I.

difobeyed his Precept to the Ruin of them- SER M. felves, and their whole Pofterity, but his Mercy immediately provided a Remedy, and graciously promised them a powerful Redeemer; a Redeemer that should conquer Sin and Death, which now they found let loofe upon them, and crush in Pieces the Serpent's Head, which had then reached higher than Adam's Heel. A Redeemer, that should fully repair the Breaches of Mankind, and if Mankind was but just to themselves, should render their Condition better than before. Nor need we doubt but the gracious Redeemer was immediately ready to have come amongst us; had our ungracious and unworthy World been but in Readiness for the receiving him. But Providence faw us as yet indifpofed and unfit for his coming, and therefore reserved him till the Fulness of Time, when he should be manifest and known; and till fuch Fulness of Time was come, he was gracioufly pleased to wait for us, and during all that while to prepare us to receive him. From the very beginning entertaining us with Hope; and through every Age confirming our Faith; and ftill (as you have heard) the nearer the Time itself approached, clearer Tokens

C 4

SERM. Tokens were given to know him. And this

indeed was the chief End of God in foretel-
ling so often, and in Terms fo explicit, the
coming of the Meffiah. The feveral Prophe→
cies of him were proportioned to the Wants
and Neceffities of the World at the feveral
Ages in which they were given; and with
out the Communication of fuch Hopes and
Promises as those Prophecies conveyed, it was
impoffible that Religion could have fubfifted
amongst them. Of this Ufe therefore were
the feveral Prophecies, that have been men-
tioned in this Difcourfe, to the People of God
before the coming of Christ amongst them.
Of what Use they are now, and how far we
build our Faith in Chrift upon the Comple-
tion of them, fhall be fhewn, God willing,
in another Difcourfe.

SERMON II.

Jefus foretold by Mofes and the
Prophets.

John i. 43.

We have found him, of whom Mofes in the Law, and the Prophets did write, Jefus of Nazareth, the Son of Joseph.

IN

II.

my laft Difcourfe (after an Introduction S E R M. preparatory to the Seafon which is now approaching) I fhewed that the Meaning of these Words was this:-That Jefus of Nazareth, which Nathaniel calls the Son of Jofeph, was the Meffiah or Chrift, i. e. that great and anointed One, fo eminently foretold by Mofes to the Jews, and so often spoken of by the Prophets afterwards. This Propofition therefore I undertook to establish, and to make it as clear and as plain as poffible, proposed to obferve this natural Method, viz.

I, FIRST,

SERM.

II.

I. FIRST, to enquire, what those Things are, which Mofes in the Law, and the Prophets did write, concerning the Meffiah, and then

II. SECONDLY, to fhew how all thofe Things were really fulfilled in Jefus of Nazareth, the then fuppofed Son of Joseph.

By the first of these, I told you, we should discover the several Marks by which the Meffiah was to be known, when he came : 'By the second it would appear that all these Marks concurred in Jefus: From whence it would follow beyond all Contradiction, that Jefus of Nazareth, here called the Son of Jofeph, was the Meffiah foretold by Mofes and the Prophets.

The firft of thefe Heads I then went through; by collecting feveral of the plainest Paffages in the Old Teftament, fuch as may beft affift us to discover the Meffias, and to diftinguish him from any falfe Pretender to the Character.

From Mofes, or the five Books written by him, I fhewed that the Meffiab was in a peculiar Manner to be the Seed of the Woman was to defcend from Abraham, Ifaac, and Jacob; was to be of the Tribe of Judah';

was

II.

was to make his Appearance before the Scep- SER M. tre or Dominion fhould ceafe from that Tribe; was to be a Deliverer of his Church from Bondage and Oppreffion; was to give them a new Law; and to be the Author of a new Difpenfation. From the Books of the Prophets, we gained the additional Light, that he was to be of the Stock and Lineage of David; that he was to be born of a Virgin, and in the City of Bethlehem; was to make his Appearance in the fecond Temple; and that within 500 Years after the going forth of the Commandment to restore and rebuild the Holy City.

And that the Bleffed Jefus of Nazareth, the then supposed Son of Jofeph, answered all these several Characters, and fo fulfilled 'all the Prophecies concerning the Meffiah, is the Business of my fecond Head to fhew. And this, if we believe a pretended Reprefenter of the Grounds and Reafons of the Chriftian Religion, is the more neceffary to be done, because it is the best, and, according to him, the only Proof we have for Chriftianity. But though we contend with as much Serioufnefs and Reality, as he does with Mockery and Ridicule, that the Prophecies recited in my last Difcourfe relate to the Mef