and majestic manner; " Jesus Christ, he is "Lord of all; the one Lord, by whom are all 66 things, and we by him; who is over all, "God blessed for ever. By whom also God "made the worlds. By him 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 consist: who up"holdeth all things by the word of his power. "This is the beloved Son of God, in whom "he is well pleased: the only-begotten of "the Father, who proceedeth forth and came from God; the brightness of his 66 66 : glory, and the express image of his person; "in whom dwelleth all the fulness of the "Godhead bodily. As the Father hath life "in himself, so hath he given to the Son to "have life in himself. He is the first and "the last it is he that liveth and was dead, "and behold he is alive for evermore. Jesus "Christ, the same yesterday, and to day, "and for ever. For thus saith God unto the "Son, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and "ever: a sceptre of righteousness is the "sceptre of thy kingdom." In all that relates to our Saviour's divine mission, every thing carries with it characteristic marks of the heavenly appointment of that mission: he is sent into the world to redeem from sin and death, and to give eternal life, not to this or that nation or kingdom, but to the whole human species, 66 to be an oblation and sacrifice for the sins "of the whole world." The laws of Solon and Lycurgus were adapted to Greece, those of England to England, and those of France to France; but the laws of the Gospel are suited to all nations on earth, and are calculated to produce universal happiness: therefore, when our Saviour commissions his Disciples to preach his Gospel, he does not say, as an human philosopher might have done, Go to this region, or to this or that empire; but "Go ye into all the "world, and preach the Gospel to every "creature." Again, "Upon this rock I will "build my church, and the gates of hell "shall not prevail against it." Again, " Hea"ven and earth shall pass away, but my “words shall not pass away." And whenever our Saviour mentions or describes a future state, or any thing relative to it, he does so, not in a timid, hesitating, doubtful, ૬૮ or equivocating manner, as an impostor would certainly have done, but in that bold didactic manner, which is so peculiarly characteristic of truth and knowledge. There is another argument, which appears to me of the greatest weight, to induce internal conviction in the soul of man of the divinity of our Saviour, which is, that God Almighty, as Lord and Governor of the world, would never have suffered his authority and glory to be so tarnished and diminished in the judgment of his intellectual creatures, as it certainly is by the assertion of our Saviour, that he was the Son of God, and that he and the Father were one, if these assertions were not founded in truth. God declares in the second commandment, that "he is a jealous God:" and by his prophet Isaiah, "I am the Lord; that is my name, "and my glory will I not give to another.” And in the same prophecy," for how should 66 66 my name be polluted? I will not give my glory to another." And likewise by his prophet Ezekiel he declares, that “he "will be jealous for his holy name." Accordingly we are informed by St. Jude, that the angels who rebelled against God" are "reserved in everlasting chains under dark 66 ness unto the judgment of the great day." And when Sennacherib, as a man, dared to set himself up against God, we are informed of his doom and punishment in the prophecy of Isaiah; "This is the word which the Lord "hath spoken against Sennacherib, king of Assyria; Whom hast thou reproached and “blasphemed, and against whom hast thou "exalted thy voice, and lifted up thine eyes "on high? even against the holy One of "Israel. I know thy abode, and thy going "out, and thy coming in, and thy rage "against me. Because thy rage against me, "and thy tumult, is come up into mine 66 ears, therefore will I put my hook in thy 66 nose, and my bridle in thy lips, &c. And "it came to pass, as he was worshipping "in the house of Nisroch his god, that "Adrammelech and Sharezer his sons smote "him with the sword." In like manner we read in Scripture of the immediate infliction of the vengeance of God on Herod, for his impious presumption in assuming divine honour; "Upon a set day "Herod, arrayed in royal apparel, sat upon "his throne, and made an oration: and the people gave a shout, saying, It is the voice "of a god, and not of a man; and im 66 "mediately the angel of the Lord smote "him, because he gave not God the glory: “and he was eaten of worms, and gave up "the ghost." From God's jealousy for the honour of his holy name, it is reasonable to account for the great displeasure he every where expresses against idolatry in general, and that of the Jews in particular; and the degradation his name suffered by an impious idolatry, not only on earth, but likewise in the sight of angels and other spiritual beings, appears a very sufficient reason for God's determining on its extirpation. How then can we conceive it possible that the Lord God omnipotent, the Creator and sovereign Governor of the universe, should suffer his glory, as such, to be shared and divided by any human being, or suffer that divine worship should be paid to any mere mortal, as we are ordered and commanded to pay it to our Saviour; "That at the "name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and 66 66 things under the earth?" This is not conceivable. It is one thing for impious men, such as Alexander and Caligula, to order divine worship to be paid them, when no man really believed in their divinity, and |