ward, and ran to Eli, faying, Thou calledft me: but it feems the voice had ftruck his fpiritual ear only, otherwife the high priest, who was within hearing, would have heard it, as well as the young prophet. And though Stephen fteadfaftly looked up to heaven, as if he really faw Chrift there with his bodily eyes, it is plain he discovered him only with thofe of his faith, for the roof of the house where the court was held, bounded his outward fight; and had Christ appeared in the room, fo as to be visible to common eyes, the council of the Jews would have seen him, as well as the pious prifoner at the bar.

Hence we learn-ift, That the knowledge of fpiritual things received by fpiritual fenfe, is as clear as the knowledge of natural things, obtained by bodily fenfe. 2dly, That it is fometimes poffible to be doubtful, whether the outward eye or ear is not concerned in particular revelations; fince this was not only the cafe of Samuel, but of St. Paul himself, who could not tell whether the unfpeakable words, he heard in paradife, ftruck his bodily ears, or only thofe of his foul. 3dly, That no ftrefs is to be laid upon the external circumstances, which have fometimes accompa nied the revelation of Chrift. If aged Simeon had been as blind as old Ifaac, and as much difabled from taking the child Jefus in his arms as the paralytic, the internal revelation he had of Chrift could have made him fay with the fame affurance, now let thy fervant depart in peace, for mine eyes have feen thy falvation. If the Apoftle had not been ftruck to the ground, and his eyes dazzled by outward light, his converfion would not have been lefs real, provided he had been inwardly humbled and enlightened. And, if Thomas, waving the carnal demonftration he infifted upon, had experienced only in his inner man, that Chrift is the refurrection and the life, he could have confeffed him, with as great a confcioufnefs he was not mistaken, as when he cried out, My Lord, and my God! I am, Sir, Yours, &c.

THIRD LETTER.

IV. WHY the Lord manifefts himself to the children of men is an important question, which I now come to confider. It is not, we may easily think, for the gratification of their curiofity, but for purpofes worthy of his wifdom: and what thefe are, we fhall foon learn, if we reduce divine manifeftations to three general claffes, Extraordinary, Ordinary, and Mixed Ones; and then confider the design and use of each, as it may be collected from fcripture.

nary

I. To begin with manifeftations of the ExtraordiKind: : they are fuch as are either merely external or vouchfafed to a few only on particular occafions, and are by no means effential to falvation.

1. Some of thefe are calculated to roufe the thoughtlefs into confideration. Of this kind was the inanifeftation fome were favoured with, a little before our Lord's paffion. "As he prayed, there came a voice from heaven, faying, I have glorified my name, and will glorify it again. The people, that ftood by, and heard it, faid, it thundered;" they looked upon the extraordinary call as fomething common and natural. "Others faid, An angel fpake to him. But Jefus faid, this voice came not because of me, but for your fakes."

2. Others are intended as a last warning to notorious finners. Of this nature was the terrifying fight Nebuchadnezzar had, in his fecond dream of "a Watcher and Holy One coming down from heaven, and crying aloud, Cut down the tree." And that of the myfterious hand, which wrote Belshazzar's doom on the wall, while he profaned the facred veffels in his night revels.

3. Some are defigned for the protection of God's people, and the destruction or humiliation of their

Ꮓ

proud enemies. As when the "Lord looked to the Egyptians, through the pillar of fire, and troubled their hoft:" When "he caft down great ftones from heaven" upon the armies of the five kings, who fought against Ifrael: Or when he manifefted his prefence in Nebuchadnezzar's furnace, to quench the violence of the flame, preferve the three confeffors, and convince the raging tyrant, that God's kingdom ruleth

over all.

4. The defign of others is to encourage the children of God in dangerous enterprifes, or direct them in important fteps. Of this kind was that to Jofhua, before he began the conqueft of Canaan; and that to St. Paul, when the Lord ftood by him in the prison, and informed him he must bear witnefs to him alfo at Rome.

5. Some are calculated to appoint fome perfons to uncommon fervices and trials, or to the prophetic and minifterial offices. As that in which Noah was commiffioned to build the ark, Abraham to offer up Ifaac, Mofes to deliver Ifrael, Nathan to reprove David, Balaam to blefs Ifrael, and Jeremiah to preach to the Jews.

6. Others again are defigned to answer providential ends for the deliverance of the people of God, as those of Gideon; or fpiritual ends of reproof, inftruction, and confolation to the church throughout all ages, as most of the revelations vouchfafed to the prophets, and to St. John.

II. The manifeftations effential either to the converfion of finners, or edification of faints, and which the word of God, and the experiences of Chriftians fhew to be common to all believers, in all ages of the church, are of the Ordinary Kind, and their use or defign is,

1. To make the word fpirit and life, "quick and powerful, sharper than any two-edged fword, piercing even to the dividing afunder foul and fpirit," that the gofpel may not come to finners "in word only, but

alfo in power, and in the Holy Choft, and in much affurance."

2. To ease an anguifhed confcience, and impart the peace of God to a troubled mind: as in the cafe of broken-hearted David, mourning Hezekiah, weeping Peter, and Paul agonizing in prayer.

3. To reveal Christ to us, and in us, fo as to make, us favingly believe, and know, in whom we have believed, according to the experiences of Peter, Lydia, Cornelius, and every living member of Chrift.

4. To open a bleffed intercourfe, and keep up a delightful communion with Chrift; as appears from the experiences of believers illuftrated in the Canticles.

5. To filence the remains of felf-righteoufnefs, and deepen the humiliation of our fouls; as in the cafe of Job. To make us grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord Jefus Chrift. To bruife Satan under our feet, yea, to bruise the ferpent's head in our hearts, and feal the exceeding great and precious promifes given to us, that we might be partakers of the divine nature, and continue immoveable, always abounding in the work of faith, the patience of hope, and the labour of love. In a word, to "frengthen us with might, by God's Spirit in the inner man, that Chrift my dwell in our hearts by faith, and we may be filled with all the fulness of God."

6. To prepare us for great trials, fupport us under them, and comfort us after them. This was our Lord's experience before his temptation, after he had overcome the tempter, and when he was in the height of his agony. This was also the cafe of David, St. Paul, and of all the apoftles, when they had been fcourged for the name of Jefus; and it is ftill the cafe of all true and deep mourners in Sion.

7. And lastly, to make us depart in peace, as Simcom; or die in perfect love with our enemies, and the full triumph of faith, as St. Stephen. All who live and die in the Lord partake, more or lefs, of thefe ordinary difplays of his powerful prefence, and I de

fire you, Sir, to remember, that it is chiefly, if not only, in fupport of these important manifeftations I take up the pen.

III. The third clafs of manifeftations is that of Mixed Ones; fo called, because they are partly extraordinary, and partly ordinary. Some are ordinary in their defign, and extraordinary in their circumftances. Of this fort was the manifeftation to the apoftles, Acts iv. 31. The defign of it was merely common, i. e. to comfort them under contempt, and encourage them to do good and fuffer evil; but the shaking the place where they were assembled was an uncommon circumftance. The fame thing may be faid of the defcent of the Holy Ghoft on the 120 who were affembled in the upper room on the day of Pentecoft, and fome time after upon Cornelius and his foldiers. That they fhould be baptized with the Holy Ghoft and fpiritual fire was not extraordinary, fince it is the common bleffing, which can alone make a man a Chriftian, or confirm him in the faith: but that the found of a rufhing wind fhould be heard, and luminous appearances feen refting upon them, and that they fhould have been enabled to speak the wonderful works of God in other tongues, were uncommon circumstances attending their fpiritual baptifin.

Some manifeftations are mixed, both as to their defign and circumftances. That the iniquity of Ifaiah fhould be put away, and St. Paul converted, were not uncommon things; they are the common effects of ordinary nianifeftations: But that the prophet fhould be commiffioned to preach to the Jews, and the apostle to open the eyes of the Gentiles were extraordinary circumftances, as alfo, a flying cherub appearing to the cne, and a light brighter than the fun, blinding the other.

For want of diftinguifhing properly between what is ordinary and extraordinary in mixed manifeftations, perfons who are not poffeffed of a clear head, or what is worfe, of an honeft heart, conclude, that none but enthufiafts fpeak now of divine manifeftations. If