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you, being now found in the same transgression, until you come to the life of the prophets, and of Moses; then with the life you see him who is the end of the prophets and Moses, even the Emanuel spoken of, born of a virgin, which is Christ.

Now coming to the life the prophets were in, and Moses was in, with that, this you will come to see; and with it you will come to the conversion, and see the everlasting offering.

And Christ the Emanuel, this prophet whom Moses speaks of, and the prophets saw, (who said, it could not be that a prophet perish out of Jerusalem) was delivered by the chief priests and scribes to be condemned to death, and delivered to the Gentiles to be mocked, scourged and crucified: [now mind,] he was betrayed into the hands of the chief priests and scribes, and was condemned to death, and by them delivered to the Gentiles to be scourged and crucified.

Now saith Christ, when you shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh: hath not Jerusalem been compassed with armies, and hath it not been laid waste? your house desolate, and scattered as the prophet said? hath not Jerusalem been compassed with armies, where the prophets were slain? and saith the prophet, they should fall by the edge of the sword, and be led away captive into all nations, and Jerusalem should be trodden down of the Gentiles, to whom your fathers delivered him to be crucified to death, until the time of the Gentiles was fulfilled. [Now mind,] are not these words fulfilled which the prophets spake whom God raised up? is not Jerusalem trodden down? have not you been carried captives into other nations?

Have not the Gentiles trodden Jerusalem under foot? hath it not been compassed with armies? have not your houses been left desolate? have not some fallen by the edge of the sword? have not they come upon you, the Gentiles, whom you delivered this prophet unto, to be mocked and crucified? and have not they laid Jerusalem waste? and hath not the temple been thrown down, and not one stone left upon another, which Solomon was commanded to build, as Christ foretold, who was a greater than Solomon. So consider, are not the words of this prophet fulfilled on you that had the words of the prophets, but being out of the life, knew not the substance? and being strangers from the life of Moses, who had the life of the law, and strangers from the life of the prophets; you see not God's purpose, nor decree, nor determined counsel, which had shewed unto his prophets of the coming of the just one before he came, before whom your fathers being in the transgression, out of the life of the law and the prophets, chose a murderer, Barrabas, and the chief priests persuaded the people to ask the murderer, and to crucify the just. Doth not this show that they were in the state of the murderer?

And when the just was risen, whom neither death nor bonds could not hold, according to the determinate counsel of God, as David who foresaw it, said, he would not leave his soul in hell, nor suffer his holy one to see corruption.

The chief priests, and those that set a guard on Christ after they had crucified him, when the news came he was risen, gave large money to the soldiers to say, that his disciples came by night and stole him away; and this report hath gone among the Jews, and so blinded you with a lie, for a lie is of the devil, and he it is that is out of the truth, and abode not in it, that blinds the eye, and casts a mist before their eyes, that they should not believe, and so believe the lies before the truth.

For had your fathers known Moses and the prophets in the life; they would have known him, the just one, the holy one, whom God would not suffer to see corruption, though he was numbered among transgressors, and among them he made his grave, whom God highly exalted at his right hand, to whom thrones, powers and dominions must be subject, who is the end of God's righteous law, God's righteousness, which the prophet Esay spoke of, who could not hold his peace for Zion's sake, and for Jerusalem's sake he could not rest, until the righteousness thereof go forth as brightness, and the salvation thereof as a lamp that burneth. And the Gentiles shall see thy righteousness, and kings thy glory; and thou shalt be called by a new name.* This righteousness is come forth, and the Gentiles see it, and doth burn as a lamp, and the brightness and salvation thereof is witnessed among them, and the vengeance of our God is proclaimed, the acceptable year of the Lord is come, and comfort to all that mourn; the good tidings are preached to the meek, the brokenhearted are bound up; liberty is proclaimed to the captives, and the prison doors are opened, and they that are bound go forth, who sing of his glory † and the Gentiles see his righteousness and profess it, and the Lord is an everlasting light to his people, and God their glory. For we can call salvation our walls, and gates praise. And the sons have come from far, this is witnessed; and behold, saith the Lord, Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising, lift up thine eyes round about thee, and all that gather themselves together, they shall come to thee from far; and saith the Lord, arise, shine, for thy light is come, for the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee: behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people, but the Lord shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee. This light the prophet saw the Gentiles should come to, and kings to the brightness of thy rising. And saith the Lord by his prophet, is it a light thing that thou shouldest be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob; take

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notice, and restore the preserved of Israel, take notice again; I will give thee for a light to the Gentiles, that thou mayest be my salvation to the ends of the earth.*

Now mind, the light to the Gentiles, and salvation to the end of the earth, which now the Gentiles profess; the prophet who was in the life, saw this: and many, as it is said before, do witness this light to the Gentiles, and salvation to the ends of the earth, the redeemer of Israel, the raiser up of the tribes of Jacob; and this is the redeemer of Israel, the holy one, to him whom man despiseth, to him whom nations abhorreth, to a servant of rulers, kings shall see and arise, princes also shall worship because of the Lord who is faithful, and the holy one of Israel, and he shall choose thee.t

And thus saith the Lord, I will lift my hand to the Gentiles, and set up my standard to the people, and the people witness the standard, and the hand is witnessed, which to the Gentiles is lifted up of the Lord God.

Behold my servant whom I uphold, my elect in whom my soul delighteth; I have put my spirit upon him, he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles: and the Gentiles now witness this judgment brought forth to them, and this judgment is set in the earth: he shall not fail nor be discouraged, till he hath set judgment in the earth, and the isles shall wait for his law: now many of the isles do witness this law, who have waited for it, which is royal.

Thus saith the Lord, he that created the heavens, and searched them out, he that spread forth the earth, and that which cometh out of it; he that giveth breath to the people upon it, and spirit to them that walk therein; I the Lord have called thee in righteousness, and will hold thy hand, and will keep thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles:§ Now this covenant to the people, and this light to the Gentiles that the prophet speaks of, the Gentiles witness now, and the people witness this covenant of God, and God's promise fulfilled. And them that were ministers of this covenant, were sent to turn the Gentiles from darkness to the light; and those Jews and those Gentiles that did believe in the light, did believe the everlasting covenant, and did receive the everlasting covenant, and the glory of Israel; and this brought in the Gentiles to light, which broke down the partition-wall between the Jew and the Gentile, and of twain made one new man: which covenant of light the prophet saw before he was come; and when he was come, your fathers owned him not, neither received, though by signs and wonders, and miracles, confirmed he his ministry, and that he came from God; yet said they blasphemously, which had the prophets'

Isa. 49. 6. VOL. IV-8

† Isa. 49. 7.

+ Isa. 42.

§ Isa. 5. 6.

words, and Moses's words, but out of the life of both, that by Beelzebub the prince of the devils he cast them out.

And here they having the words, and not the life, when he was come that the words spoke of, they that had the words knew him not, and the Gentiles, their minds being alienated from the life of God, and strangers from the covenant of promise, and commonwealth of Israel, to them the light was promised, and that to it the Gentiles should come, which many did, and do now enjoy, and know the unsearchable riches that are hid in God, Christ Jesus.

And the Jews and the Gentiles receiving the light, the covenant of promise, they come to be baptized with the spirit into the one body; and that covenant of light which brings in the Gentiles, lets see the end of the first covenant, that doth decay, and lets see the everlasting covenant, Christ Jesus (who came to fulfil the law, and not to break it: heaven and earth shall pass away, but not one tittle of the law shall pass away till all be fulfilled.) The law of life is perfect, converting the soul,* and brings it from under that which was against it; and so at this covenant of God, the light of the Gentiles, the Jews stumble, which covenant the prophets prophesied of, and your fathers in those days stood against; and so here is the saying of the Lord (which is the law of life) fulfilled: the builders rejected the corner-stone; and as David said, their table became a snare, a trap, and a stumbling-block,† and a recompense unto them: and hath it not been so? I say, then, have they stumbled that they should fall? God forbid, but rather through their fall salvation is come unto the Gentiles, for to provoke them to jealousy; take notice of that. Now if the fall of them be the riches of the world, and the diminishing of them, [mark,] the riches of the Gentiles, how much more their fulness; I speak to you Gentiles.‡

So here, who are come into the life of Moses and the prophets, do witness that which Moses and the prophets said should come to pass, that Christ should suffer, and rise from the dead, and shew light to the people and to the Gentiles, in which light Jews and Gentiles are one; I will make an everlasting covenant with you, saith the Lord, even the sure mercies of David; behold I will give him for a witness to the people, a leader and commander to the people;§ behold thou shalt call a nation that knew thee not, and nations that knew thee not, shall run unto thee: now this everlasting covenant is witnessed, to which nations run; and the people witness the leader (which you that had the covenant which did decay stood against) and do enjoy the covenant of peace and authority; which you do not, that have not the life, which I will not remove, saith the Lord that hath mercy on thee; and every one that keeps from

• Psal. 19. 7. † Psal. 69. 22.

Rom. 11. 2, 12.

Isa. 54. 55. 56.

polluting, takes hold of this covenant; as for me, this is my covenant with them, saith the Lord, my spirit that is in thee, &c. So the everlasting covenant is witnessed, which doth not decay, with which is seen that which doth decay; I will make an everlasting covenant with them, and their seed shall be known among the Gentiles; and saith the Lord, my glory shall be declared among the Gentiles, and I will take of them for priests and Levites, saith the Lord; and behold, saith the Lord, the day is come, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah, not according to the covenant which I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, which covenant they broke, though I was an husband to them, saith the Lord; but this shall be the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel; after those days I will put my law into their inward parts, and write it in their hearts, and will be their God, and they shall be my people, and they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, know the Lord, for they shall all know me, from the greatest to the least, saith the Lord, for I will forgive their iniquities, and I will remember their sins no more: mind this, you that have this first covenant, which was given to your fathers when they came out of the land of Egypt; but saith the Lord, I will make a new covenant, not according to the covenant I made with your fathers, which was to decay, for there you had a law in tables of stone writ; but here in this covenant you shall have the law written in your hearts, with which you shall come to know the Lord, and need not say, know the Lord: and here is the covenant which was everlasting. Now the covenant which was made with your fathers, while that was standing you were to be taught of the Lord; but this covenant being witnessed and received, the law-writer in your hearts, you shall no more every man teach his brother, and his neighbour, saying, know the Lord; for all shall know him, from the greatest to the least.

And now thousands do witness this second covenant, this everlasting covenant, not according to that covenant given to your fathers in tables of stone, but the everlasting covenant written in the heart, where they know the Lord: and these witness the second covenant, where the iniquities are forgiven, and the sins and transgressions the Lord will remember

no more.*

If these ordinances depart from before me, saith the Lord, then shall the seed of Israel cease from being a nation before me for ever, and I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear me for ever, for the good of them, and of their children after them: I will make an

* Jer. 31.

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