of it; and the description he has given of this sad calamity, so exactly corresponds to the prophecy, that one would have thought, had we not known the contrary, that it had been written by a Christian, And one can never on purpose to illustrate it. enough admire that series of amazing providences, by which the author was preserved from most imminent danger, that he might leave us that invaluable treasure which his writings contain.

We have no need of any farther evidence than we find in him, of the exact accomplishment of what was prophesied concerning the destruction of Jerusalem. But our Lord had also foretold the long continued desolation of their temple; and I cannot forbear reminding you of the awful sanction which was given to that part of the prediction; for it is well known that a heathen historian has assured us, that when Julian the apostate, in deliberate contempt of that prediction, solemnly and resolutely undertook to rebuild it, his impious design was miraculously frustrated again and again, and the workmen consumed by globes of fire, which broke out from the foundations.

latter times, is And though a

The prediction of St. Paul concerning the man of sin, and the apostacy of the also well worthy of our remark. great deal of the book of Revelation be still concealed under a dark veil, yet the division of the Roman empire into ten kingdoms, the usurpation, persecutions, and idolatry of the Romish church, and the long duration of the papal power, with several other extraordinary events, which no human prudence could have foreseen, and which have happened

long since the publication of that book, are so clearly foretold there, that I cannot but look on that part of Scripture as an invaluable treasure; and think it not at all improbable, that the more visible accomplishment of some of its other prophecies may be a great means of reviving the Christian cause, which is at present so much on the decline.

"The preservation of the Jews as a distinct people," is another particular under this head, which well deserves our attentive regard.

It is plain they are vastly numerous, notwithstanding all the slaughter and destruction of this people, in former and in later ages. They are dispersed in various most distant nations, and particularly in those parts of the world where Christianity is professed. And though they are exposed to great hatred and contempt, on account of their different faith, and in most places subjected to civil incapacities, if not to unchristian severities; yet they are still most obstinately tenacious of their religion; which is the more wonderful, as their fathers were so prone to apostatize from it; and as most of them seem to be utter strangers, either to piety or humanity, and pour the greatest contempt on the moral precepts of their own law, while they are so attached to the ceremonial institutions of it, troublesome and inconvenient as they are. Now, seriously reflect, what an evident hand of providence is here; that, by their dispersion, preservation, and adherence to their religion, it should come to pass, that Christians should daily see the accomplishment of many remarkable prophecies concerning this people; and that we should always have amongst us, such a

crowd of unexceptionable witnesses to the truth of those ancient Hebrew records, on which so much of the evidence of the Gospel depends. Records, which are many of them so full to the purpose for which we allege them, that, as a celebrated writer very well observes, "had the whole body of the Jewish nation been converted to Christianity, men would certainly have thought, they had been forged by Christians, and have looked upon them, with the prophecies of the Sybils, as made many years after the events they pretend to foretell." And, to add no more here, the preservation of the Jews as a distinct people, evidently leaves room for the accomplishment of those Old and New Testament promises, which relate to their national conversion and restoration; whereas that would be impossible in itself, or at least impossible to be known, if they were promiscuously blended with other people. On the whole, it is such a scene in the conduct of Providence, as I am well assured cannot be paralleled in the history of any other nation on earth, and affords a most obvious and important argument in favour of the Gospel.

Thus has Christianity been farther confirmed, since its first publication, by what God has done to establish it. It only remains, that we consider,

2. What confirmation it receives from the methods which its enemies have taken to destroy it.-And these have generally been, either persecution or falsehood, or cavilling at some particulars in the Revelation, without entering into the grand argument on which it is built, and fairly debating what

Now, who would not

is offered in its defence. think the better of a cause for being thus attacked?

At first you know, that the professors, and especially the preachers of the gospel, were severely persecuted. In every city bonds and imprisonments awaited them. As soon as ever the apostles began to preach Jesus and his resurrection, the Jewish rulers laid hold on them, and having confined and scourged them, strictly prohibited their speaking any more in that name. A little while after, Stephen was murdered, and afterwards James, and some other of the apostles. Now, certainly such a conduct did evidently show a consciousness, that they were not able to answer the apostles, and to support their own cause by the fair methods of reason and argument; to which, so far as the history informs us, they made no pretence; but attempted to bear them down by dint of authority, and to silence them by brutal force.

The time would fail me, should I attempt particularly to show, how these unrighteous methods were pursued in succeeding ages, and distant countries. The savage cruelties of Nero to these innocent and holy men were such, as raised the pity even of their enemies. Yet this was one of the least extensive and destructive of the ten general persecutions, which arose in the Roman Empire, besides several others in the neighbouring countries, of which ecclesiastical history informs us. These early enemies of the Gospel added falsehood and slander to their inhumanities. They endeavoured to murder the reputation of the Christians, as well as their persons, and were not ashamed to represent them as haters of the whole human species, for no imaginable

reason, but because they would not associate themselves in their idolatrous worship, but with regard to charity and truth, were strongly bearing their testimony against it. Nay, they charged them with human sacrifices, incest, idolatry, and all the crimes for which themselves, and their foolish gods, were indeed justly detestable; but from which the Christians knew how to vindicate themselves, highly to their own honour, and to the everlasting reproach of these malignant and pestilent accusers.

And

they have not failed to do it in many noble apologies, which, through the divine providence, are transmitted to us, and are incomparably the most valuable of any ancient uninspired writings.

Such were the infamous and scandalous methods, by which the Gospel was opposed in the earliest ages of the Church; and I cannot forbear adding, "that the measures more lately taken to subvert it, especially amongst ourselves, seem to me rather to reflect a glory upon it." Its unhappy enemies have been told again and again, that we put the proof of it on plain fact. They themselves do not, and cannot deny, that it prevailed early in the world, as we have shown at large. There must have been some man, or body of men, who first introduced it. They generally confess, that Christ and his apostles were the persons; and these apostles, (on whose testimony what we know of Christ chiefly depends,) must have been enthusiasts, or impostors, if their testimony was false. Now, which of these schemes will the unbeliever take? It seems that the Deists of the present age fix on neither, as being secretly conscious they can support neither; but they content them