"The heathen are to be converted not so much by the Christian miracles, as by the Christian life; for they often treat as impostors those who merely work miracles. Nothing puts them to shame so much as a virtuous example; nothing excites in them so strong a prejudice against the Gospel, as the evil life of him who professes it. When they see a man covetous and rapacious, while he preaches moderation and self-denial; when they see him treating his own people like wild beasts, instead of obeying the commandment which bids him love even his enemies, they will regard all he says as an idle tale. How can they believe a man who promises them immortality, when they find that he is himself afraid to die? When they see a Christian believer the slave of ambition and other passions, they will become more inveterate in their own ways, and will form no very high opinion of ours. If

τοντας ἡμᾶς τοὺς πλήσιον, λύμην ἡμᾶς καλοῦσι τῆς οἰκου μένης. Ταῦτα Ἕλληνας κατέχει, καὶ οὐκ ἀφίησι πρὸς ἡμᾶς μεταστῆναι. Ὥστε ἡμεῖς καὶ τούτων δίκην δώσομεν, οὐχ ὑπὲρ ῶν κακῶς πράττομεν μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ ὑπὲρ ὧν βλασφημεῖται τὸ ὄνομα τοῦ Θεοῦ .... Διὸ καὶ δέδοικα μή τι γένηται χαλές πὸν, καὶ πολλὴν ἐπισπασώμεθα τὴν παρὰ τοῦ Θεοῦ τιμωρίαν. Ὅπερ ἵνα μὴ γένηται, τῆς ἀρετῆς ἐπιμελώμεθα πάσης, ἵνα καὶ τῶν μελλόντων ἐπιτύχωμεν ἀγαθῶν, χάριτι καὶ φιλανθρωπία τοῦ Κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ, δι ̓ οὗ καὶ μεθ ̓ οὗ τῷ Πατρὶ ἡ δόξα, ἅμα τῷ ἁγίῳ Πνεύματι, νῦν καὶ ἀεὶ καὶ εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἴωνων. Αμήν.

H. H. L.

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they continue to wander from the truth, we are to blame. For they have already condemned their own superstitions; they admire the principles which we profess, but by our lives they are deterred from embracing them. It is an easy thing to speak the language of wisdom; many among themselves have done this; but they demand of us a further sign, an experimental proof of our doctrine. Shew us,' say they, your faith by your works.' And this we cannot do. When, therefore, they see us tearing each other in pieces, after the manner of wild beasts, they denounce us as the plague of the universe. These things hold back the heathen, and suffer them not to come over to us. So that we are responsible not only for our evil deeds, but for giving occasion that the name of God should be blasphemed. ... Wherefore, I am afraid, that some dreadful thing will happen to us, and that we shall draw down upon ourselves the heavy wrath of God. That this may not come to pass, let us apply ourselves to all virtue: so shall we obtain those good things, which are prepared for us by the grace and goodness of our Lord Jesus Christ; through whom and with whom be glory to the Father and the Holy Ghost, now and for evermore. Amen."

THE EFFECT PRODUCED UPON JEWS AND GENTILES BY THE EVIDENCE OF PROPHECY.

ROMANS XVI. 25, 26.

The revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began, but now is made manifest, and by the scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, made known to all nations for the obedience of faith.

HESE words direct our attention forcibly

THESE

to the Hebrew prophecies, and teach us to regard them as among the principal instruments placed in our hands by God, for the conversion of the heathen world to the Christian faith. We might not, perhaps, have expected that the Apostle would place them in quite so strong a light. Addressed in the first instance exclusively to the Jewish people, written in their language, interwoven with their history, coloured in some degree by their national customs and habits of thought, the prophecies might seem peculiarly calculated to persuade the Jews, but not so likely to affect the minds of mankind in general. The Apostle, however, declares that the mystery was made known not to the Jews merely, but to all nations, by the Scriptures of the prophets; not of course meaning that this was

the only channel by which such knowledge was conveyed, but certainly implying that this was second in importance to none other. We are now about to observe, as closely as the nature of the case will permit, the use which was made of the evidence of prophecy, and the effect which it produced, in the first ages of the Gospel. It will, I think, appear as we proceed, that the words of my text were not written unadvisedly; that they are true in the largest sense, and require no qualification ; and that while the prophecies were generally slighted by the nation to which they were first published, they were urged with great effect by the early promulgators of the Gospel in heathen lands. The prophets were not without honour, save in their own country.

I observed in my last Lecture, that our blessed Lord, in proof of his divine mission, appealed chiefly to the evidence afforded by his miracles. "The works which I do, these bear witness of me;" such was the declaration which he repeated again and again, not only to the multitude and the Pharisees, but also to his own disciples. He relied but little on the argument from prophecy. Not indeed that he omitted it altogether; he affirmed that if the Scriptures, which the Pharisees regarded with so much complacency, were duly

searched, they would be found to testify of him. And he not only spoke in this general way, but he sometimes intimated that certain events were about to happen to him, in fulfilment of prophecy. "Behold," he said, "we go up to Jerusalem, and all things that are written by the prophets concerning the Son of man shall be accomplished'." And again, "The Son of man goeth as it is written of him; but woe unto that man by whom the Son of man is betrayed." But we are told by the Evangelist, that "they understood none of these things3." It does not appear that he quoted the prophecies at large; he did no more than allude to them: and his allusions were among those dark sayings of his, which as yet he did not explain, and they could not interpret; serving more for the trial than for the confirmation of their faith. It would be presumptuous to assign positively the reason, which induced our Lord to rely on one kind of evidence, rather than on another; but we can very well understand, that had he developed the argument from prophecy, it would not have been conclusive, while an important class of predictions, those namely which related to his sufferings and death, were not yet fulfilled.

1 Luke xviii. 31. 2 Matt. xxvi. 24.

3 Luke xviii. 34.