just and holy God, and are plainly liable to eternal separation from him in the world to come? Truly our hope is only in the mercy of God, through the Saviour of men. A Saviour, or I die-a Redeemer, or I perish for ever!

Lastly, therefore, we may enquire, what is the doctrine of the Bible respecting our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ? We read in Scripture, that he is the Word-the Son of God the Father almighty-that in the beginning, before the world was created, and from everlasting, he was with God, John i. 1, xvii. 5. comp. Mic. v. 2-that by him all things were created that are in heaven and that are in earth, Col. i. 16, Heb. i. 2, 10-that without him was not any one thing made that was made, John, i. 3-that he was the light and life of men, John i. 4, 9—that he and the Father are one, John x. 30-that he is therefore God, John i. 1; Jehovah our righteousness, Jer. xxiii. 5; the mighty God, Isaiah ix. 6; the true God, I. John v. 20; the great God, Tit. ii. 13; God over all, Rom. ix. 5-that he is the searcher of the reins and the hearts, knows what is in man,

3

3 TIT. ii. 13. "The glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ." A plain rule of Greek construction requires that the original of these words should be rendered,

and bestows upon his servants all their spiritual gifts and graces, Rev. ii. 23, Acts ii. 33, II. Cor. xii. 9, Eph. iv. 11-the object of faith, prayer, glorification, and all worship, John iii. 16, Acts vii. 59, 60, II. Cor. xii. 8, Heb. i. 6, xiii. 21, Rev. v. 13-that he "filleth all in all,” Eph. i. 23-that he is "the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever;" "the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, the first and the last," Heb. xiii. 8, Rev. xxii. 13. The Bible further declares, that when the fulness of time was come, "God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law," Gal. iv. 4 -that the Word became flesh, John i. 14that he was born a child into the world, and really took our frail nature upon him, being made in all points "like unto his brethren, yet without sin," Heb. ii. 14-that he went about doing good, healing the sick, giving sight to the blind and hearing to the deaf, raising the dead to life, and preaching the gospel to the poor-that he was betrayed into the hands of wicked men, and died on the cross-that on the third day he rose from the dead, and that he

"The glorious appearing of our great God and Saviour Jesus Christ." So the passage appears to have been universally underderstood among the ancient fathers of the church.

ascended to the right hand of the Majesty on high, being restored to that state of infinite and unsearchable glory, which he possessed in the Father's presence before the world began, John xvii. 5, Heb. i. 3-that now he is exalted of the Father, far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named not only in this world, but also in that which is to come, Eph. i. 21-finally, that he will bring to a termination the whole economy or dispensation of which he is the Mediator, by coming again with all his holy angels, for the final and universal judgment of quick and dead, Matt. xiii. 40—42, xxiv. 30, 31, I. Cor. xv. 25—28.1

VII. Having thus adduced some of the principal declarations of Scripture respecting the nature and history of our Lord Jesus Christ, I may proceed, without further delay to the consideration of that doctrine of redemption, for the elucidation of which this Letter is princi

4 I am well aware that many attempts have been made to interpret some of the passages of Scripture relating to the nature and character of Christ, in a lower sense than is here given to them. Long and careful investigation has however produced in my own mind a settled conviction, that the commonly received interpretation of those passages, is in general the only one which consists with the sound rules of philology and criticism.

pally intended; and I may commence by putting a very simple question, What could be the mighty and equivalent purpose for which this infinitely glorious Person, the Son of God, who is one with the Father, and is therefore himself the everlasting Jehovah-should so marvellously condescend and humble himself as to take our nature upon him, in that nature to undergo every species of contumely and contradiction of sinners, and finally to die on the cross a cruel and shameful death?

When we reflect on the perfect adaptation which always subsists, and which is so generally even apparent, in the operations both of nature and of providence, between the cause and the effect, the means and the end-when we thus take analogy as the ground of our reasoning-we can scarcely avoid perceiving how strong an improbability attaches to the supposition, that SUCH AN ONE should not only come into the world, but should live, suffer, and die, as a man, for the single purpose of revealing the truth. Experience teaches us that any inspired person, whose divine mission was attested by miracles, might have been an adequate instrument for that purpose: for it is evidently on this simple ground, that christians are unani

mous in giving their credence to the doctrines delivered to the Jews by Moses, and to the followers of Christ by the apostles. No doubt, to reveal the truth was one of the offices of our blessed Saviour-that chief of prophets: nor are we to forget, that it was another of his offices, by his holy and merciful life and conversation on earth, to institute that perfect pattern after which the conduct of his disciples in all future ages, was to be formed and regulated. But important and salutary as these offices were, the peculiar circumstances of the case are such, as inevitably lead us to believe, that, in humbling himself from the height of his divine glory-in assuming our frail and suffering nature-and in subjecting himself even to the death of the cross-the Son of God had yet higher, nobler, and more comprehensive purposes in his view. in his view. When we consider the infinite dignity and absolute omnipotence of our heavenly Visitor, and the marvellous love which he has displayed in visiting us, we cannot fail to conclude that such a dispensation of divine mercy towards us was intended to supply all our spiritual need. Now were we through the means of that dispensation, to receive nothing but information, precept, and example, our