If or Since… THEN! ... and don't be an Identity thief !!!

If or Since… THEN! 

“For we are his workmanship…” ~ the Apostle Paul

“What God hath wrought!” ~ Alexander Graham Bell
"What hath God wrought?" ~ yours truly

Part 1 :: Since~!

If you don’t believe Jesus is the divine Son of God His Father, and especially if you oppose or defy “the idea” of such, you might not want to waste your time reading this. But if you do, please read on. But you might not like what you read as “the ideas” contained here are seen by some believers as an offense.

A humorist once told this story:….. Henry Kissinger brought the finished manuscript of his autobiography to a publisher. They were thrilled, but after looking at it were fearful they would never publish it. They returned it to him asking that he edit it down from 1500 pages to a more readable say 400 pages give or take. They never thought he would or could do it. But they received it back at 423 pages. Asked how he did it, Henry said, “It wasn’t that difficult. I simply took out most all of the “I’s.”  “I” have come to the conclusion after my 65 years in life that narcissism is the sin of Satan full blown. Pride was his sin at the first, and his opinion of his worth exceeded the truth of that worth. So it is with fear and trembling that “I” write this piece.

I am writing out of conviction, and if it is the truth of the (Convicting) Holy Spirit… YOU must decide. If you are inclined to skip over the scriptures I cite, you will have skipped the Writing  of writings, the revelation of the basis of everything, of life itself, of all goodness and all things reasonable.

You will find this writing perhaps repetitive, and the same ideas expressed more than once or even twice. Someone said that to memorize a musical phrase the musician needs to repeat it flawlessly 35 times. Then is becomes committed to his/her memory. So this writing is both for you, and for me a continuing exercise in the memorization of certain essential Biblical truths. If you wish to skip my wordy writing, a very concise study: Jews, Gentiles, and Christians by Dr. Arnold Fruchtenbaum can be found here: http://www.arielm.org/dcs/pdf/mbs007m.pdf (and more valuable studies  here: http://ariel.org/come-and-see.htm

God’s plan was perfect before the beginning. Before God said “Let there be…” His plan included the creation, the foreknown sins of satan and of Adam, and the remedy by which God would save all who would and will believe His Gospel. The remedy is the good news of salvation from everlasting destruction through faith by in His Son Jesus the Christ. Some one preached a message: If the Vision is Big Enough the Details Don’t Matter. The point? It is that if we study the forest and the trees long and carefully enough we will see well enough to remove the devil from the details and not defoliate the whole thing. God who is True, Authoritative and unstoppable will complete His plan, that plan perfected before the beginning and now being carried out in Time and History.

We live now after the Time of the laying of the stone in Zion.

Hebrews 1:1  Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, 2  but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. … Hebrews 2:1 ¶  Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it. 2  For since the message declared by angels proved to be reliable and every transgression or disobedience received a just retribution, 3  how shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation? It was declared at first by the Lord, and it was attested to us by those who heard, 4  while God also bore witness by signs and wonders and various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will.

The Power of God in the Messiah crucified and risen is the greatest power there is, and yet that Power is most grossly underestimated and under appreciated by mankind for whom it was exerted. God is offended by one thing more than any other: that men and women don’t believe Him! Yet for all Israel’s unfaithfulness God responded over and over in mercy. And for all the sins of the gentiles He would in time extend great mercy to the gentiles who believed Him.

Paslm 78:

38  Yet he, being compassionate,

        atoned for their iniquity

        and did not destroy them;

    he restrained his anger often

        and did not stir up all his wrath.

39  He remembered that they were but flesh,

    a wind that passes and comes not again.

We ought never to think that God is not offended by other things. He gave Moses and the children of Israel the Law from Sinai to acquaint them with many things they were doing wrong (and to give them a pattern of heavenly life!). But why do we sin? Why do we steal, murder, adultery, lie and covet? Is it not because we do not believe God? Sin says to God “no!” In my sin I say to God “I will do as I please.” We sin in ignorance of and/or with knowledge not trusting He is and that He is just and powerful. Conversely do we not show our belief, faithfulness and trust in God by doing what we are told to do? He has made Himself known to all men! We have faith because God has made Himself known to us and we

have said “YES!”

Romans 1:20 …the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:

The God we cannot see, even the “invisible things of him” He reveals to all, so we all are without excuse in our denying Him. What are the invisible things? I think they (some) are His righteousness, His power, His holiness, and His goodness. And importantly I believe God reveals that He has no beginning or end.

Ecclesiastes 3: 11 He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man’s heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end.

Hebrews 7:15  This becomes even more evident when another priest [Jesus] arises in the likeness of Melchizedek, 16  who has become a priest [our everlasting High Priest forever] not on the basis of a legal requirement concerning bodily descent, but by the power of an indestructible [endless] life.

Since God is…

All mankind, and even you who may have read this far in unbelief, are without excuse for our ignorance. We ignore the teaching of the things God has made and forget the invisible, eternal God who IS. But God in mercy comes calling out to us:

Hebrews 1:1  Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, 2  but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son…

Psalm 19:

1 The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork.

2  Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge.

3  There is no speech nor language, where their voice is not heard.

…..

7   The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple.

8  The statutes of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart: the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes.

9  The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring for ever: the judgments of the LORD are true and righteous altogether.

10  More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold: sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb.

11  Moreover by them is thy servant warned: and in keeping of them there is great reward.

12  Who can understand his errors? cleanse thou me from secret faults.

13  Keep back thy servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me: then shall I be upright, and I shall be innocent from the great transgression.

14  Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer.

Romans 1:20 …the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead;

Part 2a ::  If~!

If you are a believer… or since you are a believer…

Part 2b :: If~ à THEN~!!!

People sometimes ask Christians, “What about people who never hear about Jesus”or “who never read a Bible? Will they be saved?”

My personal take is that God has not been unjust to any man or woman, but that He has given each enough revelation of Himself and opportunity to all to believe Him for salvation. THIS is not a doctrine of the church or of God, not that I know of, and I may likely be wrong to believe it. Certainly God is never unjust, of that we may be sure. But…

…what about you? If you have read this far you have heard at least something about Jesus. Have you heard about Him before this? Have you a Bible; have you read it? I’m not one to say you are saved. I believe I’m saved, but God does have the final word on ALL matters. Whom you believe and trust, and how you live your life is not up to me.

I trust God to keep the promises of Jesus made and made to me. Those promises are not made only to me; they are made to many (if not all). Yet they are conditional on our faith.

I believe you will either benefit in the same way I do, or suffer the way all unbelievers do. Most people don’t like this expression of assurance that Christians present as absolute. A Bible teacher said: “The truth almost always appears negative when it first appears.” The truth often reveals in us something unpleasant in us. It is generally that we find we are not as is said today: “all that and a bag of chips.” We are not what we thought we were. We were wrong about this, that and/or the other. Simply having to admit we are wrong is a thing that narcissistic humanity is loathe to do!

But moving on presuming you are a believer, or that you are still interested in reading…

Today is “good Friday” 2015. Almost 2000 years ago “they” crucified Jesus.  Who were they? For much of that same 2000 years much or some the gentile church has believed it was the Jews that killed Christ. But here is a problem already. Why do I (dare to) use the phrase: “gentile church?” Paul writes to the gentile believers in Ephesus :

Ephesians Ch. 4:4  There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; 5  One Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6  One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.

Paul writes to the believers in Colossae:

Colossians 1:13  He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son,

14  in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

15  He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.

16  For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him.

17  And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.

18  And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent.

Jesus is the head of the body. The body is the church. And there is one body, there is one church. In the age we live in almost 2000 years after Jesus rose from the dead we see on the earth many “churches” named. In the city I live there are thousands of “churches.” But in Jerusalem after Jesus ascended back to His and our Father, the Holy Spirit came on Pentecost and the Church was born. Even Catholics, Orthodox and Reformers agree on that. But which church was born on that day?

I am sometimes asked “What church do you go to?” Not to be silly, or to be proud I answer “You mean there is more than one?” Sometimes I answer “The one that Jesus loves.” Why do I not say “The Seventh Baptist Church, Rev. A. B. Ceester Founder.” ???

Because if the person asking is a believer I want them to know they are my spiritual sibling, not my doctrinal rival! And that is what Christendom has devolved into today in too many cases: doctrinal competition.

Paul received reports of factions in Corinth. He wrote about them in 1^st Corinthians, notably in Ch.’s 1-3 and another mention in Ch. 11. The believers were separating into cliques. By his writing we see that these cliques were quarreling and contending for dominance. In Ch. 11 Paul writes:

17 Now in this that I declare unto you I praise you not, that ye come together not for the better, but for the worse.

18  For first of all, when ye come together in the church, I hear that there be divisions among you; and I partly believe it.

19  For there must be also heresies among you, that they which are approved may be made manifest among you.

Divisions are schisms, and heresies are sects. The Greeks were known for their pursuit of intellect and wisdom. But they were sinners. Sin has perhaps caused one thing more than any other which causes most all human troubles: war. War doesn’t happen without some small or large division of humanity, almost always as a result of covetousness. Satan went to war coveting the authority of God to rule and possess heaven. He though he knew better than God how to run heaven. And after Adam sinned, Cain went to war with his brother Abel thinking to eliminate Abel who some how had “outdone” him before God. Sin causes war. It causes enmity in the most “humble” settings, between children over a toy or (and/or) over the attention of their daddy. In that we are sinners we so often forget that God is our FATHER, that God is good and just, and that what He says and asks of us always works out for our good. Divisions like those in Corinth likely flourished in many cities in the early centuries of the church.

v Yet a more disturbing division eclipsed the church in those early times. It was the division of the very body Jesus came to form. It was a body that resolved and removed the only really meaningful division in human history, the division of the Jews from the rest of the world’s people.

God is a giver. He is a giver because He is a lover. But God IS who He IS. He cannot be another. He is who He is! When Moses was being oriented by God to carry out God’s plan of the Exodus from Egypt, Moses proved to be very insecure. God is not insecure.

Exodus 3:13  Then Moses said to God, “If I come to the people of Israel and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ what shall I say to them?” 14  God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.” And he said, “Say this to the people of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.”’

God gives to Himself a very powerful name: “I AM WHO I AM.” It is also written “I AM THAT I AM.” By simple deduction we can say that God is who He is and is not any other being. My dad was who he was, and he was not my uncle or my sister. We can only be who we are. An angel can only be the angel it is. The pencil on your desk can only be that pencil, it cannot be the pencil on my desk… barring some miracle. Miracles did (do?) happen, yet the  miracle of Moses rod is not the same as the miracle of Aaron’s rod.

Reality (a Greek word) and Truth (an Hebrew word) describe the nature of things as they are. Sin has brought decay and death into this world. Sin is the child of satan’s thought, but that thought is illegitimate. It is a real thought, and produced real results, but thankfully those results could never overcome God, or God’s thoughts, purposes and plans. God will do as He will and who will oppose Him?

Yet even those who believe in Jesus as Savior stumble over Jesus as Lord! A Lord is (from Strong’s concordance): supreme in authority, i.e. (as noun) controller; by implication, Mr. (as a respectful title):— God, Lord, master, Sir.

That we who name and claim Christ a Savior AND Lord are so divided in our belief and in what we teach is clear evidence that we stumble over Jesus as Lord, as He who is supreme in authority.

Jesus came to bring us into everlasting Life, and as He says of Himself “I am the Way, the Truth and the Life, no one comes to the Father except through me.” The implications are huge: If we do not trust Jesus, we trust someone or something else and that person or thing is NOT the Way, or the Truth or the Life, and by that thing or person we CANNOT come to the Father!

We should settle it right now that only Jesus who IS the Way, or the Truth and the Life, and it IS He ALONE who can lead us to God. “For we are his workmanship…” wrote the Apostle Paul.

“ Oh come, let us worship and bow down; Let us kneel before Jehovah our Maker: For he is our God, And we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand. To–day, oh that ye would hear his voice!” The Psalmist (David?)

Yes! God is our God. But He is our MAKER. Had He chosen not to make us… God owns us! We need to see and believe and UNDERSTAND what that implies: that if we reject his ownership we reject Him. Anything owned is owned. For a person to reject its owner is for that person to steal itself from its owner. This kind of theft is separation, it is divorce, division and is death. It is the death of the relation of the owner to the person owned. If a husband rejects his OWN wife, he rejects himself as her OWN husband.

Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine:

(Exo 19:5)

For thou art a holy people unto the LORD thy God, and the LORD hath chosen thee (the children of Israel) to be a peculiar people unto himself, above all the nations that are upon the earth.

(Deu 14:2)

For the LORD hath chosen Jacob unto himself, and Israel for his peculiar treasure.

(Psa 135:4)

But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should show forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light:

(1Pe 2:9)

The Jews were God’s choosing, yet God was not always their choosing! When Jesus came to bring the New Covenant in His blood to the Jewish people, not all chose to believe Him and receive Him as their Lord, Savior or Messiah. Yet He was all these.

John 1:11 He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. 12 But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, 13 who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.

Those who did receive Him were the apostles, and certain other Jews, those who followed Him after He began to preach and endured, those who arrived in the upper room and awaited the promise Jesus had made: to be endued with power from on high.

If I reject God as my own, and (shockingly?) God does allow me that choice, then is God not free also to reject me as His own? We are deceived if we think we can deny and disown God without consequence. And yet this is the end of man when he discards God as owner. God’s chosen people were sinners, ALL have sinned, and when God saw their frequent wicked condition He wanted to kill them all and start over!

One thing I have learned is that God wants His people to persevere in their faith and relationship to Him (and each other) by the Gospel. If salvation were just swallowing a pill, if it were just learning the alphabet or how to ride a bicycle, we might not value it as the Gospel should be valued. We might not honor God as He should be honored if His Gospel were just a bedtime story. Yet I fear too many who name and claim Jesus treat His revelation of salvation by the Gospel in such a small way. The more I learn about the Gospel the more valuable it seems.

Perhaps I should have stated this already: If you have a saving relationship with Jesus the Messiah and do not believe the Old and New Testament to be God’s inspired revelation and absolutely trustworthy, you are missing much. Why? Because some other “revelation” will come along and seduce your mind and spirit to believe in what God has not inspired. Is God not God? Is God not able to reveal Himself? Is He not able to inspire men to write down His true words and history? Is He not able to preserve the texts of those and keep them from being altered by men? If your God is not able, then He is not God at all.

God’s Bible is true. Jesus is the Truth. And Jesus is… (drum roll) ... Jewish. If you are saved by God, it was a Jew who saved you. It was a Jew who took your sin to the cross and received the punishment and death your sins had earned for you. Jesus did was not conceived in the womb of an Italian or a Greek, or a German, Japanese, Bolivian, Nigerian, South African, Norwegian, Iraqi or an Iranian. Jesus was born of an Israeli woman of the house of Israel’s second King David, David of the tribe of Judah: Judah the son of Jacob, Jacob also named Israel by God, Jacob the son of Isaac, Isaac the son of Abraham. The name Jew we have from the name Judah. I’m not sure that “Jew” did not start out somewhere as a pejorative. Nevertheless a Jew is a man or woman related back to Abraham, Abraham a son of Heber, Heber a son of Shem, Shem the son  of Noah. From Heber we get “Hebrew(s)” and from Shem we get Semite and anti-Semite.

Seeing that God chose to direct the course of human history as He did, we cannot at all say to Him that He was in error by choosing this man Abraham, or any of his sons, in particular Isaac, and making them distinct as Hebrews or Jews from that time forward. The salvation of any gentiles is accomplished by Jesus the Jew, a biological son of Mary. Jesus was the Word MADE FLESH, and it was Jewish flesh of which Jesus was made. That is God’s doing. If you have a problem with Jesus being a Jew, take it up with God. Rethink it. If you have a problem with Jews in history or as a nation today, consider first that God put them through a lot just by making them different than gentiles, second that your salvation was a result of the faithfulness of at least some of these Jews, and third that Jews are human and all of them have sinned except for the Son of God Jesus the Jew. Jews are never more hated than by satan. Jews are the family tasked by God to bring the Word of God into the world, Jesus being that Word. By the Jews God also gave us (all, Jews and gentiles) the law, the prophets and the entire Old Testament.

Chuck Missler, a Bible teacher for more than 50 years has said that 5/6ths of the Bible is about Israel. I don’t know how accurate that is, but it is sure that Israel is a Biblical reality and an important one. Israel, the people arising out of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob are and remain today a holy enigma. Israel is an integral part the mysteries of God and the plan of God. Jews themselves have been known to say, “We know we are the chosen people but what are we chosen for?” Yet if you will believe God, that is if you will trust God and seek Him out, He WILL TELL you why He chose you. If you are Jewish He will tell you why your people were chosen. And if you are a gentile He will tell you why your people were NOT chosen. “What,” you ask? “Haven’t you just written about the evils of division? How is it now that you cite this God ordained “division” between Jews and gentiles?”

God called Abram and soon afterward renamed him Abraham. The story of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob begins in Genesis Ch. 12. This historic choice of God will never end as Abraham and his descendants are a family even today, the family and nation we call Israel. Contrary to the teaching of Roman Catholics, Orthodox and most protestant denominations God has not replaced the children of Israel with gentiles in the church. How subtle is the anti-Semitism of these groups, these heresies who claim the Jewish Messiah and deny the Jewish people their God ordained identity.  If the French were said to be no more French because they were now replaced by another people group, how do we suppose the French would take such a declaration? I fear that many who say Israel is no more a nation (in spite of the event of May 14, 1948) might be among those who say that the European colonists in New World committed genocide against the North and South American Natives. Yet Israel’s many enemies would commit genocide against Israel and Jews tomorrow if not for the hand of the Almighty restraining them.

What is today called replacement theology, more benignly known as “Covenant theology” has been around for at least 1600 years with roots reaching back to Origen, a Christian writer, teacher, and theologian born in the late second century CE. Known as an “early church father” (certainly Paul, Peter, James, Jude, John, Matthew, and others were earlier fathers), Origen began to allegorize the scriptures in a way which taught that the church is now spiritual Israel and it’s members, it’s GENTILE members are all made  spiritual Jews by faith in the Christ. It is almost comical; I think that today very few gentile pew sitters would likely be bold to declare themselves Jews of any sort. And if the gentile believer is now transformed into a spiritual Jew, what becomes of a Jew who believes in the Christ?

Simple common sense, Biblical interpretation, history and archaeology teaches truly that Israel is 1) the new name the angel of the Lord gave to Jacob, 2) the family name of the 12 children of Jacob and their descendants, 3) the name given to Canaan, the land God gave to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and all their descendants, even that land today in which Jews, Christians, Muslims and gentiles reside. Do the Jewish people have a future in that land? According to God’s covenants 1) with Abraham, 2) with the children of Israel and 3) with the house of David YES THEY DO! Yet satan has bred into non-Jews an opposition that can only be removed from the human heart by God in faith. I submit that through faith and by necessaity, loving God with all ones heart, mind, soul and strength and loving ones neighbor as oneself is absolutely essential in defeating anti-Semitism (and it will prove to defeat “racism” of any variety!).

Everything God does is a part of His big picture plan to establish the people of God as His own peculiar treasure. After Adam sinned almost everything up God did until and including Jesus and the birth of the church is a response to the sin problem. At Pentecost the apostles were baptized by the Holy Spirit and endued with power from on High just as Jesus promised they would be. And from that Pentecost in 30CE until Peter went to the gentile Cornelius in Joppa in 37 BC we know of only two possible gentile believers, the “good” thief on the cross beside the Lord and the Ethiopian eunuch whom Phillip taught the scriptures. From sometime in 30CE to sometime in 37 CE the Church of Jesus Christ was Jewish. How clear it is and how difficult to say it is other wise, that while God certainly had a plan and purpose for gentiles who believed God, that God’s plan for gentiles was enabled by the Jews.

Jesus said to the Samaritan woman at well of Jacob, “Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews” (John 4:22). Samaritans were “half breeds” partly Jewish and partly gentiles. Yet here was Jesus preaching to a non-Jew, even declaring Himself as the Messiah. She believed Him and brought others to Him! The plan for the gentiles is seen in this and in other events where Jesus interacted with non-Jews. But what is clear is that God started something with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob that continued through time until Jesus was crucified, risen and ascended and continued through the birth of the church and for seven years His plan concerned the Jewish people and their Jewish Savior Jesus. In Joppa the plan of God “blossomed” for the gentiles. Yet it was not until the council in Jerusalem (See Acts Ch. 15), which may have been in 47 CE, almost 17 years after the church was birthed, that the very Jewish apostles certified that God had opened the way of salvation and God’s Kingdom to gentiles by the same means He opened it to them.  They were somewhat forced into the matter by Jews who insisted that  gentiles follow the law, and in particular that they be circumcised.

Acts 15: 5  But there rose up certain of the sect of the Pharisees which believed, saying, That it was needful to circumcise them, and to command them to keep the law of Moses.

6  And the apostles and elders came together for to consider of this matter.

7  And when there had been much disputing, Peter rose up, and said unto them, Men and brethren, ye know how that a good while ago God made choice among us, that the Gentiles by my mouth should hear the word of the gospel, and believe.

8  And God, which knoweth the hearts, bare them witness, giving them [the gentiles] the Holy Ghost, even as he did unto us;

9  And [God] put no difference between us [Jews] and them, purifying their hearts by faith.

Peter went on to note that those who would require the gentiles keep the law of Moses were requiring something of them that they, the Jews were not even able to bear.

Acts 15:10  Now therefore why tempt ye God, to put a yoke upon the neck of the disciples, which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear?

11  But we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we [Jews] shall be saved, even as they [gentiles shall be].

So it is clear that there only one way of salvation, and this way of salvation is the same for the gentile and the Jews. That is why Paul would write: “there is neither Jew nor greek.” Paul also wrote there is neither male nor female, showing that for males and females there is only one way of salvation. It is senseless to say that male and female do not exist anymore, or that females have now become spiritual male, or visa versa, or that there is now only one new sexual gender. It is senseless to say that the relationships between men and women have changed at all. The New Testament in fact emphasizes the differences between men and women.  Paul also wrote there is neither bond nor free. Again this meaning the way of salvation is the same for slave and freemen and for masters. God did not erase the institution of slavery in the world. Again the New Testament gives wise counsel to slaves and masters as to how they should now live in the gospel by the Holy Spirit within the very real context of master slave relationships. Slaves have not become masters, not even spiritual masters, nor have masters become slaves. Masters might grant freedom to their slaves as a result of the gospel, and slaves might gain their freedom by lawful means. And the gospel since that time has led nations to outlaw slavery. If slavery is legal today in some nation, faith and salvation of a slave will not free him or her from their master, nor will the faith of a master place a legal requirement on a master to free his or her slaves.

It is seen in Paul’s letter to Ephesus that Jews and gentiles are by their faith in the same Savior joined together into one body which he names the ONE NEW MAN. God receives Jews by their faith in His Son Jesus. He receives gentiles by their faith in the same Jesus.

Ephesians 2: 11 Therefore remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh, called “the uncircumcision” by what is called the circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands— 12 remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. 13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. 14 For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility 15 by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, 16 and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. 17 And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near. 18 For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. 19 So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, 21 in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. 22 In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.

The body is one body, but the distinctions remain. In the New Covenant there are no distinctions, BUT in these, the Abrahamic Covenant, the Land Covenant and the Davidic Covenant the Jews are made certain promises that don’t extend to the gentile believers. One such distinction can clearly be seen in this promise.

Matthew 19:27 Then answered Peter and said unto him, Lo, we have left all, and followed thee; what then shall we have?

28 And Jesus said unto them, Verily I say unto you, that ye who have followed me, in the regeneration when the Son of man shall sit on the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.

Jesus spoke this to His chosen Apostles of whom there were no gentiles. He is speaking of their role to come in the millennial Messianic Kingdom. It seems presumptuous for gentiles to think they will share in this role. As one Messianic Jew teaches, we believing gentiles are partakers with the believing Jews but we are not “takers over.”

God recognizes and rewards faith without regard to ethnicity, race, sex, social status, legal status or criminal record! But in saving them God does not make males into females or masters into slaves. Nor in saving them does God make Jews into gentiles or gentiles into Jews. With regard to our spirits God saves ALL, male, female, slaves, freemen and masters, and Jews and gentiles through their faith by His grace.  This is certified by the decision of the Jerusalem council regarding circumcision for gentiles. After hearing the whole matter, James, the acknowledged Prince (chief leader) of the council set before them a plan of action:

Acts 15: 13 After they finished speaking, James replied, “Brothers, listen to me.

14 Simeon has related how God first visited the Gentiles, to take from them a people for his name.

15 And with this the words of the prophets agree, just as it is written,

16  “‘After this I will return,

    and I will rebuild the tent of David that has fallen;

        I will rebuild its ruins,

            and I will restore it,

17  that the remnant of mankind may seek the Lord,

    and all the Gentiles who are called by my name,

      says the Lord, who makes these things

18  known from of old.’

19 Therefore my judgment is that we should not trouble those of the Gentiles who turn to God,

20 but should write to them to abstain from the things polluted by idols, and from sexual immorality, and from what has been strangled, and from blood.

21 For from ancient generations Moses has had in every city those who proclaim him, for he is read every Sabbath in the synagogues.”

22 Then it seemed good to the apostles and the elders, with the whole church, to choose men from among them and send them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas. They sent Judas called Barsabbas, and Silas, leading men among the brothers,

23 with the following letter: “The brothers, both the apostles and the elders, to the brothers who are of the Gentiles in Antioch and Syria and Cilicia, greetings.

24 Since we have heard that some persons have gone out from us and troubled you with words, unsettling your minds, although we gave them no instructions,

25 it has seemed good to us, having come to one accord, to choose men and send them to you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul,

26 men who have risked their lives for the sake of our Lord Jesus Christ.

27 We have therefore sent Judas and Silas, who themselves will tell you the same things by word of mouth.

28 For it has seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to lay on you no greater burden than these requirements:

29 that you abstain from what has been sacrificed to idols, and from blood, and from what has been strangled, and from sexual immorality. If you keep yourselves from these, you will do well. Farewell.”

The decision was to not require the gentiles to be circumcised. In fact it was, James said, the Holy Spirit who did not require that of Gentiles. The counsel AND the Holy Spirit DID require ONLY these four things of them: that they abstain from foods sacrificed to idols, from blood (as food), from the meat of strangled animals, and from sexual immorality. Perhaps it seems a stretch but wasn’t the Lord saying in effect to the gentiles, “you are saved through faith as the Jews and in abstaining from these four things you will keep your spiritual garments clean?”

[Note: James says to the counsel: “For from ancient generations Moses has had in every city those who proclaim him, for he is read every Sabbath in the synagogues.” There are interesting commentaries as to why James said this.]

Are you a gentile believer, saved by the blood of the Lamb, not your own any longer but bought with that precious price? If so, do not allow man to tell you that you have become a Jew spiritually or otherwise. You were a spiritual being as a gentile in unbelief, and it was satan’s spirit that ruled your mind and flesh. When you saw/heard Jesus calling you to faith and repentance and said yes, your spirit was regenerated in the Messiah and the Holy Spirit, you became a NEW CREATION. What that will mean in heaven is not clearly known. But in this life your faith saves you from hell, from the same hell that unbelieving Jews will enter unless they repent in the faith of Jesus. You as a gentile are grafted into the cultivated olive tree. Romans Ch.’s 9 to 11 make it plain, God has by the blood of Jesus opened the way of salvation to you. He has make you gentiles partakers, PARTNERS with His redeemed Jewish remnant, that remnant being the cultivated tree.

Romans 11:11 So I ask, did they stumble in order that they might fall? By no means! Rather through their trespass salvation has come to the Gentiles, so as to make Israel jealous. 12 Now if their trespass means riches for the world, and if their failure means riches for the Gentiles, how much more will their full inclusion mean!

13 Now I am speaking to you Gentiles. Inasmuch then as I am an apostle to the Gentiles, I magnify my ministry 14 in order somehow to make my fellow Jews jealous, and thus save some of them. 15 For if their rejection means the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance mean but life from the dead? 16 If the dough offered as firstfruits is holy, so is the whole lump, and if the root is holy, so are the branches.

17 But if some of the branches were broken off, and you, although a wild olive shoot, were grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing root of the olive tree, 18 do not be arrogant toward the branches. If you are, remember it is not you who support the root, but the root that supports you. 19 Then you will say, “Branches were broken off so that I might be grafted in.” 20 That is true. They were broken off because of their unbelief, but you stand fast through faith. So do not become proud, but fear. 21 For if God did not spare the natural branches, neither will he spare you. 22 Note then the kindness and the severity of God: severity toward those who have fallen, but God's kindness to you, provided you continue in his kindness. Otherwise you too will be cut off. 23 And even they, if they do not continue in their unbelief, will be grafted in, for God has the power to graft them in again. 24 For if you were cut from what is by nature a wild olive tree, and grafted, contrary to nature, into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these, the natural branches, be grafted back into their own olive tree.

God has more to do with our salvation that we do. He is The One who makes the way of salvation, apart from Him there is NO Savior!

Romans 1:16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek [the gentiles].

Isaiah 43:11

I, even I, am Jehovah; and besides me there is no saviour.

The distinction between Jew and gentile has not disappeared either in the church or in the world. The restoration of the land Israel (often mis-called Palestine)  to the Jews for as their own  homeland in 1948 certainly shows it to be so. Do we think this event, this rebirth of a nation to be some anomaly, some random act of men?

Isaiah 66:

8 Who hath heard such a thing? who hath seen such things? Shall a land be born in one day? shall a nation be brought forth at once? for as soon as Zion travailed, she brought forth her children.

9 Shall I bring to the birth, and not cause to bring forth? saith Jehovah: shall I that cause to bring forth shut the womb? saith thy God.

What God starts He finishes! With Abraham, Isaac and Jacob God started a family, a nation (a nation being itself a large extended family) named Israel from whom the Messiah would be born in flesh into the world. God didn’t choose an Italian or a Chinaman. It is worth noting that He did choose Abram from  Ur of the Chaldees, and from a family/nation of idolaters. God chose Abraham to be the man whose descendants through Isaac would be distinct from all other family/nations. We should let God finish with the Jews. We should not, as many wish to do today, even those who name and claim the Jew Jesus as their own, we should not finish them the Jews off! As gentiles we need to submit to God’s plan. Yet it is or should be obvious that God’s plan for the Jews and Israel is not finished.

Unbelieving Jews and the nation of Israel are under tremendous pressure today. The Islamic clerics (most) and the radical Muslim terrorists are unabashed in their desire for and public calls for the destruction of Jews and the possession of Israel by the caliphate. Muslims are so fearful of their own political/religious leaders that they will n ot oppose them in their evil desire and plans for Israel (and for the USA!). God who allows a measure of pressure and condemns those who exceed that measure, God who keeps Israel will bring Israel to faith.

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=zech+12&version=ESV

The distinctions God ordained for the Jewish people were not placed on them at the same time. Abraham never was under the law of Moses. Moses never knew of God’s covenant with the house of David. And the New Covenant was not enforce until Jesus went back to heaven. Yet in Jeremiah Ch. 31 a most amazing thing is prophesied: God declares the New Covenant to the children of Israel through the mouth of Jeremiah, His prophet and a Jew! The prophecy starts in Jeremiah 30:1 and goes through to the end of Ch. 32. It is surely a prophesy that satan hates. In particular please read: Ch. 31:8, & 31-37 

Jeremiah 31:8 Behold, I will bring them from the north country

        and gather them from the farthest parts of the earth,

    among them the blind and the lame,

        the pregnant woman and she who is in labor, together;

        a great company, they shall return here.

Here they return from the north. Today Jews are returning to the land of Israel from Russia, and from many other nations even farther away! This cannot refer to the return of the Jews found in Ezra and Nehemiah. In that return they came back from the east, from Babylon.

Jeremiah 31:31 “Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah,

32  not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the LORD.

33  But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the LORD: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

34  And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”

As can be seen by comparison the new covenant will not be at all like the Mosaic covenant. The Mosaic Covenant was a covenant mediated between God and the people by the Levitical priesthood. In the New Covenant God write His law on the hearts of His people.

Jeremiah 31:35 ¶  Thus says the LORD,

    who gives the sun for light by day

        and the fixed order of the moon and the stars for light by night,

    who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar—

        the LORD of hosts is his name:

36  “If this fixed order departs

        from before me, declares the LORD,

    then shall the offspring of Israel cease

        from being a nation before me forever.”

37  Thus says the LORD:

    “If the heavens above can be measured,

        and the foundations of the earth below can be explored,

    then I will cast off all the offspring of Israel

        for all that they have done,

            declares the LORD.”

In Ch. 31:35-37 we have a promise of God that surely shows God has a future which includes Israel as a people and nation. Or will anyone insist that this fixed order will depart? God never said it would. As to measuring the heavens, perhaps the USA’s space program is an attempt at this! In any event the specificity of these verses is too great for them to be hyperbole. God made the heavers and the earth; and He is powerful enough to destroy them. Instead He offers His word as the Creator of them, that Israel is safe because the Creation will remain beyond the scope of man’s powers and ability, and intellect.

God’s commitment to Israel’s future is guided by His love for the patriarchs, for Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Joshua, Samuel, David, the prophets, right through to John the Baptist.

The gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. God’s gifts to and callings for the Jews are not always the same as His gifts and callings for the gentiles. Gentiles who declare that God has made them spiritual Jews might be accused of identity theft.

Romans 11: 25 Lest you be wise in your own sight, I do not want you to be unaware of this mystery, brothers: a partial hardening has come upon Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. 26 And in this way all Israel will be saved, as it is written,

“The Deliverer will come from Zion,

    he will banish ungodliness from Jacob”;

27 “and this will be my covenant with them

    when I take away their sins.”

28 As regards the gospel, they are enemies for your sake. But as regards election, they are beloved for the sake of their forefathers. 29 For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. 30 For just as you were at one time disobedient to God but now have received mercy because of their disobedience, 31 so they too have now been disobedient in order that by the mercy shown to you they also may now receive mercy. 32 For God has consigned all to disobedience, that he may have mercy on all.

33 Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!

34 “For who has known the mind of the Lord,

    or who has been his counselor?”

35 “Or who has given a gift to him

    that he might be repaid?”

36 For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.

Romans 1:16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.

The prophesy of the Jewish New Covenant which God opened to Jews first and also to gentiles by the blood of Jesus:

Jeremiah 30: 1 ¶  The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD:

2  “Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: Write in a book all the words that I have spoken to you.

3  For behold, days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will restore the fortunes of my people, Israel and Judah, says the LORD, and I will bring them back to the land that I gave to their fathers, and they shall take possession of it.”

4  These are the words that the LORD spoke concerning Israel and Judah:

5  “Thus says the LORD:

    We have heard a cry of panic,

        of terror, and no peace.

6  Ask now, and see,

        can a man bear a child?

    Why then do I see every man

        with his hands on his stomach like a woman in labor?

        Why has every face turned pale?

7  Alas! That day is so great

        there is none like it;

    it is a time of distress for Jacob;

        yet he shall be saved out of it.

8  “And it shall come to pass in that day, declares the LORD of hosts, that I will break his yoke from off your neck, and I will burst your bonds, and foreigners shall no more make a servant of him.

9  But they shall serve the LORD their God and David their king, whom I will raise up for them.

10 ¶  “Then fear not, O Jacob my servant, declares the LORD,

        nor be dismayed, O Israel;

    for behold, I will save you from far away,

        and your offspring from the land of their captivity.

    Jacob shall return and have quiet and ease,

        and none shall make him afraid.

11  For I am with you to save you,

        declares the LORD;

    I will make a full end of all the nations

        among whom I scattered you,

        but of you I will not make a full end.

    I will discipline you in just measure,

        and I will by no means leave you unpunished.

12  “For thus says the LORD:

    Your hurt is incurable,

        and your wound is grievous.

13  There is none to uphold your cause,

    no medicine for your wound,

    no healing for you.

14  All your lovers have forgotten you;

        they care nothing for you;

    for I have dealt you the blow of an enemy,

        the punishment of a merciless foe,

    because your guilt is great,

        because your sins are flagrant.

15  Why do you cry out over your hurt?

        Your pain is incurable.

    Because your guilt is great,

        because your sins are flagrant,

        I have done these things to you.

16  Therefore all who devour you shall be devoured,

        and all your foes, every one of them, shall go into captivity;

    those who plunder you shall be plundered,

        and all who prey on you I will make a prey.

17  For I will restore health to you,

        and your wounds I will heal,

            declares the LORD,

    because they have called you an outcast:

        ‘It is Zion, for whom no one cares!’

18 ¶  “Thus says the LORD:

    Behold, I will restore the fortunes of the tents of Jacob

        and have compassion on his dwellings;

    the city shall be rebuilt on its mound,

        and the palace shall stand where it used to be.

19  Out of them shall come songs of thanksgiving,

        and the voices of those who celebrate.

    I will multiply them, and they shall not be few;

        I will make them honored, and they shall not be small.

20  Their children shall be as they were of old,

    and their congregation shall be established before me,

    and I will punish all who oppress them.

21  Their prince shall be one of themselves;

        their ruler shall come out from their midst;

    I will make him draw near, and he shall approach me,

        for who would dare of himself to approach me?

            declares the LORD.

22  And you shall be my people,

    and I will be your God.”

23  Behold the storm of the LORD!

        Wrath has gone forth,

    a whirling tempest;

        it will burst upon the head of the wicked.

24  The fierce anger of the LORD will not turn back

        until he has executed and accomplished

        the intentions of his mind.

    In the latter days you will understand this.

Jeremiah 31:1   “At that time, declares the LORD, I will be the God of all the clans of Israel, and they shall be my people.”

2  Thus says the LORD:

    “The people who survived the sword

        found grace in the wilderness;

    when Israel sought for rest,

3  the LORD appeared to him from far away.

    I have loved you with an everlasting love;

        therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you.

4  Again I will build you, and you shall be built,

        O virgin Israel!

    Again you shall adorn yourself with tambourines

        and shall go forth in the dance of the merrymakers.

5  Again you shall plant vineyards

        on the mountains of Samaria;

    the planters shall plant

        and shall enjoy the fruit.

6  For there shall be a day when watchmen will call

        in the hill country of Ephraim:

    ‘Arise, and let us go up to Zion,

        to the LORD our God.”’

7  For thus says the LORD:

    “Sing aloud with gladness for Jacob,

        and raise shouts for the chief of the nations;

    proclaim, give praise, and say,

        ‘O LORD, save your people,

        the remnant of Israel.’

8  Behold, I will bring them from the north country

        and gather them from the farthest parts of the earth,

    among them the blind and the lame,

        the pregnant woman and she who is in labor, together;

        a great company, they shall return here.

9  With weeping they shall come,

        and with pleas for mercy I will lead them back,

    I will make them walk by brooks of water,

        in a straight path in which they shall not stumble,

    for I am a father to Israel,

        and Ephraim is my firstborn.

10 ¶  “Hear the word of the LORD, O nations,

        and declare it in the coastlands far away;

    say, ‘He who scattered Israel will gather him,

        and will keep him as a shepherd keeps his flock.’

11  For the LORD has ransomed Jacob

    and has redeemed him from hands too strong for him.

12  They shall come and sing aloud on the height of Zion,

        and they shall be radiant over the goodness of the LORD,

    over the grain, the wine, and the oil,

        and over the young of the flock and the herd;

    their life shall be like a watered garden,

        and they shall languish no more.

13  Then shall the young women rejoice in the dance,

        and the young men and the old shall be merry.

    I will turn their mourning into joy;

        I will comfort them, and give them gladness for sorrow.

14  I will feast the soul of the priests with abundance,

    and my people shall be satisfied with my goodness,

        declares the LORD.”

15  Thus says the LORD:

    “A voice is heard in Ramah,

        lamentation and bitter weeping.

    Rachel is weeping for her children;

        she refuses to be comforted for her children,

        because they are no more.”

16  Thus says the LORD:

    “Keep your voice from weeping,

        and your eyes from tears,

    for there is a reward for your work,

        declares the LORD,

        and they shall come back from the land of the enemy.

17  There is hope for your future,

        declares the LORD,

    and your children shall come back to their own country.

18 ¶  I have heard Ephraim grieving,

    ‘You have disciplined me, and I was disciplined,

        like an untrained calf;

    bring me back that I may be restored,

        for you are the LORD my God.

19  For after I had turned away, I relented,

        and after I was instructed, I slapped my thigh;

    I was ashamed, and I was confounded,

        because I bore the disgrace of my youth.’

20  Is Ephraim my dear son?

        Is he my darling child?

    For as often as I speak against him,

        I do remember him still.

    Therefore my heart yearns for him;

        I will surely have mercy on him,

            declares the LORD.

21  “Set up road markers for yourself;

        make yourself guideposts;

    consider well the highway,

        the road by which you went.

    Return, O virgin Israel,

        return to these your cities.

22  How long will you waver,

        O faithless daughter?

    For the LORD has created a new thing on the earth:

        a woman encircles a man.”

23  Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: “Once more they shall use these words in the land of Judah and in its cities, when I restore their fortunes:

    “‘The LORD bless you, O habitation of righteousness,

        O holy hill!’

24  And Judah and all its cities shall dwell there together, and the farmers and those who wander with their flocks.

25  For I will satisfy the weary soul, and every languishing soul I will replenish.”

26  At this I awoke and looked, and my sleep was pleasant to me.

27 ¶  “Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of man and the seed of beast.

28  And it shall come to pass that as I have watched over them to pluck up and break down, to overthrow, destroy, and bring harm, so I will watch over them to build and to plant, declares the LORD.

29  In those days they shall no longer say:

    “‘The fathers have eaten sour grapes,

        and the children’s teeth are set on edge.’

30  But everyone shall die for his own sin. Each man who eats sour grapes, his teeth shall be set on edge.

31  “Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah,

32  not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the LORD.

33  But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the LORD: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

34  And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”

35 ¶  Thus says the LORD,

    who gives the sun for light by day

        and the fixed order of the moon and the stars for light by night,

    who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar—

        the LORD of hosts is his name:

36  “If this fixed order departs

        from before me, declares the LORD,

    then shall the offspring of Israel cease

        from being a nation before me forever.”

37  Thus says the LORD:

    “If the heavens above can be measured,

        and the foundations of the earth below can be explored,

    then I will cast off all the offspring of Israel

        for all that they have done,

            declares the LORD.”

38  “Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when the city shall be rebuilt for the LORD from the tower of Hananel to the Corner Gate.

39  And the measuring line shall go out farther, straight to the hill Gareb, and shall then turn to Goah.

40  The whole valley of the dead bodies and the ashes, and all the fields as far as the brook Kidron, to the corner of the Horse Gate toward the east, shall be sacred to the LORD. It shall not be uprooted or overthrown anymore forever.”

The prophecy of the rebirth of the land of Israel:

Isaiah 66:

5 Hear the word of Jehovah, ye that tremble at his word: Your brethren that hate you, that cast you out for my name's sake, have said, Let Jehovah be glorified, that we may see your joy; but it is they that shall be put to shame.

6 A voice of tumult from the city, a voice from the temple, a voice of Jehovah that rendereth recompense to his enemies.

7 Before she travailed, she brought forth; before her pain came, she was delivered of a man-child.

8 Who hath heard such a thing? who hath seen such things? Shall a land be born in one day? shall a nation be brought forth at once? for as soon as Zion travailed, she brought forth her children.

9 Shall I bring to the birth, and not cause to bring forth? saith Jehovah: shall I that cause to bring forth shut the womb? saith thy God.

10 Rejoice ye with Jerusalem, and be glad for her, all ye that love her: rejoice for joy with her, all ye that mourn over her;

11 that ye may suck and be satisfied with the breasts of her consolations; that ye may milk out, and be delighted with the abundance of her glory.

12 For thus saith Jehovah, Behold, I will extend peace to her like a river, and the glory of the nations like an overflowing stream: and ye shall suck thereof; ye shall be borne upon the side, and shall be dandled upon the knees.

13 As one whom his mother comforteth, so will I comfort you; and ye shall be comforted in Jerusalem.

14 And ye shall see it, and your heart shall rejoice, and your bones shall flourish like the tender grass: and the hand of Jehovah shall be known toward his servants; and he will have indignation against his enemies.

15 For, behold, Jehovah will come with fire, and his chariots shall be like the whirlwind; to render his anger with fierceness, and his rebuke with flames of fire.

16 For by fire will Jehovah execute judgment, and by his sword, upon all flesh; and the slain of Jehovah shall be many.

Testimony of the Evangelists ~ by Simon Greenleaf

Testimony of the Evangelists by Simon Greenleaf (1783-1853) Greenleaf, one of the principle founders of the Harvard Law School, originally set out to disprove the biblical testimony concerning the resurrection of Jesus Christ. He was certain that a careful examination of the internal witness of the Gospels would dispel all the myths at the heart of Christianity. But this legal scholar came to the conclusion that the witnesses were reliable, and that the resurrection did in fact happen.  -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- In examining the evidence of the Christian religion, it is essential to the discovery of truth that we bring to the investigation a mind freed, as far as  possible, from existing prejudice, and open to conviction.  There should be a readiness, on our part, to investigate with candor to follow the truth wherever it may lead us, and to submit, without reserve or objection, to all the teachings of this religion, if it be found to be of divine origin.  "There is no other entrance," says Lord Bacon, "to the kingdom of man, which is founded in the sciences, than to the kingdom of heaven, into which no one can enter but in the character of a little child."  The docility which true philosophy requires of her disciples is not a spirit of servility, or the surrender of the reason and judgment to whatsoever the teacher may inculcate; but it is a mind free from all pride of opinion, not hostile to the truth sought for, willing to pursue the inquiry, and impartiality to weigh the arguments and evidence, and to acquiesce in the judgment of right reason.  The investigation, moreover, should be pursued with the serious earnestness which becomes the greatness of the subject--a subject fraught with such momentous consequences to man. It should be pursued as in the presence of God, and under the solemn sanctions created by a lively sense of his omniscience, and of our accountability to him for the right use of the faculties which he has bestowed. In requiring this candor and simplicity of mind in those who would investigate the truth of our religion, Christianity demands nothing more than is readily conceded to every branch of human science. All these have their data, and their axioms; and Christianity, too, has her first principles, the admission of which is essential to any real progress in knowledge. "Christianity," says Bishop Wilson, "inscribes on the portal of her dominion 'Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, shall in nowise enter therein.' Christianity does not profess to convince the perverse and headstrong, to bring irresistible evidence to the daring and profane, to vanquish the proud scorner, and afford evidences from which the careless and perverse cannot possibly escape. This might go to destroy man's responsibility. All that Christianity professes, is to propose such evidences as may satisfy the meek, the tractable, the candid, the serious inquirer." The present design, however, is not to enter upon any general examination of the evidences upon any general examination of the evidences of Christianity, but to confine the inquiry to the testimony of the Four Evangelists, bringing their narratives to the tests to which other evidence is subjected in human tribunals. The foundation of our religion is a basis of fact--the fact of the birth, ministry, miracles, death, resurrection by the Evangelists as having actually occurred, within their own personal knowledge. Our religion, then, rests on the credit due to these witnesses. Are they worthy of implicit belief, in the matters which they relate? This is the question, in all human tribunals, in regard to persons testifying before them; and we propose to test the veracity of these witnesses, by the same rules and means which are there employed. The importance of the facts testified, and their relations to the affairs of the soul, and the life to come, can make no difference in the principles or the mode of weighing the evidence. It is still the evidence of matters of fact, capable of being seen and known and related, as well by one man as by another. And if the testimony of the Evangelist, supposing it to be relevant and material to the issue in a question of property or of personal right, between man and man, in a court of justice, ought to be believed and have weight; then, upon the like principles, it ought to receive our entire credit here. But if, on the other hand, we should be justified in rejecting it, if there testified on oath, then, supposing our rules of evidence to be sound, we may be excused if we hesitate elsewhere to give it credence. The proof that God has revealed himself to man by special and express communications, and that Christianity constitutes that revelation, is no part of these inquiries.  This has already been shown, in the most satisfactory manner by others, who have written expressly upon this subject. Referring therefore to their writings for the arguments and proofs, the fact will here be assumed as true. That man is a religious being, is universally conceded, for it has been seen to be universally true. He is everywhere a worshiper. In every age and country, and in every stage, from the highest intellectual culture to the darkest stupidity, he bows with homage to a superior Being.  Be it the rude-carved idol of his own fabrication, or the unseen divinity that stirs within him, it is still the object of his adoration. This trait in the character of man is so uniform, that it may safely be assumed, either as one of the original attributes of his nature, or as necessarily resulting from the action of one or more of those attributes. The object of man's worship, whatever it be, will naturally be his standard of perfection. He clothes it with every attribute, belonging, in his view, to a perfect character; and this character he himself endeavors to attain. He may not, directly and consciously, aim to acquire every virtue of his deity, and to avoid the opposite vices; but still this will be the inevitable consequence of sincere and constant worship as in human society men become assimilated, both in manners and moral principles, to their chosen associates, so in the worship of whatever deity men adore, they "form to him the relish of their souls." To suppose, then, that God made man capable of religion, and requiring it in order to the development of the highest part of his nature, without communicating with him, as a father, in those revelations which alone could perfect that nature, would be a reproach upon God, and a contradiction. How it came to pass that man, originally taught, as we doubt not he was, to know and to worship the true Jehovah, is found, at so early a period of his history, a worshiper of baser objects, it is foreign to our present purpose to inquire. But the fact is lamentably true, that he soon became an idolater, a worshiper of moral abominations. The Scythians and Northmen adored the impersonations of heroic valor and of bloodthirsty and cruel revenge. The mythology of Greece and of Rome, though it exhibited a few examples of virtue and goodness, abounded in others of gross licentiousness and vice. The gods of Egypt were reptiles, and beasts and birds. The religion of Central and Eastern Asia was polluted with lust and cruelty, and smeared with blood, rioting, in deadly triumph, over all the tender affections of the human heart and all the convictions of the human understanding. Western and Southern Africa and Polynesia are, to this day, the abodes of frightful idolatry, cannibalism, and cruelty; and the aborigines of both the Americas are examples of the depths of superstition to which the human mind may be debased. In every quarter of the world, however, there is a striking uniformity seen in all the features of paganism. The ruling is lewd and cruel. Whatever of purity the earlier forms of paganism may have possessed, it is evident from history that it was of brief duration. Every form, which history has preserved, grew rapidly and steadily worse and more corrupt, until the entire heathen world, before the coming of Christ, was infected with that loathsome leprosy of pollution, described with revolting vividness by St. Paul, in the beginning of his Epistle to the Romans. So general and decided was this proclivity to the worship of strange gods, that, at the time of the deluge, only one family remained faithful to Jehovah; and this was a family which had been favored with his special revelation. Indeed it is evident that nothing but a revelation from God could raise men from the degradation of pagan idolatry, because nothing else has ever had that effect. If man could achieve his own freedom from this bondage, he would long since have been free. But instead of this, the increase of light and civilization and refinement in the pagan world has but multiplied the objects of his worship, added voluptuous refinements to its ritual, and thus increased the number and weight of his chains. In this respect there is no difference in their moral condition, between the barbarous Scythian and the learned Egyptian or Roman of ancient times, nor between the ignorant African and the polished Hindu of our own day. The only method, which has been successfully employed to deliver man from the idolatry, is that of presenting to the eye of his soul an object of worship perfectly holy and pure, directly opposite, in moral character, to the gods he had formerly adored. He could not transfer to his deities a better character than he himself possessed. He must forever remain enslaved to his idols, unless a new and pure object of worship were revealed to him, with a display of superior power sufficient to overcome his former faith and present fears, to detach his affections from grosser objects, and to fix them upon that which alone is worthy. This is precisely what God, as stated in the Holy Scriptures, has done. He rescued one family from idolatry in the Old World, y the revelation of himself to Noah; he called a distinct branch of this family to the knowledge of himself, in the person of Abraham and his sons; he extended this favor to a whole nation, through the ministry of Moses; but it was through that of Jesus Christ alone that it was communicated to the whole world. In Egypt, by the destruction of all of the Israelites that he alone was the self-existent Almighty. At the Red Sea, he emphatically showed his people. At Sinai, he revealed himself as the righteous Governor, who required implicit obedience from men, and taught them, by the strongly-marked distinctions of the ceremonial law, that he was a holy Being, of purer eyes than to behold evil, and that could not look upon iniquity. The demerit of sin was inculcated by the solemn infliction of death upon every animal, offered as a propitiatory sacrifice. And when, by this system of instruction, he had prepared a people to receive the perfect revelation of the character of God, of the nature of his worship and of the way of restoration to his image and favor, this also was expressly revealed by the mission of his Son. That the books of the Old Testament, as we now have them, are genuine; that they existed in the time of our Savior, and were commonly received and referred to among the Jews, as the sacred books of their religion; and that the text of the Four Evangelists has been handed down to us in the state in which it was originally written, that is, without having been materially corrupted or falsified, either by heretics or Christians; are facts which we are entitled to assume as true, until the contrary is shown. The genuineness of these writings really admits of as little doubt, and is susceptible of as ready proof, as that of any ancient writings whatever. The rule of municipal law on this subject is familiar, and applies with equal force to all ancient writings, whether documentary or otherwise; and as it comes first in order, in the prosecution of these inquiries, it may, for the sake of mere convenience, be designated as our first rule. Every document, apparently ancient, coming from the proper repository or custody, and bearing on its face no evident marks of forger, the law presumes to be genuine, and devolves on the opposing party the burden of proving it to be otherwise.  An ancient document, offered in evidence in our courts, is said to come from the proper repository, when it is found in the place where, and under the care of persons with whom, such writings might naturally and reasonably be expected to be found; for it is this custody which gives authenticity to documents found within it. If they come from such a place, and bear no evident marks of forgery, the law presumes that they are genuine, and they are permitted to be read in evidence, unless the opposing party is able successfully to impeach them. The burden of showing them to be false and unworthy of credit, is devolved on the party who makes that objection. The presumption of law is the judgment of charity. It presumes every many is innocent until he is proved guilty; that everything has been done fairly and legally, until it is proved to have been otherwise; and that every document, found in its proper repository, and not bearing marks of forgery, is genuine. Now this is precisely the case with the Sacred Writings. They have been used in the church from time immemorial, and thus are found in the place where alone they ought to be looked for they come to us, and challenge our reception of them as genuine writings, precisely as Domesday Book, the Ancient Statues of Wales, or any other of the ancient documents which have recently been published under the British Record Commission, are received. They are found in familiar use in all the churches of Christendom, as the sacred books to which all denominations of Christians refer, as the standard of their faith. There is no pretense that they were engraved on plates of gold and discovered in a cave, nor that they were brought from heaven by angels; but they are received as the plain narratives and writings of the men whose names they respectively bear, made public at the time they were written; and though there are some slight discrepancies among the copies subsequently made, there is no pretense that the originals are lost, and that copies alone are now produced, the principles of the municipal law here also afford a satisfactory answer. For the multiplication of copies was a public fact, in the faithfulness of which all the Christian community had an interest; and it is a rule of law, that,-- In matters of public and general interest, all persons must be presumed to be conversant, on the principle that individuals are presumed to be conversant with their own affairs.  Therefore it is that, in such matters, the prevailing current of assertion is resorted to as evidence, for it is to this that every member of the community is supposed to be privy. The persons, moreover, who multiplied these copies may be regarded, in some manner, as agents of Christian public, for whose use and benefit the copies were made; and on the ground of the credit due to such agents, and of the public nature of the facts themselves, the copies thus made are entitled to an extraordinary degree of confidence, and, as in the case of official registers and other public books, it is not necessary that they should be confirmed and sanctioned by the ordinary tests of truth. If any ancient document concerning our public rights were lost copies which had been received in evidence in any of our courts of justice, without the slightest hesitation the entire text of the Corpus Juris Civilis is received as authority in all the courts of continental Europe, upon much weaker evidence of its genuineness; for the integrity of the Sacred Text has been preserved by the jealousy of opposing sects, beyond any moral possibility of corruption; while that of the Roman Civil Law has been preserved by tacit consent, without the interest of any opposing school, to watch over and preserve it from alteration. These copies of the Holy Scriptures having thus been in familiar use in the churches, from the time when the text was committed to writing; having been watched with vigilance by so many sects, opposed to each other in doctrine, yet all appealing to these Scriptures for the correctness of their faith; and having in all ages, down to this day, been respected as the authoritative source of all ecclesiastical power and government, and submitted to, and acted under in regard to so many claims of right, on the one hand, and so many obligations of duty, on the other; it is quite erroneous to suppose that the Christian is bound to offer any further proof of their genuineness or authenticity. It is for the objector to show them spurious; for on him, by the plainest rules of law, lies the burden of proof. If it were the case of a claim to a franchise, and a copy of an ancient deed or character were produced in support of the title, under parallel circumstances on which to presume its venture to deny either its admissibility in evidence, or the satisfactory character of the proof. In a recent case in the House of Lords, precisely such a document, being an old manuscript copy, purporting to have been extracted from ancient Journals of the House, which were lost, and to have been made by an officer whose duty it was to prepare lists of the Peers, was held admissible in a claim of peerage. Supposing, therefore, that it is not irrational, nor inconsistent with sound philosophy, to believe that God has made a special and express revelation of his character and will to man, and that the sacred books of our religion are genuine, as we now have them; we proceed to examine and compare the testimony of the Four Evangelists, as witnesses to the life and doctrines of Jesus Christ; in order to determine the degree of credit, to which, by the rules of evidence plied in human tribunals, they are justly entitled. Our attention will naturally be first directed to the witnesses themselves, to see who and what manner of men they were; and we shall take them in the order of their writings; stating the prominent traits only in their lives and characters, as they are handed down to us by credible historians. Matthew, called Levi, was a Jew of Galilee, but of what city is uncertain. He held the place of publican, or tax-gatherer, under the Roman government, and his office seems to have consisted in collecting the taxes within his district, as well as the duties and customs levied on goods and persons, passing in and out of his district and province, across the lake of Genesareth. While engaged in this business, at the office or usual place of collection, he was required by Jesus to follow him, as one of his disciples; a command which he immediately obeyed. Soon afterwards, he appears to have given a great entertainment to his fellow-publicans and friends, at which Jesus was present; intending probably both to celebrate his own change of profession, and to give them an opportunity to profit by the teaching of his new Master. He was constituted one of the twelve apostles, and constantly attended the person of Jesus as a faithful follower, until the crucifixion; and after the ascension of his Master he preached the gospel for some time, with other apostles, in Judea, and afterwards in Ethiopia, where he died. He is generally allowed to have written first, of all the evangelists; but whether in the Hebrew or the Greek language, or in both, the learned are not agreed, nor is it material to our purpose to inquire; the genuineness of our present Greek gospel being sustained by satisfactory evidence. The precise time when he wrote is also uncertain, the several dates given to it among learned men, varying from A.D. 37 to A.D. 64. The earlier date, however, is argued with greater force, from the improbability that the Christians would be left for several years without a general and authentic history of our Savior's ministry; from the evident allusions which it contains to a state of persecution in the church at the time it was written; from the titles of sanctity ascribed to Jerusalem, and a higher veneration testified for the temple than the comparative gentleness with which Herod's character and conduct are dealt with, that bad prince probably being still in power; and from the frequent mention of Pilate, as still governor of Judea. That Matthew was himself a native Jew, familiar with the opinions, ceremonies, and customs of his countrymen; that he was conversant with the Sacred Writings, and habituated to their idiom; a man of plain sense, but of little learning, except what he derived from the Scriptures of the Old Testament; that he wrote seriously and from conviction, and had, on most occasions, been present, and attended closely, to the transactions which he relates, and relates, too, without any view of applause to himself; are facts which we may consider established by internal evidence, as strong as the nature of the case will admit. It is deemed equally well proved, both by internal evidence and the aid of history, that he wrote for the use of his countrymen the Jews. Every circumstance is noticed which might conciliate their belief, and every unnecessary expression is avoided which might obstruct it. They looked for the Messiah, of the lineage of David, and born in Bethlehem, in the circumstances of whose life the prophecies should find fulfillment, a matter, in their estimation, of peculiar value: and to all these this evangelist has directed their especial attention. Allusion has been already made to his employment as a collector of taxes and customs: but the subject is too important to be passed over without further notice. The tribute imposed by the Romans upon countries conquered by their arms was enormous. In the time of Pompey, the sums annually exacted by their Asiatic provinces, of which Judea was one, amounted to about four millions and a a half of sterling, or about twenty-two millions of dollars. These exactions were made in the usual forms of direct and indirect taxation; the rate of the customs on merchandise varying from an eight to a fortieth part of the value of the commodity; and the tariff including all the principal articles of the commerce of the East, much of which, as is well known, still found its way to Italy through Palestine, as well as by the way of Damascus and of Egypt. The direct taxes consisted of a capitation-tax, and a land-tax, assessed upon a valuation or census, periodically taken under the oath of the individual, with heavy penal sanctions. It is natural to suppose that these taxes were not voluntarily paid, especially since they were imposed by the conqueror upon a conquered people, and by a heathen too, upon the people of the house of Israel. The increase of taxes has generally been found to multiply discontents, evasions and frauds on the one hand, and, on the other, to increase vigilance, suspicion, close scrutiny, and severity of exaction. The penal code, as revised by Theododius, will give us some notion of the difficulties must have been increased by the fact that, at this period, a considerable portion of the commerce of that part of the world was carried on by the Greeks, whose ingenuity and want of faith were proverbial. It was to such an employment and under such circumstances, that Matthew was educated; an employment which must have made him acquainted with the Greek language, and extensively conversant with the public affairs and the men of business of his time; thus entitling him to our confidence, as an experienced and intelligent observer of that day were, as in truth they appear to have been, as much disposed as those of the present time, to evade the payment of public taxes and duties, and to elude, by all possible means, the vigilance of the revenue officers, Matthew must have been familiar with a great variety of forms of fraud, imposture, cunning, and deception, and must have become habitually distrustful, scrutinizing, and cautious; and, of course, much less likely to have been deceived in regard to may of the facts in our Lord's ministry, extraordinary as they were, which fell under his observation. This circumstance shows both the sincerity and the wisdom of Jesus, in selecting him for an eye- witness of his conduct, and adds great weight to the value of the testimony of this evangelist. Mark was the son of a pious sister of Barnabas, named Mary, who dwelt at Jerusalem, and at whose house the early Christians often assembled. His Hebrew name was John; the surname of Mark having been adopted, as is supposed, when he left Judea to preach the gospel in foreign countries; a practice not unusual among the Jews of that age, who frequently, upon such occasions, assumed a name more familiar than their own to the people whom they visited. He is supposed to have been converted to the Christian faith by the ministry of Peter. He traveled from Jerusalem to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas, and afterwards accompanied them elsewhere. When they landed at Perga in Pamphylia, he left them and returned to Jerusalem; for which reason, when he afterwards would have gone with them, Paul refused to take him. Upon this, a difference of opinion arose between the two apostles, and they separated, Barnabas taking Mark with him to Cyprus. Subsequently he accompanied Timothy to Rome, at the express desire of Paul. From this city he probably went into the Asia, where he found Peter, with whom he returned to Rome, in which city he is supposed to have written and published his Gospel. Such is the outline of his history, as it is furnished by the New Testament, the early historians add, that after this he went into Egypt and planted a church in Alexandria, where he died. It is agreed that Mark wrote his Gospel for the use of Gentile converts; and opinion deriving great force from the explanations introduced into it, which would have been useless to a Jew, and that it was composed for those at Rome, is believed, not only from the numerous Latinisms it contains, but from the unanimous testimony of ancient writer, and from the internal evidence afforded by the Gospel itself. Some have entertained the opinion that Mark compiled his account from that of Matthew, of this notion has been refuted by Knoppe, and others, and is now generally regarded as untenable. For Mark frequently deviates from Matthew in the order of time, in his arrangement of facts; and he adds many things not related by the other evangelists; neither of which a mere epitomizer would probably have done. He also omits several things related by Matthew, and imperfectly describes others, especially the transactions of Christ with the apostles after the resurrection; giving no account whatever of his appearance in Galilee; omissions irreconcilable with any previous knowledge of the Gospel according to Matthew. To these proofs we may add, that in several places there are discrepancies between the accounts of Matthew and Mark, not, indeed, irreconcilable, but sufficient to destroy the probability that the latter copied from the former. The striking coincidences between them, in style, words, and things, in other places, may be accounted for by considering Peter, who is supposed to have dictated this Gospel to Mark, was quite as intimately acquainted as Matthew with the miracles and discourses of our Lord; which, therefore, he would naturally recite in his preaching; and that the same things might very naturally be related in the same manner, by men who sought not after excellency of speech. Peter's agency in the narrative of Mark is asserted by all ancient writers, and is confirmed by the fact, that his humility is conspicuous in every part of it, where anything is or might be related of him; his weaknesses and fall being fully exposed, while things which might redound to his honor, are either omitted or but slightly mentioned; that scarcely any transaction of Jesus is related, at which Peter was not present, and that all are related with that circumstantial minuteness which belongs to the testimony of an eyewitness. We may, therefore, regard the Gospel of Mark as an original composition, written at the dictation of Peter, and consequently as another original narrative of the life, miracles, and doctrine of our Lord. Luke, according to Eusebius, was a native of Antioch, by profession a physician, and for a considerable period a companion of the apostle Paul. From the casual notices of him in the Scriptures, and from the early Christian writers, it has been collected, that his parents were Gentiles, but that he in his youth embraced Judaism, from which he was converted to Christianity. The first mention of him is that he was with Paul at Troas, whence he appears to have attended him to Jerusalem; continued with him in all his troubles in Judea; and sailed with him when he was sent a prisoner from Ceasarea to Rome, where he remained with him during his two years confinement. As none of the ancient fathers have mentioned his having suffered martyrdom, it is generally supposed that he died a natural death. That he wrote his Gospel for the benefit of the Gentile converts is affirmed by the unanimous voice of Christian antiquity; and it may also be inferred from its dedication to a Gentile. He is particularly careful to specify various circumstances conducive to the information of strangers, but not so to the Jews; he gives the lineage of Jesus upwards, after the manner of the Gentiles, instead of downwards, as Matthew had done; tracing it up to Adam, and thus showing that Jesus was the promised seed of the woman; and he marks the eras of his birth, and of the ministry of John, by the reigns of the Roman emperors. He also has introduced several things, not mentioned by the other evangelists, but highly encouraging to the gentiles to turn to God in the hope of pardon and acceptance; of which description are the parables of the publican and Pharisee, in the temple; the lost piece of silver; and the prodigal son; and the fact of Christ's visit to Zaccheus the publican, and the pardon of the penitent thief. That Luke was a physician, appears not only from the testimony of Paul, but from the internal marks in his Gospel, showing that he was both an acute observer, and had given particular and even professional attention to all our Savior's miracles of healing. Thus, the man whom Matthew and Mark describe simply as a leper, Luke describes as full of leprosy; he, whom they mention as had having a withered hand, Luke says had his right hand withered; and of the maid, of whom the others say that Jesus took her spirit came to her again. He alone, with professional accuracy of observation, says that virtue went out of Jesus, and healed the sick; he alone states the fact that the sleep of the disciples in Gethsemane was induced by extreme sorrow; and mentions the blood- like sweat of Jesus, as occasioned by the intensity of his agony; and he alone relates the miraculous healing of Malchus's ear. That he was also a man of a liberal education, the comparative elegance of his writings sufficiently shows. The design of Luke's Gospel was to supersede the defective and inaccurate narratives then in circulation, and to deliver to Theophilus, to whom it is addressed, a full and authentic account of the life, doctrines, miracles, death and resurrection of our Savior. Who Theophilus was, the learned are not perfectly agreed; but the most probable opinion is that of Dr. Lardner, now generally adopted, that, as Luke wrote his Gospel in Greece, Theophilus was a man of rank in that country. Either the relations subsisting between him and Luke, or the dignity and power of his rank, or both, induced the evangelist, who himself also "had perfect understanding of all things from the first," to devote the utmost care to the drawing up of a complete and authentic narrative of these great events. He does not affirm himself to have been an eyewitness.; though his personal knowledge of some of the transactions may well be inferred from the "perfect understanding" which he says he possessed. Some of the learned seem to have drawn this inference as to them all, and to have placed him in the class of original witnesses; but this opinion, though maintained on strong and plausible grounds, is not generally adopted. If, then, he did not write from his own personal knowledge, the question is, what is the legal character of his testimony? If it were "the result of inquiries, made under competent public authority, concerning matters in which the public are concerned," it would possess every legal attribute of an inquisition, and, as such, would be legally admissible in evidence, in a court of justice. To entitle such results, however, to our full confidence, it is not necessary that they should be obtained under a legal commission; it is sufficient if the inquiry is gravely undertaken and pursued, by a person of competent intelligence, sagacity and integrity. The request of a person in authority, or a desire to serve the public, are, to all moral intents, as sufficient a motive as a legal commission. Thus, we know that when complaint is made to the head of a department, of official misconduct or abuse, existing in some remote quarter, nothing is more common than to send some confidential person to the spot, to ascertain the facts and report them to the department; and this report is confidently adopted as the basis of its discretionary action, in the correction of that abuse, or the removal of the offender. Indeed, the result of any grave inquiry is equally certain to receive our confidence, though it may have been voluntarily undertaken, if the party making it had access to the means of complete and satisfactory information upon the subject. If, therefore, Luke's Gospel were to be regarded only as the work of a contemporary historian, it would be entitled to our confidence. But it is more than this. It is the result of careful science, intelligence and education, concerning subjects which he was perfectly competent to peculiarly skilled, they being cases of the cure of maladies; subjects, too, of which he already had the perfect knowledge of a contemporary, and perhaps an eyewitness., but beyond doubt, familiar with the parties concerned in the transactions, and belonging to the community in which the events transpired, which were in the mouths of all; and the narrative, moreover, drawn up for the especial use, and probably at the request, of a man of distinction, whom it would not be for the interest nor safety of the writer to deceive or mislead. Such a document certainly possesses all the moral attributes of an inquest of office, or of any other official investigation of facts; and as such is entitled, in foro conscientiae, to be adduced of the matters it contains. John, the last of the evangelists, was the son of Zebedee, a fisherman of the town of Bethsaida, on the sea of Galilee. His father appears to have been a respectable man in his calling, owning his vessel and having hired servants. His mother, too, was among those who followed Jesus, and "ministered unto him:" and to John himself, Jesus when on the cross, confided the care and support of his own mother. This disciple also seems to have been favorably known to the high priest, and to have influence in his family; by means of which he had the privilege of being present in his palace at the examination of his Master, and of introducing also Peter, his friend. He was the youngest of the apostles; was eminently the object of the Lord's regard and confidence; was on various occasions admitted to free and intimate intercourse with him; and is described as "the disciple whom Jesus loved." Hence he was present at several scenes, to which most of the others were not admitted. He alone, in company with Peter and James, was present at the resurrection of Jairus's daughter, at the transfiguration on the mount, and at the agony of our Savior. in the garden of Gethsemane. He was the only apostle who followed Jesus to the cross, he was the first of them at the sepulcher, and he was present at the several appearances of our Lord after his resurrection. These circumstances, together with his intimate friendship with the mother of Jesus, especially qualify him to give a circumstantial and authentic account of the life of his Master. After the ascension of Christ, and the effusion of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost, John became one of the chief apostles of the circumcision, exercising his ministry in and near Jerusalem. From ecclesiastical history we learn that, after the death of Mary the mother of Jesus, he proceeded to Asia Minor, where he founded and presided over seven churches, in as many cities, but resided chiefly at Ephesus. Thence he was banished, in Domitian's reign, to the isle of Patmos, where he wrote his Revelation. On the ascension of Nerva he was freed from exile, and returned to Ephesus, where he wrote his Gospel and Epistles, and died at the age of one hundred years, about A.D. 100, in the third year of the emperor Trajan. The learned are not agreed as to the time when the Gospel of John was written; some dating it as early as the year 68, others as late as the year 98; but it is generally conceded to have been written after all the others. That is could not have been the work of Some Platonic Christian of a subsequent age, as some have without evidence asserted, is manifest from references to it by some of the early fathers, and from the concurring testimony of many other writers of the ancient Christian church. That is was written either with especial reference to the Gentiles, or at a period when very many of them had become converts to Christianity, is inferred from the various explanations it contains, beyond the other Gospels, which could have been necessary only to persons unacquainted with Jewish names and customs. And that it was written after all the others, and to supply their omissions, is concluded, not only from the uniform tradition and belief in the church, but from his studied omission of most of the transactions noticed by the others, and from his care to mention several incidents which were known to him, is too evident to admit of doubt; while his omission to repeat what they had already stated, or, where he does mention the same things, his relating them in a brief and cursory manner, affords incidental but strong testimony that he regarded their accounts as faithful and true. Such are the brief histories of men, whose narratives we are to examine and compare; conducting the examination and weighing the testimony by the same rules and principles which govern our tribunals of justice in similar cases. These tribunals are in such cases governed by the following fundamental rule;-- In trials of fact, by oral testimony, the proper inquiry is not whether is it possible that the testimony may be false, but whether there is sufficient probability that it is true.  It should be observed that the subject of inquiry is a matter of fact, and not of abstract mathematical truth. the latter alone is susceptible of that high degree of proof, usually termed demonstration, which excludes the possibility of error, and which therefore may reasonably be required in support of every mathematical deduction. But the proof of matters of fact rests upon moral evidence alone; by which is meant not merely that species of evidence which we do not obtain either from our own senses, from intuition, or from demonstration. In the ordinary affairs of life we do not require nor expect demonstrative evidence, because it is inconsistent with the nature of matters of fact, and to insist on its production would be unreasonable and absurd. And it makes no difference, whether the facts to be proved related to this life or to the next, the nature of the evidence required being in both cases the same. The error of the skeptic consists in pretending or supposing that there is a difference in the nature of the things to be proved; and in demanding demonstrative evidence concerning things which are not susceptible of any other than moral evidence alone, and of which the utmost that can be said is, that there is no reasonable doubt about their truth. In proceeding to weigh the evidence of any proposition of fact, the previous question to be determined is, when may it be said to be proved? The answer to this question is furnished by another rule of municipal law, which may be thus stated: A proposition of fact is proved, when its truth is established by competent and satisfactory evidence.  By competent evidence, is meant such as the nature of the thing to be proved requires; and by satisfactory evidence, is meant that amount of proof, which ordinarily satisfies an unprejudiced mind, beyond any reasonable doubt. The circumstances which will amount of this degree of proof can never be previously defined; the only legal test to which they can be subjected is, their sufficiency to satisfy the mind and concretion, and so to convince him, that he would of the highest concern and importance to his own interest. If, therefore, the subject is a problem in mathematics, its truth is to be shown by the certainty of demonstrative evidence. But if it is a question of fact in human affairs, nothing more than moral evidence can be required, for this is the best evidence which, from the nature of the case, is attainable. Now as the facts, stated in Scripture History, are not of the former kind, but are cognizable by the senses, they may be said to be proved when they are established by that kind and degree of evidence which, as we have just observed, would, in the affairs of human life, satisfy the mind and conscience of a common man. When we have this degree of evidence, it is unreasonable to require more. A juror would violate his oath, if he should refuse to acquit or condemn a person charged with an offense, where this measure of proof was adduced. Proceeding further, to inquire whether the facts related by the Four Evangelists are proved by competent and satisfactory evidence, we are led, first, to consider on which side lies the burden of establishing the credibility of the witnesses. On this point the municipal law furnishes a rule, which is of constant application in all trials by jury, and is indeed the dictate of that charity which thinketh no evil. In the absence of circumstances which generate suspicion, every witness is to be presumed credible, until the contrary is shown; the burden of impeaching his credibility lying on the objector.  This rule serves to show the injustice with which the writers of the Gospels have ever been treated by infidels; and injustice silently acquiesced in even by Christians; in requiring the Christian affirmatively, and by positive evidence, aliunde, to establish the credibility of his witnesses above all others, before their testimony is entitled to be considered, and in permitting the testimony of a single profane writer, alone and uncorroborated, to outweigh that of any single Christian. This is not the course in courts of chancery, where the testimony of a single witness is never permitted to outweigh the oath even of the defendant himself, interested as he is in the cause; but, on the contrary, if the plaintiff, after having required the oath of his adversary, cannot overthrow it by something more than the oath of one witness, however credible, it must stand as evidence against him. But the Christian writer seems, by the usual course of the argument, to have been deprived of the common presumption of charity in his favor; and reversing the ordinary rule of administering justice in human tribunals, his testimony is unjustly presumed to be false, until it is proved to be true. This treatment, moreover, has been applied to them all in a body; and, without due regard to the fact, that, being independent historians, writing at different periods, they are entitled to the support of each other: they have been treated, in the argument, almost as if the New Testament were the entire production, at once, of a body of men, conspiring by a joint fabrication, to impose a false religion upon the world. It is time that this injustice should cease; that the testimony of the evangelists should be admitted to be true, until it can be disproved by those who would impugn it; that the silence of one sacred writer on any point, should no more detract from his own veracity or that of the other historians, than the like circumstance is permitted to do among profane writers; and that the Four Evangelists should be admitted in corroboration of each other, as readily as Josephus and Tacitus, or Polybius and Livy. But if the burden of establishing the credibility of the evangelists were devolved on those who affirm the truth of their narratives, it is still capable of a ready moral demonstration, still capable of a ready moral demonstration, when we consider the nature and character of the testimony, and the essential marks of difference between true narratives of facts and the creations of falsehoods. It is universally admitted that the credit to be given to witnesses depends chiefly on their ability to discern and comprehend what was before them, their opportunities for observation, the degree of accuracy with which they are accustomed to mark passing events, and their integrity in relating them. The rule of municipal law on this subject embraces all these particulars, and is thus stated by a legal text- writer of the highest repute. The credit due to the testimony of witnesses depends upon, firstly, their honesty; secondly, their ability; thirdly, their number and the consistency of their testimony; fourthly, the conformity of their testimony with experience; and fifthly, the coincidence of their testimony with collateral circumstances.  Let the evangelists be tried by these tests. And first, as to their honesty. Here they are entitled to the benefit of the general course of human experience, that men ordinarily speak the truth, when they have no prevailing motive or inducement to the contrary. This presumption, to which we have before alluded, is applied in courts of justice, even to witnesses whose integrity is not wholly free from suspicion; much more is it applicable to the evangelists, whose testimony went against all their worldly interests. The great truths which the apostles declared, were that Christ had risen from the dead, and that only through repentance from sin, and faith in him, could men hope for salvation. This doctrine they asserted with one voice, everywhere, not only under the greatest discouragements, but in the face of the most appalling terrors that can be presented to the mind of man. Their master had recently perished as a malefactor, by the sentence of a public tribunal. His religion sought to overthrow the religions of the whole world. The laws of every country were against the teaching of his disciples. The interests and passions of all the rulers and great men in the world were against them. The fashion of the world was against them. Propagating this new faith, even in the most inoffensive and peaceful manner, they could expect nothing but contempt, opposition, revilings, bitter persecutions, stripes imprisonments, torments and cruel deaths. Yet this faith they zealously did propagate; and all these miseries they endured undismayed, nay, rejoicing. As one after another was put to a miserable death, the survivors only prosecuted their work with increased vigor and resolution. The annals of military warfare afford scarcely an example of the like heroic constancy, patience and unblenching courage. They had every possible motive to review carefully the grounds of their faith, and the evidences of the great facts and truths which they asserted; and these motives were pressed upon their attention with the most melancholy and terrific frequency. It was therefore impossible that they could have persisted in affirming the truths they have narrated, had not Jesus actually rose from the dead, and had they not known this fact as certainly as they knew any other fact. If it were morally possible for them to have been deceived in this matter, every human motive operated to lead them to discover and avow their error. To have persisted in so gross a falsehood, after it was known to them, was not only to encounter, for life, all the evils which man could inflict, from without, but to endure also the pangs of inward and conscious guilt; with no hope of future peace, no testimony of a good conscience, no expectation of honor or esteem among men, no hope of happiness in this life, or in the world to come. Such conduct in the apostles would moreover have been utterly irreconcilable with the fact, that they possessed the ordinary constitution of our common nature. Yet their lives do show them to have been men like all others of our race; swayed by the same motives, animated by the same hopes, affected by the same joys, subdued by the same sorrows, agitated by the same fears, and subject to the same passions, temptations and infirmities, as ourselves. And their writings show them to have been men of vigorous understandings. If then their testimony was not true, there was no possible motive for this fabrication. It would also have been irreconcilable with the fact that they were good men. But it is impossible to read their writings, and not feel that we are conversing with men eminently holy, and of tender consciences, with men acting under an abiding sense of the presence and omniscience of God, and of their accountability to him, living in his fear, and walking in his ways. Now, though, in a single instance, a good man may fall, when under strong temptations, yet he is not found persisting, for years, in deliberated falsehood, asserted with the most solemn appeals to God, without the slightest temptation or motive, and against all the opposing interests which reign in the human breast. If, on the contrary, they are supposed to have been bad men, it is incredible that such men should have chosen this form of imposture; enjoining, as it does, unfeigned repentance, the utter forsaking and abhorrence of all falsehood and of every other sin, the practice of daily self-denial, self-abasement and self-sacrifice, the crucifixion of the flesh with all its earthly appetites and desires, indifference to the honors, and hearty contempt of the vanities of the world; and inculcating perfect purity of heart and life, and intercourse of the soul with heaven. It is incredible, that bad men should invent falsehoods, to promote the religion of the God of truth. The supposition is suicidal. If they did believe in a future state of retribution, a heaven and a hell hereafter, they took the most certain course, if false witnesses, to secure the latter for their portion. And if, still being bad men, they did not believe in future punishment, how came they to invent which was to destroy all their prospects of worldly honor and happiness, and to insure their misery in this life? From these absurdities there is no escape, but in the perfect conviction and admission that they were good men, testifying to that which they had carefully observed and considered, and well knew to be true. In the second place, as their ability. The text writer before cited observes, that the ability of a witness to speak the truth, depends on the opportunities which he has had for observing the fact, the accuracy of his powers of discerning, and the faithfulness of his memory in retaining the facts, once observed and known. Of the latter trait, in these witnesses, we of course know nothing; nor have we any traditionary information in regard to the accuracy of their powers of discerning. But we may well suppose that in these respects they were like the generality of their countrymen, until the contrary is shown by an objector. it is always to be presumed that men are honest, and of sound mind, and of the average and ordinary degree of intelligence. This is not the judgment of mere charity; it is also the uniform presumption of the law of the land; a presumption which is always allowed freely and fully to operate, until the fact is shown to be otherwise, by the party who denies the applicability of this presumption to the particular case in question. Whenever an objection is raised in opposition to ordinary presumptions of law, or to the ordinary experience of mankind, the burden of proof is devolved on the objector, by the common and ordinary rules of evidence, and of practice in courts. No lawyer is permitted to argue in disparagement of the intelligence or integrity of a witness, against whom the case itself afforded no particle of testimony. This is self afforded in particle of testimony. This is sufficient for our purpose, in regard to these witnesses. But more than this is evident, from the minuteness of their narratives, and from their history. Matthew was trained, by his calling, to habits of severe investigation and suspicious scrutiny; and Luke's profession demanded an exactness of observation equally close and searching. The other two evangelists, it has been well remarked, were as much too unlearned to forge the story of their Master's Life, as these were too learned and acute to be deceived by any imposture. In the third place, as to their number and the consistency of their testimony. The character of their narratives is like that of all other true witnesses, containing, as Dr. Paley observes, substantial truth, under circumstantial variety. There is enough of discrepancy to show that there could have been no previous concert among them; and at the same time such substantial agreement as to show that they all were independent narrators of the same great transaction, as the events actually occurred. That they conspired to impose falsehood upon the world is, moreover, utterly inconsistent with the supposition that they were honest men; a fact, to the proofs of which we have already adverted. But if they were bad men, still the idea of any conspiracy among them is negatived, not only by the discrepancies alluded to, but by many other circumstances which will be mentioned hereafter; from all which, it is manifest that if they concerted a false story, they sought to its accomplishment by a mode quite the opposite to that which all others are found to pursue, to attain the same end. On this point the profound remark of an eminent writer is to our purpose; that "in a number of concurrent testimonies, where there has been no previous concert, there is a probability distinct from that which may be termed the sum of the probabilities resulting from the testimonies of the witnesses; a probability which would remain, even though the witnesses were of such a character as to merit no faith at all. This probability arises from the concurrence itself. That such a concurrence should spring from chance, is as one to infinite; that is, in other words, morally impossible. If therefore concert be excluded, there remains no cause but the reality of the fact. The discrepancies between the narratives of the several evangelists, when carefully examined, will not be found sufficient to invalidate their testimony. Many seeming contradictions will prove, upon closer scrutiny, to be in substantial agreement; and it may be confidently asserted that there are none that will not yield, under fair and just criticism. If these different accounts of the same transactions were in strict verbal conformity with each other, the argument against their credibility would be much stronger. All that is asked for these witnesses is, that their testimony may be regarded as we regard the testimony of men in the ordinary affairs of life. This they are justly entitled to; and this no honorable adversary can refuse. We might, indeed, take higher ground than this, and confidently claim for them the severest scrutiny; but our present purpose is merely to try their veracity by the ordinary tests of truth, admitted in human tribunals. If the evidence of the evangelists is to rejected because of a few discrepancies among them, we shall be obliged to discard that of many of the contemporaneous histories on which we are accustomed to rely. Dr. Paley has noticed the contradiction between Lord Clarendon and Burnett and others in regard to Lord Strafford's execution; the former stating that he was condemned to be hanged, which was done on the same day; and the latter all relating that on a Saturday he was sentenced to the block, and was beheaded on the following Monday. Another striking instance of discrepancy has since occurred, in the narratives of the different members of the royal family of France, of their flight from Paris to Varennes, in 1792. These narratives, ten in number, and by eyewitnesses and personal actors in the transactions they relate, contradict each other, some on trivial and some on more essential points, but in every case in a wonderful and inexplicable manner. Yet these contradictions do not, in the general public estimation, detract from the integrity of the narrators, nor from the credibility of their relations. In the points in which they agree, and which constitute the great body of their narratives, their testimony is of course not doubted; where they differ, we reconcile them as well as we may; and where this cannot be done at all, we follow that light which seems to us the clearest. Upon the principles of the skeptic, we should be bound utterly to disbelieve them all. On the contrary, we apply to such cases the rules which, in daily experience, our judges instruct juries to apply, in weighing and reconciling the testimony of different witnesses; and which the courts themselves observe, in comparing and reconciling different and sometimes discordant reports of the same decisions. This remark applies especially to some alleged discrepancies in the reports which the several evangelists have been of the same discourses of our Lord. In the fourth place, as to the conformity of their testimony with experience. The title of the evangelists to full credit for veracity would be readily conceded by the objector, if the facts they relate were such as ordinarily occur in human experience, and on this circumstance an argument is founded against their credibility. Miracles, say the objectors, are impossible; and therefore the evangelists were either deceivers or deceived; and in either case their narratives against the possibility of miracles, was founded on the board and bold assumption that all things are governed by immutable laws, or fixed modes of motion and relation, termed the laws of nature, by which God himself is of necessity bound. This erroneous assumption is the tortoise, on which stands the elephant which upholds his system of atheism. He does not inform us who made these immutable laws, nor whence they derive their binding force and irresistible operation. The argument supposes that the creator of all things first made a code of laws, and then put it out of his own power to change them. the scheme of Mr. Hume is but another form of the same error. He deduces the existence of such immutable laws from the uniform course of human experience. This, he affirms, is our only guide in reasoning concerning matters of fact; and whatever is contrary to human experience, he pronounces incredible. Without stopping to examine the correctness of this doctrine, as a fundamental principle in the law of evidence, it is sufficient in this place to remark, that it contains this fallacy: it excludes all knowledge derived by inference or deduction from facts, confining us to what we derive from experience alone, and thus depriving us of any knowledge, or even rational belief, or the existence or character of God. Nay more, it goes to prove that successive generations of men can make no advancement in knowledge, but each must begin de novo, and be limited to the results of his own experience. But if we may infer, from what we see and know, that there is a Supreme Being, by whom this world was created, we may certainly, and with equal reason, believe him capable of works which we have never yet known him to perform. We may fairly conclude that the power which was originally put forth to create the world is still constantly and without ceasing exerted to sustain it; and that the experienced connection between cause and effect is but the uniform and constantly active operation of the finger of God. Whether this uniformity of operation extends to things beyond the limits of our observation, is a point we cannot certainly know. Its existence in all things that ordinarily concern us may be supposed to be ordained as conducive to our happiness; and if the belief in a revelation of peace and mercy from god is conducive to the happiness of man, it is not irrational to suppose that he would depart from his ordinary course of action, in order to give it such attestations as should tend to secure that belief. "A miracle is improbable, when we can perceive no sufficient cause, in reference to his creatures, why the Deity should not vary his modes of operation; it ceases to be so, when such cause is assigned." But the full discussion of the subject of miracles forms no part of the present design. Their credibility has been fully established, and the objections of skeptics most satisfactorily met and overthrown, by the ablest writers of our own day, whose works are easily accessible. Thus much, however, may here be remarked; that in almost every miracle related by the evangelists, the facts, separately taken, were plain, intelligible, transpiring in public, and about which no person of ordinary observation would be like to mistake. Persons blind or cripple, who applied to Jesus for relief, were known to have been crippled or blind for many years; they came to be cured; he spake to them; they went away whole. Lazarus had been dead and buried four days; Jesus called him to come forth from the grave; he immediately came forth, and was seen alive for a long time afterwards. In every case of healing, the previous condition of the sufferer was known to all witnessed the act of Jesus in touching him, and heard his words. All these, separately considered, were facts, plain and simple in their nature, easily seen and fully comprehended by persons of common capacity and observation. If they were separately testified to, by different witnesses of ordinary intelligence and integrity, in any court of justice, the jury would be bound to believe them; and a verdict, rendered contrary to the uncontradicted testimony of credible witnesses to any of these plain facts, separately taken, would be liable to be set aside, as a verdict against evidence. If one credible witness testified to the fact, that Bartimeus was blind, according to the uniform course of administering justice, this fact would be taken as satisfactorily proved. So also, if his subsequent restoration to sight were the sole fact in question, this also would be deemed established, by the like evidence. Nor would the rule of evidence be at all different, if the fact to be proved were the declaration of Jesus, immediately preceding his restoration to sight, that his faith had made him whole. In each of these cases, each isolated fact was capable of being accurately observed, and certainly known; and the evidence demands our assent, precisely as the like evidence upon any other indifferent subject. The connection of the word or the act of Jesus with the restoration of the blind, lame and dead, to sight, and health, and life, as cause and effect, is a conclusion which our reason is compelled to admit, from the uniformity of their concurrence, in such a multitude of instances, as well as from the universal conviction of all, whether friends or foes, who beheld the miracles which he wrought. Indeed, if the truth of one of the miracles is satisfactorily established, our belief cannot reasonably be withheld from them all. This is the issue proposed by Dr. Paley, in regard to the evidence of the death of Jesus upon the cross, and his subsequent resurrection, the truth of which he has established in an argument incapable of refutation. In the fifth place, as to the coincidence of their testimony with collateral and contemporaneous facts and circumstances. After a witness is dead, and his moral character is forgotten, we can ascertain it only by a close inspection of his narrative, comparing its details with each other, and with contemporary accounts and collateral facts. This test is much more accurate than may at first be supposed. Every event which actually transpires, has its appropriate circumstances, of which the affairs of men consist; it owes its origin to the events which have preceded it, is intimately connected with all and often with those of remote regions, and in its turn gives birth to numberless others which succeed. In all this almost inconceivable contexture, and seeming discord, there is perfect harmony; and while the fact, which really happened, tallies exactly with every other contemporaneous incident, related to it in the remotest degree, it is not possible for the wit of man with the actual occurrences of the same time and place, may not be shown to be false. Hence it is, that a false witness will not willingly detail any circumstances, in which his testimony will be open to contradiction, nor multiply them where there is danger of his being detected by a comparison of them with other accounts, equally circumstantial. He will rather deal in general statements and broad assertions; and if he finds it necessary for his purpose to empty names and particular circumstances in his story, he will endeavor to invent such as shall be out of the reach of all opposing proof; and he will be the most forward and minute in details, where he knows that any danger of contradiction is least to be apprehended. Therefore it is, that variety and minuteness of detail are usually regarded as certain tests of sincerity, if the story, in the circumstances related, is of a nature capable of easy refutation if it were false. The difference, in the detail of circumstances, between artful or false witnesses and those who testify the truth, is worthy of especial observation. The former are often copious and even profuse in their statements, as far as these may have been previously fabricated, and in relation to the principal matter; but beyond this, all will be reserved and meager, from the fear of detection. Every lawyer knows how lightly the evidence of a non-mi-recordo witness is esteemed. The testimony of false witnesses will not be uniform in its texture, but will not be uniform in its texture, but will be unequal, unnatural, and inconsistent. On the contrary, in the testimony of true witnesses there is a visible and striking naturalness of manner, and an unaffected readiness and copiousness in the detail of circumstances, as well in one part of the narrative as another, and evidently without the least regard either to the facility or difficulty of verification or detection. It is easier, therefore, to make out the proof of any fact, if proof it may be called, by suborning one or more false witnesses, to testify directly to the matter in question, than to procure an equal number to testify falsely to such collateral and separate circumstances as will, without greater danger of detection, lead to the same false result. The increased number of witnesses to circumstances, and the increased number of the circumstances themselves, all tend to increase the probability of detection if the witnesses are false, because thereby the points are multiplied in which their statements may be compared with each other, as well as with the truth itself, and in the same proportion is increased the danger of variance and inconsistency. Thus the force of circumstantial evidence is found to depend on the number of particulars involved in the narrative; the difficulty of fabricating them all, if false, and the great facility of detection; the nature of the circumstances to be compared, and from which the intricacy of the comparison; the number of the intermediate steps in the process of deduction; and the circuitry of the investigation. The more largely the narrative partakes of these characters, the further it will be found removed from all suspicion of contrivance or design, and the more profoundly the mind will repose on the conviction of its truth. The narratives of the sacred writers, both Jewish and Christian, abound in examples of this kind of evidence, the value of which is hardly capable of being properly estimated. It does not, as has been already remarked, amount to mathematical demonstration; nor is this degree of proof justly demandable in any question of moral conduct. In all human transactions, the highest degree of assurance to which we can arrive, short of the evidence of our own senses, is that of probability. The most that can be asserted is, that the narrative is more likely to be true than false; and it may be in the highest degree more likely, but still be short of absolute mathematical certainty. Yet this very probability may be so great as to satisfy the mind of the most cautious, and enforce the assent of the most reluctant and unbelieving. If it is such as usually satisfies reasonable men, in matters of ordinary transaction, it is all which the greatest skeptic has a right to require; for it is by such evidence alone that our rights are determined, in the civil tribunals; and on no other evidence do they proceed, even in capital cases. Thus where a house had been feloniously broken open with a knife, the blade of which was broken and left in the window, and the mutilated knife itself, the parts perfectly agreeing, was found in the pocket of the accused, who gave no satisfactory explanation of the fact, no reasonable doubt remained of his participation in the crime. And where a murder had been committed by shooting with a pistol, and the prisoner was connected with the transaction by proof that the wadding of the pistol was part of a letter addressed to him, the remainder of which was found upon his person, no juror's conscience could have reproached him for assenting to the verdict of condemnation. Yet the evidence, in both cases, is but the evidence of circumstances; amounting, it is true, to the highest degree of probability, but yet not utterly inconsistent with the innocence of the accused. The evidence which we have of the great facts of the Bible history belongs to this class, that is, it is moral evidence; sufficient to satisfy any rational mind, by carrying it to the highest degree of moral certainty. IF such evidence will justify the taking away of human life or liberty, in the one case, surely it ought to be deemed sufficient to determine our faith in the other. All Christianity asks of men on this subject, is that they would be consistent with themselves; that they would treat the evidence of other things;; and that they would try and judge its actors and witnesses, as they deal with their fellow men, when testifying to human affairs and actions, in human tribunals.   Let the the witnesses be compared with themselves, with each other, and with surrounding facts and circumstances; and let their testimony be sifted, as if were given in a court of justice, on the side of the adverse party, the witness being subjected to a rigorous cross-examination.  The result, it is confidently believed, will be an undoubting conviction of their integrity, ability, and truth.  In the course of such an examination, the undesigned coincidences will multiply upon us at every step in the witnesses and of the reality of the occurrences which they relate will increase, until it acquires, for all practical purposes, the value and force of demonstration. It should be remembered, that very little of the literature of their times and country has come down to us; and that the collateral sources and means of corroborating and explaining their writings are proportionally limited.  The contemporary writings and works of art which have reached us, have invariably been found to confirm their accounts, to reconcile what was apparently contradictory, and supply what seemed defective or imperfect.   We ought therefore to conclude, that if we had more of the same light, all other similar difficulties and imperfections would vanish.   Indeed they have been gradually vanishing, and rapidly too, before the light of modern research, conducted by men of science in our own times.  And it is worthy of remark, that of all the investigations and discoveries of travelers and men of letters, since the overthrow of the Roman empire, not a vestige of antiquity has been found, impeaching, in the slightest degree, the credibility of the sacred writers; but, on the contrary, every result has tended to confirm it. The essential marks of difference between true narratives of facts and the creations of fiction, have already been adverted to.   It may here be added that these attributes of truth are strikingly apparent throughout the gospel histories, and that the absence of all the others is equally remarkable.   The writers allude, for example, to the existing manners and customs, and to the circumstances of the times and of their country, with the utmost minuteness of reference.  And these references are never formally made, nor with preface and explanation, never multiplied and heaped on each other, nor brought together, as though introduced by design; but they are scattered broadcast and singly over every part of the story, and so connect themselves with every incident related, as to render the detection of falsehood inevitable.   This minuteness, too, is not peculiar to any one of the historians, but is common to them all.  Though they wrote at different periods and without mutual concert, they all alike refer incidentally to the same state of affairs, and to the same contemporary collateral circumstances.  Their testimony, in this view, stands on the same ground with that of four witnesses, separately examined before different commissioners, upon the same interrogatories, and all adverting incidentally to the same circumstances as surrounding and accompanying the principal transaction, to which alone their attention is directed.   And it is worthy of observation that these circumstances were at that time of a peculiar character.  Hardly a state or kingdom in the world ever experienced so many vicissitudes in its government and political relations, as did Judea, during the period of the gospel history.  It was successively under the government of Herod the Great, of Archelaus, and of a Roman magistrate; it was a kingdom, a tetracrchate, and a province; and its affairs, its laws, and the administration of justice, were all involved in the confusion and uncertainty naturally to be expected from recent conquest.  It would be difficult to select any place or period in the history of nations, for the time and scene of a fictitious history or imposture, which would combine so many difficulties for the fabricator to surmount, so many contemporary writers to confront with him, and so many facilities for the detection of falsehood. "Had the evangelists been false historians," says Dr. Chalmers, "they would not have committed themselves upon so many particulars.   They would not have furnished the vigilant inquirers of that period with such an effectual instrument for bringing them into discredit with the people; nor foolishly supplied, in every page of their narrative, so many materials for a cross-examination, which would infallibly have disgraced them.  Now, we of this age can institute the same cross-examination.  We can compare the evangelical writers with contemporary authors, and verify a number of circumstances in the history, and government, and peculiar economy of the Jewish people.  We therefore have it in our power to institute a cross-examination upon the writers of the New Testament; and the freedom and frequency of their allusions to these circumstances supply us with ample materials for it.  The fact, that they are borne out in their minute and incidental allusions by the testimony of other historians, gives a strong weight of what has been called circumstantial evidence in their favor.  As a specimen of the argument, let us confine our observations to the history of our Savior's trial, and execution, and burial.  They brought him to Pontius Pilate.  We know both from Tacitus and Josephus, that he was at that time governor of Judea. A sentence from him was necessary before they could proceed to the execution of Jesus; and we know that the power of life and death was usually vested in the Roman governor.  Our Savior. was treated with derision; and this we know to have been a customary practice at that time, previous to the execution of criminals, and during the time of it.  Pilate scourged Jesus before he gave him up to be crucified.  We know from ancient authors, that this was a very usual practice among Romans.  The accounts of an execution generally run in this form:  he was stripped, whipped, and beheaded or executed.  According to the evangelists, his accusation was written on the top of the cross; and we learn from Suetonius and others, that the crime of the person to be executed was affixed to the instrument of his punishment.   According to the evangelists, this accusation was written in three different languages; and we know from Josephus that it was quite common in Jerusalem to have all public advertisements written in this manner.  According to the evangelists, Jesus had to bear his cross; and we know from other sources of information, that this was the constant practice of those times.  According to the evangelists, the body of Jesus was given up to be buried at the request of friends. We know that, unless the criminal was infamous, this was the law or the custom with all Roman governors." There is also a striking naturalness in the characters exhibited in the sacred historians, rarely if ever found in works of fiction, and probably nowhere else to be collected in a similar manner from fragmentary and incidental allusions and expressions, in the writings of different persons.  Take for example, that of Peter, as it may be gathered from the evangelists, and it will be hardly possible to conceive that four persons, writing at different times, could have concurred in the delineation of such a character, if it were not real; a character too, we must observe, which is nowhere expressly drawn, but is shown only here and there, casually, in the subordinate parts of the main narrative.  Thus and zealous man; sudden and impulsive, yet humble and ready to retract; honest and direct in his purposes; ardently loving his master, yet deficient in fortitude and firmness in his cause. When Jesus put any question to the apostles, it was Peter who was foremost to reply, and if they would inquire of Jesus, it was Peter who was readiest to speak.  He had the impetuous courage to cut off the ear of the High Priest's servant, who came to arrest his master; and the weakness to dissemble before the Jews, in the matter of eating with Gentile converts.  It was he who ran with John to the sepulcher, on the first intelligence of the resurrection of Jesus, and with characteristic zeal rushed in, while John paused without the door.  He had the ardor to desire and the faith to attempt to walk on the water, at the command of his Lord; but as soon as he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid.   He was the first to propose the election of another apostle in the place of Judas, and he it was who courageously defended them all, on the day of Pentecost, when the multitude charged them with being filled with new wine.  He was forward to acknowledge Jesus to be the Messiah; yet having afterwards endangered his own life by wounding the servant of the Most High Priest, he suddenly consulted his own safety by denying the same Master, for whom, but a few hours before, he had declared himself ready to die.  We may safely affirm that the annals of fiction afford no example of a similar but no uncommon character, thus incidentally delineated. There are other internal marks of truth in the narratives of the evangelists, which, however, need here be only alluded to, as they have been treaded with great fullness and force by able writers, whose works are familiar to all.  Among these may be mentioned the nakedness of the narratives; the absence of all parade by the writers about their own integrity, of all anxiety to be believed, or to impress others with a good opinion of themselves or their cause, of all marks of wonder, or of desire to excite astonishment at the greatness of the events they record, and of all appearance of design to exalt their Master. On the contrary, there is apparently the most perfect indifference on their part, whether they are believed or not; or rather, the evident consciousness that they are recording events well known to all, in their own country and times, and undoubtedly to be believed, like any other matter of public history, by readers in all other countries and ages. It is worthy, too, of especial observation, that thought the evangelists record unparalleled sufferings and cruel death of their beloved Lord, and this too, by hands and with the consenting voices of those on whom he had conferred the greatest benefits, and their own persecutions and dangers, yet they have bestowed no epithets of harshness or even of just censure on the authors of all this wickedness, but have everywhere left the plain and unencumbered narrative to speak for itself, and the reader to pronounce his own sentence of condemnation; like true witnesses, who have nothing to gain or to lose by the event of the cause, they state the facts, and leave them to their fate.   Their simplicity and artlessness, also, should not pass unnoticed, in readily stating even those things most disparaging to their dullness of apprehension of this teachings, their strives for preeminence, their inclination to call fire from heaven upon their enemies, their desertion of their Lord in his hour of extreme peril; these and many other incidents tending directly to their own dishonor, are nevertheless set down with all the directness and sincerity of truth, as by men writing under the deepest sense of responsibility to God.  Some of the more prominent instances of this class of proofs will be noticed hereafter, in their proper places, in the narratives themselves. Lastly, the great character they have portrayed is perfect.  It is the character of a sinless Being; of one supremely wise and supremely good.  It exhibits no error, no sinister intention, no imprudence, no ignorance, no evil passion, no impatience; in a word, no fault; but all is perfect uprightness, innocence, wisdom, goodness and truth.  The mind of man has never conceived the idea of such a character, even for his gods; nor has history or poetry shadowed it forth.  The doctrines and precepts of Jesus are in strict accordance with the attributes of God, agreeably to the most exalted idea which we can form of them, either from reason or from revelation.  They are strikingly adapted to the capacity of mankind, and yet are delivered with a simplicity and majesty wholly divine.  He spake as never man spake.  He spake with authority; yet addressed himself to the reason and the understanding of men; and he spake with wisdom, which men could neither gainsay nor resist.  In his private life, he exhibits a character not merely of strict justice, but of flowing benignity.  He is temperate, without austerity; his meekness and humility are signal; his patience is invincible; truth and sincerity illustrate his whole conduct; every one of his virtues is regulated by consummate prudence; and he both wins the love of his friends, and extorts the wonder and admiration of his enemies.  He is represented in very variety of situation in life, from the height of worldly grandeur, amid the acclamations of an admiring multitude, to the deepest abyss of human degradation and woe, apparently deserted of God and man.  Yet everywhere he is the same; displaying a character of unearthly perfection, symmetrical in all its proportions, and encircled with splendor more than human.  Either the men of Galilee were men of superlative wisdom, and extensive knowledge and experience, and of deeper skill in the arts of deception, than any and all others, before or after them, or they have truly stated the astonishing things which they saw and heard. The narratives of the evangelists are now submitted to the reader's perusal and examination, upon the principles and by the rules already stated. For this purpose, and for the sake of more ready and close comparison, they are arranged in juxtaposition, after the general order of the latest and most approved harmonies. The question is not upon the strict propriety of the arrangement, but upon the veracity of the witnesses and the credibility of their narratives. With the relative merits of modern harmonists, and with points of controversy among theologians the writer has no concern. His business is that of a lawyer examining the testimony of witnesses by the rules of his profession, in order to ascertain whether, if they had thus testified on oath, in a court of justice, they would be entitled to credit and whether their narratives, as we now have them, would be received as ancient documents, coming from the proper custody. If so, then it is believed that every honest and impartial man will act consistently with that result, by receiving their testimony in all the extent of its import. To write out a full commentary or argument upon the text would be a useless addition to the bulk of the volume; but a few notes have been added for illustration of the narratives, and for the clearing up of apparent discrepancies, as being all that members of the legal profession would desire.

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Exodus 32:25-27American Standard Version (ASV)

25 And when Moses saw that the people were broken loose, (for Aaron had let them loose for a derision among their enemies,)

26 then Moses stood in the gate of the camp, and said, Whoso is on Jehovah's side, let him come unto me. And all the sons of Levi gathered themselves together unto him.

Today we are to come to Jesus as priests, our High Priest after the Order of Melchizedek!

Deuteronomy 2:24-26 English Standard Version (ESV)

24 ‘Rise up, set out on your journey and go over the Valley of the Arnon. Behold, I have given into your hand Sihon the Amorite, king of Heshbon, and his land. Begin to take possession, and contend with him in battle. 25 This day I will begin to put the dread and fear of you on the peoples who are under the whole heaven, who shall hear the report of you and shall tremble and be in anguish because of you.’

Zechariah 2:7-9 English Standard Version (ESV)

7 Up! Escape to Zion, you who dwell with the daughter of Babylon. 8 For thus said the Lord of hosts, after his glory sent me to the nations who plundered you, for he who touches you touches the apple of his eye: 9 “Behold, I will shake my hand over them, and they shall become plunder for those who served them. Then you will know that the Lord of hosts has sent me.

Zechariah 2:7-9 The Message (MSG)

6-7 “Up on your feet! Get out of there—and now!” God says so.

“Return from your far exile.

I scattered you to the four winds.” God’s Decree.

“Escape from Babylon, Zion, and come home—now!”

8-9 God-of-the-Angel-Armies, the One of Glory who sent me on my mission, commenting on the godless nations who stripped you and left you homeless, said, “Anyone who hits you, hits me—bloodies my nose, blackens my eye. Yes, and at the right time I’ll give the signal and they’ll be stripped and thrown out by their own servants.” Then you’ll know for sure that God-of-the-Angel-Armies sent me on this mission.