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Veffels made Ufe of in the Houfe of God. SER M. So that all these Preheminencies being loft, there remains no other Account to be given, why the Glory of the fecond Temple should exceed that of the former, unless we expound it by the coming of him into it, in whom all thofe Signs of the divine Glory were far more eminently contained; as Malachi, the laft of the Prophets, again foretold above 100 Years afterwards; Mal. iii. I, The Lord (faith he) whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his Temple; even the Meffenger of the Covenant, whom ye delight in; bebold, he fhall come, faith the Lord of Hofts. The Characters here given of the Perfon that is to come, cannot poffibly be applied to any other than the Meffiab, and therefore fince it from hence again appears, that he was to be born during the ftanding of the fecond Temple, it must neceffarily follow that he was to come before that Temple was deftroyed.

And thus I have fhewn that the coming of the Meffiab was foretold, and fignified in the plaineft Manner that could be expected or devifed; we have feen who were to be his Progenitors, where he was to be born, in what Manner he was to be conceived, and

SER M. the very Time and Year almoft of his com

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ing, and all this before Chrift or Chriftians were known in the World. It remains therefore now that I examine, whether thefe Circumftances foretold fo long before, do really agree in our Jefus, i. e. in Jefus of Nazareth, the Son of Jofeph.

- But this must be the Subject of an entire Difcourfe, I fhall therefore at present only draw an Inference from what has been faid and fo conclude.

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The Inference from this exact Completion of these Prophecies in the Perfon of our Lord, will better follow from a fubfequent Discourse, where that Completion will be shewn At prefent give me Leave only to point out to you the Goodness of God to the Patriarchs and Fathers of the Old Testament, in revealing and foretelling this Salvation to them. Since without this Revelation, and Renewal of it too, in the feveral Ages of this World, the Hopes of Mankind must entirely have funk, together with their Innocence, and the Sentence denounced upon them in Confequence of the Fall have driven them to Despair. To convey to them new Hopes therefore, and to encourage them to go on with the Practice of Religion, no fooner had our first Parents disobeyed

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difobeyed his Precept to the Ruin of them- SER M. selves, 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 loose 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 juft 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 indisposed and unfit for his coming, and therefore reserved him till the Fulnefs of Time, when he fhould be manifeft and known; and till fuch Fulnefs of Time was come, he was graciously 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

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SERM. Tokens were given to know him. And this

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indeed was the chief End of God in foretelling so often, and in Terms fo explicit, the coming of the Meffiah. The feveral Prophecies of him were proportioned to the Wants and Neceffities of the World at the feveral Ages in which they were given; and without the Communication of fuch Hopes and Promises as thofe Prophecies conveyed, it was impoffible that Religion could have fubfifted amongst them. Of this Use therefore were the feveral Prophecies, that have been mentioned in this Difcourfe, to the People of God before the coming of Chrift amongst them. Of what Ufe they are now, and how far we build our Faith in Chrift upon the Completion of them, fhall be fhewn, God willing, in another Difcourfe.

SER

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 Jofeph.

IN my

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laft Difcourfe (after an Introduction S E R M. preparatory to the Season which is now approaching) I fhewed that the Meaning of thefe Words was this:-That Jefus of Nazareth, which Nathaniel calls the Son of FoSeph, was the Meffiab 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, propofed to obferve this natural Method, viz.

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I. FIRST,