So did not the most renowned and wisest philosophers of antiquity. The authors who immediately followed the said writers, called the primitive fathers, fell into many fancies, and even errors, on certain points, as if it had been permitted, in order to draw the line of distinction between divine inspiration, and the ordinary illumination of the human mind, more clear and defined.

But the two great evidences for the truth of Christianity, are Miracles and Prophecy.

At the time when the Lord Jesus declared himself to be the Messiah, and proclaimed the glad tidings of salvation to a lost world, miracles were needful, in order to prove the truth of his mission, to manifest the divine approbation to his doctrines, and to fulfill the prophetic character of the Messiah, as recorded in the 35th chapter of Isaiah.

Miracles were also necessary after his ascension, to evidence the truth of those doctrines propagated everywhere by his apostles, which declared Jesus to be the Son of God, the true Messiah, the Saviour of the world. When these doctrines were thus fully attested, by the power of God accompanying the preaching of the cross, miracles ceased in the church, as being no longer needed.

Yet a still more important evidence was reserved for future ages, no less declarative of the divine approbation to the Christian religion than miracles; and that evidence is prophecy. The gradual fulfilment of those prophecies which were foretold by Christ and his apostles, may be considered as a standing miracle; since it is utterly beyond the power of man to ensure the accomplishment of any predicted event independently of the will and purpose of God.

Any man may predict, but the accomplishment must prove the truth of the prediction.

Christ as God in our nature foretold what should come to pass through his own prescience. The prophets and apostles, as his servants, spake under the immediate influence of his Spirit dwelling in them. (1 Peter i. 10, 11.) Thus the prophecies which have been fulfilled, and which are now fulfilling, and which still remain to be fulfilled to the end of time, form a chain of evidence to the divine origin of Christianity, which Satan and his emissaries can never destroy.

These two external evidences, of miracles and prophecy, taken together with the whole character of the blessed Jesus, answering in every minute particular to the ancient prophecies of the Old Testament; and also in connexion with the internal evidence of the Gospel, arising from its agreement with the nature of God; and its adaptation to the wants of fallen man: ought, yea, and will satisfy every honest inquirer after truth, that Christianity is of God.

Such an one, through grace, will be led to acknowledge with heart-felt gratitude, like the Bereans of old, that Jesus Christ is God manifest in the flesh; the only Saviour and hope of perishing sinners.

The joyful exclamation of such an enlightened soul will be, "we have found him of whom Moses in the law and the prophets did write." And should any sceptic reply, "Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth?" The simple answer will be: "Come and see."

In every age, a generation of men have sprung up, the Serpent's brood, who have laboured to bring the word of eternal truth into discredit by false statements and sophistries of every kind. Thy word is tried to the uttermost, therefore thy servant loveth it," was the language of David in his day.

66

It may appear strange, in this age of light and

information, that the New Testament should be arraigned by modern infidels as the most immoral book that is extant. Surely this must be the dying grasp of infidelity; for what can be more feeble than such an attack? They may as well assert that the sun, when shining without a cloud in its meridian splendour, is the darkest part of the visible creation. The sun is indeed as darkness to those who are blind; and so are the things of God to those who are unenlightened by the Spirit of truth.

How strange! A Roman emperor placed a statue of Jesus amongst his idol deities, on account of the excellence of his moral precepts; whilst modern infidels, reaping the benefits of his morality in the inestimable blessings of the British Constitution, dare, in defiance of common sense, common honesty, and common experience, to denounce the Holy Gospel of Jesus as the chief of immoralities!

It is truly awful to behold, how far men may travel in the road of sin and rebellion against the Almighty Governor of the universe.

Is there in the whole world a morality so elevated, so pure, so influential as the morality of the Gospel? We need only compare the lives of those who reject the Christian revelation, with the lives of those who truly believe it, and live under its purifying influence, in order to ascertain where true morality is to be found.

It lies in the pages of the Bible, and is exhibited in the spirit and conduct of its sincere believers.

The history of the church in all ages attests this delightful truth, that, "the Gospel of Christ is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth." Men of the most savage natures have become mild; the most impure have become chaste; the most ungovernable have become obedient. In short, the whole moral change from darkness to light

from sin to holiness, from Satan unto God, has been effected solely by the Spirit of God through the instrumentality of the Gospel of Christ.

O! blessed Sun of righteousness, thou who art the light of the world, let thy bright beams shine upon it, that the deep shades of error, superstition, and sin, may flee before thy powerful rays, till all the earth shall be filled with thy glory.

Shine, blessed Jesus, upon thy church. Let all thy people become burning and shining lights in the world, shining by reflection to thy glory. Illuminate my dark mind. Take away the thick film from my mental vision. Remove the veil from my heart, and let me behold thy glory with unveiled face. Yea, let me daily contemplate thy glorious character, offices, and perfections, till I am changed into thy holy image, and made meet for the enjoyment of thy heavenly kingdom.

How rich, how varied are the themes,

The sacred page contains,

Like oceans deep, or lucid streams

That fertilize the plains.

Here humble souls are sweetly taught
Salvation through his blood;

By whom alone mankind are brought
To happiness and God.

Here lofty philosophic minds,

Deep versed in learned lore,
Are lost amid those vast designs
The cherubim adore.

The sacred mysteries of grace
Confound their reasoning pride;
They see no beauty in His face,

Who bow'd his head and died.

But firm as on a solid rock,
The saint on Christ relies;
He smiles in death's dissolving shock,
And mounts into the skies!

LVIII. ON THE LIVING WATER.

How beautifully instructive is our Saviour's conversation with the woman of Samaria, whilst sitting, wearied with his journey, on Jacob's well.

What an example to his followers does the benevolent Redeemer exhibit, of condescension to ignorance, and of affectionate improvement of trivial occurrences to the spiritual good of all around us.

The human mind, till taught of God, is equally blind, whether clothed in the imposing vestment of a Jewish doctor, or in the simple attire of a Samaritan female. Nicodemus was as ignorant respecting the nature of the new birth, as this poor woman was of the living water.

Human learning, though called theological, can never make us savingly acquainted with the first principles of the Gospel of Christ. Many an unlettered peasant may be a scribe well instructed in the mysteries of the kingdom, whilst the learned doctor, filling the professor's chair, may be a very babe in the things of Christ. This view is humiliating to the pride of man, and should teach us to call no man master upon earth: but in childlike simplicity to sit at the feet of Jesus, and drink of that living water, which alone can purify and refresh our souls.

How delightful is the thought, that Jesus, the Saviour and friend of sinners, is the giver of this spiritual blessing. "If thou knowest the gift of