CHAPTER XII. THE SAME SUBJECT CONTINUED. Auxiliary and supplemental witnesses to christian miracles-Gospel made miracles test of its divinity-Age of miracles continued near seventy years-During miraculous age all christians had sure means of ascertaining genuineness of miracles-Bore testimony to their genuineness by perilous adhesion to persecuted faith—Miracles the evidences of title to the promised inheritance above-Seekers after truth of Gospel would scrutinize closely these evidences before giving up all to purchase inheritance— Witnesses to miracles thus multiplied to many thousands-Each witness testified by his act as strongly as he could by his pen or oath-Argument of Leslie drawn from institutions of Baptism Lord's Supper and christian Sabbath--New Testament and old parts of same system-If Gospel forged so were Jewish Scriptures. the WE have hitherto limited our remarks upon proofs of the christian miracles to the depositions of the eight writers of the Gospel. But it must never be forgotten, that the truth of those depositions is confirmed by a mighty host of collateral and supplemental witnesses. Jesus Christ declared, "For the works which the Father hath given me to finish, the same works that I do bear witness of me that the Father hath sent me." "If I do not the works of my Father, believe me not. But if I do, though ye believe not me, believe the works."t He appealed to his works as proofs that he was the Son of God. He exacted belief or sanctioned unbelief, as his works were or were not miraculous. The Redeemer dealt with those he came to redeem as with rational beings; he required not blind reliance on the truth even of his own benign declarations; he rested the authentication of his messiahship on his signs and wonders. And the Gospel announced that to his apostles he bequeathed miraculous powers as the palpable seals of their heavenly mission. Paul affirmed, in his second epistle to the church planted by him at Corinth, "Truly the signs of an apostle were wrought among you in all patience, in signs and wonders and mighty deeds." And in his epistle to the Hebrews, when speaking of the apostolic missionaries to the dispersed nations, he declared, "God also bearing them witness both with signs and wonders, and with divers miracles, and gifts of the Holy Ghost."§ Thus the Gospel made the genuineness of its mighty works the test John v. 36. 2 Corinthians xii. 12. + John x. 37, 38. § Hebrews ii. 4. of its credibility. Among those works it classed the supernatural gift of tongues claimed to be exercised by its primitive preachers. In the age of Jesus of Nazareth, and in the apostolic era succeeding his decease, the profession of his religion was attended with tremendous sacrifices. All sublunary hopes were to be abandoned for the hope of an unseen inheritance beyond the grave. The palpable proofs of the reality of that inheritance were the signs and wonders claimed to be wrought by the Founder of Christianity and his apostles. Those signs and wonders were the official credentials of the Gospel. On those credentials would be riveted the inquisition of the world. More especially intense must have been the scrutiny of those who were about to exchange the religion of their ancestors for the new faith which promised nothing below the skies save obloquy, privation, and suffering. Even an earthly estate, though comparatively of ephemeral worth, is not purchased without a previous and thorough examination of the evidences of its title. No purchaser would rely on the mere representations of an unknown vendor. The heavenly estate proffered by the Gospel, as far surpassed in value any terrestrial acquisition as the duration of eternity surpasses the duration of time. But the terms on which the celestial inheritance was offered to the primitive inquirer, were strict, uncompromising, and startling. He must forsake the world, and take up his cross daily, and follow the crucified Redeemer. Costly and perilous was the proposed investment; on the evidences of its reality, it is most unlikely that the searcher after truth would permit himself to be deceived. The heavenly inheritance was presented to him as the "one pearl of great price;" but before he "went and sold all that he had and bought it,"* the common principles of human nature assure us that he would have sought, as for his life, to learn whether the seemingly precious jewel might not be a counterfeit. The christian signs and wonders were the sure touchstone for trying it. If they were found to be illusory, the inference would be inevitable that what purported to be "the pearl of great price," was but a bauble of earthly mould; if the miracles were ascertained to be real, they demonstrated it to be genuine and enduring as the eternal throne. The personal followers of our Lord were eye and ear witnesses of his miracles. Their united senses * Matthew xiii. 46. could not have deceived them. By the very act of adherence to the new faith, they testified to their cotemporaries and to posterity, that his signs and wonders were supernatural. They became fellowwitnesses with the eight writers of the Gospel. The thousands of dwellers at Jerusalem who were made converts to Christianity within a few days after its Founder had been crucified as a malefactor, must have known of their own knowledge, whether his crucifixion was attended with the quaking of the earth, the rending of the rocks, and the darkening of the sun; and by plighting their allegiance to the persecuted religion, they bore unequivocal testimony to the fact of those stupendous prodigies. Living upon the spot cotemporaneously with his alleged resurrection, they were surrounded with demonstrations of the truthful or fabulous character of that event so vital to the christian faith. That they cast in their lot with the people of God, is irrefragable evidence that they knew the resurrection to be a glorious reality. To the stern test of miracles, the Gospel submitted itself for almost seventy years after the death of its Author. The apostolic era, commencing at the time of the ascension, terminated not until the decease of the last of the chosen twelve; and Saint |