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Thirdly, by comparing one part with another, I shall endeavor to lay before you the true sense and meaning of each part.

First then, I shall represent to you the Apostle's argument intire and by itself.

At the beginning of this second chapter, St. Paul exhorts the Philippians to be at peace and unity among themselves, to love one another, and to be of the same mind, mutually aiding and assisting each other in all things. Hear his own words: If there be therefore any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any bowels and mercies; fulfil ye my joy, that ye be like minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind.' And then, like a wise physician, he searches to the bottom of the evil which he would cure; and well knowing that pride and vainglory are the perpetual sources of strife and contention, the bane of mutual love and charity, he exhorts them to fly from these evils, presses them to lowliness of mind, and admonishes them not to overvalue themselves, nor undervalue others; but that they should practise humility towards one another, each esteeming other better than themselves. Thus far he advances in the two next verses: Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves. Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others.'

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To support this doctrine, and to inforce their obedience to it, he sets before them the example of Christ; and in lively colors represents his great humility: he shows them how much below himself he descended for their sakes; how truly great he was, and how truly low he made himself; by nature, how much higher than the highest; by choice, how much lower than the lowest. 'Let this mind,' says he, be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God; but made himself of no reputation, and took on him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.' And that their obedience might want no due encouragement, he sets before them, from the same ex

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ample, what glorious rewards they might promise themselves hereafter, for their present humility and lowliness of mind for this abandoned, this crucified Jesus was not left to sink under the obscurity of his voluntary humility; but as a reward of his humility and sufferings, he was raised to the highest pitch of dignity and power: Wherefore,' says he, 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.' This then is the whole of the Apostle's argument.

Let us now, in the second place, consider the several things implied in it; which, with respect to this particular argument, call the principles on which the Apostle reasons.

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And, first, you may observe that the Apostle here evidently points out to us three different states and conditions of Christ: the first is his state of dignity, from which he willingly descended, expressed in those words, Who being in the form of God:' the second is the state of humility, to which he descended, in those words, He made himself of no reputation:' the third is his state of glory and exaltation, intimated in those words, Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him.' These three states or conditions of Christ are essential to the Apostle's argument for take away any one of them, and the example which the Apostle would propose is lost; not only the force of the argument is lessened, but the argument itself intirely destroyed. For instance if you remove the first state, that of his natural dignity and excellence, the second state will be no longer a state of humiliation, nor Christ any longer an example of humility for if he was not better than a servant, before he was a servant, his being a servant was his lot and condition, not his choice; it was owing to the order of nature and providence, and not to his humility; and he was no more humble in being born to be a servant, than others are who are born to the same state; and often too without the humility which is proper and necessary to their condition.

Secondly, it is implied in the argument, that he was in possession of whatever belonged to his state of dignity and excel

lence, before he underwent any thing that belonged to his state of humiliation for his voluntarily descending from his dignity to a lower and meaner condition, is the very act and real ground and foundation of his humility; and therefore, whatever is meant by his being in the form of God, or whatever is meant by his being made in the likeness of men, thus much at least is evident, that he was in the form of God before he was made in the likeness of men; because his being made in the likeness of men is given as one great instance of his humility; but his being in the form of God was his very dignity and excellence : and therefore, as it is necessarily supposed that his dignity was antecedent to his humility, it is likewise necessary to assert that he was in the form of God,' before he was made in the likeness of men.'

Thirdly, it is necessarily implied in the argument, that he underwent whatever belonged to his state of humiliation, before he enjoyed any thing that belonged to his state of exaltation ; because his exaltation was the effect and reward of his humility; and being purchased and obtained by his humility, it could not be antecedent to it: consequently it necessarily follows that his natural state of dignity, and his acquired state of exaltation, are two perfectly different and distinct states; since one was evidently antecedent to, the other as evidently consequent of, his humiliation: from whence it follows that his being in the form of God, being the dignity which he was possessed of before his humiliation, does not belong to him in virtue of any thing he did or suffered; nor is any part of that glory to which he was exalted, or which he received after or on account of his sufferings.

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This ought to be the more particularly insisted on, because it is a common mistake to think, that because Christ was exalted to glory at his resurrection, and for the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor,' as the Apostle to the Hebrews speaks, that therefore all glory and honor, and all dignity and excellence, which are ever ascribed to him, belong to him only in consequence of his suffering and obedience. From hence it is, that some men think it a sufficient answer to all arguments drawn from the attributes of power and knowlege, and the like, to prove the eternity and the divinity of the Logos, to say, that

Christ received his glory at his resurrection, and was made perfect through sufferings; and therefore the glory and power which are any where ascribed to him, are not his natural perfections, but his acquired honors, and of no ancienter a date than the redemption. But this is not to answer the arguments, but to confound the distinct states of glory which belong to Christ; the glory which he had with the Father before the worlds, and the glory which he received from the Father at the redemption: one the glory of nature; the other the glory of office; one the glory of the eternal Logos: the other the glory of the Son of man.

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Thus, for instance, we find the glory which he had with the Father before the worlds to be expressly founded on his creating the worlds: Who is the image of the invisible God, the first-born of every creature; for by him were all things created that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him and he is before all things, and by him all things consist:' Coloss. i. 15. 16. 17. And in the very next verse the Apostle mentions an honor belonging to his state of exaltation, and founds it expressly on his resurrection, as he has done what went before on his power of creation: And he is,' says he, 'the head of the body, the church; who is the beginning, the first-born from the dead :' ver. 18. As Lord of all, he is styled 'the first-born of every creature;' as the head of the church, 'first-born, from the dead.' These then are different states, and founded in different characters.

Thus in St. John we may often observe the same difference. To raise the dead is a power equivalent to that of creation; and therefore St. John tells us, 'The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God :' John v. 25. In the very next verse but one, speaking of his being the judge of the world, which belongs to him in virtue of the redemption, and is one of the glories of his exaltation, he says, that the Father hath given him authority to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of man.' Surely it is not for nothing that St. John, in the compass of four or five lines, speaks of him under different characters; and what can the

reason be, but that there are distinct powers and glories belonging to his distinct states? And therefore when the Evangelist mentions the powers of one kind, it was necessary to mention the proper character from whence they flowed; when he mentioned the powers of the other kind, it was necessary to mention the other character to which they belonged; and therefore it is that he says, the dead shall be raised by the voice of the 'Son of God,' but they shall be judged by the voice of the 'Son of man.'

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The same likewise may be observed in the first chapter of the Hebrews. In the second and third verses the Apostle describes the dignity and excellence of the person whom God sent to our redemption: 'He hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things; by whom also he made the worlds; who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power:' thus far he evidently describes the glory which Christ had with the Father before the worlds; for this is the character of the person whom he sent to redeem us. Then it follows: When he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high, being made so much better than the angels, as he hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they.' The Apostle, who had before spoken of the state of dignity which he had before the worlds, now speaks of his state of exaltation, which he received after his sufferings: according to the dignity of nature, he was the brightness of his Father's glory, and the express image of his person, and the upholder of all things by the word of his power:' but, according to the honor of his office, after he had 'purged our sins, he sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high, being made so much better than the angels, as he hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they.'

In the ninth verse of the second chapter, the Apostle says, that Jesus was made a little lower' than the angels: and yet here he says he was made better' than the angels: if he was made lower, in order to redeem us, it seems to imply he was really and by nature higher; and if he was made higher, it seems to imply he was really and by nature lower: but this

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