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"and ye all marvel. Mofes therefore gave unto you circumcifion, and ye on the Sabbath-day circumcife a man: if a man on the Sabbath-day receive circumcifion, that the law of Mofes should not be broken, are ye angry with me, because I have made a man "every way whole on the Sabbath-day?" Which is a direct defence of what he did at Jerufalem a year and a half before. The work he here fpeaks of we find reported John v. 1—16. He had not preached to them there from that time till this, but had made good what he then told them, ver. 38. " Ye have not the word of Ced remaining among you, because whom he hath fent, ye beheve not." Whereby, I think, he fignifies his not staying and being frequent amongst them at Jerufalem, preaching the gofpel of the kingdom, because their great unbelief, oppofition, and malice to him, would not permit it.

This was manifeftly fo in fact. For the firft miracle he did at Jerufalem, which was at the fecond paffover after his baptifm, brought him in danger of his life. Hereupon we find he forbore preaching again there till the feaft of Tabernacles immediately preceding his laft paffover: fo that till half a year before his paffion, he did but one miracle, and preached but once publicly at Jerufalem. Thefe trials he made there; but found their unbelief fuch, that if he had ftaid and perfifted to preach the good tidings of the kingdom, and to fhew himself by miracles among them, he could not have had time and freedom to do thofe works which his father had given him to finish, as he fays, ver. 36, of this 5th of St. John. They all imaginable ways attacked him, and he as readily cluded all their attempts by the wonderful quickness and conduct of an unparalleled wifdom. Here at this feaft of Tabernacles, "The Scribes "and Pharifees brought unto him a woman taken in adultery; "they fay unto him, Mafter, Mofes in the law commanded us that fuch fhould be ftoned, but what fayeft thou? This they faid "tempting him, that they might accufe him." John viii, 3-6. It is plain they hoped that this criminal caufe of a woman just taken in the fact, brought before him in the fight of the people, would draw him, if he would preferve the opinion of being the Meffiah their king, to give judgment in it, and by the exercife of fuch an authority expofe him to the Roman deputy. Some fuch accufation they watched for; but they could never get any fuch advantage against him he marvelloufly defeated their defign, and, without leffening himself, fent them away covered with fhame and filence.

When, upon the curing of the withered hand on the Sabbathday," The Pharifees took counfel with the Herodians how they "might deftroy him; Jefus withdrew himself with his difciples to "the fea, and a great multitude from Galilee followed him, and "from Judea, and from Jerufalem, and from Idumea, and from "beyond Jordan, and they about Tyre and Sidon, a great multi"tude; when they had heard what great things he did, came unto "him, and he healed them all, and CHARGED THEM THAT "THEY SHOULD NOT MAKE HIM KNOWN: that it might be ful

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"filled which was spoken by the prophet Ifaiah, faying, Behold "my fervant whom I have chofen; my beloved, in whoin my foul " is well pleased: I will put my fpirit upon him, and he fhall fhew "judgement to the Gentiles: he fhall not ftrive, nor cry, neither "fhall any man hear his voice in the streets." Mat. xii. and Mark iii.

And John xi. 47. Upon the news of our Saviour's raifing Lazarus from the dead, "the chief priests and Pharifees convened "the Sanhedrim, and faid, What do we? for this man does many "miracles." Ver. 53. "Then from that day forth they took "counfel together for to put him to death." Ver. 54. "Jefus "therefore walked no more openly among the Jews." His miracles had now fo much declared him to be the Meffiah, that the Jews could no longer bear him, nor he truft himself amongst them; "but went thence unto a country near to the wilderness, into "a city called Ephraim, and there continued with his difciples." This was but a little before his laft paffover, as appears by the following words, ver. 55. "And the Jews paffover was nigh at hand:" and he could not, now his miracles had made him fo well known, have been fecure the little time that remained till his hour was fully come, if he had not with his wonted and necefiary caution withdrawn, and walked no more openly among the Jews," till his time (at the next paffover) was fully come; and then again he appeared amongst them openly.

Nor would the Romans have fuffered him, if he had gone about preaching that he was the king whom the Jews expected. Such an accufation would have been forwardly brought against him by the Jews, if they could have heard it out of his own mouth; and that had been his public doctrine to his followers, which was openly preached by his apoftles after his death, when he appeared no more. And of this they were accufed, Acts xvii. 5. 9. "But the Jews "which believed not, moved with envy, took unto them certain "lewd fellows of the bafer fort, and gathered a company, and fet "all the city in an uproar, and affaulted the houfe of Jafon, and fought to bring them out to the people. And when they found "them [Paul and Silas] not, they drew Jafon and certain brethren "unto the rulers of the city, crying, Thefe that have turned the "world upfide down, are come hither alfo, whom Jafon hath re"ceived and thefe all do contrary to the decrees of Cæfar, fay"ing, That there is another king, one Jefus. And they troubled "the people and the rulers of the city, when they heard thefe things and when they had taken fecurity of Jason and the other, they let them go.'

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Though the magiftrates of the world had no great regard to the talk of a king, who had fuffered death, and appeared no longer any where; yet if our Saviour had openly declared this of himself in his life-time, with a train of difciples and followers every where owning and crying him up for their king; the Roman governor of Judea could not have forborn to have taken notice of it, and have made

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ufe of their force against him. This the Jews were not mistaken in; and therefore made ufe of it as the ftrongest accufation, and likelieft to prevail with Pilate against him for the taking away his life; it being treafon and an unpardonable offence, which could not escape death from a Roman deputy, without the forfeiture of his own life. Thus then they accufe him to Pilate, Luke xxiii. 2. "We found this fellow perverting the nation, and forbidding to "give tribute to Cæfar, faying, that he himself is a king," or rather, the Mefliah the king.

Our Saviour indeed, now that his time was come (and he in cuftody, and forfaken of all the world, and fo out of all danger of raifing any fedition or difturbance,) owns himfelf to Pilate to be a king; after having firft told Pilate, John xviii. 36. "That his "kingdom was not of this world ;" and for a kingdom in another world, Pilate knew that his mafter at Rome concerned not himself. But had there been any the leaft appearance of truth in the allegations of the Jews, that he had perverted the nation, forbidding to pay tribute to Cæfar, or drawing the people after him as their king, Pilate would not fo readily have pronounced him innocent. But we fee what he faid to his accufers, Luke xxiii. 13, 14, "Pilate, when he had called together the chief priefts and the rulers of "the people, faid unto them, You have brought this man unto me, as one that perverteth the people; and behold, I have examined him before you, have found no fault in this man, touch"ing thofe things whereof you accufe him; no, nor yet Herod, "for I fent you to him; and lo, nothing worthy of death is done

by him." And therefore, finding a man of that mean condition and innocent life (no mover of feditions, or difturber of the public peace) without a friend or a follower, he would have difmiffed him, as a king of no confequence; as an innocent man, falfely and maliciously accufed by the Jews.

How neceffary this caution was in our Saviour, to fay or do nothing that might juftly offend, or render him fufpected to the Roman governor, and how glad the Jews would have been to have any fuch thing against him, we may fee Luke xx. 20. The chief priests and the fcribes "watched him, and fent forth fpies, who should "feign themfelves juft men, that might take hold of his words, "that fo they might deliver him unto the power and authority of "the governor." And the very thing wherein they hoped to entrap him in this place, was paying tribute to Cæfar, which they afterwards falfely accufed him of. And what would they have done, if he had before them profeffed himself to have been the Meffiah, their king and deliverer?

And here we may obferve the wonderful providence of God, who had fo ordered the ftate of the Jews at the time when his fon was to come into the world; that though neither their civil conftitution nor religious worship were diffolved, yet the power of life and death was taken from them; whereby he had an opportunity to publifh the kingdom of the Meffiah; that is, his own royalty, un

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der the name of the "kingdom of God," and of "Heaven;" which the Jews well enough underfood, and would certainly have put him to death for, had the power been in their own hands. But this being no matter of accufation to the Romans, hindered him not from ipeaking of "the kingdom of Heaven," as he did: fometimes in reference to his appearing in the world, and being believed on by particular perfons; iometimes in reference to the power that fhould be given him by the Father at the refurrection; and fometimes in reference to his coming to judge the world at the laft day, in the full glory and completion of his kingdom, Thefe were ways of declaring himfelf, which the Jews could lay no hold on, to bring him in danger with Pontius Pilate, and get him feized and put to death.

Another reafon there was, that hindered him as much as the former from profeffing himself in exprefs words to be the Meffiah, and that was, that the whole nation of the Jews expecting at this time their Meffiah, and deliverance by him from the fubjection they were in to a foreign yoke, the body of the people would certainly, upon his declaring himself to be the Mefliah their king, have rilen up in rebellion, and fet him at the head of them. And, indeed, the miracles that he did fo much difpofed them to think him to be the Meffiah, that though fhrouded under the obfcurity of a mean condition, and a very private fimple life; though he paffed for a Galilean (his birth at Bethlehem being then concealed), and affumed not to himself any power or authority, or fo much as the name of the Meffiah, yet he could hardly avoid being fet up by a tumult, and proclaimed their king. So. John tells us, chap..vi. 14, 15. "Then thofe men, when they had feen the miracles that Jefus "did, faid, This is of a truth that prophet that should come into "the world. When, therefore, Jefus perceived that they would

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come to take him by force to make him king, he departed again "into a mountain himfelf alone." This was upon his feeding of five thousand with five barley loaves and two fishes. So hard was it for him, doing thofe miracles, which were neceffary to testify his million, and which often drew great multitudes after him, Matt. iv. 25. to keep the heady and hafty multitude from fuch diforder as would have involved him in it, and have disturbed the course, and cut fhort the time of his miniftry, and drawn on him the reputation and death of a turbulent feditious malefactor; contrary to the defign of his coming, which was to be offered up a lamb blameless, and void of offence; his innocence appearing to all the world, even to him that delivered him up to be crucified. This it would have been impoffible to have avoided, if, in his preaching every where, he had openly affumed to himself the title of their Meffiah; which was all was wanting to fet the people in a flame; who, drawn by his miracles, and the hopes of finding a deliverer in fo extraordinary a man, followed him in great numbers. We read every where of multitudes; and in Luke xii. 1. of myriads that were gathered about him. This conflux of people, thus difpofed, would

not have failed, upon his declaring himself to be the Meffiah, to have made a commotion, and with force fet him up for their king. It is plain therefore from these two reafons, why (though he came to preach the gospel, and convert the world to a belief of his being the Meffiah, and though he fays fo much of his kingdom, under the title of the kingdom of God, and the kingdom of Heaven) he yet makes it not his business to perfuade them that he himself is the Meffiah, nor does in his public preaching declare himself to be him. He inculcates to the people, on all occafions, that the kingdom of God is come. He fhews the way of admittance into this kingdom, viz. repentance and baptifin; and teaches the laws of it, viz. good life, according to the stricteft rules of virtue and morality. But who the king was of this kingdom, he leaves to his miracles to point out to those who would confider what he did, and make the right ufe of it now; or to witness to those who should hearken to the Apoftles hereafter, when they preached it in plain words, and called upon them to believe it, after his refurrection; when there fhould be no longer room to fear that it should cause any disturbance in civil focieties and the governments of the world. But he could not declare himself to be the Meffiah, without manifeft danger of tumult and fedition: and the miracles he did declared it fo much, that he was fain often to hide himself, and withdraw from the concourfe of the people. The leper that he cured, Mark i. though forbid to say any thing, yet "blazed it fo abroad, that Jefus could no more openly enter into the city, but was without in defart places," being in retirement, as appears from Luke v. 16. and there they came to him from every quarter." And thus he did more than once.

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This being premifed, let us take a view of the promulgation of the gospel by our Saviour himself, and fee what it was he taught the world, and required men to believe.

The first beginning of his miniftry, whereby he fhewed himself, fcems to be at Cana in Galilee, foon after his baptifm; where he turned water into wine: of which St. John, chap. ii. 11. fays thus, "This beginning of miracles Jetus made, and manifefted his glory, "and his difciples believed in him." His difciples here believed in him, but we hear not of any other preaching to them, but by this miracle, whereby he "manifefted his glory;" i. e. of being the Meffiah the prince. So Nathanael, without any other preaching, but only our Saviour's discovering to him that he knew him after an extraordinary manner, prefently acknowledgs him to be the Meffiah; crying, "Rabbi, Thou art the fon of God, Thou art "the king of Ifrael.”

From hence, ftaying a few days at Capernaum, he goes to Jerufalem to the paflover, and there he drives the traders out of the temple, John ii. 12-15. faying, "Make not my father's house a "houfe of merchandize." Where we fee, he ufes a phrafe, which, by interpretation fignifies that he was the Son of God," though at that time unregarded. Ver. 16. Hereupon the Jews demand, "What

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