thee; thy throne shall be established for ever" ( promise is repeated by the singer and poet, Ethan, divine inspiration he sang-" Once have I sworn ness, that I will not lie unto David. His seed shai ever, and his throne as the sun before me, etc." 37). Indeed this whole Psalm is Messianic, and wa time of deep distress, when David's throne was temp down to the ground (v. 44). It contemplates th between the low estate of David's kingdom at that ti exalted position it was to take in the future, whe "be established forever as the moon, and as a faith in heaven" (v. 37). The promises recorded here car to David personally, but to his future seed, who can down, but who will rule forever, in righteousness. confirms this. The endurance of the throne is sym the sun and moon, the human ideal of what is most e enduring in nature. Accordingly the ultimate refe be to no other than the Son and Lord of David, or the

Subsequent to this, the prophetic utterances conce Messiah, are more frequent, and more definite, not on ing of Him as a person, but also of His personal c naming the very works He will do, declaring His m life and speech, and also predicting His sufferings an even the manner of His death, His being numbered wit gressors, and His burial with the rich. Indeed so man circumstantial are these predictions, that neither our t space will permit us to quote them.

There are also references to the time and place of His the kind of reception He shall meet among His own peo to the call and salvation of the Gentiles. In fact plete description of Him, in all His relations with men easily be gathered from the prophecies, such as would perfectly to the character of Jesus Christ, as we now described in the Gospels.

The time at which He was to appear was definitely p out, and a number of concurrent circumstances led the

in different localities widely separated, to expect the advent of the Messiah, about the time when Jesus was born in Bethlehem. One of these circumstances was already alluded to by Jacob, in his parting benediction. The scepter shall not depart from Judah, etc," which meant that Shiloh should come before Judah, the ruling tribe should lose its supremacy and be without a king. Herod the Great, in the time of whose reign Jesus was born, was the last actual king that sat upon the throne of Judah. Although a few so-called kings were appointed by Cæsar, to succeed Herod, their jurisdictions were greatly restricted, and the laws of the Roman Empire governed the Jews, instead of their own laws and customs, so that this prophecy reached its fulfilment in the birth of Jesus. At any rate it is certain that since the time of Christ, Judah's supremacy has entirely departed, and their dispersion, for eighteen hundred years, ought to convince them that their long expected Shiloh must have come at the appointed time.

Another concurrent circumstance is predicted by Malachi, the last of the prophets: "I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord whom ye seek shall suddenly come to His temple, even the messenger of the covenant whom ye delight in, behold He shall come, saith the Lord of hosts" (Mal. 3: 1; conf. Isa. 40: 3). This is the last recorded of the Messianic prophecies. It has always been regarded by Jews and Christians as referring to the advent of Christ. It makes Him appear in the temple, and, of course, therefore, before its destruction. It accords fully with another prediction by the prophet Haggai, who prophesied to the returned captives. When they wept over the insignificance of the new temple, as compared with the magnificence and glory of Solomon's, the prophet comforted them with this promise: "And I will shake all nations, and the Desire of all nations shall come and I will fill this house with glory, saith the Lord of hosts." . . The glory of this latter house shall be greater than of the former, saith the Lord of hosts: and in this place will I give peace, saith the Lord of hosts" (Hag. 2: 7, 9).

The explanation of this prophecy is furnished by quoted from Malachi, and the appearance of Jesu ple, manifesting Hs wisdom and power, answers tras aci falls the predictions of both the prophe

But coce more, in Daniel, a prophet of the Cap a prei mon which not only fixes the time when come, but also when He shall be cut of, and when sanctuary shall be destroyed, indicating the means straction, the abolition of the daily sacrifice and declaring that the is of the desolator shall be s lamements, by which the holy place shall be desec abem namen that shall make it desolate Dan. 9:2 gorgaery designates the number of years "from froth of the mamaniment to restore and to rebuil nu dhe Messiah, the Prince". 25). Seventy years, ze foar haired and ninety years. This peri ing to most e`mparations, was completed about the destrozzon of Terassiem, when the daily sacrifice at Do ceased It s witty of remark here, with re this prophecy, that a great deliverer was expectel : of Jalah sbout that time. Nor was the expectation the Jews; it was shared by many of the Gentiles, a by two Roman istorians, Tacitus and Suetonius.

Opinions ¿fer as to what decree or command is the prophecy of Daniel; but all agree that the pro male ing ages before the sirent of Christ. We k man named Jesus appeared a while previous to the i of Jerusalem and the temple, and that He claimed Messish of Old Testament prophecy. He predicted t overthrow of the Jewish nation, and most of the calam would befal the Jews. He kewise predicted His ov and resurrection. He was slain by His own people, or instigation. When demanding His death they ass themselves whatever responsibility or penalty might res the murder of Jesus, saying, His blood be upon us, children." The complete fulfilment of these predicti

gether with the curse that has followed that people until this day, furnishes an incontestable evidence and proof of the Messiahship of Jesus. No other person answers to the description, even in a small degree, though many have, at different times pretended to be Messiahs. No other events in the world's history in the slightest degree correspond to these predictions.

If now we take these acknowledged historical facts, in connection with the entire destruction of Jerusalem, the demolition of the temple, the ceasing of the sacrifice and oblation, and the denationalization of the Jews, it is plain that any future fulfilment of the prophecies is rendered impossible. Hence we are shut up to the conclusion that Jesus is the Christ of prophecy, or reduced to the necessity of relegating both prophecy and Gospel to the domain of mythology.

Again, taking the angel or "Messenger" of Malachi (3:11) to be John the Baptist, and remembering that he was immediately followed by Jesus of Nazareth, whom John declared to be the "Lamb of God, etc.," and that Jesus suddenly appeared in the temple, purifying it by casting out those who desecrated that holy shrine; that He spake there, as never man spake; that He manifested superhuman wisdom and power within its precincts, thereby giving it a glory far transcending that of the temple of Solomon; we are once more irresistibly driven to the conclusion that Jesus is the Christ of prophecy. And not only so, but, according to Malachi, He is Lord of the temple, and, therefore, speaks and acts with divine authority.

But furthermore, the place of His birth was explicitly stated -"But thou Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall come forth unto me he that is to be ruler in Israel, whose goings forth have been from of old from everlasting" (Mic. 5: 2). This was regarded by the Jews as a direct prophecy concerning the Messiah. Accordingly when Herod demanded of the chief priests and scribes, "Where Christ should be born," they replied without hesitation," In Bethlehem of Judea, for thus it is written by the prophet. And thou Bethlehem" etc. (Matt. 2: 5, 6, conf.

42.2 oco neïre and dear a son." Isa. 7:14.) fed scoring to St. Matthew, in the birth of Je 18-25, oncf Lake 1: 25, 27, and as far as recoria, no one at the time denied the fact; but male use of it, to defame the virgin and to cast d Jesus Himself Indeed, even Joseph, her espous for a time was troubled with doubts and scruples her flity. But being assured by an angel, th pure, and that her conception was of the Holy therefore miraculous, he gave up his scruples and his own home. It is the supernatural character o action, however, that is offensive to the natural re is by no means wonderful, that men accustomed to 1 on the natural side of every thing, are skeptical on this kind. But the fact remains, that the birth of scribed in the Gospels, corresponds perfectly, in eve lar, with the predictions made by the prophet ages be when we take this circumstance in connection wit other predictions which find their fulfillment in Jesus reth, it is difficult to conceive how intelligent minds c or treat with ridicule, a subject fraught with world eternal interest.

Having just seen that the predictions relating to place, and manner of Messiah's Advent, have bee plished in Jesus Christ, it remains to inquire whe prophecies descriptive of His character and work, b realized in an equal degree in Him. On this quest passages of Scripture must suffice. In one of thes announced the coming of a future prophet like himself 18:18.) On this point we need only remark that J recognized every where as a great prophet. "This is J prophet of Nazareth of Galilee,” (Matt. 21: 11), "TE