ed, gladly embraced it, and all that received it, he honored with the appellation of brethren; which muft of course give them the title of fons of God the Father.

The word being made flefh, comprehends a bleffing to every human being; tho' the Jews, and other fects of people, would wish to persuade mankind that the blessing was particularly confined to themfelves.

The truly-pious Chriftian, who takes the fcriptures for his guide, will have a very different faith concerning this mystery.

To my mind they clearly convey this doctrine, that the Saviour of mankind will not reject any one that comes to him, and that he will be equally the faviour of all those who act up to the best of their knowledge and endeavor to fill with propriety the station allotted to them, altho’ it may have been their misfortune to be placed out of the reach of knowing that a faviour had died to procure them eternal happiness.

The calling in of the Gentiles feems evidently to be alluded to by Solomon, at the

the dedication of the Temple (I. Kings, chap. viii. ver. 41. 42. and 43.); for tho' the Jews were first called, the Gentiles, in process of time, were to be put upon an equal footing with them.

66

15. John bare witnefs of him, and I cried, faying, This was he of whom I fpake; he that cometh after me is pre"ferred before me: for he was before me. "16. And of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace.

"17. For the law was given by Mofes, "but grace and truth cometh by Jesus "Chrift.

"18. No man hath feen God at any "time: the only-begotten Son, which is in "the bosom of the Father, he hath de"clared him."

In the expreffion in the 15th verfe, "for "he was before me," as well as that in the 18th," the only-begotten Son, which is in "the bofom of the Father, he hath declared "him." St. John clearly points out the preexistence

existence of our bleffed Saviour, and his unity with God the Father. John the Baptift gloried in his commiffion, and thought it a fufficient honor to be the forerunner of our Lord; nor would he fuffer any one to entertain a notion of his being the expected Meffiah.

In the 16th verfe above recited, we are informed, that free grace is offered us in a most plentiful manner, and the more we improve the offered bleffing, the greater will be our happiness, as more will be intrufted to us.

St. Paul, in his epiftle to the Coloffians, chap. ii. ver. 9., fays of our Saviour, “For "in him dwelleth all the fulness of the "Godhead bodily," that rich and incomprehenfible perfection whereof the fupreme and adorable nature is full: there is not any excellency but is to be found in the Saviour of mankind, for the Father and the Son are one, and the Son fhines forth in all the glory of the Father. Again, in the following verfe of the fame chapter, St. Paul adds, "And ye are complete in

“ him which is the head of all principality "and power." Does it not raise us, as it were, above this world, to reflect on the unspeakable honors and bleffings in ftore for us? Shall we then prefer vanities and follies to our everlasting happiness? No; the mind that is rightly informed will spurn at such enjoyments, when they interfere with its eternal falvation.

66

19. And this is the record of John, "when the Jews fent priests and Levites "to afk him, Who art thou?

66 20. And he confeffed and denied not; “but confeffed, I am not the Christ.

21. And they asked him, What then? "art thou Elias? and he faith, 'I am not. "Art thou that prophet? and he an'fwered, No.

66

22. Then faid they unto him, Who

art thou? that we may give an answer to them that fent us? What fayeft thou of thyself?

"23. He faid, I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make ftrait "the

M

of the Lord, as faid the prophet

"the way "Efaias.

66

24. And they which were fent were " of the Pharifees."

Though he was not really Elias returned to earth, yet he was the person whom the prophets foretold was to come in the spirit and power of Elias, to prepare the way for

the Lord.

Had they confulted the prophets, they would have seen that his answer exactly tallied with what was prophefied of Christ's forerunner, and they could then scarcely have refused to acknowledge the person he pointed out to them as their Lord and Saviour.

25. And they asked him, and faid un"to him, Why baptizeft thou, if thou be "not that Chrift nor Elias, neither that prophet ?"

66

The Pharifees would allow that the Meffiah, or Elias, or that prophet, had the power