fus Chrift, is the God and Father of us all, and as our Lord Jefus Chrift is in point of natural re. lation, not our Father but our brother, as having been partaker of the fame flesh and blood with us, liable to the fame temptations, and expofed to the fame fufferings, and for that reason he was not afhamed to call us brethren, Heb. ii. 11. 17. fo from hence it will follow, that he cannot have a natural right of dominion over us; and that the authority he is invefted with, must be committed to him in truft, by him who is the common parent of us all. And accordingly our Lord Jefus Chrift declared, That all power or authority was given him, both in heaven and in earth. And that all judgment was committed to him by the Father, as in Matt. xxviii. 18, and John v, 22. The force of the prefent argument arifes from hence, viz. if our Lord Jefus Christ be indeed and in truth the real and very Son, and the begotten Son, of God, and if the fulness of dominion, and of natural perfections, which take place in him, are the gift, and are owing to the good pleasure of the Father, as it is manifeftly declared in the texts above, then it will unavoidably follow, that our Lord Jefus Chrift is, in the ftricteft fence, inferior, in point of existence, agency, and all natural perfections, and fubordinate in point of authority to his Father. For as the Son derived his being, his agency, his natural perfections, and his authority from the Father, fo with refpect to thefe he is dependent upon and controulable by the power and will of the Father. It being, I think, a felf-evi; dent propofition, that whatever the Father has a power to give, and which gift depends upon his, good pleasure, he has power and is at liberty either to continue, or difcontinue, to reftrain, or con troul, as he pleases. ARGUMENT ARGUMENT II. Secondly, The Son received gifts and blessings from the Father, and confequently is inferiour and fubordinate to the Father, according to St. Paul's way of arguing in Abraham's and Melchifedeck's cafe. Heb. vii. 7. Without all contradiction, the less is bleed of the better. T HAT the Fa her hath bestowed his gifts and bleffings on the Son, fee Pfalm ii. 8. Afk of me, and I fhall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the utmost parts of the earth for thy poffeffion. Pfalm xiv. 6. 7. Heb, i. 8. 9. But unto the Son he faith, thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever; a Scepter of righteousness is the Scepter of thy kingdom; thou hast loved righteousness and hated iniquity; therefore God, even thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows. What this anointing is, and who are here said to be Chrift's fellows, is needlefs to enquire after; it being fufficient to my prefent purpose to observe, that he who received this anointing, is here characterized by the term God. Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever. This, I think, is one of the higheft titles that fcriptures give to the Son of God and yet to this Being (great and high as he is) the Father is pleafed to give his bleffing, and to anoint him with the oil of gladness above his fellows. John iii. 35. The Father loveth the Son, and bath given all things into his hand, Phil. ii. 9. 10. 11. Wherefore God hath highly exalted him, and given him a name above every name, that at the name of Jefus every knee fhall bow, and every tongue should confefs, that Jefus Chrift is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. In the proceeding verfes St. Paul recommended to the Phillipians, an humble condefcending temper of mind, from the example of Christ; Let the fame mind be in you, which was alfo in Chrift Jefus; and then he fhewed what that condefcention was, which Christ had exercised, namely, in that he, who was in the form of God, condefcended to take upon him the form of a fervant, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. And then the Apostle enforceth his exhortation to an humble condefcention, from the advantage which attends fuch a conduct; by fhewing, how the Father had exalted the Son, as a reward for his abasement, in the words I firft cited. Wherefore God (even the Father) bath highly exalted him, (even the Son, that Son who was in the form of God antecedent to his abasement) and given him a name, which is above every name, that at the name of Jefus every knee fhall bow, &c. Matt. xxvii. 18. All power is given unto me, both in heaven and in earth By all power is not meant almightenefs, but all authority; as is evident from the exercise of that power in Chrift's commanding his difciples, as in the words following: Go yea therefore and teach all nation, &c. which is as if he had faid, as I have received all authority from my Father, fo, by vertue of that authority, I require you to go teach all nations, &c. The force and strength of this argument arifes from hence, viz. if our Lord Jefus Chrift did in reality receive gifts and bleffings, and in particular power and anthority from the Father, as is -moft exprefsly declared in the abovecited texts, then he must of neceffity be inferior and fubordinate to the Father. For as the being in a capacity of receiving gifts and bleffing from, and of exercifing authority under another, is an evident proof of dependency and controulablenefs in fuch a being; fo from hence it will follow, by a neceffary confequence that as our Lord Jefus Chrift did really receive gifts and bleffings, and in particular power or or authority from his Father, he is in point of exiftence, agency, and all natural perfections below or inferiour, and in point of authority fubordinate to his Father. For tho men may mutually give to, and receive favours from each other, and fo in many cafes nothing can be concluded from thence, with regard to their fuperiority or inferiority to each other; yet the cafe is otherwise with refpect to our Lord Jefus Chrift and his Father, with whom (in the propofition I am now maintaining) he stand compared. With them there is not a mutual communication of favours, nor giving one good thing for another; but one is the fole giver, and the other is only a receiver. The Father loveth the Son, and hath giver all things into his hand, but the Son does not give any thing to the Father; there not being one word which founds like it in all the Bible, neither is it poffible in itself. And all the return which the Son either did, or could make, was only an humble fubmiffion to his Father's will, and a thankful acknowledgment of his benefits. The Son likewife receives from the Father, all power or authority in heaven and in earth; but the Father does not, neither can he receive any thing from the Son. And this I urge as a farther proof, that the Son is inferior and fubordinate to the Father, and that the Father alone is the fupreme God, ARGUMENT ARGUMENT ÎII. Thirdly, the Father is faid to be the God of the Son, therefore the Son is inferiour and fubordinate to the Father, and the Father alone is the fupreme God. T HAT the Father is the God of the Son, fee Pfalm xiv. 7. Heb. i. 9. Wherefore God, even thy God, bath anointed thee with the oil of gladnefs above thy fellows. Matt. xxvii. 46. My God, my God, why has thou forfaken me. John XX. 17. But go to my brethren and fay unto them, I afcend to my Father, and your Father, and unto my God, and your God., 2 Cor. xi 31. The God and Father of our Lord Jefus Chrift, who is bleffed for evermore, knoweth that I lie not. In thefe texts it is exprefsly declared, that the Father is not only the Father of our Lord Jefus Chrift, but also that he is God. And from hence I argue, that if the Father be indeed, and in truth, the God of the Son, as is most exprefsly declared in the forecited texts, then it will follow, that the Son is inferiour and fubordinate to the Father, whether the term God be used to express either dominion, or priority of existence and agency. If it be used to express dominion, then the Son's inferiority and fubordination to the Father, directly follows from the Father's being his God. For if the Father is the governour of the Son, then he is the Son's fuperiour in that refpect and he is fo likewife in all other refpects, it being impoffible that an agent, who is naturally fubjected to the government of another agent who is felfexifting, and whose subjection naturally arifes from, and is founded on his being derived from that other agent (which is the prefent cafe) fhould in point of existence, and all natural perfections, be equal to that neceffarily exifting being, which he, by nature, |