:^?^\\\-vi;\^^\^ V.J ^^ «•». ../ -y A SEAL UPON THE LIPS OF UNITARIANS, TRINITARIANS, AND ALL OTHERS WHO REFUSE TO ACKNOWLEDGE THE SOLE, SUPREME, AND EXCLUSIVE DIVINITY OF OUR LORD AND SAYIOUR JESUS CHRIST. CONTAINING ILLUSTRATIONS OF ONE HUNDRED AND FORTY-FOUR PASSAGES ' IN the; Four Evangelists and the Apocalypse^ IN PROOF THAT JESUS CHRIST IS THE SUPREME AND ONLY GOD OF HEAVEN AND EARTH. In that (lay there shall be one Jehovah and his name One. Zech. xiv. 9, The Testimony of Jesus is the Spirit of Prophecy. Apoc. xix. 10. BY ROBERT HINDMARSH, J^UTHOR OF LETTEHS TO THE LATE DR. PRIESTLET, IN DEFENCE OF THE NEW '^'^ JERUS-iLEl*! DOCTRINES. REFLECTIONS ON THE UNITARIAN AND TRIIJITA- BIAN DOCTRINES, ScC. &C. PHILADELPHIA , Printed for Johnson Taylor, by Lydia R. Bailey, JN'o. 10, JVorth Alleij. 1815. ^ CONTENTS. Pagje ADVERTISEMENT ... - - . i Preface - - - - - - - iii MATTHEW, Preliminary Observations - - - «■ '■I 1. Matt. i. 18 to 21. The Conception and Birth of Jesus Christ - - - - - - S 2. Matt. i. 22, 23. Jesus is called Emmanuel, or God WITH us - - - - - -7 3. Matt. ii. 1, 2, 11. The Wise Men from the^East wor- ship the Infant Jesus - - ♦ - 15 4. Matt. iii. 3. John the Baptist prepares the Way of Je- hovah, by preparing the Way of Jesus - - 16 3, Matt. iii. 11, 12. John declares himself not worthy to bear the Shoes of Jesus - - - - IT 6. Matt. iv. 7. The Devil tempts Jesus, who replies to him, " Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God" - 18 7. Matt. v. 21, 22 ; 27» 28 ; 31^ 32; 33, 34 ; 38, 59 ; 43, 44. The law of Jehovah new-modelled by Jesus - ib. §. Matt. viil. 2, 3. A Leper worships Jesus, and is cleansed - - - - - - 20 9. Matt. viii. 6 to 10, 13. The Centurion's Faith in Jesus 21 10. Matt. viii. 16. Devils cast out by the Word of Jesus 23 11. Matt. viii. 23 to 27. The Winds and the Waves obey the Voice of Jesus • * " '55 CONTENTS. Page 12. Matt. viii. 31, 22. The Devils petition Jesus to piermit tliem to enter into the Herd of Swine - - 26 13. Matt. ix. 2 to 6. The Paralytic healed, and his Sins forgiven, by Jesus - - - - - 27 14. Matt. ix. 18, 23, 25. The Ruler, whose Daughter was restored to Life, worships Jesus - - - 29 15. Matt. ix. 20 to 22. A Woman, having an Issue of Blood, comes behind Jesus, and touching the Hem of his Garment, is instantly made whole - - G2 16. Matt. ix. 27 to SO. Two blind Men, on confessing their Faith in the Power of Jesus, receive their Sight - 35 17. Matt. X. 1. Jesus gives Power to his twelve Disciples to cast out unclean Spirits, and to heal all Manner of Sickness and Disease - - - -3?' 18. Matt. X. 37 to 39. Jesus worthy to be loved more than Father and Mother, Son and Daughter, yea, more than Life itself - - - - - 38 19. Matt. xi. 27. All Things delivered unto Jesus by the Father - - - - - - 40 30. Matt. xi. 27. No one truly and perfectly knows the Son Jesus, except the Fatlier himself-; nor does any Man know the Father, except the Son - - 44 21. Matt, xh 28. Jesus invites the weary to Himself, and promises to give them Rest - - - - 45 22. Matt. xii. 6. Jesus greater than the Temple - - 50 23. Matt. xii. 8. Jesus, as the Son of Man, is Lord even of the Sabbath Day - - - - - 52 24. Matt. xii. 25. Jesus knows the Thoughts of Men - 5S 25. Matt. xii. 31, 32. Jesus, in discriminating between Blasphemy against the Son of Man, and Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, authoritatively announces what Crime shall, and what shall not, be forgiven unto Men - - - - - - 55 26. Matt. xii. 41, 42. Jesus greater than Jonas, and greater than Solomon - - - - - 64 27. Matt. xiii. 41. Jesus, as the Son of Man, sends forth his Angels to purify hig Church and Kingdom - 66 CONTENTS. Pagf 28. Matt. xiv. 15 to 21. Jesus, with only five Loaves and two Fishes, supplies a Super-abundance of Food for five thousand Men, besides Women and Cliildrea 6S 29. Matt. xiv. 22, 25 to 33. Jesus walks upon the Sea, and enables Peter to do the same, so long as he has Faith in his Divine Omnipotence - - - -75 SO. Matt. XV. 21 to 28. A Woman of Canaan directs her Faith, her Worship, and her Prayer, to Jesus ; where- upon her Daughter, grievously vexed with a Devil, is made whole - - - - - - 78 31. Matt. XV. SO, SI. The lame, the blind, the dumb, &c. healed by Jesus; insomuch that the Multitude won- dered at his Divine Power, and glorified the God of Israel. Including the Reasons why Jesus charged his Disciples and others not to publish him as the Christ 79 32. Matt. xvi. 18, 19. Jesus gives to Peter, as a Represen- tative of Faith in his Divinity, the Keys of the King- dom of Heaven - - - - - 83 S3. Matt. xvii. 1, 2. The Transfiguration of Jesus, exhibit- ing a Sight of his Divine Humanity, and at the same Time of the Glory of his Word - - - 87 34. Matt. xvii. 14 to 18. A Lunatic healed by Jesus, when his Disciples could not effect the Cure, ^or Want of Faith in their Divine Master - > - - 97 35. Matt. "xvii. 24 to 27. Jesus directs Peter to . . 145 47. Matt, xxviii. 18. Jesus declares, that he possesses all Power in Heaven and in Earth - . . 14^' 48. Matt, xxviii. 19, 20. Jesus inculcates the Doctrine of a Divine Trinity, not of Persons, but of Essentials in his own Person; and at the same Time teaches his Di- vine Omnipresence. - - - - 153 CONTENTS, Pagb MARK. Preliminary Observations - - . - . 159 49. Mark i. £3, 24. An unclean Spirit acknowledges Jesus to be the Holy One of God - - - - 161 50. Mark vii. 37. Jesus is declared to have done all Things well - - - - - - - ib. 51. Mark xiv. 12 to 16. Jesus, on sending two of his Dis- ciples to make ready the Passover, foretels, even as to tlie most minute Circumstances, what would occur to them while on that Errand - - - - 162 52. Mark xiv. 18. Jesus foretels, that one of his Disciples (Judas Iscariot) would betray him - - - 163 53. Mark xiv. 27 to 31. Jesus foretels, that all his Disci- ples would be offended because of him, and that Peter in particular would deny him thrice in one Night - 164 54. Mark xvi. 17, 18. Jesus gives Power to Believers to cast out Devils, to speak with new Tongues, to take up Serpents, to drink any deadly Thing with Impuni- ty, and to heal the sick - - - - ib. LUKE. I Preliminary Observations - - - - - 16."; 55. Luke i. 17. John the Baptist precedes Jehovah, i. e. Jesus, in the Spirit and Power of Elias - - ib. 56. Luke i. 41. Elizabeth filled witli the Holy Spirit, on hearing the Salutation of Mary now pregnant with the Child Jesus 166 57. Luke ii. 11. Jesus at his Birth is declared by an Angel to be a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord - - 167 58. Luke ii. 42 to 50. Jesus at twelve Years of Age found in the Temple, in the midst of the Doctors, pursuing not his supposed, but his real Father's Business. In- cluding a Discussion of tlie Question, How he could be ihc Father^ to whom all Things were known, when at CONTENTS. Page the same Time he was the Son, to whom some Thinjjs were unknown ? - - - - - 168 59. Luke v. 4 to 6. Jesus directs Simon and his Compa- nions to launch out into the Deep, and let down their Nets ; whereupon they inclose a great Number of Fishes ...... 17-5 60. Luke vii. 11 to 15. Jesus raises from the dead a young Man, the Son of a Widow - . - . 176 61. Luke viii. 38, 39. Jesus, after casting a Legion of De- vils out of a Man, tells him to shew how great Things God, i. e. Himself, had done unto him - - ib. 62. Luke viii. 49 to 55. Jesus raises a young Maiden from Death, and calls her Spirit back again - - 177 63. Luke ix. 38 to 43. Jesus rebukes and casts out an un- clean Spirit from a Child, which his Disciples were unable to do - - - - - - 179 64. Luke x. 17 to 19. Jesus gives the seventy Power to tread on Serpents and Scorpions, and over all the Power of the Enemy - - - - ib. 65. Luke xi. 20. Jesus casts out Devils with the Finger of God, that is, by his own Power . - . ISQ 66. Luke xii. 8, 9. The Confession of Jesus before Men will be rewarded before Angels ; while the Denial of him will be punished by Exclusion from Heaven - 181 67. Luke xvii. 12 to 19. Ten Lepers cleansed, of whom only one returned to glorify God, by giving Thanks to Jesus. Including a great Variety of Cases, wherein Jesus is expressly called God , . . 182 68. Luke xviii. 16. Jesus invites little Children to come unto him ; and thus teaches, that Access to him in the Spirit of Innocence and Humility qualifies for the Kingdom of Heaven - - - - . I8& CONTEKl^l JOHN. Page Preliminary Observations - - - - - 187 69. John i. 1, 3, 10, 14. God is declared to be the Word, or the Divine Truth, which was made Flesh, i. e. in the Person of Jesus - - - - - ib, 70. John i. 18. No mere Man hath seen God ; but the only- begotten Son, i. e. Jesus, hath both seen bim, and made him manifest - - - - - 188 71. John ii. 24, 25. Jesus knows all Men, and needs no Testimony concerning Man, because he knows what is in Man --..-. xS9 72. John iii. 13. Jesus, as the Son of Man, is both in Hea- ven and on Earth at the same Time - - . 190 73. John iii. 31. Jesus, who came from above, is above all, and therefore must be God - - - - 191 74. John iii. 34. Jesus receives the Spirit not by Measure, or partially, but in all it's Fulness, that is, infinitely or without Limitation . _ . . 192 75. John iii. 35. The Father gives all Things into the Hands of the Son Jesus - • - - - ib. 76. John iii. 36. Faith in the Son, that is, in Jesus, secures everlasting Life --.-,- 194 77. John iv. 14. Jesus gives the Water of everlasting Life ib. 78. John V. 17, 18. Jesus makes himself equal with God - 195 79. John V. 26. Jesus the Son hath Life in himself, in like Manner as the Father hath - - - - 197 80. John V. 40. Jesus complains, that Men will pot come to him for Life ----- Wy, 81. John vi. 46. Jesus aloite hath seen the Father - 198 f82. John vi. 51 to 54. Jesus is the living Bread, that came down from Heaven - - - ■► - ib. 83. John yi. 63. The Words of Jesus are Spirit and Life 199 84. John vi. 64. Jesus knew from the Beginning who were Unbelievers, and who would betray him - - ib. 85. John vi. 67, 68. Jesus has the Words of eternal Life 200 b CONTENTS. Pagbi 86. John vii. IS. Jesus is true, and no Unrighteousness is in him 200 87. John A'ii. ST, 58. Jesus invites the thirsty to come unto him, and promises to supply them with living Water 202 88. John vii. 46. Never Man spake like the Divine Man Jesus - - - - - - 204 89. John viii. 19. To the Pharisees, -who inquired of Jesus concerning his Father, he replies, that tliey knew not his Father, because they knew not him - - 206 00. John viii. 24. The Necessity of believing, that Jesus is the Great I Am ..... 20r 91. John viii. 46. Jesus declares himself to be free from Sin. Including an Inquiry into the Reason why the City Jerusalem is called Jehovah our Righteous- ness - - - - - - 208 92. John viii. 58. The Pre-e:dr-tence of Jesus before Abra- ham, yet in a Way that bears no Relation to the vSuc- cessions of Time. Including, a Key to the Temple of Wisdom, shewing the Difference between genuine and apparent Truths .... oq^). 93. John X. 14, 16. Jesus claims to be the One Good Shep- herd, equally with Jehovah ... 216 94. John X. 15, 18. Jesus lays down his Life of his own Accord, and takes it again by his own Power - 218 95. John X. 27 to SO. Jesus declares himself to be the Giver of eternal Life, and expressly identifies himself with his Father - - - - - - ib. 96. John X. 33. Jesus, being a Man, makes himself God - 219 97. John xi. 25, 26. Jesus is the Resurrection and the Life 222 08. John xi. 32. The Presence of Jesus a Security against Death - - - - - - 223 99. John xi. 43, 44. Jesus raises Lazarus from the dead - ib. JOO. Johnxii.32. Jf.sus, when lifted up from tlie Earth, that is, when glorified, and acknowledged to be wholly Divine, draws all his Children unto himself - - 224 101. John xii. 37, 58. The Jews condoitmed for not believ- CONTENTS. Page ing Jesus to be the very Arm (or fiumanity) of Je- hovah .-.--. 226 102. John xii. 44, 45. Faith in Jesus is at the same Time Faith in the Father - - - - ^ 22?" 103. John xiii. 13. Jesus proclaims himself our Master and Lord - - - - - - 231 104. John xiv. 1. Jesus enjoins his Disciples to l)elieve in God, and also in Him .... 232 105. John xiv. 6. Jesus the Way, the Truth, and the Life 235 106. John xiv. 7 to 9. Jesus instructs Philip, that whoso- ever sees him, at the same time sees the Father - 236 1,07. John xiv. 13, 14. Jesus promises to answer Prayer, "when offered in his Name, that is, when directed im- mediately to him, under an Acknowledgment that the Father is in him, as the Soul is in the Body - - 239 108. John xiv. 16 to 18. Jesus identifies himself with the Comforter, though at the same Time he distinguishes between his Presence in Person, and his Presence in the vSpirit of Truth - - - - -241 109. John XV. 5. The Ability of Man to do any Thing is entirely derived from Jesus ... 243 110. John XV. 23, 24. Jesus declares, that whosoever hat- eth him, hateth his Father also ; and that, he and the Father being one, he bad therefore done such Works, as no other Man ever did ... - 244 111* John xvi. 8, 9. Jesus says, the Comforter will reprove the World of Sin, because they believe not on him - ib. 112. John xvi. 14. The Spirit of Truth glorifies Jesus, in- asmuch as it receives of his, that is to say, because it proceeds entirely from him .... 247 113. John xvi. 15. All Things belonging to the Father are the Property of Jesus .... 248 114. John xvii. 3. Life eternal consists in knowing the Fa- ther and Jesus Christ the Son ... 249 1-15. John xvii. 5. The Glorification of Jesus is his Union with the Father, or pure Divinity, such as it was be- fore the World existed . - - - 254 CONTENTS. Pack 116. John xvii. 10. All Things belonging to the Father are the Property of Jesus, and all Things belonging to Jesus are the Property of the Father ; or, in other Words, the wliole Divinity is Humanized, and the whole Humanity is Divinized, mutually and recipro- cally --...-. 25r' 117. John xviii. S3, 36, 37. Jesus acknowledges himself to be a King, though his Kingdom is not of this World. Including a Discussion of the Question, Whether Je- sus will ever give up the Kingdom to the Father, that God may be all in all - - - - 258^ 118. John XX. 22, 23. Jesus breathes upon his Disciples the Holy Spirit, and gives them Power to remit or re- tain Sins --..-- 270 119. John XX. 28, 29. Thomas acknowledges Jesus to be his Lord and his God . . . , 272 120. John xxi. 25. The World incapable of containing the Books, that should be written, were all the Acts of Jesus to be particularly described - - - 273 THE APOCALYPSE. Preliminary Observations ----- 277 121. Apoc. i. 6. Glory and Dominion are ascribed to Jesus Christ - - - - - - ib. 122. Apoc. i. 10 to 18. A Description of Jesus as the Son OF Man in the Midst of the seven golden Candle- sticks, similar to that of the Ancient of Days by the Prophet Daniel ----- 279 123. Apoc. ii. 7. To him that overcometh Jesus gives to eat of the Tree of Life - - - - - 283 124. Apoc. ii. 10. Jesus promises to give to the faithful a Crown of Life _ - . . . 285 125. Apoc. ii. 17. Jesus gives to eat of the hidden ISIanna 286. 126. Apoc. ii. 21 to 23. Jesus gives the Woman Jezebel, or the perverted Church, Space to repejit ; and, being CONTENTS. Pags the Searcher of all Hearts, will deal with every one according to his Works - . - . 287 127. Apoc. V. 12 to 14. Jesus, or tl?e Lamb, is accounted worthy to receive all Honour, in common with Him that sitteth upon the Tiirone - - - 289 128. Apoc. vi. 16, 17. Jesus, or the Lamb, equally with the Lord God Almighty, is an Object of Dread to the wicked - - - - - - 293 129. Apoc. vii. 9 to 12. An universal Glorification in Hea- ven, ascribing Salvation to God and the Lamb - 295 130. Apoc. vii. 15 to 17. God and the Lamb equally the Source of Comfort and Happiness in Heaven - ib. 131. Apoc. xi. 15. The Kingdoms of the World are become the Kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ - 296 132. Apoc. xii. 10. Now is come the Kingdom of our God, and the Power of his Christ - - -302 133. Apoc. xiv. 4. The hundred and forty -four thousand follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth, being the First-Fruits unto God and the Lamb - - 303 134. Apoc. xvii. 14. The Lamb is the Lord of Lords, and King of Kings - - - - - 304 135. Apoc. xix. 7, 9. The Marriage of the Lamb with his Church is a Source of Joy, and the Occasion of giving Honour to the Lord God OmnTpotent - - 306 136. Apoc xix. 10. The Testimony of Jesus is the Spirit of Prophecy. Including Remarks on those Books, which are of Divine Authority in the Church - - 307 137. Apoc. xix. 11 to 16. A Description of Jesus, applica- ble both to his Person and to his Word ; he being in each Respect called King of Kings, and Lord of Lords 313 138. Apoc. xxi. 6, 7. Jesus declares himself to be Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End, the Giver of Life, and the Supreme God - - - - 316 139. Apoc. xxi. 22, 23. The Lord God Almightv and the Lamb are together the Temple of the New Jeru- salem - ' - - - 3IS CONTENTS^,: Pack 140. Apoc. xxi. 27. The Sacred Scripture is called the Lamb's Book of Life - - - -320 14L Apoc. xxii. 1. A River of Water of Life proceeds equally from the Throne of God and of the Lamb - 321 142. Apoc. xxii. 3, 4. The Throne of God and of the Lamb is one and the same Throne, because both Names de- note only one and the same Divine Being - - 323 143. Apoc. xxii. 12, 13. Jesus announces his Second Ad- vent in the Character of Alpha and Omega, the Begin- ning and the End, the First and the Last - - 326 144. Apoc. xxii. 16. Jesus sends his Angel to testify these Things in the Churches - - - . - 330 Conclusion ------- 335 Concluding Testimonies from the Sacred Scriptures, in Pi-oof of the sole, supreme, and exclusive Divinity of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ - . . 340 ADVERTISEMENT. THE great Question concerning the Person and Cha- racter of Jesus Christ, has long agitated the Christian Church ; and never was the puhlic Mind more earnestly en- gaged in the Inquiry, than it has been of late, and indeed still continues to be. Nay, we do not hesitate to declare our Conviction, that from this Date a new and still deeper Inter- est in every Thing that bears upon the Subject, will be ex- cited among religious Professors of every Denomination. For henceforth the Question will be, not as in Times past, Whether the Saviour of the World be, or be not, a mere Participator in the Divine Nature, in common with two other supposed Persons, who have equal Claims to it with himself; but as it always ought to have been. Whether lie be, or be not, the SolCf the Whole, or the Supreme God of the Universe himself. This is the true and proper Question, which is now put to the Public, to every Man that calls himself a Chris- tian, to the Reader of this Address in particular. And he is called upon, in the first Place, to reflect seriously in his own Mind, whether there can by any Possibility be more than One God, One proper Object of Worship, and consequent- ly One Divine Person upon the Throne of Heaven. In the next Place, let him consult the Sacred Scriptures, to see whether Jesus Christ be, or be not, this One Supreme God. And, lastly, if he cannot, with all the Aids hitherto put in his Way, obtain a full, clear, and satisfactory View of the Subject, not only consistent with the Divine Unity both as to Essence and as to Form, which must never be sacrificed to any human Invention, but consistent also Avith tlie various Passages, which at one Time distinguish between the Fa- fi ADVERTISEMENT. Iher and the Son apparently as heo, and at another Time identity them most evidently as One; then let him read ihis Work, which is now providentially submitted to his Notice^ as a humble Medium of convejing to his Mind the true An- swer to the great Question above stated ; inasmueh as it un- folds, in a Way accommodated to the plainest Capacity, the genuine, undoubted Sense of Divine Revelation, on that most important of all Subjects, the Knowledge and Worship of the TRUE GOD. PREFACE. THE question concerning the divinity of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ has in all ages of the church, since the times of Arius and the Council of Nice, divided the opi- nions of professing Christians. By far the majority of these, wlicther as Catholics or as Protestants, have adopted the idea of a Trinity of divine persons in the Godhead, all exist- ing from eternity, hut (what is singular enough) never once heard of, either among Jews or Christians, until some hun- dred years had elapsed after the Sacred Scriptures were written and published. The first person in rank they call the Father^ the second the Son, and the third the Holy GJiost. By the Son, whom they suppose to have existedyrom eternity, in common with the other two persons, they under- stand Jesus Christ, not indeed as to his human nature, for this they allow to have been born in time, but only as to his divine nature, which they consider to be as complete a per- son in itself, as the divine nature of either the F'ather or the Holy Ghost. But it is observable, that, besides the divine person of the Son, which they say existed from eternity, they give to Jesus another ycrsoUf which was born in time, and is merely human. And these two persons, the human and the divine, they actually separate the one from the other, plac- ing the divine not within the human, but out of and above it. And thus they first of all divide their God iuto three parts called persons, and then, in order to make a Saviour nf the second part or person, they provide for him another addition- al person, consisting of mere flesh and blood, capable of re- ceiving and suffering the supposed vengeance and fierce in- dignation of the first divine person, and &o atoning in body iv PREFACE. alone, for the sins of others comiuitteil in spirit and body to- gether ! Such, in a few words, is the preTiosterous faith or doctrit^e concerning the person or rather persons of Jesus Christ, which is held by Trinitarians, Avho compose the great body of Christians(so called.) If they be asked, wliether the addition- alperson born in time, crucified, and raised from the dead, be possessed of divine attributes, such as omnipotence, omni- science, and omnipresence ; the orthodox and learned among them will unanimously answer in the negative; because they consider the risen body of Jescs to be still material, as before. And if the inquiry be continued relative to the place, where this material body is now supposed to be, the question will be thought captious, and no answer whatever will be given to it, except what is contained in the Kubrick at the end of the communion-service of the Church of Eng- land. But there is another description of nominal Christians, who have long raised their voices against such an extraor- dinary medley of opinion, though themselves are not a whit nearer the truth of revelation than the former, if indeed they are so near. And these are called Unitarians, on account of their professing to believe in only One God, and rejecting the idea of a Trinity of divine persons. But not being agreed among themselves about the person of Jesus, they may pro- perly be divided into two classes, called Jlrians and Socini- ans. The tRrian Unitarians are those among them, who admit the pre-existence of Jesus in heaven, long before his birth in the world : and consequently these allow him to be more than a mere man. Nay, they will even acknowledge him to be of higher dignity and authority, than any angel. But still they consider him to be only a creature like others, though the first that came out of the creating hands of his God, and the distinguished person, by whose instrumentality PREFACP.. V the heavens, the earth, and all things therein, were original- l^^ brought into existence. Hence they place him at the head of creation, and suppose him qualified to superintend and govern the whole, in the name and on the hehalf of the great God his Master and Make. The Socinian Unitarians^ on the other hand, are proper- ly those, who consider Jesus to have had no existence till his birth in the world; who suppose him to be a mere man like themselves, the real son of Joseph and Mary, and con- sequently as having no claims, by birth or descent, superior to those of any other human being. As before observed, both of these classes take the nami} of Unitarians :* and though they differ with each other re- specting the rank or quality of Jesus in the scale of existence, they are perfectly agreed in this, that he possesses in himself nothing of the character of a Divine Being , nothing of the real • It is observable, that the Utiitarians begin now to be actually ashamed of receiving their denomination from any mere man, except Indeed the mere man Jesus Christ, whose name they have not as yet thrown off, whatever they may think proper to do hereafter. And truly there seems to be no sufficient rea- son why the name of one mere man may not be dropped, as well as that of ■another. But let us hear the argument on this point as out of the mouth of an Unitarian himself. — " Anius and Socinus were both mere men .- Must! take "my religious denomination from thenameof either of ihem, merely because " I happen to approve of the doctrines, generally speaking, which they taught .'" An intelligent Unitarian puts this question to himself: and he immediately answers, " No ; my denomination shall have some reference to the religious "principles I have embraced, and not to the man, the mere instrument or chan- " nel, through whom they have come to me : it shall bear some respect to the " Great Object of my worship, the Supreme God himself, and not to any of " his ministers, messengers, or humble servants. I will therefore take and hold " to the name of Unitarian, because this involves the chief characteristic of "my religious profession — the acknowledgment of One God alone." "Pla- " to, thou reason'st well !" Xow let us hear the grounds of thy assuming the name of Christian ; seeing that, according to thy creed, Jesus, like Arius and SociNcs, is b^u a man ! or at best bat a finite creature ! Wilt thou stand to thy former argument ? No answer. " Again we put the question. ■ " But he refuses to reply ! ! ! Vl PREFACE. perfection of a self existent Deitii, being at best no other than a mere creature, depending cver^y moment for his existence on the good-pleasine of his I)ountiful Creator. The distinction, therefore, between the one and the other of these two eh\ss- es of Unitarians, amounts to no more than tliat, which dis- criminates the insect with wings of variegated beauty, from the insect that has none at all : the one is adorned w ith all the colours of the rainbow, and can fly aloft into the air, as into it's proper heaven ; w hile the other, totally destitute of the power to raise itself above the ground, is doomed to crawl upon it's native earth. But still, however splendid and gay the one, and however mean and grovelling the other, they are both equally worms, notwithstanding their varied ap- pearance, which may be considered as a distinction in foriUf without a difference in essence. So, comparatively speaking, while the Socinian Unitarian degrades the Saviour of the world to his own rank of mere humanity, and thus strips him of his power, as well as of his glory, his Jlrian brother is considerate enough to deck him «ut in an exterior garb of super-angelic beauty, but still admonishes him of his borrow- ed plumes and his original nothingness.* Thus the two classes of Unitarians, after setting out to- gether in good fellowship on a long and tedious journey, but differing with each other on the road, in a dark and dreary night part company at the entrance of a black forest, where losing and bewildering themselves in \heir respective paths, they at length meet again, as by accident ,• and having saluted each other with tokens of returning friendship, mu- tually agree to travel the remainder of the way hand in hand. * In a conversation, which the Auliior had, in his own house in London, with the late Dr. Prikstlet, on this very subject, and in which he described the difierence between .drianism and Socinianism in a way similar to the above, the Doctor acknowledged tlie justness of the comparison, and admitted, that botli doctrines \\it\c finnlamentally the same ; although, as a zealous profes- sor of Hocinianism, he had warmly opposed the system of Anros, PREFACE. vii But being wearied almost to death, and still perceiving no light to guide their steps, except what is furnished every now and then by transient meteors and flying exhalations, they sit down in anxious expectation of day -light, but in the mean time fall fast asleep ; in which situation and deplora- ble condition they still continue, even after the rising of the sun. But we have at last found them, before it was too late; and shall now endeavour, with the trumpet we carry in our hand, to rouse them out of their dangerous lethargy : and while we put a seal upon their lips, we will do our ut- most to unseal their eyes, to unstop their ears, and to ivarm their frozen hearts, that they may run with alacrity and joy the way that is now pointed out ; for it leads to life, to hap- piness, and to heaven. In the following work we undertake to oppose and refute the sentiments of Unitarians of each class, and also of Tri- nitarians of every description, whether they be of the Romish or the Protestant persuasion, of the established or non-estab- lished churches, on the subject of the divinity of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ : for as they are all agreed in re- fusing to acknowledge his exclusive title to the sovereignty and dominion of the universe, we are under the necessity of ranking them all together as in some sort united, and *' tak- ** ing counsel together against the Lord, and against his " Anointed,'* Fs. ii. 3. But we trust we shall be enabled to " break their hands asunder, and to cast atvay their cords **from MS," ver. 3. In other words, we hope it m ill be made to appear, that neither the Unitarian nor the Trinitarian is in possession of the genuine truth, relative to the person and character of Jesus Christ; but that, while the former regards him as a mere man, or a mere creature even of su- per-angelic order ; and while the latter, allowing him in common with two other persons some portion of divinity, yet carefully separates even this small pittance from his huma- nity, and thus puts asunder what God has irreversibly and viii PREFACE. eternally united ; the Sacred Scriptures give full and unceas- ing testimony to the sole and exclusive divinity of ourhless- ed Lord, whom they equally characterize, hoth in the Old and in the New Testament, as the Onhj Father and Creator of the universe, the onhi Redeemer and 8ariour of the world, and tJie onhj Regenerator and Comforter of his people. To this purpose we have hrought forward, in the follow- ing sheets, hesides a multitude of appropriate collateral quo- tations from the Old Testament, one hundred and forly-four direct evidences and proofs of the divinity of Jesus Christ, taken from the Gospels and the Apocalypse, these being the only divine hooks belonging to the New Testament; which five books may be considered as the^^rc hooks of the Lamb, closing, winding up, and completing the canon of Sacred Scripture, in like manner as the Jive books of Moses begin it. And though we could have swelled our volume with ex- tracts and quotations, to the same effect as the above, from the Acts and Epistles of the Apostles, yet we have chosen to have recourse, for our authority, only to those testimo- nies, which we conceive to be ahsolutcly divine^ and to carry with them a power and e^cacij unknown to any human writ- ing, however valuable and useful it may be in many other respects.* It may be of little consequence to the reader to know the occasion, which first gave rise to the following work : yet it may do him no harm to be made acquainted with it. A few years ago, when the Author resided in London, he was in- troduced by a friend to the company of some gentlemen, who * Here and there indeed we may give a quotation from, or reference to, some of the books here excepted from the Divine Code ; but then it will be only by way of confirmation of the doctrine there advanced, for the sake of those, who know not as yet the distinction between those books which pro- ceed/rom the Lord, and those which proceed only from man, even from a good and pious man. IJutthis subject will be seen more fully treated of in a note tinder article 136, of tlie following work. PREFACE. ix Vfere zealous promoters of the Unitai'ian doctrines. After much conversation with them on a variety of subjects, which engaged their attention, but particularly concerning theiv views of the jierson and character of Jesus Christ, he was surprised to hear, that they, with others of their friends, were at that very time actively employed in forming 'new societies in different parts of the town, for the propagation of tJnitarian principles. He visited, on different occasions, five or six of these societies, some of which were held public- ly, and some in private houses, to which no strangers had access, but those who were expressly invited. He heard their debates, and listened to their reasonings with all th« candour he was master of j and at times availed himself of the liberty, which was granted to any one in the company, of delivering his own sentiments without reserve. He after- wards made minutes of the principal subjects, that were from time to time brought upon the carpet : and having ob- served hoAv easily some apparently upright minds were led astray by the fallacious reasonings urged by some of the more distinguished speakers among them, he formed the design of endeavouring, at some future opportunity, to counteract, according to the best of his ability, what appeared to him to be a most dangerous and fatal error. But on further reflection he was led to see, that, hoAV- ever useful any honest exertions might prove in endeavour- ing to silence, by fair argument, the false reasonings of the Unitarian^ there was perhaps an equal, if not (by reason of it's mare general prervalencej a still greater danger to the simple and unwary, arising from the doctrines of what is usually called Trinitarianism. To enter the lists with both of these at one time, especially when it is considered tliat they are separately furnished with horses, and chariots, and a great host of warriors of almost every description and rank, he thought might be accounted a matter of impru- dence, if not of presumption, on the part of a mere private. X PREFACE. an untitled individual. He was thercibre inclined to remain a silent spectator of the passing events of the day : and so he has continued until very lately. But while he was mus- ing on the subject, again and again he as it were heard a voice saying to him, *' Fear not; for they that he with us, *• are more than they that he ivith them" 2 Kings vi. 16. And then looking up, and having his eyes as it were open, " he *< saw, and lo ! the mountain ivasfull of horses and chariots *^ of fire round ahouti^ ver. 17. Immediately he was inspir- ed with courage, because he knew that the battle was not his, but " the Lord's," 1 Sam. xvii. i7 : and thereupon an assurance was given him, that the hostile army would " he *' smitten rvith blindness, so that they should not be able to <* see, until they arrived in the midst of Samaria, (the true ** spiritual church,) where their eyes should be opened, and ** themselves fed with abundance of provision," 2 Kings vi. 18 to 23. Under all these circumstances and considerations, the pre- sent work has been conceived, and is now at length brougiit forth, with a reasonable hope, that it may not only be found useful in confirming the faith of those who are already in possession of the truth, but that it may also become the means, under divine providence, of leading others out of a state of ignorance or doubt concerning the sole divinity of our Lord, into a rational, scriptural, and full conviititin, that he alone is possessed of all power both in heaven and on earth, agreeably to his own words in Matt, xxviii. 18; and consequently that he alone is the God of the church, the sin- gle Object to whom all worship ought ever to be directed, and thus the ever-living Jehovah himself in a divinely-hu- man form. Having thus stated the origin, nature, and design of the fallowing work, which (as already noticed) consists of a va- riety of testimonies from the Sacred Scriptures in proof of the sole divinity of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, PREFACE. xi taken in their plain and obvious sense, together with reflec- tions as well on the celestial doctrine, which they so abun- dantly confirm, as on the Unitarian and Trinitarian doc- trines, which they so decidedly annul ; it remains only to be further observed by the Author, that he submits the whole to the unbiassed judgment and candour of the public ; trust- ing, that, as it has been written in the spirit of charity, and with a sincere desire to promote the spiritual welfare of the reader, it will be received by him in the same spirit, what- ever may be the effect produced by it upon his understanding. He is well aware, that a subject so truly great and impor- tant, in every point of view, as that which he has undertaken to handle and defend, is worthy of a far abler pen, than that which it has fallen to his lot to possess. He is also con- scious, that there must be many imperfections in the execu- tion of this plan, for which he hopes a favourable allowance will be made ; as he has done his best to set forth and extol a Name, which to him has long appeared infinitely to excel all other names. And though he is sure, that he has writ- ten nothing with a view to offend either Unitarian or Trini- tarian, either Catholic or Protestant, yet should any expres- sion have escaped his pen, calculated to inflict a wound upon either of them, or to give pain to a single individual, he would willingly erase it from his paper, and would beg the reader to erase also the memory of it from his mind. Ho has no personal enemies that he knows of; and he seeks not to make any. The erroneous sentiments of a man he considers as distinguishable from the man himself: and if at times he is found to oppose the former with much free- dom and plainness, he would yet wish to love, respect, and honour the latter in a suitable and becoming manner. With these sentiments of friendship and esteem for all, who in any respect bear the image and likeness of the com- mon Parent of mankind, he concludes these observations ; and d xii PREFACE. sincerely hopes, that the work itself, to which they serve as an introduction, may prove acceptable to the reader, and productive of lasting benefit to the community at large. Robert Hindmarsh. Salford, Manchester. Feb. 18, 1814=53. A SEAL UPON THE LIPiS OF UNITARIANS, TRINITARIANS, &c. &c. *' The Testimornj 0/ Jesus is the Spirit of Propfieqj." Apoc. six. 10. MATTHEAY. [PRELIMINARY.] WE are well aware, that it is the opinion ©f many Unita* rians, particularly those who have heretofore been known by the name of Socinians, that our Lord Jesus Christ was either the legitimate or illegitimate offspring of Joseph ; and consequently that his conception no more partook of a miraculous character and quality, than the conception of any other man. This senti- ment has been distinctly avowed by some of the principal wri- ters among them, who have not hesitated to call in question the authenticity of the first chapter of Matthew's Gospel, as well as some other parts of divine revelation, and for no otlier reason, but because it announces in the plainest language, that Jesus, so far from being a mere man, or the son of a mere man, was in reality of divine extraction ; nay, that, though as to his e.vterior body of flesh and blood he was born of a woman, yet A i> A SEAL UPON THE LIPS OF as to his inferior essence and form he was no less than Emmanu- KL himself, that is to say, God with us. But as we do not, out {){ comjdaisance to the opinion of Unitarians, or of any other de- scription of professing Christians, chuse to forego the advantage so fairly offered us in the introduction to this Gospel, we shall endeavour to avail ourselves of the divine truth which it contains, in common with the succeeding chapters, to establish and confirm a doctrine, which appears to us to be the sum and substance of all revelation. Our arguments are not confined to any one chapter, or exclu- sively drawn from particular passages, which have been marked out as liable to objection in point of authenticity ; but they spring up as it were spontaneously from almost every chapter in each of tlie Gospels, from almost every fact and circumstance recorded in the life of Jesus. Yet, in comparison Avith what remain be- hind, we have only selected a few of the most prominent, to lay before the reader, which, like the advanced guard of a powerful army, are thought to be of themselves quite sufiicient to put to flight the united legions of the enemy, without drawing fi-om the great body of reserve an unnecessary force, which however is al- ways at hand, and in readines's to act as occasion may require. AVith respect to Trinitarians, who form an army of a different description from that of Unitarians, and who are in general at war with thes'e latter, but by no means in settled amity with us ; we shall frequently have occasion to break ground with them also, and shall in the end, we hope, reduce them at least to the necessity of cupituliition, if we do not (as is rather expected) make them all unconditional prisoners ofivar. We are not, how- ever, cruel, merciless banditti, that make war for the sake of plunder, and to the crime of robbery add that of murder. At the very sight of distress even in an enemy, our hearts melt within u's ; and when he asks for quarter, we not only spare his life, but give him the hand of friendship, take him under our protection, and cause him to participate with us in all our comforts and de- lights. A';d tliis we do by the especial orrftr awd recommendatiou of our SovEUEiGN, who, though the Captain of our host, Josb. « . 14 : Deut. i. 30, has yet obtained among us the deserved title UNITARIANS, TRINITARIANS, &c. 3 of Father of his people, and Prince of peace, Isa. ix. 6; John xiv. 9, 27. From him alone this sentiment of love and affec- tion is derived; his voice, his presence, his name inspires it; and while it's influence spreads among our ranks, every bosom is ex- panded, every heart is elate with joy, and every tongue proclaims, that he is Lord of lords, and King of kings, Apoc. xvii. 14; chap. xix. 16. [1.] MATT. i. 18 to 21. « Now the birth of Jesus Christ " was on this wise : When as h\s mother Mary was espoused to " Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of " the Holy Spirit.* Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, " and not willing to make her a public example, was minded to <' put her away privily. But while he thought on these things, " behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, " saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee " Mary thy wife ; for that which is conceived in her is of the " Holy Spirit. And she shall bring forth a Son, and thou shalt '• call his name Jesus ; for he shall save his people from their " s»js." See also Luke i. 26 to 35 ; chap. ii. 1 L Here two things are expressly and distinctly stated in refe- rence to Jesus, which cannot be applied to any mere man, no nor * The reader is requested to observe, that, Instead of the word Ghost, which is now nearly obsolete, or scarcely ever used in the English language, except in a low sense, to denote a mere phantom or spectre, we have for the most part adopted the term Spirit, as being preferable in every respect. The rule, by which we have been governed in the use of these terms, in the fol- lowing work, is this. Whensoever we quote from the Sacred Scriptures, or speak in agreement with them, or with genuine doctrine derived from them, we invariably use the word Spirit, or JIoli/ Spirit, as the case may be. But, on the other hand, whensoever we speak of a trinity of persons in the divine na- ture, as maintained by Trinitarians, whose real name is more properly Triper- sonalists, on such occasions we use the term Ghost or IIoli/ Ghost, as better suited to express their idea of the subject, than the phrase Jh/u Spiriff which we have uniformly retained in delivering our own ^icntiments 4 A SEAL UPON THE LIPS OF to any angel of heaven, however high and pre-eminent may be iii^ character in tlie great scale of creation ; namely, 1st, That he was conceived of the Holy Spirit ; and 2dly, Tliat he shall save his people from their sins. AVith respect to the first p(yint, it is to he observed, that the Holy Spirit is the divine virtue, power, and operation of Jeho- vah God himself, producing a visible human form, wherein the invisible essence of Deity may reside and be contained. But as ^he divine essence is in itself one and indivisible, incapable of se- paration into distinct personalities, in the manner of human pro- pagation from a father to a son, it follows, that the body produc- ed by conception from Jehovahj must be not only of the same essence with it's Father, but identically one and the same person as to it's interior substance, though as to the exterior and infirm substance derived from the mother Mary, it was in the sight and estimation of the world distinct from the Father. This difference between what was derived from Jehovah the Father, and wh^t was derived from Mary the mother, ouglit to be well attended to in reading the Gospels, because it is the only true key to the right understanding of many parts of those heavenly and divine writings. It removes at once the apparent discordances of their literal sense in relation to the person and character of Jesus, and opens a rational and satisfactory view of the fundamental doc- trines of the Christian religion. With respect to the second point, viz. that he shall save his people from their sins, this properly and necessarily flows from the first, and moreover confirms what has been already advanced. For who but a divine person is entitled to the appellation of Sa- viour? who but Jehovah himself, the Creator and Preserver of the universe, can deliver his creatures from the power, the guilt, and the consequences of sin ? The highest arcliangel in heaven is totally incompetent to so divine a labour. How then can it be ascribed to a mere man, to a worm, who himself stands in need of salvation, in common with his fellow-delinquents ? But the question is for ever decided by an authority, which cannot be dis- puted : " I am Jehovah, and beside me there is no Saviour,-^ Isa. xliii. 11. " /Jehovah am thy Saviour and Eedeemer,'' Isa. UNITARIANS, TRINITARIANS, &q. 5 xlix. 26. Incontrovertibly tlierefore it follows, that the Divine Essence, called Jehovah the Father, or the Supreme God, de- scended himself into the workl, by incarnation in the womb of a virgin, for the purpose of saving his people from their sins.* And this salvation is equally as^cribed to Jesus and to Jehovah, be- cause by both names is Understood one and the same Divine Be- ing, tliough standing in different relations to his creature, man. The very name Jesus also signifies a Saviour :\ and we have al- ready seen, that Jehovah is the only Saviour, and the only Re- deemer : from which considerations no other conclusion can be fairly drawn, than that above stated, viz. that Jesus and Jeho- vah are one and the same. To this may be added another confirmation from the mouth of Jehovah by the hand of his evangelical prophet, " I am Jehovah, " that is my name, and my glory will I not give to another,''^ Isa. xlii. 8. The glory of Jehovah arises from his character of Crea- tor, Redeemer, and Regenerator of mankind ; the two last of which characters are included in that of Saviour. Now if Jesus were a mere man, or an angel, or a seraph, or a demigod, in short, were he any other than the Supreme God himself clothed with human nature, it could not in truth be said of him, that he shall save his people from their sins : for this would be no less than robbery against the Majesty of heaven, on tlie part of the man who should presume to assert it; and on the part of Jehovah, it would be the complete translation of his power, his honour, and his glory, from himself to some other being incapable of receiving the gift, which nevertheless cannot for a moment be admitted even by the most distant thought, because it is expressly forbidden by tlie di- vine jealousy, founded on the divine perfections. But Jiccording to the testimony of the Holy Spirit, which dictated the holy Gos- pels, the hidden or invisible Jehovah has given or transferred * Wlien it is asserted, that Jehovah the Father, or the Supreme God him- self, descended into the world, and became incarnate, it is to be understood, that he did so particularly in respect to the divine truth, which is the U^orJ, as in John i. 1, 14. f Nay, even Jehovah Saviour. See Mr. Parkhurst's Greek Lexicon, art. Jlscs.— Am. Pub. 6 A SEAL UPON THE LIPS OF his glory, his honour, and liis power, together with every other attribute of divinity, not indeed /rwm /aHis?//", because that is im- possible, but to his own visible, manifested, and divine form, which proceeded from, and is eternally united with, his divine es- sence. In otlier words, the Father has ^iven all things into the hand of his Sun Jesus, John iii. 35; chap. xiii. 3; chap. xvi. f5 : and yet he still retains all that he so gives ; just as the soul of a man may be said to retain all it's powers, although they arc communicated to^ and actually exercised by, his b«dy. In agreement with these sentiments are the following words of the Lord : " Jill power is given unto me in heaven and in earth,^^ Matt, xxviii. 18. " Ml things that the Father hath, are mine,'" John xvi. 15. " Ml mine are thi^e, ar\d thine are viine,''^ chap, xvii. 10. Jesus said, " My Father worketh hitherto, and 7 work," chap. V. 17 : that is, the Divinity and the Humanity unite in the great work of redemption and salvation. " Verily verily I say " unto you. The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth •• the Father do : for what things soever he doth, these also doth '• the Son likewise. For the Father loveth the Son, and sheweth " him all things that himself doth. For as the Father raiseth up '■• the dead, and quickeneth them ; even so the Son qiiickeneth ichom " he wUl. For the Fatlier judge th no man, but hath committed all ^'^ judgment unto the Son : That all men should honour the Son, •' even as they honour the Father,''^ chap. v. 19 to 23. " I and the " Father are One,^'' chap. x. 30. In all these passages by the Father and the Son are meant the Divinity and the Humanity of one and the same God. Hence what- ever character, whatever power, whatever honour, whatever per- fection, is inherent in, or ascribed to, the one, the same is of riglit and necessity claimed and exercised by the other also ; which could never by any possibility have been the case, were not tlie Father and the Son, the Divinity and the Humanity, the essence and the form, that is to say, Jehovah and Jesus, one and the same infinite, eternal, undivided, and adorable God. UNITARIANS, TRINITARIANS, &e. 7 [2.] Matt. i. 22, 23. " Now all this was done, that it might be " fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, " Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a Son, " and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being iiterpret- " ed is, God with us." This passage, immediately succeeding the former, confirms everv sentiment hitherto advanced, and in one word announces the true character and title of Jesus. We take it for granted, that the read- er will permit us to proceed upon the supposition, or rather upon the full acknowledgment, of there being only OneGod, and that this One God is undivided both in essence and in person. Then we say, that if the child conceived of the Holy Spirit, if the Son brought forth by a virgin, be in deed and in truth, as here denomi- nated, Emmanuel, or God with us, he must, however extraor- dinary or incredible the assertion in the estimation of some minds, be no other than the supreme and one only God of heaven and earth. There cannot, in the nature of things, be om God in heaven, and another God on the earth ; there cannot be one God with angels, and another God with tis men. Neither c-an one part of the Deity be above, and another part below ; one part here, and another part somewhere else.* The whole Deity must there- * The common Idea of the divine omnipresence is fundamentally erroneous, because it bears respect to mere space, which is only a relation of matter. According to such an idea, the Divine Being-, in order to be every-where pre- sent, must of necessity be extended, and diffused through all space : the con- sequence of which would be, that one part of him only would be here, and another part there. The true idea of the divine omnipresence can onlyte ob- tained by removing from the mind every consideration of space, as well as of time : and then it may be seen, that God is omnipresent without having any relation whatever to spaces or times, or in any way commixing himself witji them ; just as, comparatively speaking, the soul of a man is omnipre- sent in every part of it's body, yet without bearing «7?7/ relationto body, with- out being extended with the body, or in the smallest degree commixing itself with the material substances composing the body. Hence, as the -whole soul tS in every part of the body, yet not commixed or extended with it, so as to be a part here, and a part thsre ,- in lik« manner, but at the same time infinitely 8 A SEAL UPON THE LIPS OF fore have been present in that holy and divine person, who is so emphatically styled Emmanuel, or God with us; and although ^ in respect to the infirm body or covering of mere flesh and blood, he was an infant like other infants, with senses, appetites, and affections, similar to those of other men, yet in respect to the es- !>ential divimiy within him, which was his very life and soul, he was still the infinite, eternal, " the mightij God, the everlasting " Father, and the Prince of jscace," Isa. ix. 6. But it is nevertlteless an important truth, that this divine soul, though in itself completely omnipresent in it's body, was not at first manifestly, sensibly, and fully perceived : it was as yet a la- tent Divinity ; a fountain of life, whose head indeed was cover- ed, but whose streams were silently and imperceptibly flowing in the channels of Humanity ; a sun of righteousness, whose beams were indeed irradiating the heavenly worlds, and just be- ginning to break through the clouds of nature ; in short, it was the invisible Jehovah himself, who, unwilling any longer to conceal his divine person and perfections from his creatures, was in the act of bringing himself down to their view, but in the mercy of accommodation to their states, still with-held the full blaze of his glory from their eyes, and hid himself under the veil of a merely human form, until by divine means they were prepared to behold his face. Well then did the prophet describe this new and extraordinary situation of the great Jehovah in a body of flesh : " Surely God is in thee, and there is none else : verily thou art a God that hidest thyself, God of Israel the Saviour," Isa. xlv. 14, 15. The doctrine, therefore, which is here announced, is no ne\y doctrine, but is as old, and as true, as the Word of prophecy it- self. It was to be expected, that when Jehovah did come in- above all comparison, the Divine Being, as a -whole, and not as a part, is pre- sent in every individual substance of the created unirerse, yet without being in any aense of the word eiUier commixed or extended with it : so that it can aever be said of him, that he is partly here, and partly there ,- but he must ever he regarded as a -whole and complete God, being every-iohere alike present witli all his fulness, that is, Avith the totalihi of his divine essence, However im- perceptible and incomprehensible it may be to the crtfature. UNITARIANS, TRINITARIANSj &c. 9 to the world, in the character of Messiah, Christ, or Immanu- EL, he would make his appearance precisely as he is reported to have done, as an obscure Man, with-holding for a time even from his disciples and humble followers, and to the last from his ene- mies, tlie' haughty self-righteous and worldly-wise, the full and direct knowledge of his divine nature. Hence the prophet again declares, " He hath no form nor comeliness : and when we shall *' see him, there is no heautif that we should desire him. He is " despised and rejected of men : we hid as it were our faces from *' him ; he was despised and we esteemed him not,''^ Isa. liii. 2, 3. Yet, regardless of this notice, both Jews and Christians have been looking for an external pomp and splendor to mark his person and his steps : but being disappointed herein, the former have re- jected him altogether as their Messiah, while the latter have de- graded him, some to the rank of a demigod, like the Athanasian Trinitarians ; some to that of a super-angelical but still a created being, like the Arian Unitarians ; and others again to that of a mere man, like the Socinian Unitarians. Thus^j^ne of them have as yet acknowledged him to be, because none of them have un- derstood how he could be, singly and exclusively the Supreme God of the universe, under the veil or disguise of human nature, and therein presenting himself to his creatures as their long-ex- pected Messiah, Redeemer, and Saviour ; in one word, as their Emmanuel, which being interpreted is God with us. So tru- ly applicable are those words of the Evangelist, " He was in the " world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him ^-not,''^ John i. 10. And again, " He came unto his own and his *' own received him not.^^ ver. 11 : that is to say, even they, who were in possession of divine revelation, and who on that account might be supposed to form a just estimate of the person and cha- I'acter of the Messiah or Christ, either from blindness discero- ed not his sole and exclusive divinity, or else from wickedness refused to acknowledge it. But now (thanks be to iieaven !) light has risen upon the earth, and all who are willing to open their eyes, may behold their God (Isa. xl. 9.) arrayed in all the Majes- ty of a Divine Human Form; and thus beholding him, they B 10 A SE!AL upon Tim LIPS OF may fall down at his sacred feet, " and worship him that livelh *^ for ever and ever," Apoc. iv. 10 5 chap. v. 14. It may be proper in this place to notice an objection, which has been started against the autlienticity of INIatthew's Gospel, from t1)e circumstance of his quoting tlie prophecy of Isaiah, chap. vii. 14, relative to the birth and name of the child to be born, and ap- plying the same to Jesus, yet without giving him the name Im- MANUEL or Emmanuel, as the passage quoted appears to require. The immaculate conception is denied by the greater part of Unitarians, who consider the allusion here made to Isaiah's pro- phecy to be a mere interpolation, improperly applied to the birth of Jesus : and after all, say they, " the terms of the prophecy, " even as adduced by the designing priests themselves, were not " realized in the name which w as actually given him, first by the " angel, ver. 21, and afterwards by Joseph, vex*. 25. A prophecy " is quoted, which expressly says, they shall call his name Em- " MANUEL; yet, as if in defiance of the predication, prescribing " what their conduct ouglit to be on the occasion, the writer, af- " ter citing his authority for one name., concludes with giving hiui •' another: for his name was called Jesus, and not Emmanuel." Such is the kind of argument adopted by those, who form their judgment of the Sacred AVritings by the same rule as that, where- by human or comparatively profane writings are measured. Hav- ing no conception that the "Word was written chiefly for the use of those wlio are in tlie spiritual woi-ld, where the incalculable majority of human intelligences are assembled, a.nd subordinate! y for the use of those few who live in tlie natural world, they re- duce all wisdom and intelligence to their own petty standard of the obvious, plain, and literal construction of words and facts ; never for a moment suspecting, that the Divine Records, which apply to all ages, to all worlds, and to all states of the human race, must necessarily be couched in such natural terms, as by the laws of divine order and correspondency shall have the effect of conveying and perpetuating, at one and the same moment, natural, spiritual, and celestial instruction, adapted to the several capacities of human and angelic minds. UNITARIANS, TRINITARIANS, &c. 1 1 Alter tliis statement of an olyection, which has been urged against tlie autlienticity of the first part of Mattliew's Gospel, it will be proper to give such explanation of the passage in ques- tion, as, it is hoped, will have a tendency to remove any impres- sion unfavourable to the letier of Scripture, which may have been made on the minds of those, who have either now for tlie first time become acquainted with the objection, or who have previous- ly heard it repeated. We say tlien, that the prophecy Avas spiritually accomplished in the Lord, even as it respected the name whereby he was to be called, as well as the name whereby he actually was called ; for in the spiritual sense, or what amounts to the same thing, in the genuine sense, both names are strictly coincident, and both names announce the divinity of his person, as well as the divinity of his office. Emmanuel, beyond the shadow of contradiction, imports God with us; and as there is, and can be, but one God, so this one God must necessarily be that same Divine l^eing, who in other parts of the Scripture is variously named, according to the various attributes, qualities, and perfections of Deity, which the various states of the church described require to be applied, exer- cised, or announced. Hence we find him sometimes called Jeho- vah, sometimes Jehovah God, Jehovah Zebaoth, Lord Je- HoviH, God both in the singular and plural number in the origi- nal, God of Israel, King of Israel, Holy One of Israel, Creator, Saviour, Redeemer, Shaddai, Rock, Lord ; and in the New Testament sometimes Father, sometimes Son, and sometimes Holy Spirit; also Lion of the tribe of Judah, Lamb of God, Alpha and Omega, King of kings. Lord of Lords, &c. &c. : but from tlie circumstance of his being con- versant with men in the humanity which he assumed, and appear- ing therein as another man, he is usually called Jesus. This lat- ter name did not indeed excite among the Jews an idea of his di- vine origin or essence, for they were not prepared to admit of a truth so sublime, and so contrary to all appearance ; and there- fore to prevent the evil of profanation, iu addition to the other crimes of that nation, the Lord was announced to them by the jiame of Jesus, which externalhj conveyed to them the notion of Xa A SEAL UPON THE LIPS OF a mere man, but internally involves all that is meant or signified by Emmanuel or God himself incarnate. The term Jesus signifies a Saviour ; on which account it is added, as the reason for so naming him, ^^for he shall save his people from their sins." Now the Supreme God, Jehovah himself, is in the Old Testament constantly and solemnly declared to be the alone Saviour aind Re- deemer of men ; and for tliis evident reason, because no other power in heaven or on earth can possibly be found available in the great work of salvation. Hear the language of Truth itself; *' Thus saith Jehovah that created thee, T am Jehovah thy Gody " the Holy One of Israel, thy Saviour ; and beside me there is "wo Saviour,^^ Isa. xliii. 1, 3, 11. " All flesh shall know, that I *' Jehovah am thy Saviour and thy Redeemer, t\\e Mighty One " of Jacob," chap. xlix. 26; chap. Ix. 16. " I am Jehovah thy " God, and thou shalt know no God but me ; for there is no Sa- " viour beside me," Hosea xiii. 4. To multiply passages of this description, must be unnecessary, because the doctrine here as- serted IS manifest. Hence it follows, that whether the Lord be named Jesus, or whether he be named Emmanuel, he is equally the same Jehovah, the same God, the same Redeemer, and the same Saviour, who is invariably understood by botli names. But will it be objected, that the salvation wrought by Jesus was of another character, and different from that which is as- cribed to the great Jehovah .'^ or that Jesus was merely through courtesy called a Saviour, as the subordinate agent of another who is God, while he himself is but an instrument, a messenger, a mortal man ? Then truly by the same mode of reasoning we may infer, that Jehovah the High and Holy One can do nothing by himself, or by his own divine arm ; that he cannot save, but by another, to whom he delegates the power, the name, and tlie glory of a Saviour ; that he cannot redeem, but through the agency of a subordinate being, to whom he lends his omnipotence, as well as the other essential attributes of divinity ; and finally, that he cannot create, but through the medium of a creature J which is the last step of the climax of absurdity, to which the reasoning leads, and where on a sudden it stops, self-arrested, self-convicted, and self-^condemned. UNITARIANS, TRINITARIANS, &c. 31 But fortunately such objections were long ago anticipated and refuted by the prophet Isaiah, who has saved us the trouble of wandering out of the direct path of revelation, to arm ourselves with less powerful weapons of defence. " I am Jehovah, that " is my name, and mif glory will I not give to another,''' Isa. xlii. 8. As much as to say, " I am the sole fountain of life ; I am the " author and preserver of all beings, whether in heaven or on " earth; and to me alone must be ascribed, /rom/rsf to last, all "honour, glory, might, majesty^ and dominion." But "who is " this that cometh from Edom, with dyed garments from Bozrah ? " this that is glorious in his apparel, travelling in the greatness of " his strength ? I that speak in righteousness, mighty to save. I « have trodden the wine-press alone, and of the people there was " none ivith me. I looked, and there was none to help ; and I " wondered that there was none to uphold : therefore mine own " arm brqught salvation unto me, and my fury it upheld me. He " said, Surely they are my people, children that will not lie : so *' he was their Saviour : in his love and in his pity he redeemed " them,'' Isa. Ixiii. 1 to 9. The whole of the preceding description is clearly that of a God-Man, and not that of a mere man, who has no power to save himself, much less to redeem and save others. Whence again it unavoidably results, that the name Jesus, which implies a Sa- viour, and the name Emmanuel, which signifies God with 7is, do both in the genuine sense of the Sacred Scripture exclusively be-^ long to one and the same Divine Being, and announce attributes, powers, and perfections, which can be ascribed to none other. For if salvation be a work purely divine, and if the presence of God with man be necessary to effect that work, then, the terms being correlative, wherever the one is named, the other must al- so be understood. Having thus obviated an objection, which has been triumphant- ly levelled against the authenticity and sanctity of divine inspi- ration ; and having seen, that out of the inquiry occasioned tliere- by still greater evidence arises in it's favour, because a seeming imperfection in the letter is outweighed by more than it's propor- tionate perXection in the spirit, it is recommended to all the wor- 14 A SEAL UPON THE LIPS OF shippers of Jesus as Immanuel, to be careful how they admit of doubts concerning the perfection or autlienticity of the Sacred Scriptures in the original languages, especially when those doubts are suggested by persons, who have no conception whatever even of the very existence of another sense beyond tliat which is ap- parent in the mere letter. Without injustice to such characters, it may be truly said, tliat, having previously adopted a particular doctrine of their own, evidently and by their own confession not drawn from a collation of the whole IFord^ but of certain parts only, they cut and square the Oracles of divine wisdom just as the caprice and deformity of their own imagination may require. Hence, if they meet with a passage in Matthew, or in Luke, or in any other of the inspired books, which seems to oppose their idea of the natural descent of Jesus, and to present him to our view as God himself clothed with Humanity, they have instant recourse to the Mexandrian method of deciding knotty ques- tions ; instead of unravelling, expounding, and clearing up the difficulty by a candid appeal to other parts of the divine testimo- ny, and the fair exercise of reason enlightened by revelation, they seize the sword, and cut the knot, by voting the passage in ques- tion to be a downright forgery, an artful interpolation, a mere im- position of some unknown and hitherto unheard-of priest. They accordingly mark it in their printed Bibles as such, and teach their children to do the same. From the importance of the subject, this article has been ex- tended beyond the limits proposed. But as the conclusions de- rived from it are applicable to many other parts of the Word, it is hoped that the observations, which have been submitted to the candour and good sense of the reader, will be foujul serviceable, not only in removing doubts concerning the sanctity and authenti- city of the books of revelation, but also in establishing, as the very first and most essential of all the doctrines of the true Chris- tian religion, the sole, supreme, and excliisive divinity of our blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Chhist. UNITARIANS, TRINITARIANS, &c. 15 [3.] Matt. ii. 1, 2, 11. " Now when Jesus was born in Betli- " lehem of Judea, in the days of Herod the king, behold, there " came wise-men from the east to Jerusalem, saying. Where is he " that is born King of the Jews ? for we have seen hi-s star in the " east, and are come to worship him. And when they were come " into the house (where Jesus was,) they saw the young Child " with Mary his mother, and fell down, and ivorshipped him : " and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto " him gifts ; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh." When it is considered, that the chief design of all revelation is to put an end to idolatry, and to lead men. to the knowledge and worship of the true God, it is impossible to read this passage without perceiving either that the Evangelist has mistaken his ob- ject, or else that the infant child Jesus was worthy to receive the divine honours paid him by the wise-men of the east. But tiie former supposition cannot for a moment be admitted, becau&e the whole tenour of the Old Testament leads us to expect the coming of Jehovah in the form of a Man, and the whole body of the New teaches that he actualli/ did so come. The example, therefore, which the wise-men hold out to the rest of mankind, of prostrat- ing themselves at the feet of him, whom they came from afar for the sole purpose of worshipping, added to the countenance and re- commendation which is given it at the very commencement of the Evangelical Word, is evidence of the first ordej- that the genuine spirit of the true Christian religion, the very life and soul of the succeeding revel-ation, consists in the acknowledgment and humble adoration of the Great God himself thus made manifest in the flesh. The star seen in the east is the light of revelation, or knowledge from heaven, leading and directing those, who are ca- pable of understanding it, to bring all their gifts of pure and ho- ly worship to him, who is alone entitled to receive them, and who in return enriches the worshipper wi^:h the sight, the presence, and the love of his God. 16 A. SEAL UPON THE LIPS OF [4.] Matt. iii. 3. " This [John the Baptist] is he that Avas <• spoken of by Esaias the prophet, saying. The voice of one cry- " ing in the wilderness, Prepare ye the ivaij of the Lord, make " his paths straight." See also chap. xi. 7 to 14. Mark i. 2, 3. Luke iii. 4. John i. 23. The passage here quoted from the prophet Isaiah is to be found in chap. xl. 3, and is there expressed in the following terms : " The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the " way of Jehovah, make straight in the desert a highway for our •• God.'''' The term Jehovah in the Old Testament, when re- ferred to in the New, is uniformly rendered Lord; and this lat- ter term being constantly applied to Jesus, evidently as a sub- stitute for the name Jehovah, at once determines the sense, in which we are to understand the prophet's words, and authorizes us to consider Jehovah and Jesus as one and the same God and Lord ; with this only difference, that Jehovah denotes the Lord not yet come into the world, or not yet incarnate ; whereas Jesus or the Lord denotes Jehovah actually appearing in the tvorld in the form of a Man, or, as it is well expressed by the apostle Paul, God manifest in the flesh. This also appears to be one reason why in those passages of the New Testament, which are parallel with others in the Old, the term Lord is used in- stead of Jehovah. To which may be added this further obser- vation, tliat when the Old Testament was written, the Lord was properly Jehovah ; but when the New Testament was written, Jehovah was and is properly the Lord. Again : John the Baptist is admitted by all, v/ho make a pro- fession of Christianity, to have been the precursor of Jesus as the Messiah, or the Christ ; which indeed John expressly de- clares of himself in John iii. 28. But the passage now under consideration announces him to be at tlie same time the forerun- ner of Jehovah himself, making straight in the desert a highway for our God. Can language be more explicit in holding out to mankind, that Jesus and Jehovah, Christ and God, though distinguished by different names according to the different rela- tions arising from visible form and visible essence, are still one UNITARIANS, THINITARIANS, &c. 1? and the same Divine Being, coming into the world to visit his creatures, and to bless them with his presence ? [5.] Matt. iii. 11, 12. John the Baptist said, " I indeed bap- *' tize you with water unto repentance ; but he tliat cometh after " me, is mightier than /, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear ; " he shall baptize you with the Holi/ Spirit, and with fire : " Whose fan is in his hand, and he will thoroughly purge his ^'^ floor, and gather his wheat into the garner : but he will burn " up the chaff with unquenchable fire." .See also Mark i. 7, 8. Luke iii. 16, 17. John i. 15, 26, 27. " Among them that are born of women," says our Lord, Matt. xi. 11, " there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist :" and yet this same Jolin declares of himself, that he is not worthy to bear even the shoes of Jesus. Such an expression of humilia- tion and self-abasement can never be justified, as proper for one mortal man to make to another ; still less when we consider, that it was uttered by one, who, witli respect to dignity of character and olfice, yielded to neither prophet, priest, nor king, among all the sons of Adam that had preceded him. John, therefore, in bear- ing such high testimony of Jesus, instructs us, that he was more than a mortal man ; and that we also in our turn ought to bow down to him, in acknowledgment of his great power and majesty. For surely he, who can baptize man with the Holy Sjnrit of truth, and with the pure fire of celestial love, can be no other tlian the fountain of all spiritual light and life, and as such must be en- titled to the adoration of all hearts. This is further confirmed by John's ascribing to Jesus the di- vine prerogative of executing judgment on the race qf man, of se- parating the good from the evil, and of saving those who shall be found meet for the kingdom of lieav.en. And here it is observable, that the world or church, containing both the good and the bad, is called his floor, which is to be thoroughly purged and purified by the fan of separation in his hand ; and that the righteous are C 18 A SEAL UPON THE LIPS OF described as his wheat, -which shall be gatliered into the garner, while the unrighteous, or the chaffs shall be destroyed. All which particulars evidently imply, that Jesus is Lord and owner of the church, and that from him alone is derived salvation and eternal happiness. [6,] Matt. iv. 7. When the devil came to Jesus, and tempted him, " Jesus said unto him, It is written, " Thou shalt not ieuijd " the Lord thy God." See also Luke iv. 12. The passage here alluded to is to be found in Deut. vi. 16, where it is thus expressed : " Ye shall not tempt Jehovah youu " God." The observations already made (art. 4,) on the substi- tution of the term Lord instead of Jehovah, will again apply with equal effect on the present occasion. The design of the de- vil was to tempt Jesus ; but Jesus instantly rebuffs him by an appeal to the written Word, and by an application of the same to himself, " Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God ;" thus as- suming the first and highest title of divinity, which yet exclusive- ly belongs to the Supreme God. Irresistibly therefore it follows, that Jehovah of the Old Testament, and Jesus of the New, are indivisibly and consequently identically one and the same Lord God Almighty. [7.] Matt. v. 21, 22; 27, 28; 51, 32; 33, 34; 38, 39; 43, 44. " Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time. Thou " shalt not kill, &c. But I say unto you, That whosoever is an- " gry with his brother without a cause, shall be in danger of the " judgment, &c. — Ye have heard, that it was said by them of old " time, Thou shalt not commit adultery. But / say unto you, " That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her, hath " committed adultery with her already in his heart. — It hath " been said, Whosoever shall put away his wife, let him give her UNITARIANS, TRINITARIANS, &c. 19 -' a writing oCdivorcement. But I say unto you, That whosoever " shall put away his wife, saving for the cause of fornication, " causeth her to commit adultery : and whosoever shall marry " her that is divorced, committeth adultery. — Again, ye have " heard, tiiat it hath been said by them of old time. Thou shalt *' not forswear thyself, but shalt perform unto the Lord thine " oaths. But I say unto you, Swear not at all, &c. — Ye have '' heard, that it hath been said. An eye for an eye, and a tooth " for a tooth. But 1 say unto you, That ye resist not evil, &,c.--- "-• Ye have heard, that it hath been said. Thou shalt love thy " neighbour, and hate thine enemy. But / say unto ifou, Love ••♦ your enemies, bless them that curse you, do go<^* to them that '• hate you, and pray for them v/ho despitefuUj use you, and per- ^' secute you." See also Luke vi. 27 to ^rf- In all these verses Jesus refers to the various commandments in the Old Testament against murder, adultery, perjury, and re- taliation of injuries ; and then, apparently by way of contrast, but in reality by way o^' explanation or elucidation, and in an air of equal authority ifith Jehovah himself, who first gave the divine laws by Moses, he adds, " But T say unto you,'''' &c. Then fol- low the same laws from his own mouth, but in a more interior form, which may be thus expressed : " Tiiou shalt not harbour in " thy breast either hatred or resentment against thy neighbour. " Thou shalt not indulge lust or wantonness, either in the inten- " tion, or in the thought. Thou shalt not abide and confirm thy- " self in the mere externals of the church and of religion, but " shalt enter by degrees into the interior perception and love of " divine things. Thou shalt, in all thy conduct towards men, •' and in every circumstance of life, cherish and exercise the hea- *'■ venly principles of love, charity, and universal benevolence." Such is the spirit of all the divine laws contained in the Word, whether as given by Jehovah, or as repeated and new-modelled by Jesus. To which may be added what the Lord says to his disciples in another place, " A new commandment I give unto " you, That ye love one another," John xiii. 34. 20 A SEAL UPON THt: LIPS OF Is it a credible thing, that any mere man, conscious of his own comparative insignificance in the great scale of creation, but of his absolute 7iuUity when either the name or the nature of Deity is brought into view, would have the arrogance and presumption to put himself on record as one that was equally authorized to give the law to the rest of mankind, and at the same time equally capable of doing so, with the Creator himself? If a mere mariy with only a common degree of humility, and knowledge of him- self, would shrink with horror fi-om the very idea of such wicked- ness, "iww much more would an angel, or a created being of still superior oi^r, (if any such may be imagined,) whose pre-emi- nence over all «thers can solely arise from a more perfect know- ledge of himself, and a more just sense of the infinite perfections of the Great First Cause, which he must necessarily possess, than those can possibly acq^uire, who are placed in the lower circles of existence ! From a due consideration, then, oV all these circumstances, it appears most evident, that, as Jesus thovight it no robbery, no derogation from the high character of Jehovak, to assume to him- self the whole authority and legislative poiver of the Supreme God, he must in fact have been that very God, that same Jeho- vah, who originally gave the law, and who therefore had the ex- clusive right to new-model or explain the divine precepts, ac- cording to the varying states of mankind, and the dictates of his own infinite and eternal wisdom. [8.] Matt. viii. 2, 3. " There came a leper to Jesus, and " worshipped him, saying, Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make " me clean. And Jesus put forth his hand, and touched him, " saying, I will, be thou clean. And immediately his leprosy was « cleansed." See also Mark i. 40 to 42. ^^uke v. 12, 13. Would Jesus admit and receive worship, if he were merely a juan, a prophet, or a delegated messenger from the high God? UNITARIANS, TRINITARIANS, &c. 21 Twice did the apostle John, in his ignorance, attempt to fall down and worship an angel, who was sent by the Supreme God to shew him things to come, as in Apoc. xix. 10; chap. xxii. 8, 9. But as often did the angel refuse to be honoured in such a way, and as often direct him to the true God : " See thou do it not : I " am thy fellow-servant, and of thy brethren that have the testi- " mony of Jesus : worship God.^^ Not so Jesus ; for being him- self the God of angels, of prophets, and of wise men, or what amounts to the same thing, being He who sends and commissions them to perform his will in their ditferent functions, (Apoc. xxii. 10. Matt, xxiii. 34.) he views with complacency every act of worship, when directed to his own divine persson ; and, in token of his approbation, stretches out his hand, and either cleanses a leper, heals an infirmity, or casts out a devil. In the present instance the leper not only offers him the honour of external adoration, but accompanies it with a profes- sion of faith in his divine omnipotence, saying, " Lord, if thou " wilt, thou canst make me clean." To whom the Lord in mercy answered, " I will, he thou clean .-" and instantly the effect of his mercy and omnipotence is visible, the faith of the leper is con- firmed, his worship accepted, and the malady healed. Under all these circumstances, is it possible for a moment to doubt, that Jesus is God ^ and if God, that he is the only God, since a second God, or an equal cannot be given ? [9.] Matt. viii. 6 to 10, 13. " There came unto Jesus a centu- " rion, beseeching him, and saying, Lord, my servant lieth at " home sick of the palsy, grievously tormented. And Jesus saith "unto him, I will come and heal him. Tlie centurion answered *' and said. Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldst come under " my roof: but speak the word only, and my servant shall be " healed. For I am a man under authority, having soldiers under " me ; and I say to this man, Go, and he goeth ; and to another, « Come, and he cameth ; and to my servant, Do this, and he doth ♦< it. When Jlsus heard it, he marvelled, and said to them that ti-2 A SEAL UPON THE LIPS OF " followed, Verily I say unto you, I have not found so great faith. «• no not in Israel. And Jesus said unto the centurion, Go thy " way, and as thou hast believed^ so be it done unto thee. And •^^ his servant was healed in the self-same hour." See also Luke \ii. 2 to 10. Here is an example of self-humiliation on the part of the cen- turion, and at the same time of faith in the supernatural power of Jesus to accomplish, bif a word, what appears to belong to Omnipotence only. Equivalent to this is that passage in tlie Psalms, " By the word of Jehovah were the heavens made ; and ♦' all the host of them by the breath of his mouth,'''' Ps. xxxiii. 6. And again, " He sent his word and healed them, and delivered " them from their destructions," Ps. cvii. 20. In each case the word, the breath of Jehovah, or of Jesus, performs a miracle, first the miracle of creation, and afterwards the miracle of pre- servation ; both equally requiring a divine power, and both equal- ly effected by the same power. No wonder then that the work? of Jesus excited the admiration and astonishment of the sazinir multitude: for as of Jehovah, so also of Jesus it is written, that " his tvord was with poiver,'^ Luke iv. 32. What an idea must the centurion have had of the person, the character, and the resources of Jesus ! He must have felt in his breast a conviction, that in the Man, whom he addressed, were actually collected or concentrated, though in a manner incompre- hensible to finite reason, all the attributes and perfections of Deity itself. He must have viewed him rather as a God, than as a Man, or more justly still, as both God and Man, united in one per- son,t\\a.t is, AS Divinity manifesting itself, and yet at the same time as it were hiding* itself, under the form of Ilumanitij. Such * " Verily thou art a God that hidest thyself, O God of Israel, the Sa- " viorcr," Isa. xlv. 15. This passage of the Word confirms, and is also ex- plained by, the circumstance of the Divinity as it were hiding itself, and at the same time manifesting itself according to the, capacity of the creature to bear the glory, when it assumed Humanity for the purpose of saving mankind. UNITARIANS, TRINITARIANS, &c. 23 a faith was indeed rarely to be found, certainly not among the Jewish people, as a body, wlio were in possession of Moses and the Prophets, and who on that account ought to have recognized in Jesus their long-expected Messiah. But, on the contrary, like many in our own day who call themselves Christians, they in general regarded him as a mere man, And suffered tlie veil of his flesh, which was assumed as a merciful accommodation to their states, to become the very obstacle to their acknowledgment of his divine title. Not so the Roman officer, who, as a gentile free from the prepossessions and prejudices of an hypocritical and blind faith, which the perverted church had imposed upon it's members, was prepared to embrace the true and living faith, as soon as it's Divine Author was presented to his view. On which occasion our Lord observes, " I have not found so great faith^ no " not in Israel." To acknowledge the Divinity of the Lord's Humanity, and to adore him alone as the Supreme and Omnipotent God, not mere- ly in lip, but in heart and in life, is therefore the very kind of faith, which was, and still is, distinctly approved of by the Lord himself: it is the key, which opens the gate of heaven, and introduces into the palace of the King : it is that in man, which constitutes his capacity of enjoying the presence of his God, and of becoming himself more and more to eternity an image and likeness of him, who is at once the only true God, and the only self-eaistent J^an. To a faith like this every thing is possible, which can best contribute to the well-being of him who possesses it : (Mark ix. 23 :) and indeed in all cases, according to the quality and degree of a man's faith, such uniformly is the return into his own bosom. " .4s thoii hast believed, so be it done nntr> »^ thee:' [10.] Matt. \iii. 16. « When the even was come, they brought " unto Jesus many that were possessed with devils: and he cast « out the spirits with his word, and healed all that were sicjc.'" See also Mark i. 23 to 27, 34, 39. Luke iv. 40. 41. 24 A SEAL UPON THE LIPS OK We liave already in tlie last article considered the powerful effect of the Lord's word in healing the centurion's servant : a miracle performed upon the body of an absent man, and therefore plainly testifying that the material world itself was under the im- mediate control and dominion of Jesus. But the present pas- sage announces, that his divine authority was not confined with' in the limits of the natural world, but that it extended even to the world of spirits, where the very devils heard his voice, and trembled as they yielded an unwilling obedience to his commands- (James ii. 19.) What ! devils tremble at the voice of a mere man, whom they could in an instant destroy both as to his soul and his body, were they not every moment restrained by a divine power ! No : but from the presence, and at the word, of Him, who hath all power both in heaven and on earth, (Matt, xxviii. 18,) and who consequently can be no less than the God of the universe, they fly with precipitation to their dens, and call upon the mountains and the rocks to fall on them, and to hide them from a counte- nance, which they know not how to endure. (Apoc. vi. 15, 16.) If devils, then, in the plenitude of their pride and their power, sink into the dust when they hear but the voice of Jesus, or the distant sound of his feet, what a lesson of instruction ought their example to furnish to the man, who calls himself a Socinian ! an Unitaria7i J to the man, who still refuses to acknowledge the Saviour in any other character, than that of a dependent, finite, impotent worm, like himself J But it may be, the medium, through, which he has been used to look at the Scriptures, tinges, obscures, and distorts the objects of his sight, so that he sees them either in confusion, or in perversion. If so, let him for once avail him- self of the eyes, the ears, and the understanding of a disembo- died but a Satanic spirit — of a devil: he will learn a truth, which, though borrowed at first, may hereafter become his own : he will perceive, that the invisible powers of darkness are all subject to the word, the nod, the look of tliat Divine Man, whose domi nion, both in the spiritual and in the natural world, is co-exten- sive with the utmost limits of the wide creation. UNITARIANS, TRINITARIANS, &c. 25 [11.] Matt, viii. 23 to 27. " When Jesus was entered into a '' sliip, his disciples followed him. And behold, there arose a "' great tempest in the sea, insomuch that the ship was covered -' with tlie waves : but he was asleep. And his disciples came to 'Miini, and awoke him, saying, Lord, save us: we perish. And " he saith unto them. Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith ? " Then he arose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there ivas ^^ a great calm. But the men marveltfed, saying, Jfliut manner '' of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him ?" See also Mark iv. 35 to 41. Luke viii. 22 to 25. Can any thing short of omnipotence rebuke the winds and the sea with such elVect, as to produce an instantaneous calm in both elements } Or can the Being, whose commands are tlius irresisti- ble, even when directed to the raging tempest, be any other than the God of natiire himself, though disguised in a human form ? We have read of heathen gods, who were supposed to bear rule over the wnnds and the waves. But never did fable itself 2:ive to imaginary deities such entire dominion over the works of cre- ation, as we find was actually exercised by the Divine Man Je- sus Christ. Well might the astonishment of the mariners com- pel them to exclaim, " What manner of man is this ! Was he not "just now locked in the embraces of sleep? an evidence that he "is subject to the infirmities and necessities of humanity, in " common with the rest of mankind ? How then is it, that even •■ inanimate nature, in it's most turbulent state, is in a moment *' softened into obedience to his v.ord ? Surely an innate power, " far beyond the measure of a mere man, and equivalent to omni- ^^ potence itself, must in some incomprehensible way lodge within " that humble form ! How else is it to be accounted for, that the " very ivinds and the sea obey him?'''' In this manner, it is probable, the mariners, who were wit- nesses to the extraordinary miracle here recorded, must have reasoned in themselves : and in a similar manner must every man reason, who believes in the truth of tlie Gospel, and who is not previously disposed to do violence to his own understanding,. D g6 A SEAL UPON THE LIPS OF when such irrefragable proof of the divinity of Jesus is given in the Word. Who then can forbear drawing the parallel between the migh- ty acts of Jehovah in the Old Testament, and the divine mira- cles of Jesus in the New ? Of the former it is written, " Je- " HovAH God of hosts, who is a strong Jah like unto thee ? or " to thy faithfulness round about thee ? Thou rulest the raging " of the sea : when the waves thereof arise, thou stillest them,'''' Ps. Ixxxix. 8, 9. And of the latter it is recorded, that " he arose, " and rebuked the wind and the raging of the water : and they ^' ceased, and there was a calm,'''' Luke viii. 24. Identity of attri- bute, character, and act, sufficiently demonstrates identity of person : but when these unite in proclaiming unlimited dominion, and infinity of power, we are under the highest obligation to con- clude, that, however varied the name of the great Being to whom they refer, still one and the same infinite and eternal God is in- variably understood. [12.] Matt. viii. 31, 32. " The devils besought Jesus, saying, " if thou cast us out, suffer us to go away into the herd of swine. " And he said unto them. Go." See also Mark v. 12, 13. Luke viii. 31, 32. Would devils of any order or description pet'it'ion a mere man } No, truly : still less would these powerful devils, who, together with the two men possessed by them, are described in ver. 28, as being " so exceeding fierce, that iw \_mere~\ man might pass by " that way." Again, could any mere man grant, or not grant, their petition, as might seem good in his own eyes .'' It is too in- credible to be seriously admitted. Yet it is not only true, that the spirits of darkness solicited permission of Jesus to enter in- to the herd of swine, after being cast out of the bodies of the men, but that he also in his divine wisdom suffered them to do so. The acknowledgment of such power and autliority on the one hand, and the actual exercise of it on the other, justify us there- UNITARIANS, TRINITARIANS, &c. 27 fore in concluding, that he, who possessed it, must have been more than a man, or in other words, that he must have been a Divine and Omnipotent Man. [13.] Matt. ix. 2 to 6. " They brought to hlin a man sick of '' the palsy, lying on a bed : and Jesus seeing their faith, said " unto the sick of the palsy, Son, be of good clieer, thy sins be ^^ forgiven thee. And behold, certain of the scribes said within "themselves, This man hlasphemeth. And Jesus, knowing their " thoughts, said. Wherefore think ye evil in your hearts ? For " whether is it easier to say. Thy sins he forgiven thee ; or " to say, Arise and walk ? But that ye may know, that the Son of " Man hath power on earth to forgive sins, (then saith he to the " sick of the palsy,) Arise, take up thy bed, and go unto thine " house." See also Mark ii. 3 to 12. Luke v. 18 to 26 ; chap. vii. 47 to 50. No mere man can forgive, remove, or cancel, his oivn sins and iniquities, and still less those of another person. For all sin be- ing a transgression of the divine law, and consequently an of- fence against the Supreme Lawgiver himself, no other being in heaven or on eartli can possibly liberate or save from the penal- ties of disobedience. Hence in very many places of the Old Testament Jehovah is addressed, as alone competent to forgive the sins of his creatures : and in the New Testament also the question, though suggested by scribes and Pharisees, who knew not the real character of Jesus, is well and most energetically put," Who can forgive sins hut God only?^^ Mark ii. 7. Luke V. 21. But Jesus forgave sins, and thus healed the souls, as well as the bodies of men. Jjisus therefore, by this one act of divine authority, virtually claims to himself the prerogative of the higli God ; and thus gains, as his exclusive right, the character, the honour, and the name of the great Jehovah. It appears, that the scribes, who were present, and heard Jesus pronounce the forgiveness of sins, were so shocked at what they £8 A SEAL UPON THE LIPS OF conceived to be the most unjustifiable arrogance in any man, even vere he a prophet, that " they said within themselves, This vian " hlasphemethy And so truly it would have been no less than blaspliemy, to assume to himself what belongs to God only, if Jesus were no more than a mere man, or a mere prophet. But that he was in reality a cliaracter widely ditterent, and infinitely superior to what they supposed him to be, is plain from the cir- cumstance of his knoiving their thoughts, and penetrating the se- cret recesses of their hearts. lie therefore rebutted the charge of blasphemy, which they only contemplated in their minds, by con- vincing them that he was privy to all that passed within them ; and in his turn charged thein with entertaining evil thoughts con- cerning him, in even so much as doubting his divinity, and thus bringing him down to a level with themselves. " "Wherefore think I " ye evil in your hearts':' ^^ '^y do ye persevere in refusing me " that honour, to which I am equally entitled with him, whom ye " call God ? Ye will acknowledge indeed, that he has an unlimit- " ed power over the souls and the bodies of men ; and whatso- " ever he pleaseth, he can perform, whether in heaven or on " earth. Ye will bow to his authority, when he says, " I, even " I, am he that hlotteth out thy transgressions for mine ow n sake, *' and will not remember thy sins,^'' Isa. xliii. 25. '• And cannot " ye perceive, that the same power is also exercised by me ? that *' the spirits and the bodies of all flesh are alike in my hand, and " equally subject to my sovereign will? consequently that being " possessed of omnipotence in each world, spiritual and natural, " it is as easy for me to pronounce, Thr. sins be forgiven thee, as " to say, »irise and tvalk. But lo convince you, and all others " who shall hereafter entertain the slightest doubt of my being " the only true God, as well as the Son of Man, wliocame down ^^ from heaven, and yet still is in heaven, (John iii. 13,) I say to " the sick of the palsy, because his faith qualifies him for the dou- " ble blessing. Be healed in spirit, be healed in body ; thy sins " be forgiven thee; arise, take up thy bed, and go unto thine " house." UNITARIANS, TRINITARIANS, &c, 29 [14.] Matt. ix. 18, 23, 25. " There came a certain ruler, and " ivorshipped Jesus, saying. My daughter is even now dead: but " come and lay thy hand upon lier, and she shall live. And *' when Jesus came to the ruler's house, he m ent in, and took " her by the hand, and the maid arose." See also Mark v. 22 to " 24, 35 to 43. Luke viii. 41, 42, 49 to 56. John ix. 38. Independent of the miracle here performed, which is only one among the many proofs of an omnipotent hand, which Jesus ex- hibited in the days of his flesh, let us more particularly advert to thfe circumstance of his being ivorshipped by this ruler of the syna- gogue, who is elsewhere described as falling down at tke feet of Jesus, and beseeching him to heal his daughter. If worship be due to God alone, and if neither man nor angel can accept of such honour, without being guilty of the highest sa- crilege and presumption^ while nevertheless our Saviour not only suffers it, but even approves and rewards it ; what ought we to infer from the present, and many other instances, recorded in the New Testament, of divine adoration paid to Jesus ? What, but tliat he was richly and iruhj entitled to it, not indeed as a mere man, not as an angel ov archangel, not as the first of created beings, no nor even as a secondarij God, or sharer in divinity with some other unknown and unknowable Deity, supposed to rank above him ; but as the single, sole, and supreme God him- self, who after many ages of prophecy at lengtli assumed the form of Man, and tliereby became his own Divine Word incar- tiate ? But if tlie doctrine here advanced be indeed the truth of reve- lation ; if Jesus be the Word incarnate, or God manifested in the flesh; then it follows, that divine worship paid to any other than to him alone, under whatever pretext, custom, or authority, is no less than downright idolatry. For as there is and can be only One God, so all true worship must be directed to him: and every deviation or departure from such worship, whether in the affec- tion, ia the thought, in the doctrine, or in the life, must necessa- rily be idolatrous in it's kind and degree. Yet notwithstanding all this, it cannot be doubted, but the Divine Mercy accepts the so A SEAL UPON THE LIPS OF intention of the pious and the sincere of every denomination un- der heaven, not imputing to them their ignorance or their erroi'S, •vvhile tljey endeavour to live in charity witl) their neighbour, ac- cording to the best light Avhich they have received. And here it may be remarked as a singular circumstance, serving to point out tlie contrariety of sentiment, which subsists between the Unitarian so called, who professes to worship an in- visible and consequently an unknown God, and the Unitarian truly deserving the name,^vho worships a visible God, known and made manifest in tlie flesh as a Divine Man. The former Unita- rian charges the whole body of Christians with idolatry, because they pay /./o much honour, too much reverence, adoration, and worship, to Jesus Christ^ The latter Unitarian, on the other hand, also charges them with idolatry, because they pay him too little of each, or rather because they do not ivorship him at all, but some other Being, whom they call the Father, and whom they vainly address for his sake; as if there were any Deity, or any principle of Deity, out of, above, or distinct from Jesus Christ himself. Thus the two kinds of Unitarians, if both may be so called, are at complete issue with eacl\ other : for though neither can see any thing hut practical idolatry in tlie land, and both profess to believe in One God, jet, as they do not both acknowledge the same God, no two characters are more opposed, in respect to the real Object of their faith and worship. Tlie one refuses to pay divine honours to Jesus, because he considers him unworthy of such high distinction, as being in himself nothing superior to the rest of mankind, or if superior, still a dependent, finite creature ; and Iherefore, so regarding him, he turns his back upon him, and looks into infinite space for some other Object, whom he may em- brace with his thought and affection ; but finding none in the ethereal heaven, and none upon the habitable earth, answering his expectations, he suddenly fixes his mind upon JS'atiire in her fust and purest principles, and then falls down and worships her as tlie very Queen of heaven. Tlie other kind of Unitarian, well knowing that to an invisible and unknown God, by whatever name he may be called, neither faith nor worship can possibly be UNITARIANS, TRINITARIANS, &c. 31 directed, so as to reach and embrace it's Object; and at the same time believing with the heart, as well as the understanding, the divine testimony of the Scriptures, tliat the great God of tlie uni- verse, Jehovah himself, came down from heaven into the world, for the express purpose (among other things) of making himself visible and approachable to his creatures; that, in order to ac- complish this end, he actually assumed the form of a Man ; and that in this form he was known as tiieir Saviour and Redeemer, tlieir Father and their God ; looks up with confidence and hope to the great Object of his faith and love, whom he can see with the eyes of his understanding, whom he can embrace with the af- fections of his heart, and whom he can tlierefore worship as the One God over all, blessed for ever and ever. Such and so great is the difterence between the worship of those, who- profess to believe in an invisible Deity, or Supreme Ens, pervading the universe, and co-extended with it, and the worship of those, who acknowledge God in the form of a Man ; not a material man, subject to the limitations or mensurations of either space or time, but a divinely -substantial Man, omnipresent in all spaces without space, and in all times tvithout time. The one kind of worship, being nothing more nor less than pure Theism or Deism, necessarily resolves itself first into J\'aturalism, then into Materialism, and lastly into downright Mhelsm. The other kind raises the understanding, and together with it the affections of the heart, from nature " up to nature's God :" it views it's Object, and perceives him to be altogether lovely, and worthy of divine honour. Instead, therefore, of sinking the man into the dust of mere matter, or distracting his imagination with delusive and fantastical forms, which must necessarily rise up in the mind, when stretcliing into infinite space, or groping in the dark cham- bers of inanimate nature, in search of a God, it presents before him a Divine Man, the real Creator of the universe, in his own substantial form, who is at once his adorable Parent and Bene- nefactor, his Friend and Protector, his Redeemer and Saviour- Jesus Chris.t. 32 A SEAL UPON THE LIPS OF [15.J Matt. ix. 20 to 22. " And behold, a woman which wa;; " diseased with an issue of blood twelve years, came behind him, " and touched the hem of his garment. For she said within hei- " aelfy If I mn If but touch his garment^ I shall he ichole. But " Jesus turned himself about, and when he saw her, he said, " Daughter, be of good comfort; thy faith hath made thee ivhole. " And tlie woman was made whole from that hour." See also Mark v. 25 to 34; chap. vi. 5&. Luke vi. 19; chap. viii. 43 to 48. Tl\e transaction here recorded is somewhat varied bj the differ- ent Evangelists. Mark states, that " when she heard of Jesus, she came in the press behind, and touched his garment. And " straightway the fountain of her blood was dried up: and she " felt in her body that she was healed of that plague. And Jesus •• immediately knoiving in himself that virtue had gone out of " him, turned him about in the press and said, JFho touched my " clothes? And his disciples said unto him. Thou seest the mul- " titude thronging thee, and sayest thou, Who touched me ? And " he looked round about to see her that had done this tiling. But " the woman fearing and trembling, knowing what was done in " her, came and fell down before him, and told liim all the truth. •' And he said unto her. Daughter, thy faith hath made thee •' ivhole ; go in peace, and be whole of thy plague." Mark v. !7 to 34. The Evangelist Luke describes the circumstance in nearly the same w'ords; but instead of Jesus saying, "Who touched my " clothes 1^" he is represented as saying, " Who touched me ?^* And when Peter, and they that were with him expressed their surprize at such a question, while the multitude was thronging and pressing upon iiim, "Jesus said. Somebody hath touched " me: fur I perceive that virtue is gone out of me.'''' Luke viii. 45, 46. Whoever seriously reflects on tlie miracle here performed, must acknowledge that it was a most extraordinary one indeed, because, apparently, it. was the result of faith, on the part of the woman, without a corresponding consciousness on the part oi UNITARIANS, TRINITARIANS, &c. S3 JESUS, who was it's Object. But that this could not in reality be the case, is plain from the circumstance, first, of Jesus knowing in himself tha.t the healing virtue had proceeded from him ; and, secondly, of his turning about to see the woman, whose faith he was already apprized of, and approved. He, therefore, who in the midst of a crowd pressing on all sides upon him, could distin- guish the faith of an obscure individual behind him from every other sentiment of the gazing multitude, must have possessed a source of knowledge of the human heart, and penetration into it's secret recesses, which no other man has ever yet displayed. For this knowledge does not appear to have been communicated to him by any thing like a natural, corporeal sensation ; the Avoman having only touched the liem of his garmerd, and not his iierson : and yet the Lord knew within himself not only that fact, but like- wise all that was passing in her mind, and in the minds of all that surrounded him. When Jesus turned himself about to give more direct access to his person, to her whose faith had as it weie arrested it's Ob- ject ; and when he exclaimed with a voice of love and mercy, " Who touched my clothes?-^ little did his disciples imagine for what purpose, or with what propriety, such a question was put to the by-standers ; and still less what a miraculous effect had just been produced upon one of their company. But how great must have been their astonishment, when tliey saw the woman, now healed of her infirmity, prostrate herself at the feet of Jesus, ac- knowledging and confessing that she it was, who had ventured to extend towards him the hand of faith, because she was inspired with a full confidence, that could she but reach the hem or border of his garment, she should instantly be made whole ! If hitherto they had entertained any doubt of his divine character and power, they must now have been convinced, by the testimony of their own eyes and ears, not only that their Lord and Master possess- ed in himself the source of every blessing, as w^ell as the ability and inclination to impart thereof to all who were in states of re- ception, but also that there was a sphere of virtue continually emanating from him, and actually surrounding his 'person., which however none could perceive, or in any wise reap the benefit of, E S4 A SEAL UPON fHE LIPiS OV except those who had faith in liis omnijioience, and who therefoit approached and Avorshipped hirff as a. Divine Man, or, in other words, as the Incarnate God. Another consideration rising out of tlie passage is, that the Lord announces himself as the Father ol" his people. " Daugli- " ffr," says he, " thy faith hath made thee whole :" evidently implying, not only that faith ouglit to be directed to him, as to an omnipotent /Sat" ioz^r, but that it should also embrace him as an all- merciful Parent.* For if he condescends to call us his childreny surely we may be allowed in return to acknowledge him as our Father. And when he is thus reverenced as the sole Parent of the human race, as well as their Benefactor and Saviour, a sense of filial duty, no less than the necessity of the case, forbids us to entertain the most distant idea of am/ other Saviour, any other Father, or amj other God. As it is not properly within the design of tlie present work to i\nfold the spiritual or internal sense of the various passages of Scripture introduced into it, but only to bring into full view the grand doctrine of the sole and exclusive divinity of our blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, and that in a plain, intelligible manner, by obvious deductions and conclusions drawn from the mere letter of the Word ; we shall here only observe, in refe- rence to that part of the subject, that the garments of the Lord denote the divine truths of his AVord, which being one with him- self, it is therefore a matter of indifference, or of equal import, whether he say with the Evangelist Mark, " Who touched my " clothes?'''' or with Luke, " Who touclied ?He?" For as the Lord is declared to be the Word, and indeed the Word made flesh, it must be evident, that whosoever touches, embraces, and acknowledges, in faith and in affection, the divine truths contain- ed in the AVord, must also at the same time, and in the same de- gree, touch, embrace, and acknowledge the Lord himself. The hem or border of his garment denotes the literal, exterior, or na- tural sense of tlie Word : while the woman represents the affec- tion or love of truth, whicli constitutes the churcli in man ; and her touching his garment, denotes the communication and re- • See Matthew ix. 2- UNITARIANS, TRINITARIANS, &c. 35 ception of divine truth both in the understanding and in the heart. In every point of view, therefore, whether spiritually or natu- rally discerned, the whole passage testifies, in the plainest and most unequivocal terms, as well to the divine mercy and compas- sion of Jesus, as to his infinite wisdom, intelligence, and power. And moreover it teaches us, in a way of peculiar interest, that he views with complacency and approbation every act of faith di- rected to him as God in a Human Form. [16.] Matt. ix. 27 to 30. " When Jesus departed thence, two " blind men followed him, crying, and saying, Thou Son of Da- " vid, have mercy on us. And when he was come into the house, " the blind men came to him ; and Jesus saith unto them, Be- " lieve ye that I am able to do this ? They say unto him. Yea, " Lord. Then touched he their eyes, saying, ^ic cording to your ^'^ faith, be it unto you. And their eyes were opened.''^ See also chap. XX. 30 to 34. Mark viii. 22 to 26 ; chap. x. 46 to 52. Luke xviii. 35 to 43. John ix. 1 to 41. From this passage it appears, that the condition, on which the blind men were to receive theiji' sight, was, that they should be- lieve in the ability o/ Jesus to perform what they desired. They were neither required nor expected to make profession of any faith in an invisible God, in God the Father for example, accord- ing to the common idea, as Creator of the universe, whom no man hath seen, or can see ; neither were they called upon to make prayer and supplication to any such unknown and unmani- fesied Deity: but they were simply directed to turn their thoughts and affections to Jesus alone ; and if to the question. Whether they believed in their hearts, that he was of himself, as he then stood before them, able to gratify their wishes, they could truly answer in the affirmative, that faith was immediately honoured by the Lord, and his divine approbation and blessing became it's reward. S6 A SEAL UPON THE LIPS OF The true reason of this was, because in Jesus alone was tliv: very seat and centre of Divinity^ called the Father, to whom there ■was, and still is, no other possible way of access, than by a direct and immediate approach to the Humanity, called the Son, which was assumed for the purpose of becoming the medium of communication between the creature and the Creator. It is on this account that it is so often declared in the New Testament, that salvation is alone attainable by faith in the Son : for the iSon or Humanity, containing within him the Father or Divinity, as the body contains it's soul, is a visible Object, capable of being era- braced by the thought and affection of man, and consequently of being loved and worshipped ; whereas the Father or Divinitv, out of, or separate from the Humanity, being in himself invisible, or inconceivable by any effort of tlie human mind, is therefore no Object of thought, no Object of love, and consequently no Object of rational worship. Reader, be not startled on hearing it so boldly asserted, that God the Father, the Creator of the universe, considered distinct- ly and separately from Jesus Christ, is no Object of rational or Christian worship : for nothing can be properly called an Object of any kind, much less an Object of religious worship, unless it be capable of being presented before the mind in some distinct form, under which it may be apprehended. The Divine Esse, that is to say, the inmost principle of the Divine Essence, ab- stracted from it's form, is infinitely too far removed from the sight of any finite creature, to fall within the limits even of ima- gination itself: and if so, how can it be an Object either of thought or of affection ? Must there not be an accommodation or letting down to the capacity of the worshipper, by virtue of which he may be enabled spiritually or mentally to view his God, to hold in contemplation his divine perfections, and thus to direct his love and his adoration to a visible Form, to a personal Deity, who can receive it with complacency and approbation, and who can also bless with a sense of his more immediate presence? This effect is produced, on the part of the great Author of our being, by manifesting himself to us as an Incarnate God, or, which is the same thing, as a Divine J\Ian ; and, on the part of UNITARIANS, TRINITARIANS, &c. 37 the creature,, by acknowledging and worshipping the Saviour Je- sus Christ alone as that Incarnate God, that Divine Man, who is equally the Creator and the Preserver of all worlds. AVith these sentiments, which are the essential characteristics of the true Christian religion, agree the many declarations of our Lord to the following effect : " I am the way, and the truth, and '* the life : no man cometh unto the Father, but by ?ne," John xiv. 6. " He that believeth on the Son, hath everlasting life ; and he '• that believeth not the Son, shall not see life," John iii. 36. " He " that honoureth not the Son, honoureth not the Father,''^ John v. 23. " Ye Avill not come to me, that ye might have life," John v, 40. " Not that any man hath seen the Father, save he who is of " God, he hath seen the Father. Verily verily I say unto you. " He that believeth on vie, hath everlasting life," John vi. 46, 47. Thus we see, that, as the mere soul of a man, out of, and sepa- rate from it's proper form or body, is not an object to be ap- proached or conversed with ; so neither is the naked Divinity, out of, and separate from it's proper form the Humanity, to be considered as the true scriptural object of our worship. But, on the other hand, we are assured, that as, in order to gain access to the soul of a man, we must make our direct approach to his body, so in like manner, if we would honour, reverence, and worship the one living and true God of heaven and earth, we must of ne- cessity direct our thoughts and affections to his Divine Humanity, because thereby, and thereby only, can we hope to obtain con- junction with him, a;id by conjunction salvation and eternal life. [17.] Matt. X. 1. « When Jesus had called unto him his " twelve disciples, he gave them power against unclean spirits, to " cast them out, and to heal all manner of sickness, and all man- " ner of disease." See also Mark iii. 14, 15 ; chap. v. 12, 13 j chap. vi. 7, 13. Luke ix. 1, 2; chap. x. 17, 19. In the Old Testament we read, that the power of working mi- racles was given to Moses and others by Jehovah himself ; nor 38 A SEAL UPON THE LIPS OF do we any where find, that a mere man was ever invested w ith the divine prerogative of communicating to others, and those of his own choice or selection, that power, which was only lent or delegated to himself, and wliich he held by no other tenure, than the humble and perpetual acknowledgment, that it was not his own, but derived from another. In the present case, Iwwever, we have an example, in Jesus, similar to that of Jehovah : he chooses for his servants whomsoever he pleases, and delegates to them a supernatural power, a pov/cr to overawe, control, and eject from the bodies of men unclean spirits, to heal all manner of sickness, and all manner of disease ; that is to say, as before observed under articles 10, and 13, he gives them dominion over both spirit and matter, and thus exercises an authority, which in the very nature of things can belong only to the great and omnipo- tent God. Under these circumstances, is it possible, that he, who claims to be the -E(/«mZ or Fe//o.'£' of Jehovah, Zech. xiii. 7, (which is an expression that can only be understood of the relation subsist- ing between the Humanity and the Divinity of one and the same God :) we say, is it possible, that he, who could thus assume to himself the character of Jehovah, and by the various godlike acts of his life justify such high assumption, in the sight both of angels and men, should yet after all be no other than a creature of yesterday, a mere man, an absolute worm, just creeping into existence from his original state of non-entity ? Common sense forbids the preposterous idea ; sound reason dissipates the fallacy of such an appearance, whenever presented to the view ; but above all, divine revelation, when seen in it's pure and genuine light, extinguishes for ever the blasphemous sentiment. [18.] Mah. X. 37 to 39. " He that loveth father or mother <• more than me, is not worthy of me : and he that loveth son or " daughter more than vie, is not worthy of me. And he that tak- " eth not his cross, and foUoweth after me, is not worthy of me. «■• He that findeth his life, shall lose it : "and he that loseth his UNITARIANS, TRINITARIANS, &c. 39 " life for my sake, shall find it." See also chap. xvi. 24, 25 ; chap. xix. 29. Mark x. 29, SO. Luke ix. 23, 24 ; chap. xiv. 26, 27 ; chap, xviii. 29, 30. - ^ Would any prophet, or mere messenger sent from God to man, be justified in the use of such language as this ^ Nay, would any angel of heaven, however high his rank in tlie scale of created intelligences, have the presumption to speak of himself, or of his own mighty importance, in such a strain of unqualified commen- dation .►* It cannot for a moment be supposed ; because it is au undeniable truth, applicable to every created being, that " who- " soever exalts himself, shall be abased ;" and on the other hand, that *'he, who humbles himself, shall be exalted,''^ Luke xiv. 11. No angel, knowing his dependent situation, and receiving from the bountiful hand of his Creator his daily existence, together with his daily bread, could find it in his heart to address his neighbour and fellow-creature in terms like those contained in the passage quoted, and so proclaim hiriiself, not merely as their ex- ample or superior in every thing great and good, but even as the Object of their love and supreme venerution. With still less ap- pearance of propriety could his younger brother, man, while sur- rounded with the infirmities incident to mortality, take up the language of a God, and say, " He that loveth father or mother, '■'■ son or daughter, more than me, or vvliosoever foUoweth not after •' me, is not worthy of me." For surely none can claim the su- preme devotion of the heart, but he who implanted within it the best affections of our nature, and who continually supplies it with all the felicities of love. It follows, therefore, that Jesus the wise, the holy, and the just, who thus holds himself out to mankind as the piattern of perfection, the good to be desired above every other blessing in heaven or on earth, and for whose sake every inferior affection and delight, if opposed to the acknowledgment and worship of him, must be sacrificed without reluctance, can be no other than the adorable God of the universe, come down among men to teach them his will, liis Word, and tlie only true way to everlasting life. 40 A SEAL UPON THE LIPS OF [19.] Matt. xi. 27. <^^ Ml things are delivered unto me uf my " Father. ^^ See also chap, xxviii. 18. Luke x. 22. John iii. 35 j chap. V. 21, 22, 26, 27 j chap. xvi. 15; chap. xvii. 2, 10. What can be the meaning of delivering all things into the hands of the Son, if yet the Son be, as supposed by some, a mere man, or even, as regarded by others, the first among created an- gels ? Can a mere man guide the chariot of the sun, or regulate the seasons and the hours ^ Can any finite and dependent being, Atlas-like, support on his shoulders the great burden of the uni- verse ? Is it within the limits of possibility, that omniscience and omnipotence, which are alone competent to preserve the order and the harmony of nature, can be delegated to any individual, who is himself within that order, and necessarily subject to it^s laivs ? Or can a mere creature, who by the very condition of his existence is limited and finited in every faculty of liis soul and body and life, receive into himself, if offered, the gift of divine wisdom and poicer, which in themselves are infinite and eternal? The position is absurd, contradictory in it's terms, and therefore must be rejected as an utter iinjjossibilitij. Or again, is it consistent with reason, and the dictates of a sound mind, to represent the One God as existing in two or more distinct 2iersons, one of whom, namely the first in order, called tlic Father, must be supposed by the above-cited words of the Evangelist to have transferred all his right and title to dominion over the works of his own hands, to a second person, called tJie Son ? As if Divinity, with it's various attributes and perfections, were a transferable property, capable of passing and re-passing from one supposed person of the Godhead to another, and for no conceivable purpose of benefit to man, but what might equally as well be accomplished, and indeed infinitely better, without such transfer ! Above all, is it consistent with the true light of revelation to imagine a divided Deity, whose imputed properties are not only at variance with each other, but at the same time also totally in- compatible with unity of form, a.s well as tinity of essence? If the great Jehovah hath deigned to announce himself, in his Word. UNITARIANS, TRINITARIANS, &c. 41 liiuler different appellations, according to the diiference of sub- ject considered, of circumstances described, or of persons ad- dressed, tiiat can be no just reason why either his divine essence should be divided, or his divine form multiplied; since in both cases the divine unity, vvhich is the fundamental of all religion, must unavoidably p^rtsA. "^ To guard, therefore, against such a fatal sentiment, as a plura- lily of divine jjevsons, which is most evidently tantamount to a plurality of Gods, the Divine Wisdom has found it necessary to dictate to his prophets the following plain and emphatical lan- guage : " Thus saith Jehovah the King of Israel, and his Re~ " deemer Jehovah of hosts, I am the First, and I am the Last, " and besides me there is no God,'" Isa. xliv. G. " I am Jehovah, " and besides me there is no Savionr,'\Jsa.. xliii, 11. « All flesh " shall know, that I Jehovah am tliy Saviour and Redeemer,'"^ Isa. xlix. 26. '• Their Redeemer is strong, Jehovah of hosts is '• his name," Jer. 1. 34. " I Jehovah am thy God, and thou " shalt know no God beside me, for tliere is no Saviour beside " ?He," IIos. xiii. 4. " Jehovah is my strength, and my Re- *■• deemer,^^ Ps. xix. 14. in these passages, and others too numerous to be introduced in this place, Jehovah assumes to himself the title and cliai'acterof Saviour and Redeemer, to the utter exclusion of every other be- ing in heaven or on earth. lie also declares himself to be the First and the Last, or the ivhole Deity, by whatever name distin- guished or made known in tlie AVord, and in the church. Indeed so jealous of his glory does he appear to be, that (foreseeing, and as if with a view to counteract the general apostacy of the Chris- tian church in relapsing into gentilism, by the introduction of a plurality of Gods,) he repeatedly cautions them against the dan- gerous error of multiplying to themselves imaginary objects of worship, which are no better than graven images, destitute of life, and incapable of supplying their wants. '• Is there a God '• besides me ? Yea, there is no God, I know not any," Isa. xliv, 8. " Before me there was no God formed, neither siiall there be •• after Hie," Isa. xliii. 10. " I am Jehovah, tliat is my name, '• and ?»// glory ivill T not i; ire to another," Isa. xlii, 6. We 42 A SEAL UPON THE LIPS OF must not presume therefore to deal out, in two or more several portions, a glory, which must ever remain undivided : neither are we at liberty to suppose, that there is or can be any more than One Jehovah, One Creator, One Redeemer, One Saviour, One God, in One glorious and exclusively Divine Person. Yet in the passage, which gave occasion to these reflections, it is asserted, that all things are delivered by the Father into the hands of the Son, that is, into the hands of Jesus, who therefore may now be truly said, as expressed by himself in another place, to have all power in heaven and in earth, Matt, xxviii. 18. If so, then he must fireside over the whole works of creation, not form a part of them ; be above the laws of nature, not subject to them ; and in the actual exercise of a sovereignty, which no finite intelli- gence can form any just or adequate conception of. In short, be- ing in possession of all things which the Father himself ever en- joyed, namely, all his divine attributes, all his divine properties, and all his divine perfections; (John iii. 35; chap. xvi. 15.) be- ing also honoured with the great names and titles of Deity ; (Isa. ix. 6. Matt. iii. 3. Isa. xl. 3. Apoc. i. 8, 11.) and at the same time being, as the apostle Paul most justly observes, in the form of God, he thought it no robbery, no impiety, no presumption, no indignity offered to the Supreme and Most High Sovereign of the universe, (which must have been the case, had he been any thing less tlian the Supreme Deity himself,) to be equal with God; (Philip, ii. 6. John v. 21, 23, 26.) that is, in other words, to be One with the infinite, eternal, and omnipotent God himself: for in no other sense of the word can it be truly said, that any being in the form of a Man is equal to the Creator. But liere it may be objected, " How can the Son, or Jesus, be '- said to have received such power and authority from the Father, " who is universally admitted to be the Supreme God .'' And liow •• is it to be understood, that the Father delivered up to the Son, " or to Jesus, all things that himself possessed, and yet still re- " mained the All-mighty, the All-wise, and the All -merciful ?" We have already seen, that divine or infinite power cannot in the nature of things be wholly vested in any finite being, thus neither in a man of the earth, nor "in the highest archangel ofhea- UNITARIANS, TRINITARIANS, &c. 43 ven; and that the bare supposition of such a paradox is an out- rage against reason, as well as against revelation. We have also demonstrated, that the divine unity will not admit of any division or separation into distinct persons ; and consequently that the difficulty, which presses upon a reader, who has not sufficiently considered the subject, cannot be removed by any such hypothesis as that of a duality or a trinity of divine persons in the Godhead. The question therefore can be scripturally, rationally, and satis- factorily resolved in no other possible way, than by considering the Father as the invisible Divine Essence, and the Son as the visible or manifested Divine Form, both together constituting only one and the same God, or one and the same Divine Person r. comparatively as the invisible soul and the visible body together constitute only one and the same man, or one and the same hu- man person. Under this view of the subject, how easy is it to conceive, that, as the soul of a man transfers or delivers up to the body all it's powers and energies of life, yet without sustaining in itself any deprivation or diminution of those powers; so the Father, or the Divine Essence, in like manner transfers or delivers up into the hands of the Son, or the Divine Form, all his divine attributes and perfections, yet without losing his character of being still the Supreme God and Regent of the universe. Thus, notwithstand- ing the varied modes of expression in different parts of the Holy Word, which are so well adapted to convey heavenly and divine instruction, and which likewise are all resolvable into the simple idea of the union of Divinity with Humanity in the single person of our blessed Lord, there results, as an \indeniable conclusion from the whole, this first, this last, this greatest of all revealed truths. That Jehovah himself, who is called the Father, and Jesus Christ, who is called the Son, are identically and person- ally one and the same Divine Being, one and the s^ne everlast- ins God of heaven and earth. 44 A SEAL UPON THE LIPS OK [20.] Matt. xi. 27. " No man knoweth tlie Son. but tlie Fa- <•'• tiwr: neither knoweth any man tb.c Father,- sax e the Son, and " he to whomsoever the )S'i»;i wiil reveal him.'' See also Luke x. 22. John viii. 19 ; cliap. xiv. 7. There would be no propriety in speaking tlius of Jesus, or of the Son, were he merely a created being, or a mortal man. The Jews said of him, " Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose " father and mother ice know ? how is it then that he saith, I " came down from heaven?'- Jolin vi. 42. And again," We know ^^ this man, whence he is: but when Christ cometh, no man " knoiceth whence he is,^'' John vii. 27. Such was the opinion of the Jews, who were his enemies, and who could perceive nothing of his divine nature, any more than Socinian Unitarians of the present day, who are also his enemies, by denying his divine origin and descent. Both judge him to be the son of Joseph ; and lience both suppose, ttiat they know whence he is. And yet Je- sus himself denies, that such persons either had or have any true knowledge of him. " Ye neither know vie, (says he,) nor my Fa- rther: if ye had known ?H?, ye would have known ;iiy Father " also,'' John viii. 19. Knowledge of Jesus as the CJirist or .Messiah, is not a know- ledge of his natural descent, according to the mere humanity, from. the house of David ; but a knowledge of his descent from heaven, as the IFord, or divine truth itself, incarnate. It is in this latter respect that neither Jews nor Unitarians have the slightest idea of his real character : and if the question were aguin put to them, as it was once put to their predecessors, " How can he be the " Son of David, when David himself calls him his Lord i'"' (Matt. xxii. 45.) they would, it is probable, with all the wisdom, which they have had an opportunity of accumulating since their time, be still unable to answer a word. For having no conce])tion of any otlier humanity, than what may be seen by the natural eye, they conclude, that Jesus himself, because he appeared among the Jews like a mere man, was therefore in reality nothing more. Yet it is plain from his transfiguration on the mountain, (Matt, xvii. 2.) that he was possessed of an interior divine form, per- UNITARIANS, TRINITARIANS, &c. 45 fectly distinct from the humble form, in which he was usually seen; for "his /ace did shine as the sun, and even his raiment " was white as the light.^^ It could not therefore have been in respect to the Lord's in- firm humanity, but most evidently in reference to his Divine Ilumanitij, that he said, " No man knoweth the Son, but the Fa- " ther : neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and " he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him." For indeed it is tantamount to this : As no man, no created being, can possibly comprehend the infinity of the Divine Essence, so neither can he comprehend the infinity of the Divine Form ; the true nature and quality of the one being fully known only to the other, mu- tually, reciprocally, and conjunctly. And as the Divine Essence, called the Father, which may be considered as the Divine Love, or the Divine Good, cannot be communicated to man, or in the least wise perceived by him, except in and through the medium of the Divine Form, called the Son, which may be considered as the Divine Wisdom, or the Divine Truths and further, as this effect can only take place according to the capacity of the reci- pient subject, who is in the actual faith and acknowledgment of the Divinity of the Lord's Humanity, therefore it is said, that " no man knoweth the Father but the Son, ^nd he to ivhom the " Son will reveal himJ^ ^[21,] Matt. XI. 28. " Coine unto me, all ye that labour, and '• are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.''^ See also John vi. 37. When men have been labouring and toiling through life, weigh- ed down with calamity, and oppressed by the heavy hand of af- fliction ; and when, in addition to all this, they are assailed by tlie powers of darkness, and permitted to fall into manifold and grievous temptations, so that even their spiritual life is brought into jeopardy ; to, whom should they fly for refuge, for consola- tion, and for rest ? Sorry comforters must thev be, who on such 46 A SEAL UPON THE LIPS OF an occasion would direct them to a mere man, or even to an angel of the higliest order in heaven. The great Jehovah invites them to himself, as being alone capable of giving the wished-for help, and of delivering from troubles, dangers, and death. " Look un- *' to me, (says he,) and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth : for ^^ I am God, and there is none else,''^ Isa. xlv. 22. "When thou " passest through the ivaiers, I vill be with thee ; and througk " the rivers, they shall not overflow tliee : when thou walkest <^ through the fire, thou shalt not be burnt; neither shall the ^•fiame kindle upon thee. For I am Jehovah thy God, the Holy '• One of Israel, thy Saviour,^'' Isa. xliii. 2. And again, *' My " presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest,^* Exod. xxxiii. 14. " When the poor and needy seek water, and '•there is none, and thfir tongue faileth for thirst, I Jehovah " will hear them, I the God of Israel rvill not forsake them,''^ Isa. xli. ir. " God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in ^'' trouble,^'' Ps. xlvi. 1. Such, in the Old Testament, is the language of a Creator, v.ho Is at once the Parent, the Benefactor, and the Saviour of his help- less creatures ; alone competent to redress their grievances, and to supply their wants, because alone the centre and the source of every divine blessing. No less expressive, and equally impor- tant, is the language of Jesus in the Gospel, who, changing the terms, yet retaining the ideas of the prophets, announces him- self to his people as their only refuge in affliction, their only hope in distress. " Come tinto me, all ye that labour, and are heavy " laden, and I will give yon rest.-'' Can the ^-jva/ Jehovah /h"j«- selfs2Lj more, or do more, for his offspring, than is here promised to be done by the equally great Jesus ? " The equally great " Jesus ! ? !" — Yes, the equally great Jesus : we do not retract the words, but proceed to prove and confirm tliem. First of all, It is abundantly declared in the Sacred Scrip- tures, and immediately assented to by every sound mind, that there is only One God of heaven and earth, distinguished by a variety of names, all announcing his divine Supremacy ; among which are Jehovah, Father, Lord, Almighty, &c. &c. Se- condlyy To Jesus Christ are applied almost all the names of UNITARIANS, TRINITARIANS, &c. 47 Jehovah expressly, but without exception all his characters, at' tributes, and inrfections ; which is a circumstance that never could or would have found a place in writings dictated solely by Jehovah himself, unless it was intended to be understood, that Jesus and Jehovah were one and the same Divine Being. Who that examines the following passages with any degree of attention, can refuse to acknowledge, that the great personage, called Je- hovah in the Old Te'stament, is no other that Jesus in the New ? Let us compare the Prophets with the P^vangelists : truth will be the result. Prophets. Tsa. xl. 3. " The voice of " him that crieth in the wil- " derness. Prepare ye the way " of Jehovah, make straight in " the desert a highway for our « GocV Mai. iv. 5. " Behold, I send " you Elijah the proj]het,\)Q{oYe " the coming of the great and " dreadful day of Jehovah.'" Micah V. 2. " But thou, " Bethlehem Ephratah, though " thou be little among the thou- " sands of Judah, yet out of thee " shall he come forth unto me, " that is to be Ruler in Israel ; Evangelists. Matt. iii. S. « This is he " [Jolin the Baptist] that was " spoken of by the prophet " Esaias, saying, The voice of " one crying in the wilderness, " Prepare ye the way of the " Lord, make his paths "'straight." Matt. xi. 10, 14. " This is " he of whom it is written, Be- " hold, I send my messenger " before thy face, which shall " prepare thy way l)efore thee. " And if ye will receive it, this ^^'is Elias which was for to " come." See also Mark i. 2, 3r Luke i. 70. Luke ii. 11. "Unto you is " born this day, in the city of " David, [_Bethlehevi,'] a Sa- ^^viour, which is Chrfst thr "Lord."' 4a A SEAL UPON THE LIPS OF Prothets. « whose goings foi-th have been *' 0/ old, from everlasting.^^ Isa. xlv. 15, 21, 22. ^' Verily *' thou art a God that hidest " thyself, O God of Israel the " Saviaur. There is no God " else beside me, a just God " and a Saviour, there is none " beside me. Look unto me, <' and be ye saved, all the ends "of the earth: for I am God, " and there is none else."' Isa. ix. 6. *' Unto us a " Child is born, unto us a Son *' is given, and the government " shall be upon his shoulder : " and his name shall be called '• AVonderful, Counsellor, the Evangelists. Matt. i. 20, 21. " The an- " gel of tlie Lord appeared un« " to Joseph in a dream, saying, "Joseph, thou son of David, " fear not to take unto thee " Mary thy wife : for that which " is conceived in her is of the " Holy Spirit. And she shall " bring forth a Son, and thou " shalt call his name Jesus : for " he shall save his people from " their sins.^^ Matt. ii. 4 to 6. "When " Herod had gathered all the " chief priests and scribes of " the people together, he de- " manded of them «7iere Christ " should be born. And they " said unto him, In Bethlehem " of Judea : for thus it is w^rit- *' ten by the prophet ; And thou ^^ Bethlehem in the land of Ju- " dah art not the least among *' the princes of Judah ; for out " of thee shall come a Gover- " nor, that shall rule my peo- ^* pie IsraeU^ John X. 30. " / and my Fa- " ther are one.'''' John xiv. 8, 9. " Philip saith " unto him. Lord, shew us the " Father, and it sufficeth us. Je- " sus 'saith unto him," Have / UNITARIANS, TRINITARIANS, &c. 49 Prophets^ *' Mighty God, the ei^rlasting " Father, the Prince of peace." Isa. xliv. 6. "Thus saith '•Jehovah the King of Israel, "and his Redeemer Jehovah ^^of hosts, / am the first, and " / am the last ; and besides me " there is no God." See also Isa. xli. 4. xlviii. 12. Evangelists. " been so long time with you, " and yet hast thou not knovi'n " mp, Philip ? he that hath seen " me, hath seen the Father.'^'' Apoc. i. 8, 17. "I am AU " pha and Omega, the beginning " and the ending, saith the " Lord, which is, and which " was, and which is to come, "the Almighty. And when 1 " saw him, [the Son of Man,] I " fell at his feet as dead ; and " he laid his right hand upon " me, saying unto me, Fear not : " I am the first and the last.^^ See also xxi. 6. xxii. 13. We will not multiply citations, because proof and confirma- tion of the equality of Jesus with Jehovah was all that was ask- ed, and behold ! (what is more) the identity of both as one and the same God is demonstrated by the Scriptures of truth. After this digression, which yet is not to be considered as a digression, so far as it tends to establish the main design of this volume, namely, the sole, supreme, and exclusive Divinity of our blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, we now take up the thread of our former ai'gument, and proceed as if there had been no interruption to the subject. In addressing his disciples, and through them the whole human race, Jesus does not direct them to an invisible, inaccessible Deity, pervading the universe like an ethereal, unsubstantial jJ^i'in- ciple ; but invites them to himself as a Divine Man, in whoih are substantiated and centered all the attributes and perfections of an infinitely wise and merciful God. Thus the same bless- ings, which no one could suppose to be in the gift of any but the Supreme Ruler of heaven and earth, flow equally from the hand of Jesus, and from the hand of Jehovah. G 50 A SEAL UPON THE LIPS OF What ! then, can a Man, or any Being in the form of a Man, bring deliverance from enemies, security from danger, and salva- tion from destruction, to those who call upon his name, and ap- proach liis person ? Can a Man be our refuge in the storm of life, our hope in years to come, and our everlasting rest ? " Yes !" exclaims the prophet Isaiali, with a voice loud enough to be heard from one end of heaven to the other, " A Man shall be as an " hiding-place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest : " [a Man shall be] as rivers of water in a dry place, as the sha- " doAv of a great rock in a weary land," Isa. xxxii. 2. But it is the Divine Man Jesus Chuist, who is thus described, and who therefore can be no less than the Supreme and Omnipotent God in a human form. The conclusion, then, which most evidently results from all these considerations, is, that both Jesus and Jehovah are per- sonally and identically one ; with this only difference, that Je- hovah of the Old Testament is the yet invisible, unmanifested God, while Jesus of the New Testament is the same God now incarnate or manifest in the flesh, and appearing in the form of a Man. [22.] Matt. xii. 6. '*• I say unto you, that in this place is one greater than the templet It is well known, that the temple, as being dedicated to the worship of Jehovah, the supreme God of heaven and earth, was accounted most holy : and that no profanation or contempt, either of the building itself, or of the things which it contained, was on any account tolerated, but severely prohibited. So holy indeed was it, especially the ark and tlie testimony Avithin it, that the high priest himself was permitted only once in a year to enter it's interior recess, called the holy of holies, and even then not until he was prepared by purifications and oblations, accord- ing to an order jircscribed for the purpose. Nothing therefore !:x)uld be conceived of as greater and more iioly that the temple, UNITARIANS, TRINITARIANS, &c. 51 except Him, to whom it was erected, and whose name was plac- ed therein. He was greater than the temple, because from him all it's sanctity was derived. And yet the same honour, whicii was due to Jehovah, was claimed by Jesus : for of himself he says, that " in this place is one greater than the temple.^^ This is not tlie language of a mere man, as some would make him, nor of one deputed by the high God to teach mankiiid lessons of meek- ness and humilifi/. But is evidently the language of one, who is conscious in himself, that the temple and all it's appendages had reference to his oivyi person (John ii. 19 to 21. ;) that the rever- ence which was paid to it, as well as the worship which ascend- ed to heaven from within it's walls, had him alone for it's ulti- mate Object ; and that the character and name of all that is called God among angels or men, exclusively belonged to him- self. In agreement with these sentiments, it is also written of the holy city New Jerusalem, when seen to descend from God out of heaven, " I saw no temple therein : for the Lord God Mmigh- " ty and the Lamb are the temple of it. And the city had no " need of the sun, neither of the moon to shine in it : for the a glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof," Apoc. xxi. 22,23. Here the temple, as representative of the great Object of worship, disappears by reason of the superior bright- ness and effulgence of him, who in the supreme sense is the tem- ple itself, ifs glory, and it's light. Tlie Lord God Almighty and the Lamb, that is, Jehovah and Jesus, or the Divinity and the Humanity, are botli said to constitute this living temple j the reason of which is, because both together constitute one and the same undivided God ; in like manner (comparatively speaking) as the soul and body together constitute one and the same indi- vidual man. It is in this way alone, that such passages as the above can be at all understood, in consistency with those numerous other de- clarations of Holy Scripture, which so strenuously insist upon the Divine Unity, and the exclusion of every other name in heaven or on earth, from the smallest participation in the honours due to God alone. 52 A SEAL UPON THE LIPS OF [23.J Matt, xii. 8. " Tlie Son of Man is Lord even of the " sabbath-day.^^ See also Mark ii. 28. Luke vi. 5. The sabbath -day was instituted (speaking according to the let ter of the Word) in perpetual commemoration, jf?7*sf, of the con- clusion of the great work of creation, or of the rest which Jeho- vah entered into when he had ceased from his divine laboursj Exod. XX. 8 to 11; chap. xxxi. 13 to 17; and secondly, in com- memoration of the deliverance or escape of the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt, Deut. v. 14, 15. In either case it was sacred to Jehovah, and peculiarly set apat't for the solemn wor- ship of him alone. Most emphatically therefore is it urged in all the books of Moses, and by the prophets who succeeded him, th»t Jehovah himself is Lord of the sabbath-day, because by him it was created, and to him and his hqnour it was exclusively de- voted. But behold ! a new claimant starts into view, and challenges for himself the heretofore undisputed title and dignity of Sove- reign Lord in the church; if indeed the>term new can with any propriety be predicated of him, who, though in respect to his flesh •<' not fifty years old," yet says of himself, " Before Abraham " was, I am,''^ John viii. 58; and who consequently must be, like ih^Jincient of days, the sa.me yesterday, to-day, a.nd for ever, that is, from eternity to eternity the same infinite and unchangeable God. This new claimant [new only to his church in the charac- ter of a Divine Man, but " whose goings forth" in the spirit " have been from of old, even/rom the days of eternity,''^ Micah V. 2.) is at once perceived to be no other than our blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, who is on all hands admitted to be the great personage intended by the Son of Man. It is he that lifts up his voice in the midst of angels and men, and knowing no superior, no equal, either in heaven above, or on the earth below, presents himself to them as the great Object referred to in all the rituals and ceremonials of representative worship among the Israelitish people ; an' than himself , and they enter in, and dwell there. And the "■ last state of that man is icorse than the first,'^ Luke xi. 24 to 26. By the unclean spirit going out of a man, is meant his ac- knowledgment of truth, and a life in agreement therewith at first. By the house swept and garnished, is meant the rejection of truth, and his life afterwards in opposition to it. By the return of the unclean spirit, with seven others more wicked than himself, is meant a state of profanation : wherefore the last state of that man is declared to be worse than the first. Having thus considered what we are to understand by the sin or blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, and seen that it consists in a denial of the Lord and his Word, and in the perversion and UNITARIANS, TRINITARIANS, &c. €5 profanation of it's divine truths, more especially after they have been once received and acknowledged, (an offence far exceeding in turpitude those venial imperfections of our nature, which are implied in speaking a word against the Son of Man, J we shall only add another observation or two in conclusion. The unhap- py lot, which persons guilty of the crime above-mentioned have reason to expect as awaiting them in another life, is not to be viewed as a mere arbitrarious act of vengeance proceeding from an offended Deity, by way of retaliation for having denied him in his life, for no such vindictive temper can find a place in the Divine Mind ; neither is it to be supposed, that there is any v/ant of mercy and compassion, on the Lord's part, towards such of his creatures as may hereafter be involved in the penalties atten- dant on blaspheming his Word. But it is rather to be considered as the necessary, as the inseparable consequence of that state of mind, which the person has chosen for himself by actual life, in which he has found his delight, and from which therefore he can never be withdrawn after death. It is true, so far as is possible, consistently v/ith the freedom of man, the Lord is, by his divine providence, in the continual en- deavour to prevent the sin of blasphemy and profanation ; and where this cannot be effected without permitting men to remain in ignorance of divine things, as was the case with the Jews, there it is said of the Lord, that " he hath blinded their e3'es,and " hardened their heart, that they should not see with their eyes, " nor understand with their heart, and be converted, and I should " heal them," John xii. 40. To be converted and healed here, means to believe and acknowledge divine truths ; and as the Lord foresaw, that they would not continue therein till the end of life, but would recede from them, and thus be guilty of profanation, he therefore in mercy permitted their eyes to be blinded, and their hearts hardened, that they should not see with their eyes, nor understand with their hearts. Hence, and from the whole tenour of the divine dispensations of God to man,^ we have every reason to be thankful, not only far positive, but also for negative mercies, and to conclude concerning all such as are finally lost, that, as the Prophet says, ^^ their blood is upon their oicn heads,''' 64 A SEAL UPON THE LIPS OF Ezek. xxxiii. 4 : for, " As I live, saith the Lord God, / have no ii pleasure in the death of him that dieth ; but would rather that " the wicked turn from his way, and live,^^ Ezek. xviii. 32 ; chap, xxxiii. 11. [26.] Matt. xii. 41, 42. " The men of Nineveh shall rise in "judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it; because " they repented at the preaching of Jonas ; and behold, a greater " than Jonas is here. The queen of the south shall rise up in " the judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it : for " she came from the uttermost parts of the earth to hear the vvis- " dom of Solomon ; and behold, a greater than Suloinonis here.^* See also Luke xi. SI, 32. After reading a passage like this, will any one be so inconsi- derate as to contend, that Jesus was no greater than any other man ? As a prophet and messenger of Jehovah, deputed to com- municate his will and pleasure to mankind, Jonas was equal to any of his predecessors, not excepting even Moses himself: for in his sight, who alone is self-essent and self-existent, angels, men, and worms, are alike — nothing. Yet, as a wide exception from the character and rank of a mere creature, messenger, or prophet, Jesus, who best knew his own infinite superiority, and needed no testimony from man to prove or confirm it, distinguish- es himself above all such as derive their commission from another, or act in subordination to any higher authority than their own. The men of Nineveli repented at the preaching of Jonah, who was merely an instrument in the hand of Jehovah to warn them of a threatened calamity : but the men of Judea refused to listen to the voice of him, who was greater than Jonah, of him who in fact was Jonah's God, as well as the God of Moses and the rest of the prophets. It is again further asserted, that Jesus was greater than Solo- mon, who was yet the wisest of men, the wealthiest, and the most splendid monarch of the east. But how can such language be ITNITAIIIANS, TRINITARIANS, &c. e^ justifietl, if Jesus is to be considered in no higher capacity, than that of a uiere man? Even John the Baptist, who, it appears, had never performed a miracle, was declared to be equal, if not su- perior, in dignity to all vvlio had preceded him, whether pro- phets, priests, or kings ; and for no other reason, than because he was the immediate precursor of Jesus. Yet this same John, well knowing the relation in which he stood to Jesus, and the na- ture of the commission which he bore, most emphatically pro- claims to those around him, " There standeth one among you, «' whom ye know not : He it is, who, coming after me, is prefer- " red before me, whose slioe^s latchet I am not worthy to unloose,^^ John i. 26, 27. If then tlie character, oihce, and person, of John the Baptist will stand in competition with those of Solomon, or David, or Moses, or Elias, and lose nothing in the comparison ; while, on the other hand, the bare imagination of any thing re- sembling equality between him and his great Lord, is treated with that solemn aversion, which betokens the deepest humilia- tion on the part of John ; in the name of Wonder and holy Ad- miration, what sort of a Being must Jesus himself be, at whose sacred feet even the greatest, the wisest, and the best of mankind are totally unworthy to prostrate themselves ! ! Revelation, which publishes, can alone explain, this great mys- tery. And that distinctly teaches, " that it was God himself who *' was in the world ; and that, although the world was made by " him, yet the world knew him not," John i. 10 ; as unhappily is the case even to the present day. And again, " The Lord God *' of Israel hath visited and redeemed his people," Luke i. 68. " Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and shall bring forth a Son, and " his name shall be called Immanuel, that is, God with us," Isa. vii. 14. Matt. i. 22, 23. " Unto us a Child is born, unto us " a Son is given, and the government shall be upon his shoulder; " and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, the " mighty God, the everlasting- Father, the Prince of peace," Isa. ix. 6. W^ell then might the Baptist give such extraordinary testimo- ny of Jesus, when by an ancient prophecy, which he had been appointed to fulfil, he was expressly enjoined to announce him- I 66 A SEAL UPON THE LIPS OF self as " the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare re " the way of Jehovah, make straight in the desert a highway for " our Go(/," Isa. xl. 5. Luke iii. 4. Mai. iv. 5. Thus the whole mystery is at once resolved by the light of divine truth alone ; Jehovah himself is seen to descend from heaven, in order to visit, to redeem, and to save his people ; and though conversant among them in the form of a Child, a Son, a Man, he is never- theless declared to be infinitely superior to the whole race of mankind, being no less, with respect to his divine nature and person, than the mighty God, the everlasting Father of angels and men. [27.] Matt. xiii. 41. " The Son of Man shall send forth his " angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that " oftend, and them which do iniquity." See also chap. xxiv. 31. Mark xiii. 26, 9.7. Pray, who keeps angels of light, ministers to do his good plea- sure, save he who created, and by his power sustains all finite being ? Or " who in the heavens can be compared unto Jehovah ? " who among the sons of the mighty can be likened unto Jeho- "vAH.^" Ps. Ixxxix. 6. //e indeed "hath prepared his throne "in the heavens, and his kingdom ruleth over all," Ps. ciii. 19. He " maketh his angels spirits, his ministers a flaming fire," Ps. civ. 4. But who is the Son of Man, that in like manner send- etli forth his angels, to remove out of his kingdom every thing that is opposed to his will, and thus to accomplish the great ends of his divine wiidom } Can he be any other than that same Je- hovah, of whom the Psalmist and all the Prophets make such glorious mention } that same Ancient of days, whom the prophet Daniel in particular describes as a Man clothed with garments, and sitting upon a throne ? of whom it is written, that " a fiery *' stre Such an instantaneous cure, performed by the word of Jesus only, and by his own authority, most evidently distinguishes him from every other man, and is calculated to excite in our minda the hi<^hest idea of his divine person .and cliaracter. Unlike his disciples, who were found incapable of so mighty a work as the instant removal of confirmed lunacy, by reason of their want of faith, not in their own ability, but in that of their Divine Mas- ter, in whose name they went forth, he, conscious of his own in- nate powers, and without the exercise of any thing like faith in another being out of, or separate from himself, most authorita- tively charges the unclean spirit to depart out of the child, and never more to enter into him. Can such power and authority as this be no more than a delegated commission, as from one supe- rior being to another of inferior order, and yet be exercised with- out the express acknowledgment, on the part of the subordinate agent, that he acted merely in that capacity? Nay, did not Jesus, wlien he was called upon by the chief priests and elders of the people to declare by what authority he taught and acted, plainly refuse to tell them, and thus virtually announce, that it was not derived from any other, but originated icithin himself? Surely his meaning cannot be mistaken, if we attend to the circum- stances of the case, as described in Matt. xxi. 23 to 27. Mark xi. 27 to 33. Luke xx. 1 to 8. On the other hand, his disciples and apostles uniformly refer- red all their ability and success to Jesus ; never for a moment claiming to themselves the merit, wliich exclusively belonged to him. Peter and John healed the lame man at the gate of the tem- ple, in the name of Jesus Christ of JVazareth, Acts iii. 6; and earnestly cautioned the people, who were tilled with amazement at what had happened, not to ascribe the cure to any power or holiness of their's, but solely to the name of Jesus, and to faith in that name, ver. 12 to 16: chap. iv. 7 to 10. Philip also per- UNITARIANS, TRINITARIANS, &c. 99 formed miracles in the name 0/ Jesus, Acts viii. 5 to 7, 12. Pe- ter cured a man at Ljdda, named Eneas, who had kept his bed eight years with the palsj, by saying to him, "Jesus Christ " maketh thee ichole : arise, and make tliy bed," Acts ix. 33, 34. Paul, in company with Barnabas, preached the gospel at Lystra, and healed a cripple there, but referred all the honour to the living God, Acts xiv. 8 to 18. The same apostle, in the name of Jesus Christ, cast out of a young damsel a spirit of divination, Acts xvi. 18. Likewise the seventy apostles, after being sent out by Jesus to preach the gospel, " returned again with joy, saying, " Lord, even the devils are subject unto us through thy name,-^ Luke X. IT. In short, nothing is more evident, than that Jesus acted by his own authority, (Matt. vii. 29.) underived from any being supe- rior to, or different from, himself; while, on the contrary, his disciples and apostles performed all their works in the name, and by the sole power and authority, of him their Lord and Master. [35.] Matt. xvii. 24 to 27. " And when they were come tu " Capernaum, they that received tribute-money came to Peter, " and said. Doth not your Master pay tribute ? He saith. Yes. " And when he was come into tiie house, Jesus jjrevented him, " saying. What thinkest thou, Simon } of whom do the kings of " the earth take custom or tribute ? of tlieir own children, or of " strangers.-^ Peter saith unto him. Of strangers. Jesus saith " unto him, Then are the children free. Nothwithstanding, lest " we should oftend them, go thou to the sea, and cast an hook, *' and take up the fish that first cometh up ; and when thou hast " opened his mouth, thou shalt find a piece of money : that take, " and give unto them for me and thee." Two examples of supernatural knowledge are here related of Je- sus : the first, that of his anticipating the thoughts of Peter before he began to speak, shewing that he was privy to the conversation which had passed between him and the collectors of tribute, 100 A SEAL UPON THE LIPS OF though not in the personal presence or lieaiing of Jesus; and the second, that of his directing hiin wliere to find a piece of mo- ney, namely, in the mouth of the first fish which he should draw up out of the sea. We have already offered a few considerations on the extraordinary circumstance of his knowing the thoughts of men ; a faculty, which in a peculiar manner distinguishes the character of Jesus. When Peter came into the house, where Jesus was, apparently with the intention of informing his Mas- ter, that the collectors had applied to him for the tribute-money due to the state, Jesus, without waiting for such information, im- mediately prevented him, that is, anticipated all that he had to say, and introduced the subject matter of his thouglits, by putting the following question : " What thinkest thou, Simon ? of whom " do the kings of tlie earth take custom or tribute } of their own " children, or of strangers .^" On hearing such a question, at the very moment when perhaps the same reflections were passing in his own mind, how must the faith of Peter in his Divine Master have been increased and confirmed ! But when afterwards, in obedience to his command, he went to the sea, and found, as foretold, in the mouth of the first-caught fish .a piece of money sufficient to satisfy the claims of the civil power, with what asto- nishment must he have contemplated the whole transaction! Such repeated proofs of supernatural knowledge, extending not only to the thouglits of the human heart, bat even to the cham- bers of the great deep, and the hidden localities of nature, must have impressed upon the mind of Peter a conviction of the divine omniscience of his Lord, And nothing less, even at this distance of time, can be the legitimate result of an impartial review of the case, than a similar conviction wrought on the mind of every true believer in the Christian revelation. It is in this way that the proof of the Divinity of our Saviour is incontcstably established. The divine attributes and perfec- tions are all found to exist in him. Sometimes one, and some- times another, is distinctly exhibited to view ; and occasionally the full assemblage of his glories beams in his Word. But rea- son and revelation both dictate, that wherever one divine proper- ty, attribute, or perfection, is plainly discoverable, there of ne- UNITARIANS, TRINITARIANS, &c. 101 cessity must every other character of Deity be concentrated and united, however latent or unperceived may be their operation and activity. And hence, by every rule of genuine deduction, we are led to conclude, that, as in our Lord and Saviour Jesus CnftisT has been found some one or more of the acknowledged characters of Divinity, so in him also must the fulness or totality of the Godhead essentially reside, by reason of the perfect unity and absolute indivisibility of it's nature. [3G.] Matt, xviii. 19. " Where two or three are gathered to- "gether in my name, there am Tin the midst of them.^^ Here again a divine attribute is expressly claimed by Jesus, namely, that of omnipresence : for on no other principle can his words have application to his disciples and followers, that is, to his church, in all nations, and in all ages. With a view to the pro- mulgation of this doctrine, he also said unto them, just previous to his ascension into heaven, " Lo, / am icith you always even " unto the end of the world," or, as it should have been render- ed, " even unto the consummation of the age," Matt, xxviii. 20. And in another place he declares, that the Spirit of truth, whicli is the divine proceeding from himself, and therefore in this re- spect the same as himself, dwelleth with^ and will be in his dis- ciples, John xiv. 17, 18. More evident proof of his divine omni- presence cannot be given ; and, one would think, can scarcely be required even by an infidel. Language similar to that of the Evangelists is also adopted bv the Prophets, when they describe the presence of Jehovah in the midst of his people. " Great is the Holy One of Israel in " the midst of thee,''^ Isa. xii. 6. " I am God, and not man, the " Holy One in the midst of thee,'''' Hos. xi. 9. " The King of " Israel, even Jehovah, is in the midst of thee,''^ Zeph. iii. 15. « Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion ; for lo, I come, and I « will dwell in the midst of thee, saith Jehovah," Zech. ii. 10. 10^ A SEAL UPON THE LIPS OF From the strong resemblance, which exists between the descrip- tion given in the Old Testament, of the perpetual presence and habitation of Jehovah in and among his people, and that given in the New, of the equally perpetual presence of Jesus in the midst of his disciples, or church ; how plain is it to perceive, that by both names is meant one and the same Divine Being, one and the same eternal and omnipresent God ; who is first distin- guished as to his divine essence hy the sacred name Jehovah, and tlien as to his divine form by the no less sacred and adorable name Jesus ! Numerous are the instances of a similar nature in tlie Holy Word, where characters proper to Divinity are also ascribed to Humanity, but to Humanity glorified, or in a state of union with Divinity. And as such union took place only in the person of Jesus Christ, it is on tliis account so frequently and distinctly repeated. That the Father is in him, and he in the Father. That all things, whicli t'le Fatlier hath, are his. That he and the Fa- ther are One. That whosoever seeth, believeth, and honoureth the Son, seeth, believeth, and honoureth the Father also. That he, who believeth not the Son, shall not see life ; because the re- jection or denial of the Son, which is the divine form, implies the rejection or denial of the Father, which is the divine essence. That whatsoever things the Father doth, these also dotli the Son likewise. That as the Father, the Divinity, or the purely divine essence, hath life in himself ; so hath he given to the Son, to the Humanity, or to the divine form, to have life in himself ; both to- gether thus constituting the one only fountain and source of all life and being. That all power is given unto Jesus both in hea- ven and in earth ; by which we are to understand, that all the powers of Divinity are exercised by the Humanity glorified. That no one cometh unto the Father, but by or through the Son ; just as no one can discover or perceive an essence, but in and by means of it's form ; or as no one can have access to the soul or mind of another, but by approaching his body, wherein alone it resides. That tlie Son, or the Humanity, doth nothing of itself, «r separately from the Divinity j but both the Father and the Son UNITARIANS, TRINITARIANS, &c. 103 together, that is, the Divinity and the Humanity united, perform all the great works of redemption and salvation. That virhoso- ever entereth not by the door into the sheep-fold, that is, by the Humanity, which is the door or medium of access, into the church, and so to the Father, but climbeth up some other way, as by attempting to worship the Father, or Divinity, out of or above the Son, or Humanity, the same is a thief and a robber; because such an one denies to Jesus, or the Humanity, those divine honours which exclusively belong to him, as being the very form of the divine essence, or the only Object, in whom the divine at- tributes and perfections can be rationally contemplated and ador- ed. That the sheep, or members of the church, are equally in the hand of Jesus, and of the Father ; and that no invading power can possibly injure or remove tliem : implying, that the protection and security of all who are saved depends entirely on the Omnipotence of the Lord's Divine Humanity, which is also called in Scripture the very Arvi of Jehovah, Isa. liii. 1. John xii. 38. That a saving faith is not a faith in the Humanity of Jesus separate from his Divinity, no, nor in his Divinity sepa- rate from his Humanity, but a faith in both united, as directed to One God in One Divine Human Form. That it is therefore alike necessary and essentially requisite to salvation and eternal life, that a man believe in Jesus and in Jehovah, that is to say, in ihe Son as well as in the Father, in the divine form as well as iu the divine essence, or in the Humanity as well as in the Divini- ty : for by thus uniting in our minds Divinity with Humanity, the Father is glorified in the Son, and the Son also with the Father; 80 that both together, the Father and the Son, the Divinity and the Humanity, Jehovah and Jesus, constitute only one and the same adorable God, the single Object of worship to angels in hea- ven, and men upon earth. [i7.'] Matt. xix. 16 to 22. " And behold, one came and said '*unto him. Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I ^ may have eternal life } And he said unto him, Why callest thou 104 A SEAL UPON THE LIPS OF " me good? there is none good but one, that is, God : but if thou " wilt enter into life, keep the commandments. He saith unto " him, Which ? Jesus said, Thou shalt do no murder ; thou shalt " not commit adultery ; thou shalt not steal ; thou shalt not bear " false witness ; honour thy father and thy mother ; and, thou " shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. The young man saith unto " him, All these things have I kept from my youth up : what lack '••I yet? Jesus said unto him, // thou wilt be perfect, go and sell " that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have trea- »' sure in heaven : and come and fulloiv Me. But when the young " man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful : for he had "great possessions.*' See also Mark x. 17 to 22. Luke xviii. 18 to 23. This passage is selected for observation on two accounts. The first is, because it has been most improperly understood by some to imply a refusal, on the part of Jesus, to receive the appella- tion of Good Master, and his desire to refer all goodness to the one God as to another Being superior to, and distinct from him- self: for it is observed, that when the young man said unto him, " Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eter- " nal life ? Jesus answered him by first saying, JVhy callest thou "me good, since there is none good but the one God?^^ The se- cond reason is, because the whole passage, when duly considered, furnit>hes a most striking evidence in favour of the exclusive di- tinity of Jesus, and demonstrates, that he himself was tliat iden- tical God, to whom he alluded, as being the One Sole and Su- preme Good. From the character given of the young man it appears, that he had been piously educated, and had lived at least in external obedience to the divine precepts above enumerated. Conceiv- ing, no doubt, that his future salvation depended on the strict observance of the duties of moral and civil life, he looks with complacency on his own conduct as a religious character, and in the pride of self-righteousness exclaims, " All these things have T •'kept from my youth up : tvhat lack J yet?" To whom Jesus replied. " Jf thou wilt he perfect^ that is, if thou wilt be cum- UNITARIANS, TRINITARIANS, &c. 105 ." pletely regenerated both internally and externally, in heart and ** in life, then the follovvin<; most essential conditions of the new *' life must be observed, in addition to all the preceding states of *' reformation. Go and sell that thou hast, and ^ive to the poor ; " that is, remove Worn thy mind every idea of thy own merit, "• every inordinate affection of self'-love and the love of the world, " and from,a principle of pure charity and disinterested benevo- *' lence communicate to others of those spiritual riches, which " thou hast already acquired : so shalt thou be prepared for the " further and more interior reception of divine truths, and tHhs " lay up for thyself treasure in heaven. But, above a\\,,come and *' follow Mk ; that is, acknowledge Me to be the Supreme " Good, the only giver of every perfect gift : look up to Me foi* " ability and grace to renounce thy evils : expoct from my hands " all that thou hast been taught to pray for from a God of mercy •' and compassion : and finally, in my person behold the true Ob- •• ject of t]\j faith, thy love, and thy adoration. This therefore *" is tliat one thing, that pearl of great price, which thou still " lackest, and without whicli thou art in reality poor and misera- ^' ble, notwithstanding all the riches, all tlie science, which thou •' hast treasured up in thy head or thy memory." With respect to the circumstance of our Lord's putting tlie question, " Jfhy callest thou me good .^" from which the Unita- rians have rashly and most unjustifiably inferred, that he refused the title, on the ground that it belonged not to him, as being a mere man, but to another, who is God ; we have to observe, that it might be sufiicient to repel one assertion by opposing to it an- other, which would still leave the matter to be decided by scrip- tural evidence and rational argument. Thus, while Unitarians assert, that Jesus refused the title of Good Master, we assert, that he claimed it. So far, therefore, nothing is gained on either side ; and the question between us remains in a state of equili- brium, just as before. Only it is observable, that the Unitarian forms his judgment, and draws his conclusion, from the mere exordium, or introductory proposition laid down by Jesus in the double form of a question relative to himself, and an a.viom rela- tive to Deity; and this he does without paying the smallest at- O 106 A SEAL UPON THE LIPS OF tention to the tenour of the argument that follows, and especial- ly to it's final result, when Jesus holds up Himself alojie as the Object to be loved, approached, and followed. By the same rule he might also infer, that Jesus refused the title of Lord, when he said to his disciples, " Why call ye me Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say ?" Luke vi. 46. AVhereas, on the contrary, we conceive it our duty to listen with attention to the proposition, the argument, and the conclusion, as knowing that there must be a depth, yea an infinity of wisdom contained in every word and every sentiment uttered by the mouth of Jesus. And by so doing, and at tiie same time by comparing his words in one place with his words in another place, we gain a clear, correct, and most satisfactory evidence in proof not only that he is our Lord and Master, as he is universally acknowledged to be, but that he is also a Good Lord, and a Good Master, notwithstanding the ingra- titude of those, who refuse to hail him with so divine a title. When our Lord says, " Why callest thou vie good? there is <' none good but one, that is, God ,•" so far is he from refusing the title of Good Master, or reproving the young man for conferring it upon him, or in any way whatever objecting to be so honoured, or even to be esteemed as the One Good God himself, that he plainly admits it, particularly at the conclusion of his conversa- tion with him, when, instead of directing him to any other being, he openly invites him to Himself alone. The design of Jesus, therefore, in putting the question at first, evidently appears to be, to suggest to the young man an inquiry into, and an e.vamination of, the grounds upon which he makes his confession and acknow- ledgment of Jesus as being; a Good Master : whether it be merc- ly from an external consideration of the respect, which is due trom one man to another ; or whether it originate in any higlier or more interior sentiment of faith as directed towards the per- son and character of the Lord ; in order that from a blind, un- meaning confession of the lips, he might gi-adually, and by a ra- tional conviction in his own mind, be brought to see and acknow- ledge Jesus himself as the fountain of all good, and conse- quently as the One God, to whom alone tlie title of Good Mas- ter belongs. UNITARIANS, TRINITARIANS, &c. 107 That Jesus approved of the title Master, which was given him by his disciples, is plain from John xiii. 13, where he says to them, " Ye call me Master, and Lord ; and ye say well ; for so " lam.'''' That he also claimed to himself the epithet Good, is equally plain from John x. 11, 14: "I am," (says he) "the " Good Shepherd." Now if the term Good justly and truly be- long to Jesus as the Shepherd of his sheep, surely it may with equal propriety be applied to him as the Master of his disciples : for the character of Good Shepherd is no less divine, than that of Good Master. In the one case he assumes to himself a title, which avowedly characterizes the great Jehovah, Ps. xxiii. 1; Isa. xl. 11 ; Ezek. xxxiv. 11: and in the other case he refuses not a name of similar, perhaps of minor import, but only urges the expediency of acknowledging and making confession of his good- ness with the heart and understanding, as well as with the mouth and tongue ; and at last takes up the entire character, by saying, " Come and follow Me,^' He moreover, in John x. 28, says, that " He gives eternal life to his sheep." Now eternal life is a ^ood, and a great good too ; and Jesus must be possessed of it, $)efore he can give it to others. It follows, therefore, that he himself must be good, and good in the highest sense of the word, that is, Divine Good: and if so, he must be God, and the very God he meant, when he said, " There is none good but One, that is, « God." It is a remarkable circumstance, that, when the young man de* sired to know which of the commandments were necessary to be kept, in order to his entering into life, Jesus enumerated such as have respect to charity, or the love of his neighbour, that is to say, seven out of the ten; (two being included under one head;) and omitted those which have more immediate reference to the ivoT' ship of God, the veneration of his name, and the sanctity of tlie sabbath : but particularly it is observable, that he made no men- tion of the first, which yet in another place he calls the great commandment, Matt. xxii. 38. Was this through accident, or de- sign ? The former it could not be, in a work the production of Infinite Wisdom, as every genuine book of divine revelation most certainly is. It must therefore have been through design of the 108 A SEAL UPON THK LIPS OF great Speaker himself, who, at the close of the interview and conversation with the young man, directs him to Himself, as the only Object by and from whom his spiritual wants could be sup- plied, and his worship and life be made perfect. " Come, and ** follow Me J' This is the key to all that precedes : it supplies what might otherwise be considered as a defect in the enumera- tion, which Jesus made, of the divine precepts; and thus it truly becomes, what he intended it to be, the first, the Za^V-^nd the ^reai commandment. For in a})proaclnn!;-, and in life following Jesus, we actually acknowledge and worship him as tlie Great Jehovah God in Human Form; we venerate and glorify his name, his person, and his character; and at the same time we perceive and confess, that the perfect union of Divinity and Hu- manity in Him alone is itself the sum, the source, and the morn- ing of that everlasting sabbath of rest, into which all, who thus honour, love, and serve him, will infallibly enter, when the toils (ind tempests attending their regeneration are completely at an end. Such appears to be the genuine sense of the passage, fiom which the following great truths are plainly dcducible, namely, 1. Tliat it is not sufficient to live a civil, a moral, or even what is called a religious life, by conforming externally to the divine com- mands, and by directing our worship to an invisible God t!ie Creator of the universe, of whom no rational or determinate a iew can be formed in the mind : for in all probability the young man, spoken of above, in common with the Pharisees, and other high professors of theolog}', had long been in the habit of so living, and of so worshipping. But, 2. That it is of all things most es- sentially requisite to acknowledge the Saviour himself, Jesus Christ, as the alone wise and merciful God, from whom is to be derived every thing spiritual, holy, and divine, which is capable of exalting the mind of man, or of blessing him witii a happv im- mortality. And therefore, 3. That he alone is to be worshipped, both in heart and in life, as the Supkemk Good brought down from heaven to earth, as the great Sovereign of the universe ma- nifested in the flesh, and thus made known to his creatures as their Parent, Protector, and everlasting Salvation. UNITARIANS, TRINITARIANS, Sec. 109 In confiimation of this view of the subject, let us further at- tend to what the Lord says on another occasion, as described by the Evangelist Mark. " One of the scribes came, and asked, " Which is the first commandment of all ? And Jesus ansvi^ered. " him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel, the " Lord our God is one Lord ; and thou shalt love the Lord thy " God with all thy heart, and witli all thy soul, and with all thy " mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. " And the second is like, namely this. Thou shalt love thy " neighbour as thyself: there is none other commandment greater " than these. And the scribe said unto him, Well, Master, thou " hast said the truth : for there is one God, and there is none " other but he. And to love him with all the heart, and with all " the understanding, and with all the soul, and with all the " strength, and to love his neighbour as himself, is more than all " whole burnt-offerings and sacrifices. And when Jesus saw •' that he answered discreetly, he said unto him. Thou art not ^^ far from the kingdom of God.^' Mark xii. 28 to 34. The kingdom of God upon earth is the true Christian church, or the true Christian religion. Now from tlie whole of the case here quoted it is plain, that to acknowledge and worship One God, without knowing icho is that God, and at the same time to love our neighbour even in the manner stated by the scribe, does not actually place the man so worshipping and so living within the heavenly kingdom in the sense above described, but only near unto it : for our Lord said to the scribe, " Thou art not far from " the kingdom of God." The doctrine here inculcated is similar to that taudit in Matt. xix. 16 to 22, where, as already noticed, the young man, who had desired to know Vv'hat he should do to inherit eternal life, re- marks, that he had observed from his youth the various com- mandments there enumerated; to whom Jesus answered, that he still lacked one thing, and if he would be perfect, or become a full recipient of the heavenly life, he must sell what he had, re- nounce his own proprium or self-will, take up his cross, and fol- loiv him. In like manner, from the present passage it appears, that it is not quite enough to worship or to love One God, if that 110 A SEAL UPON THE LIPS OF God be an invisible, and consequently an inaccessible one, be- cause worship or love cannot properly be directed to such a God: neither is it quite enough for a man to love his neighbour as himself, unless this love be acknowledged to be derived from love to the true God. And therefore the only thing required of one, who thus ignorantly, but perhaps sincerely, worships, " he " knoivs not ichat,-^ John iv. 22, is, that he perceive, acknow- ledge, and adore a visible and accessible God in the person of Jesus Christ; that, instead of addressing any longer an invisi- ble Being, with whom no sensible, no real conjunction can be formed, he immediately approach a God visible to the mental eye, and capable of being embraced by the affections of the heart. Then truly it will be found, that, instead of standing ivithout, or only near to the heavenly kingdom, he will be actually introduced with joy and gladness into thehappy land itself, and pass through the gates into the very heart of the new city, where is the habita- tion and the temple of our God. That this doctrine, however, concerning the Lord, will not easily be admitted by those, who imagine themselves already in the enjoyment of great possessions, or sufficiently versed in the knowledge of spiritual things ; but that they will, like the young man, turn away from it in sadness or disgust ; is nothing more than may be expected. For the character of all such being en- graven on the page of truth, their reluctance to acknowledge the sole divinity of the Lord, and to receive him, not merely as a prophet or messenger deputed to make known the will of ano- ther, but as the Supreme God himself incarnate, still contributes to confirm the testimony of revelation, and to bring it's predic- tions into actual accomplishment. No denial, therefore, of the great doctrine here advanced, whether it be on the part of estab- lished churches, of congregated societies, or of individual secta- ries, can ever invalidate or weaken it's autliority : for being in itself a divine and holy truth, founded on the Sacred Scriptures, and confirmed by them as their first, their last, and most essen- tial feature, it forms the great corner-stone of the true Christian temple, and must remain to eternity the crown and the glory of revealed religion. UNITARIANS, TRINITARIAN'S, &c. HI [38.] Matt. XX. 30 to 34. " And behold, two blind men sit- " ting by the way side, when they heard that Jesus passed by, *' cried out, saying, Have mercy on us, O Lord, thou Son of Da- " vid. And the multitude rebuked them, because they should " hold their peace : but they cried the more, saying. Have mercy " on us, Lord, thou Son of David. And Jesus stood still, and " called them, and said. What will ye that I shall do unto you? " They say unto him. Lord, that our eyes may be opened. So *♦ Jesus had compassion on them, and touched their eyes: and " immediately their eyes received sight, and they followed him." See also chap. ix. 27 to SO. Mark viii. 22 to 26 ; chap. x. 46 to 52. Luke xviii. 35 to 43. John ix. 1 to 41. We have already, under article 16, made some remarks on the ability of Jesus to open the eyes of the blind ; and shewn, that this ability was exerted by him in consequence of their faith di- rected to him in person. The same is observable in the transac- tion above described. We no where read in the Gospels, that either the blind, the deaf, the dumb, the lame, or the sick, were healed by any God the Father out of, or separate from Jesus Christ : neither do we find, that any prayers offered up to such an imaginary being were ever answered, or even heard by him. So in like manner it appears, that even now, as in all former times, a worship, or a faith, which is directed to an invisible and unknown God, or to a being alike destitute of substance and form, and consequently having neither eyes to see, nor ears to hear, nor hands to supply, the wants of those who address him, can never in the nature of things be either answered or regarded. But widely different in it's nature, and likewise in it's effects, is a worship, a faith, or a prayer, which is directed to a God visi- ble, incarnate, and thus having all the powers and attributes of Divinity concentrated and embodied in the human form ; a form, to which every thing in the created universe bears some relation, either directly or indirectly ; and which, therefore, in it's highest degree of perfection, that is, when united with the divine essence, as it was in tlie person of Jesus, becomes the true end and ob- ject of all legitimate worship, whetlier it arise from the altar of 112 A SEAL UPON THE LIPS OF a human or of an angelic breast. To this Divixf. Man, bv whatever name he be distinguislied in the Sacred Records, whe- ther as the Angel of Jehovah, or the promised Messiah, or the actually incarnate Saviour of the world, if tlie humble pray- ers and adorations of the heart be offered, in a pure faith, and in sincere acknowledgment of his sole and exclusive Divinity, the veracity and sanctity of his Word are pledged to the perform- ance of all that the creature can reasonably desire. Hence, when tlie two blind men addressed him, saying, " Have mercy on "us, O Lord, thou Son of David," Jesus called them, and said, " What will ye that I shall do unto you ?" They answered, '' Lord, that our eyes may be opened." Whereupon he had com- passion on them, and touched their eyes ; immediately they re- ceived their sight. In another place our Lord says to his disciples, " Hitherto " have ye asked nothing in my name /" that is, ye have not as yet directed your prayers to the Father, or divine essence, as dwelling in me, thus not to the Divinity and the Humanity under one view. " Ask" in this manner, " and ye shall receive, that *' your joy may be full," John xvi. 24. In the 23d verse of the same chapter he observes. " Whatsoever ye shall ask the Fa- " ther in my name, he ivill give it you :^^ but in chap. xiv. 13, he also says, " AVhatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that ivill I rfo, *' that the Father may be glorified in the Son." And to enforce this latter sentiment, which he foresaw would be received with great difficulty by some minds, he again repeats it in verse 14 : " If ye shall ask any thing in my name, / tcill do it.^^ From these passages compared together, and understood in t!ie only way in which they can be, consistently with each other, this great truth most evidently results, namely, That the Father dwells in the Son, just as the soul dwells in the body ; that they in like manner constitute One Person; and consequently that, though they are distinguished in name, and even in idea, the one from the other, just as the soul and body of man are distinguished, or as essence and form are distinguished, yet both together are to be considered as for ever united in One; and therefore that it amounts to the same thins;, whether it be said, that t)ie Father UNITARIANS, TRINITARIANS, &c. 113 will answer the prayer, or that the Son will answer it, since in either case it is still tlic act of one and the same individual and eternal Jehovah. But as the Father, or invisible Divinity, resides in, and not out of, the visible Humanity of Jesus ; as at the same time this Huma- nity or body of Jesus, now glorified, or fully united with the di- vine essence called the Father, is equally omnipotent and omni- present with the pure Divinity itself, which is within it ; and as again no man hath seen or can see, or in any possible way can conceive of, much less approach, the naked Divinity, such as it is in itself, without danger of falling first into mere Naturalism, and afterwards into downright Atheism ; it has therefore pleased the merciful Parent and Benefactor of his creatures to reveal himself to them as a Divine Man, nay to present himself actu- ally before them for a time under the veil of mere Jiesh, that therein and thereby he might bring down among them the heal- ing virtues of his Holy Spirit, and thus, in a way accommodated to their infirmities and imperfections, gradually but eff'ectually in- struct them with his wisdom, bless them with his love, and final- ly receive them to himself in his everlasting kingdom. It is for this great end, that the whole book of revelation, and especially the New Testament, continually calls upon and teaches man to direct his faith and his worship to Jesus Christ, first as the Son of God, by which expression is meant the divine truth proceeding from the divine good, or the Word made flesh ; then as the God of heaven and earth ; and finally, as One with the Father, yea as the Father himself in a Human Form, besides whom there is and can be neither Creator nor Redeemer, neither Father nor Saviour of mankind. The primitive Christians in general regarded him in the first character ; and possibly some of them might have looked upon him in the second : but it was reserved for men of the present day, believing with their heart the whole testimony of divine re- velation, and at the same time, by the just exercise of their un- derstanding, perceiving the wisdom of it's contents, to behold in the single person of Jesus, not only his first and second charac- ters, but also liis third, his most interior, and most perfect of all P 114 A SEAL UPON THE LIPS OF characters, namely, his absolute identity with the Father himself : insomuch that he is now regarded as at once the Father, the Son. and the Holy Spirit ; in other words, as the alone Creator from eternity. Redeemer in time, and Regenerator for evermore. And this we understand to be a full accomplishment of that ex- traordinary prediction of the Lord concerning the Father, which has heretofore been so little noticed in the church, but which now calls for our particular attention. " The time cometh," (says he,) " when I shall no more speak unto you in proverbs, but I shall shew *' you plainly of the Father,''^ John xvi. 25. To speak in proverbs, and in parables, is to speak obscurely, or in such terms as do not immediately or directly convey the plain and full meaning of the speaker ; and this was the usual practice of the Lord, because, as he observes in another place, his disciples could not at that time bear or comprehend the more interior truths, which he had in re- serve for his future church. The great doctrine, which he allud- ed to, concerning the Father, could not possibly be that, which the generality of mankind in all ages have held, and which even they who call themselves Christians in the present day maintain, in respect to an invisible Creator of tlie universe ; but it must have been a new, but plain and open revelation concerning Him- self, in his capacity of Father, Parent, Protector, and Benefactor of the human race, which was neither known nor suspected by the wisest or the best of mankind. In short, it was the very doc- trine, which we have now the honour to announce, drawn with unerring certainty from the sacred fountain of divine truth itself, and communicated to the world by a messenger of the Lord's own appointment, for the edification, the comfort, and the happi- ness of his New and True Christian Church.* * The messenger here alluded to is the late lion. Emancel Swedenboho, whose various writings, in illustration of the Sacred Scriptures, we know not how sufficiently to appreciate and recommend. They absolutely supersede, and in a manner render nugatory, all that has been written on the sanctity and divinity of the Sacred Scriptures, even by the wisest and the best of commentators, from the days of the Apostles down to the very day on which he took up his pen, that is, down to the commencement of the New Jerusa- lem, which also is the era of the Lord's second advent. And hence it is, that UNITARIANS, TRINITARIANS, &c. 115 [39.] Matt. xxi. 1 to 5. " And when they drew nigh unto <* Jerusalem, and were come to Bethphage, unto the mount of *' Olives, then sent Jesus two disciples, saying unto them. Go " into the village over-against you, and straightway ye shall find *' an ass tied, and a colt with her : loose them, and bring them " unto me. And if any man say aught unto you, ye shall say, " The Lord hath need of them, and straightway he will send them. " All this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken " by the prophet, saying, Tell ye the daughter of Zion, Behold, " thy King cometh unto thee, meek, and sitting upon an ass, and we should consider it a waste of paper, but especially a waste of the reader's time, were we to appeal, for authority, or for genuine information on the great subject of this volume, to any of the writers alluded to, whether they have obtained the name of fathers or of mothers in the Christian church. But as in former times the least in the kingdom of heaven was greater than John the Baptist, though he excelled all that went before him, so now the meanest, humblest writer in the New Church can give more satisfactory, more certain information concerning the person and character of our Lord, than the very best, and wisest, and greatest in the former dispensation. For "from the "least of them, even unto the greatest of them, they all know" Tvho and •jtiAai is " the Lord," Jer. xxxi. 34; which never yet was the case in the church, properly'speaklng, until the present day. This honour, however, be- longs not to, nor is it claimed by, any individual of the New Church ; but is with one unanimous voice ascribed solely to him, who has been pleased at length to reveal himself, and according to his faithful promise to " sheiv us "plainly of the Father." Instead, therefore, of referring the reader, for genuine information, and for the purest lessons of heavenly wisdom, to any writer whatever, whose name is unknown among the citizens of the New Jerusalem, we most sincere- ly and affectionately recommend to his notice, in the first place, the writings of the Author already mentioned, and in the next place, (to say nothing of the many anonymous papers in periodical publications, which from time to time appear,) the various Sermons, Essays, Letters, and other productions of the Rev. John Clowes, M. A. the Rev. Richard Joxes, both of Manchester; the Rev. Joseph Phoud, the Rev. Manoah Siblt, the late Rev. James Hodsox, M . D. and the Rev. Thomas Furloxg Chtrchii,!,, M. D. all of London ; whose names and memory will ever be revered for the valuable services, which they have respectively performed to the New Church at large. 116 A SEAL UPON THE LIPS OF " a colt tlic foal of an ass." See also Mark xi. 1 to 10. Luke xix. 28 to S8. John xii. 1'2 to 15. Many are the instances related in the Gospels, of the superna- tural knowledge and foresight of Jesus. Among the rest this must also have it's due weight with every attentive reader, name- ly, that Jesus knew, or perceived, not only the objects and cir- cumstances which were present to him, in common with his dis- ciples and others, but also the objects, occurrences, and inci- dents, which were not in like manner present, and which indeed could only have been seen by the broad eye of Omniscience it- self. From the passage, which lies before us, it is plainly to be inferred, that, with respect to local situation, neither Jesus nor his disciples could have a duect view either of the ass and her colt, or of their owner : and yet he describes the precise circum- stances under which the messengers would find, and actually did find, the former; while at the same time he distinctly apprizes them of the future conduct of the owner of the animals, and, ac- cording to the testimony of Mark and Luke, of the very words W'hicli he would make use of on the occasion. Is this a trait of mere humanity ? But it is further remarkable, (and indeed what is there in the history of such a character as Jesus, tliat is not remarkable }^ that, when the Lord commissioned his two disciples to bring him the ass and her colt, he also gave them in charge what they were to reply, if any person should say aught unto them : " Ye shall " say, T/ie Lord hath need of them." Plain and simple as the words appear, they yet contain an infinity of wisdom and of power. All the predictions of tlie Old Testament, all that was written in tlie law of Moses, and in the Prophets, and in the Psalms, concerning him, must have their accomplishment in his person. A divine necessity, which may be called the stream of Providence, flowing from his love and M'isdom united, encircles, guides, inclines, and sweetly impels every sentient, every intelli- gent being to perform the sovereign purpose of his adorable will, yet without violating, or in the most inconceivably minute parti- UNITARIANS, TRINITARIANS, &c. 117 cular infringing that liberti/, which he originally gave, and which he incessantly continues to bestow on man, as the universal, fun- damental, and eternal condition of his existence. No wonder then, when those divine words were repeated, whicli in them- selves " are spirit, and are life," that even a stranger to the dis- ciples, and pi-obably to the person of Jesus, instantly and volun- tarily acquiesced in the proposal ; feeling perhaps in himself an internal dictate or impression, which he could not account for, prompting him to comply with what was required of him, and thus to administer to the service of him, who, though unknown and disregarded by many on earth, is yet acknowledged and adored by angels in heaven, as the Sovereign King, and Univer- sal Lord. [40.] Matt. xxi. 18 to 20. " Now in the morning, as he re- " turned into the city, he hungered. And when he saw a fig- " tree in the way, he came to it, and found nothing thereon, but " leaves only, and said unto it, Let no fruit grow on thee hence- ^^ forward for ever. And presently the fig-tree withered away. " And wlien the disciples saw it, they marvelled, saying. How <' soon is the fig-tree withered away .'" See also Mark xi. 12* to 14, 20. This is generally called cursing the fig-tree ; and some do not hesitate to pronounce it a most unreasonable act on the part of Jesus, (allowing him to be possessed of such an extraordinary power, as the history ascribes to him,) because in the Gospel by Mark it is expressly stated, that it was not then the time of figs. " Why," say they, " should Jesus be so impatient of hunger, * The minister (not a Unitarian) who lately attributed " limitation of un- " derstanding" to the Saviour, in a sermon on this subject, is recommended to compare Gen. iii. 9, 11. xviii. 21. Isa. lis. 16. Jer. xxxii. 25. Matt. vii. 23. & XXV. 12. with Swedenborg's " Doctrine of the Sacred Scripture," No. 95. Am. Pub. 118 A SEAL UPON THE LIPg OF '• and so vindictive on his disappointment? Could not he, who " fed five thousand, and four thousand, at different times, with " only an handful of provision, and who caused a superabund- " ance to remain after they were all well filled, instantly supply " himself with all necessary sustenance, or at least so govern and " subdue the cravings of appetite, as to submit with cheerfulness " and content to the present privation, until he had entered the '* city, where he might readily have satisfied his hunger ? Why then " suffer his indignation to fall upon a poor tree, which was in no " fault, but on the contrary was actually in progress towards the " production of fruit in the proper season, having already put " forth it's leaves, as a preliminary proof of it's vegetative '• powers ?" Such are the reflections and the reasonings of a mere A'*atu- ralist, of one who looks only at the bark, the leaf, the husk, the shell of things, instead of feasting upon the kernel, the fruit, the interior substance, for the sake of which all the previous stages of vegetation existed ; in other words, of one who dwells upon the mere letter of a divine history, and wlio is totally incompetent to form a correct judgment of the heavenly wisdom which lies con- cealed in this, as in every other part of the Sacred Scriptures. But before we hint at the true interpretation of the passage, it may be proper for a moment to leave our Naturalist or Material- ist to the enjoyment of his own sentiments of infidelity, that we may address ourselves more particularly to those, who are wil- ling to admit the authority and the right of Jesus to act as he, did, however difiicult they may find it to comprehend the reason- ableness of his conduct on the occasion. Some have even suspected an error in the original, and that in- stead of it's being said, as in Mark, tliat the time of fgs was not yet, it ought to have been expressed thus, that it was then the time of figs ; by which they imagine, that all the difficulty will be removed at once, and the reason given for cursing the fig-tree be found quite sufficient and satisfactory. Whether these pro- fessors of Christianity are agreed among themselves, or not, in their conjectures about tlie authenticity and accuracy of the text, as we now have it, thev will nevertheless all acknowledge, that UNITARIANS, TRINITARIANS, &c. 119 a word spoken by Jesus had the full effect of destroying, in an instant as it were, the interior organization of the tree, and re- ducing to a withered and sapless stock that vegetable production of nature, which required the presence of an omnipotent hand to cause it to be even what he then found it. They admit this, be- cause they read the fact, and have no clue to guide them to any higher, more interior, and more rational view of the transaction ; and yet many of them still consider Jesus to have been no other than a prophet^ a messenger sent by God, similar but superior to others who had preceded him; while some are willing to raise him to the dignity of an angel; and others again to the high honour of being a kind of partner with the Supreme God in his divine attri- butes, not indeed as to his Humanity, but only as to his Divinity, which is out of and above it. But is the hand of Omnipotence, or the work of Infinite Wis- dom, to be thus arrested and dissolved at the mere will of a mor' tal man? or even of the highest created intelligence? Or are we to subscribe to the existence of two Omnipotents, the one destroy- ing and annulling the work of another ? It cannot, it must not, for a moment be admitted : and therefore of necessity we con- clude, that he, who by the word of his mouth could suspend and counteract the laws of nature, must at the same time have been the sole God of nature; that God, who in ancient times " sent " Moses his servant, and Aaron whom he had chosen, to shew " his signs among his enemies, and wonders in the land of Ham " [^»yP^]'" ^^^^ who, among the rest of his judgments, " smote " their vines also, and their jig-trees ; and brake the trees of « their coasts," Ps. cv. 26, 27, 33. Having thus taken an exterior view of the transaction as rela- ted by the Evangelists, it may be useful, in a few words, to point out that more interior signification of the passage, to which we before alluded, and which will serve to shew, that whatever may be the difficulties belonging to the literal history, the internal sense, or spiritual instruction to be derived from it, is perfectly free from all rational objection. Trees in general, when referred to in the Holy Word, are sig- nificative of men, or of societies of men, called churches, especi- 120 A SEAL UPON THE LIPS OF ally as to their perceptions and knowledges of good and truth from an interior affection : and hence, according to their respec- tive qualities or value, they denote churches or individuals of su- perior or inferior degrees of spiritual life. This appears very evident from the parable, which Jotham uttered concerning the trees which went forth on a time to anoint a king over them, as related in Judges ix. 8 to 20. In general it may be observed, that the olive, the vine, and the jig-tree, denote celestial, spiritu- al, and natural good, or, what amounts to the same thing, men in whom those difterent kinds or degrees of good are opened ; the term celestial implying what is inmost, or of the heart and it's affections ; the term spiritual, what is interior, being of the un- derstanding and it's perceptions ; and the term natural, what is external, or belonging to the outward life and conduct. From these preliminary observations it may now be seen, that i\\e jig-tree on the way -side, near the city Jerusalem, was repre- sentative of the Jewish church and people, who were in mere ex- ternals, and totally destitute of every spiritual or interior good. By it's having leaves, but no fruit, upon it, is signified that they made a profession indeed with their lips of divine truths, such as are to be found in the mere letter of Scripture, but that thej did not in their lives bring forth the good fruits of love and charity. Leaves denote external truths ; and fruit denotes a good life, from a principle of love to God, and charity towards our neigh- bour. It is added in the Gospel by Mark, that it icas not the time of jigs ; and this is given as an additional reason or ground of the curse that followed. By time in the Holy Word is always meant state : when therefore it is said, that it was not the time of figs, we are to understand, that the Jewish church was in no state of producing even external or natural good, represented by figs. Thus we see, that what appears in the literal sense to be far from a justifiable reason for cursing the fig-tree, is in the spiritu- al sense, when applied to the Jewish people, the true and genu- ine cause of their extinction as a church and nation ; and when applied to mankind at large, the cause of all tlie evils and cala- UNITARIANS, TRINITARIANS, &c. 121 niities experienced by them, whether as individuals, as societies, or as nations. And here let it be well observed, for it is a truth never to be lost sight of, that, although the literal sense of the passage as- cribes the destruction of the fig-tree to Jesus, as in other parts of the Word throughout, the miseries, calamities, and destruction of the wicked are in like manner attributed to the fury of Jeho- vah, or the wrath of God; still in the genuine spiritual sense nothing can be more distant from, or foreign to, the real nature of either the one or the other, seeing that in Jesus and Jehovah, which are only different names for one and the same God, is nei- ther fury nor vengeance, neither anger nor wrath, but, on the con- trary, the purest and most unbounded love, mercy, and compas- sion towards the whole of the human race. Another observation or two will conclude these reflections. It is stated, that the transaction relative to the fig-tree occurred in the morning, and that Jesus hungered. At first sight, and to a superficial reader, it may appear an unimportant circumstance, that the time of the day should make up a part of the relation. But in a work dictated by Divine Wisdom, nothing is to be con- sidered as a matter of indifference : every expression must have it's weight, and be fraught with instruction. The morning, there- fore, being the beginning of a new day, evidently implies the commencement of a new state, a new church, a new dispensation, brought about by the advent of Him into the world, who is so emphatically declared to be both " the life and the light of " men ;" — " the true light, which lighteth every man that cometh' " into the world ;" — " a light to lighten the gentiles, and the " glory of his people Israel ;" — in short, " the Sun of righteous- " ness himself, arising with healing in his wings," The forma- tion, or rather the foundation, of the Christian church, which the Lord laid while upon earth, was that morning, spiritually under- stood, to which the Evangelist alludes : and in the same sense the advent of the Lord into every mind, which is receptive of hi^ holy and heavenly influence, is also, to the individual so blessed with his presence, the morning qf an everlasting day, the spring of a never-ending year. Q 122 A SEAL UPON THE LIPS OK But what is meant bv that hiin,s;er, to which Jesus was subjec* on that memorable mornin<5 ? Literally speaking, he looked for fi^n, and found nothing but leaves. But in spiritual language, he intensely desired to receive the homage of the heart and the life from his ancient people, whom he braught up, by his servant Mo- ses, out of the land of Egypt ; whom he led and nourished in the wilderness ; and whom he finally introduced into the promised land, where he then visited, instructed, and would have saved them with an everlasting salvation, had they but brought forth the fridts of good living, and not contented tliemselves with the mere leaves of an empty profession. Hunger has respect to food, or the appropriation of good ; and thirst to drink-, or the appropria- tion of truth. It was the want of good, of love and charity in their spirit, of universal benevolence of heart both to friends and foes, which the Lord deplored in that worldly-minded people : it v-as also the recovery of tliose heavenly principles of spiritual life, after which hehungej'ed, and which he was desirous of seeing established among them : and not so much the mere knowledge of truth, after which he thirsted, seeing that they were .already in the external possession of the Oracles of Divine Wisdom; though, it must at the same time be confessed, tliat they had by their lusts and traditions well-nigh extinguished in themselves ail the light of revelation. Taking now all these considerations in their true light ; view- ing the whole subject both in ifs literal and in it's spiritual sense; comparing the effects produced by the word of Jesus with simi- lar signs and wonders performed in more ancient times by Jeho- vah : and lastly, reflecting on the present state of the Jewish church and people, in whom we perceive the accomplishment of our Lord's prophetic declaration, that no fruit should thencefor- ward grow on their tree, and that it has actually withered awaif, and nearly, if not entirely, cflsf «// it's leaves, so that they can- not witlr any propriety be now called either a church or a nation, and in all probability will never again become such : what other conclusion can we draw, in respect to Him, whose word and wisdom, whose omnipotence and omniscience, have thus been magnified in the sight of men and ajigcls, but that which we UNITARIANS, TRINITAUIANS, &c. 123 have already drawn, and which shall again and again be demon- strated and confirmed, until the whole earth, i. e. the whole church, shall be constrained to acknowledge and confess, from a view of the works which he hath wrought. That the Divine Man Jf.sus is at the same time the Omnipotent God Jehovah ? [41.] ISIatt. xxi. 23 to 27i " And when he was come into the " temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came unto " him as lie was teaching, and said, Bij what auihority dost thou '' these things? and ivho gave thee this authority? and Jesus " answered and said unto them, I also will ask you one thing, *' which if ye tell me, I in like wise will tell you by what autho- *• rity I do these things. The baptism of John, whence was it ? *^from heaven, or of men? And they reasoned with themselves, " saying, If we shall say. From heaven ; he will say unto us, " Why did ye not then believe him } But if we shall say. Of " men ; we fear the people ; for all hold John as a prophet. And " they answered Jesus, and said, We cannot tell. And he said " unto them, JSTeither tell I you by ivhat authority I do these " things.''^ See also Mark xi. 27 to 33. Luke xx. 1 to 8. Now we are come to the point : now we shall see, as so fair an opportunity is given, whether Jesus v/ill, or will not, acknow- ledge and confess, that he has received a commission and autho- rity from any Being superior to, and diiferent from himself, to perform the various cures and miraculous works, which the scribes and Pharisees, the chief priests and elders of the people, had so frequently witnessed. They had seen him enter Jerusa- lem in the same pomp of procession, as was usual in ancient times, when judges, kings, and the sons of kings, made their state- appearance in public, riding either on asses or on mules, as ap- pears from Judges v. 10 ; chap. x. 3, 4 ; chap. xii. 14. 1 Kings i. 33, 38, 44, 45. They had heard the acclamations of the multi- tude, crying out in exultation, " Hosanna to the Son of David ! '• Blessed is he that cometh in ihc name of the Lord ! Hosanna 124 A SfiAL UPON THE LIPS OF " in the highest !" They had also observed with what power and authority lie had purged the temple, casting out the buyers and the sellers, overturning the money -tables, and the seats ol' those who trafficked in doves ; and were no doubt thrown into the utmost astonishment, when he gave as his reason for all this, *' It is wiitten, " J\Iy house shall be called the house of prayer ; *' but ye have made it a den of thieves." Again, they could not but have remarked the miraculous cures, which he performed at the same time on the blind and the lame, who came to him in the- temple; while the children were still shouting in their ears, *' Hosanna to the Son of David !" " Blessed is the King of I^- " rael !" Lastly, they had witnessed the judgment of the fig- tree ; and perhaps had been informed of the saying of Jesus on the occasion to his disciples, that " if they had faith, they should *' be endued with power not only to destroy a tree, but even to " remove a mountain, and to cast it into tlie midst of the sea." These are the things, as related in the former part of Matt. xxi. which in all probability the chief priests and elders of the people, unable to gainsay or contradict them in any respect, must have had in their more immediate view, when they came to Jesus, and inquired by what authority he acted, and from whom he had re- ceived such authority. A more suitable opportunity could not have been given for Je- sus to declare the real nature of his character ; whether he came into the world as a sub-agent, deputed, delegated, or commission- ed by another Being called God, different in every respect from himself; whether he acted solely in the name, and under the avowed authority, of such different and distinct Being, in the ca- pacity of a mere servant and minister of God, whom he was bound to acknowledge as his Creator and Preserver, in common with the rest of finite intelligences ; or whether, on the other hand, he came down from heaven as the Divine Truth itself, or as the Word, or as God himself incarnate, and thus acted under his own proper authoritrj, underived from any other Being or Power different from himself, but solely from that divine princi- ple and source of all life, which was within him, which was his own, and not another^s, and which is understood in the Sacred UNITARIANS, TRINITARIANS, &c. 123 Scriptures by the name of Father, while the visible form of that same divine essence is called the Son. Had the first supposition been a just view of his character, it is very extraordinary, and one would think not at all justifiable in a mere servant and messenger, that he did not eagerly embrace the opportunity of paying honour to his Master, and of declaring that he was of no higher consideration than Moses, or any of the prophets, being like them only a creature of yesterday ; conse- quently that, his commission being defined, and his power circum- scribed by another, from whom he received it, he acted solely un- der the deputed authority of tliat other, and was responsible to him for every part of his conduct. His neglect, however, to do in this case what every reasonable person would judge to have been his indispensable duty, coupled with our knowledge or firm belief that all his words and works were founded in the deepest wisdom, naturally leads us to make a further inquiry into the true ground and reason of his conduct, which was so unexpected, and yet so satisfactory in it's final result. When Moses stood before Pharaoh, he declared in whose name, and by whose authority, he demanded the liberation of Israel ; and in no case have any of the true prophets, who succeeded him, ever claimed to themselves, or suffered others to impute to them, a power which exclusively belonged to the Supreme God. Nor can we believe, that Jesus, supposing him to have been a mere prophet or servant of God, similarly situated, and similarly en- dowed, would have been behind the very first or best of his brethren in deprecating even the appearance or suspicion of self-derived authority, and in explicitly ascribing all the honour, ail the glory, and all the merit of his works to him, from whom alone they proceeded. From a full conviction, therefore, tliat Jesus was the very Wisdom or Word of God, and consequently that he was no less than God himself Incarnate, since God and his Word are insepa- rably One, we feel ourselves under the highest ol>ligatlon to re- ceive and acknowledge him in this first and greatest of characters. And hence we conclude, that by his refusing to give a direct an- swer to the question of the chief priests and elders of the people. 126 A SEAL UPON THE LIPS Ot whom he knew to be incapable of any faith bej'ond tlie evidence of the external senses, he meant to teach us, (yet hidirectlif, lest the great lesson should prove too hard at first for our feeble un- derstanding, from it's being so contrary to all appearance,) that the authority under which lie acted on every occasion, and tl.e power which he displayed in the performance of every miracle, were absolutely and exclusively his oicu^ being derived from no other Being, either in heaven or on earth, but originating in aad with Himself alone. It is in reference to the great doctrine here advanced, and to this highest view of the person and character of Jesus, that the Sacred Scripture of the Old Testament, and the Sacred Scripture of the New Testament, like two cherubs over tiie mercy-seat looking at each other, (Exod. xxv. 19, 20,) so frequently and so emphatically declare, first by the voice of one, that Jehovah himself will assuredly descend, and become (what no other be- ing can or ever could become) the alone Saviour and Redeemer of mankind ; then by the voice of the other, that the same Jeho- vah did actually descend under the name of Emmanuel, or God WITH us, when Jesus the Christ was born of a virgin: .and thus jointly and unanimously, that the Divinity and the Humani- ty, when united in one person, as they were in the person of Je- sus, became that Saviour and Redeemer, who had been so long promised and expected, and who is at length acknowledged in his church below, as he is also in his heaven above, to be " Alpha '• and Omega, the beginning and the ending, the first and the last, " who was, who is, and who is to come, the Almighty." Another argument for the sole and exclusive divinity of Jesus, perhaps equally strong with that which we liave just now been advancing, arises from the question, which he in his turn put to his inquisitive adversaries. " The baptism of John, whence was " it .' from heaven, or of men .-"' At first sight it may appear, as if this new subject had little or no reference to the point, concern- ing which they had been inquiring : for what, it may possibly be asked, could the baptism of John, who was now dead, have to do with the authority, by which Jesus acted .'' Or why should any answer, which the priests might give to this question, furnish a UNITARIANS, TRINITARIANS, &c. 127 proper ground for tlie reply of Jesus to that, which was first proposed to him ? Conjectures of this kind may arise, and may be uselessly multiplied, until we turn our attention to the true meaning and design of the baptism of John. John was sent into the world for the express purpose of preparing the way for the advent of Jehovah God; on which account it is vvritten in the prophet Malachi, " Behold, I will send ^' my messenger, and he shall prepare the ivay before me; and " the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple. " But who may abide the day of his coming ^ and who sliall stand " when he appeareth ?" chap. iii. 1, 2. Again, " Behold, I will " send you Elijah the prophet, before the coming of the great and " dreadful day of Jehovah. And he shall turn the heart of the " fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their " fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse," chap. iv. 5, 6." Zacharias also, prophesying of his son Jolin, saith, " And " thou, child, shalt be called the prophet of the Highest ; for thou " shalt go before the face of the Lord, to prepare his xcays^'''' Luke i. 76. And Jesus himself saith of John, " This is he, of " whom it is written. Behold, I send my messenger before thy " face, which shall prepare the way before thee,'''' Luke vii. 27. The reason likewise why he was sent to prepare the way of Jeho- vah, both by baptism, and by the annunciation of his immediate advent, was, because otherwise the earth would have been smit- ten with a curse, Mai. iv. 6 : for the immediate presence of Je- hovah, even in the Humanity, cannot be endured by the church, except under a deep sense of humiliation or self-abasement, and at the same time of sincere repentance. This impending curse was averted by the baptism of John, which was a baptism of re- pentance. " Repent,"' saith he, ^'■for the kingdom of heaven is " at hand" Matt. iii. 3. Mark i. 4. Luke iii. 3. And when John gives his testimony concerning Jesus, ire does it in language, which cannot well be misunderstood. To those, who were sent to ask him, " Who art thou ?" he answered, " I am the voice of " one crying in the wilderness. Make straight the ivay of the. « Lord, as said the prophet Esaias," John i. 23 : which same. Lord is by the prophet, chap. xl. 3, expressly declared to be Je- 128 A SEAL UPON THE LIPS OF HovAH oun God. But John continues r " I baptize with water: "but there standeth One among you, whom ye know not: he it *< is, who coming after me, is preferred before me, whose shoe- " latchet J am not worthy to unloose. But that he should be made " manifest to Israel, therefore am I come baptizing with water,'* John i. 26, Sr, 31. Again, He must increase^ but I must decrease. " He that cometh from abovPy is above all : he tliat is of the '* earth, is earthly, and speaketh of the eartli : he that cometh ^^from heaven, is above all,^^ John iii. 30, 31. From all these considerations, well digested, it is now most evident, that John was the precursor of Jehovah in the flesh : and as he constantly directed his hearers to Jesus, and to no other Being, baptizing them externally with water, that they might afterwards be baptized internally with the Holy Spirit and with fire, it is equally plain, that, while he was thus preparing the ivay of Jesus, he considered that he was at the same time preparing tlie way of Jehovah, and thereby fulfilling the great end of his mission. And this leads us to perceive with what justice and propriety the Lord propounded to the chief priests and elders of the peo- ple the question concerning the baptism of John. For it is so in- timately connected with their previous inquiry, as to the right and authority by which he acted, that whosoever has an under- standing to comprehend the one. can be at no loss to solve the other also. A direct answer by Jesus to the first question would, as before observed, have been to the Jews his enemies a too pre- cipitate introduction into that great truth, which they could not as yet admit, of his being the Supreme God, Jehovah Himself : he therefore refers them to the consideration of a preliminary truth, the baptism of John, which, if viewed in it's proper light, and compared with the prophetic Word, might gradually prepare them for the other more interior and more direct knowledge of himself, who, as God manifested in tlie flesh, is at once the Crea- tor, the Redeemer, and the Saviour of mankind. Thus with open eyes we see, that the baptism of John was not, and could not possibly have been, of men, but from heaven ; be- cause it does what no human power or authority can effect j it UNITARIANS, TRINITARIANS, &c. 129 prepares the mind for the advent of him, who came down from heaven, John iii. 31 ; chap. vi. 51 ; of him, who needeth not, and receiveth not, either testimony or honour from man, John v. 34, 41 : and further, because he, who is the door, the way, the truths and the life, can alone lead, by the baptism of repentance, and by a genuine faith, to the acknowledgment and love of himself, who hath all power and all authority both in heaven and on earth. Matt, xxviii. 18 ; and consequently who is from first to last the sole mover, conductor, and finisher of salvation. Him therefore, and Him alone, namely the Divine Man Jesus Christ, do we hail as the One blessed, and for ever to be adored God of the Universe ! His name alone do we bear on our standards, on our foreheads, and in our hearts ; while with shout- ings, acclamations, and incessant glorifications, we proclaim and crown him Lord of all ! [42.] Matt. xxi. 42. « Jesus saith unto them, Did ye never '^' read in the Scriptures, The Stone, which the builders rejected, " the same is become the Head of the corner : this is the Lord's '• doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes .^" See also Mark xii. 10, 11. Luke XX. 17. Ps. cxviii. 22, 23. No one, at all acquainted with the language of the Sacred Scriptures, can for a moment doubt, that by the /S^ione here allud- ed to is meant the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, who in other places Is called a Rock, the Rock of Israel, the Rock of refuge, the Rock of salvation, &c.* But perhaps there are many, who have not duly considered what is to be understood by the build- * Among the Jews indeed, who of all men are perhaps the most sensual and gross m their ideas concerning the Word, it was a tradition, that, by the builders of the second temple, a certain stone was thrown aside among the rubbish, which was afterwards found to be exactly adapted for the chief corner-stone. But such literal application of the passage, without a higher sense, can surely never be considered as worthy to be ranked among the proofs of the miraculous works of Jehovah. R 130 A SEAL UPON THE LIPS OF crs rejecting that Stone, what by it's becoming the Head ot the corner, and why this is said to be the work of the Lord, or of Jehovah, and at the same time matter of astonishment to all who have eyes or understandings to discern it. We will there- fore distinctly, but briefly, examine these very important points. The builders are all they, who by their doctrines and instruc- tions endeavour to form or build up the church, either among iu-> dividuals, or among societies. Among the Jews they were the priests, the elders, the Pharisees, the public readers, and in ge- neral all who were engaged in the office of teaching and in- structing others. Among Christians they are the clergy or teach- ing ministers of all denominations ; and it matters not whether they take tlie name of Catholics according to their several orders, or of Protestants and Ileformed according to their many sub- divisions, sects, and parties, distinguished as they are by articles of faith, which are either established or only tolerated by the civil power. That the Stone of divine truth was rejected by the Jewish builders, when they refused to acknowledge Jesus as their Mes- siah, and especially when they took him, and bound him, and scourged him, and mocked him, and smote him, and at l^st cru- cified him, will not be denied by any who profess to believe and to reverence the history contained in the Gospels. But that he has been, and at this day still is, in like manner, though spiritually to be understood, bound, scourged, mocked, smitten, and even cru- cified, that is to say, rejected, and his divinity either totally de- nied, or else frittered away by being divided among two other persons besides himself, said to be co-equal and co-eternal with him in majesty, glory, and divinity, is a fact, which, though most evident in itself, yet requires to be held up to public view, because many (it is to be supposed) are not at all aware of the charge, which they have incurred, and of the great indignity^ which they daily offer to the person and character of Jesus Christ. It is true, these builders will speak of him as their Saviour and their Redeemer ; they will even with their lips celebrate and magnify him for what they suppose he has done and suffered in UNITARIANS, TRINITARIANS, &c. 131 their behalf; and at times, when they lose sight of the Father^ who is tlie chief object of their worship and their dread, a sense of gratitude to the Son will bi'eak out into something that reseni' bles worship. Yet who cannot see, that in all this they still con- sider Jesus, or the Son, as inferior to the Father, and so entirely distinct from liirn, that the worship of the one detracts from, and militates against, the worship of the other; until at last it is scarcely known which of them ought to be addressed first, and which last, lest the other should peradventure take umbrage, and suft'er his jealousy to be awakened either against his fellow-god^ or against the deluded but perhaps sincere petitioner. In either case, inasmuch as the worship is divided between two or more, it becomes an empty, vain, contradictory, and even idolatrous wor- ship. Babel is it's name, and confusion is it's language. Thus he, who alone is the Rock of ages, the Corner-stone of the church, the Word of divine truth itself, presented to us un- der the form of a Divine Man, is either rejected or neglected by the builders at large, not by a few solitary individuals among them, but by whole societies and nations at a time, by assemblies and convocations, synods and councils, popes, cardinals, bishops, priests, and presbyters, in all their public acts, their established or non-established forms and declarations of faith, and indeed ia almost every part of their solemnities, offices, and devotions, however sanctified, or however heavenly they may outwardly ap- pear. And what is wonderful, although these said builders are in many points at variance with each other, one pulling down what his neighbour is endeavouring to raise up, yet in one thing they are all agreed, and unanimously concur, (as Pilate and He- rod did, when they vvere made friends together on a similar oc- casion, Luke xxiii. 12.) and that is, in refusing to acknowledge Jesus Christ alone as the Head of the corner, in other words, as the sole God of the church, as the single and exclusive Object of their faith, their love, and their adoration. As a consolation, however, to the real church, in the midst of this desolation and spiritual calamity, whereby it has come to pass, that " not one stone of the temple is left upon another,''"' but the whole is demolished, we have the promiae of the Lord in Mb I3ii A SEAL UPON THE LIPS OV Word, that his temple shall be re-built, and himself acknowled"^ ed as the Head of the corner. " Therefore thus saith the Lokd ** Jehovih, Behold, I lay in Zion, for a foundation, a Stone, a tri- " ed Stone, a precious Corner-stone, a s^ire foundation,'^ Isa. " xxviii. 16. Jehovah of hosts hath visited his flock: out of him *' came forth the Corner-stone,'''' Zech. x. 3, 4. This is that Stone " of divine truth, (i. e. the Divine Humanity of Jesus, called the Son^ cut out without hands, (i. e. proceeding from the divine good, or essential divinity, called the Father,) which smote the image of Nebuchadnezzar upon his feet that were of iron and clay, and brake them to pieces ; (i. e. which exposed and dispers- ed those falses of doctrine and worship, which have so long be- wildered and desolated the churcU ;) that Stone, which after- wards became a great rock or mountain, and filled the whole earth : (i. e. which is at length acknowledged as the one only source of divine truth and divine good in the church, and which is now set up in the heart of every true believer, who confesses and adores his God under the form of a Divine Man.) See Dan. ii. 34, 35, 45 ; chap. vii. 13, 14. That this Stone is both Jehovah and Jesus, or Divinity and Humanity together, is plain from a comparison of the preceding and the following passages. " Sanctify Jehovah of hosts him- " self, and let him be your fear, and let him be your dread. And " he shall be for a sanctuary ; but for a Stone of stumbling, and " for a Rock of offence, to both the houses of Israel, and for a " gin, and for a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. And " many among them shall stumble, and fall, and be broken,''^ Isa. viii. 13 to 15. " The Stone, which the builders rejected, the " same is becoinc the Head of the corner. And whosoever shall ^'fall on this Stone, shall be broken: but on whomsoever it shall " fall, it will grind him to poivder,''^ Matt. xxi. 42, 44. " Who " is God, save Jehovah ? and who is a Rock, save our God .►*" 2 Sam. xxii. 32. Ps. xviii. 31. " Jesus Christ is the Stone, " which was set at nought of you builders,' which is become the " Head of the corner: neither is there salvation in any other," Acts iv. 11, 12. UNITARIANS, TRINITARIANS, &c. 135 Thus we sec, that in the Old Testament Jehovah hims&lf is most distinctly and expressly declared to be a Stone, and a Rockn of defence and salvation to the righteous, but of stumbling and offence to the unrighteous. The same is likewise said of Jesus in the New Testament, and expressed in such plain and decisive terms, tliat it is really a wonder how the builders could have overlooked the coincidence of language flowing so unanimously from the mouth of Prophets, Evangelists, and Apostles. But now seeing, as we do, the Scriptures in a new light, and observing the harmony of their testimony, when they are all referred to one and the same incarnate God, that is, to our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ as Jehovah in the Humanity, we cannot but re- joice in perceiving, that the foundation of the new temple is al- ready laid ; that the first stone of the building, having seven eyes engraven upon it, Zech. iii. 9 ; chap. iv. 10, is a pledge and secu- rity, that the superstructure will be raised and conducted by In- finite Wisdom ; and that in due time the head -stone thereof shall be brought forth with shoutings and acclamations of joy, Zech. iv. 7. For we are convinced, that, notwithstanding the external splendor and glory of the former house or church, notwithstand- ing the pomp of it's processions, the apparent solemnity of it's religious ceremonies, and tlie honour or wealth which it may de- rive from any worldly institution, still " the glory of this latter " house will be greater than that of the former," Hag. ii. 9 ; be- cause he, who is " the desire of all nations," is actually come unto it, and will fill it with the glory of his presence for ever. Having now seen what is meant by the builders rejecting the Stone, which yet is become the Head of the corner, not indeerl in the old temple, but in tlie new one, it only remains to be ob- served, that the great work of re-building tlie temple, and con- stituting Him for the Head of the corner, who is in truth the Head of the church universal, is not the fruit of human labour, or the result of any doctrines invented by man, but clearly, ac- cording to the uniform testimony of revelation, the effect of the divine love and the divine wisdom united. For, as the Psalmist observes, " Except Jehovah hdld the house, they labour in vain « that build it," Ps. cxxvii. I, Therefore David again savs, 134 A SEAL UPON THE LIPS OF '• Do good ill thy good-pleasure unto Zion (O God :) build thoit <• the ivalls of Jerusalem,^- Ps. li. 18. In the supreme sense, the Budy of Jesus, or in other words, the Divine Hiimmiity of Je- hovah, is the temple so much spoken of in the Sacred Scriptures. It is that, to which the prophet Malachi refers, when he says, " The Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his templey'* chap. iii. 1. David had the same in view, when he said, " Je- '* HovAH is in his holy temple," Ps. xi. 4: and likewise when " he sware unto Jehovah, and vowed unto the mighty God of " Jacob, Surely I will not come into the tabernacle of my house, " nor go up into my bed ; I will not give sleep to mine eyes, or " slumber to mine eye-lids; until I find out a place for Jeho- " VAH, an habitation for the mighty God of Jacob. Lo, we heard "of it (Him*) a.t Ephratah ; {ad. Bethlehem, where Jesus was * The Hebrew word, or rather letter H, here and in our common English bibles translated it, may in this place with great propriety be rendered Him, because it evidently refers to the Lord: for the original will bear either a masculine, a feminine, or a neuter interpretation, according to the nature of the subject treated of. If translated Him, in such case the reference is un- derstood to be to the Lord as a person, m ho was born in Bethlehem : and if translated it, the reference must then be to the divine truth discoverable in the Sacred Scriptures, which are the fields of the wood. In either case it amounts to the same thing, because the Lord as a divine persoii, and his Word as the divine truth, are ever to be identified as One. It may be proper to add here, (because the information is not to be found in the Hebrew Grammars, which were compiled long after the language was in it's perfection, and consequently when the I'eason of many of it's peculia- rities escaped the notice of the grammarians,) that the letter H, above men- tioned, is taken from the name Jah or Jehovah, and that, when interfixed or affixed to a word which has refereiice to the Lord, it denotes injtnity and eternity, as in the representative cases of AbraAam and SaraA ; see Emanuel Swedenborg's Arcana Caleetia, n. 2010, 2063, 4594. But not only does the letter H, as an aspirate, when taken from the name Jehovah, involve what is infinite, eternal, and thus divine; but it also, as before observed, in such ca.sesadmitsof amascT^rtne construction, although in general it is the sign of Xhe feminine gender. This is evidently the case in that remarkable passage, Jer. xxxiii. 16; where it appears, that the city Jenisulem is to be called Je- hovah ovR RiGHTEousjiEss, though in the proper and primary sense that UNITARIANS, TRINITARIANS, &c. 135 «' born ;) we found it (Him) in the fields of the wood. We will " go into his tabernacles, we will worship at his footstool," Ps. cxxxii. 2 to 7. And when Jesus said to the Jews, " Destroy •' this temple^ and in three days I will raise it up," it is added, that " he spake of the temple of his body,''^ John ii. 19 to 21. John also in the Apocalypse, after describing the holy city. New Jerusalem, as to it's dimensions, it's gates, it's walls, and it's foundations, says, " And I saw no temple therein ; for the Lord " God dlmighty and the Lamb are the temple of it,'^' chap, xxi. 22. From all these considerations it is plain, that the Supreme God Jehovah, by his full and perfect union with that body, which he had prepared and assumed for himself, did constitute the same to be not only his own temple, habitation, and eternal residence, but also the Corner-stone of that spiritual building his church, against which the gates of hell shall never prevail. Hence all who acknowledge and worship the Saviour himself as the in- carnate God, or as Jehovah visible in a Divine Human Form, perceiving from the Word, that the great end of his love, name- ly, the salvation and final happiness of the human race, can in this and in no other way be accomplished, will, from a contem- plation and holy admiration of the wonders of redemption, be led to exclaim in the language of heaven, " The Stone, which the " builders rejected, the same is become the Head of the corner : '^^ this is the Lord's doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes.'''* [43.] Matt. xxii. 41 to 46. " While the Pharisees were ga- " thered together, Jesus asked them, saying. What think ye of "Christ.'' whose Son is he ? They say unto him. The Son of " David. He saith unto them. How then doth David in spirit call " him Lord, saying. The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou on « my right hand, till I make thine enemies thy footstool ? If Da- name belongs only to our Lord and Saviour Jestjs Chbtst. A note on this subject will be given under article 9^. ISti A SEAL UPON THE LIPS OF "viti then call him Lord, how is he his Son ? And no man was *■• able to answer him a vvorel ; neither durst any man from that day " forth ask him any more questions." See also Mark xii. 35 to 37. Luke xx. 41 to 44. Ps. ex. 1. If ever a question was proposed, calculated in an instant to confound the mere reasoner, the calculator of genealogies, or the idolizer of his own understanding, and yet at the same time to lead the humble mind from earthly to heavenly sentiments, this is that question, so unexpectedly stated by our Lord, and so mi- serably treated by his adversaries. The preliminary query, '•What think ye of Christ ? whose Son is he .^" they knew well enough how to answer, because their prophets had already furnished them with words and expressions for the purpose. '' There sliall come forth a JRoc? out of the stem of Jesse, and a " Branch shall grow out of his roots ; and the spirit of Jehovah " shall rest upon him," Isa. xi. 1, 2. *' Behold, the days come, " saith Jehovah, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branchy '• and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment " and justice in the earth," Jer. xxiii. 5 ; chap, xxxiii. 15. " I "have made a covenant with my chosen, I have sworn unto Da- *' vid my servant, Thy seed will I establish for ever, and build " up thy throne to all generations," Ps. Ixxxix. 3, 4, 35, 36. " Je- " HOVAH hath sworn in truth %nto David, he will not turn from '• it, Of the fruit of thy body will I set upon thy throne," Ps. cxxxii. 11. From tliese and similar passages in the Word of the Old Tes- tament they concluded, that the Messiah or Christ, whenso- ever he should make his appearance in the world, would be of the house and family of David, and lineally descended from him. They therefore found no difficulty in replying to that part of our Lord's inquiry, and immediately gave him for answer, that Christ is tlie San of David. But when he appealed to the book of Psalms, where David himself writes, '• Jehovah said unto my " Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies " thy footstool," ex. 1, and required of them an explanation how Christ could be the Son nf David, and yet at the same time UNITARIANS, TRINITARIANS, &c. ISf JkiviiVs Ijokd; having no conception how these two distinct characters could meet in one person, or on what principle it was that DaviiVs Sox should be also called DavidPs Lord, (which even in their view, who acknowledged no earthly king superior to David, must have been the same thing as calling him Lord of the unicerse,) they were utterly confounded by the question, and virtually confessed their total ignorance of the subject by their silence. Not one of them was able to answer him a word : but perhaps suspecting, that, if further discussion were to take place, they would themselves be plainly convicted of wilful perversion or misinterpretation of those passages, which refer to the Mes- siah ; and being unwilling, as their descendants at this day like- wise are, to acknowledge him in any other character than that of a mere man ; they were disposed to wave the subject, and still remain in their inlidelity. We have already, in a preceding article, (No. 33,) so fully explained the distinction between David's Son and David's Lord, or between the injlrm humanity of Jesus, which he re- ceived from the mother, and the Divine Humanity derived from the Father Jehovah, that it would be an unnecessary waste of time to repeat all that was there advanced. We shall therefore «nly observe in this place, that as to his maternal humanity he was truly the descendant of David ; but as to his Paternal Hu- manity he was neither the Son of David nor of Mary, but of Je- hovah alone. In the former respect he is called the Son of Da', vid, but in the latter respect the Son of God, And as he wa^ continually in the eftbrt of putting off the one, that he might be wholly and solely in the other, therefore we find, that he never acknowledged himself to be the Son of Mary, and, in the pas- sage now under consideration, that he indirectly refuses to be called the Son of David, For what purpose could these distinctions be so repeatedly and so plainly held up to view in the Sacred Scriptures, if they were never to be understood, and thereby to form the very basis of a rational faith } Revelation points the way, and we humbly follow it's light by the free exercise of those faculties, which our God Ras seen fit to implant within us. May they ever be directed to > 138 A SEAL UPON THE LIPS OF his honour, to the exaltation of liis name, and to the enlargement of his kingdom ! Nothing can be more evident, than that the Lord was perfectly aware of the two distinct points of view, under which his Huma- nity was capable of being seen ; and of the extreme difficulty, whicli the natural man has to encounter, when he attempts to form a judgment of divine things from the testimony of his bodily senses alone, or from the mere science and light of this world. He knew that the Messiah was expected by the Jewish nation, and that they regarded him as the descendant of David, because the Scriptures in some parts, and their own traditions in general, had so described him. He knew also, that the same Scriptures in other parts had represented t!ie expected Christ as of higher descent than that of mere humanity, and that David himself must bow down to him as to liis omnipotent Lord. But perceiving that the Jews wsve tlien, and that Christians would be in future times, more disposed to abide in those external views of the Messiah, which present him as a mere man like themselves, than to embrace the more elevated ideas suggested by the inter- nal sense of the Word ; and being also willing to lead them, in a way best adapted to their states of mind, to a more interior con- sideration of the subject; the Lord proposed a theological ques- tion from their own records, whicli, if fairly, lionestly, and ma- turely examined, can receive no other rational solution, than that which we have already submitted to the candid and judicious reader. Yet whether from a sense of their complete ignorance of the subject, (as before observed,) or from a secret dislike to the tendency of the question, Avhich was evidently to correct their mistaken notions of the real character and dignity of the ^Ies- siAH or Christ, we find that the Pharisees of old were speech- less on the occasion, and totally unable to answer him a word. But will tlie Pharisees of modern times be content to submit to the silence imposed upon their cavilling predecessors ? Or will they indeed admit, tliat the Lord, while on earth, sustained a two-fold character, the one as JJavid''s Son, the other as I)avid'.< Lord? and that the first arose from his state of humiliation, in- firmity, and mere humanity ; the other from his state of glorift- UNITARIANS, TRINITARIANS, &c. 139 cation, omnipotence, and pure divinity ? If they will assent to this proposition, they may then comprehend, in a rational man- ner, how and why it was, that to the bulk of the Jewish nation, immersed as they were in the sensualities of life, and contemptu- ously ignorant even of the existence of a spiritual state, the Lord was known only as an obscure individual, with no other traits of a character superior to that of others, than such as are usually found in men of peaceable and pious deportment. They may also perceive the reason why, on certain occasions, and in the pre- sence of certain individuals, he assumed a divine air and autho- rity plainly inconsistent with any condition of mere humanity, and alone reconcileable to that high and holy character of Su- preme Sovereignty, to which neither angel nor man can dare to aspire, without incurring the united penalties, as well as the ac- cumulated guilt, of extreme impiety, profanation, blasphemy, ar- rogance, and unpardonable presumption. Thus keeping distinctly in view those two states, and charac- ters of life, which the Lord was pleased to assume, and alter- nately exhibit to man, according to the dictates of his own inscru- table wisdom, the great difficulties respecting his person, his ge- nealogy and descent, his temptations, glorification, resurrection, and ascension, which press upon the mind of a superficial and in- attentive observer, may be completely removed, and the most sa- tisfactory evidence obtained in favour of his exclusive and total divinity. [44.] Matt, xxiii. 34. " Behold, / send unto you prophets, " and wise men, and scribes ; and some of them ye shall kill and " crucify, and some of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues, " and persecute from city to city." Recollect, reader, who it is that speaks in this style of autlio- rity, who it is that claims to himself the privilege and the power of raising up, commissioning', and sending into the world, pro- phets, ivise men, and scribes, at his own good pleasure ; and at 140 A SEAL UPON THE LIPS OF the same time foresees, that they will be persecuted, scourged, crucified, and killed, in contempt of him and his doctrine. It is no other than Jesus, who yet is degraded, by some who profess to be his disciples, to the rank of a mere prophet himself; not perceiving, that he who sends propliets, must also inspire them with his own wisdom, and thereby constitute them what they are; which is the very cliaracter and exclusive prerogative of the Su- preme God. Every true prophet of the Old Testament uniformly acknow- ledges, that his mission and authority are solely derived from Jehovah ; and, on the other hand, Jehovah acknowledges tliem as his servants. " Surely the Lord Jehovih will do nothing, " but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets,'''' Amos, iii. 7. " I raised up of your sons for prophets, and of your young *' men for Nazarites : is it not even thus,0 ye children of Israel, *' saith Jehovah," Amos ii. 11. And again, Jehovah our God hath sftirf, " Touch not mine anointed, and do my projjhets no "harm," Ps. cv. 15. To multiply passages to the same effect, cannot be required ; because it will scarcely be denied, that a divine message, Wke that of prophecy, must have a Divine Author. But in this case Jesus thinks it no arrogance to be equal with God ; for he also sends prophets, and wise men, and scribes. Nay, what is more, he com- missions even angels to perform the great purposes of his will, not in one part of the earth only, but in all nations, and in all places throughout the universe. " The Son of Man shall send " his a7igels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall ga- " ther together his elect from the four winds, /ro»n one end of hea^ '^^ ven to the other,^^ Matt. xxiv. 31. Mark xiii. 27. Again, " I " Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in " the churches,''^ Apoq. xxii. 16. And that no man might fail to identify Jesus with the Supreme God himself, that is, to consid- er him as actually and personally that very Being, though in a human form, it is written in the same chapter, '• The Lord God " of the holy prophets sent his angel to shew unto his servaifts "' the things which must shortly be done," ver. 6. UNITARIANS, TRINITARIANS, &c. 141 Thus, by comparing one Scripture with another, and viewing tliem in heavenly light, according to the true intent and meaning of their Author, that great truth, the identity of Jesus with Je- hovah, like the sun itself in a firmament variegated with lucid and shady clouds, ' ever and anon' darts it's eiFulgence on th© eye of the observer ; then for a short moment withdrawing it's direct beams, it again and again breaks out with renewed and in- creased lustre ; until the whole heaven above, and the whole earth below, are filled with it's unequalled and uninterrupted glorv. [45.] Matt. xxiv. 35. " Heaven and earth shall pass away, '' but my words shall not pass awayj" See also Mark xiii. 31. Luke xxi. 33. Before we enter upon this extraordinary passage, let us for a moment indulge a thought concerning the Great Personage, who uttered such divine language. Is he a Man } or is he a God ? "What is the character here assumed } and how was it sustained ? Let us pursue the subject: it will enlighten, it will bless us with the knowledge of him, whose name is above all estimate. But alas! he is not believed; his words are rejected, himself is despised ! Not only did the Jews seek to kill Jesus, because he declared, " that God was his Father, thus making himself equal with God^*^ John V. 18; but v/hen they heard him say expressly, " I and my " Father are One,''^ John x. 30, they immediately took up stones to stone him for what they conceived to be no less than blas- phemy : and this, said they, we do, " because that thou, being a " Man, makest thyself God,''^ ver. 33. Here is the charge ; That Jesus, being, as they thought, a mere man, yet laid in his claim to be reputed God. But this is not all that is involved in the ac- cusation : a more interior, and a more extraordinary process is ialso alluded to, (not indeed by the Jews themselves? but by the l^oly Spirit which dictated the language of the Evangelist,) 142 A SEAL UPON THE LIPS OF namely, the actual glorification of his person, which is the same thing as the unition or identification of himself with Jehovah the Father ; and this is plainly expressed in the very terms of the charge brought against him : " We stone thee, because tliat " thou, being a Man, inakest tlujself God.^^ Never did a more sublime truth strike the ear, or enter the imagination : it is the very hinge, or central point, on M'hich turns and rests the \vhole of the Christian revelation. He, who was God, became Man ; and he, who was Man, made himself God! Hence, though tlie sentiment appears to have proceeded from the enemies of Jesus, in the form of an accusation against him, to which indeed all his divine words and works were equal- ly exposed, he neither attempted to deny nor to extenuate the charge; but on the co\\iv?LYy admitted it in it's full force, and, af- ter reasoning with the Jews on tlie subject in the way of explana- tion, he actually confii^ned it by reference to his divine works, •which lie also calls the works of his Father : " If I do not the ** works of my Father, believe me not : but if I do, though ye "' believe not me, believe tlie icorks ; that ye may know and be- *' lieve, that the Father is in me, and I in him,''"' John x. 37, 38. This union of the Father with Jesus, or of the Divinity with the Humanity, is what is meant by God becoming Man ; as, on the other hand, t\\s reciprocal union of Jesus with the Father, or of the Humanity with the Divinity, is what is meant by Jesus makft'tg himself God. Reflections like these, though not immediately arising out of the passage first read, yet, by a legitimate kind of association of ideas, naturally engage the mind, and summon it's whole atten- tion, when we hear a Man distinctly Jind solemnly pronounce, «• Heaven and earth shall j^ass away, but my tcords shall not pass " aicay.^^ Without entering into ervplanations, which to some minds might be difficult of comprehension, let us yield to tlie impression so fa- vourably and so forcibly given. Can human imagination con- ceive a sentiment more truly grand, awful, and sublime } Who, what, where is the Being in the shape of Humanity, that, stand- ing with his foot on the earth, and lifting up his hands and his UNITARIANS, TRINITAUIANS, &c. 143 Ryes to the heaven of heavens, can thus authoritativel}' utter the tlecrees of Omnipotence, and cause the very breath of hin mouth to pervade and (were it necessary) to dissipate a universe?.'! ******* It is the Son of Man I In that adorable character he now stands " in t!\e midst of seven golden candlesticks, clothed *' witli a garment down to the foot, and girt about the paps with *' a golden girdle. His head and his hairs are white like wool, " as white as snow ; and his eyes are as a flame of fire ; and his *' feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace; and " his voice as the sound of man}^ waters. And he has in his " right hand seven stars : and out of his mouth proceedeth a " sharp two-edged sword : and his countenance is as the sun " shining in his strength," Apoc. i. 12 to 16. See also cliap. xix. 11 to 16. ******* Now he sits upon his throne as the An- cient OF days! " His garment is white as snow, and the hair " of his head (as before) like pure wool : his throne is like tlie *' fiery flame, and his wheels as burning fire. A fiery stream is- \(; *' sues, and comes forth from before him : thousand thousands " minister unto him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stand *' before him," Dan. vii. 9, 10. ******* Still as a Divine Man, and as the same Divine Man, he continues seated on a high and lofty throne far " above the firmament. And I see as " the colour of amber, as the appearance of fire round about " within him : from the appearance of Ids loins even upward, " and from the appearance of his loins even downward, I see as *' it were the appearance of fiie, and it has brightness round *' about. This is the appearance of the likeness of the Glory of " Jehovah," Ezek. i. 26 to 28. Exod. sxiv. 10, 11. ******* At the sight and presence of such a Being, who can refrain from falling down at his feet in self-annihilation, until, raising us with his right hand, he says, " Fear not; I am the First and the Last; " I am Alpiia and Omega, the beginning and the end, who is, " who was, and who is to come, the Almighty. I am he that " liveth, and was dead (rejected and denied ;) and behold, I am '• alive for evermore: Amen." Apoc. i. 8, 11, IT, IS. This then is the Man, this the Almighty God himself, who- proclaims with tlie loud voice of revelation, that his words are 144 A SEAL UPON THE LIPS OF really and truly " spirit and life," John vi. 63 ; that they alon? are the root and origin of all existence, intelligent or non-intelli- gent, animate or inanimate, spiritual or material; and conse- quently that in themselves they are more permanent and durable than the pillars of creation. Of him speaks the Psalmist, when he says, " By the word of Jehovah were the heavens made; " and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth. The " counsel 0/ Jehovah standeth/o7' ever, the tho7ights of his heart " to all generations,^'' Ps. xxxiii. 6, 11. " Of old hast thou laid *' the foundations of the earth ; and the heavens are the work of " thy hands. They all -perish, but thou shalt endure : yea, all of '* them shall wax old like a garment ; as a vesture shalt thou " change them, and they shall be changed. But thou art the " same, and thy years shall have no end,^^ Ps. cii. 25 to 27. " All " his commandments are sure: they stand fast /or ever and ever,'*' Ps. cxi. 7, 8. For ever, Jehovah, thy word is settled in hea- <' ven. Thy word is true from the beginning : and every one of " thy righteous judgments endureth for ever,'" Ps. cxix. 89, " 160. Thou hast made a decree, which shall not }}ass," Ps. cxlviii. 6. I will worship towards thy holy temple, and praise " thy name, for thy loving-kindness, and for thy truth : for thou <' hast magnified thy Word above all thy name,^'' Ps. cxxxviii. 2. Such is the Word of Jehovah, and such also is the Word of Jesus : both are alike the divine truth ; both equally omnipotent, and equally eternal. Of Jehovah it is said, that by the word or breath of his mouth were the heavens and all the host of them made; that his counsel, his judgments, and decrees, as well as himself, are everlasting ; while the foundations of the earth, and even the heavens themselves, from the highest to the lowest, as finite forms, depending every moment on their Creator for a continued renewal of their existence, are in themselves mutable, transient, and perishable, being permanent only so far as they are from instant to instant upheld by a divine power. Of Jesus it is also written, tliat the words proceeding from his lips are es- sential life, in their own nature imperishable, and therefore, like himself and every thing that bears the character of Divinity, in- finitely and eternally the same. Hence, as there can be only UNITARIANS, TRINITARIANS, &c. 145 One Immutable, One Eternal, and One Infinite Being, from whom proceeded, and ever will proceed, all that is permanently sub- stantial, holy, and divine, we conclude, that Jesus and Jehovah, united as they are in One Person, the Human Essence with the Divine, and the Divine Essence with the Human, together constitute the One Immortal, Unchangeable, and Self-Existent God ■ [46.] Matt, xxviii. 9. " As they went to tell his disciples, *• behold, Jesus met them, saying. All hail. And they came, and *' held him by the feet, and worshipped himy See also ver. 17. Luke xxiv. 53. Various are the instances recorded in the Gospel, in which Je- stis was approached by his followers in the way of direct wor- ship ; and in no case whatever did he refuse to receive their ado- rations, or even give the most distant hint, that they were misap- plied, or improperly directed. On tlie contrary, he appears to have admitted them with complacency and perfect approbation,. Would this have been the case, nay, could the divine jealousy have suffered such a practice to have been repeated more than once, if Jesus sustained no higher cliaracter than that of a mere vian, a mere prophet, or a mere creature of any rank in the scale of intelligence ? It is related in the Acts of the Apostles, that, when divine ho- nours were offered by the multitude to king Herod, and he ap- peared willing to receive them, " immediately the angel of the " Lord smote him, because he gave not God the glory : and he " was eaten of worms, and gave up the spirit," chap. xii. 23. We are not at liberty to presume, that any being inferior to, or other than, the Supreme God himself, is entitled to that highest species of veneration, which is called religious adoration ; or that any messenger, priest, or prophet, acting under a divine commission with faithfulness and integrity, would willingly suffer to be as- cribed to him what he knew belonged only to the God whom he T 146 A StlAL UPON THE LIPS O^ served. Nor can we believe, that any angel in heaven would ac- cept of such incense, were it even offered in ignorance, as on cer- tain occasions it was oftered by the Apostle John, but would in- stantly reject it with horror, and piously refer it to it's true and proper 01)ject. Yet, as we have already observed under the arti- cles 3, 8, 14, 50, and elsewhere, Jesus, even while in the infirm humanity, received and distinctly approved of the prayers, praises, and adorations, which were repeatedly directed to him. How much more then is he now entitled to all the honours of di- vine worship, seeing that since his resurrection from the dead, that is, from every thing material, or subject to mortality, and his consequent ascension into heaven, he is entirely divested of the infirm body of flesh and blood, in whicli he was conversant while in the world, and instead of that is possessed of a form truly human indeed, but at the same time jicrfectly divine .' If his former state of humiliation on earth was no bar to his disciples, or others, prostrating themselves before him in prayer and adora- tion ; still less is his present state of glorification in heaven. And again, still more, if possible, will his divine form, now as- cended above all heavens, and filling all things with it's presence, engage the admiration both of angels and men, while in hymns and songs of lasting praise they celebrate and adore the ever- increasing wonders of his love. In the Gospel by Matthew we read of seven instances of wor- shipi expressly so called, directed to, and received by, Jesus ; besides the cases of otlier persons, of whom it is related, that they either kneeled down to him, or fell at his feet, or embraced his knees, which may all in like manner be considered as acts of adoration or worship. Similar examples are to be met with in each of the other Gospels, as well as in the Apocalypse. But we must not forget to mention the memorable case of Thomas, who, having been incredulous with respect to the actual resurrection of his Divine Master, and being at last convinced of it's reality by ocular and sensible proof, exclaimed with all the fervency of de- vout worship, and the zeal of an enlightened faith, " .My Lord " and my God /" John xx. 28. It is to testimony like this, ap- proved and sanctioned by the Lord himself, that we are indebted UNITARIANS, TRINITARIANS, &c. 147 for those many irresistible arguments in favour of his divinity, M'hich, while they confound and close the mouth of the adversa- ry, inspire his worshippers with new confidence in the truth which they have embraced, with increasing love also to his per- son, his Word and ways, and with a filial, unfeigned devotion to his sacred service. It is plain, then, from the various cases and circumstances above referred to, that our Lord both before and after his resur- rection permitted his follo\vers to fall down at his feet, and in that posture to offer him the adoration of the heart, as well as of the lips. And further, it is equally evident, that he regarded all such acts of religious worship with entire approbation ; either granting to the individual so worshipping the object of his prayer, sayings " Be it unto thee, according to thy faith," as in Matt. viii. 13 ; chap. ix. 29 ; chap. xv. £8 ; or else pouring into the troubled mind the sweet balm of consolation in these following words, " Peace be unto you ; be not afraid ; I am the Almighty ; I am " the First and the Last," as in Luke xxiv. 36. John xx. 19, 26. Matt, xxviii. 10, 18. Apoc. i. 17. And when we bring into view, among many other considerations of similar tendency, that most important precept of the divine law, which our Lord himself also quotes with such powerful effect, " Thou shalt worship the Lord <' thy God, and him only shalt thou serve," Matt. iv. 10 ; how can we resist the mass of evidence that bears down upon us, or how refrain from acknowledging, that He Himself is that very Lord God Almighty, to whom alone he refers, and to whom alone is due, both from angels in heaven, and from men upon earth, all honour, all glory, and all worship ! With angels, therefore, we will for ever join our voices, and exclaim aloud, " Worthy is the Lamb, (worthy is Jesus,) that " was slain, to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, " and honour, and glory, and blessing." And with the countless myriads that surround his throne, let " every creature which is in " (the remotest parts of) heaven, and on the earth, and under "the eartli, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them," again and again repeat the high-sounding gloiification, which once begun can never cease, until the whole creation shout, " Blessing, 148 A 8EAL UPON THK UPS OF " and honour, and glory, and power, be unto Him that sittetli " upon the throne, and unto the Lamb, for ever and ever," Apoc. V. 12, 13. [47.] Matt, xxvlli. 18. " And Jesus came, and spake unto *• them, saying, Jill power is given unto me in heaven and in " earth.'' It is an extraordinary fact, which we have frequently observed, that, whenever a Unitarian, or a confirmed Trinitarian, finds himself compelled to notice this passage, it is with a kind of re- luctance that he submits either to read it himself, or to hear it read by another : for as to their being volunteers in bringing it forward to establish the sole omnipotence of Jesus, that is entirely out of the question. Neither of them acknowledges him as ac- tually possessed of this divine omnipotence, although it is most expressly so asserted. The Trinitarian, who by his doctrine attaches a, portion of di- vinity to Jesus, i-efuses to give him the whole sum, because he re- serves for two other divine persons their respective shares. And thus he betrays the nullity of his faith, by dividing among three, what exclusively belongs to one. For it is impossible to parcel out the divine attributes into three separate lots, giving a portion to one person, and a portion to another, till the whole is disposed of, without depriving every one of the persons so dealt with of some perfection necessary to the integrity of the divine nature : and therefore the partition of the Godhead into three divine per- sons, as they are profanely called, is no less than a robbery of them all, followed up with the crime of spiritual Deicide. The Unitarian, on the other hand, professedly ascribes omni- potence to one God alone, whom he calls the Father, or Creator pf the univeise : and although he reads, that it was absolutely given or transferred to Jesus, yet he will not allow the possibili- ty of it's being vested in, or exercised by him in any respect as his own, but only by a kind of delegation or temporary loan, du- UNITARIANS, TRINITARIANS, &c. 149 ring the pleasure of another, from whom it is derived ; not per- ceiving, that it is as great an absurdity to suppose, that the divine omnipotence can be delegated or lent to a mere man, as to believe, that it can be given or transferred to him 5 both suppositions be- ing equally and alike impossible. And thus, instead of admit- ting the great fact, as declared in the passage, that Jesus is in tlie actual possession of divine omnipotence, he cavils about the meaning of the word given, and asserts, that he could not receive omnipotence as a gift, unless there were another superior Being, namely, the Father, who gave it ; and if so, still Jesus could not be God, notwithstanding he is said to be omnipotent. It is by this fallacious and sophistical way of reasoning, that the Unitarian endeavours to destroy the divinity of Jesus, and together witli it the truth of the proposition, That all power is given unto him both in heaven and in earth ; contending, that he who gave such power, and not he who received it, must be the one true God. But, in opposition to this, it may be observed, that, if the Fa- ther be indeed a distinct person from the Son, or from Jesus, and if he have actually given or transferred to him all his divine power, then the Father is himself no longer the God of heaven and earth, being no longer possessed of that distinguishing attri- bute, which characterizes Deity, and without which no being can justly be considered as God. Allowing, then, the Unitarian the very point, for which he contends, namely, that the Father gave to Jesus, or that Jesus received from the Father, the gift of om- nipotence, how heavy does the absurdity fall upon him and his system ! He first unmakes a Deity, by supposing that the Father transferred or resigned all his power : he then for a moment deifies a mere man, by admitting that Jesus received into him- self the omnipotence so unaccountably transferred : and yet, in defiance of both these concessions, he perseveres in maintaining his old ground, that the Father still remains the omnipotent God, as before, and that Jesus in like manner also still remains a mere man, as before ! ! ! Such is the kind of argument, and such the consequence of the the mode of reasoning, adopted by Unitarians, to overturn the di- 150 A SEAL UPON THE LIPS OF rect testimony of the Word itself, where it seems to militate airainst their pre-conceived opinions concerning the mere huma- nity of Jesus. But what else can be expected from setting up the imperfect understanding of finite man, in opposition to the di- vine nisdom of that infinite God, who by his Holy Spirit dictat- ed both the sentiments and the terms of inspiration ? When re- velation asserts^ it is not for man to deny, merely because his own puisne intellect has not as yet been enlightened with the beams of heavenly light : but it is his duty to exercise with humility the talents already bestowed upon him; and where he cannot clearly discern the consistency of any particular proposition con- tained in the Sacred Pages, it is both wiser and safer for him to suspect his own abilities, or powers of comprehension, than has- tily to conclude against a doctrine plainly and repeatedly incul- cated by them, which, though at present involved in doubt and obscurity, many possibly hereafter be most satisfactorily explain- ed. Of this natui-e is the doctrine of our Lord's omnipotence, as acquired or received by him from the Father, apparently as from another Being out of liim, but in reality from his own di- \nne essence within him, which in the language of the New Tes- tament is generally termed the Father, because it is the fountain and source of all life. Tliis appearance of having received it from anotiier, together with the declaration that it was a gift to him, may at first sight a little embarrass the mind of a sincere inquirer after the truth ; but will not eventually lead him astray, if he candidly attend to the following considerations. It is admitted, and must be perpetually kept in view, that there is, and can be, only One God. It is also to be observed as an eternal truth, or an inviolable law of divine order, that this One God cannot produce another God like unto himself; that he can- not divest himself of his divine attributes, by transferring them to another being ; and moreover that no other being besides himself can, or ever could, receive, contain, or exercise, any one of such ■attributes, even were the gift or transfer (for argument's sake) allowed to be in contemplation. In agreement with these great truths thus speaks the Eternal God himself: "lam Jehovah, " that is my name, and my glory will I not give to anothery^ Isa. UNITARIANS^ TRINITARIANS, &c. 151 .^Ui. 8 ; chap, xlviii. 11. " Before me there was 7io God formed, " neither shall there be after me" Isa. xliii. 10. Since then the Supreme God in his own nature cannot, and by his divine purpose will not, give or transfer his glory to any other being either in heaven or on earth, and thereby set up an- other God in the room of himself, or in conjunction with himself, how are we to understand, consistently with the preceding de- clarations, our Lord's own words to his disciples, when he says, that divine omnipotence was given to, or vested in him ? Surely in no other possible way, than by considering the glorified Hu- manity of Jesus as the very form or body of the Divinity; whicli form or body, being intimately, wholly, and perfectly united with the divine essence as a soul within it, may therefore truly be said to have received all it's powers, attributes, and perfections, not from any source exteriir to itself, but from the pure Divinity within it's own bosom, which may also be considered as the soul of the Humanity. And as the soul of a man may be said to give to the body all it's powers, yet without implying that the^ireris a person or being distinct from the receiver ; so the pure Divini- ty, called the Father, may in like manner be said to have given to the Humanity, called the Son, the divine attribute of omnipo- tence, yet without in the least implying, that the giver and re- ceiver were different persons in this case, any more than in tlie former. The Unitarian, we know, will not admit of this kind of reason- ing, in reference to Jesus and the Father ; although he cannot deny it's application to the soul and body of man. And perhaps the Trinitarian will be ready, on this occasion, to concur with his old adversary the Unitarian, jointly to oppose the new doctrine, here advanced, of the sole, supreme, and exclusive divinity of our blessed Saviour. But can either of them offer a more consistent explanation ? one that shall accord with the indivisibility or unity of the Supreme Being, and at the same time with the de- claration of Jesus, that all power was given unto him both in heaven and in earth .'' If they cannot, let ailence rest upon their tongues, till he, who can alone give an understanding to discern, and a mouth to confess his dorv. shall in mercv reveal himself 152 A SEAL UPON THE LIPS OF to them, and open his Word in their hearts. At present they do not acknowledge the Divinity of his Humanity, but regard him as they would another man : and this, notwithstanding the many declarations and proofs to be found in the Sacred Scriptures, that he was actually possessed of such powers and perfections, as no other man ever did, or by any possibility ever can, possess ; of powers sufficient to save a sinking world ; and of perfections ■worthy to engage tlie admiration and the love, not of an age or a nation only, but of an universe, of men and angels in all succeed- ing periods of their existence. In a former part of this volume, under article 19, we had occa- sion to explain a passage similar to that, which we have just been considering. In Matt. xi. 27, Jesus says, " Ml things are deli- " vered unto me of my Father:'''' and in Matt, xxviii. 18, " Ml " power is given unto me in heaven a.-.d in earth.^^ In each place the same doctrine is inculcated, as it is also in the following : *' The Father loveth the Son, and hath given all things into his " hand,^' John iii. 35. Jesus saith, " All things that the Father <' hath, are mine," John xvi. 15. And again, " Tliou hast given " him (the Son) power over all flesh " John xvii. 2. " For as the '' Father hath life in himself, so hath he given to the So7i to have ••' life in himself" John v. 26. The same rule of interpretation, which applies to one passage, equally applies to all the rest : and nothing can be plainer and more satisfactory, than the conclusion, which we now draw from their concurrent testimony, viz. That Jesus, as the Son, the Divine Form, or the Divine Humanity, possesses in himself all the characters, powers, and perfections of the ever-living Father, that is, of the Divine Essence, ©r the pure Divinity ; and consequently that, as the invisible soul and tlie visible body constitute one man, so the invisible Father and the visible Son, or the Essential Divinity and the Divine Huma- nity, united in the person of our ever-blessed and ever-adorable Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, constitute the One Supreme, Eternal, and Omnipotent God. UNITARIxVNS, TRINITAHIANS, &c. 153 [48.] Matt, xxviii, 19, 20. " Go ye therefore and teacli all *• nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the " Sun, and of the Jfoly Spirit; teaching them to observe all ''• things whatsoever / have commanded you: and lo, I am with '^ you alway even unto the end of the world,'^ or rather, in agree- ment with the original, " until the consummation of the age.'- These last words of our Lord to his disciples, after his resur- rection, and just previous to his ascension into heaven, contain, as miglit well be expected from the lips of him, who is Wisdom itself, the very essence of Christianity, so far as respects faith in it's Founder, as the alone God of the church, obedience to his will, and a vital acknowledgment of his divine omnipresence. Were there no other passage in the Scriptures of truth, from which we might deduce tlie doctrine of a divine trinity, this would amply suffice : for nothing can be more self-evident, than that distinct mention is made of three, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit ; which trine having reference to the authority, under which the apostles and their successors in all ages of the church were appointed to teach and baptize, and such authority being no less than a divine authority, it follows, that the trinity here held up to view is at the same time also a divine trinity. But how is this trinity to be understood ? Is it a trinity of persons, as distinct from each other, as the names are distinct ? Why then was it not so expressed at least once in the whole course of the volume of revelation ? No ; the idea, the term was inadmissible, on account of it's too strong tendency to generate in the human mind the picture of a Trinity of Gods. Instead then of a trinity of persons, which must ever be identified with a trinity of Gods, it could be no other than a trinity of essentials in one person, and that indeed Ids own person, to which Jesus refer- red, when he said, " Go, and teach all nations, baptizing them in " the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spi- •• rit; teaching them to observe all things whatsoever J have com- •' manded you; and lo ! I am with yon alway, even unto the con- " summation of the age." But, independent of these considera- tions, the very passage plainly resolves itself into unity of person^ U 154 A SEAL UPON THE LIPS OF and points at the Saviour alone as the great Legislator, whose laws are to be observed, and whose presence was to be continued in the Christian church, not indeed for ever, but only nntil the consummation of the age, that is, 2intii the end of the church, when he would no longer be acknowledj^ed by Christians, improperly so called, and consequently when he would depart from them, to take i>p his final and everlasting abode with those who should constitute his new and true Christian church, by setting up Ilim alone as the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and thus as the all of Deity in one visible and glorified person. When our Lord charges his disciples to teach mankind to ob- serve all things, which he had given in commandment to them, he evidently declares himself to be their Legislator: and in othei- places he is represented as their Judge, their King, and their Sa- viour. Yet all these characters are expressly those of the great Jehovah himself, v»ho is thus described by the prophet: " Je- " HOVAH is our Judge, Jehovah is our Laiv-giver, Jehovah is <' our J^'ing, he will save ms," Tsa. xxxiii. 22. Is it possible seri- ously to believe, that Jesus would assume to himself, so repeat- edly as he has done in the New Testament, titles, characters, and prerogatives, which can only belong to the Supreme God, and yet himself be a mere man, a creature of yesterday, account- able to that very God, whom he so presumptuously robs of his di- vine sovereignty ? The consequences of adopting such a prepos- terous faith certainly cannot be foreseen by those, who suffer themselves to be misled by the mere appearances of truth in the literal sense of the Word ; or, as men of sound understanding, they would instantly reject it. But we know, that a complete change of religious sentiment is not to be expected in any indivi- dual, without long and deliberate investigation : and if a state of doubt or suspense, the first effect of the sincere love of truth with him who is still in error, can by any means be induced on his Toind, great hopes may be entertained, that further light will gra- dually lead him on to full conviction, especially if in his progress he directs a prayer for illumination to him, who is the God of the Word, who is also tlie Word itself made flesh, and the true light. tJNITAPJANS, TRINITARTANS, &c. 155 ■tvliich Ughteth every man that cometh into the world, John i. 1, 4, 9, 14. Unitarians and Trinitarians are both ready enough to admit, that the apostles and immediate disciples of Jesus knew their Master's will and doctrine better than their successors in remote ages. Upon their own admission then it is plain, that the prac- tice of the disciples, in baptizing in the name of Jesus only, as recorded in the Acts of the Apostles, is something more than presumptive evidence, that they considered the entire Divinity to be lodged in his person : for when he directed them to baptize in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, they immediately went and baptized in his name only ^ never dreaming that they were called upon to make any such distinc- tion into persons, as was afterwards invented, but simply to di- rect their thoughts, their hearts, and their worship, to the single person of Jesus alone. The example, therefore, of the primitive disciples, compared with t'le passage before us, makes equally against both Unitarians and Trinitarians; against the former in their refusing to ascribe any portion of divinity to Jesus, al- though it is manifest that he claimed it to himself, when he as- serted his om.nipresence in the church ; and against the latter iu their setting up two ot!»er imaginary persons in competition with Jesus, when yet it is equally evident, that the attribute of omni- presence cannot by any possibility be divided among three, or in any respect whatever become the joint property of more than one* He, who is possessed of any one of the divine attributes, must in the nature of things be possessed of them all in the same mo- ment: for such is the intimate and eternal union of all the per- fections of Deity, that, though in idea we may contemplate them severally and distinctly, yet they can never be ac<«aZ/«/ separated the one from the other. This truth of necessity results from the nature of infiniti/. Each of the divine attributes may be regard- ed as entering mutually and reciprocally into the other; and all together are so arranged and identified as one in essence, and ©ne in form, that wheresoever in the Sacred Scriptures we meet with anyone of the names of Deity, or read of any one of tfe« 136 A SEAL UPON THE LIPS OF ..divine qualities, there must the whole Gvd, by virtue of his in- finite unity, be considered as completely present, though, in mer- ciful accommodation to human weakness, his characters, qualities, and perfections, are distinctly and separately presented to our view. From these premises, then, we may justly and truly infer, that, as in the New Testament some one or more of tlie divine attri- butes is repeatedly and expressly ascribed to Jesus, and not un- frequently all of them united together, so in each case we are equally authorized to regard liim as the One Supreme God, with whom we dare not associate any other, and besides whom there cannot possibly exist any other. For simple Divinity is the same thing as sole, supreme, and ea'cliisive Divinity; and to whomso- ever the former attaches in any degree whatever, with the same must abide the latter ; since Deity and fulness of Deity must ever be regarded as terms of equal or synonymous import. Having already published a small pamphlet, entitled, Reflec- tions on the Unitarian and Trinitarian Doctrines, pointing out the Errors of both, &c. wherein the passage of Matthew's Gos- pel now under consideration is particularly discussed, we may perhaps be allowed to give the following extract from it, p. 19, 20, &c. " A more sublime truth never e*^- tiiem, stand weeping at the sepulchre, and in the bitterness and anguisli of their hearts ex- claim, " They have taken away my Lord, and I know not where " they have laid himP^ John xx. 13. Deplorable indeed must be the state of the Christian church, if this be a genuine picture of their faith respecting the Humanity of the Lord. It is true, the Trinitarian acknowledges a portion of Divinity in some way or other belonging to Jesus ; but this he carefully separates from his Humanity, placing the former not within but out of and above the latter. Scarcely can we call this preferable to the Unitarian system 5 for while the one with a bold front totally denies the Divinity of our Lord, the otlier pro- fesses to acknowledge it, and yet at the same moment separates, divides, and thus fritters it away into nothing, or at least into any thing but a character and perfection of self-existent Deity : which is so much like the conduct of Judas in betraying the Son of Man ivith a kiss, that we cannot help perceiving and lament- ing the analogy. Where then is the God of the church to be found, if on the one hand he be divided or multiplied, each term in this case amounting to the same thing ; and if on tlie other hand he be de- graded to the rank of a mere man, and then by both parties re- moved to an immeasurable distance from the rest of mankind, where he must be supposed to be either sitting, standing, flying, or floating, in the trackless regions of infinite space ? ResurreC' tion and ascension must, under such a vieir, be a double death ; and instead of proving a triumph over i,he powers of darkness, or a comfort and blessing to the church on earth, it is rather calculated to excite horror and dismay, and to chill us with tiie apprehension of a similar fate ! But enough ! let us turn our eyes from such gloomy, dreary, terrific seines ; from such chimerical doctrines, which can give UNITARIANS, TRINITARIANS, &c. 159 . birtli to no other forms, than those of phantasy and mere illusion. Let us, with the Word of truth in our hands, and the love of it in our hearts, look only to it's Divine Author, who has promised to enlighten our understanding, if we will but obey his will. Let us listen to the voice of him, of whom Moses, David, and all the prophets, so uniformly and so distinctly speak ; of him, who came into the world to convert prophecy into fact, that is, to realize in his own person every prediction, that had for it's ob- ject either the assumption or the glorification of Humanity by the great Jehovah himself, including every other act necessary to the accomplishment of the redemption and salvation of mankind. His words, which are both spirit and life, are of themselves suf- ficient to settle for ever the question concerning his sole, supreme, and exclusive Divinity; and thus to seal up in everlasting silence the lips of all those, who either deny him, betray him, or refuse to acknowledge him as their God and Lord ; their Creator, Re- deemer, and Saviour ; their Parent and Benefactor, whose mer- cies are without limitation, and who from those bowels of com- passion, which truly characterize a Divine Humanity, and a Hu- man Divinity, regards with infinite and unceasing tenderness every intelligent creature, the offspring of his everlasting and un- changeable love. MARK. [PRELIMINARY.] HAVING now collected from the Gospel by Matthew some of the most striking passages in proof of the doctrine incul- cated in this volume ; and having endeavoured to place them in their true and genuine light, with a view to check as well the Trinitarian system, as the still more dangerous errors of Unita- rianism ; Ave might here have concluded our work, under a full 160 A SEAL UPON THE LIPS OF conviction, that tlie great object. Avliich we first liad in \*ievv, has been completely obtained, and that an eft'ectual Seal has been already placed upon the lips of all those, who refuse to ac- knowledge the sole, supreme, and exclusive divinity of our Lord and Saviour Jesvs Christ. But that nothing may be wanting to render the silence thus imposed upon them both solemn and permanent, we shall confirm the doctrine of Matthew by adding to it that of the three other evangelical witnesses, Mark, Luke, and John, together with the closing evidence of the Apocalypse by the last named apostle, whose united testimony cannot fail to command the respect even of adversaries, while it stamps our Seal with the indelible impression of divine authority. That we may not, however, on our part, trespass too much on the patience and candour of the reader, who has accompanied us thus far, we shall in the succeeding pages adopt a more concise method, than that already observed, but which, we trust, will be found equally effectual in demonstrating what we have so much at heart, because it contains so much of eternal truth, the absolute divinity of Jesus our Lord. We shall, therefore, out of the great abundance of testimonies of this description lying before us, bring forward only those, not hitherto noticed, or but slightly touched upon, which we conceive most plainly and ma- nifestly to exhibit him in a character infinitely surpassing that of every other man, and which for the most part shall be accompa- nied with only a short reflection or observation on each, in order that the attention may be fixed, and at the same time our de- votion excited towards him, who alone is entitled to such re- turn for all his mercies. And while we thus close the lips of his avowed, as well as of his concealed enemies, may other mouths be opened, other tongues unloosed, and other hearts in- spired, to join in that new angelic song of praise and celebration, which is now spreading in the earth, and which henceforth can never cease to ascend to him who sits upon the throne of heaven, and to the Lamb, that is, to the One Only Loud God Almighty in his divinelv-human form. UNITARIANS, TRINITARIANS, &c. 161 [49.] MARK i. 23, 24. " There was in the synagogue a " man with an unclean spirit, and he cried out, saying, Let us ^' alone, what have we to do with thee, thou Jesus of Nazareth r "•' art thou come to destroy us ? I know thee who thou art, the •>< IIoli/ One of God.-^ The unclean spirit, who was a devil or demon, knew the cha- racter of Jesus, and evidently dreaded his poiver as a Being of superior order to himself, acknowledging him to be the Hohj One of God. And yet it is written of the Lord God Mmighiy, Apoc. XV. 4, " Who shall not fear thee, Lord, and glorify thy name ? " for tho7i only art holy.^^ The inference is too plain to need pointing out. If men knew not the real character of Jesus, it is plain the devils did ; and knowing it, they could not refrain from proclaiming it, though in ver. 25, and in chap. iii. 12, he com- manded them to " hold their peace ;" and " straitly charged *' them, that they should not make him known." For if he " re- *' ceive not testimony from man,^^ John v. 34, still less does he require it from the mouth of a devil. [50.] Mark vii. 37". " The people were beyond measure asto- *' nished, saying, He hath done all things well.^^ Of no mere man can such testimony be given : " for in many '• things we offetid all,''^ James iii. 2. The prophet says, " The " heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked,^' Jer. xvii. 9. And we know, that a corrupt tree cannot bring forth good fruit. " Jehovah looked down from heaven upon the " children of men, to see if tliere were any that did understand, '• and seek God. They are all gone aside, they are all together •' become filthy: there is none that doth good, no not one," Ps. xiv. 2, 3. " There is none righteous, no not one,^^ Rom. iii. 10. Of Jesus, however, it is written, that " no unrighteousness is in " him,^'' John vii. 18. And in another place he further says, <' Which of you convinceth (or rather covvicteth) me of sin?''' X 16:2 A SEAL UPON THE LIPS OF John viii. 4G ; evidently claiming to be exempt from the guilt of evil, and consequently, as there is none good but one, which is God, to be himself that One God. \_51.'] Mark xiv. I'ii to 16. '• And the first day of unleavened '' bread, when they killed the passover, his disciples said unto '• him. Where wilt thou that we go and prepare, that thou mayest '• eat the passover ? And he sendeth forth two of his disciples, '• and saith unto them. Go ye into the city, and there shall meet '• you a man bearing a pitcher of water : follow him. And where- " soever he shall go in, say ye to the good-man of the house. The " Master saith, AVhere is the guest-chamber, where I shall eat " the passover with my disciples i And he will shew you a large " upper room furnished and prepared : there make ready for us. <' And his disciples went forth, and came into the city, and ^^ found as he had said unto them^ See also Luke xxii. 8 to 13. On this occasion we find the character of Jesus distinguished by a knowledge most clearly super-human and super-natural: for he not only foretels what are usually called contingencies, but also minutely describes them as to their circumstances ; in all of which his disciples found him to be strictly correct. A similar demonstration of super-natural knowledge Jesus also gave, in the case of Nathanael, whom he saw " while under the " fig-tree," and whose character he described, when yet at a dis- tance, as " an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile," John i. 47, 48. The same superior knowledge he discovered, when he or- dered his disciples to bring him an ass, with her colt, which he said tliey would find in a particular place, and under particular circumstances, as related in Matt. xxi. 1 to 5, and in two of the other Evangelists : As he did also in the case of the woman of Samaria, whom he told, that " she had had five husbands; and ^ that the man, with whom she then cohabited, was not her hus- '• band," John iv. 18. Not to mention a variety of other cases, in all of which he displayed a knowledge, that falls not within UNITARIANS, TRINITARIANS, &c. 163 liie compass of mere human sagacity, l)ut which with him alone multiplied and increased, in the exact proportion in which he glorified his human essence, or in other words, made it divine. How different is this from the case of the prophets of old, who indeed predicted future events, yet not from themselves, or by any wisdom of their oicn, but solely from the Word 0/ Jehovah, which came unto them! Elisha could foretel, that "the Shu- " nammite woman would bear a son at the appointed season," 2 Kings iv. 16, 17: but when the same child died, and the mo- ther waited upon the prophet in her distress, he still knew no- thing of the event ; for he declares in ver. 27, " Jehovah hath " hid it from me, and hath not told ?ue." Never did any one of the prophets speak from a self-derived autliority, or from a source of prescience and unerring wisdom within himself, and proper to himself, as it is plain from the whole history of Jesus that he did. [52.] Mark xiv. 18. " As they sat and did eat, Jesus said, " Verily I say unto you, One of you, which eateth with me, " shall betray me." See also Matt. xxvi. 21. Luke xxii. 21. John xiii. 21. This prediction was afterwards fully verified in the person of Judas Iscariot. Moral events are certainly governed and regu- lated by different laws from those, which bring about physical events : and as the former are more interior in their nature, and likewise more intricate and remote from the perception of man in their descent from cause to effect, the perfect knowledge of them, which Jesus evinced, argues a wisdom high above human capacity, and leads us at once to the idea of his divine pre- science. 164 A SEAL UPON THE LIPS OF \^5S.^ Mark xiv. 27 to 31. " Jesus saith unto them, Ml ye " shall be offended because of me this night: for it is written, i " will smite the Shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered. But <' after that 1 am risen, I will go before you into Galilee. But " Peter said unto him, Although all shall be offended, yet will " not I. And Jesus saith unto him. Verily I say unto thee, that « this day, even in this night before the cock crow twice, ihoii " shalt deny me thrice. But he spake the more vehemently, If I " should die with thee, I icill not deny thee in any tvise. Like- *' wise also said they all.^^ See also Matt. xxvi. 31 to 35. Luke xxii. 31 to 34. John xviii. IT, 25, 27. The same observation, which was made above, will equally ap- ply to the present passage. The smiting of the Shepherd, and the scattering of the sheep, but especially Peter's denial of his Master three times in one night before the cock crew twice, notwithstand- ing the natural resoluteness of his character, and his being dis- tinctly forewarned of the trial, which would deprive him of his courage, all bear testimony again, as incontrovertible facts, which afterwards literally took place, in proof of our Saviour's being possessed of a knowledge surpassing the lot of wiere humanity. [54.] Mark xvi. 17, 18. Jesus said to his disciples, " These " signs shall follow them that believe : In my name shall they " cast out rfet" i/«, they shall speak with new tongues, they shall « take up serpents^ and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall " not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall ^' recoucr." To do all this in the name, that is, hy the sole authority and power of Jesus, without reference to any superior being, most clearly involves divinity on the part of Jesus himself, who gives such power; and on the part of his di&ciples, an unshaken faith in him, as the One Omnipotent Gocjl of heaven and earth. UNITARIANS, TRINITARIANS, &c. 165 LUKE. [PRELIMINARY.] IT has been asserted by some of the most distinguished wri- ters in favour of Unitarianism, particularly the late Dr. Priestley, that " the Gospel of Luke abounds with the most manifest im- " probabilities:^^ and hence they would recommend extreme cau- tion in listening to the testimony of this Evangelist, lest — for- sooth — the absolute Divinity of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ should be established to the conviction and satisfaction of the unprejudiced reader. But we believe, and rejoice in the reflection, that such a divine authority has been preserved entire and uncorrupted in the church. Without hesitation, therefore, without suspicion of error in this or in any other of the Gospels, but in the fullest confidence arising from a perception of it's con- tents, we draw from this well the same water of life, the same doctrine of eternal truth, as we do from the other wells of sal- vation, that lie equally open and uncovered in the Sacred Scrip- tures. [55.2 LUKE i. 17. « And he [Jehn the Baptist] shall go be- ^^fore the Lord in the spirit and power of Elias, to turn the " hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the *' wisdom of the just, to make ready a people prepared for the " Lord." This prophecy of the angel Gabriel, in reference to John the Baptist, the forerunner of Jesus, is nearly a repetition of that of the prophet Malachi, chap. iv. 5, 6, concerning Elijah, 166 A SEAL UPON THE LIPS OF whose appearance was to take place before the coming of the great and dreadful day of Jehovah. And as John the Baptist, who prepared the way of Jesus, (John i. 15, 30, 31 ; chap, iii, 28.) was expressly declared by our Lord himself to be the per- son understood by the prophet Elijah, who was to prepare the way of Jehovah, it most evidently follows, as one of the plain- est and grandest truths of divine revelation, that Jesus was no other than the great Jehovah in the human form. [56.] Luke i. 41. " And it came to pass, that when Elizabeth " heard the salutation of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb : and " Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Sjnrit.^^ The Holy Spirit istheholy influence proceeding from Jehovah when in the Humanity : and as the Humanity was now already assumed, it is therefore said in reference to that, and also to it's future glorification, that Elizabeth, on hearing the voice of Mary, was filled with the Holy Spirit. It is however written in John Tii. 39, that " the Holy Spirit was not yet, because that Jesus *• was not yet glorified :" which passage, compared with the for- mer, and some others in the Gospels, furnishes a proof, that the influence proceeding from Jehovah, which before the incarna- tion was called simply the Spirit, or the Spirit of Jehovah, was at and after the incarnation called the Holy Spirit ; though, strictly speaking, this latter name more properly belongs to the spirit or influence immediately proceeding from the glorified or Divine Humanity of Jesus Christ. Hence it is, that he pro- mised his disciples, that he would send them the Comforter, the Spirit of truth, after his departure from tliem, that is, after his return to the Father, and full union with him, whicli is the same thing as his full glorification. This promise he also fulfilled, when after his resurrection " he breathed on his disciples, and " said, Receive ye the Holy Spirit,^^ John xx. 22. From these premises, tlien, it follows, that, as the Holy Spirit is the holy influence proceeding from Jehovah in the Humanity, Unitarians, Trinitarians, &c. ler ami as this influence proceeds directly out of the glorified per- son of Jesus, beyond all further controversy he must be God, and God alone. [57.] Luke ii. 11. " Unto you is born this dnii^ in the city of " David, a Saviouv., which is Christ the Loud." Are there in the cliurch, or can there be in heaven, any more Saviours than one? Let the highest authority in the universe give the answer. " J, even 7, am Jehovah, and beside me there is no " Saviour,'^ Isa. xliii. 11. But did it ever enter in(o the head or the heart of man to conceive, tliat the great Jehovah, who in- habits eternity, sliould or could in any possible respect be born as a Man in the world, and make his first appearance in the city of David, in Bethlehem, a mere village of Judea ? Hear the lan- guage of prophecy: "But thou, Bethlehem-Ephratah, though " thou be little among the thousands of Judah, y(ti out of thee " shall he come forth unto me, that is to be Ruler in Israel^ " whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting,''^ Micah v. 2. " Unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given, " and the government shall be upon his shoulder : and his name " shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, the Mig-hty God, the " Everlasting Father, the Prince of peace," Isa. ix. 6. Listen, ye Trinitarians and Unitarians, to this voice out of heaven, while it is still sounding in your ears, unless tkey are sealed, as well as your lips ; and no longer dream of any Son born from eternity, mucli less of any mortal man, ^ov finite ivorm^ undertaking the work of redemption and salvation ; but for once Learn, that the Lvfinite and the Eternal Himself came down upon earth, and, hiding his glories, for a time sustained the ciia- racter of a Man ; and because there was no other help, no other power to save, that tiierefore, out of pure love and mercy to hi-s fallen creatures, he himself became their Saviour and Redeemer; tlvereby proving himself still to be, what from eternity he ever im A SEAL UPON THE LIPS OF had been, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of peace. [58.] Luke ii. 42 to 50. " When he was tivelve years old, thej " went up to Jerusalem, after the custom of the feast. And when " they had fulfilled the days, as the}^ returned, the child Jesus " tarried behind in Jerusalem ; and Joseph and his mother knew " not of it. But they supposing him to have been in the compa- " ny, went a day's journey ; and they sought him among their " kinsfolk and acquaintance. And when they found liim not.* " they turned back again to Jerusalem, seeking him. And it " came to pass, that after three days they found him in the tem- ^^ple, sitting in the midst of the doctors, both hearing them, and " asking them questions. And all that heard him icere astonished <' at his understanding and ansivers. And when they sanv him, " they were amazed : and his mother said unto him, vSon, why " hast thou thus dealt with us .'' behold, thy father and I have " sought thee sorrowing. And he said unto them. How is it that " ye sought me ? wist ye not that I must be about my Father's '• business? And they understood not the saying, which he spake " unto them." Let it be ever remembered, that the Father Jehovah is the purely divine essence, which was within the child Jesus from his first conception, as an interior soul within it's body. But this divine essence could not, according to order, be manifestly and fully received by the human form, until external knowledges had been acquired by learning and experience, as vessels to contain and exhibit the divine wisdom flowing from it's proper source : in like manner as in every man, the facjdties, wliich are innate and connate with the soul, cannot fully and adequately descend into it's organized form the body, until by instruction, learning, and science, this latter is prepared for the perfect exercise and mani- festation of mere human intelligence. UNITARIANS, TRINITARIANS, &c. 169 In the case of the Lord, as he was pleased to be bom like another man, (yet of necessity retaining this most essential dif- ference, that his inmost principle was the pure Divinity, life it- self, while with every other man his inmost principle is only a form receptive of life from God, J he gradually acquired, or re- ceived into his Humanity, from his own essential Divinity within him, those qualities, attributes, and perfections, which character' ized him in the first place as the Child Jesus, the Son of the Highest, and the Son of God ; but at length, when all the divine perfections were fully incorporated^ (as Paul well expresses it,) or united with his Humanity, that is, agreeably to our Lord's own words, when " all things belonging to the Father were /its," John xvi. 15, or wlien " all poicer was given unto him in heaven " andin earth,^^ Matt, xxviii. 18, then — then he became even as to his Humanity, what from all eternity he had been as to his Divinity, the Supreme and Mighty God, the Everlasting Father of angels and men. Keeping now in mind the great process here imperfectly de- scribed, by which every man in his degree becomes both rational and spiritual ; and remembering that the Lord glorified his Hu- manity, or united it with the pure Divinity within him, in a way similar to, but infinitely surpassing, that in which man is regene- rated, or new-modelled in all the interior and exterior principles of his life ; where is the difficulty in perceiving the true ground and reason why Jesus at one time, or in one state, is called the Son, and at another time, or in another state, is acknowledged as the Father himself? why also it is said, ver. 52, that he grew in wisdom, as he grew in stature P and finally why, after passing through all the stages of the reception of life, he is at length de- clared to be the very life itself, and consequently wholly, com- pletely, and exclusively, God alone ? And here, once for all, let an answer be put in to that Unita- rian objection against tlie divinity of Jesus, which is so trium- phantly drawn from the Gospel of Mark, chap. xiii. 32 : " But of " that day and that hour" (speaking of the consummation of the age, the last judgment, and the commencement of a new church in the room of the former,) " knoweth no man, no not the angels y 170 A SEAL UPON THE LIPS OF « which are in heaven, neither the Son, but tlie Father." We have already seen how, wlij, and in what respect, it is said, that Jesus is the Father, as well as the Son. If we are correct in the view, which we have taken of the different characters sustained by him while in the world, and after he had left it, no impeach- ment whatever can be laid against his supreme and exclusive Divinity on the ground of his being called in one capacity the Son, to whom some things were unknoivn, Avliile he is proved te be in 9.nother capacity the very same personage who is also de- nominated the Father, to whom all things are most intimately and perfectly known. Until Ids Humanity was fully united with .. his Divinity, which great work was only in progression with him from infancy to the last period of his life in the world, many things might be concealed from the former, which yet lay open to the view of the latter : and indeed this is evident from the circumstance of his increasing in wisdom, while he grew in sta- ture : which plainly enough shews, that he was not as yet, while an Infant, a Child, and a Son, externally, or as to his Humanity, possessed of all those divine properties, which afterwards cha- racterized him as the Supreme God, tiie Father of heaven. No one ever pretended to say, that as a Child he was the Fa- ther, or that as a recipient he was the very fountain of life it- self ; because this would be nothing less than a contradiction in terms. But this is the language, the sentiment, the doctrine of eternal truth, That he, who appeared on earth as a Child, a Son, a Man, and was so called, because surrounded with the infirmi- ties of mere humanity, was nevertheless, considered as to his in- terior life, or the divine essence within him, the Father himself: and further, That as to his divine human form now united with his divine essence, and by glorification perfectly free from every character and quality of the mere finite humanity, he is truly and properly the One Ever-living Jehovah, besides whom there is no Father, no God, either in heaven above, or on the earth below. Nothing is more common in the Evangelical Word, than for Jesus, as the Son, to pray to the Father to aid and assist him with his divine love, his divine wisdom, and his divine power ; vind this in such a strain of humility, as evidently to denote his UNITARIANS, TRINITARIANS, &c. 171 inferiority at the time of so praying. It is in reference to this his state of humiliation, that he says, " The Father is greater " than /," John xiv. 28. But when he rises from this state of humiliation into his state of g-Zori^cofion, which is the same thing as his union or identification with the Father, he then uses a dif- ferent language, and speaks in terms like the following : " I and '» the Father are One,'''' John x. SO. " lie that hath seen me, hath " seen the Father,'''' John xiv. 9. " All things that the Father " hath, are mine, John xvi. 15. " Jill power is given unto me in " heaven and in e-arth,^' Matt, xxviii. 18. Here most evidently an imperfect state precedes that which ia perfect ; and the existence of the one does not preclude the pos- sibility, or even the future actuality of the other. Why then should the solitary passage in Mark, which ascribes inferiority to the Son, and superiority to the Father, in regard to the perfec- tion of knowledge, be considered as any greater proof of the want of divinity in Jesus, than the many other passages in the Gospels, which in like manner treat of his state of humiliation, while in the infirm humanity, previous to his entering into that full state of glorification, which identifies him as one with the Father in every possible respect.^ The answer to any one of such objec- tions is an answer to them all : and indeed the particular objec- tion, which we are now combating, and which with many others was started by the late Dr. Priestley upwards of twenty years ago, received at that time so ample a discussion, and in the opi- nion of many so satisfactory an answer, that our present observa- tions might perhaps have been well spared. However, as they are now given, and may possibly be of service to some, who have never seen or heard of the Author's Letters to l)r. Priestley, in Defence of the JYew Jerusalem, and in Proof of the exclusive Di- vinity o/ Jesus Christ, let them remain, and be digested by the reader, together with another explanatory remark or two on the subject, as follows. The Lord is distinguished in the Gospels by various names : among others he is sometimes called the Son of God, sometimes the Son of Man, and at other times simply the Son, which latter expression may be referred to either of the two former, according 172 A SEAL UPON THE LIPS OF to the nature of the subject treated of. In general, by the Son of God is meant tlie Lord as to his divine person ; but by the Son of Man, the Lord as to the Word, or as to the divine truth con- tained in the Word. And further, by the Son of Man before glo- rification is denoted the Word in it's literal sense, or such as -vve have it on eartli ; but by the Son of Man icJien glorified, tlie Word in it's spiritual sense, or such as angels have it in heaven. Now when it is said, in reference to the last judgment, &c. that " of that day and hour knoweth no man, no not the angels wliicli " are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father," we are in- structed by the Lord, that the precise state of the church, what it would be at it's end or entire consummation, is neither revealed to men, nor to angels, because it is not particularly described in the Word either in it's literal or in it's spiritual sense. For what is not contained or not described in the Word, and thus as it were not present with the Word, may properly be said not to be known by the Word, or by the Son, who (as Ave have already seen) is the divine truth of the Word : in like manner as the workers of iniquity, and the foolish virgins, who were not spiriiually present with the Lord, that is, not in conjunction with him, are said not to be known by the Lord, Matt. vii. ^23 ; chap. xxv. 12: or again, in like manner as it is written even of the Omxiscient Jehovah himself, that the wickedness of the Israelites was so great, that he had no previous idea of it's ever coming to such a pitch, as he afterwards found it did. For, says he, " They build the high " places of Baal, which are in the valley of the son of Hinnom, " to cause their sons and their daughters to pass through the " fire unto Molech, which I commanded them not, neither came " it into my mind, that they should do this abomination to cause " Judah to sin,^^ Jer. xxxii. 35. And yet every event, every state of good or evil, and every individual, whether in or out of the church, must be perfectly known by him, who is no less than the God of the Word, of the church, and of the universe, that is, the Omniscient, as well as the Omnipotent Father of all. Moreover it is to be o1)served, that, as by the So7i is meant the divine truth proceeding from the Lord, which is the same thing as the divine truth accommodated to the apprehension of the crea- UNITARIANS, TRINITARIANS, &c. 173 iure ; and as it is impossible that any finite being can acquire a iiistinct and perfect knowledge of all the interior states of life ap- pertaining to so many millions and millions of souls, as constitute the vast assemblage of those who were to be judged either to hea- ven or to hell, therefore, to point out this inherent incapacity, both in men and in angels, to search and try the human heart, and thus to sit in judgment upon mankind, it is written, that not even the Son himself is acquainted with the day and the hour of that great event, but the Father only : by wi,iich is signified, that such knowledge and wisdom cannot form any part of that divine truth which is communicated or accommodated to the creature, and con- sequently no part of that divine truth which is said to proceed frmn the Lord, and which on that account is called the Son : For by each of these expressions, whether it be the Son, or the divine truth proceeding from the Lord, or the divine truth communica- ted and accommodated to the creature, still, as before stated, one and the same thing is understood. And thus we find, after due investigation of the subject, tliat the passage in question makes nothing in favour either of the Unitarian or the Trinitarian doc- trine, but on the contrary exalts him, who is qualified to be the Judge both of the living and of the dead, infinitely above all that can possibly be apprehended by finite minds, because it makes him in his highest capacity to be the Omniscient Father him- self. To return, after this long digression, to Jesus in the temple, where we left him " sitting in the midst of the doctors, both hear- " ing tliem, and asking questions :" it is evident, that tliough he acquired knowledge and understanding in the usual way, he yet advanced more rapidly and perfectly than other men ; for at twelve years of age he gave such proofs of superior wisdom, as to astonish all who heard him. And it seems he was then em- ployed in the great work of redemption, which he terms his Fa- ther'^s business, because the divine love within him (signified by the Father) prompted him both to undertake and to accomplish it. That it was not Joseph, wliom he meant by his Father, must be plain to every reader : for hearing th& doctors, asking them questions, and giving them .-mswers, had no reference whatever 174 A SEAL UPON THE LIPS OF to the manual employment oi \\\?> reputed father , but solely to that divine business, for which he came into the world. It is true, that Mary his mother, on expostulating with him for absenting himself from her and the rest of the company without their knowledge, uses the following words : " Son, why hast thou " thus dealt with us ? Behold, thy father (meaning Joseph) and " I have sought thee sorrowing." Now, althougli the two first chapters of Luke are rejected by the Socinian Unitarians, as too miraculous to be true, yet, as the present passage has an appear- ance of favouring their sentiments, they do not hesitate to cite it as a proof, that Joseph, the reputed father of Jesus, was at the same time his real father : not considering, that a reputed father ^ or a father-in-law^ and an actual father, are by the common con- sent and practice of mankind designated by the same general name of father. But for a moment let us listen to the argument arising out of the Unitarian doctrine : let us allow what it's ad- vocates contend for, and we shall presently see the consequences to which it leads. If Jesus were in reality the son of Joseph, or were it the in- tention of the Evangelists to represent him as such, then it is reasonable to think, that we might, without any violation of the truth, on every occasion where Jesus speaks of his Father, sub- stitute the name Joseph, as being perfectly equivalent thereto. We will not transcribe a single passage from the Word with this alteration, because the result would manifestly be a species of profanatiun, which we cannot consent to be guilty of. But we may be permitted to say, that, if the reader be disposed to try the doctrine by this test, on any one or more of the subjoined chapters, it will instantly appear, from the absurdities and even insanities so generated, that nothing can be possibly conceived of more distant from the truth of divine revelation, than the Unita- rian doctrine of the mere natural descent of our blessed Lord. The chapters alluded to are the following: John v. 19, 21, 22, 23, 26, 43 : — chap. vi. 32, 65 : — chap, yiii- 19 : — chap, x. 15, IT, 18, 27, 29 to oo :— chap. xiv. 2, 6 to 12, 21, 23, 28 :--chap. xv. 1, 8, 26 : — chap. xvi. 25, 28 :■— chap. xvii. 1 to 5, UNITARIANS, TRINITARIANS, &c. 175 Judging, that the value and beauty of truth might be heighten- ed by a contrasted view of the absurdity and deformity of it's op- posite error, we have ventured to suggest to the reader the pre- ceding method of applying the Unitarian faith to the divine lan- guage of revelation ; but feel happy in the reflection, that it is scarcely possible, in the present case, even for a child to be se- duced by it. On the other hand, if to the same passages we ap- ply the true Christian faith, as maintained in this volume, and instead of the term Father substitute in our minds the term Di- vinity or Divine Essence, or any other expression of similar im- port, and for Son read Humanity ; we shall then find, that, so far from being shocked, as in the former case, with any violence offered both to the sacred text, and to our common reason, we shall be edified, enlightened, and more and more confirmed in the truth of that celestial doctrine, which teaches the divine unity in the person of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. [59."] Luke v. 4 to 6. " Jesus said unto Simon, Launch out " into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught. And Si- •' mon answering said unto him. Master, we have toiled all the " night, and have taken nothing : nevertheless at thy word I will " let down the net. And when they had done this, they inclosed *' a great multitude ofjishes.^^ Though not expressed, it is evident, from the circumstances attending this draught of fishes, that Jesus knew within himself not only what was in the bosom of the deep out of the reach of every human eye, but also that success would attend this last ef- fort of the fishermen, who, after toiling in vain all the night, at his word again exerted themselves, and were rewarded with the com- pletion of their wishes. His omniscience and his providence were both exemplified on this occasion. 176 A SEAL UPON THE LIPS OF [60.] Luke vii. 11 to 15. " And it came to pass, that Jesus " went into the city called Nain ; and many of his disciples went " with him, and much people. Now wlien he came nigh to the "gate of the city, behold, there was a dead man carried out, the " only son of his mother, and she was a widow : and much peo- *' pie of the city was with her. And when the Lord saw her, he " had compassion on her, and said unto her. Weep not. And he " came and touched the bier, (and they that bare him stood still,) " and he said. Young man, / sat/ unto thee, Arise. And he that " was dead sat up, and began to speak : and he delivered him to " his mother." What greater proof of omnipotence can be required or given, than the raising of a dead man ? Yet tJiis proof Jesus gave on several occasions : and to shew that it was by his own power and authority, that the effect was produced, and not by that of any other being, ]\e thus addresses the dead : " Young man, I say un- " fo ?/i^p. Arise ;" plainly instructing us, that, as life proceeds from him, and is communicated by his voice, he must himself be the great fountain and sotirce of life ; which is again confirm- ed by his own words to Martha, " I am the resurrection, and the « lifey-^ John xi. 25. [61.] Luke viii. 38, 39. " The man, out of M'hom the devils ^< were departed, besought him that he might be with him : but "Jesus sent him away, saying, Return to thine own house ; and " shew how great things God haih done unto thee. And he went " his way, and published throughout tlie whole city how gi-eat "things Jesus had done unto him.^^ Did this man, out of whom the devils were departed, obey tho command of Jesus, or did he not .-^ He was ordered to show how great tilings God had done unto him; and lo I he immediately published how great things Jesus had donei This identification of Jesus with God may be still further confirmed by comparing UNITARIANS, TRINITARIANS, &c. \77 the present passage with it's collateral one in Mark, chap. v. 18, 19 ; where it is written, that Jesus ordered the man to " go home " to his friends, and tell them how great things the Lord (that " is, Jesus) had done for him." All the circumstances of this case are evidently calculated to honour and exalt the name, the character, and the person of Jesus. The Evangelist, with manifest approbation, relates, that the man ascribed to Jesus, what could only be effected by God ; and thus he leads us to, and justifies lis in, the conclusion, that Jesus was and is the Omnipotent God, whom devils fear, and angels love. [62.] Luke viii. 49 to 5o. " While he yet spake, there cometh " one from the ruler of the synagogue's house, saying to him, " 'Ely daughter is dead ; trouble not the Master. But when Je- " sus heard it, he answered him, saying. Fear not ; believe only, " and she shall be made whole. And when he came into the house, *' he suffered no man to go in, save Peter, and James, and John, *' and the father and the mother of the maiden. And all wept, *' and bewailed her : but he said, Weep not ; she is not dead, but '^ sleepeth. And they laughed him to scorn, knowing that she " was dead. And he put them all out, and took her by the hand, " and called, saying. Maid, arise. And her spirit came agaiiif " and she arose straightway : and he commanded to give her " meat." Here is anotlier instance and proof of the omnipotence of Je- sus, in restoring, by his word and hand, a young maid to life, who, though said to be only asleep^ was, in the estimation of all her friends, completely dead. It is observed, that her spirit came again : but no mention is made of the place or state, to which it had departed, or from which it returned. This is a point not necessary to be discussed in the present work ; and therefore we shall here take no further notice of the question, than simply to state it, reserving the de- ■velopement of the particulars included in it for another work. Z 178 A SEAL UPON THE LIPS OF The question then concerning the state of those, who are pro- nounced to be dead, resolves itself into several, which are to the following purport : Where is the spirit, or soul, on the first, se- cond, and third day after death ? And wliere afterwards ? Is it for a certain time still within the body, having only retired a lit- tle inwards, and withdrawn itself from the ejL-tei'ior organization of the matter with which it was connected, yet being linked to it's interior organization by some invisible bonds, is capable of being recalled to it's external functions, as we see is sometimes the case by the application of human means ? Again, what is the state and situation of the spirit, or soul, when all human means are totally ineffectual to bring it back to it's former condition, that is, when the man may, witli still greater propriety than in the former case, be said to be dead ; and yet divine means, like the icord of Jesus, can arrest it in it's passage to another life, and replace it in full possession of it's old tenement ? But the great question still re- mains : When the spirit or soul has entirely quitted the body both externally and internally, and made it's entry into the spi- ritual world, and like another spirit has joined it's proper society, can it in such case be recalled from the interior life tlien begun, and again be immersed in the corruptions of matter ? Or, in other words, is it agreeable to the laws of divine order, that a spirit, once freed from the trammels and sliackles of the body, and once become afull inhabitant of the spiritual world, should again, un- der the name of restoration to life, be returned to his former state oi comparative death ? again be immured in the prison-house of a mortal body ? again, or a second tir.ic, be permitted to enter upon the day of probation, after having actually outlived the first, while the rest of mankind have only one such day allotted them ? These are some of the questions, which arise to a reflecting mind out of tlie cases recorded in the Word, of the restoration of the dead to life ; from the discussion and elucidation of which it will most plainly appear, that none but a divine hand, a divine power, a divine word, like that of Jesus, could possibly perform so great a miracle, as that of raising the duad. But, as before observed, this part of the subject not properly falling within the UNITARIANS, TRINITARIANS, &c. 179 design of the present work, we have barely stated the question, reserving the answer to it for another publication more expressly treating on tlie nature of resurrection in the body, as well as re- surrection /ro?n. the bod If. [GS.'] Luke ix. 38 to 43. " Behold, a man cried out to Jesus, " saying. Master, I beseech thee, look upon my son, for he is mine '^ only child. And lo, a spirit taketh him, and he suddenly crieth " out, and it tcareth him, that he foameth again, and bruising him, " hardly departeth from liim. And I besought thy disciples to cast " him out, and the?/ could not. And Jesus answering said, O " faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you, " and suffer you ^ Bring thy son hither. And as he was yet a- " coming, the devil threw him down, and tare him : and Jesus " rebuked the unclean spirit, and healed the child, and delivered " him again to his father. And they were all amazed at the " mighty power of God." The disciples, it appears, could neither cast out this spirit, nor relieve the child : and the reason assigned for it is, because they were a. faithless and perverse generation ; that is, because they had not as yet that full faith and confidence in Jesus as the Omnipo- tent God clothed with Humanity, which could alone enable them to work miracles, and to cast out devils. This is evident from our Lord's words on the occasion, " How long shall I be with you, " and suffer you" thus to with-hold your faith from me? He then immediately rebuked the unclean spirit, and healed the child : on which the by-standers were filled with astonisliment at the super* natural power exemplified by Jesus, which they also called the mighty power of God. [64.] Luke x. 17 to 19. " And the seventy returned again 'i with joy, saying, Lord^ even the devils are subject unto us ise A SEAL UPON THE LIPS OF " through thy name. And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as " lightning fall from heaven. Behold, I give iinto you power to " tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the " enemy ; and nothing shall by any means hurt you." What can reduce to subjection those malevolent powers of dark- ness, called devils, serpents, and scorpions, except the omnipo- tent hand of Deity itself? Yet we see, the name, that is, the pow- er and authority of Jesus is competent to so great a work : for, says he, " I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scor^ ^^pions, and over all the power of the enemy ; and nothing shall « by any means hurt you." Could a mere man do all this .^ Nay, could anv but the Supreme God himself perform what Jesus here promises, and promises not in the name of another superior to himself, but in his oicn name only } Let the reader draw the conclusion : he cannot err. [65.] Luke xi. 20. Jesus said to the Jews, If I with the fin- « ger of God cast out devils, no doubt the kingdom of God is 4« come upon you." We have already seen, that Jesus cast out devils by his own power ; which power is here called the finger of God, and con- sidered as a proof that the kingdom of God was come upon men. It is further observable in the passage before us, that the divine power is expressed by a term, which has a direct reference to Humanity, one member in the extremity of the body being taken for the whole of the human form. Thus, as in the prophecy of Isaiah, chap. liii. 1, the Humanity which was to be assumed by Jehovah, together with it's power, is called the arm o/ Jehovah, so in the Gospels the person and power of Jesus are called the finger of God ; both phrases denoting the exercise of omnipo- tence by one and the same medium, the Divine Body of our blessed gaviour. And hence it is, that the advent of Jehovah into the ■world, by the assumption of Humanity, is understood by the UNITARIANS, TRINITARIANS, &c. 181 kingdom of God being come upon or among ws, while the annun- ciation of this great event is called glad tidings^ or the everlast- ing gospel of " peace on earth, good-will towards men.- ' [66.] Luke xii. 8, 9. " I say unto you, Whosoever shall con- " fess me before men, him shall the Son of Man also confess be- " fore the angels of God. But he that denieth me before men, " shall be denied befoi-e the angels of God.^' The confession of Jesus before men is here represented as a matter of the highest importance, worthy of being noticed and re- warded in the presence of angels ; while the denial of him in- volves a calamity equal to exclusion from heaven. But what can be really understood by confessing or denying him ? If he be a mere man, as some mere men would have us to believe, it is rea- sonable to ask, Why should the confession of him as such be en- titled to any reward, any more than the confession of any other prophet, apostle, or messenger of God ? Or why, on the other hand, should the denial of him as such (which by the bye is rather a curious idea, on the Unitarian system,) be attended with con-, sequences fatal to man's future happiness $ There is no difficulty in admitting that good and pious men, as well as holy angels, ought to be respected, revered, and loved : but there appears no just reason why confession, or any thing re- sembling adoration, should be made to any one of them, however high or however low he may be in the scale of creation. For con- fession being a part of divine worship, it belongs exclusively to the Creator, who is at the same time the Preserver and the Re- deemer of the world. And as to offer this worship, and to make this confession, to it's legitimate Object, is the first duty of the creature, and prepares for the society of angels, and a participa- tion in their enjoyments ; so, on the other hand, to with-hold such worship and confession from him, who alone has the right to claim it, is a violation of the divine law, and amounts to a rejection not only of heaven, but also of the God of heaven. The Lord, there- fore, by teaching us what will be the consequence of confessing 182 A SEAL UPON THE LIPS OF him, and what the consequence ofdenyinghim,inthe same words procliiims the divinity of his person and character ; and gives us to understand, that the confession, which he calls upon us to make, is the acknowledgment in lieart, in doctrine, and in life, that he, and he alone, is the one adorable God both of angels and men. [67.] Luke xvii. 12 to 19. " And as he entered into a certain " village, there met him ten men tliat were lepers, who stood afar " oft': and they lifted up their voices, and said^ Jesus Master, " have mercy on us. And when he saw them, he said unto them, " Go shew yourselves unto the priests. And it came to pass, " that, as they went, iJietf irere cleansed. And one of them, when " he saw that iie was healed, turned back, and with a loud voice " glorified God, and fell down on his face at his feet, giving him " thanks: and he was a Samaritan. And Jesus answering said, " Were there not ten cleansed ? but where are tlie nine ? There " are not found that returned to give glory to God, save this " stranger. And he said unto him. Arise, go thy way; thy faith " hath made thee whole," If has been rashly asserted by Unitarians, that the New Testa- inent writers no-where expressly declare Jesus to be God ; and on this groundless supposition they attempt to build an argument against his divinity. But the basis of their visionary structure crumbles into dust, the moment it is touched by the Rod of divine truth. We have already adduced several instances, wherein the very name of God is given to him as a distinguishing title : but many more, wherein tlie characters, attributes, and perfections of Deity are indisputably ascribed to him. Besides tliese, other passages, not hitherto noticed, are to be found in great variety to the same effect, which will appear the more evident and striking, if the following circumstance be attended to. As in the assumption of Humanity by Jehovah it was neces- sary, in agreement with the laws of divine order, that his glory s^hould be veiled, so as to permit his approach to mankind, and UNITARIANS, TRINITARIANS, &c. 183 reciprocally the approach of mankind to him, without instantane- ous destruction to the creature; (Mai. iii. 2; chap. iv. 6.) and as the intense glory of his divine person was only occasionally ma- nifested to his disciples ; once at his transfiguration, again at his ascension, afterwards to John, as described in the Apocalypse, and also to Paul, to Stephen, and perhaps to others; so the evan- gelical writers, in describing and relating the acts of Jesus in the flesh, do likewise in a measure veil his glory from the eyes of those, who are not disposed to believe in him, lest seeing the truth they should afterwards profane it, and lest the brilliancy of it's light should, by a too precipitate influx upon them, rather in- jure than benefit the organ of their intellectual vision. It 'is therefore written concerning our Lord's disciples of old, and may be truly said of many who call themselves his disciples in the pre- sent day, that " they understood none of these things ; that his *• sayings were hid from them ; and that they knew not the things •' which were spoken," Luke xviii. 34. Hence in numerous in- stances, where the works, the power, and the character of Jesus are exemplified, the direct name of Deity is not ascribed to him, xintil after the intervention of a part of a verse, a whole verse, or perhaps of several verses, between the description of the attribute and the ujjpcllation of him to whom it belongs. The consequence of which is, that many do not immediately perceive the divine in- tention in so describing the life and character of our Lord; whicli yet is, as before observed, that men might grculualiy, and not too ■precipitately^ be introduced to the true knowledge and acknow- ledgment of their Saviour, first as the Sun of God, and lastly as One with the Father, that is, as the Supreme God himself in hu- man form. And yet to the mind truly enlightened nothing can be more clear, than the evidence thus arising: for on the removal of the thin veil thus mercifully interposed, our Diviine Lord stands forth to view in all his heavenly glory. If these observations be just, they will admit of proof. We shall therefore now demonstrate, by several examples from the New Testament, that they arc founded in fact; and that the truth of our doctrine concerning the Lord is the necessary result of divine revelraion. when understood iu it's aeuuiue sen-^e. 184 A SEAL UPON THE LIPS OF J. First, then, the passage, which already lies open before us, is of this description. One of the ten lepers, finding that he was iiealed in consequence of his faith in, and obedience to, the word of Jesus, turned back, and with a loud voice glorified God, and fell down at his feet, giving him thanks. At whose feet now did he fall, but at the feet of Jesus .^ And yet the antecedent to the pronoun his is evidently the word God ; demonstrating, that, while he fell at the feet of Jesus, he at the same time fell at the feet of God. This is also confirmed by the remark, which Jesus made, in answer to the glorification and thanksgiving of the leper: " Were there not ten cleansed i but where are the nine } There " are not found that returned to give glory to God, save this " stranger. And he said unto him, Arise, go thy Avay; thy faith " hath made thee whole." The whole passage, therefore, taken in it's just connection, may be considered as containing both a direct and an indirect declaration, that Jesus himself was the very God who healed the leper, and who also received the glory that was due for the divine work : which is still further evident from the circumstance of the Lord's approving the faith of the leper, because it was directed immediately to him. 2. Matt. i. 21 to 23. Speaking of the birth of Jesus, the an- gel first says, that he* shall save his jjeojde from their sins; and afterwards it is declared, that " then was fulfilled that w^hich was " spoken by the prophet, saying. Behold, a virgin shall be with " child, and shall bring forth a Son, and they shall call his name " Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us." This passage speaks for itself, and therefore requires no comment. 3. Matt. iv. 5 to 7. When the devil tempted Jesus, the lat- ter replied, " It is written. Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy " God." 4. Mark ii. 5, 7, 12. When Jesus said to the sick of the pal- sy, " Son, thy sins be forgiven thee,'^ it was justly asked even by the scribes, « Who can forgive sins, but God unly?'^ And so far was this reflection from being discountenanced by Jesus, that * ffe himself. Sec Bishop Peqirson on the Creed, or the original Greek. UNITARIANS, TRINITARIANS, &c. 185 it was rather confirmed by his asking, " Whether is it easier to " say to the sick of the palsy, Tliy sins be forgiven thee, or to •' say, Arise, and take up thy bed and walk ?" Plainly intimat- ing, that to an Omnipotent God in human form it is alike easy either to restore the spirit, or to heal the body. 5. Mark xi. 14, 21, 22. On Peter's observing, that the fig-tree, which had been cursed, was withered away, " Jesus answering " saith unto them. Have faith in God," meaning faith in Him- self, who had done such a marvellous work. 6. Luke xviii. 41 to 43. The blind man, who had received his sight by the mere word of Jesus, immediately followed him, glo- rifying God. To follow Jesus, as he did, is therefore to glorify God, because it is acknowledging him to be vested with omnipo' tence, thus to be God in human form. 7. Luke xix. 37, 38. 8. Luke xxii. 16, 18, SO. 9. Luke xxiii. 42, 43. 10. John i. 1, 3, 10, 14, 15. 11. John viii. 19. 12. John viii. 24, 25, 27. 13. John viii. 51 to 58. 14. John X. 27 to 30. 15. John xi. 4. 16. John xi. 25, 26, 40, 43, 44. 17. John xiii. 31, 32. 18. John xiv. 1. 19. John xiv. 7, 9. 20. John xvi. 13 to 15. 21. John XX. 25 to 28. 22. Apoc. i. 8, 11, 13, 17, 18. 23. Apoc. V. 12 to 14. 24. Apoc. vii. 9 to 12. 25. Apoc. vii. 15, 17- 26. Apoc. xi. 15, 17. 27. Apoc. xvii. 14. 28. Apoc. xxi. 7, 22, 23. 29. Apoc. xxi. 23; and chap, xxii. 5. 30. Apoc. xxii. 6, 16. In all these passages, and many more of similar tendency, either the character or the name of Deity, and very frequently both together, rest only with Him, of whom Moses, the Prophets, the Psalms, and the Evangelical Books, so constantly treat, and who by them all is declared to be no less than the great Jeho- vah himself appearing among men under the veil of Humanity, and thus leading them, in a way accommodated to their weak- Aa 186 A SEAL UPON THE LIPS OF ness and prejudices, to the ultimate perception and acknowledg- ment of his Divinity. [68.] Luke xviii. 16. " Suffer little children to come vnto ?jte, *' and forbid them not ; for of such is the kingdom of GodJ'^ Nothing else is meant in the New Testament by the kingdom of God, or the kingdom of heaven, but the advent of Jehovah God into the world, and the consequent acknowledgment of Je- sus Christ as that God manifested in the flesh, together with all the felicities resulting from such acknowledgment in heart, under- standing, and life. Now as no one can see or comprehend this great truth by the mere light cf nature, or by the highest efforts of human understanding unaided or unenlightened by divine re- velation ; and as this divine light can only be obtained by first acknowledging, that of ourselves we are mere ignorance and darkness, and that, like helpless infants, we can take or acquire nothing of truth, unless it be given us from above, John iii. 37; "we may hence see the reason why the Lord said to his disciples, that the kingdom of God is accessible to such only as are of a character humble and teachable, like that of little children, and who thus come unto and acknowledge him in the capacity already described. Hence, further, we perceive the just application of the words of Jesus concerning the rich man, (the man who abounds in science, and prides himself in self -derived intelli- gence,) " How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the " kingdom of God ! For it is easier for a camel to go through a " needle's eye, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of « God," Luke xviii. 24, 25. To come unto Jesus, therefore, as a little child, that is, in hu- mility, innocence, and a teachable spirit, in order to receive from him all that constitutes true wisdom, love, and happiness, is the genuine characteristic of a Christian, the very passport which in- troduces within the gates of heaven, and gives the bearer a title to UNITARIANS, TRINITARIANS, &c. 187 an everlasting mansion in the kingdom of God. And if so, then Jesus himself must be no less than God ; because such abase; ment of self in spiritual things cannot be due from one man to another, but is solely required in our approaches to the Deity. JOHN. [PRELIMINARY.] IN none of the Gospels does the doctrine of the sole, su= preme, and exclusive Divinity of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ appear more conspicuous, more certain, and more incon- trovertible, than in that of the beloved disciple John. Whether we consider the number of passages, which yield this doctrine even in the letter, (to say nothing of the spiritual sense, which every -where, establishes it,) or the happy simplicity of sentiment and expression, which distinguishes it among the Sacred Wri- tings, it must ever be regarded as one of the most powerful wea- pons in defence of the truth, that was ever entrusted in the hands of man. [69.] JOHN i. 1, 3, 10, 14. "In the beginning was the " Word, and the Word was with God, and God was the Word. *' Ml things were made by him ; and without him was not any *' thing made that was made. He was in the world, and the " world was made by him, and the world knew him not. And tlie " Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his " glory, the glory as of the Only-begotten of the Father,) full of " grace and truth." 188 A SEAL UPON THE LIPS OF The Word, called in Greek Logos, interiorly considered, is divine wisdom, divine truth, or divine light; and this being inseparable from God, is therefore called God, because there is nothing belonging to God, whether it be in respect to his essence or his person, but what really and truly is God. God, therefore, as to the Word, or as to the divine truth of the Word, came down into the world, which was created by him ; and yet the world knew him not. The same God also became a Man, when the Word was made ^es/i, and dwelt among us. How well does this apply to the person and character of Jesus Christ, who repeat- edly declares himself to be the truth, the light, and the lifel The Evangelist adds, " And we beheld his glory, the glory as " of the Only-begotten of the Father :" which is as much as to say. The glory, in which he appeared Avhile on earth, was not the glory as of the Father, or as of the purely divine essence itself, because this glory is utterly inaccessible to the creature ; but the glory as of the Son, the Humanity, or the Only-begotten of the Father ; that glory, which he displayed in the character and ca- pacity of a Divine Man, and which, though accommodated to the eye of the beholder, yet beamed forth through the veil of his flesh with a lustre and a splendor surpassing all human descrip- tion. [ro.] John i. 18. <• JVo man hath seen God at any time ;* the " only-begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, he hath " declared Am." * As to essence — so likewise 'tis said in 1 John iv. 12. and so in Exodus xxxiii. 20. Thou canst not see my face, for there shall no man see my face and live. But " the only-begotten son he hath revealed him" at all times. Moses and others saw God — who but the Tnanifested Jehovah or son ? and did eat and drink, Exod. xxiv. 9, 11. Jacob wrestled with an angel in the form of a man, and Jacob called the name of the place Peniel, or the pre- sence of God, for, said he, I have seen God face to face, and my life is pre- served. Gen. xxxii. 24, 30. Who could this Angel be but the Angel or messenger (same word in tlie original) of the Covenant mentioned, Mai. iii UNITARIANS, TRINITARIANS, &c. 189 If no mere man has ever seen the Father, who is here called God, then it follows, that Jesus, who is here called the only-be- gotten Son^ must be more than a mere man, nay more than an ano-el or any other finite being, because he resides in the very bosom of the Father, that is to say, because he is intimately pre- sent and united witli the pure Divinity itself; which can never be said of either man or angel. Jehovah the Father says to Moses, '< There shall no man see me, and live," Exod. xxxiii. 20 : and yet Jesus declares of himself, " He who is God, even he « hath seen the Father,'- John vi. 46. Can any evidence be stronger and more pointed than this, in favour of the infinite pre-eminence of Jesus over all that bears the name of creature? Sink, Unitarian, sink into the dust at the presence of Him, who is thus clothed with honour and majesty divine. No longer seek to dethrone or degrade the Saviour of the world ; but yield him the glory, which he claims, and to ■which he is so justly entitled ; " for he is thy Lord, and worship " thou ftim," Ps. xlv. 11. [71.] John ii. 24, 25. " But Jesus did not commit himself " unto them, because he knew all men, and needed not that any " should testify of man : for he knew what was in man.'' To know the hearts, the affections, and the thoughts of all men, or to perceive from first to last all that is in man, is certainly not within the province of any ^72tie 6ei»^, but exclusively of him, whose " understanding is infinite," Ps. cxlvii. 5 ; and who says, " I Jehovah search the heart, I try the reins," Jer. xvii. 10. Ps. vii. 9. " I know the things that come into your mind, every " one of them," Ezek. xi. 5. What then is to be said in a case 1. Likewise he who is called " presence of God," Exod. xxxiii. 14, 15 and the angel of his presence, Isa. Ixiii. 9. who is called Chiiist, 1 Cor. X. 9. Christ is likewise called the Similitude of Jehotah, Numb. xii. 8. Compare Acts vii 38 — See Parkhurst, art. Character.— Am. Puh. 190 A SEAL UPON THE LIPS OF like this, where the very same attribute of omnisciencej which be ■ longs only to the infinite and eternal Jehovah, is yet positively and deliberately ascribed to the Man Jesus ? AVhat can be said with any degree of consistency either with revelation, or with the common reason of mankind, but that both names, Jehovah and Jesus, denote only one and the same Divine Being? [72.] John iii. 13. « No man hath ascended up to heaveri, " but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of Man, who " is in heaven.''^ That Jesus, who is also called the Son of Man, was present in heaven, even while he was upon the earth, is here plainly de- clared ; and therefore from the nature of the attribute ascribed to him we may justly conclude, not only that he is more than a mere man, or the son of a mere man, as some Unitarians interpret the phrase, but that he is the Supreme and Omnipresent God, who, in respect to the divine truth of his Word, equally existing in the heavens above, and in the church below, is so frequently termed the So7i of Man / such divine truth, received in the un- derstanding and in the heart, being that alone, which constitutes the essential principle of Humanity. And here, by the way, having named an objection started by Unitarians against the phrase Son of Man, with their proposed amendment of the same, in order to make it tally the better with their idea of the mere humanity of Jesus, whom they would in future call the son of a man, let us spend a moment in it's exami- nation. When the elders of the Jewish people, with the chief priests and scribes, asked Jesus, saying, " Art thou the Christ ? " tell us ;" among other things he observed to them, " Hereafter " shall the Son of Man sit on the right hand of the power of God :" on which they all immediately said, " Art thou then the Son of " God ?" Luke xxii. 66 to 70. From this passage it appears, that they considered the two phrases, So7i of Man, and Son of God, to be nearly, if not perfectly synonimous j and that they at UNITARIANS, TRINITARIANS, &c. 191 least, unlike some Unitarians of the present day, did not regard the former as any proof or avowal of his mere humanity, but on the contrary as a name expressive of some divine quality similar to that of Son of God. In agreement with this the Lord himself also says, " Except " ye eat the flesh of the Son of Man, and drink his blood, ye have " no life in you," John vi. 53. Surely the flesh and the blood of a mere man, or of the son of a mere man, can never communicate that spiritual and eternal life, which is here alluded to. Again, in another place he says, « Then shall ye see the Son of " Man coming in the clouds of heaven, with great power and " glory : and then shall he send (mark, the Son of Man shall " send) his angels, and shall gather together his elect from the " four winds, from the uttermost part of the earth, to the uttermost " part of the heaven," Mark xiii. 26, 27. Are these expressions and predictions applicable to the son of a man ^ Does any mere son of a man keep in his charge, and at his beck and call, beings of angelic make ? and will such an one hereafter depute them at pleasure to accomplish his purposes of election and universal so- vereignty in heaven and on earth ? Preposterous to the last de- gree n the idea ; and therefore most deservedly is it to be reject- ed, together with the doctrine that stands in need of such aid, or that gives birth to such a mere phantasm of the imagination. [73.] John iii. 31. "He that cometh from above, is above all: " he that is of the earth, is earthly, a.^d speaketh of the earth : he " that cometh from heaven, is above all.^' Jesus said, " The bread of God is he who cometh down from *' heaven, and giveth life unto the world : I am the bread of life ; I " am the bread which came down from heaven,''^ John vi. 33, 55, 41. He therefore is the great personage, of whom John the Baptist spoke, when he said, " He that cometh from heaven, is above all ;" and if he be above all, he cannot be less than God. 192 A SEAL UPON THE LIPS OF [74.] John iii. 34. " He, whom God hath sent, speaketh the " words of God : for God giveth not tlie spirit by measure unto « him." Every finite beinjj, every created subject, capable of receiving the spirit or influence proceeding from God, must of necessity, by the very condition of his nature, receive it by measure, that is, partially, and not in all Ws fulness or totality ; because what is infinite can never be included within, or comprehended by, a finite capacity. This is so self-evident, that it requires neither proof nor comment. But of Jesus it is said, that God, or the Essential Divinity, giveth not the spirit by measure unto him. He, therefore, who is capable of receiving into himself, that is, into his Humanity, the whole fulness, the unfathomable abyss or ocean of Divinity, can neither be a viere man, nor a viere angel, nor a mere creature of any rank or denomination, no nor a mere parti- cipator in Divinity as one of three co-equally divine persons ; but he must be himself in his own proper person the whole God, the sole God, and nothing less but God, in a divinely-human form. Such is the Divine Man Jesus Christ, who speaketh the words of God, who doeth the works of God, and who consequei'tly is alone entitled to the name of God. [75.'] John iii. 35. " The Father loveth the Son, and hath given " all thins:s into his hand.'^ The Father being the Essential Divinity, and the Son the Di- vine Humanity, in one and the same person, it is said, that the Father hath given all things into the hand of the Son, to denote that all the powers, attributes, and perfections of Deity are cen- tered in, and exercised by, the divine human form of our Lord and Saviour Jksus Christ; comparatively as all the powers and faculties of the human soul are united with, and also exercised bv. the human body. tNITxVRlANS, TRINITARIANS, &c. 193 Or, to place the subject in another point of view, which is still ia perfect harmony with the preceding explanation ; the Father may be considered as the divine love, and the Son as the divine wisdom of one and the same God. Now all the proceedings or operations of Deity, in respect to the redemption and salvation of man, inasmuch as they take their rise in the divine love, may therefore be said to originate with the Father. But as the divine love does not, and cannot act effectually, except in concur- rence with, and by means of, the divine wisdom, which is the Son; and as consequently every thing belonging to the divine love is thus as it were transferred to the divine wisdom, so as to be wholly united with it, it is hence easy to discern the true reason why it is written, that '• the Father loveth the Son, and hath given " all things into his handJ'^ The divine wisdom here spoken of is no other than the Word made flesh ; and this possesses in it- self, and likewise communicates to man, the whole and sole pow- er of salvation; because he, who is the God of the Word, never acts separately from it, but always in and by means of it. Thus, when the Lord declares, by his Evangelist, that the Fa- ther hath given all things into the hands of the Son, he thereby instructs us, that all the divine operations, in producing the re- formation, regeneration, salvation, and final happiness of man, are entirely conducted from and by the Sacred Scriptures or JFord, and never by any immediate influx from himself separate- ly from it. It was by reason of this great truth, that the Lord, in assuming the Humanity, assumed also the Word even in the letter ; that he realized and accomplished in himself the whole of it's contents from first to last, insomuch that he actually became the Word incarnate, and thereby for ever identified it with him- self and all his Divinity. And hence we may now see what is implied in that singular confession of the Psalmist to Jehovah, •' Thou hast magnified thy Word above all thy name,'''' Ps. rxxxviii. 9» Bb 194 A SEAL UPON THE UPS OF [76.2 John iii. 36. " He that believeth on the S'on, hath ever- " lasting life : and he that believeth not the Son, shall not see life ; ' " but the wrath of God abideth on him.*' It is no where written, " He that believeth on the Father, hath "' everlasting life ;" but " He that believeth on the >S'o?i." And indeed all the promises set forth in the Gospel have respect to faith in the Son ; and for this reason, because faith in the Son necessarily includes faith in the Father, who is within the Son, as the soul is within the body : whereas faith directed to the Fa- ther out of, above, and distinct from the Son, inasmuch as it is a faith in no object capable of being apprehended by the mind, is so far from being a true and living faith, that it is in reality a faith in no God ; because out o/ Jesus Christ no God whatever is to be found in the universe. Hence all worship founded on this latter faith necessarily relapses into Deism, Naturalism, Material- ism, and finally into Atheism. So true is it, that " he who be- <' lieveth not the Son, shall not see life ; but the wrath of God " abideth on him.^^ If then such be the importrvnt consequences of believing, or not believing, in the Son, that is, in Jesus, can he be less than the true God, and eternal life ? [77.'] John iv. 14. " Whosoever drinketh of the water that / " shall give him, shall never thirst : but the water, that / shall "^ife /lim, shall be in him a well of water springing up into " everlasting life.^^ No mere man, no angel, can of and from himself communicate such living wafer, as shall be capable of supplying the wants and desires of every immortal spirit. God, who is the sole fountain of life, can alone bestow so divine a gift. Jesus, therefore, who promised, and who can also perform it, must be God. UNrTARIANS, TRINITARIANS, &c. 195 [78.] John V. 17, 18. "Jesus answered them, Mij Father *' worketh hitherto, and I work. Therefore the Jews sought the " more to kill him, because he not only had broken the sabbath, " but said also, that God was his Father, making himself equal with " God.'' Jesus here declares, that his works were performed by the Fa- ther and himself, that is, by the Divinity and the Humanity united. On which account, and because he called God, or the Divinity, his Father, the Jews charged him with making himself equal with God: which charge, so far from denying it, he in the subsequent verses plainly acknowledges and justifies, saying, " Whatsoever things *• the Father doth, these also doth the Son likewise,'' ver. 19. " A3 " the Father raiseth up the dead, and quickeneth them ; even so the " Son quickeneth whom he will,"vev. 21. And again, " The Father "judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son, " that all men should honour the Son, even as they honour the Fa- *' ther : he that honoureth not the So7i, honoureth not the Father, " who hath sent him," ver. 22, 23. The great solicitude, which Jesus appears to manifest in estab- lishing the same honour and respect in favour of the Son, that is, of himself as to his Divine Humanity, which are due to the Father, that is, to himself likewise as to his Essential Divinity, cannot but be received as strong and satisfactory evidence, not only that he was in the continued act of making himself equal with God, but also that we are called upon to acknowledge him alone as the true Object of our worship, because in his divi?ie person thus made equal, nay one with God, is contained all that belongs to, or is called, God. Most singularly coincident with the present passage is that in the prophet Zechariah, where the very treatment, which our Lord actually received from the Jewish people, for thus equalizing himself with Jehovah, is particularly announced arid described. " One shall say unto him, What are thtsQ ivounds in thine haiids? *' Then he shall answer. Those with which I was wounded in the " house of my friends. Awake, sword, against my Shepherd, " and against the Man that is my Fellow, (Heb, the mighty Man 196 A SEAL UPON THE LIPS OF « 7ny Companion,) saith Jehovah of hosts: smite the Shepherd, " and the sheep shall be scattered," Zech. xiii. G, 7. The wound's in his hands, received in tlie house of his friends^ evidently al- lude, in the literal sense of the words, to the crucifixion of Jesus bj the J^Jt's, who are called his friends, because they were (re- presentatively at least) the church and people of God. But, spi ritually understood, the same wounds in his hands signify a de- nial of his being the Omnipotent God in human form, whether it be on the part of Jews or of Christians : for, as the hand in the. human body is the organ of ifs power, so in reference to the Lord it denotes his divine power: hence to wound his hands, is to deny his divinity, especially his divine attribute of omnipo- tence. Again, when Jehovah says, " Awake, O sword, against wy <' Shepherd, against the Man that is my Fellow,''^ how plainly does this appear to be accomplished in the persecution which was raised by the Jews, and in the deadly enmity which they breath- ed, against the person of Jesus, against the very Man, who made himself the Equal, the Companion, or the Fellow of Jehovah! ■who also declared himself to be " the good Shepherd, who giveth *' his life for the sheep !" John x. 11; and who, when about to be smitten, said to his disciples, " All ye shall be offended because *' of me this night ; for it is written, I will smite the Shepherd^ *' and the sheep of the flock shall bp scattered abroad.'" Matt, xxvi. 31. Comparing the prophecy with the facts wliich took place in, upon, and relative to Jesus ; and considering well the cause or reason why he was persecuted and rejected by the Jews, viz. that it was purely on account of the truth which he taught, the good which he did, and especially because he avowed himself to be of divine origin, the descendant of Jehovah with respect to his in- teHor Humanity, and Jehovah himself with respect to his Es- sential Divinity, thus at one time and in one respect the Ser- vant of Jehovah, at another time and in another respect the EquAL or Fellow of Jehovah, and in the highest respect One AND THE Same with him ; how evident must it be to a reflecting mind, that all argiflinents sought for and urged against the sole UNITARIANS, TRINITARIANS, &c. 197 and exclusive Divinity of Jesus, must be no other than so many attempts to confirm the opinion of Jews, and to raze the very foundations of the true Christian temple ! [79.J John V. 26. « As the Father hath life in himself, so hath " he given to the Son td have life in himself. ^^ No finite or created being can be said to have life in himself^ the ver}^ expression implying life uncreated, underived, and con- sequently self-existent and divine. Such life hath the Father, sucli also hath the Son: wherefore, as there can be only one such life, and only One Being in whom it is to be found, it follows, that the Father and the Son, which are two terms expressive of invisible essence and visible form, are together that One. Thus we see, that, as Jesus the Son hath the same power, the same ho- nour, and the same life, as Jehovah the Father, he must also be divine ; and if divine, he must be God ^ and if God, he must be the Supreme and Only God, for more than One God cannot be gi- ven, and must not be imagined. [80.] John v. 40. " Ye will not come to me, that ye might « have life.'^ No man will approach Jesus, with the view of obtaining from him eternal life, unless he believe him to be God. Unitarians deny his Divinity ; and Trinitarians will only allow him a cer- tain portion of it, according to a well-known scale of their own invention. The consequence is, that neither of them will apply to him alone ; and both, but especially the former, become obnox- ious to the same charge, as was brought by our Lord against the Jews of old, " Ye will not come to me, that ye might have life.^^ Now if Jesus be " the way, the truth, and the /i/V," John xiv. 6 ; and if in another place he says, " Come unto me, all ye that 198 A SEAL UPON THE LIPS OF « labour, and are heavy-laden, and I will give you rest" Matt, xi. 28 ; what other conclusion can we draw from these conside- rations, but that Jesus himself is the fountain and source of life, the legitimate Object of all worship, and consequently the true God, who can alone hear and answer prayer ? [81.] John vi. 46. " Not that any man hath seen the Father, *' save he who is of God, he hath seen the Father.^"* Here Jesus plainly distinguishes himself from all other men, declaring that he alone hath seen the Father, or the purely divine essence, which yet cannot be seen by any finite eye. Jehovah said to Moses, " Thou canst not see my face : for there shall no *' man see me, and live,"*^ Exod. xxxiv. 20. But Jesus hath seen the Father, and yet lives! lives as a Man too! though most es- sentially differing from all other men, in that the constituent principles of Humanity take their origin in ftim, while with all others they exist only by derivation from him! Surely then it must be evident, that he, who alone is capable of sustaining the full presence of Deity, and of beholding it's infinitely transcend- ent glories, nay of collecting them into his own person, as into their proper centre, is and can be no other than the Supreme Odd himself, visiting his creatures in a kind of amiable disguise, that in the end he may make himself known to such of them, as will open their hearts and their understandings to receive him. [82.] John vi. 51 to 54. " lam the living bread, which came " down from heaven ; if any man eat of this bread, he shall live ^(forever: and the bread that I will give, is my fiesh, which « I will sive for the life of the world. The Jews therefore strove " amongst themselves, saying, How can this man give us his flesh " to eat .'^ Then Jesus said unto them. Verily verily I say unto « you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of Man, and drink UNITARIANS, TRINITARIANS, &c. 199 « his blood, ye have no life in you. Whoso eateth my flesh , and " drinketh viy blood, hath eternal life ; and I will raise him up « at the last day." To eat the flesh, and to drink the blood, of the Son of Man, is to receive spiritual nourishment from the Word ; and as his flesh is the divine good, and his blood the divine truth, both of which are necessary to salvation, therefore Jesus, who is the Son of Man, or the Word itself made Man, declares, tliat whoso eateth his flesh, and drinketh his blood, receives in the very act that which constitutes eternal life. But in the nature of things eter- nal life cannot be in the gift of any mere man, nor of any created being whatever. Whence it follows, that Jesus, who came down from heaven to give his flesh and his blood (not as a sacrifice in the room of sinners, but as heavenly food) for the life of the world, must be the Preserver of that life, and consequently the Supreme God, from whom alone it is derived. [83.] John vi. 63. " The words that I speak unto you, they " are spirit, and they are Zi/e." If the very words, which proceed from Jesus, are both spirit and life, what must He Himself be in his own essence and per- son ! We know, that all life proceeds from God, and that it can have only one source and fountain. Jesus, therefore, who claims to be this fountain of life, and whose Word is an oracle of truth, must himself be the one self-essent, self-existent, and life-inspir- ing God. [84.] John vi. 64. " Jesus knew from the beginning whe *' they were that believed not, and who should betray himy 200 A SEAL UPON THE LIPS OF Such knowledge as this is too much for any mere man to pos- sess ; but being possessed by Jesus, it conspires with all the other attributes of perfect Mind to give us an idea of his divine cha- racter. [85.] John vi. 67, 68. " Jesus said unto the twelve, Will ye " also go away.^ Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to " whom shall we go .'' thou hast the words of eternal UfeP If Jesus be the only Object, to whom the approach of the heart and the thought should be directed, in prayer, in praise, and in worship ; and if indeed the words, and at the same time the gift of eternal life be with him ; to what end and purpose can it be to seek for, or to apply to, any other ? Can a man desire more than eternal life ? Or can he hope to receive it from more than one only sonrce ? Jesus is declared to be this source : therefore Je- sus is declared to be the One Only God. [^86.] John vii. 18. '• He that speaketh of himself, seeketh his <' own glory : but he that seeketh the glory of him that sent him. *' the same is true, and no unrighteousness is in /u/h." Jesus here speaks of himself as being sent by the Father, and seeking not /lis own glory, but the glory of the Father; and then adds, " The same is true, and no unrighteousness is in him.''' From which particulars we learn and perceive as follows : 1. That he himself, while on earth, was the truth, as he likewise plainly declares in otlier places. 2. That in the character or quality of truth, particularly of that truth, which is accommodated to the reception of mankind, he is said to be sent by the Father j which is the same thing as to proceed from him : and as we know, that all truth proceeds from good, or all wisdom from love, therefore UNITARIANS, TRINITARIANS, &c. 201 we are assured, that by the term Father h meant the divins good, or the divine love. 3. That as light proceeding from the sun per- petually indicates the glory of it's source, and is of itself, or con- sidered separately from it's source, comparatively as nothing ; so truth, and especially divine truth, perpetually points out and leads to divine good or divine love, ever exalting it as it were above it- self, as being th^t radical, original, and fundamental principle, from which all the divine operations and providences take their rise, and to which every thing appertaining to wisdom, know- ledge, ZiiiA science, are iiie.Y&\y subservient. And hence, 4. We see the true ground and reason why it is said, that Jesus seeketh not his oic7?j glory, but the glory of him that sent him, viz. because while on earth, or in his state of humiliation in the infirm huma- nity, he had perpetual respect to the divine principle within him, or the divine love, called the Father, from which he came forth, and to which he was again returning. But it is further written of Jesus, yea pronounced by his own lips, that " no unrighteousness is in him ;" being the very words used by the Psalmist in reference to Jehovah, Ps. xcii. 15. And in John viii. 46, Jesus challenges even his enemies to convict him of sin : whereas of all others, the children of men, it is expressly declai-ed, " There is no man that sinneth not,^^ 1 Kings viii. 46. *' They are all gone aside, they are all together become filthy ; « there is none that doth good, no not one ;''^ Ps. xiv. 3. Hence again we learn, and with all the certainty of truth conclude, that Jesus, and Jesus alone, in the capacity which we now contem- plate, as being exempt from evil, exempt from crime, exempt from all that characterizes mere humanity, is and must be the Supreme Good, as well as the Supreme Truth ,• and therefore that the Sent of God is no other than God himself, appearing in the world in a way accommodated to the wants and necessities of his fallen creatures, who by light from heaven can alone find their way back to heaven. ■Ce £02 A SEAL UPON THE LIPS OF £87.] John vii. 37, 38. « In the last day, that great day of the " feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying. If any man thirst, let him ^' come unto me, and drink. He that believeth on me, as the *' Scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living " water.^^ Such are the words of Jesus ; and similar are the words of Je- hovah by his prophet: "Ho! every one that ihirsteth, come " ye to the waters ; and he that hath no money ; come ye, buy " and eat, yea come, buy wine and milk without money, and " without price. Incline your ear, and come unto me," Isa. Iv. 1,3. "Jehovah shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy " soul in drought, and make fat thy bones : and thou shalt be " like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters ^'fail not,''^ Isa. Iviii. 11. " For I will pour water upon him " that is thirsty, and floods upon tlie dry ground,''^ Isa. xliv. 3. To whom now shall we make our approaches ? to whom shall we apply for this water of life? to Jehovah, or to Jesus ? The former pronounces himself to be " the fountain of living waters,''^ Jer. ii. 13. The latter says, " Whosoever drinketh of the water, *' that / shall give him, shall never thirst ; but the water, that I <' shall give him, shall be in him a well of ivater springing up " into everlasting life,^^ John iv. 14. And he adds in another place, " Let him that is athirst, come : and whosoever will, let " him take the water of life freely," Apoc. xxii. 17. In both cases the invitation is universal, embracing men of every clime and every age : and in the passages adduced no reference what- ever appears to be made, by either the one or the other of the speakers, to any fountain or source of life different and distinct from himself: but each puts in his respective claim upon the hear- er, with an injunction to follow him, and him alone. And yet both are acknowledged, by the church at least, to be Oracles of divine wisdom, or of divine truth. How then must an humble member of the church conduct him- self in a point of such essential consequence, as the selection of an Object for his faitli, his love, and his worship, to rest upon .^ seeing that tiie voice of Jehovah from the Old Testament, and UNITARIANS, TRINITARIANS, &c. 303 the voice of Jesus from the New, are equally sounding in his ears ? We know, that the Divine Being or Essence, called Jehovah, is justly entitled to the adoration of every intelligent creature, and that no other God must be set in competition with him. But we know also, that as an essence, abstractedly considered, he is invi- sible and utterly incompreheiisible to any finite understanding. He must, therefore, if he would make himself known, present himself to liis creatures under some form, capable of being seen^ apprehended, and embraced, as a divine substance or person, in which all the divine attributes, qualities, and perfections may be concentrated and thus embodied. Under this view of the subject, the form and the essence to- gether must of necessity be so identified as one, that neither of them will admit of actual separation from the other ; though they may be spoken of, and in part described, in different and distinct terms. Whenever, then, we would think of the divine essence, it follows, that we must at the same time ascribe to it the divine form ; and when contrariwise we would think of the rfiuine/onji, we must also in the same moment ascribe to it the divine essence. Now the Sacred Scriptures inform us, that the glorified person of Jesus Christ is that divine form and substance, which presents to the notice and contemplation of man all that can be known or perceived of pure Deity: and hence, as it is in the nature of form, to bring us to an acquaintance with essence, so it is written of Jesus Christ, who is called the Son, that he is the medium of access to the Father ; by which is understood, that his Divine Humanity is the gate of introduction to his Essential Divi- nity. In this way we are led to see the reasonableness and the truth t)f genuine Christianity, and are enabled to harmonize the appa- ■ rehtly discordant points of revelation, which have so long per- plexed the pious and sincere members of the church, while they furnished matter of unrighteous triumph to the sons of infidelity. And in the same way we perceive, that, while Jehovah and Je-> sus both claim to be the sole fountain of living waters, there is still only one such fountain, because there is still only One God; the jjame Jehovah denoting the invisible essenccy and the name Je?- 204 A SEAL UPON THE LIPS OF sus the visible fornix of one and the same infinite and eternal Being. Keeping now these sentiments in view, and directing our eyes and our hearts to Jesus alone, as to that divine form, in whom is the divine essence in all it's fulness of glory, let us, with the millions of thirsty souls pressing forward to receive the blessing, address, in the words of David, David's Lord : " As the hart ^•panteth after the water-brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O " God : my soul thirsteth for God, for the living God,''^ Ps. xlii. <' 1, 2, « O thou that hearest prayer, unto thee shall all flesh come : '*thou visitestthe earth, and icaterest it ; thou greatly enrichestit " with the river of God, which is full ofivater,''^ Ps. Ixv. 2, 9. [88.] John vii. 46. « JVerer man spake like this Man.'** Though these words were uttered by the officers, whom the chief priests and Pharisees had sent to apprehend Jesus, yet we are to assume, that they contain a divine truth : and indeed, when we refer to the language actually used by him on many dif- ferent occasions, we are compelled to acknowledge, not only that he spake as never man spake, but also that his words were accom- panied with a poiver and effect, wlaich plainly betokened a Divine Agent. A few examples will remove all doubt, if any doubt can be entertained on the subject. 1. "They brought unto him many that were possessed with " devils : and he cast out the spirits with his word, and healed " all that were sick," Matt. viii. 16. Could these effects be pro- duced by any thing short of omnipotence itself'^ 2. " When he was entered into a ship, there arose a great tem- ** pest in the sea, insomuch that the ship was covered with the *' waves. Then he arose, and rebuked the winds and the sea, «' and there was a great calm," Matt. viii. 23 to 26. Well then Ttnight the sailors marvel, saying, *' IFJiat manner of Man is thiSy ♦' that even the winds and the sea obey him !" ver. 27, UNITARIANS, TRINITARIANS, &c. 205 3. When they brought to Jesus one sick of the palsy, he said unto him, " Son, be of good cheer, thy sins be forgiven thee,''^ Matt. ix. 2. But the scribes, who were present, said, " AVhy " doth this Man thus speak blasphemies ? Who can forgive sins, " but God alone ?" Mark ii. 7. Surely then the officers were justified in reporting, that " never man spake like tJiis Man." 4. Jesus said, " Come unto me, all ye that labour, and are " heavy-laden, and I will give you rest,''^ Matt. xi. 28. Did ever man so speak before P 5. " Where two or three are gathered together " in my name, there am I in the midst of them. Matt, xviii. 20. Where else, but in Jesus, is to be found an Omnipresent Man ? 6. " Heaven and earth sliali pass away, but my words shall not " pass away," Matt. xxiv. 35. Again it may be asked. Did ever man speak like this Man ? 7. " Jesus spake unto them, saying, " All power is given unto <* me in heaven and in earth : and lo, I am with you alway even "unto the end of the world," Matt, xxviii. 18, 20. What man, since the beginning of the creation, ever claimed to himself the divine attributes of ojnttijpo^ence and omnipresence, besides this Man ? 8. When " Jesus saw a fig-tree, having nothing but leaves, he *' said unto it, JV*o man eat fruit of thee hereafter for ever. And " in the morning, as they passed by, they saw the fig-tree dried " up by the roots,^^ Mark xi. 12 to 14, 20. What must be thought of a Being in the form of a Man, at the sound of whose voice even nature shrinks as it were into nothing ? Can he be any thing short of a God-Man, that is, a Divine Man } 9. Jesus said unto his disciples, " These are the words which " I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must "be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the " Prophets, and in the Psalms, concerning me," Luke xxiv. 44. What other man ever made so high a pretension, as to set himself Tip as the great Subject of divine revelation ? the great Object referred to in all the historical, typical, and prophetical parts of the JVord, as well as in the Psalms of David ? None. We hold 206 A SEAL UPON THE LIPS OF it, tlierefore, as an eternal truth, That " never vian spake like " this ./l/fl?z." 10. Jesus again said, " I am the living bread, which came down ^^ from heaven: if atiy man eat of this bread, he shall live for "pre?'," John vi. 51. Did language like this ever proceed from other lips, than the lips of Jesus ? 11. " If ye believe not that /a ?H, ye shall die in your sins," John viii. 24. For " verily verily I say unto you, Before Abra- <' ham was, lam,''^ ver. 58. Never, never can this be the descrip- tion of a 7nere man. 12. Jesus said, " I am the resurrection and the life : he that " believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live. And " he cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth. And he that " ivas dead came forth," John xi. 25, 43, 44. Did ever man speak with such authority, and such effect, as this, besides the DivixE Max, whose voice alone is capable of impax-ting life to all who hear him, love him, and obey him .'' Justly and truly then may it be said, Avith all those who "bare him witness, and won- *' dered at the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth,*' Luke iv. 22, and in the language of the officers sent to apprehend him, but who, on hearing the words of Jesus, instead of execut- ing the order, returned to their masters in the utmost astonish- mejit, and protested, saying, " J\i''ever man spake like this J/an.'* [89.] John viii. 19. The Pharisees said unto Jesus, " Where "is thy Father ? Jesus answered, Ye neither know me, nor my " Father: if ye had known me, ye would have known viy Father " also:' The Pharisees, who judged only after the flesh, (ver. 15,) knew indeed Joseph the reputed father of Jesus, and Mary his mother, with the other branches of the family, according to viere natural afjinity : but as they were wholly ignorant of his divine genealogy., that is, of his descent from Jehovah in respect to his interior UNITARIANS, TRINITARIANS, &c. 207 human essence, and of the character which in truth he came in- to the world to sustain, as both God and Man united in one per- son, therefore our Lord plainly told them, that they neitlier knew him nor his Father ; that is to say, they neither knew the mani- fested nor the unmanifesied Deity. Had he been in all re- spects a mere man, sent, deputed, or commissioned by the Su- preme Being to declare his will, like Moses, Elias, or John the Baptist, with what colour of truth could he have represented himself to be a character so mysterious, so super-human, that the knowledge of him was involved in the same obscurity., as the knowledge of the invisible God? The solution of this problem is only to be found in the Sacred Scriptures themselves, rightly understood ; the key to which was held up to our view by the apostle Paul, when he said, " Without controversy, great is the " mystery of godliness ; — God was manifest in the jlesh,''^ 1 Tim. iii. 16. [90.] John viii. 24. " If ye believe not that I Jim, ye shall dis " in your sins,^^ To be the / Jim, is to be the one infinite source of all life and Tfeing; and hence it is one of the first and most expressive names of Deity. When Jehovah appeared to Moses, he declared his name to be / Am : " Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Is- " rael, I »im hath sent me unto you," Exod. iii. 14. But Jesus declares himself to be this I Am, and enforces the truth of his as- sertion with the highest sanctiron of the divine law : " If ye be-» ** lieve not that I Am, ye shall die in your sins.^^ It is therefore sinful to refuse him the acknowledgment, which he requires; and the same penalty attaches to a want of faith in him the manifest- ed God, as to a complete denial of the divine essence itself , name- ly, death spiritual, death eternal. And this consequence results, not in the way of an arbitrary sentence from offended Deity, but as an effect inseparable from the very nature of the crime, whe- ther it be of a negative or of a positive quality ; that is, whether 208 A SEAL UPON THE LIPS OF it be a ivith-liolding of our faith from being directed towards Je- sus as the I Am, or whether it be a full and direct denial of his Divinity. For as conjunction with the Deity, in which consists eternal life, can only take place while man reverences, obeys, and worships him, so of necessity, if man would reap the benefit of such conjunction, he must direct his whole faith and his whole heart to that divine form, that Divine Man, Jesus Christ, in whom alone the divine essence is to be found, or as Paul justly ob- serves, in whom alone all the fulness of the Godhead, that is, the totality of Divinity, resides or dwells bodily. [91.] John viii. 46. <« Jesus said to the Jews, Which of you " convinceth (or rather convicteth) me of sin." Is not this as much as to say, " I am spotless, perfect, holy, " pure, good ?" And yet there is only One good, and that is God. If Jesus, therefore, in the highest sense of the word, be the former, he must also be the latter. If in him be " no un- *' righteousness" at all, no evil, no sin, no unholiness, no impu- rity, no imperfection, as to his interior essence and character, then he is and must be, in that respect, as he is also expressly called by the prophet, " Jehovah our Righteousness," Jer. xxiii. 6. Jer. xxxiii. 16.* * The passage in Jer. xxxiii. 16, has given occasion to many commenta- tors to suspect an error in the original, because it has in general been thought, that the name Jehovah our Riohteocsxess, which is given to Jeru- salem, cannot with any degree of propriety be so applied. And some have even ventured to assert, that, on a supposition of the English translation be- ing correctly expressed, the Unitarians have good ground to infer, that Jescs Christ (understood by the Branch mentioned in ver. 15, and in chap, xxiii. 5,) is no more entitled to the appellation of jEnovAH, than the city Jerusa- lem is. But surely this is granting too much to the enemies of our Lord's Divinity. For to admit, that the Sacred Scriptures, as we have them in the original languages, are corrupted cither by accident or design, is in part to set afloat the great doctrines of the Christian religion, and to charge the Di- UNITARIANS, TRINITARIANS, &c. 209 [92.] John viii. 58. " Jesus said unto them, "Verily verily I " say unto you, Before Abraham ivas, I Am.^^ vine Providence with having neglected to preserve in their integrity the laws, precepts, and ordinances, which he himself commanded his people to keep entire, and to observe in all succeeding ages. See Deut. iv. 2. Apoc. xxii, 18, 19. We hold the Word, therefore, to be perfect and complete as to every tittle and iota, agreeably to the tenour of our Lord's own language, when he said, "Heaven and earth shall pass away; but tni/ -words shall not pass a7¥ay,'* Matt. sxiv. 35. " It is easier for heaven and earth to pass, than " one tittle *' of the law to fail," Luke xvi. 17. The Psalmist likewise says, " The law " of the Lord is perfect ; the testimony of the Lord is sxire" Ps. xix. 7. And the prophet declares, " The Word of our God shall stand for ever" Isa. si. 8. Seeing then there is good reason to believe, that the Word of the Lord has been preserved to us entire as to every most minute particular, let us advert to the before-cited passage in Jeremiah, and try if we can discover the latent cause why in the original it is so expressed, as to appear to give the name of Jehovah to the city Jerusalem, wlien yet it must be admitted, that, strictly speaking, so divine a name can only belong to the Supreme God himself (See Ps, Ixxxiii. 18.) The passage is thus rendered: "In those " days shall Judah be saved, and Jerusalem shall dwell safely : and this " is the name wherewith she shall be called. The Lord oun RiGHXEors- •* NESS," Jer. xxxili. 16. The latter part of the verse may be more literally rendered thus : " And this is what he shall call her (or him,) Jehovah oub *' Justice." Li the first place it may be observed that the letter H in the Hebrew Is not only the common sign of the feminine gender, but that it will also bear a masculine signification, (as in Ps. cxxxii. 6, and elsewhere; see Note under art. 42, p. 134.) by reason of it's being taken from the name Jah or Jehovah, and therefore in the highest sense denoting Jehovah himself, that is, the Lord ; though in a subordinate sense it expresses a divine quality derived ' from him, and applied to the church, or to Jerusalem, according to it's state of reception. This signification, or reference to the Lord, is plainly confirm- ed by the context, as well as by it's collateral passage in Jer. xxiii. 5, 6 ; wherein mention is made of the Branch of righteousness, (or of justice,) of David, and of a King reigning, and executing judgment and justice in the earth : for no person, much less any city, as a mere habitation or assemblage •f men, can so properly be said to execute judgment and justice in the earth, as Jehovah, and especially Jehovah in the Humanity, that is, Jesus Christ, who is every-where meant by the Branch, by David, and by the promised King. Dd 210 A SEAL UPON THE LIPS OF What greater proof of the divinity of Jesus can be required!, or given, than such an assurance of the Eternal Truth ? He does But, besides these names, various others are made use of to represent the Lord, such as Moses, Aaron, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Israel, Judah, Joseph, Joshua, Zerubbabel, Cyrus, Sec. &c. ; to whom, on account of the high signifi- cation which they bear in the Word, divine attributes and qualities are frequent- ly ascribed, totallyincompatiblewith the characterof mere humanity belonging to the persons usually understood by those names. Thus, when it is said, that a poor but good man " was carried by angels into Abraham's bosom," Luke xvj. 22, it is plain, that by Abraham is not meant Abraham, but the Lord. And when the prophet, speaking of Israel as a child, writes, " Out of Eg}pt have " I called my Son," Hos. xi. 1, it is equally plain, that the Lord is understood, because the passage is so interpreted in Matt. ii. 15. And not qnly do persons represent the Lord, but places also, and inanimate things, do the same; as the temple, the tabernacle, the altar, &c. Now if the names of these persons, places, and things, are given representatively to the Lord; so reciprocally the name and attributes of the Lord are sometimes ap- plied to them. For example, it is written, "Is this house, -which is called fn/ •' my name, become a den of robbers ?" Jer. vii, 11, 14; chap, xxxii. 34. The same prophet also in the name of the people says, " Thou, O Jehovah, art in *' the midst of us, and wc are called by thy name" Jer. xlv. 9. And in his own person, as a representative of the Lord, he adds, " / am called by thy name, O " Jehovah God of hosts," Jer. xv. 16. Again it is said, " The house of Da- " vid shall be as God" Zech. xii. 8. And in the Psalms the members of the church are called Gods: '^ I have said, Ye are Gods; and all of you are chil- "drenof the Most High," Ps. lxxxii.6. The city Jerusalem is likewise call- ed "Jehovah there," Ezek. xlviii.35. What wonder then is it, if, in refe- rence to the presence of Jehovah in Jerusalem, or in his church and it's doc- trine, she should also be called Jehovah ouu Righteousness; seeing that by her name is meant her quality ,- and the quality of the church as a genuine, church is solely derived from Jehpvah, that is, from the Lord; he being in himself, and as received by his people, the whole and sole constituent of all their righteousness ? " This is the heritage of the servants of Jehovah ; and *' their righteousness is of me, saith Jehovah," Isa liv. 17. To which may be added what our Lord says of himself and his church, viz. that in a certain sense they may be considei'cd as one, because " he divelteth ?>» them, and they in "/«»)," John vi. 56; chap. xiv. 20, 21; chap. xv. 5, 7; chap. xvil. 21 to 23. But, as before observed, strictly and properly speaking, there is only One Di- vine Being, " whose name alone is Jehovau," and that is " the Most HigJi ^'- over all the earth," Ps. Ixxxjii. 18. UNITARIANS, TRINITARIANS, &c. 211 not simply assert his pre-existence before the days of Abraham, in the way that even Avians will acknowledge, that is, as still having relation to the successions of time, like a mere angel, a mere finite creature of yesterday; and therefore he says not, * Before Abraham was, I was ;' but, entering as it were into his pure Esse of life, he declares himself to be the Everlastitig I Jim, that fundamental and original root of all being, which, though present in all times, as well as in all spaces, (mere properties of created nature,) is yet infinitely above both time and space, bear- ing no relation whatever either to the successions of the one, or to the extension and mensurability of the other. Can the Being, who with all the authority of divine truth thus characterizes him- self as the one self-essent and self-existent God, be yet no other than a mere man, or a. mere creature of any description whatever? Common sense revolts at the question, and in a tone of most sig- nificant indignation replies, " It deserves no answer." Admitting that this great and holy God could and did conde- scend to clothe himself with our nature, and put on the appear^ tnce of simple humanity, does it follow, that for that reason he was actually and truly no more than what he appeared to be ? or that he had so far divested himself of his Divinity, as no longer to possess it even in his interior essence, because it was not at first to be discerned in his exterior form ? On the contrary, is it not more just to conclude, that the divine nature and essence must ever have been inseparable from him, notwithstanding the veil, whicli was mercifully drawn over it ? Is it not more reason- able also to expect, that occasionally, even during the time of such humiliation, he would plainly assert his divine character and It appears then from all these considerations, that, as divine giialities, which are denoted by divine names, are frequently in the Word ascribed to the church, by reason of her conjunction or spiritual marriage with the Lord her Husband, who thus honours her with a kind of participation i7i his glory, still in the inmost or supreme sense of the various passages, where such names or qualities are found so applied, the Lord alone is properly entitled to them, though in his divine love he is willing to communicate to liis people, accord* ingto their capacity of reception, all that he possesses in himself. £12 A SEAL UPON THE LIPS OF prerogatives, whensoever it seemed good to that inscrutable wis- dom, which lay concealed within him ? And lastly, is it to be wondered at, or is it to be doubted, as a thing exceeding and thereby confounding all faith, that the same God, after having performed the great work, for which he came down from heaven to earth, should at length lay aside that appearance of mere hu- manity, which he had assumed for a time, and return, by resur- rection and ascension, into that ineffable glory, which he had in himself before all worlds, and which now beams upon his creation witli a seven-fold splendor ? To obtain a right understanding of the Sacred Scriptures, es- pecially in reference to the Lord, his descent into the world by the assumption of our nature, his states of humiliation, temptation, and progressive glorification, till he finally returned to the Father, or Divine Essence, from which he came forth, it will on many oc- casions be found highly necessary to observe the distinction be- tween geniiiiie and apparent truths. The business of explanation, in almost all difficult points, consists in properly separating the one kind of tliese froni the other, and so arranging them in the naind, as to produce a consistent and harmonious view of divine revelation. The apparent trutlis are those in general, which first of all present themselves to the notice of man, and which, by their adaptation to his imperfect apprehension of heavenly things, either lead him on gradually to the genuine trutli, or else draw him away from it, according to the state and quality of his life. When they lead to genuine truth, they in process of time die. away of themselves, and are at last extinguished as it were by the presence of superior light. But when, on the contrary, they become the occasion of withdrawing the mind from the percep- tions of genuine trutli, and are confirmed by fallacious reasonings, they then spread a cloud of darkness over every subject of theo- logical inquiry, until not a single truth can be seen in it's purity. To assist those, who may be desirous of availing themselves of the distinction here alluded to, we annex the following Tables, which may serve as a kind of Key to unlock some of the doors belonging to the Temple of Wisdom, and so give access to the holy of holies within that temple. But to those, wlio have no de- UNITARIANS, TRINITARIANS, &c. 213 sire to enter, the Key will appear too simple in it's construction to merit their attention for a moment. They will therefore, after once looking at it, throw it away in contempt, and still remain in- capable of passing even the outer gate. THE KEY. TABLE I. Of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, as he is in himself, and as he appears to man, it may be truly said, according to the Sacred Scriptures, that, 1. He is lovft, and appears wisdom. 2. He is good, and appears truth. 3. He is spiritual fire, and appears spiritual light. 4. He is life itself, and appears an organ or reci- pient of life. 5. He is the fountain, and appears the stream. 6. He is the principal, and appears the instrument. 7. He is the giver, and appears the receiver. 8. He is the sender, and appears the sent. 9. He is infinite, and appears finite. 10. He is immense, and appears capable of measure, 11. He is eternal, and appears temporary. 12. He is immutable, ...*.... and appears mutable. 13. He is omnipotent, and appears infirm. 14. He is omniscient, and appears ignorant of some things. 15. He is omnipresent, and appears subject to locality, 16. He is divine, and appears human. 17. He is glorified, and appears crucified. 18. He is the owner of all > and appears destitute of every things, 5 thing. 19. He is the dispenser of > and appears hungry and thirsty [■ ot > food to the hungry, . . S himself. 214 A SEAL UPON THE LIPS OF 20. He is the Most High, and appears the Most Lowlj. 21. He is the Ancient of"^ days, whose goings 1 and appears the Son of Man forth were from of old, j born in time, from eternity, ^ 22. He is the King, and appears the minister. 23. He is the Sovereign, and appears the messenger. 24. He is Lord and Master,. . . and appears a servant. 25. He is the Husband, and appears a brother. 26. He is the Creator, and appears a creature. 27. He is the Parent, and appears a Child. 28. He is the Father, and appears the Son. 29. He is God, and appears Man. 30. He is Jehovah, and appears Jesus. TABLE IL Again, of the same Divine Being, as Jehovah, it may also be said from the Sacred Scriptures, that, 1. He is a friend, and appears an enemy. "^ and appears partial in his fa- 2. He is good to all with- { , ^. , ° . J> vours, electing some, and out exception, • . ^. ,, ^ J rejecting others. 3. He is merciful, and appears angry. 4. He is compassionate, and appears vindictive. 5. He is tender, and appears terrible in judg- ment. G. He is a Saviour, and appears a punisher and de- stroyer. 7- He is a forgiver of sins, . . . and appears to require an atone- ment for thern. 8. He is always ready to ^ and appears at times deaf to in- answer prayer, 5 treaty. 9. He is a sun of righteous- "^ ness for ever shining I and appears to hide his face on the evil and on the | from the disobedient, good, J UNITARIANS, TRINITARIANS, &c. 215 ■^ and appears several, by reason 10. He is One both in es- ! of the variety of names sence and in person, . , « which characterize him. The preceding Tables might each be enlarged with examples of a similar kind : but these are amply sufficient to shew the na- ture of appearances, both of the higher and of the lower order, which form the most usual language of the written Word, and for want of distinguishing which from more interior genuine truths so many errors have inundated the Christian church. The Jews knew nothing of the distinction above pointed out : hence it was, that when our Lord plainly asserted his genuine character, by saying to them, " Before Abraham was, /,^m," they immediate- ly " took up stones to cast at him." But the consequence was, that " Jesus, hid himself, and went out of the temple, going through '' the midst of them, and so passed by," ver. 59. So it appears, that in the present day Christians, so called, have scarce any more interior knowledge of Jesus, than the Jews had formerly : for when it is openly proclaimed in their ears, that he is the Ever- living Jehovah, or God the Father Himself, which is no more that an echo of his own words, when he says, " Before Abra- " ham was, I Am," they in like manner take up stones, (spiritual- ly understood,) and cast at him, by denying that he is the Great Personage, whom such language exclusively describes. What wonder then is it, that Jesus should now spiritually hide himself from Christians, as he did before literally from Jews,and depart out of their temple, going through the midst of them, and so jmss by ? There is no doubt, that it has actually so happened ; and in- deed that the temple has fallen to the ground during his absence; while the builders and dilapidators, the buyers and sellers of ox- en, sheep, and doves, the table-keepers and changers of money, together with the carriers of vessels, (Matt. xxi. 12. Mark xi. 15, 16. John ii. 15, 16.) each one disputing with his neighbour about the altar, the ark, and the testimony, the gold, the silver, and the brazen utensils, the table, the candlesticks, the flowers, the lamps, the tongs, the bowls, the snuffers, the basons, the spoons, the censers, the hinges of the doors, the lavers, the sho-i 216 A SEAL UPON THE LIPS OF vels, the pots, and whatever else belonged to the house, as well as about the costly stones and other materials of the outward structure, (1 Kings vii. 9 to 11, 40, 48 to 50.) are (in too many instances) busily employed in purloining and secreting for them- selves the scattered wealth and riches of the place. (Isa. Ivi. 11.) Sound doctrine and a suitable life can alone restore the fallen tem- ple, and cause Jerusalem to become " a quiet habitation, a taberna- " cle that shall not be taken down :" of which it may then be said, that " not one of the stakes thereof shall ever be removed, neither " shall any of the cords thereof be broken. But there the glori- " ous Jehovah will be unto us a place of broad rivers and "streams. For Jehovah is our Judge, Jehovah is our Law- " giver, Jehovah is our King ; he will save us," Isa. xxxiii. 20 to 24. [93.] John X. 14, 16. " I am the good Shepherd, and know my " sheep, and am known of mine. And other sheep I have, which " are not of this fold : them also I must bring, and they shall hear " my voice ; and there shall be one fold, and One Shepherd,''^ Let this passage be compared with those in the Old Testament, which so decidedly teach, that the great Shepherd of souls is no other than their Creator and Preserver. David emphatically says, »' Jehovah is my Shepherd, I shall not want: he maketh me to " lie down in green pastures ; he leadeth me beside the still wa- " ters : he restoreth my soul : he leadeth me in the paths of righte- " ousness for his name's sake," Ps. xxiii. 1 to 3. Isaiah likewise declares to the same purpose: "Behold, the Lord Jehovih* ♦ The reader is requested to observe the distinction here made between Je- aoTiH (spelt with an I) and Jehovah (spelt, as is usual, with an A.) When- ever the name Jehovah is used alone, or singly precedes the term God, or Ze- 3A0TH, which signifies ahmies or hosts, in all such cases the word is uniform- ly spelt with an A in the original Hebrew ; thus Jehovah, Jehovah God, Je- hovah Zebaoth, or Jehovah of hosts. But whenever this name of Deity is preceded by the term Lobd (Adonai,) without any affix to tlus latter, it is UNITARIANS, TRINITARIANS, &c. 217 " will come with strong hand : he shall feed his flock like aShep' <' herd : he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in *' his bosom, and shall gently lead tliose tliat are with young," Isa. xl. 10, 11. Similar is the language of Ezekiel, chap, xxxiv. 11, 13 to 16. Consider now ; the pious and sincere among mankind, or the true members of the church universal, wheresoever scattered over the face of the earth, and whatever may be their religious creeds or professions, are called, both by Jehovah, and by Jesus, his flock, his sheep, which shall be collected together into one fold, and thus brought to acknowledge only One Shepherd, if not in the present life, most assuredly in that which is to come. But which of the two names shall in the end be received and confes- sed by the church ? Only one answer, consistent with the whole tenour of divine revelation, can be given to this question ; which then always spelt with an I, instead of an A ; thus. Lord Jehovih (Adonai Jehovih,) and never Lonu Jehovah (Adonai Jehovah.) The words Lord Je- hovah in Isa. xii. 2 ; and in chap. xxvi. 4, ought to have been rendered Jah Jehovah. From a careful examination of every verse in the Sacred Scrip- tures, that is, in the genuine books of the Word, (see Note under art. 136.) we find, that Adonai Jehovih occurs 297 times; Adonai Jehovih Zebaoth, 15 times ; Jehovih Adonai, 5 times ; Adon Jehovah Zebaoth, 4 times ; and Adon Jehovah, once. In our English bibles the translaters have almost always rendered the name Jehovah by the word Lord, printed in capital letters : but the name Jehovih they have perhaps invariably rendered God, printed also in capital letters, as in Ps. Ixviii. 20. Ps, Ixix. 6. Isa. xl. 10 ; chap. 1. 4, 5,7,9; chap. Ixi. 1. Jer. xxxii. 17, 25. Ezek. ii. 4 ; chap. ili. 11, 27 ; and in forty other chapters of the same prophet. Amos iv. 2, 5. Obad. 1 ; Zeph. i. 7 ; 5cc. &c. &c. However, many of the editions of the bible are found to be very incorrect in the above particulars ; though the rule, which the translators laid down for themselves, seems pretty evident. We may in conclusion remark, that the term Jehovah is expressive of the divine essence generally ; but the term Jehovih, of the same divine essence with specific relation to the attribute of omnipotence, as is plain from Isa. xl. 10 : " Behold, the Lord Jehovih will come with strong hand, and his arm " shall rule for him." And from Ps. Ixxi. 16 : <' I will go in the strength of " the Lord Jehovih." Ee 218 A SEAL UPON THE LIPS OF 16, That both will be acknowledged as belonging to one and the same ever-blessed and ever-adorable Parent and Preserver of an- gels and men ; the name Jehovah denoting the yet immanifested Divinity, and the name Jesus the same Divinity now become in- carnate. Thus both names and characters shall henceforth be for ever united in that one most expressive, most endearing, and divinely-approved name— -The Lord, — which in the supreme sense belongs only to him, who was and is Jehovah in the human form, God Himself manifested in the flesh. And herein also, even in an external sense, is fulfilled the prophecy, which says» " In that day Jehovah shall be One, and his name One,^^ Zech. xiv. 9. This then is the One Good Shepherd, whose voice shall alone be heard in every mountain, hilJ, and valley of the church, until at length not one of his sheep, not one of his people, shall have occasion to say to another, " Know the Lord,'"' but they shall all, from the least of them even unto the greatest of them, know? followy and worship him alone. [94.] John X. 15, 18. "I lay down my life for the sheep. wVo " man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself: I have "power to lay it down, and / have power to take it again.'^ Is this the language of a mere man, bidding defiance to the united powers of all other men to deprive him of life ? It cannot be. Again, what finite being, after laying down and thus relin- quishing his life in the natural world, can at pleasure re-assiime it in another and more perfect state, purely by virtue of his own power? " I have power (says Jesus) to lay down my life, and " I have power to take it again.^^ Comment is unnecessary, when the thing speaks for itself. [95.] John X. Sr to 30. " My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. And / give unto them eternal life^ UNITARIANS, TRINITARIANS, &c. Sl9 '^ and they shall never perish, neither shall any pluck them out " of my hand. My Father, who gave them vie, is greater than " all : and none is able to pluck them out of my Father^s hand. *< I and my Father are One. They who follow and acknowledge Jesus, are here denomina- ted his sheep ; and he says, " I give unto them eternal life, nei- •-' ther shall any pluck them out of my hand.^^ But he adds, that none is able to pluck them out of his Father^s hand, although he at the same time declares, that the Father had given them to him* It may well be asked, How can the sheep be in the hands of the Father, and also in the hands of Jesus, if they are two separate and distinct persons ? If the Father had delivered them up into the hands 0/ Jesus, why is it still said, that none can pluck them out of the Father'' s hand, just as if no mention whatever had been previously made of any transfer ? The apparent difficulty of the case is completely removed, first, by the Lord's own words, which immediately succeed ; and secondly, and more fully, by the true sense, which he has elsewhere taught us to put upon his words. " I and my Father (says he) ai'e One.^^ This i s the solution, which is illustrated by the consideration, that, as the soul of a man transfers all it's powers and energies to the body, yet without suffering any diminution of either, so the Father, or the Essential Divinity, transfers to his Son Jesus, or the Divine Humanity, all his omnipotence, for the sole purpose of protecting and defending his people, yet without divesting himself of any one of his divine attributes. For still, after all that has been said, or can be said, on the subject, the Father and Jesus are, both in essence and in person, indivisibly one and the same Gro^Z, just as the soul and the body are indivisibly one and the same man. I [96.] John X. 33. The Jews said unto Jesus, " For a good ** work we stone thee not ; but for blasphemy, and because that ■■' thou, being a Man, must therefore be a ditlerence of rank ; and this implies, that in two of the divine persons some attribute or quality must be wanting, which is to be found only in the first and supreme : not to mention the converse of the argument, that there must also be wanting some attribute or quality in the first person, which is possessed only by the second or third. And hence it may be seen, that a faith directed to any one of the subordinate pei-sons, separately from the first in rank,or indeed to thefirst,and not at the same time tb the two others, cannot ])c said to embrace the whole Deity, but only a ct^rtain portion of it. The misery of this scheme is. that UNITAIUANS, TRINITARIANS, &c. QAT by dividing it destroys the Divine Unity, and renders the faith, that it recommends, as vain and inefficient, as a faith in any mere man, or in any mere angel. Seeing tlien that the various kinds or qualities of faith above specified are not such as we are called upon by the Scriptures to exercise, in reference to Jesus; and yet it isdeclared, that when the Comforter is come, he will reprove the world of sin, because they believe not on him ; it follows, that the true faith consists in acknowledging Him alone as the One Supreme and Om- nipotent God ; and that every deviation from this acknowledg- ment, whether it be by making him a mere man, or the first of created angels, or even a second person in what is very improper- ly called the Divine Trinity, is, in it's degree, no less that an ac-r tual sin, a breach of the divine law, which severely prohibits us from serving any other God than One, or from so much as lifting up an eye or a thought, much less the aifections of the heart, in the way of faith and worship, to any other Object than the Divine Man Jesus Christ. [112.] John xvi. 14. « He [the Spirit of truth] shall glorify me : for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you." The Spirit of truth may be said to glorify Jesus, whensoever it is demonstrated by the true sense of the Sacred Scriptures, which is the genuine light of heaven, that he alone is God, the fountain and source of all that is good, and true, and holy, in the church. It is added, " He shall receive of mine ;" by which we are to understand, that the Spirit of truth, which is the Holy Spi- rit, shall proceed from him. But as nothing holy can proceed from any being in heaven or on earth, save from the Lord God Almighty, who in Apoc. xv. 4, is declared to be " alone holy,'^ it follows, that Jesus is and must be that same Lord God Al- mighty, of whom David also writes, when he says, " Holy and " reverend is his name," Ps. cxi. 9. This is further confirmed by the coincidence observable in the before-cited verse of the Apoca- 348 A SEAL UPON THE LIPS OF lypse with the passage in the Gospel. Jesus says in the Gospel, *• He [the Spirit of truth] shall glorifi/ me ;" and in the Apoca- lypse it is written, " Who sliall not fear thee, O Lokd, and glo- »■* rify thy name/ for thou onbj art /to/y." [113.] John xvi. 15. '^ All things that the Father hath, are mine.-' No description of Deity, as applicable to Jesus, can go beyond this, because it includes, almost in one word, every attribute, power, and perfection, which tlie human mind can conceive of, as in any way appertaining to the Supreme God. Nay more, it em- braces (if language in any respect can be said to do so) that in- finity of perfection, which only to think of overwhelms the capa- city of man, and sinks him as it were into nothing. How far above the character of a mere man, or a mere creature of any name, must He be, who, looking at the purely divine essence, and able to sustain it within himself in all it's intensity of vital fire, collects as it were it's scattered rays into the burning focus of his heart, and for ever concentrates within the bosom of Huma- nity, all the energies, powers, virtues, and nameless perfections of the self-existent, sole-existent, and eternal Divinity ! Yet such is the high character assumed by Jesus. Whatsoever of infinity, immensit3% and eternity ; wliatsoever of love, wisdom, and life, in their first and purest principles, as M'ell as in their last and lowest effects, belongs to the great Parent of the uni^ verse, he claims as his own ! If the Father be omnipotent, om- niscient, and omnipresent, ruling the heavens above, and the earth below, together with all things that have existence either in ihe spiritual or in the natural world ; the same power and sove- reignty are in the hands of Jesus. By the breath of his mouth were tlicy created, and for his pleasure they exist. Apoc. iv. 11. John i. 5, 10. In short, all things, which belong to the Father, or Essential Divinity, without any exception whatever, belong to, and are the UNITARIANS, TRINITARIANS, &c. 249 right of, Jesus the S071, or the Divine Humanity. For as the bodif of a living man possesses and exercises all the powers and energies of the soul, so in like manner, but infinitely above the comparison, does the Humanity, called Jesus, possess and ex- ercise all the powers and perfections of the Divinity, called the Father. [114.] John xvii. 3. "This is life eternal, that they might *' know Thee the only true God and Jesus Christ, whom thou " hast sent."* Nothing can be more full in proof of the supreme divinity of Jesus, in the way maintained by the New Church, than these words, when properly understood ; although most unaccountably even Unitarians quote them in support of a contrary doctrine. Life eternal is here stated to consist in two things, viz. first, in the knowledge of the Father, who is called the only true God; and, secondly, in the knowledge of Jesus Christ, whom he hath sent. The first part of the proposition, namely, the knowledge of the only true God, will be readily admitted by all, as a most essential constituent of life eternal. But on a supposition that Jesus is a mere man, how strange must it appear, to find it as- serted and insisted upon, that the knowledge of hint is to the full as necessary and as essential to oui* future happiness and well- beings as the knowledge even of the only true God! If Jesus be no more than a prophet, like Moses, or Elijah, or Jonah, or Amos, delegated and commissioned by another, who is God, to deliver his will and word, what virtue can there be in the knowledge of him, any more than of them? Or what conceivable benefit can arise from the equal consideration of a worm and of the great Jiu' thor of all being? The thought is too degrading, too mean, to * A fuller explanation of this passage, with reference toil's Soclnian inter- pretation, may be seen in Mr. Hindmarsh's Lcttefs to Dr. Priestley, page I i 250 A SEAL lypON THE LIPS O^ bear any affinity with the truth of revelation : for this inccssaiiL- ly teaches, that in all our approaches towards Deity there must be no association of the creature with the Creator, no acknow- ledgment of any other saving power, than that which is purely divine. How then are we to understand our Lord's words, consistently M'ith all those lessons of wisdom, which he has so repeatedly laid down for our use ? It cannot for a moment be doubted, but, if we view the two propositions above stated in their true and ge- nuine light, the harmony, beauty, and importance of both will ap- pear most evident. The Sacred Scriptures abundantly teach us, that by the term Father, who is called the only true God, is meant the divine essence, or pure Divinity, in itself invisible and unapproachable ; and by the term Son, or Jesus Christ, who is said to be sent, because conceived from the Father, is understood the divine form, or Divine Humanity, \isih\e and approachable, as the proper medium of access to the Divinity. Under this point of view it is easy to discern tlie true reason why it is said, that life eternal consists in knowing both the Father and Jesus Christ the Son : for if the Fatherhe like the soul or essence, and the Son like the body or form, then the knowledge of the one will be as essential and as necessary, as the knowledge of the otlier ; since both together constitute only one and the same God, as the soul and body constitute only one and the same man. Or, if we descend still lower in the scale of creation, and take up the first of the inanimate subjects of nature, for illustration of the same truth, it may be clearly comprehended, that, as on the presence of the sun, by means of tlie rays of light and heat, which proceed from it, and whicli are also in a manner continuous with it, depends the natural life of vegetables and of animals in this world ; so comparatively, yet again infinitely above the compari- son, on the presence or acknowledgment of the divine love, which is spiritual fire, and is called the Father sending forth the Son, and of the divine ivisdom, whicli is spiritual light, and is called the Son coining forth from the Father, entirely depends the spi- l^ual and eternal life of man in the world to come. UNITARIANS, TRINITARIANS, &c. 251 ]Many other similitudes, in the way of illustration, might be collected from the wide theatre of nature, all tending to confirm the great truths of revelation : but none of them will be found so perfect in it's kind, and so satisfactory to the view, as those which we have now brought forward, especially the first. For the more we depart from the contemplation of man, who alone was created in the perfect image and likeness of his Maker, to any of the other forms or subjects of nature, the further removed from the original source of life do we perceive all the analogies, correspon- dences, and images of spiritual things. And hence no picture can be presented tp the mind so truly, so clearly, and so fully ex- planatory of the Scripture doctrine of the Father and the Son^ their distinction, and yet their tinity and identity, as the parallel which we have so repeatedly drawn between those two names of Deity, and the soul and body of an individual man. We do not here speak of the analogy subsisting between the Holy Spirit and the jjroceeding operation of man, because the passage in John, which we are now endeavouring to illustrate, makes no mention whatever of the Holy Spirit. And this omis- sion is itself at least a strong presumptive proof, in opposition to the Trinitarian system, that the Holy Spirit is not a divine per* son separate and distinct from the Father and the Son. For were he such a distinct person ; and were all the three persons toge- ther necessary to make up the complete Godhead, or in other words, one entire God, the knowledge of whom is declared to be life eternal ; then surely, it is reasonable to expect, the Holy Spi- rit would have been expressly named, as well as the other two persons. But nothing of the kind appears : not a word is said of the necessity of knowing this supposed third person, but only of knowing the Father and Jesus Christ. " This is life eternal, *' that they might know Thee the only true God, and Jesus " Christ whom thou hast sent." Instead of a Triad, here is only a Duad, which, so far from agreeing with the tri'personal scheme, leads us at once to detect it's fallacy, and to see that it is both a gratuitous and a useless invention. For all that man spiritually stands in need of, being eternal life, is to be obtained by the knowledge of two things, 252 A SEAL UPON THE LIPS OF viz. the divine good called the Father, and the divine truth call- ed the Son; besides which there are, and can be, no other con- ceivable principles of life either in heaven or on earth, capable of yielding permanent happiness to the human mind. The various modes, mediums, and accommodations, hy which this saving know- ledge is brought to man, whether through the presence and in- strumentality of angelic spirits, themselves already under the in- fluence of holy truth, or through instruction from the Word, and from other writings illustrative of it, form another subject of con- sideration, not required to be distinctly noticed by our Lord in the passage above cited, but which are nevertheless involved in the very knowledge there spoken of. Hence we see, that the Father and the Son, united in one, in- clude all that can in strict propriety be held up to view as a visi- ble Object of worship, or as a personal concentration of all the di- vine attributes and perfections. From this personal Object in- deed proceeds a sphere of divine influence, operating upon all who in any ^neasure become susceptible of it, according to their several degrees and capacities of reception : and this sphere of holiness, as entering into, illuminating, and blessing angels, spi- rits, and men, is what is properly meant by the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of truth, and the Comforter, which shall lead and guide into all necessary and saving truth. But still no other Object, as an Object, than the Es&ential Divinity called the Father, and the Divine Humanity called the Son, united together in one visible and glorijied person, can ever engage the direct, immediate, and proper worship of the creature. Whereas, on a supposition of there being absolutely three distinct persons in the constitution of One God, as taught by Trinitarians, it is a most unaccountable circumstance, that Jesus, who came into the world, among other things, for the very purpose of revealing and manifesting the eii' tire God, should yet, in stating the conditions of eternal life as above, have altogether omitted the mention of any third person, who, in the estimation of Trinitarians, is at least one third part of Deity, and as essential a part too as either of the others, being co-eternal, and in otlier respects co-equal with both the Father and the Son. UNITARIANS, TRINITAIIIANS, &c. 253 It is impossible, therefore, with our eyes in any degree open to the light of truth, for a moment to give countenance to any such idea, as either a trinity or a duality of divine persons in the Godhead. But at the same time we are constrained to acknow- ledge, that, wheresoever in the Word we are led to contemplate a divine duality, t]\a.t is, a nominal distinction between Jehovah and the Messiah, as in Moses and the Prophets; between the Fa- ther and the Son, as in the Gospels ; or between God and the Lamb, the Lord and his Christ, as in the Apocalypse ; in each of tliese cases we are to understand the invisible Divinity and the visible Humanity of one and the same God, which also coin- cide with his divine love and his divine ivisdom, or his divine good and his divine truth. And again, whensoever we meet with expressions, that evi- dently announce a divine trinity, we are in like manner con- strained to refer them to one only person, to one only Object of our love and worship ; considering, that they are intended to point out to us, first of all, the two essentials of love and wisdom, or of Divinity and Humanity, already named, and in addition thereto a third essential, consisting of both the former in action^ operation, or use. Precisely as a man may be said to consist, in the first place, of two human essentials, called his soul and his body, and in addition thereto of a third essential, the effect or re- sult of the two former, and called his proceeding action or opera- tion. If now with these views of the two constituent principles of man, who bears, or was created to bear, the image and likeness of God, we turn to the passage, where our Lord teaches us to look up to the Father and to /iinise// conjointly for salvation and eter- nal life, we shall clearly perceive the genuine sense intended to he conveyed, namely, that, instead of directing our thoughts to the cor templation of two distinct Objects or Beings, the one di- vine, and the other merely human, his words resolve themselves at once into the plain and simple idea of knowing, acknowledging, and adoring the One Jehovah God alone in his Divide or Gto- AiFiED Humanity. '254 A SEAL UPON THE LIPS OF [115.] John xvii. 5. " And now, O Father, glorify thou me with " thine own selj\ with the glory which I had with tliee before the *' world it'fls." Two most important considerations arise out of these words. The first is, that Jesus was capable of being so far glorified, as to be united even with the very (Se^/* of Jehovah the Father, that is, with the pure and naked Divinity. Now no mere man, no an- gel, no created being, can for a single moment endure such in- tense glory, as that must be, which belongs to the personal as- semblage of all the divine perfections, every one of which is infi- nite and eternal. From this consideration, therefore, it follows, that Jesus, who was capable of entering into a glory inaccessible to all others, and thus of dwelling in the very bosom or centre of Divinity, could be no other than a Being infinitely surpassing every created intelligence both in dignity of cliaracter and sa- credness of person. And being thus infinitely elevated above all that bears the name of creature, he could not have been less than God himself, who, after having laid his glory aside for a time, and humbled himself to assume a terrestrial humanity, again returned into that glory inconceivable, which he had before all worlds, and which, breaking forth with increased splendor both in heaven and in the church, caused " the light of the moon " to be as the light of the sun, and the light of tUe sun to be se- " ven-fold, as the light of seven days," Isa. xxx. 26. The next most important doctrine arising out of the passage before us is, the pre-existence of Jesus before the creation of the world. ^' Glorify thou me (says he to the Father) with thine own *' self, with the glory which I had with thee before the world ivas" Could a mere man have had any existence before the creation of the world ? Where could he have placed his foot, when as yet there was neither space, nor time, nor matter ? neither firmament above, nor earth beneath ? neither light, nor heat, nor any one- comfort to support and continue his existence ? Nay, could any angd, archangel, seraph, or other created power, have been brought into being, before there was a world (either spiritual or UNITARIANS, TRINITARIANS, &c. 255 natural) provided to hold or contain him ? Must not a house be built, before it can receive an inhabitant ? So must not the creation of the world have taken place, before any finite, rational being could have been formed, to occupy a part of it?* But He, who could * It is in agreement with every law of divine order, that the ultimate or lowest base of existence be first provided, before the end .of creation can be obtained. The end of creation is the angelic heaven, to be formed out of the human race, which may (if possible) bear some kind of respect to it's infinite Creator : and this respect to the infinite Creator can only be produced by the inrlefinite and never-ceasing increase of it's inhabitants, as well as by their eternal advances in mental excellency and perfection. Hence, 1. It became necessary to create, by means of the sun and atmospheres, spiritual and natu- ral, a terraqueous globe, which by successive changes and revolutions, both annual and diurnal, might in due time be prepared as a fit soil to receive the future herbage, before any kind of vegetable seeds could be formed. 2. It became necessary, that the waters of the globe should in a great degree be separated from the land, collected together, and portioned out into oceans, seas, lakes, rivers, &c. &c. before any kind of fishes could be produced to in- habit them. 3. It became necessary also, that a plentiful supply of plants^ herbs, and vegetables of every description should be provided, before animals in general could be formed, in order that, when brought into existence, they might immediately have the opportunity of selecting their proper sustenance. 4. It was necessary again, that, in addition to the mineral and vegetable king- doms of nature, animals or living creatures, in all their varieties, should have - been formed for the service and use of the future man, before he could make his appearance on the theatre of creation. 5. And it was also necessary, that, when all things conducive to the well-being and comfort of man were thus provided, he should at length be ushered into the natural world, as a preli- minary stage of existence, where a ground might first be laid for his acquisi- tion of science, intelligence, and wisdom, before he could become a purely spiritual and celestial being, in other words, fitybre he could become an angel, or an inhabitant of heaven. Thus we perceive, that, while the great eiid of creation, namely, the ex^ istence of an angelic heaven, wherein the Creator may be known and adored, is first and principally held in contemplation by the Divine Mind, it is yet last of all attained, because the means or steps requisite to promote it must of necessity precede. From this view of the order, according to which all the divine operations are conducted, it may plainly appear, that no angels either were created, or indeed could have been created originally as ongeLi, and so placed immedi' 256 A SEAL UPON THE LIPS OF and did exist before the creation of the world, who needs no sun to lighten his steps, because he is the light itself, and who stoops down to behold the things which are in time and space, nay, which are in the heavens above time and space, comes not within the description of any limited intelligence, whether human or an- gelic ; but being originally and independently life in himself , and thus truly and properly self-existent, can be considered in no other light, than as the great Builder of the universe, from eter- nity to eternity the same unchangeable and adorable God. Having already repeatedly explained the distinction, which is observed in many parts of the Sacred Scriptures, between the Father and the Son, the Divinity and the Humanity, the divine essence and the divine form, the divine love and the divine wis- dom, the divine good and the divine truth, it is the less necessary to dwell upon it on the present occasion. It may however be proper to remark, that, as the assumption of the human nature in the world, by the descent of the Lord in the capacity of divine truth proceeding from divine good called the Father, was with him a state of humiliation, or obscuration of his former glory, so the return of the same to the Father, or the reciprocal unition of the Father with the Son, and of the Son with the Father, is what 13 meant by the glorification both of the one and the other.^ Hence it is written, " Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God " is glorified in him. If God be glorified in him, God shall also '' glorify him in himself, and shall straiglitway glorify him," John xiii. 31, 32. Again, " Whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that atelij in a heavenly or angelic state of perfection ; neither do the Scriptures any where teach or inculcate such a doctrine : but they must first of all have been so formed, as to acquire a kind of natural basis for themselves, not only that they might become permanent in their existence, but that they might :tIso/)-om such basis he successively advancing in wisdom and happiness to eternity. And hence it further appears, that what is frst in point of time, is last in point of dignity and consideration ; and, on the centrar}-, that what is last in time, is yet the Jirst in end or view, being that to which all prior states had respect, and for the sake of which they were permitted to exist. So true, even in this respect, are the words of our Lord, where he says, "The " last shall be frst, and the first last," Matt. sx. 16. UNITARIANS, TRINITARIANS, &c. 257 " will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the «Siow," John xiv. 13. And again " Father, the hour is come ; glorify thy Son, <' tliat thy Son also may glorify thee^^^ John xvii. 1. Now that this glory, which is given by the Father to the Son, is not a glory transferred from himself to another separate and distinct being, which would be the case, if Jesus were not one and the same with the Father, is evident also from the solemn de- claration of Jehovah by the prophet Isaiah : " I am Jehovah, " that is my name, and my glory will I not give to another,''"' Isa. xlii. 8. It follows then, w^hen the Father glorified the Son, that he actually and literally glorified himself; since the Father and the Son, or the Divinity and the Humanity, together constitute only one and the same Divine Person. [II6.3 John xvii. 10. "*5f/ mine are thine, and thine are mine^ *' and I am glorified in them." This is the language of Jesus to the Father, and it involves all that has been said on similar words in John xvi. 15, " Jill " things that the Father hath, are mine." But in the present pas- sage iL is further declared, that all things, which belong to Jesus, are also the Father's : by which, in conjunction with the other part of the verse, we are given to understand, that the union be- tween the Father and the Son, or the Divinity and the Humanity, was mutual and reciprocal ; and consequently, that, as all the characters of Divinity attach to the Humanity, so on the other hand all the characters of Humanity do in like manner attach to the Divinity. And hence we conclude, as the first, the last, and the greatest of all revealed truths, being that to which all others either directly or indirectly refer, That there is nothing in the divine nature, but what tends to the human form, and may be truly .said to be humanized in the divine person of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ; whileagain there is nothing in the human nature, but what injiim also bears the character and impression of the divine essence, and therefore must ever be regarded as entirely Kk 258 A SEAL UPON THE LIPS OF divi nixed. Thus in Jesus Christ alone God is altogether JIan, and Man is altogether God. Sucli is the doctrine of the true Christian religion ; and any thing short of this deserves not to be honoured with the name of Christ ianiti/. It may perhaps be supposed from the verses preceding that above explained, that tlie words mine and thine refer to persons f and not to things, that is, to those disciples wlio followed Jesus, and who are said, ver. 6, to have been given to him by the Fa- ther out of the world. But though these are allowed to be in- cluded in the expressions, and though, as the first-fruits of the Christian cliurch, they represented all who were afterwards to become Christians, and who therefore might be called equally the children of Jesus and of the Father ; yet in the original Greek tlie words are in the neuter gender, and clearly imply, that all things belonging to Jesus are the property of the Father, and that all things belonging to the Father are in like manner the property of Jesus. The reciprocal union between them, like that of the soul with the body, and of the body with the soul, best explains the true meaning of the passage. [lir.] John xviii. So, 36, 37. " Pilate called Jesus, and said "unto him, Art thou the King of the Jews .^ Jesus answered, ^' My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this " world, then would my servants fight; that I should not be de- " livered to the Jews. Pilate therefore said unto him. Art thou " a R'ing then f Jesus answered, Thou gayest that I am a King.^^ From this passage it appears most evidently, that Jesus was a King ; for (agreeably to the idiom of the original language) he plainly acknowledges himself to be such. That he was also the King of the Jews, seems equally to be admitted by him : and the superscription upon the cross, tliough written by Pilate, and objected to by the chief priests, John xix. 21, perfectly coincides with the title and character given him at the time of»his birth by the wise mea, who came from the east to Jerusalem, saying, UNITARIANS, TRINITARIANS, &c. 259 ** "Where is he that is born King of the Jews ? for we have seen "his star in the east, and are come to worship him,^^ Matt. ii. 2. It agrees again with the words of the prophet referred to and con- firmed by the Evangelists, where it is written, " Rejoice greatly, '' O daughter of Zion ; shout, daughter of Jerusalem: behold, '' thy King cometh unto thee : he is just, and having salvation, ** lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an " ass," Zech. ix. 9. Matt. xxi. 5. John xii. 15. But at the same time Jesus declares, tliat his kingdom is not of this icorld. Then it must be of the spiritual world ; for there are only two worlds in existence, the spiritual and the natural. In the natural world there are many kings ; but in the spiritual world there is only One King, and he is called King of kings, and Lord of lords. The title is truly applicable to the ever-living Jehovah of hosts, whom David calls " a great King above all gods," Ps. xcv. 3 : and yet it is expressly given to Jesus as the Lamb, Apoc. xvii. 14 ; and again to the same Jesus as the Wokd, under the de- scription of a Man, chap. xix. 16. If now Jesus assumes to himself the title and character of King, and further declares, that his kingdom is established in that world where all is spiritual, and above what is natural ; and if moreover it appears from other testimonies of Holy Writ, as well as from the reasonableness of the thing itself, that there is oiily One King of saints and angels, and that the great Jehovah him- self is that King ; then no other conclusion can be drawn from the premises, than that Jesus and Jehovah are one and the same eternal and omnipotent King of Glory. This great doctrine, however, though most evidently the very truth of divine revelation, we are sensible will not be admitted by every professor of the Christian name. For with some minds an almost insuperable objection lies against the possibility of any being in the form of a Man exercising the just prerogatives of Deity. And although tliese are expressly ascribed, in many pai ts of the Scriptures, to our Saviour Jesus Christ, still an incredu- lous abatement in the acknowledgment of his high title too often leaves no other idea of his person, than that of simple humanity. Tt is now «s it was in ancient times: when the first king of Israel AGO A SEAL UPON THE LIPS OF was announced and proclaimed to the people, " the cliildren of " Belial said, How shall this Man save us ? And they despised « him, and brought him no presents,^'' 1 Sam. x. 27. So in the present day also, when the Great Personage, whom Saul and the other kings of Israel represented, is actually announced and pro- claimed to Christians as their rightful and only Sovereign, too many are to be found among them, who in like manner may be said to despise him, to with-hold from him their expected pre- sents of allegiance and worship, and in spirit to say, " How can *' this Man save us .►"' " We will not have this Man to reign *' over us," Luke xix. 14. And here, as an occasion is given, we are led to notice an opi- nion very prevalent among both Unitarians and Trinitarians, re- lative to the kingdom, of which our Saviour speaks, and of which also he claims to be the great King. The Apostle Paul, in his first Epistle to the Corinthians, chap. xv. 24 to 28, observes con- cerning Christ, the Son of God, that he will, at the period call- ed the end, which he appears to fix at or soon after his second advent, " deliver up the kingdom to God even the Father ; when " he shall have put down all rule, and all authority and power. " For (he continues) he must reign %intil he hath put all enemies " under his feet." And he concludes this view of the subject bj saying, that, " when all things shall be subdued unto him, then " shall the Son also himself be subject unto him (the Father J ^' that put all things under him, that God may be all in alV^ From the terms and manner, in which this passage is express- ed, three things have been inferred, which are as follow; 1. That Jesus is a King. 2. That he will continue to reign as a King in Ms Kingdom for a certain period only, viz. until he shall have put down all rule, authority, and power, that is, until he shall have conquered and subdued all his enemies. And, 5. That, af- ter this great work shall have been accomplished by him, then he himself (the Son) shall resign his power, his authority, and his crown, and become subject to God the Father, in common with the rest of his children, in order that God may be all in all ; in other words, that Jesus, after having been advanced to princely power and pre-eminence over the rest of liis brethren for a limited UNITARIANS, TRINITARIANS, &,c. S6l time, shall in the end resign his honours, or be deprived of his high distinction, that no other being but the Supreme Gad him- self maj be contemplated and adored.* • The late learned Dr. Anseim Bailt, who wjts Sub-Dean of Westminster, »nd a great advocate for the doctrine of a trinity of divine persons in the Godhead, very frequently had occasion to visit me when I lived in Clerken- well, London. Many times did the Doctor expatiate on the great advantages derived from the merits and sufferings of Jesus Christ, the second person (as he called him) in the divine trinity; and from his mediation and inter- cession with the Father in behalf of his people, which he said would be con- tinued in iheit favour even after they were comfortably settled in heaven. On a particular occasion, " Oh !" exclaimed he in rapture, " when I arriij« " in the other world, how I will magnify and adore the Saviour of the world " Jesus Christ for his goodness in consenting to die, in order that he might *' appease the Father's wrath, or at least avert it from falling upon the heads " of the guilty ! I shall think of nothing else, but how I may extol his name, " who has already done so much for us, and who still undertakes to be our ** perpetual advocate !" On asking him, whether he conceived, that the mediatory office of Jxsus Christ would ever cease ; and how he understood that passage in Paul, where it is written, " Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered " up the kingdom to the Father ; and when the Son also himself shall be sub- " ject unto the Father, that God may be all in all:" he replied, still in a strain of uncommon rapture, *' O yes ! the power and kingdom of Christ " will continue «?Ui7 all enemies are subdued; and then, introducing us Into *• the immediate presence oi h.\s Father, he will resign his cA«rfe, andwe shall " be so fillsd with a sense of the supreme dignity and majesty of the Father, " that no other person or object will ever more be able to engage our atten- " tlon: in short, as the Apostle says, God himself will be all in all!" Here the Doctor's eyes, countenance, and hands, were all lifted up towards the skies ; and so full of extasy did he appear to be in the contemplation of his subject, that I thought he was almost ready to start avay, that he might dnter upon it's immediate enjoyment, and leave behind him nothing but the shell of his spirit, that is to say, his material body, as a subject for my contem- plation! Not willing, however, that my friend should take his leave of mo in so abrupt a manner, I ventured to recal him from the clouds by putting to him the following questions: "Well, Doctor; but after this great event " shall have taken place, and God the Father, as you say, shall actually have " been hailed and acknowledged by the human race as their all in all; what * is then to become of Jesus Christ? When all his services shall have been 262 A SEAL UPON THE LIPS OF Such are supposed to be the sentiments of the Apostle Pau« concerning the Son of God : and many have on this ground, or •* performed ; when all his sufferings, his merits, his mediation and intcr- " cession, shall have been crowned with the long-desired success, in restor- " ing to divine favour the rebellious children of men ; what are to be the *' final honours, which will be awarded to him? Is he at last to mix in th* *' crowd of blessed spirits, nndistiitffuished, unnoticed, and forgotten ? Or is " he to stand near but behind the throne of his Father, in company with the " Holy Ghost, a silent and neglected spectator of the happiness of millions, " whose enjoyments now so completely fill their minds, as to leave no room " for any recollections o^ gratitude and love to their once adored Benefactor ? " In short, is the Saviour of mankind, after having uctually saved them, at last " to be deprived of the honour and the glory of having effected, even upon " your own system, what no other being in the universe could have accom- "plished?" No sooner were these questions seriously proposed to the Doctor, than he suddenly fell from the elevation, to which the warmth of his imagination had before raised him; and, with his feet now fixed upon the plain but firm ground of common sense, he began to walk as it were in a new path ; while I could perceive some of the scales, formed by the old and deservedly to be explod- ed science of school theology, beginning to drop from his eyes. " I fear," (says he, in a tone of voice now lowered to the pitch of thoughtful reflec- tion,) " I fear there is some error, some co7>fusio7i in this business : we have " been led to take the words of Paul in their common acceptation, just as •' they present themselves to the eye, without sufiiciently considering how " far the sense we put upon them is consistent or inconsistent even witli our " own views of the character and offices of Jesus Christ. I now begin to sec, " that our doctrine of the trinity, and the consequences of that doctrine, arc " not quite so reconcileable to themselves, to the reason of the thing, and per- " haps to the Scriptures, as we hare generally supposed them to be. But " what can we do? The sentiments I have been stating concerning the offi- " ces of Christ, their duration, and termination, are so interwoven with " Christianity, that I do not see how they can be separated from it. And " though in some respects they appear contradictory to it likewise, yet we " cannot altogether give them up, lest we should at tliesame time part with " the trutl) itself: for in these, as in many other points, we are surrounded " with inexplicable difficulties." I concluded the conversation by telling him, that the difficulties, of which he complained, were all of his own church's tri-personal manufacture; tluit Christianity itself was perfectly free from them, being a system of pure, Iwsb- UNITARIANS, TRINITARIANS, &c. 263 from his authority, confirmed themselves in the idea, that Jesus Is no other than a mere man, or a mere angel, or at any rate, if at all a participator in divinity, no more than a mere subordinate organ of Deity, equally bound with every other order of rational and intelligent beings, to yield a final reverence and obedience to him who is called the Father. They will allow indeed, be- cause they cannot deny what is so plainly written in the Gospels, that " the Father loveth the Son, and hath given all things into " his hand,^^ John iii. 35 ; that " all things that the Father hath, " are his," John xvi. 15 ; and that " all power is given unto him " in heaven and in earth," Matt, xxviii. 18. Yet they will insist also, that this great power and authority are only delegated or lent to him for a time, not as a matter of right, but o( favour and re- ivard ; and that when the end shall come, then he will be most ungraciously stripped of his temporary honours, and will return back into the hands of his Father all that he had previously re- ceived from him. Thus, not content with proclaiming what may be considered as a kind of revolution in the government of hea- ven, by the transfer of divine royalty from the Supreme God to one of his subjects, or at least to one of lower rank than himself, they call out for the assistance of Paul to support them in their indigested scheme of a counter-revolution, by dethroning Jesus, and again attempting to set up in his room an invisible King, called the Father, whom no man, whom no angel, ever did see, or ever can see, upon the imperial throne of the universe. That some such conclusion, as that here stated, apparently fol- lows from the language used by Paul, cannot be denied : and it is perhaps doing no injustice to that great Apostle to suppose it •possible, that he might for once, while writing on the subject, have suffered his imagination to conceive, with Philip, that besides and above Jesus Christ there was still another greater Being, called the Father, who in the end was alone to receive the worship and homage of the whole creation. But if he did for a moment so venly truth, calculated, beyond every other known religion in the world, to en- lighten the human understanding, and to bless mankind with the knowledge ©f the one oftly true God Jrsrs CanrsT. 264 A SEAL UPON THE LIPS OF conceive of Jesus, and of his kingdom, it may well be asked. From what part of Holy Scripture did he, or could he, collect such an idea ? The passage, which most evidently he has in view, when he first starts the subject, is that in David, where, speaking of Jesus, or what is the same thing, of the Humanity called Lord, which was to be assumed and glorified by the Divinity called Jehovah, he introduces tlie one as addressing the other, for the sake of more distinct and perfect description, in these words: " Jehovah said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right " hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool," Ps. ex. 1. To sit at the right hand of Jehovah, is to be vested with omnipo' ience ; such being the oriental and scriptural mode of expressing the acquisition of divine power by the Humanity, after it's as- sumption, and on it's glorification. This acquisition of divine power plainly characterizes Jesus as a King f and therefore the first inference, deducible from the words of the Psalmist, and from those of the Apostle, is clearly established. But it is said, in the second place, that he will continue to reign, or to sit at the right hand of Jehovah, until his enemies are subdued, and become his footstool. It is perhaps possible, that this manner of speaking may have suggested the idea of some period or limitation being put to the duration of our Lord's king- dom : for it may be argued, that he will remain in power only un- til his enemies are brought into subjection ; and that then, as ex- pressed in the third inference or conclusion, he will give up the kingdom to the Father, that God may be all in all ; by which is understood, that he will no longer be King, when the purposes, for which he was appointed to that office, have been fully accom- plished. Such an intei'pretation of the passage, however, is to- tally inconsistent with the many other declarations of Scripture, which all agree in representing the kingdom of our Lord as eter- nal in ifs duration. (See Apoc. i. 8, 11, 17, 18; chap. v. 13; chap. xi. 15. John iii. SO; chap. x. 28; and many others*) And even Paul himself, who in one place talks of the vSon giving up the kingdom to the Father, apparently as though he were to re- sign it to some superior Being, in another place quotes the au- thority of the inspired Psalmist to prove the contravy. " The UNITARIANS, TRINITARIANS, &c. 265 <•< Father saith unto the Son, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and *< erer," Heb. i. 8. Ps. xlv. 6. And again, speaking of Jesus Christ, he says, " This Man for ever sat down on the right " hand of God," Heb. x. 12. Ps. ex. 1. Paul could not, there- fore, in any consistency with himself, have meant, that the power and kingdom of Jesus were to continue only for a limited time : but, when he quotes the Scripture, which says, that the Son should sit down at the right hand of the Father, until his enemies were subdued, he must be understood, in agreement with the ge- nuine doctrine of the Word, to mean, that, as the kingdom of Sa- tan will he for ever opposed to the kingdom of Jesus, or the king- dom of darkness for ever opposed to the kingdom of light, so the divine omnipotence of Jesus will for ever remain in full ex- ercise, and for ever keep in subjection all the powers of the enemy. We have now only to consider the third inference, which sup- poses, that the Son will in the end give up the kingdom to the Fa- flier, that God may be all in all. From the Sacred Scriptures throughout, as well as from many parts of the Epistles of the dif- ferent Apostles, and particularly from those of Paul himself, whose language we are now about to explain, it appears most evident, that the kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ is an everlasting kingdom, and his dominion both in heaven and on earth a dominion which shall not j)ass away. The Apostle Paul, that zealous and faithful servant of Jesus Christ, never could have intended to teach the contrary. If such a sentiment or doctrine could be fairly and incontrovertibly charged upon him, it would be evidence that he knew not the real character of his Di- vine Master, any more than Philip did, when he said unto Jesus, " Lord, shew us the Father, and it sufficeth us." To whom Je- sus answered, " Have /been so long time with you, and yet hast " thou not known me, Philip ? he that hath seen me, hath seen the " Father ; and how sayest thou then. Shew us the Father .^" John xiv. 8, 9. But, as before observed, the words of Paul must be understood in agreement with the doctrine of Paul, collected from other parts of his writings, and especially in agreement with tiie Scriptures of divine tri^th. 266 A SEAL UPON THE LIPS 0^ Now Paul testifies of Jesus Christ, that " he is the same yei- iiterday, and to-daij^ and for grer." lleb. xiii. 8 ; consequently, if once a King, (1 Tim. vi. 15.) that lie is and will be for ever a King ; if once entitled to the adoration of angels and men, (Heb. i. 6.) that he is and will be /or ever entitled to it; and therefore, if once acknowledged to be the Supreme Head of his church, (Coloss. i. 18.) nay, the Supreme God of the universe, as by his title of •'• Alpha and Omega, the First and the Last, who was, *' who is, and who is to come, the Almighty," (Apoc. i. 8, 11, 17.) he most undoubtedly must be, that he will for ever and for ever singly and alone fill up the throne of heaven, and receive, as his exclusive right, the final homage of every heart and every tongue. The language of Paul, therefore, is to be understood in the following manner. The term Father, as we have often had occasion to observe in this work, is expressive of the divine love, the divine good, or "what is tantamount thereto, the Divinity of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ : and the term Son is expressive of the divine wis- dom, tlie divine truth, or what is equivalent thereto, the Humani- ty of tlie same Lord. Now in the church, which has existed ever since the days of the Apostles, our Saviour Jesus Christ has been acknowledged, and occasionally worshipped, in no other character than as the Son of God : and hence, while allowed to bear rule in heaven and in the church, he has been considered rather as an authorized Regent, than as an independent Monarch ; rather as the King^s Son, than as the Great King Himself. How- ever, being entrusted for a time with the sceptre of the kingdom, he has acquired the name and the honour of a King, yet always ■with some degree of abatement and reserve, from respect to an- other Being supposed to be his superior, in vvhose name, and by ■whose authority, he holds the reins of government merely in trust for his Father. Such appears, from an impartial view of the state of the Christian churcli as to it's acknowledgment of Jesus Christ, to have been the kind of dominion, which he has hither- to obtained among it's professed members. But on the commencement of the New Church, called the New Jerusalem, which is also the grand era of the Lord's second ad- UNITARIANS, tRINITARrAN^, &c. 267 vent, an extraordinary change takes place in every thing tliat has reference to Christian doctrine and worship. For our Saviour then, agreeably to his own words, John xvi. 25 to 27, enters upon •dn entirely 7iew character : instead of being regarded, and ad- dressed, as heretofore, in the capacity merely of a Son subordi- nate to the Father, or as a distinct Mediator between God and man, he is now acknowledged and worshipped as God the Father himself, who loves all his children, and needs no other mediation or intercession, than what his own Divine Humanity supplies. And thus the prediction of Paul likewise is verified and accom- plished, where he says, " Then cometh the end," (that is, the end of the former church, and the beginning of the New Church,) " when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God even the "Father; and when the Son also himself shall be subject unto "the Father, that God may be all in all," 1 Cor. xv. 24, 28 : By which may be understood the full completion and winding up of all prophecy, and of all former dispensations, in this last and greatest of events, the establishment of a New and True Chris- tian Chui-ch, which contains within itself all the perfections, the glories, and the blessings of every prior revelation, because it carries it's acknowledgment of the One Incarnate God to the highest possible degree of elevation, by worshipping and adoring him, not merely as the Son, or as a Mediator between God and man, but as Jehovah Himself, the all-merciful and omnipotent Father of all being. Under this view of the subject, therefore, the Son may now be said to have already actually given up the kingdom to the Father, because now Jesus Christ is acknowledged to be alone the Fa- ther, and because he will henceforth reign in his church, not in any subordinate capacity, as the term Son or Mediator may seem to imply, but as the one only Sovereign Lord of heaven and earth, the adorable Parent of angels and men, to whom all things in the universe owe their birth, and by whom they are still from moment to moment upheld in their existence. But there is another sense, perfectly consistent with tlie above, though applicable to the progressive states of individual minds in the work of regeneration, in which it may with truth be said, that 268 A SEAL UPON THE LIPS OF the Son or divine truth will give up the kingdom of the Father cr divine good. During all the stages of reformation and regenera- tion, which lead to the love and the life of goodness, mercy, and charity, man is chiefly under the influence, direction, government, and authority of divine truth, that is, in the kingdom and under the dominion of the Lord as the Son. But when his regeneration has advanced so far, as to give him an entrance into what is call- ed the seventh day's state, or the sabbath of rest, he then no lon- ger acts from the knowledge of truth in his understanding, or from a consideration of what is commanded, in opposition to his natural propensities and inclinations ; but all his thoughts, words, and actions, are brought under the happy influence of love, chari- iy, and heavenly affection. In this state he does from pleasure and inclination the things, which heretofore he found a difficulty or labour in performing; he altogether loses sight of the cross, and sees before him nothing but happiness and heaven. In short, he acts from a higher and more interior spring of life, than he did before, namely, from a full-wrought, sensible conviction or per- ception, that Jesus Christ is the sole fountain of divine mercy and goodness, thus from a kind of instinctive acknowledgment of him as a Father, a bountiful Parent, and protecting Lord, rather than as a SaN, a Master, a Regent, or a King. And in this respect likewise it may be truly said, that the end being arrived, or the work of regeneration being in it's kind and degree completely effected, the Son or divine truth delivers up the king- dom to the Father or divine goodness and love ; and all for this great purpose, that man may live for ever under the dominion and influence of universal benevolence, good-will, chanty, and heavenly affection, regarding science, knowledge, and understand- ing, comparatively as mere servants ,• or, in other words, that divine love, called the Father, may in him and around him be all in all. Having now seen what is meant by the Son giving up the king- dom to the Fatlier, both in a particular and in a general sense, and that in neither of them does it imply any difference as to per- son between the Fatlier and the Son, but only different states or stages of regeneration, and ditferent kinds or degrees of acknow- UNITARIANS, TRINITARIANS, &c. 269 ie^gment and worship of one and the same Incarnate God Jesus Christ, first in his character of S071 of God, and lastly in that of Father J or the Most High God himself ; let us never more hear of any such distinction between them, as would either elevate the Father above the Son, so as to make of him a separate and origi- nal God, or degrade the Son below tlie Father, so as to make of him a second-rate or subordinate Deity, much less a finite crea- ture of human or even angelic denomination : but let us for ever identify them, in our doctrine and in our worship, as One Di- vine Person alone, the Father being like the invisible soul, and the Son like the visible body, which will never admit of separa- tion, because they are eternally united in One. From all that has been observed, then, on this subject, it ap- pears, that no higher dispensation can possibly be given, than that which now descends from heaven : for the Creator cannot mani- fest himself to man in any more exalted, and at the same time in any more tender relation, than that of Sovereign Lord, Merci- ful Parent, and Blessed Husband of his church, united as these godlike characters are in the Divine Human Person of our Saviour Jesus Christ. It was in reference chiefly to this great revelation, of which former ages of the Christian church appear to have been entirely ignorant, perhaps also entirely unsusceptible, as well as the primitive disciples whom our Lord addressed, that he says, " I have yet many things to say unto you ; but ye can- *^not bear them noiv,^^ John xvi. 12. And again, " These things " have I spoken unto you in proverbs : the time comeih, when I " shall no more speak unto you in proverbs, but / shall shew you " plainly of the Father,''^ ver. 25. Never from the days of these dis- ciples to the present times has that direct and plain knowledge of the Father, here spoken of, been communicated to the church, otherwise than in the language of the Word, except only in and through the medium of the heavenly doctrines of the New Jeru- salem. For never has it been known by Christians, so called, any more than by Deists and Materialists, that the Father was any other than an invisible and universally extended Being, with- out any thing of the human form, but rather resembling nature in it's first or interior principles. Still less have they understood 270 A SEAL UPON THE LIPS OF and believed, that Jesus Christ is himself the Father, althour'^li he is expressly declared to be so both by the prophet Isaiah in the Old Testament, and by his own lips in the New. The doctrine, therefore, which proclaims the supreme and ex- clusive Divinity of our Lord, making him, and him alone, to be ihe Everlasting Father, as well as the Son born in time, and af- terwards glorified through death and resurrection, cannot but be hailed in the church as the full and final completion of his own prediction relative to himself, bringing into the church at large, and into the bosom of every individual member of the same, that high and unspeakable reward of heavenly peace and felicity, which is ever attendant on the acknowledgment and true wor- ship of Jesus Christ alone as the Supreme God over all, the Father, Sovereign, Husband, Friend of his people, the Lord OF Lords, and King of Kings. [118.] John XX. 22, 23. "Jesus breathed on his disciples, and " saith unto them, Receive ye the Hobj Spirit. Whose-soever " sins ye remit, tliey are remitted unto them ; and whose-soever " sins ye retain^ they are retained.''^ It is here evident, that the Holy Spirit is the j^^'oceedlng opera-* tion, influence, or virtue, from the jpersono/ Jesus now glorified, by having passed through the double process of death and resur- rection. The idea, therefore, of ifs being a distinct person from the Father and the Son, as one man is a distinct person, from another, can receive no support from a passage like this ; but, on the contrary, is refuted as a glaring error, founded on a total misapprehension of tliose parts of divine revelation, where, in agreement with the oriental and most ancient style of writing, the person'iflcaiion of tilings, qualities, attributes, and essential cliaracters, is so Irequently introduced, for the sake of more or- derly, distinct, and impressive description. We pass on, then, to another very extraordinary and highly important subject of consideration. UNITARIANS, TRINITARIANS, &c. ,271 Jesus, still addressing his disciples, (ten in number, one pro- bably being dead, Matt, xxvii. 5. Acts i. 18; and another absent, John XX. 24.) saith unto them, " Whose-soever sins T/eremif, they " are remitted unto them ; and whose-soever sins ye retain, thej '• are retained^' It was matter not only of astonishment, but also of offence, to the scribes and Pharisees, when they heard Je- sus say to the paralytic, " Man, thy sins are forgiven thee ;" for they immediately began to reason with themselves, saying, "Who " is this that speaketh blasphemies ? Who can forgive sins, but " God alone ?^^ Luke v. 20, 21. But what would they have said, had they heard him delegate a similar power to his disciples, and authorize them also to remit or retain sins, as a privilege conse- quent on their reception of the Holy Spirit ? They must have burned in their hearts with rage and resentment against him, who thus aspired after, and actually exercised, the divine prerogative of communicating to his church and people a power over all their evils, either to remand them to their proper source, which is to remit them, or to permit them still to have dominion in the human mind, which is to retain them, in each case according to the mea- sure and degree of faith directed to, or with-held from, Jesus their omnipotent Lord. And it is to be feared, that in the present day also some nominal Christians are to be found, who can no more endure the idea o^ Divinity dwelling in Humanity, than their predecessors the scribes and Pharisees could of old. But when we learn, as an incontestable fact, upon the authority of testimo- ny upon testimony, confirmed by miracle upon miracle, that Jesus did really and truly supply his disciples with a power far surpassing that of mere humanity, in what kind of language must we describe the character of so wonderful a Being } or by what name must we distinguish him above the millions that bear the form of Man } Can he be any other than the true God made ma- 7iif est in the flesh, a.n(\ thus visiting, redeeming, and saving his people ? It is impossible. We forbear entering, further than we have done, into the spi- ritual sense of the passage, because the natural sense alone is suf- ficient to establish what we are contending for, and to many minds 272 A SEAL UPON THE LIPS OF IS more satisfactory evidence, than any which caa bd brought down even from heaven itself. [119.] John XX. 28, 29. "And Thomas answered and said " unto him, My Lord, and my God ! Jesus saith unto him, Tho' *' mas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed : blessed are " they that have not seen, and yet have believed.^^ The very doctrine, which we have all along been maintaining, sometimes from the most explicit declarations of the evangelical writers, and at other times by rational deductions from the various facts and ciscumstances described by them, again breaks out, in the passage before us, with all it's power of direct and unequivo- cal expression. Tho^nas acknowledges in the plainest terms, that Jesus is his Lord and his God : and even Thomas, doubtful and unbelieving as he was for a time, now takes the lead of all the disciples in openly professing his faith in the incarnate God ; he now thinks of and desires to worsliip no other Lord, no other God, than Jesus ! *' Oh ! but !" says the Unitarian, " this was only a sudden ex- <* clamation of Thomas, in consequence of a most unexpected ap- *' pearance, which perhaps terrified, at the same time that it as- " tonished him ; and in the state of perturbation of mind, which " he then experienced, it was natural for him to cry out as he did, *' just as any other person, on a similar occasion, might exclaim, "O my God.'^^ or ^^ God bless me! what an extraordinary " sight ! I .'" This is the way, in which some have been known to attempt the assassination of one of the plainest, purest, and grandest truths of divine revelation. But in the very moment of attack the knife is snatched out of their hand, or else it falls harmless to the ground. For Jesus adds, in full approbation of the faith, the acknowledgment, and the holy exclamation of Thomas, " Tho- '• mas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed : blessed are " they that have not seen, and yet have believed.^^ To ackaow- UNITARIANS, TRINITARIANS, 5ic. 2*3 ^dge Jesus, then, as Lord and God, is plainly what is meant by believing in him, or by having a true faith : and never can this most essential doctriae of the cliurch be lost sight of, without losing with it all title to the benefits of the Christian religion^ This faith in the Divinity of Jesus difli'ers, indeed, in different minds, with respect to quality as well as degree. Yet in no case can it be unattended with heavenly happiness, because with the true acknowledgment of the Lord, however it may have been formed, there arises not only a hope of future bliss, but even a present sensation of interior delight, wluch cannot be described. In short, heaven itself is present in that faith, according to the number and quality of the divine truths, wliicli give it birth. But the great blessing appears to be reserved for those, who, not hav- ing had the opportunity, no nor the desire of any extraordinary or supernatural communications, are content to exercise those ra- tional faculties, with which they have been favoured by a kind Pro- vidence, in the pursuit and examination of the holy truths of the Word, that they may be the better enabled to perform the several duties and charities of life, to which they are called ; not doubt- ing, that, whether they continue in the natural v/orld for a longer or for a shorter period, still every event is under the superintend- ing hand of a merciful Parent, who causes every thing to work together for good to those who love him, and keep his command- ments. To such as these, who have an interior ferception of the Divinity of the Lord, formed upon rational di\\{\ scriptural '^vonwii^j without the adventitious aid of external miracles, visions, or dis- courses with the dead, and who to such faith in the understand- ing unite the still higher and more essential requisites of love, mercy, and universal benevolence in the heart and life, does our Lord allude, when he s..ys to Thomas, " Blessed are they that " have not seen, and yet have believed.''^ [120.3 "^^^^"^ ^^^* ^^" " "^'^^ there are also many other things '* V'luch Je6U9 did, the. which if they should be M'ritten^rcr// one, M m. OT4 A SEAL UPON THE LIPS OF " I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books' " that should be written. Amen." How beautifully and emphatically does this wind up the testi- mony of tlie four Evangelists, as the finishing crown to all their labours in raising the grand edifice of the Christian religion, the foundation of which is the acknowledgment of Jesus as the Son of God, while the last precious stone of the superstructure pro- claims him the infinite and eternal Father of all.' The works of Jesus are here described as transcending all pos- yible limitation, and consequently as absolutely infinite : and this infinity is to be understood not so much in respect to the number of distinct acts, externalbj considered, (for no doubt these might come within the powers of notation,) but chiefly in respect to their quality, as originating interiorly in infinite /oi*«, as conduct- ed in their progress by infinite wisdom, and as performed in the external by infinite power. Let us only essay to contemplate these infinities of love, wisdom, and power, for a short moment : beyond that, would overwhelm and confound the highest powers of imagination. First, then, the divine love, which prompted our adorable Sa- viour to come into the world in person, to bring with him redemption and salvation, could be nothing less than infinite, because it was the source of all life and being, and because it embraced within it's view all of the human race, who had ever received their existence from his creating hand, and all who should for ever after stand in relation to him as his intelligent offspring. Secondly, his divine ivisdom, which, foreseeing every actual, every possible event and contingency, provided the means, whereby his infinite love could reach it's objects, must like- wise of very necessity be equally infinite. And, thirdly, his divine power, which was exercised and manifestly exhibited in all the external acts of love and wisdom united, could, like them, be no other than infinite also : for one infinite perfection can never be displayed except in full union with all others of like nature and quality with itself. Hence we may see, that every distinct act of Jesus, a§ containing within it the innumerable things of UNITARIANS, TRINITARIANS, &c. 275 his love and wisdom, was in it's essence infinitely divine. How much more then, if possible, must we ascribe this character to qi whole series of benevolent, instructive, and miraculous opera- tions ! The Evangelist says, that were every one of the things, which Jesus did, expressly and distinctly Avritten, he supposes that even " the world itself could not contain the books- that should be " written.^' Many have wondered at the loftiness of style here assumed, and considering the language as highly exaggerated, and to the last degree hyperbolical, have set the whole passage down as implying no more, than that the history of the public life of Jesxis is very briefly narrated, and that many, many more well- authenticated facts might have been brought forward, had the writer thought it necessary, or were he sufficiently furnished with the documents proper for the purpose. But this contracted view of the subject is derogatory from the character of perfection, to which every part of the Sacred Scrip- ture is entitled : nor are we at liberty to suppose, that mere fi- gures of speech, whether they be of the nature of metaphor, or of hyperbole, or of any other rhetorical embellishment, can find a place in Writings, every sentiment and expression of which is substantially holy and divine. We must therefore understand the Evangelist's concluding words, like all other parts of revelation, in a sense, which is discoverable only by the science of correspon- dences : for being originally penned according to the rules of that science, their interior contents must be unfolded by the same. By this science, which explains the analogy between things spiritual and things natural, we learn, that thp term world iu this place denotes the church ; that the term books implies the interior things of divine revelation, especially in reference to the Lord, his person, character, offices and acts of creation, redemp- tion, and salvation ; and, lastly, that the term contain, which in the natural sense evidently involves an idea of space and matter, denotes, when elevated and applied to the human mind, the ca- pacity of understanding and comprehending the things offered to it's notice. From this view and explanation of the terms made use of, it is easy to see what is spiritually understood by the 276 A SEAL UPON THE LIPS OF norld iUelf being unable tn contain the &ooA"s that might be written concerning Jesus, and the wonderful works of his omnipotent hand, namely, that the church as consisting o^ finite intelligences^ could never comprehend the full extent of the divine love, never fatho?n the abyss of the divine wisdom, nor ever trace out all the footsteps of the divine providence and power, even were they made known to it by any other revelation, than that which is al- ready given. The final result, therefore, of the whole testimony here adduc- ed, and of all that we have previously advanced in these pages^ is, and can be no other than, the following, viz. That our blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, whose person and character form the great subject of all revelation, is the One Only Infinite^ Eternal, Omnipotent, Omniscient, and Omnipresent Jehovah, the Father, Creator, and Preserver of all worlds, who, in his di- vine mercy and love to his helpless children, made his appear- ance among them as a Man like themselves, that, clothed in their own nature, he might first in the capacity of Friend and Bro- ther, as he condescendingly calls himself, er in that of Shep- herd of their souls, lead them back to that fountain of living wa- ter, from which they had so widely departed ; and afterwards, when they had listened to his voice, and learnt his will, that he might, as the last proof of his redeeming^ love towards them, throw oft' the veil which he had in mercy assumed, and shew himself at once, in all the majesty and glory of his divine person, as their adorable Father, hitherto indeed unknown as such, but now and henceforth acknowledged and worshipped as the One Supreme God over all^ blessed for ever and ever. Amen. UNITARIANS, TRINITARIANS, &c. 9.77 THE APOCALYPSE. [PRELIMINARY.] ALREADY has the Evangelist John, in our work, borne am- ple testimony to the supreme Divinity of his Lord and Master Jesus Christ. But, as the angel gave him to understand, Apoc. X. 11, he " must yet again prophesy before many peoples, and " nations, and tongues, and kings ;" he must again lift up his voice, and declare to his brethren what he has seen, and heard, in the spiritual world, concerning that same Jesus, whom he knew and followed while in the natural world, on whose bosom he then reclined, and at whose sacred feet he is now constrained to fall, in humble and profound adoration, from a new and more power- ful conviction of his Divine Majesty, than he had ever experienc- ed before. This faithful servant and witness of the truth is not backward to renew his efforts in proclaiming the Word of God, but in tlie midst of great tribulation gives a testimony, which he is ready to seal with his blood. And so fully assured is he of the great importance of the revelation vouchsafed to him, and of the happiness resulting from a true perception of it's contents, that he introduces it in this heavenly manner : « Blessed is he that " readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep " those things which are written therein : for the time is at « hand," chap. i. 3. [121.] APOC. i. 6. " To him [Jesus Christ] be glory and <•' dominion for ever and ever. Amen." To understand the true nature of the many ascriptions, cele- brations, and glorifications, contained in this book, which are of- ars A SEAL UPON THE LIPS OF fered to Jesus Christ, to the Lamb, and to the Loud God Al- mighty, it ^vill be proper to keep in mind the following rule of interpretation, viz. That whatsoever in it's genuine sense is as- cribed to any beings is at the same time to be considered as be- lotiging to and derived from that being. Hence, whensoever we find either creation, or salvation, or blessing, or honour, or glorj, or power, or wisdom, or riches, or dominion, ascribed to the Lord God Almighty, we are to understand, that such things flow from him, as from their true fountain and source. And again, whensoever we find the same things ascribed to Jesus Christ, and to the Lamb, we are equally obliged to acknowledge, that in and from him also they have their origin. But as it is impossible, that there can be two separate and distinct fountains of love and Tvisdom, goodness and truth, or of life, which is the united acti- vity of both, we are therefore again compelled to acknowledge and declare, that Jesus Christ, the Latub, and the Lord God Almighty, though distinguished by name, are yet inseparably and indivisibly one and the same Divine Being, both as to essence, and as to form or person. In the passage above recited Jesus is considered as worthy to receive, and therefore to him are ascribed, glory and dominion lor ever and ever. By glory is meant divine majesty, which has peculiar reference to his divine wisdom or divine truth : and by dominion is meant divine omnipotence, v/\nch has more immediate respect to his divine love or divine good. Indeed the Greek word, which is here rendered dominion, ought rather to have been translated power, might, or strength, and in chap. v. 13, is expressed by the first of these terms : the same word also, in com- bination with another, is in chap. xvi. 7, chap. xix. 6, and else- where, rendered almighty, omnipotent. Now by the rule already laid down, as glory and dominion, divine majesty and divine om- nipotence, divine wisdom and divine power, are expressly as- cribed to Jesus Christ, it follows, that these divine attributes, together with all the infinite perfections involved or implied in them, do actually belong to him alone, and flow forth from him in ■divine emanation and unceasing activity towards his finite crea UNITARIANS, TRINITARIANS, &c. 279 tures, that they may become as blessed and happy as their re- spective capacities of enjoyment will permit. In other parts of this book of divine revelation we also find si- milar ascriptions of glory and dominion, honour and power, to the Lord God Almighty, as in chap. iv. 1], " Thou art wor- <' thy, O Lord, to receive glory, and honour^, and power: for " thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are, and " were created." And in chap. vii. 12, " Blessing;, and glory, <' and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honour, and jwiver, and " might, be unto our God for ever and ever. Amen." All these do therefore belong to the Lord God Almighty, and are com- municated by him to man, in the degree and proportion of his in- terior receptivity. But as the same things are also ascribed to Jesus Christ, and to the Lamb, it again follows, as already de- monstrated, that the Lord God Almighty, or the Essential Di- vinity, and Jesus Christ the Lamb, or the Divine Humanity, are only one and the same omnipotent and all-glorious Je- hovah. [122.] Apoc. i. 10 to 18. « I was in the spirit on the Lord's " day, and heard behind me a great voice as of a trumpet, " saying, I am Alpha and Omega, the First and the Last. And ** I turned to see the voice that spake with me. And being « turned, I saw seven golden candlesticks ; and in the midst " of the seven candlesticks, one like unto the Son of Man, " clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the " paps with a golden girdle. His head and his hairs were white " like wool, as white as snow ; and his eyes were as a flame of " fire ; and his feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a " furnace ; and his voice as the sound of many waters. And he " had in Kis right hand seven stars : and out of his mouth went a *' sharp two-edged sword : and his countenance was as tiie sim « shineth in his strength. And when I saw him, I fell at his feet ^ as dead: and he laid his right hand upon me, saying unto me,