amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning (or the most excellent) of the creation of God; which plainly implies that, how excellent foever he may be, he is but a creature.

Matt. xxviii. 29. And lo I am with you always, even to the end of the world. Chrift, who is conftituted head over all things to his church, undoubtedly takes. care of its interefts, and attends to whatever concerns his difciples; and being with a perfon, and taking care of him are, in the language of fcripture, equivalent expreffions. See Gen. xxi. 20. 22. xxviii. 15. xxxix. 2. Befides, Chrift, having a near relation to this earth, may even be perfonally prefent with his difciples when they little think of it. But it is by no means necessary that he be perfonally prefent every where at the fame time; fince God may communicate to him a power of knowing diftant events, of which he appeared to be poffeffed when Lazarus was fick. This is certainly no greater a power than God may communicate to

any of his creatures.

Another paffage which feems to suppose the omniprefence of Cirift is, Mat. xviii. 23. For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am 1 in the midst of them; but if we confider the whole of this paffage, in which our Lord is speaking of the great power of which his apoftles would be poffeffed, and especially of the efficacy of their prayers, we shall be fatisfied, that he could only mean by this form of expreffion to reprefent their power with

God,

God, when they were affembled as his difciples, and prayed fo as became his disciples, to be the same as his own power with God; and God heard him always. That our Lord could not intend to speak of himself as the God who heareth prayer, is evident from his speaking of the Father, in this very place, as the perfon who was to grant their petitions, ver. 19. Again I fay unto you, that if two of you shall agree on earth, as touching any thing that they shall afk, it shall be done for them of my Father who is in heaven.

III. Confidering the great power with which Chrift was invested on earth, and more especially the authority to which he is exalted now that he is in heaven, it is certainly right that a very high degree of refpect should be paid to him; and from the manner in which this is expreffed, and especially because the word worship is made use of on those occafions in our English translation, fome perfons have been confirmed in their opinion, that he is the proper object of supreme or divine worship, and is therefore truly and properly God; but any perfon, who will confider the real import of the following paffages, must see that they afford no foundation for fuch a conclufion.

Heb. i. 6. When God bringeth in the first-begotten into the world, he faith, Let all the angels of God worship him. Alfo the leper, Mat. viii. 2, the ruler, Mat. ix. 18, the woman of Canaan, Mat. xv. 25, the poor people in the ship, Mat. xiv. 33, and his difciples, Mat. xxviii. 9 17, are all faid

to

to have worshipped him. But the very circumstances in which this worship was paid to Chrift fufficiently prove that divine worship was not intended; because it is well known that the jews had no expectation of any other perfon than a man for their Meffiah 3 and when Nicodemus was convinced of the miraculous power of Jefus, he concluded, not that he was God, but that he must have been impowered by God; for he fays, John iii. 2. Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God; for no man can do these miracles that thou doeft, except God be with him, Befides, it is well known that the Greek word, which, in the above-mentioned paffages, is rendered worship, is frequently used to exprefs a very high degree of refpect; but fuch as may be lawfully paid to men of a proper character and rank. And indeed our word worship, though it is now appropriated to that worship which is due to God only, was formerly ufed with greater latitude, and even in our tranflation of the bible; as when a fervant, in one of our Saviour's parables, is faid to have fallen down and worshipped his mafter, saying, Have patience with me, and I will pay thee all: where certainly divine worship could not be meant. It is allo an evidence of this ufe of the word, that in our marriage-fervice the man is directed to fay to the woman, With my body I thee worship; and the terms worship, and worshipful, are ftill applied to several of our magiftrates, and bodies of men. L

Alfo,

Alfo, in the Greek translation of the Old Tefta. ment, the fame word that we render worship in the New is frequently ufed where fupreme worfhip could not be intended. Otherwise Abraham must be fuppofed to have intended to pay fupreme wor ship to the angels, when he took them to be men; and to the fons of Heth, when he was making a bargain with them for a piece of ground to bury his dead.

IV. Arguments have been brought to prove the divinity of Chrift from the names and titles, which are given to him, as well as from the powers afcribed to him, and the worship that is paid to him; but if we confider the proper meaning of other fcripture-names, and the occafions on which they were conferred, we must be fatisfied, that very little ftrefs is to be laid on fuch an argument as this.

Ifaiah vii. 14. Behold a virgin fhall conceive, and bear a fon, and shall call his name Emanuel, Mat. i. 23. Behold a virgin fhall be with child, and bear a fon, and fhall call his name Emanuel, which is, being interpreted, God with us. These texts have been thought to imply that Chrift is a compound-being, or that he is God incarnate; but if we confider other inftances of names impofed by the divine direction in the fcriptures, we fhall find that they do not always exprefs any thing characteristic of the perfon on whom they are impofed, but that they were intended to be a memorial of fome divine promise or affurance, refpecting things of a public and general

concern.

concern. Thus the prophet Ifaiah, vii. 1, &c. was directed to call his fon Shear-Jashub, which fignifies a remnant shall return, to exprefs to the jews, that only a fmall number of their enemies fhould return from the invafion with which they then threatened them, or that a number of their own people who had been carried captive should return. Another child he was directed to call Mahershalal-hash-baz, on a fimilar account; and of Jerusa lem it is faid, This is the name wherewith fhe fhall be called, the Lord our righteousness, to exprefs that God would appear in that character to his people. In like manner the divine being, admitting that he appointed Chrift to be called Emanuel, might do it to engage to manifeft his own prefence with his people, by protecting and bleffing them, and inflicting vengeance on their enemies and oppreffors. For this prediction was given upon the occafion of an invafion by the Ifraelites and Syrians.

Ifaiah ix. 6. Unto us a child is born, unto us a fon is given, and the government shall be upon his fhoulder ; and his name fhall be called wonderful, counfeller, the mighty God, the everlafting father, the prince of peace. In this, as in the former cafe, thefe titles may not exprefs what Chrift is, but what God will manifest himfelf to be in him, and by him; fo that, in the difpenfation of the gofpel, God, the wife and bene. volent author of it, will appear to be a wonderful counsellor, the everlafting father, and the prince of peace.

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