"Neh. ii.2, 3. »Dan. ix. 2,3. ^ 2 Cor. viii. 5.
THE ETERNITY AND IMMUTABfLTTY OF CHRIST.
Ps. cii. 25 — 28. Of old hast thou laid the foundation of the earth ; and the heavens are the work of thy hands : they shall perish, but thou shall endure ; yea, all of them shall wax old like a garment; as a vesture shall thou change them, and tf^ey shall be changed : but thou art the same, and thy years shall have no end. The children of thy servants shall continue, and their seed shall be established before thee,
AMONGST all the Psalms, there is none more full of mourning and lamentation than this: but whe- ther the Psalmist speaks in his own person, or in the person of the Church which was in the most desolate condition, is not certain. But though written at the return of the Jews from the Babylonish Captivity, and referring primarily to the restoration of the Jewish Church and polity, it evidently has respect to the Messiah and the establishment of his Church on the face of the whole earth ; since it is said, that " the heathen shall fear the name of the Lord, and all the kings of the earth his glory ^." Indeed the words of our text are expressly applied to Christ in the Epistle to the Hebrews, and are adduced to shew the infinite superiority of Christ above all the hosts of heaven •*. With this infallible guide to direct us, we proceed to point out,
I, The perfections of Christ —
The description here given of our Lord Jesus Christ proves beyond all doubt bis proper Deity. Observe, 1 . His eternity —
[He it was who made the universe: the highest angels de- rived their existence from his all-creating hand*^. " All things were created, not only by him, hut ^br him*^:" which could not be, if he himself were a creature. Suppose him ever so high above all other creatures, if he himself was a creature, he could not have created all things, seeing he himself must have been created by another. But he was the eternal God ; " he was with God, and was God : and without him was nut any thing made that luas made^." Yes, that adorable Saviour who at the
appointed
*veril5, "116^1.10—12. '^Col. i. l6.
•* ib. ver. 17. * John i. 1 — 3. . •