This plainly fhews that the hand of God was with him, and is an evidence to us that our faith is the work of God, and not of man.

And thus, whether we confider St. Peter's cafe as an inftruction to ourselves, it affords us many useful leffons and many encouragements to direct and fupport us in our fpiritual warfare; or whether we confider it in a more general view, and as affecting his character as he was a minifter of the Gospel, and an apostle of Chrift Jefus, it yields us a great affurance and confidence in our faith, whilst through the weakness of the man we evidently difcern the power of God, which wrought effectually with him; fo that, knowing in whom we have trufted, we need not be afhamed.

DISCOURSE XXXI.

MATTHEW xiv. 1, 2.

At that time Herod the tetrarch heard of the fame of Jefus ; and faid unto his fervants, This is John the Baptift: he is rifen from the dead; and therefore mighty works do fhew forth themfelves in him.

WHETHER this thought was first started by Herod himself, or no, is not very certain: the accounts given of it by St. Matthew and St. Mark make it probable, that Herod was the firft who fuppofed Jefus to be that John Baptift rifen from the dead, whom he had cruelly and wantonly put to death in prison. St. Luke's account makes the cafe rather to be, that the feveral reports and opinions of others concerning Jefus, either that he was Elias, or one of the old Prophets, or John the Baptift from the dead, were brought to Herod, and that he was in great perplexity and concern about them. But be this as it will, whether he impofed on himfelf, or was impofed on by others by this vain and improbable ftory, yet evident it is, how far his imagination was poffeffed, and his reason weighed down by guilty fear; and how eafily he believed whatever seemed to threaten that punishment, which

his confcience told him was his due.

How came it to pass, that, whilst others were bleffing themselves with the hopes of having a great prophet among them, Herod alone was perplexed and difmayed? or, when there were fuch various accounts of this perfon, some saying that he was Elias, others that he was one of the old prophets, and others that he was John the Baptift, how came Herod to take up with the most improbable account of all, and for which there was not the leaft foundation? The Jews had from ancient prophecies, however miftaken, an expectation that Elias fhould come, or fome of the old prophets; and those who were of that opinion were in the common error, which was countenanced by tradition, and the prevailing interpretation of the prophecies. To their expectation the character and person of our bleffed Saviour did very well answer: he was a preacher of righteousness, and mighty in figns and wonders: fuch was Elias, fuch were the old prophets: they had read of them, what they now faw performed by Jefus ; and, their perfuafion being allowed them, that Elias, or one of the old prophets fhould come, the words and works of Jefus tended extremely to confirm them in the opinion that he was the perfon whom they expected. But with respect to John the Baptift the cafe is quite otherwife; there was no ground to build this imagination on; there was neither tradition nor prophecy to support it: John indeed was a just man, and a preacher of righteousness, and had been barbarously murdered; and fo had many before him, who never returned again from their graves; and what better reason was there to expect

that he should? Befides, fuppofe it probable that he was to come, yet ftill it was improbable that this was the perfon: their characters and offices were very different: John went about baptizing; but we are told exprefsly that Jefus baptized no man: Jefus wrought many miracles; but of John it is recorded in holy writ that he wrought no miracle. But Herod minded none of these things; he had a motive that weighed more with him on the other fide, a motive which fhut out all reason and argument: it was his guilty confcience told him this was John the Baptift. He had murdered the holy man, to please a lewd woman; and no fooner did he hear that there was one in the country who wrought miracles, but he concluded the Baptist was come from the grave, armed with power to take vengeance for his iniquities, and his own wrongs. This is John the Baptift, fays Herod: he is rifen from the dead; and therefore mighty works do fhew forth themfelves in him.

The use I intend to make of this paffage of holy Scripture is to fet before you fuch confiderations as naturally arise from it, and are proper for the government and direction of ourselves. And,

First, You may obferve from hence the great force and efficacy of conscience.

It is reasonable to fuppofe, that if God intended men for his own fervice, and defigned them for another state of happiness and mifery after this life, according to their good or ill behaviour in it, that he should make himself known to them by fome clear and plain manifeftation; and promulge the laws, which were to be the rule of their obedience,

in fuch manner that all fhould know and acknowledge their duty. Were men left deftitute of these neceffary affiftances, there could be no equity in requiring obedience, no juftice in punishing difobedience. There are many demonftrations to be had of the existence of a Deity from the works of nature, and from the operations of our own minds: but the plaineft of these proofs do fometimes escape the lower part of mankind, who, being conftantly taken up in the fervile employments of life, do not exercise their reason fo far as to come to the conclufion, which is but one remove diftant from the objects they every day converse with. And though, as the Pfalmist speaks, the heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament fheweth his handy work; though day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night fheweth knowledge; yet fome there are, who, for want of attention, hear not this ftill voice of nature, and are flow to apprehend the glory which the heavens declare, or to discover the hand of the Creator in the works of the firmament which they every day behold. But then there is an internal proof of a Deity arifing from confcience, and the reflection of the mind upon the good or evil we do, which amounts to the fulleft declaration of the power of God, and is the completeft promulgation of his law to mankind that can be defired or expected. In all civil cafes a king is fufficiently proclaimed, and a law is fufficiently promulged, when either is done according to cuftom in fome public and folemn manner; for, it being impoffible to give every man concerned particular notice, the neceffity of the cafe requires that every man fhould