1. Jesus Christ is often called God. This is the appropriate name of the supreme Being, and more frequently used in the scriptures than any other, to express his person. By the single term, God, the Most High is commonly denominated, in the history of the creation, in the succeeding account of his dispensations with the early patriarchs, and in the periods of the prophets and the apostles.--This term is often applied to Christ. As a striking example, we recur to the words of our text. "In the beginning was the Word, and the 'Word was with God, and the Word was God.” That truth cannot be affirmed, that I can conceive, in any plainer terms. It is most evident, as we have before observed, that the primary object of the apostle John, in this passage, is to assert the character of his Saviour. He, certainly, must have intended to speak so as to be understood. And I see not how he can be understood, in this plain passage, in any other way than to assert that Jesus Christ is God. And what unprejudiced person who had not some previous opinion to support or oppose, would ever understand it in any other way ? Whether Christ can be God, is another question. But that the apostle John has asserted that he is, is clear.-It may be proper to add, that, in this case, there is no question about the correctness of the translation, The original language speaks the same truth, precisely, as our own. As it is

evidently intended by the apostle, in this passage, to declare the deity of Christ, he has, in a peculiar manner, guarded and strengthened his declaration, so as to leave no reasonable ground for error or mistake. Thus, in the same sentence in which he declares Christ to be God, he asserts his eternity. "In the be'ginning was the Word." That is, before all things else, before creation had a being. "The same was in the beginning with God." His existence was coeternal with that of the Father. If, when Moses says, "In the beginning God 'created the heaven and the earth ;" he teaches that God was before all things, that he was, of course, eternal: when John asserts that Christ was in the beginning, and in the beginning with God, that is, God never was without him, he fully declares the eternity of Christ. This is mentioned in this place to show that there can be no mistake in believing that the apostle meant to declare his Saviour to be very God.--If the scriptures are the word of God, and if they are to be received in their plain and natural import, this passage decides the question. It is here asserted, by divine authority, that Christ Jesus is the eternal God. It will be proper, however, to notice some other passages.

Rom. ix. 5. "Whose are the fathers, and 'of whom, as concerning the flesh, Christ came, 'who is over all, God blessed, forever, Amen." While the apostle Paul here calls Christ God,

he speaks of him as eternal, and as ever blessed. That is, always perfect, and always holy. Each of which make him the true and eternal God. Having made this assertion respecting his Saviour, the apostle subjoins his Amen, as a confirmation or repetition of the preceding declaration. I know of no way to evade the testimony of this passage.

1. Tim. III. 16. "And, without controver'sy, great is the mystery of godliness; God was 'manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, 'seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, 'believed on in the world, received up into 'glory." The person here spoken of is Christ. Yet the apostle affirms that it was God who was manifest in the flesh, who was preached unto the Gentiles, who was believed on in the world, and received up into glory. The disciples saw him ascend up to glory, and they knew that it was their Lord and Saviour.-This apostle says again, Acts xx. 28. "Take 'heed, therefore, unto yourselves, and to all 'the flock over the which the Holy Ghost hath 'made you overseers, to feed the church of "God, which he hath purchased with his own 'blood." God hath purchased the church, he has done it by taking our nature, and thus offering his own blood a sacrifice for sin.

Matt. 1. 22, 23. "Now all this was done, 'that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of 'the Lord by the prophet, saying, Behold, a 'virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth

'a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, 'which, being interpreted, is God with us." Jesus, having taken our nature, having been born of a woman, is God with us.--Heb. 1. 8. "But unto the son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is forever and ever; a sceptre of right'eousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom." This passage is quoted from the forty-fifth Psalm. The apostle assures us that it is spoken by God, and that it is spoken to the Son, who is Christ. Thus God calls him by his own sacred name, God-Rev. xx. 11, 12. "And I saw a great white throne, and him 'that sat on it, from whose face the earth and 'the heaven fled away; and there was found no 'place for them. And I saw the dead, small 'and great, stand before God: and the books 'were opened; and the dead were judged out 'of those things which were written in the 'books, according to their works." He that is to be the final judge of the world, certainly, is Christ. And here we are assured that, at the judgment, all will stand before God.

The profession of Thomas the disciple, after the resurrection of his Lord, is an express testimony to the Saviour's divinity. He had declared that he would not believe in the resurrection of his Master, until he had occular testimony, and sensible evidence of the fact. "Then came Jesus, the doors being shut, and 'stood in the midst, and said, Peace be unto 'you. Then saith he to Thomas, Reach hither

'thy finger, and behold my hands; reach hith'er thy hand and thrust it into my side; and 'be not faithless, but believing. And Thomas 'answered and said unto him, My Lord, and my 'God." Here it is to be observed, that this disciple was perfectly free from all improper credulity. He was unreasonably so, in refusing to believe that his Lord had risen, from the testimony of his fellow disciples. He was now called upon by his Lord to examine and satisfy himself with regard to his character. He did so, and having become convinced that the crucified Saviour had truly risen from the dead, a fact which must have determined his character, he exclaims, not with a passionate surprise, as has been often asserted, but as the result of deliberate examination and reflection, My Lord, and my God.

The Lord Jesus assumed the appellation of God, and suffered others to address him in that form. Rev. xxI. 6, 7. "And he said unto me, 'It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the be'ginning and the end :-He that overcometh 'shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son." The person here speaking is Christ. In the first chapter of this book, he uses a similar expression. "I am 'Alpha and Omega, the first and the last."-On this subject, we have an important testimony in the tenth chapter of John. Christ says, (verse 30,) "I and my Father are one. Then 'the Jews took up stones again to stone him.

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