of which we have just spoken, which had so long disgraced the Romans as a civilized people. We come now to the solution of the question, whether Jesus Christ did or did not answer the character which the different prophecies had given of some great personage who was to appear upon earth much about the time when he himself came into the world. We have already seen what those prophecies were. We have also examined their contents, and we have brought the meaning of all of them within such a narrow compass, that it may be expressed in the following words, "that he was to establish a new kingdom upon earth, the administration of which should have a constant tendency to put an end to sin and to produce everlasting righteousness." Now was this the case? We have only to know two things to be enabled to return an answer; first, what the moral state of the world was when Jesus Christ came into it, and secondly, what it was afterwards. When he came into the world all men living, except a handful of Jews, were Idolaters. St. Paul speaks of them at this time in the following words. "They were filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers, backbiters, ha ters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents; without understanding, covenant breakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful." (Romans c. 1. v. 29. 30. 31.) This was a general picture of the lives of the heathens, with a few exceptions at the time mentioned. It was drawn by one, who had had great opportunities of knowing their character. Paul, though a Jew by parentage, was yet bred up among the heathens of Cilicia. From this time to his Apostleship, he could not have helped knowing the character of others of the same description; but after he had become an Apostle, whose duty it was in a more especial manner to preach to the heathens, he had still greater opportunities of becoming acquainted with them. Could he have been at Rome, Athens, Corinth, Philippi, Thessalonica, Colosse, Ephesus and the country round about it, and not have known how the heathens were living in all the different ranks or gradations of society? Such then was the moral state of the heathens, when the Apostles of Jesus Christ carried his gospel to them; but what was it afterwards? what was it after they had received the Apostle's doctrine and fellowship? It is not necessary for me to repeat here by way of proof facts that have been already mentioned, I mean those great and important changes in morals, which I have been careful in specifying as having taken place from the first preaching of the gospel to the time of Constantine the Great. Suffice it therefore to say, that in the course of between three and four centuries idolatry was extirpated, more or less, in the different countries of the then known world; that wicked institutions of a public nature were abolished; and that many millions of individuals were brought to forsake sin and to walk in the paths of righteousness. We are compelled to acknowledge after all these statements that no other person than Jesus Christ, of all the persons who have ever been upon our earth, answered the prophecies in question. THE END. IPSWICH, PRINTED BY S. PIPER, PAGE ERRATA. 15 line 7 for Oukelos read Onkelos. 34 line 18 for Zophaz read Zophar. 49 line 3 from the bottom for Seng read Serug. PART II. 118 line 4 from the bottom for on read in. 168 line 18 for priest read priests. 178 line 6 for begun read began. 185 lines 5 and 6 from the bottom omit the words before Christ. 190 line 23 for conflicts read conflict. |