become still more apparent, when we consider those points of contrast which subsist between them. While our text implies resemblance, it expresses pre-eminence. Jesus, as a High Priest, is contrasted to the Aaronical priesthood, in the dignity of his naturethe perfection of his character-the solemnity of his appointment and inauguration-the value of his sacrifice-the excellency of the blessings procured by it-and the duration of his office.

1st, Jesus Christ is superior to the Aaronical priests in dignity of nature. In the description of a highpriest, by the apostle, in the fifth chapter of this Epistle, it is stated, that he must be "taken from among men." And we have seen that this requisite was by no means wanting in the High-Priest of our profession. The Jewish high-priests were, however, not only men, but they were no more than men. Though elevated above the rest of their brethren by their sacred and dignified office, as to nature, they were precisely on a level with them.

It is, however, far otherwise with our Lord Jesus Christ. While he was, "according to the flesh," the Son of David, he was, "according to the Spirit of holiness, the Son of God." While he was “the man Christ Jesus," he was also "God over all, blessed for ever." The Divinity of our Saviour is one of the first principles of our "most holy faith." It enters into the essence of Christianity, so that to deny it, is not merely to mutilate, but to destroy the gospel; is to degrade it from its rank as a peculiar system, and entirely to destroy its suitableness to the situation and character of sinful men.

The evidence on which this principle rests, corre sponds in explicitness and abundance to its obvious importance; and the "mystery of godliness, that God was manifest in flesh, which is the pillar and ground

of truth, and confessedly great," rests on the immoveable foundation of the clearest divine testimony.

There is scarcely any appellation which the Supreme Being has assumed to express the peculiar excellencies of his nature, that is not repeatedly in scripture applied to our Redeemer. Numerous are the passages in which he is termed "God, the Mighty God, God with us, the great God, the true God, our God, God over all blessed for ever, Lord, Lord of hosts ;" and the name JEHOVAH, which is expressive of eternal and independent existence, and, of course, in no sense applicable to a creature, is both simply, and in connection with other titles, given to Jesus *.

Whatever attribute is characteristic of divinity, is in Scripture ascribed to the Saviour. How can the Supreme Being be distinguished from his creatures more clearly than by the ascription of eternity, immutability, Omnipresence, Omniscience, and Omnipotence ! Yet Jesus is represented as "the first and the last, and the living one." "His goings forth have been of old from everlasting; he is the same yesterday, today, and for ever." He is present in the numerous and widely scattered assemblies of his followers. "He needs not that any should testify of man, for he knows what is in man." It is HE who searcheth the reins and the hearts; and his power is so extensive, that "he is able even to subdue all things to himself ‍+.”

The works peculiar to the Divinity, are represented as performed by Jesus. Who does not perceive the gross absurdity of supposing a creature capable of creating, supporting, governing, and judging the world?

*Psal. xlv. 6. with Heb. i. 8; 13; 1 John v. 20; Rom. ix. 5; 41. &c. &c. &c.

Isa. ix. 6; Isa. vii. 14; Tit. ii. Isa. vi. 19. with John xii. 39

+ Rev. i. 17. 18; Heb. xiii. 8; Matth. xviii. 20 John ii, 25 Rev. ii. 23; Phil. iii. 21.

Yet "by Jesus were all things created that are in heaven and in earth," "by Jesus all things subsist,” and before Jesus' judgment-seat "must all stand, to receive their final doom *."

Those supreme honours, which are due only to God, are in the Holy Scriptures represented as due to Jesus. To him prayers are addressed, in his name divine ordinances are administered, and it is declared to be the will of the Father, "that all men should honour his Son as they honour+" himself.

Besides these direct proofs of our Lord's divinity, there is a great deal of implied evidence for this doctrine in the Holy Scriptures, which cannot fail to make a deep impression on every considerate and unprejudised mind. It is quite impossible, satisfactorily, to account for the very strong language used in Scripture concerning the love of God in the mission and gift of Jesus Christ, and the condescension and kindness of Jesus Christ himself; for the depth of interest, the warmth of admiring transport, and adoring gratitude, with which this subject inspired the New Testament writers; for the description given in the New Testament, of Christ's exaltation at the right hand of God ; and for the high claims which Jesus himself makes on the love and obedience of his followers,-but on the principle, that he is indeed the true God, God over

all, blessed for ever ‡.”

Indeed, we might safely rest the decision of this important question, on the evidence adduced in that

Col. i. 16, 17. Rom. xiv. 10.

Acts vii. 59; Matth. xxviii. 19; John v. 23.

The reader who wishes for an illustration of the whole argument respecting the Divinity of Christ, and especially of this very interesting part of it, will meet with the fullest satisfaction in Wardlaw's Dis courses on the Socinian Controversy.

Epistle from which we have selected the subject of our discourse. In the first chapter, we find him represented as superior to the prophets, "much better than the angels," "God's only begotten Son," the appointed heir of all things, the maker of the world, "the brightness of the Father's glory, and the express image of his person," upholding all things by the word of his power, and the object of worship to the heavenly host. The inspired writers are represented as addressing him in the following language: "Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever; a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom: and thou, Jehovah, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the work of thy hand; they shall perish, but thou remainest; and they shall all wax old, as doth a garment, and as a vesture shalt thou fold them up, and they shall be changed; but thou art the same, and thy years shall not fail." Surely if any thing can warrant the inference, this evidence does-This person is the true God.

And it is equally evident, that the possession of the divine nature raises our Lord to an inconceivable superiority above the Aaronical priesthood. Between the smallest atom of matter and the whole universe of matter, between the meanest intelligent being and the highest angel, there is some proportion, but between the creature and the Creator, between finite and infinite, there is, there can be none. The Aaronical priests were mere mortals. The High Priest of our profession is the God" who alone hath immortality."

2d, Jesus Christ is superior to the Aaronical priests, in the perfection of his character.

The Apostle informs us, that "the law maketh men priests who have infirmity:" and the Aaronical high priest, being "compassed with infirmity, was under the necessity of presenting a sin-offering for

himself as well as for the people." The Aaronical priesthood were men subject to moral fault as well as their brethren. The history of the Jews proves, that some of their high-priests were monsters of depravity and crime; and though many of them were men of exalted piety and virtue, none of them was faultless. Aaron and Eli were excellent men; but the criminal compliance of the one with the wishes of the idolatrous people, and the equal criminal indulgence of the other towards his abandoned children, clearly shew that they were no exceptions from the general rule. "There is not a just man upon the earth, that doeth good and sinneth not." They were 'by nature children of wrath even as others," stained by hereditary and personal guilt, by original and acquired depravity; and even such of them as were regenerated, had " flesh" as well as "spirit," and "in their flesh dwelt no good thing."

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But in the moral character of our Lord, there were no such blemishes. He was "all fair, there was no spot in him." Every descendant of our original progenitor and federal representative, according to the ordinary laws of nature, comes into the world a guilty creature, a "child of wrath." "In Adam all sinned, and in Adam all died." Our Redeemer, however, though a descendant of Adam, did not descend from him according to the ordinary laws of nature.— "The seed of the woman," his human nature was formed by the supernatural operation of the Divine Spirit, and was born of a virgin. He was thus not represented by Adam, and, of course, uninvolved in the moral, and not necessarily involved in the natural consequences of Adam's fall. "The Holy Ghost," said the angel to the blessed virgin, "shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee; therefore also, that holy thing which shall be born of thee, shall be called the Son of God.”