Upon the like occasion he tells the jews at Antioch, Acts xiii. 46, " It was necessary that the word of God " should first have been spoken to you; but seeing you " put it off from you, we turn to the gentiles." 'Tis plain here, St. Paul's charging their blood on their own heads, is for opposing this single truth, that Jesus was the Messiah; that salvation or perdition depends upon be lieving or rejecting this one proposition. I mean, this is all that is required to be believed by those who ac knowledge but one eternal and invisible God, the maker of heaven and earth, as the jews did. For that there is something more required to salvation, besides believing, we shall see hereafter. In the mean time, it is fit here on this occasion to take notice, that though the apostles in their preaching to the jews, and the devout, (as we translate the word r&optvoi, who were proselytes of the gate, and the worshippers of one eternal and invisible God,) said nothing of the believing in this one true God, the maker of heaven and earth; because it was needless to press this to those who believed and professed it al ready (for to such, 'tis plain, were most of their dis courses hitherto.) JYet when they had to do with ido latrous heathens, who were not yet come to the know ledge of the one only true God; they began with that, as necessary to be believed; it being the foundation on which the other was built, and without which it could signify nothing.
Thus Paul speaking to the idolatrous Lystrians, who would have sacrificed to him and Barnabas, says, Acts xiv. 15, " We preach unto you, that ye should turn " from these vanities unto the living God, who made " heaven and earth, and the sea, and all things that are " therein: who in times past suffered all nations to walk " in their own ways. Nevertheless he left not himself " without witness, in that he did good, and gave us rain as delivered in the Scriptures. 27 " from heaven, and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts " with food and gladness."
Thus also he proceeded with the idolatrous Athenians, Acts xvii. telling them, upon occasion of the altar, dedi cated to the unknown God, " whom you ignorantly " worship, him declare I unto you. God who made the " world, and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of u heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with " hands. — Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, " we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto " gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art, or man's device. " And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but " now commandeth all men every-where to repent; be- " cause he hath appointed a day in which he will judge " the world in righteousness, by that man whom he hath (( ordained: whereof he hath given assurance unto all " men, in that he hath raised him from the dead." So that we see, where any thing more was necessary to be proposed to be believed, as there was to the heathen idolaters, there the apostles were careful not to omit it.
Acts xviii. 4, " Paul at Corinth reasoned in the syna- " gogue every sabbath-day, and testified to the jews, " that Jesus was the Messiah." Ver. 11, " And he " continued there a year and six months, teaching the " word of God amongst them; " i. e. The good new?, that Jesus was the Messiah; as we have already shown is meant by " the Word of God."
Apollos, another preacher of the gospel, when he was instructed in the way of God more perfectly, what did he teach but this same doctrine? As we may see in this account of him, Acts xviii. 27. That, " when he was •' come into Achaia, he helped the brethren much, who " had believed through grace. For he mightily con- " vinced the jews, and that publicly, showing by the " scriptures that Jesus was the Messiah."
St. Paul, in the account he gives of himself before Festus and Agrippa, professes this alone to be the doctrine he taught after his conversion: for, says he, Acts xxvi. 22, " Having obtained help of God, I continue unto " this day, witnessing both to small and great, saying none " other things than those which the prophets and Moses " did say should come: that the Messiah should suffer, and 28 The Reasonableness of Christianity, " thathe shouldbethe first that should rise from the dead, " and should show light unto the people, and to the gen- " tiles." Which was no more than to prove that Jesus was the Messiah. This is that, which, as we have above observed, is called the Word of God; Acts xi. 1. com pared with the foregoing chapter, from v. 34. to the end. And xiii. 42. compared with 44, 46, 48, 49, and xvii. 13. compared with v. 11, 13. It is also called, " the Word of the Gospel," Acts xv. 7. And this is that Word of God, and that Gospel, which, wherever their discourses are set down, we find the apostles preached; and was that faith, which made both jews and gentiles believers and members of the church of Christ; purifying their hearts, Acts xv. 9, and carrying with it remission of sins, Acts x. 43. So that all that was to be believed for justification, was no more but this single proposition, that " Jesus of Nazareth was the Christ, or the Mes- " siah." All, I say, that was to be believed for justifi cation: for that it was not all that was required to be done for justification, we shall see hereafter.
Though we have seen above from what our Saviour has pronounced himself, John iii. 36, " that he that be* " lieveth on the Son hath everlasting life; and he that " believeth not the Son, shall not see life, but the wrath " of God abideth on him;" and are taught from John iv. 39, compared with v. 42, that believing on him, is be lieving that he is the Messiah, the Saviour of the world; and the confession made by St. Peter, Matt. xvi. 16, that he is " the Messiah, the Son of the living God," being the rock, on which our Saviour has promised to build his church; though this I say, and what else we have al ready taken notice of, be enough to convince us what it is we are in the gospel required to believe to eternal life, without adding what we have observed from the preach ing of the apostles; yet it may not be amiss, for the farther clearing this matter, to observe what the evan gelists deliver concerning the same thing, though in different words; which, therefore, perhaps, are not so generally taken notice of to this purpose.
We have above observed, from the words of Andrew and Philip compared, that " the Messiah, and him of (f whom Moses in the law and the prophets did write," as delivered in the Scriptures. 29 signify the same thing. We shall now consider that place, John i. a little farther. Ver. 41, "Andrew says " to Simon, we have found the Messiah." Philip, on the same occasion, v. 45, says to Nathanael, " we have " found him of whom Moses in the law and the pro- " phets did write, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph." Nathanael, who disbelieved this, when, upon Christ's speaking to him, he was convinced of it, declares his assent to it in these words: " Rabbi, thou art the Son " of God, thou art the king of Israel." From which it is evident, that to believe him to be " Him of whom " Moses and the prophets did write," or to be " the " Son of God," or to be " the king of Israel," was in effect the same as to believe him to be the Messiah: and an assent to that, was what our Saviour received for believing. For, upon Nathanael's making a confession in these words, " Thou art the Son of God, thou art the " king of Israel, Jesus answered and said to him, Be- " cause I said to thee I saw thee under the fig-tree, dost " thou BELIEVE? Thou shalt see greater things than " these," ver. 51. I desire any one to read the latter part of the first of John, from ver. 25, with attention, and tell me, whether it be not plain, that this phrase, The Son of God, is an expression used for the Messiah. To which let him add Martha's declaration of her faith, John xi. 27, in these words: " I believe that thou art " the Messiah, THE SON OF GOD, who should come " into the world;" and that passage of St. John xx. 31, " That ye might believe that Jesus is the Messiah, THE " SON OF GOD; and that, believing, ye might have life ." through his name:" and then tell me whether he can doubt that Messiah, the Son of God, were synonymous terms, at that time, amongst the jews.
The prophecy of Daniel, chap. ix. when he is called " Messiah the Prince;" and the mention of his govern ment and kingdom, and the deliverance by him, in Isaiah, Daniel, and other prophecies, understood of the Messiah; were so well known to the jews, and had so raised their hopes of him about this time, which, by their account, was to be the time of his coming, to re- 30 The Reasonableness of Christianity, store the kingdom of Israel; that Herod no sooner heard of the magi's inquiry after " Him that was born king " of the jews," Matt. ii. but he forthwith " demanded " of the chief priests and scribes, where the Messiah " should be born," ver. 4. Not doubting but, if there were any king born to the jews, it was the Messiali: whose coming was now the general expectation, as ap pears, Luke iii. 15, " The people being in expectation, " and all men musing in their hearts, of John, whether " he were the Messiah or not." And when the priests and levites sent to ask him who he was; he, understand ing their meaning, answers, John i. 20, " That he was " not the Messiah; " but he bears witness, that Jesus " is the Son of God," i. e. the Messiah, ver. 34.
This looking for the Messiah, at this time, we see also in Simeon; who is said to be *• waiting for the con- " solation of Israel," Luke ii. 21. And having the child Jesus in his arms, he says he had " seen the sal- " vation of the Lord," ver. 30. And, " Anna coming " at the same instant into the temple, she gave thanks " also unto the Lord, and spake of him to all them " that looked for redemption in Israel," ver. 38. And of Joseph of Arimathea, it is said, Mark xv. 43, That t( he also expected the kingdom of God:" by all which was meant the coming of the Messiah; and Luke xix. 11, it is said, " They thought that the kingdom of God " should immediately appear."
This being premised, let us see what it was that John the Baptist preached, when he first entered upon his ministry. That St. Matthew tells us, chap. iii. 1, 2, " In those days came John the Baptist preaching in the " wilderness of Judea, saying, repent; for the kingdom " of heaven is at hand." This was a declaration of the coming of the Messiah: the kingdom of heaven, and the kingdom of God, being the same, as is clear out of several places of the evangelists; and both signifying the kingdom of the Messiah. The profession which John the Baptist made, when sent to the jews, John i. 19, was, that " he was not the Messiah;" but that Jesus was. This will appear to any one, who will compare ver* as delivered in the Scriptures. 31 26 — 34, with John iii. 27, 30. The jews being very inquisitive to know, whether John were the Messiah; he positively denies it; but tells them, he was only his fore runner; and that there stood one amongst them, who would follow him, whose shoe-latchet he was not worthy to untie. The next day, seeing Jesus, he says, he was the man; and that his own baptizing in water was only that Jesus might be manifested to the world; and that he knew him not, till he saw the Holy Ghost descend upon him: he that sent him to baptize, having told him, that he on whom he should see the Spirit descend, and rest upon, he it was that should baptize with the Holy Ghost; and that therefore he witnessed, that " this " was the Son of God," ver. 34, i. e. the Messiah; and, chap. iii. 26, &c. they come to John the Baptist, and tell him, that Jesus baptized, and that all men went to him. John answers, He has his authority from heaven; you know I never said, I was the Messiah, but that I was sent before him. He must increase, but I must de crease; for God hath sent him, and he speaks the words of God; and God hath given all things into the hands of his Son, " And he that believes on the Son, hath " eternal life;" the same doctrine, and nothing else but what was preached by the apostles afterwards: as we have seen all through the Acts, v. g. that Jesus was the Messiah. And thus it wras, that John bears witness of our Saviour, as Jesus himself says, John v. 33.
This also was the declaration given of him at his baptism, by a voice from heaven: " This is my be- " loved Son in whom I am well pleased." Matt. iii. 17. Which was a declaration of him to be the Messiah, the Son of God being (as we have showed) understood to signify the Messiah. To which we may add the first mention of him after his conception, in the words of the angel to Joseph, Matt. i. 21. " Thou shalt call " his name Jesus," or Saviour; " for he shall save " his people from their sins." It was a received doc trine in the Jewish nation, that at the coming of the Messiah, all their sins should be forgiven them. These words, therefore, of the angel, we may look upon as a declaration, that Jesus was the Messiah; whereof these 32 The Reasonableness of Christianity, words, " his people," are a farther mark: which sup pose him to have a people, and consequently to be a king.
After his baptism, Jesus himself enters upon his mi nistry. But, before we examine what it was he pro posed to be believed, we must observe, that there is a threefold declaration of the Messiah.
1. By miracles. The spirit of prophecy had now for many ages forsaken the jews; and, though their com monwealth were not quite dissolved, but that they lived under their own laws, yet they were under a foreign dominion, subject to the Romans. In this state their account of the time being up, they were in expectation of the Messiah, and of deliverance by him in a kingdom he was to set up, according to their ancient prophecies of him: which gave them hopes of an extraordinary man yet to come from God, who, with an extraordinary and divine power, and miracles, should evidence his mission, and work their deliverance. And, of any such extraordinary person, who should have the power of doing miracles, they had no other expectation, but only of their Messiah. One great prophet and worker of miracles, and only one more, they expected; who was to be the Messiah. And therefore we see the people jus tified their believing in him, i. e. their believing him to be the Messiah, because of the miracles he did; John vii. 41. " And many of the people believed in him, " and said, When the Messiah cometh, will he do more " miracles, than this man hath done? " And when the jews, at the feast of dedication, John x. 24, 25, com ing about him, said unto him, " How long dost thou " make us doubt? If thou be the Messiah, tell us " plainly; Jesus answered them, I told you, and ye " believed not; the works that I do in my Father's " name bear witness of me." And, John v. 36, he says, " I have a greater witness than that of John; for " the works, which the Father hath given me to do, " the same works that I do, bear witness of me, that " the Father hath sent me/' Where, by the way, we may observe,, that his being " sent by the Father," is but another way of expressing the Messiah; which is as delivered in the Scriptures. 33 evident from this place here, John v. compared with that of John x. last quoted. For there he says, that his works bear witness of him: And what was that witness? viz. That he was " the Messiah." Here again he says, that his works bear witness of him: And what is that witness? viz. " That the Father sent him." By which we are taught, that to be sent by the Father, and to be the Messiah, was the same thing, in his way of declar ing himself. And accordingly we find, John iv. 53, and xi. 45, and elsewhere, many hearkened and assented to his testimony, and believed on him, seeing the things that he did.
2. Another way of declaring the coming of the Mes* siah, was by phrases and circumlocutions, that did sig nify or intimate his coming; though not in direct words pointing out the person. The most usual of these were, "The kingdom of God, and of heaven;" because it was that which was often spoken of the Messiah, in the Old Testament, in very plain words: and a king dom was that which the jews most looked after and wished for. In that known place, Isa. ix. " The GO- " VERNMENT shall be upon his shoulders; he shall be " called the PRINCE of peace: of the increase of his " GOVERNMENT and peace there shall be no end; upon " the THRONE of David, and upon his KINGDOM, to " order it, and to establish it with judgment, and with " justice, from henceforth even for ever." Micah v. 2, " But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be lit- " tie among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee " shall he come forth unto me, that is to be the RULER " in Israel." And Daniel, besides that he calls him " Messiah the PRINCE," chap. ix. 25, in the account of his vision " of the Son of man," chap. vii. 13, 14, says, " There was given him dominion, glory, and a " KINGDOM, that all people, nations, and languages " should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting do- " minion, which shall not pass away; and his KING- " DOM that which shall not be destroyed." So that the kingdom of God, and the kingdom of heaven, were common phrases amongst the jews, to signify the times of the Messiah, Luke xiv. 15, " One of the jews that p 34 The Reasonableness of Christianity, " sat at meat with him, said unto him, Blessed is he " that shall eat bread in the kingdom of God." Chap, xvii. 20, The pharisees demanded, " when the king- " dom of God should come?" And St. John Baptist " came, saying, Repent; for the kingdom of heaven is " at hand; " a phrase he would not have used in preach ing, had it not been understood.
There are other expressions that signified the Mes siah, and his coming, which we shall take notice of, as they come in our way.
3. By plain and direct words, declaring the doctrine of the Messiah, speaking out that Jesus was he; as we see the apostles did, when they went about preaching the gospel, after our Saviour's resurrection. This was the open clear way, and that which one would think the Messiah himself, when he came, should have taken; especially, if it were of that moment, that upon men's believing him to be the Messiah depended the forgive ness of their sins. And yet we see, that our Saviour did not: but on the contrary, for the most part, made no other discovery of himself, at least in Judea, and at the beginning of his ministry, but in the two former ways, which were more obscure; not declaring himself to be the Messiah, any otherwise than as it might be gathered from the miracles he did, and the conformity of his life and actions with the prophecies of the Old Testament concerning him: and from some general dis courses of the kingdom of the Messiah being come, un der the name of the " kingdom of God, and of hea- " ven." Nay, so far was he from publicly owning himself to be the Messiah, that he forbid the doing of it: Mark viii. 27-— 30. " He asked his disciples, " Whom do men say that I am? And they answered} " John the Baptist; but some say Elias; and others, " one of the prophets." (So that it is evident, that even those, who believed him an extraordinary person, knew not yet who he was, or that he gave himself out for the Messiah; though this was in the third year of his mi nistry, and not a year before his death.) " And he saith " unto them, But whom say ye that 1 am? And Peter u answered and said unto him, Thou art the Messiah.
as delivered in the Scriptures. 35 " And he charged them, that they should tell no man " of him." Luke iv. 41. " And devils came out of " many, crying, Thou art the Messiah, the Son of " God: and he, rebuking them, suffered them not to " speak, that they knew him to be the Messiah." Mark iii. 11, 12. " Unclean spirits, when they saw '•" him, fell down before him, and cried, saying, Thou " art the Son of God: and he straitly charged them, " that they should not make him known/' Here again we may observe, from the comparing of the two texts, that " Thou art the Son of God," or, " Thou art the " Messiah," were indifferently used for the same thing. But to return to the matter in hand.
This concealment of himself will seem strange, in one who was come to bring light into the world, and was to suffer death for the testimony of the truth. This reservedness will be thought to look, as if he had a mind to conceal himself, and not to be known to the world for the Messiah, nor to be believed on as such. But we shall be of another mind, and conclude this pro ceeding of his according to divine wisdom, and suited to a fuller manifestation and evidence of his being the Messiah; when we consider that he was to fill out the time foretold of his ministry; and after a life illustrious in miracles and good works, attended with humility, meekness, patience., and sufferings, and every way con formable to the prophecies of him; should be led as a sheep to the slaughter, and with all quiet and submission be brought to the cross, though there were no guilt, nor fault found in him. This could not have been, if, as soon as he appeared in public, and began to preach, he had presently professed himself to have been the Messiah; the king that owned that kingdom, he pub lished to be at hand. For the sanhedrim would then have laid hold on it, to have got him into their power, and thereby have taken away his life; at least they would have disturbed his ministry, and hindered the work he was about. That this made him cautious, and avoid, as much as he could, the occasions of provoking them and falling into their hands, is plain from John vii. 1. " After these things Jesus walked in Galilee; " 36 The Reasonableness of Christianity, out of the way of the chief priests and rulers; " for " he would not walk in Jewry, because the jews sought " to kill him." Thus, making good what he foretold them at Jerusalem, when, at the first passover after his beginning to preach the gospel, upon his curing the man at the pool of Bethesda, they sought to kill him, John v. 16, " Ye have not," says he, ver. 38, " his " word abiding amongst you; for whom he hath sent, " him ye believe not/' This was spoken more particu larly to the jews of Jerusalem, who were the forward men, zealous to take away his life: and it imports, that, because of their unbelief and opposition to him, the word of God, i. e. the preaching of the kingdom of the Messiah, which is often called " the word of God," did not stay amongst them, he could not stay amongst them, preach and explain to them the kingdom of the Messiah.
That the word of God, here, signifies " the word of " God," that should make Jesus known to them to be the Messiah, is evident from the context: and this meaning of this place is made good by the event. For, after this, we hear no more of Jesus at Jerusalem, till the pentecost come twelvemonth; though it is not to be doubted, but that he was there the next passover, and other feasts between; but privately. And now at Jerusalem, at the feast of pentecost, near fifteen months after, he says little of any thing, and not a word of the kingdom of heaven being come, or at hand; nor did he any miracle there. And returning to Jerusalem at the feast of tabernacles, it is plain, that from this time 'till then, which was a year and a half, he had not taught them at Jerusalem.
For, 1. it is said, John vii. 2, 15, That, he teach ing in the temple at the feast of tabernacles, " the jews " marvelled, saying, How knoweth this man letters, " having never learned? " A sign they had not been used to his preaching: for, if they had, they would not now have marvelled, 2. Ver. 19, He says thus to them: " Did not Moses " give you the law, and yet none of you keep the law? " Why go ye about to kill me? One work," or miraas delivered in the Scriptures. 37 cle, " I did here amongst you, and ye all marvel. " Moses therefore gave unto you circumcision, and ye " on the sabbath-day circumcise a man: if a man on " the sabbath-day receive circumcision, that the law of " Moses should not be broken, are ye angry with me, " because I have made a man every way whole on the " sabbath-day? " Which is a direct defence of what h'j did at Jerusalem, a year and a half before the work h^ here speaks of. We find he had not preached to them there, from that time to this; but had made good what he had told them, ver. 38, " Ye have not the word of " God remaining among you, because whom he hath " sent ye believe not." Whereby, I think, he signifies his not staying, and being frequent amongst them at Jerusalem, preaching the gospel of the kingdom; be cause their great unbelief, opposition, and malice to him, would not permit it.
This was manifestly so in fact: for the first miracle he did at Jerusalem, which was at the second passover after his baptism, brought him in danger of his life. Hereupon we find he forbore preaching again there, 'till the feast of tabernacles, immediately preceding his last passover: so that 'till the half a year before his pas sion, he did but one miracle, and preached but once publicly at Jerusalem. These trials he made there; but found their unbelief such, that if he had staid and persisted to preach the good tidings of the kingdom, and to show himself by miracles among them, he could not have had time and freedom to do those works which his Father had given him to finish, as he says, ver. 36, of this fifth of St. John.
When, upon the curing of the withered hand on the sabbath-day, " The pharisees took counsel with the " herodians, how they might destroy him, Jesus with- " drew himself, with his disciples, to the sea: and a " great multitude from Galilee followed him, and from " Judea, and from Jerusalem, and from Idumea, and " from beyond Jordan, and they about Tyre and Sidon, " a great multitude; when they had heard what great " things he did, came unto him, and he healed them all, " and CHAttGEDTHEM,THATTHEYStfOUJJ)NOTMAKE