vealed, and all flefh fhall fee the falvation of God; for the mouth of the Lord has fpoken it." Luke the 3d chapter. "Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Cæfar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judea, and Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, and Philip his brother tetrarch of Iturca, and the country of Trachonitis, Lyfanias tetrarch of Abilina, under the high priests Annas and Caiphas; the word of the Lord came to John, the son of Zachary, in the defart; and he came into all the country about the Jordan, preaching the baptifm of penance for the remiffion of fins; as it is written in the book of the words of Ifaiah the prophet; a voice of one crying in the wilderness; Prepare ye the way of the Lord; make his paths ftraight. Every valley fhall be filled; and every mountain and hill fhall be brought low; and the crooked fhall be made ftraight, and the rough ways plain; and all flefh fhall fee the falvation of God. He faid therefore to the multitudes that came to be baptized by him; 'Ye offspring of vipers, who hath fhewed you to flee from the wrath to come? Bring forth therefore fruit worthy of penance, and do not begin to fay, We have Abraham for our father.' For I fay to you, that God is able of these ftones to raise up children to Abraham. For now the axe is laid to the roots of the trees. Every tree therefore that bringeth not forth good fruit, fhall be cut down, and caft into the fire. The office and character of St. John was by the angel Gabriel announced to Zachary, as you will fee in the ift chapter of the fame Evangelift. But the angel

faid to him, Fear not, Zachary, for thy prayer is heard; and thy wife Elizbeth fhall bear thee a fon, and thou shalt cal his name John; and thou fhalt have joy and gladnef, and many fhall rejoice at his birth. For he shall be great before the Lord; and fhall drink no wine, nor ftrong drink; and he fhall be filled with the Holy Ghoft, even from his mother's womb: and he fhall convert many of the children of Ifrael to the Lord their God: and he shall go before him in the fpirit and power of Elias, that he may turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the incredulous to the wifdom of the juft, to prepare for the Lord a perfect people." Ifaiah 11th chapter. "And there fhall come forth a rod out of the ftem of Jeffe, and a branch fhall grow out of his roots. And the spirit of the Lord fhall rest upon him, the fpirit of wifdom. and understanding, the fpirit of council and might, the fpirit of knowledge, and the fear of the Lord; and fhall make him of quick underftanding in the fear of the Lord: and he fhall not judge after the fight of his eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of his ears: But with righteoufnefs fhall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth: and hefhall fimite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips fhall he flay the wicked. And righteousness fhall be the girdle of his loins, and faithfulness the girdle of his reins. (Before Chrift 606.) Jeremiah 31ft. chap. "How long wilt thou go about, O thou backfliding daughter? for the Lord hath created a new thing in the earth, a woman fhall compafs

a man.

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a man. And in the 33d chapter. Behold the days come faith the Lord, that I will raife unto David a righteous Branch, and a King fhall reign and profper, and fhall execute judgment and juftice in the earth. In thy days Judah fhall be faved, and Ifrael fhall dwell fafely: and this is his name whereby he shall be called, The Lord our Righteoufnefs. Before Chrift 519. Zachariah 3d chapter. Hear now, O Jofhua, the high-prieft, thou, and thy fellows that fit before thee, for they are men wondered at; for, behold, I will bring forth my fervant the Branch: for behold the ftone that I have laid before Jofhua, upon one stone fhall be feven eyes: behold, I will engrave the graving thereof, faith the Lord of Hofts, and I will remove the iniquity of that land in one day.

Your great law-giver, Mofes, in his book of Numbers, 24th chapter, relates Balaam's prophecy, in which the Meffiah is clearly referred to. I fhall fee him, but not now; I fhall behold him, but not nigh; there fhall come a ftar out of Jacob, and a fceptre fhall rife out of Ifrael. This prophecy, with the prophecy of Jeremiah, 21ft chapter. Thus faith the Lord, A voice was heard in Ramah, lamentation and bitter weeping; Rachel weeping for her children, refused to be comforted. Alfo, Micah, 5th chapter. Now gather thyfelf in troops, O daughter of troops; he hath laid fiege against us, they fhall fmite the judge of Ifrael with a rod upon the cheek. But thou Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thoutands

thousands of Judah, yet out of thee fhall He come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Ifrael, whofe goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting. Thefe feveral prophecies are taken notice of in the 2d chapter of St. Matthew, accomplished in the perfon of our Lord Jefus Chrift. Now, when Jefus was born in Bethlehem of Juda, in the days of king Herod, behold there came wife men from the Eaft to Jerufalem, faying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen His Star in the Eaft, and are come to adore Him. And king Herod hearing this, was troubled, and all Jerulalem with him; and affembling together all the chief priests and the fcribes of the people, he enquired of them where Chrift fhould be born. But they faid to him; in Bethlehem of Judah. For fo it is written by the prophet; And thou, Bethlehem, the land of Judah, art not the leaft among the princes of Judah; for out of thee fhail come forth the ruler that fhall rule my people Ifrael. Then Herod calling the wife men, enquired of them diligently the time of the Star's appearing to them; and fending them into Bethlehem, said, Go and fearch diligently after the Child, and when you have found him, bring me word again, that I alfo may come and adore him. And when they had heard the king, they went their way; and behold, the Star which they had feen in the Eaft, went before them, until it came and stood over where the Child was. And feeing the ftar, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy. And going into the house, they found

the

the Child, with Mary his Mother. and falling down they adored Him; and opening their treafures, they offered him gifts; gold, frankincenfe and myrrh. And having received an anfwer in fleep that they should not return to Herod, they went back another way into their country. And after they were departed, behold an angel of the Lord appeared in fleep to Jofeph, faying, Arife, and take the Child and his mother, and fly into Egypt, and be there until I shall tell thee; for it will come to pass that Herod will feek the child to deftroy him, and he arose and took the child and his mother by night, and retired into Egypt, and he was there until the death of Herod, that the word might be fulfilled which the Lord spoke by the prophet, faying, Out of Epypt have I called my fon. Then Herod, perceiving that he was deluded by the wife men, was exceeding angry, and fending killed all the male children that were in Bethlehem, and in all the borders thereof, from two years old and under, according to the time he had diligently enquired of the wife men. Then was fulfilled that which was fpoken by Jeremias the prophet, faying, A voice in Rama was heard, lamentation, and great mournine; Rachel bewailing her children, and would not be comforted, because they are not. But when Herod was dead, behold an angel of the Lord appeared in fleep to Jofeph in Egypt, faying, Arife, and take the Child and his Mother, and go into the land of Ifrael, for they are dead that fought the life of the Child. And he arose, and took the Child and his Mother, and came