
do not the works of my Father, (that is, works only imputable
to God's extraordinary power,) believe me not;' that is, I re-
quire no belief from you : yea, he farther adds, ' If I had not
done the works among them, which no man else had done, they
(the incredulous people then) had not had any sin ;' that is, had
not been culpable for unbelief. It was then from the nature of
the Messias's office and undertaking very necessary that he
should have attestations of this kind ; and our Lord himself,
we see, declines not, but aggravateth his pretences with this
necessity.

2. The effects which the Messias was to produce did require
extraordinary attestations and assistances from God. He was
to achieve exploits of the greatest difficulty conceivable ; far
surpassing all that ever was by any person undertaken in the
world before : he was to vanquish all the powers, and to con-
found all the policies of hell ; he was to subdue and subjugate
all the world ; to make the greatest princes to stoop, and to
submit their sceptres to his will ; to bring down the most
haughty conceits, and to break down the most stubboru spirits,
and to tame the wildest passions of men ; he was to expel from
their minds most deeply rooted prejudices, to banish from their
practice most inveterate customs, to cross their most violent
humors, to thwart their interests, to bear down their ambitions,
to restrain their covetous desires and their voluptuous appetites;
he was to persuade a doctrine, and to impose a law, very oppo-
site to the natural inclinations, to the current notions, to the
worldly advantages, the liberties, emoluments, and enjoyments
of all, or of most, or of many people ; he was, in short, so to
reform the world, as in a manner quite to alter the whole frame
of it, and all the course of affairs therein ; things which surely
it were a madness to enterprise, and an impossibility to accom-

THAT JESUS IS THE TRUE MESSIAS.

465

plish, without remarkable testimonies of the divine presence,
especial aids of the divine power, and large influences of the
divine Spirit, communicated to him ; without, as St. Peter
phraseth it, ' God were with him ;' these things were not effec-
tive by means natural and ordinary, by human wit or eloquence,
by good behavior or example, by the bare reason or plausibility
of doctrine, by the wise conduct or industrious management of
the design ; no, such means have by many experiments ap-
peared insufficient to bring about much lesser matters; nothing
under the wisdom of God directing, the power of God assisting,
the authority of God establishing and gracing his endeavors in
an eminent and evident manner, could enable the Messias to
bring these mighty things to pass.

3. We may farther consider that 1 the Christ' was designed
to present himself first to the Jews, (in the first place impart-
ing the declarations of God's will and gracious intentions to
them, his ancient friends and favorites;) that is, to a people
wholly addicted to this sort of proof, and uncapable of convic-
tion by any other : they did not, as did ' the Greeks, seek wis-
dom,' but ' required a sign,' as St. Paul observed of them ;
they were not so apt to inquire after the intrinsic reasons of
things, as to expect testimonies from heaven ; nothing else was
able to persuade them ; so our Lord expressly saith ; ' Jesus
said unto them, If you do not see signs and prodigies, you will
nowise believe ;' in consequence of which disposition in them,
we see by passages in the New Testament that they expected
and believed the Messias should come with such attestations
and performances ; so their importunate demanding of signs
on all occasions from our Lord doth signify, and so those words
in St. John do imply ; ' And many of the people believed on
him, and said, When Christ cometh, will he do more miracles
than these, which this man doeth ?' where we may observe
both their expectation of miraculous works from the Messias,
and the efficacy which such works had on them. The condi-
tion also of the Gentiles, unto whom his design in the next
place did extend, seemed to require the same proceedings : for
all other methods of instruction and persuasion had before often
been applied to them by philosophers and by politicians, for
instilling their notions and recommending their laws ; they

486

BARROW. — SERMON XX.

had been so inured to subtile argumentations and plausible dis-
courses, that the bare use of them was not likely to have any
extraordinary effect on them : if the Messias therefore should
bring no other confirmation with him unto them, he would
seem to deserve no higher regard or credit than other doctors
or lawgivers, which had appeared among them ; and as easily
would he be declined, and put off by them : whence reason-
ably it may be supposed that for accommodation to the genius
and the capacities of those on whose hearts he was to make
impression, the Messias should come furnished with such
special testimonials and powers from God. Especially con-
sidering that,

4. It was agreeable to God's usual method of proceeding in
cases resembling this, although much unequal thereto in weight
and consequence. There was never any more than ordinary
discovery made to men by God, never any very considerable
business managed by divine providence, never hardly any emi-
nent person appeared with a preteuce of coming from God for
the prosecution of such purposes, without God's visible inter-
posal and abetment. This hath always been the authentic seal,
whereby he hath wonted to authorise the messengers sent from
himself for transacting affairs of an unusual and very weighty
nature ; whereby his true ambassadors have been distinguish-
able from ordinary persons, or from deceitful pretenders, who
have offered to impose their own devices on men : to a person
bringing with him this sort of assurance (except when his tale is
evidently false and vain, or his design notoriously wicked and
mischievous) God hath always required that a ready credence
and obedience should be yielded ; taking it for a high affront
to himself (uo less, as St. John says, than ' giving him the lie')
to disbelieve such a person, and for a heinous contumacy to
disobey him : that it hath been God's ordinary method, the
course of divine history shows. When God separated the pa-
triarchs for the preservation and propagation of his true religion,
he manifested an especial presence with them, frequently ap-
pearing to them, visibly assisting and blessing them in a more
than ordinary manner, enduing them with a prophetical discre-
tion and foresight of things : when he would rescue the seed of
those his friends from cruel oppression and hard slavery, (de-

THAT JESUS IS THE TRUE MESSIAS.

407

signing also by them to maintain and convey down the sincere
way of piety,) he imparted also unto Moses, the especial instru-
ment of those purposes, a power of doing wonders, thereby pro-
curing authority to his person, and credit to his pretences.
Moses did well perceive, and judge, that had he come without
such attestation he should not have been received or regarded :
1 But, behold,' said he, ' they will not believe me, nor hearken
to my voice ; for they will say, The Lord hath not appeared
unto thee :' wherefore God furnished him with such a power of
doing such things as should assure the truth of his message ;
the effect whereof is thus expressed ; ' Israel saw that great
work, which the Lord did on the Egyptians; and the people
feared the Lord, and believed the Lord, and his servant Moses:'
to the promulgation of the law, and establishment of that parT
ticular covenant with the Israelites, God did also exhibit sig-
nifications of his presence in a most evident and affecting man-
ner : ' Lo,' said God to Moses, expressing that matter and its
design, ' I come unto thee in a thick cloud, that the people
may hear when I speak with thee, and believe thee for ever.'
And in the whole conduct of that people toward Canaan,
God for those ends vouchsafed by Moses to perform very great
and prodigious things ; which we may see reckoned up in the
78th and 105th Psalms, and in the 9th of Nehemiah. So also
when God employed Elias to sustain the remainders of de-
cayed piety in Israel against the countenance of power given
to wickedness, and against the stream of popular use, he en-
dued him with a liberal measure of his Spirit, and a power of
doing great miracles : the like may be observed of all the pro-
phets, judges, and princes, who on special occasions were
raised to perform considerable services for the glory of God
and the good of his people. This therefore being God's con-
stant practice, it cannot but be well supposed that in this case
he would not withhold his attestation, but would afford it in a
most plentiful measure to that person who was in dignity so far
to excel all other his envoys and agents; whose undertaking
should in importance so vastly transcend all others, that ever
were set on foot in the world ; to him, who was to free, not one
small people only, but all mankind, not from a temporal sla-
very in Egypt, but from eternal misery in hell ; to promulge,

408

BARROW. — SERMON XX.

not a pedagogy of ritual observances, but a law of spiritual
righteousness ; to establish, not a temporal covenant for a little
spot of earth, but an everlasting testament for all the world,
importing endless beatitude in heaven. God therefore surely
would not balk his road on such an occasion, nor refuse his
especial testimonials to so great a personage, and to so good
a design.

5. If we consider the general reasons assignable why God
hath been wont to proceed in this manner, or why he should
use it on any occasion, they are with strongest force applicable
to this case. The most general reasons why God doth ever
interpose extraordinarily, or produce works supernatural, are,
to assert palpably his own divinity and providence; strongly
to encourage devotion and piety in men : for he by suspending
or thwarting the course of nature plainly declareth himself the
maker and master thereof ; that he freely made the world, and
freely doth uphold it; that he hath not tied his, own hands,
nor confined his power within limits ; but is superior to and
free from all laws, excepting those of indefectible holiness and
goodness ; and consequently that all things do not proceed in a
track of dead fatality. He thereby also assureth us that he
hath an especial regard unto and a care over men, and wisely
ordereth human affairs by his providence, frequently (as wis-
dom directeth and occasion requireth) interposing his hand for
the succor, encouragement, and reward of good men ; that
therefore it is not vain to hope and trust in him ; that prayers
and devotions are available to procure good from him ; that
repentance and obedience are no less profitable for us than
acceptable to him ; that also he freely and justly dispenseth re-
compenses suitable to men's actions voluntarily performed ;
that in fine there is a foundation of religion, and a ground of
justice between God and man : these things are most evidently
and effectually demonstrated by extraordinary attestations ;
and when therefore could they more seasonably be used, than
when God by the Messias intended to call all the world to 'the
acknowlegement and obedience of himself, to the practice of all
piety and goodness, with assurances of fit reward, in regard to
such practice ? If farther to excite men's attention and regard,
to breed awe and reverence in men's minds, to confound the

THAT JESUS IS THE TRUE MESSIAS. 469

impudence, and to bend or break the obstinacy of men, are
main ends and proper effects of such testimonies ; whether we
consider the Messias's person, the nature of his undertaking,
or the persons with whom he was to deal, it is plain (as we
have showed) that his business would best deserve and most
need them : no dispensation could better deserve them for
worth and consequence ; none could more need them for great-
ness and difficulty.

Such reasons may be assigned for the necessity and useful-
ness of divine attestations in this case: but in opposition to
these discourses, and in derogation to this way of confirming
any truth or authority, it may be said that no such testifications
can well serve to such purposes ; for that the like have been
and may be applied to the persuasion of error and impiety by
false prophets and antichrists, by magicians and wizards ; who
not only have cunningly counterfeited, but really executed very
prodigious and wondrous things, in a manner unaccountable to
human philosophy. Since also there are wicked spirits, in sub-
tilty and power far exceeding us, who are able easily to divert
the natural course of things; and the limits of whose power in
working so it is hard for us to discern or define ; how can we
be assured that what is done in this kind doth not proceed from
them, but from a virtue divine? how can it be a certain and
convincing argument of truth ? may we not here object that of
Tertullian, saying, that' our Lord pronouncing that many im-
postors should come, and do miracles, showed thereby the faith
grounded on miracles to be temerarious.'*

To this suggestion we may in general return, that seeing the
doing such things is the chief and most effectual way whereby
God, beyond the resistance of doubt or dispute, can in some
cases assure us concerning his mind and will, (whereby he can
bestow honor and credit to any instrument employed by him, to
any revelation proceeding from him,) it cannot but (notwith-
standing that cross instance) reasonably be supposed that God
however doth reserve the power thereof in some eminent and
discernible manner peculiar to himself, for the promoting his
own service. That also at least God being the author and esta-

* Tert. in Marc. iii. 2.

470

BARROW. — SERMON XX.

blisher of nature, and the continual sustainer of it by his free
providence, it is not likely that he will suffer the laws and
course thereof to be much violated, except on occasions very
considerable, and for very good purposes; no inferior cause
being able to determine his voluntary influence or providential
concourse to the accomplishment of designs contrary to his
will and purpose. That also the natural goodness and justice
of God, the constant care and providence he exerciseth over
this world, the particular relations he beareth toward mankind,
(as the Maker and Father, the Lord and Governor thereof,)
the honor and interest of truth, of religion, of virtue, (whose
protector and patron he is, and declareth himself,) the necessary-
regard he also, in connexion with the rest, doth bear to his own
honor and glory, do all conspire to persuade that God will never
endure such things to be performed in any high manner, so that
good and well meaning people shall be very liable to be thereby
extremely seduced into error ; or that himself shall be intolera-
bly mocked by the enemies of his glory and our good. This
may serve to render it probable that the objection is capable
of a solution.

But to answer more distinctly and particularly ; we do grant
that God sometimes for special reasons (for wise probation of
some persons, and just punishment of others; for to approve
some men's sincerity and constancy, to detect other men's
naughtiness and vanity) may permit such things (in some man-
ner, in some degree such) to be effected by the influence of
wicked spirits, or the fraud of wicked men ; yet then it will
never be very hard for moderately wise and well-disposed per-
sons to distinguish such feats from those acts which issue from
the positive and direct efficacy of God, for authorising his mes-
sengers and confirming his truth : we may usually discern them
to come from bad causes by their nature ; we may certainly de-
tect them by their design and influence.

There are some things so great that it is not reasonable to
conceive that any such inferior power is able to do them ; or if
they were able, that God should permit their power actually
to be exerted, and to succeed in doing them : such is the making
any general or grand alteration in the course of nature ; which
being God's great work and establishment, the which he doth,

THAT JESUS IS THE TRUE MESSIAS.

m

as the prophets speak, govern by a standing law, and preserve
according to a perpetual decree, which cannot pass ; yea ac-
cordingto a covenant, which his faithfulness is in a manner en-
gaged to observe ^ it is not probable that he will suffer any
creature to disturb or disorder : this experience well confirmeth ;
for had bad spirits a power of crossing nature so, such is their
malice and proneness to do mischief, that the world would soon
have been turned by them into confusion and ruin ; that all
things therein go in so kindly and steady a course, is an argu-
ment of their small power and influence on things; that God
holdeth the reins fast in his own hands, reserving to himself only
as Lord paramount of nature a power to dispense with any of
its main laws ; that it is ' he alone, who,' as the psalmist saith,
' doeth great wonders.' There are also some things, which,
although not of so great and general consequence, are yet of so
difficult performance, that it is improbable any creature should
affect them ; such was the turning of dust into lice, which the
devils could not enable the Egyptian sorcerers to perform ; to
prepare or dispose so much dust for the reception of souls, and to
furnish so many souls for the dust, did, it seems, exceed their
ability ; whence they were forced to confess of that miracle
done by Moses, ' This is the finger of God.'

There are also things so good and so beneficial to mankind,
that evil spirits may be deemed unable to do them, (God, the
fountain of good, retaining them as instruments of his glory, and
arguments of his goodness, to his own dispensation,) which also
we may presume they would not be willing, were they able, to
perform, it being against their disposition or their interest to do
it ; such are, to dispossess devils, (that is, to divide and weaken
their own kingdom;) to discover moral truths of consequence,
(that is, to drive men from themselves ;) and even to free men
from grievous diseases, (that is, to starve their own emxat-
petcaKia, and malignity;) as is implied in that passage of the
gospel, where it is said, 'These are not the words of him that
hath a devil : Can a devil open the eyes of the blind ?' Extra-
ordinary works then, if they are very great, very hard, very
good, do thence indicate their cause to be divine : wicked spirits
deal only in petty, low, and useless prestigiatory tricks, of
small consequence and no benefit.

412

BARROW. — SERMON XX.

But there are farther somethings infallibly signifying a divine
virtue, peculiar to God, and (either by their nature or from the
decree of God) incommunicable to any creature, otherwise than
as acted by God, or immediately depending on him : such are,
the knowlege of future contingent events declared by predicting
or presignifying them, according to that of the prophet ; ' Show,'
said he, in way of challenge and conviction to the objects of
heathen worship, ' the things to come, that we may know ye
are gods :' such is the discerning men's secret thoughts and in-
tentions, the which God assumeth as proper to himself : ' 1 the
Lord search the heart, I try the reins ;' so that Kapbioyvuorijs
is a characteristical attribute or title proper to him. Such is
the restitution of men from a state of death to life ; a work not
only in itself most difficult, in respect to the ordinary rule of
nature which it transgresseth, but impossible to any mere crea-
ture without God's aid ; for that the souls of men when they
die return into God's hand, and enter into a state determined
by his high sentence; whence no creature can fetch them down,
or raise them up ; most impossible also because God by especial
decree hath reserved the power of doing it appropriate to him-
self ; the power of life and death being his prerogative, who
saith, ' I am he, and there is no God beside me ; I kill, and I
make alive :' of whom again it is said, • The Lord killeth, and
maketh alive ; he bringeth down to the grave, and bringeth up.'
He it is that in his hand doth ' hold the keys of hell and of
death.' The performing things also by mere word and will,
without application of other force, or any preparation of the
subject matter, (being equivalent to the work of creation,) is
peculiar unto God, the author of all being, or to such as act by
the immediate help of his infinite power.

We may add that there also seem to be some things, which
infernal spirits (who continue under restraint and command,
within a great awe and dread of their Judge,) dare not so
much as pretend to or counterfeit ; knowing that as presently
they shall be checked in their attempt, so they shall be
grievously chastised for their presumptions; such may be
the assuming to themselves the special names of God, the di-
rectly withstanding the extraordinary messengers of God, and
the like.

THAT JESUS IS THE TRUE MESSIAS.

17^

So even considering the very nature of strange works may
enable us to distinguish them ; but the end and design of such
works, together with the influences and effects of them, will
farther ascertain us of their original : if they are done to abet
any gross error, or to promote any mischievous purpose ; if
they manifestly do seduce to apostasy from God or goodness ;
if they naturally tend to the production of impiety, iniquity, or
impurity; if they do necessarily produce any great disorder or
disturbance in the world, assuredly hell is the source of them ;
they derive from him whose kingdom and interest they ad-
vance ; by their fruits we may know the tree from which they
grow. If also they discover ostentation and vanity in the
actors, or serve only to gratify idle humor and curiosity in the
spectators of them, tending otherwise to no good purpose; it
is easy to collect whence they spring ; that they come from
the father both of mischiefs and vanities, who not only delights
to abuse us with villanies, but to amuse us also with trifles and
fond superstitions.

' As,' saith Origen, ' the power of those enchantments in
Egypt was not, in itself, like to that admirable power by God's
grace vouchsafed to Moses ; so the end did convince those
Egyptian feats to be jugglings, those of Moses to be divine.'*
The portentous things done ' by the energy of Satan ' are, as
St. Paul calleth them, Tepnra \pevbuvs, either false prodigies, or
prodigies abetting falsehood and vanity.

But the works of the most wise and good God, as they are
commonly works of wonderful majesty and grandeur, incom-
parable and inimitable for difficulty ; so they always are holy,
always useful ; they ever aim at good ends, and produce
wholesome fruits :. hence we may discern them, and hence we
are obliged to acknowlege them ; they afford us ground to say
with the psalmist; ' Unto thee, O Lord, we do give thanks;
for that thy name is near thy wondrous works declare.' Such
works, as they can only be effects of God's power, so they are
arguments of his truth ; for that he cannot lend his hand, for
that he will not prostitute his assistance to the maintenance of
any thing, which is not perfectly true and good ; he will

* Orig. in Cels. 2.

474

BARROW. — SERMON XX.

' not so tempt any man' into error. ' If I by the finger of
God cast out devils, then indeed is the kingdom of God come
unto you.' (that is, if I perform works by the divine power,
then assuredly is my doctrine true,) was an irrefragable argu-
ment.

We may also observe that those wicked spirits are them-
selves apprehensive how easily their feats are distinguished from
the works of God ; for hence, it seems, they chose to utter
them clancularly, in obscure corners, in blind times, among
barbarous and silly people; judging that persons of any wis-
dom or goodness will be soon able to detect them, and ready
to explode them : a little light dazzles the powers of dark-
ness, and scares away these spectres ; a little goodness mates
their force, enfeebleth and dishearteneth them.

We may also add that the Messias's works by a peculiar
character should be manifestly distinguishable from such as
proceeded from infernal powers ; for that it should be his busi-
ness to impugn, defeat, and overthrow the Devil's kingdom ;
all the falsehoods and superstitions, all the immoralities and
impieties, which it consisted in, or which supported it: to this
end all his doctrine, practice, and performances would conspi-
ringly tend, that ' Satan like lightning should be thrown down
from heaven ;' which most evidently would evince that what
he should do should only come from heaven.

Having thus showed reasons why, and signified to what
purposes, the Messias was to receive special testimonies from
God ; let us now survey those, which were indeed by him
exhibited to Jesus our Lord. There is indeed no kind or de-
gree of attestation needful or proper, which hath not been
largely from heaven afforded to him. God (so our Lord
argueth) is in his own nature invisible and indiscernible to any
sense of ours ; neither could we endure the lustre of his imme-
diate presence. (' No man ever saw God, or can see him ;
there shall no man see him and live.') It must be therefore
by mediation of signs and works supernatural; the causing of
which can only be imputed to him, as beyond the power of any
creature to effect or counterfeit; that he can assuredly signify
his mind unto us ; such only in approbation of any person, law,
or doctrine, can be expected from him ; and such, in divers

THAT JESUS IS THE TRUE MESSIAS. 475

kinds and in great measures, God hath, we say, ' furnished for
the authorising Jesus.'

1. God did attest to him long before his coming into the
world, by presignifying and predicting concerning him, at
several times, in several ways, by several persons, (even by all
the prophets and eminent persons among his people of old,)
many things, even all things considerable about him; in exact
congruity to the circumstances of his coming into the world,
(the time when, the place where, the family whence, the man-
ner how, the condition in which he was born,) to the qualities
of his person, to the doctrine and law which he published, to
all his undertakings and performances and sufferings, and to
the successes consequent on what he did. (This is a matter
of very large consideration ; which otherwhile we have in-
sisted largely on, and therefore shall now waive enlargement
on it.)

2. God did in attestation to him immediately send before
his face, as his herald and harbinger, a prophet, or one for his
admirable wisdom and sanctity of life somewhat ' more than a
prophet;' who indeed without doing any miracle, by the prodi-
gious integrity and strictness of his life, by the wonderful efficacy
of his doctrine and discourse, procured unto himself a reputa-
tion equalling or exceeding that of any former prophet ; (whom
even Josephus, an indifferent historian, reporteth a man of sin-
gular goodness and great authority,) to predispose the minds of
men to receive him ; by converting men to a serious reflection
on their lives and amendment of their manners, to prepare his
way ; as also to point him out, to foretell of him as presently
coming, to testify of him as being come. This was he, to
whom it well agreed, and who plainly did assume to himself
that which was written by Malachi ; ' Behold, I send my
angel before thy face, who shall prepare thy way before thee ;'
of whom Isaiah (John himself being the avoucher and inter-
preter) said, ' The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Pre-
pare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight;' who was,
as Malachi did again signify, 4 to come in the spirit and power
of Elias, to convert the hearts of the fathers to the children,
and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready
a people prepared for the Lord.' This most extraordinary

47G

BARROW. — SERMON XX.

and excellent person did at several times and occasions attest
unto Jesus, not only that he was incomparably, for the dignity
of his person and worth of his performances, to be preferred
before himself, and consequently before all other prophets,
but that he was the very Christ, the Lamb of God, the
Son of God, the Saviour of the world: 'they sent to John,'
saith the text, ' and he bare witness of the truth.' God by
him also foretold divers things concerning our Lord, which
did really come to pass; as those words, uttered occa-
sionally by many persons, do imply ; ' John indeed did no
miracle ; but all things which John spake of this man were
true.'

3. God attested unto our Lord by visible apparitions from
heaven, at several times, in fit seasons, made in the sight and
presence of very good witnesses : angels appearing warned his
good father and blessed mother concerning the time and man-
ner of his coming into the world ; angels again appearing
uttered tidings of his birth, joined with acclamations of praise
to God, and gratulations of joy to men; angels were vigilant
for his safety, ministered unto him in his temptations and needs,
assisted and comforted him in the agonies of his passion, waited
on him at his resurrection ; an extraordinary star (like that of
the morning before the sun) officiously did usher him into the
world ; at his baptism the Holy Ghost (in the symbolical
figure of a dove) appeared descending and resting on him, in
the presence of St. John the Baptist, (that most just and holy
person, so taken and acknowledged by all men, even by his
enemies and murderers ; and a most competent witness, as who
dared with utmost peril before the greatest persons to assert the
truth ;) ' He testified thereof, and said, I saw the Spirit of God
descending from heaven as a dove, and resting on him.' Moses
and Elias also (those most eminent instruments of God, and
illustrious representatives of the Messias) did from heaven in a
most glorious and splendid manner attend on him, in the pre-
sence of three most credible witnesses, Peter, James, and John,
the Apostles; one of whom doth himself thus, with the due
confidence of an eye-witness, report the fact ; ' For we have
not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known
unto you the power and presence of our Lord Jesus Christ, but

THAT . JESUS IS THE TRUE MESSIAS. 477

were spectators of his majesty — being with him in the holy
mountain.'

4. God also by vocal attestation did expressly at several
times own and approve Jesus : at his baptism, in the audience
of St. John the Baptist and others present there; when,
' Behold there was a voice from heaven, saying, This is my
beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased :' the like heavenly
voice was heard at the transfiguration ; ' This is my beloved
Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear him :' so the gospels
report it; and thus St. Peter himself, a more immediate
witness and attendant there ; ' He received from God the
Father honor and glory, a voice being brought unto him from
the magnificent glory ; This is my beloved Son, in whom I am
well pleased. And this voice, which came from heaven, we
heard, being with him in the holy mount.' -Again, a little
before his death, in presence of a multitude, on Jesus's prayer,
that God would by him glorify his name, an audible return
was made from heaven ; ' There came,' saith the text, ' a voice
from heaven,' saying, ' I have both glorified it, and will again
glorify it.'

5. God attested to our Lord in that he was endued with a
power constantly resident in him of performing miraculous
works, for nature and quality such, as could only proceed from
a most divine power; not only thwarting the course of nature,
but transcending the strength of any creature, and especially
contrary to what any evil creature could or would perform :
this was a testimony beyond any human testimony, and which
our Lord insisted on as such; ' I,' saith he, ' have a greater
testimony than that of John ; for the works which the Father
hath granted me, that I should perform them, tliose very works
which I do, they testify about me, that the Father hath sent
me.'

Works indeed he performed of a stupendous greatness and
difficulty ; all the creatures (the most unruly and boisterous,
the most malignant and rebellious) beside their natures, and
against their wills, did obey his commands: in a tempest ' he
arose, and rebuked the winds and the sea ; and there became a
great calm : so that men did marvel, saying, What manner of
man is this, for even the winds and the sea obey him !' the sea

478

BARROW.— SERMON XX.

stood firm for him and St. Peter to walk on ; he turned water
into good wine ; he unconceivably so improved a few loaves and
little fishes as to feed and satisfy multitudes, leaving more
behind than there were at first ; he cured the most incurable
diseases, inveterate palsies, fluxes of blood, and leprosies;
he restored senses, and limbs wanting from the birth, or for a
long time ; innumerable persons, blind, deaf, dumb, lame, and
maimed, he restored to the use of their faculties, and member*
respectively, without any medicinal applications, or any natural
means conducible to those purposes : he restored lunatic persons
to their right wits, and dispossessed evil spirits, they not daring
to disobey him, and acknowleging his uncontrollable author-
ity ; ' They were,' saith the text, ' amazed, insomuch that they
questioned among themselves, saying, What thing is this ?
what new doctrine is this ? for with authority he commandeth
even the unclean spirits, and they do obey him.' These were
indeed works of excessive grandeur and difficulty ; but he did
others far more great and hard ; and these were greater for the
manner of performing them, than in their own nature : he did
other acts so great, that they were only to be done by an infi-
nite power ; and most of these he performed in a manner which
argued omnipotency present with the doer.

Works proper unto God he did many ; such was discerning
the thoughts, reasonings, opinions, and purposes of men, how-
ever concealed or disguised, whereof we have many instances ;
and his intimate acquaintance, St. John, testifies of him gene-
rally, saying, ' He needed not that any should witness about a
man, for he knew himself what was in man.' Such was also
to forgive sins, (a privilege only belonging to the supreme Lord
and Lawgiver, against whom sin is committed ;) the which he
assumed to himself, and irreprovably maintained it by exerting
a power equivalent thereto ; ' Forwhether,' said he, ' is it easier
to say, Thy sins be forgiven thee ; or to say, Arise and walk ?
but that you may know that the Son of man hath power on
earth to forgive sins, (then saith he to the sick of the palsy,)
Arise, take up thy bed, and go to thine house : and he
arose, and departed to his house :' such it was likewise to fore-
tell future contingencies ; this he often did ; as concerning his
own passion and resurrection, with all the circumstances of

THAT JliSUS IS THE TRUE MESSIAS.

479

them ; particularly the treason of Judas ; (' He knew,' saith St.
John, ' from the beginning who they were that did not believe,
and who it was that should betray him ;') concerning St. Peter's
lapse, repentance, and suffering; concerning the destruction of
Jerusalem and utter demolishmentof the temple ; concerning the
persecutions which his disciples should undergo ; concerning the
communication of the Holy Ghost after his decease, and the pro-
pagation of the gospel in the world : such was the foundation of
the Church on a rock, against which ' the gates of hell should not
prevail :' such again it was to raise the dead, which he often per-
formed ; he raised the ruler's daughter, and the widow's son of
Nairn, and his friend Lazarus ; and, ' The dead are raised,' is
reckoned among the ordinary miracles done by him, in the answer
to St. John the Baptist's disciples : these were acts of divine
power, which no creature, unassisted by God, could perform.

And considering the manner of performance such were both
these and most of the rest ; they in that respect emulating God's
inimitable work of creation, and in a manner seeming to exceed
it ; for that it seemeth harder to produce things out of matter
indisposed and repugnant, than to bring them out of mere
nothing : as God by mere word and will created things, when
' he spake, and it was done ; he commanded, and it stood fast ;'
so did Jesus in like manner, by the efficacy of his command, or
by actions equipollent thereto, without predisposing the sub-
jacent matter, or using any natural instrument, accomplish his
great and strange works; ' He rebuked the wind, and said to
the sea, Peace, be still ;' so he quelled the storm : ' I will, be
thou cleansed;' so he cured the leper: 'Young man, I say
unto thee, Arise ;' so he revived the widow's son : ' O woman,
great is thy faith ; be it unto thee as thou desirest ;' so he cured
the Canaanitish woman's possessed daughter: ' He cried out
Lazarus, come forth ;' xai e£,fj\dev 6 redvrjKios, so the dead man
heard his voice, and presently came forth out of the grave : he
said, • Ephphatha, Be opened,' to the deaf man's ears; they
immediately heard, and obeyed : he said but one word, 'Ava-
(3\e\j/oy, ' See again,' to the blind man ; Kai Trctpa\pfjfia aveftXe^e,
' and without more ado he saw again :' he did but chide the
great fever, with which St. Peter's mother-in-law was troubled,
and it left her : he did but take the ruler's daughter by the

480

BARROW. — SERMON XX.

hand, and ' the girl revived, and rose up :' he only touched the
two blind men's eyes, and so ' their sight was restored :' the
woman, who had a flux of blood for twelve years, did but touch
him, Kai ladr) Trapa-^pfjfia, and she thereon ipso facto instantly
was healed : yea multitudes of sick persons together did only
endeavor to ' touch the hem of his garment, and as many as
touched it were healed :' ' there went virtue out of him, and
healed them all.' AVhen he used any thing like means, he, as
St. Chrysostom observeth, proceeded in ways not only preter-
natural, but contrary to nature; as when he cured the blind
man in St. John's Gospel, anointing his eyes with clay and
spittle : bta wpciyftaros emreiiovros rijv iri'ipuuiv, ave~t\e' ' by a
thing apt to increase (or strengthen) blindness, he took it away.'
So great in nature, so high for manner of performance, were
the works of our Lord ; they plainly were either the works, or
they were done in the way of omnipotency.

They had also no less of goodness than of greatness divine ;
they were all of them plainly works of piety or works of cha-
rity and pity ; of a holy nature and beneficial use ; they were
generally performed on evidently reasonable occasions or needs ;
for the succor and comfort of persons in some want or distress ;
or for instruction of the minds and reformation of the manners
of men ; for healing the sick, feeding the hungry, easing the
afflicted, restoring men to their senses, freeing them from the
devil's tyranny ; for helping men in disappointment and need,
or for encouraging kindness and good neighborhood among
people, (to which purpose his first miracle done at Cana
served ;) for instilling or impressing some wholesome truth, as
when the fig-tree withered at his command ; for encouraging
dutiful submission to governors, as when the fish was brought
up with a piece of money in his mouth, furnishing him and St.
Peter to pay tribute : in fine, the nature and importance of his
works St. Peter thus well expressed, saying of him ; "Os ttTiXdev
eiiepyeruiv, 'Who went about doing good, (or benefiting men,)
and healing all that were oppressed by the devil; for God was
with him :' and the Evangelist thus ; 4 Jesus went about all the
cities, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel
of the kingdom, and healiug every sickness and every disease
among the people.'

THAT JESUS IS THE TRUE MESSIAS. 481

Considering which things, we may well discern by what
power and to what purpose Jesus did perform his admirable
works ; and may repel from our hearts all the cavils or calum-
nies forged by malicious and vain wits (such as those of Celsus
and Julian) in derogation to them ; we may particularly per-
ceive how impudently false that suggestion was of the apostate
emperor; who said that Jesus, 'while he lived, did nothing-
worthy hearing, except one suppose to heal cripples and blind
folk, and to exorcise demoniacs in the villages Bethsaida and
Bethany, to be great works:'* in opposition to which kind of
suggestions, and for abundant confirmation of our purpose, we
may consider some advantageous circumstances and concomi-
tances of our Lord's performances.

They were, we may observe, not some few things done at
one time or in one place, among friends and partisans ; but in-
numerably many and frequent, (a world of things, more than
well could be recited, as St. John telleth us,) done through a
long course of time, (for some years together,) in several places,
before all sorts of people, many of them very ill-affected to-
wards him. They were not done clancularly in a blind corner,
among rude and simple people ; but openly and visibly every
where about Judea, the most lightsome place for knowlege and
goodness in the world ; where the best worship of God most
flourished, and all diabolical impostures were most detested, in
the places there most public and conspicuous ; so he could
affirm and admonish them ; ' T spake freely to the world ; I
always taught in the synagogues and in the temple, where the
Jews from all places resort ; and in secret have I done nothing :'
they were done so apparently, that the people generally saw
them, and ackuowleged them ; that scarce any man could be
ignorant of them ; that the most learned and considerate men
took it for granted that they were done ; that adversaries could
not deny the performance of them, although out of envy and
ill-will they were ready to impute it to the worst causes de-
visable ; that mauy of all sorts were convinced, and divers con-
verted by them : as for the people, ' Great multitudes,' saith
St. Matthew, one present, and a follower of our Lord, ' came

BAR.

* Cyr. adv. Jul. lib. 6.

VOL. V.

X

ISg

BARROW. — SERMON XX.

unto him, having with them those that were lame, blind, dumb,
maimed, and many others, and cast them down at Jesus's feet,
and he healed them : insomuch that the multitude wondered,
when they saw the dumb to speak, the maimed to be whole,
the lame to walk, and the blind to see; and they glorified the
God of Israel :' and, ' The people marvelled, saying, It was
never so seen in Israel ; but the pharisees said, He casteth out
devils by the prince of the devils :' the matter of fact they could
not offer, against conviction of sense, to question ; but malice
prompted perversely and foolishly to assign a bad cause thereof:
the matter was so notorious that St. Peter could thus confi-
dently appeal to the whole nation : ' Ye men of Israel, hear
these words; Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved (or demon-
strated) unto you by miracles, and wonders, and signs, which
God did by him in the midst of you ; as you yourselves know.'
The adversaries (such whom superstitious prejudices, obstinate
humors, or corrupt affections, envy, pride, ambition, avarice,
or the like, had made adversaries to him) did not only see the
thing, but were affrighted with its consequence ; ' The chief
priests,' it is said, ' and the pharisees gathered a counsel toge-
ther, and said, "What shall we do, for this man doeth many won-
ders? if we let him alone, all men will believe on him :' yes
indeed, notwithstanding all this watchful caution and fine policy
of theirs, notwithstanding all the opposition and discourage-
ment they could interpose, all their strugglings to smother his
credit and doctrine, many were in their hearts convinced, even
divers of such as were unwilling to believe, and ashamed or
afraid to avow their persuasion ; ' Also,' it is said again, 'of the
rulers many believed on him ; but because of the pharisees they
did not confess it, lest they should be put out of the synagogue :'
NicDdemus, an honest and ingenious person, a man of honor,
(but somewhat wary and timorous,) came secretly, and in the
name (it seemeth) of many persons, alike disposed with him-
self, thus spake : • Rabbi, we know that thou hast come a
teacher from God ; for no man can do those things which thou
doest, except God be with him.' As for the generality of the
people, (the most unconcerned in such cases as to point of
honor and interest, and thence the most impartial and sincere
party,) they following their senses were greatly affected and

THAT JESUS IS THE TRUE MESSIAS.

483

astonished with what he did; taking him for a very extraordi-
nary person ; some in a gross and confused manner, others in a.
more distinct way of belief ; ' Some said he was John the Bap-
tist; others, that he was Elias ; others, Jeremiah, or one of the
ancient prophets risen up again : but many of the people
(more fully and exactly) believed on him, saying, When
Christ cometh, will he do more miracles than this man hath
done ?'

We may also observe that Jesus did not affect to perform
wonders out of vanity, or to humor men's curiosity, but always
on inducements of piety and charity : most of them were per-
formed occasionally at the desire of men, suggested by their
needs ; and all of them for their edification or comfort ; that he
therefore did not seek by them to acquire reputation or applause
to himself; nor by them designed to advance any private in-
terest of his own, but singly aimed at the promotion of God's
glory in them all: that in effect no secular advantage of dig-
nity, or wealth, or pleasure did from them accrue to himself ,
but rather disgrace and obloquy, hatred and enmity, trouble
and pain, did from them befal him ; all the glory of them purely
coming to God, and all the benefit to men. As he charged his
disciples, so he practised himself, doing all gratis, and freely,
without expecting or accepting any requital. He often stu-
diously concealed his miracles, forbidding those who were con-
cerned in them, or conscious of them, to publish them ; so
striving to decline or to stifle the honor naturally emergent
from them. When it was necessary or expedient they should
appear, he disclaimed being the principal author of them, re-
ferring and ascribing them to God: ' I can,' said he, 'do no-
thing of myself;' and, ' The word that I speak to you I speak
not of myself ; but the Father who abides in me, he doeth the
works :' and, ' I seek not mine own glory; I receive not glory
of men :' thus he professed, and so he practised : consequently
the effect was, that (as it is expressed in the gospels) ' fear,'
or a pious reverence, ' did seize all men ; and they glorified
God, saying, That a great prophet is risen up among us ; and,
That God hath visited his people:' ' All the people seeing it
gave praise to God :' ' All men were amazed at the mighty
power (or majesty) of God :' ' When the multitude saw it, they

484

BARROW. — SERMON XX.

marvelled, and glorified God, which had given such power
unto men.' And doth not so much glory from his perform-
ances resulting to God, so good an influence on the hearts of
men, evidently show whence the power effecting them was
derived ? would the Devil be such an instrument of God's
praise ?

We may also with St. Irenaeus* observe that Jesus, in per-
forming his cures and other miraculous works, did never use
any profane, silly, fantastic ceremonies ; any muttering of
barbarous names or insignificant phrases; any invocation of
spirits, or inferior powers ; any preparatory purgations, any
mysterious circumstances of proceeding, apt to amuse people ;
any such unaccountable methods or instruments, as magicians,
enchanters, diviners, circulatorious jugglers, and such emissa-
ries of the Devil, or self seeking impostors, are wont to use ;
but did proceed altogether in a most innocent, simple, and
grave manner, with a majestic authority and clear sincerity,
becoming such an agent of God as he professed himself to be.

That also the whole tenor of his proceedings was directly
levelled against the kingdom of darkness; against all the
impiety, all the malice, all the filthiness, and all the fallacy
thereof; at the casting wicked and impure spirits, not only
from the bodies, but out of the souls of men; causing men not
only to detest and defy them, but to loathe their qualities, and to
eschew their works : this is that binding, disarming, rifling, and
dispossessing the strong one, which Jesus alleged as an infal-
lible argument that he was not only no friend, but a mighty
enemy to the infernal powers; an enemy, not only in disposi-
tion and design quite contrary, but in virtue and force highly
superior to them : that we should worship God alone with most
hearty reverence and love ; that we should bear the same clear
good-will to all men as we do to ourselves; that we should be
strictly just, veracious, and sincere in our words and dealings,
meek and humble in our spirits, pure and sober in all our en-
joyments, (things perfectly opposite to the temper and interests
of hell,) were things, which as our Lord constantly in his doc-
trine did inculcate, so he countenanced and furthered them by

* Irun. ii. 58.

THAT JESUS IS THE TRUE MESSIAS.

483

his works ; from whence assuredly we may collect that they
came from heaven, and were intended for the promoting God's
service : hell would never contribute so much to its own dis-
grace and disadvantage, would never so industriously concur
to defeat and destroy itself ; God plainly reaped the benefit by
Jesus's works, he therefore certainly did plant them and bless
them.

On thesec onsiderations it appeareth sufficiently that in cor-
respondence to the reason and exigency of the case our Lord
did perform innumerable works, which had impressed on them
the truest and highest characters of divinity ; the most peculiar
grandeur, and perfectest goodness ; the purest holiness of de-
sign, and the beneficial tendency proper to the works issuing
from divine power ; so that supposing God should send the
Messias into the world, or any great ambassador from himself,
he could scarce possibly, he should not at least, all things
considered, need to furnish him with more convincing attes-
tations, than he hath exhibited to our Lord. Whence we may
well apprehend the validity of that argument, which our Lord
himself suggested for assurance of St. John the Baptist in his
opinion concerning him, or rather for the satisfaction of St.
John's disciples ; when John sent two of his disciples, with this
inquiry, 'Art thou he, or look we for another?' Jesus thus
replied ; ' Go your way, and tell John what things ye have
seen and heard ; how that the blind see, the lame walk, the
lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, to the
poor the gospel is preached ; and blessed is he, whoever shall
not be offended in me.'

6. God most signally did attest to our Lord by miraculously
raising him from the dead ; or in that by a divine power he
raised up himself from the grave; which work, for the singular-
greatness and high consequence thereof, together with the cer-
tain evidence that it was really performed, might alone suffice
to confirm the verity of all our Lord's pretences ; [that he was
the true Messias, the Son of God, the Saviour of the world,
the Lord of all things, the Judge of all the world ;] most effi-
caciously to evince and persuade the most eminent and impor-
tant parts of his doctrine, (the immortality of our souls, the re-
surrection of our bodies, the just and wise providence of God

■iHG

BARROW. — SERMON XX.

over men, the dispensation of rewards and punishments here-
after, answerable to men's conversation and practice in this
life.) This indeed is the point, which invincibly guardeth and
fortifieth all other testimonies; but it is so pregnant of consi-
derations belonging to it, that it deserveth more time and
room than we now can yield it ; wherefore we choose rather at
present to pass it over, than slightly to touch it, reserving it
for a peculiar subject of discourse.

7. A farther attestation was given to our Lord by the power
of doing miracles in his name imparted to the disciples ; who
by him were appointed and authorised to prosecute the great
design commenced by himself : not only his person, but even
his name did great wonders; it cured diseases, it cast out
devils, it surmounted nature, and subdued hell : whereby he
indeed appears, for especial favor with God, personal excel-
lency, dignity of office, importance of undertaking, incompa-
rably to have surpassed all former prophets and commissioners
of God, by whose ministry any law, covenant, or doctrine,
hath been conveyed to men ; never by delegation or in depen-
dence on any other person, never in any other person's name,
were such works done. To the twelve Apostles at their first
mission he among other instructions injoined thus; ' Cure the
sick, cleanse the lepers, cast out devils; ye have freely re-
ceived, freely give :' to the seventy disciples, sent out by him-
self to instil the rudiments of his doctrine, and to admonish
people of his approach, he gave this commission and charge ;
' In any city into which you enter, heal those which are sick
therein ; and say unto them, The kingdom of heaven is come
near unto you :' he then adds; ' Behold, I give you power to
tread on serpents and scorpions, and on all the power of the
enemy :' the success was, that 1 they returned with joy, saying,
Lord, even the devils are subject unto us through thy name.'
At his departure he promised and foretold thus ; ' These signs
shall follow them that believe ; In my name they shall cast
out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; they shall
take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall
not hurt them ; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall
recover :' all which things were abundantly fulfilled ; for a
liberal communication of divine power was granted to them,

THAT JESUS IS THE TRUE MESSIAS.

181

enabling them to perform the greatest works ; so that, as St.
Luke telleth us, ' by the hands of the Apostles many wonders
and signs were done among the people;' the performance of
which was so notorious, that on knowlege, and in confidence
thereof, ' there came,' saith the holy historian, ' a multitude
out of the cities round about unto Jerusalem, bringing sick
folks, and them which were vexed with unclean spirits, and
they were healed every one.' The like power also was by the
Apostles derived unto others, in such kind and measure, as
the carrying on Jesus's great design (the propagation of God's
truth and the edification of his church) did require ; by suc-
cession it was transmitted through several ages, and visibly
continued so long, as such extraordinary means were usefid ot
expedient for the conviction and conversion of the world ;
most of the first fathers of the church do expressly testify con-
cerning remainders thereof in their times : ' It is not possible'
(saith St. Irenaeus for one instance, among others innumerable)
• to tell the number of the graces (or special gifts) which the
church through the whole world receiving from God doth, in
the name of Jesus Christ, crucified under Pontius Pilate, daily
perform for the succor of the nations,' &c. And remarkable
is the confidence of Tertullian, reporting the effects of this
power in his time : he in his apologetic speech for the Chris-
tians even dares to provoke the Ethnic governors to trial, and
to lay the issue concerning not only the truth of Christian doc-
trine, but the lives and safety of its professors thereon ; f Let,'
saith he,* ' any person, manifestly possessed with the Devil, or
one who is deemed to be wrapt with a divine fury, be set be-
fore your tribunals; that spirit, being commanded by a Chris-
tian to speak, shall as truly there confess himself to be a devil,
as otherwhere a god — If he do not so confess, not daring to
lie, even there spill the blood of that procacious Christian :'
' What,' adds he, ' is more manifest than that work ? what
more faithful than that probation ? Stand not to these say-
ings, if your eyes and ears will suffer you.' The like asser-
tions and challenges might be produced out of divers other
Fathers.

* Tert. Apol. 23.

488

BARROW. — SERMON XX.

Neither perhaps is the communication of this divine virtue
so ceased now, that it would be wanting on any needful occa-
sion ; the frequent performance of such works among them in
whom faith by abundance of other competent means may be
produced and confirmed, unto whom also the first miracles are
virtually present by the help of history and good reason, is
indeed nowise necessary, nor perhaps would be convenient;
but did the same pious zeal for God's honor, and the same cha-
ritable earnestness for men's good, excite any persons now to
attempt the conversion of infidels to the sincere Christian
truth, I see no reason to doubt but that such persons would be
enabled to perform whatever miraculous works should conduce
to that purpose ; for ' the Lord's hand is not shortened,' the grace
of Christ is not straitened, the name of Jesus hath not lost its
virtue.

8. God did attest to our Lord by accomplishing his predic-
tion and promise, in a plentiful effusion of the divine Spirit on
his Church and disciples, for their perfect instruction and
guidance, for their support and comfort, for enabling them
to convince and convert men to him ; ' When' (said our Lord to
them before his decease, concerning this attestation) ' the Com-
forter is come, whom I will send to you from my Father, even
the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall
testify of me :' and ' Tarry ye' (said he again, after his resur-
rection) ' in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power
from on high.'

Accordingly soon after our Lord's ascension, as the. Holy
Spirit was conspicuously dispensed, on various occasions, in
divers proportions, and in different ways, according to the exi-
gencies of things, for the edificatiou and enlargement of the
Church ; so especially at Pentecost it was in a most solemn
manner and abundant measure poured forth on the whole
Church and each member of it ; 'For then,' saith St. Luke,
' the disciples (to the number of one hundred and twenty per-
sons) being gathered together — with one accord, in one place ;'
— ' suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing
mighty wind,' (which was a most proper emblem of the Holy
Spirit's nature and powerful efficacy,) ' and it filled all the
house where they were sitting,' (which then typified the Ca-

THAT JESUS IS THE TRUE MESSIAS.

189

tholic Church, through which the Holy Spirit was to be dif-
fused, to animate and actuate it;) 'and there appeared unto
them cloven tongues like as of fire,' (denoting the various gifts
and gTaces imparted for expression of God's praise and propa-
gation of his truth, which were to be enlivened by fervent cha-
rity, zeal, and devotion,) ' and it sat on each of them ;' implying
that every faithful Christian constantly should partake of this
heavenly benefit, according to his need ; ' and they were all
filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other
tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance :' that is, they were
perfectly inspired, so that each was endowed with the gift of
speaking a language before unknown to him ; which was a
miracle very great, and most pertinent ; to learn a strange
tongue requiring much time and great pains ; the speaking
such tongues being then very serviceable to the promulgation of
the gospel : all which event was very public and notorious ; for
that at that festival-time • there were,' saith the divine historian,
' dwelling at Jerusalem, Jews, devout men, out of every nation
under heaven. Now when this was noised about, the multi-
tude came together, and were confounded, because that every
man heard them speak in his own language — the wonderful
things of God.'

This was therefore a general attestation to our Lord, preg-
nant and clear as could be, both for conviction of unbelievers
and confirmation of the faithful ; the which effects it had ; so
that in virtue thereof, St. Peter having explained the design of
it, ' three thousand souls were added to the Church and all
' did continue steadfastly in the Apostle's doctrine and fellow-
ship.'

Besides also it was an illustrious pledge of that inestimable
gift, to be perpetually communicated to the Church for its edi-
fication, and to each Christian for his direction and assistance
in religious practice, according to the evangelical covenant ;
the which is a standing witness, attesting to our Lord, in the
heart and conscience of every good man, according to that of
St. Peter ; ' And we are his witnesses of these things ; and so
is the Holy Ghost, whom God hath given to them that obey
him :' he indeed keeping his residence and exerting his power
in all pious souls ; shining into their minds with ' the true

490

BARROW.— SERMON XX.

heavenly light,' (that ' pure and perfect wisdom, which is from
above;') kindling charity, devotion, comfort, and joy in their
hearts ; supporting them in trials and temptations ; raising their
affections and desires above this present transitory world ; dis-
posing them to relish spiritual things, and to entertain them-
selves with the hopes of future blessedness ; doth assure them
that ' Jesus is the Lord ;' doth seal to them the truth of his
doctrine, the reality of his promises, the efficacy of his grace,
the wonderful greatness of his love and goodness toward them ;
so that hence that is abundantly verified which St. John tel-
le^ us, ' He that believeth on the Son of God hath the wit-
ness in himself.'

There are divers other considerable attestations to our Lord ;
such as the divine sublimity of his doctrine, discovering itself
to enlightened minds to shine from heaven ; the testimony of
God s Spirit to the hearts and consciences of good and faithful
people, assuring them that ' Jesus is the Lord,' and sealing to
them the truth of his doctrine ; the operation of God's grace
in production of moral virtues, or the purgation of heart and
amendment of life flowing from faith in him, the efficacy of
prayers in his name offered to God ; all the joys, and comforts,
and happy fruits springing from Christian devotion ; the good
effects the gospel hath had in reformation of the world inducing
many great benefits, and preventing mischiefs therein : but
these and the like, being not so public, so distinctly observable,
so easily drawn into argument, apt to convince the incredulous.
I shall pass over; adding but one more of a more general and
conspicuous nature.

9. Lastly, God hath attested unto our Lord by the wonderful
success which hath attended his gospel in its conveyance and
propagation : its, in so short a time, so generally prevailing in
the hearts of men, triumphing over the mightiest oppositions,
subduing the world to the faith and obedience of itself, accom-
plished by means to appearance so insufficient, and by ways so
improbable, may seem to reason no less a miracle of Providence
against the course of human affairs, than the rest performed by
him, or for him, were miracles to sense, above the power of
natural causes, both arguing the presence and assistance of om-
ni potency : the work was a victory over the world and over

THAT JESUS IS THE TRUE MESSIAS. 491

hell, achieved by the faith of Jesus; and that a very strange
one, whether we consider the combatants who fought for him,
or the adversaries against whom, or the weapons by which, or
the manner how they strove, or the very cause itself, which
they maintained for him.

They were not many wise, not many mighty, not many
noble, but a very few, mean and poor, unlearned and simple
men, whom no outward circumstances commended to human
regard, no worldly advantage furthered in pursuance of their
design, who had nothing visible to rely on, to hearten, to sup-
port them in their endeavors : a few fishermen, publicans, tent-
makers, and other persons of like quality, education, improve-
ment, and capacity, were the instruments of this great work ;
those brave soldiers of Christ, who boldly set themselves in
array against all his adversaries : and what adversaries were
they? who, but all the majesty and authority, all the force and
violence, all the policy and craft, all the wit, learning, wisdom,
and eloquence, all the passion and rage of men, all the power,
cunning, and malice of the cursed spirits ; in short, all the
forces and endeavors of earth and hell combined against them.
They were to check and control the ambitions, interests, plea-
sures of mighty emperors and potentates ; whose assumed divine
honors they decried as vain and wicked ; whose commands they
reprehended as unjust and impious; to whose power and plea-
sure they prescribed restraints, declaring them obliged to contain
their practice within bounds of piety, equity, and temperance :
they were to suppress the credit and the gain of all priests or
ministers of religion in the world, whose doctrines they con -
demned as vain and silly, whose practices they reproved as vile
and damnable :.they were to confute all the subtilty of philoso-
phers, all the eloquence of orators, all depths of learning, and
improvements of reason or wit ; impugning the opinions famous
and current among men as false, or slighting them as frivolous :
they were to overbear and master the prejudices of all people,
fortified by natural inclination and temper, by countenance of
long tradition and custom ; by education, by public laws, and
all so mighty enforcements : they were to charge with reproach
all ages past, and the ancestors of all people in the world,
(those of one small people only in part excepted,) of very

402

BARROW.— SERMON XX.

gross ignorance and error, of sottish folly, of heinous wicked-
ness and impiety : they were to sustain all the slanders, re-
proaches, and persecutions which the resolute opposing so many
interests, humors, and opinions inevitably would produce : they
were beside vigorously to assault Satan and all his complices ;
to beat down his worship, and overturn his domination ; to
baffle all his craft and might, to stop his mouth, to bind his
hands, to tread on his neck.

All these great exploits they were to achieve in a most quiet -
and peaceable manner, in a way most plain and simple, without
any terror or tumult, any sleight or artifice, any plausibility of
language, or subtilty of reasoning ; without applying either any
rude violence or sly allurement : they were indeed little more
than barely to report a story, and to affirm it true of their own
knowlege, adjoining in connexion with that story some plain
honest rules of life here in this world, and denouncing some
consequences on the belief of their story and the practice of
their rules in another world hereafter. These things it was
their business to tell simply, and to aver confidently, charging
men at their utmost peril to believe them ; boldly condemning
whatever thing and what person soever should oppose their re-
port or doctrine : they were not to assay the persuading this or
dissuading from the contrary by fine strains of speech, or with
acute enthymemes ; but to propose it without care or circum-
stance, in such a homely dress and naked plainness of speech,
that even children and idiots might easily comprehend the main
of their sense and drift: all the strength, the ornament, the
charm of their discourse consisted in the clear sincerity shining
through it ; joined with a constant adherence to their doctrine,
an earnest diligence in promoting it, an admirable patience in
joyfully suffering all contumelies and adversities incident to
them for its sake ; accompanied also with a blameless innocence
and integrity of life, a sweet calmness of mind and meekness of
behavior, together with a kind and charitable disposition to-
ward all men : these were all the human or natural ' weapons
of their warfare ;' with which alone, God's help concurring,
they did (to use St. Paul's words) ' pull down strong holds,
and cast down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth
itself against the knowlege of God ; bringing into captivity

THAT JESUS IS THE TRUE MESSIAS.

4!)8

every thought to the obedience of Christ :' in this strange man-
ner did they maintain their cause :

A cause indeed, which of itself did not seem likely to pros-
per in the world, having in itself so little of plausibility, and
affording to the embracers thereof so very small encouragement :
which injo'ned to its followers the worship and imitation of a
person lying under extreme disadvantages in the eye of man ;
who had lived in a very mean condition, and had suffered a
most ignominious death ; whom therefore to be obliged to adore
and obey could not but to the ordinary sense of men appear
very offensive : which again recommended a doctrine little
grateful, or rather very cross, to the natural propensions, to the
current principles, to the secular advantages of men; which in-
dulged men in nothing that they were apt to like, but greatly
curbed and checked them in the use of their liberties, gratifica-
tion of their fancies, and enjoyment of their pleasures ; which
much disparaged all the pleasing goods, and all the flattering
glories of the world ; charging men never much to affect or
seek them, sometimes utterly to quit and renounce them ; freely
choosing in their stead to undertake a cross with all its pains
and disgraces, which propounded it as an essential ingredient
of itself, or a condition necessary for all that should avow it, to
' circumcise the heart,' to ' mortify the deeds of the body,' to
' crucify the flesh with its affections and lusts;' 'to cut off right
hands,' and ' pull out right eyes ;' to part with all their for-
tunes, to hate their relations, to sacrifice their lives, if they
were thereto called, for its sake; which rendered men, as it
were, dead to all present fruitions, and unconcerned in all hopes
here ; engaging them intirely to place their contents and happi-
ness in a reversion of things invisible and future : they, in fine,
did hold forth a doctrine to the sense of flesh and blood full of
most rigid laws, severe rules, harsh conditions, and hard say-
ings, apt to choke the faith of men, and to obstruct its enter-
tainment with them.

Now that a handful of such persons, against such obstacles,
in ways so preposterous, and different from the course of human
proceedings, were able to render so unlikely a cause so abso-
lutely victorious; so that suddenly all the might, wit, and elo-
quence of men did stoop unto it, and serve under it ; that the

494

BARROW. — SERMON XX.

majesty of the greatest princes gladly veiled thereto, that the pru-
dence of statesmen cordially did approve it, that all the learning
of the world yielded itself up captive and tributary thereto, that
all superstition vanished before it, and all the force of hell sunk
under it ; is it not a huge argument that God himself did in
favor thereof interpose his omnipotent arm ; that to the Lord of
hosts (' unto whom,' as king Asa said, ' it is nothing to help,
whether with many, or with them that have no power ;' to
whom it is indifferent ' to save by many or by few') this glo-
rious victory is to be ascribed, who thereby pleased to accom-
plish his ancient promises, to maintain his holy truth, to further
the salvation of his creatures, to promote his own glory, and
especially to magnify the name of his only beloved Son Jesus,
our ever blessed Lord ? ' to whom for ever and ever be all
praise.' Amen.

Having thus largely endeavored to show that Jesus our Lord
is the Messias, and consequently supposing the truth of the
Christian doctrine ; let us now briefly recapitulate and explain
in what manner and in what respects the New Testament re-
presents him as Christ ; how, according to that, Jesus was sig-
nally chosen and consecrated by God, in a manner superemi-
nent, to all the offices denoted by the title Christ, (the office pro-
phetical, regal, and sacerdotal,) and how he effectually doth
execute them.

Him, saith St. Peter in general, God anointed with the
Holy Spirit and power : God anointed him, not with an ex-
ternal affusion of material oil, (as neither were the patriarchs,
nor king Cyrus, who are yet called ' the Christs of God ;') that
was only a ritual and symbolical business ; but with a real in-
fusion of divine grace and power, qualifying and enabling him
perfectly to execute all those great and extraordinary functions.
With this gladsome oil he was thoroughly anointed and reple-
nished above measure : with this he was ' sanctified from the
womb ;' when the ' power of the Highest did overshadow him'
at his conception : with this at his baptism he was solemnly
and visibly inaugurated ; when ' the heavens were opened' unto
him, and ' the Spirit of God descended on him as a dove, and
came on him :' with this in all the course of his life and mi-
nistry he was continually accompanied ; the virtue of it being

THAT JESUS IS THE TRUE MESSIAS.

195

discovered and diffused in most sensible effects of wise and
gracious discourse, holy and blameless conversation, wonderful
and glorious performances, for the honor of God and the be-
nefit of mankind, to the delight and consolation of all well-
disposed minds : ' God anointed Jesus of Nazareth,' saith St.
Peter in the Acts, ' with the Holy Ghost; who went about
doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil ;
for God was with him.' He was by this spiritual unction con-
stituted in right and in effect a Prophet, a King, a Priest.

1. First, a Prophet: for they were not mistaken, who, on
his raising the widow's child, were 'amazed, and glorified
God, saying, That a great prophet was raised up among them,'
and that ' God had visited his people.' Nor they (in St.
John's Gospel) who, reflecting on another great miracle, (feed-
ing multitudes with five loaves and two little pickled fishes),
brake into this confession ; ' This is in truth that Prophet who
was to come into the world.'

And the disciples well described him, who styled him, 'a
Prophet mighty in word and deed, before God and all the
people.' He was so, as having an extraordinary commission
from God, declared by vocal attestation of God himself from
heaven, by express testimony of St. John the Baptist, (' the
person of most remarkable sanctity and greatest authority in
his time,') by the performance of innumerable and incom-
parable signs and works miraculous; (arguments in the highest
degree and to the utmost possibility sufficient to assert and con-
firm it.) He was also in greatest perfection qualified for the
exercise of that function, by inspiration complete and unli-
mited ; by disposition of mind altogether pure and holy ; (ex-
pressed in a continual practice of life void of all sin and guile ;
by an insuperable courage and constancy, a transcendent wis-
dom and discretion, an incomparable meekness and patience,
a most winning sweetness and goodness, a most powerful aw-
fulness and majesty, shining in all his discourse and demeanor.)

Suitable also to the authority of his commission and the qua-
lifications of his person, were the weight and the extent of the
doctrine he in God's name revealed ; it concerning no less than
the salvation of mankind, and reconciliation of the world to
God ; the intire will of God, and whole duty of man ; with all

498

BARROW. — SERMON XX.

the laws and precepts, the covenants and conditions, the pro-
raisings and threatening^, relating to our future state. He did
not (as other prophets have done) prophesy about the constitu-
tion of one particular lavr, religion, or covenant ; about the re-
proof or reformation of one state, the judgment or fate deter-
mined to one nation ; but his design reached to the instruction
and conversion of all people, in all places, through all times, to
the settling of a law and covenant absolutely universal and
perpetual : mysteries he brought forth never before revealed,
and decrees never to be reversed ; to the final doom of all the
world did his prophetical denunciations extend. So is he a
Prophet. Such he was in his temporal appearance and admi-
nistrations on earth; and such he continues for ever in heaven ;
from thence on all occasions by his Holy Spirit imparting to
his faithful people all needful instruction in truth, direction in
practice, admonition to duty, and comfort in trouble. He is
also such by the ministry of his servants, whom he hath ap-
pointed, and whom he assists, to instruct and guide us.

2. He is also a king, by many unquestionable titles, of a great
and extensive authority, exercising it to the best effects and
purposes. He is a king by nature and birth ; as the only Son
of God, partaker of his eternal power and majesty ; for there-
fore to him it was said, 'Thy throne, O God, is for ever and
ever ; the sceptre of thy kingdom is a right sceptre :' and as the
Son of David ; for of him the angel said, ' The Lord God shall
give unto him the throne of David his Father, and he shall
reign over the house of David for ever ; and of his kingdom
there shall be no end.' He is also a king by divine designa-
tion and appointment. For, ' Let all the house of Israel,' saith
St. Peter, ' know assuredly, that God hath made him Lord and
Christ;' and, ' The Father hath given him authority to execute
judgment, because he is the Son of man' (or as such.) He is
also king by merit and purchase; for, ' he for the suffering of
death was crowned with glory and honor ; he was obedient to
death, even the death of the cross ; therefore God super-exalted
him, and bestowed on him a name above every name.' ' To this
end he both died and rose again, that he might lord it over both
the dead and living.' He is king also by conquest; having
delivered us out of the power of darkness, and freed us from

THAT JESUS IS THE TRUE MESSIAS.

491

the vassalage of sin ; ' having spoiled principalities and powers,
made a show of them openly,' and triumphed over them ; hav-
ing « delivered U3 from our enemies, and from the hand of all
that hate us; that we being delivered from our enemies, might
serve him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before him
all the days of our life.' He is also a king by our election and
free choice, we having voluntarily put ourselves under his pro-
tection, and submitted to his command, and taken on ourselves
his yoke, and vowed everlasting fealty to him in our baptism.
Such a right he hath of governing.

As for the extent of his kingdom, it is in all respects bound-
less, both for place and time ; it is universal and perpetual.
He is the eternal king of all the world : God hath ' so exalted
him and given him a name above all names, that to the name
of Jesus every knee should bend, whether of things in heaven,
or things on earth, or things under the earth.' 'To him that
sitteth on the throne, and to the Lamb,' by every creature ' in
heaven, and in the earth, and under the earth,' are jointly to be
ascribed ' the blessing, and the honor, and the glory, and the
power, for ever and for ever.' He is constituted vTrepavui ttu-
cti/s apxns, ' above all rule, and authority, and domination, and
every name that is named, not only in this world, but in that
which is to come :' it is his just title and proper badge, ' The
King of kings, and Lord of lords;' to whom all nations are
vassals, yea all creatures are subject and tributary. But he in
especial manner is king over his church ; that peculiar people,
whom he hath especially purchased to himself by his merits and
blood ; whom he hath subdued to his obedience by the sword
of his word, and by the prevailing virtue of his Spirit; that
mystical Zion, in which it is said that God ' will place his
reign and residence for ever;' that ' heavenly city,' whereof all
the saints are fellow-citizens, and he the sovereign head and
governor; 'God hath,' saith St. Paul, ' put all things under
hia feet, and hath given him head above all things to the
church.' In respect to which both the evangelical dispensation
here, and the future state of bliss hereafter, are called the ' king-
dom of heaven.' Over this he reigns, enjoying all royal pre-
rogatives, exercising all royal administrations, and dispensing-
most royal munificences. He hath in this his kingdom esta-

498

BARROW. — SERMON XX.

blished most righteous and wholesome laws ; the which his sub-
jects are by him obliged and enabled to obey. He constantly
defendeth and protecteth his subjects from all invasions and
assaults of their enemies, (intestine enemies, their own lusts ;
external enemies, the devil and the world.) He provides for
all their needs and wants ; he supports them in all their dis-
tresses and troubles. He exercises judgment over them; dis-
tributing fit rewards and punishments with exquisite justice and
equity ; (most liberal rewards to the loyal and obedient ; most
severe punishments on obstinate offenders and rebels.) He
lastly restrains and suppresses, defeats and destroys, all the ad-
versaries to his royal dignity, and to the welfare of his good
subjects, both visible and invisible, temporal and spiritual.
' Out of his mouth (as it is in the Apocalypse) there goeth a
sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations ; and he
shall rule them with a rod of iron.' • These mine enemies, (he
shall one day say,) which would not that I should reign over
them, bring them hither, and slay them before me.' ' He must
reign,' saith St. Paul, ' till he hath put all enemies under his
feet.' Thus is he a king, endued with sovereign right and
power, crowned with glorious majesty, enjoying all pre-emi-
nences, aud exercising all acts suitable to regal dignity.

3. He is likewise a priest, and that much above an ordinary
one ; btafopwrepas rerevye. Xetrovpyias, ' He hath obtained a
more excellent function' (as the Apostle to the Hebrews
speaketh) than ever any other priest had. ' Every high priest,'
saith the Apostle to the Hebrews, ' is appointed to offer gifts
and sacrifices.' He did, as such, once offer up an oblation, in
worth and excellency far surpassing all the sacrifices and obla-
tions that ever were made ; (all the fattest hecatombs that ever
were sacrificed, all the gold and precious stones that ever were
dedicated, all the spices and perfumes that ever were kindled
into incense, on altar, were but vile and sordid, were ineffectual
and unacceptable, in comparison thereto ;) a willing oblation
he made on the altar of his cross of himself, (his most innocent,
most pure, most spotless and unblemished self,) of his most
glorious body, (the temple of the Divinity,) of his most precious
blood, of his dear life, ' for the life of the world' and redemp-
tion of mankind ; for the * propitiation of our sins and the sins

THAT JESUS IS THE TRUE MESSIAS.

499

of the whole world ;' an oblation which alone could appease
God's wrath, and satisfy his justice, and merit his favor to-
ward us.

He doth also (which is another sacerdotal performance) in-
tercede for us; he intercedes as an advocate for the pardon of
our sins; (' If any man sin, we have an advocate with (or to)
the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.') He intercedes for the
acceptance of our services, (whence we are enjoined to do all
things, to pray, to give thanks in his name ;) for the granting
our requests ; for grace and assistance ; for comfort and re-
ward ; for all spiritual blessings and advantages to be con-
ferred on us; he thus pursuing the work of salvation by his
propitiatory sacrifice begun for us ; whence, as the Apostle to
the Hebrews saith, * he is able to save to the uttermost those
that by him come to God, seeing he ever liveth to make inter-
cession for us.'

He doth also perform the priestly function of blessing.
Blessing the people in God's name, and blessing God in the
people's behalf ; as did that illustrious type of his, Melchize-
dek ; (' Blessed,' said he, 'be Abraham of the most high God,
possessor of heaven and earth ; and blessed be the most high
God, which hath delivered thine enemies into thy hand.') So
hath Jesus effectually pronounced all joy and happiness to hi3
faithful people ; he pronounced blessedness to them in his ser-
mons ; he blessed his disciples at his parting ; ' Lifting up his
hands, he blessed them,' saith St. Luke; • God in him,' saith
St. Paul, ' hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in hea-
venly places,' (or ' in heavenly things;') and, ' God,' saith St.
Peter, ' having raised up his son Jesus, sent him to bless us in
turning every one of us from his iniquity :' and at the last day
he will utter that comfortable benediction ; ' Come, ye blessed
of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the
foundation of the world.' So is Jesus a true and perfect priest.
And,

So, finally, in all respects, is Jesus God's anointed, and the
Christ of God ; as the great Prophet and Doctor ; as the So-
vereign King and Prince; as the High-priest and Advocate of
his church. And indeed that he is so is the fundamental point
of our religion ; which the Apostles did peculiarly testify,

500

EAR ROW. — SERMON XX.

preach, and persuade; the sincere belief of which doth consti-
tute and denominate us Christians.

IV. The consideration whereof ought to beget in us a prac-
tice answerable to the relations between him and us, grounded
thereon.

If Jesus be such a prophet, we must, with careful attention,
and a docile mind, hearken to his admonitions and instructions ;
we must yield a steady belief to all his doctrine, and we must
adhere constantly thereto, and we must readily obey and prac-
tise what he teaches.

If he be a king, we must maintain our due allegiance to him,
pay him honor and reverence, submit to his laws and command-
ments, repose trust and confidence in him, fly to his protection
and assistance in all our difficulties and needs.

If he be a priest, we must with sincere faith and hope apply
ourselves unto him for, and rely on, his spiritual ministries in
our behalf ; sue for and expect propitiation of our sins by virtue
of his sacrifice ; the collation of all spiritual gifts from his inter-
cession ; all comfort, ^oy, and felicity in consequence of his
effectual benediction. ' Having' (so the Apostle to the He-
brews admonisheth us) ' a great priest over the house of God,
let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith. :

In short, if Jesus be Christ, let us be Christians ; Christians,
not only in name, in outward profession, in speculation and
opinion, but in very deed and reality, in our heart and affec-
tion, in all our conversation and practice. ' Let every one
that nameth the name of Christ' (that is, who confesseth Jesus
to be Christ, and himself to be his follower) ' depart from
iniquity.'

' Xow the God of peace, that brought from the dead our
Lord Jesus Christ, that great Shepherd of the sheep, through
the blood of the everlasting covenant, make us perfect in every
good work to do his will, working in us that which is well-
pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ ; to whom be glory
for over and ever.' Amen.

SERMON XXI.

50tl

SUMMARY OF SERMON XXI.

JOHN, CHAP. I. — VERSE 14.

That Jesus Christ our Lord is the only Son of God, that is,
the Son of God in a peculiar and high manner, &c, S't. John
here affirms ; and this is a great point of Christian doctrine,
and a special object of our faith. It is now proposed to show
the truth of this, and to explain how it is to be understood.

I. That the Messias was to be in an especial manner the Son
of God, even the ancient prophets did foretel and presignify.
Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee, saith God of
him in the second Psalm. This relation sTiown to be expressed
and intimated in many other parts of the ancient Scriptures,
wherein are many epithets applied to it, importing peculiar
eminency in its kind. The relation, in a large sense, and
equivocally, is attributed to several : as to Adam, to the angels,
to God's peculiar people, and sometimes to all people ; but to
these in a manner inferior and in an improper sense : for Christ
is the only Son of God. The difference between these two
cases stated.

1. Christ is called the Son of God in regard to his temporal
generation, being born of the Holy Ghost : this explained.
•2. In regard to his resurrection by divine efficacy ; that being
a kind of generation. 3. He is capable of this title by reason
of that high office, in which by God's especial designation he
was instated : this explained. 4. "Whereas also it is said that
God did appoint our Saviour heir of all things, did put all
things under his feet, did commit unto him all authority in
heaven and earth, &c. ; in these and such other respects is he

508

SUMMARY OF

properly or fitly called the Son of God, with some pecu-
liarity and eminency above all others : but his being with such
emphasis called God's only begotten Son, imports a more ex-
cellent ground than any of the preceding.

Reasons given why neither the temporal generation, nor the
resurrectional one, nor the free collation of power and dignity,
nor the heirship of all things, nor all the glorious prerogatives
appropriated-^* Christ, &c. can account for this peculiar rela-
tionship, and the expressions by which it is denoted.

We must search for a better ground of this peculiar Sonskip
in the testimonies of holy Scripture ; whence it is evident,

1. That our Saviour had in himself somewhat more than
human, according to which he is said to have existed before
his temporal generation here among men. No man hath
ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, &c.
This head enlarged on.

2. And this jire-existence was necessary, since God by him
made the world. God, saith St. Paul, created all things by
Jesus Christ, &c.

3. He did indeed exist from all eternity ; for he is called
absolutely, the Beginning, which excludes all time previous to
his existence : he is styled the first-born of every creature ; or
rather, as it ought to stand, born before all the creation: this
head enlarged on.

4. From what has been said, it follows that his being was
absolutely divine. If he was no creature, if author of all
creatures, if eternally subsistent, then assuredly he is God ; such
state, action, and property being incommunicably peculiar to
God. Many instances quoted from Scripture, wherein he is
expressly designated as God. In many others the same is
intimated. And seeing that holy Scripture is so cautious
against inculcating the belief of more gods than one, how can
we reconcile these things, unless we acknowlege our Saviour
to be God ?

SERMON XXI.

SQ9

That he is truly so, we may farther show. From other ap-
pellations peculiar to God, applied to him; as that of Jeho-
vah, Lord, Lord of Lords, and King of Kings, &c. : this
head enlarged on.

Also from the divinest attributes of God, in the most abso-
lute manner and perfect degree, assigned to him ; eternity as
already shown ; immensity of presence and power ; the wisdom
of God, and the power of God, &c.

The divine attributes he also expresses by divinest operations
and works ascribed unto him ; by the work of creation ; that
of sustaining and preserving things in being ; that of perform-
ing miracles, &c. : this topic dilated on.

Now all this state and majesty, all these glorious titles,
attributes, and works, can we imagine that he whose name
is Jealous, (Exod. xxiv. 14.) who will not give his glory to
another, (Is. xlii. 8.) would communicate them, or suffer them
to be ascribed to a mere creature ? &c. Our Saviour therefore,
when he assumes them, is truly God.

II. Now since the whole tenor of our religion asserts the
unity of God, our Saviour, being God, must of necessity par-
take of the same individual essence with God his Father : this
explained and enlarged on.

Yet hath he not this essence from himself, but by com-
munication. He is not first in order, but is the image of the
invisible God, the character, or exact impression of his sub-
stance. He is the internal Word or Mind of God, which re-
sembles him, and yet is not different from him: he is the life,
the wisdom, and the power of God; which terms denote in-
trinsic and perfect unity : this point enlarged on and illustrated.
Some practical applications of the point,

1. We may hereby learn whence the performances and suf-
ferings of Christ become of so high worth and so great effi-
cacy, &c.

2. What reverence and adoration is due from us to our

504

SUMMARY OF SERMON XXI.

Saviour, and why we must honor the Son even as ue honor
the Father, &c.

:i. We may hence perceive the infinite goodness of God
towards us, and our correspondent obligation to thankfulness
and love towards him, &c.

A. This consideration may fitly serve to beget in us hope
and confidence in God on all occasions of need and distress.

5. St. John applies it also to the begetting charity in us
towards our brethren. Beloved, if God so loved us, ue ought
also to love one another.

(>. It may also remind us of the dignity of our nature and
condition ; and how in this respect we ought to behave our-
selves.

7. This consideration greatly aggravates all impiety and sin :
this shown.

8. Lastly, it may serve to beget in us a high esteem of the
evangelical dispensation, and a hearty submission to its doc-
trines and precepts. Conclusion.

HIS ONLY SON.

505

fftj* onln ^on, &c.
SERMON XXI.

JOHN, CHAP. I. — VERSE 14.

And we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the
Father.

That Jesus Christ our Lord is the /j.ovoyei>r)s, the only Sou
of God, that is, the Son of God in a peculiar and high man-
ner, otherwise far than any creature can be so termed, St. John
doth here (and in several other places) suppose, or assert
plainly ; and it is a great point of the Christian doctrine, a
special object of our faith. To show the truth of which, to
explain how it is to be understood, and to apply the considera-
tion thereof to our practice, shall be the subject and scope of
our present discourse.

I. That the Messias, designed by God to come into the
world for the restoring and reconciling mankind unto God,
was in an especial manner to be the Son of God, even the an-
cient prophets did foretel and presignify ; ' Thou art my Son.
this day have I begotten thee,' saith God of him in the second
Psalm. And of him, that which in the first less perfect sense
was spoken to King Solomon, (who as the son and heir of Da-
vid, as the builder of God's house, as a prince of peace, reign-
ing in great glory, wealth, and prosperity ; as endued with in-
comparable wisdom, did most signally represent and prefigure
him,) was chiefly intended for him, and did more exactly agree
to him ; ' He shall be my son, and I will be his father ; and I
will establish the throne of his kingdom over Israel for ever :'
and again ; ' He shall cry unto me, Thou art my father, my
God, and the rock of my salvation :' ' Also I will make him
BAR. vol. v. Y

500

BARROW. — SERMON XXI.

my firstborn, higher than the kings of the earth.' And ac-
cordingly it was, even before our Saviour's appearance, a per-
suasion commonly passing among the Jews, (both learned and
unlearned,) that the Messias should be the Son of God; as
may be collected from several passages in the New Testament ;
in which being the Christ and being the Son of God are
conjoined as inseparable adjuncts, whereof one did imply the
other, according to the sense then current, and previous to the
embracing our Lord's doctrine. For Nathanael, we see, was
no sooner persuaded that Jesus was the Christ, but he (accord-
ing to his anticipation, common to the people) confesseth thus ;
' Rabbi, thou art the Son of God ; Rabbi, thou art the King
of Israel.' IWartha in like manner being moved to declare her
faith concerning Jesus, expresseth it thus; ' Yea, Lord, I be-
lieve that thou art the Christ, the Son of God, which should
come into the world :! and likewise doth St. Peter, in the name
of all his brethren, the Apostles; 'We have believed, and
have known, that thou art the Christ, the Son of the living
God.' St. John the Baptist also doth thus express his belief
and yield his testimony concerning Jesus; ' And I said, and
bare record, that this is the Son of God.' Yea even the high
priest himself implied the same, when examining our Lord he
said, ' Art thou the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?' * I adjure
thee by the living God, tell us, whether thou be the Christ,
the Son of God :' supposing that to be the Christ and to be
the Son of God would concur in the same person. Yea, the
devils themselves had learned this, who cried out, ' What have
we to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of God ?'

Thus did the ancient Scriptures intimate, and thus were
God's people generally persuaded about the Messias ; and that
he is indeed the Son of God, the evangelical Scripture doth
every where teach us, calling him not only at large the Son
of God, but more emphatically the ayau-jjros, ('the darling Son
of God ;") the vlus ->js ayei^s, 'Son of God's love;' the v'tos
akridtvos, ' God's true Son,' (that is, such most properly, in a
most excellent manner incomparably representing and resem-
bling God;) the tStos v'ws, (God's proper, or peculiar Son;)
the vpioTOToKos, ' God's first-born;' God's v'ws /ioioye»'»;$, ' his
only begotten Son :' all which epithets import somewhat of

HIS ONLY SON.

507

peculiar emraency in the kind and ground of this his relation
unto God. The relation itself in a large sense, and equivo-
cally, is attributed to several : Adam is called the son of God ;
and the angels are usually entitled such ; and princes are styled
I the children of the Most High ;' and all men are said to be
God's offspring, and good men are especially dignified with
that appellation ; God's people, as such, (the Israelites of old,
and Christians now,) are the children of God ; yea, God is
the Father of all things, as the maker and preserver of them :
but all these, in comparison to Christ, are such in a manner
very inferior, and in a very improper sense ; for he is the only
Son of God : which denotes a relation in its kind singular and
incomparable; from which all other things are excluded.

Now that we may discern the difference, let us consider the
grounds and respects on w hich this relation of our Saviour to
God is built, or the reasons why he is called the Son of God :
there are several expressed or implied in Scripture.

1. Christ is called the Son of God in regard to his tem-
poral generation, as being in a manner extraordinary conceived
in the Blessed Virgin by the Holy Ghost; so the angel ex-
pressly telleth us : ' The Holy Ghost shall come on thee, and
the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee ; therefore
also that holy thing w hich shall be born of thee shall be called
the Son of God :' so the Apostle also ; ' When the fulness of
time was come, God sent forth his Son made of a woman,' (or
born of a woman, yeyo/ietov en- yviaiKos — yervwfxtvov in some
copies:) a generation so peculiar and wonderful, without inter-
vention of any father but God himself, is one ground of this
relation and title ; he therein excelling the common sort of
men.

2. Christ also may be termed the Son of God in regard to
his resurrection by divine efficacy ; that being a kind of genera-
tion or introduction into another state of life immortal. Others
are on this ground called the sons of God ; 'They,' saith our
Saviour, ' who shall be accounted worthy to obtain that world,
and the resurrection from the dead — can die no more ; for they
are equal to the angels, and are the children of God, (viol eiVc
tov Qeov,) being sons of the resurrection.' How much more
then may he be thence so named, who is ' the first-fruits of

»Q8

BARROW. — SERMON XXI.

them that sleep,' and 1 the first-born from the dead ?' especially
since that of the Psalmist, ' Thou art my son, this day have I
begotten thee,' was, (according to St. Paul's exposition) veri-
fied in the raising him. In this respect Christ also did much
excel all others, who on the same ground are called the sons
of God.

-j. Christ is capable of this title by reason of that high office,
in which by God's especial designation he was instated. If
ordinary princes and judges (as being deputed by God to re-
present himself in the dispensation of justice, or as resembling
God in the exercise of their power and authority) have been
called the children of the Most High in the language of
holy Scripture ; with how much greater truth and reason may
he be called so, who was most signally consecrated and com-
niissionated to the most eminent function that ever was or could
be ; who did whatever he did in God's name, who represented
and resembled God so exactly ? It is his own argumentation
and inference; ' If he called them gods, unto whom the word
of God came, and the Scripture cannot be broken ; say ye of
him, whom the Father hath sanctified, and sent into the world,
Thou blasphemest, because I said, lam the Son of God?'
That extraordinary sanctification and mission did render him
worthy and capable of that appellation, far beyond all others,
who have for the like reason obtained it.

4. Whereas also it is said that God did appoint or consti-
tute our Saviour heir of all things; did give him head above
all things to the church, and did put all things under his feet ;
did give him power over all flesh ; did commit unto him all
authority in heaven and earth ; did exalt him to the highest
place of dignity and authority next to himself, at the right hand
of the Majesty in the highest ; yea did place him on his own
throne and tribunal in his room, so that ' the Father judgeth no
man, but hath committed all judgment to the Son ;' well may
he in that respect be entitled the Son of God ; as thereby-
holding the rank and privilege suitable to such a relation; he
being the Chief of the family, and next in order to the great
Paterfamilias of heaven and earth. ' Of him,' saith St. Paul,
1 all the family in heaven and earth is named :' ' Moses verily,'
saith the Apostle to the Hebrews, ' was faithful in all his house

HIS ONLY SON.

509

as a servant, but Christ as a Son over his own house :' and,
' Being made so much better than the angels,' saith the same
Apostle, ' as he hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent
name than they,' (they being only called servants, or ministers ;
he being entitled a Son and heir.)

In these respects is our Saviour properly, or may be fitly,
denominated the Son of God, with some peculiarity and ex-
cellency beyond others : but his being with such emphasis
called God's only begotten Son, (denoting an exclusion of
all others from this relation on the same kind of ground,) doth
surely import a more excellent ground thereof, than any of
these mentioned. For the first Adam did also immediately
receive his being from the power and inspiration of God, (God
formed his body and breathed a soul into it.) And Isaac,
Samuel, and John the Baptist had also a generation extraor-
dinary and miraculous, as being born of parents mortified by age
and unapt for generation, by interposition of the divine power,
(so it is expressly said of Sarah, buvafAiv e\afiev (is Kara[io\))v
oKepfiaros, ' she received power from God for conception of
seed ;') which productions do not so greatly differ from the
production of Christ as man.

And how can we conceive that the production of angels
should be so much inferior to our Saviour's temporal genera-
tion, if there were no other but that ?

And although our Saviour was the first and chief, yet was
he not the only Son of the resurrection ; There were, as the
Apostle to the Hebrews saith, many sons of this kind brought
to glory ; and Christ was ' firstborn among many brethren ;'
this is also a ground not proper or perspicuous enough for such
a denomination ; and indeed before it came to pass, he was
called God's Son; he was so when he lived, he was so when
' God so loved the world, that he gave him for its salvation.'

Neither doth the free collation of power and dignity, how
eminent soever, well suffice to ground this singularity of rela-
tion ; for we see others also in regard to their designment and
deputation to offices of power and dignity, although indeed
subordinate and inferior to those he received, to be entitled the
sons of God ; and however this is rather the foundation of a
metanhorical, than of a natural and proper sonship, which is

•ilO BARROW. — SERMON XXI.

too slender and insufficient for him, who in the most solemn and
august strain is denominated such.

Likewise although our Saviour be the heir of all things, yet
hath he co-heirs, whom 'God hath,' as St. Paul speaketh,
' together enlivened, and together raised, and together seated
with him' in thrones of glory and bliss; beside that privileges
of this kind are rather consecutive and declarative of this his
relation to God, than formerly constitutive thereof: ' If a son,
then an heir,' saith St. Paul ; inheritance follows sonship, and
declares it, rather than properly makes it.

Moreover those prerogatives of singular affection and favor
appropriated to Christ, together with all those glorious prefer-
ments consequent on them, do also argue some higher ground
of this relation : for how could it be, that merely on account of
that temporal generation, (which did only make him a man,
' of like passions and infirmities to us, sin only excepted,') or in
respect to any thing consequent thereon, God should affect
him with so special a dearness, and advance him to dignities so

superlative, i/7rep<'u<i> irourjs ap-^rjs, Kni e^ourn'ris, iai bvn'tfitus, ini

KVf>u'iTi)Tos, ' far above all principality, and power, and might,
and dominion, and every name that is named;' ' angels and
authorities and powers being,' as St. Peter says, ' made subject
unto him?' Such proceedings (that generation only, or any
thing resulting from it, being supposed) do not seem consistent
with that decent congruity and natural equity, which God is
ever wont to observe in his regard to persons and in his ordering
of things.

We must therefore search for a more excellent and more
proper ground of this magnificent relation, or peculiar sonship ;
and such an one we shall find clearly deducible from testi-
monies of holy Scripture, (and by several steps of discourse we
shall deduce it.)

1. It is thence first evident that our Saviour had in him
somewhat more than human, according to which he is said to
have existed before his temporal generation here among men.
Even as men after death are in regard to a superviving part of
them, their immortal soul, said to be and live ; for, even then,
Saith our Lord, ' all men do live to God.' For, before his birth
here, he is said to have been in heaven, and to have descended

HIS ONLY SON.

Oil

tlience ; ' No man,' saitli he, ' hath ascended up to heaven, but
In that came down from heaven, even the Son of man, which is
in heaven :' even when lie visibly lived here, he was (as him-
self alhrms) secundum illiquid sui, according to somewhat invi-
sible in him, then actually in heaven; and according to that
somewhat he was before in heaven ; and by union of that invi-
sible being to human visible nature, he is said to have de-
scended from heaven. His ascension into heaven was but a
translation of the human nature thither, where according to a
more excellent nature he did abide before the incarnation ; for,
* What,' saith he again, ' if ye shall see the Son of man ascend
up w here he was before ?' from hence he is declared worthy and
capable of so transcendent preferments : for, ' He that cometh
from above, out of heaven, is above all things;' because, ' The
second man is the Lord from heaven.' He, as to his manifes-
tation in the flesh, was junior to St. John the Baptist, but in
truth was of more ancient standing, and thence was to be pre-
ferred before him, as St. John himself perceived and professed ;
' He that,' said St. John, ' comes after me is preferred before
ine, because he was before me.' He did subsist even before
Abraham was born, whence without absurdity he could affirm
that he and Abraham had interviews and intercourse together;
so he discoursed with the Jews; 'Thou art not,' said they,
' yet fifty years old, and hast thou seen Abraham ?' he replied ;
' Verily, verily, 1 say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am :'
this saying did seem very absurd to them, and so offended
them, that they took up stones to cast at him ; not apprehend-
ing the mystery couched in his words, and that he had another
nature, different from that which appeared to them, according
to which that saying of his was verified. Yea farther he had a
subsistence and a glory before the world had a being; for thus
he prays; ' And now, Father, glorify me with thine own self
with the glory which I had with thee before the world was;'
glory (that is, a most honorable state of being, and excellent
perfection) was not only destinated to him, but he really had it,
and enjoyed it with God, before the world was.

•2. Necessary indeed it was, that he should exist before the
world, for that, secondly, God by him made the world, and for
that he made the world himself ; ' God,' saith St. Paul, ' ere-

-512

BARROW. — SERMON XXI.

ated all things by Jesus Christ;' and, ' By him/ saith the
Apostle to the Hebrews, ' God made the worlds;' (or the
ages, tovs alwi as, that is, all things which ever at any time did
subsist; those very ages, which the same Apostle saith 'we
believe to have been framed by the word of God.') ' By him,'
saith St. John in the beginning of his gospel, • were all things
made, and without him was nothing made that was made ;'
hi avrov, that is, by him, not Si' avrov, for him only: to ex-
clude that ungrammatical misinterpretation, St. Paul joineth
both those notions together; rairavra ci avrov, Kai eh avrov
general, ' All things,' saith he, ' were made by him, and for
him :' as also to prevent any restriction or exception of matters
created by him, he particularly reckoneth what things were
made by him ; ' By him,' saith St. Paul, ' were all things
created, that are in heaven and that are in earth ; whether
they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers, all
things were created by him, and for him :' he was not only (as
some heterodox interpreters would expound it) to create a new
moral and figurative world ; he should not only restore and
reform mankind, but he of old did truly and properly give being
to all things ; and among those things he even created angels,
all things in heaven ; beings unto which that metaphorical
creation of men here doth not extend or auywise appertain : he
therefore consequently, as St. Paul subjoins, eori irpb iravrwv,
' doth exist before all things ;' as the cause must necessarily in
nature precede the effect.

3. He did indeed (to ascend yet higher, even to the top)
exist from all eternity : for he is called absolutely a&x')> tne
beginning, which excludes all time previous to his existence ;
he is styled irpmroroKos naarjs Krioeus, ' the firstborn of every
creature ;' (or rather born before all the creation, as wpuiros fiov
?]v signifies, 'he was before me,' in St. John.) He is the Word,
which was in the beginning ; that is, before any time conceiv-
able, and consequently from eternity. He is called the eternal
life ; ' The life (saith St. John in his first Epistle ; the life,
that is, another name frequently attributed to Christ, especially
by that Apostle ; the life) was manifested, and we did see it;
and we bear witness, and show that eternal life, which was
with the Father' (6 koyos irpos t6v Qe6v, ' the Word was

HIS ONLY SON.

513

With God ;' and ti iwi) fp npbs rbv irartpa, ' the life was with the
Father,' are, as I conceive, the same thing :) and more expli-
citly in the same Epistle ; ' We are,' saith St. John, ' in him
that is true, in his Son Jesus Christ ; he is the true God, and
the eternal life.' Hence is he frequently in the Apocalypse
styled the first and the last, the beginning and the end ; Alpha
and Omega; 'he that was, and is, and is to come;' which
phrases do commonly express the eternity and immortality pro-
per to God ; as in that of Isaiah ; * Thus saith the Lord, the
King of Israel, and his Redeemer the Lord of hosts ; I am the
first, and I am the last, and beside me there is no God.' The
same is signified by that elogy of the Apostle to the Hebrews ;
' Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, to day, and for ever,' (that
is, who is eternally immutable;) that Apostle also implies the
same, when he saith that Melchizedek represented and re-
sembled the Son of God, as having jui?re apxr)v V^9^>vi fJ1'lr€
iioijs ri\os, 4 neither beginning of days nor end of life ;' Melchi-
zedek in a typical or mystical way, our Lord in a real and
proper sense was such ; beginningless and endless in his ex-
istence. And the prophet Micah seems to have taught the
same, saying of him, (of him that should come out of Beth-
lehem, to be ruler in Israel,) that 1 his goings forth have been
from old, even from everlasting ;' (or, from the days of eter-
nity.) His eternity is however necessarily deducible from that,
which is by St. John, St, Paul, and the Apostle to the
Hebrews so plainly affirmed of him, that he made the world,
that he made the ages, that he made all things; for if he made
the world, he was before the foundations of the world, which
phrase denotes eternity ; if he made the ages, he must be before
all ages; if all things were made by him, and nothing can make
itself, then necessarily he was unmade ; and being unmade, he
necessarily must be eternal ; for what at any time did not
exist, can never without being made come to exist. His eter-
nity also may be strongly inferred from his being called the
word, the wisdom, and the power of God ; for if he were not
eternal, %v &pa mipbs, ore x^pis tovtwv 7)v b Oebs, ' there was a
tim.e when God wanted these ;'* when he was without mental

* In decret. Cone. Nic. pag, 276.

BARROW.— SERMON XXI.

speech, or understanding; when he was not wise, when he was
not powerful ; as St. Athanasius argues. It therefore doth
with sufficient evidence appear from Scripture, that our
Saviour had a being before his temporal birth, and that before
all creatures, yea even from eternity. Farthermore,

4. From what hath been said, it follows that his being was
absolutely divine. If he was no creature, if author of all
creatures, if eternally subsistent, then assuredly he is God ;
that state, that action, that property are incommunicably
peculiar unto God. Only God is i> w, being of himself origi-
nally and independently; only God is the creator of all
things, (' He that made all things is God,' saith the Apostle to
the Hebrews ;) ' only God hath immortality,' (or eternity,) saith
St. Paul ; no epithet or attribute is more proper to God than
that, aiiii'ios 0e6s, ' God eternal.' Hence is our Lord said by
St. Paul, before he did assume the form of a servant, and
became like unto men, to have ' subsisted in the form of God,
not deeming it robbery to be equal to God,' (or to have a sub-
sistence in duration and perfection equal to God ;) so that as he
was after his incarnation truly man, partaker of human nature,
affections, and properties ; so before it he was truly God, par-
taking the divine essence and attributes. Thence is lie often in
the Scriptures absolutely and directly named God ; God in the
most proper and most high sense ; ' In the beginning was the
Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God,'
saith St. John in the beginning of his gospel, (the place where
he is most likely to speak with the least ambiguity or dark-
ness;) the same Word, which was in time ' made flesh, and
dwelt among us,' did before all time exist with God, and was
God. 'God,' saith St. Paul, 'was manifested in the flesh,
justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached among the
Gentiles, believed on in the world, assumed up into glory:' of
which propositions it is evident that Christ is the subject, and
by consequence he is there named God. God is also by St.
Paul said to have ' purchased the church with his own blood ;'
who did that, but he that also was man, even ' the man Christ
Jesus?' St. Thomas on his conviction of our Saviour's resurrec-
tion did express his faith on him by crying out, ' My Lord and
my God ;' which acknowlegement our Saviour accepted and

HIS ONLY SON.

515

approved as a proper testimony of that faith; (' He permits
liirn to say it, or rather he accepts it, not hindering him,' saith
St. Athanasius.) St. Paul calls the coining of our Lord at the
resurrection ' the appearance of the great Cod and our Saviour
Jesus Christ.' To the Son (as the Apostle to the Hebrews
interpreteth it) it was said in the psalm, (Psal. xlv. 7.) ' Thy
throne, O God, is for ever and ever ; the sceptre of thy king-
dom is aright sceptre.' ' We are,' saith St. John, ' in the true
one, in his son Jesus Christ; this he (uvros) is the true God,
and life eternal ;' no false, no metaphorical, no temporary
God, but the very true God, the supreme eternal God. ' Out
of whom,' (saith St. Paul, recounting the privileges of the
Jewish nation,) ' as concerning the flesh,' (or according to his
humanity,)' Christ came, who is overall, God blessed forever;'
e inl iravTuv Qet)s, the God over all ; the sovereign God and
Lord of all things;* the Most High; God blessed for ever;
the 6 ev\oyt)Tos, which is a characteristical title or special attri-
bute of God in the style of the Scriptures, and according to the
common use of the Jews. Yea even of old, Isaiah foretold
' of the child which should be born, of the son which should
be given to us,' that ' his name should be called (that is, accord-
ing to the Hebrew manner of speaking, that he should really
be, or however that he truly should be called) 'the Mighty
God, the everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace.'

In these places more clearly and immediately, in many other
places obliquely and according to fair consequence, in many
more probably, our Saviour is called God, God absolutely
without any interpretative restriction or diminution. And
seeing the holy Scripture is so careful of yielding occasion to
conceive more gods than one ; seeing it is so strict in exacting
the belief, worship, and obedience of one only God, absolutely
such; may we not well infer with St. Irenacus, ' Now,' (saith
he, speaking indeed concerning the God of the Old Testament,
whom the Gnostics did not acknowlege to be the highest and
best God, but in words applicable to the God of the New
Testament, whom we adore; 'Now,' saith he) 'neither the

* Jien. iii. 0'.

•>1G

BARROW. — SERMON XXI.

Lord, nor the Holy Ghost, nor the Apostles would ever have
called any one definitively, or absolutely God, unless he were
truly God:' and, ' Never,' saith he again, ' did the prophets
or the Apostles name any other God, or call Lord, beside the
true and only God.' *

That he is truly God, we might also from other appellations
peculiar to God ; from divinest attributes and divinest opera-
tions ascribed to him ; from the worship and honor we are
allowed and injoined to yield him, farther show ; but these
things (in compliance with the time and your patience) I shall
omit.

Other appellations also peculiar unto the supreme God are
assigned to him, as that most appropriate and incommunicable
name Jehovah ; (of which in the prophet Isaiah God himself
says thus; 'I am the Lord, and there is none else:' and
Moses; • Jehovah our God is one Jehovah :' even this is attri-
buted to him; for, 'This,' saith Jeremiah, 'is his name,
whereby he shall be called, Jehovah our righteousness:' and
of St. John the Baptist it was by Malachi foretold that he
should ' prepare the way of Jehovah.' The name Lord (answer-
ing to Jehovah) is both absolutely and with most excellent ad-
juncts commonly given him; 'The second man,' saith St.
Paul, 'is the Lord from heaven;' The Lord of all things he
is called by the same Apostle; and, ' the one, or only Lord :'
' To us,' saith he, * there is one Lord, by whom are all things :'
and, the Lord of glory, or most glorious Lord ; (' If they had
known, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory :')
and, ' The Lord of lords, and King of kings,' he is called in
St. John's Revelation, ('They shall,' saith he, 'war with the
Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them, for he is the Lord
of lords, and King of kings:') we are also by precept injoined,
and by exemplary practice authorised, to render unto our Sa-
viour that honor and worship, which are proper and due to the
only supreme God : for, ' Thou shalt worship the Lord thy
God, and him only shalt thou serve,' is the great law of true
religion: ' It is only belonging to God,' as St. Athanasiusf

* lien. iii. 6.

t Athan. in Ar. Or. iii, p. 394.

HIS ONLY SON.

617

speaks, to be worshipped ; a creature must not worship a crea-
ture, but a servant his Lord, and a creature its God.' And,*
' They who call a creature Lord, and worship him as a crea-
ture, how,' saith he, ' do they differ from the heathen V But
of him it is said, ' Let all the angels of God worship him ;' of
him myriads of angels say, ' Worthy is the Lamb that was
slain to receive the power, and riches, and wisdom, and
strength, and honor, and glory, and blessing : yea all creatures
in heaven and earth, and under the earth,' resound the same
acclamation, saying; ' To him that sitteth on the throne, and
to the Lamb, be the blessing, and the honor, and the glory,
and the worship, and the praise for ever. Lrnto him that loved
us, and washed us from our sins in his blood — to him be glory
and dominion for ever and ever.' Hence the throne of God the
Father and of his Son are one and the same ; ' The throne of
God, and of the Lamb, are in it,' saith St. John, speaking of the
heavenly city ; ' For the Son,' saith that great Father, ' reign-
ing with the same royalty of his Father, is seated on the same
throne with his Father.' To invocate the name of our Lord
Jesus Christ is a practice characterising and distinguishing
Giristians from infidels; as when St. Paul inscribes his epistle
to the church of Corinth, ' together with all that call on the
name of our Lord Jesus Christ in every place ;' and when
Saul is said to * have authority from the chief priests to bind
all that called on his name,' so that we need not to allege the
single example of St. Stephen invoking our Lord. Indeed
himself informs us that ' the Father had committed all judg-
ment unto the Son, that all men should honor the Son even as
they honor the Father.' To wish and pray for grace and peace
from our Lord Jesus Christ' is the usual practice of the
Apostles, and to dispense them is a prerogative of his, com-
mon to him with God his Father. To have the same Holy
Spirit as the Father unmeasurably, and to send it from himself,
with commissions and instructions, and to communicate it
freely, are especial characters of supreme divinity, and much
transcending any creature, as St. Athanasius observes ;f ' With

* Atli. Or. i. in Ar. p. 296. t Ibid. iii. in Ar. p. 388.

a

BARROW.— SERMON XXI.

.ithority,' saith he, ' to give the Spirit doth not suit a creature,
,r a thing made, but is an endowment of God.' Whereas also
we are often severely prohibited from relying or confiding on
any man or any creature, (as in that of the prophet ; ' Cursed be
the man, that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm;') we
are yet allowed, yea we are obliged, to repose our trust and
confidence in Christ ; ' Ye trust in God,' saith he himself to
his disciples, ' trust also in me ;' whence St. Paul calleth him
emphatically our hope, in his compellation to Timothy;
' Paul an Apostle of Jesus Christ, by the commandment of
God our Saviour, and the Lord Jesus Christ, our hope ;' which
is the same title that Jeremiah attributes unto God ; ' O the
hope of Israel, the saviour thereof in time of trouble.'
Hence to him, jointly with God the Father, and the divine
Spirit, that solemn benediction or prayer is directed ; ' The
grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the
fellowship of the Holy Ghost, be with you all;' as also a
parity of highest adoration is then together with the same
divine persons yielded to him, when we are baptised in his
name, and consecrated to his service.

The divinest attributes of God are also in the most absolute
manner and perfect degree assigned to him : eternity, as we
discoursed before. Immensity of presence and power, then
implied, when speaking with the Jews he told them that he
was then in heaven ; and when he promises his disciples, that
'he will be with them, whenever they meet in his name ;' and
also, ' that he will be witli them, to the end of the world.' In-
finite wisdom and knowlege ; ' for in him are hidden all the
treasures of wisdom and knowlege ;' and, ' Now are we sure,'
say the disciples to him in St. John, 'that thou knowest all
things :' and, ' Lord,' saith St. Peter, ' thou knowest all things,
thou knowest that I love thee :' and St. Paul calls him the
wisdom of God, and the power of God : wherefore since Gods
wisdom is omniscient, and his power omnipotent, so conse-
quently is he. In short, whatever attribute or perfection God
hath, the same hath he; for, ' All things,' saith he, ' that the
Father hath, are mine.' What creature without high presump-
tion could say those words concerning the divine Spirit; ' He

HIS ONLY SON.

shall glorify me, for he shall receive of miue, and shall show it
unto you.'

The divine attributes he expresseth by divinest operations
and works, which are ascribed to him. It is a most divine
work to create ; this we showed before to have been performed
by him : to sustain, and conserve things in being, is another
like work ; this he doth ; ' For he,' saith the Apostle to the
Hebrews, ' upholdeth all things by the word of his power ;'
and, ' By him,' saith St. Paul, ' all things consist.' To perform
miracles, or do things surmounting the laws and thwarting the
course of nature ; such as by mere word and will rebuking
winds and seas, curing diseases, ejecting devils, is the property
of him, who, as the psalmist says, ? alone doeth great wonders.'
Particularly to raise the dead is a prerogative reserved by God
in his own hand; (for, 'The Lord killeth, and the Lord
maketh alive;' ' he bringeth down to the grave, and bringeth
up.') This our Lord often did at his pleasure ; for, ' As the
Father raiseth up the dead, and quickeneth them ; even so the
Son quickeneth whom he will :' and of himself he saith in the
Apocalypse ; ' I have the keys of hell and of death.' Espe-
cially to raise himself, which he assumeth to himself ; (' I,' saith
he, ' lay down my life, that I may take it up again ; I have
power to lay it down, and I have power to take it up again :'
and, ' Demolish this temple,' saith he again, 'and in three days
I will rear it;' which it was impossible for him to do, and
unintelligible how it should be done, otherwise than by the
divinity resident in him. To be Kaphtoyvwarrjs, searching men's
hearts and discerning their secret thoughts, is a peculiar work
of him that saith, ' I the Lord try the heart, I search the
reins;' and of our Lord it is said, 'He needed not that any
should witness about a man, for he knew what was in man ;'
and by many experiments he declared this power. To foresee
and foretell future contingencies to be peculiar to himself God
signified, when in the Prophet he thus challenged the objects
of heathen worship ; ' Show the things to come, that we may
know ye are gods;' this our Lord did on several occasions,
particularly in the case of Judas's treason ; ' He knew,' saith
St. John, ' from the beginning, who they were who did not be-
lieve, and who it was that should betray him.' This, I say,

320

BARROW. — SERMON XXI.

he did, not as the prophets, by particular arbitrary revelation,
but immediately by his own Spirit; whereby even the pro-
phets themselves were illustrated and inspired ; for it was, as
St. Peter says, ' The Spirit of Christ in them which testified
beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glories that should
follow.' To see and know God, (' who inhabits inaccessible
light') is beyond a creature's capacity and state, and yet be-
longs to him ; ' None,' saith he, ' hath seen the Father, save he
which is of God ; he hath seen the Father :' and, ' Xone
knoweth the Father but the Son, and he to whomsoever the
Son will reveal him.' To remit sins absolutely he denied not
to be the property of God, when his adversaries thus objected
it ; ' Who can forgive sins except God only ?' yet he assumed
it to himself, and asserted it by a miracle. To save also God
declared to be a peculiar work of his, when he said it, and re-
iterated it in Isaiah and in Hosea : « I am the Lord, and be-
side me there is no Saviour ;' which act yet, and which title,
are no less proper to our Lord. In fine, briefly, he claims to
himself at once the performance of every divine work, when
he saith, ' Whatsoever the Father doeth, that also doeth the
Son likewise.'

Now all this state and majesty, all these glorious titles, at-
tributes, and works, can we imagine that he * whose name is
Jealous,' as it is in Exodus xxxiv. 14. and * who is jealous of
his name,' as it is in Ezekiel xxxix. 25. who said it once and
again in the prophet Isaiah, that ' he will not give his glory
to another ;' caw we conceive, I say, that he should communi-
cate them, or should suffer them to be ascribed to any mere
creature, how eminent soever in nature or worth, how dear
soever on any regard? for indeed the highest creature produ-
cible must be infinitely distant from him, infinitely inferior to
him, infinitely base and mean in comparison to him, as to any
true perfection or dignity ; nor therefore can any creature be
in nature capable of such names, such characters, such prero-
gatives ; nor can in any reason or justice accept or bear them.
Our Saviour therefore, unto whom by divine allowance and
injunction they are attributed, who willingly admits them, who
clearly assumes them to himself, is truly God.

II. Now the whole tenor of our religion (according to die-

HIS ONLY SON.

V21

tates of Scripture most frequent and obvious) asserting the
unity of God; our Saviour therefore, being God, must of ne-
cessity partake the same individual essence with God his Fa-
ther ; and it must be certainly true, which he affirmeth con-
cerning himself ; ' I and the Father are one,' (eveofiev, are the
same thing, or one in nature; not els kafiev, the same in person,
or manner of subsistence ;) and what he again saith ; ' He that
hath seen me, hath seen the Father ;' and, ' I am in the Father,
and the Father in me;' by the divine essence common to both.

Yet hath he not this essence from himself, but by communi-
cation ; for, ' As the Father hath life in himself, so he hath
given the Son to have life in himself.' And 6 wv irapa rov
Qeov, he that is, or hath his essence, from God, is the peri-
phrasis he gives of himself. He is not first in order, as an
original, but is 'the image of the invisible God,' (an image
indeed most adequate and perfectly like, as having the very
same nature and essence.) He is anrivyatr/ua rijs bo^s, (' the
effulgency of his Father's glory,') and x"pa*T>)p rijs virotrruaews,
the character, or exact impression, of his substance. He is
the internal word, or mind of God, which resembles him, and
yet is not different from him : he is the life, the wisdom, the
power of God ; which terms denote the most intrinsic and per-
fect unity. So the Apostles, by the most apposite comparisons
that nature affords, strive to adumbrate the ineffable manner of
that eternal communication of the divine nature from God the
Father to our Saviour ; the which is that generation, whereon
the relation, about which we speak, is founded ; or, because of
which our Lord is most truly and properly called, ' The only
begotten Son of God.' For, if to produce a like in any kind
or degree, be to generate ; then to give a being without any
dissimilitude or disparity is the most proper generation : our
Saviour therefore hence truly is the Son of God the Father.
And that he is so only, that no other beside him hath been ever
thus begotten, is evident; for that as no reason of ours could
have informed us that our Saviour himself was thus begotten,
so no revelation hath showed us that any other hath been ; and
we therefore cannot without extreme temerity suppose it. TVe
are sufficiently instructed that all other divine productions,
together with the relations grounded on them, are different

622

B ARROW, — SERMON XXI.

from this ; by creation things receive a being from God infi-
nitely distant from, infinitely unequal and unlike to, the divine
essence ; and that filiation, or sonship, which doth stand on
adoption and grace, is wholly in kind different from this. And
the communication of the divine essence jointly from the Father
and Son to the Holy Spirit, doth in manner (although the
manner thereof be wholly incomprehensible to us) so differ
from this, that in the Holy Scripture (the only guide of our
conception, and of our speech in matters of this nature, far sur-
passing our reason) it is never called generation ; and there-
fore we must not presume to think or call.it so.

But let so much suffice for explication of the point; a point
represented in Scripture so considerable, that the belief thereof
(if it have that sincerity and that strength as to dispose our
hearts to a due love and reverence of the Son of God, attended
with, or attested to by, a faithful obedience to his laws) doth
raise us also to the privilege of becoming the sons of God, and
doth mystically unite us to him, and elevateth us above the
world ; so doth St. John teach us ; ' To as many,' saith he, ' as
received him,' (received him as the Son of God, or believed him
to be so,) ' to them gave he the power (or the privilege) to become
the sons of God :' and, ' Whosoever,' saith he, ' shall confess
that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in
God :' and, ' Who,' saith he again, ' is he that overcometh the
world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God ?' of
so great importance is the point. Of which I shall only now
farther briefly propose some practical applications.

I. We may hence learn whence the performances and the
sufferings of Christ become of so high worth and so great effi-
cacy. ' Wonder not,' saith St. Cyril the Catechist,* ' if the
whole world was redeemed ; for it was not a bare man, but the
only Son of God that died for it.' It is not so strange, that
God's only Son's mediation should be so acceptable and so
effectual with God ; that the blood of God's dearest Son should
be so precious in God's sight, that the intercession of one so
near him should be so prevalent with him. What could God
refuse to the Son of his love earnestly soliciting and suing in

* Cjrilt. Catech. 13.

HIS ONLY SON.

■V23

our behalf? what debts might not so rich a price discharge ?
what anger could not so noble a sacrifice appease? what jus-
tice could not so full a dispensation satisfy? ' We were not,'
St. Peter telleth us, ' redeemed with corruptible things, with
silver or gold,' (no ; whole Indies of such stuff would not have
been sufficient to ransom one soul ;) ' but with the precious blood
of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.' It
was not, as the Apostle to the Hebrews remarket!), by the
' blood of goats and heifers,' that our sins were expiated, (no ;
whole hecatombs would have nothing availed to that purpose;)
but ' by the blood of Christ, who by the eternal Spirit offered
up himself spotless unto God,' (who as the eternal Son of God
did offer himself a sacrifice not to be blamed or refused.) ' It
is,' as St. John saith, 'the blood of Christ, the Son of God,
which purgeth us from all sin.' And well indeed might a Per-
son so infinitely noble, worthy, and excellent, be a sufficient
ransom for whole worlds of miserable offenders and captives.
Well might his voluntary undergoing such inconveniences and
infirmities of life, his suffering so disgraceful and painful a
death, countervail the deserved punishment of all mankind ;
well might his so humble, so free, so perfect submission to
God's will infinitely please God, and render him propitious to
us. ' Well might,' as St. Athanasius speaks, ' the very ap-
pearing of such a Saviour in the flesh be a general ransom of
sin, and become salvation to every creature :' the which St.
Paul thus expresseth ; ' God sending his own Son in the like-
ness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh:'
for if our displeasing, injuring, and dishonoring him, who is so
great and so good, doth aggravate our offence ; the equal ex-
cellency and dignity of the Person, submitting in our behalf to
the performance of all due obedience and all proper satisfac-
tion, may proportionably advance the reparation offered, and
compensate the wrong done to God. Well therefore may we
believe, and say with comfort, after the Apostle ; Tis eyK(t\tati
Httra rwv eK\eKT(bv ; ' Who shall criminate against the elect of
God ? it is God that justifieth, (it is the Son of God, it is God

* AUian. a.l AuYI;>h.

524

BARROW. — SERMON XXI.

himself, who satisfies divine justice for us;) who is there that
condemns ? it is Christ that died.'

"2. We may hence be informed what reverence and adoration
is due from us to our Saviour, and why we ' must honor the
Son, even as we honor the Father ;' why even all the angels
must worship him ; why ' everything in heaven, and earth, and
beneath the earth must bend the knee (that is, must yield
veneration and observance) to him ;' why by all creatures what-
ever the same pre-eminence is to be ascribed, and the same
adoration paid jointly and equally ' to God the Father Al-
mighty, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb,' his blessed
Son, who 'standeth at his right hand.' Such divine glory and
worship we are obliged to yield him, because he is the Son of
God, one in essence, and therefore equal in majesty with his
Father: were it not so, it would be injury to God, and sacri-
lege to do it ; God would not impart his glory, we should not
attribute it unto another. So this consideration grounds our
duty and justifies our practice of worshipping our Lord ; it also
encourages us to perform it with faith and hope ; for thence we
may be assured that he, being the Son of God omniscient, doth
hear and mind us ; being the Son of God omnipotent, he can
thoroughly help and save us ; being also, as such, absolutely
and immensely good, he will be always disposed to afford what
is good and convenient for us in our need.

3. We hence may perceive the infinite goodness of God
toward us, and our correspondent obligation to love and thank-
fulness toward him. ' In this,' saith St. John. ' was manifested
the love of God toward us, because God sent his only begotten
Son into the world, that we might live through him.' ' In this,'
adds he, ' is love, (love indeed, love admirable and inconceiv-
able,) not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his
only begotten Son to be a propitiation for our sins.' Can there
be imagined any equal, any like expression of kindness, of
mercy, of condescension, as for a prince, himself glorious and
happy, most freely to deliver up, out from his own bosom, his
own only most dearly beloved Son, to the suffering most base
contumelies and most grievous pains for the welfare of his ene-
mies, of rebels and traitors to him ? even such hath been God's
goodness to us; the Son of God, the heir of eternal majesty,

HIS ONLY SON.

525

was by his Father sent down from heaven, (from the bosom of
his glory and bliss,) to put on the form of a servant, to endure
the inconveniences of this mortal state, to undergo the greatest
indignities and sorrows ; that we ' who were alienated, and
enemies in our mind by wicked works, might be reconciled to
God ;' might be freed from wrath and misery ; might be ca-
pable of everlasting life and salvation : suitable to such unex-
pressible goodness ought our gratitude to be toward God : what
affectionate sense in our hearts, what thankful acknowlegements
with our mouths, what dutiful observance in all our actions,
doth so wonderful an instance of mercy and goodness deserve
and require from us ?

4. This consideration may fitly serve to beget in us hope and
confidence to God on any occasions of need or distress ; to sup-
port and comfort us in all our afflictions; for, 'He that so
loved us, that he gave his only begotten Son for our salvation
and happiness,' how can we ever suspect him as unwilling to
bestow on us whatever else shall to his wisdom appear needful
or convenient for us? He that out of pure charity and pity
toward us did part with a jewel so inestimable, how can any
thing seem much for him to give us ? it is the consolatory dis-
course of St. Paul : ' He,' saith the Apostle, ' that did not
spare his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he
not with him freely give us all things?' all things that we truly
need, all things that we can reasonably desire, all things which
are good and fit for us.

5. St. John applieth this consideration to the begetting cha-
rity in us toward our brethren. ' Beloved,' saith he, ' if God
so loved us, (as to send his only begotten Son into the world,
that we might live by him,) we ought also to love one ano-
ther.' If God so lovingly gave up his only Son for our sakes,
what, (in grateful regard to him, in observant imitation of him,)
what expressions, I say, of charity and goodwill ought we to
yield toward our brethren ? what endeavors, what goods, what
life of ours should seem too dear unto us for to expend or im-
part for their good ? shall we be unwilling to take any pains or
suffer any loss for them, for whom (together with ourselves) the
Son of God hath undergone so much trouble, so much disgrace,

BARROW. SERMON XXI.

so much hardship ? shall we, I say, be uncharitable, when the
Son of God hath laid on us such an obligation, hath set before
us such an example ?

6. This consideration also may inform us, and should mind
us, concerning the dignity of our nature and of our condition ;
and consequently how in respect to them we should behave our-
selves. If God did so much consider and value man, as for
his benefit to debase his only Son ; if the Son of God himself
hath deigned to assume our nature, and to advance it into a
conjunction with the divine nature, then is man surely no in-
considerable or contemptible thing ; then should we despise no
man, whom God hath so regarded and so honored ; then ought
we not to neglect or slight ourselves : if we were worthy of
God's so great care, we ought not to seem unworthy of our
own. We ought to value ourselves, not so indeed as to be
proud of so undeserved honor, but so as to be sensible thereof,
and to suit our demeanor thereto. Reflecting on these things
should make us to disdain to do any thing unworthy that high
regard of God, and that honorable alliance unto him. It should
breed in us noble thoughts, worthy desires, and all excellent
dispositions of soul conformable to such relations : it should
engage us unto a constant practice, beseeming them whom God
hath so dignified, whom the Son of God hath vouchsafed to
make his brethren : by affecting any thing mean or sordid, by
doing any thing base or wicked, we greatly undervalue our-
selves, we much disparage that glorious family into which, by
the Son of God's incarnation, we are inserted. Tavrrjs olv r»7»
Tt/.tijs atyav t>)v <pi\n(To<piav t—ibeiZw/jeda, coi fir]bev e^tii/uey kotri/v
irpos tijv yijv. ' Let us therefore,' saith St. Chrysostom, ' show
a philosophy worthy of this honor ; having nothing common with
this earth.' (In Joh. i. Horn. 18.)

7. This consideration doth much aggravate all impiety and
sin. Wilful sin on this account appeareth not onlydisobedience
to our Creator and natural Lord, but enormous offence against
the infinite bounty and mercy and condescension of our Sa-
viour ; a most heinous abusing the Son of God, who came dow n
into this homely and humble state on purpose ' to bless us, in
turning every one of us from our iniquities ;' to free us from the

HIS ONLY SON.

grievous dominion ami from the woful effects of sin ; we there-
by frustrate the most gracious intentions of God, and defeat the'
most admirable project that could be for our benefit and salva-
tion : we thereby ' trample on the Son of God, recrucify him,
and put him to an open shame;' so the Apostle to the Hebrews
tclleth us, implying the heinous guilt and sad consequence of
doing so; ' He,' saith the Apostle, 'that despised Moses's
law died without mercy ; — Of how much sorer punishment,
suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden
under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood
of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy
thing V

i). Lastly, this consideration may serve to beget in us a high
esteem of the dispensation evangelical, and hearty submission
thereto. Almighty God, (as is signified in the parable,) after
several provisions for the good of mankind, and several mes-
sages from heaven to the world here, did at last send his Son
with this expectation; ' Surely they will reverence my Son :'
and surely much reason he had to expect the greatest reverence
to be yielded to his person ; the readiest credence and obedi-
ence to his word. For if any declaration of God concerning
his will, or our duty, however proceeding from him, (either by
dictate of natural reason, or by the instruction of prophets, or
by the ministry of angels,) ought to be entertained with great
respect and observance; much more should the overtures of
greatest mercy and favor exhibited by his own Son (on purpose
sent unto us to discover them) be embraced with highest re-
gard, and humblest reverence, and most hearty compliance.
It is the Apostle to the Hebrews his discourse and inference ;
' Therefore,' (saith he, therefore, because ' God hath in these last
times spoken unto us by his Son,') ' we ought Trepiatrorepws
Trpoae^eiv,to give more (abundant, or more) earnest heed to the
things which we have heard ;' ' for,' subjoins he, ' how shall we
escape, if we neglect so great salvation ; which at first began
to be spoken by (our) Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them
that heard him ?' TaEr* ovv bttji etcws aTpk<povres, rat &va\oyt$6-
fjevoi eKKnQapwfjev lifto/v tov (liov, Kai \a/jTrpt)v 7roi»)<ruJjU€i', ' Con-
tinually therefore revolving and recounting these things, let

528

BARROW. — SERMON XXI.

us cleanse our life, and make it bright :' so we conclude
with good St. Chrysostom.

' Almighty God, who hast given us thy only begotten Son to
take our nature on him ; grant that we being regenerate, and
made thy children by adoption and grace, may daily be renewed
by the Holy Spirit, through the same our Lord Jesus Christ,
wholiveth and reigneth with thee and the same Spirit, ever one
God, world without end.' Amen.

ISD LION COURT, FLEET STREET.

DATE DUE

f- 6/302012