hereby claiming to be God, and charged him with making himself God.* Nor does Christ, in his answer to them, renounce this claim. Jesus said, "My Father worketh hitherto, and I work."+ Upon this the Jews charged him with making himself equal with God. Nor does he deny this charge, or say that it is unjust : but goes on to say, in a yet stronger manner, " "What things soever the Father doeth, those also doth the Son likewise. For as the Father raiseth up the death, and quickeneth them; even so the Son quickeneth whom he will. For the Father hath committed all judgment unto the Son; that all men should honour the Son, even as they honour the Father." Surely this is making himself equal with God. He moreover says, "All things that the Father hath, are mine."‡ Thus he claims to be equal with the Father, the owner and possessor of all things. This is consistent with his saying, "The Father is greater than I," as he was man as well as God, and agreeable to the economy of redemption, in the human nature, was become a servant, to obey and suffer, in order to effect the redemption of man. In this capacity and work he was sent, and to be justified and exalted by the Father. In this view his words have a plain meaning, consistent with his claim of equality with the Father, as God. "If ye had loved me, ye would rejoice, because I said, I go unto the Father; for my Father is greater than I."|| 4. The divinity of Jesus Christ is asserted by ascrib. ing to him those divine works which God alone can do. He puts himself upon an equality with the Father in this respect, and says, that he does whatsoever the Father doth. My Father worketh hitherto, and I work. What things soever he doth, those also doth the Son likewise." The works of creation and providence are ascribed to him. "All things were made by him, and without him was not any thing made that was made."¶ "For 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.”** God * John x. 33. † John v. 17. + John xvi. 15. ** Col. i. 16, hath made all things for himself: All things were made by Jesus Christ, and for him: Therefore he is God. "And he is before all things, and by him all things consist."* "Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high." And he is addressed in the following words, "Thou, Lord, in the beginning, hast laid the foundation of the earth; and the heavens are the works of thine hands." But these are the works of God, of Jehovah, and peculiar to him. "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. By the word of the Lord were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth." Jesus Christ raiseth men from the dead, which is a work of omnipotence as great as that of creation. When he was on earth he raised man from the dead,, by his own powerful word. And he claims power and authority to raise all the dead of mankind, at the last day. He hath said, "The hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and shall come forth, they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation. And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life : and I will raise him up at the last day. I am the resurrection and the life."|| Jesus Christ will judge the world, angels, devils, and all mankind. This is often asserted in the scripture. All judgment is committed unto him. A work infi nitely too great for a mere creature to perform; and therefore infinitely too great for him, and too high and honourable, were he not the most high God, possessed of infinite power, knowledge, wisdom and rectitude. But one thing more will be added under this head. Jesus Christ is Governor of the world. He has all things in his hand; upholds all things by the word of his power; is head over all things to the church, having VOL. I. 43 * Col. i. 17. Psa. cii. 25. Heb. i. 10. all power in heaven and on earth. He executeth a particular providence; his care and power orders and effects every event, and extends to every creature and thing in the created universe, whether great or small. He alone, therefore, is able to take the book of the divine decrees, and open the seals thereof, by governing the world, and bringing to pass all things agreeable to the eternal purpose. None can do this but he who has omnipotence, infinite knowledge, wisdom and goodness. 5. It is certain that Jesus Christ is the supreme God, in that he is the object of the divine worship, which would be idolatry, if offered to any being but the only true God. Nothing can be more evident and certain than that God is the only proper object of religious worship. Jesus Christ is, in the holy scriptures, asserted to be the object of such worship; therefore he is God. All the angels of heaven are commanded to worship him. "When he bringeth the first begotten into the world, he saith, And let all the angels of God worship him."* John saw and heard him worshipped in heaven, and represented as the object of prayer and praise. "And when he had taken the book, the four beasts, and the four and twenty elders, fell down before the Lamb, having every one of them harps, and golden vials full of odours, which are the prayers of saints. And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and open the seals thereof; for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God, by thy blood. And I beheld, and I heard the voice of many angels round about the throne, and the beasts and the elders; and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands: saying, with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain, to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing. And every creature heard I saying, Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb, forever and ever. And the four beasts said, Amen. And the four and twenty elders fell down and worshipped him that liveth forever and ever;" even *Heb. i. 6, Jesus Christ, who was dead, and is alive, and behold, he liveth forever and ever.* Thus all in heaven and on earth "honour the Lamb, the Son, even as they honour the Father."+ Agreeable to this, St. Paul says of Jesus Christ, "God hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name; that at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow, of things in heaven and things in earth, and under the earth; (or angels, and men, both the living and the dead) and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."+ These words express the involuntary subjection of his enemies, and the voluntary submission, adoration, and worship of his friends, which is given only to God. And that such subjection, submission and worship, is here intended, which is due to God alone; and that Jesus Christ is this God, is evident both from this same apostle's quotation of these words in another place, and from the passage in the prophet Isaiah, from whence they are taken. "For we shall all stand be. fore the judgment seat of Christ. For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God." This homage is here said to be paid to Jesus Christ, as Judge of the world, and as God. And this bowing the knee and confession, is claimed by JEHOVAH, the God of Israel, and he says it shall be given to him, as the only true God, in the passage quoted from Isaiah, "I am God, and there is none else. I have sworn by myself, the word is gone out of my mouth in righteousness, and shall not return, that unto ME every knee shall bow, and every tongue shall swear."|| Stephen, the first martyr, prayed to Jesus Christ, and committed his spirit, himself, to him, when he was expiring under the hand of his persecutors. And they stoned Stephen, calling upon God, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. The word God is not in the original, and the words might be with propriety render * Rev. i. 18. v. 8, 9, 11, 12, 13, 14. † John v. 23. § Rom. xiv. 10, 11. Isaiah xlv. 22, 23. Phil. ii. 9, 10, 11. Acts vii. 59, ed, calling upon Jesus Christ, saying, Lord Jesus, &c. Such a solemn prayer to Jesus Christ, putting his whole trust in him, and committing his soul to him, with his last breath, is an act of worship, which would be gross idolatry, if offered to any but God. And as Stephen worshipped Jesus Christ, and called upon his name, making his last prayer to him when he was leaving the world, he was not singular and alone in this; but thus calling on the name of Christ was practised by all christians, and therefore mentioned as expressive of their character, and an essential branch of it, and by which they are denominated, and distinguished from others. St. Paul thus addresses them : Unto the church of God, which is at Corinth, to them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all that in every place call upon the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord, both theirs and ours."* Ananias, speaking to the Lord Jesus Christ, says, "And here he (Saul) hath authority from the chief priests to bind all that call on thy name." That is, all christians. And of Saul it is further said, "And straightway he preached Christ in the synagogues, that he is the Son of God. But all that heard him were amazed, and said, Is not this he that destroyed them which called on this name in Jerusalem, and came hither for that intent, that he might bring them bound unto the chief priests."+ And when he was on earth he was worshippedBy the wise men from the east-By a ruler of the synagogue-By a woman of Canaan-By a leper-By_a man born blind, whom he had restored to sight-By all who were in the ship with him-By the women, when they saw him, after his resurrection-By the multitude of his disciples, when he appeared to them in Galilee; and by his disciples who saw him ascend from Mount Olivet into heaven. Yet in none of these instances did he forbid this worship to be paid to him, or shew the least disapprobation of it; but the history of it leads us to suppose that such worship was proper; and that he accepted it with approbation, and was pleas ed with it: Whereas, when Cornelius the centurion, * 1 Cor. i. 2. † Acts ix. 14. + Verse 20, 21. |