viour, which were fo many, that they could not be fufilled by chance, and the fulfilling of them depended fo much upon the words and actions of others, and even of his wörft Enemies, that it could proceed from no design or contrivance of him or his Difciples: They were fulfilled in him by the malice chiefly of his Enemies, and according to the interpretation which they themselves were wont to give of them.

IV. His Refurrection likewife and Afcenfion were the fulfilling of exprefs Prophe cies,as the Apoftles proved to the face of his Crucifiers, A&. And these were fuch Accomplishments of Prophecies as depended upon the fole Will and Power of Almighty God, and yet as certainly came to país, as the Birth, and Life and Death of Chrift did. As fhall be proved in due place.

GH A P

CHAP. XIII..

Of the Prophecies and Miracles of our Bleffed Saviour.

A

S our Bleffed Saviour was prophefied

of by all the Prophets who were before him fo he was himself the Great Pro. phet that was to come, and was at the time of his being in the world expected of the Jews; and he fulfilled that Prediction by the many eminent prophecies which he fpake. He foretold the Treachery of Judas, and knew from the beginning who it was that fhould betray him; he fortold the manner of hi own Death, that it was to be by crucifixion, though the Jews often fought op portunities to put him to death privately, and that was a kind of punishment which the Jews could not inflict, but if they had killed him themselves, and had not brought him to the Roman Judicature, they would have done it by ftoning, as they murthered St. Stephen He foretold all the circumftances of his fufferings, that he should be delivered unto the Chief Priests, and unto the Scribes, and that they should condemn him to death, and fhould deliver him to the Gentiles, and that they should mock him, and fhould fcourge him, and fhould fpit upon him,

and

and should kill him, and that he would rife again the third day, Mark x, 33, 34. which his enemies took fuch notice of, that they ufed all their vain endeavours to prevent it. He affured his Difciples, that his Gospel should be preached over the whole world, and that one particular action, which they were offended at, of the Wo man who anointed his head, fhould never be omitted, wherefoever it should be preached, Matt. xxvi. 13. he declared that his Religion should prevail against all the oppofition which it would meet with al, and continue to the end of the world. He foretold the denial of St. Peter, and the manner of his Martyrdom, and both were foretold to St. Peter himself, and his denial, but a very little while before it came to pafs, when St. Peter looked upon it as a thing impoffible, who alone could have it in his power to hinder it. He Prophefied of the deftruction of Jerufalem, which came to pafs about forty years after his own Death, within the compass of that Generation, as he had foretold: the very foundations of the Temple and City were deftroyed, and the ground plowed up, fo that one ftone was not left upon another of all the magnificent Buildings of the Temple, which the Difciples fo much admired, when our Saviour told them that this fhould be the Fate of that glorious

δᾶς ἀπές

λέγξαι

Pile, Matt. xxii. 2. And as I have alrea dy obferved upon another occafion, when Julian with a defign (a) to defeat this Pro (a) phecy, endeavoured to have it rebuilt, both the Works and the Workmen were miraculously deftroyed by a fire bursting * τας τα out of the ground. The Inhabitants fell gophores by the edge of the Sword, and were led sozom. προρήσεις away captive into all Nations, Luke xxi. 24. lib. 5. C: the chiefeft place of fecurity was the moun- 21. tainous part of Judea, which our Saviour forefaw, when he advised his Difciples to flee to the Mountains, Matt. xxiv. 16. And Ceftius Gallus compaffed Jerufalem with his Army, which was a warning to the Chriftians to depart, and then by railing the Siege, gave them an opportunity to efcape to Pella, in the Mountains of Perea, exactly according to Luke xxi 20, 21. And what Dion affins relates in the Reigns of Claudius, Nero, Vitellius, and Titus, may ferve as a comment upon our Saviour's Prophecy for there were famines and peftilences, fearful fights and great figns from heaven, and great earthquakes, the Sea and the waves roaring, xXXI. 11, 25. The Sun was darkned, and the Moon did not give her light, Matt. xxiv. 29. Mens hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after thofe things which were coming on the earth, Luke xxi. 26. and there was fo terrible an eruption of Vefuvius, that the Athes were carried by

the

and

the winds into Africk, and into Egypt an Syria, with fo great fmcak and dark nefs, that it was thought the world had been at an end."

Our Saviour's Miracles verified the Prophecies, which had been concerning the Meffias; for + the Je expected that the Meffias fhould manitelt himfelf by Miracles to the world, as they concluded from the ancient Prophets: and therefore St. John Baptift did no Miracles, that he might not be mistaken for the Meffias, of whom Miracles were a principal Token to know him by. His Miracles were wrought in the midst of his Enemies, and extorted a confeffion from the Devils themfelves of his Divine Power; they were of that na ture, that it was impoffible for them before whom they were wrought, to be impofed upon by them, and as impoffible for them to be performed but by the immediate Power of God. The Miracle of the Loaves and Fishes was twice repeated, and the perfons who were witneffes to it, were at one time five thousand men, befides women and children, Matt. xiv. 21. and the other time four thousand men, befides women and children, Matt. xv. 38. a Miracle wrought at two feveral times, and obvious to all the fences of fo many thousand Men, be fides Women and Children, who being hungry, found themfelves filled and fatis