of the living for the Tranfgreffion of And in this exalted State the People. he fhall appear again upon Earth, and fhew himself in the fullness of Time to those who are then alive, for their Conviction and Converfion; attended, not like a worldly Monarch, with Guards and Troops of armed Men, but with Saints and Angels, and the Souls of juft Men made perfect. And his Appearance fhall be at Jerufalem and on Mount Sion; * At which Time according to the Prophet Jeremiah, they shall call Jerufalem the Throne of the Lord, and ALL NATIONS fball be gathered unto it. In thofe Days the Houfe of Judah shall walk with the Houfe of Ifrael, and they fball come together out of the Land of the North to their own Land. For fays the Prophet Ifaiah, † The Lord fball comfort Zion, he will comfort all her wafte Places; he will make her Wilderness like Eden, and her Defert like the Garden of the Lord: Joy and Gladness shall be found therein, Thanks Jer, iii. 17, 18. † lai, li. 3. and compare with Ezek. xxxvi. 22. Thanksgiving and the Voice of Melody. And again God faith, * It shall be to me a Name of Joy, a Praife, and an Honour before all the Nations of the Earth, which fball bear all the Good that I do unto them, and they shall fear and tremble for all the Goodness, and for all the Profperity that I procure unto it. Thus faith the Lord, again there fhall be heard in the Cities of Judah, and in the Streets of Jerufalem, the Voice of Joy, and the Voice of Gladness, the Voice of the Bridegroom, and the Voice of the Bride, the Voice of them that shall fay, Praife the Lord of Hofts, for the Lord is good and his Mercy endureth forever. But they who would fee this Day muft firft acknowledge him as their Meffiah in his depreffed State; they who would reign with him in Glory, muft alfo fhare with him in his Humility; they who would partake with him in his State of Exaltation, muft firft lift under his Banner in his State of Abasement. It feems therefore a Matter of the greatest Confequence to all Mankind, whether *Jerem. xxxiii. 9, 11. whether Jew or Gentile, to be as well informed as they poffibly can of the Time affixed for the coming of the Meffiah: That they may be certified whether he is yet come or not, either in his State of Abasement or Exaltation; that, if he be come, they may acknowledge him, and not be ejected out of his Kingdom, when he shall appear in his triumphant State, because they were too proud in Heart to acknowledge him in his State of Humiliation; wherefore I fhall endeavour to lay this before you in as an impartial a Light as I am capable of. In doing of which I fhall, in order to avoid Confufion, firft enquire into those Texts of Scripture, which may inform us concerning the Time of the Coming of this Meffiah; whence we may be enabled to Judge whether he is yet come or not: And if he be come, whether we have not Reason to expect a further and fecond Appearance of the Meffiah upon Earth. For though I apprehend it to be contradictory to the whole Tenor of the Hebrew Bible to suppofe two Meffiahs, yet I think it will ap pear pear from many Texts of Scripture, that the Meffiah must be already come; and as it is undoubted that many of the Prophecies concerning his Perfonal Appearence here upon Earth, are not yet fulfilled, it will as manifeftly follow from thence, that his further Coming is ftill to be expected. I fhall then in the laft Place, endeavour to fhew who this Perfon is, that is affirmed by the Chriftians to have already appeared under this Character of the Me fiah; and fhall affign my Reasons in Vindication of their Opinion. Now if we confult those Texts of Scripture, which relate to the Time of the Meffiah's Coming, we shall find, that the Meffiah was to come before the Sceptre fhould depart from Judah; and before the fecond Temple of Jerufalem, which was built by Zorobabel, fhould be deftroyed; both which Events having come to pass long ago, it is more than probable, that the firft coming of the Messiah is long fince paft. As to the firft of thete, This I think will fufficiently appear from confulting the Prophecy of Jacob, when a little little before his Death, he gave his Bleffing to his Sons, and among the rest to his Son Judah, out of whofe Tribe by the Seed of David, it is fufficienly acknowledged by the Jews, that the Messiah is to come. For fays he, * The Sceptre (hall not depart from Judah, nor a Lawgiver from be tween his Feet, until § SHILOH come; and to him fball the Gathering of the People be. Now as it is manifeft, that the Sceptre, take it in what fence you will, whether it be the Sceptre of Government in Judah as a Tribe, or the Sceptre of the great Synagogue, or the Sceptre of the Shanedrim, which fate in Jerusalem, and within the limits of the Tribe of Judah, all which ceafed much about the fame Time; fince I say it is manifeft that this Sceptre hath long fince departed from Judah, therefore it is reasonable to believe that Shiloh is come. And in Proof of this, I think I need only quote the Words of R. Rachman, who makes this remarkable Confeffion: "When "our Sanhedrim went out of the Hall, "where |