..... by them the Old Testament; to produce any, would be both labour ment. The learned Doctor Beveridge says: "No one can be ignorant that some of the truly canonical books of the Apostles were doubted of, in the three first centuries of .......ianity."* And again, "Amongst all the more ancient writers of Ecclesiastical matters, you will hardly find two that agree in the same number of canonical books."+ "The writers of those times," says the famous Dodwell, "do not chequer their works with texts of the New Testament; which yet is the custom of the moderns, and was also theirs in such books as they acknowledged for scripture; but they most frequently cite the books of the Old Testament, and would doubtless have done so by those of the New, if they had been received as canonical."‡ Now, from all these particulars, and what I before observed, it plainly appears, that the books of the Old Testament was the sole canon both of Jews and ......ians; and that in the first ages of ......ianity no other writings were accounted canonical; neither had they any other scriptures but the Old Testament; and all the evidence which is produced to prove that Jesus is the Messiah, must be taken from thence; for no other evidence can be of any validity or authority; neither could he claim the Messiahship but from the prophecies; and, therefore, Jesus is constantly made to refer to the evidence of the Old Testament. "In fine," says the most ingenious Mr. Collins, "Jesus and his Apostles do frequently, and emphatically style the books of the Old Testament The Scriptures, and refer men to them as their rule and canon; but no new books are declared by them to have that character. And if Jesus and his Apostles have declared no books to be canonical, I would ask who did, or could, afterwards declare or make any canonical books? If it had been deemed proper, and suited to the state of ......ianity, to have given or declared a new canon, or digest of laws, it should Codex. Can. Vind. Edit. Elerico. p. 112. † Apend. Anter. Bibl. same p. 376. + Desert. 1. in Iren. ́seem most proper to have been done by Jesus or his Apostles, and not left to any after them to do: but especially not left to be settled long after their times, by weak, fallible, factious, and interested men, who were disputing with one another about the genuineness of all books bearing the the names of the Apostles, and contending with one another about the authority of every different book."* "Indeed, to speak properly," says the same ingenious person, "the Old Testament is yet the sole true canon of scripture, meaning thereby a canon established by those who had a divine authority to establish a canon, and, in virtue thereof, did establish a canon, as it was in the beginning of ......ianity." The Old Testament being, without dispute, the only scripture both of Jews and ......ians, from that alone we are to judge of the office and character of the Messiah, and for this purpose it will be proper to extract a few of the many prophecies concerning the Messiah, his kingdom, and the events to happen in his time, the better to compare them with what is related of Jesus in the New Testament, in which they are said to be fulfilled. EXTRACTS. 1. "In those days the house of Judah shall walk with the house of Israel, and they shall come together out of the land of the North to the land that I have given for an inheritance unto your fathers."-Jer. iii. 18. 2. "Thus saith the LORD GOD, behold, I will take the children of Israel from among the nations whither they be gone, and will gather them on every side, and bring them into their own land, and will make them one nation in the land, upon the mountains of Israel; and one king shall be king to them all, and they shall no more be two nations: neither shall they be divided into two kingdoms any more at all; neither shall they defile themselves any more with their idols, nor with their detestable things, nor with any of their transgressions; but I will save them out of all their dwelling places wherein they have sinned, and will cleanse them, so shall they be my people, and I will be their God. And DAVID my servant shall be king over them, and they shall have one shepherd: they shall also walk in my judgments, and observe my statues, and do them. And they shall dwell in the land that I have given unto Jacob my * Grounds and Reasons, p. 16-17. + Grounds and Reasons p. 13. servant, wherein your fathers have dwelt, and they shall dwell therein, even they, and their children, and their children's children for ever; and my servant DAVID shall be their prince for ever. Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with them; it shall be an everlasting covenant, and will place them, and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary in the midst of them for evermore. My tabernacle also shall be with them, yea, I will be their God, and they shall be my people; and the nations shall know that I, THE LORD, do sanctify Israel, when my sanctuary shall be in the midst of them for evermore.-Ezekiel xxxvii. 21-36. 3. "And will I gather the remnant of my flock out of all countries whither I have driven them, and will bring them again to their folds; and they shall be fruitful and increase. And I will set up shepherds over them.which shall feed them; and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed; neither shall they be lacking, saith THE LORD. Behold, the days come, saith THE LORD, that I will raise unto David a righteous branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute Judgment and Justice in the Earth. In his day Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell-safely; and this is his name whereby he shall be called, The Lord our Righteousness: Therefore, behold the days come, saith THE LORD, that they shall no more say, THE LORD liveth, which brought up the children of Israel out the land of Egypt; But, THE LORD liveth, which brought up and which led the seed of the house of Israel out of the north country, and from all countries wherein I had driven them; and they shall dwell in their own land."-Jer. xxiii. 3—8. 4. "And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, swhich shall stand for an ensign to the people; to it shall the Gentiles seek: and his rest shall be glorious. And it shall come to pass in that day, that THE LORD shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people, which shall be left from Assyria, and from Egypt, and from Pathros, and from Cush, and from Elam, and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea. And he shall set up an Ensign for the Nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the Earth. The envy also of Ephraim shall depart, and the adversaries of Judah shall be cut off: Ephraim shall not envy Judah, and Judah shall not vex Ephraim." -Isa. xi. 10-13. 5. "Therefore thus saith THE LORD GOD, now will I bring again the captivity of Jacob, and have mercy upon the whole house of Israel, and will be jealous for my holy name; after that they have borne their shame and all their trespasses whereby they have trespassed against me, when they dwelt safely in their land and none made them afraid. When I have brought them again from the people, and gathered them out of their enemies' lands, and am sanctified in them in the sight of many nations; then shall they know that I am THE LORD their God, which caused them to be led into captivity among the Nations: but I have gathered them unto their own land, and have left none of them any more there, neither will I hide my face any more from them, for I have poured out my spirit upon the house of Israel, saith THE LORD GOD." Ezek. xxxix. 25-29. 6. "And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall beat off from the channel of the river unto the stream of Egypt, and ye shall be gathered one by one, O ye children of Israel. And it shall come to pass in that day, that the great trumpet shall be blown, and they shall come which were ready to perish in the land of Assyria, and the outcasts in the land of Egypt, and shall worship the Lord in the holy mount at Jerusalem."-Isaiah xxvii. 12, 13. 7. "Therefore will I save my flock, and they shall no more be a prey; and I will judge between cattle and cattle. And I will set up one shepherd over them, and he shall feed them, even my servant David; he shall feed them, and he shall be their shepherd. And I the Lord will be their God, and my servant David a prince among them; I the Lord have spoken it. And I will make with them a covenant of peace, and will cause the evil beasts to cease out of the land, and they shall dwell safely in the wilderness, and sleep in the woods. And I will make them, and the places round about my hill a blessing; and I will cause the shower to come down in its season; there shall be showers of blessing. And the tree of the field shall yield her fruit, and the earth shall yield her increase, and they shall be safe in their land, and shall know that I am the Lord, when I have broken the bands of their yoke, and delivered them out of the hand of those that served themselves of them. And they shall no more be a prey to the heathen, neither shall the beasts of the land devour them; they shall dwell safely, and none shall make them afraid. And I will raise up for them a plant of renown, and they shall be no more consumed with hunger in the land, neither bear the shame of the heathen any more.-Ezekiel xxxiv. 22-29. 8. "And there shall be no more a pricking brier unto the house of Israel, nor any grieving thorn of all that are round about them that despised them; and they shall know that I am the Lord God. Thus saith the Lord God: When I shall have gathered the house of Israel from the people among whom they are scattered, and shall be sanctified in them in the sight of the heathen, then shall they dwell in their land that I have given to my servant Jacob. And they shall dwell safely therein, and shall build houses, and plant vineyards; yea, they shall dwell with confidence, when I have executed judgments upon all those that despise them round about them; and they shall know that I am the Lord their God.-Ezek. xxviii. 24-26. 9. "As I live, saith the Lord God, surely with a mighty hand, and with an outstretched arm, and with fury poured out, will I rule over you. And I will bring you out from the people, and will gather you out of the countries wherein ye are scattered, with a mighty hand, and with a stretched out arm, and with fury poured And I will bring you into the wilderness of the people, and there I will plead with you face to face. Like as I pleaded with your fathers in the wilderness of the land of Egypt, so will I plead with you, saith the Lord God.-Ezek. xx. 33-36. out. 10. "I will accept you with your sweet savour, when I bring you out from the people, and gather you out of the countries wherein ye have been scattered, and I will be sanctified in you before the heathen."-Ezek. xx. 41, 42. 11. "Hear the word of THE LORD, O ye nations, and declare it in the isles afar off, and say, He that scattered Israel will gather him, and keep him as a shepherd doth his flock. For the Lord hath redeemed Jacob, and ransomed him from the hand of him that was stronger than he."-Jer. xxxi. 10, 11. 12. Fear not: for I am with thee: I will bring thy seed from the east, and gather thee from the west; I will say to the north, |