Me." Heb. x. 5. "For verily, He took not on Him the nature of angels; but he took on him the seed of Abraham," &c. In thus being "made flesh," or "taking flesh," with its feelings and susceptibility of suffering and of death, and in submitting to be tempted as we are, He was said to be "made like unto his brethren." Heb. i. 16, 17. And yet we do not, from these expressions, call his Divinity in question.

Beware," said the apostle, "lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tra dition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ. For in Him dwelleth all the Fulness of the Godhead bodily. And ye are complete in Him, who is the Head of all principality and power." Col. ii. 8, 9, 10. "Wherefore God also hath highly exalted Him, and given Him a Name which is above every name: that at the Name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." Phil. ii. 9, 10, 11.

It is not necessary to enter into a statement of what constitutes the human character, to draw a contrast between this and the character of Jesus Christ ; for though He was man, yet He was more than man: the Divine Nature essentially belonged to Him.

Thus it was said; "A body hast Thou prepared Me.” Heb. x. 5. And again; "Before Abraham was I am.” John viii. 58. "I and my Father are One." John x. 30. "He that hath seen Me, hath seen the Father." John xiv. 9. In all these passages, and many more which might be mentioned, in which there is an obvious and

necessary reference to his outward appearance, there is, at the same time, a direct application of the personal pronouns to the Divinity.'

Neither saints on earth, nor angels in heaven, have been proper objects of worship; but worship was paid to Him, not only after his ascension, but while He walked among men. The apostle, in reference to this view of the subject, says; "When He bringeth in the First-begotten into the world, He saith, And let all the angels of God worship Him." Heb. i. 6.

When the wise men, led by a star, were come into the house where Christ was born, "they saw the young child, with Mary his mother, and fell down and worshipped Him." Matt. ii. 11. "The leper came and worshipped Him." Matt. viii. 2. "They that were in the ship came and worshipped Him." Matt. xiv. 33. "The woman of Canaan came and worshipped Him." Matt. xv. 25.

"The man came out of the tombs, and worshipped Him." Mark v. 6. The blind man believed and worshipped Him. John ix. 38. When He entered Jerusalem, the multitude that were with Him worshipped Him-spreading their garments in the way, and singing "Hosannah in the highest." Matt. xxi. 9. And after His resurrection, but before his ascension, his disciples "held Him by the feet and worshipped Him.” Matt. xxviii. 9. And again, in ver. 17, it is said, His disciples "worshipped Him." When Stephen was suffering death, as a martyr, he worshipped, saying; "Lord Jesus! receive my Spirit." Acts vii. 59.

But Peter refused to be worshipped, saying; "I myself also am a man." Acts x. 26. Paul and Barnabas, when the men of Lystra were about to offer Divine

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honours to them, rent their clothes and ran in among

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them to prevent it, saying, they were men of like passions" with others. Acts xiv. 15. And John, when some deep mysteries were revealed, was about to worship the angel; but he prevented him, saying; "See thou do it not: I am thy fellow-servant, and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus: worship God." Rev. xix. 10. and xxii. 8, 9. Thus it is evident, that our Lord Jesus Christ did not stand simply in the character of man.

But there is another important point, to which we must direct our attention. He was our Redeemer, Mediator, and Propitiatory Sacrifice. These offices belonged to Him, and to no other. "He tasted death for every man." Heb. ii. 9. "In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only-begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us, and sent his Son to be the Propitiation for our sins." 1 John iv. 9, 10. "And we have seen, and do testify, that the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world." v. 14. And in the next verse, he applies these texts to Jesus Christ, in such a manner that they cannot be understood as relating exclusively to his spiritual appearance. In v. 14, he testifies that the Son was sent to be the Saviour of the world; and in the 15th he bears testimony that Jesus was that Son. And He is spoken of throughout the New Testament, as the only person who ever stood in the same relation.

As the Society of Friends have always professed and believed in the Divinity of Jesus Christ, it may possibly, by some of these, be considered unnecessary for me, on the present occasion, to dwell on this subject.

But, as this treatise will probably fall into the hands of others for perusal, and as there are various ideas in the world respecting the Character of Jesus Christ, the objects of his coming, and the benefits derived from his advent, his sufferings, and death; I hope I shall be permitted to adduce some additional observations and evidences on these important points.

We have seen already, from the most indubitable testimony of Scripture, that attributes were ascribed, epithets were given, and worship paid to Him, which neither men nor angels can receive; and therefore we do not place his Character on a level with created beings.

And on entering into a consideration of the momentous objects of his coming, and the benefits he has conferred upon man, it seems necessary to take a slight view of the dispensations which preceded His advent. The apostle, in his Epistle to the Hebrews, chap. ix. 25, 26, says; "Nor yet that He should offer Himself often, as the high-priest entered into the holy place every year with blood of others; for then must He often have suffered since the foundation of the world: but now once, in the end of the world, hath He appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself." "But Christ being come an High-Priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect Tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building; neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood He entered in once into the holy place, having obtained Eternal Redemption for us." Heb. ix. 11, 12.

In these passages there is an allusion to the Dispensation of the Law. For in the early ages of the world, after man had fallen from his original purity, it

pleased Almighty God, in condescension to the low and carnal state of the human family, by different Dispensations, gradually to lead them to Christ. They were not prepared, in early ages, for a Dispensation purely spiritual; nor for that display of Light, which Jesus Christ would introduce at his coming.

In the beginning of these dispensations, an intimation was given of a Saviour. He is promised in the very sentence pronounced on our prime ancestors. Gen. iii, 15. The promise was renewed in a remarkable manner to Abraham: "In thy Seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed." Gen. xviii. 18., xxii. 18., and xxvi. 4. This "Seed," the apostle says, "was Christ." Gal. iii. 16. Jacob also, in the visions of light, saw the coming of the Messiah; "The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto Him shall the gathering of the people be." Gen. xlix. 10.

Moses, too, bore testimony to the Children of Israel, that the Lord their God would raise up a Prophet, whom they were to hear in all things, under the penalty of being cut off. Deut. xviii. 15, 18.

The Law which was given by Moses, abounds with types and shadows, pointing to the coming of Christ, in relation both to his outward and inward appearance.

The apostle, in his Epistle to the Hebrews, as well as in many other places, dwells largely on the relation which the types and shadows of the Law had to Christ. In the 9th chapter of that Epistle, he expresses himself thus ; "Then verily the first Covenant had also ordinances of Divine service, and a worldly sanctuary. For there was a tabernacle made; the first, wherein was