quer every lust, and bring the whole man "into captivity to the obedience of Christ." To admit speculatively, coldly, the authenticity and credibility of the gospel, is little-I want your hearts -the penitence and faith which the gospel demands -the subjection of a ruined and fallen creature to the yoke of the Son of God. It is in this docile and practical temper of mind that the Evidences of Christianity are to be studied. On the mere scholar, the mere disputer of this world," truth falls weak and inefficacious, even if it be theoretically admitted. The humble and practical student alone pleases God, and understands fully the force of the divine argument. He may not be able to reason with the gainsayer. He may not be skilled in human learning. He may not be competent to follow me in all the external testimonies which I have been detailing in the present and the former lectures. He may not be accustomed to weigh conflicting testimonies. But he feels the value of the scriptures. He understands the practical part of the testimonies drawn from its style, its contents, and the character and circumstances of the apostles. Such a man knows the use and worth of the Bible, as the mariner knows the use and worth of the compass. A mariner, if illiterate, has neither opportunity nor learning enough. to inquire why his needle takes a polar direction, or what the scientific have to say upon its variations in different parts of the globe-he knows nothing of the laws of magnetism, or the dependence of them on electricity---when or by whom they were laid down, and who adapted the compass to the purposes of navigation. But he knows, unlearned as he is, that it is by this needle only that he can find his way through a trackless deep; he knows that by this alone he can escape the dangers of his voyage, and proceed safely to his destined haven; he knows that this only will bring him to his home, his family, his friends. In like manner the humble Christian feels the value of the scriptures; he feels that they are the only guide through a trackless ocean; that they are the only means of safety in his perilous voyage; that if he would escape the "making shipwreck of faith and a good conscience," and would avoid the rocks and quicksands on which thousands, trusting madly to their own guidance, and neglecting the heavenly direction, perish, he must follow his inspired guide--his sacred compass. He does so; and passing "safely through the troublesome waves of this present world," he arrives, at length, at his destined haven, where are his family, his friends, his Saviour, his eternal rest, his end, his ALL. 26 26 Cecil's Remains. 150 LECTURE VII. DIVINE AUTHORITY OF CHRISTIANITY. MARK II. 10-12. But that ye may know that the Son of Man hath power on earth to forgive sins (he saith to the sick of the palsy,) I say unto thee, Arise, and take up thy bed, and go thy way into thine house. And immediately he arose, took up the bed, and went forth before them all; insomuch that they were all amazed, and glorified God, saying, We never saw it on this fashion. THE arguments in our former Lectures have been directed to prove the authenticity and credibility of the books of the New Testament. In order to ascertain these points, we have examined them by the strictest rules of historical testimony, and we have found them to be established by far stronger proofs than men uniformly consider as satisfactory on similar subjects. During this inquiry, we have deferred the consi deration of the divine authority of the religion of which they treat. It is, however, time to enter upon this topic. Wer e now open the sacred books with the fullest confidence and repose of mind, as having been really written by the persons whose names they bear, and as entitled, beyond all other writings, to credit, upon the ground of veracity and trust-worthiness. On reading them with attention, we learn that their chief design is to communicate a revelation from Almighty God to man. This is their main scope, to which all other matters are subordinate. Such being the case, we proceed to examine, with seriousness and humility of mind, the marks and evidences by which we are assured that they really contain a revelation of the divine will. These credentials we soon discover, were, in the first instance, the miracles which our Lord performed, and the prophecies which were accomplished in him. These credentials remain in substance the same in every age. They have, however, been enlarged by the lapse of time. To the miracles of our Lord are .now added those of the apostles. And to the prophecies accomplished in himself, all the series of predictions which have been since fulfilled, and are now fulfilling, in the world. We now also adjoin the proofs arising from the propagation of the gospel, and the obvious benefits it has conferred on mankind. These topics will form the subject of the present and the four succeeding Lectures.1 Our Lord's doctrines and character, as well as the divine effects of his religion, will form branches of the internal evidences to be considered in a further division of our Course.2 Thus we shall come to the grounds of a divine faith, arising from a divine testimony. The authen 1 Lectures viii.—xi. 2 Lectures xiv.-xviii. ticity and credibility of our books place them on the footing of other undoubted histories; the supernatural credentials will give to the subject matter of them a divine authority. We begin with the MIRACLES of our Lord and his apostles. What, then, is a miracle? It is a visible suspension of those laws of nature, on the general constancy of which the order and preservation of the whole universe rest. These laws God alone, as the author of nature, fixed: and these laws God alone, as the governor and preserver of nature, can alter or suspend. A miracle supposes an established and generally unaltered course of things. Effects that are produced in the regular order of that course we call natural; and those which clearly and palpably depart from that order we call miraculous. Both are equally easy to God; and equally incomprehensible, in the mode of them, to us. That grains of corn sown in the earth should turn into abundant harvests, which nourish whole nations, is an astonishing act of that goodness which continually supplies our wants. But it is constantly exerted; it is common, and therefore, excites no extraordinary notice. That five barley loaves and a few small fishes should be multiplied instantaneously, so as to feed five thousand men, and that twelve baskets of fragments should be collected from them, is an astonishing act also. But it is rare and unexpected. It strikes us with surprise. It excites inquiry into the cause of the occurrence. It is, therefore, an act of God, fit to confirm a revelation to mankind. The usual deeds of God's power prove his being and providence; the unusual and miraculous prove the divine commission of the person at whose word they are performed. The extraordinary phenomena which we call miracles, awaken, therefore, from their infrequency, the attention of mankind; and afford, by their evident connexion with supernatural |