shall at present add only one quotation more, which assuredly cannot, in any sense, be applied to a mortal man. "He is the image of the invisible God, the first born of every Creature; for by him were all things created, that are in heaven and in earth; and he is before all things, and by him all things consist."*

These are a few of the Texts, which speak directly of the existence of Christ previous to his incarnation. The indirect expressions implying the same thing, and taking it for granted, are too numerous to be recited. I shall only mention one, which our Lord evidently applies to himself. In the parable of the "householder, who planted a vineyard;" the expressions; "they will reverence my Son;" and "this is the heir: come let us kill him; and the inheritance shall be ours;" manifestly imply, that Christ was a person of superior rank, dignity and birth to the prophets; or servants, who had been sent before; and whom the husbandmen or Jews had put to death. The passages of both descriptions occur so frequently, that, though a degree of doubt were thrown on some, the remainder would be more than sufficient to establish, the Doctrine: but if, by any degree of critical ingenuity, the meaning of them all could be rendered doubtful, we must abandon all confidence in the signification of language, and

* Col. i. 15,

all faith in the Word of God. The same perversion of meaning, which has been attempted with respect to some of these Texts, would extract any meaning from any set of words, that would best suit the purpose of the critic. But even this distortion of particular Texts, is not thought sufficient to invalidate this Doctrine; for some who deny it are forced, at the same time, to expunge the commencement of Matthew and Luke, and this without any warrant or authority from manuscripts."

Beside the express declarations of Scripture, the whole tenor of Revelation implies the Superior Nature of Christ, and would be inconsistent and unaccountable on any other supposition. This will appear, whether we take a view of History or Prophecy.

We have every reason to believe, that the Patriarchal and Mosaical Dispensations were conducted, under God, by the agency of one supereminent Being, denominated the Angel of the Covenant, the Angel of the Lord, and Jehovah; and we are expressly told, that they were ordered by the Ministry of Angels, We are also instructed, that the whole of this great process was only preparatory to the Ministry of Christ, and the Redemption of the world by him. Is it then to be supposed, that after these Spiritual Beings had conducted this magnificent system of dispensations to the very eve of the Christian Reve

lation; after Malachi had closed the Old Testament, with an assurance, that "the Lord should come suddenly to his temple, even the Messenger, or Angel of the Covenant, in whom they delighted," and that he should be preceded by a Forerunner; prophecies, which our Lord applies to himself and John the Baptist, and which identify him with the Angel of the Covenant, and the Baptist with Elias, who was to come before him;-is it conceivable, that this grand and consistent plan should be suddenly broken off, and that these glorious Ministers of the Most High, should be superseded by the Son of a Galilean peasant?

It is, no doubt, competent to the Almighty to choose his own Instruments. We know, that he does, for wise reasons, select the weak things of the world to confound the strong; and we can assign wise motives for the appearance of the Messiah in a lowly and obscure condition. If the whole of the Christian Scheme were only to raise up a moral teacher, to announce immortality as the Reward of Virtue; and were it wholly unconnected with any other Dispensation, we might be able to reconcile ourselves to the selection of such a person as Jesus of Nazareth. But when we call to mind the stupendous plan, of which he is the head and conductor; when we recollect the connected scheme of Providence and Grace, of which even the Gospel makes but a part; and

when we turn our thoughts to that grand stream of prophecies, which flows through the Old Testament, we shall hardly persuade ourselves, that they could apply to a mere man; and that all the nations of the earth were to be blessed, and the whole world redeemed from destruction, by the Son of Joseph and Mary.

This supposition will appear yet more extraordinary, when we contemplate the manner, in which the office of Christ is represented in Scripture. Who can believe, that the well-beloved and only Son of the Most High, "the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person," was the son of a Jewish carpenter; and that God manifested that tender love to the world, which is so much celebrated by the Sacred Writers, by parting with this dearly beloved son of Joseph, to be the propitiation for the sins of all mankind? Not to speak of those exalted titles given him, both in the Old and New Testaments, how could such a one be the Saviour of the world, the Mediator of the new Covenant, the Advocate and Intercessor for the human race, and a merciful High Priest; or entitled to those transcendent appellations, which have led the greater part of Christians to suppose him a portion of the Supreme Godhead?

If these titles, offices and functions appear so incompatible with human nature, what shall we say of his being raised to the right hand of God,

proclaimed to be a Prince and a Saviour, and appointed to be the Judge of the world? How can we imagine St. John to be so extravagant, as to apply to a mortal man such strains as these?

Every creature, which is in heaven and in earth, heard I saying, blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth on the throne, and unto the Lamb, for ever and ever. I beheld, and lo, a great number, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands; and cried with a loud voice, saying, salvation to our God, who sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb." "It is he," says the Apostle, "that was ordained of God to be the Judge of the quick and the dead. We must all stand before the judgment seat of Christ." Above all, is it supposable, on this principle, that Christ himself should repeatedly say, "The Son of Man shall come in his glory, and all his holy angels with him; and then shall he sit on the throne of his glory: before him shall be gathered all nations. The Father hath committed all judgment to the Son?"

It appears, then, that Christ himself laid claim to pre-existence in a glorious state of being ;that his Apostles ascribed it to him;-that the prophecies pre-supposed it;-that the consistency of the two revelations required it; and that it