VII. "And many of the children of Israel shall he "turn to the LORD THEIR GOD, and he shall go "before HIM." (p. 6.) Luke i. 16, 17. "He that cometh AFTER ME is mightier than I." Matt. iii. 11. Mr. Jones argues that these texts prove" Christ "to be the Lord God of the children of Israel." The first is quoted again, from Malachi (4. 6), and I think it is clear that the pronoun Him, at the conclusion, refers to "the Sun of Righteous 66 ness," mentioned by the Prophet at the 2nd verse of the same chapter. The second text is quite foreign to the subject. 66 I have remarked that several writers have laboured to identify our Lord Christ with the God of Israel, the Jehovah of the Old Testament. Now, the parable delivered in the 21st ch. of Matthew, and also in the 12th of Mark and 20th of Luke, completely refutes this idea. That He who " planted the vineyard and hedged it round about," is Jehovah, the God of Israel, cannot be questioned. Having sent divers servants (the prophets) without effect, and " having yet one "Son, his well-beloved, he sent Him also last "unto them, saying, they will reverence My Son." Unless, then, the Father and the Son are declared to be one and the same person, it is impossible to reconcile this with the notion of these writers. (p. 7.) Matt. xi. 10. Mal. iii. 1. It must be granted, that it is dangerous to ground doctrines upon such expressions as are occasionally used in parables; but we may be satisfied that our Lord would cautiously avoid any kind of language, even in a parable, that might tend to mislead his hearers upon a fundamental article of doctrine. VIII. Mr. Jones now repeats a text which he had given at Article VI :— 66 Behold, I send MY messenger before THY "face, to prepare THY way before THEE." 66 "Behold, I send my messenger to prepare the way before ME." 66 From these two texts, Mr. Jones draws the following conclusion :-" Though Christ be a dif"ferent person, yet he is one and the same God "with the Father." The remarks made on the two last articles, I conceive, fully prove not only the distinction between the Father and the Son, but also the superior power and dignity of the Father, inasmuch as it is plain that he who sends is greater than the person who is sent by him. The text from Matthew is no way inconsistent with this. Our Lord Christ pointed out the true way of the Father, by whom he was sent; and therefore, to prepare the way of Christ, was preparing the way of the Father. "They TEMPTED and provoked the Most Ps. lxxviii. "HIGH GOD." 56. "Neither let us TEMPT CHRIST, as some of 1 Cor. x. 9. "them also tempted." 66 "In the former text," saith Mr. Jones, "the "in person tempted is called the Most High God, in the latter he is called Christ; therefore "Christ is the Most High God." Both texts refer to the rebellious conduct of the Israelites in the wilderness. Upon this occasion, we read in the 23rd ch. 20th and 21st v. of Exodus, the following words:-" Behold, I send an Angel "before thee to keep thee in the way."-" Beware "of him, and obey his voice: provoke him not, "for he will not pardon your transgressions: for my name is in him." Commentators are generally agreed in the opinion, that the Angel of God's presence, here mentioned, was our Lord Christ; and to tempt him, thus announced, was to tempt the Most High God. In the chapter 66 following that from which Mr. Jones's second text is taken, the Apostle affirms that "the head of "Christ is God." (1 Cor. 11. 3.) "He that hath the Bride, is THE BRIDE- John iii. 29. "GROOM" (meaning Christ). "But, according to the Prophet," says Mr. Isa. liv. 5. (p. 10.) John xx. 28. Jones, "Thy Maker is thy HUSBAND, the LORD 66 The manner in which Mr. Jones uses the Holy Scriptures, makes it a distressing task to follow him through his arguments. The texts he has here quoted have no connection with each other, nor are they, in any way, to his purpose. The first was spoken by the Baptist, to acknowledge his inferiority to Christ; the other was prophetic of the adoption of the Gentiles. The Hebrew plurals used in this text, from Isaiah, will be noticed hereafter. Mr. Jones, in this place, quotes several passages of Scripture, showing that the title of Shepherd is given both to the Father and the Son, which, he contends, "shows Christ to be upon an equality "with God the Father." In this way he might have shown some of God's creatures to be upon an equality with their Maker; for instance, Cyrus has the same title given to him in the 44th ch. 28th v. of Isaiah. Mr. Jones now proceeds to quote some single texts, which he considers so plain as to make parallels unnecessary; it may, however, be useful to compare his texts with some others. XI. "And Thomas answered and said, MY LORD "AND MY GOD." I find there has been some controversy regard ing this exclamation. To my mind, it appears clear that Thomas now conceived a different idea of his Lord's character from that which he had before entertained. But the words cannot be so construed as to be made declarative of our Lord's co-equality with the Almighty Father: the contrary is declared by our Lord himself as well as by his Apostles, throughout the New Testa ment. It must be admitted, that the beloved disciple would carefully avoid any expressions that might appear derogatory to the character and dignity of his blessed Master; yet he has recorded the following words, spoken by our Lord himself to Mary Magdalene, after his resurrection" Go to 66 66 my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father and your Father, and to my God "and your God." (John 20. 17.) St. Paul, in the 10th ch. 9th v. of his Epistle to the Romans, says, "If thou shalt confess with thy "mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in "thine heart that God hath raised him from "the dead, thou shalt be saved." "This," he says, "is the word of faith which we preach." That Christ was raised from the dead, by the power of the Almighty Father, is plainly affirmed more than twenty times in the New Testament; yet, to support the doctrine of co-equality, many writers make no scruple of denying it, some saying he was raised by his own underived power, |