2. The danger of those who are yet in unbelief — [In proportion to the dignity of this adorable Saviour
must be the guilt of rejecting him. This is frequently insisted on in this epistle p. Let us lay it to heart. To neglect this Jesus is such a mixture of folly and ingratitude, of impiety and rebellion, as involves in it the highest degree of crimi- nality, and subjects us to the heaviest condemnation 'J. Let those who are guilty of this neglect remember that " the enemies of Jesus shall all become his footstool :" and let them kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and they perish without a remedy'^.]
i Heb. X. 11, 12. "^ Zech. xiii. 7.
' Acts XX. 28. m Col. i. 17, 18
» Epli. i. 22, 23. " John x. 28.
P Heb. ii. 3, 4. and x. 28, 29. i Deut. xviii. 18, 19.
"^ Ps. ii. 6, 9, 10, 12.
Christ's incarnation.
Heb. i. 6. When he hringeth in the First-hegotten into the zvorld, he saith, And let all the angels of God worship him.
IF God had been pleased to try our faith, he might have required us to beheve whatsoever he should re- veal, even though he should mention it but once : but, in condescension to our weakness, he has given us a great variety of testimonies to confirm every fundamental doctrine of our holy rehgion. The doc- trine of the divinity of Christ is as important as any in the whole Bible : and it stands, not on one or two doubtful passages of Scripture, but on the plainest, and almost numberless declarations of the inspired writers. In the passage before us the Apostle is shewing the infinite superiority of Jesus above the highest orders of created beings ; and he adduces a whole series, as it were, of testimonies in proof of this point. The one which we have now read is taken from the 97th Psalm, and confessedly relates to Jesus \
In discoursing upon it we are led to observe,
I. That Christ is a proper object of divine worship —
The command contained in the text is itself deci- sive upon the point —
[God is a jealous God, and claims divine worship as his unalienable prerogative^; yet he at the same time requires it to be given to his Son. Would he do this, if his Son were not worthy of that high honour ? Would he, contrary to his express declaration, give his glory to another *= ? We are assured he would not; and therefore his Son must be a proper object of our supreme regard.]
The practice of the Christian Church confirms it beyond a doubt —
a It speaks of Christ's kingdom, ver. 1 ; and the duty of angels, here called gods, to worship him. ver. 7. ^ MatL. iv. 10. '^ Isai. xlii. 8.
2269.] Christ's incarnation. 135
[Stephen, when he was full of the Holy Ghost, and his face shone like that of an angel, at the very instant that he saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God, addressed himself, not to the Father, but to Jesus ; and that too in terms precisely similar to those in which Jesus iu his dying hour had addressed the Father*^. Can we wish for any plainer example ? The Apostle Paul, under the buf- fetings of Satan, applied to Jesus for relief, and was expressly answered, as he himself tells us, by Jesus ; in consequence of which answer he from that time " gloried in his infirmities, that i\ie poiver of Christ might rest upon him^." The whole Church of God, not only at Corinth, but " in all other places," are described and characterized by this very thing, the wor- shipping of Christ^. But the Church triumphant no less than the Church militant are incessantly presenting before him their humble and grateful adorations^.
Surely if worship be not to be paid to Christ, the Scriptures are not calculated to instruct, but to deceive and ensnare us.]