42 . The NEW and COMPLETE LI FE of Our BLESSED He gave him to underftand, that the na- tion in general were greatly miftaken in their views of that exaltedperfon fetting up a temporal kingdom, and affuming the authority and command of an illuítrious and powerful conqueror; on the contrary, this divine teacher explained to Nicode- mus, that it was conformable to the lan- guage of ancient prophecy, as well as the councils of heaven, that the Meffiah, when he appeared in the world, Ihould be poor and defpifed; that he Ihould affume no titles of honour, but be expofed to a va- riety of mifery, poverty, and wretched- nefs ; and, of confequence, his kingdom mull not be a temporal, but fpiritual kingdom ; and the deliverance, which he came to procure for his people, was not from temporal evils, but eternal wrath. This deliverance, he proceeded to inform the noble Pharifee, mull be procured by his fufferings and death, by which, whofo- ever believed on him, would be reinftated in the divine favour, and made eternally happy ; but whofoever refufed to receive him as their Saviour, and perfilled in their obllinacy and unbelief, would certainly perilh for ever, and juftly fall into fo fe- verea condemnation, becaufe their unbelief would not arife from want of evidence of the truth of his miffion, but from their own inveterate prejudices, and the habi- tual wickednefs of their hearts and lives. He that believeth on him is not condemned, Paid he, but he that believeth not, is con- demned already, becaufe he believeth not in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darknefs rather than light, becaufe their deeds were evil. This excellent and pathetic difcourfe of our Lord, had an effeét on Nicodemus, proportionable to the importance of it : he not only believed that JESUS was a teacher fent from God, but was convinced that he was that great perfon who was to be the Redeemer of Ifrael. He conftantly defended him in the council : and when JESUS was put to death, by the impious rage, and unexampled cruelty of the Jews, he, in conjunction with Jofeph ofArima- thea, begged the body of our Lord of the Roman governor, and bellowed on him the honour of a decent funeral, when all the reft of his difciples had forfaken him. C H A P T E R X. John'sDoctrine concerning CHRIST. CHRIST converfetls with the Woman ofSamaria, and revealeth himfelf unto her : He heals the Nobleman'sSon at Cana, while he lay lick at Capernaum : He departeth from Cana, and goetle to Nazareth ; where being cruelly ufed by his Townfmen, he removeth from thence, and repairs to Ca,ernaum; and having called snore Difciples he preaches in Galilee, and delivers his Sermon on the Mount. THE feaft of the paffover being ended, JEsus departed from Jeru- falem, and went to fame of the obfcurer parts of Judea ; probably he might retire to the banks of the river Jordan, where he had been baptized, and had received the honour of the divine approbation, and the teffimony of a voice from heaven, that he was the Son of God. The holy JESUS remained here a confiderable time, and his difciples baptized great numbers of people, while his fame was fpread through feveral parts of the country, John
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