He fays in another paffage, "but when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of Truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me," John xv. 26. The Holy Ghost here proceedeth from the Father only; we find that the fame witnefs of Chrift preceded his coming, and teftified of him beforehand, as well as after his afcent; "For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God fpake as they were moved by the Holy Ghoft," 2 Peter i. 21. But we find the prophets themselves, who spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghoft, "fearching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Chrift which was in them did fignify, when it teftified beforehand the fufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow," I Pet. i. 11; fo that the apostles, filled with the Holy Ghoft, have here expressly declared what glory that is which fhould be teftified after the fufferings of Chrift, even that the Spirit which proceedeth from the Father is the Spirit of Chrift, therefore one with the Father, God. But our Saviour himself, as if determined to put the matter out of doubt, by preparing the ears of his audience to hear the teftimony of the Holy Ghoft concerning him, declares that "he shall glorify me : for he fhall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you. All things that the Father hath, are mine: therefore said I, that he shall take of mine, and shew it unto you,” John xvi, 14, 15.

XXXI.

Our bleffed Lord and Saviour, having taken our nature upon him, and having been in all points tempted like as we are, on the approach of that hour in which he was to be made perfect by fuffering death for all men, and in which he was to finish the great end of his having come in the flesh, confoles himself by looking beyond his grave, and contemplating the glory that should follow; and as a man about to endure great afflictions, and, furmounting

furmounting them, to take our nature" into heaven itfelf, now to appear in the prefence of God for us," Heb. ix. 24, addreffes himself to that Being to which, as Man, he was inferior, faying, "Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son alfo may glorify thee," John xvii. 1: "And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self, with the glory which I had with thee before the world was," John xvii. 5, "For thou lovedft me before the foundations of the world," John xvii. 24. The pre-existence of our Saviour is exprefsly declared here, and the identity of that Godhead with which he and the Father are mutually to glorify each other; that glory which the Son had in all refpects equal with the Father, before he had, for the fake of mankind, taken upon him that nature whereby he was, upon earth, inferior to him,

XXXII.

I

Pilate therefore faid unto him, Art thou a king then? Jefus answered, Thou fayeft that I am a king.. To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I fhould bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the truth, heareth my voice," John xviii. 37. These words are preceded by a declaration made by our Saviour, that my kingdom is not of this world," and the whole together is faid by St. Paul to be a good confeffion witneffed before Pilate," 1 Tim. vi. 13. That Nathanael, an Ifraelite indeed, in whom was no guile, understood the prophecies of our Saviour's kingdom in this sense, is evident; for, upon seeing him an unattended man, he pronounced him "the King of Ifrael," which he must have seen that he was not in any other acceptation of the terms than as he was the "Son of God," John i. 49; and this interpretation he put upon the prophecies, upon feeing our Saviour poffeffed of an extraordinary knowledge. Greater things have been referved for us to fee than Nathanael faw; why then shall

we

we hesitate to say, according to the teftimony which this great witness of the truth bore to himself, "thy kingdom is not of this world," and with Nathanael," thou art the King of Ifrael, the Son of God;" words which I have already fhewed, when fpoken by a Jew, to mean, thou haft equality of Godhead with the Father. See above, p. 64.

XXXIII.

"And Thomas answered and faid unto him, My Lord, and my God. Jefus faith unto him, Thomas, because thou haft feen me, thou haft believed," John xx. 28, 29. To call this faying of Thomas an exclamation, is a poor and difingenuous evafion of the Bifhop, quoted by Mr. Lindsey; for it is declared to be an answer and an addrefs to our Saviour, who had convinced him that he was the fame Jefus who had been dead and was alive again; an argument which I fhould conceive fufficient to evince the truth of doctrines which Thomas had heard before, but through a defective faith did not underftand; and to induce that confeffion which he now makes, faying unto him, My Lord, and my God." When Mary, ver. 16, faw and knew our Lord after his refurrection, fhe made no exclamation, but directly addressed herself to him, faying, "Mafter!" acknowledging him to whom she spoke. Mary had not been a witness of all the declarations of his own nature which he had made to his apoftles, who were to be witnesses unto him; the acknowledges him as fhe had known him before; but Thomas, who confidered a refurrection from the dead to be a conclufive evidence of the truth of what he had often heard, inftantly draws the natural inference, and acknowledges him to be his Lord and his God. (See Inquiry into the belief of the Chriftians of the first three Centuries, &c. p. 32 & 311.) If the works of this fame bishop of Mopfueftia, which have not reached us, were of the fame ftamp as the fragment quoted by Mr.

Lindley,

Lindley, we have no great reason to regret the lofs, or condemn our ancestors for having configned the rest of them to oblivion. The poor bishop himself must also be highly obliged to those who have thus redeemed him from our certain cenfure.

66

Next in order follows the teftimony borne to the divinity of Jefus Chrift by the apostles, men appointed to be his witneffes, on whom he breathed and faid," "Receive ye the Holy Ghoft," "the Spirit of truth, he will guide you into all truth;" "he fhall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatfoever I have faid unto you;"" he will fhew you things to come; he shall glorify me;" men, "whofe under standing he opened that they might understand the fcriptures ;" holy men of God who have made known unto us the power and coming of our Lord Jefus Chrift, for they were eye-witnesses of his Majesty." To perfons thus qualified, speaking as they were moved by the Holy Ghoft, coming in due time to fpeak of him who had given himself a ranfom for all, "understanding the myftery of Chrift, which in other ages was not made known unto men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit ;" taking the propheties from a dark place to spread abroad their radiance, and render their fure word a light to us; to perfons thus qualified, I fay, we shall do well that we take heed; to their teftimony it is effential to our own eternal happiness that we give credit, and not that we look upon all fuch things as occur in their writings, which are "hard to be understood, as given to our ignorance and inftability to wrest to our own deftruction:" they have pointed out the way to a bleffed immortality; it is our duty to fearch into what they have faid, and where we cannot understand to confide. From the apostles we are to expect the manifeftation of fpiritual things, and as fuch are certainly beyond

the

the reach of our farther enquiry, it is but reasonable to truft those who were permitted to look into them, and to promulgate fo much as concerns us to know.

XXXIV.

"And they prayed, and faid, Thou Lord, which knoweft the hearts of all men, fhew whether of these two thou haft chofen, that he may take part of this miniftry and apoftleship," Acts i. 24. This prayer is preferred to the Lord who had fent forth his difciples, faying, “ye fhall bear witness, because ye have been with me from the beginning," John xv. 27. «Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature," Mark xvi. 15; and by whom St. Paul fays, "we have received the apoftlefhip," Rom. i. 5; to that Lord, who knew to whom he should commit himfelf, "becaufe he knew all men, and needed not that any should testify of man; for he knew what was in man," John ii. 25. And the petition is, that out of two men, namely, Juftus and Matthias, felected from those " who had been with our Saviour from the beginning," "which have companied with us, all the time that the Lord Jefus went in and out among us, beginning from the baptifm of John, unto that fame day that he was taken up from us," A&ts i. 21, 22; he should ordain one to be a witnefs of his refurrection in the place of Judas, who had fallen by tranfgreffion. That it is addreffed to Jefus Chrift, not only the context, but the following circumftance may thoroughly demonftrate: The very fame call being to be made of another apostle, as the Lord is now defired to make, a light fhone from heaven round about Saul, and of the voice which spoke it is thus declared: "the Lord faid, I am Jefus whom thou perfecuteft:"" and the Lord faid, Arife, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do," Acts ix. 5, 6. But when Saul, according to this commandment, came into Damafcus," he is met and received by a certain difI

ciple