further to the Galatians, that "if himself, or an Angell from heaven
preach another Gospel to them, than he had preached, let him be
accursed." (Gal. 1. 8) That Gospel was, that Christ was King; so that
all preaching against the power of the King received, in consequence
to these words, is by St. Paul accursed. For his speech is addressed to
those, who by his preaching had already received Jesus for the Christ,
that is to say, for King of the Jews.
The Marks Of A Prophet In The Old Law, Miracles, And Doctrine
Conformable To The Law
And as Miracles, without preaching that Doctrine which God hath
established; so preaching the true Doctrine, without the doing of
Miracles, is an unsufficient argument of immediate Revelation. For if
a man that teacheth not false Doctrine, should pretend to bee a Prophet
without shewing any Miracle, he is never the more to bee regarded for
his pretence, as is evident by Deut. 18. v. 21, 22. "If thou say in
thy heart, How shall we know that the Word (of the Prophet) is not that
which the Lord hath spoken. When the Prophet shall have spoken in the
name of the Lord, that which shall not come to passe, that’s the word
which the Lord hath not spoken, but the Prophet has spoken it out of
the pride of his own heart, fear him not." But a man may here again ask,
When the Prophet hath foretold a thing, how shal we know whether it will
come to passe or not? For he may foretel it as a thing to arrive after
a certain long time, longer then the time of mans life; or indefinitely,
that it will come to passe one time or other: in which case this mark
of a Prophet is unusefull; and therefore the miracles that oblige us to
beleeve a Prophet, ought to be confirmed by an immediate, or a not
long deferr’d event. So that it is manifest, that the teaching of
the Religion which God hath established, and the showing of a present
Miracle, joined together, were the only marks whereby the Scripture
would have a true Prophet, that is to say immediate Revelation to be
acknowledged; neither of them being singly sufficient to oblige any
other man to regard what he saith.
Miracles Ceasing, Prophets Cease, The Scripture Supplies Their Place