religion among them, or to punish them for their impieties and blasphemies against it. Thus, when Naaman the Syrian was miraculously cured of his leprosy by washing seven times in the Jordan, as the prophet Elisha had desired him, "he returned to the man of God, he and all his company, and came and stood before him, and he said, Behold, now I know that there is no God in all the earth but in Israel," 4 Kings, v. 15. Here we see the happy effects of this miracle in convincing Naaman of the falsity of the superstition in which he had been brought up, and in bringing him to the knowledge and service of the only true God. On the other hand, the glorious deliverance of king Hezekiah from the impious Sennacherib, was foretold and executed in a miraculous manner, in order to punish that prince for his haughty and impious blasphemies against the true God, and to convince him and all his host that the God of Israel, whom he had blasphemed, was the sovereign Lord of the earth, and that all the power and strength of his numerous armies were wholly in the hands of this Supreme Being, and a mere nothing before Him. See the whole history, 4 Kings, xvii. xix., and Isaiah, xxxvi. xxxvii.

XXIII. It is commonly noticed as a remarkable instance of the divine providence, that whilst, by the dispersion of the ten tribes, and the captivity of the Jews in Babylon, God justly punished His people for their repeated crimes and frequent rebellion against Him, He at the same time made use of this to convey to these other nations a knowledge of Himself, of His religion, and of the sacred books, and thus to dispose them for receiving, in process of time, the Redeemer and His doctrine, when He should afterwards be sent among mankind. To do this the more effectually, we find that

He wrought the most glorious miracles during the Babylonian captivity, which extorted, even from His inveterate enemies, a signal confession of His almighty power, and of His being the only King and sovereign Lord of the earth.

The impious and haughty Nebuchadnezzar, seeing the firm resolution of the three holy youths in refusing to comply with his idolatry, and to worship the golden statue that he had set up, was filled with indignation, and in his fury expressed his pride and arrogance in this blasphemous manner,-"Who is that God that shall deliver you out of my hands?" But when he saw them walking loose in the midst of the fiery furnace, confounded and amazed he called them out, acknowledged them for servants of the most high God, and broke out into this glorious attestation of His divinity: "Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Mesach, and Abed-nego, who has sent His angel and delivered His servants that trusted in Him. . . . . Therefore I make a decree, that every people, nation, and language, which speak anything amiss against the God of Shadrach, Mesach, and Abed-nego, shall be cut in pieces, and their houses made a dunghill ; because there is no other God that can deliver after this sort."-See Dan. iii. 28, 29.

Again, when the prophet Daniel had related to the king his dream, which he had forgotten, and which none of the wise men among the Chaldeans could discover, and when he showed him also the meaning and interpretation of it, the king was so amazed that "he fell on his face and worshipped Daniel, and commanded that they should offer an oblation and sweet odours to him. And the king answered unto Daniel and said, Of a truth it is that your God is a God of gods, and a Lord of kings, and a Revealer of secrets, seeing thou couldst

reveal this secret,” Dan. ii. 46, 47. Another example to the same purpose we have in the preservation of Daniel in the lions' den, which made such an impression on Darius, another heathen and idolatrous prince, that he wrote to all his subjects as follows: "Peace be multiplied unto you: I make a decree, that in every dominion of my kingdom, men tremble and fear before the God of Daniel; for He is the living God and steadfast for ever, and His kingdom that which shall not be destroyed, and His dominion shall be even unto the end. He delivereth and rescueth, and worketh signs and wonders in heaven, and in earth, who hath delivered Daniel from the power of the lions," Dan. vi.

XXIV. I shall now briefly sum up what we have seen in this and the preceding chapter. We find, from undoubted facts related in the sacred Word of God itself, that God has been pleased to perform many great and astonishing miracles at different times and in various. places, for the following ends: First, to convince mankind that the doctrine which He revealed to them by those who wrought these miracles in His name, was truly His doctrine, and thereby to engage them the more readily to receive, and the more steadfastly to embrace it. Secondly, to defend His revelation once made, and to preserve the religion which He had given to His people from all attempts in after-ages to corrupt or destroy it. Thirdly, to assert His own honour against all false gods and their idolatrous worship. Fourthly, to engage 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 souls. Fifthly, to assert and vindicate the sanctity of His priesthood, and of all those holy things made use of in His immediate worship, and to procure due respect and

veneration to them. Sixthly, to show the sanctity of those holy persons whom He sends from time to time into the world, as His messengers to men, and to gain due respect and credit to them, that by their words and examples others may be excited to greater piety and fervour. Seventhly, to convince idolaters and those who know Him not that He is the only true God, when at any time He is pleased to communicate the knowledge of Himself and of His holy will to them. From all this we draw the obvious and natural conclusion, "that since Almighty God has been pleased to work the most stupendous miracles for gaining these ends, it was most worthy of Him to do so; and as it was so then, it is no less so now, and will be at all times whenever the like ends may require it."

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CHAPTER VII.

I.

THE PARTICULAR ENDS OF MIRACLES KNOWN FROM REVELATION.

W

HEN we consider the importance of the general ends of miracles related in the two preceding chapters-ends in which the glory of the Supreme Being, and the sanctification and happiness of whole nations, were so intimately concerned-we are not surprised that a God of infinite goodness should condescend to exert His almighty power for objects so worthy of Himself. But it may seem somewhat wonderful if we find that He has been no less liberal in performing the most surprising miracles, even when only the sanctification and happiness of particular persons were immediately concerned. And, indeed, it is from this supposed disproportion between the end and the miracle performed, as if the former were not worthy of the latter, that freethinkers draw objections against the existence of particular miracles.

Their mistake arises from their ignorance or inattention to three very important truths, and evidently shows how superficial is their investigation of these matters, notwithstanding the air of authority and self-sufficiency with which they dogmatise concerning them. These truths I shall here display, because they serve as so many