Serm. CXCII. Enmity to the Truth. 609 and other things: fo thattbofe great and important Truths contained in our Savi- our'sDodrine, are the light here fpoken of and which men of bad defgnsand pra- dices, are faid to hate and decline; Every one that loth evil, hateth the Light, neither céineth to the Light, left his deeds fhould be reproved. In which words two things offer themfelves to our confederation. Firft, The Enmity ofwicked men to the Truth Every one that dodo evil, hateth' she light, neither cometh to the light. Secondly, The Ground or Reafon of this Enmity, Lee? his deeds fhould be difcovere4. FirH, The Enmity of wicked men to the Truth , Every one that doth evil , hateth the light. Men of ill Defigns and Praftifes hate the light, andbecaufe they hate it they fhun it and flee from it, neither cometh he to the light. Now this En- mity toTruth appears principally in theft two things, in their Refiftance, and in their Perfecution of it. t. In-their Oppofition and Refiftance ofit. A bad man is not only averle from the entertainment of it, and loth to admitit, but thinks himfelfconcern'd to refit it. Thus thejaw oppofed thofe Divine Truths, which our Saviour declared to them ; theydid not only refufeto receive them, but they fet themfelves to confute them, and by all means to blaft the credit of them , and to charge them not only with Novelty and impofture , but with a feditious defign, and with blafphemous and odious confequences ; they perverted every thing he faid to a bad fenfe, and put malicious Confiru&ions upon all he did, tho' never fo blawelefs and innocent. When he infiru&ed the people, they faid he was ftirring them uptoSedition ; when he told them he was the Son of God, they made him a Blafphemer for faying fo : when hehealed on the Sabbath-day, theycharged himwith profanenefs ; when he confirmedhis Doctrine by Miracles, thegreateft and plaineft thatever werewrought, they reported him a Magician ; when they could findno fault with many parts of his Do&rine, which was fo holy and excellent, that malice it felf was not able to mifreprefent it, or take any exception to it, they endeavoured to deftroy the credit of it, by raifing fcandals upon him for his Life ; becaufe his Converfationwas free and familiar, they tax'd him for a wine-bibber, and a glutton ; and becaufe he ac- companied with badmen, in order to the reclaimingand reforming of them, they reprefented him as a favourer offuch Perfons, a friendof Publicans andfnners. By thefe andfuch like Calumnies theyendeavoured to difparagehis Dodrine, and to alienate men from it; being prejudiced againft the Truth themfelves, they did what they could to keep others from embracing it; and, as our Saviour tells us, Shut up the Kingdom ofHeaven againd Men, neither going in thernfelvesi norfi+ffer- ing others that weregoing in, td enter. 2. TheEnmity ofbad men to the Truth likewife appears in their Perfecution of it, not only in thofe that propound it to them, but in all thofe that give entertain- ment to it : and this is the higheft exprefhon of Enmity that can be, to be fatistïed with nothing lefs than the deftrudion and extirpation of what we hate. And thus the `iews, declared their Enmity to the Gofpel. When this great Light came into the world, they not only (hut their Eyes againft it, but endeavoured to extinguifh it, -by. perfecuting the Author of this Dodrme, and all thofe that publilh'd it, and made profefiìon of it ; they perfecuted our Saviour all his life, and were continu- ally contriving mifchiefagainft him, feeking to intrap him in his words, and fo ren- der bins obnoxious to the Roman Government, and at loft puttinghim to death up-! on a faift and forged accufation, and all this out of Enmity to thatTruth' which he delivered to them from God; as he himfelf tells us, fohn 8. 40. But nowyePeek to kill me, a man which bath toldyou the truth, which Ihave heardofGod. But malice 'did not reft here, they perfecuted in like manner his Dífciplea and followers, calling them out of their Synagogues, andfòrbidding them tofpeak to thepeople in the name oflefue, delivering them up to councils, and condemning them to death. -Never did good men thew greater zeal and earneftnefs for theTruth, than thefe wicked men did againft it y fo that had our bleifed Saviour been the greateft Impoftour that ever was, and brought the moft pernicious Dot-trine that ever was into -the world, they could not have perfecuted him with more rage and fury,
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