Christian History Institute Presents Pastwords #119: Leila Ada, the Jewish Convert by Osborn W. Trenery Heighwat ©2007

LEILA'S CONVERSION AND LETTER TO HER FATHER

e are now brought to the most interesting portion of Leila's life-her conversion to Christianity.

It has already appeared that her belief in the tenets of Judaism had received an irremediable shock; the absurd fables of the Talmud were cast aside as unworthy of a thought, and the trammels of rabbinical authority completely burst asunder. On her return to England she was only waiting for more instruction in the articles of the Christian belief, to dispose her to embrace it with all her heart. One of her first objects, therefore, was, she says, "to find a company of simple, earnest Christians."

At a small village, distant about three miles from her residence, there was a chapel in which was exercised such a ministry as she desired. This was the nearest place of Christian worship which presented itself, and it was here she began to attend. Being aware that a knowledge of this would call down the severest displeasure of her father, her visits to it were by stealth, and, chiefly indeed, except in one or two instances, solely by night; and she always sat closely veiled. The way to the chapel was through a long, dreary, and solitary lane; but, at all hours, when it was possible for her to be present at the services, Leila might be found, unattended, wending her way among the gloomy trees. Her natural timidity was painful, and her dread of walking alone at night unconquerable, until now that an earnest desire for the salvation of her soul made her superior to any bodily fear she might entertain. In her own pleasing way, she says, "I was dreadfully frightened during my first essays in the dark. I usually ran the very utmost of the distance that I could; my agitation and terror of mind being, during the whole time, indescribable. Hurrying in this manner, the whole distance from our house to the chapel was frequently done in a few minutes over half an hour; but, by prayer, all my terror was removed, and although I continued to be just as fearful of going anywhere else, yet I could always go to, and return from, my dear chapel, without the slighted perturbation of mind, feeling quite sure that my Father would give me his protection."

We have said that, during the first part of her attendance, she kept herself strictly secret, even from the congregation; but, as the influence of the Holy Spirit applied each discourse more and more powerfully to her mind, this fear subsided, and, in proportion, she felt an increased desire to unbosom herself to some Christian friend, who would sympathize with, and still further instruct her in that glorious cause to which she had now engaged her whole heart. Being assured that this would assist her to the attainment of that peace she so ardently desired, she conferred not with flesh and blood, but, with that fearless decision in favour of duty which ever characterized her, she resolved to seek an interview with her minister. This was easily obtained; and she describes it as "a blessed season:" and says further, "It has stirred me up to seek the Lord fully-to agonize with a determination not to rest till I am accepted in the Saviour-till my mourning is turned into joy." And, again, "O, for that earnest, child-like simplicity and faith of which Mr. ___(her minister) told me. I want to take the word of God just as it is. This is the faith of the New Testament: this is the faith God requires, and will have, in order to my salvation. Lord, save me! Increase my faith; increase it largely-mightily; confirm my hope, and fan my love for thee into a mighty flame."

She was an earnest and humble seeker of the truth as it is in Jesus. Her heart had now become intent upon one great business-the salvation of her soul, and to this end she used every means, and every effort, regardless of personal consequences. This we think, is abundantly set forth in the entries made in her diary at this important period. We make a scanty extract:__

"O, that I could express half that I feel of love to that gracious Being who has kept me hitherto, and led me from my deep darkness into spiritual light. I have not yet the evidence that he has pardoned my sins through the blood of the Atonement-through my Jesus, but I earnestly pray for it; I am determined to agonize for it in simple faith. I know, I believe-oh, yes! I do believe that Jesus died for me. I thirst, I pant for the Spirit of adoption, whereby I shall be enabled to cry, 'Abba, Father.' "

"O, my Father, I thank thee; I adore and praise thy holy name, that thou hast removed from my heart that dark, impervious veil which so long separated between me and thyself, and so between me and the source of all happiness. Now through thine infinite mercy, I behold thy glory, who art full of grace and truth, and the form and comeliness of him who is altogether lovely, even the Saviour and Preserver of my soul."

And in a very little time after this she was enabled to rejoice in the God of her salvation; her heart was filled with joy and gladness, and her mouth with praise. This delightful change took place while receiving the sacrament of the Lord's Supper, after having been dedicated to God in baptism. In her diary she thus refers to it:

"Bless the Lord, O my soul, and never forget this day's benefits! I have sealed the covenant-have enlisted under the banners of the cross, by receiving the ordinances of baptism and the Lord's supper-but, let me write while my eyes overflow with tears of joy-my gracious Redeemer has manifested his presence to my soul, has filled me with the joy and peace of believing. That blood with the Jews have imprecated upon themselves and their children, has been showered upon me, in the most abundant and unspeakable mercies. I am happy beyond expression. I do, indeed, rejoice with a joy that is unspeakable and full of glory. I feel on the very verge of heaven; I have experienced a glorious elevation of soul-Christ is mine and I am his. Unspeakably happy conviction! Come unto me all ye that fear God, and I will tell you what he hath done for my soul! Bless the Lord, O my soul, and never forget this day's benefits.

"It is a solemn season, a day to be held in everlasting remembrance. When the cup was held to me and the solemn words were pronounced--"The blood of Jesus Christ, which was shed for thee, preserve thy soul and body into everlasting life! Drink this in remembrance that Christ's blood was shed for thee, and be thankful-I felt that my God was reconciled through my Saviour's death, and I was enabled to feed upon Christ in my heart through faith, and with thanksgiving.

"O, my Jesus, help me now to persevere! There are heights and depths in religion which I long to experience; my soul is on fire with the divine love. Help me to tell to all what a gracious, what a mighty Saviour thou art. May no motives of personal comfort induce me to swerve from the character of an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile. O, that thou wouldst give me thine assistance, and direct me by thy Holy Spirit, while I make it known to my dear Father! Do, O my Saviour, hear my prayer for this, and to thee I will give all the glory, now and through endless ages. Amen."

"I bless and adore thee-Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, that all have united to deliver me from my guilt and bondage. And now, O God, my heart is fixed: my heart is fixed to live in Christ. Nothing but the constant indwelling of thyself will satisfy my soul. O, for that mysterious and incomprehensible union with my God which shall produce in me mighty faith, ardent love, lively hope, and active obedience. Blessed by God, all this is promised! I believe it. Who shall circumscribe the Holy One? He can so touch the heart as to extirpate sin, and save with this full salvation; for it shall be my never-ceasing prayer. Lord, enable me to feel myself as nothing, and thou my all. Keep me in the hollow of they hand. Prepare me for all thy righteous will, for I have given up all my soul and body's powers fully and unreservedly to thee. O, accept my sacrifice; enter into covenant with me and ratify it in Heaven. Amen."

Leila's baptism was an interesting-a singularly lovely scene. We do not expect over to witness another equally affecting on earth. It was our privilege to be one of four friends who at her request waited near her during the performance of the solemn ceremony. Arrangements had been made to prevent the gaze of inquisitive and idle curiosity, by ensuring that none but regular members of the congregation should be present. At the appointed time Leila was led from the vestry, her pure countenance having in its expression more of heaven than of earth. Her answers to the questions were made in a calm and decided, but weak and tremulous tone; for she was bathed in tears. Indeed, we think all present wept with deep emotion. The solemn act of baptizing her in the name of the Triune Jehovah having been performed, the minister delivered an exquisitely touching and beautiful address. This finished, the sacrament of the Lord's supper was administered to all present, which concluded a season of hallowed and holy influence never to be forgotten.

Having herself become acquainted with the truth as it is in Jesus, she wept as she thought of the darkness which still surrounded her dear father; she felt that her Christianity, and, indeed, every natural feeling was involved, if she made no effort to induce him to renounce Judaism. But how was she to proceed? To obtain an answer to this question cost her much mental agony. To her father she was tenderly devoted, and she knew that he was a strict believer in the faith of his fathers; and, therefore, all the prejudices of his mind would be strongly against her Christianity. To the present period in her life he had never once spoken to her with a look or tone of displeasure, and she had at no time crossed his will, nor done anything to which he would not give permission; but God was with her, and through the fortitude of Christian principle, she was enabled to dare the worst. And unquestionably, if we reflect a moment upon the Jewish character, we shall perceive that she had cause to fear a little.

Of the means taken by Leila, she thus remarks in her diary:-

"I have this night laid a letter on my father's dressing-table; in it I have detailed the change which has taken place in my soul; in it I have avowed my belief in Jesus of Nazareth, and the joy and peace which I experience in believing. O, that it may do him the good I ardently pray for-that it may lead him to embrace the Gospel of Christ. I have committed it to God; I leave it in thy hands, O my Father; bless it I beseech thee. This whole night do I intend to devote to special wrestling with thee, for the salvation of my dear father.

"And, now, I beseech thee, be thou my helper. Choose thou for me my future portion; be my inheritance, calm my agitated spirit; have I not committed the event to thee? O, be with me on the morrow, when I shall be questioned respecting the hope that is in me; do thou be very present with me, and enable me to speak as becomes a temple of the living God. May I be saved from bringing any disgrace or disrepute upon the religion of Jesus-that divine cause which now possesses my heart. May my feet be firmly fixed upon the rock Christ Jesus; and then, whatever shall occur, whether I live or die, I shall be happy-for I shall be the Lord's.

It is with gratitude I record that my soul is impressed with a sense of the divine presence and love. I can rejoice in the blessed conviction that my Beloved is mine, and I am his!-I have a present salvation. Blissful hopes-animating prospects are before me. Whatever results happen to me, temporally, may my soul but enjoy the presence of God, and all will be well. O, my Father, baptize me largely, and still more largely, with the hallowing influences of thy Holy Spirit; this will renovate my nature, and cleanse the very thoughts of my heart. This is what I want-inward holiness-to be holy as thou hast called me to be.

Each day lays me under increased obligations to dedicate myself entirely to the service of God and king, and I find the blessed effect of each morning renewing my covenant engagements with God, my devotion of all I have, and all I am to him. I desire to have a constantly indwelling God. Unspeakable Love! That he whom the heaven of heavens cannot contain, will condescend to come and take up his abode in the humble, contrite heart. My religion calls me to be up and doing. My time is short: the veil which separates me from eternity may soon be drawn aside. Indeed, I am not able to repress a serious and solemn foreboding that my days on earth will not be prolonged. How important that I should prepare! So that, with holy calmness and composure I may await the momentous summons. If I am always ready, it cannot come upon me unawares. One with Christ, through faith, when I shall hear that 'the Master is come and calleth for thee,' I shall then, in its full triumph, be enabled joyfully to exclaim, 'Ever so, come, Lord Jesus.' I am really in a strait: I have 'a desire to depart and be with Christ.'

Ere I close my book, I again pray for thy blessing, O my Father; bless, O bless, I beseech thee, the confession I have made of thee, and give my strength according to my need. Amen.

LEILA'S LETTER TO HER FATHER.

The letter to which Leila refers, we shall give in full: it breathes the spirit of filial piety and love, and is at once a fine proof of her good sense, and an ornament to the religion she professed:-

My very, very dear Father: Do you love me? O, how plainly I hear you say, 'How can my dear daughter ask me this question? Has she not had proofs of my affection again and again? Does she not know that she is dearer to me than all the world beside?' But , my, very dear father, do you love me?-do you love me? Yes, I know that you love me-dearly love me; and my dear father, I love you most tenderly-most deeply; so as no language I could think of could describe to you; and I know that you believe that I do.

Well, then, my father, will you not rejoice whilst your daughter tells you of the goodness of God as manifested towards her-a poor, sinful, guilty creature? O! I do so fear you will distrust this delightful work, and yet not from willful unkindness neither, but from what you will believe to be a proper sense of duty. But, my dear father, with tears of joy coursing down her cheeks, your Leila tells you that she knows, she feels all her sins are forgiven through the blood-shedding of Jesus of Nazareth. O! be mild while I speak further, and yet I am faint, and my hand trembles so that I can scarcely go forward.

I am so happy! O! my dear father, if you did but know how very happy, I am quite sure of this, you would rejoice with me; you would not hesitate a single moment, but would come, as you are invited, and drink largely of those fountains of bliss, the streams whereof make glad the city of God. I feel that God loves me, and that I love him. I feel that I am his child, and I have through grace a blissful assurance that, saved by my blessed Redeemer, I shall see him, and be happy in his presence to all eternity. And will you not come to heaven, too, my dearest father?

Do not suppose that I am mistaken, or that I am deceiving myself. O, no! I am as sure that all my sins are forgiven through Christ Jesus, as I am of the being of God himself. I could tell you the very minute when I first received this conviction, and was enabled to rejoice in God my Saviour. And if you, my dear papa, would in this same way test its reality, by possessing for yourself a knowledge of the love of God, it would alone be quite sufficient to convince you of the truth of the Christian religion. When under the influence of joy, no argrument, however forcible or sophistical, could convince you that sorrow filled your heart. The result of faith in Christ is peace and joy in believing; to this my experience bears testimony. What further proof can I wish that its origin is divine? I do not. I have this internal consciousness, and am as certain of it, as of anything that affects my external senses.

With great propriety we always attach importance to a remedy that has been tried, and more especially too, if the individual recommending it was personally proved it to be efficacious. I once was very unhappy. Instead of submitting myself to the righteousness of God, I was going about to establish my own righteousness. At this time I was sunk in sin, and knew not where to look for one ray of comfort. My whole soul hungered for food my religion could not give; it groped in its deep night for some pillow on which to repose itself, and find the dawnings of heaven, but all was in vain till it found repose in the wounded side of Jesus; and here may I abide for ever! Allow me, then, my dear father, in the fullest filial affection, to recommend to you this remedy. I know you are not happy; you cannot be happy as you are at present, and this is the only cure, and it is the never-failing cure, for a weary sin-sick soul.

I need not tell you the train of circumstances which, in a gracious and benignant providence, God used to produce this sweet change-of course you will understand me as meaning instrumentally; to God's Holy Spirit alone am I indebted for that illumination which enabled me to see his way of salvation. And O, it is so simple-only believe! 'Whosoever believeth on him (that is Christ) shall be saved.' Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believes. But the proofs that the Messiah has come, and that Jesus of Nazareth is the Messiah, are numberless, unmistakable, and positive. Shall I go on? I must hope that you will bear with me.

The law, which was given by Jehovah to Moses upon Mount Sinai, was designed for that land which was given to our great ancestor Abraham, and for that land only, for it cannot be fulfilled in any other; therefore, through the dispersion of our nation, we are in the position of a people who have a law given to them by God which they cannot obey. From what we know of the divine government we are sure that it cannot consist with the wisdom and character of God, that this shall still be the law by which we are governed. And is not our destitution of a sacrifice bewailed in our service as a great calamity? In one of the prayers that are offered on the Day of Atonement, is this expression: 'Woe unto us, for we have no Mediator!' And to make up for this want of a sacrifice we have transgressed the law by our invention of rites and observances; a course extremely forbidden.

Then, my dear father, in the absurdities of the Mishna and Gemara-the Talmud 'see the consequences of man's attempting to supply the place of God's law. O! I do think that in every sense that book is a terrible insult to the divine wisdom, and, therefore, how sinful! If it had been desired to hold up the religion of the Jews to universal contempt, and outrage propriety, delicacy, and common sense, a more fitting book than the Talmud could scarcely have been devised. Moses gave no intimation of this traditionary or oral law--of this interpretation of God's written law. The law which was written and laid up in the ark, was the only law of which he spoke, and that only was commanded to be read in the ears of all the people.

You, my dear father, are, doubtless, as well acquainted with the Mishna as I am, and therefore, I need not point out to you-need not quote its impurities, nor its follies. Indeed, I must beg you will let me recall a part of what I have just said; for some of them I could not write--you would not love me if I could. But how impious, to stigmatize God as the author of such a book!

The Jews declare that the Mishna contains God's interpretation of his law; yet this interpretation is so obscurely given, that it requires an interpretation from man.

And you know that this belief in the childish follies and foolish observances of the Talmud has caused an almost total neglect of Moses and the Prophets; or, when they are read, it is so carelessly and cursorily in spirit, that we never understand the meaning. Hence we are involved in a fearful darkness. We acknowledge, and honour, the Scriptures of the Old Testament as divine-so do the Christians: and during many centuries, the deep, rational study of the Old Testament Scriptures has been confined to them solely, or very nearly solely. Now, my dear father, this forms to us a powerful presumptive proof that the Scriptures of the New Testament; are also divine; for, as the Christians, who are so deeply acquainted with the Old Testament, believe in them as divine, it clearly follows that they cannot be hostile books. Indeed, I might say further than this-that the Scriptures of the New Testament have led them to study those of the Old Testament; and the result is, that they acknowledge both as the written word of god, for they are agreed together. Can we say as much of our inane, debasing Talmud, and the books of Moses and the Prophets? Beside, what man knows much of the enormous Talmud? And he that does know much of it, knows this likewise, that no mortal can ever fulfil the law set forth in it. Who then is safe? Hence it is that the Jew looks beyond the present life with terror and alarm; hence his dread of death, and his fear that in the grave he will be beaten by the Evil One, and suffer other terrors too numerous to mention. Hence he cannot die with holy confidence and composure, for he cannot be certain whether he shall be taken to heaven or not. R. Inani, on his death-bed, confessed and said, 'that he did not know whether he should be happy or miserable.' Once, too, my dear father, like the rest of the nation, I was unhappy and in doubt, and knew not where to turn for comfort; but now, through my Redeemer, I am very happy, for I have found the place of rest and calm repose; and this can be found in no other way but by resting the soul upon the atonement of Jesus.

Before this I might have said that unquestionably the law of Moses is not perfect, inasmuch as it leaves some sins without an atonement; but this is to teach us to look forward beyond the type to the great Antitype-even the Messiah.

All our nation and all Christians believe that the Old Testament writings give promise of a Redeemer, who will save his people from their sins. The prophecies in reference to this are most explicit, so that if we will diligently study them, with a prayerful dependence upon divine aid, I do not see that we can be easily mistaken as to his person. A history of the promised Deliverer's life is given: The manner of his death, his empire, the time and circumstances of his birth, and other particulars are clearly written. Let us see, my dear father, if Jesus of Nazareth be not the Messiah; and if we can prove it from the books of the Old Testament, will you not then believe? O! you must; I must be sure you will; and then you and your child will glorify God together. I pray that the Lord Jesus will grant me the aid of his Holy Spirit, and graciously answer my petitions for the salvation of my beloved father.

The Jews admit that they have no certain, definite knowledge of the time of the Messiah's appearing. 'Hope deferred maketh the heart sick' 'Our eyes fail while we wait for our God,' was anciently the language of our people. The hope of Israel, the Saviour thereof in time of trouble, they know not. Hence they have ever been liable to deception, and again and again they have been bitterly disappointed. That there was a general and strong expectation of the Messiah at the time that Jesus of Nazareth appeared, is evident by the numbers of well-informed and learned men who received him; and who were so convinced of the truth of what they saw and heard, that they willingly suffered the most cruel martyrdom for his sake.

But the Jews themselves likewise expected him at this period. This is especially testified by the heathen writers, Suetonius and Tacitus; and a reference to Josephus, our own historain, proves that from their hope of deliverance by the Messiah proceeded their desperate resistance of the Roman power. Under every misfortune of their country, they still clung to this hope, and more and more earnestly as its calamities increased. They were buoyed up by it during the miseries of the most dreadful siege which history records-that of Jerusalem. And we are told by Josephus, that on the day upon which the city was taken, the poor, infatuated people were persuaded by a false prophet to ascend the battlements of the temple with the expectation that they would receive miraculous signs of their deliverance.

And that Jesus was the Messiah is confirmed by the sufferings of the early Christians. Their belief in Jesus was not a mere matter of opinion, it related to a matter of fact. We certainly know whether we see a person, or do not see him; we certainly know whether we see anything wonderful, or do not see it. The first Christians united to assert a series of miraculous and astonishing facts; they were convinced of what they saw, and rather than compromise or deny the truth, they submitted to the most horrible sufferings, and most cruel oppressions. These they endured, not for a short time merely, but through a long course of years. But they had seen the miracles of Jesus, and had, also, seen him after his resurrection from the dead; for 'he was seen,' says St. Paul, 'of Cephas, then of the twelve (apostles), after that he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain unto this present.' Now, supposing the story was false, would St. Paul have dared to make such an assertion, and mention in connection with it a host of witnesses, who, as he declares, still lived, and might, therefore, have come forward and contradicted this statement?

Then the accounts of the Christians by heathen writers agree as to their sufferings and numbers with those accounts we have in the Scriptures. I extract the following passage from Murphy's Tacitus: 'In order if possible to remove the imputation (of ordering Rome to be set on fire), Nero determined to transfer the guilt to others. For this purpose he punished with exquisite tortures a race of men detested for their evil practices, by vulgar appellation commonly called Christians. The name was derived from Christ, who in the reign of Tiberus suffered under Pontius Pilate, the procurator of Judea. They were put to death with exquisite cruelty, and to their sufferings Nero added mockery and derision. Some were covered with the skins of wild beasts, and left to be devoured by dogs: others were nailed to the cross, numbers were burnt alive; and many, covered over with inflammable matter, were lighted up, when the day declined, to serve as torches during the night.' Now, although it was shameful to misrepresent the conduct of such a suffering people, yet Tacitus' testimony is valuable; and not the less valuable because he was a heathen, and an enemy to the Christians. It proves that Jesus suffered under Pontius Pilate; and that within thirty-one years after his crucifixion, there were great numbers of Christians in Rome, as well as in Judea; and that for their belief in Christ they were called to endure most fearful sufferings. All these beautifully agree with the accounts we have in the Scriptures.

But now that the Jews have rejected the true Messiah, they are ever liable to imposture, for they cannot calculate the time for his appearing; thus at a loss, they have always been ready to grasp at any shadow. It has been so from the time of the impostor, Bar Cozab, to that of Napoleon Buonaparte; and so far have they now lost all pretension to a knowledge of the true time for his appearing, that embittered by frequent disappointment, they have uttered the dreadful anathema, 'Cursed be he that shall calculate the time!' Yet is the period for the Messiah's appearance most clearly marked out in Scripture. Why are our nation skeptical in reference to the prophet Daniel's inspiration? Simply because it is Daniel who most unmistakably defines the time of the Deliverer's appearance; and if Daniel be true, that is, if he be inspired, they have a deep conviction that the period is past. Therefore, it is, that they have removed him from his place in this XXX, and made him one of the writers of the XXXXX and not one of the XXXX.And who and what the Messiah is to be, the Jews profess to know that, except that they declare to us one thing, 'He is to deliver them from their afflictions, and give them in reversion, joy, temporal dominion and prosperity, and the triumphant possession of their own land.' I will notice this belief again directly. 'When the Messiah comes, 'they say, 'he will manifest his claims, and make his mission altogether plain.' How are they to judge of these claims, but according to their agreement with the prophecies? How would they have ever known that any Messiah should be given, except God had promised him? And has God declared no means by which he was to be known? Has he said nothing about him; what he is to be; how we are to be certified of him; whether he is to be a Gentile or a Jew? Yes: they know something of this, from the predictions of the Scriptures: they know that he is to be a Jew; and they do profess further, that they know enough to be able to declare that Jesus of Nazareth was an impastor and blasphemer. Why do they not study all that can be known by the prophecies; and having studied, why do they not declare to the world all that can be told about the Messiah; so that the Christians may compare the Messiah in whom they believe, with the one whom the Jews expect, according to the Scriptures; so that the Jews may be able to say, 'This is a picture of the promised Messiah; a history of his life, acts, death, and sufferings, as drawn from the unerring standard of Scripture. Judge ye between us this day!' Why should they hesitate to do this? The Christians are ever ready to bring into light their multitudinous proofs that the Jesus in whom they believe is the Messiah, the promised Son of God. But if, for a moment, we suppose that he is to come, how are the Jews to know him? They neglect the reading of the only book which tells of him; then how shall they know him? Even should a mighty conqueror appear, it could be no proof that he is the Messiah, any more than the conquests of Alexander, or Caesar, or Judas Maccabeus, or Buonparte, could prove them to be the expected Deliverer. And even if one should come and work miracles, he must be brought to the test of the Scriptures. This our nation admit; then, why do they not study them? They also admit another scriptural definition of who he is to be: 'he is,' they say, 'to be the son of Abraham, and Judah, and David.' But, if he were to come now that the genealogies are lost, by what means could the descent be proved?

It is a visionary and idle theory to suppose that Messiah will miraculously restore the genealogies. This inane supposition lays our nation open to imposture and forgery in this very particular. It is essential to the very nature of genealogical proofs that they be transmitted from age to age through all posterity. If the Messiah were to restore these registers, they would neither be genealogical proofs, nor, indeed, any proof at all of his descent. If he were distinctly seen to create such records, it would prove that he had performed a miracle-nothing more; it would be just as availing that he testified his descent by some other miracle. I speak reverently: I can think of no miracle which the Messiah, if he be not come, could now perform, that could be to man a test that he had descended from Abraham, and Judah, and David. To restore our genealogies would, in the opinion of man, bear the character of fraudulent evidence; and, therefore, it would not be such as God would ask of him to believe. In God's dealing with mankind he universally appeals to the exercise of their judgement, and, according to this judgement does he suit all conviction by means of miracles. He makes his proofs so plain, so clear, so direct to the reason, that man cannot avoid conviction, unless he determinedly oppose himself to the truth. When Jesus made his appearance upon earth he did not ask men to take it for granted that he was the Messiah because he declared himself to be so. No; he exhibited miraculous signs; and of what character: Were they of a kind which might be forged; was it possible that they could be surreptitiously performed; or, after all, according to human judgement, would they, as proofs, be regarded as inconclusive? O, no; to the commonest reason, they were palpable, clearly divine. Were they not? To walk upon the sea; to restore the blind; to raise to life the dead; to heal the sick by a word; to calm the fury of the tempest; can there be any doubt that these were exercises of divine power? Indeed, our Saviour appeals to the judgement of the multitude; 'If I do not the works of my father, believe me not!'--I ask not that ye shall believe my Divinity, except as I prove it to you by my acts. Of this kind would be his language in reference to our genealogies: 'If it cannot be proved by your own registers that I am the son of Abraham, and Judah, and David, believe it not.'

But, as the prediction that he was to be the Son of Abraham, and Judah, and David, is explicitly written in the Scriptures, it follows, clearly, that his appearance was to take place while his descent could be proved by our registers. Therefore, here again is powerful evidence that he has appeared; and here, I say, too, that this prediction is fulfilled in the person of Jesus of Nazareth. He was proved by our genealogies to be lineally descended from Abraham, and Judah, and David.

I just now observed, that our people, expressly believe that a part of the Messiah's office is, that he shall be a temporal deliverer. If this belief be a correct one, my dear father, it would show just this-that, on the coming of the Messiah, he would find them in a condition which needed temporal succour. And was not their position at the appearance of Jesus one which needed help? Were they not suffering intensely from the galling yoke of their Roman masters: from the severe government of Herod, the deputy sovereign under Caesar? 'Yes,' they will answer, 'and if this Jesus, of whom you speak, were the Messiah, we should have been delivered from this tyranny!' How can you tell what he would have done, had you believed upon him? The prophet describes the Messiah as first to suffer, and have thought fit to invent what I may call a twofold Messiah-Ben Joseph the Sufferer, and Ben David the Conqueror. He is to be a conqueror-but in what way? Is it not in this?--That all his enemies shall be put under his feet: that all his foes shall be bruised and made his footstool? And were not all the promises of deliverance made to his friends? Were not temporal blessings, in abundance, promised to these, and shame and confusion to his enemies? Undoubtedly. Evidently it was thus understood by Zacharias, the father of John the Baptist. This fully appears in his beautiful and prophetic song, in reference to the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ: 'Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he hath visited and redeemed his people; as he spake by the mouth of his holy prophets, which have been since the world began: that we should be saved from our enemies, and from the hand of all that hate us; to perform the mercy promised to our fathers, and to remember his holy covenant: the oath which he sware to our father Abraham, that he would grant unto us, that we, being delivered out of the hand of our enemies, might serve him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before him, all the days of our life.'

And those who rejected, blasphemed, insulted, and crucified the Messiah, could it be expected that he would grant such heinous sinners temporal deliverance? That, at about the period of the coming of Jesus, the Jews were a most iniquitous nation, is proved by the testimony of Josephus; so wicked, that he observes, 'If God had not sent the Romans at his executioners, the earth would have opened and swallowed us up.' What a dreadful place! And, doubtless, the most crying evil of these people was their rejection and treatment of Jesus Christ the Son of God. How could such sinners expect deliverance? Did not Jesus weep and lament over Jerusalem, while he foresaw the punishment which would descend upon it, and the calamities which would befall it, for putting him to death? Listen, my dear father, to the thrilling passage, as I copy it from the gospel of St. Luke; and, O that, by the aid of the Holy Spirit, it may sink deep into your heart, is your loving daughter's prayer: 'And when he (Jesus) was come near, he beheld the city (Jerusalem) and wept over it, saying, If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace! but now they are hid from thine eyes. For the days shall come upon thee, that thine enemies shall cast a trench about thee, and compass thee round, and keep thee in on every side, and shall lay thee even with the ground, and thy children within thee; and they shall not leave in thee one stone upon another! because thou knewest not the time of thy visitation' What a solemn subject for deep thought is this passage! How signally was it fulfilled!