"is asserted to be a proper human person, a true “and real man, the body being only a temporary

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covering for, but not a constituent part of human nature." But this method of depreciating the divine glories of the blessed Jesus will prove abortive, if the scripture account of human nature be attended, to; and without doubt he who made man could best describe him. From the sacred pages we learn, that the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living soul; Gen. ii. 7: and that the rib which the Lord God had taken from man made he a woman; and Adam said, she shall be called woman, because she was taken out of man. Again, to Adam as a transgressor, the Lord said, Dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return; Gen. iii. 19. Man shall return again to dust. Now as the soul was not formed of the dust, nor the rib of which Eve was made, taken out of the soul; but the rib from the body, and the body from the ground; therefore the body must be a constituent part of man, for the body only returns to dust, and yet the Lord says man shall return thither; Job xxxiv. 15. Again the personal name of man is often given to the body, which would be improper if the body was not a part of the person. Jacob in his affecting lamentation says, JOSEPH is without doubt rent in pieces. I will go down

into the grave unto my son mourning: thus his father wept for him; Gen. xxxvii. 33. 35. It was not the soul, but the body of his son which he concluded was torn asunder; nor his own soul, but his body, that would go down to the grave. And when the same patriarch was near death, he charged his sons, saying, Bury me with my fathers; in such a cave which he described; adding, there they buried Abraham and Sarah his wife; there they buried Isaac and Rebecca his wife, and there I buried Leah; Gen. xlix. 29. 31.

And that the body of Christ was an essential part of his humanity, is evident from what the angel said to his weeping friends. He is not here, he is risen: Come, see the place where the Lord lay; Matt. xxviii. 6. But if the body was no proper constituent part of his manhood, he never lay in the grave; nor did he ever rise from the dead, for he did not die. They did not nail him to the tree; the whole account of his corporal sufferings is a mere fiction-if it be true, that his body was not a proper constituent part of himself. In a word, there never will be a resurrection of any man, if bodies are not essential to human nature, and this world of men are quite as invisible to each other as the world of angels are. According to that notion, the sight of a man is a singular rarity. That a soul can exist without a body is readily allowed, but such a

separate existence is the effect of death; and can it be thought reasonable that Christ's first existence should be a state similar to that of the dead? Once more, on such a supposition Christ could not be the son of man in any sense, because his soul is said to exist before all men*; and his

*From a conviction of the singular absurdity attending the supposition of a creature existing from eternity, some have boldly asserted that everlasting, from which Christ is said to exist, only intends a measurable period, and therefore does not convey the idea of eternity, or unlimited duration. It is granted that by the term everlasting and eternal likewise, sometimes is intended no more than a very distant period, but that is not their native primary signification. But the natural meaning of the word is a perpetual existence, or infinite duration. Hence we read, the eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms; Deut. xxxiii. 27. Art thou not from everlasting, O Lord my God? Hab. i. 12. If it be said the existence of Christ is limited, as being only from everlasting, or ever the earth was, and that, before the mountains were brought forth, or the highest part of the dust, were qualifying terms tending to establish a limited idea, therefore though Christ was from everlasting, yet not eternal; we answer, the Holy Ghost has taken care to guard bis people against such Christ dishonouring sophistry: for Moses, the Man of God, when treating on Jehovah's eternity, and human mortality, says, Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting thou art God; Psal. xc. 2. Again, thy throne is of old, thou art from everlasting. Psal. xciii. 2. See Mich. v. 2.

body not a part of his humanity. But he was the son of David, a descendant of Abraham, as the scriptures assert, and as the apostle to the Hebrews said, It is evident our Lord sprung out of Judah; Heb. vii. 14. To conclude, the incarnation of Christ was not only considered by the great apostle as an instance of infinite condescension, but admired by him and every believer in his day, as being in its nature really inexplicable and truly mysterious; they did not dispute the fact, though they could not conceive how divinity and humanity were united in one person; but rejoiced in, and steadily supported, its reality as the pillar and ground of the truth. Without controversy, great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh; 1 Tim. iii. 15, 16. The word which was God was made flesh, and dwelt amongst us.

But if Christ be only a man, or a mere creature, the wonder ceases, for it cannot be thought a thing singular and surprising for a human soul to possess a body; nor for God to manifest himself to a holy creature, and employ in his service a good man. It is truly lamentable and really astonishing, that any who wish to be saved by Jesus, should endeavour to sink his character and diminish his dignity. Yea, rejoice in hope of proving the Saviour infinitely unworthy of their supreme love and delight. You happy souls

who need, know and esteem the Redeemer, as infinitely powerful and divinely precious; Oh, pity the condition, and dread the deception, of such, whose peace and pleasure rise high in consequence of the Saviour sinking low in their esteem. Pray for them, and take heed lest you also be tempted, and that your own faith may be firm in, and your love fervent to, the infinitely glorious and lovely Redeemer. Consider and frequently contemplate the proofs of his proper divinity, as recorded in the sacred volume. Such as the properties of which he is possessed, the work he has performed, the worship he has received from angels and men. The divine names

and titles which are given him.

The honours

ascribed to him. The unlimited confidence placed in him by good men in every age. And the claims which are made by him; for he who was never the subject of arrogance, thought it not robbery to be equal with God; Phil. ii. 6. May the Lord grant that every reader may search the scriptures which testify of Jesus, with godly sincerity and gospel simplicity. To the upright, light shall rise in darkness. I might greatly enlarge but it is hoped, that the above considerations may serve through the divine blessing to remove the common difficulties respecting the true knowledge of, and faith in the Redeemer's dignity as a person properly divine. My heart's