ing the divine goodness to interpose by miracles for so worthy and laudable a purpose; and therefore it is highly reasonable to presume that He will from time to time continue to do so throughout all ages to the end of the world.

Even from the limited view of the divine conduct taken by Dr Middleton in the contemplation of the visible creation, we find a strong and just presumption to believe that the Divine Wisdom has by no means confined the working of miracles to any particular period of time e; but that as the happiness and perfection of His rational creatures will be a continual object of His desire while time endures, so it will at all times be highly becoming His goodness to perform miracles in order to procure them. But if we consider that more extensive view which God Himself has unfolded to us in His holy Scriptures, we shall there find stronger grounds to believe that miracles will never cease in the Church of Christ. These grounds are taken from the following sources: 1. From the conduct of God in the old law; 2. From the conduct of Jesus Christ in the Gospel; 3. From the promises of Christ; and 4. From what we are told will happen at the end of the world;—each of which we must consider separately by the light of revelation.

V. By revelation we are informed that when man was lost by sin, and had become a prey to the delusions of Satan, this impious spirit endeavoured to extend his empire over the entire world, and to become sole master of the hearts of men. That although Almighty God, in His infinite mercy, had determined to redeem lost man, and restore him to that happiness of which he had been deprived by sin, yet, for just and wise purposes, He delayed this great work for many ages, and in the mean

time permitted man to be deluded by the devil, and hurried on by him to every excess of wickedness and vice, that his pride might be confounded, and that experience might convince him of his extreme misery and weakness, and his great need of a Redeemer. But whilst mankind in general were thus abandoned to themselves, Almighty God was pleased to select one nation, which He preserved from this general corruption, and to which He made an express revelation of Himself and of His will, of the religious worship which He required from them, and of the law by which He commanded them to walk. This revelation was made by Moses and the prophets, to whom God communicated His will, and gave authority to announce it to His people. But it was imperfect compared to what was afterwards to be made known by our Redeemer, of Whom the holy prophets predicted that He would come in the fulness of time. to give a perfect revelation of the will of God to men, to disclose to them the secrets of the divine wisdom, to bring all nations to the knowledge of the true God, and to teach them a more holy law and a more perfect worship, of which all that had been taught by Moses was only a shadow, a figure, and an emblem.

God in the mean time showed a peculiar care of His chosen people, whom He made the depositaries of His divine oracles, sending from time to time His servants to teach, instruct, exhort, and preserve them in His service. At last the Redeemer Himself appeared, clothed with the omnipotence of God, by which He gave the most convincing proofs of His mission, fulfilled and abolished the Mosaic institution, and manifested to the world that pure and holy religion which was to be the only means of salvation to mankind, and which therefore

was to be the religion of all nations, and to continue to the end of the world.

Here then we find that Almighty God has made two separate external revelations of His will to men, the one by Moses, the other by Jesus Christ His Son. The former was imperfect both with regard to the knowledge which it imparted of God and of heavenly things, and with regard to the nature of the worship required by it from man. The latter was full and ample in both respects, giving us a glorious knowledge of God and of a future world, and discovering to us a most pure and holy worship due to the sovereign Being from us His creatures. The Mosaic institution, with all its sacrifices and ceremonies, was only a shadow of the good things to come, a figure and emblem of the religion of Jesus, and was therefore incapable of cleansing the soul from sin, and of perfectly reconciling man with his offended Creator.

The Christian religion is the substance, of which the former was only the shadow, and it contains in itself every celestial grace and benediction necessary for the perfect sanctification of our souls, and for bringing us to the possession of eternal happiness. The religion of Moses was temporary, and to continue only till the Redeemer should appear, being intended to prepare the world for receiving the more perfect religion of Jesus. But this was confined to no space of time; it is to last till the end of the world, while the sun and moon shall endure. Finally, the law of Moses was given only to one nation, and confined to one people; the law of grace under Jesus Christ is intended for all nations, to bring all to the knowledge and service of the true God, and to be established from the rising of the sun to the going down thereof.

VI. Jesus Christ being come into the world, the law

of Moses was abolished, and an end put to his institution, that the more perfect religion of Jesus might be established in its place. Now Almighty God has been pleased to give us a particular history, authorised by Himself, of the conduct of His divine providence during the whole time of the Mosaic institution. In this history we have an account of vast numbers of miracles performed by God on various occasions, and for many different ends, during that period. From this we evidently see, by the authority of God Himself, on what occasions and for what ends it is worthy of Almighty God, and becoming His divine goodness, to work miracles. If, therefore, we find that the same occasions must frequently occur, and the same or similar ends come every day to be promoted in all ages of Christianity, it must follow that it will at all times be equally worthy of - Almighty God, and equally becoming His goodness, to perform miracles on these occasions. We have therefore the strongest reason to presume that from time to time God will continue to do so in every age to the end of the world. Nay, we shall find, when we come to consider the particular cases, that there is much greater reason to expect this in the Christian Church than there was under the Jewish law.

VII. In explaining the ends of miracles from revelation, I have given an ample detail of the various occasions on which Almighty God wrought miracles under the old law, and of the several ends which he had in view. Some of these tended more immediately to promote the divine glory by the general good of the whole people; others seemed to have for their more immediate object the perfection or happiness of particular persons only; though by being afterwards published to the world, they contributed no less than the former to

the divine glory and the good of mankind, as to their grand and ultimate end.

Of the first kind were chiefly these following: I. To convince mankind that the doctrine preached to them by those who wrought these miracles in the name of God was truly His doctrine, and thereby to engage them the more readily to receive it, and the more steadfastly to adhere to the belief and profession of it. 2. For defending the doctrine thus revealed to them, and for preserving the religion which He had given to His people against all attempts in after-ages to corrupt and destroy it. 3. For asserting His own honour against all false gods, and their idolatrous worship. 4. For engaging His people to believe and trust in Him, to love Him, to obey Him, and to serve Him only, and thus to promote the sanctification and perfection of their own souls. 5. To assert and vindicate the honour of His priesthood, and of all holy things more immediately used in His service, and to procure for them due respect and veneration. 6. To manifest the sanctity of holy persons, whom He sends from time to time as His messengers to men, and to gain for them due credit and respect, that, by their words and example, others may be excited to greater piety and fervour. 7. To convince idolaters, and those who know Him not, that He is the only true God, when He is pleased to communicate the knowledge of Himself and of His holy will to them.

Of the second kind, where the immediate end intended was the benefit of particular persons only, we considered four different classes. The first contains those cases where Almighty God, in communicating any truth, commission, or promise to a particular person, either immediately or by others, was pleased to convince them by miracles that those things were really from Him, and not