and they went into the tent; and Abraham baked unleavened bread, and they did eat.

6. And when Abraham saw, that the man blessed not God, he said unto him, Wherefore dost thou not worship the most high God, Creator of heaven and earth?

7. And the man answered and said, I do not worship thy God, neither do I call upon his name; for I have made to myself a god, which abideth always in my house, and provideth me with all things.

8. And Abraham's zeal was kindled against the man, and he rose, and fell upon him, and drove him forth with blows into the wilderness.

9. And God called unto Abraham, saying, Abraham, where is the stranger?

10. And Abraham answered and said, Lord, he would not worship thee, neither would he call upon thy name, therefore have I driven him out from before my face into the wilderness.

11. And God said, have I borne with him these hundred and ninety and eight years, and nourished him, and clothed him, notwithstanding his rebellion against me, and couldst not thou, who art thyself a sinner, bear with him one night?

12. And Abraham said, Let not the anger of my Lord wax hot against his servant; lo, I have sinned, forgive me, I pray thee.

13. And Abraham arose, and went forth into the wilderness, and diligently sought for the man, and found him, and returned with him to the tent; and when he had entreated him kindly, he sent him away on the mor row with gifts.

14. And God spake again unto Abraham, saying, For this thy sin thy seed shall be afflicted four hundred years in a strange land.

15. But for thy repentance, will I deliver them, and they shall come forth with power, and with gladness of heart, and with much substance.

The Testimony of Scripture concerning our Lord.

THE character of Jesus Christ, as revealed in the word of God, has for many ages been viewed in different and opposite lights. That it should be so, must be a source of much regret to every sincere christian. And why is it so? Is there any thing dark or ambiguous in the language used by our Saviour respecting himself? Is it not inconsistent with the ideas we entertain of the only wise God, to suppose that he would give us a revelation in language, whose meaning is wholly different from that, which we invariably attach to the same language in every other case? Is it not, at least, fair to understand Father and Son to mean the same thing in the Bible, as they do every where else? Our inquiry, at present, is simply respecting the person of Jesus, as distinct from that of God— the being who was sent, from him by whom he was sent. It may be of use to listen, with unprejudiced minds, to the plain voice of scripture; to examine the many texts, most of them from our Saviour himself, which teach, in unequivocal terms, his subordination to the Father of Spirits, and that he is a derived, dependent being. Connecting these expressions with the circumstance, that he always prayed to the Father, and directed us to offer our petitions exclusively to the same Being, that he now sits on the right hand of God to intercede for us, that we have a right to infer the meaning

of the words Father and Son from the analogy of every thing with which we are acquainted; viewing this collected testimony in all its bearings, I know not how the equality of the Son of God to God himself, can be held as a doctrine of scripture.

"All things are delivered unto me of my Father." Matt. xi. 27. "To sit on my right hand and on my left, is not mine to give; but it shall be given to them for whom it is prepared of my Father."-Matt. xx. 23. “O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as thou wilt."-Matt. xxvi. 39. "All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth."-Matt. xxviii. 18. "And I appoint unto you a kingdom, as my Father hath appointed unto me.”Luke xxii. 29. "The only begotten of the Father."John i. 14. "The first-born of every creature."—Col. i, 15. "For God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto him."-John iii. 34. "Verily, verily, I say unto you; the Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do; for the Father loveth the Son, and sheweth him all things that himself doeth; he hath committed all judgment unto the Son, for as the Father hath life in himself, so hath he given unto the Son to have life in himself, and hath given him authority to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of man. I can of mine own self do nothing; as I hear I judge, and my judgment is just; because I seek not my own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me. For the works which the Father hath given me to finish, the same works that I do, bear witness of me, that the Father hath sent me. I am come in my Father's name, and ye receive me not; if another shall come in his own name, him ye will receive."-John v. 25-44.

"Him hath God the Father sealed-for I came down

from heaven not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me-the living Father hath sent me."John vi. 27, 38, 57. "My doctrine is not mine, but his that sent me. He that speaketh of himself, seeketh his own glory; but he that seeketh his glory that sent him, the same is true.—I am not come of myself, but he that sent me is true, whom ye know not; but I know him: for I am from him, and he hath sent me.-I go unto him that sent me."-John vii. 16, 18, 28, 29, 33. "When ye have lifted up the Son of man, then shall ye know that I am he, and that I do nothing of myself; but as my Father hath taught me, I speak these things, and he that sent me, is with me; the Father hath not left me alone; for I do always those things that please him-I proceeded forth and came from God; neither came I of myself, but he sent me-I seek not mine own glory—if I honour myself, my honour is nothing; it is my Father that honoureth me." John viii. 28, 29, 42, 50, 54. must work the works of him that sent me." John 9, 4. "This commandment have I received of my Father. My Father which gave them me, is greater than all. Say ye of him, whom the Father hath sanctified, and sent into the world, Thou blasphemest; because I said I am the son of God?" John x. 18, 29, 36. "That they may believe that thou hast sent me." John ii. 42. "I have not spoken of myself, but the Father which sent me, he gave me a commandment what I should say, and what I should speak." John xii. 49. “I go unto my Father; for my Father is greater than I." John xiv. 28. "As I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love-all things that I have heard of my Father, I have made known unto you." John xv. 10, 15. “And in that day ye shall ask me nothing. Whatsoever ye

"I

shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you." John xvi. 23.

"As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him. Thine they were, and thou gavest them me. I have given unto them the words that thou gavest me, and they have received them, and have known surely that I came out from thee, and have believed, that thou didst send me. Keep through thine own name, those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one, as we are. As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I sent them into the world. The glory which thou gavest me, I have given them,"-John xvii. 2, 6, 8, 11, 18, 22. "I ascend unto my Father, and your Father, to my God and your God. As my Father hath sent me, even so send I you."-John xx. 17-21. "God hath made him both Lord and Christ."-Acts ii. 36. "Him hath God exalted with his right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour."-Acts v. 31. "He hath appointed a day in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained."-Acts xvii. 31. God hath raised him from the dead."-Rom. x. 9. "At the coming of Christ, then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom unto God, even the Father-then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that put all things under him, that God may be all in all." 1 Cor. xv. 24, 28.

Such is the language of Scripture. What does it teach? That the Son is equal to the Father? That he, who is said. repeatedly to be "sent," "sealed," "filled," "exalted," "ordained,” “anointed,” “sanctified," whose "power is given," whose "doctrine is not his own," whose very "will" is subject to another, that this being is the self-existing God, by whom all these gifts are conferred,