cometh out of it; he that giveth breath unto the people upon it, and spirit to them that walk therein: I the Lord have called thee in righteousness, and will hold thine hand, and will keep thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles." (Isaiah xlii. 1, 5, 6.) Here, Jesus Christ is clearly distinguished from the Creator; inasmuch, as he is his servant and elect, receives his spirit, is called and upheld by him, and given by him for a covenant of the people, and a light of the Gentiles. For surely, these are proofs of distinction, if language is to be taken in its usual acceptation, or has any meaning.

After the ascension of our Lord, we find the Apostles, on one occasion, assembled together engaged in the solemn act of prayer. We read, "They lifted up their voice to God with one accord, and said, Lord, thou art God, who hast made heaven and earth, and the sea, and all that in them is." (Acts iv. 24-30.) In the course of this prayer, they mention Jesus as the Christ, or Anointed of this same Being who made heaven and earth, &c.; and as his holy child (or servant) Jesus; circumstances which clearly prove distinction between them, if the anointed must be distinct from the anointer, the child from the parent, or the servant from the master.

The Apostle Paul likewise, in his celebrated address to the Athenians, speaks of God as the Creator of all things, and of Jesus Christ as another and distinct being from him. "God that made the world, and all things therein, -He hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness, by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead." (Acts xvii. 24, 31). Thus, Jesus is a man ordained by the Creator, and raised from the dead by the Creator; consequently, he must be a distinct being from him; that is, he cannot himself be the Creator.

Supposing, therefore, that the passage under consideration, refers to natural creation; we have evidence to show, that Jesus Christ is not the being to whom the Evangelist there alludes. For all things were made by that Being, to whom he himself owed his existence, his preservation, his appointment to the office of Messiah, and all the authority and power which in that capacity he possessed. All things were made by that God, who was his God. It was he alone that stretched them forth; and it was he

by himself that spread them abroad. God, therefore, the one only Creator, is identified with the Word; and Jesus Christ, who is not the Creator, is distinguished from the Word.

On the more probable supposition, that the "all things". here mentioned, relate to the Gospel dispensation, the evidence, I am persuaded, will be found to be equally conclusive.

Trinitarians are constrained to admit, that all things must have been made by the Word in this sense, as well as in the other; because redemption is the work of God, as well as creation. If, then, it can be shown, that the things relative to the Gospel were not made or done by Jesus Christ, it will naturally follow, that he is not the Word.

And the same observation will hold true, with respect to those Unitarians who maintain that Jesus Christ is the Word, though God in the same sense as Moses was a god. To establish their position, it is necessary to prove, that Jesus Christ, of himself, performed all things under the new covenant; and if they fail in this point, the hypothesis which they have adopted is erroneous. Accordingly, the Editors of the Improved Version interpret the "all things" done by the Word, as "all things in the Christian dispensation;" and they say, that these things "were done by Christ, i. e. by his authority, and according to his direction. (See Note, Imp. Vers.)

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Opposed, then, to these two hypotheses, stands the following scriptural evidence; and it might have been increased to a vast extent. In the first place, the Gospel did not originate with Jesus Christ, but with his God and Father: "I am come," says he, "in my Father's name." (John v. 43.) "I proceeded forth, and came from God; neither came I of myself, but he sent me." (John viii. 42.), As he came solely on the authority of God, it was to execute the purpose of God: "I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me." (John vi. 38.) My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work." (John iv. 34.) And so completely were his thoughts occupied with this work, that if the people had believed his declarations, he would

This explanation does not remove the difficulty. "His authority," and "his direction," are his; they are not another's. And we are still left with the simple, undisguised proposition, that "all things in the Christian dispensation were done by him "Christ Jesus.

have felt happy if he himself had been forgotten: "If I do not the works of my Father, believe me not. But if I do, though ye believe not me, believe the works; that ye may know and believe that the Father is in me." (John x. 37, 38.) What he taught and commanded, was not his own, but his Father's who sent him: "My doctrine is not mine, but his that sent me." (John vii. 16.) "I have not spoken of myself: but the Father who sent me, he gave me a commandment, what I should say, and what I should speak. And I know that his commandment is life everlasting: whatsoever I speak, therefore, even as the Father said unto me, so I speak." (John xii. 49, 50.) And in a solemn address to his Father, he adds, "I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me." (John xvii. 8.) All that he possessed, he received from him by whom he had been commissioned to preach the Gospel: "All things are delivered unto me of my Father” (Luke x. 22). "Now they have known that all things, whatsoever thou hast given me, are of thee." (John xvii. 7.) Though he possessed great and mighty power, yet he assures us, that it was imparted to him, and not therefore independently his own: "All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth." (Matt. xxviii. 18.) Though he speaks of himself "the resurrection and the life;" and though he says, "The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and they that hear shall live;" yet he as plainly assures us, that "as the Father hath life in himself, so he hath given to the Son to have life in himself." (John v. 26.) And in prayer to his heavenly Father, he speaks to the same effect, thus: "Father, the hour is come: glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee: as thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him." (John xvii. 1, 2.) As he possessed nothing of himself, he tells us that he did nothing of himself: "I do nothing of myself; but as my Father taught me, I speak these things." (John viii. 28.) "The words that I speak unto you, I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works." (John xiv. 10.) And from what he says at the grave of Lazarus, it appears that he uniformly depended upon God for what he did, and acted by his power: "And Jesus lifted up his eyes, and said, Father, I thank thee that thou hast heard me. And I knew that thou hearest me always: but because

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of the people which stand by, I said it, that they may believe that thou hast sent me." (John xi. 41, 42.) In short, as he tells us that he possesses nothing of himself, and does nothing of himself; he adds, moreover, that he can do nothing: "Verily, verily, I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of himself." "I can of mine own self do

nothing." (John v. 19, 30.)

Thus, he ascribes every thing that he was and did, to God, his heavenly Father, as the primary source, and the only efficient power.

And the Apostles also do the same. It was God that promised that Christ should come, "by the mouth of all the holy prophets since the world began." (Acts iii. 21.) It was God that "in the dispensation of the fulness of time, made known the mystery of his will, that he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him." (Ephes. i. 9, 10.) It was God that "raised up Christ, and sent him to bless us, by turning away every one of us from his iniquities." (Acts iii. 26.) It was God that "anointed him with the Holy Ghost and with power," and that was “with him," while he went about doing good." (Acts x. 30.) It was God that "made him both Lord and Christ." (Acts ii. 36.) It was God that "exalted him to be a Prince and a Saviour," and that "sent him to be the Saviour of the world." (Acts v. 31; 1 John iv. 14.) It was God that invested him with authority, "through the Holy Ghost to give commandments to the Apostles whom he had chosen." (Acts i. 2.) It was God of whom he was "approved, by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him in the midst of the people." (Acts ii. 22.) It was God that "raised him from the dead,” and “ ordained" him to be the Judge of the world (Acts xvii. 31). It was God that empowered him to "shed forth the Holy Spirit" at the day of pentecost, agreeably to the promise of Christ to his disciples, that "he would pray the Father, and he would give them another Comforter, that should abide with them for ever; even the Spirit of truth, whom the Father would send in his name." (John xiv. 16, 17, 26; Acts i. 4, 5; ii. 32, 33.) It was God that appeared by Christ, in that miraculous interposition of Providence, by which the Apostle Paul was converted, and called to the ministry; for it pleased God, who separated the Apostle from his mother's womb, and called him by his

grace, to reveal his Son in him, that he might preach him to the heathen." (Gal. i. 15, 16.) It was God, lastly, that "highly exalted him," and "set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places, 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." (Phil. ii. 9; Eph. i. 20, 21.)

Thus, all things in reference to the Gospel, as well as in regard to creation, were done by God; and without him was not any thing done that was done. Of these things, Jesus Christ himself did nothing. And therefore, he must be distinct from Him, by whom alone they were done-God, the Word. It was not, I am persuaded, in the way of the Evangelist, to state that all things in the Christian dispensation had been done by "the man Christ Jesus." Such a notion, in my opinion, very much enfeebles his argument. He had a higher object in view. His design was, if I rightly apprehend him, to trace the Gospel dispensation, and all that had been done in reference to it, to God; whose power alone it was that operated from first to last, as the only efficient cause of all that had taken place. And it is this that stamps our holy religion with the indelible character of divinity, and imparts to our faith all its divine energy and influence. For it is God that is above all, and through all, and in all. And though Jesus, in fact, did nothing of himself, but was the messenger and instrument of God; yet was it not a high honour to have divinity residing in him, and operating through him, to promote the salvation of mankind? Surely, this was a most distinguished privilege. And well may it be said of the Saviour, that "he is exalted far above principality, and power, and might, and dominion," &c. But if Christ had Divinity residing in him, he was not himself that Divinity; and if all things had been done by this Power, not any thing had been done, strictly speaking, by himself. For in himself, he was a man; and no one, I should imagine, will contend for a moment, that a man could be competent to perform such works. And thus, have we not here, also, another instance, that we differ more in terms than in reality? For all agree in ascribing the things in question, not to a human, but a divine power.

(To be Continued.)