Moreover, if the revelation they discard represents men to be in such a state of depravity and vicious blindness, as to be disposed to shut their eyes against the clearest light, and to treat it as these men in fact do treat the Bible; and foretells this same treatment and conduct of theirs, as it certainly does; while they are thus slighting and rejecting it, they are really giving a strong evidence of its divine original.

But, to return: The usefulness and necessity of such a revelation is abundantly evident from fact, and has been implicitly or expressly acknowledged by many of the most wise and inquisitive among the heathen.

See Dr. Clarke on the truth and certainty of the christian revelation. Proposition vii.

Such a revelation we find to be contained in the book called the Bible, or the holy scriptures. For while all other pretended revelations from God, which have been, or now are found among men, are without all proper evidence of their being such, and carry evident marks of imposture, which has been abundantly demonstrated, by those who have examined them: This has stood the test of the severest scrutiny both of its friends and enemies, and the more it has been examined, the more clearly does it appear, that all the objections which have been made against it are futile and groundless; and that there is sufficient and abundant evidence, that it is from God, suited to give satisfaction and a well grounded assurance of its divine original, to every impartial, honest mind.

The first part of this book was written by Moses, after he had given abundant evidence, by a series of astonishing miracles, done in the sight of the Egyptians, and all Israel, that he spake and acted, under the influence and direction of the supreme Ruler of the universe, and had sufficiently established his character, as a prophet divinely inspired. Moses said he was sent by Jehovah, the only true God, the God of Israel, to demand of Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, to let his people go out from under his oppressive hand; and foretold that if he refused to do it, God would slay his first born son. Pharaoh said he knew not who Jehovah was, and bid defiance to him, declaring he would pay no regard to his demand. This gave opportunity for an open trial and decision, whether Jehovah, the God of Israel, was the true God, or the gods of Pharaoh and the Egyptians. The priests and the magicians of Egypt were collected, and entered the dispute with Moses. They wrought several miracles, in imitation of those which Moses did in the name of the God of Israel; but there was an evident, decided superiority in those wrought by Jehovah. And the contest went on, till at length they were not able to stand before Moses, and confessed publicly that Jehovah was God, and superior to theirs. Moses went on doing wonders, in the sight of all Egypt, and inflicting various successive judgments on Pharaoh, and on the Egyptians; at the same time particularly foretelling the miraculous chastisement which Jehovah had revealed to him he would inflict. At length, Moses informed Pharaoh, that if he should still persist in refusing to let Israel go out of Egypt, Jehovah had said to him, that he would slay all the first born in Egypt; and this was foretold to all Israel; which accordingly came to pass: And the Egyptians were made to fear and tremble before the God of Israel, and entreated his people to pray to him for them, acknowledging he was the supreme God. Thus Israel went out of Egypt, as Jehovah had promised they should, and were led through the Red Sea, the waters dividing to make them a way, at the direction and command of their God; while Pharaoh and the Egyptians, who were so hardy as to follow them, were all drowned in the waters. Thus Jehovah publicly triumphed over all the gods of Egypt, and executed judgment upon them; and by the fullest and most incontestible evidence established his character as the only true God. The people of Israel felt, and solemnly acknowledged this, at the Red Sea; and they were led on by the hand of Moses, attended with a constant course of miracles, unto Mount Sinai. On that Mount, God appeared in a manner suited to manifest his presence and awful glorious majesty, and excite their utmost attention, fear and reverence; and then, from the top of the mountain, out of the fire, with a voice that could be distinctly heard by all that vast multitude, consisting of at least three millions of people, he spake the ten commandments, and added no more. They were after wards written on two tables of stone, by the finger of God; which was most probably the first writing by letters in this world:

See Dr Winder’s history of the rise, progress, declension and revival of knowledge, chiefly religious.

God having thus established his character, as the only true God, by abundant and most clear evidence; and magnified Moses in the sight of the Egyptians and all Israel, as his servant and prophet, directed and inspired by him both to do, and to say, all that he did and said, in the name of Jehovah; he forbid them to hearken to a prophet, or any other person, who should arise and do wonders and miracles, not in the name of Jehovah, but of some other god, with a view to draw them away from obedience to the God of Israel, to worship and serve other gods. And every one who will attentively consider the subject, must at once see both the reasonableness of this injunction, and the wisdom and goodness of God in laying a proper foundation for it, and then giving it by Moses to Israel. For Jehovah having given all the evidence that could be reasonably expected or desired, by a series of public incontestible miracles, appearances, words and works, that he was the only true God; which all Israel had, under the fullest and most rational conviction, acknowledged, over and over again, and under this conviction, solemnly given themselves up to him, as their God; and promised to renounce all other gods, and cleave to, and obey Jehovah alone, as their God: It became them never from that time to call in question what had been made so abundantly evident, but with the greatest assurance, and the most sincere abhorrence, reject every thing which was evidently contrary to the light and revelation they had received; and not pay the least regard to any wonders and miracles, pretended to be done, or really wrought, to prove that Jehovah was not the only true God, and in favour of other gods.

These things have been observed, to show with what abundant evidence and assurance the church of Israel received the writings of Moses, as divine oracles, the infallible dictates of Heaven, which he was inspired to reveal and communicate; while it is at the same time acknowledged there are many other things which have not been here brought into view, which serve to strengthen this evidence, and show that to make any other supposition, and not to admit these writings as the oracles of Heaven, is most absurd, shutting the eyes against the most glaring light, and doing violence to every principle of reason.

After Moses, other prophets and inspired men were raised up to write the history of that nation; to declare the will of God, in reproving, directing and exhorting; and adding threatenings and promises, to deter them from rebellion against Jehovah, and excite them to obey him. Whose writings also contain innumerable predictions of things to come, many of which are already come to pass; those in particular which foretold the coming of the Messiah, his incarnation, death, resurrection, exaltation and reign: and the events that should attend his coming with regard both to Jews and Gentiles, &c. &c. And in these writings there is a constant reference to the things contained in the writings of Moses, the wonders wrought by his hand, when they were delivered from a state of bondage in Egypt, &c. and to the institutions and laws, which by him were given to Israel: And at the same time there is a perfect consistence and harmony, between these writings and those of Moses.

The last prophet, whose writings we have, lived about four hundred years before Christ; so that the sacred writings which were given to the church of Israel, and which they received as divine oracles, and have carefully kept and preserved, not only to the time of the incarnation of Christ, but even down to this day, were written at different times, by different men, through the space of above a thousand years, from Moses the first, to Malachi, the last writer. And yet they all agree; and the latter constantly refer to the writings of Moses, and what is contained in them; and therefore they mutually strengthen the evidence, that they all wrote by inspiration, as most of them declared they did. And Malachi concludes with foretelling the coming of Christ, and directing the church of Israel to attend to the laws and institutions of Moses, and obey them, until Christ should come; and to expect no more divine revelation, till that time; plainly intimating, that then some further revelations from God should be given to the church.

Mal. iv. 4, 5.

Should it be said, that perhaps all these writings were forged by some wicked, designing man, or set of men, and that the facts and miracles therein related never did take place, nor was Moses, or any other man, inspired of God to write these things; but they were imposed upon that nation, and they were made to believe that which never had any reality: Such a supposition will appear most unreasonable, and even impossible, on the least reflection. When, and how, could this be done? How could that nation, even all of them, old and young, learned and unlearned, at any time be made to believe that all these things related in the writings of Moses, concerned them, and which he said took place publicly, and that they were seen and acknowledged by the whole nation; and that all those rites and laws had been received in a miraculous way from Jehovah, by their ancestors, and handed down, and practised from generation to generation, if there was no truth in all this; but they were all novo invented, and they never had any existence, or were heard of before, by any of them? This is perfectly incredible, and absolutely impossible. And it is equally incredible, that a whole nation should at any time receive such writings, and pretend they were all genuine and true, and handed down from their fathers, when at the same time they knew there was no truth in it, but was real imposture and delusion. Who can believe, that any nation or people under heaven, could ever be brought to do this; and receive and practise all those burdensome rites and ceremonies, and hand them down to their children as the institutions of Heaven, when they knew it was all a cheat? And this will appear yet more incredible, if possible, when we observe, that these writings give no agreeable, flattering idea of that nation, as a wise, excellent, and honourable people; but contrary to this, they are represented as a very stupid, ungrateful, rebellious people, always disposed to abuse and revolt from their God, and violate the most sacred obligations and solemn vows, by which they were constantly incurring the displeasure of Jehovah; and were severely punished, from time to time, for their horrid impiety, and most stupid idolatry, and their obstinate perseverance in shameful unrighteousness and cruelty towards each other. If a people could forge and receive a history of themselves as a nation, in which there was no truth; or if it were contrived and formed by any set of men, or by any one man among them, with a design to impose it on the nation, to be received by them as genuine; we may be sure it would be written in favour of that nation, and so as to flatter their selfishness, pride, and vanity, instead of representing them, as these writings do that nation, in a disagreeable, shameful, odious light.

Besides, these writings have no marks, not the least appearance of imposture and forgery, when most critically examined; but all appearance that can be desired, that they are genuine, and were written at the different times, and in the different circumstances, in which they are said to have been written, and by those different men: Whereas, if they were a forgery, and not written by inspiration, it cannot be supposed possible, they should carry all those marks of genuineness, and none of the contrary.

Moreover, they contain a system of truths, and point out and enjoin commands and duties to God and our neighbour, which bespeak their divine original, and are worthy to be revealed by God; and which no ungodly, selfish, designing impostor, and such these writers must be, if they wrote not by inspiration, would ever think of, and much less be disposed to publish and enjoin.

The promised Messiah at length made his appearance in the world, even at the very time in which it was foretold he should come! the way for his coming having been prepared by his harbinger, as was particularly predicted by Isaiah; and by Malachi, in the last words of the Old Testament.

It having been abundantly proved, as has been ob» served and shown, that Jehovah, the God of Israel, was the only true God, and that the writings in their hands were given by divine inspiration, in which the coming of the Messiah and his future kingdom were foretold, and particularly described; all that was now necessary, in order to his being on good ground received as king of the church, was to give proper evidence that he was the very person, the promised Saviour of the world. This was done not only by his appearing at the time, and in the character and circumstances, which were foretold by the prophets; but by working a series of miracles, done in a public manner: And by his predicting many things, which soon came to pass, especially his own death, and the particular circumstances of it; and that he would rise again on the third day. He was accordingly put to death, which his enemies as well as friends confess; and if he did rise again, as he said he would, the evidence that he was the Messiah, the same Jehovah who was the God of Israel, would be complete, and none could reasonably desire more.

That he did rise on the third day; and when he had continued on earth above forty days, conversing with his disciples and friends, and giving them instructions and commands, left the world and ascended to heaven, there were a competent number of chosen witnesses, who declared they were eye and ear witnesses of this; and that they had the most satisfactory, full and abundant evidence of it. And farther, to prove the truth of it, they had power to work innumerable miracles in the name of Jesus of Nazareth, as a testimony that he was alive, and consequently the Son of God, and Saviour of the world. And they gave up all their worldly interest in this cause; and subjected themselves to poverty, hatred and reproach of men; and to various hardships and cruel sufferings, and even to death, in bearing witness to this truth, and those that are implied in it, and preaching the gospel; which was attended by an invisible mighty power, purifying and renewing the hearts of multitudes, and leading them to renounce their former delusions and wicked ways, and to believe in Christ, and obey him; who became so many witnesses of the truth and power of Christianity.

A history of these things was written by those who had the most certain knowledge of them, and intimate acquaintance with them, giving an account of the birth, life, death and resurrection of Christ; and of the doctrines which he taught, and the instructions and commands he gave, and the miracles which were wrought by him, &c. &c. Also, a history was written of what took place for a number of years after the ascension of Christ to heaven; the promised gift of his Spirit to the apostles and others, whereby they were enabled to speak different languages, and to work miracles: Their bearing testimony for Christ, and preaching with great success, not only to the Jews, but to the Gentile nations, and erecting churches in many parts of the world, Sec. This history of Christ and his apostles is written in a manner remarkably different from that of any other history written by men not inspired. It is simple, plain and concise, consisting only in the most intelligible narration of facts, of what was said and done, without justifying or condemning any person; not giving the least encomium, or bestowing any praise on Christ himself, or any of his friends, nor saying a word in their favour; not reproaching or condemning their enemies, or any person, or speaking against them: but confining themselves to a plain history of simple facts, without any comments of their own, against any one, or in favour of him. This, by the way, is a striking evidence, among others innumerable, that these writings, “came not by the will of man;” but were composed under the direction and superintendency of the Holy Ghost, the authors being inspired and moved by him.

“It is remarkable, that through the whole of their histories, the evangelists have not passed one encomium upon Jesus, or upon any of his friends: nor thrown out one reflection against his enemies; though much of both kinds might have been, and no doubt would have been done by them, had they been governed either by a spirit of imposture, or enthusiasm. Christ’s life is not praised in the gospels; his death is not lamented; his friends are not commended; his enemies are not reproached, nor even blamed; but every thing is told, naked and unadorned, just as it took place; and all who read are left to judge, and make reflections for themselves. A manner of writing which the historians never would have fallen into, had not their minds been under the guidance of the most sober reason, and deeply impressed with the dignity, importance and truth of their subject.”—Macknight’s Harmony of the Gospels.

We have also the writings of several of the apostles of Christ, containing a number of letters, which they wrote to churches, and to some particular persons, in which the doctrines and duties of Christianity, and the institutions and laws of Christ, are more particularly explained and inculcated. And last of all, there is a book, called “The revelation of Jesus Christ, which he sent and signified by his angel unto his servant John.” This the apostle John w rote in his advanced age, after the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans, when he was suffering for the cause of Christ, being banished to a desolate island, after his character had been long established as an apostle of Christ, by miracles, and a holy life. He says, he received this revelation from Christ, and was by him directed to write it, just as he here has done. It contains, among other things, a representation of the state of the church, and the great events that should take place respecting it, from that time to the end of the world, and of its perfect and glorious state from that period forever and ever; and of the endless punishment of all her implacable enemies. And many of the predictions in this book have been already accomplished: others are daily fulfilling before our eyes, which is a constant miracle, of the most indisputable kind, evidencing the divine original of this prophecy; and that the things therein foretold, which are not yet come to pass, will all be accomplished in their season.

And as the divine inspired writings, given to the Jewish church, conclude with an intimation that they should have nothing more of this kind, till the promised Messiah did come, and a command carefully to keep and observe what they had received; so this book concludes with a declaration, that there should be no addition to divinely inspired writings, given to the christian church; and therefore mankind must look for no more; but are commanded carefully to observe and obey what was then revealed, without adding any thing to it, or taking from it, until Christ shall come to judgment.

God having thus completed a revelation containing every thing he saw necessary and proper, to make it a sufficient, perfect, and unerring rule for his church to the end of the world; and every way adapted to answer all the desired ends of a divine revelation; attended with all the evidence that can be reasonably desired, that it is from God, and the whole that he ever will give; the use and end of miracles has of course ceased; and therefore the church is to expect no more, or any more prophets inspired to foretel things to come, not already foretold in the holy scriptures. And whatever pretences any may make of working miracles, and whatever miracles may be really wrought, in support of any pretended truths or institutions, or system of religion, the church of Christ has no liberty to pay the least regard to them; but ought to renounce all such pretences with abhorrence; and to hearken to them, and regard them in the least, is to renounce the Bible, and the God who has given it to his church. Nor have we any warrant to pay the least regard to any who pretend to a spirit of prophecy; even though the things they foretel, come to pass; but, on the contrary, ought wholly to disregard and renounce such pretences, being certain from divine revelation, that they are not from God, and cannot in the least strengthen the evidence of the divine authority of the Bible, or of any truth contained in it: but have a contrary tendency: And to pay any regard to them is really to slight the Bible, and may give Satan an advantage, and opportunity to introduce the most gross and fatal delusions.

The church of Rome claim it as the mark of a true church, to be able to work miracles, and assert that this is essential to the true church of Christ, and pretend to have this evidence that they are the only true catholic church, viz. that a multitude of miracles have been, and still are wrought by them . But this is so far from being an evidence of a true church, that their pretending to such a power is an infallible mark and evidence that it is a false church; and this is warrant sufficient to condemn and renounce it as such, without being at the pains of examining all their pretended miracles, to see if they be real miracles or not. If that church could be supported and proved to be right, by the holy scriptures, we ought to own it as a true church; but if not, a thousand miracles will not prove any thing in its favour; but even their pretending to work miracles, and appealing to these, is a demonstration that it is not a true church, as this is a slight and rejection of the word of God.

This general view of the holy scriptures, and the observations that have been made, are designed to exhibit no inconsiderable part of the evidence we have, that they do indeed contain a revelation from God, and may with the greatest safety be relied upon as such. But there are many other evidences of this, some of which ought to be brought into view, when this subject is considered. And it may be proper now to mention a number of arguments to prove that the writings contained in the Bible are a revelation from God, in which several things that have been already hinted will be included.

I. The series of miracles which have been wrought, as a testimony that this revelation is from God, is a standing, undeniable proof of it. These have been in some measure brought into view, in the observations above; from which the propriety and importance of these miracles, and the end for which they were wrought, appear. That these miracles were really wrought, we have as great evidence as the nature of the case will admit; and not the least ground of suspicion and doubt; especially when we consider the times and circumstances of them, and their apparent design, and the nature and contents of the revelation, the credit of which they are designed to establish. These things have been particularly and largely considered by many, and therefore are only mentioned here, except the last, which will be attended to in the sequel.

II. The numerous prophecies which are contained in the Bible, with their exact accomplishment, are a standing, clear evidence, that it is a revelation from God. The certain independent foreknowledge of future events, or of any thing to come, all will grant, belongs to the true God alone. Therefore we find Jehovah challenging this as his own prerogative; and his declaring what will be, and bringing it to pass accordingly, is asserted to be a demonstration that it is the true God who speaks. And he says, that he who can do this, does prove himself to be God. “Produce your cause, saith the Lord; bring forth your strong reasons, saith the king of Jacob. Let them bring them forth, and shew what shall happen.—Shew the things that are to come hereafter, that we may know that ye are gods.” “I, even I am the Lord, and beside me there is no Saviour. I have declared, and have saved, and I have shewed, when there was no strange god among you: Therefore, ye are my witnesses, saith the Lord, that I am God.” When Jehovah brought Israel out of Egypt, he demonstrated that he was the only true God, and they renounced all other gods; then he foretold what would befall them, both in promises and threatenings, and a great number of predictions, which had actually come to pass in their sight: Therefore they were his witnesses, as they were witnesses of this fact, which was sufficient to support his character, as the only true God, in opposition to all other pretended gods. Jehovah tells them that one end of his thus foretelling events, and then bringing them to pass, was to give them an undeniable proof that he was the true God, who spoke to them by Moses, &c. and leave them inexcusable, if they should acknowledge any other God. “I have declared the former things from the beginning; and they went forth out of my mouth, and I shewed them; I did them suddenly, and they came to pass. Because I knew that thou art obstinate, and thy neck is an iron sinew, and thy brow brass; I have even from the beginning declared it to thee: Before it came to pass, I shewed it thee, lest thou shouldest say mine idol hath done them, and my graven image, and my molten image, hath commanded them.”

Isaiah xlviii. 3, 4, 5.

Though they had in many other ways good evidence that he was the true God, in whose name Moses spake and acted; yet God, knowing their evil disposition, and how prone they were to unbelief, and to turn away from him to other gods, in his great condescension and goodness, took care to give and heap up more abundant standing evidence that they had indeed the oracles of the true God, who was the God of Israel, by foretelling innumerable events, and then bringing them to pass before their eyes. When Moses wrought the numerous signs and wonders in Egypt, he foretold these events before they took place: And so most of the miracles wrought by the hand of Moses at the Red Sea, and in the wilderness, were foretold immediately before they took place: And also many things of which we have an account in the books of Joshua, Judges, and the two books of Samuel, &c. To such predictions as these, which were brought to pass immediately, the above cited words seem to have particular reference: God says, “They went forth out of my mouth, and I shewed them; I did them suddenly, and they came to pass.” In this way they had not only the evidence which the miracles themselves gave of the truth, in favour of which they were wrought; but the prediction and the immediate accomplishment, was a yet farther evidence that he who wrought the miracle spoke and acted under the influence, and according to the dictates of the omniscient God. In this way were most of the miracles wrought by Christ and his apostles.

But there are almost innumerable prophecies in the Bible which foretel things to come, that were not to take place immediately; but a long time, and numbers of them many ages after the predictions were published. Many predictions of this kind are contained in the writings of Moses, which foretel a multitude of events respecting that nation, which have been exactly fulfilled. And indeed great part of the religious institutions and worship enjoined in the Mosaic ritual, are so many prophecies of what should take place in the person, character, and kingdom of Christ, as they are appointed types and shadows of these things, and have been exactly fulfilled in them. This is particularly attended to and illustrated in the Epistle to the Hebrews. This is a strong argument that these institutions and laws, were made by the only true God, who knows what is to come, even all his own designs, and works that are future.

A great part of the writings of Moses and the prophets are prophecies that respect Christ, his incarnation, his sufferings, and the glory that should follow in the salvation of men, and his kingdom. Jn these writings it is foretold that he should l3e the seed of Abraham by Isaac, that he should be of the tribe of Judah, and the family of David: Should be born of a virgin, in the town of Bethlehem; that he should be poor and despised, rejected, hated and put to death by the Jews and Gentiles, joining together to perpetrate this horrid deed. The particular time of his appearance and death is pointed out; and a great number of particulars relating to his life, death and resurrection are foretold; all which have been exactly fulfilled. They also foretel the rejection of the Jews, and calling of the Gentiles to be the people of God, and share in the blessings of Christ’s kingdom; and speak much of the extent and glory of his kingdom, and particularly foretel that it should rise, prevail, and fill the world after the ruin of the Roman monarchy, and shall continue forever. Christ and his apostles did constantly appeal to these prophecies, as most plainly, and with die greatest exactness predicting what took place in Jesus of Nazareth. Christ himself, after his death .aid resurrection, addresses those who were wholly at a loss what to think of these things, in the following words; “O, fools, and slow of heart, to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into his glory? And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them, in all the scriptures, the things concerning himself.” The apostle Peter publicly appeals to them, and says, “God hath spoken of these things by the mouth of all the prophets, since the world began. For Moses truly said unto the fathers, a prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you, of your brethren, like unto me. And it shall come to pass, that every soul which will not hear that prophet, shall be destroyed from among the people. Yea, and all the prophets from Samuel, and those that follow after, as many as have spoken, have likewise foretold of these days.” And St. Paul declares, that in bearing testimony to the truth of Christianity, and preaching the gospel, he asserted “no other things than those which the prophets and Moses did say should come.” And with this argument, taken from the fulfilment of prophecies in Jesus of Nazareth, the first preachers of the gospel often put to silence, and confounded the opposing Jews, and convinced many, that Jesus was the Christ.

The writings of the New Testament contain many predictions. Christ particularly foretold his death, and his resurrection on the third day after—Who should betray him, and who should deny him—The gift of the Spirit to the apostles in his miraculous powers—What treatment they should receive from the Jews—What support they should have; and what should be their success. He in a very particular manner foretold the calamities that should come on the nation of the Jews, and the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple; and said this should come to pass before all that generation did go off the stage of life. And though to human appearance, these events were not merely improbable, but even impossible; yet they all came to pass exactly agreeable to the prediction.

But passing over many other instances of prophecy, both of Christ and his apostles, and others in the primitive church, and the particular fulfilment of their predictions, that remarkable one of St. Paul,

2 Thes. chap. ii.

3. There have been instances of persons who have been deaf from their birth, and consequently dumb; and after they have arrived to adult or middle age, have been able to hear and speak: And though before this, they attended public worship with others, and appeared very devout; and often made those signs which those with whom they conversed in this way, thought were expressions of their belief of the being of God, and of their piety: Yet, when they came to hear and speak, they declared, that +hey never had a thought that there was a God, until they could hear, and were by that means informed. And there never has been an instance known, of any such person’s declaring that he had any belief or thought of the existence of a God, before he could hear and speak.

See President Clap’s Essay on the Nature and Foundation of Moral Virtue. Page 42, &c. The following is transcribed from him, page 45. “I was well acquainted with a Negro, who was a man of superior natural powers, and made a profession of religion; who told me that he was born in the island of Madagascar, and lived there till he was above thirty years old: And in all that time he never had a thought of the being of a God, a Creator or Governor of the world, or of a future state after death.”

“Dr. Williots, in his sermon on the Light of Nature, relates a story of a man in France, who was born deaf and dumb; yet was very knowing, active and faithful in the common affairs of life: And upon a solemn trial before the bishop, by the help of those who could converse with him, was judged to be a knowing and devout christian, and admitted to the Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper, which he attended for many years, with all the signs of high devotion, such as elevation of hands, eyes, &c. At length a large quantity of hard wax was taken out of his ears; upon which he could hear; and, after a while, could speak and read. He then declared, that while he was deaf, he had no idea of a God, or maker of the world, or of a future state; and that all he then did, in matters of religion, was purely in imitation of others.”

Are not these facts an evidence that though the being, of God is so clearly manifested in the works of creation and providence, yet mankind, in their present fallen, corrupt state, would not discern and acknowledge this truth, had it not been otherwise revealed?

And since the nature of all sin, so far as it has dominion in the heart, is real Atheism, and a denial of the God who is above; and therefore the fool, the wicked man, always says in his heart, “There is no God:” and the tendency of it is to darken and stupify the mind, or rather is itself blindness and stupidity, with regard to the being of God, and every thing invisible, and naturally shuts all these things out of the mind; it can be easily accounted for, that without a revelation, the reason of man, who is totally corrupt and sinful, will never suggest to him the being of a God, however evident and demonstrable this is to reason, when once suggested and revealed, and men can be excited and persuaded to attend to the evidence, and exercise their reason on the subject.

We will now take a short and summary view of the evidence there is of this great and fundamental truth of all morality and religion; and mention some of the arguments which offer themselves to our reason, when we attend to the subject. These are not long and intricate; but when the truth is once suggested to us, it becomes an object of intuition, in a sense, so that though there be reasoning in the case, it is so short and easy, that it strikes the mind at once, and it is hardly conscious of any reasoning upon it, and of the medium by which the evidence comes to the mind. Hence it is probable, that some have thought, doubtless without any good reason for it, that the existence of God is, what they call an innate idea, which is essential to the mind of man, and impressed on it, independent of all reasoning on the subject.

I. It is certain there is a God from our own existence, and the things we behold around us. There must be some cause of the existence of these things. They could not cause their own existence, or make themselves; because this is a contradiction. There must therefore be some invisible cause which existed before them, and was able to give them existence, and to uphold them when they were made. And this first cause, maker and preserver of all things, is God.

It is natural for the inquisitive mind, when it is necessarily led thus far, to inquire, how came God to exist? Or, what is the cause of his existence? If he be the first cause, he must be the cause of his own existence, which implies a contradiction, or he must exist without any cause, and without beginning, which is perfectly inconceivable; and we may as well suppose the world exists without a cause, and go no farther back for a cause; and then we find no evidence of the existence of God.

Answer, The first cause of all things we behold, must certainly exist without beginning, and so without any cause, that is antecedent to his existence, or that is without himself. Yet there may be a reason or cause of his existence within himself, viz. The necessity of his existence, so that he exists necessarily, there being no other possible way or supposition, or it being infinitely impossible it should be otherwise; universal non existence, being the greatest contradiction in nature.

If it should be said, this runs all into darkness; for we can no more conceive of God’s existing necessarily, and without beginning to exist, than we can of the world’s existing without a cause; and therefore gives no relief to the mind: An easy, and it is hoped, a satisfactory answer, is at hand. It is a plain contradiction to say, that the world and all things in it exist without a cause, or a reason why they exist, rather than not: But necessary existence, and existence without beginning, implies no contradiction or impossibility. It is granted, that each of them is to us incomprehensible; but this is so far from being any argument against the truth and reality of them, that it is rather an evidence in favour of them; for if there be a God, he must be incomprehensible, as he is an infinite being, and exists in a manner infinitely above us; therefore must be infinitely above and beyond the comprehension of finite minds. It is very unreasonable to object that against the being of a God, which certainly must be true if God exists.

II. The being of God is evident from the manner of our own existence, and of all things visible, viz. the design, contrivance and wisdom that appear in them. It would fill volumes fully to illustrate this argument from the works of creation and providence, as this design and wisdom appear in them all; and the more particularly they are considered, the more clear the wisdom appears and shines. Volumes have been written on the subject, and many more might be written, and yet the subject not be exhausted. But it is not consistent with the design of this work, to enter particularly into this subject. Every one must have observed so much of this, as to see the propriety and force of this argument, at first view, unless he be very criminally inattentive. The innumerable creatures and things which come under our observation appear to be contrived and formed to answer some end; and the numerous ranks of different animals are all furnished with provision for their own support and defence, and have members and organs suited to their situation, and to obtain, receive and use what is necessary for the support of their lives, &c. If we attend only to our own bodies, we shall find them so admirably contrived, and so curiously formed; and though of so many parts, each one is suited to the rest, and all so contrived as to form one harmonious system of animal life, without any defect or any thing superfluous; is it possible, if we make any proper use of our reason, that we should find ourselves inhabiting such bodies, without discerning the contrivance and wisdom of our make, and seeing and acknowledging the hand and skill of the wise Author of this frame, so curious in all its parts and movements? As well may we behold a most beautiful, well contrived palace, furnished with every thing convenient and comfortable to dwell in, having nothing useless, nothing wanting; and not have one thought of a wise skilful architect, who contrived and built it; or imagine this building might exist without the exertion of any design or wisdom and have no author and maker.

Surely we cannot survey ourselves and the world in which we are, and see the design and contrivance apparently running through the whole, and not be convinced that there must be a wise contriver and author who has made them. Not to think of and acknowledge this, is to be more like beasts, than rational creatures. The language of the Psalmist is most rational and natural, when contemplating the works of creation and providence. “O Lord, how manifold are thy works! in wisdom hast thou made them all.”

III. The being of God is made evident by the holy scriptures. Not merely by being there abundantly asserted; but by the existence of such a book as the Bible. It is as much impossible there should be such a book, were there no God, as that there should be such a world as we see, without an invisible cause. For it is as much beyond the power and skill of man, or any number of men, to form such a book, as it is to make the world. It is impossible that such a number of men, who lived in ages at such a distance from each other, should write so much, and not contradict themselves, nor each other; but agree and harmonize in every thing, were there no invisible, unerring, omniscient Being to direct and guide them: As impossible as it was that every stone and piece of timber in Solomon’s temple, should come together, and be exactly fitted to its place, so as to make one complete, harmonious building, without any design, or contrivance; but by mere accident or chance. The character of God there given is far above and beside the thought of man, and could no more be drawn by man, were there no such God, than the world can be made by him. And the law of God there given, and at last summed up and comprehended in one sentence, “Thou shalt love the Lord with all thy heart, and thy neighbour as thyself,” could no more be thought of and contrived by man, than the heavens and the earth could be planned and produced by him. The series of miracles wrought by those who said there was a God, and that Jehovah was the only true God; that he spake to them, and they did these wonders in his name, and by his power, are a standing proof of the existence of God.

But above all, the predictions contained in the Bible, with their exact and certain accomplishment, is a striking proof and demonstration of the existence of an omniscient, omnipotent Being. For it is as much beyond the art and power of men to foretel so many thousand events, so precisely answering the prediction, as it is for him to make the sun, moon and stars.

All these have been urged as proofs of the divinity of the scriptures, and they are equal proofs of the being of God. Therefore, though invisible things of God are clearly seen in the works of creation and providence, even his eternal power and godhead; so that all the nations who have not the Bible are left without excuse, which if they do not believe in, love and worship the true God: yet they who enjoy this book have more clear evidence of the being of God, as well as unspeakably greater advantages to know his true character; and consequently are far more inexcusable than the heathen, if they do not believe.

Upon the evidence of the existence of God, two things may be observed.

1. Though this be as evident a truth as any whatsoever, and men may have a full rational conviction of it, while their hearts are opposite to it, and receive no impressions answerable to this truth, and the whole system of their affections and exercises of heart, are just as if this were not true, or directly contrary to it; yet do really say in their hearts, there is no God. Therefore we find this asserted in the scriptures, “The fool, (that is, the wicked man whose heart is wholly corrupt, as it is there explained) says in his heart there is no God.” Hence it is, that this conviction and profession, that there is a God, in multitudes of instances, has little or no effect on the heart and practice; but while they profess to know there is a God, in their hearts and in their works they deny him. In this case, the heart governs the man, and forms his true moral character, and not his speculative conviction and judgment, which is so weak and ineffectual that it flies, or vanishes, into nothing, before the strong fixed propensities of the ungodly heart, as a bubble is blown away by the strong blast of a furious wind.

2. Where the heart is upright and honest, and men have a proper taste and relish for moral truth, the evidence of the being of God is discerned in a true light. The being and true character of God appear to be a pleasing reality; they have a genuine and powerful impression on the heart, and its leading affections and exercises are answerable to the truth. Therefore the scriptures represent such only, as knowing God and believing in him; and others are spoken of as not knowing God, and saying in their hearts there is no God, and in their works denying him. The latter are in darkness, and walk in darkness which blindeth their eyes. The god of this world hath blinded their minds, so that they believe not, and the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, doth not shine unto them. But the light shines into the hearts of the former, and gives them the light of the knowledge of the glory of God, ill the face of Jesus Christ. For where the being of God is truly discerned, his whole revealed character, or his glory, is in some good measure seen; and they who have not discerning and relish of this glory, which is true of all wicked men, have not that belief of the being of God which good men have, as their faith consists in mere speculation; which is not the true light. This is so plain, that a heathen has said, “The mind destitute of virtue, cannot see the beauty of truth.”

Hierocles.

This leads us to consider the character and perfections of God; or what God is. This is the must important subject in the whole compass of divinity, as right conceptions of God lay the best and only foundation for religious knowledge and right sentiments in general: And it is no doubt true, that all who agree in their sentiments respecting the divine character, will also agree in the same system of religious truth: And the origin of the difference and opposition of opinion that have taken place among professing christians, respecting the doctrines of Christianity, is their different and opposite notions of the character and perfections of God. Therefore the true knowledge of God is often mentioned in scripture as the sum of all knowledge, and comprehending all religious knowledge. This affords a good reason for our attending to this awful subject with great care and caution; with solemnity of mind, reverence and devotion, searching the holy scriptures, and praying that we may be saved from wrong and dishonourable conceptions of God; and obtain the true knowledge of him.

What are called the natural perfections of God, as distinguished from his moral perfections, are first to be considered. There is a general agreement respecting these, among those who enjoy divine revelation, as men are not so prone to prejudice and error on this head, as they are concerning the other. It will therefore be needless to enlarge here.

We are warranted by the scriptures, and it appears reasonable, to exclude every thing that implies any imperfection, when we consider what God is; and ascribe to him nothing that is not absolutely perfect in the highest degree. Therefore we must conceive God to be a pure spirit, which the scriptures assert: And hence we are certain that nothing corporeal, or that has any shape, figure or limits, is to be ascribed to him. Hence it is unreasonable and very dishonourable to God, to attempt to make any image or likeness of him, by any thing that has figure or shape, or to form or entertain any such notion in our minds. Moses gave a particular caution on this head to the people of Israel. “The Lord spake unto you out of the midst of the fire: ye heard the voice of the words, but saw no similitude, only ye heard a voice. Take ye therefore good heed unto yourselves, lest ye corrupt yourselves, and make you a graven image, the similitude of any figure; for ye saw no manner of similitude on the day that the Lord spake unto you in Horeb, out of the midst of the fire.” And this is expressly prohibited in the second command, “Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.” Therefore when God is spoken of in the scriptures as if he had bodily parts and members, hands, eyes, cars, mouth, &c.—these expressions are to be taken in a figurative sense, and mean no more than that God does see and hear, &c. which we perform by those members and organs; and not that he has eyes of flesh, or sees as man does: Such language being used as better suited to convey knowledge to our minds, in conformity to man’s way of speaking and conceiving.

In the scriptures God is represented as an infinite being, that he is, in every respect, without limits or bounds. His existence is infinite, or in him is an infinite degree of existence, so that all created existence is nothing when compared with him; and indeed is comprehended in him, and is really no addition to existence, it being only an emanation from him, the fountain and sum of all existence. And all his attributes and perfections are infinite, according to the scriptures. “His understanding is infinite,” and consequently every thing that can be attributed to him.

From the passages of scripture which have been now mentioned, to prove there is a plurality or Trinity in the one true God, it is also proved that the Word, the Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ, is God, and as really, and as much included in the Deity, in Jehovah, as is the Father: And that this is equally true of the Holy Ghost. But the evidence of the real divinity of Jesus Christ, will appear yet more clear and strong, by examining the scripture more particularly on this point. But as this will be done in a more proper place in a following section, it is omitted here. And the divinity of the Holy Ghost will now be more particularly considered.

In addition to the evidence of this, from the scriptures, which have been produced above, a number of other passages of scripture will now be mentioned, from which it appears, that the Holy Ghost is God, and included in the Godhead.

Christ says, “Except a man be born of the Spirit, he cannot see the kingdom of God. What is born of the Spirit, is spirit.”

John iii. 5, 6.

“Why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost? Thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God.”

Acts v. 3, 4.

It may be farther observed, concerning the decrees of God, that they extend to every thing, and every event, though ever so small, compared with others, and every the most minute circumstance that takes place, or will exist to eternity. For every one of these are necessary parts of the most wise and perfect plan; otherwise they could have no existence in it. And if one of these had been left out of the divine plan, it would have been so far less perfect, and really defective. It is not to be supposed that of any two possible existences, events, or circumstances of existence, there should be no difference in any respect; so that one could not be preferred to the other, by infinite wisdom, as better and more suited to answer the end proposed, than the other; though we, or finite discerning, may not be able to perceive any difference: Therefore infinite wisdom discerns and fixes upon that which is preferable and best, in every instance. No two proposed or possible objects, events or circumstances, being perfectly alike or equal in the view of omniscience, there is ground of choice and preference; so that the divine determination respecting the actual existence of all these, and their taking place in all respects exactly as they do, or will, is, in every instance, most wise: and no thing, event, or circumstance, would be in any other respect otherwise consistent with infinite wisdom.

Jesus Christ teaches us that God’s providence and care extend to the smallest things, and most minute circumstances, when he says to his disciples, “Are not five sparrows sold for two farthings? and not one of them is forgotten before God, or shall fall on the ground, without your heavenly Father: But the very hairs of your head are all numbered.”

It may be of some importance to observe here, that there is a distinction and difference between the decrees of God, and his foreknowledge, as the words are commonly used. Divine foreknowledge is God’s foreseeing future existence and events, and knowing from eternity what would take place in all futurity, to eternity, or without end. This foreknowledge is not only to be distinguished from the decree; but must be considered as, in order of nature, consequent upon the determination and purpose of God, and dependent upon it. For the futurition or futurity of all things depends upon the decrees of God; by these every created existence, and every event, with all their circumstances, are fixed and made certain; and in consequence of their being thus: decreed, they are the objects of foreknowledge; for they could not be known to be future, unless they were so; and they were made so by the divine decree, and nothing else. If we may so speak, God foreknew all things, that were to come to pass, by knowing his own purpose and decrees, by which their existence was made certain. Had God decreed nothing respecting future existences, by creation and providence, there could have been no foreknowledge of any thing whatsoever. Hence the decrees of God may be certainly inferred from his foreknowledge; for the former must be as extensive as the latter; and nothing can be foreknown or seen to have a future existence, the future existence of which has not been made certain by a divine decree.

All future existences, events and actions, must have a cause of their futurition, or there must be a reason why they are future, or certainly to take place, rather than not. This cause must be the divine decree determining their future existence, or it must be in the future existences themselves; for there is no other possible supposition. But the future existences could not be the cause of their own futurition; for this supposes them to exist as a cause, and to have influence, before they have any existence, even from eternity. And if they may be the cause of their own futurition, or become future of themselves, then they might actually exist of themselves; for by becoming future, their existence is made certain and necessary; therefore that which makes them certainly future, is really the cause of their existence. This therefore can be nothing but the divine decree, determining their future existence, without which nothing could be future, consequently nothing could be known to be future. They therefore who deny the doctrine of God’s decrees, and yet acknowledge the omniscience of God, and that all future events were known to him from eternity, are really inconsistent: for if the world, or any creature, or any event, could be certainly future, without being made so by God, it can actually exist without him: for the existence of it is certain and necessary, and it cannot but exist, when once it becomes certainly future.

Therefore, because the foreknowledge of God does necessarily imply and involve his decrees, the former is sometimes put for the latter, in the inspired writings. The following are instances of it. “Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain.”

Acts ii. 23.

As the decrees of God are most wise, this necessarily supposes some end in view, and that which is best, the most excellent, important, and desirable that can be; for wisdom consists in proposing and pursuing such an end, in ways and by means in the best manner adapted to accomplish that end. When no end is in view to be accomplished by any purpose or work, if this can be, there is no wisdom; and if there be an end proposed and pursued, if this be not the best that can be proposed and effected, the purpose and pursuit is not wisdom but folly. And if the end proposed be the highest and best that can be; yet if the means fixed upon to accomplish that end, be not in all respects the best suited to accomplish the end proposed, this must be a defect of wisdom. Therefore infinite wisdom discerns without a possibility of mistake, what is the best end, most worthy to be set up and pursued, and fixes on this end; and discerns and determines the best means by which this end shall in the best manner be answered. And this determination is the same with the decrees of God, and involves or comprehends every thing that comes to pass, every event, great and small, with every circumstance, be it ever so minute; and fixes them all; unerring wisdom being exercised with respect to them all; so that to make the least alteration in any thing, event, or circumstance, would render the whole plan less perfect and wise. “The work of God is perfect. Whatsoever God doth, it shall be forever: Nothing can be put to it, nor any thing taken from it.” That which is perfect is not capable of the least alteration, without being rendered imperfect and defective. This is true of the infinitely wise plan of the divine operations, and all future events, which was formed by the eternal purpose and decrees of God.

If it be inquired, What that best, most important and desirable end can be, which must be proposed by infinite wisdom? The answer must be, that God himself, or that which respects him, is the end of his decrees and works. When the divine plan of operations was laid, there was nothing but God existing, or to be set up, or regarded as an end; and how could future existence be made an ultimate end with him, in proposing and causing it to exist? And when it does exist, it is infinitely less considerable and respectable than God; and as the dust in the balance; yea, as nothing, in comparison with Him. It would therefore be contrary to reason, and therefore contrary to infinite wisdom, to make creatures or the creation, considered as something distinct from God, the object of supreme respect in God’s designs and works, and not God himself, whose existence is infinitely greater, more important and excellent, and who is the sum of all being. Wisdom must have supreme respect to him in every design, and in every operation, as the first and the last, and all in all. Which is the same as to say, God makes himself his end in all his purposes and operations.

Divine revelation confirms this, in which God speaks of himself as the first and the last, the beginning and the ending, by which he represents himself as the first cause and supreme or last end of all things. And this is confirmed by the following passages, “For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things.

Rom. xi. 36.

Moreover, by working six days, and resting from his work on the seventh, and consequently sanctifying that, and setting it apart as a day of rest for man, he set an example, and made an institution for man, which was useful, important and necessary, for the best good of man, and the promotion of his designs respecting his moral kingdom.

No evidence can be produced that this seventh day from the beginning of creation, is not that which is now the first day of the week; and the contrary perhaps may be supported by satisfactory evidence; And some astronomers assert that this can be demonstrated by astronomical calculations: But this will be more particularly considered in the sequel.

According to the scriptures, there have not yet been six thousand years since the creation. And there are a variety of facts and arguments which prove the world cannot be much older than it is represented to be in sacred history: which have been mentioned by many writers: And there are no appearances or facts, which give the least evidence of the contrary.

It has been asked, Why the world was not created sooner? Why it would not have been wiser an d better, to have had it created so much sooner, or be fore it was created, as to have every thing ready for the day of judgment by this time; yea, so as to have had all the blessed in the enjoyment of complete happiness for millions of ages already? For this would have been so much clear gain of happiness, which is really lost, and never can be enjoyed, because the world was created so late.

It may be observed upon this, in the first place, that this question can never be satisfied, so that it might not still be asked with as much reason and propriety, as it is now asked; and therefore it must be an improper and unreasonable question. If the world had now existed ten thousand ages instead of six thousand years; and were this possible, still the question might be asked, with as much apparent reason as now. Why it had not been created so early, as now to have existed ten millions of ages instead of ten thousand? And so on without end. That question or demand, which in the nature of things cannot be answered or satisfied, on any supposition whatsoever, is unreasonable, and ought never to be made.

By this act of disobedience, our first parents violated the covenant which God had made with them, and forfeited all the good promised to obedience, and brought upon themselves the penalty threatened. It was not, indeed, completely executed upon them immediately. They fell under the divine displeasure and wrath, which was sufficiently great to destroy them forever; and which, if fully executed on them, must make them miserable, without end. They were condemned, and fell into a state of complete eternal ruin, being totally and forever undone and lost, without any help or hope. Thus they died immediately on sinning: Though the full execution of the punishment did not take place immediately; yet as they were condemned and cursed, and utterly undone, and had nothing in their reach or view to prevent infinite evil coming upon them, the evil threatened in a true sense fell upon them, and they died in the day on which they transgressed. The sentence of death, and the penalty threatened in the law under which the angels were, fell upon those who sinned immediately; but it will not be completely executed till the day of judgment; nor will it ever be, because it is endless punishment, to which they are condemned. It will be in execution without end, and so, strictly speaking, will never be fully executed: And yet the execution is according to the threatening. So it is in the case of man; he fell under the threatening immediately on his sinning, though the full and complete execution of it, do not take place for many ages.

St. Paul says, “When the commandment or law came, sin revived, and I died:” That is, he found himself dead. He found himself under the curse of the law, which was contained in the original threatening, “In the day thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die.” If Paul found himself dead, agreeable to the threatening of the law, then Adam did really die in the same sense, or the same death: and sin, even the first act of disobedience, wrought this death in him. The evil which the law threatened, “Thou shalt surely die,” in this sense, came upon him. He fell under the curse. This sentence fell upon him, and he was a dead man. Paul calls this death, or dying; and by this tells us what dying means in the threatening; and that Adam did die on that day in which he ate the forbidden fruit.

Bat if this were not so, and Adam did not die the death threatened on the day he sinned, this may be consistent with the execution of the threatening, according to the true intent of it. The threatening, “In the day thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die,” expresses two things, viz. The certainty of the punishment, as infallibly connected with transgression; and that the threatened penalty should follow on one or the first act of rebellion. We find much the same language used, to express one or both these; and not that the threatening should be immediately executed, or on the day in which the crime was committed. “The righteousness of the righteous shall not deliver him in the day of his transgression. As for the wicked less of the wicked, he shall not fall thereby in the day that he turneth from his wickedness: Neither shall the righteous be able to live in the day that he sinneth; but for his iniquity that he hath committed, he shall die or it.”

Ezekiel xxxiii. 12, 13.

This apostasy of our first parents, was a total apostasy: That is, by giving themselves up to this sin, an inclination to sin took the dominion in their hearts, and they wholly lost all their moral rectitude and holiness, or the moral image of God, in which they were created. This is not expressly asserted in the history of their sin; but it may be inferred from the nature of the case. By this transgression they forfeited all favour from their Maker, and fell under his displeasure, and were cursed, according to the law and constitution, under which they were when they sinned; and it was inconsistent therefore to shew them any favour; especially such a favour, as preserving them from total apostasy, or their being continued in the exercise of love to God, while they were under that constitution, and antecedent to the revelation of the dispensation of grace. Moreover, the first act of sin carried in it an inclination to universal sinfulness, and opposition to holiness in general, or to all and every degree of holiness; and according to the natural course of things, would issue in total depravity, in the exclusion of all moral good, and the complete possession and reign of moral evil in their hearts. This consisted in their ceasing to love God, and loving themselves only; which self love, or selfishness, was in every degree of it opposed to the law under which they were, and the fruitful source of all sin; which will more fully appear, when this subject will come more particularly into view, in its proper place. There was nothing therefore that could prevent their total apostasy, or becoming wholly sinful, and opposed to the law of God, and all holiness, unless God had miraculously interposed, contrary to the law and constitution under which they sinned, to prevent it, and exercised mere sovereign favour, which, as has been observed, would be inconsistent with the constitution under which they sinned.

The above reasoning, to prove that the apostasy of man was total, appears to be confirmed by the apostasy of the angels who sinned. It is presumed all will grant that their first apostasy was not partial, but total. If the angels fell totally in their first rebellion, why not man also? It is true that under another and a new dispensation of grace through a Mediator, holiness is introduced and maintained in the heart of the believer, in a small and low degree, while there is also a degree of sinful exercise; and both these, sin and holiness, continue through life; and particular acts of sin of which believers are guilty, do not bring on total depravity, and wholly extinguish every degree of divine love: But this may with propriety be called a miracle, being contrary to the course of nature, and the constitution of things, which originally took place, and is the effect of the new constitution, by which the original order or course of nature is counteracted by the introduction of a gracious dispensation; and the nature and natural course of sin is interrupted and opposed, by special divine interposition: But this is so far from an evidence that our first parents could go into an overt act of rebellion, consistent with retaining any degree of love to God, that it is a proof of the contrary, and that man, by the first apostasy, sunk into total depravity, and became wholly a rebel, and altogether opposed to the divine law.

It has been observed, and it is thought proved in the foregoing chapter, that all mankind were created and comprehended in the first man; as much as were all the trees and plants, in the first trees and plants which were made, with the seed in themselves, to produce a succession of trees and plants after their kind, to the end of the world. Therefore in what God said to Adam, and his transactions with him in giving him law, and forming a covenant with him, he was considered and treated as comprehending all mankind; and he was the real and constituted head of the whole race, so that his obedience or transgression should affect all mankind, as it affected him, and was to be considered as the obedience or disobedience of all. It is proposed now, to attempt to explain this point more fully, and show how far, and in what respects, all Adam’s posterity are comprehended in the first transgression, and affected by it.

I. By the constitution and covenant with Adam, his first disobedience was the disobedience of all mankind. That is, the sin, and consequent ruin of all the human race, was by this constitution infallibly connected with the first sin of the head and father of the race. By the divine constitution, the appointment of God, if the head and father of mankind sinned, the whole race of men, all his posterity, should sin; and in this sense it should be the sin of the whole. Accordingly, when the head became a sinner, and moral corruption took possession of the heart, a sure foundation was laid, by the constitution under which man was, for the same sin and moral corruption to take place and spread through all the human race: Just as by a divine appointment, or a law of nature, the $ap of the root or original stock of a tree passes into the numerous limbs, twigs and the fruit of the tree, as they successively grow out of it. If the sap or nature of the root or stock be bad, sour or poisonous, the same is communicated to the whole, and every branch, and all the fruit and seed of the whole tree, is corrupt, sour, or poisonous, and of all the trees which spring from that, or are produced by the seed of it. Thus, if any tree was, when first created, of a poisonous nature, and produced such fruit, all that race of trees, or all that should spring from it, would of course be of the same nature. And if a tree or plant, which was created al first good and wholesome, did degenerate, and become corrupt and poisonous, all that should proceed from that, would, of course, be equally corrupt.

The disobedience of Adam decided the character of all his natural posterity; and rendered it certain, according to a divine, revealed constitution, that they should be born, and rise into existence as moral agents, in disobedience and rebellion: And that the same moral corruption which then took place in his heart, should spread through the whole race of mankind. In this sense, the first sin carried in it the sin of all mankind, and contained the seed, and was the foundation of all the moral corruption of the human race; as by this they were all constituted sinners,

II. As the first sin was, in the sense just explained, the common sin of all mankind, as the disobedience of them all was infallibly connected with it, and by it all the human race were constituted or made sinners; so as this first sin brought condemnation, or the penalty of the law on Adam, it fell equally on all mankind. For as the sin of Adam inferred and implied the disobedience of all, the consequent condemnation of all was equally implied and involved in the condemnation of Adam. Or the condemnation and penalty which fell on Adam, the father and head of mankind, really came upon all his posterity. As the sin was common to all, so was the curse. And it is here particularly to be observed, that as Adam first disobeyed, and condemnation and the curse came upon him, for his disobedience and in consequence of it; so these take place just in the same order in his posterity, their sin, or the moral corruption, which is common to all mankind, first takes place, as the ground and reason of their condemnation, and liableness to the threatened penalty.

The evidence that this was the original constitution under which mankind were placed has been in some measure given in the foregoing chapter. But there is more clear and certain evidence, that things have actually taken place in this manner and according to such a constitution; and that the sin of all the posterity of Adam, and the consequent condemnation and curse, were thus connected with the first sin of their common father and head, and come upon all mankind as the certain and appointed consequence of the original apostasy of man; the former being implied, and involved in the latter. This is now to be brought into view, and carefully considered.

1. The pain, sorrow, and train of evils in this world, which issue in the death of the body, to which all mankind are sentenced, and which actually came upon them all, in consequence of the original transgression, are a standing evidence, and full demonstration, that the sin and condemnation of all the posterity of Adam were infallibly connected with that first sin, and involved in it.

Though these evils were denounced to the first parents of mankind on their disobedience, and they only are addressed in the sentence; yet it is evident from fact, that all their posterity were included in them, and fell under the same sentence, and were doomed to the same evils. This is not only an evidence that Adam was considered, as including his posterity as their common head, so that what was said to him and of him, was said to, and of all mankind; but also renders it certain, that all his children were considered as sinners, in consequence of the apostasy of their first father; and that there was a certain connection between the first sin, and the sin and guilt of all mankind. For surely it would not be proper or just to sentence all mankind to these evils, when considered as perfectly innocent. There is therefore no possible way to account for this, consistent with the righteousness and equity of the divine government, but by supposing and granting that all the posterity of Adam were constituted, and considered to be sinners, in consequence of his sinning, or by his first offence, there being a certain constituted connection between his first transgression, and the sinning of all the human race.

Separation of soul and body, and the numerous particular natural evils which now take place among mankind in this life, could have had no existence, if the original threatening had been executed without mitigation; or had not the redemption taken place, by which mankind are put into a new state of probation, as has been before observed. Nevertheless, had not man sinned, these evils which issue in the death of the body could not have taken place, as redemption also could not. Therefore these evils are introduced, and afflicted on man, in consequence of sin, and as a standing testimony of God’s displeasure with him, and consequently cannot be inflicted on any but sinners. We are therefore sure that as the death of the body, with other attendant evils, are inflicted on all mankind, they are all considered and treated as sinners; and consequently, that they are really sinners; and that their being such had a certain connection with the first sin, upon which they were condemned to these evils.

Adam is sentenced to the death of the body, and all the train of preceding evils, because he had sinned, and offended his Maker; and this is expressly declared to be the ground of the sentence. And as this sentence was extended to all his posterity, and they were included in it, as much as Adam himself, they were considered and treated by this as being sinners, whenever they should exist; which could not be, unless there were a certain established connection between the sin of the first man, and the sinfulness of all mankind. If it were possible that any of Adam’s natural posterity should be innocent, this sentence could not be extended to them; but they must have been excepted. Therefore as all are included in the sentence, not one of mankind can possibly be innocent; but the sinfulness and guilt of all are infallibly connected with the sin of Adam, and included in it, by an established constitution.

Many particular instances of the death of men, who have been cut off in divine providence, are represented to be expressions of God’s displeasure with them for their sins, such as the drowning of the old world; the destruction of the inhabitants of Sodom, &:c. and innumerable other instances. How much more must the sentence of death upon all mankind, be an expression of God’s displeasure with them, for their sinfulness and guilt!

2. That the sin, and the consequent guilt and condemnation of all the human race, were by divine constitution connected with Adam’s sinning, is very particularly and expressly asserted by St. Paul.

“Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned. Through the offence of one, many died. For the judgment was by one, to condemnation. By one man’s offence, death reigned by one. By the offence of one, judgment came upon all men to condemnation. By one man’s disobedience, many were made sinners.”

Romans v. 12, &c.

Here sin, condemnation and death, are expressly said to be introduced into the world, upon all mankind, by one offence, one act of disobedience of one man, that is, Adam. When it is said that sin entered into the world by one, the meaning cannot be merely that one man sinned first, or that Adam committed the first sin, sinned before any of his posterity did sin; for this would be to assert nothing to the purpose. But by sin entering into the world, is meant its taking place among mankind, and spreading or extending to ail the posterity of Adam. Death entered into the world as sin did, as the consequence of it, by one man; and this passed or came upon all men, just as sin did. This is expressly asserted in the words immediately following, “For that all have sinned.” By one man sin entered into the world of mankind, as the common sin of all, and extended to every one of his posterity, and by this sin, death entered also, and came upon all mankind, in that by this one offence all became sinners; there being an established connection between the sin of this one man, and the sinning of all. That this is the truth, and what is asserted in those words, is made certain beyond dispute, by the repetition of the same assertion, in other and more express words, in the 19th verse. “By one man’s disobedience, many were made sinners.” Here the disobedience of Adam is said, in this sense, to be the disobedience of all his posterity, that their sinning was connected with his disobedience, or implied and involved in it; so that by his sinning, they were all made sinners, or constituted sinners, as the Greek word properly signifies. That is, by a fixed, divine constitution, if Adam sinned, all his posterity were to become sinners; so that by his disobedience, he fixed this character upon all mankind.

Condemnation and death, or judgment to condemnation, came upon all men, considered as sinners, or as a consequence of sin, as it came upon Adam. It is represented in this light in this passage. Death entered into the world by sin, and came upon all men, because, or inasmuch as all men were sinners, being made sinners, by the disobedience of Adam their head, by virtue of the divine constitution and covenant made with him, they all fell under condemnation to death, considered in this character, or as sinners. “By one man’s offence death reigned.” All mankind being constituted offenders, or sinners by one offence of Adam, death took place, and held dominion and reigned over all. Again he says, verse 21, “As sin hath reigned unto death.” Death is asserted to be the consequence of the reign of sin in the world, or among mankind.

It has been observed, that by death, which is mentioned six times in this passage, is evidently meant eternal destruction, or the second death, as it is put in opposition to eternal life, and is the wages of sin; unless death mentioned in the 14th verse, be an exception. But if it be, and it were granted that the death of the body is intended whenever death is mentioned in this paragraph; yet this would not evade or weaken the evidence and proof it contains, that the posterity of Adam are constituted sinners by his first sin, so as by it to fall under condemnation, and become justly exposed to the second death. For if a moral agent be in such a sense a sinner, as to deserve any evil, he must deserve infinite evil, that is, endless punishment; for this, as has been proved, is the just wages of sin, and what every sin deserves. Therefore if any evil, even that of the death of the body, be inflicted on mankind, in consequence of Adam’s first act of disobedience, it carries in it a certain evidence, that they become sinners by that sin of his, there being an established connection between his sin and their being sinners, and that they deserve all the evil which the first sin deserved, and was threatened to the first act of disobedience, which was endless misery, the just wages of sin. In this view, the death of the body, to which all mankind are subjected, is a standing evidence that they are sinners, and consequently that they deserve endless punishment: For if they were not sinners, they could not be sentenced to this evil; and if they are sinners, and deserve this evil, they deserve infinite evil, which is the just desert of every sin. And as this death comes on all mankind in consequence of one act of disobedience of the first man, the head and father of all, it is a certain evidence that by his sin, all his posterity are constituted and become sinners, and were considered as such, as soon as Adam sinned; otherwise his sin could not have brought this death upon all mankind, or upon any but the first sinner. And their being condemned to this death, necessarily implied their personal sin in consequence of Adam’s sinning, and just desert of the second death, as has been shown.

Hence it appears, that as long as this passage of scripture is to be found in the Bible, we have good evidence that the sin and ruin of all mankind was implied, and certainly involved in the first act of disobedience of Adam.

3. This is also demonstrably certain, in that the posterity of Adam are all considered and treated as sinners, and deserving and exposed to endless ruin, in the method which has been opened and prosecuted for the recovery and salvation of man, by Jesus Christ. In the revelation of this salvation, and all that has been done to effect it, it is supposed that all mankind are lost in sin; that every one of the natural posterity of Adam who has been born, has been a sinner; and that every one that shall be born and exist to the end of the world, will exist a sinner, and in a state of condemnation and ruin. The gospel is represented as providing relief for all who believe, and the only way in which mankind can be saved, all being condemned and infallibly lost forever, who are not saved by Christ. There could be no reason for this, unless it were certain that all mankind would rise into existence sinners, and so be involved in condemnation and ruin, and stand in absolute need of the revealed Saviour. But this could not be, unless this was implied in the apostasy of the father of mankind, and upon this was fixed and made certain.

It is granted that all mankind might have been in a state of apostasy, had not this been the consequence of the sin of Adam, and connected with this, and made certain by it; but that they should be considered and treated as in such a state, and a Saviour be provided for them, and ordered to be preached and offered to them, when nothing had taken place with which this was connected, and by which it was rendered certain, appears to be highly improper and inconsistent.

4. Agreeable to this, mankind are represented in the scripture, to be universally depraved and morally corrupt; and this appears to be true from fact and experience. It is needless to adduce all the passages of scripture in which this is asserted. St. Paul asserts this in such express and strong terms, when he is attending particularly to this point, that it will be established sufficiently for the present purpose, by appealing to his words.

Romans iii. 9, &c.

We are also certain that infinite wisdom saw it best that redemption should not extend to all mankind, so that every one of the human race should be actually saved, though we were not able to see the reason of this, and the contrary should appear to us to be most wise and best; for we are infinitely far from being competent judges in this case; and there is the highest reason that we should acquiesce, and be satisfied with the declaration and conduct of the infinitely wise and benevolent Being, who is able, and to whom it belonged to determine whether all the human race should be saved or not. For we are sure that it is determined perfectly right, and that all mankind could not be actually redeemed, consistent with the good of the whole, or consistent with wisdom and goodness.

It also belongs to the supreme, infinitely wise and benevolent Being to determine what number and proportion of mankind shall be saved, and fix upon every individual person, since all this depends upon him, and he has a right to do as he pleases, and he only knows what is most wise and best. “Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour?”

We are not in express words of revelation informed what proportion of mankind shall be saved, whether the greater or less part of them, on the whole. But perhaps more is revealed with respect to this than has been supposed, and which is contrary to what has been generally thought to be asserted in the scriptures. It has been thought by many, that when Christ says, “Strait is the gate, and narrow is the way which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it. Many are called, but few chosen. Fear not little flock,” he declares that but few, a very small part of mankind, shall be saved. But when we attend to these words of Christ, we shall find that they are spoken of the then present time; and nothing is asserted concerning that which shall take place in future ages; and therefore have no relation to the point before us, and determine nothing about it. When this question was put to him, “Lord, are there few that shall be saved?” He did not think proper to answer it then, by expressly affirming or denying; but only said, that many should not be saved; and improved this truth to excite all to secure their own salvation, without delay: Which is consistent with there being many more saved than lost.

When we attend to the many predictions of the flourishing, greatness and extent of the church and kingdom of Christ in the last days, so as to fill the whole world, when “the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High;” and are assured that this state of prosperity shall continue, at least a thousand years, we shall find no reason to conclude that but few of mankind will be saved, in comparison with those who shall perish; but see ground to believe that the number of the former will far exceed that of the latter.

The reader may see this more fully considered in Dr. Bellamy’s discourse on the Millennium. Some attention is also paid to this point; and the reasons are suggested, why redemption does not include the salvation of all men, in “An inquiry concerning the future state of those who die in their sins.” Page 182, &c.

III. The Redemption of man is the greatest instance of the exercise and manifestation of the benevolence, or the love and goodness of God, that ever took place, or that ever will. It is the greatest possible exercise and display of divine benevolence; in which there is the best and most ample ground and scope for the highest increasing and endless discovery of the love and goodness of the infinitely benevolent Being.

The benevolence of the Deity is exercised, and appears in all his works; but in the work of redemption is the fullest, most perfect and bright display of the divine love, as all the works of God have reference to this as their result and end, in which his design in all is manifested. This is every where set in this light in the Holy Scripture. “God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”

John iii. 16.

Thus the sacred oracles celebrate the work of redemption as the highest and most remarkable instance of divine love, and direct us there, to behold it acted out in the highest degree, and to the greatest advantage, to be seen and admired by creatures; as an inexhaustible and endless object of gratitude and praise.

The reason and propriety of this representation in divine revelation, and that the work of redemption is infinitely the greatest instance and display of divine benevolence, will in some measure appear, if the following things be well considered.

1. Benevolence exercised in the bestowment of favour, is greater or less, according to the greater or less unworthiness and ill desert of those who are the objects of the benevolence. If those on whom good is bestowed, be worthy or deserving, the granting that good or benefit, is really paying a debt, and is an act of justice. And though benevolence may be exercised in doing this, as it is contrary to benevolence not to give what is deserved; yet the goodness exercised in this case is not so apparently disinterested; nor does it require so great a degree of goodness, as it does to bestow favours on the unworthy and ill deserving. The latter is free grace, sovereign, disinterested goodness: the former may not be so. And the more unworthy and ill deserving they are to whom favour is shown, the greater is the degree of benevolence exercised in granting the favour: For it requires a greater degree of benevolence to shew kindness to those who deserve no good, but evil, than to be kind to those who have no ill desert; and the degree of benevolence exercised in granting favour, is in proportion to the degree of ill desert of those who are the subjects of it.

In this respect the divine benevolence appears to be unbounded and wonderful in the redemption of man. Man, by rebellion against his Maker, is become infinitely unworthy and ill deserving, as he is infinitely criminal. And he does not only sin in one, or a few instances, but is wholly a rebel, and become a total enemy to God. Mankind have taken up arms against Heaven, and they are universally and constantly acting out their opposition and enmity against God, with great strength, obstinacy and violence. “Every imagination of the thoughts of man’s heart is only evil continually. The heart of the sons of men is full of evil, and madness is in their heart, while they live. There is none that doeth good, no, not one. They are all gone out of the way. Their throat is an open sepulchre. The poison of asps is under their lips. Their mouth is full of cursing and bitterness. Their feet are swift to shed blood. There is no fear of God before their eyes.” They will not be reclaimed from their rebellion and enmity against God by any methods that can betaken to bring them to submit and return to obedience, short of taking away their rebellious heart by almighty power immediately exerted, and creating them anew. But the more favour is shown to them, and the greater the kindness is which they receive, the more will they rebel and act against their greatest benefactor, abusing, despising, and trampling upon all his goodness to them; they being “desperately wicked,” and wholly irreclaimable by any means, provoking their Maker to destroy them, to the utmost of their power. This was all seen by the omniscient Jehovah. And no benevolence short of infinite could be disposed to spare, and show favour to such infinitely criminal, ill deserving, odious, and God provoking, obstinate enemies as men were. Therefore the redemption of such creatures calls for the strongest exercise, and gives the brightest display of divine, infinite benevolence or goodness. St. Paul sets it in this light in the following words. “Scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet, peradventure, for a good man some would even dare to die. But God commendeth his love towards us, in that while we were yet sinners, and when we were enemies, Christ died for us.”

Rom. v. 7, 8, 10.

2. The greater the evil is from which any one is delivered by undeserved goodness, the greater and the more perspicuous is the benevolence which is exercised in such deliverance; and the more gratitude to the benefactor is due from him who is delivered. In the case before us there is the most ample room for the exercise and display of benevolence, in this respect. Man was fallen into a state of infinite misery and wretchedness, under the curse of the divine law, which implies separation from all good and happiness, and the suffering all the evil of which he is capable, without end. This man must have suffered forever without the least mitigation or relief, had not redemption taken place. By his apostasy man was become a vassal to Satan, and his heart was wholly under the power of moral depravity, from which nothing could deliver him but the mighty arm of Omnipotence. From this complicated, infinitely evil state, every one is completely delivered, who shares in redemption by Christ. Nothing short of the exertion of infinite, omnipotent, all sufficient benevolence, is sufficient to rescue man from this infinitely guilty, miserable state.

3. The exercise and expression of benevolence is strong and great in proportion to the degree of positive good and happiness which is bestowed.

Deliverance from evil is a benefit, and may be called a negative good; and this benefit is great in proportion to the degree of evil from which deliverance is granted. And the degree of benevolence expressed in such deliverance is great, in proportion to the greatness of the evil from which the miserable subject is delivered. This has been considered under the foregoing particular. What is now brought into view is the degree of positive good which is bestowed by benevolence. A less degree of benevolence may procure and give a small benefit, which is insufficient to prompt to bestow a much greater benefit. Therefore the greater the benefit is, which is given, the greater is the exercise and manifestation of that goodness which wills and procures it. In the redemption of man, the positive good procured and bestowed is infinitely great, being great and increasing in degree, and in duration endless. It is everlasting life, in the most happy and honourable circumstances possible. Nothing short of the infinite love of the omnipotent, all sufficient jehovah, can give such infinite good to infinitely ill deserving rebels. In this view, infinite benevolence is exercised and most conspicuously displayed in the redemption of man. Inspired with the view and sense of this, St. John exclaims, “Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God! Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: But we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him.” In the redemption of man an unbounded field is opened in which divine benevolence is displayed to the best advantage, and God “fulfils all the good pleasure of his goodness,” in bestowing infinite happiness and glory on the redeemed; unspeakably greater than man could have enjoyed, had he not sinned, and rendered himself infinitely unworthy of the least favour; and infinitely more “to the praise of his rich and glorious grace.”

4. The greater the difficulties and obstacles are, which must be removed or surmounted, in order to bestow a favour, and the greater the expense, cost and trouble, which are necessary, in order to procure it, the greater and more strong is the exercise of goodness in procuring: and bestowing the benefit. This is so evident that no proof or illustration is necessary.

There were difficulties and impediments which must be removed, and such infinite expense and sufferings were necessary, in order to redeem man, which could not be effected by any thing short of infinite power, wisdom and goodness. Man had fallen under the curse of the righteous and perfect law of God. It was inconsistent with rectoral righteousness, and infinite goodness; to set aside, or disregard this law, in favour of rebellious man, so as to pardon and receive him to favour, without paying any regard to the execution of the curse threatened, in any sense or degree. It was of infinite importance that the law and moral government should be maintained, and the curse threatened, properly and fully executed. This put man out of the reach of divine infinite goodness, Unless some expedient could be found, some way be devised, in which the law of God might be regarded and maintained, and the penalty of it executed, consistent with pardoning and shewing favour to man. This rendered it necessary that God himself, in the second person of the adorable Trinity, should assume human nature into a personal union, so as to form one person, who is both God and man; and that this person should, in the human nature, be made under the law, and support and honour it by obeying the precepts, and suffering the curse of it, in the room and stead of man. In this way only could man be delivered from the curse of the law, and obtain complete redemption, consistent with divine truth, rectoral righteousness, wisdom and goodness. Had not all this been necessary in order to redeem man, and might he be saved consistent with the divine law, without such a Mediator, doing and suffering all this, the love and grace exercised in redeeming and saving him would have been infinitely less, and as nothing compared with that benevolence which is expressed in the incarnation, humiliation, death and sufferings of the Son of God, which are necessarily implied in this redemption. God the Father giving his Son, and the Son of God giving himself, to suffer an ignominious, cruel death, and be made a curse, that sinners, his enemies, might be redeemed from the curse, and have eternal life, is an infinitely greater gift, and higher exercise and expression of disinterested love or benevolence, than merely to save man from eternal destruction, and give him endless life, could the latter be done without the former.

This is the light in which the holy scripture sets this matter. There this is represented as the greatest, most remarkable and glorious instance and display of divine benevolence, that God has given his Son to die, and Christ has given himself unto death as a ransom, to deliver sinners from hell, and procure eternal life for them. “God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”

John iii. 16.

5. There is something yet farther necessary in order to the salvation of men. Though by the atonement which Christ has made by his death, a way is open for the pardon and salvation of sinners, consistent with rectoral righteousness, and- the honour of the divine law; yet man is so obstinate in his rebellion, and such an enemy to God, that he cannot be persuaded to embrace the gospel; but will dislike and oppose Christ and the way of salvation by him, unless his heart be renewed by the omnipotent influences of the holy Spirit. Christ has therefore obtained by his obedience and sufferings, the holy Spirit to be given unto men to recover them from their total depravity, and form their hearts to true holiness. This is an infinite gift. It is no less than God giving himself to men, in the third person of the adorable Trinity; uniting himself to them, and dwelling in them, as the principle and author of all their holiness and happiness forever. Did man need no such gift and grace, the divine goodness and beneficence in his redemption would be unspeakably less, and would not be so gloriously displayed, as now they are. In order to redeem man, God not only delivers him from infinite wo, and gives him infinite happiness and glory, when man in himself is infinitely odious, guilty and ill deserving; but, in order to this, gives himself repeatedly, and in different ways. He gave himself to die on the cross, a ransom for man, to be a propitiation for their sins. The Father gave the Son, and the Son gave himself. He gives himself also in the third person of the Trinity, the Holy Ghost, in renewing and sanctifying the redeemed, and dwelling in them forever. The Mediator said, “I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you forever; even the Spirit of truth.”

John xiv. 16, 17.

6. This benevolence and goodness appears greater, and is more illustrious in the salvation of man, in that all is given freely, without money and without price, as man is infinitely unworthy of it; and, as such, receives this redemption as a free gift, the whole being offered and given to every one who is willing to receive it. Men obtain an interest in this salvation, not by works of righteousness which they do; not by any worthiness in them, or by any thing they offer, as the price of the divine favour; but by believing in the Mediator, receiving the record which God has given concerning his Son, and accepting salvation, as it is freely offered and given, trusting wholly in Christ, and receiving all from him, as a free gift, to such who are not only wholly without any desert of the least favour; but are infinitely odious and ill deserving. This is to be saved by faith, by which the free grace of God in the salvation of sinners is exercised and displayed to the highest degree, as is abundantly represented in divine revelation. St. Paul insists much upon this. He having proved from scripture that all men are sinners, consequently infinitely ill deserving, says, ”Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight; for by the law is the knowledge of sin. But now the righteousness of God, without the law, is manifested, even the righteousness of God, which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all, and upon all them that believe. Being justified freely by his grace, through the redemption that is in Jesus Christ: Whom God hath set forth a propitiation, through faith in his blood. Now to him that worketh, (that is, in order to offer his works as the price of God’s favour,) is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt. But to him that worketh not, (that is, has nothing to recommend him, and acknowledges he has done nothing by which he deserves the divine favour, more than any other man,) but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness. Therefore it is of faith, that it might be by grace.”

Rom. iii. 20, &c. iv. 4, 5, 16.

The above particulars, put together, and taken into one view, serve to illustrate the observation, that the redemption of man is the highest instance of the exercise of the love of God, in which divine, infinite benevolence has an object equal to itself, and is acted out and displayed to the highest degree, and best advantage to be seen and celebrated by the redeemed and all holy creatures, with increasing views and happiness forever and ever. In the redemption of man, the infinitely benevolent Jehovah, “fulfils all the good pleasure of his goodness,

2 Thess. i. 11.

The love of God is exercised in the redemption of man in its infinite strength, in overcoming difficulties and obstacles infinitely great, which were in the way of the exercise of it towards man, and opposed it; in delivering from infinite evil, and giving him infinite good. This benevolence is infinite mercy and compassion to the infinitely miserable. It is exceeding rich, free and sovereign grace, which gives such deliverance, such salvation, not only to the undeserving, but infinitely guilty, vile and ill deserving.

IV. This design and work, the redemption of man, has been gradually introduced and opened from the first apostasy to the coming of Christ, and from that time down to this day; and w ill be carried on until it shall be completed, at the end of the world, and the day of judgment.

Every thing, and all events which took place in the world, from the beginning of it, during four thousand years, were preparatory to the coming and incarnation of the Redeemer; while other ends, respecting redemption, were in view, and answered. And since that event, and the resurrection and exaltation of Christ to the throne of his kingdom, what has taken place is to be considered as the first fruits of redemption, and preparatory to much greater things, which are yet to take place in the accomplishment of this great work, which will not be completed till the day of judgment. This has been represented by our Saviour in a number of similitudes, such as the following. “The kingdom of heaven is like to a grain of mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field; which indeed is the least of all seeds; but when it is grown, it is the greatest among herbs, and becometh a tree: So that the birds of the air come and lodge in the branches thereof. He spoke another parable. The kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened.”

Matt. xiii. 31, 32, 33.

Professing christians have differed, perhaps, in nothing so much as they have about the person and character of Jesus Christ. The opinions which have been imbibed and professed are so many and various, that it would take volumes, and be an almost endless task, particularly to mention and describe them; which , therefore, will not be undertaken here. All that will be attempted, is to ascertain the truth, as revealed in the holy scriptures, concerning this high and important point, and great mystery of godliness, God manifest in the flesh.

The variety of different sentiments and gross errors into which men have run on this point, to their own destruction, have not been owing to any darkness or defect in divine revelation, respecting this. We may be certain that the person and character of the Redeemer is there so fully, and with so much perspicuity ascertained and fixed, that every honest, unprejudiced person, who is willing to know and embrace the truth, and will properly study the Bible, will come to the knowledge of the truth, and form right conceptions of Jesus Christ, in every important article respecting him. All the mistakes and errors, therefore, which have been embraced on this point, have originated from the evil biases, prejudices, and inattention of sinful man, together with the influence which Satan, “who deceives the whole world,” has been suffered to exert on the minds of men. The depraved minds of men love darkness rather than the light; yea, hate the. truth; and are more ready to embrace error and delusion, than the pure truth, with relation to the Redeemer: And Satan, the great enemy of Christ, and of men, is unwearied in his attempts to blind and deceive them, especially respecting the Saviour, and lead them to embrace damnable errors concerning him, and such as are very dishonourable to him, and rob him of all his glory, as the Redeemer of sinners. This will fully account for the various and multiplied errors which have been, at one time and another, invented and propagated in the christian world, consistent with the utmost clearness and perfection of divine revelation on this head.

Ever since the gospel has been preached to the world to this day, the person and character of Christ, Christ crucified, has been to the Jews a stumbling block, and to the Gentiles foolishness: To all the unbelieving and disobedient he has been, and is now, and will continue to be, “a stone of stumbling and rock of offence.” While to them who believe he is precious, the only sure foundation, and chief corner stone, on whom they build all their hopes. These true friends to Christ do know him, having some degree of true acquaintance with his person and character: But their knowledge is very imperfect, and, it is to be feared, in most, if not all of them, is attended with great darkness, and more or less mistakes and wrong conceptions of him. This, however, is no matter of discouragement to attend to this subject with great care, diligence and circumspection; but rather a weighty motive to it; and to attempt to confirm the truth, and throw all the light upon it which may have been obtained, by a long and careful study of the holy scriptures; leaving it with them who shall come after with more clear heads, better hearts, and a more unprejudiced, and engaged study of the Bible, to detect the mistakes which may now be made, and remove present darkness, by bringing forth more abundant light from the divine oracles, on this important subject.

It is not designed to attempt a particular refutation of any of the many different opinions which have been advanced concerning the person of the Redeemer, or to answer all the objections which have been made to that representation which shall now be given as warranted by the scriptures of truth; since stating the truth, and supporting it by divine revelation, is the shortest and most effectual way to discover and confute the opposite errors, and silence all the objections which have been made to it

The following things appear to be revealed in the holy scriptures, concerning this wonderful person; and therefore may be safely believed and asserted.

I. That Jesus Christ, the Redeemer of men, is truly God, or a divine person. This has been so much insisted upon, and abundantly proved from scripture, by so many writers, that it is needless to attend here to all the evidence there is of this truth in scripture. It will be sufficient briefly to note the following particulars.

1. This is expressly asserted of him, and he is often called God in the Scripture. The following passages are instances of this. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” This is the Word, which took flesh, or the human nature, into a personal union with himself. “And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us; and we beheld his glory, the glory of the only begotten Son of the Father.”

John i. 1, 14.

2. What is in one part of the Bible said of Jehovah, and ascribed to him, as the only true God, this being the name which is appropriated to him in distinction from all other beings, is, in other passages, ascribed to the Redeemer of man, Jesus Christ, and applied to him.

“Mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord (Jehovah) of hosts.”

Isaiah vi. 5.

From this view, it appears that in order to understand the work of the Redeemer, the design of his undertaking, and what he does effect, mc must have right views of the law of God which man has transgressed; and of the state into which he is fallen by this rebellion.

The law of God points out the duty of man, and requires of him what is perfectly right, and no more, or less. It cannot therefore be altered in the least degree, so as to require more or less, without rendering it less perfect and good. It is therefore an eternal unalterable rule of righteousness, which cannot be abrogated or altered in the least iota, by an infinitely perfect, unchangeable legislator and governor, consistent with his character, his perfect rectitude and righteousness. This law necessarily implies, as essential to it, a sanction or penalty, consisting in evil, or a punishment, which is in exact proportion to the magnitude of the crime of transgressing it; or the desert of the transgressor, which is threatened to be executed on the offender. This penalty which is threatened must be no more, nor less, than the sinner deserves, or the demerit of the crime. The least deviation from this would render the law so far imperfect, and wrong. Every creature under this law is under infinite obligations to obey it without any deviation from it in the least possible instance, through the whole of his existence; and every instance of rebellion tends to infinite evil, to break up the divine government, and bring ruin and misery on all the moral world: Therefore every transgression of this law, or neglect to obey it, deserves infinite evil as the proper punishment of it. Consequently this evil, this punishment, must be the threatened penalty of the law; which has been shown in a former chapter.

Man by transgression has incurred the penalty of this law, and fallen under the curse of it; “For it is written, cursed is every one that continueth not in all the things which are written in the book of the law to do them.”

Gal. iii. 10.