were the principal reasons of their belief in, and veneration for them. And therefore, if our bleffed Saviour did as great, or even greater miracles than Mofes, or any of the prophets who lived before his appearance in the world; the evidence of his divine miffion was in itself greater than theirs ; and therefore the Jews, at least, before whom his miracles were performed, ought to have received him for the very work's fake. Now this was the cafe, even the Jews themselves being judges. Thus Nicodemus argued him to have been a teacher fent from God, becaufe as he himself said to Jefus, no man can do the works which thou doft, except God be with him; ftrongly implying that they were very extraordinary; John iii. 2. In another place, we are told, the multitude cryed out, furprized with his wonderful works, It was never fo feen in Ifrael, Mat. ix. 33. And again, Many of the people believed on him, faying, when Chrift comes, will he do more miracles than thefe, which this man hath done? John vii. 31. when nevertheless they expected that Chrift fhould excel, even on this account, all the prophets that were before him. And 'tis on this account, that our Saviour declares their fin, in rejecting him, to

be

be peculiarly heinous. * If I had not done amongst them the works which none other man did, they had not had fin. But now they have both feen, and hated both me and my father. So that he blames them, not meerly for rejecting the evidence hegave of his divine miffion by miracles, but be. cause they rejected his evidence, tho' it was fuperior to that of all the other prophets that were before him; in whom they nevertheless believed.

And to conclude this head, we shall farther find, that whatever ftress our Lord, at fome times, feems to have laid on his miracles, yet elsewhere he appeals to his word, and the doctrines he taught; which he represents to be of fuch a nature, as that the miraculous works he did, in confirmation of them, could be effected by no other power but that of God. Thus he urges it as a reason that men fhould love him, or receive and believe in him, because the † word which they heard was not his, but the father's which fent him. And in another place the tells us, that God would judge every one that fhould reject him, Because I

John xv. 24. † [ohn xiv, 24. tt John xii. 49.

have not Spoken of myself, but the father bath fent me; he gave me a commandment what I should fay, and what I should Speak. And to mention no more, his anfwer to the Jews, who faid he caft out Devils through Belzebub,the chief of Devils, makes it abundantly plain, that it was not miracles alone, that he infifted on as a fufficient proof of his miffion from God his father; but miracles, as wrought in confirmation of doctrines oppofite to the intęreft of Devils. * Every kingdom divided against it felf is brought to defolation ; and every city or houfe divided against it self shall not stand. And if Satan caft out Satan, he is divided against himfelf. How then shall his kingdom ftand? The bare cafting out of Devils from a poffeffed perfon, was no argument that Satan was divided against himself. This he might have fuffered impoftors to do, to give the greater confirmation and credit to the imposture, and hereby to have strengthened his own authority and interest among mankind. But if any perfon doth miracles, who himself is an eminently good and

Mat. xii. 25, 26,

holy

holy man, in confirmation of doctrines tending to godlinefs; if he lays claim to a divine mission, and the evident tendency of his miffion is to deftroy the works of the Devil, and to recover men to the knowledge and worship of the one only living and true God, and proves his pretenfions by cafting out devils, and other wonderful works; 'tis as evident that he cannot do this, under the influence and power of the Devil, as that the Devil cannot be supposed willing to weaken, and deftroy his own au thority and intereft in this world.

CHAR

CHAP. II.

Of the ufe of Miracles.

AVING in the former chapter H stated my notion of miracles, and cleared it from the principal difficulties that might feem to clog it; I now proceed to confider the use of miracles, and to fhew for what reafons one might probably expect they should be wrought; or for what ends God may be reasonably thought to interpofe, in order to produce them.

And 'tis evident, at first view, that the defign of miracles cannot be to prove, or eftablish the proofs of the principles of natural religion; because the very fuppofition of God's interpofing by miracles, fuppofes also the certainty of his being, perfections and providence; and because every pretended revelation is to be judged of by the dic

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