High-priest for us, whom he hath bought with his blood. If this interpretation of the words before us, which is altogether confonant with the doctrine of St. Paul to the Hebrews, by whofe rites he declares our Saviour's facrifice forefhewed, be not accepted, let the "firft-born of every creature" be referred to a declaration in a few verfes after, that Jefus Chrift is the firft-born from the dead," Col. i. 18: Words fpoken with respect to his refurrection, whereby our refurrection to life eternal through him is obtained, as he has become the Captain of our falvation, our Leader to a triumph over death and the grave, the firft-born of a regenerate world. No man who ever read the context, and faw these words joined to a declaration, that by Jefus Christ all things were made, and that by him all things confift, &c. could conceive them intended to convey an idea that "the Creator of all things that are in heaven, and that are in earth, vifible and invisible," was no more than a meer Creature, and the work of his own hands. Some other meaning correfponding with the general fenfe of the apoftle muft be fought for, and I fincerely think that I have affixed the true one to the words before us, and am certain that, if I have not, I have not deviated farther from it than they who tranflate "first born" intò "first made." Compaffion for the unhappy Servetus feems altogether to have abforbed Mr. Lindfey's attention; his death is made into a martyrdom, and his martyrdom into an argument fufficient to render an inquiry into any thing that St. Paul may have faid on this fubject altogether unneceffary. The little paffage is taken apart, and an interpretation faftened upon it, which, when it is reftored to its original connection, it altogether reje&s. LXXXVII.

The following is an explicit declaration that Jefus Chrift is both God and Man, " for in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily," Col. ii. 9. As I acknow

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acknowledge but one God, I certainly mean the fu preme God, both here and in every other paffage in which I have applied the term GOD to our Saviour or to the Holy Ghost. See Inquiry into the belief, &c. p. 258, 296. LXXXVIII.

To forgive fins is the peculiar attribute of him to whom belong mercies and forgiveness; and accordingly we are called upon by St. Paul to " put on (as the elect of God, holy and beloved) bowels of mercy, kindness, humbleness of mind, meeknefs, long-suffering; forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Chrift forgave you, fo alfo do ye," Col. iii. 12, 13. This paffage is immediately preceded by a declaration, that "Chrift is all in all:" and as the merciful grant of that very pardon, which we folemnly renounce, but as we extend pardon to one another is here propofed as a motive to mutual forgiveness, we are furely authorized by it to prefer to "Chrift, who forgave us," that conditional clause of the Lord's prayer," and forgive us our trefpaffes, as we forgive them that trefpafs against us," Matth. vi. 12, and Luke xi. 4.

LXXXIX.

"Of the Lord ye fhall receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Chrift. But he that doeth wrong, fhall receive for the wrong which he hath done: and there is no refpect of perfons," Col. iii. 24, 25. Before whom is there no refpect of perfons? certainly before him who is to deal out the reward impartially, whom we ferve; but we are told that "God will render to every man according to his deeds," "for there is no refpect of perfons with God," Rom. ii. 5, 11. And in the Ephe→ fians, St. Paul fays, having called us first "fervants of Chrift," "your Mafter alfo is in heaven, neither is there respect of perfons with him," Eph. vi.6, 9. Coloff. iv. 1. And accordingly we find St. James fay, "My brethren,

brethren, have not the faith of our Lord Jefus Chrift, the Lord of glory, with refpect of perfons," James ii. 1. XC.

At Theffalonica Paul "opened the fcriptures, and alledged that Christ must needs have suffered and risen again from the dead; and that this Jefus, whom I preach unto you, is Chrift," Acts xvii. 3. We find him perfecuted immediately after for this doctrine, and for

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faying that there is another King, one Jefus," ver. 7. Now, with a reference to this perfecution and this doctrine, it is, that St. Paul afterwards writing to the Theffalonians, fays, "We were bold in our God, to speak unto you the gofpel of God, with much contention," 1 Theff. ii. 2. "We were willing to have imparted unto you, not the gospel of God only, but alfo our own fouls,"" for labouring night and day, because we would not be chargeable unto any of you, we preached unto you the gospel of God," 1 Theff. ii. 8, 9, and fent Timotheus our brother and minister of God, and our fellow labourer in the gofpel of Chrift, to establish you, and to comfort you concerning your faith," 1 Theff. iii. 2. If Chrift be not God, is this the method of establishing their faith? no, but of shaking it to its very foundation, for the idea that he is God is fuggefted by it. Either St. Paul intended to inculcate that doctrine, or he did not; if he did, we must accede to it; if he did not, he has lied to the Holy Ghoft, given "to guide him into all truth," John xvi. 13; or the Spirit of truth has, by inaccuracy, deceived and dealt by our faith with duplicity. But as Paul has declared his exhortation to have been "not of deceit, nor of uncleannefs, nor in guile," I Theff. ii. 3, I will believe that this eloquent apostle spoke the dictate of the Spirit without ambiguity; and though Mr. Lindsey has charged the appointed witneffes of our bleffed Redeemer with equivocation, I am confident he will not blafphemously dare to impute falfehood

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falfehood to the Spirit of truth himself. If Paul then fpeaking, with the Holy Ghoft, has fuggefted that Chrift is God, we must neceffarily believe that he meant to inculcate that doctrine, and therefore that Jefus Chrift is one with the Father, God.

XCI.

Reminding the Theffalonians of his former leffons, St. Paul fays, "For ye know what commandments we gave you by the Lord Jefus. For this is the will of God," 1 Theff. iv. 2, 3. He then proceeds to inftruct them in brotherly love, as the will of God, the com- . mandment of the Lord Jefus.

XCII.

"It is a righteous thing with God to recompenfe tribulation to them that trouble you; and to you who are troubled, rest with us, when the Lord Jefus fhall be revealed from heaven, with his mighty angels, in flaming fire, taking vengeance on them that know not God, and obey not the gofpel of our Lord Jefus Chrift: who fhall be punished with everlasting deftruction from the prefence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power, when he fhall come to be glorified in his faints, and to be admired in all them that believe (because our teftimony among you was believed) in that day," 2 Theff. i. 6, 7, 8, 9, 10. Seeing then that Jefus Chrift is revealed. from heaven, taking vengeance, and deftroying by everlafting expulfion from before the prefence of the glory of his power; is not he that God with whom it is a righteous thing to recompenfe tribulation to them that trouble, to them that know him not to be God in obedience to the gospel of our Lord Jefus Chrift, that the name of our Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified?" See the entire chapter.The glorification of the name of our bleffed Lord gives a fanction to our addreffing him in thefe words," Hallowed be thy name," Matth. vi. 9. "The Lord Jefus fhall be revealed, taking vengeance

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on them that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jefus Chrift;" and "what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?" 1 Pet. iv. 17.

XCIII.

"Now our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God even our Father, which hath loved us, and hath given us everlasting confolation, and good hope through grace, comfort your hearts, and establish you in every good word and work," 2 Theff. ii, 16, 17. I am not yet going to enquire into Mr. Lindsey's curious doctrine of pious wishes, but, exclufive of the general sense of this paffage, to make a remark on the great fingularity of the expreffion. Either there are two nominatives joined by the copulative "and," or there is but one preceding the verb in the sentence before us, and in that cafe, the copulative unites two fpecific terms put in appofition to the one general nominative. If the former were the cafe, the verb must neceffarily have been put in the plural number, whereas, from its ftanding in the fingular, we must conceive it governed by one nominative only; now, if there be found one term in the fentence including the reft within its general import, that is the nominative cafe governing the verb: But I have all along afferted, that the Father is God, and that the Son is God, and therefore now fay that the word "God" is here that general term comprehending within itself, "our Lord Jefus Christ himself, and even our Father," one God, which bath loved us, and hath given us everlasting confolation. * St. Paul seems to have been diligent to establish this point by the energetick addition of the word "himfelf" after the name of our Lord; for thus emphatically to dwell upon a word to be difmiffed instantly from being of any confequence in the construction of a sentence,

* In the Greek this is expreffed by the participle put in the fingular number ayamnoas, which is of exactly the fame import with the English into which our tranflators have judiciously turned it.