8o Cbriftian Religion proved by Reafon. ~ Another Vifion of the WORD from Heaven was to St. John, when he was pleas'd to Chap. 5· reveal to htm the future flate of his Church, its Combats and Victories: He then appear'd ~ in afonnexpreffiveofhisMajefty, Power, and Providence, requifice for the ordering all . the great Events that lhould befal it: And· faid, I am the jirft and the !aft; I am he that liveth, and w,u dead, mrd behold, Ilive for ever, and have the Kep of HeU, and of Death: Wherem he appropriates to hitJ\felf the incom.municable Titles of the Deity; and then declares tho[e two aflonifiting Miracles, that the l'rincnf Life that had an Eternal.'Principle of it in himfelf, was dead; and that one who had been d.ead, was alive. This Riddle tl:e Go[pel unfolds; the Son of God was made Man, and by thatadmirableunionallied Eternity and Time, Life and Death together. As 'tis a common form of fpeecl1, that a Man dies when the Body isdepriv'dofLife, though the Soul be immortal: Soitwastrue, the Son ofGod died when his Body was crucified, though he was uncapable of the leafrdiminution ofhis Divine Life. And after three .days herofe by the Divine Power to enjoy an Immortal Life; A11d have the Key;ofHeU, and Death, The irrefifrible force of Dea th all Men mufryield to, and from the Grave there's no redemption by finite power. But Jefus Chrifr has Soveraign Authority ~nd Power to open the Grave, and rai[e the Qead to an happy Immortality. This glorious Appearance made St.1ohn to fall as dead at .his Feet, and could not recoverhim[clf, till affured by the reviving wordS·ofhis Favour. The Spirit alCo appear'd from Heaven to give Teftimony concerning theDi.vine Per[ on and Office of ~;:fa~ ~;r~~ ~~o~~~~~~irfh~S;i~~;ft%e11 t~~:~l~~~1:,~:a~af!za~int~h!~ewra&s;~:,ho~~ Gojpelto the Poor, to publijhDeUverancc to the Captives. And in thefecond bf th~ All> the Sptrit defcended in the Form of Fiery Tongues upon the Apofrles, to qualifie them for preaching the Gofpe l to the World: And 'tis worthy of obfervation, that t11e Apoflles were before this very defeCl:ive in Wifdom and Courage, fo that their Divine Mafrer; though Goodnefs it felf, yet tax'd them for their frupidity, and in his Sufferin'gs they all forfook him. But after the effufion of the Spirit upon them, they were endued with that admirable Wifdom and Refolution, that nothing could gainfay and overcome. They pre- ;~~~J;.d~e~~d:~;s :;annfe~~!dsb;~hi:l~~~it~~~~f~~~ Jt,' ;;;~het~~~!~ : ~~~d~:~~ ou:,. and other~ confound~d.in theirobfi:inacy. Nowfince this miraculousdefcent of the Sprntwas toratrfie the Prmlufethathe made to them, lfigo an>ay, I will fend to you another Comforter: What more clear and valuableTeilimony can we have that Je[us Chrifl is the Saviour of theWorld? If Infidelity lhould reply, If we had beard thefe Voices, and feen tho[e glorious Vifions, we lhould be convinc'd i but what alfurance have we there is no deceit in thefe Relations? I anfwer, There never was clearer Grounds of the beliefof any thing done without the compafs of our own fen[es; than of what the Apoflles tefrifie, as hath been evidently proved before. And certainly as tho[e who faw and heard tho[e things, were by the Divine CharaCl:ers in the external Objel.ts, and by their efficacy on their Spirits, fully perfwaded they were not deceived; fo we have as !hong proofs that they did not deceive us in their Reports. I lliall briefly COflfider the other Tefrimonies.htd there are Three that bear Witnefi in Earth, the Spirit, and the Water, and the Blood; a11d theft Three agree in one. The Spirit is to be confidered in two different mannersin rhe Teftimonies attribnted to him, either in relplct ofthofe Repre[entations by a Dove and Fiery Tongues, or in re[pect of his Vermes and Influences communicated to the Chrijlian Church: The firfl was his Tef\imony fromHeaven ; the fecond his Teflimony on Earth. And tbe[e were his extraordinary Gifts, fo liberally difpens'd at the firfr Preaching of the Gofpel: To one was r,iven by the Spirit the Wcrd of Wifdom, to another the Word of Knuwledge, to an•ther Faith ; that is, extraordinary c.onfidence in the Divine Power, for the producing Miraculous EffeCts; to a11other the Gift of Healing, to another the Wor4fng of lviiracle.r, to another Prophecy, to tUJothcr Di[ctrning of Spirit!, to llnother diver! Ki1tds of Tongues, to a1zother the Interpretation of Tongues. Now becaufe thefe Operations more eminently declare the Prefence and Power of the Spirit than his Ordinary Graces, they are called by that Name. For underfranding the fecond Witnels, the Water, two things are obfervable. I. That in the Rituals of Mofes's, frequent Wafhings were enjoyned for the Purifying of the 1ews from Legal Pollurions contracted by them. And as toofe Corporal Stains were Re[emblances of the Vicious Habits of the Mind; fo the cleanfing by Water was Typical of Sanll:ifying Grace that Purifies the Heart. And for thi s Rea[on under the New Covenant to reprefent the Sanctiljcation of Clmfrians by an outward fign, Baptifm in Water was appointed. die~· rTe~~e~~~1~li::~lci,~~:,:;:a!~v~h~~ ~~~;,)'~;)nwa~;, :~~~~~t~e~~~~~ist);~o~res:1~~~ hy
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