would have
believed me: for he wrote of me. But if ye believe not his writings, how
shall ye believe my words?_"[156]

His first recorded sermon contains a remarkable and solemn attestation
to the divine authority of the Old Testament, and of his own relation to
it as its substance and supporter, "_Think not that I am come to destroy
the law, and the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill. For
verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle
shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled._"[157] The
whole of this discourse is an exposition of the true principles of the
Old Testament, stripping off the rubbish by which tradition had made
void the law of God, and enforcing its precepts by the sanction of his
divine authority. And in one of his last discourses after his
resurrection: "_Beginning at Moses, and the prophets, he expounded unto
them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself. * * * And he
said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was
yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in
the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me.
Then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the
Scriptures._"[158]

In this distinct enumeration of the whole of the Scriptures of the Old
Testament; in the assertion that they all treated of him, and that their
principal predictions were fulfilled in him; and in his bestowal of
divine illumination to enable them to understand these divine
oracles--we have such an indorsement of their character by the Truth
himself, as must command the faith and obedience of every believer in
him. Had no objections been raised against particular doctrines or
features of the Old Testament, we should stop here; perfectly satisfied
with the attestations to the truth of its history, given by the
continual references, and to the authority of its precepts, by the
solemn formal declarations of the Son of God. But some popular
objections to its completeness and perfection demand a brief notice.

1. The general character of the Old Testament being then ascertained
beyond doubt, our first inquiry must be as to the integrity and
completeness of the collection. For it is manifest that their divine
authority being admitted, any attempt to add to them any human writings,
or to take away those which were from God, would be a crime so serious
in its consequences, that it