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glorify his justice; the crofs of Chrift glorifies them both in a more remarkable manner, than heaven or hell glorifies any of them. There is more fignal honour done to the juftice of God by the fufferings of Chrift, than by the torments of devils; and there is a more remarkable display of the goodness of God, in the redemption of finners, than in the joy of Angels; fo that we can conceive no object in which we can discover fuch manifold wifdom, or fo deep contrivance for advancing the glory of God.

To this add, that it equally tends to the good of man. It heals all his difeafes, it pardons all his fins. It is the facrifice that removes the guilt of fin, it is the motive that removes the love of fin; it mortifies fin, and expiates it, it atones for disobedience, it excites obedience; and purchases ftrength for obedience, and makes it eafy and delightful.

In fine; fo univerfal and vaft was this defign, that no part of the univerfe was unconcerned in it.

The glory of the Creator was eminently to be. displayed, all the divine perfons were gloriously to be manifefted, the divine attributes to be magnified, the divine works and ways to be honoured; the earth was to be redeemed, hell conquered, heaven purchased, the law to be magnified and established, its commandments to be fulfilled, its curfe to be fuffered, the head of the old ferpent was to be bruised, his works to be destroyed, and the principalities and powers of darknefs to be spoiled and triumphed over openly, the principalities and powers of heaven were to receive new matter of everlafting hallelujahs, and new companions to join them, fallen Angels were to loofe their old fubjects, and the bleffed Angels to receive new fellow-citizens. A new heaven and a new earth formed, to be the scenes of the future glory and bleffednefs of the countless millions of the redeemed!-what things are these!

Thus

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Thus I have attempted to delineate the mediatorial character of Christ, and his high qualifications, for the execution of a performance of univerfal importance, the preparation incomparably folemn, the Deity himself looking on with complacency, and all the hofts of heaven in loud and triumphant anthems of joy, celebrating the matchlefs atchievements of his victorious arm. As he is, in one word, the foundation of all the councils of God, the rock on which the church is built, the brightest mirror of all the divine perfections, the inexhauftible and only fource of every grace, virtue, and excellency, to men; May we not fairly infer from this view of him, that he is Chrift the bleed a.

But the text fays alfo, he is GOD over all, bleffed for ever. It introduces me to the

II. Head, which was to prove the Divine character of the Son of God; and to obviate fome of those objections that have, for many ages, in various forms, been made to the divinity of the perfon of Christ.

To proceed with regularity, I fhall, as on the former head, make fome preliminary remarks, efpecially as the distinct Divinity of the Son, involves the idea of a plurality of perfons. Remark. I muft candidly own that the word TRINITY, is not to be found in all the Bible. It is a term of the invention of men. How, and why, it came to be used, I fhall inform you. During the Apoftolic age, nay for 180 years, the faith of the church all along was in the Father, Son, and Holy Ghoft, one God, into which they were baptized. The Father was not the Son, nor the Son the Father, nor the Holy Ghoft either of the other. This was the common faith of the church, before either Perfon, or Substance, was used. Justin Martyr, informs us, that the facred three were equally worthipped as one God. In Athenagoras, we

a See M'Laurin's Difcourfes.

find

find plain mention made of the Union and Distinction of Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.

Theophilus, about the year 180, is the first writer extant that exprefsly gives them the name of Trinity. The mighty contentions raised by Sabellius, Praxeas, and Noetus, obliged the orthodox to adopt terms to exprefs their judgment refpecting the facred three, and they termed it Trinity of Hypoftafes, perfons, in unity of ufia, or effence. And I own that these learned Greek and Latin Fathers, frequently bewildered themselves in fubtleties and artificial terms to define that, in which all human comprehenfion is fwallowed up and loft.

"Ignofcenda tamen, fi fcirent ignofcere HOSTES."

"A venial fault, if foes knew to forgive."

I acknowledge that the doctrine of the Trinity is attended with difficulties. And yet we must perceive that the Holy Scriptures hold out for our belief, and object of worship, three diftinct names, or titles, of Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. The divinity of the first of these all parties agree in. The divinity of the Holy Spirit, I fhall here prove from fcripture, referving, that of the Son, to conclude the discourse.

The perfon of the Holy Ghoft is defcribed in fcripture as the immediate worker of miracles a; and even of those done by our Lord Himself b. The conductor of Chrift Jefus in his human capacity, during his ftate of humiliation here upon earth; the infpirer of the Prophets and Apoftles; the fearcher of all hearts, and the comforter of good men in difficulties c. To lie to Him, is to lie unto God d; blafphemy against him, is unpardonable e; to refift Him, is to refift Godf. He is in God, and knows the mind of God, as a man knows his own mind; and

a Acts xxiv, 45, 46. xii, 18. d John xiv.

b Matt. xii, 18.
e Acts V, 3, 4.

Acts x, 38. c Matt. iv, I.— f Matt. xii, 31, 32.

and that in respect of all things, even the deep things of God a. Men's bodies are his Temple, and fo are we the Temple of God b. He is joined with Father and Son, in the folemnity of Baptism; in religious oaths, and invocations for grace and peace c, in the fame common operations d, and vocation of perfons into the miniftry e: and he is joined with the Father in the fame common miffion, even of the Son himself f. In a word, he is Lord.g (or Jehovah) and God h, and Lord of Hofts i. This is a brief fummary of what the Scriptures have taught us of the person, character, and offices of the Holy Ghost. Thus facred Scripture plainly holds forth to us Three Perfons, dignified with the fame high titles of Lord, God, &c. invefted with the fame high powers, attributes, and perfections; and intitled to the fame honour, worship, and adoration.

The Trinity in Unity, is the one Supreme Being or Nature, diftinguished from all other beings by the name of Jehovah; for the Scripture gives us the following position:

Deut. vi. 4. The Lord our God is one JEHOVAH: and again, Pfal. lxxxiii. Thou, whofe name ALONE is JEHOVAH, art the Most High over all the earth.

Yet Chrift is Jehovah.

Jer. xxiii. 6. This is the name whereby he shall be called, JEHOVAH our righteousness. So alfo Ifaiah vi. 1, 2. I faw JEHOVAH high and lifted up, &c. which John xii. 41, exprefsly fays refpected Chrift.

So is the Holy Spirit defigned by the fame fupreme, and incommunicable title.

Ezek. viii. 1, 3. The Lord JEHOVAH put forth the form of an hand and took me—and the SPIRIT lift me up, &c.

a Acts vii. 51.

b 1 Cor. ii.

C

Therefore,

d 2 Cor. g Ifa. lxviii. i Acts v. 3, 4.

10, 11. c1 Cor. iii. 16. xiii. 44. e 1 Cor. xii. 5, 6, 7. f Acts xiii. 2.-ix. 15. b Compare Exod. xxxiv. 34. with 2 Cor. iii. 17.

16.

Therefore, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghoft, are ONE Jehovah: They are three persons, yet have but one name, and one nature. And here it is to be obferved, that the argument acquires irresistible force, from this confideration, that the name Jehovah is not capable of fuch equivocal interpretations, as that of God; it has no plural, is incommunicable to any derived or created being; and is peculiar to the divine nature, because it is defcriptive of it a.

At a very early period of the Church, upon the incomprehenfibility of the doctrine, fome bold men b rejected

a See a learned and excellent Treatife on this myfterious subject, by the Rev. William Jones.

b Praxeas, about the year 186, denied the doctrine of the Trinity, and charged the Church with Tritheifm. Tertullian supported the received doctrines, and overthrew his arguments.

Not long after Noetus, revived the charge, and his plea was that GOD is One, and that there could not be a plurality in the Godhead. But he went away with the character of a weak and rafh man; and 1 his opinions were condemned by the Chriftian Church. Yet his followers had fo exalted an opinion of the Divinity of Chrift, that they had no way of folving the difficulty, but by making Father and Son one Perfon,-They were on that account termed Patripaffians.

About the middle of the third century, arofe Sabellius. He was a violent Unitarian, and charged the Church with the worship of Three Gods. He boldly ftruck out the Divinity of Christ, ridiculed an incarnate God, and denied his existence, previous to his incarnation. He may, therefore, juftly be termed the father of the Socinians, whọ, when they were pleased to speak out, held nearly the fame principles.

Within a few years after Sabellius, Paul, of Samofata, carried on the fame charge of Tritheism against the church; was a warm, injudicious afferter of the Unitarian Plan, confining all worship to the Father only, exclufive of the other Perfons. Eufebius informs us, that the Bishops of the Church, ftruck with horror at the impiety of his tenets, ran together against him, as a wolf that was endeavouring to destroy the flock of Chrift.

About the end of the third century appeared Arius, who to avoid Tritheism, (as he thought) and to preferve the unity of the Godhead, and that there might be one felf-exiftent Being or Perfon ('Ev to `ayevvntor, Es'ayevvntos) denied the Divinity of the Second Perfon, only allowing a real pre-existence, and fo making him more antient than the others before-mentioned did. To demonftrate to my readers that I do him juftice, I fhall give his comment on the incarnation of the Eternal Aoyos. John i. II.

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