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ly Writ. The prophets affirm, as above, that Jehovah is the only Saviour. "I am Jehovah and beside me there is no Saviour;" "a just God and a Saviour there is none beside Me;" but the apostles declare that this character belongs only to Jesus, “neither is there salvation in any other; for there is none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved.”+ The only way of combining these divinely-inspired declarations is, by regarding them as belonging to the same Divine Being, who is called Jehovah before his assumption of the Human Nature, and Jesus afterwards.

It is, in fact impossible for any evidence to be more clear and conclusive, than that which Scripture bears to this grand truth, That Jehovah and Jesus are one and the same Divine Person, the one and only true God.' The whole Word teems in birth with it from one end to the other. As an angel declares in the Revelation, "the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy."

Let the following passages further exhibit what the testimony is which the Scriptures bear respecting Jesus:

That Jesus is Jehovah, is evident from these passages of Moses and the prophets. When Jehovah revealed himself to Moses, it was by a name peculiarly characteristic of Him as the Source of Being; He said, "Thus shalt thou say to the Children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you."§ Jesus assumes the same character; "Before Abraham was I AM."|| Had he simply meant to announce his pre-existence, he would have said I WAS; to say in reference to a prior period, I AM, would be the grossest solecism in the mouth of any but Him who is independent of time, and to whom things which to us are past or future, are eternally present. Isaiah, chap. vi., relates a vision, in which he saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, whilst the seraphim cried, "Holy, holy, holy, is JEHOVAH OF HOSTS, the whole earth is full of his glory." The message given to Isaiah on this (ccasion is quoted in John; and it is there said, "These things spake Esaias, when he saw his glory and spake of Him." His and Him clearly refer to Jesus, who is thus identified with Him whom the seraphs worship as JEHOVAH OF HOSTS. John was the forerunner of Jesus. All the Evangelists apply to him the prophecy of Isaiah, xl. 3; but the words there are, "The voice of him that crieth in the wil

derness, prepare ye the way of JEHOVAH." The predictions of Malachi iii. 1, and iv. 5, are also applied* to John; but these also, in the original, speak of one who should go before JEHO § Ex. iii. 14.

* Matt. xi. 10, 14. † Acts iv. 12.

John viii. 58,

Rev. xix. 10.

Ch. xii. 38-41.

VAH. Either, then, Jesus is Jehovah, or these prophesies are wrongly applied to John. All these inferences are sufficiently clear, and might easily be extensively multiplied; but the following passage declares the same truth in the most direct form: "Behold the days come, saith Jehovah, that I will raise unto David a Righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth; in his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely; and this is his name whereby he shall be called, JEHOVAH OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS. 99*

The unity as to Person of JESUS and the Father, may be inferred from innumerable passages in the Evangelists, but in the following it is expressly stated: "I and my Father are ONE."t "He that seeth ME seeth HIM that sent ME."‡ "Jesus saith

unto him, I am the Way and the Truth, and the Life: no man cometh to the Father but by me."§ This is a plain declaration, that no one can have any communication with the Father (or Divine Essence), except by approaching him as dwelling in the Son (or Divine Humanity); but to make it still clearer, the Divine Speaker adds, "If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also: and from henceforth ye know him and have seen him."|| Plain however as this assertion is, the disciples, like too many of their successors at the present day, did not readily receive it, but still retained an idea of a Divine Being out of, and separate from, Jesus; wherefore Philip saith unto him, Lord, show us the Father and it sufficeth us." But, in a style that implies reproof for their dulness of apprehension, "Jesus saith unto him, have I been so long time with you, and yet thou hast not known me, Philip? He that hath seen ME hath seen the FATHER; and how sayest thou then, show us the Father?"** It is impossible to confute, in more decided terms, the error of those who think they can find any real Object of worship out of, and separate from, Jesus, or to show, more clearly, that in Him the whole of the Divine Essence resides and that out of Him nothing of it can be known or apprehended.

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The apostles also, in their Epistles continually speak of JEsus in language only applicable to the Supreme and only God. Christ," says St. Paul, "who is over all, God blessed forever."tt "For by Him were all things created that are in heav en, and that are in the earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created By him and FOR him; and He is before all things,

*Jer. xxiii. 5, 6. U. Ver. 7.

† John x. 30. T Ver. 8.

Ch. xii. 45. ** Ver. 9.

Ch. xiv. 6. tt Rom. ix. 5.

and by him all things consist."* Here Creation, Preservation, and Eternal Existence, are ascribed to Jesus Christ; and as there cannot be two Creators, two Preservers, or two Eternals, we may well conclude with Dr. A. Clarke,† that "Jesus Christ is, according to the plain obvious meaning of every expres sion in this text, truly, properly, independently, and essentially, GOD." "Without controversy," says the same Apostle, "great is the mystery of Godliness. GOD was manifest in the flesh, justified in the spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory."‡ This passage led Bishop Prettyman Tomline to observe, in his "Elements of Christian Theology," "Since the six proposi tions are applicable to Christ, and to Christ alone; and since St. Paul affirms them to be true of God; it follows that Christ is God." But if any other separate Being be God also, it would not be correct to say that Christ is God, but that he is a God; which would shock every pious mind: when, therefore, it is said by St. Paul and the Bishop, that Christ is God, the only legitimate inference is, that he is the Only God. The faithful are required to be "Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ." It is allowed by commentators, that the great God and our Saviour are here the same Divine Person, since the Apostle is speaking of the second coming of the Lord, which is not to be an appearing of the Father, but of Jesus Christ. The passage would therefore be more correctly translated, "the glorious appearing of our great God and Saviour, Jesus Christ;" or "of the Great God, even our Saviour, Jesus Christ." But how can the supreme Divinity of Jesus be more strongly indicated than by calling him THE GREAT GOD? What blasphemy would it be to apply such an epithet to any suborditate being, how highlysoever exalted! Similar is the testimony of all the other Apostles. James calls Jesus Christ "the Lord of Glory."|| The Lord of Glory is the same as the King of Glory. And "Who is the King of Glory? JEHOVAH OF HOSTS; HE IS THE KING OF GLORY." So declares David when speaking of the ascension of Jesus. The prophets of the Old Testament continually declare their revelations to be "the word of JEHOVAH;" but Peter affirms that the Divine communications they received were from Jesus; for speaking of man's salvation, he says, "of which salvation the prophets have enquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace which should come unto you; searching what, or what manner of time, THE SPIRIT OF CHRIST, which was in them, *Col. i. 16, 17. † Sermon on Acts xvi. 31. 1 Tim. iii. 16. Eph. ii. 1.

Tit. ii. 13.

TPs. xxiv. 10.

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did signify, when IT testified before hand the sufferings of Christ and the glory which should follow."* It is plain then that the Word of Jehovah is by the Spirit of Christ, thus that Christ is another name for Jehovah. John in his Epistles, affirms Jesus Christ to be God, not only in the passage quoted above, but also when he says, Hereby we perceive the love of God because He laid down his life for us."t Jude openly declares him to be God alone, when he concludes his Epistle with saying, "To the ONLY WISE GOD, OUR SAVIOUR, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever, Amen." Well might Bishop Burnet, after noticing some of the above passages, with others, remark" Idolatry and a plurality of Gods, seem to be the main things that the scriptures warn us against: and yet here is a pursued thread of passages and discourses, that do naturally lead a man to think that Christ is the true God." Can any see the truth of this observation, and fail to conclude, that since "Christ is the true God," in him so completely" dwells ALL the fullness of the Godhead bodily," that to worship any supposed God out of HIM, must be a species of that idolatry against which the Scriptures mainly warn us!

To proceed to the crown of prophecy-the Revelation of John. We here find Supreme Divinity ascribed to JESUS CHRIST in language, which, if not more clear, is more commanding, than that in which the same truth is expressed elsewhere. One passage has been quoted above: the following are a few more.

First, it is to be observed, that, in the prophets, Jehovah repeatedly describes his own Being by calling himself the First and the Last. "I am the First, I also am the Last." Certainly, no epithet can more appropriately describe the nature of Him who is the origin and End, the All in All, of every thing that exists; but, in the Revelation, Jesus assumes this incommunicable name as his own. When John was in the spirit on the Lord's day he heard behind him a great voice as of a trumpet, saying, I AM ALPHA AND OMEGA THE FIRST AND THE LAST." John turned to see the voice which spake with him; when he saw "One like unto the Son of Man."|| And to remove from his mind any doubt whether the voice he had heard, announcing the divine character of the Speaker in such decided terms, proceeded from the Being whom he now saw and whom he recognized as the Son of man- the Lord Jesus Christ, this benificent Saviour, at the sight of whose majesty John had fallen at his feet as dead, laid his right hand upon † 1 John iii. 16.

*1 Eph. i. 10, 11.

Is. xlviii. 12; see also ch. xli. 4, and the other passage quoted above, xliv. 6.

§ Rev. 1. 11.

Ver. 13.

him, saying unto him, “ Fear not, I AM THE FIRst and the LAST." The Lord Jesus Christ again describes himself by this title in his address to the Church of Smyrna; to which he says, "These things saith THE FIRST AND THE LAST, which was dead and is alive." And again, at the conclusion of the book, when announcing his second coming, he says, “Behold I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be. I AM ALPHA AND OMega, the BeGINNING AND THE END, THE FIRST AND THE LAST." The Lamb, so often mentioned in the Revelation, is acknowledged to represent the Lord Jesus Christ; it represents him as to his Human Nature, whilst He who was seen sitting upon the throne, denotes him as to his Divine Essence; and we read that they who gave their power to the beast, "shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them; for HE IS LORD of Lords and KING OF KINGS." And again; He who was seen on a white horse, and whose name is called the Word of God, is manifestly a representative of the Lord Jesus Christ; and of him also it is said, that " He hath on his vesture and on his thigh, a name written, KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS." Is it possible to express supreme dominion in more emphatic terms ? Must it not be true, as is also expressly declared, that to Jesus Christ belong "glory and dominion, forever and ever. ***

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These selections from the Revelation, establishing the identity of Jesus and Jehovah, shall be concluded with some passage from the same book, which prove that all divine worship should be addressed to Jesus Christ, both as to his Essential Divinity and his Divine Humanity.

We read t† that the "four and twenty elders [denoting the superior angelic powers] fall down before Him that sat on the throne, and worship Him forever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying, Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory, and honor, and power; for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are, and were created." In the next chapter we are informed, that the four and twenty elders fell down before the Lamb; after which myriads of myriads, and thousands of thousands of angels worshiped him, in terms only differing in their greater fullness from those in which the elders had, in the former chapter, worshipped Him who sat on the throne; for they said, "Worthy is THE LAMB that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honor, and glory, and blessing." After which, united * Ver. 17. † Ch. iv. 8. ‡ Ch. xxii. 12, 13. § Ch. xvii. 14. Ch. xix. T Ver. 16. ** Ch. i. 6. it Rev. iv. 10, 11. ‡ Ver. 8. §§ Ver. 12..