so does every prophecy lead me nearer and nearer unto Jesus, till they iix infallibly on him as the object of my pursuit, Thus, 1 say, 1 take prophecy for my light; and I follow it, till it stands over the very person of my adorable Lord, and leaves me no possibility of doubt respecting his being the true Mes- siah, the Saviour of the world.]
2. To lead us to an experimental sense of his excellency and glory —
[We must not be satisfied with knowing that Jesus is the Messiah, but must seek to experience all the blessings of his salvation in our souls. Suppose a condemned criminal to receive a pardon from his prince, and at the same time a grant of large estates, and a title to all the highest honours of his kingdom ; and the man were to satisfy himself with examining and ascertaining that the writing which conveyed to him these benelits, was not a forgery: what should we say of that man? Should we think him sane? Should we not expect that, as a rational being, he would leave his prison, and go forth to possess his estates and honours ? Yet this is the very folly which we are guilty of. We are contented with ascertaining to our satisfaction the Messiahship of Jesus, and go not forth to him to obtain the blessings he has purchased for us. But let us remember, that a lamp is only to guide us through a dark place : when the day has dawned and the sun is risen, we are then to walk in the light of that sun, which will super- sede the use of the glimmering taper we have just employed. Now thus it is that the Lord Jesus Christ, " the true Morning- star6," " the Sun of Righteousness f," will arise in our hearts, and " will manifest himself to us, as he does not unto the world g." And, as light is its own evidence, so will he bring his own evidence along with him, and prove himself to be the Messiah by the blessings he imparts. Only let that " God, who commanded light to shine out of darkness, shine into our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ1'," and we shall have the same evidence of his Messiahship as a man has of the sun's existence when he is basking in the beams of its meridian splendour. This then is what we must seek. We must seek to have "the day dawn, and the day-star arise in our hearts:" and then we shall be able to say to prophecy, as the Sama- ritans did to the woman who had guided them to Jesus, " Now we believe, not because of thy saying; for we have heard him ourselves, and know that this is indeed the Christ, the Saviour of the world'." It is said of heaven, that " the glory of God
c Rev. xxii. 10. f Mai. iv. 2. g John xiv. 22.
h 2 Cor. iv. G. I John iv. 42.
2423.] THE TESTIMONY OF PROPHECY. ij;.'?
doth lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof k :" and thus may it be said of us when Christ has once revealed himself within us ; so bright, so cheering, so glorious will be his pre- sence in the soul !]
We may learn then from hence,
1. The propriety of considering the evidences of our religion —
[Were we habituated from our early youth to consider these things, how vain and impotent would be the efforts of infidels to shake our faith ! If we regarded nothing but intel- lectual amusement, we can scarcely conceive a richer feast to the mind than the study of prophecy. But, when we reflect that on the truth of Christianity our eternal welfare depends, it is surprising that we are not more interested about this all-important subject. We should not be satisfied with believing Christianity, because our fathers have believed it : we should examine for ourselves. We should search the Old Testament Scriptures, which testify of Christ; and compare them with the New Testament, in which the fulfilment of the prophecies is recorded. Thus should we examine the founda- tion upon which we propose to build, and assure ourselves that it will bear the edifice which we design to construct upon it.]