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Curfe unto my Chofen, for the Lord God fhall flay thee, and call his Servants by another Name, Chriftians, and not Jews. (d)

Another Confequence of the Excifion of the Meffiah, and his pouring out his Soul unto Death, was the calling the Gentiles into a Church-State.Behold God's Servant whom he upholds, his Servant in whom his Soul delighteth, he has put his Spirit upen 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 Iles have waited for his Law. (e) Then did the Barren fing that did not bear; fhe broke forth into Singing and cry'd aloud, that had not travailed with Child; and more were the Children of the Defolate, than of the married Wife. For fhe brake forth on the right Hand and on the left, and her Seed inherited the Gentiles, and made the defolate Cities to be inhabited. (f) Thus was our Lord Jefus Chrift given for a Light to the Gentiles, that he might be for Salvation unto the Ends of the Earth. (g) And the Gentiles came to his Light, and Kings to the Brightnefs of his Rifing. (h)

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 Messiah, that are to be found in the Old Testament; and yet I have by these brief Hints, given you the Advantage to confider, whe ther these Prophecies did not in all Circumstances exactly agree to the Lord Jefus Chrift; and whether they did, or poffibly could agree to any other Perfon in the World.

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

Suppofe 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 refpect to the Beginning of Daniel's Weeks, and you should find by Calculation, that they would terminate in the Year 1746; and, being filled with Expectations of the Events of that Year, fhould (when it comes) actually fee all the Popish Princes of Europe brought into Subjection, the Proteftant Princes united in Confederacy, the City of Rome facked and burnt, and the papal Hierarchy every where overturned, the Turkish Empire deftroyed, and the Jews collected, and brought into the Chriftian Church, Would you not acknowledge thefe Prophecies to be of divine Origi nal, and the Pope and Roman Papacy to be the Antichrift therein predicted? And would you not alfo 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 fhines upon the Prophecies concerning our bleffed Saviour, in their exact Accomplishment, than this would prove, fhould all thefe Circumstances concur, as is here supposed.

That the Lord may graciously grant both you and me a fincere Faith in this blessed Saviour, and prepare us both for the great Events that are haftning upon us, is the Prayer of,

SIR,

Your, &c.

LETTER

LETTER IV. Wherein is confidered the Certainty of thofe Facts, upon which the Evidence of Christianity depends.

SIR,

You

OU mistake in fuppofing, that " my laft Let"ter has fet the Evidence of our Saviour's "divine Miffion, from the Old Teftament Pro"phecies, in the strongest Light."-There might be much stronger Light brought from the prophetic Writings, in Confirmation of this bleffed Truth: And yet you must allow me the Freedom to tell you, that my Letter justly demands of you a firmer Affent, than you are pleased to express, to that fundamental Article of our Faith and Hope. It reprefents to you more than "a ftrong Probability,

that Jefus Chrift is the Son of God, and the Sa"viour of the World."-Confider, I beseech you, whether it is poffible for any, or for all created Intelligences, to forefee and foretel fuch future Events as depend wholly upon the mere good Pleafure of God: Such Events as are altogether out of the Way of God's ordinary Difpenfations of Providence; and fuch Events as had not the least Probability, from the known Laws of Nature, to have ever come to pass; and then to over-rule the various Revolutions of Nature and Providence in fuch a Way, as is utterly inconfiftent with, and in many Inftances altogether contrary to, the known ftared 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 E 3 View

View (for in this View it ought to be confidered) and then tell me, whether the Evidence don't amount to more than aftrong Probability. --And confider what Evidence of this Kind you yourself 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 these following Causes: Either,

1. It must be fuppofed, that the Jewish Prophets had no fuch Events in their Eyes; that the quoted Predictions had a Reference to fomething elfe; or perhaps no Reference to any Thing at all, but were the cafual Sallies of the feveral Authors fruitful Fancies or Imaginations.

But then, if this be fuppofed, how comes it to pafs, that they are all fo exactly verified?-Certain it is, that the Jews fuppofed all these Predictions to be divine Inspirations, kept up ftated 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 Circumstance.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 imagine.- -Thefe Events were foretold as to Time, Place, and many other particular Circumstances; fo that you fee a History 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 Ima

gination

gination apprehend thefe very numerous and various Predictions to be the Effects of capricious Fancies; and their Fulfilment a Matter of mere Chance or Casualty? Then may the Epicurean Philofophy take Place again; and the World, in all its Glory, Order and Symmetry, 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 thefe Things in the Jewish Prophets : But that all of them were written fince the Events.

But then, you must fuppofe, 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 Ferws.If the former, you must 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 single Copy unadulterated, to discover and correct the Fraud.

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-But if you chufe the latter of thefe Suppofals, that these Prophecies were added to the Jewish Bibles by a joint Confederacy of Chriftians and Jews, muft imagine, that the whole Jewish Nation, in all their most distant Difperfions, united in a Confederacy to furnish the World with Armour against their own Infidelity; and to represent themfelves as the most unreasonable and wicked of all Mankind.- -Thefe Abfurdities are (I am fure) too grofe

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