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"Jesus lifted up his eyes, and said, Father, I thank thee that thou hast heard me; and I knew that thou hearest me always; but because of the people which stand by I said it, that they may believe that thou hast sent me." John xiii. 3, "Jesus knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he was come from God, and went to God." John xiii. 31, "Jesus said, now is the Son of man glorified, and God is glorified in him. If God be glorified in him, God shall also glorify him in himself, and shall straightway glorify him.' John xiv. 1, "Let not your heart be troubled; ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house are many mansions." John xvi. 27, "The Father himself loveth you, because

ye have loved me, and have believed that I came out from God. I came forth from the Father, and am come into the world; again, I leave the world, and go to the Father."

I have already shown you how distinctly the text declares this doctrine, and shall here only observe, that the whole of Christ's prayer, of which it forms a part, the entire chapter in which it stands, furnishes insurmountable testimony to the same truth. After his resurrection, the following words of our Lord are recorded, (John xx. 17.) “I am not yet ascended to my Father; but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I

ascend unto my Father, and your Father; to my God, and your God."

Thus, you have from the gospels a few out of many passages, wherein the term God, is exclusively appropriated to the Father. They are selected, chiefly, from the gospel of John, a book much relied on for the support of a different doctrine; and the only request I have to make of you with respect to them, is-to recollect that they are all delivered in the plain words of our Lord Jesus Christ himself. In the corresponding passages, which I shall now add from the preaching and writing of the Apostles, I do not mean that any thing can be thereby added to the authority of Christ; but it will be satisfactory to see how perfectly their views accord with the doctrine of their great Master. Acts ii. 36, "Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ." Acts iii. 22, 26, "For Moses truly said unto the fathers, a prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me. Unto you first, God having raised up his Son Jesus, sent him to bless you, in turning away every one of you from his iniquities." Acts v. 30, "The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom ye slew, and hanged on a tree. Him hath God exalted with his right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour, to give repentance to Israel, and forgiveness

of sins. And we are his witnesses of these things; and so is also the Holy Ghost, whom God hath given to them that obey him." Acts vii. 55, "But he, (Stephen) being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up steadfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God, and said, behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God." Acts x. 38, 40, 42, "God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost, and with power; who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed with the devil; for God was with him. Him God raised up the third day, and showed him openly. And he commanded us to preach unto the people, and to testify that it is he which was ordained of God to be the Judge of quick and dead." Acts xx. 20, "I kept back nothing that was profitable; testifying both to the Jews, and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.” Romans i. 1," Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated unto the gospel of God, concerning his Son Jesus Christ our Lord. To all that be in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints; grace to you, and peace, from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ. (This, you know, is Paul's usual salutation in all his epistles.) I thank my God, through Jesus Christ, for you all." Romans ii. 16, "In the

day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ, according to my gospel." Rom. v. 1, 10, 11, “Therefore, being justified by faith, we have peace with God, through our Lord Jesus Christ. For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. And not only so, but we also joy in God, through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement." Rom. vi. 11. 23, "Alive unto God, through Jesus Christ our Lord. The gift of God is eternal life, through Jesus Christ our Lord." Rom. viii. 16, 34, " The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: and if children, then heirs heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ. It is Christ that died; yea, rather, that is risen again, who is ever at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us." Rom. x. 9, "If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved." Rom. xv. 5, "Now the God of patience and consolation grant you to be likeminded one toward another, according to Christ Jesus; that ye may, with one mind and one mouth, glorify God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Wherefore, receive ye one another, as Christ also received us, to the glory of God. The Apostle Paul concludes his letter to the

Romans with

these words "To God only wise, be glory, through Jesus Christ, for ever. Amen."

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I have here, brethren, given you a specimen of the apostolic use of the term God, in those passages where it seems exclusively appropriated to the Father, as you meet with it in the epistle to the Romans. And if I were, in a similar way, to conduct you through the remaining twenty-one books of the New Testament, I should be obliged to transcribe a considerable portion of the sacred volume, and to occupy more of your time than you may be disposed to allow me on this subject. I am persuaded you do not reckon it necessary. But let me earnestly recommend it to you to look into them attentively for yourselves; to search the scriptures whether these things be so; and you will be richly rewarded for your pains. You will find such a uniformity of phrase throughout, as will satisfy your minds that all the Apostles of Christ not only taught the same doctrine, but were under the immediate guidance of the same spirit.

The following quotations afford a very brief sample of what you will meet with in the other epistles. Cor. iii. 22, "All are yours, and ye are Christ's, and Christ is God's." 1 Cor, xi. 3," But I would have you know, that the head of every man is Christ, and the head of Christ is God." 1 Cor. xv. 24, "Then cometh the end,

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