and made a covenant with them to be their God if they would keep his
commandments, he sent Prophets to reclaim them, as often as they revolted
to the worship of other Gods: and upon their returning to him, they
sometimes renewed the covenant which they had broken. These Prophets he
continued to send, till the days of _Ezra_: but after their Prophecies were
read in the Synagogues, those Prophecies were thought sufficient. For if
the people would not hear _Moses_ and the old Prophets, they would hear no
new ones, no not _tho they should rise from the dead_. At length when a new
truth was to be preached to the _Gentiles_, namely, _that Jesus was the
Christ_, God sent new Prophets and Teachers: but after their writings were
also received and read in the Synagogues of the Christians, Prophecy ceased
a second time. We have _Moses_, the Prophets, and Apostles, and the words
of Christ himself; and if we will not hear them, we shall be more
inexcusable than the _Jews._ For the Prophets and Apostles have foretold,
that as _Israel_ often revolted and brake the covenant, and upon repentance
renewed it; so there should be a falling away among the Christians, soon
after the days of the Apostles; and that in the latter days God would
destroy the impenitent revolters, and make a new covenant with his people.
And the giving ear to the Prophets is a fundamental character of the true
Church. For God has so ordered the Prophecies, that in the latter days _the
wise may understand, but the wicked shall do wickedly, and none of the
wicked shall understand_, Dan. xii. 9, 10. The authority of Emperors,
Kings, and Princes, is human. The authority of Councils, Synods, Bishops,
and Presbyters, is human. The authority of the Prophets is divine, and
comprehends the sum of religion, reckoning _Moses_ and the Apostles among
the Prophets; and _if an Angel from Heaven preach any other gospel_, than
what they have delivered, _let him be accursed_. Their writings contain the
covenant between God and his people, with instructions for keeping this
covenant; instances of God's judgments upon them that break it: and
predictions of things to come. While the people of God keep the covenant,