Lastly, if the Person, of whose power and offices these narrations testify, was indeed the Son of God, the doctrine of the deity of Christ preexistent will be found to derive a clear and substantial confirmation from the history of the angel, who constantly assumes the character, and is as constantly designated by the titles, which appertain only to the Supreme Being. Thus, when he was manifested to Hagar in the wilderness, he said to her, "I will multiply thy seed exceedingly, &c. ... .and she called the name of the LORD that spake unto her, "Thou, God, seest me :" Gen. xvi, 10. 13. When he visited Abraham on the plains of Mamre, he not only revealed the designs of his own providence, but was frequently addressed by Abraham, as the Supreme Being: Gen. xviii. When, again, he called aloud to the patriarch out of heaven, he said, "Now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son, from ME:" Gen. xxii, 12. When he spake to Jacob in a dream, he said, "I am the God of Bethel, where thou anointedst the pillar, and where thou vowedst a vow unto ME." Gen. xxxi, 11-13. When he called to Moses out of the burning bush, he spake in the character of God, and said, "I AM THAT I AM :" Exod. iii, 6. 14. When the Father Almighty declared him to be the Person whom he had graciously appointed to drive out the Canaanites from before the children of Israel, God said, "Beware of him and obey his voice; provoke him not: for he will not pardon your transgressions + for MY NAME is in him ;” (Exod. xxiii, 21;) and in precise accordance with these remarkable expressions, when the angel, on a subsequent occasion, addressed the children of Israel at Bochim, he spake to them as follows: "I made you go up out of Egypt, and have brought you unto the land which I sware unto your fathers; and I said, I will never break my covenant with you: ....but ye have not obeyed my voice.... Wherefore I also said, I will not drive them out from before you," &c.: Jud. ii, 1-3. When his appearance to Gideon is mentioned, he is described as the Divine Being looking upon the warrior and saying, " Go in this thy might, and thou shalt save Israel from the hand of the Midianites. Have not I sent thee?" Jud. vi, 14. When he displayed his glory to Manoah,

thee to keep thee in the way" vide Exod. xxiii, 20. Philo de Agricult. Ed. Mang. vol. i, p. 308. Lastly, with regard to the Zohar, Schoettgen has adduced abundant evidence that the Son, Image, or Word, of God-the divine Messiah of Israel-of whom the author of that book so often speaks, was, in his estimation, no other than the Angel of Jehovah, whose history is recorded in the Old Testament: De Messiä, pp. 6. 125. 145. 149. 195. 911

the latter concluded that his own death was inevitable, because he had seen God: Jud. xiii, 22. And lastly, in the prophecies of Amos, he is again described as Jehovah, (ch. vii, 7) and in those of Zechariah, as Jehovah sent by Jehovah : ii, 8—13,

VII. The observations which, under the preceding heads, have been offered respecting the Word or Angel of God, through whose mediation all the divine purposes were effected, and who was himself regarded as the Deity present with his people, and operating for their protection and deliverance, will prepare the reader for a just estimate of a very important fact, that various passages in the Old Testament, which describe Jehovah in his personal presence, and immediate operations, are by the writers of the New Testament applied, without any apparent reserve or hesitation, TO THE SON OF GOD. Two examples of such an application may now be given; and as we have already traced the Deity of Christ preexistent in the statements of Scripture respecting his works and attributes, these examples will confirm our whole argument, by showing that the sacred writers have actually denominated him God and Jehovah.”

*

In Psalm cii, we find the following striking passage: "When Jehovah, shall build up Zion, he shall appear in his glory: comp. John i, 14. He will regard the prayer of the destitute, and not despise their prayer: comp. Matt, viii, 2, 3, 6, 13: 1 John v, 13. 15. This shall be written for the generation to come, and the people which shall be created shall praise Jehovah comp. Dan. ix, 26. For he hath looked down from the height of his sanctuary; from heaven did Jehovah behold the earth to hear the groaning of the prisoner, to loose those that are appointed to death: (comp, Isa. Ixi, 1: Zech. ix, 11: Heb. ii, 15, &c.) to declare the name of Jehovah in Zion, and his praise in Jerúsalem; comp. John i, 18; xvii, 26. When the people are gathered together, and the kingdoms to serve Jehovah; comp. Isa. xi, 10; xlix, 6: Rom. xv, 8, 9. He weakened my strength in the way; he shortened my days. I said, 0 my God, take me not away in the midst of my days: thy years are throughout all generations. Of old hast thou laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the work of thy hands," &c. 16-25.

In the Epistle to the Hebrews, (as has been already mentioned) the latter part of this passage is cited as relating to the Son of God, and cited for the express purpose of prov

*When THE LORD, in our common English Version of the Old Testament, is printed in large letters, it almost uniformly represents the Hebrew JEHOVAH.

others, Christ is the Way through whom alone we are brought near to God: John xiv, 6. All things in the Christian dispensation are described as being from, or of, and unto, the Father, and by, through, or in, the Son. "For, though there be that are called gods," says the apostle Paul," whether in beaven or in earth, (as there be gods many, and lords many) but to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in (or unto) him ;* and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him :" 1 Cor. viii, 5, 6. And, "in the dispensation of the fulness of times," the Father will gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are in earth, even in him:" Eph. i, 10; comp. iv, 4—6.

Now, Christ, the Mediator between God and Man, is to be regarded as bearing the office, and as acting in the capacity, of a viceroy. The dominion which he exercises over the creatures of God is committed to him. The Father has highly exalted him, has given him a name above every name, (Phil. ii, 9 ;) has put all things under his feet, (Eph. i, 22;) has bestowed upon him those gifts and graces which Jesus is himself described as shedding forth upon mankind: Ps. Ixviii, 18: Acts ii, 33. And, as Christ has thus received his kingdom, and all the powers by which he conducts it, at the hands of the Father, so also to him he is subject-to him he belongs. The Father is frequently represented as the God of our Lord Jesus Christ: Eph. i, 17: 1 Pet. i, 3. Jesus himself, in the Revelation, calls him "My God:" iii, 12. "The head of every man is Christ.... and the head of Christ is God:" 1 Cor. xi, 3. "Ye are Christ's," says the apostle to his converts, "and Christ is God's:" 1 Cor. iii, 23.

These and other statements respecting the subjection of Christ, even during his reign in glory, to the Father who sent him, and from whom his kingdom was received, are rendered Is perfectly intelligible by the unquestionable fact, that our Saviour not only lived and died, but rose from the dead and ascended into heaven, a man. If we admit that Jesus of Nazareth was endued with a human soul, (and where is the unsophisticated reader of the four Gospels who will question the fact?) we must also admit, on principles already recognized, that, after he had expired on the cross, his soul continued to exist; and, continuing to exist, that soul was presently reunited to his body, which was raised on earth and glorified in heaven: Luke xxiv, 31-53: Acts i, 9-11: 1 Cor. xv, 44-49; Phil. iii,

* εἰς αὐτὸν.

21: Rev. i, 5. 7. 13, &c. "There is one God, and one Mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus ;" (1 Tim. ii, 5;) and this man Christ Jesus, the Son of Mary, the rod out of the stem of Jesse,"was dead, and is alive :" Rev. ii,8, He is the "first-born from the dead," (Col. i, 18) the " "firstborn among many brethren," (Rom. viii, 29) "the first fruits of them that slept," (1 Cor. xv, 20) "the Captain of our sal vation" made "perfect through sufferings:" Heb. ii, 10. Herein, therefore, the children of God, who are led by his Spirit, may rejoice with unspeakable joy, even that Christ is "not ashamed to call them brethren," (Heb. ii, 11) that they are" heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ," (Rom. viii, 17) and finally, that they have a merciful and faithful High Priest, who is "touched with the feeling of their infirmities," and who, having himself" suffered being tempted," is able to "suc cour them that are tempted:" Heb. ii, 18; iv, 15.

But, while we acknowledge that Jesus, in his reign, is still clothed with the human nature, and that he is therefore in all things subject to God the Father, "of whom the whole family, in heaven and earth is named," yet, on the other hand, from a variety of particulars recorded in Scripture, in connexion with this glorious division of his revealed history, it will by no means be difficult to prove that Christ, the head of the Church, and the Lord of all things, is also GOD. The analogy of divine. truth, and the comparison of Scripture with Scripture, will be found, I believe, very plainly to evince, that no one can pos sess the authority, exercise the powers, or rightly receive the honours, which are severally attributed to Christ in his reign, who does not himself participate in the nature and essence the Supreme Being.

of

I shall now proceed to unfold these evidences of the deity of Christ our King, in the order which, after due consideration, I deem to be the clearest.

I. That Jesus Christ, in his reign, is the Shepherd and Bishop of souls; (1 Pet. ii, 25;) the supreme Head of that church of God, which is gathered out of every kindred, and tongue, and people; (Eph. iv, 15;)-that he has bought his followers with a price; (1 Cor. vi, 20 ;) and that they are now his ab solute possession;—is a doctrine which is clearly stated in vari ous parts of Scripture, and which forms, more especially, one of the most conspicuous and distinguishing features of the apos tolic Epistles. Now, in this point of view, Jesus Christ is to be regarded as occupying a position infinitely superior to that of any of the patriarchs, or prophets, or indeed of any of the mere creatures of God, however powerful their nature, or ex

alted their station. They are nothing more than servantsthe mere subordinate agents of the Father's will. He is the Son of that Father, and, in his own power and authority, he forms, possesses, and regulates, the Father's household. Such a distinction between Christ and the prophets was clearly indicated by Jesus himself, in his parable of the servants and the son, who were successively sent to receive the fruits of the vineyard; (Matt. xxi, 33-41 ;) and is powerfully maintained and elucidated in the following comparison between Jesus and Moses: "Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our profession, Christ Jesus; who was faithful to him that appointed him, as E also Moses was faithful in all his house. For this man (or this person*) was counted worthy of more glory than Moses, inasmuch as he who hath builded the house hath more honour than the house. For every house is builded by some man, but he that built all things is God. And Moses, verily, was faithful in all his house as a servant, for a testimony of those things which were to be spoken after; but Christ as a Son over his own house; whose house are we, if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end:" Heb. iii, 1 6. It is generally allowed, and is indeed quite evident, that the word "house," here signifies "household"—the household, or church, of God. Moses presided as a servant over the ancient Israelitish church, which was, in his day, the house of Jehovah. Jesus Christ, as a Son, governs that larger family of God, the Christian church. Nor does he merely govern that church; he actually possesses it. It is his own house, because he "builded" it. And, in building this spiritual house, he displayed his divine nature and attributes, for “he that built all things is God.”

But it is not merely over the Church that Jesus Christ exercises his dominion. All the creatures of God are, for the church's sake, made subject to his reign. All power is given unto him in heaven, and in earth: Matt. xxviii, 18. He is able, by his working, to subdue all things unto himself: Phil. iii, 21. He is the "heir of all things:" Heb. i, 2. "Angels, authorities, and powers," are "made subject to him:" 1 Pet. iii, 22. God" set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come; and put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all:" Eph. i,

* οὗτος,