1

7, 8, 9.

24, 25,

6, 27

Phets Haggai and Malachi, that he should come be- Hag. ii. 6. fore the Deftruction of the fecond Temple; and the Mali. 1. Destruction of the Temple was foretold by Daniel, Dan. ix. with the precife Time of our Saviour's coming. And to manifeft to the World that Chrift is come, the Jews are now difperfed among all Nations, and their Government loft, and their Families confounded: The fecond Temple is long fince destroyed, and the City of Jerufalem made defolate, which was foretold fhould be after the cutting off of the Meffias. Mic.v.. And as the Time of Christ's Birth was foretold, fo was the Place of it: it was prophefied, that the Melias fhould be born in Bethlehem of Judea, which Mat. ii. 6. was accordingly fulfilled, the Providence of God fo ordering it, that Joseph and Mary should be brought up to Bethlehem, by a general Tax which Auguftus then laid; not only that the might be delivered, but that their Names might be there entered, and their Family afcertained and proved, without Doubt, to have defcended from David. The Perfon of

Gen. ii

whom our Saviour was born, was likewife foretold; according to Ifaiah, fhe was to be a Virgin, which If. vii. 14. was accordingly fulfilled; and thus Chrift was Mat. i. 25. emphatically the Seed of the Woman, according to 15. the Promife made to our firft Parents, being, as the Gofpel tells us, born of a pure Virgin, which never

knew Man.

Q. What Prophecies related to the Life of the Meffiah, which were fulfilled in Jefus ?

Pfal. Ixix.

A. The Meannefs and Obfcurity, and Sorrows of it are expreffed by Ifaiah; he was fpoken of by the Ifa. liii. 2, Prophets as of a Perfon that was to be reputed vile 3 and abject, defpifed and rejected of Men; and ac- 9, 10. cordingly, in the Gofpel Christ is called a Nazarene, and had not where to lay his Head; and yet, not- Ifa. xliii. withstanding these Circumftances, he was to be emi- 2, 3. nent for his Patience and Meeknefs. His Abode was

to

Deut.

Ifa. Ixi. 1.

1fa. ix. 1. to be chiefly in Galilee, and accordingly he was brought up at Nazareth, and dwelt at Capernaum. His Character of a Prophet was afferted by Mofes xviii. 15, and Ifaiah, which was eminently fulfilled, in that he foretold future Contingencies. His Power of working many and great Miracles was foretold by the xxxv. 5. 9. fame Prophet, and accomplished by himself in such a Manner that many of the People believed in him, and faid, When Chrift cometh fhall be do greater Miracles than this Man hath done? It was foretold that the People fhould receive him with Joy and Zech, ix. Triumph, when he came riding upon an Afs, which was afterwards fulfilled; and that he should be fold for thirty Pieces of Silver, the Price which Judas reZech. xi. ceived for betraying him.

John vii.

37..

9.

Mat. xxi.

12. Mat. xxvii.

Pfal. xxii..

Q. What Prophecies related to the Death of the Meffias which were fulfilled in Jesus ?

A. His violent Death was foretold by the Prophets, and by feveral Types which did represent and prefigure his Death. Thus Abraham's offering up of Ifaac was a Type of Chrift's being offered upon the Crofs; and Ifaac's carrying the Wood on his fhoulders, was a Type of Christ's carrying his own Crofs; and the brazen Serpent, and the Pafchal Lamb prefigured Chrift's being lifted up, and his being made a Sacrifice for the Sins of the PeoIfa. 1.6. ple. Our Saviour was buffeted and spit upon, accord18. Ixix. ing to the Prophecy of Ifaiah. He had Vinegar given bim to drink mingled with Gall, and his Garments were parted among the Soldiers by cafting of Lots, according to David. He was numbered with the Tranfgreffors, being condemned as a Malefactor to fuffer with Malefactors, being crucified between two Thieves, He cried out under his Sufferings according to Pfal. xxii. David, and prayed for his wicked Perfecutors, according to Ifaiah. And as to the Circumstances f. liii. 12. of his Burial, it was foretold he should make his

21.

Ifa. liii.

22.

1.

Grave with the Rich, which was accomplished in that he was put into Jofeph of Arimathea's own Tomb.

Q. What Prophecies related to the Resurrection and Afcenfion of the Meffias which were fulfilled in Jefus ?

+

A. The Refurrection of Jefus Chrift was prophefied of by David; thou wilt not leave my Soul in Hell, nor Pfal. xvi: Suffer thy boly One to fee Corruption, for to this Purpose 13. it is applied by St. Peter; the Time foretold by Aasii. 27. Hofea to be after two Days, as feveral of the Rabbies Hof. vi. 21 understood that Place, it was prefigured by the Type of Ifaac's Deliverance when he had been offered up; and by the Type of Jonas being three Mat. xii. Days and three Nights in the Whale's Belly. And his fitting at the Right-hand of God, which fuppofeth his Afcenfion into Heaven, was foretold by the royal Prophet, Sit thou at my Right-hand till I make Pfal.cx.t thine Enemies thy Foot-flool. The Accomplishment of the fore-mentioned Prophecies was a fufficient Proof to the Jews, who faw them fulfilled, that our Saviour was a Perfon fent from God.

Q. How was Jefus proved to be sent from God by a Voice from Heaven?

A. Juft before he began his public Miniftry; when he was baptized by John in the Prefence of a great Affembly of the People, the Holy Ghoft defcended upon himwith a Voice from Heaven, which faid, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleafed. Mat. iii. And this voice was again repeated, though not fo 16, 17. publicly, at his Transfiguration on the Mount; and xvii.. is mentioned by St. Peter, as a confiderable Argument of Chrift's divine Authority; For we have 2 Pet. i. not followed cunningly devifed Fables, when we have 16, 17, made known unto you the Power and Coming of the Lord Jefus Chrift, but were Eye-witnesses of his Majefty: for he received from God the Father, Honour and Glory,

&c.

when

when there came fuch a Voice to him from the excellent Glory, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleafed. And this Voice which came from Heaven we heard John xii. when we were with him in the holy Mount. And a third Time there came a Voice to him from Heaven, in the Hearing of all the People.

28.

Mat. xi.

3, 4.

John v.36.

Q. What farther Evidence is there that Jefus was a Perfon fent from God?

A. The Power with which he was endowed of working Miracles, which when they are great and unquestionable, and frequently wrought in public, is one of the highest Evidences we can have of the divine Miffion of any Perfon. Upon this Ground Jahn iii. 2. it is, that Nicodemus concludes that our Saviour was fent from God: And our Savour himself infifts upon this as the great Proof of his divine Authority; and the resisting the Evidence of his Miracles, he reckons as one of the greatest Aggravations of Chap. xv. Unbelief; If I had not, faith our Saviour, done among them the Works which none other Man did, they had not had Sin. And that our Saviour did many wonderful Things, is confeffed by his greatest Enemies, Celfus and Julian, though they attributed them to the Power of Magic.

24.

Mat. iv. 23, 24.

Q. Of what Nature were our Saviour's Miracles, and how were they wrought?

A. He healed all Sorts of Diseases, and that in Multitudes of People, as they came accidentally without Distinction; and the Manner of curing them was such as was above the ordinary Course of Nature; for a Touch or a Word only produced the Cure, and that fometimes upon thofe at a Diftance: The most inveterate Diseases fubmitted to Jobaix. 7. his Power: He restored Sight to the Man born Luke xiii. blind: He made the Woman ftrait that had been John v. 8. crooked and bowed together eighteen Years; and

23.

the Man that had an Infirmity thirty-eight Years he

21.

bids take up his Bed and walk. He multiplied a Mat. xiv few Loaves and Fishes for the Feeding of fome Thousands; which Miracles were twice done, and at both Times many Thousands were Witneffes of Chap. xv. it: And, what all Men grant to be miraclous, he 31. raised several from the Dead, particularly Lazarus, John xi. after he had been four Days in the Grave. All these Miracles he wrought publicly in the Midft of his Enemies, and for a long Time together, during the whole Seafon of his public Miniftry, which was bout three Years and an Half, and sometimes he extorted a Confeffion from the Devils themselves of his divine Power; and indeed they were fo public and fo undeniable, that St. Peter applies to the Jews themselves, declaring, That Jefus of Nazareth was Aats ii. Man approved of God among them by Miracles, and 22. Wonders, and Signs, which God did by him in the Midft of them, as they themselves also knew.

Q. What Objections were made against the Miracles of our Saviour?

A. His Miracles were fuch, and wrought in fuch a Manner, and did fo plainly prove themselves to be above the Power of Nature, that none of his Enemies attempted to folve them that Way; therefore they attributed them to the Power of the Devil, He cafteth out Devils by Beelzebub the Prince of the Mat. xii. Devils. This the Jews urged at firft, and was af- 24 terwards made ufe of by others that oppofed Chriftianity. And fome later Athiefts have made the Credulity and Imagination of the People to be a great Ingredient in his Miracles, because it is faid, when Jefus was in his own Country, He could not do Mat. xiii. many mighty Works there, because of their Unbelief.

Q. How doth it appear that the Miracles of our Saviour were not wrought by the Power of the Devil? A. Because the Doctrine of Chrift, which was confirmed by his Miracles, was contrary to that

58.