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1 Pet. iii. 18. "Being put to death in the flesh, but quicken"ed by the spirit.”

Thus now our Lord was made of the feed of David, and fo of the feed of Abraham, according to the flesh; and thus the promises made unto the fathers have their confirmation in him, the true promised feed. But the prophecies fpake of his coming into the world as fomething very extraordinary, If. vii. 14. 66 Behold, a virgin fhall conceive, and bring forth

"a fon, and shall call his name IMMANUEL." Compare Jer xxxi. 22. "The Lord hath created a new thing in the "earth, a woman fhall compass a man." There are difficulties moved about this prophecy; but if we can believe, that men may be encouraged, under prefent diftrefs, to expect relief, and engaged in their duty, by the faith of future things, upon which their eternal falvation depends, especially when these things to come have a neceffary influence upon that relief, and upon their doing prefent duty, (Heb. xi. 1. &c.) there will be no reafon to queftion that it is a prophecy of the birth of Chrift; and it ill becomes them to queftion it who own the authority of the New Teftament. Matth. i. 22. 23. "Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was "spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Behold, a vir

gin fhall be with child, and fhall bring forth a fon, and "and they fhall call his name Emmanuel, which being "interpreted, is, God with us." So it behoved Chrift to be a man conceived, and born by a woman, a virgin. This was pointed at in the first promise of him, Gen. iii. 15. "the "woman's feed." And fome of the learned have thought the fame thing intended in the name SHILOH, given to the Meffiah in Jacob's prophecy. [See Rivet upon the place.]

"

This great thing is declared by the angel that told Mary, the mother of Jefus, that the fhould bring forth the great Son of David, the King of Ifrael, Luke i. 34. 35. "Then faid Mary unto the angel, How fhall this be, feeing I know not a "man? And the angel anfwered, and faid unto her, The "Holy Ghoft fhall come upon thee, and the power of the "Higheft fhall overfhadow thee: therefore alfo that holy "thing which fhall be born of thee, fhall be called the Son "of God."

There is a threefold miracle wrought here by the power of the Higheft, working in a moft holy and myfterious manner. 1. The making the womb of the virgin fruitful, fo that the conceived and brought forth a fon. 2. The bring ing of that holy thing, the human nature, the foul and body

of

This man came not

of Jefus Chrift, out of a finful woman. into the world by virtue of that command to our first parents before the fall, Be fruitful, and multiply upon the earth;" for all that have come into the world that way, have been partakers with Adam in his fin; but he came into the world by virtue of that promise made for the recovery of finners, "The feed of the woman fhall bruise the head of the fer"pent." According to this promife, that "holy thing" was born of the virgin, by his power with whom nothing shall be impoffible; and by this means he is related unto his people, that are reckoned with him in that promife, in oppofition to the ferpent's feed; and by virtue of their relation to this Holy One, they are fanctified by him, Heb. ii. 11. 14. "For both he that fanctifieth, and they that are fanctified, 66 are all of one: for which cause he is not ashamed to call "them brethren. Forafmuch then as the children are par "takers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewife took part of the fame; that through death he might destroy him "that had the power of death, that is, the devil." 3. But the greatest wonder of all is, that this "holy thing," the foul and body, or human nature of Chrift, fhould be no other perfon but the Son of God, who took to himself this holy thing, that it might be as verily his foul and body, as our fouls and bodies are ours: "Because the children were partakers of "flesh and blood, he also himself likewife took part of the "fame." The human nature of Christ is not a perfon by itfelf; the perfon is the Son of God: for, fays the angel, "that holy thing which shall be born of thee, fhall be call❝ed the Son of God." This is the great mystery of godlinefs, God manifeft in the flesh; of which reafon fays, "How << can this be?" because it can find nothing like unto it, nothing wherewith to compare it, either in the height above, or in the deeps below but faith credits God's teftimony in the gospel, and fays, "Jefus is the Son of God; " and bleffed are they that believe. This wonderful union of the divine and human nature in the perfon of the Son of God, may be fome way reprefented to us, in his conception in the womb of the virgin without a man, by the Holy Ghoft, the power of the Higheft, overshadowing her.

But this leads to another thing spoken of Meffiah the King, by the prophets. For,

2. They also fet him forth as God; and foretell, that this man, this Son of David, should be a truly divine person; even that person of the Godhead who is filed "The rock of

"Ifrael"

"Ifrael" by David, in making mention of all the three. Of this, it feems, thofe Jews knew not fo much, who could not answer that question, Matth. xxii. 42.-45." How then doth "David in fpirit call him Lord? If David then call him "Lord, how is he his fon?" They knew not how he could be David's God and his King, and yet his fon, But the high priest, and they that propofed that question to him, "Art thou the Chrift, the Son of the Blessed?" the Son of God and condemned him for blafphemy when he confeffed it, (Matth. xxvi. 63. 64. 65.; Mark xiv. 61-64.; Luke xxii. 67.—71.; John xix. 7. 8.), feemed to have fome notion, from the prophecies, of the Meffiah's being God.

The prophets give him the highest names and titles of the Supreme God; fuch as, " Jehovah," Jer. xxiii. 6. Pfal. xcvii. 1. &c. "The Lord God," Ifaiah xl. 10. 11. “ The “Lord of hosts," Isaiah viii. 13. 14. See alfo for this, Pfal. xxiv. 10. which pfalm is a prophecy of the Messiah and his kingdom, who is there defigned "The King of glory;" and his folemn entrance into heaven, the feat of his kingdom, is there described; as it is alfo Pfal. xlvii. from . and Pfal. lxviii. 18. The question is made concerning this King of glory, who he is? and the answer to this question is, "The "Lord of hosts, he is the King of glory." The King of glory is a title of the Meffiah, importing his glorious domi nion and kingdom; and if this title, "The Lord of hofts," imported no more than this dominion, the question, in that cafe, would not be answered; for all that is expreffed, fully, by the title, "The King of glory:" and therefore that title, "The "Lord of hofts," imports more, even his Supreme Godhead; and that he is" that moft High God," befides whom there is no God.

He is fet forth in the prophecies as the creator of the world. So we have him in the beginning of that xxivth Pfalm; and the ciid Pfalm, which is also a prophecy of the Messiah's kingdom, declares him "the eternal and unchangeable crea"6 tor of the heavens and the earth." See y 25. 26. 27. and compare Heb. i. 10. 11. 12. and many other Old Testament fcriptures might be cited to this purpose. Now, the creation of the world is that work whereby the Moft High God, be fide whom there is no God, is every where diftinguished in his word; and it is exprefsly declared, that he stretched "forth the heavens alone, and fpread abroad the earth by "himself," Ifaiah xliv. 24.

The adverfaries of the true Godhead of Jefus Chrift, insist

much

much upon the manner of speaking of him as creator in the New Teftament, where they would have the world's being faid to be created by him, to import his being only a fubordinate caufe, or his acting as an inftrument only in that great work. But though it fhould be allowed, that he acted in that work as being fet up from everlasting, to be mediator, and head over all things to the church, and preparing, as it were, a fcene for acting that glorious work of redemption, and laying all things that were made, in a fubferviency unto his glorious kingdom, Prov. viii. Eph. iii. 9. Heb. i. Col. i. ; yet ftill there was none befide the "Moft High God" employed in that work. Whatever was the capacity, therefore, in which he acted, the work he did, abundantly demonftrates his "eternal power and godhead ;" and that the Father hath no other godhead, but that very fame which he also hath, and can challenge as his own, even as the Father.

His work of creation is not that which makes him God; but it clearly manifefts him to be the only true God. It is not the reafon for which he is God; but it doth evidently dif cover unto the reafon of creatures, that whoever wrought it is the only true God," Rom. i. 20. And fcripture-revelation fhews, that there was none but that God employed in that work; and that the fame perfon who is the Chrift, the King of the church, wrought that fame work. So that whatever was the capacity wherein he acted in the creation, it clearly fhews, that he is, and was before the world, the only eternal and almighty Lord God.

And when this divine perfon condescends to act in fubordination to the Father, with a view to the redemption of finners of mankind, yet fo as his true Godhead appears gloriously in all the works to which he thus condefcends, it is the highest ingratitude in men to go about to difparage him, on account of that fame condefcenfion. Neither will it excufe them, that they are moved unto this by this reason, That they can. not fatisfy their understandings, how three truly diftinct perfons can have the fame very Godhead, fo that of every one of them it may be truly faid, He is the only true God, beside whom there is no God For this is to fay, that the incomprehenfible God can reveal nothing of himself, but what they can understand; and they are concerned to credit the divine teftimony no further than they can fatisfy themselves about the reasonablenefs of that which he teftifies.

Yet they have never been able to fhow an inconfiftency in this mystery, no not fuch as appears in many things of the

truth

truth of which they are fatisfied by Nature's light. And even the inconfiftencies of which they are not able to rid their own notions of the divine eternity, omniprefence, and omnifcience, do not oblige them to quit thofe notions. But whatever appears in fcripture-revelation with the leaft air of inconfiftency, puts them immediately upon that old inquiry, "Hath God faid fo?" And by this, he that first proposed that question, can eafily "blind the minds of them that be"lieve not, left the light of the glorious gospel of Chrift," the image of God, "fhould thine unto them," while he fills their minds with the fancy of being or becoming as gods for knowledge.

Now, while they look down upon us with pity or dif dain, as an inferior kind of creatures, that, for lack of understanding, or being imposed upon by fome crafty fpirit, and enthusiasts, believe myfteries, and credit contradictions; if we inquire for the contradiction in that which we believe, they tell us, it is a plain principle in nature and reason, “That "God is but one intelligent agent, and that intelligent agent "and perfon are one and the fame; and fo it is impoffible, "that one, and but one intelligent agent and perfon, can "yet be three intelligent agents or perfons."

But we are not yet fatisfied, by all those words thus fet together, that perfonality enters at all into the idea we have of the Deity by Nature's light. The eternal power and Godhead of the Firft Caufe is clearly feen by the things that are made, and the wisdom of the Godhead is confpicuous in them but fince the idea of personality ferves to diftinguish to us thofe intelligent agents that we cannot diftinguish by the ideas we have of their natures, as intelligent agents; which, though we repeat them ever so oft, are the fame; and fince the Divine Being is infinitely diftinguifhed from all other beings, in the notion we have of it by Nature's light; the idea of perfonality is of no manner of ufe here. And feeing the idea of perfonality includes diftinct mutual relations and offi ces, whereby we diftinguish thefe, that cannot be diftinguished by the idea of their nature, common to both, (and there is fomething real at the bottom of this diftinction, whereof we have no idea); it is evident, that as the idea of one human perfon neceffarily infers another human perfon, and the idea of one angelic perfon neceffarily infers another angelic perfon, with whom he is one way or other related, and from whom he is diftinguished in and by that relation, when he cannot be distinguished from him by the common idea of VOL. I.

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