〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 THE JEW TURNED CHRISTIAN; OR, THE Cornerstone: WHEREIN IS An assertion of Christ being the true MESSIAH.  
By JOHN JACOB, formerly a Jew, but now turned a Christian.  
LONDON: Printed by A. M. and R. R. for Tho. Cockerill, at the Three Legs in the Poultry, over against the Stock-market, 1678/9●   

Imprimatur,  
Ex aedibus Lambethanis, Nou. 16, 1678.  
Geo. Thorp. R more. in C. P. & D. D no. Gulielmo Archiep. Cant. a sacris domesticis.   

To His most Excellent and Sacred Majesty, CHARLES the second, by the Grace of God, King of England, Scotland, France and Ireland, Defender of the Faith. To the Most Reverend Father in God, William Lord Archbishop of Canterbury his Grace, Primate and Metropolitan of all England. And to the Right Reverend Fathers in God the Bishops, the Reverend the Deans and Doctors in Divinity. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉  
IN all humility, I present this Book to your Majesty, and to you Most Reverend, Right Reverend, Archbishop, Bishops, Deans and Doctors of the Church of England: 'Tis no wonder I join your Illustrious Majesty with persons spiritual, because as well the Head must not be separated from the Members, as the Nourishers of the Church, from them who are the Light of the World, and the bvilders of Jerusalem.  
I beseech (therefore) your Most Sacred Majesty to accept of this present (as Cyrus did of a little cold water from his Subject) And you spiritual Lords, as a testimony of my true Conversion.  
Your Most Illustrious Majesty, and of the rest, Most Humble Client and Servant, John Jacob a converted Jew, A Polander.   

〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 THE JEW TURNED CHRISTIAN; OR, THE Cornerstone.  
LET Epicure exalt his sensuality, and others set up as an Idol some kind of vain and perishing felicity for their chiefest good; yet man's principal good is God: not only because he is the only good, yea, goodness itself; but because the Soul can have no full satisfaction in any thing besides Him who is the end of all things: For of him, and through him, and to him are all things, Rom. 11.36.  
The Lord hath made all things for himself; yea, even the wicked for the day of evil, saith Solomon, Prov. 16.4: If all things, then especially Man, into whom he implanted his own image; if the wicked, then to be sure him that hath put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him, Col. 3.10. if for himself, than one may safely conclude, there can be no quietness in the Soul (which naturally aimeth after its good) until it cometh to rest in Him, who is the chiefest portion of David.  
So that all the pleasure of this world, yea, of all other things, besides God, are contained in that short, but weighty periphrase of Solomon, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, Vanity of vanities, Eccl. 1.1; and are to be compared to the Mule of Absolom, who after he had carried his Master a long time up and down the world in pleasure and riches, goeth under the thick Oak-boughs of everlasting peril, and having hanged him, goeth his ways, 2 Sam. 18.9.  
Whatsoever is created, must either vanish, or be polished and brought to a better perfection by an outward cause, and for that reason it cannot satisfy the desires of the Soul, which is one of the most perfect creatures that God ever form, and so a co-heir of that same felicity with Angels; yea, the Soul being immortal cannot hint at any thing which is subject to mortality, or at lest cannot be brought to that same nothing from whence it had its offspring but by the power of the Everlasting.  
Let then this be a true and un-overthrown principle, That God is the chiefest good of a man, and that for this reason it is the duty of every one, to acquaint himself with God, and to be at peace, that thereby good may come unto him, Job 22.21.  
But as in all other things, so likewise in coming near unto God, and to the enjoyment of those riches which are in him, there is some means, for which every one ought to search.  
Before Adam had fallen and brought all his Children into a praemunire, and the guilt of that same transgression he committed, he needed no other but his own righteousness to get (by that) the enjoyment of his Maker, being it is sin only that makes a separation betwixt us and God, and brings upon us its reward which is death, according to God's proclamation; In the day thou eatest thereof, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, thou shalt die with death, Gen. 2.17.  
But after his fall, and the entrance into a Covenant, it was, and it is impossible, for any one to arrive to the enjoyment of the Almighty by his own righteousness, being we are by nature (viz. corrupted) enemies of God, and turn our back to his Commandments and callings upon us. So that here, instead of natural and concreated perfection, must succeed Grace attended by the promise, grounded upon the blessed seed; of which the Almighty speaks, Gen. 3.15, I will put enmity between thee and the woman, between thy seed and her seed, it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.  
The Almighty God having from eternity foreseen the fall of Adam, decreed out of his infinite mercy to secure him and his posterity, by the death and satisfaction of his own Son, whom he hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, etc. Rom. 3.25, 26. And for that same reason, immediately after the fall of Adam, he doth not only promise him a Saviour, but likewise declareth by an institution of a sacrifice, and by the words of Gen. 3.8, 22, And the Lord God said, behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil.  
The first offering we read of in the Scriptures, is the offering of Abel, Gen. 4.4, Who offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by Faith, Heb. 11.4.  
Now Faith presupposeth a promise and a commandment, because it cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God, Rom. 10.17. But we find no express commandment given to Abel for to offer Sacrifices; therefore we must either yield to the Papists, a free service to be admitted of, or else make the aforesaid words of the Apostle to be true, and find out an institution of sacrificing (before ever Abel had offered) made by God himself, whose do are a rule of our faith and obedience. So then methinks I may find the first institution of it, Gen. 1.21, Unto Adam also, and to his wife, did the Lord God make coats of skins, and clothed them.  
Those skins could not be of any torn Sheep by the cruelty of the wild Beasts, by reason vanity had not yet over-swayed the World; nor skins of  killed for the use of Adam, because he was bound to eat only of the Herbs, Gen. 1.29. So that I may probably conclude, they were the skins of such  as were killed by the Commandment of God for sacrificing, that so the promise of the blessed seed might be confirmed by an external worship, adumbrating the propitiation of Christ, with whose righteousness Adam should be clothed as he was by the skins, that so he might appear in the eyes of the Lord, not only free from debt, but also in holiness.  
As touching these words, Gen. 3.22, The man is become as one of us, knowing good and evil; they are worthy of observation, and comfortable to them that search after Christ and his goodness.  
They are surely spoken in the Council of the Holy Trinity, by reason they are spoken as unto equals, and then they are spoken as to one of that Council; as one of us, saith God, which cannot pass upon any else besides Christ, who already in idea had the knowledge of the experimental evil, that is, of passions and afflictions which he was ordained to suffer for us. For we have not an Highpriest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities, but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin, Heb. 4.15.  
So than none can come to the enjoyment of God, but he that is under the Covenant of Grace; and by no other means, but by faith in him who is called the messenger of the Covenant, Mal. 3.1, by reason of his being sent into the world for the fulfilling of those conditions which the Covenant doth require by him who is the Angel of God's presence, Isa. 63.9; by reason God showeth all the kindness unto men by, and in him, because his countenance in this case signifieth his loving propension, by him who is the Son of God, in whom we must trust, and kiss him lest he be angry, and we perish from the way, Psal. 2.12. That is, by Christ, who is the author and finisher of our faith, Heb. 12.2, and without whom there can be no salvation, Act. 4.12; and so consequently no enjoyment of the chiefest good, which is God. And this is the reason, that the Almighty and just God hath not only dispersed the Nation of the Jews, which was a peculiar treasure unto him above all people; a Kingdom of Priests, and an holy Nation, Exod. 19.5, 6, but likewise hath broken them off as branches, and cut them out of the Olive-tree, Rom. 11.17, 24; that is, from Christ, because they would not enter into that Covenant of Grace which God proposed in his own Son, but rejected the Son and the Covenant, and so became Lorachama and Loammi, Hos. 1.9.  
It is observable from the beginning, that the Jews have always been a stiffnecked people, and such as did ground their salvation more upon their own righteousness, than the mercy of God in Christ; and thence proceeds the complaints which God maketh of and about them, and that great work the Apostle Paul did undertake to show them, there was no justification by the works of the Law, Rom. 9.30, 31, 32, 33, and many other places. For when God (after he had brought them out of Egypt) would have renewed his Covenant with them, which he had made with their Father Abraham, he had no mind to enter into a Covenant of Works with them (which they had already implanted in their hearts by nature) but into a Covenant of Grace, as we may see by two or three Arguments.  
1. When God had charged Moses to sanctify the people, that they might be ready to receive the conditions of the Covenant, he saith, if they would keep his covenant, they should be a peculiar treasure, etc. Exod. 19.5. Which to be Evangelical, and a mere effect of the Covenant of Grace, the Apostle doth plainly show, 1 Pet. 2.9.  
2. The preface before the decalogue is Evangelical likewise, Exod. 20.2, I am the Lord thy God. Now that God cannot be said to be the God of any Man, People, or Nation, but by virtue of the Covenant of Grace, is plain through all the Scriptures.  
3. The Law was ordained by Angels, in the hand of a Mediator, Gal. 3.19, That is, in the hand of Christ; because there is but one Mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus, 1 Tim. 2.5. And whatsoever is one, is indivisible (and cannot be communicated to any other) but Christ cannot be a Mediator of the Covenant of Works.  
Now the Jews proud by nature, and confident of their own righteousness, change the order of God's purposes, and so by their ratihabition makes a Covenant of Works out of a Covenant of Grace.  
When God entered into a Covenant with Abraham, he uses two kinds of expressions, but both of the same nature; the 1st is Gen. 15.1, The word of the Lord came unto Abraham in a vision, Fear not Abraham, I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward. The 2d. Gen. 17.1, The Lord said unto Abraham, I am the Almighty God; walk before me, and be thou perfect. And then God promised him Christ, and likewise not only an innumerable multitude of posterity; but also the everlasting happiness unto his seed, Gen. 15.5. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which Hebrew word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifieth not only a similitude, but also a place: that is, look now towards Heaven, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, there shall thy seed be, and tell the Stars, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, so shall thy seed be.  
Let us now observe the order of God's words, and of Abraham's proceed: God professeth himself to be his shield, his reward, his God, and then exacts an obedience from him, walk before me, saith he, and be perfect. And upon that Abraham he believed first, And Abraham believed in the Lord, and he counted it to him for righteousness, Gen. 15.6. He believed that God was his God, and not only able, but willing to perform that which he had promised; and then being supported by God through his Faith, did work the works of righteousness. There Abraham observed the order of the Lord, and did not boast of his own righteousness or ableness to perform those things which God did require of him, as the Jews did in the Wilderness (unto whom God did propose his Covenant, according to that same order he did unto Abraham, saying, I am the Lord thy God, thou shalt not, etc.) who after the proposing of God's Covenant, returned presently, All that God hath spoken we will do, Exod. 23.2, setting their works before their faith. And although their foolish ratihabition could not disannul the Covenant made with Abraham, and confirmed by God in Christ, That it should make the promise of of none effect, Gal. 3.17, which was adumbrated or shadowed by the sacrifices and offerings under the dispensation of Moses; yet God in many places doth reflect upon their agreement, and makes them ashamed of the conceit of their own righteousness; as when he says, Isa. 5.4, What could have been done more to my vineyard, that I have done in it? Wherefore, when I looked that it should bring forth Grapes, brought it forth wild grapes? Surely God could have done more to his Vineyard, than those outward helps of Grace which he doth speak of in the following verses, That is, he could have written his Law in their hearts, and in their inward parts, Jer. 31.33, If he had not reflected on himself, in saying so upon the Covenant of the Law, made thus, and of that nature by their own agreement. So I conclude, That the Jews (of whom I am, as concerning the flesh) have been from the beginning a stubborn people, conceited of their own righteousness, and so minding no spiritual help, nor willing to receive Christ, and to believe in him in the day of his appearance in the flesh, and for that utterly rejected from God, and dispersed thorough all the World, having no certain mansion, but the whole world for their Fathers Land.  
So then having well considered, that the chiefest good of a man is God, and that none could attain to the enjoyment of him, but by the (King) Messiah, which is Christ; it was high time for me to look after my salvation, and to search well what the Messiah should be if he was come, and for what he should come, and if Christ in whom Christians believed was the true Messiah.  
Therefore many a time did I enter into myself, as one that was abstracted from all opinions, and having rejected the vail of Moses, did consider by what way I might obtain the salvation of my soul and body, and so take hold of that good which exceeds all things of the world. And indeed by many weighty Scriptures, and by the fulfilling of them, I was sufficiently persuaded that the promised Messiah was come, and that Jesus was the same, who is the Son of God, and the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, upholding all things by the word of his power, who when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right-hand of the Majesty on high, Heb. 1.3. Therefore my only desire was to join with them that professed him, and believed in his name; and albeit I saw many different opinions amongst Christians, yet considering that amongst the Jews, where the Church hath been formerly, were many Sects, and amongst all of them, one must be true (viz. which believed according to the promise, and did according to the Law) I was steadfast in my first resolution, and my only desire was to be a living member of Christ, as of a Saviour and a Prince of the world. And seeing those Churches which are called Protestants, did exactly believe according to the rule of Scriptures, I resolved to adjoin myself to them, and to partake of the same benefits as they.  
But because I could not make a public profession of my Fairh in Poland (where I was born) where they are almost all Papists, and hate the Protestants above the Jews, yea, above the Heathens themselves; I stayed until I had a convenient occasion to embrace Jesus publicly, and to make my brethren partakers of my joy in Christ:  
And it happened so, that being here in London, my eyes were opened daily more and more, and I thought myself bound not to defer any longer, but to obey the calling of my God, as soon as ever possible;  
Because it is a work of that great salvation, Heb. 2.3, unto the performance of which, every one is to hasten without delay; To day if ye will hear his (God) voice, harden not your hearts as in the provocation, and as in the day of temptation in the wilderness, Psal. 95.7.  
Therefore I rejected the Jewish superstitions and Rabbinical dreams, and entered myself into the Church of Christ, being baptised by the name of John Jacob, In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, (God, one in essence, and three in persons) to whom be Glory and Honour for ever, Amen.  
But now it will be my duty to show by what means I was persuaded to Christianity, and that as short as ever I can.  
First then, I was convinced that the true Messiah was come, by these Arguments:  
1. We read, Gen. 49.10, The sceptre shall not departed from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come: and unto him shall the gathering of the people be. This was the Prophecy of Jacob concerning the Messiah, according to the confession of the Jews themselves. Now the Sceptre is departed from Juda, for the Jews have no King, and so consequently no Government in Canaan; their Lawgivers are destroyed, being that great Sanhedrim is no more in esse, and so it must needs follow, that the true Messiah is come. But the Jews use here to except,  
1. That by the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the original, is not to be understood a Sceptre, but a rod, as in Psal. 2.9, Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, That is, the Jews must be in great persecutions and chastisements under the Government of Heathens, until Shiloh come and deliver them out of their hands; and therefore they say, this Argument is of no value.  
2. They say, suppose it should be expounded by the word Sceptre, that nevertheless it could not pass upon Christ, being the Sceptre of Juda was taken away before ever Christ came; whereas the Text saith, The Sceptre shall not departed from Juda until Shiloh come.  
But as for the first exception, I answer,  
1. The word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is indifferently taken for a Rod, and for a Sceptre; because a Rod or a Staff, is as well a token of Supremacy and Government as a Sceptre is.  
2. That in this place it cannot be taken thus as they say; for a Rod of anger and chastisement, but it must be taken for a Sceptre or Rod of Superiority; by reason the next words, viz. nor a lawgiver from between his feet, doth determine the first, being it is proper to a Lawgiver to have a Sceptre, as a sign of his power over others. And  
3. The word in the second Psalm, may be expounded likewise by a Sceptre, by reason God promiseth unto his Son the Heathens for his inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for his possession; and then he endueth him with an Iron Sceptre to signify his dominion over them, and an administration of his sovereignty, not only in mercy and meekness, but also in justice.  
As for the second exception, I answer:  
1. Although Christ came into the World at that time when the Romans had their Deputies at Jerusalem, and when the Jews were subject to the Emperor; yet still the Jews had their own King, and were ruled by their own Laws, Sanhedrim not being abolished, nor any of their privileges disannulled or diminished till after their great Rebellion, when Titus Vespasian and his Son having besieged Jerusalem, took the holy place, destroyed the City, dispersed the people, and made their Law void and of none effect: and from that time till this day, the Jews could not recover the Throne of their own King for to be ruled by him, or the Law of their Nation nor had any Vision, Revelation or Prophet, but are quite rejected as an abomination in the eyes of the Lord. Now at that time Christ came; nor had they lost their privilege of Superiority, until he came and had performed his message (in the world) for which he was sent from above.  
2. It is observable, That Josephus, a Jewish Historian, writes, That until the desolation of the City, in the place of the meeting of the great Sanhedrim, there was a material Sceptre made of Gold, hanging in the midst of their Congregation. So that if they will take a Sceptre, considered either materially or formally, it was not departed from Juda until Shiloh came, which is Christ our blessed Saviour, a King of all kings, and a Lord of lords, who doth rule his spiritual Israel with a spirit of meekness, until he shall give over his Kingdom to his Father.  
2. The second Argument is in the Prophecy of Haggai, Chap. 2.6, 7, 9, Thus saith the Lord, yet once it is a little while, and I will shake the heavens and the earth, the sea and the dry land, and I will shake all nations, and the desire of all nations shall come, and I will fill this house with glory, saith the Lord of hosts: the glory of this latter house shall be greater than the former, saith the Lord of hosts. We know very well the magnificence of the Temple of Solomon was greater, not only in respect of its pompous buildings, but also in respect of the things contained in it: and yet the Lord saith, The glory of this latter House shall be greater than the former; there was wanting the Ark of the Covenant, the Vrim and Thummim, the extraordinary revelations were ceased, the fire from Heaven was gone, and the Tables of the Law were lost, and the structure itself, by a great deal, was not to be compared with the Temple of Solomon, which was at last utterly destroyed and abolished. Where is then the fulfilling of that Prophecy? Surely we can find it in nothing else, besides in that, that the true Messiah himself appeared in the flesh, and entered into the Temple according to the promise, Mal. 3.1, And the Lord whom you seek shall suddenly come to his Temple; he who is the desire of all Nations. And so the glory of the second Temple was greater than the glory of the first, in as much as created things are far below the Creator himself, whose extraordinary appearance added more to the price and estimation of the second Temple, than all Gold and Silver could do to the Temple of Solomon. The Jews themselves do not deny these words to have been said of the Messiah, and that his coming should be the cause of that extraordinary glory of the Temple: if so, why do not they believe that the Messiah is come already, being the Temple is destroyed utterly?  
Their exception is, that namely, those words are to be understood of a third Temple which is to be builded; but it is of no value, being the words are so plain and evident, that they cannot be perverted into any other sense or meaning, but that which I have proposed: The glory of this latter house, (as pointing with a finger at it) shall be greater; and in the 3d Verse of the said Chapter, saith the Lord, Who is left among you, who saw this house in her first glory? and how do you see it now? is it not in your eyes in comparison of it, as nothing? There he compareth this last House with the first, and of this last House which the Elders saw with their eyes, the Lord saith, The glory of this latter, etc.  
Those dreams which they have about building a third Temple, taken out of jacob's sleeping sweetly, and dreaming at Bethel, are not to be considered, and so I will pass them by with silence.  
The third Argument is out of the Prophecy of Micah, Chap. 5.2, But 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, whose go forth have been from old, from everlasting. Which words do not only show the nature and condition of the Messiah, but also the place where he should be born. Touching his nature, I will write of it afterwards; but as for the place where he should be born, it is Bethlehem Ephratah. Now this City is gone and turned into Ashes, therefore it must needs follow, that either the Messiah is come into the World many hundred years ago, or else this Prediction or Prophecy is false. But to ascribe falseness to the Spirit of God, who is the Spirit of Truth, is only of that stubborn people that sin against him (which are Jews); therefore my conclusion must be true, that the Messiah is come.  
4. The fourth Argument is in Daniel, Chap. 9.24, 25, 26, 27, 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 reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and the prophecy, and to anoint the most holy. Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and build Jerusalem, unto Messiah the Prince, shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublesome times. And after threescore and two weeks shall 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 determined, and he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week, and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and oblations to cease. Here in these words is determined the time of the Messiah his coming, and of his suffering; and after that, should follow his death.  
In short, By those Seventy weeks vers. 24, are understood 490 years, because a prophetical day is taken for a year, according to the phrase of the Spirit, Leu. 25.8.  
The former sum of 490 years is distributed into 7 weeks, and 25 or 49 years, and into 62 weeks, or 434 years, into a week or 7 years. The events of the 49 years, are handled in 25. The events of the 434 are mentioned in 26, the 7 weeks restore and re-edify Jerusalem, the 62 weeks bring in the Messiah, and stretch towards the end of his private life; and the last week finisheth the sacrifice of the Lord, and gins both the calling of the Gentiles, and the rejection of the Jews.  
The 49 years are the term, from the first of Cyrus, to the sixth of Darius Longhand, second Son to Darius Hystaspis by Hester, in whose sixth year the Temple was built, the which being begun in the third year of Cyrus, was 46 years' a-building according to the Jews account: The which time some do reckon thus, Cyrus and Cambyses 9, Darius Hystaspis 14, Xerxes 20, and Darius, or as others Artaxerxes Longimanus 6; the which computation, I take to be truly, and only agreeable to this Prophecy.  
That this Prophecy sounds of a true Messiah, who was to be a true Mediator of the World, and of no temporal Saviour, is clear: Because,  
1. The six intents here mentioned in the 24, are impossible to any mere man.  
2. The title of Honour, Prince, is added for a distinction from other Saviour's, as also for a distinction from other inferior Angels in vers. 20, 21, and also added for a distinction from other Lords, in Chap. 8.25.  
Because therefore it sounds of the true Messiah, and the time of his coming is past, as likewise all those things which were predicted are brought to an effect; I safely conclude, the true Messiah is come.  
Moreover one of their Rabbis, Rabbi Eliah saith, The World should stand 6000 years, according to the number of days of the Creation; 2000 should be of Vanity, 2000 of the Law, and 2000 of the Messiah. Now those 4000 first years are long since past, and we are very near the end of the 2000 of the Messiah.  
These exceptions they make, That, namely, God hath not as yet sent the King Messiah for their sins sake, are of no value: because they have never been in such a long exile as now; and they think themselves more just than their Fathers in the Egyptian and Babylonian captivity, by reason of keeping the Sabbath; neither can their sins change the decrees of God so often manifested in Scriptures.  
These were the Arguments which sufficiently did persuade me the true Messiah was come.  
But because the Jews dream only things corporal about the Messiah, and about the end of his coming, as likewise about his person; I resolved to inquire further into these points:  
A. 1. Touching his person, I found out that he should not only be a man, but likewise the true God: not only because the nature of the offenders, and the party offended did require; but likewise, because the reason of his coming into the world was to make reconciliation for iniquity; and because many Scripture-places did affirm the same.  
That he should be a true man was plain, because he was to satisfy for that nature which did trespass in, and by Adam. He is called the seed of the Woman, Gen. 3; which being material, doth infer that Messiah should be a man like unto us, yet without sin. He is called the seed of Abraham, and was promised to him, Gen. 17.  
It is observable, That God having an intention to confirm his Covenant of Grace, and to show the certainty of it, doth promise the blessed seed, not only to a woman, Gen. 3, but likewise to a man, which was Abraham, Gen. 17, for to make them both sure of those spiritual benefits which were to be acquired by him, and to make both the Sex's partakers of that glory, viz. that the Messiah should come out of their Limbs.  
Hence it proceeds, That when God had promised the blessed seed unto the woman, Adam called her Eve, because she was the Mother of all living, Gen. 3.20. Before the fall, Adam called her, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, a Woman; but after the transgression, and the promise of a Messiah unto her, he called her Eve, because out of her should proceed him that should give life unto all them that require him; and so in and by Christ, she was the Mother of all living, who otherwise could bring nothing into the World but sinners and so dead in their trespasses.  
And as Eve was called the Mother of all living, so Abram was called Abraham after the promise of the blessed seed, that is, the Father of many Nations; because in him (by reason of the seed) all Nations should be blessed, Gen. 17. And there God was pleased to confirm his Covenant, and the promise of the Messiah belonging to it, by adding to his name the Letter 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 (which was taken out of the name 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉) and making out of Abram Abraham; and to show that promised seed belonged as well to the woman as the man, the Lord added the same Letter to the name of Sarai, and maketh it Sarah. When God sent Moses to the Children of Israel into Egypt, for to bring them out of the House of bondage, and to bring them to the Land of Canaan according to the promise, he uses this expression, And I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, by the name of God Almighty; but my name JEHOVAH was not known to them, Exod. 6.3. Surely they knew that God was called Jehovah, because they called him so themselves; therefore this is not to be understood of the name, as it is in its sound, but as it is in its power: they knew him by the name of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, that is, that he was able or sufficient to perform what he had promised, but not by the name 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, Jehovah; That is, they had not seen the being of those promises, because the name Jehovah signifieth as much as an Essentiator, who giveth a being to those things which he hath formerly promised to do. So God in that case reflects upon himself, and upon the Covenant made with Abraham, which at present he was to execute.  
And this is the reason why God changed the name of Abram, in adding to it one Letter out of his name Jehovah, that he might assure him and his Wife, that he would for certain give an esse to his promise, and so make himself known by the name 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Jehovah; and this was the surety, and underpand of his promise.  
So then because the Messiah proceeds from both the seeds of a man and of a woman, according to the promise, it must needs follow that he is a true man himself. Besides, he is called a Son, a Child born of a Virgin and soforth.  
That he should be a true God, doth show, not only the infinite Object that was offended, and the infinite guilt of Adam's sins which a mere man could not take away from us, and reconcile us to the offended party; but also those expressions in Scripture sounding of the Messiah, which cannot be attributed to any mere man. He is then called Emmanuel, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Isa. 7.14, Behold a Virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Emmanuel, that is, God with us; which is to show, that God should take on him the seed of Abraham, Heb. 2.16, and so be God and man. Then Isa. 9.6, it is said of the Messiah, Unto us a child is born, unto us a Son is given, and the government shall be upon his shoulders; and he shall be called, Wonderful, Counsellor, the Mighty God, The Everlasting Father, and The Prince of Peace. Where one may plainly see, that the Messiah should be a God, because he is called, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, The mighty God, and everlasting Father, whose go forth have been from old, from everlasting, Micah 5.2; which attributes can belong to none else but to him, who is the true and everlasting God. Moreover, in the Prophecy of Jeremiah, in Chap. 23.5, 6, God saith so, Behold, the day is come that I will raise unto David a righteous branch, etc. And this is his name whereby he shall be called, The Lord our Righteousness, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. Now the name Jehovah is so proper to God, that it cannot be communicated by any means to any creature, it is Gods own memorial, as David speaks of it; yea, God himself saith with a kind of jealousy, Jehova is my name, and my glory will I not give to any else. Besides that, Reason itself shows us the incommunicability of this name, because no living creature can give a Being to another, yea neither to himself, and therefore cannot be called Jehovah.  
But because Messiah is called here in the quoted place Jehovah, it must needs follow, that he is the true and everlasting God, who hath a Being from himself, and sustains all things besides himself.  
But the Jews use here a kind of exception, saying, the name Jehovah is communicated to others, as to the Ark, when it is said, Arise Jehovah, before Jehovah, and thy enemies shall be dispersed.  
But I answer this to be a vain exception.  
1. Because the Jews themselves, when they are not in any disputation, they not only confess this name 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, to be a wondrous powerful name, so that one may do great miracles, if he knoweth the right pronunciation of it (as they say Christ did all his miracles by that name, because he had stolen the right pronunciation of it in the entry of Solomon) and therefore they say, the pronunciation of it is hidden so, that they either call it Ihu, or Shemhammephorash, the name of four and twenty Letters; but also they dare not pronounce the same for its holiness sake. How then can this name that is of such a great efficacy and holiness be communicated to any creature, and especially to such an one as hath no life, but is more than irrational?  
2. The Ark is not called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, but the Israelites call at the Ark, or in the presence of it, as of a thing where God more especially manifested himself upon; because they say,  
1. Arise Jehovah, which they could not say to a dumb Ark, which could not hear nor rise up without the help of another.  
2. The effect of that arising, cannot be ascribed to the Ark: And thy enemies shall be destroyed; which is only the Work of the Almighty. So that here is not meant the Ark, but God himself.  
Moreover the verity of this assertion is not only proved by Scripture, but likewise by the assentment of the Jews themselves, amongst whom the most subtle Rabbis and Philosophers do yield, that Messiah should be an Angel of the face of God (Isa. 63.) and so not created, but in some measure of that same essence with God, which doth infer nothing else, but that he is a true God, and coessential with the Almighty Father.  
So then the Messiah being constituted of both nature's divine and humane, is so become a Mediator, and to undergo the office of a King, of a Priest, and of a Prophet, which was adumbrated in the Old Testament by several, which either had those Offices distinctly or jointly together, as Melchisedec, David, Samuel, Solomon; and this is the reason he is called a Priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec, Psal. 110.4. Let then the blind Jews dream of another end, for which Messiah should come into the World, as to deliver them out of the hands of their corporal enemies, to re-edify the Temple, to set up the sacrifices, to subdue all other Nations under their dominion; yet it is plain and evident, that the end of his coming should be spiritual, to perform the Office of a King, of a Prophet, and of a Priest. He was to be a King, to overpower the works of Satan; a Prophet, for to teach us the Will of God; and a Priest, for to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring everlasting righteousness.  
All the offerings and sacrifices in the Old Testament could never make the comers thereunto perfect, Heb. 10.1. not only because they could not cleanse from sin, and were but a shadow of the things to come; but also because they could not destroy the works of the Devil, who still according to the assentment of the Jews, had his part in the offerings.  
We read Levit. 16.7, 8, etc. And he shall take two goats, and present them before the Lord, at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation; and Aaron shall cast lots upon the goats, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, one lot for the Lord, and the other for Azazel; and Aaron shall bring the goat upon which the Lord's lot fell, and offer it for a sin-offering; but the goat on which the lot fell to be scape-goat, shall be presented alive before the Lord, to make an atonement with him, and to let him go for Azazel into the wilderness, etc.  
Here they say, That by Azazel is to be understood the Devil, who still had a power over them, and unto whom they were forced to offer to mitigate him, that they might be free from his assaults; and hence proceeds the Jewish Proverb, an offering, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, to Azazel, when they are to give a bribe to a wicked man to stop his mouth, who in his nature is as bad as the Devil.  
Therefore it was needful that the Messiah should come as a spiritual King, and as a Priest of an high power, to tread the enemy under our feet, to bruise Satan's head, and to destroy utterly his works; that so he might take away that fear that was in the believers before his appearance in the flesh.  
Now the considerations of those things did plainly show unto me (which is my last point) that none else but Christ, in whom Christians believe, is the true Messiah, because in him all the Predictions are fulfilled.  
The Sceptre did not departed from Judah, nor a Lawgiver from between his feet until Christ came; when, as I said above, the Jewish Government was abolished, and they dispersed through all the World.  
The second Temple was yet in its flower, when Christ appeared there, and honoured the place with his presence, and since that time it was desolated.  
The Messiah was to be born of a Virgin, so was Christ born, being conceived by the Holy Ghost, in the womb of the Virgin Mary, as the Evangelist doth testify, Matt. 1.18.  
He was to be born in Bethlehem, so was Christ the Saviour of the World, Luke 2.4, 7.  
The Messiah was to come after the end of daniel's Weeks; so did Christ come, as we may see, by accounting of the time.  
The Messiah was to suffer for our sins, Isa. 53, to be cut off and die, Daniel 9, he should cause the sacrifice and oblations to cease, ibid. All this Christ did, he offered his soul for the sins of men, Joh. 10, he died for our sins, Rom. 4, and after his death not only the sacrifices did cease, but also the place of oblations, which was the Temple in Jerusalem, was abolished without any hopes of restauration.  
The Messiah was to be God and Man, so was Christ a Man, because born; a God, because he shown it by his Works and Miracles, which a created power could never have done.  
And to be short in a case so plain as this is:  
All these Scriptures which did sound of the Messiah were fulfilled in Christ, either touching his nature, or the end of his coming; yea, not only in the things themselves, but also in the circumstances, as we may see by reading the New Testament, written by the Apostles and Evangelists. So then I concluded, That the true Messiah was come, that he was to be God and Man, and that Christ in whom Christians believe, was, and is the true Messiah; whom I have embraced truly, and hope to be saved by his infinite merits.  
And now I will exalt thee, O Lord, for thou hast lifted me up by the arm of thy mercy, and hast not made my foes to rejoice over me. O Lord, Satan, Hell and Death had opened their mouths to devour me, and so to rejoice in that prey, but thou, O Lord, hast showed me the way of thy salvation, and made me to cry out, O Death, where is thy sting? O Grave, where is thy victory?  
I cried unto thee, and thou hast healed me; thou, O Lord, hast brought up my soul from the Grave, thou hast kept me alive, that I should not go down to the pit of eternal damnation.  
Thou by thy favour hast made my mountain to stand strong, and madest me take hold of the horn of thy salvation.  
Sing then unto the Lord, my Soul, and give thanks at the remembrance of his holiness. Bless him, and forget not all his benefits; he forgiveth all thy iniquities, and healeth all thy diseases.  
Do thou, O Lord, strengthen me with thy grace, that I may not fall from thee, and from thy only Son our Saviour Jesus Christ; to whom with thee and the Holy Ghost, be praise and glory for ever, Amen.  
FINIS.