which God before had showed by the mouth of all his prophets that Christ should suffer, he hath so fulfilled.

That the Jews still retain these prophecies, and are the means of preserving them and communicating them throughout the world, while they bear so strongly against themselves, and testify so clearly of a Saviour that was first to suffer and then to be exalted, are facts which give a confirmation to the truth of christianity, than which it is difficult to conceive any stronger. The prophecies that testify of the sufferings of the Messiah need no forced interpretation, but apply, in a plain and literal manner, to the history of the sufferings and of the death of Christ. In the testimony of the Jews to the existence of these prophecies, long prior to the christian era ; in their remaining unaltered to this hour; in the accounts given by the evangelists of the life and death of Christ; in the testimony of heathen authors; and in the arguments of the first opposers of christianity, from the mean condition of its Author and the manner of his death, we have now more ample evidence of the fulfilment of all these prophecies, than could have been conceived possible at so great a distance of time.

But if there be any truth, the perception and acknowledgment of which should lead to a sense of its importance, or a feeling of its power, it is surely that of the cutting off of the Messiah, as making reconciliation for iniquity, or the death of Christ as a sacrifice for the sins of men. It is not merely the knowledge of his righteous life,

and of his ignominious death, in confirmation of the word of prophecy, but an interest also in them that every sinner needs. There exists not the man, except he be alike ignorant of the spirit within him and of the Father of spirits, who could think of standing for himself, to answer for his sins, in the immediate presence of an all-holy God, and to abide the scrutiny of omniscience and the awards of strict unmitigated justice, enforced by almighty power. Nor could man of himself, in whom sin has once dwelt, be ever meet, whatever his thoughts of immortality might be, for participating in the holiness or partaking of the happiness of heaven. And who is there that, even in the search after divine truth, can pass by Calvary, or cast but a glance towards it, and there behold, in the sufferings of Christ, a clear prophetic mark of his Messiahship, without pondering deeply on the guiltiness of sin, which nothing less than the voluntary death of the Son of God could expiate, and on that infinite goodness and love which found and gave the ransom, whereby, though guilt could not be unpunished, the guilty might be saved. And, if he reflect upon the manner in which this vision and prophecy were sealed up, who that has a heart within him, or that can be drawn with those cords of love which are the bands of a man, can refrain from feeling the personal application to himself of the words of Jesus-I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me.

But the prophecies further present us with the character of the gospel, as well as of its Author,

and with a description of the extent of his king. dom, as well as of his sufferings. That he was to make a full and clear revelation of the will of God, and establish a new and perfect religion, was frequently and explicitly foretold.* The words of God were to be put into his mouth, and whoever would not hearken unto him, God would require it of them. He was to be given for a covenant of the people, for a light of the gentiles, to open the blind eyes. His law was to be put in the inward parts, or to be written not in tables of stone, but in the heart. And the religion of Jesus is pure, spiritual, and perfect, and adapted alike to all. It is a revelation of the whole counsel of God; it is a law which has to be written on the heart; a kingdom which is established within. The doctrine of the gospel is altogether a doctrine according to godliness. This its enemies will not deny, for it is the cause why they hate it. Its very excellence and perfection is a stumbling-block to them. There is not a sin which it does not reprobate, nor a virtue which it does not inculcate. And too pure and perfect it would indeed be for man, were not reconciliation made for iniquity, and redemption to be found from its bondage.

But the complete revelation of the will of God, which of itself would have pointed out a highway of holiness that men could never have reached, was to be accompanied with a revelation also of the grace and mercy of God, which might well *Deut. xviii. 18, 19. Isa. ix. 6, 7. xlii. 6. xi. 1-5. lv. 3, 4. Jerem. xxxi. 31-34. Ezek. xxxiv. 23, 24.

suffice to show that the light was indeed light from Heaven. And while Jesus gave new commandments unto men, he announced tidings of great joy, which it never entered into the heart of man to conceive. In fulfilment of the prophetic character and office of the Messiah, he published salvation. Never was any anointed like Christ to preach good tidings to the meek; to bind up the broken-hearted; to proclaim liberty to the captive, the opening of the prison to them that are bound; to comfort them that mourn in Zion; to give to those who mourn for sin, or who seek for true consolation amid the bereavements or any of the evils of life, beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, and the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness. And none like him ever proclaimed either the acceptable year of the Lord, or the day of judgment of our God.* What many wise men of old sought to know, Jesus taught. What they desired to see, he hath revealed. All that he taught, as well as all that he did and suffered, bore witness of him as the promised Messiah; and that kingdom has now come nigh which the prophets saw afar off.

That the gospel emanated from Judea-that it was rejected by a great proportion of the Jewsthat it was opposed at first by human powerthat kings have acknowledged and supported it

-that it has already continued for many agesand that it has been propagated throughout many countries-are facts that were clearly fore

Isa. lxi. 1-3.

told, and have been literally fulfilled. Out of Zion shall go forth the law; and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. (Isa. ii. 3, 4. Micah iv. 2.) He shall be for a sanctuary, but for a stone of stumbling and for a rock of offence to both the houses of Israel; for a gin and for a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. Who hath believed our report, and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed? (Isa. viii. 14. liii. 1.) The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together against the Lord and against his anointed. (Ps. ii. 2; Matt. x. 17; xvi. 18; xxiv. 9-14.) To a servant of rulers kings shall see and arise, princes also shall worship. The Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising. (Isa. xlix. 7-23.) The Gentiles shall see thy righteousness; a people that know me not shall be called after my name. Behold thou shalt call a nation that thou knowest not, and nations that know not thee shall run unto thee. (Isa. xi. 10. lv. 5.) No one is now ignorant of the facts, that a system of religion which inculcates piety, and purity, and love,-which releases man from every burdensome rite and from every barbarous institution, and proffers the greatest of blessings,-arose from the land of Judea, was rejected by the Jews, persecuted by Jews and Gentiles, and yet has subsisted fo many ages, and has been spread into many countries, and is out wardly owned by kings and by people as the faith of the civilized world.

The final extension of the gospe! over all the