.

Chrift and St John aim at in the forecited places as the highest recommendation and moft aftonishing Inftance of the Divine Love. And furely the fending His Only Begotten Son, The Giving Him for the Sins of the World, the Not Sparing his Own Son, carry a much higher and diviner fenfe in the language of Our Saviour and his Apoftles, than to deserve to be fo blafphemously trifled with, as they and the moft clear and exprefs Texts relating to the Divine Nature of Christ have been and continue to be, by being fpuriously Criticiz'd upon, and Pedantically debas'd out of all their Noble Significancy into a Meaning, Low, Contemptible and Abfurd! We might poffibly without danger to the truth', venture the whole matter of debate between Us and the Denyers of the Lord that bought 'em, upon this Iffue. We will out of the Gofpel produce our Texts for the Divinity of Our Saviour, and then be content to refer it to any Difinterested Heathen or Jew, or if they please, to any of their Own dear Friends among the Mahometan Unitarians, whether the Truths that we fo earnestly contend for, as the Faith once deliver'd to the Saints, be not clearly laid down and manifeftly contain'd in them? And confequently if they believ'd those paffages to be immediately infpir'd from God, as these Men that we have to deal with pretend to

do,

do, and as their great Mafter with great ftrength of Reafon, Once by Him rightly employ'd, has prov'd that they are, whether they would not gladly embrace em and readily fubfcribe to em? And if so, are not Jews or Turks, or profeft Infidels in this Cafe more excufable than these perverters of thofe Revelations which they themselves acknowledge to be Divine? Certainly it would be much more Ingenuous, roundly and frankly to reject at once the whole Gospel than thus to Use it. And this proceeding would better become that Candor and Freedom of Spirit, and Philofophical Plainnefs & Natural Probity, that is fo much pretended and boafted of by fome Men. But to vex and wreft Scripture at the rate they do, to expound it to any Senfe by the moft forc'd, improper, and unufual Interpretations, as the Socinians freely Own they do, and will do, rather than acknowledge any Doctrine in it which feems to contradict their Reason, particularly this of the Incarnation of the Son of God, is to affume fuch a Power over Divine Writ as over any Human Writing would never be allow'd or endur'd; nay worse, is to make the Oracles of the True God, defign'd to enlighten and inftruct Mankind, as ambiguous and obfcure as thofe deliver'd by the falfe Gods of the Heathen on purpose to deceive, that is, ac

cording

cording to a very great Man of Our Own Church, but one who was never accus'd of harfhnefs of Expreffion or too great an Inveteracy or Prejudice against Them, to treat the Word of God like the Word of the Devil. And now I leave it to every ones impartial Judgment, whether They, who by denying Chrifts Divinity, pretend to a more pure and rational Chriftianity, can, without or indeed with putting Charity to the utmost ftretch, be allow'd fo much as the name of Chriftians

II. Secondly, We are to confider the Reality of Chrift's Human Nature, which was as Neceffary as the Other to his being a Mediator between God and Man. Therefore the Apoftle teaches us There is One God and One Mediator between God and Men, the Man Chrift Fefus. The Second Adam was as truly a Man as the Firft, That fince by Man came Death, by Man alfo fhould come the Refurrection from the Dead. But I fhall wave infifting on the Proof of the Manhood of Chrift, for tho' He that is both God and Man was as early deny'd to be Man as God, yet the Now moft prevailing Heresy, and from which at prefent the True Faith is in moft danger, is fo far from taking from Him the True Nature of Man, that it will allow Him to have Truly no Other. I fhall

there

therefore conclude both these Heads with this One Obfervation, That tho' we had none of those many plain and pofitive do&trinal Affertions in Holy Scripture, of the Two diftinct Natures of our Bleffed Lord, yet the bare Hiftory of his Actions upon Earth, a fimple Narrative only of his Life, his Miracles, his Death and Resurrection, would be fufficient to prove Him, what we with the whole Catholick Church believe Him to be, both God and Man. And this is the Proof which our Church makes use of in that plain but excellent Homily on the Incarnation, as fitted for the Capacity of the Weakeft, as the Conviction of the Wifeft. In that He did Hunger and Thirst, Eat and Drink, Sleep and Wake, in that He Wept and Sorrowed over Jerufalem, in that He Suffer'd the moft grievous Pains both of Body and Soul, and finally Death itfelf: what can be more apparent than that he was perfect Man as We are? But in that He forgave Sins, caft out Devils, knew the Thoughts of Men's Hearts, walk'd upon the Waves, and had the Winds and the Seas at his Command, laftly and chiefly in that He rais'd Himself from Death to Life and ascended up into Heaven: what can be more evident than that He was perfect God also, and equal to the Father as touching his Deity? It is therefore neceßary

to

to Everlasting Salvation, that we thus believe rightly the Incarnation of our Lord Jefus Chrift. And the right Faith is, that we believe and confeß; that Our Lord Jefus Chrift, the Son of God, is God and Man.

III. I come now to the Third Particu lar, The infinite Grace and Love to Mankind exprefs'd in preferring Them and affuming their Nature rather than that of the fallen Angels, who ftood equally in need of a Redeemer.

Without all Controverfy, fays the Apostle elsewhere, Great is the Mystery of Godliness, God manifeft in the Flefb. Abfolutely and by itself confider'd wondrous Great, but be hold the fame Myftery here, by the Comparison of Angels and Men, made much Greater and infinitely more Gracious. That God, who is Himself a Spirit, fhould rather affume Flesh than Spirit, That He should choose wretched Man, vile Duft and Ashes, and pass by thofe Once Glorious Heavenly and Immortal Spirits, That God the Father, who fpar'd not the Angels that finned, as St Peter tells us, fhould yet be fo defirons to spare Men, that for their fakes He par'd not his Own Son, as St Paul affures us, That the Glorious Cherubim and Seraphim, Thrones, Dominions, Principalities and Powers, fo far before and above us in eve

ry