SERMON XIX.

!

CESSATION OF MIRACULOUS POWERS AFTER

THE AGE OF THE APOSTLES.

A SERMON FOR WHITSUNDAY.

MATT. xxviii. 20.

And, lo! I am with you alway, even to the end of the world.*

THE great fact upon which the whole fabric of Christianity rests, is the resurrection of Jesus from the dead; for, as the apostle Paul justly observes, if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain; and they who have fallen asleep in Christ, relying upon his promise that the dead should rise to life and immortality, are lost for ever.

But the fact upon which the credit of this most important miracle chiefly rests, is

Or rather, to the end of the age. Compare chap. xxiv. 3. Εως ο της συντελείας τ8 αιώνος.

the splendid miracle which is this day deservedly and joyfully commemorated by the whole christian church, the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the day of Pentecost, the communication of miraculous gifts and powers to the apostles, and to the first teachers of the christian doctrine, by which they were amply qualified to preach the glad tidings of salvation faithfully, powerfully, and successfully through the world.

The resurrection of Jesus was a private miracle. And it may perhaps be admitted that the testimony of twelve competent witnesses, who could not be deceived themselves, and who could have no motive to impose upon others, would be sufficient to convince the wise, and to satisfy the unprejudiced and the impartial. But this, in the present case, was not enough. The attention of the multitude was to be roused, and in a manner compelled to the subject, and the obduracy of deeply-rooted and inveterate prejudice was to be overcome. It was not enough that here and there a philosopher became a proselyte, who might, by

calm reasoning and persuasive eloquence, convert the few pupils who frequented their schools: it had been promised to the Messiah, as the reward of his sufferings (Isaiah, liii.), that by his doctrine he should justify many, and that many, the many, the mass of mankind, should be given to him as a portion. The great end of the mission of Christ could not be accomplished unless myriads were converted to the faith, and a nation born in a day. For the blessings of the gospel were to be extended to all mankind. None were excluded who were willing to accept the offered mercy. But general attention could only be excited by miracles such as the apostles and their first converts were empowered to perform. These were numerous and various: they were performed in public before thousands of witnesses: they could not be denied: they could not be called in question: and they were avowedly wrought in the name of Jesus, by power derived from him, and for the advancement of his religion. If these miracles were real facts, Jesus was alive.

The conclusion could not be resisted. It has, indeed, never been questioned. No man ever did or could believe in the existence of the apostolic miracles, and at the same time deny, or even doubt, that Jesus rose from the dead.

And the truth of this important fact, that the apostles performed miracles in the name of Jesus, and that they communicated miraculous powers to their immediate converts, is substantiated by evidence which, I do not hesitate to say, is as strong, or even stronger than that of any other fact upon historical record.

In the first place, we have direct historical proof, the testimony of competent and credible historians, who relate with the most artless simplicity what they themselves saw and heard, and whose testimony is unimpeachable. We have also what may properly be called philosophical evidence of the fact, arguing from the effect to the cause. The early, rapid, and extensive progress of the christian religion is a fact which cannot be disputed. It is attested

both by friends and enemies: and this event, the most extraordinary that ever occurred in the history of the world, must have had an adequate cause. Such a cause the history of the christian religion actually assigns—a cause adequate, suitable, and in its circumstances probable-the gift of the holy spirit to Christ and his apostles: the miraculous powers which they possessed: the signal miracles which they performed: and the communication of these gifts and powers to the primitive believers. Admit these facts, and you have an easy and satisfactory solution of the problem: every difficulty vanishes, and the extraordinary success of the christian doctrine ceases to excite surprise. Deny them, and all is darkness and confusion: a great effect is produced without any sufficient cause: and the early and extensive diffusion of the christian religion, the zeal with which it was propagated, the multitudes by whom it was embraced, the fortitude with which its professors suffered for its sake, is a case of insanity unparalleled in the annals of mankind.