making himfelf equal with God. 19. Then anfwer and faid unto them, Verily verily I fay unto you, on can do nothing of himself, but what he feeth the do: for what things foever he doth, these alfo doth likewife. 20. For the Father loveth the Son, and him all things that himself doth: and he will fhew eater Works than thefe, that ye may marvel. 21. the Father raiseth up the dead, and quickneth them: the Son quickneth whom he will. 22. For the Falgeth no man; but hath committed all judgment e Son. 23. That all men fhould honour the Son, ehey honour the Father. He that " honoureth not

honoureth not the Father which hath fent him. ily verily I fay unto you, He that heareth my word, eveth on him that fent me, hath everlasting life, and : come into condemnation; but is P paffed from death Bb 2

t

7. 14, 15. He faid,roung ay unto thee, Arife. And was dead fat up- Luk. 55 He called, faying, Arife. And her Spirit came, 25 and the arofe ftraightway.

25, 43, 44. Jefus faid unto am the Refurrection and the He that believeth on me, 1 he were dead, yet fhall he -He cried with a loud Voice," s, come forth. And he that lead cameforth

30

unto int Ver. 27. See on Mat. II. 27. and Mat. 28.18.

nt 1 Joh. 2. 23. Whosoever denieth the Son, the fame hath not the Father.

ot Joh. 3. 18. He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, becaufe he hath not believ ed in the Name of the only begotten Son of God. † Joh. 6.4°, 47 • This is che Will of him that fent me, that every one which feeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlafting Life. Verily verily I fay unto you, He that believ eth on me hath everlasting Life. † Joh. 8. 51. Verily verily I fay unto you, If a Man keep my Saying he fall never fee Death.

P. 1 Joh. 3. 14. We know that we have passed from Death unto Life, because we love the Brethren. Rom. 8. 24. We are faved by Hope: but hope that is feen, is not hope; for what a Man feeth, why doth he yet hope for. Eph 2. 6. Hath raised 'us up together, and made us fit together in heavenly Places in Chrift Jefus. 1 Joh. 3. 2. Beloved, now are we the Sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that

unto life. 25. Verily verily I fay unto you, The hour is coming, and now is, when the a dead fhall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear fhall live. 26. For as the Father hath life in himself; fo hath he given to the Son to have life in himself; 27. And hath given him Authority to execute Judgment alfo, because he is the Son of man. 28. Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the e

that when he fhall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall fee him as he is. 1 Joh. 5. 11. This is the Record that God hath given to us Eternal Life: and this Life is in his

Son.

5

ΙΟ

d

с

graves fhall hear his

voice, -For ye are dead, and your Life is hid with Chrift in God. Mat. 8. 22. Follow me, and let the Dead bury their Dead. Luk. 9 60. Let the Dead bury their Dead, but go thou and preach the Kingdom of God. Luk. 15.32. —This thy Brother was dead, and is alive again; and was loft,and is found.See the Note on Luk. 9. 60.

b Joh. 1. 4. In him was Life, and the Life was the Light of Men. с ct Ver. 22. + A&t. 10. 42. He commanded us to preach unto the People, and to teftifie that it is 15 he which was ordained of God to be the Judge of quick and dead. † Acts 17. 31. Because he hath ap. pointed a Day wherein he will judge the World in Righteousness, by that Man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given affu rance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the Dead.

2

at Eph 2. 1, 5, 6. You hath he quickened who were dead in TrefpafJes and Sins. Even when we were dead in Sins, hath quickned us toge ther with Chrift. And hath raised us up together, and made us fit together in heavenly Places in Chrift Jefus. Eph. 5. 14. Awake thou that feepeft, and arife from the Dead, and Chrift fhall give thee Light. I Tim. 5. 6. She that liveth in Pleafure is dead while fhe liveth. Rev. 3. 1. I know thy Works, that thou haft a Name that thou liveft,, and art dead. Rcm 6.4, 5. We are buried with him by Baptifm into Death, that like as Chrift was raifed from the Dead by the Glory of the Father, even fo we alfo fhould walk in Newness of Life. 25 For if we have been planted together in the Likeness of his Death, we fhall be alfo in the Likeness of his Refurrection. Gal. 2. 20. I am crucified with Chrift: neverthelefs 3 I live; yet not. I, but Chrift liveth in me: and the Life which I now live in the Flefh, I live by the Faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himfelf for me. Col. 2. 13. And you being dead in your Sins, and the Uncircumcifion of your Flefh, hath he quickned together with him, having forgiven Col. 3,3. you all Trefpaffes. If ye then be rifen with Chrift, feek thofe things which are above.

35

40

† See Dan. 7. 13, 14. I faw in the Night Vifions, and behold, one like the Son of Man came with the Clouds of Heaven, and came to the ancient of Days, and they brought him near before him. And there was given him Dominion, and Glory, and a Kingdom, that all People, Nations, and Languages fhould ferve him: his Dominion is an everlafting Dominion, which fhall not pafs away, and his Kingdom that which fhall not be deftroyed.

Rev. 20. 13. The Sea gave up the Dead which were in it; and

Death and Hell delivered the up Dead which were in them.

voice, 29. And fhall come forth, they that have done good, unto the refurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the refurrection of damnation. 30. I can of mine own felf do nothing: as I hear I judge: and my judgment is juft; because I feek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath fent me. 31. If I bear

(1) witness of my felf, my witness is not true. 32. There is k another that beareth witness of me, and I know that the witnefs which he witneffeth of me, is true. 33. Ye fent unto John, and he bare witness unto the truth. 34. But I(2) receive not teftimony from man: but these things I

5

ft Dan. 12. 2. Many of them that fleep in the Duft of the Earth fhall awake, fome to everlasting Life, and fome to Shame and everlasting Contempt. Mat. 25. 32, 33, 46. Before him fhall be gathered all Nations; and he thall Separate them one from another, as a Shepherd divideth his Sheep from the Goats: And he fhall fet the 10 Sheep on his right Hand, but the Gcats on the left. And these shall go away into everlasting Punishment: but the Righteous into Life eternal. Thef. 4. 16. The Lord 15 bimfelf fhall defcend from Heaven with a Shout, with the Voice of the Archangel, and with the Trump of God: and the Dead in

i

1ay,

*Joh. 8. 14. Though I bear Record of my felf, yet my Record is true; for I know whence I came, and whither I go; but ye cannot tell whence I come, and whither I go.

k* See on Mat. 3. 17.

1 † Joh. 1. 15, 19, 27. John bare Witness of him, and cried, faying, This was he of whom I fpake, He that cometh after me is preferred before me; for he was before me. This is the Record of John. He it is who coming after me, is preferred before me, whofe Shoes latchet I am not worthy to unloofe.

(1) The Law required two or three Witneffes to teftifie the Truth of any Fact; and if there were not two at leaft, tho' what a Man depofed might be true in Fact, yet it was not allowed to be true in Law. By this Diftin&tion therefore Interpreters reconcile what our Lord here fays, with what we read Joh. 8. 14. But a more likely Senfe of these Words feems to be this; If I bear witness of my felf, affirming my self to be a Prophet, and fent by God, without doing thofe Works which are fufficient to juftifie fuch Pretenfion, my witness would not be true, and you would have Reafon to think me a bold and confident Pretender, and a falfe Prophet; becaufe God never fends Prophets to Men without giving them fufficient Credentials, to induce Men to believe that they came from him. And this is my Cafe; for the Works which I do in my Fathers Name, they bear witness of me that I came forth from him. If therefore I do not the Works of my Father, believe me not; but if I do, though ve believe not me, believe the Works, Joh. 10. 25, 37, 38.

(2) Our Lord does not here fay, that fuch Men as John Baptist and his Apofles might not be Witneffes to Men of his being the Mefliah, (for they were chofen Wineffes, and abundantly qualified to give Teftimony

of

с

fay, that ye might be faved. 35. He was a burning and a fhining light and ye were willing for a feason to rejoice in his light. 36. But I have greater witness than that of John: for the works which the Father hath given me to fi nish, the fame Works that I do, bear witness of me, that the Father hath fent me. 37. And the Father himself which hath fent me, hath born witness of me. Ye have neither (1) heard his voice at any time, nor feen his fhape. 38. And ye have not his word abiding in you: for whom he hath fent, him ye believe not. 39. Search the Scriptures, for in them ye think ye have eternal life, and they are they which teftifie of me. 40. And (2) ye i k will not come

a Ecclefiaftic. 48. 1. Then ftood up Elias the Prophet as Fire, and his Word burnt like a Lamp.

bf2 Pet. 1. 19. We have alfo a more fure Word of Prophecy, 5 whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a Light that shineth in a dark Place, until the Day dawn, and the Day Star arife in yourHearts.

See on Mat. 13.20.

dt Joh. 5. 9. If we receive the Witnefs of Men, the Witnefs of God is greater: for this is the Witness of God, which he hath teftified of his Son.

Joh. 10. 25. -The Works that I do in my Father's Name, they

bear witnefs of me.

10

h

to

bear witnefs of my felf, and the Father that fent me beareth witness of me. Joh.9.32,33 Since the World began was it not heard that any Man opened the Eyes of the Blind. If this Man were not of God, he could do no thing. Joh.12.28.Father,glorifie thy Name. Then came there a Voice from Heaven, faying, I have both glorified it, and will glorifie it again. 'g'* Deut. Tim. 1. 12. 4. 17. t1 Joh. 4. 12. See on Joh.1.18. t Ifa. 8. 20. † Ifa. 34. 16. † A&ts 17. 11. See on Luk. 16.29. + Deut. 18. 15. See on Luk. 24. 27. and on Joh. 1. 45.

h

k Joh. 1. 11. He came unto his own, and his own received him not.

* Mat. 17. 5. See on Mat. 3. 20joh 3. 19. This is the Condemnati 17. Joh. 8. 18. I am one that

on,

of him to the World). But he did not appeal to his Teftimony on his own Account, or for his own fake, but for theirs, that they believing the Teftimony of fuch a competent and fufficient Witnefs, might be faved.

(1) If we confider thefe Words, as fpoken to the Perfons then prefent, they have no difficulty in them; for they might never hear any Voice from Heaven, as fome others did, Mat. 3. 17. Joh. 12. 28. And if we confider them with reference to the whole Nation of the Jews, though a Voice from Heaven had been heard by fome of them, it does not follow that it was the true natural Voice of God, who has not any Organs of Speech. But a Voice being framed in the Air, it might be fuppofed to be the Voice of God, tho' God probably made ufe of fome Angel in the Formation of that found. Some think that the Voice the Baptift heard, and the Voice which Mofes and the People heard when the Law was giv en, was Angelical, the Apoftl, Gal. 3. 19 faying, that the Law was or dained by Angels in the hand of a Mediator.

(2) At the 44th Verfe of the 6th Chapter our Lord fays, No Man can come to me except the Father draw him; and here he complains that they would not come tobixs that they might have Life; which Places explain each

other.

1

to me, that ye might have life. ye might have life. 41. I receive not m honour from men. 42. But I know you, that ye have not the love of God in you. 43. I am come "in my Fathers name, and ye receive me not: if another fhall come in his own name, him ye will receive. 44. How can ye believe,

Bb 4

on, that Light is come into the World, and Men loved Darkness rather than Light, because their Deeds were Evil.

1 Thef. 2. 6. Nor of Men 5 fought we Glory, neither of you, nor yet of others.

m Ver. 34. Joh. 6. 15.

" Heb. 5. 4, 5. No Man taketh this Honour to himself, but he that 10 is called of God, as was Aaron. So alfo Chrift glorified not himself to be made an High Prieft; but he that faid unto him, Thou art my

which

other. May we not therefore conclude, that God draws many to come to Chrift, that he invites them to accept of the Salvation offered by him, and that the Reason why fo few come and are faved is, because they will not close with the Invitation, but refufe to come when they are drawn by the Father. Almighty God defires the Salvation and Happiness of all Men, and offers them Grace and Strength fufficient for that end; but if when they are drawn by the Motions of his Spirit, they refuse to come, he will not, generally fpeaking, ufe Force and Violence to them, but leave them to eat of the Fruit of their own Ways, and to be filled with their own Devices. For it is clear from the Old and New-Teftament, that God endeavours the Salvation of many, who are not faved. What elfe can be the Meaning of that folemn Appeal, Ifa. 5.4. What could have been done more to my Vineyard, that I have not done in it? Wherefore when I looked that it should bring forth Grapes, brought it forth wild Grapes? Can any Senfe more natural than this be put upon that Lamentation of our Redeemer's, Mat. 23. 37. O Jerufalem, Jerufalem, thou that killeft the Prophets, and ftoneft them which are fent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy Children together as a Hen gathereth her Chickens under her Wings, and ye would not!

Nor do I fee how it can be made to appear, that by the Drawing of the Father, our Lord means fuch a Drawing as Men could not refift; for if this were the Cafe, of what Ufe would the Precepts, Promifes, Threatnings, and Exhortations in the New-Teftament be? For those who were irre fiftably drawn would come, and could not help it; and it would be to no purpose to promife and threaten thofe who were not irrefiftably drawn, befaufe for want of fuch a Force they could not come. As therefore in the Prophecy of Ezekiel, God is faid to have purged Ifrael; (that is, he had afforded them Means, and done his part towards their being purged,) yet Ifrael was not purged; fo it may be faid now, that the Father draws many, who will not come to Chrift, that they may be faved by him.