A Discourse Upon the Powers of the World to Come, Discourse · Chapter 2
CHAP. II. Of the Nature of Miracles, and the due place …f them.
I Begin therefore with the Firſt Particular; and that is to open the Nature of Miracles, upon a True and Juſt Conſideration of them. Now that this may be underſtood, there muſt be a cl…ſe Attendance of Thought given to Creation and Providence; that it may be known wherein they and Miracles differ one from another. For if we do not look upon Miracles in that, they can never be Rightly and Diſtinctly comprehended: For it is Evident, Miracles, Signs and Wonders are ſome Appearances of God, that ſeem to us to Tranſcend, and to be Exalted above the State of Creation, and the ſtate of Providence, and of the Government of the World at this day.
And indeed, if things were rightly ſtated; there is no other difference between Miracle and Creation, but that Creation we look upon, as a thing paſt and done, ſettled and fix'd Ages ago; but Miracle is a thing New, and Freſh, as we may ſay, out of the Mint of Divine Power; and ſo Providence, and the Government of the World we are Acquainted and Familiar with, as things that in ſome Points of them we ſee every Day; in others we find, that in the continual Toſſing and Rolling of Things, they are now and then thrown and caſt up, and at leaſt in a Revolution and larger ſpaces of Time, do at one time or other ſhew Themſelves; and whether they every day, or ſeldom are ſeen, we can give Account of them, or make probable Conjectures how they come to paſs by the Train, Connexion, and Dependance of one thing upon another; and ſo they are accounted no Miracles; but ſtill they are in themſelves all of the Nature of Miracles.
Indeed it is no Miracle to us now, that there is a Sun gives Light by Day, and the Moon by Night; this is no Miracle, as we account it now: But I deſire you to conſider, if there had been any men, as it is generally allowed, there were Angels at the very beginning of the Creation, when the Earth was without Form, and Void, and Darkneſs was upon the Face of the Deep; What a Miracle had it been in our Senſe, to ſee Light? When God ſaid, let there be Light. and there was Light; And ſo if any had been in any Former Day, and ſeen the making the Things that were not made out of Things that did appear before, until every following Day; as the wonderful diſpoſal of the Waters, of the Light, as diffuſed into the Lights of Heaven; the Creatures Riſing out of the Earth. All theſe, if any Intelligent Being were ſuppos'd, as the Angels, thoſe Morning-Stars ſhouting for Joy, muſt not he needs have acknowledg'd all Miracle?
And ſo in the Government of Providence, if we were wiſe to obſerve it throughout, every day we ſhould ſee miracles: OnelyOnly this it is becauſe the order is ſtated, ſettled, conſtituted ſo long ago; Therefore men have got another word for Creation, and Providence; that is; Nature, and the courſe of nature; Becauſe they conſider, they are ſettled; but do not conſider, not onelyonly whoſe ordinance firſt ſettled them, but that every moment the word going out of the mouth of God continues them, becauſe all are Gods ſervants, and they need a Freſh command every minute. My Father worketh hitherto, and I work, without any Sabbath, Jo. 5. v. 17.
Oh how admirably is God himſelf pleaſed to diſcourſe this matter, and that very largely too in the latter end of the book of Job; As to creation, Job. 38. v. 2. &c. Saith God to Job; Gird up thy Loins now like a man; For I will Demand of thee, and anſwer thou me; Where waſt thou, when I laid the Foundations of the earth? Declare now, if thou haſt underſtanding; who hath layd the meaſures of it, if thou knoweſt? Or who hath stretched the Line upon it? Whereupon are the Foundations thereof Faſten'd? Or who layd the Corner ſtone thereof▪ When the Morning ſtars ſang together, and the ſons of God ſhouted fo… Joy; or who ſhut up the Sea with Doors when it brake forth, as if it had Iſſued out of the womb? And ſo he goes on through the whole creation.
Now I ſay, if God ſhould come to the Atheiſts of our days, to the men that are ſetting their mouth againſt the Heaven, and their Tongue walking through the Earth, if God ſhould come, and ſay to them; Come now you Mighty Men of Wit, and Reaſon, and Senſe, that look upon all as ſillyneſs, but that you your ſelves ſpeak; what if you had been by, when I was Laying the Foundations of the Earth, and had heard me command Light? when the Earth was without Form, and Void, and Darkneſs was upon the Face of it, and it immediately appear'd? would you have allowed it a Miracle or not? Would you have diſputed it with the Heavenly Hoſt, ſinging, and ſhouting too for joy at it? Conſider it every way, and then give me an Anſwer, is it Miracle or not?
And, as it is thus concerning Creation, ſo concerning Providence; it is perfect Miracle; for what is Miracle, but an Effect riſing from the immediate word of God; now how does our Meat preſerve our Life? not by it ſelf only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the Mouth of God, as our Lord hath declared to us.
So, How do our Cloaths warm us? How does the whole Courſe of Nature maintain its Circulation? We are as ignorant in all theſe things, even as the Jews were, when Chriſt either Heal'd the Sick, or the Lame, or open'd the Eyes of the Blind, or caſt out Devils, or whatever were the great things he did, and yet ſtill, the things were evident Matters of Fact: Even ſo it is in the Dayly Evidences of the Divine Power, and Greatneſs, and Goodneſs in the Creation, and Dayly Providence.
How excellently does David ſpeak upon this Subject, Pſalm 104. He goes through this whole Oeconomy of Creation, and Providence; and therefore he begins thus, Oh Lord my God, thou art very Great; Thou art Cloathed with Honour und Majeſty, who covereſt thy ſelf with Light, as with a Garment, and ſo on. Now if we do really believe, that the whole World ſtands by Immediate Divine Power, and that every day the Motions of it come freſh out of the Hand of God, and that beyond all Natural Cauſes or Connexion of Cauſes; then we muſt acknowledg Miracles every day.
The Prophet Jeremy tells us, Lament. 3. 23. It is of the Lords mercies we are not Conſumed, and becauſe his compaſſions fail not, they are new every Morning. We are ready to think the Light and the Life, and the mercy of this Day, are the ſame they were Yeſterday; but if we believe the Spirit of God by that Prophet, they are not the ſame, though of the ſame for Kind; yet not the ſame by any neceſſary Continuation, or Natural Connexion with thoſe of Yeſterday; but new, new every Morning: Now if the mercy of this Morning be new, why then it is certainly a Miracle; becauſe no Power of a Creature could have produced it, or brought it forth, but an Immediate Act of the Power of the goodneſs of God; And he had not done it ſo yeſterday, that he muſt needs do it to day; yet if he did not generally do it, and that anew, our Life muſt ceaſe for ever; Oh if our Hearts did but Live under this Senſe of God, how Humble and Dependent would it make us! We are ready to think it is the Suns Duty to Riſe to Day, becauſe it Roſe Yeſterday, and we are too ready to Build upon it, that our Life ſhall be to Day, as it was Yeſterday; but if we could conſider, that it is indeed a New Life every Day, yea, every Moment, and that whatever Channel it runs through, yet that God alone is the Giver immediately from Himſelf; and it is continually a New Gift. If a Man were Dead, and Raiſed again from the Dead, then every one would look about them, and make a great wonder; but if we went up to the Fountain Head, we ſhould find the very ſame Power, that Raiſes the Dead, giving Life every Moment; and if we could ſee but into that, we ſhould ſee Miracle in the one, even as in the other: for both are immediately from Infinite Power; Both are New; Only one is out of the Ordinary Courſe of Gods Diſpoſal, the other not ſo.
I would only argue this further on one place of Scripture, and ſo paſs on. It is ſaid, Rom. 1. 20. The Inviſible Things of him, from the Creation of the World, are clearly understood by the Things that are made. Even his Eternal Power and Godhead; ſo that they are without Excuſe. The Apoſtle affirms, The Eternal Power and Godhead are in themſelves clearly to be ſeen round about us, by the Works of Creation and Providence, and ſo as to leave without Excuſe. Although therefore we ſee not thus clearly, even the beſt of us; and ſo many bruitiſh, Atheiſtick Men not at all; yet this cannot make the Apoſtle's Words of no Effect; They continue Firm; The Eternal Power and Godhead are ſo to be ſeen, as to leave men without Excuſe. What now can Miracles do more? They can only alarm, or call us to cloſer Attendance: They cannot more clearly inform, inlighten or aſſure. We may therefore juſtly ſay of Creation and Providence, compar'd with Miracles, as the Lord ſaid of Moſes and the Prophets, compar'd with one riſing from the Dead: If they will not believe the one, they will not be perſwaded by the other: If not by Creation and Providence, no not by Miracles:
I would therefore conſider what is ſaid by the Men of Wit and Reaſon, as they are ready to Eſteem themſelves: They would ſuppoſe, that Matter and Motion being either Eternal, as ſome would have it, or Created by God, as others would at leaſt ſeem to allow; and then either by themſelves, or by a General Concourſe of the Supreme Being, they could together, according to a ſort of Mechanick Law, do every thing. But we ſee how ſoon, not only the Works of Art, but even of Nature, Run out of Order, or wear out themſelves. It is True, if all things could have produced themſelves, there were an End of the Miracle of Creation; Or if when made, they could Govern themſelves, There were then indeed no Miracle of Providence, but what turned Nature wholly out of its Courſe.
But to us inſtructed by the Word of God, the whole Frame of Creation is like a well Tuned Inſtrument, every String wound up to its due Tenor; but in evèry ſingle String, and the whole Harmony, the Divine Hand was immediately, even wherein any Second Cauſe had the leaſt Activity: Every Wheel in this curious Machine was plac'd by his Finger; And when all was put together, and ſo Tun'd, All had for ever notwithſtanding lain ſtill, like an Inſtrument on which the Muſicians Hand never came, or was removed; Or as a Clock or Watch, whoſe Weights or Spring were never wound up, or quite down, or taken off. And to this Frame, and this Motion, no Vicarious Hand, but the Creator's alone, can ſuff…ce. He is every moment even a-new the Fountain of Life, Being and Motion; as the Apoſtle ſaith, In him we live, move, and have our Being. So that Creation and Providence are ſtill Miracles. The Sun (and ſo all other of the Works of Creation, in their proportion) is prepared, as a Bridegroom coming out …f his Chamber, and rejoyces as a ſtrong man to run a Race. But in all this, the Sun declares the Glory of God alone. Oh that therefore our ſouls could Bleſs the Lord, while we have our Being, and all that is within us praiſe his Holy Name▪ that the meditation of Him, and his Works, could be ſweet to us, and that we could ſay, we need not Miracles as further Evidences of his Creating Power, or Preſerving Goodneſs, but for the Diſplays thereof to other High Ends, to be hereafter aſſign'd. For I have been thus large in this matter, it being both ſo Noble a Point, as alſo becauſe it makes much to the True Conſideration of the Chief End of Miracles.
2. I come therefore to a Second Conſideration of Creation and Providence, as giving Space and Room for Miracles to enter; and that I ſhall repreſent,
Firſt, In the General, and then be more particular with relation to Miracles.
1. When Man had ſinned, and forfeited the Glory of that State of the Creation, that had Reſpect to him; That all things did not immediately, as I may ſay, tumble about his Ears▪ daſh in peices upon him, or fall into an Univerſal Hell, is owing to the Mediator, who therefore is ſaid, Heb. 1. to Ʋphold all things by the Word of his Power; even he who purged our ſins by his own Blood, thus upholds All; that the Sun ſhines, and invigorates all the Lower Creation with its Light and Beams; that the Fruitfulneſs of the Earth, and the Courſes of Water remain, All is due to the Glory of the Mediator; Elſe All had return'd to the Firſt Tohu▪ Bohu, its firſt dark and deſolate ſtate.
And yet notwithſtanding, it is ſo ordered in the Wiſdom and Righteouſneſs of God, and by the Counſel between him and the Mediator▪ or, as Zachary ſays, between them both; that there ſhould be many Interſpers'd Appearances of the Curſe, as we all know by abundant ſad Experience; which are become ſo ſetled and expectable, that we call ſuch Appearances of the Curſe, Nature; or are ſo frequent, as we account them at leaſt common to Man, or Humane Nature; ſuch as Sickneſs, Death, Lameneſs, Blindneſs, many Inſults of the Enemy, or the Diabolical Nature, either in plainer Poſſeſſions or more ſecret Impreſſions upon the Mind and Body. Now if ſuch Appearances of the Curſe had not been, there had been no place for many Miraculous Appearances of God, and of Chriſt, in Mercy and Grace; and ſo if there had not been General Judgments, and more ſolemn Appearances of the Curſe; there had not been ſuch Miraculous Acts of Grace as the Ark was to Noah, Zoar to Lot, Goſhen to the Children of Iſrael. Had not there been ſuch Strokes of the Curſe, there could not have been ſuch Miracles of Healing, Reſtoring Sight, Raiſing the Dead; All theſe Miraculous Acts of Mercy come in by way of Relief againſt the Curſe. There could have been no change …n Exalting the Creation, if it had continued according to the Firſt State, Good and very Good; Except we ſuppoſe any Openings to an higher Advancement of Adam and his Poſterity, in the Kingdom of the Second Adam; of whom the Firſt Adam was but a Type, and the Firſt Sabbath a Type of that Great Sabbatiſm of the Lord from Heaven, as the Apoſtle expreſly aſſerts, Rom▪ 5. …2▪ Heb. 4. 7.
Let us therefore, I humbly beſeech, attend to this very thing, that there are ſuch Remains of the Excellent Frame of the Firſt Creation D…e and Acknowledgable to the Grace of the Mediator, and yet ſuch Mixtures of the Curſe, as give Place, or Room for Mir…cles; For if all were Judgment, there were no Place for Miracles of Mercy, except of a Total Reſtoration; For All had been One Peice of Wrath, and ſo muſt be wholly Reſtor'd, or not at all: Or if All had been in the Firſt State of Integrity, there had been no need of Exalting the Creation, till that Glorious Kingdom, I can ſuppoſe, of the Mediator of Amity or Conciliation, tho not of Reconciliation.
But as Things are now, That All Things do not unite in a State of Wrath and Ruine, is becauſe the Mediator purging our ſins, upholds All with the Word of his Power. Elſe, as God ſaid, when Wickedneſs had broken into the World, to ſo great an heighth, I, even I, do bring a Flood upon the World; So he had put an End to it at the firſt coming in of ſin, had not the Mediator come between, in the Seed of the Woman breaking the Serpents Head. But when Noah had offered a Sacrifice, an undoubted Type of the Sacrifice of Chriſt; God then promis'd he would not Curſe the Ground ſo, any more, but there ſhould be Summer and Winter, Spring and Harveſt, Day and Night, until the very coming in of the Reſtitution of All Things. And God ſet the Rain-Bow to be a Sign of that Covenant, as we find, Gen. 9. 13. and Ezek. 1. 28. and Revel. 4. 3. The Rain-Ron encirculed the Throne. All which ſhews the great Prevalency of the Mediator, in the upholding the World in its preſent State: That though God the Creator, be to be acknowledg'd, yet Creatorſhip and Providence are now Veſted in the Redeemer. But yet ſtill there are ſuch legible Characters of the Curſe, in innumerable Kinds, that they give full place to Miracles, in further and higher Grace, to relieve againſt that Curſe.
2. There being ſuch a State of Mercy and Grace, through the Mediator, there is place alſo given to another ſort of Miracles, viz. Miracles of Greater and more Extraordinary Strokes of Wrath than generally we obſerve in the World; wherein the Mediator ſo far deſerts his Interpoſal of Mediation, and then Miracle of Judgment immediately enters ſo far alſo; as may appear in ſeveral Great Inſtances to be given: And this I deſire you would ſeriouſly attend to; becauſe it will be found to contribute very much to the clearing the Great Point of Miracles: I begin therefore the clearing this Matter in that firſt Judgment of the Flood upon the Old World. In which, as alſo in the Judgment on Sodom and Gomorrah, the Apoſtles Peter and Jude inſtance; becauſe, as is after to be ſhewn, they have Great Concernment in making it appear, That Miracles appertain to the world to come, whereof we are ſpeaking.
I begin therefore with this Flood on the World of the Ʋngodly; for which whatever Preparations there might *According to the moſt Learned and Ingenious Theory of Dr. Burnet.be; yet to ſhew Gods own ſupreme Hand in it, he thus expreſſes, I, even I, do bring a Flood. And to ſhew how far the Mediator did deſert, and how far he did not undertake, is made more manifeſt: He did undertake for Noah and his Family; Noah is therefore ſaid to find Grace in the Eyes of the Lord; an Expreſſion proper to the Mediators Undertaking. The Reſt, even the World of the Ʋngodly, not finding Grace, were ſwallowed up. Lo here a Miracle of Judgment; For this was beyond the ordinary proportion of the Curſe upon the Fall, as bounded by the Mediator, a Curſe on the Earth far Greater than uſual.
Again, if we conſider this, in relation to Sodom, Gen. 19. 23. The Sun was riſen upon the Earth; ſo far the Mediator undertook for Sodom. Then Lot entered into Zoar; At that very ſame time God Rain'd up…n Sodom and upon Gomorrah Brimſtone and Fire from the Lord out of Heaven. It could not be done before; For ſays the Angel to Lot, Haſte thee, Eſcape thither; for I cannot do any thing till thou be come thither. Why, but becauſe Lot was in a peculiar manner undertaken for by the Mediator, as is ſignify'd in Two Expreſſions:
1. The Lord being merciful to him, and he finding Grace in his ſight. And,
2▪ God Remembred Abraham, with whom we know he had Eſtabliſhed a Covenant in the Mediator, v. 16. 19. 22.
Behold here another Miracle of Judgment, becauſe contrary to the General Undertaking of the Mediator. This was indeed a ſtrange work of Judgment; and as the Flood was of the General Deſtruction, before the New Heaven and New Earth of the VVorld to come; ſo was Sodom a Type of the Vengeance of the Eternal Fire, that ſhall make that Deſtruction.
In the ſame manner the Plagues of Aegypt were Miracles of Judgment; becauſe the Mediator was coming, (in Exodus all along to Chap. 16.) up againſt them with a Glorious Type of his Judgment on Spiritual Aegypt, with his Seven Vials, Revel. 15. c. 16. made on purpoſe parallel to the Plagues of Aegypt. Now the Reaſon was, the Mediator in Grace no longer undertook for Pharoah, and his Aegypt; but ſet him up as a Rock for his Judgments to be planted againſt.
The laſt Miracle of Judgment I will inſtance in, becauſe it much declares the Nature of Miracle, is that of Corah, Dathan and Abiram, Numb. 16. 29. If theſe men, ſaith Moſes, dye the common Death of all men, or if they be viſited after the common Viſitation of all men, Then the Lord hath not ſent me. But if the Lord create a New Thing, and the Earth open her mouth, and ſwallow them up, with all that appertains to them, and they go down quick into the pit: Then ye ſhall underſtand, theſe men have provoked the Lord. Every Miracle, as hath been ſpoken, is a New Thing; This is the Nature of Miracle, whether it be a Miracle of Mercy or of Judgment; A New Thing of Mercy lifting up the preſent State ſettled in common, by the Grace of the Mediator; or a New Thing in Judgment, when the Mediator deſerts this State upheld by him, and Judgment breaks in above Ordinary Judgments; and this to ſhew that Deſolation, that ſhall be at laſt upon this World of the Firſt Adam, that the New Heaven and the New Earth, according to his promiſe, may come in. Thus this Opening and Swallowng Alive, is like the Opening of the Lake, into which the Beaſt, and the Falſe Prophet, thoſe Apoſtate Pretenders to be Sons of Levi, are caſt alive, Rev. 19. as the whole Antichriſtian Race ſay, They are Jews, but are not, but do lye, and ſo are given up to Wrath by the Mediator.
Thus it will be at the laſt Burning of the Earth, and of the Wicked upon it; Then the Mediator will bear up the World no longer. Thus when any particular Perſon is deſtroy'd, cut off by Death, and caſt into Hell, until that very Time the Mediator undertakes; Then he undertakes no longer for him.
To draw up then theſe Po…nts to a Sum. We find the preſent State in an Equipoize, in an Even Ballance between the Grace of, and by the Mediator, and the Wrath and Juſtice of God keeping its Hold upon this World of Apoſlate Adam; And both the ſettlement of Things by Grace and Mercy, and yet under Wrath and Juſtice, are now Call'd, and Styl'd, and Deem'd to be Nature, the State of Nature, the Law of Nature, the Courſe of Nature And whatever there is either in Mercy or Judgment, wherein a Divine Hand, a High Hand, a Hand Lifted up, and made Bare, appears, is called and ſtyled Miracle.
The Light and Glory of the Heaven, the Fruitfulneſs of the Earth, the ſo General Health, Beauty, and Vigour of Body; the Order, Peace and Good Government we at any time obſerve in the World, we look not upon as Miracle, but as the Natural State of Things, under the General Goodneſs of God; though indeed, as hath been ſhewn, it is the Goodneſs of God in the Mediator; But together with theſe, we allow Storms, Tempeſts, Unfruitful Seaſons, Peſtilence, Famine, Sickneſs, Lameneſs, Poverty, Want. Deformity, Death, agreeable to the Courſe of Nature alſo, and no Miracle; Yet indeed why are They not Miraculous? when God made the World in ſuch an Order of Nature, if we'll call it Nature. Can we think when God made Man in that Noble State of his own Image, it can be any other than Miracle of Judgment? Men are left to be ſuch Butchers one of another: and that it is counted a Glory, a Bed of Honour to dye ſo doing: No, undoubtedly, Even that Chriſt ſhall Reſtore the World to, as the Prince of Peace, to learn War no more, and to make the Battle ceaſe to the Ends of the Earth, is that which was at firſt the State of unfallen Nature. And all the contrary State is Miracle of Judgment; however, becauſe ſetled, we do not call it ſo: When Navies and Fleets are deſtroyed at Sea, and Nations deſtroyed and deſolated, and all the Sinews of Government looſed; we do not call this Miracle: And yet from the Beginning theſe Things were not ſo, nor deſign'd to be ſo much as Providentially Natural; but becauſe, according to the Wiſdom, Holyneſs, and Juſtice of God, the Mediator upholds the World under this Caution and Reſerve, It ſhould give Room, and be, as it were, the Stage for theſe Judgments of God to have their Play in and upon, They are ſo.
So though to die be now the ordinarieſt, and moſt certain Thing in the World, an Ordinance, and a Debt to Nature, as we call it; vet Adam was not made to Dye, and to Dye is a Miracle of Juſtice, if conſider'd according to the Original Conſtitution. Indeed, becauſe the Mediator undertook no further, but that it is, as the Apoſtle ſays, Fixed, Determined, Enacted, that All Men ſhould dye, it is no Miracle; nor that any of the other Unhappineſſes common to Men, befall Men, do we account them Miracles.
But the Things we account Miracles, are either the Extraordinary, Sudden, and Immediate Strokes of Wrath and Juſtice; as thoſe on the Old World; on Sodom and Gomorrah, on thoſe Impure Men of Sodom, ſtruck with Blindneſs; the Plagues on Pharoah; on Nadab and Abihu, the ſtroke of immediate Death by Fire from the Lord; the ſwallowing up Corah, Dathan and Abiram; the ſtriking Ʋzza dead; the withering Jeroboam's Hand; the ſtriking Ʋzziah with Leproſie; the ſtriking Antiochus with an Incurable and Loathſome Diſeaſe; and in the New Teſtament, the falling backward of the Men that came to take Chriſt; the falling down Dead of Ananias and Sapphira; the ſudden and immediate Blindneſs; that fell on Elymas the Sorcerer; Herod eaten with Worms; Theſe we account Miracles of Judgment.
On the other ſide, the Benefits God daily loadeth the Children of Men of all Kinds with, we account not Miracles; but the Raiſing the Dead by Elijah and Eliſha; the Multiplying the Widows Oyl; the Healing the Leproſie of Naaman; the preſerving Jonah from the Sea, in ſo wonderful an Ark as the Whales Belly; What is ſaid of our Lord Jeſus, Mat. 4. v. 24. when It is ſaid, The Fame of him went out throughout all Syria; And they brought unto him all ſick perſons; thoſe which were poſſeſs'd with Devils; thoſe which were Lunatick, and had the Palſy, and he healed them; his opening the Eyes of the Blind, cleanſing the Lepers, making the Lame to walk, the Dumb to ſpeak, the Deaf to hear; the giving to ſpeak with Tongues, to Interpret ſtrange Tongues: But above all, Raiſing the Dead appears to All perfect Miracle; the Raiſing of Lazarus when Dead Three Days: John 11. 14. ſo alarm'd the Jews, and affrighted the Sanhedrim, who ſat in Counſel upon it, that they ſaid, If we let him alone, all men will believe on hi…, and the Romans will come, and take away both our place, and our Nation. All theſe are Miracles of Mercy; and both theſe ſorts, both of Judgment and Mercy, we allow to be Miraculous; becauſe they are above the Standard of Gods general Government of the World, and ſettlement of what we call Nature, in this preſent State of it.
And thus I have labour'd in this Firſt and Fundamental Point, to define the Nature of Miracle; becauſe it will give Light all along the Diſcourſe, and guide to the chief Point; viz. That they a pertain to the Kingdom of Chriſt, and World to come.