mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me. The works which the Father hath given me to finish, the same works that I do, bear witness of me,” (not that I am the Father, or equal to the Father,) but "that the Father hath sent me. And the Father himself, which hath sent me, hath borne witness of me. Ye have neither heard his voice at any time, nor seen his shape. And ye have not his word abiding in you for whom he hath sent, ye believe

not."

But look over this entire discourse of our Lord, and you will feel as though it were intended to prevent the very possibility of taking up the common notion of his equality with the Father; and it may serve to excite your surprise, that, notwithstanding the care he hath taken to maintain the supremacy of the one God and Father of all, men have yet been bold enough to affirm, that the Son is in all things equal to the Father.

And it will not be out of place to observe here, that this discourse of our Lord may also show you in what light you are to regard his miraculous works. They have been adduced by some, in proof, not merely of his divinity, but of his supreme Godhead: but Christ never adduced them, save as he has done here, in proof of his divine mission, in proof that "the Father had sent him." It has been asserted too, that

Christ performed all his miracles of himself-of his own underived powers: whereas Christ tells you no such thing. On the contrary, he tells you here, and every where, that he did "nothing of himself;" and that "all power was given him of the Father."

And, if you look over the miracles of Christ, you will find this manifest in the most stupendous among them. When he fed the multitudes with a few loaves and fishes, the evangelist tells us, that he looked up to heaven," and "gave thanks," and "blessed and brake," and gave to the disciples to set before them. When he raised Lazarus from the grave, he acknowledged his miraculous power from on high-" I thank thee, O Father, that thou hast heard me." I repeat it, therefore, that the very miracles of Christ, understood as he himself has explained them, must be regarded as so many evidences of his subordination to the Father. And whoever can argue from them his equality with the Father, must believe himself speaking to those who have not read the New Testament.

John vi. 38. "For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me. And this is the Father's will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day."-57th verse, "As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father."

John viii. 28, "I do nothing of myself; but as the Father hath taught me, I speak these things. And he that sent me is with me: the Father hath not left me alone; for I do always those things that please him." John x. 29, "My Father, who gave them me, is greater than all." John xii. 49, "For I have not spoken of myself; but the Father which sent me, he gave me a commandment, what I should say, and what I should speak. And I know that his commandment is life everlasting. Whatsoever I speak, therefore, even as the Father said unto me, so I speak." John xiv. 24, 28, 31, “The word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father's which sent me. For my Father is greater than I. And as the Father gave me commandment, even so I do." John xv. 10, 15, "If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love. all things that I have heard of my Father, I have made known unto you." Upon these passages I deem it unnecessary to make a single comment. Common sense will enable you all to judge of them aright. They may be, and they have been, tortured by the ingenuity of the learned, and perverted from their natural and ordinary meaning: but remember that the Bible was not designed for an exercise of learned ingenuity, but for the guide of plain common

sense.

For

S

I might here transcribe, as completely to my present purpose, the entire seventeenth chapter, with various other portions, of the gospel of St. John: but I shall not;-for those among you who bow before the authority of Christ-and I trust you all do so-must, by this time, perceive, and feel, that his discourses, recorded in the gospels, are full of the doctrine of his subordination to the Father. And I shall, for that very reason, be brief in my selection of passages from the Apostolic records, which teach the same doctrine.

I might, with propriety, quote for this purpose all that I adduced before to prove the supremacy of the Father; but I shall content myself with the following.

1 Cor. xv. 24, "Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule, and all authority, and power. For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet. The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death. For he hath put all things under his feet. But when he saith, all things are put under him, it is manifest that he is excepted, which did put all things under him. And when all things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that put all things under him, that God may be all in all."-This is evidently an epitome of the gospel doc

trine touching the dignity and office of the Son of God. He has a kingdom, and a power, and a glory, conferred on him by the Father Almighty, who hath put all things under his feet. But when all things are said to be under him, it is manifest, saith the Apostle, that he is excepted who did put all things under him. And when the high designs of heaven's mercy shall have been accomplished by his mediation, then shall he deliver up the kingdom to God, even the Father, that God may be all in all.

To the same purpose is what we read in Eph. i. 22, how the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, "hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be head over all things to the church." As also, Heb. ii. 8, "Thou hast put all things in subjection under his feet. For in that he put all in subjection 'under him, he left nothing that is not put under him. But now we see not yet all things put under him. But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour, that he, by the grace of God, should taste death for every man. For it became him to whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the Captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings."

To the same purpose, likewise, may be quoted his own words in Revelation, ii. 26, " And he that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto