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selves in the top of Carmel, I will search and take them out thence; and though they be hid from my sight in the bottom of the sea, thence will I command the serpent, and he shall bite them." Acts xvii. 28 "For in him we live and move and have our being." Eph. i. 23. The fulness of him that filleth all in all."

The above are sufficient to show, that God is everywhere present at the same time. As one has expressed it, "His centre is everywhere, and his circumference nowhere." This attribute seems, in the very nature of things, to be essential to the Divine character; for, without it, we do not see how the infinite power, wisdom, goodness, and other attributes, could be exercised; and perhaps it was their ignorance of the Divine ubiquity which first led the heathen nations into the superstitions of polytheism. How incomprehensible is this, as well as all the other attributes of God! We can be present at but one place at the same time; nor, so far as we can judge from reason and revelation, can any created intelligence occupy, at the same time, two separate and distinct positions in space. Fallen spirits, holy angels, and "the spirits of just men made perfect," may pass with the velocity of thought from world to world; but we have no evidence that there is any but the One omnipresent Being.

VII. IMMUTABILITY. That God is possessed of this attribute, is taught in the following texts:-Mal. iii. 6. "For I am the Lord, I change not." James i. 17. "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning." Ps. cii. 27. "But thou art the same, and thy years shall have no end." Heb. i. 12. "But thou art

the same, and thy years shall not fail."

By the unchangeableness of God, as thus taught, we are to understand that all his attributes continue invariable. What he is now, in his own essential nature, he ever has been, and ever will be. But this does not imply that he may not change his dispensations towards men. Indeed, the unchangeableness of God itself requires that his dealings with his creatures should so vary, as to correspond with the condition of different nations and individuals, and of the same nation or individual at different times. Thus, he may look with complacency upon the returning sinner, with whom he was offended during his rebellion, while the apostate, who once shared his smiles, is now the object of his holy displeasure.

The immutability of God seems necessarily to result from the perfection of his character. As all his attributes are infinite, it is clear that they cannot be increased in perfection. They could not suffer diminution or deterioration without the destruction of his Godhead; consequently, they must forever continue the same.

VIII. HOLINESS, or MORAL PURITY. That God is a being of spotless purity or holiness, appears from the following passages:- Hab. i. 13. “Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look upon iniquity." Job xxv. 5. "Yea, the stars are not pure in his sight." Job iv. 17, 18. "Shall a man be more pure than his Maker? Behold, he put no trust in his servants; and his angels he charged with folly." 1 Pet. i. 16. "Be ye holy, for I am holy." Isa. vi. 3. "Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts." Rev. iv. 8. "And they rest not day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy Lord God Almighty." Ps. lxxi. 22. "Unto thee will I sing with the harp, O thou Holy One of Israel." IX. TRUTH. This attribute appears from the following passages: In Exodus xxxiv. 6, God is said to be " abundant in goodness and truth." Ps. cxvii. 2. "The truth of the Lord endureth forever." Numbers xxiii. 19. "God is not a man that he should lie, neither the son of man that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?" Titus i. 2. "In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began." Heb. vi. 18. "That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie," &c. Rom. iii. 4. "Yea, let God be true, but every man a liar." Ps. cxix. 160. "Thy word is true from the beginning." Deut. xxxii. 4. "A God of truth, and without iniquity, just and right is he."

The purity of the true religion is gloriously exhibited in contrast with the lying vanities of Paganism. While, in heathen systems of worship, we see nothing but vanity, deception, and falsehood, we find revealed in the Bible a God whose nature is truth, and a system of worship composed of truth, without any mixture of falsehood or error. This attribute harmonizes with all the others; for as God is pure, and just, and good, he can never deceive his creatures, or permit his word to fail.

X. JUSTICE. That God possesses this attribute in absolute perfection, is seen from the following passages: :- - Ps. lxxxix. 14. "Justice and judgment are the habitation of thy throne." Isa. xlv. 21. "There is no God else besides me, a just God, and a Saviour: there is none besides me." Zeph. iii. 5. "The just Lord is in the midst thereof; he will not do iniquity." Rom. iii. 26. "That he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus."

That God is just, appears from the entire history of the Divine administration, as presented in the Bible. Indeed, the preservation of the principles of justice untarnished is essential to the maintenance of the Divine government over the intelligent universe. And should shortsighted mortals, in any instance, fancy an apparent failure in the preservation of the Divine justice, in this world, we may rest assured, that

the future judgment "will bring to light the hidden things of darkness," and fully "justify the ways of God to men."

XI. GOODNESS, MERCY, LOVE, or BENEVOLENCE. This is one of the most interesting and endearing attributes of the Divine Being. Perhaps its glorious exhibition in the Divine administration to man, has been the most thrilling theme that ever engaged the contemplation of angelic minds. It is clearly exhibited in the following Scriptures:- Numb. "The Lord is long-suffering, and of great mercy." Ps. ciii. 17 "But the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear him." Ps. cvi. 1. "O give thanks unto the Lord; for he is good; for his mercy endureth forever." In the 136th Psalm, it is twenty-six times declared that "the mercy of the Lord endureth forever." In 2 Cor. i. 3, God is called "the Father of mercies."

Many more passages might be added on this subject, but the above are sufficient. Only we would remark, that it is emphatically said, "God is Love." This perfection appears to be identified with the very essence of the Deity. All the other attributes, when properly understood, perfectly harmonize with this. Neither truth, justice, nor holiness, can incline the Almighty in opposition to love. Indeed, all the attributes may be resolved into, and made perfectly to correspond with." love. But after all our researches, how imperfect is our knowledge of God! We are constrained to exclaim, "Lo! these are parts of his ways, but how little a portion is heard of him."

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LECTURE III.

THE DIVINITY OF CHRIST.

THE term Christ is from the Greek Xotoros, which means anointea, coming from the verb XPI2, to anoint. It is an appellation now universally appropriated to Jesus of Nazareth, the Saviour of the world, and Author of the Christian religion.

That this illustrious personage was possessed of proper humanity, having assumed our nature, sin only excepted, is a position clearly set forth in the Scriptures, and very generally admitted. In proof of this doctrine, we might appeal to the entire personal history of our Saviour, as well as to those numerous passages of Scripture in which he is styled man, or the Son of man.

But the object of this lecture is to treat especially of the DIVINITY OF CHRIST, which relates to another nature, entirely distinct from the humanity. By the Divinity of Christ we here mean the Godhead, in the proper and supreme sense of the term.

With regard to the character of Christ, three distinct views have been adopted, known as the Socinian, the Arian, and the Trinitarian theories. Socinus taught that the Saviour commenced his existence when he was born of the Virgin, and, consequently, that he was a mere man, though possessed of extraordinary sanctity and excellence. Arius taught that he was the first and the most exalted being God ever produced, but still, that he was created. Whereas, Trinitarians hold that he possesses two distinct natures; the humanity, which was born of the Virgin, and crucified on the cross, and the Divinity, which was united with the humanity, and was very and eternal God, in essence equal and one with the Father.

The plain question which we would now consider is this: Is Jesus Christ truly and properly God? The affirmative of the question we believe to be the Scripture truth, and we proceed to establish it by an appeal to the Holy Oracles.

The scriptural arguments on this subject we deduce from four different sources; viz.: I. The Titles. II. The Attributes. III. The Works; and, IV. The Honors ascribed to Christ. To each of these we will attend in the order here presented.

I. TITLES of Christ. These, we think, as presented in the Scriptures, are so exalted, that they can properly apply to none but God, and, consequently, they demonstrate the proper Deity of Christ.

1. Jehovah. If it can be shown that this sacred and exalted name is in the Scriptures applied to Christ, it will amount to an irresistible proof of his real and proper Divinity. First, let us notice the superior dignity of the title. As we see, from the third chapter of Exodus, this was the peculiar and appropriate name of God, which was first revealed unto Moses from the bush, and is there rendered in our version, “I am that I am." Josephus informs us, that this name was so peculiarly sacred and holy, that his religion did not permit him to pronounce it. This word, Jehovah, has ever been considered by the Jews as the highest appellation of the Supreme God; and God himself claims it as his own peculiar name. We shall now see that it is applied to Christ. In Isa. xl. 3, we read as follows: "The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God." Here, in the original, is found the word Jehovah. Now let us turn to Matt. iii. 3, and we find this passage quoted, and applied to Jesus Christ. "For this is he that was spoken of by the prophet Esaias, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight."

Again, in 1 Cor. x. 9, we read, " Neither let us tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted, and were destroyed of serpents." Here we have the testimony of the apostle, that the person tempted by the fathers in the wilderness was Christ; but let us turn to the passage from which he quotes, and we shall see that he is there called Jehovah. Deut. vi. 16. "Ye shall not tempt the Lord your God, as ye tempted him in Massah." Here the original is, Jehovah your God. Thus the same person, styled Jehovah by Moses, is by St. Paul explicitly said to be Christ.

Various other instances might be specified, in which the Christ of the New Testament is identified with the Jehovah of the Old Testament; but these are so clear that we need not multiply quotations. Now, if, as we have seen, Jehovah, which means the self-existent God, the highest title the Almighty ever claimed, is applied to Christ, will it not follow that Christ is God?

2. Lord of glory. 1 Cor. ii. 8. "Which none of the princes of this world knew; for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory." Here we see that Jesus Christ is styled the Lord of glory; but that appellation is proper to none but God; therefore Jesus Christ must be God.

3. God. Jesus Christ in the Scriptures is styled God. John i. 1.

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