the sick, gave sight to the blind, and so on; and all this in confirmation of a message in every respect worthy of God, and suited to the moral necessities of mankind; they gave evidence, ocular, and to every unprejudiced mind, irresistible, that their mission was from heaven.

Having served the end for which they were at first granted, the signs and wonders of the first ages were withdrawn; at what precise time we know not; but probably shortly after the decease of the Apostle John. This is the opinion that has prevailed in the Church generally, and it has seldom been disputed, except by imposture on the one hand, or enthusiasm on the other. But why, it has been asked, if miracles were a necessary testimony to the Word of God's grace at one period, are they not so still? Why is that evidence withheld from me that is said to have been given to the first Christians? If miracles were God's testimony to the testimony of the apostles, why should it not be continued; and why should not I, as well as those spoken of in the New Testament, see and hear the signs and wonders, by which God is said to have given testimony to the Word of his grace?

Much has been said to answer this objection, and yet it may easily be answered. It proceeds on the principle, observe, that, if a miracle were wrought in the presence of a sinner, he must believe-must be converted. But here it is forgotten that moral pravity lies at the root of all unbeliefthat man, as a sinner, is predisposed not to believe the gospel-that he hates the truth, and wishes it were false. Is there a froward school-boy who is not averse to the restraints of the seminary—and is there a bad man living who does not regret that the Bible was ever given, printed, published? Here it is forgotten, that miracles actually were wrought in the presence of thousands who did not believe. They wondered, but this was all. They were convinced, but not converted. The reality of the miracle, as a matter of

fact, they could not deny; but they would rather come to the absurd conclusion that a sinner could work miracles, or that Christ, by Beelzebub, cast out devils, than to the fair legitimate inference, that he was the Son of God. This is matter of well attested history; and the man who will not believe the Bible testimony, with regard to these things, would not have been persuaded, though he had actually witnessed the miracles. The infidel mistakes much. He believes, or affects to believe, that the blame attaches to the gospel itself, or to the evidence by which it is supported, whilst in reality— and he has no suspicion of this-the blame is with himself. "He loves the darkness rather than the light, because his deeds are evil."

And yet, let it not be said, that miracles have ceased-they have not. Prophecy is still accomplishing; and in this, we may say, we have still miraculous testimony to the truth of the sacred volume. "The voice of omnipotence alone," says a living author, "could raise the dead-the voice of omniscience alone could foretell what lay hid in dark futurity to us, as impervious as the mansions of the dead, and both are alike the voice of God. Where now then is Tyre-Tyre once the mart of nations, whose merchants were princes, and whose traffickers the honourable ones of the earth? It is, as it had been predicted, a bare rock of the sea, where the fisherman dries his net. And where is Babylon, the glory of kingdoms -the beauty of the Chaldees' excellency? It has not been inhabited, nor has it been dwelt in from generation to generation. The Arabian pitches not his tent there, nor does the shepherd make his fold there, but wild beasts lie there, and owls dwell there, and satyrs dance there, and the wild beasts of the desert cry in their desolate houses, and owls in their pleasant palaces."

And Jerusalem is trodden down of the Gentiles, and the Jews are still a people, and still without a government, and without a home, and the times of the Gentiles are fulfilling,

and the religion of Jesus, of the Jew rejected, is covering the earth. The north has given up, and the south has not kept back, and the glory of the Lord is revealed, and all flesh is seeing it together. Can any man seriously reflect on these things, and still continue an unbeliever? Impossible; that is, if evidence of itself were sufficient. But, as we have said, the heart is at fault; there is a natural, and there is also a moral blindness. In the one case, man cannot see, and in the other, he will not see, and therein lies the difference. To such a man, even the evidence of sense would not be sufficient. Truly say the Scriptures, "If a man believe not Moses and the prophets, neither would he be persuaded though one rose from the dead."

2d, By its rapid propagation, when first preached, the Lord gave testimony to the word of his grace.

It is said in the context, that "a great multitude both of the Jews and also of the Greeks believed;" and it is consistent with fact, that only thirty years subsequent to the crucifixion, whole provinces had embraced the Christian faith.

Mere numbers, we know, are no satisfactory evidence that any doctrine or system of doctrine is true. On this principle the Church of Rome is probably entitled to the name she arrogates-Church Catholic; and we cannot forget that the religion of Mahomet was as rapidly propagated as the faith of Christ. But here is the difference. The creed of the impostor of the east was propogated by violence. His weapons were the scymitar and the bow-string; with him it was conversion or death; there was no alternative; there was no conversion of the heart; whereas, the gospel of Christ made its way into the world by its own excellence. Its conquests were silent and bloodless. Its apostles were fishermen, without wealth, without power, without learning, without influence, and in opposition to all these, and to all the prejudices of Jew and Gentile alike, they preached the Word of God's grace, and they prevailed. Their preaching

was the cross of Christ; their testimony was the sword of the spirit, and it proved itself in the experience of millions, "the power of God, and the wisdom of God."

We readily acknowledge that there is an evident and melancholy contrast between the effects attendant upon the preaching of the gospel now, and those that were witnessed during the first ages. Of what church, alas! can it now be said, that the Lord adds daily to their number of such as shall be saved? In what circumstances can it now be affirmed that a great number believe and turn unto the Lord? By what servant of Christ may not the prophet's complaint be adopted, "who hath believed our report, and to whom hath the arm of the Lord been revealed ?" The sword of the persecutor has returned to its scabbard, and with it you would imagine the sword of the spirit has become pointless. Not, indeed, that the number of Christ's followers has been diminished, for never were more called by his name than at this day. But our fear is, that many are coutented with profession; that education, not conviction, makes them Christians, and that they sit as God's people, and hear as they hear whom no fear has alarmed, no love subdued, no hope animated.

And how is the evil to be remedied? What is it that we would desire to crown the preaching of the word with wonted success? Do we wish that signs and wonders should accompany its ministrations? No. Do we wish that its ministers should preach under the inspiration of the Spirit? No. Do we wish that Christ should descend from heaven to earth, and visibly and personally establish his kingdom? No-nothing such like. We believe that the dispensation of the Spirit under which we live, is the last and best dispensation, and that the means of grace at present enjoyed, are perfectly adequate to the moral renovation of the world. We dare not charge upon the dispensation what is fairly attributable to our own supineness; nor can we resist the

assurance, that primitive zeal would still be accompanied with primitive success. What we wish is, that the means of grace may be increased and multiplied;-what we wish is, primitive zeal in propagating, and primitive holiness in adorning the doctrine of Christ. We think on the triumphs of the days of old, and we pray they may be again witnessed. We think on the effusion of the Pentecostal day. We think on idols forsaken, and temples demolished, and provinces converted by the foolishness of preaching. We think on the days of the Reformation. We think on the moral achievements of Wesley and Whitfield. We think on what, in our own times, has been witnessed in the Islands of the South Seas. We think on what has recently transpired across the Atlantic wave, in the revivals of the new world. We think on all this, and we pray with the Prophet, "Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the Lord; awake as in the days of old, as in the generation of ancient days." Let Christianity resume her pristine character. Let Christians do their first works. Let the love of Christ constrain us as it did those who for his sake loved not their lives unto the death —and the moral achievements of the first ages will be the infallible result. The Lord will add daily, to the church of such as shall be saved. The Spirit will return to the almost untenanted temple, and the spiritual building, so much marred in its beauty, and so long impeded in its progress, will arise and shine, "not by might nor by power, but by the Spirit of the Lord of Hosts.

3d, God still gives testimony to its truth, by accompanying the preaching of the word with divine power.

The very fact that the gospel is preached, is a testimony in its favour. When Christ ascended up on high, he gave gifts to men. One of these was the gospel ministry, and that ordinance which he himself instituted, he has wonderfully perpetuated. It may have been corrupted by priestcraft, and opposed by persecution, and polluted by heresy.