ness, *bore a reluctant testimony to that character, which the disciples of John came to explore. "What have we to do with "thee," said the unclean Spirit whom Jesus cast out in the synagogue, "I know "thee who thou art, the Holy One of "God:"†-and upon another occasion these Spirits thus addressed Him, "Art "thou come hither to torment us before "the time? I adjure thee by God, that “thou torment us not."‡

Is it not, therefore, most astonishing, almost beyond a miracle,, that men could hear and see these things, and not believe? It could not be because they had not abundant means of knowing the certainty and reality of these works: they were performed in the most public manner, many of them in the presence of enemies not easy to be deceived, and some of them before thousands at once: they were foretold ages before, and with a particular exactness, by Isaiah, since whose days no person had

* See Bishop Horsley's Sermons, vol. i. Serm. xi. p. 235-242, 3d. Ed. 1812. [ED.] + St. Mark i. 24. St. Matt. viii. 29, and St. Mark v. 7.

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appeared, save Jesus, even to attempt a miracle. But the people did believe; they owned their conviction on divers occasions : "When Christ cometh," said they, "will He do more miracles than "these which this man hath done?"*.

"What do we," said the great Council of the nation, "for this man doeth many "miracles."+ Yet would they not obey Him, nor act agreeably to their own convictions.

From what reasons they refused obedience it may not be unnecessary to enquire, for we perhaps are not wholly uninterested in those reasons:-indeed to learn wisdom from the perverseness of the Pharisees and the other Jews, must be the principal motive that Christians can have for enquiring into that, of which we can entertain no doubts,-the validity of these proofs of our Saviour's mission.

It is a truth familiar to all, that high expectations of affluence and dominion to themselves under the reign of the Messiah, possessed the minds of the Jews at the * St. John vii. 31. + St. John xi. 47.

time when Jesus came to offer to them spiritual blessings, and a kingdom not of this world. They indignantly bore the yoke of the Romans, and proudly held all other nations to be utterly unworthy of their friendship;—while He preached humility, contempt of riches, obedience to their governors, and universal love to all men. Their piety rested in external ceremonial acts of obedience;-He inculcated only those virtues which, in their design at least, could bear the secret eye of heaven, and which looked to heaven chiefly for their reward. With views so directly opposite, even miracles must be ineffectual, so long as the hearers held fast their intemperate and sinful passions and in whatever persons these causes are in full force, the like effects must inevitably ensue. A deliberate, habitual violation of the great duties which we owe to our Maker, our neighbour, and ourselves,-powerful as religion may be thought to be,from such violation of all law religion has very seldom been able to recover mankind. To him who has brought himself to follow

a conduct so opposite to the natural feelings and reproaches of his own heart, the pure precepts, the spiritual rewards, and the distant terrors of the Gospel will prove of no avail; and to such a one it matters not whether Jesus was or was not the great Prophet who should come into the world; for he regards not Him, nor does he look for another. In fact, Revelation was given principally to assist and guide the returning sinner;-it is of the highest use to those who desire to be good, and who are otherwise chiefly from the infirmity of human nature:-it places life and death before us with the strongest motives to lead our choice, but it compels us to neither.

Had Revelation even designed to constrain mankind to obedience, yet does the conduct of the Jewish nation prove farther, how much the power of evil habit is superior to the most wonderful means Revelation could employ. We read of a certain discourse of our Lord introduced by a miracle, and finished by an attempt to stone Him.*-We know that the extraordinary

* St. John x.

miracle of raising Lazarus from the dead was the immediate cause of the final resolution of the Jewish Council to put Jesus to death; and when He was on the cross they could acknowledge His wonderful and merciful works, and at the same time insult Him with the declaration-" He saved "others, Himself He cannot save.'

With such examples before us, how unspeakably dangerous must it appear that we should ever suffer ourselves to be enslaved to any passions which cannot be reconciled with the known law of God!and how deplorable is the condition of those who, when uneasy under the sense of guilt, vainly seek of themselves for means to restore them to peace of mind; and that aid, which they can receive from the Gospel alone, they fondly hope to obtain from some future uncertain incident,— some affliction or sickness,-from the arrival of old age, or the prospect of approaching death! But how few examples are to be found to encourage reliance on these things! We can hardly expect that

*St, Matt. xxvii. 42.