Having shown you, dear children, some of the exercises of soul I have been under, and some of the remarkable providences and returns of prayer I have met with, I shall now lay before you some meditations which were both refreshing and confirming to my soul; and I lay them before you to recommend to you the too much neglected duty of meditation, and in order to commend glorious Christ and a life of faith to your never-dying souls.

The first meditation I shall give you an account of is what I found useful to me, on the ix. of Acts, 22, proving that this is very Christ. I considered how it is proven that the Lord Jesus is the very Messiah and great Saviour, and what reasons might be given why such an important truth should be so fully proven as this has been. I find that Jesus is the very Christ is clearly proven from the following particulars.

1st, "To him gave all the prophets witness," Acts x. 43. They exactly described him long before he came into the world, "as the seed of the woman that should bruise the head of the serpent;" as the prophet, whom the Lord should raise up from among his people, like unto Moses; as the Shiloh to whom the gathering of the people should be, when at his coming "the sceptre should depart from Judah, and the lawgiver from between his feet;" as the child whom the Virgin should conceive, whose name should be Immanuel; yea, they told where he should be born, and of what tribe and family, and the sufferings he should undergo, and the time when this Messiah should come and be cut off; yea, they foretold how remarkably the Gentiles should believe in his name, so that "to him gave all the prophets witness."

2dly, It is evident that the Jewish nation was expecting a Messiah about the time, the very time when Christ was born; and Herod seemed to be fully persuaded of it, when he bade inquire where he should be born, and they told to him that it should be in Bethlehem according to Scripture, where we know he was born; and Herod and those about him were so convinced that he was come into the world, that he slew many children, expecting to have cut him off who had been the expectation of the Jews. The pro

phets had testified so distinctly concerning the Messiah, that the Jews had no difficulty in understanding that he was to come whom the prophets so exactly described.

3dly, That Jesus was the true Messiah was testified by all sorts of witnesses; good angels witnessed of him when he was to be conceived, when he was born, when he rose from the dead, and when he ascended up into heaven, as you may read in the New Testament. God also bore testimony to him by a voice from heaven at several times, that he was "his only begotten Son," and the great prophet whom he enjoins all to hear. He also had the testimony of his very enemies, yea, the devils were forced to own his being the very Christ, and he wanted not the testimony of many friends and followers.

4thly, When Christ entered upon his public ministry, he asserted that he was the promised Messiah, and that he had the great qualifications and characters which were foretold of the Messiah; for when he entered into the synagogue, he declares that the Spirit of the Lord was upon him, and that the Scripture which he read to them was fulfilled in him; and that he was the Son of God, and promised Messiah, he frequently maintained before his greatest enemies.

5thly, When he called himself the Son of God and Messiah, he fully proved it by many miracles which he wrought, so that his many great and mighty works bore witness of him, and the Jews expected that when the Messiah should come, he would work miracles. Now it is sufficiently and fully proven by our Lord's miracles that he was the Son of God, and the miracles he wrought were many, were openly done before many enemies, and fully proved that he and his doctrine were of God. God would never have lent his power to an impostor to do such things, and this shows that he was the true Christ.

6thly, The doctrine he delivered to the world is every way worthy of God, and exactly calculated to make people that obey it happy in time and through eternity.

7thly, Our Lord Jesus prophesied of, and foretold many things

which came exactly to pass, as his death and resurrection, the preaching of the Gospel through the world, and the destruction of the temple, and his sending down the Spirit from on high, and that he would be with his servants to the end of the world; and it is evident that all these have had an exact accomplishment, and to this day he is yet with his servants in the dispensation of the word and sacraments; and all this shows that he is the very Christ, the great prophet that was promised to the world.

8thly, It is proven that Jesus is the very Christ by his resurrection from the dead; by this he was declared to be the Son of God with power, though his enemies watched the sepulchre, and had sealed the stone, yet it was not possible that "the Holy One should see corruption;" therefore, as he died for his people's offences, so he rose for their justification, and when he arose, he appeared to many witnesses, and at different times, and to witnesses that were well acquainted with him in his life, and that conversed with him forty days after his resurrection; they were witnesses that could not be deceived themselves, nor had they any the least tentation to deceive others; they endured the greatest sufferings, yea, death, the most cruel death, for preaching and adhering to the doctrine of the resurrection; therefore, as it is fully proven by many honest and creditable witnesses, that Christ rose from the dead as he had foretold, so this his resurrection proves that he was the very Christ, for God would never have given his almighty power to raise up an impostor.

9thly, As Jesus rose again, so he ascended up into heaven, and was received to the greatest dignity, power, and glory, at the right hand of the Majesty on high, and thence poured down his Spirit upon his apostles and disciples in such an extraordinary manner and measure, that they were enabled to speak all sorts of languages, though they were but mean fishermen, and had not the learning of those times, and this prepared them excellently for going through the nations of the world, and preaching the glad tidings of salvation to the poor heathen, and this proves him to be Christ.

10thly, The Lord Jesus enabled his apostles and disciples to

work miracles in his name, and that frequently and openly; and this fully proves that he is the Son of God, the true Messiah; yea, on whomsoever they laid their hands, they gave them this power of working miracles in the name of Christ their Lord.

In the 11th place, As Jesus promised to be with his disciples in carrying the gospel through the world, so he was as good as his word, and enabled twelve poor fishermen to convert the world to the Christian faith, and that in opposition to all that was done against them by Jew and Gentile; and this proves that the doctrine they carried was from God, and that the founder of Christianity was the very Christ, and Saviour of the world, and no other reason can be given why the gates of hell have not been able to prevail against the Church of Christ to this very day, so as to raze it quite to the foundation, but this, that he whose name is Jesus is the little stone cut out of the mount without hands, and is the stone, the tried stone, the precious corner stone, which God laid in Zion for a foundation, and though the builders in Israel rejected him, yet is he made the head stone of the corner, and they who believe on him shall never be ashamed.

In the 12th place, It is sufficiently proven to every serious believer, that Jesus is the very Christ and Son of God, in their sweet experience.

First, They feel his word to be a word of power to their souls, in their reading, hearing, and meditating on it, to this very day; they find the power of God frequently accompanying the dispensation of the word, convincing, converting, sanctifying, comforting, directing, and building up their souls in their most holy faith; they find the word of Christ enabling them to walk in ways pleasing to and worthy of God, and in ways best for themselves and the society they are members of; yea, they find in their experience, that the way wherein Christ has bid his followers go is a way of safety, pleasantness, and peace; and this shows to them that Christ is the power of God, and the wisdom of God, and what he has given himself out to be, even the Son of God.

2dly, The people of God, in their experience, know less or more 2 G

VOL. II.

that God is the hearer of prayer, and the prayers he hears are put up in the name of Christ, depending only on his merits and intercession for acceptance, and on his Spirit for assistance to pray; and this sufficiently confirms them in the sure belief of Jesus being the very Christ; yea, they not only believe that he is the only Saviour, but God equal with the Father; and this I firmly believe, that the Lord Jesus Christ is the eternal Son of God, and God equal with the Father, the same in substance, and equal with him in power and glory; and the reason why I believe this is, because it is expressly declared, that he created all things, and that by him all things to this day consist; yea, all the perfections of God are ascribed to him, by which God distinguisheth himself from every creature; yea, the worship which God appoints for himself is given to the eternal Son, and men enjoined to honour the Son as they honour the Father. On such accounts as these am I persuaded that glorious Christ is God, and God equal with the Father; and in this faith have I put up many supplications in the name of Christ, and must say, have been speedily answered, which I persuade myself God would never do if his eternal Son were not God equal with him, as I believe, for he will not give his glory to another, nor take it well that his worship be given to any creature. When I firmly believe that Christ is God equal with the Father, and in this faith beg favours from God, and God readily grants them, this to me is a testimony from God himself, that his Son is equal to him, and lays me under the greatest obligation to continue firm in this belief. Therefore, dear children, be stedfast in the faith, not only of this, that Jesus is the true Christ, and that his doctrine is from God, but O, be stedfast and unmoveable in this great article of our faith, that "there are three persons in the Godhead, the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, and that these three are one God, the same in substance, and equal in power and glory;" and O study to know God as the hearer of the prayers put up in the name of Christ, and this may fully satisfy you, that Jesus is the very Christ, the true and eternal God; for you may be assured, God never would encourage any to put up requests to him in the name of an impostor and deceiver.