5 o4 Of the Miracles wrought ira Vol. II. was the Perkcetion and fulfilling of the Lawnbegan tobe publifh'd at the very fame time that the Law was given fromMownSitrai, viz. at the end of the feven weeks alter the Paffiver. For at this time the Holy Ghoft defcended upon the Apoltles in Miraculous Powers and Gifts ; when this new law was to come forth oat of Sion, and the law of the Lord from Jerufalcm. And among thefe Gifts, the Aft we find mentioned was the Gift of Tongues ; without which, the Gofpel mutt of neceflity have been very flowly propagated in the World : for had the Apoftles been firlt to learn the feveral Languages of the Nations they.were to. [reach tö, hcw_tedious.a work would that -.have been ? lc requiring the Indultry of Come Years, to gain fo perfed a Maf ry of a firanee Language, as to be able' to ufe it with that freedom and teadine(s which is need: lary for (unit a work. And this Gift all the Apoftles had, becaufe they !lad a!1 occafion for it, being defigned by our Saviour to be the chief Publifhers ci b.s Gofpel to the t: orld. And this Gift did allo continually reticle upon titer ^., and not only at moron times, as fotne other Gifts did, becaufe they had conftant tale os this Gift es Tn.-,?rues. The interpreting of things. ipuiseo in a :range. Tongue, wee ailò a-Ghu di(tin& from the Gft of Tongues, tho' attending it ; infomuc!, rha' I:me Perlons had one, and Ionic the other. So the Apoftle tells use r Cor, ta. ro. 'Te one is given divers kinds of Tongues ; and to another the interpretation of Tongue,/. The oecafron of which was plainly this > it might happen, and often did, that the Auditory might confift of people of feveral Nations; now bccaufc no gran could fpeak more than one Language at once, it was convenient others thould havethe gift of interpreting what was fpoken, to thofè who underftaod not the Language in which it was fpo- ken, that fo all might receive the benefit of what was delivered, and be edified there- by. So that herewere two feveral Gifts (crying the fame end, viz. the conveying of the knowledge of the Gofpel to Mankind, in a more fpeedy way than it could have been doneby ordinary means ; and thefewere very plain and fenfible Miracles, unqueftionably fupernatural, and evident to the fenfes ofall men. So that theGof. pet, where-ever it was Preached, carried its own Teftimony along with it, and was confirmed by the very manner of its conveyance and delivery : and well might Men entertain it as a Divine Doctrine, when the very Manner and the Means whereby it was pubhfh'd was a Miracle. And here I cannot but take notice, how contrary the Arts and the Ways of the Church of Rome are, to the Methods of God ; and that when he was at the expence of fo many Miracles to publifh this Docrine to the World they Ihould ufe fo much Induftry and Violence toconceal ir. God was pleated to endow the firft Preachers of it with the Gift of Tongues, that their Sound might go into all the Earth, and their Word to the end of the World, that there might be no Nation nor Language where this Saving Knowledge might not come, that the Sermons which they preach- ed, and the Prayers which they put up toGod in publick, for themfelves and the People, and all the Offices of Religion which they performed, might be fully un- derfl:ood by all, and that all might joys in them, and have the benefit and comfort of them ; that their Underfiandings might be informed and enlighted by what was fpoken, and their Affections railed and warmed by their Underflandings, and their Wills excited by their AfPeûions, and that the Effect of all this might appear in their Lives and Practice. Thus it was in the Primitive Chriftian Church : but in the Church of Rome, things are managed in a quite contrary way, and have been for feveral Ages. The Do&tine of Salvation, as it is contained and delivered in the Holy Scripture, is a foaled Book, which the people are not thought worthy to open or look into. This bread of Life which came down from Heaven, is like the fhew.bread among theYews, which none may eat lut the Prieft only, unlefs it be by extraordinary Favour and particular Licence from the Bithop. The People indeed come together, and are prefent at the Prayers and Devotion of the Prieft; but the Pricft that prays is a Barbarian to them, and all the while the underftanding of the People is unfruitful, and they cannot fay Amen, becaufe they underfland net what he Jays. But
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