to fly into Egypt with the child, because of Herod ver. 19, the angel in a dream reappeared to him, and bid him return because Herod was dead: ver. 22, being again directed by God in a dream, he turned into the parts of Galilee: Matt. iii. 16, after Christ's baptism, the heavens were opened, and the Spirit of God was beheld, descending upon him in the form of a dove. And, ver. 17, there came a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased: Matt. iv. 7, after the devil had left Christ, the angels came and ministered unto him. Jesus walked upon the waves of the sea: he was transfigured before three of his disciples, so that his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment became white as the light; and there appeared unto them Moses and Elias, talking with Christ; and a bright cloud overshadowing them, a voice was heard out of the cloud, saying, This is my well beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased, hear ye him. And Luke xxiii. the sun was darkened for three hours, the veil of the temple was rent from the top to the bottom; the earth did quake, and the rocks clave, the graves also opened, and many bodies of the saints which slept, arose; and after his resurrection, came into the holy city and appeared to many. When the women came to the sepulchre, there was a great earthquake; for the angel of the Lord, having descended from heaven, rolled back the stone from the door of the sepulchre, and sat upon it his countenance was like lightning, his raiment white as snow; he spake to them, bade them not to fear, declared Christ's resurrection; and commanded them to tell his disciples of it, and how they should see him in Galilee. It is recorded, they saw in the sepulchre, a young man, clothed in a long white garment; and it is said (John xx.), Mary saw in the sepulchre two angels in white sitting, the one at the head, the other at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain; this is called a vision of angels (Luke xxiv.). Christ appeared to Mary Magdalene, who did not know him. He afterwards appeared in another form, to two of the disciples going to Emmaus. He appeared to the eleven when the doors were shut, and blessed them. He came again when the doors were shut, and stood in the midst of them, who were then all together, at which time he convinced Thomas. Acts i. 9, after he had promised the Holy Ghost, he was taken up into heaven, a cloud receiving him out of their sight; and whilst they looked towards heaven, two men stood by them in white apparel, and told them, as they saw him ascend into heaven, so they should see him come again from heaven. Acts ii. 1, and as they were come together on the day of Pentecost, there suddenly came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and filled all the house where they were sitting; and there appeared unto them cloven tongues, like as of fire, and sat upon each of them, and they were all filled with the Holy

Ghost. Acts iv. 31, after they had prayed, the house was shaken where they were assembled, and all were filled with the Holy Ghost. The Apostles, being cast into the common prison, were delivered by an angel of the Lord, who by night opened the prison doors, and said, "Go, stand and speak in the temple to the people all the words of this life" (Acts v. 20). This was done, and the doors shut again without the keepers' knowledge, who, to little purpose, stood without, watching. Stephen, being full of the Holy Ghost, saw the heavens opened, and beheld the glory of God, and Jesus standing on his right hand (Acts vii. 55). The angel of the Lord spake unto Philip, and commanded him to go towards the south, where he met the eunuch (Acts viii. 26). The Spirit of the Lord caught away Philip, so that the eunuch saw him no more, and he was found at Azotus (ver. 40). As Saul was journeying to Damascus, suddenly there shone a light from heaven above the brightness of the sun round about him, so that he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying to him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? (Acts ix. xxvi.) Christ answered Paul, I am Jesus, whom thou persecutest. After this he commanded him to go into Damascus. You may see, that Christ at this time gave Paul his commission to be an apostle in this vision, Paul saw Christ, as is clear by ver. 17; where Ananias affirms, that Jesus appeared to Paul in the way. The Lord spake to Ananias in a vision, and commanded him to visit Paul, who had seen Ananias in a vision coming in and imposing his hands upon him to restore his sight; Christ and Ananias discourse here. Cornelius, about the ninth hour, saw in a vision, an angel of the Lord in bright clothing, coming to him, (Acts x.) who commanded him to send for Peter, discovering where he Peter fell into a trance, and saw the heavens opened, and a certain vessel descending to him, as it had been a great sheet, knit at the four corners, and let down to the earth, wherein were all sorts of beasts, fowls, and creeping things. The voice said, Arise, Peter, kill and eat; the voice spake again; this was three times done, and the vessel received up again into heaven. Acts iv. 22, the Spirit bade Peter go with the three men, which Cornelius had sent: Acts xii. 7, whilst Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, the angel of the Lord came upon him, and a great light shone in the prison, so that Peter was raised from sleep by the angel, and loosed from his chains; and commanded to cast his garments about him, and to follow; he knew not that it was really so, but thought it a vision: but after the iron gate opened of itself, and the angel departed, he saw it was real, but the Christians thought it had been Peter's angel that knocked at the door. Acts viii. 10, The Lord speaks to Paul by night in a vision, Be not afraid, for I am with thee; hold not thy peace, for I have much people in this city. Acts xvi. 2, A vision

was.

appeared to Paul in the night in which he saw a man of Macedonia standing by him, desiring him to come over into Macedonia and help them. Acts xxiii. 11, When Paul was in great danger, the Lord stood by him in the night and said, Be of good cheer, Paul; for as thou hast testified of me at Jerusalem, so must thou bear witness at Rome. In the night the angel of the Lord stood by Paul, and bade him not fear, foretelling the preservation of all that were in the ship. Paul speaks of himself, that he was caught up into the third heavens where he heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for man to utter. (2 Cor. xii.)

I shall close these instances with only mentioning the glorious revelation of John, which is made up of divers visions and voices, and therefore cannot but give an effectual testimony to these dispensations, seeming to be the very accomplishment of Christ's promise to John of tarrying till he came, which was a peculiar privilege of his, above his fellow-disciples.

But now having collected these choice Scriptures, in which the enjoyment of these extraordinary dispensations is clearly held forth; and that in the time of the patriarchs, prophets, and primitive Christians, I shall pass to the observations which I intend to draw from them, as the ground-work of my discourse. The first thing therefore I shall observe is, that from the beginning of the world, till Malachi had ended his prophecy, the church of God in every age hath been blest with some extraordinary dispensations. From the creation to the Law, visions, voices, and prophecy (Judg. xiv.), were the chief, if not the only ways of God's discovery of himself to his church; and after the law was given, and written and commanded always to be retained in the thoughts of the Israelites, God continued the dispensations of visions, prophecy, answer by Urim (Num. xxvii. 21), and by voice from the mercy-seat (Num. vii. 89), as standing ways of God's revealing himself, by which, upon most occasions, the Israelites were directed: so that when they designed war they inquired of the Lord whether they should proceed in it or not. Who sometimes answered them by the high priest, sometimes by prophets (1 Kings xx. 17); discovering what his will was, and it was a sign of God's abandoning those to whom he denied such immediate directions; hence, that of Saul (1 Sam. xxviii. 15). God is departed from me, and answereth me no more, neither by prophets, nor by dreams, nor by Urim. And it was a sign of irreligion, and neglect of God, not to go immediately to him for direction and help, in any extremity or great occasion. Hence it is left as a mark of Asa's profaneness; in his disease, he sought not to the Lord, but to the physicians (2 Chron. xvi. 12). For in such cases, the prophets were wont to be consulted with, who usually discovered God's purpose, and

sometimes cured, as Isaiah did Hezekiah (2 Kings xx. 27). And these ways of God's dispensing himself were very prevalent to work those effects, which the standing law sometimes could not; as may be seen Judg. ii. 4, where the angel's speech forced the disobedient Israelites to tears and repentance; and David was driven to confession and sorrow for his adultery and murder by Nathan's immediate message from God (2 Sam. xii. 13). Whereas, the law, though he knew and understood it as well as any, could not before work that great effect upon him; hence, we see how useful these dispensations may be even to great saints, whilst in the body, and by union with their sensitive part, they are exposed to worldly allurements.

My next observation is this, That God's withdrawment of extraordinary prophets and dispensations from the church, after Malachi's time, till Christ's coming, was a sign of God's displeasure against them; for that corruption which began to grow both in priests and people, as you may see in Malachi; and a token of leaving them more to themselves, that so experiencing the sad effects of their own reasons and understandings in the absence of these infallible discoveries of God, the coming of the Messias, in the renewal of these things, might be the more acceptable and satisfactory to the pious. The truth of this appears by that prophetical commination, which after Malachi's time was fulfilled (Mich. iii. 6, 7), where God speaks thus: "Therefore night shall be unto you, that ye shall not have a vision, and it shall be dark unto you, that ye shall not divine; and the sun shall go down over the prophets, and the day shall be dark over them. Then the seers shall be ashamed; yea, they shall cover their lips, for there is no answer of God." Here the cessation of prophesy and vision is compared to the withdrawment of the light of the sun, and to the darkness of night.

The third thing I shall observe is, that these dispensations,. after their long eclipse and cessation in the church (by which much corruption crept into doctrine, discipline, and conversation) at Christ's entrance into the world began again to be renewed, and appear more eminently. Hence the angel Gabriel appeared to Zacharias in the temple, and gave John his name; and afterward to the Virgin Mary, when he predicted Christ's birth and her holy conception: then also, prophesy began to be restored; for Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost, and prophesied, and was answered by the blessed Virgin in the same way. And Zacharias was acted by the same spirit of prophecy; and it was revealed by the Holy Ghost to Simeon, that he should not see death before he had seen the Messiah (Luke i. 67). Over Christ he prophesied in the temple; at which time Anna exercised the same gift in her prophetic testimony; and a little before this, the poor shepherds (not the learned scribes and pha

risees) received news from the angel of Christ's nativity; at which time they heard a multitude of the heavenly host, in a divine hymn, congratulating heaven and earth for the happiness of this new-born Messiah, who came to finish transgressions, and to bring in everlasting righteousness; to rend the veil before the most holy, and to put a period to those legal figurative dispensations, which the priests had as much corrupted, as they vigorously endeavoured their continuance.

The next observation I shall make is, That communion with God and angels by way of vision, is a great and weighty dispensation. Hence Jacob (Gen. xxviii. 16, 17), after he had seen the angels ascending and descending, and the Lord from above them speaking to him, breaks forth into these expressions: Surely the Lord is in this place, but I knew it not; as intimating some more particular relation to, and extraordinary presence of God in such places, where he opens the invisible world, and shews manifest visions to his saints in union with elemental bodies. Hence Moses was commanded to put his shoes off his feet whilst the flaming vision continued, because of the relation of God's extraordinary presence to that place, at that time, which was therefore called holy ground, though it was a figure of a deeper moral mystery. And this Jacob more confirms by his ecphonesis, ver. 17, How dreadful is this place! This is none other but the house of God, and the gate of heaven: and Gen. xxxii. 30, the vision of God in a human form is called the seeing of him face to face, which intimates the greatness and honourableness of such visions; the Apostle expressing the very beatifical sight by the same terms, 1 Cor. xiii. 12. And Jacob thought it a great privilege to have enjoyed such a vision, and yet to live, Gen. xxii. 30. For Isaiah, that high evangelical prophet, chap. vi., after he had beheld the vision of the Lord upon his throne with his attendants, the seraphims, cries out, ver. 5, that he was undone, because he had seen with his eyes the King, the Lord of Hosts; which shews the weight and glory of such visions, striking those that saw them into admiration of God's Majesty and their own vileness: this Daniel (that eminent saint), chap. x. 8, confirms, who by the bright appearance of the majestic angel confesseth that he retained no strength, and that his comeliness was turned into corruption, and God himself, who is most wise, and knows best what things are great and excellent, what not, Numb. xii. 6, 7; makes it a peculiar token of his extraordinary love to, and high value of Moses, to shew him, ver. 8, the similitude of the Lord, which shews it is an high enjoyment to see God by way of similitude; that is, in that glorious spiritual likeness and similitude which he himself takes up to appear in, as he did to Moses, Isaiah, Ezekiel, Micaiah, Daniel, and, last of all, to divine John, who saw him in heaven