sign, and at last God wonderfully revived his church in the time of the Reformation, and made it to stand as it were on its feet in the sight of its enemies, and raised it out of their reach. And so since, when the Popish powers have plotted the overthrow of the Reformed church, and have seemed just about to bring their matters to a conclusion, and to finish their design, then God has wonderfully appeared for the deliverance of his church, as it was in the time of the Revolution by King William. And so it has been from time to time; presently after the darkest times of the church, God has made his church most gloriously to flourish.

If such a preservation of the church of God, from the beginning of the world hitherto, attended with such circumstances, is not sufficient to show a divine hand in favor of it, what can be devised that would be sufficient? But if this be from the divine hand, then God owns the church, and owns her religion, and owns that revelation and those scriptures on which she is built; and so it will follow, that their religion is the true religion, or God's religion, and that the scriptures, which they make their rule, are his word.

(3) We may draw this further argument for the divine authority of the scriptures from what has been said, viz. that God has so fulfilled those things which are foretold in the scriptures....I have already observed, as I went along, how the prophecies of scripture were fulfilled: I shall now therefore single out but two instances of the fulfilment of scripture prophecy.

[1] One is in preserving his church from being ruined. I have just now shown what an evidence this is of the divine authority of the scriptures in itself considered: I now speak of it as a fulfilment of scripture prophecy. This is abundantly foretold and promised in the scriptures, as particularly in the text There it is foretold, that other things shall fail, other kingdoms and monarchies which set themselves in op-position, should come to nothing: "The moth should eat them up like a garment, and the worm should eat them like wool." And so it has in fact come to pass. But it is here foretold, that God's covenant mercy to his church should con

323 tinue forever; and so it hath hitherto proved, though now it be so many ages since, and though the church has passed through so many dangers. The same is promised, Isa. liv. 17. "No weapon that is formed against thee, shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment, thou shalt condemn." And again, Isa. xlix. 14, 15, 16. " But Zion said, The Lord hath forsaken me, and my Lord hath forgotten me. Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? Yea, they may forget, but yet will I not forget thee. Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands, thy walls are continually before me." The same is promised again, in Isa. lix. 21, and Isa. xliii. 1, 2, and Zech. xii. 2, 3. So Christ promises the same, when he says, "On this rock will I build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." Now if this be not from God, and the scriptures be not the word of God, and the church of Christ, built on the foundation of this word be not of God, how could the persons who foretold this, know it? For if the church were not of God, it was a very unlikely thing ever to come to pass. For they foretold the great opposition, and the great dangers, and also foretold that other kingdoms should come to nought, and that the church should often be almost swallowed up, as it were easy to show, and yet foretold that the church should remain. Now how could they foresee so unlikely a thing but by divine inspiration?

[2] The other remarkable instance which I shall mention of the fulfilment of scripture prophecy, is in fulfilling what is foretold concerning Antichrist, a certain great opposer of Christ and his kingdom. And the way that this Antichrist should arise, is foretold, viz. not among the Heathen or those nations that never professed Christianity; but that he should arise by the apostacy and falling away of the Christian church into a corrupt state: 2. Thess. ii. 3. "For that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition.".....And it is prophesied, that this Antichrist, or man of sin, should be one, that should set himself up in the temple or visible church of God

pretending to be vested with the power of God himself, as head of the church, as in the same chapter, verse 4. And all this is exactly come to pass in the church of Rome. Again, it is intimated, that the rise of Antichrist should be gradual, as there, verse 7. "For the mystery of iniquity doth already work; only he who now letteth, will let, until he be taken out of the way." This also came to pass.....Again, it is prophesied of such a great and mighty enemy of the Christian church, that he should be a great prince or monarch of the Roman empire: So he is represented as an horn of the fourth beast in Daniel, or fourth kingdom or monarchy upon earth, as the angel himself explains it, as you may see of the little horn in the 7th chapter of Daniel. This also came to pass.....Yea, it is prophesied, that the seat of this great prince, or pretended vicar of God, and head of his church, should be in the city of Rome itself. In the 17th chapter of Revelation, it is said expressly, that the spiritual whore, or false church, should have her seat on seven mountains or hills; Rev. xvii. 9. "The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth :" And in the last verse of the chapter, it is said expressly, "The woman which thou sawest, is that great city which reigneth over the kings of the earth;" which it is certain was at that time the city of Rome. This prophecy has also come to pass in the church

of Rome.

Further, it was prophesied, that this Antichrist should reign over peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues, Rev. xvii. 15; and that all the world should wonder after the beast, Rev. xiii. 3. This also came to pass in the church of Rome. It was foretold that this Antichrist should be eminent and remarkable for the sin of pride, pretending to great things, and assuming very much to himself: So in the forementioned place in Thessalonians, "That he should exalt himself above all that is called God," or that is worshipped. So Rev. xiii. 5. "And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things, and blasphemies." Dan. vii. 20, the little horn is said to have a mouth speaking very great things, and his look to be more stout than his fellows. This also came to pass in

the Pope, and the church of Rome......It was also prophesied, that Antichrist should be an exceeding cruel persecutor, Dan. vii. 21. The same horn made war with the saints, and prevailed against them: Revelations xiii. 7. "And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them." Revelations xvii. 6. " And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus." This also came to pass in the church of Rome......It was foretold, that Antichrist should excel in craft and policy: Dan. vii. 8. "In this horn were eyes like the eyes of a man." And verse 20. "Even of that horn that had eyes." This also came to pass in the church of Rome......It was foretold, that the kings of Christendom should be subject to Antichrist: Rev. xvii. 12, 13. "And the ten horns which thou sawest, are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast. These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast." This also came to pass with respect to the Romish church......It was foretold, that he should perform pretended miracles and lying wonders: 2 Thess. ii. 9. "Whose coming is after the working of Satan, with all power, and signs, and lying wonders." Rev. xiii. 13, 14. " And he doth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth, in the sight of men, and deceiveth them that dwell on the earth, by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast." This also came to pass in the church of Rome. Fire's coming down from heaven, seems to have reference to their excommunications, which were dreaded like fire from heaven.......It was foretold, that he should forbid to marry, and to abstain from meats: 1 Tim. iv. 3. "Forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats, which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving." This also is exactly fulfilled in the church of Rome......It was foretold, that he should be very rich, and arrive at a great degree of earthly splendor and glory: Rev. xvii. 4. "And the woman was arrayed in purple, and scarlet color, and decked with gold and precious stones, and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand."

And so chap. xviii. 7. 12, 13. 16. This also is come to pass with respect to the church of Rome......It was foretold, that he should forbid any to buy or sell, but those that had his mark : Rev. xiii. 17. "And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the bcast, or the number of his name." This also is fulfilled in the church of Rome. It was foretold, that he should sell the souls of men, Rev. xviii. 13, where, in enumerating the articles of his merchandise, the souls of men are mentioned as one. This also is exactly fulfilled in the same church...... It was foretold, that Antichrist would not suffer the bodies of God's people to be put into graves: Rev. xi. 8, 9. "And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city....and they....shall not suffer their dead bodies to be put in graves." This also has literally come

to pass with respect to the church of Rome......I might mention many other things which were foretold of Antichrist, or that great enemy of the church so often spoken of in scripture, and show that they were fulfilled most exactly in the Pope and the church of Rome.

How strong an argument is this, that the scriptures are the word of God?

2. But I come now to a second inference; which is this: From what has been said, we may learn what the spirit of true Christians is, viz. a spirit of suffering. Seeing God has so ordered it in his providence, that his church should for so long a time, for the greater part of so many ages, be in a suffering state, yea, and often in a state of such extreme suffering, we may conclude, that the spirit of the true church is a suffering spirit, otherwise God never would have ordered so much suffering for the church; for doubtless God accommodates the state and circumstances of the church to the spirit that he has given them. We see by what has been said, how many and great sufferings the Christian church for the most part has been under for these 1700 years: No wonder therefore that Christ so much inculcated upon his disciples, that it was necessary, that if any would be his disciples, "they must deny themselves, and take up their cross and follow him."