Father is the husbandman. Every branch that beareth not fruit he taketh away; and every branch that beareth fruit he purgeth, that it may bring forth more fruit. Ver. 4, 5, 6. 8. Rom. vi. 22. Ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life. Ch. vii. 4. 1 Cor. iii. 9. Ye are God's husbandry; ye are God's building. Eph. ii. 20-22. Ye are built upon 1 Pet. ii. 5. Ye also, as lively stones, the foundation of the apostles and pro- are built up a spiritual house, an holy phets, Jesus Christ himself being the priesthood. PROPHECIES CHAPTER IV. SUFFERINGS, CONCERNING CHRIST, HIS I. The testimony of prophecy appealed to as a foundation of faith in Christ. John v. 39. Search the Scriptures, for in them ye think ye have eternal life, and they are they which testify of me. Ver. 44. How can ye believe, which receive honour one of another, and seek not the honour that cometh from God only? Ver. 45-47. There is one that accuseth you, even Moses in whom ye trust. For had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed me, for he wrote of me. (John i. 45.) But if ye believe not his writings, how shall ye believe my words. Matt. xxvi. 24. The Son of man goeth, as it is written of him. Mark ix. 12. It is written of the Son of man, that he must suffer many things. Luke xviii. 31. All things written by the prophets concerning the Son of man, must be accomplished. II. The testimony of prophecy urged by the apostles. Acts xvii. 2, 3. Paul reasoned out of the scriptures; opening and alleging that Christ must needs have suffered, and risen again from the dead; and that this Jesus which I preach unto you is Christ. xxiv. 14. After the way which they call heresy, so worship I the God of my fathers, believing all things which are written in the law and the prophets. xxvi. 22, 23. I continue witnessing both to small and great, saying none other things, than those which the prophets and Moses did say should come: That Christ should suffer, and that he should be the first that should rise from the dead. Acts iii. 18. Peter said, Those things that God before had shewed, by the mouth of all his prophets, that Christ should suffer, he hath fulfilled. x. 43. xxii. 37. This that is written must be witness. accomplished in me. xxiv. 44. All things must be fulfilled which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the Psalms, concerning me.-Ver. 46. Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day. To him gave all the prophets xviii. 28. The apostles mightily convinced the Jews, shewing by the scriptures that Jesus was Christ. xxviii. 23. Paul expounded and testified the kingdom of God, persuading them concerning Jesus, both out of the law of Moses, and out of the prophets. III. Prophecies concerning Christ ful filled, in his incarnation, life, death, resurrection, and ascension. Gen. iii. 15. The seed of the woman shall bruise the serpent's head. Isa. vii. 14. The Lord himself shall give you a sign: Behold a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. ix. 6. Unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given. See this fulfilled in the conception, and birth of Jesus, Matt. i. 18 to 25. Luke i. 28 to 35. Gal. iv. 4. God sent forth his Son, made of a woman. well known when they happened. Gen. xlix. 10. The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a law-giver from between his feet, till Shiloh come. [As a proof that this sceptre, the ensign of government, was departed from Judah at our Saviour's birth]-Joseph and Mary, with others, went to be taxed by the authority of a heathen emperor, Luke ii. 3. Dan. ix. 24. Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people, and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make John i. 14. He was made flesh. reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring Heb. xii. 14. He took part of flesh in everlasting righteousness, and to seal and blood.-Ver. 17. Was made like un-up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint to his brethren. the most holy. Phil. ii. 7. Was made in the likeness of men.-Ver. 8. Was found in fashion as a man. Ver. 25. Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and build Je and two weeks: the street shall be built shall be seven weeks, and threescore again, and the wall even in troublesome was to descend from. Gen. xii. 3. Abram IV. The nation, tribe, and family herusalem, unto the Messiah the prince, -in thee shall all the families of the earth be blessed. Acts iii. 25. Gal. iii. 8. xxi. 12. In Isaac shall thy seed be called. Gal. iii. 16. Thy seed, which is Christ. xxvi. 4. Isaac—in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed. xxviii. 14. Jacob—in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed. xlix. 8. Judah-thy brethren shall praise thee, &c. Ver. 10. Isa. xi. 1. David—a branch shall grow out of his roots. Ps. lxxxix. 29. His seed will I make to endure for ever. See Jer. xxiii. 5.xxxiii. 15. Ps. xviii. 50.—lxxxix. 4. 36. times. Ver. 26. And after threescore and two weeks, shall the Messiah be cut off, but not for himself; and the people of the prince that shall come, shall destroy the city and the sanctuary, and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are de termined. shall come, and I will fill this house (viz. Hag. ii. 7. The desire of all nations The glory of this latter house shall be the temple) with my glory.-Ver. 9. greater than that of the former house. (This glory it had above the former, but in other respects it was inferior to it. Ezra iii. 12. This fixes the coming of Christ while the temple was standing.) VI. The country and town where Christ should be born. Mic. v. 2. Thou Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me, that is to be ruler in Israel. Fulfilled. Matt. ii. 1. Jesus was born in Bethlehem. John vii. 42. Christ cometh of the seed of David, and out of the town of Bethlehem where David was. VII. Of his forerunner, John Baptist. Isa. xl. 3. The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord. Mal. iii. 1. I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare my way before me. Mal. iv. 5. I will send you Elijah the prophet.-Fulfilled. Matt. iii. 1. In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judea, saying, Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Luke i. 17. Matt. xi. 14. This is Elias which was for to come. xvii. 12. Elias is come already. Mark ix. 13. VIII. His purging the temple. Ps. Ixix. 9. The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up. Matt. xxi. 12. Jesus cast out all them that sold and bought in the temple. Mark xi. 15. Luke xix. 45. John ii. 13, &c. IX. His working miracles. Isa. xxxv. 5, 6. The eyes of the blind shall be opened, the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped: The lame shall leap as an hart, and the tongue of the dumb shall sing. Fulfilled. Matt. xv. 30. Great multitudes came unto him, having with them those that were lame, blind, dumb, maimed, and many others, and he healed them. See New Testament Miracles. X. That the Spirit of the Lord should be upon him. Isa. xi. 2. The Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, &c. Ver.3. Ixi. 1. The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach, &c. Ps. xlv. 7. God hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows. Fulfilled. Matt. iii. 16. He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him. John i. 33. John iii. 34. God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto him. Acts iv. 27. Jesus whom thou hast anointed. Ch. x. 38. XI. That he should be a prophet. Deut. xviii. 15. The Lord thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet; unto him shall ye hearken. Heb. i. 1. God, who spake unto the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken to us by his Son Christ. Heb. ii. 3. See Christ's predictions concerning his death, &c. XII. That he should preach or teach Ps. xl. 9. I have preached righteousness in the great congregation. Isa. xi. 1. He hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek. See Isa. xi. 2, 3, 4.-ii. 3. Mic. iv. 2. Matt. iv. 23. Jesus went about preaching the gospel. Ch. ix. 34. xi. 27. Neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him. Ch. xvii. 26. John vii. 14. Now about the midst of the feast, Jesus went up into the temple and taught.-Ver. 26. My doctrine is not mine, but his that sent me. xii. 49. I have not spoken of myself: but the Father which sent me gave me commandment what I could say. Ch. xiv. 10. 24.-(For the nature of his preaching, see his sermon, Matt. 5th, 6th, 7th chapters.) XIII. That he should not seek the applause of men. Isa. xlii. 2. He shall not cry, nor lift up, nor cause his voice to be heard in the streets. Hence he said, John v. 41. I receive not honour from men. Matt. viii. 4. See thou tell no man. Ch. ix. 30.-xvi. 20. Mark vii. 24. Mark v. 43. See that no man know it. Ch. ix. 30. XIV. That he should be a sufferer. Isa. lii. 14. His visage was more marred than any man. liii. 3. A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. Heb. iv. 15. He was touched with the feeling of our infirmities. Infirmities which he endured. Matt. iv. 1. He was tempted of the devil, Ver. 2. He fasted and hungered. Ch. xxi. 18. Johnxix. 28. He thirsted. Ch. iv, 10. iv. 6. He was weary. Matt. viii. 24. He slept. Ch. xi. 35. He wept. Mark iii. 5. He was grieved. lay his head. 4-4 XV. That he should be despised of men. Isa. xlix. 7. Thus saith the Lord, To him whom man despiseth, whom the tion abhorreth. liii. 2, 3. He hath no form nor comeliness, nor beauty that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected of men; and we esteemed him not. Ps. xxii. 6. I am despised of the people. cxviii. 22. Fulfilled. John i. 11. He came to his own, and his own received him not. Luke xix. 14. They say, We will not have this man to reign over us. Matt. xxvii. 23. The people said, Let him be crucified. Ver. 25. His blood be upon us and our children. Luke xxiii. 18. They cried out all at once, saying, Away with this man. John xviii. 40. Release unto us, not this man, but Barabbas. XIX. That he should be persecuted. Isa. liii. 4. We did esteem him stricken, smitten of God and afflicted. Ps. lxix. 26. They persecute him whom thou hast smitten; they speak to the grief of those whom thou hast wounded. Ps. vii. 1. Fulfilled. John v. 16. The Jews did persecute Jesus, and sought to slay him, XVI. He was hated. Luke xix. 14. His because he had done these things on the citizens hated him. John vii. 7. The world hateth me. xv. 18. It hated me before it hated you. Matt. x. 22. Ye shall be hated for my name's sake. Ch. xxiv. 9. Mark xiii. 13. Luke xxi. 17. XVII. That he should be reproached. Ps. xxii. 6. I am a reproach of men. XVIII. Reproaches cast upon him. Matt. xiii. 55. Is not this the carpenter's son?-Ver. 57. They were offended in him. Mark vi. 3. Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary? John i. 46. Can any good thing come out of Nazareth? vii. 52. Out of Galilee ariseth no prophet. Luke vii. 39. If this man were a prophet, he would have known who and what manner of woman this is that toucheth him, for she is a sinner. John ix. 24. This man is a sinner. Luke xv. 2. He receiveth sinners, and eateth with them. Matt. xi. 19. He is a man gluttinous, and a wine-bibber, a friend of publicans and sinners. Luke vii. 34. xxvii. 63. A deceiver. John vii. 12. He deceiveth the people. John ix. 16. This man is not of God. Matt. ix. 3. This man blasphemeth. xxvi. 65. Ye have heard his blasphemy. John x. 33. John x. 20. He hath a devil, and is mad, why hear ye him? viii. 48. Thou art a Samaritan, and hast a devil. Ver. 52. Matt. xii. 24. This fellow doth not cast out devils, but by Beelzebub the prince of devils. Ch. ix. 20. Luke xvi. 14. They derided him. Ch. xxiii. 35. Matt. xxvii. 29. They mocked him. Ch. xxxi. Mark xv. 20. John v. 16. They call him a Sabbath breaker. Heb. xii. 3. He endured such contradiction of sinners against himself. Sabbath day.-Ver. 18. They sought the more to kill him, because he said that God was his Father. xv. 20. If they have persecuted me, they will persecute you also. XX. That Jews and Gentiles should join against him. Ps. ii. 1, 2. Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine themselves, and the rulers take counsel a vain thing? Kings of the earth do set together against the Lord, and against his anointed. held a counsel together how they might Fulfilled. Matt. xii. 14. The Pharisees destroy him. Mark iii. 16. John xi. 53. Luke xxiii. 12. Pilate and Herod were made friends together. Acts iv. 27, 28. Against thy holy child Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Jesus, whom thou hast anointed, both Gentiles, and the people of Israel, were gathered together, for to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done. XXI. Should be sold for money. Zech. xi. 12. They weighed for my price thirty prized at of them. Amos ii. 6. pieces of silver: a goodly price that I was Fulfilled. Matt. xxvi. 15, 16. They covenanted with Judas for thirty pieces of silver: and from that time he sought opportunity to betray him. XXII. The use they apply the money to foretold. Zech. xi. 13. I took the thirty pieces of silver, and cast them to the potter in the house of the Lord. Fulfilled. Matt. xxvii. 7, 8. They bought with them the potter's field, to bury stranger's in. Wherefore that field is called the field of blood unto this day. Acts i. 16. 19. XXIII. Prophecies of Christ concerning who should betray him. John vi. 64. Jesus knew from the beginning who should betray him. Ver. 70, 71. He said, Have not I chosen you twelve, and one of you is a devil. He spake this of Judas; for he it was that should betray him. Matt. xxvi. 21. One of you shall betray me.-Ver. 23. He that dippeth his hand with me in the dish shall betray me. Luke xxii. 21. The hand of him that betrayeth me is on the table with me. John xiii. 18. He that eateth bread with me hath lift up his heel against me. Fulfilled. Matt. xxvi. 14, 15, 16. Then one of the twelve, called Judas Iscariot, went unto the chief priests, and said unto them, What will ye give me, and I will deliver him unto you? And they covenanted with him for thirty pieces of silver. And from that time he sought opportunity to betray him. Matt. xxvi. 47. Judas, one of the twelve, came, and with him a great multitude. Ver. 48, 49. He gave them a sign, saying, Whomsoever I shall kiss, the same is he. And forthwith he came to Jesus, and said, Hail, Master, and kissed him. XXIV. Concerning the miserable end of Judas. Ps. cix. 7, 8. When he shall be judged, let him be condemned. Let his days be few, and let another take his office. Acts i. 20. Thus expressed by Christ. Matt. xxvi, 24. Wo unto that man by whom the Son of man is betrayed! it had been good for that man if he had not been born. Fulfilled. Matt. xxvii. 4, 5. Judas said, I have sinned, in that I have betrayed innocent blood. And he went and hanged himself. Acts i. 25. That he might go to his own place. XXV. That Christ should be forsaken. Zech. xiii. 7. Awake, O sword, against my Shepherd, and against the man that is my fellow, saith the Lord of hosts: smite the Shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered. Thus expressed by Christ. Matt. xxvi. 31. All ye shall be offended because of me this night. Mark xiv. 27. John xvi. 32.-Fulfilled. Ver. 56. They all forsook him and fled. XXVI. Peter's denying him. Matt. xxvi. 34. Peter, thou shalt deny me. Ver. 70-74. Peter denied, &c. He denied again with an oath. He denied, and began to curse and to swear. XXVII. That Christ should be beaten and spit on. Ps. xxii. 16. The assembly of the wicked have enclosed me. Isa. 1. 3. I gave my back to the smiters, and my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair: I hid not my face from shame and spitting.-Fulfilled, Matt. xxvi. 67. Mic. v. 1. They shall smite the Judge of Israel with a rod upon the cheek.Fulfilled, Matt. xxvii. 30. XXVIII. Christ's own testimony of this. Matt. xvi, 21. From that time forth Jesus began to shew unto his disciples, how that he must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests, and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day. Matt. xx. 18, 19. Behold, we go up unto Jerusalem, (Luke xiii. 33. For it cannot be that a prophet perish out of Jerusalem) and the Son of Man shall be betrayed unto the chief priests, and unto the scribes; and they shall condemn him to death, and shall deliver him unto the Gentiles, to mock, &c. Mark x. 34. To spit upon, and to scourge, and to crucify him; and the third day he shall rise again. XXIX. Concerning what kind of death he should die. Ps. xxii. 16. They pierced my hands and feet. Zech. xii. 10. They shall look on him whom they have pierced. John iii. 15. As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of man be lifted up. Matt. xxvi. 2. After two days is the passover, and the Son of man is betrayed to be crucified.-Ver. 45. The hour is at hand, and the Son of man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. XXX. Christ's silence. Isa. liii. 7. He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he was brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he opened not his mouth. Fulfilled. Matt. xxvii. 12. When he was accused, he answered nothing. Mark xiv. 61.—xv. 3. 5. Luke xxiii. 9. 1 Pet. ii. 23. When he was reviled, he reviled not again. XXXI. They give sentence against him. Matt. xxvi, 66. They condemn him to death. Ver. 67, 68. Then did they spit in his face, and buffetted him; others smote him with the palms of their hands, saying, Prophesy to us, thou Christ, who is he that smote thee. Luke xxii. 64. Luke xxiii. 1. They lead him to Pilate (a Gentile). |