is to be set on a high mountain and an eminent; which means that God will set his King upon the holy hill of Zion; and under it shall dwell all fowls of every wing, Ezek. xvii. 22, 23: which is expressive of his universal reign, and is spoken in allusion to the king of Babylon, called a tree whose height reached to heaven, and his sight to all the earth, whose leaves were fair and fruit much; which tree was to be transplanted from Babylon to the Medes and Persians, then to the Grecians, and after that to the Romans, and then and there to be destroyed; and to be succeeded by this rod out of the stem of Jesse, who shall have dominion from sea to sea, and from the river to the ends of the earth. God had overturned the Babylonish empire in Ezekiel's days, and said, “I will overturn, overturn, overturn it, till he come whose right it is, and I will give it him;" that is, he would overturn the Persian, Grecian, and Roman, until the time appointed for Christ to have dominion, whose right it is as God and Creator, and whose right it is as Man and Mediator, by the Father's gift; and hence it is said, “I will give it him." Now let us see if this rod can be applied to Mr. Brothers.

1. This rod is to come out of the stem of Jesse. Mr. Brothers can produce no genealogy to prove that he is a descendant from him; and as for his revelations, we do not believe them.

2. The Spirit, with all his gifts and grace, is to rest upon this rod; which it never did upon

any man but the man Christ Jesus, who was anointed with the oil of gladness above his fellows; for the Father giveth not the Spirit by measure unto him, as he does to others.

3. He is not to judge after the sight of his eyes, nor reprove after the hearing of his ears, as all men do; which shews him to be the searcher of hearts and the trier of reins, and is expressive of his omniscience as God.

4. "But with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth; and he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked. Here we have four things that he shall do: he shall judge and justify the poor in spirit; and, in behalf of the meek, he shall reprove the oppressors and persecutors of his peo-. ple, and that with equity; that is, he shall bring them in guilty by their own conscience, and leave their guilt and his reproofs to work there, "He shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth;" meaning his gospel, called the rod of his strength, by which he rules, and which will be preached over the whole earth: "and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked:" by the breath of his mouth is meant the Spirit of his mouth, the voice of Christ by his ministers, in the gospel, called the dispensation of the Spirit: and slaying the wicked with it, is making it the savour of death unto death to them that believe not, This person, called a rod from the stem of Jesse,

is called Jehovah: "For the earth shall be full of the knowledge of Jehovah as the waters cover the sea;" that is, when he comes to make manifest the savour of his name in every place.

5. “And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the people; to it shall the Gentiles seek, and his rest shall be glorious. Here he is set forth as a standard or ensign, in whose death the banner of God's eternal love is displayed; to it the rebellious Gentiles are to seek and to repair, in order to obtain pardon and favour with God: for Christ hath received gifts for the rebellious, that the Lord God might dwell among them. “And his rest shall be glorious:" he says to the weary and heavy laden, "Come unto me, and I will give you rest;" rest from the burden of sin, from the yoke of the law, and from the drudgery of Satan; and at last a glorious rest in heaven, where the weary are for

ever at rest.

Now to whom does the apostle apply this root of Jesse? why to Christ, and none else. "And again Esaias saith, There shall be a root of Jesse, and he that shall rise to reign over the Gentiles, in him shall the Gentiles trust," Rom. xv. 12. But this king of the Gentiles cannot be Mr. Brothers, because he cannot be a proper object of trust, being nothing but a man; for God hath cursed them that trust in man, and make flesh their arm, and in their heart depart from God. This King of the Gentiles is King of Zion, and

blessed are all they that put their trust in him. Hence it is plain that, instead of the Spirit of the Lord resting upon Mr. Brothers, it is the spirit of Satan the father of lies: he is no prophet of God, nor servant of Christ; if he was, he would seek his master's honour, not his own; for Christ will not give his glory to another, nor his praise to graven images. But Mr. Brothers confesses,

Quot. I shall be called a false prophet, and every body will say I am arrogating to myself the place of Christ; for the English, as well as other European nations professing Christianity, have always supposed that the rod out of the stem of Jesse, alluded to in this chapter, meant the Lord Jesus Christ: indeed it does not, but a man composed of flesh and blood, like one of themselves, &c.

Ans. It is very strange that, as Christ is emphatically called the truth, and promises that the Spirit shall lead his people into all truth, all the European nations professing Christianity should be led to err in this great matter. The prophet informs us that this rod out of the stem of Jesse shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked, as hath been observed. Now who doth the Spirit of God apply this to? Why he applies it to Jesus Christ. "Let no man deceive you, for that day shall not come except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; who opposeth and exaltethi

himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; for the mystery of iniquity doth already work; only he that now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way, [namely, the Roman emperors, who let,] and then shall that wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming," 2 Thess. ii. In the first verse of this chapter we have an account of Christ; in the third, fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh verses, we have an account of the rise of antichrist; and, in the language of the prophet Isaiah, he is to be destroyed by the Rod of Jesse; the heresy of antichrist is to be consumed by the brightness of the Saviour's coming, and himself destroyed by the spirit of his mouth. And to this agrees Daniel: "I beheld till the thrones were cast down, and the Ancient of Days did sit, whose garment was white as snow, and the hair of his head like the pure wool; his throne was like the fiery flame, and his wheels as burning fire: a fiery stream issued and came forth from before him, thousand thousands ministered unto him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him; the judgment was set, and the books were opened. I beheld then, because of the voice of the great words which the horn spake: I beheld even till the beast was slain, and his body destroyed and given to the burning flame." Hence it appears plain that the Holy Ghost, Isaiah, Paul, and Daniel, all agree in the person meant by the Rod out of