another even thirty thoufand. With a pretence of divine infpiration, they taught the people, as Jofephus expreffeth it, a to grow enthusiastically mad, as if they were poffeffed and actuated by fome spirit or demon; and indeed no plague or epidemical diftemper is more catching and contagious than enthufiafm. It paffeth from man to man like wild fire. The imagi nation is foon heated, and there is rarely judgment enough to cool it again. The very elect, even good Christians themfelves, if they attend to enthufiafts, will be in danger of taking the infection, and be continually liable to be, Eph. iv. 14. 'toffed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine,' if they have not (as all have not, a fufficient ballaft of difcretion to keep them fteady. In reality enthufiafts know as little of the revelation given us by Chrift, as of the reafon given us by God. They are blind leaders of the blind. 'Wherefore

if they fhall fay unto you, Behold, he is in the defert,' behold his power is experienced in field-preaching, go not forth; behold, he is in the fecret chambers,' behold his prefence is confpicuous in the tabernacles or conventicles, believe it not,' He is beft fought in his word, and in his works; and he will certainly be found by thofe, and those alone, who love him, not with fanaticism and enthusiasm but in truth and fobernefs, fo as to keep his commandments, which is the only infallible proof and legitimate iffue of love. For as our Saviour himself faith, 'John xiv. 23, 'If a man love me he will keep my words; and my father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.'

6. Once more it is to be obferved, that we must not credit every one, who cometh to us with a pretence of working miracles. For the falfe Chrifts and false prophets pretended to fhow great figns and wonders; and yet notwithstanding all their miraculous pretenfions, our bleffed Lord cautions his difciples not to believe or follow them. But then the queftion will be naturrally asked, If we must not believe thofe who work miracles, whom muft Lib. 2. Cap. 13. Sect. 5. eg Toropugies per adgazer των ηπατημένων, ufque ad triginta hominum millia, quos præftigiis deceperat, congregavit. p. 1075. 6.

f

προσχηματι θειασμα,δαιμόνων το πλήθος ανεπείθον. fpecie divini af flatus,-vulgo ut infanirent perfuadebant. Ibid. Sect. 4. p. 1075,

must we believe? how fhall we know whether a person doth or doth not act by commiffion from heaven? how shall we diftinguifh whether the doctrine is of God or of men? Indeed if miracles were not poffible to be wrought at all, as fome have pretended; or could be wrought only by God, or those who are commiffioned by him, as others have argued ; the reply would be obvious and easy: but that miracles are poffible to be wrought is a truth agreeable to reason, and that they may be wrought by evil fpirits is a fuppofition agreeable to fcripture; and therefore the best answer is, that reafon must judge in this cafe as in every other, and determine of the miracles by the doctrines which they are alledged to confirm. If a doctrine is evil, no miracles can be wrought by a divine power in its behalf; for God can never fet his hand and feal to a lie. If a doctrine is good, then we may be certain, that the miracles vouched for it were not wrought by the power of evil fpirits; for at that rate, according to our Saviour's argument, Luke xi. 18. Satan would be divided against himself, and his kingdom could not ftand. Good fpirits can never confirm and establish what is evil, neither can evil fpirits be fupposed to promote what is good. Suppofing that the miracles pretended in favour of Paganism were all real miracles, yet as they lead men to a corrupt religion and idolatrous worship, no reverence, no regard is to be paid to them according to the command of Mofes, Deut. xiii. i, &c..

If there arife among you a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, and giveth thee a fign or a wonder, And the fign or the wonder come to pafs, whereof he spake unto thee, faying, Let us go after other Gods (which thou haft not known) and let us ferve them: Thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that prophet, er that dreamer of dreams: for the Lord your God proveth you to know whether you love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your foul.' In like manner we must not admit any thing contrary to the doctrines of Chrift and his apostles, whatever miracles are boafted to recommend and authorize it. For the doctrines of the Chriftian religion are not only perfectly agreeable to reafon, but moreover God hath confirmed it, amply confirmed it, by miracles, and hath injoined us frictly to adhere to it; and

God

God can never be fuppofed to work miracles to confirm contradictions: and therefore allowing (what we cannot reasonably allow) that the miracles of Apollonius and other impoftors were true and well attefted, yet the foundation of Chrift ftandeth firm, and cannot at all be fhaken by them. Should any man, or number of men, with ever fo grave and confident a pretence to infallibility asfert-that it is our duty implicitly to believe and obey the church: when Christ commands us, Matt. xxiii. 9. to call no man father upon earth, for one is our Father which is in heaven' that the fervice of God is to be performed in an unknown tongue; when St Paul in his first Epistle to the Corinthians hath written a whole chapter, xiv. exprefsly against it-that the facrament of the Lord's fupper is to be administered only in one kind; when Chrift inftituted it, Matt. xxvi. and his apostles or dered it, 1 Cor. xi. to be celebrated in both-that the propitiatory facrifice of Chrift is to be repeated in the mafs; when the divine author of the Epiftle to the Hebrews teacheth us, x. 1o. that the body of Jefus Christ was offered once for all,' and, ver. 14. that 'by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are fanctified' --that men may arrive at fuch heights of virtue as to perform works of merit and fupererogation; when our Saviour orders us, Luke xvii. 10 after we have done all thofe things which are commanded us, to fay, we are unprofitable fervants, we have done but that which was our duty to do that attrition and confeffion together with the abfolution of the priest will put a dying finner into a state of grace and falvation; when the fcripture again and again declares, Heb. xii. 14. that without holinefs no man fhall fee the Lord,' and, 1 Cor. vi. 9. the unrighteous fhall not inherit the kingdom of God' --that the fouls of men, even of good men, immediately after death pass into purgatory; when St John is commanded from heaven to write, Rev. xiv. 13. Bleffed are the dead who die in the Lord, that they may reft from their labours, and their works do follow them'-that we muft worship images, and the relics of the faints; when our Saviour teacheth us, Matt. iv. 10. that we must worship the Lord God, and him only we must ferve'-that we must invocate and adore faints and angels; when the

apoftle

apostle chargeth us, Col. ii. 18. to let no man beguile us of our reward in a voluntary humility and worshipping of angels' that we must pray to the virgin Mary and all faints to intercede for us; when St Paul affirms, 1 Tim. ii. 5. that as there is only one God,' fo there is only one mediator between God and men, the man Chrift Jefus'; that it is lawful to fill the world with rebellions and treafons, with perfecutions and maffacres, for the fake of religion and the church; when St James affures us, i. 20. that the wrath of man worketh not the righteousnefs of God;' and when Christ maketh univerfal love and charity the diftinguishing mark and badge of his difciples, John xiii. 35. By this fhall all men know that ye are my difciples, if you have love one to another'—I fay fhould any man affert these things fo directly contrary to reafon and to the word of God, and vouch ever fo many miracles in confirmation of them, yet we should make no fcruple to reject and renounce them all, Nay we are obliged to denounce anathema against the teacher of fuch doctrines, though he were an apoftle, though he were an angel from heaven; and for this we have the warrant and authority of St Paul, and to fhow that he laid peculiar refs upon it, he repeats it twice with great vehemence, Gal. i. 8, 9. Though we or an angel from heaven preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accurfed. As we faid before, fo fay I now again, If any one preach any other gofpel unto you, than that ye have received, let him be accurfed.' Indeed the miracles alledged in fupport of thefe doctrines are fuch ridiculous incredible things that a man must have faith, I do not say to remove mountains, but to swallow mountains, who can receive for truth the legends of the church of Rome. But admitting that any of the Romish miracles were undeniable matters. of fact, and were attefted by the best and most authentic records of time, yet I know not what the Bishop of Rome would gain by it, but a better title to be thought Antichrift. For we know that the coming of Antichrist, as St Paul declares, 2 Theff. ii. 9, 10. is after the working of Satan with all power and figns, and lying wonders, and with all deceivablenefs of unrighteoufnefs: and he doeth great wonders in the fight of men,' according to

the

the prophecy of St John, Rev. xii. 13, 14, and deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he hath power to do.' Nor indeed is any thing more congruous and reasonable, than that 'God' 2. Theff. ii. 10, 11. fhould fend men ftrong delufion, that they fhould believe a lie, because they'received not the love of the truth, that they might be faved.'

But to return from this digreffion, though I hope neither an improper nor unedifying digreffion, to our main. fubject.

XX.

THE SAME SUBJECT CONTINU ED

PART III.

E are now come to the laft act of this difmal tra

W gedy, the deftruction of Jerufalem and the final

diffolution of the Jewish polity in church and state, which our Saviour for several reasons might not think fit to declare nakedly and plainly, and therefore choofeth to clothe his difcourfe in figurative language. "He might poffibly do it, as a Dr Jortin conceives, to perplex the unbelieving perfecuting Jews, if his difcourfes fhould ever fall into their hands, that they might not learn to avoid the impending evil." Immediately after the tribulation of those days, fhall the fun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the ftars fhall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens fhall be fhaken.' Commentators generally understand this and what follows of the end of the world and of Chrift's coming to judgment: but the words immediately after the tribulation of those days' fhow evidently that he is not fpeaking of any dif tant event, but. of fomething immediately confequent upon the tribulation before-mentioned, and that must be the deftruction of Jerufalem. It is true, his figures are very ftrong, but no ftronger than are used by the ancient prophets upon fimilar occafions. The prophet Ifaiah fpeakVOL. II.

E

2 Dr Jortin's Remarks on Ecclefiaft. History, Vol. I. p. 75.

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