now embodied in the Scriptures of the Old Testament, we shall observe, that it was not all delivered at once, or in the same manner, but in many different parts, succeeding each other "at sundry times," and conveyed in almost as many “ divers manners." Not

God, who at sundry

times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets. i. 1.

only are the historical books distinct from the Psalms, Proverbs, or Canticles, and those again from the Prophets, but in each of these divisions several inspired writers were employed by God to record his word for our instruction, and that too at widely distant periods from each other. The manner also in which the revelation was communicated to the man of God,' as well as that in which it was by him conveyed to the people, varied considerably in different instances. To some, for example, as to Moses, "the Lord spake face to face, even apparently, and not in dark speeches';" whilst to others "He made himself known in a vision, or spake unto them in a dream"." Thus did God, at sundry times, in the different parts of his revealed word, and by the divers methods which it seemed fit to his unerring wisdom to adopt, speak formerly to the Jewish fathers by the prophets who succeeded each other from Moses to Malachi.

Great, unquestionably, was the reverence ever due to the word of God, even when conveyed only by mortal men. It was still a heavenly treasure, though carried in earthen vessels." And great was the condescending grace of God in vouchsafing to hold any communication, by whatever methods, with our

1 Exod. xxxiii. 11. Num. xii. 8.

2 Num. xii. 6.

fallen race, and, in any manner or degree, to reveal to us his will. But these were but the beginnings of mercies, but dawnings of the light of heaven. The full display of divine revelation was reserved for the closing periods of the merciful dispensations of the Almighty, even for "these last days" in which we live under the gospel, and in which God “hath spoken to us by his Son," his Firstborn, his Well-beloved, even the Onlybegotten of the Father, "whom he hath appointed Heir of all things."

i. 2.

For it is not by adoption, as we ourselves may be, that Christ is the Son and Heir of God; but in a preeminent sense, quite peculiar to himself, and exclusive of all participation with any created being;-so the Son, as to be of the same nature with the Father, even one with Him' in the eternal essence of God; so the Heir, as to be equally with the Father Lord of all things. For what saith the apostle? Does he not clearly declare, that "by Him God made the worlds; that he is the brightness of His glory, and the express Image of His Person, and that he upholdeth all things by the word of his power?"

i. 2. 3.

Ask the veriest child in the Christian Church, Who it was that made the worlds? and will he not tell you, and tell you truly, It was God. Nay, "search the Scriptures," and do they not give the same reply? But we are here assured, that the worlds, not this alone, but all worlds, were made by Christ. He, the

1 "I and my Father are one," John x. 30. one as We are." John xvii. 11. and also 22.

"That they may be

Second Person in the eternal Trinity, was the Agent by whom the power of the Godhead was exerted in the mighty work. "All things were made by Him ; and without him was not any thing made," not even one "that was made1."

Christ, then, is one with God the Father;-One in nature, though distinct in personal existence; deriving, indeed, his nature from God, as the Son from the Father, but that nature truly divine. He is the Effulgence in short of his Father's glory, Light of Light;" and not merely an image, as Adam was, in a humble degree, of God's dominion and immortality, of his wisdom or holiness, but the express Image, the direct Impress of his Person, Very God of Very God."

66

66

66

Accordingly, we find not only creation, which is clearly a divine work, but the other acts and prerogatives of the Godhead, in like manner, attributed to Christ; and that, too, with an express acknowledgment of his infinite power, conveyed in the terms which are used of God, and of God alone. Thus, in the passage before us, the Son of God is said to uphold all things;" not a part only of the system of things, but the whole. He made the worlds; He upholds the universe. "All things were made by Him," without "even one" exception, and all things without exception are by Him preserved in being. Nor is this all: He upholds the worlds, not as a mere instrument or secondary cause, but by his own almighty decree, by the word of his power."

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True it is, most wonderfully, most mysteriously,

1 John i. 3.

When he had by him

self purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high. i. 3.

most graciously true, that this same exalted Person, who made and upholds both us and all things, did by Himself, yea, by Himself, in his own sacred Person, make an expiation for our sins. He it was, our Creator and Preserver, the Author and Supporter of our being, who gave himself up to death for us on the cruel and ignominious cross. But no sooner had he finished this work of inconceivable condescension and love, than the divinity of his Person again shone forth in its natural lustre. The humiliation, which his love for our fallen souls had made necessary, being accomplished, He raised himself to life by his eternal Spirit of holiness, and sat down once more', his human nature thenceforth partaking in the glory of his divine, "on the right hand of the Majesty on high," "far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come".

2 "

The messengers generally employed by the Almighty, under the Old Testament dispensations, were prophets; but on certain special occasions, and particularly at the delivery of the Law, we find angels also engaged in this service. For on that occasion, we are told, "the chariots of God were twenty thousand, even thousands of angels." Yea, "the Lord came from Sinai, and rose up from Seir: He shined forth from Mount Paran, and He came with ten

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.

thousands of Saints; when from his right hand the fiery law went1" forth for Israel. Impressed with these extraordinary circumstances of heavenly grandeur, which attended the delivery of their Law, it was not strange that the Hebrews (as the Jews of Palestine were called) should, if we may so speak, be proud of their religion, and disposed to look with jealousy or even with contempt upon other creeds. Nay, it is not to be wondered at, that even those Hebrews, who embraced the Christian faith, should be occasionally tempted to slight the Gospel; when their minds went back, in all the strength of early association, to the awful glories of Sinai; especially if there were those amongst them then, as there, undoubtedly, were not long after, (and as, alas! there have been since in the Christian world even to the present hour,) who regarded Christ as a mere man, equal only to Moses, and therefore inferior to the holy angels. Under such circumstances, how seasonable was it that St. Paul should begin his letter to the Hebrew Christians with setting forth so strongly the pre-eminent dignity of our Lord above all created beings, and with showing, in particular, his vast superiority to the angels!

For when the Son of God "sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high," he was made or became," saith the apostle, "so much better than the angels as he hath inherited a more excellent name than they ;"-a Name, much more excellent, as that of the Son and Heir is above that of a servant,

i. 4.

SO

1 Deut. xxxiii. 2.