death when all declared there was no fault found in Him? Was it ever so recorded of other great and good men who have suffered unjustly, guiltless of the crimes laid to their charge? but is there another history of any man in the world who had no sin, who never sinned? Perfect holiness, we all admit, belongs to God alone: then Jesus was God. Also his doctrines declare Him to be heavenly. Is there a lesson He taught that is not God-like? The ancient philosophers taught morality, but they never attained to the high truths and holy precepts recorded in his Sermons. "He taught as one having authority," and all without any apparent means of attaining wisdom; He knew the whole law; He knew the history of ancient times; this knowledge in those days was only to be found among the Scribes; He knew the thoughts of the heart; all this is evidence from the Gospels: none could possess such knowledge but He who made the heart and who directs all the plans of the universe. Jesus then was that Creator and Governor.

Also the miracles that none could deny proclaim his Deity; none but He who made the eye, the ear, the body, could give sight to the blind, hearing to the deaf, and raise the dead to life; Jesus, then, was that great and good Being. Also in Him all prophecy centred, and by Him was fulfilled, which in itself is a convincing proof of the power and wisdom and providence of God, of the inspiration of the prophets, and of the Godhead of Him who testified to the truth of the prophecies by accomplishing them.

B.C. 4004 years, the conquest of Satan over Christ in his body, and the complete conquest of Christ over Satan's whole power, were foretold, recorded by the prophet Moses, B.C. 1451. "And

God said unto the Serpent, I will put enmity be tween thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed, it shall bruise thy head and thou shalt bruise his heel." Gen. iii. 15; recorded Matthew, xxvii. 50; xxviii. 18.

B.C. 1700 years, Jacob foretold no foreigner should be king of Judah till Christ came, and that He should be born of the tribe of Judah. Herod the Great was the first foreigner who took the title of King of the Jews. The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, till Shiloh come," Gen. xlix. 10; recorded Matthew, i. 16; ii. 1.

B.C. 1000 years, David foretold the parting of his garments, and the casting of lots for his clothing, as recorded by Matthew, xxvii. 35. "The assembly of the wicked have enclosed me, they pierced my hands and feet. They part my garments among them, and cast lots upon my vestures,' Ps. xxii. 16, 18. Also his resurrection, "Thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, nor suffer thy Holy One to see corruption," Ps. xvi. 10; quoted Acts ii. 27. Also the Ascension, "Lift up your heads, oh ye gates, and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors, and the king of glory shall come in. Who is the king of glory? The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle," Ps. xxiv. 7; recorded Acts, i. 9. And how did He prove his strength? Whom did He conquer? The same prophet tells us, "Thou hast ascended on high, thou hast led captivity captive (sin), thou hast received gifts for men," Ps. lxviii. 18 (the Spirit's influence); recorded Acts, ii. 4.

B.C. 700 years, Jeremiah foretold his descent, "The days come, saith the Lord, that I will raise up unto David a righteous branch," Jer. xxiii. 5; re

corded Matt. i. 16. Isaiah foretold his birth, "A virgin shall conceive and bear a son,” Is. vii. 14; recorded Luke, i. 27.

Also his character, "He was oppressed, he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth," Is. lxiii. 7. Meekness was the prevailing feature of his character; recorded Matt. xxvi. 52, 3, and 67 verse.

Also his nature, "Unto us a son is born, unto us a child is given, and the government shall be on his shoulder, and he shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, the mighty God, the everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace; of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom to order it for ever," Is. ix. 67; recorded his Godhead, John, viii. 58. The increase of his kingdom is the spreading of the Gospel over the world; what rapid progress it has made of late!

Also of his life, "He is despised and rejected of men," Is. liii. 3; recorded Luke, xxiii. 18. "The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light," Is. ix. 2, that is Galilee, where Christ principally lived. "The eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped, then shall the lame leap as a hart, and the tongue of the dumb shall sing," Is. xxxv. 5; recorded Mark, i. 34.

Also the object of his life, "He was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities," Is. xxxv. 5. "By his knowledge (by the knowledge of, or faith in him) shall my righteous servant justify many," Is. liii. 11; recorded John, iii. 16, and Acts, ii. 39.

Also his death, "He was taken from prison and

from judgment, Is. liii. 8; recorded Matt. xxvii. 1, 2." He was numbered with the transgressors or criminals; recorded Luke, xxiii. 33. "He made his grave with the wicked;" recorded John xix. 32.

Also his burial, "He made his grave with the rich in his death," Isaiah, xliii; recorded Matt. xxvii. 57.

Also Micah foretold the place of his birth. "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 of old from everlasting," Micah, v. 2; recorded Matt. ii. 1.

66

B.C. 600. Daniel prophesied the exact time of his coming, and the establishment of his kingdom. Thou, O king, sawest, and beheld an image; the head was of gold (the empire of Assyria), the breast and arms of silver (the second empire, the Persian, established on the Assyrian), the belly and thighs of brass (the Grecian, or third empire, established on the Persian), the legs of iron (the Roman, or fourth empire, established all over the known world). In the days of these (Roman) kings shall the God of Heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed." (Accordingly, the Romans had conquered Syria 60 years B.C., and Cæsar, the Roman emperor, gave them Herod, a foreign king; and when Jesus suffered, Pontius Pilate, a Roman, was governor of the Jews.) "And thou sawest a stone cast cut without hands, which smote the image, and brake it in pieces." So the kingdom of Christ has been established upon these ancient kingdoms, and it rose up, without any conqueror being set up, by the humble Nazarene, the lowly Jesus.

"And it shall never be destroyed," the blessed Redeemer has been pleased to say of it, "the gates of Hell shall not prevail against it.- Vale's Commentary, 588.

What can be a greater proof of inspiration than these prophecies, all fulfilled in 700 years, and fulfilling still? for "the stone filled the whole earth;" so it is rapidly; the Gospel dispensation is working its way among all the benighted regions of the earth. Who can deny it ?-Daniel, ii. Also Jeremiah foretold the weeping for the children destroyed by Herod.-Jer. i. 15; recorded Matt. ii.

And the purchase of the field with the price of his blood.-Jer. 11, 12, and 13; recorded Matt. xxvii. 9.

;

B.C. 500. Zechariah foretold his entrance to Jerusalem. 66 Rejoice, oh daughter of Jerusalem behold, thy king cometh unto thee; he is just, and having salvation, lowly, and riding upon an ass, and a colt the foal of an ass," Zech. ix. 9; recorded Luke, xix. 38.

Also the person of his forerunner. "Behold, I send my messenger to prepare my way before me," Mal. iii. 1; recorded Matt. iii. "Awake,

Álso the desertion of his disciples.

O sword, against my shepherd, and against the man that is my fellow, saith the Lord of Hosts, smite the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered," Zech. xiii. 7; recorded Matt. xxvi. 31.

With such a cloud of witnesses, can we turn away in unbelief?