Chriftian Religion proved by Reafort. 59 thou art a Priejl for ever after the order of Melchifldec. That this Propcecy refpected the ~ Mefliah even the Pharifees could not deny, For when Jefus Chrifl: askt them whore Chap. I. Son Ch;ifl: was to be? They anfwered, David's. And demanding again, why Dmlid ~ call'd him Lord, in thofe words of the Pfalms, The Lord faid ;mto my Lord, fit th01; at my right hand till I have made thine Enemies thy Foot-Jiool? They could anfwer. nothmg. Their filence was a clear acknowledgment that the Me!liah was the Perfon there mtended. The Apofl:le alfo who wrote to the Jews, takes it for granted by ~he univerfal cOt&rit ?f H,b. s. s. that Nation, that that Pfalm refpeCled the Me!liah, and proves 1t was accomph!bcd m Jefus Chrifl:. Befides, 'twas foretold by the Prophet Jeremiah, that another Covenant !bould be made, wherein the real benefits of the pardon of Sm, and true Holinefs that were typified by the Legal purifications and obfervances, !bould be conferred on God's People. Behold, the Days come,faiththe Lord, that I willmaf<! anew ClliJenant w;ththc H01{e ofIfrael, different from that made with their Fathers whm they came out of the l .And of ./Egypt, I wiU put my LAw into their inward parts, and write it ift tbeir hearts, and will be their God and th<Jfba/1 be my People. And they Jba/1 no more teach '""''J Man his Neighhour, and every Mdn hk Brother, fdJin,~, Know the Lord; for they fb,tfl /znow me from the leafl of them tothegreateft of them, faith the Lnrd: For I rPiU forgive· their !niq1~ities, and I wiU remember their Sin no more. In ibort, there are abundant Declaranons m the Prophets that the Carnoll'l.eligion of the Jews fbould expire, and a Religion all Spirit and Life fuould fucceed in its place, and bediffufed among all Nations. This was to be introduc'd by the Me!lial1. Thus Mefcs foretold, The Lord thy Godjha/1 raiflt~p a Prophet from 11/J/OIIg to/ Bretl.>ren lik& Hnto me, Him )'e fba!l Hear. 'Twas the fingular prerogative of Mo{e~ above the refl of the Prophets, that be was a Lawgiver, and Med iatour of the Covenant between God and Ifrael, and accordingly the Me!liah was to be a Lawgi ver and Mediatour of New a Covenant. Now if the Mofaic Infl:itutions were to ~~Gd~~.-.~~~~;r~p~~')fc:Xh~h~~r:~:1:e'ffi~~ ~~~~i~~~~~~t~~:~n~ ~~o~~,~r~X;~:~ r;jPb~~- vid, and conunanding the Kings of the Earth. By which 'tis evident that his Laws mufl: be ofanother Nature than thofe of MPfcs, that were proper only to the Church wh11£1: confin'd to the Jewi!b pale, but not for the governm, nt of the World. And whereas the Jews object, that fome oftheir Rites were ordain'd to continue for ever. The anfwer is clear, that was only to diO:inguilh tbem from fome temporary injunctions, that were of force only while they were in the Wildernefs, or when they were Inhabitants of Canaan, but were to be practis'd in all places, rill by a new fignification of the Divine Will they were forbidden. And 'tis obfervable that in the Jewi!b Law the term for ever, when applied either to a Man's right, or to fervitude, imports only a continuance · to the Jubilee: So that thofe Rituals were to continue in their vigour during that intire peJ iod, and to be determin'd after the coming of the Melflah, the great Jubilee of the World. And that Jefus Chrifl: is the promifed Me!liah is moO: evident, in that his coming was exactly as he was defigned, and was to be expeCred ; that he had the power of working Miracles to authorife him to change the externals of their Worlhip and Service. BrieBy Judaiftl) now is but the Carcafs of a dead ·Religion, . and the obfl:inate adhearers to it, are become [o fotti!bly blind, as to believe the moO: prodigious Fab'es as Divine Revelations. Thc:ir Talmud fo reverenc'd by them, contains iutoll er..t.ble Follies, nay Blafphemies againft God. It regulates his hours in the. day. It relates that he fpends three in O:udyi ng the Law, and three more in the inO:ruClini Qhildren that dyed in their minority, and that he employs three in taking the accounts pf the World, and in the three lafl diverts him~elf with Leviathans, and that the night being come, (for they tmagme that the Sun fets m Parad1fe) he afcendsa Chariot drawn by the fwrftefl Spirits, theCher11binu, and vifits the Eighteen Thoufand Worlds he create:!. I fhall not in!lance in any more of their extravagant Tales, not to be defended by the pretence of folemn Myfl:eries, and by O:rained Allegories. This is fufliclent to !hew that by the Righteous Judgment of God, for their rejecting the Truth of the Gofpel they are given up to believe Lies. Since the coming of JeCus Chri~, Maf:11metanifm has overfpread a great part of _the Barbarous World. But thts carnes m tt fuch apparent and certain marks of fall!ty, that it can be no Temptation to any Perfon in whom the re is but a fpark of good Sence. Whether we confider, I. The Author from whom it was derived: A Robber, one drencht in (enfuality, and therefore utterly unqualified to be therevealer of the Will ofthe Holy God to Men• • 2. , The quality of its Doctrines; Come are ridiculous and extravagant above the . vamty of a f~a':en!b dream: Some are pernrct?US, flattering both the lower Appetites; the concup1fCible, by lofing 1ts natural ·refl:ramts from exorbitant fle!bly pleafurcs; the I 2 irafcibl e
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy OTcyMjk=