among the Jews, teaching under the title of a Prophet, to worship any other befide him for God, the judgment of the Rabbins was, that notwithstanding all the miracles which he could work, though they were as great as Mofes wrought, he ought immediately to be ftrangled, because the evidence of this truth, that one God only must be worshipped, is above all evidence of fenfe. 7. Nor must we look upon this precept as valid only under the Law, as if, then, there were only one God to be worshipped, but fince the Gofpel we had another; for our Saviour hath commended it to our obfervation, by making ufe of it against the Devil in his temptation, faying, Get thee hence, Satan'; for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only fhalt thou ferve. If, then, we be obliged to worship the God of Ifrael only; if we be alfo commanded to give the fame worfhip to the Son, which we give to himit is neceffary we fhould believe that the Son is the God of Ifrael. When the Scripture bringeth in the first begotten into the world, it faith, Let all the Angels of God worship him; but then the fame Scripture calleth that firft begotten, Jehovah, and the Lord of the whole earth, Heb. i. 6. and Pfalm xcvii. 6, 7--For a man to worship that for God which is not God, knowing that it is not God, is affected and grofs Idolatry to worship that as God, which is not God, thinking that it is God, is not the fame degree, but the fame into worship him as God, who is God, thinking that he is not God, 'cannot be thought an act in the formality, void of Idolatry. Left, therefore, while we are obliged to give unto him divine worship, we fhould fall into that fin, which, of all others; we ought most to abhor,it is neceffary we thould believe, that Son to be (in union with his Father) 'that Eternal God, whom we are bound to worfhip, and whom only we should ferve." 8. Thirdly, 8. Thirdly, our belief of this doctrine is neceffary "to raise us to a thankful acknowledgment of the infinite love of God, appearing in the fending of his only begotten Son into the world to die for finners. The love of God is frequently extolled and admired by the Apoftles. God fo loved the world, faith St. John, that he gave his only begotten Son.--God commendeth his love towards us, faith St. Paul, in that while we were yet finners, Chrift died for us; in that he fpared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all. In this, faith St. John again, was manifefted the love of God towards us, becaufe that God fent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. Herein is love, not that we loved God," but that he loved us, and fent his Son to be the propitiation for our fins. If we look upon this as nothing elfe but that God fhould cause a man to be born, after another manner than other men, and when he was fo born, after a peculiar manner, yet a mortal man, fhould deliver him to die for the fins of the world,I fee no fuch great expreffion of his love, in this way of re demption, more than would have appeared in any other way, 'all' 9. It is true, indeed, that the reparation of lapfed man is no act of abfolute neceffity, in res fpect of God, but that he hath as freely defigned our redemption as our creation And confidering the mifery from which we are redeemed, and the happiness to which we are invited, we cannot but acknowledge the fingular love of God, even in the act of redemption itself.But yet the Apoftles have raised that confideration higher, and placed the choiceft mark of the love of God, in the chufing fuch means, and performing in that manner our reparation,by fending his' only begotten Son into the world, by not fparing his own Son, by giving and delivering him up to be fcourged and crucified for us. And the cftimation of this act of God's love, müft neceffarily increate proportionably to the dignity of the Son fo $ fent fent into the world; because the more worthy the perfon of Chrift before he fuffered, the greater his condefcenfion to fuch a fuffering condition; and the nearer his relation to the Father, the greater his love to us, for whofe fakes he fent him fo to fuffer. Wherefore to derogate any way from the perfon and nature of our Saviour, before he fuffered, is fo far to undervalue the love of God, and confequently to come fhort of that acknowledgment and thanksgiving, which is due unto him for it."* 10. Let me illuftrate this in the words of a Translation of Abbadie." In the deliverance of the ancient Ifraelites from Egyptian bondage, two things may be remarked. God redeems them from the flavery under which they groaned; and previous to their deliverance, he commands them to kill the pafchal-lamb, and to fprinkle its blood on the door-posts of their houses. The love of God to the tribes of Jacob, in granting them deliverance, is greatly to be admired; for they were reduced to a fad extremity, and had long defired to be relieved. But we should think ourfelves much abused, if any one endeavoured to perfuade us, That the love of God to them appeared in a wonderful manner, because the blood of a lamb was the fign to the deftroying Angel to fpare their firft-born, or becaufe the facrifice of the passover was a mean, in the hand of God, of working out their deliverance. Should any one exclaim," Behold, how God loved the Ifraelites! He loved them fo, fo that he put a lamb, nay, many lambs to death, that he might redeem them from flavery!". -Would you not think him delirious? 11. But here I fhall be reminded, "That the life of Chrift as a mere man, is incomparably more Pearfon on the Creed, P. 143, 144. preciou precious than the life of a facrifice under the Law" Suppose it be; yet as the life of a lamb bears no proportion to the temporal deliverance of the Ifraelites, the temporal life of Jefus, as a mere man, or a mere creature, can bear no proportion to the eternal life of mankind. Nay, in the former of these two cases, there is fome proportion, and a comparison may be formed; but none at all in the latter. For as the life of a lamb is temporal, fo was the life of an Ifraelite, which was redeemed by it; and it must be allowed, that, between temporal and temporal, there is fome proportion. But the life of Christ, as a mere creature, is temporal, and of a limited worth; whereas the life he purchased for us is eternal, and of infinite value; between which there is, there can be no proportion.”—To dwell a little longer upon this. 12. "The love of God appears, it may be faid, not in giving a man, fimply confidered, but in giving one, that is, his own Son." But is Jefus the Son of God in a proper, or in a figurative fenfe?If only in the latter, I defire to be informed, whether it be an extraordinary and an aftonishing effort of Divine Love, to give a man for our redemption, who is the Son of God only by a metaphor? Suppofe a Sovereign were obliged to deftroy a great number of his fubjects, to affert the rights of juftice, and maintain the honour of his laws; except fome person be found worthy of being admitted as their fubftitute, who, by laying down his life, fhall deliver them from death. Suppofe, further, this Prince, being moved with compaffion, fhould engage to give the life of his own Son for their redemption, you could not but conceive the highest idea of his mercy and love, to his offending fubjects. But if, afterwards, you should be well informed, that he did not give his own fon, and be alfo affured, that, properly speaking,, he never had a fon of his own; but that all the mystery of this aftonishing love, which made fuch a noife in the S & world world, confifted in this: He adopted one of his fubjects took him out of a state of extreme indigence-educated him like the fon of a Prince determined to give him up to death, as a ranfom for his perishing subjects, and then, if it were poffible, to reward his fufferings, by making him the heir of his crown ;-in fuch a cafe, it would be immediately faid, Though the conduct of this Prince is very extraordinary, and though his clemency is worthy of admiration, in par doning attainted rebels, and in redeeming those who deferved to perifh, yet it is a childish hyperbole to exclaim, "Behold, how he lod his kingdom! He fo loved it, that he gave his fon, his own fon, his dearly beloved, and only be gotten fan, to die for his offending subjects.” - 18. "Still more to illuftrate the point, we may borrow an inftance from the Sacred Scriptures.-The offering up of Ifaac, it is allowed, was a type of the Sacrifice of Jesus Christ. Ifaac, the delight of his father, and his only fon, was bound in order to be facrificed by Abraham himfelf, notwithstanding all the yearnings of parental bowels. Thus he became a lively type of Chrift-of him who is the only begotten of the Father, and in whom he takes infinite and eternal delight. As Abraham offered up his only fon, fo the Divine Father delivered up to death his only begotten Son.-Suppose, then, any one were to perfuade and convince you, That Abraham did not offer up his only fon, nor his own fon, but he took the fon of Eliezer, gave him the name of Ifaac, and, if you will, put on him the cloaths of Ifaac,you would immediately forbear to wonder at the obedience and faith of the renowned Patriarch, in making no fcruple to facrifice his own and only fon.-We have been wont to look for the image only, in a type, and for the reality in its accomplishment: but, if we believe our adverfaries, we must invert this order we must look for the reality in the type, and the image in its accomplishment. Ac cording |