For to this

perpetual governance of all his creatures. end of supreme majesty, man was created at the first, and in this dignity would have stood till now and for ever, had he not broken the commandment of God; after which, promise succeeded promise, in token of unwearied grace towards the fallen; but evermore was the promise defeated by the disobedience of man, until He came, who is the Amen, and fulfilled every condition, kept the law, and made it honourable. The word of God was stablished; the great, the long delayed Amen, was sounded; and God's word being finished and confirmed, the Holy Spirit might come forth to execute, to realize, and to substantiate all. This is the true reason why the Holy Ghost was not yet, because the great Amen to God's promise had not yet been pronounced, which was pronounced when he said, "It is finished." From this time forth, Christ who had been hitherto the Revealer, the Word, revealing the Father's will, through the intercommuning Spirit, was honoured to become the communicator of the same Spirit, for the completion of the same will into work. So that the whole of revelation to and by the human race, is but as it were the manifestation of Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, in their several offices. The Father's office to originate, Christ holdeth in supreme estimation, and teacheth with continual pre-eminence. From the beginning, until he said, It is finished, what is it all, whether by Prophet, or by Patriarch, or by Priest, or by Forerunner, or by Messiah himself spoken; what is it all but the testimony of the Father, as the great originating will, and the declaration of that will, of what kind it is? And this succession of utterances giveth the glory to one Utterer while they are utterances from the Father, they are uttered in the name, and on the behalf of one, who is the only Utterer. Loose words they were, like the sybil's leaves, floating on the winds and tides, till He came, who should gather them all together, bind and clasp them up, and stamp them for ever stedfast with his own Amen. Thus, revelation is the testimony of the Father, who is uttered, and of the Son who uttereth, until the work of utterance being complete, from that time forth the Spirit proceedeth to execute the things which had been uttered. And since the day of Pentecost we have been living in the

age of things, and not of words. The thing which hath been accomplished by the Spirit as yet is the church, the regeneration of the sons of God. All the rest which hath been written remaineth to be done and effected by the same Spirit. The church therefore, not the word, is now the mighty work of God; the church is so much of the word effected by the Spirit; the church is a complete work of God. But into this we enter not further at present, because it belongeth not to our present subject, and we have sufficiently explained how Christ is the Amen. Observe now how appropriate to our great Bishop is this Divine title of the Amen, which makes every promise sealed and confirmed, stedfast and sure. There are no longer any conditions to the accomplishment of any promise. It is offered to our faith in Christ, without an if, without a may be, or a might be and without any exception, freely promulgated unto all; and he who heareth it by preaching promulgated, doth, if he receive it not, take upon him to reject it. He rejects the confirmed Word of God, the only ground of being; and, if he taste the bitterness of the second death, he hath no reason to complain, having rejected him who is the Amen.

2. The Faithful and True Witness.

As it

We come next to his title, the faithful and true Witness, which is the same that he taketh in the inscription of the book, "Jesus Christ the faithful Witness." With this name also cometh he forth to judgment: "He that sat upon it was called Faithful and True." (ch. xix.) A witness is one who beareth testimony to that which he hath seen. is written (Acts i. 21), "Wherefore of these men which have companied with us, all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out from us, beginning from the baptism of John unto that same day that he was taken up from us, must one be ordained to be a witness with us of his resurrection." And again (John xv. 27); " And ye also shall bear witness, because ye have been with me from the beginning." Of a witness, therefore, according to the Scriptures this is the special character, that he should have seen the things which he testifieth; and this Christ expressly claimeth for himself (John iii. 11): "Verily, we speak that we do know, and we testify that we have seen, and ye receive not our witness. If I have

told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe if I tell you of heavenly things. And no man hath ascended up to heaven but he which came down from heaven, the Son of Man which is in heaven." And to the same effect doth the Baptist testify concerning him in the same chapter (vers. 31-36), "He that cometh from above is above all he that is of the earth is earthly, and speaketh of the earth: he that cometh from heaven is above all; and what he hath seen and heard, that he testifieth, and no man receiveth his testimony. He that hath received his testimony, hath set to his seal that God is true, for he whom God hath sent speaketh the words of God, for God giveth not his Spirit by measure unto him. The Father loveth the Son, and hath given all things into his hand. He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life, and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him." These two passages prove to us, that the substance of this title the Witness, consisteth in his having seen the Father, and his having come forth to reveal the Father, according as it is written in another place; " No man hath seen the Father; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath revealed him." And again, in another place; "All things are delivered unto me of my Father, and no man knoweth the Son but the Father; neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and he to whom the Son will reveal him." This character of the witness doth therefore put a difference between our Lord and all others, who have been sent out from God, but who saw not God, and therefore cannot be called witnesses of God, though they be witnesses for God. All those, who came before Jesus, came to testify concerning Him that was to come; according as he himself declared to the Jews, concerning John the Baptist (John v. 1), If I bear witness of myself, my witness is not true: there is another that beareth witness of me, and I know that the witness which he witnesseth of me is true ye sent unto John, and he bare witness unto the truth." And not only is it true that all the Old-Testament Prophets and Jews did testify of Him that was to come, but likewise the Holy Ghost that was given unto him by the Father, was the Father's witness unto him. John v. 36:

Christ's Style: The faithful Witness. 1115* "But I have greater witness than that of John; for the works that the Father hath given me to finish, the same works that I do bear witness of me 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 have ye seen his shape: and ye have not his word abiding in you; for whom he hath sent, him ye believe not.' And what are all the Apostles but witnesses unto Christ? and what are all we ministers but proclaimers of that witness which they bore? Seeing then that the witness of all Prophets, and Apostles, and preachers, hath its object and termination in Christ, to point him out unto the world, as the Witness, the Prophet, the Sent and Sanctified of God, wherein standeth his own unrivalled dignity, for which he should be the object of such continual holding up, unto the world? It standeth in this, that he hath seen the Father; that he hath been in the. bosom of the Father; that in the beginning he was with God, and was God. He is not the Father, but he is sent from the Father, to bear witness of the Father. His distinct personality from the Father is excellently expressed by this name, The Witness, which passeth beyond the Word and the Light; for the name Word, or the Reason, doth not evidently and at once declare his distinct personality from him whose word he is; nor is the light which discloseth the hidden object, itself a distinct object from that which it discloseth; but contrary wise both these high designations do merely signify the necessity of Christ unto any knowledge or vision of God, without bearing so clearly upon his distinctness as a person; signifying that as the mind and purpose of man, lieth hidden from all research, until with word he open the same to another; and as the forms and colours, yea, and existence, of objects not immediately in contact with our person, lie hidden from our knowledge until the light shineth upon them, even so God is dark and undiscovered, and not discoverable, until Christ the true Light shineth forth from him, and revealeth him unto men. But in this name, The Witness, we have a higher mystery couched; which is, the mystery of his distinot personality. For no man can be a witness in his own cause; the witness must needs be distinct from the person witnessed of. He must have heard the word

A

spoken, or seen the deed committed by another person, in order to be a witness. Distinct personality from the party witnessed of is the essential character of a witness. man can never be a witness in his own cause; a witness can never be the same person with the party witnessed of. This strong position is well brought out by the question of the Pharisees, and our Lord's answer to them in these words (John viii. 13): "The Pharisees therefore said unto him, Thou bearest record (witnessest) of thyself; thy record (witness) is not true. Jesus answered and said unto them, Though I bear witness of myself my witness is true, because I know whence I came and whither I go; but ye cannot tell whence I came, and whither I go. Ye judge after the flesh: I judge no man; and yet if I judge, my judgment is true; for I am not alone, but I and the Father that sent me. It is also written in your law, that the witness of two men is true; I am one that bear witness of myself, and the Father that sent me beareth witness of me. Can any thing be more explicit, that the Father and Christ are two, though they be also one; one in substance, two in person. He quotes from the Law, "The witness of two men is true;" and having done so, he puts forth his Father and himself as the two persons whose witness should be accepted as true. This then we lay down as the preliminary to his being a witness, that he should be a distinct person from the Father; not only be so when he came in flesh, but have been so during his pre-existent state, when he gathered that knowledge of the Father which he took flesh in order to communicate.

But this his distinctness in person from the Father is only the preliminary qualification to the receiving of his word; and the great question is, What is it that he witnesseth? and the answer is, He witnesseth all that is known, all that can be known, of God. All that ever hath been revealed concerning God, whether in the form of creation, in the form of word, or in the form of inward light, cometh only through Christ. As Creator, Christ the Witness did put forth, in the things that are made, certain clear indications and demonstrations of the invisible things of God, even his eternal power and Godhead. In the creation of a living soul, he did witness a higher manifestation of God than the irrational creatures contain.