and defired that they might no more hear the Voice of the Almighty fpeaking in Perfon to them, but that Mofes might be the Inftrument to convey to them his Commandments: Speak thou with us, and we will bear; but let not God Speak with us, left we die, Exod. xx. 19.-And when Mofes declared their Request to God, he was pleafed to affure them, that he would graciously comply with it, not only in the present Inftance, but for ever after; and in Confirmation of this Affurance, he gives them a clear Knowledge of that Saviour whom they were to expect (and by whom God alone would make a new Revelation) in the following Particulars; that he should be vailed with human Nature, and be a Man like themselves; that he fhould be by Nation a Jew, or be raised up from among their Brethren; that he fhould, like Mofes, be a Mediator between God and Man; and that, when he came, he should declare the whole Counfel of God.

From Mofes to Samuel there was no open Vifon concerning him; and from Samuel to David there is nothing recorded of the Meffiah, though we know that thofe that followed after Samuel, as many as have spoken, foretold of the Days of his Coming. But the Royal Prophet declared many Particulars of this great Event; and (if the fame Spirit which spake by him interpreted his Predictions to him) the Pfalmift must have known much of the Perfon and of the Kingdom of the Meffiah.-And

from

from his Days the Revelation grew brighter and clearer, till the Time of the latter Prophets, who clofed up the Vifion concerning this Saviour with fo many Particulars of him, as left it easy for a pious and impartial Enquirer into their Predictions to know him when he came.-They foretold the Time and Place of his coming, and the Manner of his Appearance; they declare his Office and Defign, and defcribe his Perfon; and the great Characteristicks they give of him confist chiefly of these Particulars; That he should be God upon Earth; that he should fully instruct and mercifully guide his People; that he should by fuffering for them redeem them from the miferable Confequences of their Sins; and that after this he should triumph over all his Enemies, obtain a Kingdom, and reign therein for ever and ever.

That he should be God upon Earth, Ifaiah and Micah are very exprefs: His Name fhall be called, or he fhall be, fays the Evangelical Prophet, Wonderful, Counfeller, THE MIGHTY GOD, The Everlasting Father, ix. 6. Again; A Virgin fhall conceive, and bear a Son, and fhall call his Name Immanuel, vii. 14. which being interpreted fignifies, as the Evangelist obferves, GOD WITH US. And again, fpeaking of the Meffiab's coming, he fays, Lift up thy Voice, O Jerufalem, with Strength, be not afraid; Say unto the Cities of Judah, BEHOLD YOUR GOD: Behold, THE LORD GOD will

come

come with ftrong Hand, and his Arm shall rule for him: Behold, his Reward is with him, and his Work before bim, xl. 9, 10.-And the Prophet Micah tells us, that he that should come from Bethlehem-Ephratah to be Ruler in Ifrael, that is, the Meffiah, fhould be one, WHOSE

GOINGS FORTH HAVE BEEN OF OLD, even FROM EVERLASTING, V. 2.

That he should fully inftruct his People in facred things, is moft clearly foretold by Habakkuk (ii. 14.) and Isaiah, when they declare, that in his Time the Earth fhall be filled with the Knowledge of the Lord, as the Waters cover the Sea; and no Words can more emphatically defcribe his tender Care, and Guidance of his People, than thofe of Isaiah: He fhall feed his Flock like a Shepherd, he shall gather the Lambs with his Arm, and carry them in his Bofom, and fhall gently lead thofe that are with Young, xl. 11.

That the Meffiab should by suffering redeem Men from their Sins, cannot be faid in more plain Terms than those of the fame Prophet: That he should be wounded for our Tranfgref fions, and bruised for our Iniquities; that the Chaftifement of our Peace should be upon him; and that through his Stripes we are healed, liii. 5. And,

That the fame Meffiah, notwithstanding this, fhould triumph over his Enemies, and obtain an everlasting Kingdom, is the Language of almost all the Prophets; who say, that as a

.

King he fall reign and profper, Jer. xxiii. 5. That he shall bear the Glory, and shall fit and rule upon his Throne, Zech. vi. 13. That he fhall be the one King, who shall be King to them all, that is, to all Nations, both Jews and Gentiles, Ezek. xxxvii. 22. and that of the Increase of his Government there shall be no End; but he fhall order and establish it with Judgment and with Justice, even for ever, Ifai. ix. 7.

Thus you fee the gradual Openings of these important Truths; by what Degrees, and in what Manner, it pleafed God to prepare the World for the Reception of his eternal Son; and what Reason the Jews, and all others who were acquainted with the Prophetic Writings, had to expect a Saviour, who fhould bring Salvation to his People, and be both a Light to lighten the Gentiles; and the Glory of his People Ifrael.

2. The fecond Particular under this Head is to fhew, that the bleffed Jefus, when he came, fully answered all the well grounded Expectations, which the Jews entertained concerning the Perfon of their Deliverer.-- By wellgrounded Expectations I mean fuch, as were. built on the Sense and Meaning of their Prophets. For their most fatal Error was founded on their own Mifconftructions of some of the Paffages already quoted, which they fondly interpreted. of a temporal Kingdom; and

2

vainly

yainly expected, that the Meffiah fhould raise them to the Empire of the World, and eftablish them in it till Time fhould be no more. This blinded their Eyes, and harden'd their Hearts against the Perfon of their Deliverer when he came; and led them to fulfil the Counsel of God, which had been decreed from the Beginning, by defpifing and crucifying the Lord of Life. Whereas if they had duly attended to the Signs of his Coming, and fearched into all the Particulars, which the Spirit of God had declared as Rules for them to judge by, they would have seen a wonderful Agreement between their ancient Predictions and the Birth, Life, and Sufferings of the bleffed Jesus; they would readily have known their Meffiah when he came, and would have been as willing as the Samaritans in this Chapter to confels, that our Lord was indeed the Chrift, the Saviour of the World, v. 42.

He appeared at the Time fixed for the Mef fah's coming, and was born in the Place and Manner defcribed by the Prophets.--The Scepter was then departing from Judah at his Birth, and the feventy Weeks of Daniel were not expired. He was born of a Virgin in the Town of Bethlehem-Judah; and he was of the Lineage of Abraham, and of the Family of David. He was like Mofes, a Prophet mighty in Word and Deed; and he taught the People with Dignity, Authority, and Power.-He brought the World the glad Tidings of Peace

with