what now came to pass, might very fitly be com pared to their hiding themselves in the dens and rocks of the mountains.

3. Heathenism now was in a great measure abolished throughout the Roman empire. Images were destroyed, and Heathen temples pulled down. Images of gold and silver were melted down and coined into money. Some of the chief of their idols, which were curiously wrought, were brought to Constantinople, and there drawn with ropes up and down the streets for the people to behold and laugh at. The Heathen priests were dispersed and banished.

4. The Christian church was brought into a state of great peace and prosperity. Now all Heathen magistrates were put down, and only Christians were advanced to places of authority all over the empire. They had now christian presidents, christian governors, christian judges and officers, instead of their old heathenish ones. Constantine set himself to put honor upon christian bishops or ministers, and to build and adorn churches; and large and beautiful christian churches were erected in all parts of the world, instead of the old Heathen temples.

This revolution was the greatest that had occurred since the flood. Satan, the prince of darkness, that king and god of the Heathen world, was cast out. The roaring lion was conquered by the Lamb of God, in the strongest dominion that ever he had. This was a remarkable accomplishment of Jer. 10: 11. "The gods that have not made the heaven and the earth, even they shall perish from the earth, and from under these heavens." The chief part of the world was now brought utterly to cast off their old

gods and their old religion, to which they had been accustomed much longer than any of their histories relate-so long, that they knew not any beginning of it. It was formerly spoken of as a thing unknown for a nation to change their gods, Jer. 2: 10, 11; but now the greater part of the nations of the known world were brought to cast off their former gods. That multitude of gods which they worshiped, were all forsaken. Thousands of them were cast away for the worship of the true God, and Christ the only Savior; and there was a most remarkable fulfillment of Isa. 2: 17, 18. And the loftiness of man shall be bowed down, and the haughtiness of men shall be made low: and the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day. And the idols he shall utterly abolish." And since that, those gods which were once so famous in the world, as Jupiter, and Saturn, and Minerva, and Juno, are only heard of as things of old. They have had no temples, no altars, no worshipers, for many hundred years.

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Now is come the end of the old Heathen world in its principal part, the Roman empire. And this great revolution, with that terrible destruction of the great men who had been persecutors, is compared, Rev. 6, to the end of the world, and Christ's coming to judgment; and is most immediately signified under the sixth seal, which followed upon the souls under the altar crying, "How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?" This vision of the sixth seal, by the general consent of expositors, has respect to this downfall of the Heathen Roman empire; though it has a more remote respect to the day of judgment, of which this was a type. The day of Redemption.

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judgment cannot be what is immediately intended; because we have an account of many events which were to be after those of the sixth seal.

What came to pass now is also represented by the devil's being cast out of heaven to the earth. In his great strength and glory, over that mighty Roman empire, he had exalted his throne up to heaven. But now he fell like lightning from heaven, and his kingdom was confined to the meaner and more barbarous nations, or to the lower parts of the world. This is the event foretold. Rev. 12: 9. "And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the devil and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him." Satan had formerly tempted Christ, and promised to give him the glory of the kingdoms of the world; but now he is obliged to give it to him against his will. This was a glorious fulfillment of the promise which God made to his Son. Isa. 53: 12. Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors, and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors." This was a great fulfillment of the prophecies concerning the glorious time of the Gospel, and particularly those of Daniel. Now it pleased the Lord God of heaven to set up a kingdom on the ruins of Satan's kingdom. Such is the success of Christ's redemption, and such honor does the Father give him for the disgrace he suffered when on earth.

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From what has been said of the success of the Gospel froin Christ's ascension to the time of Con

stantine, we may deduce a strong argument for the truth of the Christian religion, and that the Gospel of Jesus Christ is really from God. Particularly,

1. We may gather from what has been said, that the Gospel, and that only, has actually been the means of bringing the world to the knowledge of the true God. That those are no gods whom the Heathen worshiped, and that there is but one only God, is what, since the Gospel has so taught us, we can now see to be truth by our own reason. It is plainly agreeable to the light of nature, and it can easily be shown to be reasonably true. Deists themselves acknowledge that it can be demonstrated that there is one God, and but one, who has made and governs the world. But now it is evident that it is the Gospel, and that only, which has actually been the means of bringing men to the knowledge of this truth. It was not the instructions of philosophers; they tried in vain: The world by wisdom knew not God. Till the Gospel and the holy Scriptures were spread abroad, all the world lay in ignorance of the true God, and in the greatest darkness with respect to religion, embracing the most absurd opinions and practices, which all civilized nations now acknowledge to be childish fooleries. The light of nature, their own reason, and all the wisdom of learned men, availed nothing till the Scriptures came. But these were successful to bring the world to an acknowledgment of the one only true God, and to wor ship and serve him.

And hence it is, that all that part of the world which now acknowledges one only and true GodChristians, Jews, Mohammedans, and even Deistsoriginally came to own him. It is owing to this

that they are not in general at this day left in heuthenish darkness. All the light they have, is either immediately from the Scriptures, or by tradition from their fathers, who had it first from the Scriptures. And doubtless those who now despise the Scriptures, and boast of the strength of their own reason, as sufficient to lead to the knowledge of the one true God, if the Gospel had not been spread abroad in the world to enlighten their forefathers, would have been as sottish and brutish idolaters as the world in general were before the Gospel. The Mohammedans, who own but one true God, received the idea from the Scriptures; for the first Mohammedans had been educated in the christian religion, and apostatized from it. It is evident that the Scriptures were designed of God to be the proper means of bringing the world to the knowledge of himself, rather than human reason, or any thing else. For it is unreasonable to suppose that the Gospel, unless God designed it as the proper means for obtaining this ef fect, should actually obtain it, and that after human reason for many ages had been tried in vain. If the Scriptures be not the word of God, they are nothing but darkness and delusion, yea, the greatest delusion. And is it reasonable to suppose that God in his providence would make use of falsehood and delusion to bring the world to the knowledge of himself, and that no part of it should be brought to the knowledge of him any other way?

2. The Gospel prevailing as it did against such powerful opposition, plainly shows the hand of God. The Roman government, that so violently set itself to hinder the success of the Gospel, and to subdue the Church of Christ, was the most powerful of go