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brings his death to that week in the middle of which the sacrifice and the oblation were to cease: which virtually was the case; for to the true believer the necessity of the sacrifice of the altar no longer remained, after our Lord had pronounced these remarkable words, "It is finished *." Yet we know that this "form of godliness, without the power," continued till the Roman armies had swept away not only every vestige of the Jewish ceremonies, but of the temple itself; thus giving us another certain proof of the truth of Prophecy, and of the Divine origin of the Bible.

We cannot here enumerate the

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many other phecies, which are to be found in holy writ relating to the person of the Messiah, which have had so complete an accomplishment in the circumstances of the life and sufferings of our Lord. Nor shall we in this place attempt to collect all those which relate to the calling of the Gentiles, and the final restoration of the Jews. The former we have seen the fulfilment of in such extraordinary measure, that we neither can deny nor doubt their being entirely realized at last, together with those which are confined to the children of Israel, the development of which we know is both as to time and manner still in the hands of Him alone by whom all prophecy was given.

John xix. 30.

This brings us to a conclusion of our considerations of the prophetic part of the Old Testament: but we cannot quit the subject, without once more reminding our readers, that one prediction fulfilled is the establishment of all the prophecies contained in holy writ; that one miracle proved to have been performed seals the Divine truth of every one related in the Scriptures; that the demonstration of one command from God gives the authority of Jehovah to the whole Bible: for who can foresee future events, but He who predetermined them in his wisdom? Who can control the powers of nature, but He by whose word all nature was formed? And who should have dared to say, "Thou shalt have none other gods but me," except our God, the God of Revelation, the Lord of heaven and earth?

CHAPTER XVIII.

THE TRUTH OF SCRIPTURE PROVED FROM THE NATURE OF THE SACRED WRITINGS.

WHEN We consider the sublimity of the doctrines taught by Moses, the holiness of his laws, the excellency of his promises; the duty which he prescribes to men of loving God beyond all earthly possessions, of serving him in defiance of every danger; when we remember the hope of eternity which he gives to all nations through the posterity of Abraham, we are compelled to acknowledge that the design of the Author is far too elevated to have been the production of human reason alone. We are obliged to confess, that the book, which contains so much wisdom, in which is related so many wonders, carries within itself, at its very commencement, the most convincing proofs of its Divine origin.

When philosophers have argued in what true happiness consisted, they have, after pages of discussion, ended perhaps by telling us, that we shall discover this precious gem in acting according to the dictates of conscience, and bearing with

fortitude the evils which we cannot avoid but they have given us with this no certain hope to cling to, no safe haven from the storms of life: they have not told us of the place where "the wicked cease from troubling," where "the weary are at rest *:" they have not directed us to "the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world +;" they have not pointed us to that heavenly city where believers shall find no more sorrow, nor crying, nor any more pain, because "God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes ‡."

Let us devote a few minutes to the application of this reasoning of the philosophers. We will suppose a person happy enough to acquit himself of his duty for a time. I cannot see how this will lay a foundation for his patience in an hour of trial. How will the remembrance of his uprightness give him fortitude in sickness and pain? How will it supply him with submission in the time of penury and want? How will it quiet his fears, and stifle the memory of former sins at the hour of death? Suffering in body, confused in mind, he is going he knows not where. He is like a vessel without either rudder or compass, entering an unknown sea; uncertain in its course, and the sport of every wave.

Believe me, ye who stand on this precipice;

*Job iii. 17. ↑ John i. 29.

Rev. xxi. 4.

listen to the voice of truth, ye who, in the pride of human intellect, are looking for what you call a reasonable happiness; search in the pages of the Bible for true happiness; depend on it, the virtue of the philosopher will only dissipate in vexation. It will assuredly relax in trial, and will entirely fall short in suffering. Human nature has no virtue to call her own; nothing good to take hold of in herself; her brightest ornaments, her goodliest apparel are all borrowed from Revelation. The vessel in which she sails must be guided by religion; the Bible must be her rudder and compass, or she will not find the desired haven at last. In its sacred pages we learn," that whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth *," and that he pitieth his people, "like as a father pitieth his children +.” By its holy precepts we are taught, that in obeying our heavenly Father, we are following the example of our blessed Lord; and we are promised "that all things work together for good to them that love God." This religion, the religion which the inspired writers teach us, is worthy of God, because it instructs us to know and to love him, to honour and serve him: and it is fit for man, as it alone leads him to that " peace which passeth all understanding §;" it gives him that "perfect

* Heb. xii. 6.
Rom. viii. 28.

+ Psalm ciii. 13.
§ Phil. iv. 7.

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