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xix. 25. His flesh might go to the grave, and rest in hope; for God would not leave his foul in hell; nor fuffer his holy One to be fo long under the power of death, as to fee corruption, Pfal. xvi. 9, 10. After his foul was made an offering for fin, he faw his feed; and prolonged his days, Ifa. liii. 10. He afcended to the right hand of God; and the Lord faid to him, Sit thou at my right hand untill I make thine enemies thy footftool, Pfal. cx. 1. He afcended on high, that he might lead captivity captive; and give gifts unto men, Pfal. lxviii. 16.

Having thus given you fome account from the ancient prophecies, of the life, death, and refurrection of our Lord Jefus Chrift, I fhall now proceed to fhew you fome of the confequences of this great event.

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And it may be proper in the firft place to take notice, what were the effects of the Jews thus rejecting and murdering the Prince of Life; and to fhew you that the people of Titus the Roman prince came upon them, deftroyed the city and the fanctuary, caufed the facrifice and the oblation to cease; and the abominations (or abominable armies) with their eagles (and fuperftitious rites) to overfpread and to make them defolate, Dan. ix. 27. When God had laid in Zion for a foundation, a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner ftone, and a fure foundation for all that would believe on him, he then took notice of the fcornful men that ruled in Jerufalem. He laid judgment to the line, and righteousnefs to the plummet, the hail fwept away the refuge of lies; and the waters overflowed the hiding place. Their covenant with death was difannulled, and their agreement with hell could not ftand; when the overflowing fcourge paffed through them; and they were trodden down by it, from the time it went forth it took them, for morning by morning it paffed over them, by day and by night, until it was a vexation only to understand the report. For the Lord rofe up as in mount Perazim, he was wroth as in the valley of Gibeon; and a confumption was determin'd upon the whole earth, or upon their whole land, Ifa. xxviii. 14.-22. The Lord numbered them to the fword; and they all bowed down to the flaughter; becaufe when he called they did not

anfwer, when he fpake they did not hear: but did evil before his eyes, and chofe that wherein he delighted not; therefore the Lord faid unto them, Behold, my fervants (the Chriftians) fhall eat: but ye fhall be bungry. Behold, my fervants fhall drink: but ye fhall be thirsty. Behold, my fervants fhall rejoice: but ye fhall be afhamed. Behold, my fervants fhall fing for joy of heart: but ye fhall cry for forrow of heart, and fhall howl for vexation of fpirit. And ye fhall leave your name for a curfe upon my chofen, for the Lord God shall flay thee, and call his fervants by another name; Chriftians and not Jews, Ifa. lxv. 12.- 16. Another confequence of the excifion of the Meffiah, and his pouring out his foul unto death, was the calling the Gentiles into a church ftate. Behold God's fervant whom he upholds, his fervant in whom his foul delighteth, he has put his fpirit upon him; and he hath brought forth judgment unto the Gentiles. He has not failed nor been difcouraged, till he has fet judgment upon the earth; and the isles have waited for his law, Ifa. xlii. 1, 4. Then did the barren fing that did not bear fhe broke forth into finging and cry'd aloud, that had not travailed with child; and more were the children of the defolate, than of the married wife. For the brake forth on the right hand and on the left; and her feed inherited the Gentiles; and made the defolate cities to be inhabited, Ifa. liv. 1, 3. Thus was our Lord Jesus given for a light to the Gentiles, that he might be for falvation unto the ends of the earth, Ifa. lix. 6. And the Gentiles came to his light, and Kings to the brightness of his rifing, Ifa. lx. 3.`

Thus you have had a general view of our bleffed Saviour's life, death, refurrection, afcenfion, and kingdom, out of the Jewish prophets. I have not given you all (nor indeed a tenth part) of the predictions of the Meffah, that are to be found in the Old Teftament; and yet I have, by these brief hints, given you the advantage to confider, whether thefe prophecies did not in all circumftances exactly agree to the Lord Jefus Chrift; and whether they did or poffibly could agree to any other perfon in the world.

And now, Sir, I leave it to yourself to judge, whether we can either have or defire greater certainty of any past event, than that these prophecies did directly refer to, and were all accomplished in the Lord Jefus Chrift.

Suppose we had as certain direction, when to begin the forty two months, or one thousand two hundred and fixty years of Antichrift's reign, as we have with respect to the beginning of Daniel's weeks; and you fhould find, by calculation that they would terminate in the year 1746; and being filled with expectations of the events of that year, should (when it comes) actually fee all the popish princes of Europe brought into subjection, the proteftant princes united in confederacy, the city of Rome fack'd and burnt, and the papal hierarchy every where overturn'd, the Turkish empire deftroy'd; and the Jews collected and brought into the Chriftian church: would you not acknowledge thefe prophecies to be of divine original; and the pope and Roman papacy, to be the Antichrift therein predicted? And would you not also live in certain expectation of all the other events, which are foretold as confequences of this revolution? You certainly would. And yet I must take the liberty to tell you, that there is a much brighter light shines upon the prophecies concerning our bleffed Saviour, in their exact accomplishment, than this would prove, should all these circumstances concur as is here fuppofed. That the Lord may gracioufly grant both you and me a fincere faith in this bleffed Saviour, and prepare us both for the great events that are haftening upon us, is the prayer of,

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Sir,

Yours, &c.

LETTER IV. Wherein is confidered the CERTAINTY of thofe FACTS, upon which the evidence of Christianity depends.

SIR,

OU mistake in fuppofing, that my laft letter has fet the evidence of our Saviour's divine miffion,

YOU

from the Old Teftament prophecies, in the ftrongeft light.' There might be much stronger light brought from the prophetick writings, in confirmation of this bleffed truth: and you muftallow me the freedom to tell you, that my letter juftly demands of you a firmer affent, than you are pleased to exprefs, to that fundamental article of our faith and hope. It reprefents to you more than a strong probability, that Jefus Chrift is the 'Son of God, and the Saviour of the world.' Confider, I beseech you, whether it is poffible, for any or for all created intelligences, to forefee and foretell fuch future events, as depend wholly upon the meer good pleafure of God; fuch events as are altogether out of the way of God's ordinary dispensations of providence; and fuch events as had not the least probability from the laws of nature, to have ever come to pafs; and then to over-rule the various revolutions of nature and provi dence in fuch a way, as is utterly inconfiftent with, and in many inftances altogether contrary to, the known fiated methods of God's governing the world, in order that thofe predictions (even in every particular circumftance) fhould be exactly accomplished. I intreat you, Sir, to confider the affair in this view (for in this view it ought to be considered) and then tell me, whether the evidence does not amount to more than a strong probability. And confider what evidence of this kind you yourfelf can poffibly imagine, that would bring your mind into a full acquiefcence in this truth, as certain and undoubted.

If there can be any reasonable doubt remaining, it must be for one of thefe following caufes. Either,

1. It must be fuppofed, that the Jewish prophets had no fuch events in their eye; that the quoted predictions had a reference to fomething elfe; or perhaps no reference to any thing at all; but were the cafual fallies of the feveral authors fruitful fancies or imaginations.

But then if this be fuppofed, how comes it to pass that they are all fo exactly verified? Certain it is, that the Jews fuppofed all these predictions to be divine infpirations, kept up flated memorials of them, and longed for their accomplishment. And it is equally certain,

that at the very time when they ought to be expected, they were all fulfilled, in every circumftance. This is an affair that demands your attention. Here are predictions of most wonderful amazing events: fuch as no appearances, that ever had been in the world, could any way lead the minds of the prophets to think of, or ima gine. Thefe events were foretold as to time, place, and many other particular circumftances, that you fee a hiftory of our Saviour's birth, life, death, refurrection, afcenfion, and future kingdom, could be made up out of thefe prophecies: and to crown the whole, they have all been exactly fulfilled. Now then, I have a right to demand; were thefe from heaven or of men; Can the most licentious imagination apprehend thefe very numerous and various predictions to be the effects of ca. pricious fancies; and their fulfilment, a matter of mere chance or cafualty? Then may the Epicurean philofophy take place again; and the world in all its glory, order and fymmetry, be reasonably believed to be the effect of a fortuitous concourfe and jumble of atoms. I hope, this doubt is cleared out of your way; and I know of but one more that can remain; which is,

2. That there never were any fuch predictions of these things in the Jewish prophets; but that all of them were written fince the events.

But then, you must suppose, that this was done by the Chriftians, without the privity of the Jews and others who had these books in their hands; or that it was done by a joint confederacy of Chriftians and Jews. If the former, you muft imagine, that the whole nation of the Jews, and all the other nations who had the Greek tranflation of the Jewish Bible in their hands, must be perfuaded to believe that they always had, and always read, those things in their Bible, which were never there; or elfe all of them to a man must be prevailed upon, out of complaifance to their greatest adverfaries, to interpolate their Bibles, by inferting these predictions; and not leave to pofterity a fingle copy unadulterated, to difcover and correct the fraud. But if you choose the latter of thofe fuppofals, that these prophecies were added to the Jewish Bible by a joint confederacy of

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