works of old. I was set up from everlasting, from the beginning, or ever the earth was. When there were no depths, I was brought forth; when there were no fountains abounding with water: Before the mountains were settled, before the hills, was I brought forth : While as yet he had not formed the earth, nor the fields, nor the highest part of the dust of the world: When he prepared the heavens, I was there,-when he set a compass upon the face of the depth,-when he gave to the sea, his decree, that the water should not pass his commandment,-when he appointed the foundations of the earth —then was I by him, as one brought up with him: and I was daily his delight, rejoicing always before him; rejoicing in the habitable part of his earth, and my delights were with the Sons of men." 22. Or if it be doubted whether this was not rather meant of wisdom as a quality or Attribute of the Deity, and not of the substantial living Wisdom, and Word of the Father, yet surely it must be allowed, if com. pared with other Scriptures, to be perfectly applicable to him. For our Lord himself assures us, John xvii. 5, "That he had glory with the Father before the world was" And the prophet Micah declares, "that his goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting," or as 'the original, oby "" op means, from of old, from the days of eternity. And our Lord himself says still more in the passages just quoted from the first chapter of the Revelation, when, as we have seen, he applies to himself the high titles of the eternal God, even those whereby Jehovah distinguishes himself from all false pretenders to Divinity, repeatedly saying," I am Alpha and Omega, the First and the Last." Hence the Apostle, speaking of his Type Melchisedec, King of Righteousness, and King of Peace, describes him as" without father, without mother, without descent, having neither be ginning of days, nor end of life; but made like unto the Son of God," viz. a proper type of him who is eternal. 23. I mentioned also immutability, another peculiar attribute of the eternal God." I am Jehovah," (says he, Mal. iii. 6,) "I change not, therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed :" "The Father of Lights," (says St. James,)" with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning :" And is not this Attribute also ascribed to Christ? We have already seen, that the Author of the Epistle to the Hebrews applies to him the 25th, 26th, and 27th verses of the 102nd Psalm; and surely no words can more strongly express immutability:-"They shall perish, but thou remainest: and they all shall wax old, as doth a garment; and as a vesture shalt thou fold them up, and they shall be changed; but thou art the same, and thy years fail not." And, ch. xiii. verse 8th, of the same Epistle, assures us, that he is the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever; and on this his unchangeableness, grounds an argument against our being carried about with divers and strange doctrines. But why should I dwell upon particulars ? He himself assures us, John xvi. 15, "All things that the Father hath, are mine :" All the names, titles, and attributes of the Father: and no wonder, for the Father himself is his, and dwells in him in all his fulness and their union is perfect, indissoluble, and eternal,-so that the Son is never without the Father, nor the Father without the Son. CHAP. VIII. That the Apostles represent him as the immediate Author of all the divine works, whether of Creation, Preservation, or Redemption,whether of grace or justice, or mercy, or judgment. 1. We have already seen, in that remarkable passage, quoted at large from the beginning of St. John's gospel, that he considered the word which was in the beginning with God, as the immediate Creator of all things. His words are very express," All things were made by him, and without him was not any thing made that was made," verse 3. And again, verse 10, "The world was made by him." St. Paul, it is well known, taught the very same doctrine,-" By him (εv avrw) were all things created that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him, and he is before all things, and by him all things con. sist." 2. It is true, the Father, who is the fountain of deity and of divine power, is also the primary cause of all the divine works. But it is plain, from these passages, that the Apostles considered the Word that was in the beginning with God, as the immediate Author of them, the operative Creator, (if I may so express myself) real and proper framer of all things, visible and invisible, temporal and eternal. Hence it is that they apply to him (as we have seen) the words of David in the 102nd Psalm,-" Thou, Lord, in the beginning, hast laid the foundations of the earth, and the heavens are the work of thine hands:" which words certainly represent the person, of whom they are spoken, not as an instrument in the hands of another, but as in a true and proper sense, the "Maker of the world." And this was certainly the opinion of the ancient Fathers, as innumerable passages, in their writings, shew. the illustration of the subject, I shall quote two or three pages from Bishop Bull's De For fence of the Nicene Faith; in which, it will generally be allowed, he fairly represents the sentiments of those eminently holy men, who living so near the Apostolic age, (some of them being disciples of the Apostolical Fathers,) and being so constantly conversant with their writings, could not easily be ig--Now the things that are made, are differ. norant what the doctrine of the Apostles was upon his subject." 3. The following passages the Bishop gives ust from Justin's Epistle to Diognetus, p. 498.-"He, the Almighty, the Creator of all things, the invisible God, hath implanted among men, and engraven in their hearts the heavenly Truth, the Word, holy and incomprehensible; not sending, as any one would conjecture, a servant, an angel, a prince, an earthly potentate, or one to whom he had entrusted the administration of hea venly things,--but the Artificer and Maker of all things, by whom he formed the heavens, and shut in the sea in its proper bounds; whose mysteries all the elements faithfully observe: from whom the Sun has received his charge to measure out the day, whom the Moon obeys, when he commands her to shine in the night, and the stars which follow the course of the Moon by whom all things are ordered and bounded, to whom all things are subject, the heavens, the earth, the sea, and all that in them is ; the fire, the water, the abyss; what is in the heights and depths, and betwixt them: Him he hath sent to them. For what end? As a man would think to tyrannize over them? To awe and terrify them ?-No: He sent him as a King sends a King, his Son, in clemency and meekness: He sent him as a God: He sent him to Man.-He sent him to save." 4. The Bishop quotes Athenagoras to the same purpose, p. 131.-" The Son of God is the word of the Father, in idea, and energy. All things were made by him, and for him; the Father and the Son, being one, the Son in the Father, and the Father in the Son, by the unity and power of the Spirit. "The Son of God is the mind and word of the Father." And (p. 143. 144.) Produces from Irenæus, disciple of Polycarp, a passage still more explicit.“ Nor shall any thing made, and in subjection, be compared with the WORD of God, by whom all things were made who is our Lord Jesus Christ. Because, whether they are angels or archangels, or thrones or dominions, they are made by him who is God over all, by his word. So St. John hath told us. For when he had said of the word of God, that he was in the Father he added," All things were made by him, and without him was nothing made." David I make use of the translation of Fran. Holland, A. M. Rector of Sutton, Wilts. + Vol. i. 225. also, when he had particularly enumerated his praises, added.-for "he commanded and they were created; and spoke, and they were made " Whom did he command? The word, by whom the heavens were made, and the host of them, by the breath of his mouth." ent from him that made them; and those appointed, from him that appointed them. He is unmade, without beginning, without end; he wants nothing, is self-sufficient, and gives to all other things their being. The things made by him had a beginning, and, as such, may have an end,-are subject,-indigent. It is altogether necessary they should have a different name, especially among men of any discernment in such things. So that "he who made all things," with his word, be justly and alone called God and Lord; but not that those who are made, should partici pate, or justly take to themselves, the name of their Creator." 5. In the two following pages, the Bishop quotes two more passages from Irenæus to the same purpose." The Son, who is the word of God, laid out these things from the beginning, the Father not standing in need of angels for the creation of the world, and the making of man, for whom the world was created, nor again wanting a ministerial power for making these things that are made, and the disposing the affairs of the world after the formation of man, but having a sufficient and ineffable one, for his own offspring, and impress ministers to him in all things, i. e. the Son and Holy Spirit, the word and wisdom, to whom angels are subject, and minister." Again, "All things were made by him, and without him was nothing made." Here is no exception, but the Father made all things by him, whether visible or invisible, sensible or intellectual, temporal, for a certain purpose, or eternal. all things, not by angels, or powers, differ ent from his mind; for the God of all things wants nothing, but by his word and Spirit, making, disposing, and governing all things, and giving being to them. He made 6. The same doctrine Irenæus delivers in another place, p. 214. "There is only one God, the creator, who is above all principality and power, and dominion and dignity. He is the Father, the God, the Creator, the builder, the maker, that made those things by himself, i. e. who made the heaven, the earth, the sea, and all that in them is, by his Son and Holy Spirit." Again, (p. 369 of Irenæus's works,)"The angels then did not make, did not form us: they could not make the image of God, nor any but the word of God; no power distinct, (separate,) from the Father. Nor did the Father stand in need of them to make what he had before designed, as if he had not hands of his own. He has always with him his word and wisdom, the Son and Spirit, by whom, and in whom, he freely made all things, and to whom he spake, saying, let us make man after our image and similitude." 7. To these testimonies of Justin, Athen. agoras, and Irenæus, disciples of the Apostolical Fathers, I shall add from the Bishop, (p. 197.) a passage of Origen, which the Bishop defends as perfectly orthodox.-" The word, the Son of God, is the immediate, and, as it were, the very framer of the world: The Father of the word, in that he ordered the Word, his Son, to make the world, is primary Creator."-Örigen, p. 317. 8. The Fathers, therefore, at least in these passages, (which it will not be doubted Bishop Bull has fairly represented,) approve this doctrine, that though the Father is primary Creator, yet that the Son, his Word, is the immediate Creator and Framer of the world. But that he did not do this as a Being separate from the Father, but in such a sense one with him, that the Father, creating the world by him, might be said to create it by his own hands, Irenæus's phrase is or by himself: according to the words of Isaiah, ch. xliv. 24. "I am Jehovah that maketh all things, that stretcheth forth the heavens alone, that spreadeth abroad the earth by myself." For as the Holy Spirit, who is un. doubtedly of a nature properly divine, is the Spirit of the Father, and proceeded from the Father, but though sent forth. is never separated from him; so, in like manner, the Word is the Word of the Father; and though he says he "proceeded forth, and came from God, and that he came not of himself, but the Father sent him," (John viii. 42.) yet he is still united to him, and one with him,"is still in the Father, and the Father in him." 9. What I have said of the Creation, must also be said of the Preservation of all things. By him, St. Paul assures us in the above mentioned passage, all things consist, ovvεsŋkɛ, stand together, are upheld or supported: Upholding all things, says the Author of the Epistle to the Hebrews, Chap. i. 3. Both passages are designedly and professedly spoken of Christ. but not of him as a Being seperate from the Father, but in, and with him; for in and through the Son, all creatures, as St Paul declares, (Acts xvii) "live, and move, and have their being" in the Father, who, we are assured," is above all, and through all, and in all,"-creating, preserving, governing, and pervading the universe, and giving life and energy to every thing," through his Son and by his Spirit." Nay, as all things acknowledge the Son as their Creator and Preserver, so also as their Owner and Lord,for all things were created for him, Col. i. 16. -and he is said to be "heir of all," as being "the first begotten," and only begotten of the Father, and Lord of all: See Heb. i. 1. and Acts x. 36. 10. Now, have we considered these many and mighty works, of which he is declared to be the Creator, Preserver, and Lord? At least, those of them that come under our observation? Has that glorious luminary, the Sun, catched our attention, so immense, that the mind can scarce comprehend it, and so bright, that no eye can behold it,-and the source of light to a whole system of worlds? Have we viewed the Moon, walking in brightness and, marked the wonderful phoe. nomenon of her waxing and waning glory? Have the Stars of light attracted our notice, those glittering diamonds, wherewith the firmament is studded and enriched, and rendered the most grand and striking, as well as the most beautiful object the Eye of Man can behold? And have we considered their inconceivable distance from the earth, and from each other, a distance so immense, that the whole circuit of the solar system is but a point, when compared to it? Have we considered how probable it is, that each Star is a Sun, and each Sun a fountain of light to revolving worlds? 11. Have we marked the Planets, whether primary or secondary, that surround our own Sun, and observed the difference of their magnitudes, distances, and revolutions! And if we have not been been able to determine, as to the probability of their being inhabited, and stored with sundry kinds of creatures like our earth, yet have we considered their wonderful influence upon the surrounding atmosphere of our own globe, and their use as 66 an Horologue,-machinery divine!" as one says, appointed for times and for seasons for days, and for years? Dividing time into sundry periods, longer or shorter, by their different revolutions, and thus measuring it out to those, whose grand business it is, and whose chief concern it ought to be, to improve it to the glory of their great Maker? 12. Have we surveyed our own Globe, that large and valuable estate, given by the Father of All, as a rich and plentiful inheri tance to Adam, and his posterity? Have we traversed, not with a measuring line indeed, but with the eye of the mind, the boundless tracts of land and water of which it is composed? Have we taken the height of the perpetual hills, (as Moses calls them,) the everlasting mountains, covered with eternal snows, and from bubbling fountains, pure brooks and descending torrents, dispersing streams and rivers of clear and refreshing water, in many and meandering courses through the largest Continents? Have we fathomed the depths of the Ocean, admired the flux and reflux of its waters, or ascertained the number of its scaly inhabitants, and marked their different species? 13. Have we ascended into the regions of the Air, and learnt the nature and properties of the particles that compose that subtile and invisible fluid? Have we observed, how it surrounds the earth as a swaddling band, binds old Ocean in its bed, and, by its pressure, is the spring of life to the animal and vegetable creation? Have we marked the rise of vapours, observed the balancing of the clouds, listened to the grumbling of the thunder, and gazed when the forked lightning played? Have we considered the treasures of hail and snow, and viewed attentive ly, the hoar-frost of heaven? Have we admired the provision made for the ascent of waters into the air, and for their conveyance to the remotest distance over sea and land, that they may descend in dews and showers, as well to refresh the high places of the wilderness, as to water the cultivated and fertile country? 14. Have we descended below the surface of the earth, examined the different strata through which we passed, and taken a full and comprehensive view of the mineral kingdoms? Have we beheld the quarries of stone, the mines of copper and lead, and the immense magazines of fuel, wonderfully formed, and commodiously hid, below the surface of the earth? Has the glittering ore of silver, the admired metal of gold, and the brilliant and sparkling lustre of precious stones, catched our eyes, and engaged our attention? 15. From the mineral, have we passed to the vegetable kingdom? Have we noticed the innumerable kinds of grass that clothe the meadows, the different species of corn that enrich the fields, the immense variety of flowers, of different hues and forms that beautify the parterre,-and the sundry kinds and ranks of stately trees, that wave in the forest? Have we considered the different seeds from which they sprang, the provision made for dispersing and sowing them in a proper soil, and the astonishing progress of their vegeta tion? Have we admired the contrivance, and adored the Power that causes the same spot of earth with the same kind of culture, to produce fruits of such different tastes and qualities, and flowers so endlessly diversified in form and colour? And have we praised and glorified the Wisdom and Goodness, which, in the warmest climes, and most sultry seasons, furnishes us with the fruits of the most cooling nature, and such as are most replete with juices calculated to refresh and allay our thirst? 16. From vegetables, have we ascended to animals? And have the innumerable species and kinds we are acquainted with passed in review before us? Have we considered the myriads of animalcula, of different kinds, possessed of various degrees of life and activity, of all shapes and forms, too small to be discerned by the naked eye, but rendered visible by the help of a microscope, sporting, and taking their pastime in one single drop of water, like Leviathan in the deep? Have we viewed the thousands of thousands of insects of a larger kind, of all forms and sizes, varied endlessly, possessed of powers and qualities, most astonishingly different from each other, but all suited to the state and manner of subsistence assigned to each? Have the sundry kinds of creeping things and beasts of the earth, engaged our attention? The subtile Serpent, the wily fox, the stately horse, the majestic lion, the half-rea soning elephant ? Have we marked the amazing difference of their inward disposi tions, as well as of their outward forms, and the wonderful provision made for their preservation and support, and that of their dif. ferent species? Have the feathered fowl, and birds of every wing, been considered by us! Their beautiful figure, their rich plumage, their swift motions, and the sweet harmony of their diversified notes and artless music? Have we admired the pride of the peacock, the innocence of the dove, the affection of the Stork, the rapacity of the Vulture, and the strength and swiftness of the Eagle? Have we marked with what regularity, foresight, and care, they build their nests, and provide for the safety and subsistence of their young? 17. Has a man, that master-piece of divine workmanship, engaged our attention? Have we considered the wonderful structure of his body? the more astonishing formation of his mind? Have we observed his erect form? his exact proportions? his comely figure ? his divine face? his majestic appearance ? Have we marked the number and variety of his senses, and members? how suited to each other, and to his state and place upon the earth, and his rank among the creatures ? Have we reflected upon their contrivance and usefulness, and upon the profit and pleasure arising from each in particular, and from all in general? Have we observed the multiplicity of parts employed in the structure of each member of sense, and their happy union, in forming one perfect whole? Have we examined the eye or ear? the hand or foot? the head or heart? 18. Have we considered the provision made for the nutrition and growth of the wonderful machine and all its parts? so that the very hairs of our head and finger nails, both useful and necessary, do not want their proper nourishment? Have we reflected upon the various means provided for preparing, receiving, digesting and extracting nourishment from our food, and throwing off the superfluous parts ? Have we viewed the astonishing apparatus of veins and arte. ries, ministering to the circulation of the blood, and the life of the body? 19. Have we considered the nervous sys tem, the chief means of animal life and sensation? The wonderful structure of the Brain, lodged in the golden bowl, (as Solomon seems to call the membrane that encloses it,) and the various and multiplied branching of the silver cord, the spinal marrow, spread over all the body, and rendering every part keenly sensible? And have we observed how the animal-appetites and propensities strangely ensure the preservation of life, and propagation of the species? 20. Have we noticed a Spirit in Man? a Soul in body? a Mind in matter? an intelligent and free principle? a power that per ceives, thinks, reasons, judges, approves, condemns, wills, desires, loves, hates, hopes, fears, rejoices, mourns? that pervades the earth, encompasses the heavens, measures the Sun, ascends above the stars, rises from the creature to the Creator, beholds his glory, admires his beauty, feels his love, tastes his pleasures, imitates his perfections, and aspires after a conformity to him, and fel. lowship with him, through everlasting ages? 21. Have we reflected, that there are Minds that were never joined to matter,Spirits that never dwelt in flesh ? Ethereal Beings, Flames of fire, Angels of light, pure and perfect Intelligences? All Life, all Activity, all Power? All eye, all ear, all sensibility? Whose knowledge is intuitive and certain, whose love is sincere and flaming, whose praise is cordial and ardent, whose obedience is free and constant ? Whose duty is unintermitted, whose loyalty is untainted, whose services are disinterested, and whose happiness is compleat, established and eternal ? Have we remembered, that there are innumerable ranks and orders of these beings, of which we have no knowledge, and of whose nature and state we can form no conception? Thrones, Dominions, Principalities, and Powers? 22. Have we taken a survey of these wonderful works, both above and below, both material and immaterial, and have we considered that we know not one thousandth part of their Number, Magnitude, or minuteness, er of the contrivance manifested in the for mation of the meanest of them, of a blade of grass, a grain of sand, a drop of water, or a particle of air or light? And after all, dare we pronounce that a mere creature, an angelic, or super-angelie Being, was, and is, sufficient for the Creation, Preservation, and Government of all these and other creatures? If so, the sacred Scriptures will remove our rashness, and inform us, that "he that built all things is God:" and that this God is Christ. For the Apostle, in this passage professedly speaks of him; ver. 3, he says, "This person was counted worthy of more glory than Moses, inasmuch as he who hath builded the house bath more honour than the house. For every house is builded by some & R one; but he that built all things is God." The Apostle's argument is manifestly this: He that buildeth the house, hath more honour than the house he buildeth, or any part of it: But Christ built the Jewish Church, yea, the whole Creation, of which Moses was but a small, inconsiderable part ; Therefore Christ is worthy of more honour than Moses: yea, is as much above him, as the Creator of all things is above one of his creatures. Again: He that built all things is God; but Christ built all things;Therefore Christ is God; yea, (in union with his Father,) "the everlasting God, Jehovah,-the Creator of the ends of the earth, who fainteth not, neither is weary; and there is no searching of his understanding." Heb. iii. 4.-Isa. xl. 28. CHAP. IX. That JESUS CHRIST is the Redeemer and 1. As the inspired Penmen represent the Word, that was in the beginning with God, as the Creator, Preserver, and Lord of all,so it will readily be allowed that they point him out to us as the Redeemer and Saviour of fallen Man. "Unto you is born, in the city of David, a Saviour, who is Christ the Lord :" "Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners:" "The Son of man is come to seek and save that which was lost:" "Looking for the blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God, even our Saviour Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify to himself a peculiar people, zeal. ous of good works." 2. The foundation of this doctrine of our Redemption and Salvation by Christ Jesus, it is well known, is laid in the depravity and guilt of mankind. "All have sinned, (says the Apostle,) and come short of the glory of God:" "The whole world is guilty before God;" and Jews and Gentiles, even all mankind, are" by nature children of wrath," Rom. iii. 19-23. Eph. ii. 3. According to the Scriptures, all have forfeited the everlasting life and happiness for which they were created, and have deserved death and everlasting destruction. "For the wages of sin is death," even such a death as stands opposed to that "eternal life which is the gift of God through Jesus Christ our Lord." 3. Now it is the uniform doctrine, both of the Old and New Testament, that the Lord Jesus Christ hath ransomed our lives by laying down his own." The Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and give his life a ransom for many: He gave himself a ransom for all," "He died for our sins according to the Scriptures;" died for all when all were dead: "Tasted death for every Man :" "The Lord laid on |