establish the Word which he spoke by this weak, this mortal Man.

As to this Part of the Offence then, fo far as the Majefty and Power of God are concerned, it proceeds from very wrong Notions in both Cafes, and supposes that the Majefty of God wants the fame little Supports of outward Pomp and Grandeur as that of Men does, and that his Power depends upon the Fitness of inftrumental or material Causes, as human Power plainly does ; whereas the Majefty and Power of God are never more clearly feen, than when he makes choice of the weak Things of the World tó confound the Things which are mighty.

Let us then in the next Place confider, with respect to Men, whether the Advantages on their Side would have been greater, had Christ appeared in greater Splendor and with more vifible Power and Authority.

How far the Imaginations of fome Men may rove upon fuch Inquiries as thefe, or what Degrees of Splendor and Glory they would judge fufficient for their Purpose, I cannot tell. This we are fure of, That the Majesty of the Almighty is not to be approached by human Eyes; that therefore, whenever it defcends to treat with Men, it must be veiled and obfcured under fuch

Representations as Men can bear. This is true, you'll fay; but is there no Medium between the immediate Prefence of God, and his appearing in the Form of a Servant, and dying, not as the Children of Men commonly die, but as the vilest and most profligate Criminal? Many Degrees there are, no doubt, of vifible Glory, in any of which Chrift might have appeared, but in none with greater Advantage to Religion than that in which he came. Suppose he had come, as the Jews expected, in the Form of a mighty Prince, and in that Situation had propagated his Faith and Doctrine; what would the Unbelievers then have faid? How often should we have been told before now, that our Religion was the Work of human Policy, and that our Prince's Doctrine and Dominions were extended by the fame Sword? Was ever any Religion the better thought of for having been preached at the Head of an Army? This is certain, That, to make Religion a rational Act of the Mind, it cannot be conveyed to us in too eafy and familiar a Manner: The less Awe we have of our Teacher, the more Freedom we shall exercise in weighing and examining his Doctrines. And upon this Account our Saviour's Appearance was in the most proper

Form,

Form, as it gave to Men the greatest Scope and Liberty of trying and searching into his Doctrines and Pretences: And therefore his Meannefs and Poverty fhould leaft of all be objected by those who seem to contend for nothing more than to clear Religion from Fears and Prejudices.

But perhaps they will fay, We wanted him not to appear in worldly State and Glory, or to exercise temporal Dominion on Earth; we would have been contented with a vifible, though an inferior kind of Manifeftation of his divine Authority. O Fools, and flow of Heart to believe all that the Prophets have written! What think ye of giving Sight to the Blind; of opening the Ears of the Deaf; of loofening the Tongue that was dumb; of restoring Health to the Sick; of raising the Dead to Life again; of raifing even himself from the Grave, and abolishing the Scandal of the Cross by a visible Victory ye and Triumph over Death? What do these Things? What do they manifest to you? Are these the Works of that mean Man, that wretched, that crucified Mortal, of whom we have been speaking? Do Slaves and Servants, nay, do Princes and the greatest of the Children of Men, use to perform fuch Works? If not, these are the

call

very Manifestations of divine Power and Authority which you require. Nor can it, I believe, enter into the Heart of Man to contrive any greater Signs to ask of any Perfon pretending, to a divine Commiffion, than these which our Saviour daily and publicly gave the World of his Authority. Had he appeared with all the visible Power and Glory which you can conceive, yet ftill you cannot imagine what greater Works than these he could poffibly perform: And therefore the Evidence now, under all the Meanness of his Appearance, is the fame for his divine Authority and Commiffion, as it would have been, had he come in the greatest Pomp of Glory and Power.

As to us, I think, who are removed at a Distance from the Scene of this Action, the Evidence is much greater. Had he come in furprizing Glory, we might have suspected the Relations of Men, who, we might well think, faw and heard every thing under the greatest Astonishment, and, like St. Paul when he was caught up to the third Heaven, could hardly tell whether they were in the Body, or out of the Body. But now we have the Evidence of Men who lived and conversed with him familiarly, who faw all his mighty Works, and faw them without

Surprize

Surprize or Astonishment, being reconciled to them by daily Ufe, and the long-experienced Gentleness and Love of their Mafter; and therefore they very juftly introduce their Accounts with this Affurance, That they relate that only which they had heard, which they had feen with their Eyes, which they had looked upon, and which their Hands had handled, of the Word of Life. So far are we then from having any just Caufe of Offence in the Poverty and Meanness of our bleffed Lord, that from those Circumstances arises the great Stability of our Faith, and this comfortable Affurance, That our Faith standeth not in the Words or in the Works of Man's Wisdom and Power, but in the Power and in the Wisdom of the Almighty, who knows how to produce Strength out of Weakness.

DISCOURSE