Garrett Green, "Kant as Xn Apologist: The Failure of Accomodationist Theology", PRO ECCLESIA vol IV, no 3, 301-317. Green shows that Kant and Hegel, like many today, call us to abandon the particularity of rev for the sake of reason and morality--openness and pluralism and inclusivity are the preferred terms. JE showed the futility of such accomodation while reaffirming the integral positivity of Xn faith and practice. Like Kant and Hegel and Schleiermacher, the deists set up a false dichotomy of form and content. The ssence of Xty lies in a partic configuration of symbolic elements, a paradigmatic structure that is unique and irreducible to other terms. Cult anthropol has shown that rels are symbolic systems that are implicated in culture in complex and unpredictable ways, not meer systems of thot that can be abstracted from their cult context. We shld, as JE did, articulate the grammar of Xn faith in ways that remian open to dialog w/ mod and postmod sec thot w/o falling into the errors of accomodationism.
1042. NATURAL & MORAL FITNESS. JUSTIFICATION. --- It must be noted that the moral fitness is such that the dependence of justification re is buil up is so on faith FAITH <is> relies rests so is so built on the foundation of this [A: the] fitness that it don't depend on Gods free promise. I don't mean such a fitness as obliged God in any sense or such that it would have been an unfit unworthy thing in God not to have promised justification to such he might have required much more if he would & if he had not been pleased to promised [sic] justification on these terms the fitness would have signified nothing but what is intended supposes these two things. 1 That such is the natural fitness of it that it would have been an unfit thing as the case stood there being a Mediatour &c-- that those that had not this qualification should be looked on as being in X or belonging to him it was an unfit thing that they that rejected him should be & were not heartily willing to have him should have him. & 2. that when G. had of his good pleasure purposed to bestow an interest in X on some freely & not on all according to some qualification his wisdom appears in choosing such a qualification as this that was especially fit So that there is a peculiar beauty in his so ordering it that those sinners that heartily consent to & with their whole souls comply with X as a Mediatour should be looked upon & they only as in him or belonging to him. [this entry is to protect himself ag accomod to the Enlight, in which G HAS to justify the elct bec of a moral and nat fitness that are outside of him and to which he must necessarily conform.]
1044 [In this entry E is arguing ag the deists who said X was an imposter. So E argues on the basis of the prophecies.]
¶And 'tis observable that never any prophet gave such great and manifold opportunity for proof & trial whether he was a true prophet or no<t,[c]> in the multitude of predictions that he uttered [xo c] of events to be fulfilled in his lifetime & during the generation after his death and in the plainness of his predictions most of them being delivered not in visionary mystical representations as the predictions of the prophets of old but in a manner intelligible to all
¶Therefore the supposition that <if X were an impostor,[all by c;]> God would so order it that all these predictions many of them so strange and wonderfull & in themselves so exceeding<ly[c]> unlikely should exactly come to pass [wwxo; incl "if he were an impostour"--] & that Gods providence should so wonderfully confirm his words beyond those of any other prophet that ever had been in the world <is extremely unreasonable; [c]> especially considering the following things
¶ 1035. SATISFACTION OF X. That Christ indeed sufferd the full punishment of the sin that was imputed to him or offered that to God that was fully & compleatly equivalent to what we owed to divine justice for our sins is evident by Ps. 69. 5. "O God thou knowest my foolishness & my sins (my guiltiness it is in the Hebrew) are not hid from thee" Thxx<at[c]> the person that is the subject of this Psalm & that is here speaking is the Messiah is evident from many places in the New Testament in which it is applied to Christ as Joh. 15. 25. & Joh. 2. 17. & Rom 15. 3. 2 Cor. 6. 2. Joh. 19. 28,29,30. with Math 27.,34,48 & Mark. 15. 23. & Rom. 11. 9,10. Act 1. 20 And by the psalm it self especially when compared with other psalms & prophecies of the Old Testament it is plain that David in this psalm did not speak in his own name but in the name of the Messiah. See of the Prophecies of the Messiah Miscell B. 6. §. 79. [written same time as rest; xo c] [at end]
¶But if it be the Messiah that is here speaking then by the sin & guiltiness that he here speaks of must be intended not sin that he himself committed but that sin that was laid upon him or that he took upon him spoken of Isai 53. & when Christ says "O God thou knowest my foolishness & my guiltiness is not hid from thee" Thereby must be meant that God did not forgive that which was imputed to him but punished it When God forgives sin & don't execute punishment for it then he is said not to behold iniquity nor see perversness & to cover & hide & bury their sins so that they cant be seen or found & to turn away his face from beholding them & not to remember them any more But when God dont remit sin but punishes it then in the language of the Old Testament he is said to find out their sins to set them before him in the light of his countenance to remember 'em to bring em to remembrance & to know them & therefore when it is said here when it is said [xo c] O God thou hast known my foolishness & my guiltiness hast thou not hid thereby is intended that <he [c]> forgives nothing to the /p./ Messiah
<, but [c]> beholds all his guiltiness by imputed sin has set it all in the light of his countenance & don't cover or hide the least part of it [finis]
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¶[*At this point in the printed text, Remarks makes the reference thus (p.384; this quote from W. I, 607): "See of the Prophecies of the Messiah, a manuscript of the Author, to be published in a succeeding volume of these Miscellanies."
¶1036 X's RIGHTEOUSNESS. We who who [sic] are sinners come to be accepted of God through [faith (? w. om.E?] by vertue of Christs being righteous as is plainly signified 1 Joh. 2. 1. If any man sin we have an advocate with the Father Jesus Christ the righteous And this is the same thing as to be accepted on the account of his righteousness or that his being righteous is accepted for us who are sinners as tho' we were righteous.
¶And that Christ justifies persons by his own righteousness & obedience to God as his servant or his righteousness that he performed by being a servant that thoroughly obeyed him that he was subject to is implied in Isai 53. 11 By his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many. To what purpose is he here mention'd in the character of a righteous servant when God speaks of his making others righteous, or bringing others to a title to the same character but that they are made or set forth as righteous, by partaking of his righteousness The manner of expression in the Hebrew shews plainly that there is a designe'd relation between the character of righteous in the Messiah, & the effect justifying many Justificabit justus servus meus. My servant that is RIGHTEOUS shall make RIGHTEOUS . The same seems evidently to be intended by the Apostle Rom. 3. 25,26. Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood to declare his righteousness . God's righteousness that he here speaks of is that which Xtians recieve by faith & which the Apostle often calls the righteousness of G. & sets in opposition to our righteousness this is plain by the context. & then it follows in the next v. To declare I say at this time his righteousness that he may be just (i.e in the person of his Son Jesus) & the Justifier of him that believes in Jesus. intimating that God justifies by his justice, or makes righteous by his righteousness in justifying him that is in X.
¶1037. WORK of Redemption. NEW-HEAVENS & NEW EARTH PROGRESS of the Work of Redemption. The whole old creation or the creation that God made in the beginning both the visible heavens & earth & also the highest heavens do in some respect perish the visible heavens & earth perish by the fall of man & the highest heavens the great part of it & the chief part of it perishes by sin in the fall of the angels & the remainder the elect angels on occasion of the fall of the angels and the fall of men & the trial of their obedience which God hath appointed them are emptied & evacuated & as it were annihilated by humiliation. & all is made new by X the ruins of the visible heavens & earth are restored by the redemption of fallen men. & the ruins in the highest heavens is by the fall of the angels is repaired & much more than repaired by filling up their place with elect men. supplying the place of Lucifer by exalting X in his stead to be the Head of the angels /p./& by bringing in his redeemd ones in greater glory into the place of the inferiour angels that fell . & the elect angels are made new after their evacuation & self annihilation in their new & vastly superiour glory by being filled with X. & the man X Jesus himself as it were perishes both ways first by being as it were consumed & destroyed in his sufferings in the fire of Gods wrath & evacuated [*Last 4 letters prob. ated Not enough strokes for evacu, but that is often not signif.] & brought lower in humility than any other creature in his humiliation & he is made new & has a new name in his exaltation. [finis]
¶1038 Those kind [sic] of heavenly bodies called comets give great evidence that the WORLD IS NOT FROM ETERNITY & WILL COME TO AN END, and that this is true not only of the globe of the earth but also of the whole visible creation. For
¶1. These celestial bodies are <great parts> very considerable parts of the frame of the universe they are large bodies & there is a great number of them much greater than of planets and they have ever appeared from age to age as far as any history reaches back it would therefore be unreasonable to suppose any other than that they are coeval with the frame of the universe. But these bodies cannot have been from eternity for nothing is more manifest than [that (om.E)] they are constantly spending them[s.] sending forth in vast & continual streams parts of themselves clear off from their own bodies & atmostpheres [sic] to a vast distance into the immense etherial expanse And there is nothing appears of any continual reflux or constant stream of matter to them to answer it yea tis very manifest there is no such thing these bodies moving no where but to & fro in the empty etherial spaces where are no bodies with which they have communication to repay their expences & restore their loss Therefore it must be that they suffer a constant diminution & therefore cannot have been from eternity & will in length of time of the frame of the world continues long enough be totally spent & it being so that tis so manifest that a very considerable part of the frame of the universe that has hitherto stood through all past ages will come to an end it is a great argument that the whole is to be dissolved.
¶2. What must be naturally & almost necessarily supposed to be the use of these bodies argues that the whole universe is corruptible & must come to an end For seeing they are constantly expending & wasting themselves & sending forth their own substance & that substance that they emit is not annihilated it must necessarily be that other parts of the frame of the universe must recieve what they expend & since the etherial spaces are not replete with what they emit but still remain empty spaces & since also there is no part of these spaces but where the attraction of the heavenly bodies reaches as the sun & planets it must necessarily follows that this matter gradually gathers to them & since the attraction of the sun throught [sic] all parts of these etherial spaces excepting what is very near the bodies of the planets is vastly greater than all other bodies it will follow that most of this matter is drawn to the sun hence we may argue that it repairs xxx the use of it is continually to repair the suns expense but <[sic; A ed: by]> its constant immense profusion of beams of light Whence we may suppose that when tho<e>se comets are all spent and wasted as they can't last alwaies the sun was [sic; A ed: must] want this nourishmt /p./ & having no new supplies must be gradually spent & so the solar system be destroyed. The same may doubtless be said of the fixt stars those bodies shining by their own light their expense of beams must gradually waste them as necessarily as the sun & hence all must in time come to an end. See further 1040 1041. [finis]
¶1039. WHY THE CREATION OF THE WORLD WAS COMMITTED TO CHRIST.
That God committed the creation of the world to his Son for this reason because it was made to be for the use of his Son in the great work of redemption needs not that words should be multiplied in the proof of it For undoubtedly God committed the creation of the world to his son for the same reason that he committs the gov’t and the disposal of it to him but concerning the latter the SS is plain that the disposal of the world is committed to Christ for that end that he might dispose of it to the purposes and designs of his work of redemption & procuring the salvation & glory of his church. We are wont to make a distinction between the work of creation & the work of providence but indeed the creation of the world or the manner of creation is one thing & one main thing that appertains to Gods providence or the provision that God makes in the disposal of things for the bringing to pass the events & designs he had in view to be accomplished & attained in and by the world. The creation of the world in strictness cannot be distinguished from his government & disposal of all things Gods making the creatures such as he did & in constituting the world as he did at first & disposing of them as he did in their first creation is a part and a very great & main part of what he did as the great & sovereign & alwise Disposer of all things, in order to attaining his purposes & designs & indeed the general course of things in the natural world from the creation of the world to the end of it was in effect, mainly disposed orderd & governed & provided for in the manner in which things were made constituted & order'd at their first creation here Gods works of providence that were subordinate to the work of redemption were in a great measure summ'd up & comprehended in what was done in the six days of creation The future disposition & course of things in all the material visible creation does very much (as the world is in fact governed & disposed of by God) depend & hang upon the first disposal of things in creation [space on line] Therefore if God has indeed committed the disposal of all things to Christ to dispose of in subserving to his grand design in redemption & has really made him head over all things to the church it follows from this alone that he has committed the creation of the world to him. [finis]
¶1040. Add this to N. 1027. & 1034. ABOLISHING THE CEREMONIAL LAW. The following things are foretold of the times of the Messiah which are all evidential of the abolishing of the ceremonial law viz. That all the common people shall be priests Isai 61. 6. and the whole city of Jerusalem shall be the throne of God instead of the ark & mercy seat & that all nations should be gathered & have immediate access to this holy throne, Jer. 3. 17. Yea that the very burying place (that by the law was so unclean that he that only touched a grave was to be unclean seven days Num. 19. 16.) was to be holy unto the Lord like the sanc- /p./ tuary, Jer. 31. 40. & every common utensil of the people, should be holiness to the Lord so that the priests should make use of them in the most sacred service [-s xo] of the sanctuary Yea that upon the very tackling of their horses (an unclean beast) there should be written HOLINESS TO THE LORD as of old upon the mitre of the high priest Zech. 14. 20,21. These things entirely set aside the ceremonial law even in those precepts of it that were esteemed the most sacred of old. See the Fulfillment of the Prophecies of the Messiah § 146. 147. 148. Miscell B. 6. See further. B. 7. eleven leaves from the end. N. 1141.
[finis. cross-refs. at end added later]
¶1041. add this to 1038.] [E's] THE WORLD IS NOT FROM ETERNITY & WILL COME TO AN END]. [E's] 3. What now appears in the motions of these comets is an evidence that the world is not from eternity. For these bodies have some of them at least such exceeding long periods are so long in performing their revolutions and have their course through the system of the planets and athwart their courses whereby they are in the way of having their motions disturbed by their attractions and come so very near the sun in some part of their orbits and are at so vast a distance from it in other parts at which time they are more within the reach of the attraction of other fix'd stars and so little a variation of their motions being sufficient to destroy them by causing them to strike the body of the sun as particularly that noted comet that appeared anno 1680. I say considering all these things 'tis impossible that in a course of nature their motions should be continued from eternity an infinitely less than an eternal duration being sufficient quite to destroy their motions that are so in the way of disturbance Indeed the disturbance of their motions may be such as to bring their orbits nearer to circles & to cause them to keep at a greater distance from the sun as well as to make the ellipses in which they move narrower so as to bring them nearer to the sun and at length to strike its body . But in either [case (A; om.E)] we must suppose a gradual variation which can't fail at length of coming to a destruction of their motions unless we suppose an infinitely exact adjustmt of accidents that disturb their motion so as exactly to rectify at one time what is disordered at another. & so maintain the revolution throughout eternity which supposition would equally militate against the scheme of those that hold the eternity of the world & so its independence on a Creatour.
¶And as their motion must needs be something disturbed by the planets so the motion of the planets must mutually be disturbed by them & so the whole system must gradually be destroyed
¶The motion of comets must be something disturbed & retarded by the stream of the sun beams which they pass through for as these beams are corporeal, & the motion of the comets being athward [sic] the course of the stream of rays must be retarded by them nothing the less for the swift motion of those rays for it is all one whether these particles of matter are at rest or in motion as to impeding the motions of the comets provided that motion be neith- /p./ [er with] their motion nor against it but at right angles with it as the motion of comets take one time with another is . however subtil the matter of the sun beams is yet the quantity of matter is something, especially very near the suns body where some of the comets come
¶4. Without the exact care of a wise Creatour & Disposer, these comets must needs have had their motions destroyed & have destroyed the motions of some of the planets by clashing with them or by coming from time to time very near to them There being so great a number of them & their motion being every way in all manner of directions through the expanse of the heavens some of them athwart or very near the course of some of the planets & the course of other comets. as particularly it has been observed that the course of that comet that appeared in the year 1680 was very near the orbit of the earth therefore it could not but have come to pass before now that they should have clashed or cross'd one another so often as to have destroyed the motion one of another so that at least the regular & almost equable & circular motion of the earth on which its wellfare depends should long ago have been destroyed.
¶If any one says that perhaps there was once a vastly greater number of planets & comets & all whose directions & courses were such as to cross one another have clashed long ago & have destroyed each other & fallen down into the sun & none are now left but such as can move freely without mutual disturbance to this I answer two things 1. This is not true in fact as has been observed of the courses of the earth & the comet that appeard in 1680 that still remain across one another or coming very near one to another. 2. if this supposition should be allowed it would [sic; A ed adds: not] help the matter if that ever was the case that there [were <JE prob. thinking were after there + so losing it, as a guide to what w. to supply. In this case other was a mere wd. equally fit.>(? A ed: was)] a vastly greater number of planets & comets many of which cross'd one another in their motions & in process of time clashed & destroyed one another if this ever was it was at some certain season & if it was at a certain season it was a certain number of years or ages ago. & if so then it was infinitely later than from eternity & so the same difficulty returns viz why did not these heavenly bodies clash sooner when they had been in motion as eternity before that how came it to pass <[mg; A ed: that]> they maintaind their motions without destroying one another through an infinite duration. [finis; 3to 4 line sp. blank at end of page.]
[The arg wh. is good for proving not fr. et., is not quite so good to base their destruction. The arg. that in past they come close w. disturbance is on arg. that their proximities must cause disturbance + bring to end]
[Intro: In this no an example of JE's slipping back + forth between collective + distributive (motion, part). This cd. be indicated by leaving the final S as is in a. case, except that half of time cant be sure + decision too diffic. to make issue.]
¶1042. NATURAL & MORAL FITNESS. JUSTIFICATION. --- It must be noted that the moral fitness is such that the dependence of justification re is buil up is so on faith FAITH <is> relies rests so is so built on the foundation of this [A: the] fitness that it don't depend on Gods free promise. I don't mean such a fitness as obliged God in any sense or such that it would have been an unfit unworthy thing in God not to have promised justification to such he might have required much more if he would & if he had not been pleased to promised [sic] justification on these terms the fitness would have signified nothing but what is intended supposes these two things. 1 That such is the natural fitness of it that it would have been an unfit thing as the case stood there being a Mediatour &c-- that those that had not this qualification should be looked on as being in X or belonging to him it was an unfit thing that they that rejected him should be & were not heartily willing to have him should have him. & 2. that when G. had of his good pleasure purposed to bestow an interest in X on some freely & not on all according to some qualification his wisdom appears in choosing such a qualification as this that was especially fit So that there is a peculiar beauty in his so ordering it that those sinners that heartily consent to & with their whole souls comply with X as a Mediatour should be looked upon & they only as in him or belonging to him. [finis]
[JE's ref. here is again prob. to his doct. as set forth in the 1738 treatise. - or to No. 877? see Table]
¶1043.<see N 766. B. 3 [later]> INCARNATION OF X. That the incarnation or the union of the divine nature with the human is by the Holy Sp. dwelling in the human nature is evident by Zech 3. 8,9. For behold I will bring forth my servant the Branch for behold the stone that I have laid before Joshua upon one stone shall be seven eyes I will engrave the graving thereof saith the Lord of hosts & I will remove the iniquity of that land in one day. That this stone is the Messiah I have shown in my discourse on the Prophecies of the Messiah Here is a great & wonderfull work of God mentiond viz his engraving seven eyes (seven being the number of perfection) on a stone, than which nothing is further from sight. These eyes in the 10 v. of the next chap. are said to be the eyes of the Lord and yet they are represented as being by the wonderfull work of God so united to the stone that they are the eyes of the stone being graven by God in the very substance of the stone. So that here is God's sight or perception knowledge or consciousness united to the Messiah or X which cant be less than a personal union and hereby it is represented that way is made for compleat satisfaction being made for sin through the Messiah by the words added and I will remove the iniquity of that land in one day, [space] as it is by the union of the human nature with the divine that the sacrifice of Christ becomes satisfactory [sic] for sin . But these seven eyes are doubtless the same with the seven lamps before the throne spoken of Rev 4. 5. which we are told are the seven spirits of God and also the same with that Spirit of the Lord as a spirit of wisdom & understand [sic] & counsel & knowledge that it is said should rest on the BRANCH that should grow out of the roots of Jesse. Isai 11. 2. But what puts this matter out of all dispute is that these very seven eyes are explain'd of the Spirit of God in Rev. 5. 6.* "And I beheld and Lo a Lamb [standing (om.E)] as it had been slain having seven horns & seven eyes which are the seven spirits of God sent forth into all the earth alluding to this very place in Zech. 4. 10. [finis]
[*The last sent. is added at end of No. after next begun. The first part, up to this point replaces a previous beginning, wh. is only partially xo: "These seven eyes are doubtless the same with the seven eyes Rev. 5. 6. and I behold & which we are told are the Spirit of God."]
¶ 1044. see 972. XTIAN RELIGION. CHRIST'S SPIRIT OF PROPHECY. As X wrought miracles in a very different manner from the prophets acting therein in his own name and as doing what he did as of his own power & will so also he uttered prophecies in a way very diverse from the antient prophets 1. Whereas the antient prophets, when they uttered their /p./predictions were wont to introduce them after this manner Hear ye the word of the Lord; or thus saith the Lord or with some such like phrase shewing, that they did not speak of their own knowledge but by special revelation & direction from God But [xo c] X foretold things to come in a remarkeably different manner & style holding forth as much as that he spake of his own knowledge introducing his predictions not with a Thus saith the Lord but very frequently [xo E] Verily I say unto you: as Math 23. 36. 24. 34,35. & 26. 13. & v. 21 Mark 14. 30 Luke 21. 31,32. Joh. 13. 38 & 14. 12. & 16. 20,21,22. The following place is very remarkeable shewing what great authority Christ attributed to his own word in his predictions Math 24. 34,35 Verily I say unto you This generation shall not pass 'till all these things be fulfilled. Heaven and earth shall pass away but my words shall not pass away. These words are annexed to the chief prophecies that X ever uttered which are contained in the 24. chap. of Mathew see the same Luke. 21. 31,32.
¶2. Christ foretold future events and that after his death not only as to [xo E] what he knew by his own Knowledge but what he knew by his own knowledge but what he himself would accomplish or bring to pass: both future blessings to his church & people & future calamity & destruction to those persons & people, that were his enemies.
¶First. He foretells future great events for the benefit & prosperity of his church that he would bring to pass Joh. 14. 12,13,14. Verily verily I say unto you he that believeth in me the works that I do he shall do also & greater works than these shall he do, because I go unto my Father And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name that will I do that the Father may be glorified in the Son If ye shall ask any thing in my name I will do it Joh. 16. 7---11 Nevertheless I tell you the truth It is expedient for you that I go away For if I go not away the Comforter will not come unto you But if I depart I will send him unto you. [E's line] and when he is come he will reprove the world of sin of righteousness and of judgement of sin because they believe not on me of righteousness because I go to my Father & ye see me no more of judgement because the Prince of this world is judged. & v. 20,21,22 Verily verily I say unto you that ye shall weep & lament but the world shall rejoice & ye shall be sorrowfull but your sorrow shall be turned to joy ---- And ye now therefore have sorrow but I will see you again and your heart shall rejoice & your joy no man taketh from you See the whole 13. 14. 15. 16. chapters of John. & Luke 21. 15---18. For I will give you a mouth & wisdom which all your adversaries shall not be able to gainsay or resist And ye shall be betrayed both by parents & brethren & kinsfolks [sic] and friends & some of you shall they cause to be put to death and ye shall be hated of all men for my names sake But there shall not an hair of your head perish Luke 24. 49. And behold I send the promise of my Father upon you but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem until ye be endued with power from on high. So he foretold his own resurrection from the dead as what he himself would bring to pass of his own power Joh. 2. 19. Destroy this temple & in three days I will raise it up & Joh. 10. 17.18 I lay down my life that I may take it again No man taketh it from me I have power to lay it down and I have power to take it again Mark. 16. 17,18 And these signs shall follow them that believe In my name shall they cast out devils they shall speak with new tongues they shall take up serpents & if they drink any deadly thing it shall not hurt them they shall lay hands on the sick /p./ & they shall recover.
¶Secondly he foretell's very great events implying awfull calamity & destruction to his enemies as what he himself would bring to pass Thus he speaks of that mighty destruction of the Jewish nation by the Romans as that <from[c]> which he would have protected them from [xo c] if they had believed him Math 23. 36,37,38 Verily I say unto you all these things shall come on this generation O Jerusalem Jerusalem thou that killest the prophets & stonest them that are sent unto thee how often would I have gathered thy children together even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings and ye would not Behold your house is left unto you desolate. And [xo c] this destruction is spoken of as what he will bring upon them as a punishment for their rejecting and despising him Luke 19. 12,13,14, He said therefore a certain noble man went into a far countrey to recieve for himself a kingdom and to return And he called his ten servants and delivered them ten pounds and said to them occupy 'till I come but his citizens hated <him[c]> and sent a message after him saying we will not have this man to reign over us." with v. 27 But those mine enemies which would not that I should reign over them bring hither & slay before me
¶3. Christ not only foretold things future as having ability in himself so to do but he promised to give others ability to foretell future events by his Spirit [*"by his Spirit" is xo by C, but has Cs "stet" wr. above it.] who shall teach them future events from him as of his knowledge and hereby shall honour him as having in his foreknowledge of future things the same honour with the Father. Joh. 16.7. If I go not away the Comforter will not come but if I depart I will send him unto you v. 13. 14. When the Spirit of truth is come he will guide you into all truth For he shall not speak of himself but whatsoever he shall hear that shall he speak & he will shew you things to come. He shall glorify me for he shall recieve of mine & shall shew it unto you All things that the Father hath are mine Therefore said I that he shall take of mine & shall shew it unto you
¶And 'tis observable that never any prophet gave such great and manifold opportunity for proof & trial whether he was a true prophet or no<t,[c]> in the multitude of predictions that he uttered [xo c] of events to be fulfilled in his lifetime & during the generation after his death and in the plainness of his predictions most of them being delivered not in visionary mystical representations as the predictions of the prophets of old but in a manner intelligible to all
¶Therefore the supposition that <if X were an impostor,[all by c;]> God would so order it that all these predictions many of them so strange and wonderfull & in themselves so exceeding<ly[c]> unlikely should exactly come to pass [wwxo; incl "if he were an impostour"--] & that Gods providence should so wonderfully confirm his words beyond those of any other prophet that ever had been in the world <is extremely unreasonable; [c]> especially considering the following things
¶1. That God had of old given this as a sign by which his people might know a true prophet viz. the things coming to pass that he foretells and this rule is annexed by Moses to the great promise that God gave the people by him of the Messiah Deut. 18. 15 to the end [written over 15,16,17.18.19] The Lord thy God will raise up unto thee a prophet from the midst of thee of thy brethren like unto me unto him ye shall hearken. According to all that thou desirest of the Lord in Horeb in the day of the assembly saying Let me not hear again the voice of the Lord my God neither let me see this great fire any more that I die not and the Lord said unto me they have well spoken that /p./ which they have spoken I will raise them up a prophet from among their brethren like unto thee and I will put my words in his mouth and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him And it shall come to pass that whosoever will not hearken unto my words that he shall speak I will require it of him. But the prophet which shall presume to speak a word in my name which I have not commanded him to speak or shall speak in the name of other gods even that prophet shall die And if thou say in thine heart how shall we know the word which the Lord hath not spoken When a prophet speaketh in the name of the Lord if the thing follow not nor come to pass that is the thing which the Lord hath not spoken but the prophet hath spoken presumptuously thou shalt not be afraid of him. Now therefore since Jesus professed to be the Messiah & the great prophet foretold & promised by God in this place & uttered so many & great & wonderfull prophecies it might be expected if he was a meer pretender & spake presumptuously & utterd what the Lord had not spoken that that God that here foretold the coming of the Messiah & gave this rule to distinguish false prophets & vain pretenders from him that [xo c]; mg. follows] should not have confirmed his prophecies in his providence but in that case <have [c]> given his people opportunity to have <by this rule [c]> refuted his pretences by this rule. [xo c]
¶2. Seeing [xo c] that foretelling future events is spoken of by God in the antient prophecies of the kingdom of the Messiah as one great thing wherein the Messiah should differ from the false gods & false prophets & vain pretenders of the heathen. In that great prophecy of the kingdom of the Messiah beginning with the 40 chap. of the Book of the Prophet Isai to the end of the book foretelling future events in such a manner as to shew that he that foretells does foresee & has a view of future<ity,[c]> is often mention'd as a divine prerogative and therefore a good evidence that he that does so is a divine person or speaks by divine authority and [so E] therefore the gods of the heathen and their prophets are often challenged upon this head and the proof of their authority often put upon this issue Isai 41. 21,22,23,26,28 & 42. 8,9. & 44. 6,7,8. & 45. 3. & 21. & 43. 9,10,11,12. & 46. 10 & 48. 14. And in that prophecy 'tis declared that herein the Messiah should differ from all vain pretenders see Isai 41. 27. & 42 at the beginning compared with chap. 41. 21,22,23,26,28,29. Now therefore is it credible that God would so order it that an impostour one that <falsely[c]> pretended to be the Messiah should have this honour in so high a degree which he <God[c]> [xo c] mentioned as the great & distinguishing honour which he would put on the true Messiah as his elect in whom his soul delighted
¶3. Seeing [xo c] that any persons foretelling of future events as by their own knowledge & as things that are to be accomplished by their own power is spoken of by God in these forementiond places as his great prerogative and as a good & sure evidence of the divinity of the person that can do thus and especially God speaks thus in those very places where [xo c] <in which [c]> he is foretelling the coming of /p./ the Messiah & foretells that <he[c]> should have this honour as in Isai 41. 21,22,23. Produce your cause saith the Lord bring forth your strong reasons saith the King of Jacob Let them bring forth & shew us what shall happen ----- shew the things that are to come hereafter that we may know that ye are gods [E's line] v.26 who hath declared from the beginning that we may know and before time that we may say he is righteous Yea there is none that sheweth yea there is none that declareth yea there is none that heareth your words. But then in the next words God promises the Messiah to shew & declare <whose coming was beyond the power of [c]> which [xo c] the heathen gods could not do. [xo c] v. 27. The first shall say to Zion behold behold them & I will give to Jerusalem one that bringeth good tidings i.e that foreshews glorious future things <which[c]> God is about to do for his people. & [xo c] in the words that follow tis signified that thus God would supply that defect which arose from the impotence of the heathen gods, & grant that thing wherein they were so deficient. v. 28,29. For I beheld and there was no man even amongst them and there was no counsellor that when I asked of them could answer a word Behold they are all vanity their works are nothing their molten images are wind and confusion & [xo c] in the words that next follow 'tis further signified that God would supply this defect Behold my servant whom I uphold mine Elect in whom my soul delighteth I have put my Spirit upon <him: [c]> he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles
¶Seeing therefore God mentions a thus [xo c] <the[c]> foretelling <of[c]> future events in this manner as a certain note of divinity and a distinguishing honour that he would put on the Messiah his Elect in whom his soul delighteth . is it credible that God would put this honour in so great a degree on one that falsely <pretended to be the Messiah & the beloved of God, and especially when with all he> pretended in this respect to have the same honour belonging to him that belongs to God as Joh. 16. 13,14,15. he will shew you things to come He shall glorify me for he shall recieve of mine & shall shew it unto you all things that the Father hath are mine therefore said I that he shall take of mine & shall shew it unto you & <He[c]> [xo c] also evermore [xo E] speaks of his knowledge of divine secrets & future events as the effects [xo E] of the peculiar love that God had to him Joh. 5. 20 The Father loveth the Son & sheweth him all things that himself doth see No. 1193, B. 8 [finis]
¶1045. NATURAL & MORAL FITNESS. Will any body deny /mg/ deny that God requires that persons should accept of Christ as a Saviour in order to their having him for their Saviour because it is a meet & fit thing that before men have this benefit for their own they should accept of it. & because it was fit that man should be dealt with as an intelligent voluntary agent capable of act & choice. & if this be own'd this is the same thing as owning that tis appointed because of some fitness. [finis; last word slightly larger; ital?]
¶1046 SAINTS, HIGHER IN GLORY THAN THE ANGELS. When Joseph brought his brethren into Egypt they had greater priviledges there than the natives of the land Gen 47. 6. They had the very best of the land given them [finis]
¶1047. TRINITY. The HOLY GHOST is not called the holy Ghost or holy Spirit so often in Scripture meerly because the creatures holiness is from him but chiefly because God's holiness consists in him. Therefore he is called the spirit of Gods holiness Ps. 51. 11. Take not away thy Holy Spirit from me in the original it is the Spirit of thy holiness. So Isai 63. 10. They vexed his holy Spirit. in the original The Spirit of his <mg> holiness. So again v. 11 That put his holy Spirit within him it is in the original again the Spirit of his holiness.
¶Dr. Owen in his Discourse concerning the holy Spirit. Book 1. chap. 3. §. 5. says "The Spirit is the mutual love of the Father & the Son."
¶In the same place he also says "The mutual knowledge & love of Father & Son are absolute infinite, natural and necessary unto the being & blessedness of God" & again in the same section says "In these mutual internal actings of the persons themselves [. [E's] i.e the persons of the Trinity <[)]> consists much of the infinite blessedness of the holy God." [finis]