Prince of Peace-the rod out of the stem of Jesse―God's servant, whom he upholds; his elect, in whom his soul delighteth-bim whom man despiseth, and whom the nation abhorreth—a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief-the Lord our righteousness— Messiah the prince-the branch—the messenger of the covenant, &c. &c. Thus it was that in the volume of the book it was written of him. Whoever proves to be the Messiah, your fathers rejoiced in the faith of him.

In trying the question, whether the prophecies be fulfilled in Jesus, it will be necessary, for the sake of perspicuity, to class them under different heads, such as time, place, family, &c.

1. The time when Messiah should come is clearly marked out in prophecy. It was said by Jacob, when blessing the tribes, The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a law-giver from between his feet, UNTIL SHILOH COME; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be. All this was true in respect of Jesus. Till he came, though the ten tribes were scattered, Judah continued a people, and retained the government; but soon after his death, they were dispersed among the nations, and have been so ever since. "Kings and princes," says one of your own writers, "we have none." If therefore, Shiloh be not come, he can never come within the limits of time marked out by this prophecy.

Again: It is clearly intimated, in the prophecy of Haggai, for the encouragement of the builders of the second temple, that the Messiah should come during the standing of that temple; and that the honour that should be done it by his presence would more than balance its inferiority, in other respects, to the first. For thus saith the Lord of hosts, Yet once, it is a little while, and I will shake the heavens, and the earth, and the sea, and the dry land: and I will shake all nations; and the desire of all nations shall come; and I will fill this house with glory saith the Lord of hosts. The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, saith the Lord of hosts. this latter house shall be greater than of the former,

The glory of saith the Lord

of hosts. All this was literally fulfilled in Jesus. But soon after his death, the second temple was reduced to ashes: if therefore, Jesus was not the Messiah, it is impossible that the prophecy should ever be accomplished.

Again: The prophet Daniel was informed by the angel Gabriel as follows: Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people, and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the Most Holy. Know, therefore, and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem, unto the Messiah the prince, shall be seven weeks : and threescore and two weeks, the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times. And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined. And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week; and in the midst (or half part) of the week, he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease; and for the overspreading of abominations, he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.

That there should be some difficulty in fixing the dates, and other minute particulars, in this prophecy is no more than may be said of many others, which yet, upor the whole, are clear and decisive. The prediction of the seventy years captivity was not understood by Daniel till he had studied the subject with attention and, though he made out the number of the years, and concluded that they were about fulfilled, yet he does not appear to have discovered the exact time of their being so. Nevertheless, the prophecy of seventy years was undoubtedly fulfilled in the Babylonish captivity; and this of seventy weeks of years is as certainly fulfilled in the appearance and death of Jesus. Whether, or not, Christian writers agree as to the exact time when these seventy sabbatical weeks, or four hundred and ninety years, began, thus much is certain, that they must have been fulfilled about the time that Jesus appeared and suffered, or they never can be fulfilled. Such was the effect of this and other prophecies upon the minds of the Jewish nation, that about that time there was a general expectation of the Messiah's appearance. Hence, though

your fathers rejected Jesus, yet they soon after believed in Barchocab, and crowned him as their Messiah; which involved them in a war with the Romans, wherein they are said to have had a thousand cities and fortresses destroyed, and to have lost more than five huudred and eighty thousand men! The predicted events which were to be accomplished at the close of these weeks, namely, finishing transgression, making an end of sins, making reconciliation for iniquity, bringing in everlasting righteousness, sealing up the vision and prophecy, and anointing the Most Holy, are in perfect harmony with the New Testament history of Jesus; and, though unbelief may blind the minds of your nation to some of them, yet, the sealing up of the vision and prophecy is a matter so notorious, that one would think it were impossible to deny it. Jesus foretold the destruction of your city and temple by the Romans; and his apostles foretold things relating to the Christian church; but from that time your nation has been, not only without a king, without a prince, and without a sacrifice,' but without & prophet.

Moreover, it is predicted by Daniel, that shortly after the Messiah should be cut off, the people of the prince that should come would destroy the city and the sanctuary, and that the end thereof should be desolation. And is it not fact, that about forty years after the death of Jesus, both your city and sanctuary were destroyed by the Romans; and that such a flood of desolation and misery attended it, as was unexampled in your history, or that of any other nation?

Taking the whole together, it behoves you to consider, whether, if this prophecy be not fulfilled in Jesus, it can ever be fulfilled; and whether it be possible to ascertain the fulfilment of any prophecy.

2. The place where Messiah should be born, and where he should principally impart his doctrine, is determined. But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting. Speaking of Galilee of the nations in connexion with the birth of the child, whose name should be called the mighty God, it

is said, The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined. These prophecies were literally and manifestly fulfilled in Jesus; and it is scarcely credible that they can be fulfilled in any other.

3. The house, or family from whom Messiah should descend, is clearly ascertained. So much is said of his descending from David, that I need not refer to particular proofs; and the rather, as no Jew will deny it. The genealogies of Matthew and Luke, whatever varieties there are between them, agree in tracing his pedigree to David. And though, in both, it is traced in the name of Joseph, yet this appears to be only in conformity to the Jewish custom of tracing no pedigree in the name of a female. The father of Joseph, as mentioned by Luke, seems to have been his father by marriage only; so that it was, in reality, Mary's pediigree that is traced by Luke, though under her husband's name ; and this being the natural line of descent, and that of Matthew the legal one, by which, as a king, he would have inherited the crown, there is no inconsistency between them.

But, whatever supposed difficulties may, at this distance of time, attend the genealogies, it is remarkable that no objection .appears to have been made to them in the early ages of Christianity; when had they been incorrect, they might easily have been disproved by the public registries which were then in being. Could the Jews in the time of Jesus have disproved his being of the seed of David, his Messiahship would at once have fallen to the ground; and for this they could not be wanting in inclination. Had there, moreover, been any doubt on this subject, the emperor Domitian, in searching after those who were of the seed of David, would not have ordered the relations of Jesus before him, who, when interrogated, did not deny but that they were descended from him.*

Finally: If the genealogy of Jesus be called in question by the modern Jews, how are they to prove the Messiah, whenever he shall come, to have descended from David; since, if I am not mistaken, they have now no certain genealogies left among them?

VOL. VII

*Euseb. Hist, b. 3. ch. 20.

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4. The kind of miracles that Messiah should perform, is specified. Isaiah, speaking of the coming of God to save his people says, Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. Then shall the lame leap as an hart, and the tongue of the dumb shalt sing; for in the wilderness shall waters break out, and streams in the desert. That such miracles were performed by Jesus, his enemies themselves bare witness, in that they ascribed them to his connexion with Beelzebub. When his Messiahship was questioned, he could say in the presence of many witnesses, The blind receive their sight, and the lame walk; the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear; the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached unto them. The miracles of Jesus were distinguished by their benevolence. They were all works of mercy, as well as of power; and this accorded with the character given of the Messiah in the seventy-second Pslam, that he should deliver the needy when he cried; the poor also, and him that had no helper. Hence, the blind cried out, Son of David, have MERCY on us.

5. It was predicted of the Messiah, that he should, as a king, be distinguished by his LOWLINESS, entering into Jerusalem, not in a chariot of state, but upon an ass, and a colt, the foal of an ass. Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy king cometh unto thee: he is just and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass. To fulfil this prophesy, it was necessary that the Messiah should descend from parents in low circumstances; and that the leading people of the land should not accompany him. Had they believed in him, and introduced him as a king, it must have been in another fashion. But it was reserved for the com

mon people and the children to fulfil the prophet's words, by shouting, Hosanna, to the Son of David; blessed be he that cometh in the name of the Lord,

6. It is predicted of the Messiah that he should suffer and die by the hands of wicked men. Thus saith the Lord, the Redeemer of Israel, and his Holy One, to him whom MAN DESPISETH, to him whom THE NATION ABHORRETH.— As many were astonished at thee, (his FACE WAS SO MARRED MORE THAN ANY MAN, AND HIS FORM