7, 8, 9.

1

stand the Messias. And it was foretold by the ProHag. ii. 6, phets Haggai and Malachi, that he should come before the Destruction of the second Temple; and the Dan. ix. Destruction of the Temple was foretold by Daniel, 24, 25, 26, with the precise Time of our Saviour's coming.

Mal. iii. v.

27.

Mic. v.

And to manifest to the World that Christ is come, the Jews are now dispersed among all Nations, and their Government lost, and their Families confounded: The second Temple is long since destroyed, and the City of Jerusalem made desolate, which was foretold should be after the cutting off the Messias. And as the Time of Christ's Birth was foretold, so was the Place of it: It was prophesied, that the Mat. ii. 6. Messias should be born in Bethlehem of Judea, which was accordingly fulfilled, the Providence of God so ordering it, that Joseph and Mary should be brought up to Bethlehem, by a general Tax which Augustus then laid: not only that she might be delivered, but that their Names might be there entered, and their Family ascertained and proved, without Doubt, to have descended from David. The Person of whom our Saviour was born, was likewise foretold: Is. vii. 14. According to Isaiah, she was to be a Virgin, which Gen. iii. 15. Was accordingly fulfilled: and thus Christ was emphatically the Seed of the Woman, according to the Promise made to our first Parents, being, as the Gospel tells us, born of a pure Virgin, which never

Mat. i. 25.

Isa. liii. 2.

3.

9, 10.

knew Man.

Q. What Prophecies related to the Life of the Messias, which were fulfilled in Jesus?

A. The Meanness and Obscurity and Sorrows of Psal. Ixix. it are expressed by Isaiah; he was spoken of by the Prophets, as of a Person that was to be reputed vile and abject, despised and rejected of Men; and accordingly, in the Gospel Christ is called a Nazarene, Isa. xlii. 2. and had not where to lay his Head; and yet, notwithstanding these Circumstances, he was to be eminent for his Patience and Meekness. His Abode Isa. ix. 1. was to be chiefly in Galilee; and, accordingly, he was brought up at Nazareth, and dwelt at Capernaum.

3.

xviii.

31.

His Character of a Prophet was asserted by Moses Deut. and Isaiah, which was eminently fulfilled in that 15 he foretold future Contingencies. His Power of working many and great Miracles was foretold by the same Prophet, and accomplished by himself in xxxv. 5.6. such a manner that many of the People believed in John vii. him, and said, When Christ cometh shall he do greater Miracles than this Man hath done. It was foretold that the People should receive him with Joy and Triumph, when he came riding upon an Ass, which Zech. ix. was afterwards fulfilled; and that he should be Mat. xxi. sold for thirty Pieces of Silver, the Price which Zech.xi. Judas received for betraying him.

9.

12.

3.

Q. What Prophecies related to the Death of the Mat. xxvii Messias which were fulfilled in Jesus?

Psal. xxii.

A. His violent Death was foretold by the Prophets, and by several Types which did represent and prefigure his Death. Thus Abraham's offering up of Isaac was a Type of Christ's being offered up on the Cross; and Isaac's carrying the Wood on his Shoulders, was a Type of Christ's carrying his own Cross; and the brazen Serpent, and the Paschal Lamb prefigured Christ's being lifted up, and his being made a Sacrifice for the Sins of the People. Our Saviour was buffetted and spit upon, accord-Isa. i. 6. ing to the Prophecy of Isaiah. He had Vinegar 18. Ixix. given him to drink mingled with Gall, and his Gar-21. ments were parted among the Soldiers by casting of Lots, according to David. He was numbered with Isa. liii. the Transgressors, being condemned as a Malefactor to suffer with Malefactors, being crucified between two Thieves. He cried out under his Sufferings Psal. xxi, according to David; and prayed for his wicked Per-Is. liii. secutors, according to Isaiah. And as to the Cir- 12.9. cumstances of his Burial, it was foretold he should make his Grave with the Rich, which was accomplished in that he was put into Joseph of Arimathea's own Tomb.

Q. What Prophecies related to the Resurrection

22.

1.

10.

4.

and Ascension of the Messias which were fulfilled in Jesus?

A. The Resurrection of Jesus Christ was prophePsal. xvi. sied of by David; thou wilt not leave my Soul in Hell, nor suffer thy Holy One to see Corruption, for Acts ii. 27. to this purpose it is applied by St. Peter; the Time Hos. vi. 2. foretold by Hosea to be after two Days, as several of the Rabbies understood that Phrase. It was prefigured by the Type of Isaac's Deliverance when Mat. xii. he had been offered up; and by the Type of Jonas being three Days and three Nights in the Whale's Belly. And his sitting at the Right Hand of God, which supposeth his Ascension into Heaven, Psal. cx. 1. was foretold by the Royal Prophet, Sit thou at my Right Hand, till I make thine Enemies thy Footstool. The Accomplishment of the fore-mentioned Prophecies was a sufficient Proof to the Jews, who saw them fulfilled, that our Saviour was a Person sent from God.

Mat. ii. 16, 17.

xvii. 5.

2 Pet. i.

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

A. Just before he began his public Ministry; when he was baptized by John, in the Presence of a great Assembly of the People, the Holy Ghost descended upon him, with a Voice from Heaven, which said, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. And this voice was again repeated, though not so publicly, at his Transfiguration on the Mount; and is mentioned by St. Peter as a considerable Argument of Christ's divine Authority; For we have not 16, 17. followed cunningly devised Fables, when we have made known unto you the Power and Coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, but were Eye-witnesses of his Majesty ; for he received from God the Father, Honour and Glory, when there came such a Voice to him from the excellent Glory, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. And this Voice which came from Heaven we heard 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.

& C.

John xii. 28.

Q. What farther Evidence is there that Jesus was a Person sent from God?

Mat. xi.

3, 4.

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 Mission of any Person. Upon this Ground it is, that Nicodemus concludes that our Saviour was John iii. 2 sent from God: And our Saviour himself insists upon this as the great Proof of his divine Authority; John v. 36. and the resisting the Evidence of his Miracles, he reckons as one of the greatest Aggravations of Unbelief; If I had not, saith our Saviour, done among Chap. xv. them the Works which none other Man did, they had 24. not had Sin. And that our Saviour did many wonderful Things, is confessed by his greatest Enemies Celsus and Julian, though they attributed them to the Power of Magic.

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

24.

13.

A. He healed all Sorts of Diseases, and that in Mat. iv. 23. 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 sometimes upon those at a Distance: The most inveterate Diseases submitted to his Power; He gave Sight to the Man born John ix. 7. blind: He made the Woman straight that had been Luke xiii. crooked and bowed together eighteen Years: and John v. 8. the Man that had an Infirmity thirty-eight Years he bids take up his Bed and walk. He multiplied a Mat. xiv. few Loaves and Fishes for the feeding of some Thousands; which Miracle was twice done, and at both Times many Thousands were Witnesses of Chap. xv. it: And, what all Men grant to be miraculous, he 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 Midst of his Enemies, and for a long Time together, during the

21.

Acts ii.

22.

Mat. xii. 24.

whole Season of his public Ministry, which was about three Years and a Half, and sometimes he extorted a Confession from the Devils themselves of his divine Power: and indeed they were so public and so undeniable, that St. Peter applies to the Jews themselves, declaring that Jesus of Nazareth was a Man approved of God among them by Miracles, and Wonders, and Signs, which God did by him in the Midst of them, as they themselves also knew. Q. What Objections were made against the Miracles of our Saviour?

A. His Miracles were such, and wrought in such a Manner, and did so plainly prove themselves to be above the Power of Nature, that none of his Enemies attempted to solve them that Way; therefore they attributed them to the Power of the Devil. He casteth out Devils by Belzebub, the Prince of the Devils. This the Jews urged at first, and was afterwards made use of by others that opposed Christianity. And some later Atheists have made the Credulity and Imagination of the People to be a great Ingredient in his Miracles, because it is Mat. xiii. said, when Jesus was in his own Country, He could not do many mighty Works, because of their Unbelief.

58.

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 Christ, which was confirmed by his Miracles, was contrary to that Design which the Devil carried on in the World, and was destructive of his Kingdom. It forbids the worshipping of evil Spirits, and draws Men off from such Wickedness as those evil Spirits were delighted with; and, in Fact, it appeareth, wherever the Christian Religion was entertained, that the Worship of Demous, and all magical Arts were renounced and forsaken, and one God only worshipped. So that it is not to be imagined, that the Devil should assist in doing such Things, as not only brought no Profit nor Advantage to him, but were the surest Instruments of abating his Power, and destroying