of the Lamb," and who "therefore are before the throne of God, and ferve him night and day in his temple," "a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues ftanding before the throne, and before the Lamb clothed with white robes *". To these the glorious company of the apostles have added their praise, faying "to the King of kings, and Lord of lords †," "who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto, whom no man hath feen, nor can fee, be honour and power everlasting. Amen." "To our Lord and Saviour Jefus Chrift be glory both now and for ever. Amen §:" "to whom be praise and dominion both now and for ever. Amen ||.” "Wherefore seeing we alfo are compaffed about with so great a cloud of witneffes, let us lay afide every weight, and the fin which doth fo eafily befet us, and let us run with patience the race that is fet before us, looking unto Jefus, the author and finisher of our faith, who, for the joy that was fet before him, endured the cross, defpifing the fhame **," which was undergone for our redemption; and let us "with every tongue confess that Jefus Christ is Lord, with every knee, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth, bow our knee alfo at the name of Jesus tt;" and knowing that the fame Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him, let us also call upon the name of the Lord, and be faved; and to him that fitteth on the throne, and the Lamb, one God, the Father and the Son, with the whole hoft of heaven and earth, and all created beings, join in afcribing "bleffing and honour, and glory, and power. Amen.” + Rev. xvii. 14. *Rev. vii. 9, 14, 15. § 2 Pet. iii. 18. 1 Pet. iv. 11. ** Heb. xii. I. CHA P. 1 Tim. vi. 15, 16. ++ Phil. ii. 10. Controverted Evidence of our Saviour's Divinity established.-Objections answered.-The Divinity of the Holy Ghoft proved from the Scriptures. "Religious worship," fays Mr. Lindfey, "is the * incommunicable honour and prerogative of God alone," Apology, p. 137. Among the multitudinous proofs which I have already given of our Lord's divinity, I have produced many inftances of prayer, of praise, and thanksgiving, preferred to him both in earth and in heaven; by angels and thofe who have already become partakers of the benefits of his paffion in heaven; and in earth, by men filled with the Comforter, the holy spirit of truth, to whom "the teftimony of Jefus" was given. These I look upon to be acts of religious worship; but this honour and prerogative of God alone is afcribed to Jefus Chrift; it is incommunicable, and must therefore perfectly and effentially diftinguish the poffeffour; but Jefus Chrift is the poffeffour; Jefus Chrift is therefore one with the Father, that God alone whofe incommunicable honour and prerogative it is to be the object of our religious worship and adoration. Mr. Lindsey is fo exceedingly anxious to emancipate himself from the service of Jefus Chrift, whose servant and Prisoner Paul declares it is his joy and glory to be; he bends so reluctantly under the eafy yoke, the light burden of the gospel; he so boisterously dashes about the bonds of peace, and fo fretfully endeavours to caft the cords from him; and with such a foaming hydrophobia flies from "the fountains of living waters," that he has. really become a very melancholy spectacle, and therefore Rev. xix. 10. fore I feel it a duty incumbent upon me to force, as ftrongly as I can, this conviction upon him, that if he will drink of these waters, they will refresh him, and he fhall not thirft again; that if he return to Chrift, the great fhepherd and bishop of our fouls, however forrow" ful and heavily laden he may be, he fhall find reft to his foul; that if he knock, Chrift fhall open; and, that "if he afk any thing according to his will, the Son of God will hear him, and he fhall have the petition that he defired of him *," Let me therefore now, presuming that Chrift at hand is not different from Christ afar off; and that no merits can put any created being into poffeffion of the incommunicable prerogatives of God, or render inferior natures worthy of the honour which belongs to God alone, recapitulate, and once again present him with an inftance of each; of prayer, by that of Stephen, "Lord Jefus receive my fpirit;' "Lord, lay not this fin to their charge." Of praise, by that in the Revelation, "Bleffing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto him that fitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever;" " falvation to our God which fitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb;" and of thanksgiving, by that of St. Paul, "I thank Chrift Jefus our Lord, for that he counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry." There is yet another fpecies of religious worship, which I have intentionally omitted to take notice of in its course; it is Benediction; and my reafon for deferring to observe upon it, is, that it demanded a separate confideration, on account of Mr. Lindfey's doctrine concerning it. He denies benediction to be any evidence at all; and, till I had established its competency, it is therefore easy to see I should have produced it out of its place before. Mr. Lindfey's affertion, Apology, P. 131, * 1 John v. 14. p. 131, concerning fuch paffages as 1 Cor. i. 3. * is, that they are only pious wifhes, not prayers." Admitting for a moment only this distinction between prayers and pious wishes, and the conclusion thence inferred, I believe these same pious wifhes will be found to be very impious wishes, and a wifh that God should have an affiftant in conferring bleffings on mankind, be acknowledged rather derogatory from the all-sufficiency of his power: but I do not fee how any inference can be drawn from a with different from that which follows from a prayer, they both equally acknowledge the power which they defire to have put into exertion; and if the power be acknowledged by a declaration of it to a third perfon, entrusted with an affurance that I wish it to be exerted, I cannot imagine why the poffeffor of it should not be addreffed and let into the fecret alfo, he may not elfe know my mind, and the power may not therefore be quite fo beneficially exerted as I could piously wifh. Is it that a Being, whose power is to be acknowledged adequate to the gift of bleffings, is unintelligent and unáble to hear our prayers? or are we not to address him, because he is unable to grant them? If the latter, we reject our own conclufion, and waste our wifhes; and I believe the inconsistency of the former supposition is too apparent to require a comment. The fame confequence is inferred, I fay, by our wifhes as by our prayers, and if the power of God is acknowledged by prayer to be in Jefus Chrift, by our wishes alfo that he would exert that power, it is equally acknowledged; fo that even this (I think difingenuous) evafion will not invalidate the force of that teftimony which is afforded to this dreaded pofition, that Jefus Chrift is one with the Father, God, by the benedictions of the apostles, the appointed witnesses of our Lord. *"Grace be unto you, and peace from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ." Of these benedictions I need only produce one from St. Paul, because it comprehends in it the fubftance of all the reft, which he has bestowed upon his hearers, «Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father, and the Lord Jefus Chrift our Saviour," Titus i. 4. From God alone can the bleffings of grace, mercy, and peace proceed; but I will fhew that they have all proceeded from Jefus Chrift; for St. Paul himself, who knew the ability of him whom he thus invoked, and that "he is able to fuccour," fays, "I thank Jefus Chrift our Lord, who hath enabled me, for that he counted me faithful, putting me into the miniftry; who was before a blasphemer, and a perfecutor, and injurious. But I obtained mercy, because I did it ignorantly in unbelief: and the grace of our Lord was exceeding abundant," 1 Tim. i. 12, 13, 14. Here we find grace and mercy bestowed by the fearcher of hearts, who, thro' the veil of blafphemy and perfecution, diftinguished that faith which enabled Paul to be put into the miniftry by the Lord Jefus Chrift. We do not find this accurate apoftle ever fay grace, mercy, and peace from Apollos or Cephas; he knew that they, on whom he bestowed his bleffing, were not of Apollos nor of Cephas, who were only fellow-labourers with himself; and that, had he been to the end of time calling down grace and mercy from them, they had it not to impart; from Chrift, that God who gave the encrease, when they watered what he himfelf planted, he called for bleffings; from God alone, to whom belong mercies, it was fit that he fhould call them down, because that "My peace he alone could answer and confer them. I give you," fays Jesus Christ, "not as the world giveth give I," John xiv. 27. If grace, mercy, and peace then be in the power of our gracious and merciful Redeemer to bestow, every benediction of the apostle of the gofpel of peace is to be confidered as a fhort prayer pre ferred |