CHAPTER XVIII. .143 assent to any thingwithout reasonable or sufficient evidence : nor to believe any proposition more strongly, than what our evidence for it will support. We have therefore abundant ground to believe, that those persons of whom our Saviour requires such a strong faith, or whom he commends for their strong faith, had as strong and certain evidence of his power and commission, from the credible and incontestable reports they had heard of his mira- cles, which were wrought on purpose to give evidence to his com- mission.* Now in such a case, both this strong faith and the open profession of it were very worthy of public encouragement and praise from our Saviour, because of the great and public opposition which the magistrates and the priests, and the doctors of the age made against Jesus the man of Nazareth, when he appeared as the Messiah. And besides all this it may be reasonably supposed, with regard to some of those strong exercises of faith which are re- quired and commended, that these believers had some further hints of inward evidence and immediate revelation from God himself ; as when St. Peter confesses Christ to be the Son of God ; Mat. xvi. 16, 17. our blessed Saviour commends him, say- ing, blessed art thou Simon Bar-jowl ; but he adds, flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father who is in heaven. And the same may be said concerning thefaith of miracles, the exercise whereof' was sometimes required of the disciples and others, that is, when by inward and divine influences God assured them some miracles should be wrought, their obe- dience to and compliance with these divine illuminations was ex- pected and commended. Now this supernatural inspiration, car- ried sufficient evidence with it to them, as well as to the ancient prophets, though we who never felt it are not so capable to judge and distinguish it. XXV. What is said before concerning truth or doctrines, may he also affirmed concerning duties ; the reason of both is the same : as the one are truths for our speculation, the others are truths for our practice. Duties which are expressly required in the plain language of scripture, or dictatedby the most evident reasoning upon first principles, ought to bindour consciences more than those which are but dubiously inferred, and that only from occasional occurrences, incidents andcircumstances : as for instance, I am certain that I ought to pray to God, my con- * When our Saviour gently reproves Thomas for his unbeli ¡ John xx. 29. he does it in these Words, Because thou hest seen me, Thomas, thou has! htlieued : blessedare they who have not seen andyet have belived, that is, blessed are they who, though they have not been favoured with the evidence of their senses -as thou hast been, yet have been convinced by the reasonable sod sufficient moral evidenceof the Well grounded report of others, and have believed in me upon that evidence. Of this moral evidence Mr. »loon writes exeeadiugly well, in his book of the Resurrection of Christ.
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