governor.

accused by the Jews, was condemned to be crucified by the Roman Thus was fulfilled the prophecy of David: "They pierced my hands and my feet."*

When Stephen was accused of blasphemy, in the heat of their rage the Jews cast him out of the city and stoned him: but when Jesus was to be offered up as a sacrifice for sin, their wrath was restrained by that Almighty power, who saith to the boisterous wave, "hitherto shalt thou go, and no further."

The more we study the Prophecies respecting the Messiah, and the events connected with them, the more we shall be constrained to say with the convinced centurion at the cross: "Truly this was the Son of God."+

HOSEA, one of the oldest prophets, who lived about eight hundred years before Christ, foretells the flight of the infant Saviour into Egypt, and his subsequent call from thence:

"When Israel was a child, then I loved him, and called my son out of Egypt."-xi. 1. Matt. ii. 15. Also, his glorious Resurrection; under the emblem of a national restoration:

"After two days will he revive us in the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live in his sight.”—vi. 2. Mark viii. 31.; 1 Cor. xv. 4.

ISAIAH, who prophesied about seven hundred and sixty years before Christ, has been styled the fifth Evangelist, from the wonderful, rich, and glorious discoveries made to him of that Saviour who, in the fulness of time, was to come into our world, to seek and to save that which is lost.

Jesus was promised to Adam as the seed of the woman. By Isaiah the promise is confirmed: :

"Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel."-vii. 14., xlix. 1. Matt. i. 22, 23.

The Messiah is frequently foretold under the similitude of a Branch :

* Psa. xxii. 16.

+Matt. xxvii. 54.

"There shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots.”—xi. 1. Jesus was David's son, and David's Lord. “The root and the offspring of David.”—Rev. xxii. 16.

He was predicted under the figure of a Stone, to demonstrate the stability of his kingdom, and the firmness of the believer's hope:

"Thus saith the Lord God, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner-stone, a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste.”—xxviii. 16. 1 Pet. ii. 6.

In unison with this prophecy, David declared: "The stone which the builders refused is become the head stone of the corner. This is the Lord's doing; it is marvellous in our eyes."-Psa. cxviii. 22, 23. Matt. xxi. 42.

How touchingly is the meekness and gentleness of Christ described:

"Behold my servant, whom I uphold, mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth: I have put my Spirit upon him; he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles. He shall not cry, nor lift up, nor cause his voice to be heard in the street. A bruised reed shall he not break, and the smoking flax shall he not quench."-xlii. 1-3. Matt. xii. 17-21.

“He shall feed his flock like a shepherd; he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young."―xl. 11. John x. 11.; Matt. xi. 28, 30.

The blessings of the Redeemer's kingdom are beautifully pourtrayed:

66

Behold, a king shall reign in righteousness, and princes shall rule in judgment. And a man shall be as an hiding-place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest; as rivers of waters in a dry place; as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land. xxxii. 1, 2. Luke i. 68-75.

"I the Lord have called thee in righteousness, and will hold thine hand, and will keep thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of

the Gentiles; to open the blind eyes, to bring out the prisoners from the prison, and them that sit in darkness out of the prison-house."-xlii. 6, 7. Luke ii. 29-32.; Acts xxvi. 15-18.

"The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me; because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek: he hath sent me to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; to proclaim the, acceptable year of the Lord." -lxi. 1, 2., xi. 2. Luke iv. 16-21.

The human and divine Nature of Christ, as God manifest in the flesh, is most plainly declared:

"Unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given, and the government shall be upon his shoulder; and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice, from henceforth even for ever.”—ix. 6, 7. Luke i. 32-35.

"And it shall be said in that day, Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, and he will save us: this is the Lord; we have waited for him, we will be glad and rejoice in his salvation.”—xxv. 9. Luke i. 46, 47.

"O Zion, that bringest good tidings, get thee up into the high mountain; O Jerusalem, that bringest good tidings, lift up thy voice with strength; lift it up, be not afraid; say unto the cities of Judah, Behold your God!"-xl. 9., lii. 7. Rom. x. 13-15.

"Say to them that are of a fearful heart, Be strong, fear not; behold, your God will come with vengeance, even God with a recompence; he will come and save you. Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped: then shall the lame man leap as an hart, and the tongue of the dumb man sing: for in the wilderness shall waters

break out, and streams in the desert.”—xxxv. 4—6. Matt. xi. 4-6.

Who can impartially compare these prophecies with their fulfilment in the Gospels, and deny that Jesus is indeed the Christ, the Saviour of the world.

The humanity of Christ, being foretold, as the virgin's son, and the child given, the Prophet most pathetically describes the sufferings and death of our ever adorable Redeemer. Who can read, unmoved, the prophetic details of the Saviour's passion? They are recorded as if already past, from the certainty and truth of their fulfilment. As the willingness of Christ to suffer in our stead was mentioned by David, "I am content to do thy will, O God; so here the patient Jesus says: "The Lord God hath opened mine ear, and I was not rebellious, neither turned away back. I gave my back to the smiters, and my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair: I hid not my face from shame and spitting."-l. 5, 6. Matt. xxvi. 42.; John vi. 38.

The Evangelical Prophet, in the fifty-third chapter, begins with this painful exclamation:

"Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed? For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground; he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief : and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. All we, like sheep, have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed, * Psa. xl. 10., Prayer Book Version.

and he was afflicted; yet he opened not his mouth : he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth. He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken. And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth. Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities. Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors: and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.

O ye perishing sinners, ye prisoners of hope, behold the Man !-Zion, behold your King! Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world! Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved; for he hath said: "Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is none else."—xlv. 22.

By comparing this affecting chapter, the fiftythird of Isaiah, with the twenty-sixth and twentyseventh chapters of St. Matthew's Gospel, it pleased God, who is rich in mercy, not many years ago, to convert a Jew to the faith of Christ. O! how precious is the word of God. Truly "the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy." Well might the enraptured Prophet break forth into joyous strains :

"Sing, O ye heavens; for the Lord hath done it: shout, ye lower parts of the earth: break forth into singing, ye mountains, O forest, and every tree.