ture rewards it promises to its obedient disciples. In this world we shall realize the support, the consolation, and joy, which Christianity is fitted to yield to those who are imbued with its spirit; and, at the close of our probation, we shall be found of our Judge in peace; and the approving sentence will be pronounced on us individually, Well done, good and faithful servant, enter thou into the joy of thy Lord.

SERMON II.

-JESUS CHRIST DOES NOT POSSESS THE ATTRIBUTES OF SUPREME DIVINITY.

JOHN xvii. 3.

This is life eternal, that they might know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.

EFFECTUALLY to defend the Christian system, we must separate from it the corruptions which ignorant or designing men have introduced. In this age of inquiry and investigation, neither the sanction which time gives to generally received opinions, nor the solemnity associated with important religious doctrines will support principles opposed to the obvious sense of scripture, and to the simple dictates of reason.

The Unitarian controversy has been forced on liberal Christians; and it becomes our bounden duty to contend earnestly for the faith once delivered to the saints. We reject the doctrine of the Trinity, because, by its admission, we must receive as a doctrine of revelation, and as a term of Christian fellowship, a number of words which either have no meaning, or amount to a plain contradic

tion; and because, in our apprehension, the doctrine is opposed to the particular and the general language of scripture respecting the character of God.

The Unity of God is an essential principle of true religion. The Divine Unity is inculcated in every part of the bible, as the basis of exalted piety. In the Old Testament, Moses, with the highest solemnity, summons the attention of his people to this great truth-Hear, O Israel! the Lord our God is one Lord. On this foundation, our Saviour erects all pious offices.-"Hear, O Israel! the Lord our God is one Lord; and thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength. Mo. ses informs the Israelites that the knowledge of the Divine Unity was a great purpose of the communications of Heaven to them." Unto thee it was shewed, that thou mightest know that he is God: there is none else beside him." The prophet Isaiah, speaking in the name of the Almighty, says, "I am the Lord; there is none else; there is no God beside me." In the New Testament, our Saviour confirms this fundamental religious truth-" This is life eternal, that they might know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent." This essential verity St. Paul asserts in his epistle to Timothy." There is one God, and one Mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;" and to the Corinthians he declares, "To us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him, and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him."

I need not adduce more passages of scripture to prove the Unity of God. All Trinitarians profess to hold this doctrine; but we think their opinions on this most important subject to be subversive of the Divine Unity. They represent God as one being, existing in three persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. Each of these persons has a distinct and separate province of action, and in it each has his own full and complete agency. In the salvation of sinners, the office of the Father is distinct from that of the Son, and the office of the Son as distinct from that of the Holy Ghost. Each of these persons is self-existent, and possessed of all divine attributes. Are these three persons one God, or three Gods? In the Trinitarian creed, Christ is represented as the second person in the Godhead, co-existent and co-equal with the Father, and of himself "very God." In opposition to the Trinitarian formulary, we believe that Jesus Christ is a being of derived existence, and therefore cannot possess the attributes of supreme divinity. We acknowledge him as the Son of God, the anointed Saviour of sinners, and the constituted Judge of man; but we hold that, in his high and benevolent agency, as Mediator, he acted under a commission given him by the one true God, who is over all blessed forever.

The character and office of Jesus Christ will be the subject of the present discourse. To its consideration, this audience, I trust, will bring minds free from prejudice. My present purpose is to make it apparent that Jesus Christ is a being distinct from God, and subordinate to him. In doing

this, I shall introduce no metaphysical arguments, nor adduce any human authority. The proof brought in support of the proposition will be the plain and express declarations of our Saviour himself, and one or two passages from the epistles of St. Paul.

I shall present the subject to your deliberate judgment under the following propositions.

1. Jesus Christ declared himself to be a being distinct from God.

2. He disclaimed the essential attributes of Supreme Divinity, underived power, omniscience, and absolute goodness; and he proclaimed his inferiority to the Father.

3. He appeared in our world as the Messenger of God, and preached to men not his own doctrines, but the doctrines of God who sent him.

4. Christ himself prayed to God as the only proper object of worship, and directed his disciples to offer their prayers to God through him as the Mediator.

5. Having completed the business of his mission on earth, Jesus ascended to his God in heaven, and there received the reward of his obedience to the Divine Will unto death, even the death of the

cross.

On these high and important points, the declarations of our Saviour must be satisfactory to all. It will be my endeavour to make comments on his declarations, in a manner that may be fully understood, even by those who are least acquainted with religious controversy.