newing and changing your hearts, now unitedly exclaim, "He is Lord of all.” Observe,

3. The testimony of his most inveterate enemies. When he was upon earth, the Jews, his persecutors, could not help confessing, than never man spake like him, and that even the winds and the sea obeyed him they saw the miracles he wrought, and were filled with astonishment. A centurion, at his remarkable death, exclaims, "Verily, this man was the Son of God!" Nay, Satan himself must acknowledge his power, and say, "I know thee, who thou art, the Holy One of God;" and again, the foul fiends whom he overcomes, cry, "Art thou come to torment us before the time?" thus confessing his remarkable power over them, and saying, in effect, "He is Lord of all." And how often is there, even now, a conviction on the minds of his enemies, that the same Jesus with whom we have to do, is an awful Judge, and that there is no escaping the fierceness of his anger! But O, how much they concede to the honor of the Saviour on a death-bed, when they exclaim, “O, Galilean, thou hast overcome me!" The judgment-day too will disclose his terrors, and terrible indeed will be their sensations, when the pit of hell has enclosed them, and they are left as eternal monuments, everlasting instances of the justice and terror of his power. Those who denied his authority on earth, must, with doleful lamentations, confess it in hell, "for he must reign till he has put all enemies under his feet :" being, even by the acknowledgment of his foes, "Lord of all."

..

Let us then urge for a further proof of the dignity of the Saviour's character,

4. The songs of the glorified in heaven.

They being no longer vexed with a body of death, nor liable to form imperfect ideas of the glory of the Saviour, are exclaiming to him, "Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory, and honor, and power; for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are, and were created." They sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, "Great and marvellous are thy works, Lord God Almighty; just and true are thy ways, thou King of saints: who shall not fear thee, O Lord, and glorify thy holy name? for thou only art holy for all nations shall come and worship before thee, for thy judgments are made manifest." They ascribe to him alone the complete and final victory over the Beast and his followers, and over Antichrist at large, and sing, "Salvation to our God, that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever." To him that "hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, King of kings, and Lord of lords," are all their praises directed; for they own him as over all, God blessed for ever, and celebrate his praises whilst eternity rolls along, for "he is Lord of all."

Having thus briefly endeavoured to prove the truth of the text, that so you may believe it, I would now endeavour,

III. To show its propriety, or equity, that so we may admire it.

Here we intend to investigate the claims of the Saviour to this pre-eminence, and see that it is right that he should be "Lord of all." And we say, that it is altogether equitable that he should be so, because of the Divinity of his nature, the appointment of his Father, and the merits of his sufferings. Jesus "is Lord of all,"

1. On account of the Divinity of his nature. It is well known, that some maintain that our Lord Jesus Christ is but a mere man, like ourselves; that he had no existence prior to his being born of the Virgin Mary; and that he is the Son of God merely by office; but we have every necessary proof from Scripture, that he is God; for the Father has testified that he is such, saying, "Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever:" as such the angels adore him; his miracles attest it, and his own declarations put it beyond the possibility of a doubt. In believing that Christ is God, we have not followed cunningly devised fables; and in asserting it, we speak forth the words of truth and soberness. And if it be so that his nature is Divine, ought he not to be acknowledged as "Lord of all?" He "is not a man that he should lie," and therefore, when he says that he and his Father are one, we must confess that the high honor conferred upon him in the text, does most properly belong to him. He is "the man that is my fellow, says the Lord of hosts :" therefore Divine honors are most justly his due, and who are we that we should refuse to render him the honor he demands? for "he is Lord all." Let no bold blasphemer dare to murmur at the distinguished honors of the Son of God; but let every one of us fall prostrate at his feet, saying, "My Lord, and my God!" Whilst cursed is the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, blessed are all they that put their trust in him for he is God, and beside him there is none else; and justly has he ordained that “ they who despise him shall be lightly esteemed." He will be acknowledged as Lord of all,

:

2. On account of the appointment of his Father.

Here we must particularly regard the honor of the Saviour in his mediatorial character. Has not the Father exalted him with his own right hand, to be a Prince and a Saviour, to give repentance unto Israel, and the remission of sins? Has he not highly exalted him, and "given him a name which is above every name; that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, and every tongue confess that he is Lord, to the glory of God the Father?" Jehovah has, indeed, conferred the highest possible honor upon his Son Jesus, and made his kingdom stand firm as his own eternal throne; he has glorified him with the glory that he had with him before the foundation of the world. He has passed a decree, that all men shall honor the Son, even as they honor the FathHe has committed all judgment into his hands, and views him as his co-equal Son, now he appears before him in heaven. And shall we dare to question the right of the Saviour to this title, when it is given to him by God himself? The Father views his own honor and that of his Son as intimately connected. Whatever God appoints is right. The honor of the Saviour is of Divine appointment; therefore he may well say to us, still, and know that I am God."

er.

"Be

That day which shall burn as an oven, that day for which all other days were made, shall reveal to us the uncreated glories of the Saviour; till then, let us rejoice that he is, by the will of the Father, "Lord of all."

We argue the right of this honor belonging to the Saviour,

3. From the merit of his sufferings.

"For we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned

with glory and honor." The promise of God the Father to his Son Jesus was, that he should see his seed, that he should prolong his days, and that the pleasure of the Lord should prosper in his hands; that he should see of the travail of his soul, and be satisfied; that he should divide a portion with the great, and the spoil with the strong; that he should have the heathen for his inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for his possession; that he should break them with a rod of iron, and dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel. Verily, Jesus was made perfect through sufferings, and these expressions of his glory are the consequence of his abasement: for because he endured the cross, despising the shame, and overcame principalities and powers, therefore "He is Lord of all."

Having just glanced at the import, the truth, and the equity of the text, let us now,

IV. Point out its influence, that so we may be affected by it.

Observe, then, that it warrants in us the most ardent attachment to him; it bears an unfriendly aspect on the enemies of the cross of Christ; it teaches us all to lift up to Jesus the voice of prayer and praise; and it gives us every reason to believe, that all things will terminate in the benefit and glory of the church.

1. Our text warrants in us the most ardent attachment to the Saviour. Because it represents him as invested with every excellence, and possessed of all possible power; and whilst we have this thought, that he is the Friend of mortals, as well as "Lord of all," surely we cannot help admiring and loving him.

He has exhibited undeniable proofs of his at