it ourselves, as there is occasion. Let not our faith, or knowledge, or opinion of it, produce arrogance and censoriousness. But, as St. James directs, if we are wise men, and endued with knowledge, let us shew out of a good conversation our works with meekness of wisdom. Jas. iii. 13. Or, let us shew our wisdom by a truly pious and virtuous conversation, and by meekness of behaviour towards others.

DISCOURSE III.

PHILIPP. ii. 5-11:

Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus. And what follows.

I HAVE proposed to explain this text largely and distinctly. And though this design may lead me to be somewhat controversial, and to treat some points which are, and long have been, disputed among Christians, I have hoped that I should have no reason to decline freedom and plainness of expression. It is very common for men in public, as well as private discourses, to assert their own sentiment, and to refute, or do what lies in their power to refute, the schemes and sentiments of others. Nor is it uncommon for men of low rank and condition to think themselves capable judges of what are reckoned the most sublime and mysterious doctrines, and to pass sentences, not very favourable, upon those who are of a different opinion from themselves. There cannot be, then, I apprehend, any sufficient reason to condemn an attempt to represent in a fair and impartial manner divers sentiments concerning the Deity and the person of Christ, together with the reasons and arguments by which they are supported.

I have already considered two schemes concern

ing the Deity, and a Trinity, and the person of Christ: one, that which is reckoned the commonly received opinion, or orthodox: the other, sometimes called Arianism. The third, to be now considered, is sometimes called the doctrine of the Unitarians, or the Nazareans. These believe, that there is one God alone, even the Father, eternal, almighty, possessed of all perfections without any defects or limits, unchangeable, the creator of all things visible and invisible, the supreme Lord and Governor of the world, whose providential care upholds all things; who spoke to the Patriarchs in the early ages of the world, to the people of Israel by Moses and other Prophets, and in these latter ages of the world to all mankind by Jesus Christ, and by him will distribute equal recompences to all, according to their behaviour in this world.

For farther illustrating this point, it will be proper to shew more distinctly the opinion of those persons concerning God the Father, or the Divine Unity, the person of Christ, and the Holy Spirit.

First, concerning God the Father, or the Divine Unity; which appears to be the doctrine of the Old and New Testament, from the beginning to the end.

Moses, the Jewish Lawgiver, and their greatest Prophet before the gospel dispensation, begins his five books with an account of the creation of the world.

The first of the ten commandments delivered with so great solemnity to the Jewish people, soon after their deliverance from Egyptian bondage, and

before they were put in possession of Canaan, as a distinct and independent nation and people, is, "I am the Lord thy God, who have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt have no other gods before me:"* that is, before my face, in my sight, to which all things are open, from whom no deviation from this law can be hid, and will be overlooked, and unresented. In the fourth of those ten laws or commandments, it is said, "Remember the sabbath day to keep it holy. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day."+

After the rehearsal of those commandments, and other things, in the book of Deuteronomy it is said, "Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord."+

Ps. lxxxiii. 18. "That men may know, that thou, whose name alone is Jehovah, art the most high over all the earth."

Is. xl. 28. "Hast thou not known, hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, nor his weary?"

Is. xliv. 6. "Thus saith the Lord, the king of Israel, and his Redeemer, the Lord of Hosts: I am the first, and I am the last and beside me there is no God."-Ver. 8. "Is there a God beside me? Yea, there is no God. I know not any." Ver. 24. "Thus saith the Lord, thy Redeemer, and he that formed thee from the womb: I am the Lord that

* Exod. xx. 1, 2. + Ver. 10, 11.

Deut. vi. 4.

maketh all things, that stretcheth forth the heavens alone, that spreadeth abroad the earth by myself."

Such, then, is the doctrine of the Old Testament. There is one God, even Jehovah, eternal, unchangeable, the creator of the heavens and the earth, and all things therein, the Lord, God, and King, of Israel.

Let us now observe the doctrine of the New Testament, which, if from heaven, cannot be different, but must be harmonious with that of the Old.

Matt. iv. 9, 10. When Satan tempted our Lord, and said, "All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me; Jesus said unto him, Get thee hence, Satan. For it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve."*

Mark xii. 28-34. "And one of the scribes came, and asked him, Which is the first commandment of all? And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord. And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength. This is the first commandment. And the scribe said unto him, Well, Master, thou hast said the truth. For there is one God, and there is none other but he. And when Jesus saw that he answered discreetly, he said, Thou art not far from the kingdom of God."+

Luke xviii. 18, 19. "And a certain ruler asked

*See Deut. vi. 13, and x. 20.

+ See Deut. vi. 4, 5.