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peace from God the Father, and from "the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of the "Father." Why should this be so particularly specified, if he were only mere man, the greatest of all the prophets? Moses was a servant, so were all the prophets, but Christ "a Son in his own house;" and "as he that despised Moses' law, died * without mercy, of how much sorer pu"nishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought "worthy, who hath trodden under foot "the Son of God." It is well worth the while of those who want further conviction on this subject, to review the circumstances of our Saviour's trial and condemnation. He is brought before Pilate, the Roman governor, as accused by the Jews of some crime. Pilate naturally asks, "What ac"cusation bring you against this man?" The Jews are somewhat puzzled to point out the offence; they answer, in a mixt

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tone of impertinence and displeasure, "If " he were not a malefactor, we would "not have delivered him unto thee." They suborn with difficulty two false witnesses, who affirm, "This fellow has the insolence "to say, Destroy the great temple of "Jerusalem, and in three days I will build " it up again." But though there was folly, presumption, and madness in this speech, it could not be considered a capital offence and worthy of death; they therefore tried still further, to see if they could not get him to convict himself. The high priest adjures him by the living God to tell him, whether he were the true Messiah, the Son of God. He answers, "Thou hast said, and moreover ye shall 66 see me, the Son of Man, hereafter sitting "on the right hand of power, and com❝ing in the clouds of Heaven, with power "and great glory." This was evidence

enough for Caiaphas, he wanted no further witnesses, he rent his cloaths with indignation, he appealed to the people, they find him guilty of blasphemy, and condemn him to death. They accuse him of sedition, but of this he perfectly clears himself, to the satisfaction of Pilate: "My king"dom is not of this world, else would my "servants fight, that I should not be de"livered unto you, but now is my kingdom "not from hence." With great difficulty, therefore, Pilate is at last persuaded by the Jews, to give sentence against Christ: "We have a law, and by that law he "ought to die, because he made himself "the Son of God." If by this declaration Christ meant only, that he was a Son of God in the general acceptation of the expression, it was surely incumbent upon him, to have rectified the mistaken notions of his countrymen, and not to have thrown

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away his life by a silence, which might have been denominated sullen; but it was for bearing witness to this great truth alone, that he suffered death; and that no man might hereafter doubt, the Evangelist has added, as a convincing proof how clearly the Jews understood him, that they reviled him on the cross, for his (as they considered it) blasphemous presumption: "If "thou be the Son of God, come down "from the cross, and we will believe thee." "Let God deliver him now, if he will "have him, for he said, I am the Son of "God."

Thus have I endeavoured, as far as the time and place will allow me, to prove the Godhead and the Sonship of Christ, from the Scriptures only; I trust, not with the heat of an enthusiast, or the acrimony of a Polemic, but with the sincerity of a Christian, as a faithful dispenser of that

Gospel committed to my trust, and as a member of that Establishment, which it is no less my inclination, than it is my duty, to defend. Assembled Christians! ye who have the Scriptures in your native language always before you, are these things so? How long halt you between two opinions? If the Lord Jesus Christ be proved, by the writings of his Evangelists and Apostles, to be God, follow him, worship him, and adore him; and may the God of truth lead you into all truth, make you steadfast in believing, and zealous of good works, to the glory of your Creator and Redeemer, and to the promotion of your own happiness, and everlasting salvation.