368 Book. IV. L1oklng utfto !Jefur. c~ap.1. sea:. 3 -. ' SE-cT. z: Of th' prel!ching oflohrJ Baptiff. ., 2 . . por the, preaching of 'fohn the Baptifl: ;·_now was it that the Gofpel began to dawn, and John hke the morning :ftar, or the blulbing day,fpringing from the windows of the Eaft foretells the approaching of the Sun of righceoufne:lfe. now wa; it that 'he laid the firft ,rough, hard, and unhewn ft'one of the building in mortification, felf~denial, and doing vioJe .ce to our natural affeetioni. I reade not that ever { ohn wrought a mir:lcle, but he was a man of an au!\:ere life ; and good works convince more then ' miracles themfelves. It is ftoryed of one Pachomim, a fouldier under Conftantine the Emperour, that his arnw being .Well-neare ,ftarved for want of neceflary provifion he came to a City of Cbriftians, and they of the1r own charity relieved them ( peedily and freely, he wondering at their fo free and cheerful difpen(ation, enquired what kind of people thofe were wN:>m he faw fo bountiful r it was anfwered they were ChriJl:i«ns, whofe profeffion it is to hurt no man, and to do good to every man ; hereupon the fou~dier convinc~d ofthe excellency of thisReligion, he threw away hts armes, and became a Chrifti~ an and a Sa.int. To this purpofe I fuppofe 'fohn the Baptift fp;nt his time i!J pr.ayer, me?itation, _affeetio~s, and colloquies with God, e~ttog files and wtld-hony m the wtlderneife, that h'e might be made a fit i~ftrument ofpreparation, and di.lfemination of the Gofpetof Chrtft. · , Jn his Sermons hefometirpes gave particular fd1edules of duty to feveral ftates of perfons, he fbarply reproved the Pharifees for th11ir hypocrille and impiety, he gemly guided others into the wayesof righteoufneffe, calling them the ftraight wayes of tbe Lord; \and by fuch dif<;ourfe~ .and .a b~ptifme, he difpofed the fpirits of men for the entertammg of the Mefftas,and the doctrine . of the Gofpel 'f ,hns Sermons were to the Sermons of Jefus as a preface to a difcourfe. But obferve this, that his moft ufual note was repentance, the axe' to the roote, the fap to the flom, the chfljfe to the fire; as his rayment wa~ rough,~~ ~a~ h~i tongue; and thus mufi the wt~ "'
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