Admitting the facts which they testified concerning Christ to be true, then it was reasonable for their cotemporaries, and is reasonable for us, to receive the Gospel, which they have transmitted to us as a divine revelation.

The great things they asserted were, that Jesus was the Christ; and that he was proved to be so, by prophecies accomplished in him, and by miracles wrought by him, and by others in his name. Let us attend to each of these, and we shall find them no contemptible arguments; but must be forced to acknowledge, that these premises being established, the conclusion most easily and necessarily follows. And this conclusion, "that Jesus is the Christ," taken in all its extent, is an abstract of the Gospel revelation; and therefore is sometimes put for the whole of it.

The apostles, especially when disputing with the Jews, frequently argued from the prophecies of the Old Testament, in which they say many things were expressly foretold, which were most literally and exactly fulfilled in Jesus of Nazareth. Now, greatly to the evidence, confirmation, and advantage of Christianity, so it is, that these prophecies are to this day extant in the original language: and this in the hands of a people most implacably averse to the Gospel. So that an attentive reader may still, in a great measure, satisfy himself as to the validity of the arguments drawn from them.

On searching these ancient and important records, we find not only in general, that it appeared the wisdom of God to raise up for his people an illustrious deliverer, who, among other glorious titles, is sometimes called the Messiah, or the Anointed One but we are more particularly told, that this great event should happen before the government ceased in the tribe of Judah, while the second temple was standing; and a little before its destruction, about four hundred and ninety years after a command was given to rebuild Jerusalem; which was probably issued out in the seventh year of Artaxerxes Longimanus, or at least within a few years before or after it. It is predicted that he should be of the seed of Abraham, born of a virgin, of the house of David, in the town of Bethlehem; that he should be anointed with an extraordinary effusion of the Divine Spirit; in virtue of which he should not only be a perfect and illustrious example of universal holiness and goodness, but should also perform many extraordinary and beneficial miracles. Nevertheless, that for want of external pomp and splendor, he should be rejected and insulted by the Jews, and afterwards be cut off and slain by them. It is added, that he should rise from the dead before his body should be corrupted in the grave; and should be received up to heaven, and there seated at the right hand of God: from whence he should, in a won

derful manner, pour out his spirit on his followers; in consequence of which, though the body of the Jewish people perished in their obstinate opposition to him, yet the Gentiles should be brought to the knowledge of the true God, and a kingdom established amongst them, which from small beginnings should spread itself to the end of the earth, and continue to the remotest ages.

Besides these most material circumstances, there were several others relating to him, which were either expressly foretold, or at least hinted at; all which, with those already mentioned, had so evident an accomplishment in Jesus, that we have no reason to wonder that they should receive the word with all readiness who searched the Scriptures daily, whether these things were so predicted there, as the apostles affirmed. For we are persuaded that no wise and religious person could imagine, that God would permit an impostor to arise, in whom so great a variety of predictions, delivered by so many different persons, and in so many distant ages, should have an exact accomplishment.

When the apostles were preaching to heathens, it is indeed true, that they might wave the argument from prophecy, because they were not capable judges of it. But when they insist on another, which might as soon captivate their belief, and as justly vindicate it; we mean, "the miracles performed by Christ, and those commissioned and influenced by him ;" many of these were of such a nature as not to admit of any artifice or deceit : especially that most signal one of his resurrection from the dead, which may be called a miracle performed by, as well as upon, Christ; because he so expressly declares, that he had himself a power to resume his life at pleasure. The apostles well knew that this was a fact of such a nature that those who

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believed this, would never doubt of the rest. They often therefore single this out, and lay the whole stress of their cause upon it. This they proved to be true by their own testimony miraculously confirmed and in proving this, they established Christianity on an impregnable rock. For we may safely refer it to any judge, whether it is an imaginable thing that God should raise the dead body of an impostor, especially, when he had solemnly appealed to such a resurrection, as a grand proof of his mission, and had expressly fixed the very day on which it was to happen.

From these undeniable observations it is evident, that those who, on the apostles' testimony, believed that the prophecies of the Old Testament were accomplished in Jesus, and that God bore witness to him by miracles, and raised him from the dead, had abundant reason to believe, that the doctrine which Christ taught was divine, and his Gospel a revelation from heaven.

And if they had reason to admit this conclusion, then it is plain that we, who have such satisfactory evidence, on the one hand, that the testimony of the apostles was credible, and on the other, that this was the substance of it, have reason also to admit this grand inference from it, and embrace the Gospel as a faithful saying, and well worthy of acceptation. This is the thing we have attempted to prove; and here we should finish the argument, were it not for the confirmation it may receive from some additional considerations, which could not properly be introduced under any of the preceding heads.

We therefore add, in the last place, That the truth of the Gospel has received farther and very considerable confirmation from what has happened in the world since it was first published.

And here we must desire the reader to consider, on the one hand, what has been done to establish it, and, on the other, the methods which its enemies have been taking to destroy it.

1. Consider, what God has been doing to confirm the Gospel, since its first publication. And we will venture to assert, that it will prove a farther evidence of its divine original.

We might here argue at large from its surprising propagation in the world;-from the miraculous powers with which not only the apostles, but succeeding preachers of the Gospel, and other converts, were endowed;-from the accomplishment of the prophecies recorded in the Old Testament ;-and from the preservation of the Jews, as a distinct people, notwithstanding the various difficulties and persecutions through which they have passed.

It might be particularly urged, in confirmation of the truth of Christianity, the wonderful success with which it has been attended, and the surprising propagation of the Gospel in the world.

We have endeavored, under a former head, to shew, that the Gospel met with so favorable a reception in the world, as evidently proved, that its first publishers were capable of producing sufficient evidence of its truth; evidence absolutely incompatible with imposture. But we shall now carry this remark farther, and assert, that considering the circumstances of the case, it is amazing, that even truth itself, under so many disadvantages, should have so illustrious a triumph; and that its wonderful success so evidently proves such an extraordinary interposition Almighty in its favor, as may justly be called a miraculo tation of it.

There was not only "one of a family, and brought to Zion; but the Lord pointed time, that a little one becam one a strong nation." And as

honored with very remarkable success, so this divine seed was propagated so fast in the next age, that Pliny testifies "He found the heathen temples in Achaia almost deserted:" and Tertullian afterwards boasts, "That all places, except those temples, were filled with Christians; so that were they only to withdraw, cities and provinces would be depopulated." Nor did the Gospel only triumph thus within the boundaries of the Roman empire; for long before Tertullian was born, Justin Martyr, in his dialogue with Trypho the Jew, which seems to have been written not much above an hundred years after Christ's death, declares, "That there was no nation of men, whether Greeks or Barbarians, not excepting those savages that wandered in clans from one region to another, and had no fixed habitation, who had not learned to offer prayers and thanksgivings to the Father and Maker of all, in the name of Jesus, who was crucified."

Now how is it possible to account for such circumstances as these, but by saying the hand of the Lord was with the first preachers of the Gospel, and therefore such multitudes believed, and turned to the Lord? How was it possible for so small a fountain to have swelled immediately into a mighty river, and even have so extensively spread itself on the face of the earth, if it had not sprung from the sanctuary of God, and been rendered triumphant by his Almighty arm?

Had this new religion, so directly contrary to all the prejudices of education, been formed to soothe men's vices, to countenance their errors, to defend their superstitions, or to promote their secular interests, we might easily have accounted for its prevalence in the world. Had its preachers been profound philosophers, or polite and fashionable orators, many might have been charmed, at least for a while, to follow them: or had the princes and potentates of the earth declared themselves its patrons, and armed their legions for its defence and propagation, multitudes might have been terrified into the profession, though not a soul could by such means have been rationally persuaded to the use of it. But without some such advantages as these, we can hardly conceive, how any new religion should so strangely prevail; even though it had crept into the world in its darkest ages, and the most barbarous countries; and though it had been gradually proposed in the most artful manner, with the finest veil industriously drawn over every part which might at first have given disgust to the beholder.

But every one knows that the very reverse of all this was the cause of Christianity. It is abundantly evident, from the apparent constitution of the religion of Jesus, that the lusts and errors, the superstitions and interests of carnal men, would immediately rise up against it as a most irreconcileable enemy.

It is known that the learning and wit of the Greeks and Romans were early employed to ridicule and obstruct its progress. It is known, that as all the herd of heathen deities were to be discarded, the priests, who subsisted by the superstitious worship paid them, must in interest find themselves obliged to oppose it. It is known, that the princes of the earth drew the sword against it, and armed torments and death for the destruction of its followers. And yet it triumphed over all, though published in ages and places celebrated for learning and elegance; and proposed, not in an ornamental and artificial manner, but with the utmost plainness; the doctrines of the cross being always advanced as its grand foundation, though so notorious a stumbling-block both to the Jews and Gentiles; and the absolute necessity, not only of embracing Christianity, but also of renouncing all idol worship, being insisted on immediately and in the strongest terms, and which must have made the religion of the Gospel appear to them the most singular that had ever been taught in the world.

Had one of the wits or politicians of the present age, seen the apostles, and a few other plain men, who had been educated among the lowest of the people, as most of the first teachers of Christianity were, going out armed with nothing but faith, truth, and goodness, to encounter the power of princes, the bigotry of priests, the learning of philosophers, the rage of the populace, and the prejudices of all; how would he have derided the attempt, and said with Sanballat, "What will these feeble Jews do?" But had he seen the event, surely he must have owned with the Egyptian Magi, in a far less illustrious miracle, that it was the finger of God; and might justly have fallen on his face, even among those whom he had insulted, with an humble acknowledgement "that God was with them of a truth."

We must not forget to mention the accomplishment of several prophecies, recorded in the New Testament, as a further confirmation given by God to the Gospel.

The most eminent and signal instance under this head, is that of our Lord's prediction concerning the destruction of Jerusalem, as recorded by St. Matthew, in his twenty-fourth chapter. The tragical history of it is most circumstantially described by Josephus, the historian, who was an eye witness of it; and the description which he has given of this sad calamity so exactly corresponds with the prophecy, that one would have thought, had we not known the contrary, that it had been written by a Christian, on purpose to illustrate it. And one can never enough admire that series of amazing providences, by which the author was preserved from most iminent danger,