Chap. 1. sea. 5· JLooltmg unto jjcftt.S. Book IV. and Levices fent in legation from the Sanhedrim, he profeffed indefinitely in anfwer to rheit· queftion,. that hi~1fclf was nor the Chnft, nor Eltas, nor that Prophet, whom rhey by a fpeoal tradmon expected to be revealed, though they knew !lOt when.; and fecondly, to all the people he profeffed definitely, wberefoever he faw Jefus Chrtft, thuuhe: yea, he poitits him our wtth Ius finger, Behold the Lamb •t God rhattaizes Johnt. ,9. away the fins of the world. Then he lhews !urn to A;tdn:~>., Stmon Peters Ilrother, and then to another Difciple with lum, who bothfollowed J:JU<, rmd ab~de with htm all mght. J,hn '· 39• Andrewbrings his Bi·orher 5imon With !urn, and Chnft dmng:s Ius Name from Semon to Peter, or Ceph.u, which jiguijiesa Stone. Then Jefus htmfelt finds our ~hdtp?f Beth– (aida and bade him follow him; and Philiy finds out Nathanacl, and b1ds h1m come and /ee, for rhe MejJiah was found; when Nathanacl came to Jefus, Chrifl f~W: his heart and ga 1 •e him a bleffed Character; Behold an Ifracltte tndecd, m n•hom there u no guile.' Thus we fee no lefs than five Difciples found our at firfl, which mull: be as fo ma– ny wirneiTes of Jefus Chrtil. Ver. 4t. Vr:r.4 :. Vr:.r. 44· Ver. 47• And yet we find more witneiTes; 'T'he work! (faith Chrifl) that I do, in my Fathers name, they bear 1vitnefs of me. Thefe Works or Mtracles of Chnfl were many ; bur be- John lo. '~~ caufe we are [peaking of his firfl manifellation, I ll1all inilance only in his firft work, which was at a Marriage in C.ma of Galilee. The power of Miracles bad now ceafed lince their return our of Captivity; the lafl Miracle that was done by man till this very rime, was Daniets eying up the mouth of the Lions; and now Chriil begins. He that made rhe firft Marriage in Paradifc, bellows his firft Miracle upon a Marria~e-feail: 0 happy Fea!l, where Chri!l is a Guefl ! I believe this was no rich or fumptuous Bridal ;• who ever found Chrifl at the magnificent Feafts or Triumphs of the great? The !late of a Savant (in which flare Chri~ was) doth not well agree with the proud pornp of the wor Id : This poor needy Bridegroom wants drink for his Guefls ; and affoon as rhe Holy Virgin harh notice of it, lhe complains ro her Son: whether we want Bread, or Water, or Wine, Neceffaries, or Comforts, whither fhould we go bur to Chriil? !he Lord iJ my Shepherd; and if that be fo, itwill furely_ follow, 1 ]halt not want: B~t ]'[}:~~~·!: refiuanfwercdher, woman, what have Itodolwththee? mmehour u not yet come. Thrs · fhews, that rhe work Ire was ro do, mull nor be done to farisfie her im~onunity, but to profecure the great work of divine defignation. In works fpirinul and religious, all outward rdation ceaferh: Matters of Miracle concerned the Godhead only ; and irr thtscafeOwoman, whathavcl todowiththee? We mull not qenyLoveaod Oury to Relations; bur in rhe tbings of GOd, natural Endearments mull pafs inro.fpiritual · and like ilat;s, in the prefence of the Sun, muft nor appear. Paul could fay, Hen/eforth kztow we no m~nafter the jtejh; yea, though we have ~own Chrift after the jlejh, yet 1101~ 2 Cor. !• r6. henceforth kztotv we him no mare. At the Command of Jefus, rhewater-potswerefilledwitb w<lrer, and the water by bis divine power is turned imo Wine; where the different difpenfation of God and rhe world ishighly obfer9able: Ev_ery m411 Jets forthgood wine dt ftrft, and then the ivorfe .– Bur Cbn!l not only turns water 1nto wine, but Into fuch wine rhat the Iaft Draught is mo!lpl~afant: the world prefenrs us with fait hopes of pleafores, honours, and prefer– ments, but there's birrer11efs in the end: every'fin fmiles in the firl.l addref~; b~ttwhen w: havewe/1 drunk._, then comes that which u worfe; only Chrift tUrns our water into wme ; 1f we fill our water-pots with water; if with David, we water our Couch with our tears for fin, Chriil will come in with rhe wine of gladnefs fooner or latter; and he w1U g1ve the b•!l wine at the lafl. . 0 how delicate is that new wine which we ll!lll one day drink with Chrift in his Fathers Kingdom? Thefe were the firfl ;nanife!larions of Je– fus: you fee he had feveral wirneffes to fer him forth' ; fome from heaven, and fome on earth; the Father, Son, and Holy Ghoft wirnefs from heaven; the Baptift, Difciples, and h1~ ~orks w~tnefs on earth ; and t·here's no difagreemem in their witnefs, but all ~r~;i~t.n th1s refl1mony of Iefus, rhat he is the MeJ!iah ; that ;,, 'being ir.terpreted, the John 1. 4 r. Bmwhat are rhefe manifeUation; ro us ? or ro tl_tat great defign of Chrift in 'carrying V [c. . on our fouls falvatton? Much every way. For etther mull Chrtfr be mamfefted to us ev~n by thefe wtrneiTes, mthe preaching of the Gofpel, and manifefted in us by that one wt.nef': lu.~ Holy Spmt: or we are·undone for ever. . . r · Cbrt.l mull be mamfelled to us m the preaclung ?f the Gofpel : Tlus mercy we have th1s day; .nay, you fee every Sabbath day all the wltneiTes fpeak in m: What do we,bur mGods ftead, mrhe··B:~prift's l\ead, in the Difc1ples fiead, m~nifdl; Chriilto you
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy OTcyMjk=