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scribes these verses, and applies the contents of them to him: therefore, after the apostle we may safely conclude that the name Jehovah, with all the perfections attributed to him in that psalm, are properly applicable to our Lord Jesus Christ.

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"The LORD (JEHOVAH) is my shepherd." The psalmist says, his shepherd is JEHOVAH: but JESUS CHRIST affirms of himself, that he is the shepherd; "It am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep." Therefore JESUS CHRIST is JEHOVAH. Here it may be proper to add, that Christ calls the church his sheep, and Peter calls them the flock of God: therefore Christ is God.

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Thy maker is thy husband, (the LORD OF HOSTS is his name:) and thy Redeemer the holy one of Israel, the God of the whole earth shall he be called." The husband or bridegroom of the church, and her Redeemer is here called the LORD OF HOSTS, and the GOD (Elohim, or Judge) of the whole earth; but JESUS CHRIST is husband or bridegroom, and Redeemer of the church;-"The¶ husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church. Let** us be glad and rejoice and give honor to him; for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready. Comett hither, and I will shew thee the bride, the Lamb's wife. Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law,-ins whom we have redemption through his blood. Yel were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, but with the precious blood of Christ." Therefore Jesus Christ is the LORD OF HOSTS, the GOD of the whole earth.

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"The LORD GOD of the holy prophets sent his angel, to shew unto his servants the things which must shortly be done." The angel mentioned here is the angel of the LORD GOD; but he is the angel of JESUS CHRIST, and sent by him. "It JESUS, have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches." Therefore JESUS is the LORD GOD of the holy prophets. To which we may add, Andt Thomas answered and said, my LORD and my GOD."

"And thou, child, shalt be called the prophet of the highest: for thou shalt go before the face of the LORD, to prepare his way." Here John is called the prophet of the LORD, and of the HIGHEST, whose way he was sent to prepare; but it was before JESUS CHRIST that John was sent to prepare his way. "Jesus began to say unto the multitudes concerning John, this is he of whom it is written, behold, I send my messenger before thy face, who shall prepare thy way before thee." Therefore JESUS CHRIST is the LORD-the HIGHEST.

"He¶ (John) shall be great in the sight of the LORD; and many of the children of Israel shall he turn to the LORD their GOD, and he shall go be fore him." He whose forerunner John was, is here called the LORD GOD of Israel; but it was JESUS whom John came before and bare witness to. "John** seeth JESUS coming unto him, and saith, behold the Lamb of God, who taketh away the sin of the world. This is he of whom I said, after me cometh a man who is preferred before me." Therefore JESUS is the LORD GOD of Israel.tt

Rev. xxii. 6. § Luke i. 74.

+ Ibid. 16.

Matt. xi. 7, 10. ** John i. 29, 30.

↑ John xx. 28.

¶ Luke i. 15, 16, 17.

++ To illustrate the former arguments, let it be considered, that John the baptist, the forerunner of Christ, was prophesied of by

"I am alpha and omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the LORD, which is, which was, and which is to come, the ALMIGHTY." Every character in this text proves the Deity of the speaker; but that JESUS CHRIST is the speaker, is plain from his own testimony in the same paragraph. “And† I (John) turned to see the voice of him that spake with me. And in the midst of the seven candlesticks, one like unto the son of man,--and when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead; and he laid his right hand upon me, saying unto me, fear not, I am the first and the last: I am he that liveth, and was DEAD; and, behold, I live for evermore, amen; and have the keys of hell and of death." Therefore the characters in the text belong to JESUS CHRIST, and prove his Deity beyond all dispute.

+

"God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself." Here God is the reconciler, and that to himself: but Jesus Christ is the reconciler. "You that were sometimes enemies hath he (Jesus) reconciled in the body of his flesh through

Isaiah, whose words are cited by all the evangelists, and expressly called his when applied to John the baptist. Matt. iii. 3. Mark i. 3. Luke iii. 4. John i. 23. Now, Isaiah says, chap. xl. 3, 9, 10, 11, "The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, (where John preached) prepare the way of the Lord (JEHOVAH) make straight in the desert, a highway for our God.-O Jerusalem, that bringest good tidings, (thou that tellest good tidings to Jerusalem, margin) say unto the cities of Judah, behold your GOD. Behold, the Lord God will come with a strong hand, and his arm shall rule for him; behold, his reward is with him, and his work before him. He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead them that are with young." All this can be applied to no other than JESUS CHRIST, the bishop of souls, and good shepherd of the sheep; it is therefore he who through this passage is called JEHOVAH-the LORD GOD---the God of Israel.

* Rev. i. 8.
2 Cor. v. 19.

+ Ibid. i. 12, 13, 17, 18,
Col. i. 21, 22.

death." Therefore Jesus Christ is GOD, the object of whom the reconciliation was made.

"Who can forgive CHRIST can forgive sins. gave you, so also do ye."

sins but GoD only?"--But "Event as CHRIST forTherefore he is GOD.

It is GOD only that searcheth the heart.--"Thou, even thou only knoweth the hearts of all the children of men." But JESUS CHRIST is the

searcher of hearts." These things saith the Son of God.-All the churches shall know that I am he, who searcheth the reins and hearts." Therefore he is God.

The psalmist says, it was the LORD GOD that ascended on high, and led captivity captive. But the apostle says, it was CHRIST that did so: therefore he is the LORD GOD.

"In** that day, saith the LORD (JEHOVAH) they shall look on me whom they have pierced." But it was JESUS CHRIST Who was pierced. "Onett of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side, that the scripture should be fulfilled,-they shall look on him whom they have pierced." Therefore JESUS CHRIST IS JEHOVAH.

The blood which was the price of the church's redemption, is called the blood of God. " Feed++ the church of GOD, which he hath purchased with his own blood." But this was the blood of JESUS CHRIST. "And§§ the four and twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, saying, thou art worthy to

* Mark ii. 7. Rev. ii. 18, 23. ** Zech. xi. 4, 10.

+ Col. iii. 13.

↑ 1 Kings viii. 39. || Psa. lxviii. 17, 18. ¶ Eph. iv. 7, 8, 9. ++ John xix. 34. # Acts xx. 28. §§ Rev. v. 8, 9.

take the book, and to open the seals thereof; for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood." Therefore he is God.

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"The life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and shew unto you that eternal life which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us." It is certain that in this text, Jesus Christ is called that eternal life; let us then see, what another title the same apostle adds to this. And+ we are in him that is true, even in his Son JESUS CHRIST, this is the true GoD, and (but more agreeable to the original, even the) ETERNAL LIFE." This title, the eternal life, is in both texts given to Jesus Christ, agreeable to many other of the same import in scripture, which the greatest stretch in criticism cannot interpret otherways; it must then follow, if the apostle wrote truth, that JESUS CHRIST, who is the eternal life, is the TRUE God.

The apostle affixes the same idea to being born of Christ, and being born of God, and speaks of them as the same privilege to the saints, conveying the same sense. "Every one that doth righteousness, is born of him, (Christ the person spoken of in the context.) Beholds what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God." The inference is plain, that in the apostle's sense Jesus Christ is God.

The like conclusion is evident from what this same apostle says, "Hereby|| perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us." God in this verse is the proper antecedent to the relative his, and points out on the face of the text, that he

+ Ibid. v. 10.

↑ Ibid. ii. 29.

|| Ibid. iii. 16.

1 John i. 2.
§ Ibid. iii. 1, 9.

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