as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat; the earth, also, and the works that are therein, shall be burned up.'
Then SHALL THE RIGHTEOUS SHINE FORTH AS THE SUN IN THE KINGDOM OF THEIR FATHER." 22
It is with the purpose of preparing your inquiring minds for this sublime and awful consummation, that I have addressed you in these Lectures; which, undertaken with great apprehension and self-distrust, I would desire to lay, as an offering, on the altar of the Christian faith, humbly beseeching the God of all mercy to pardon the defects of the writer, and to bless and prosper what there is of truth in his statements and representations; and imploring that both author and readers may "find mercy of the Lord in
And now, after the example of my most revered predecessors in this argument, I would desire to conclude this my attempt, not in words merely, but from the sentiment of my heart, with that ascription of praise which the illuminating Spirit has himself left for our
Τῷ δὲ δυναμένῳ φυλάξαι αὐτοὺς ἀπταιστους, καὶ στῆσαι κατενώπιον τῆς δόξης αὐτοῦ αμώμους ἐν αγαλλιάσει,
σωτῆρι ἡμῶν, δόξα καὶ μεγαλωσύνη, κράτος καὶ ἐξουσία καὶ νῦν καὶ εἰς πάντας τοὺς αἰῶνας.
Adaptation of Christianity to man. See Suitableness.
Address to the docile and sincere student, i. 176. Rulers and governors, ii. 422. Ministers of Christ's church, 615. The humble and teachable, 429.
Advantages, which each individual has respectively enjoyed in a Christian land, unspeakably augment the obligation to receive Christianity, ii. 381.
Alaric, soldiers under, a wonderful example of the power of Christianity over the fierce passions of man, i. 297. Apocryphal books of Old Testament, i. note, 144.
Apocryphul books of New Testament are destitute of the external proofs of authenticity which belong to the Canonical books, i. 103. Apostles, the, of our Lord, were twelve separate witnesses to the gospel facts, i. 136; had a full knowledge of the things they attested, 136; were competent judges of the facts to which they bore testimony, 137; were of transparent in- tegrity of character, 138; men of sound minds, and by no means credulous, 139; relate events at the spot where they occurred, and before the multitudes who witnessed them, 139; their subsequent lives were distinguished by unpa- ralleled benevolence and holiness, 140; and they had nothing to expect for their testimony but temporal calamities and death, 140. Gifts bestowed upon them by our Lord, 327. Apparent contradictions in man, accounted for by the Christian Revelation, ii. 17.
Authenticity of writings defined, note 1, 70; discovered by their contents, 80.
Authenticity of the Old Testament, connected with that of the New, i. 66. 142.
Authenticity of the books of the New Testament stands on the authority of apostle Paul, i. 68; illustrated by that of the Book of Common Prayer, 70; Doomsday Book, 71; Insti- tutes of Justinian, 71; Ancient Classics, 72; Manifest from their contents, 82; and, by analogy, from the conduct of men respecting legal deeds, 83. The proofs of, which we possess, are irradiations of the divine glory, 85; and demand our sincere confidence, 86. They consist of the testimony of witnesses, in succession, from the present day up to the time of the apostles, 89; a specimen of their testimony, 94; of the progressive settlement of the sacred canon, 91; the admissions of Heathen and Jewish adversaries, 98; the number and antiquity of our manuscripts, 101; the style and manner of the books, 104; unexpected confirmations, 108.
Babylon, destruction of, i. 240.
Bacon's, Lord, remark on first flowings of Scripture, i. 363; on the office of reason, ii. 312; on interpretation of Scrip- tures, note, 355.
Beneficial effects of Christianity. See Effects of Christianity. Benevolence and compassion of Jesus Christ, ii. 101.
Benevolence, the cement of national virtue, ii. 424.
Boyle, the Honourable Robert, the character and conduct of, ii. 264.
Canaanites, the history of, shows the fulfilment of prophecy concerning them, i. 243.
Candid and sincere mind, all is light in Christianity to the, i. 377.
Canon of Scripture, the progressive settlement of, i. 91.
Cecil's Remains cited, i. 149.
Celsus, the Heathen philosopher, admits the genuineness of the New Testament, i. 98.
CHRIST must be received into the heart, as well as the mi- racles he wrought be believed, i. 178. The character and conduct of our LORD JESUS, ii. 86; his claims, 87; his conduct as MEDIATOR, 90; the SON OF GOD, and the SAVI- OUR of the world, 90; a teacher and revealer of the will of GOD, as to his manner, dignified and forcible, 92; yet mild and attractive, 93; as to his matter, grand, and yet intelli- gible, 94; earnest, and yet wise, 94; in a state of humilia- tion, 96; promising to his disciples a heavenly reward, 98.
As a PRIVATE INDIVIDUAL, an example of human virtue, 100; piety and devotion to his heavenly Father, 100; benevolence and compassion towards man, 101; meekness and lowliness of spirit, 103; superiority to the world, 103; strict tem- perance, and command of the inferior appetites, 104; forti- tude and constancy, 104; prudence and discretion, 105; all these unalloyed with the kindred failings, 106; opposite graces in equal proportion, 106; carried to the utmost height, and continued in one even tenor, 107; with a pecu- liar harmony, 108. AS THE FOUNDER of the Christian reli- gion, 108; his suitableness to the necessities of man, 108 the surprising novelty and sublimity of his deportment, 110; the different parts of his character correspond with his un- dertaking, 111; the impression and effect of his whole public character, 113; the manner in which it is given by the evangelists, 113. The argument in favour of Christi- anity, springs from a fair presumption upon the first state- ment of the case, 116; rises higher when contrasted with every other pretension, 116; becomes a moral demonstra- tion, 119; and bears away the heart of every serious in- quirer, 121.
Christian, the true, feels the necessity of Revelation, i. 63. Christians should take care that the good effects of Christianity be the result of religious principles in themselves, i. 309; must not stop short in its temporal benefits, 309; and will find its advantages in proportion to the development of its strength and energy, 311. Young Christians should con- tinue in the things they have been assured of, 342.
Christian nations, the state of, shows that Revelation was neces- sary, i. 57; viewed in the sixteenth century, 57; at any period, 57; at the present day, 57. The advantages they possess, 63,
Christian Revelation speaks a decisive language, ii. 9; unfolds all the mysteries of man's condition, 13; accounts for the apparent contradictions of his state, 17; and addresses him on this footing, 17. Provides also a remedy for all his wants, 17; and is calculated for universal diffusion, 23. Christianity courts inquiry, i. 1; is not a speculation, 20; re- quires her students to be of a meek and docile disposition, 23. The only religion set up and established by miracles, 174. Effects of, 289. Admission of the inspiration of the Scripture essential to the right reception of Christia- nity, 358. Connives at no one vice, ii. 27. The sum of, Jesus Christ, 122; supposed to be universal, 153. What it is, and what it is not, 155. Directions for making a
personal trial of it, 192. Is so excellent in itself that the slightest external evidence is sufficient to oblige men to obey it, ii. 369.
Clement, Bishop of Rome, A. D. 91 to 110, testimony of, to the authenticity of books of New Testament, i. 94; to the in- spiration, 340.
Coins, ancient, see Medals,
Common sense, it is an act of, to follow the proofs of Christi- anity, i. 372. Common sense and the ordinary laws of human language assist us to the right method of interpre- tation, ii. 337.
Compass, the Bible is the Christian's, i. 149.
Confirmations to the authenticity of the New Testament unex- pected, i. 108. A remarkable fragment discovered in 1740, 110.
Consolatory, the Christian doctrines are, ii. 50.
Constantine's, the Emperor, attachment to sacred Scriptures, i. 97.
Contradictions of Infidelity and Paganism, ii. 46.
Converts. Men of the finest talents convinced by the Chris- tian history, i. 132. The moral and religious change wrought in the Christian, 274. Included persons of all ranks, 275. Conviction of the truth of Christianity is strengthened the more practically its propagation is considered, i. 287. Credibility of the Old Testament, i. 142.
Credibility of the New Testament defined, i. 119; illustrated, 120; established by the authenticity of the books, 121; by the extraordinary prominence and small number of the prin- cipal facts, 122; by the positive and various testimonies adduced, 123; by the testimony of the governors of Roman provinces, 125; Heathen writers, 125; Jewish historians, 127; by the conviction produced in the minds of men of the finest talents, who, examining the pretensions of Christi- anity, met its claims at first with prejudice and hatred, 132; by silence of Mahomet, 132; by existing rites and usages, which sprang out of the facts of Christianity, 132; by an- cient and authentic monuments, coins, and medals, 133; by the character and circumstances of the sacred writers them- selves, 135; fifteen witnesses, 136; possessing a full know- ledge of the things they attested, 136; and of which they were competent judges, 137; being persons of the strictest integrity, 138; of sound minds, and by no means credulous, 139; relating events at the spot where they occurred, and before the multitudes who witnessed them, 139; their sub-
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