ruin, to cruel mockings and fcourgings, to banishment, or imprisonment, and confifcation of eftate. But thefe were flight and tolerable evils, in comparison of others that were commonly inflicted upon them. They were condemned to the mines, and to the lions, and all imaginable cruelties were exercised upon them: the most exquifite torments that could be devifed, and death in all its fearful fhapes was prefented to them, to deter men from embracing this religion, and to tempt them to quit .it: and yet they perfifted in the profeffion of their religion; and, for the fake of it, did not only take joyfully the fpoiling of their goods, but the most barbarous ufage of their perfons; and demeaned themselves not only with patience and courage, but with exultation and triumph, under those tortures which no man can hear or read of without horror. And they did not only bear up thus manfully for one brunt; but when these violent perfecutions were renewed and repeated upon them, Chriftianity fupported itself under all thefe daunting discouragements for almost three hundred years, and held out till the very malice of their perfecutors was out of breath, and their cruelty had tired itself.

Nay, it did not only fupport itself under all thefe oppofitions, but grew and profpered; and the blood of martyrs became the feed of the church, and Christians fprang up fafter than any perfecution could mow them down for men by degrees became curious to inquire into the cause of fuch fufferings, and the reafon of so much conftancy and patience under them; and, upon inquiry, were fatisfied, and became Chriftians themfelves; and many times their very pefecutors were ready to facrifice their lives the next day, for that very cause for which but the day before they had put others to death.

And it cannot here be reafonably objected, that Chriftians yielded up themselves to all thefe fufferings, upon the fame account that fome brave spirits among the Heathen laid down their lives for their country, namely, out of a defire of fame, and to perpetuate their names in after ages: this, I fay, cannot reasonably be faid in this cafe; because these fufferers were not the great and ambitious fpirits, the flower and felect part of mankind;

but

but the common people, and many of them of the tenderer fex and age, who have ufually a greater fense of pain than of glory and yet fo were they animated by their religion, and tranfported beyond themselves, as not only to fubmit, but many times to offer themselves to thofe fufferings, by declaring themselves to be Chriftians, when no man accused them, and when they knew they fhould die for making that profeffion; fo that it is harder to justify their forwardness to suffer, than the fincerity of their fufferings. Belides that nothing could be more foolish and unreasonable, than for men to hope to get a name by fuffering in a crowd, and to be particularly remembered to posterity, when they died in fuch multitudes, that no man knew the names of the greatelk part of the sufferers.

You fee then how ftrongly the gofpel prevailed, how foon this new religion over-ran the world, how fuddenly it fubdued the fpirits and changed the manners of men; and by what mean and despicable inftruments, to all human appearance, this great work was done; and how, in despite of all oppofition and difcouragements, it was carried on. Can any one of the falfe religions of the world pretend to have been propagated and established in fuch a manner, merely by their own force, and the evidence and power of truth, upon the minds of men; and to have borne up and fuftained themfelves fo long under fuch fierce affaults, as Christianity hath done?

As for the religion of Mahomet, it is famously known to have been planted by force at first, and to have been maintained in the world by the fame violent means. So that great impoftor openly declares, that "he came not "to plant his religion by miracles, but by the fword."

And as for the idolatries of the Heathen, they came in upon the world by infenfible degrees; and did not oppofe the corruptions of men, but grew out of them; and being fuited to the vitious temper and difpofition of mankind, they cafily gained upon their ignorance and fuperftition, by cuftom and example. They were juft fuch a corruption of natural religion, in fuch times of darkness and ignorance, and by fuch infenfible fteps, as there have been fince of the Chriftian religion in fome parts of the world which we all know. But no fooner VOL. IV. A a

did

did the light of the gospel fhine out upon the world, but the idolatry and fuperftition of the Heathen fell before it, like Dagon before the ark of God; and though it had the power of the world, and countenance of authority on its fide, yet it was not able to maintain its ground: and no fooner was that prop taken away, which was the only fupport of it, but it presently funk and vanifhed: it was not driven out of the world by violence and perfecution; but, upon the breaking in of fo great a light, it filently withdrew, as being afhamed of itself: and when afterwards the Emperor Julian endeavoured to retrieve it by his wit and authority, and used all imaginable arts and ftratagems to fupprefs and extinguish Christianity, he was able to effect neither; for the Chriftian religion kept its ground, and Paganism, after it had made a little blaze, died with him.

Now to what caufe fhall we afcribe this wonderful fuccefs and prevalency of the gofpel in the world? There can but these two be imagined; the excellency of the Christian religion, and the power and prefence of the divine Spirit accompanying it.

1. The excellence of the Chriftian religion; which, both in respect of the goodness of its precepts, and the affurance of its rewards, hath plainly the advantage of any religion that ever yet appeared in the world. And this is a great advantage indeed. But by this alone it could never have been able to have broken through all that mighty oppofition and refiftance which was made against it: and therefore, that it might be able to encounter this with fuccefs,

2. God was pleafed to accompany the first preaching of it with a mighty and fenfible prefence and power of his Spirit. And this brings me to the

II. Second part of the text, the reafon of the wonderful efficacy and fuccefs which the Apostles had in the preaching of the gofpel: The Lord wrought with them, and confirmed the word with figns following. Which words exprefs to us that miraculous power of the Holy Ghoft, which accompanied the first preaching of the gofpel. By which I do not intend to exclude the inward operation of God's Holy Spirit upon the minds of men, fecretly moving and inclining thofe to whom the gofpel was preached,

preached, to embrace and entertain it; which the fcripture elsewhere fpeaks frequently of, and may poffibly be intended in the first of these expreffions, the Lord working with them; and the latter may only be meant of the miraculous gifts of the Spirit, with regard to which God is faid to confirm the word with figns following, or accompanying it. But I rather think they are both intended to exprefs the fame thing; and that the latter is only added by way of explication of the former, to fhew more particularly how the Lord wrought with them, namely, by giving confirmation to their doctrine by thofe miraculous gifts and powers of the Spirit which they were endued withal: the Lord working with them, and confirm ing the word with figns following; that is, with thofe miracles which accompanied the first preaching of the gofpel. For thefe words do plainly refer to the promife of the Spirit at the 17th verfe: And thefe figns jhall follow them that believe; which is the reason why they are here called figns following; that is, miracles which accompanied the word that was preached.

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And that this is the full meaning of this text, will pear by comparing it with one or two more: Rom. xv. 18. 19. where St. Paul fpeaking of the things which Chrift had wrought by him to make the Gentiles obedient to the gofpel, he fays, they were done through mighty figns and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God; which is the fame with that which is faid here in the text, of the Lord's working with the Apostles, and confirming the word with figns following. So likewife Heb. ii. 3. 4. the Apoftle there tells us, that the gospel, which was first Spoken by the Lord, was confirmed by them that heard him; God alfo bearing them witness, both with figns and wonders, and with divers miracles, and gifts of the Holy Ghoft. So that the great confirmation which is faid here to be given to the gospel, was by the miraculous gifts of the Spirit, which were poured forth upon the Apoftles and primitive Christians.

In fpeaking of which I fhall briefly do these two things. 1. Give an account of the nature of thefe gifts, and of the ufc and end to which they ferved; and then fhew, in the

2. Second place, how the gospel was confirmed by them. I. For

A a 2

1. For the nature of thefe gifts, and the ufe and end to which they were defigned.

They are thofe miraculous powers which, by the defcent of the Holy Ghoft, upon the day of Pentecoft, the Apoftles were endued withal, to qualify them to publish the gofpel with more fpeed and fuccefs. Such was the gift of fpeaking divers languages, and the gift of interpreting things fpoken in divers languages; (and thefe two gifts were not neceffarily united in the fame person, for the Apoftle tells us that fome had the one, and fome the other); the gift of prophecy, and foretelling things to come, which was always a fign of a perfon divinely infpired; the miraculous powers of healing difeafes, of railing the dead, and of cafting out devils; a power of inflicting corporal difeafes and punishments upon fcandalous and obftinate Chriftians, who would not fubmit to the Apoftles authority and government; which is in fcripture called a delivering up to Satan, for the destruction (or tormenting) of the body, that the foul may be faved; nay, in fome cafes, this power extended to the inflicting of death itself, as in the cafe of Ananias and Sapphira.

Not that all these miraculous powers were given to every one of the Apostles, or that they could exercife them at all times. Some were bestowed upon one, and fome upon another, according to God's good pleasure, and as was most expedient for the ufe and benefit of the church, and moft fubfervient to thofe ends for which God gave them. Only we find that all the Apoftles had the gift of tongues; and that the power of cafting out devils in the name of Chrift was common to every Chriftian, and continued in the church for a long time after the other gifts were ceafed; as Tertullian, Arnobius, and Minucius Felix, do teftify, even of their own times. But, 2. I fhall briefly fhew how the gofpel was confirmed by these miraculous gifts.

Now, befides the particular ufes and ends of thofe miraculous gifts, (as the gift of tongues did evidently ferve for the more fpeedy planting and propagating of the Chriftian religion in the world; and the power of inflicting corporal punishments in a miraculous manner upon fcandalous and difobedient Chriftians, did maintain the power and authority of the Apoftles, and was

instead