No other being possesses any degree of them. And from these may be inferred his absolute, infinite perfection, rectitude, &c. &c. This is the great, glorious, and fearful name, "THE LORD OUR

GOD."

II.

THE SPIRITUALITY OF THE DIVINE NATURE.

Isaiah xxxi. 3.-The Egyptians are men, and not God; and their horses flesh, and not spirit.

I. THE spirituality of the Divine nature is intimately connected with the possession of almighty power. The vulgar notion which would restrict the exercise of power to what is corporeal, and deny it to that which is spiritual and immaterial, is a mere prejudice, founded on gross inattention or ignorance. It probably arises chiefly from the resistance which bodies are found to oppose to the effort to remove or displace them. But so remote is this from active power, that it is entirely the effect of the vis inertia, or the tendency of matter to continue in the [same] state, whether it be of rest or of motion. If we inquire after the original seat of power, we shall invariably find it in mind, not in body; in spirit, not in flesh.

The changes we are able to effect in the state of the objects around us are produced through the instrumentality of the body, which is always previously put in motion by the mind. Volition, which is a faculty, if you please, or state of the mind, moves the muscles and the limbs, and those the various portions of matter by which we are surrounded; so that, in every instance, it is the spirit or immaterial principle which originally acts, and produces all the subsequent changes. Take away the power of volition, which is a mental faculty, and our dominion over nature is at an end. Within a certain sphere, and to a certain extent, the will is absolute; and the moment we will a certain motion of the body, that motion takes place. Though we are far from supposing that the Deity is the soul of the world, as some have vainly asserted, the power which the mind exerts over certain motions of the body may furnish an apt illustration of the control which the Supreme Spirit possesses over the universe.

As we can move certain parts of our bodies at pleasure, and nothing intervenes between the volition and the corresponding movements, so the great original Spirit impresses on the machine of the universe what movements he pleases, and without the intervention of any othe

*Deut. xxviii. 58.

cause. "He speaks, and it is done; he commands, and it stands fast."*

Since it is impossible to conceive of motion arising of its own accord among bodies previously at rest, and motion is not essential to matter, but merely an incidental state, no account can be given of the beginning of motion but from the previous existence of mind; and, however numerous and complicated the links through which it is propagated, however numerous the bodies which are successively moved or impelled by each other, it must necessarily have originated in something immaterial, that is, in mind or spirit. It is as a Spirit that the Deity is the original author of all those successive changes and revolutions which take place in the visible universe arranged by UNSEARCHABLE wisdom, to which it owes all its harmony, utility, and beauty. It is as a Spirit that he exists distinct from it, and superior to it, presiding over it with the absolute dominion of Proprietor and Lord, employing every part of it as an instrument passive in his hand, and perfectly subservient to the accomplishment of his wise and benevolent designs To this great Father of Spirits the very minds which he has formed are in a state of mysterious subordination and subjection, so as to be for ever incapable of transgressing the secret bounds he has allotted them, or doing any thing more, whatever they may propose or intend, than concur in executing his plan, or fulfilling his counsel.

II. His spirituality is closely connected with his invisibility: "The King eternal, immortal, invisible," "whom no man hath seen, or can see."

Whatever is the object of sight must be perceived under some determinate shape or figure; it must be, consequently, bounded by an outline, and occupy a determinate portion of space, and no more; attributes utterly incompatible with the conception of an infinite Being. He was pleased formerly, indeed, to signalize his presence with his worshippers by visible symbols, by an admixture of clouds and fire, of darkness and splendour; but that these were never intended to exhibit his power, but merely to afford a sensible attestation of his special presence, is evident, from the care he took to prevent his worshippers from entertaining degrading' conceptions of his character, by the solemn prohibition of attempting to represent him by an image or picture. And after he had appeared to the congregation of Israel on the mount, Moses is commanded to remind them that they saw no similitude.

Here speak of the impiety of the Church of Rome, as to these points.).

The only visible representation of the Deity which revelation sanctions is found in his Son incarnate, in "Emmanuel, God with us :" "who is the Image of the invisible God." The picturing of the Deity tends to produce degrading conceptions of the divine nature, partly as it circumscribes what is unlimited, and partly, since the human form will generally be selected, by leading men to mingle with the idea of God the imperfections and passions of human

nature.

III That God is spirit, and not flesh, is a view of his character closely connected with his omnipresence. "Whither shall I go from thy spirit, and whither shall I flee from thy presence? If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there; if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there. If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me. If I say, surely the darkness shall cover me, even the night shall be light about me. Yea, the darkness hideth not from thee; but the night shineth as the day: the darkness and the light are both. alike to thee."*

Matter is subjected to a local circumscription; God, as a spirit, is capable of coexisting with every other order of being.

IV. Because God is a spirit, and not flesh, he is possessed of infinite wisdom and intelligence. Thought and perception are the attributes of mind, not of matter; of spirit, and not of flesh; and for this reason, the original and great Spirit possesses them in an infinite degree. They cannot belong to matter, because matter is divisible into an infinite number of parts; so that, if the power of thinking, subsists in these, there are in reality as many distinct thinking principles as there are parts, and the mind of every individual must be a congeries, or assemblage of an infinite number of minds. But if thought subsists in none of the parts separately taken, it cannot subsist in the whole: because a whole is nothing more or less than all the parts considered together, and nothing can be found in the whole but what previously exists in the several parts.

During the union between the soul and the body, the organs of the latter become the instruments of perception; but it is the mind alone which thinks, which alone is conscious, which sees in the eye, hears in the ear, feels in the touch. The Infinite Spirit is, consequently, all eye, all ear, all intelligence, perception and

V. The spirituality of the Divine Nature lays a foundation for the most intimate relation between the intelligent part of the creation and himself. He is emphatically "the Father of spirits." The relation of the parent to the child is very intimate and close, because the parent is the instrument of his being; but God is the AUTHOR. The earthly parent is our father after the flesh, the heavenly is our father after the spirit; and in proportion as the mind constitutes the most important portion of our nature, the relation subsisting between us and God is the most interesting and the most essential. "He is not far from any of us, seeing we are his offspring: in him we live, and move, and have our being." The body connects us with the external universe; the soul connects us with God. The flesh is his production; the spirit is his image: and, as the former separates us from him by a dissimilarity of nature, so the latter assimilates us to him by the possession of principles and laws congenial with his own.

VI. The spirituality of the Divine Nature fits him for becoming ou eternal portion and supreme good. That which constitutes and secures our felicity must be something out of ourselves; since we find our

selves utterly inadequate to be the source of our own enjoyment, we find that without allying ourselves to an object distinct from our own nature we are desolate and miserable. To retire within our own nature in quest of happiness is an idle and fruitless attempt. The mind feels itself fettered and imprisoned, until it is allowed to go forth and unite itself to some foreign object.

Again, to form the happiness of a mind must be the prerogative of something superior to itself; nor is there any greater superiority conceivable than that of being the source of enjoyment, the bestower of happiness on another. But while it is superior, it must be congenial in its nature. A spiritual being must possess spiritual happiness; the proper enjoyment of the mind must consist in something mental.

III.

OUTLINE OF THE ARGUMENT OF TWELVE LECTURES ON THE SOCINIAN CONTROVERSY.*

INTRODUCTORY LECTURE.

that

Jude 3.—It was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you, ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered to the saints.

LECTURE II.

ON THE PRE-EXISTENCE OF CHRIST.

Matt. xxii. 41, 42.-While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them, saying, What think ye of Christ? whose son is he?

FOUR classes of passages adduced in proof of this.

I. Those passages which speak of the origin of Jesus Christ, and which accompany this by a specification of "the flesh" in such a formula that the flesh is never employed in a similar manner in the history of men.

II. Those passages in which it is affirmed by Jesus Christ and by his disciples, that he did come down from heaven to the earth, and that by virtue of his name.

• Delivered at Leicester in 1823

III. Those passages which, though they do not exactly assert that Jesus Christ existed before he came into our world, yet this is the necessary conclusion from them.

IV. One passage in which our Lord directly affirms this proposition in so many words, and no other proposition. (John viii. 58.)

LECTURE III.

ON THE DIVINITY OF CHRIST.

Matt. xxii. 41, 42.

This attempted to be proved from those passages in which the titles of God are ascribed to Jesus Christ, of which there are three kinds : I. Those in which he is styled the Son of God.

II. Those in which he is styled, not the Son of God, but God himself.

III. Those which are quoted by the apostles from the Old Testament, in which the word Jehovah is ascribed to Jesus Christ.

LECTURE IV.

The DIVINITY of Christ proved from those passages in which the creation of the visible universe is ascribed to the Lord Jesus Christ. I. This fact established by Scripture testimony, and

II. The attention directed to the necessary conclusion which is to be derived from it, That if Jesus Christ appear by Scripture testimony to be the Creator of all things, he is necessarily God; since the primary idea which man entertains of God identifies those perfections which created the world with the existence of Deity.

LECTURE V.
v.

THE DIVINITY OF CHRIST PROVED FROM HIS BEING THE OBJECT OF DIVINE WORSHIP.

Worship may be considered as mental or local. It is to mental worship, as consisting of those sentiments of adoration of the Deity for his great mercies, a dependence upon the Author of them, a desire of his favour, and submission to his will, which mark every devout Christian, and expressed in the language of prayer or praise, to which this part of the discussion is chiefly confined.