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fifth chapter contains the history of the impotent man at the pool of Bethesda and the account of this miracle is followed by that interesting and impressive discourse of our Saviour, in which he expressly asserts his own character as the Son of God and the Judge of the world. 4. The sixth chapter contains the history of our Lord feeding the multitude with five loaves and two fishes: and the history of this miracle is succeeded by a discourse, in which he declares his own divine origin in terms which were very obvious to the Jews who heard him1; and in which he uses, with reference to himself, expressions, which can imply nothing less than the Divinity of Him that uttered them. 5. In the eighth chapter, he is represented as declaring himself to have existed before Abraham, in terms which imply eternal existence; and, in the eleventh chapter, we read that remarkable declaration: I am the resurrection and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: and whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die; attributes, which he expressly admits to belong to him, as the Christ, the Son of God, which should come into the world: and, in support of this declaration, he worked that greatest and most impressive of all his miracles, when he raised Lazarus from the grave, thus proving himself, by an act of almighty power, to be the resurrection and the life; and directing, in the most affecting manner, the attention of every believer

1 John vi. 41, &c.

to that awful hour, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, and shall come forth, they that have done good to the resurrection of life, and they that have done evil to the resurrection of damnation. 6. The remaining chapters of the Gospel, which precede the account of his death and sufferings, are remarkable, as containing a prophetic view of all the events which were about to happen to him; of his death, and all the benefits which it was to procure for mankind; of the promises relative to the giving of the Holy Spirit and the propagation of his religion in the world,-promises, which involve not only the possession of infinite knowledge and almighty power, but also his resurrection from the grave and his ascension up to heaven to the right hand of God. 7. But it is impossible to pass over the impressive prayer, which is contained in the seventeenth chapter; in which he has so plainly declared his own divine origin and the blessed purpose for which he came into the world; and in which he revealed this great truth, that this is life eternal, to know the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom he hath sent2; and also foretold his return, when he had accomplished the great and glorious objects for which he came down from heaven, to that glory, which he had with his Father before the foundation of the world3.

It is impossible to take even a cursory review of these discourses, without feeling, how powerfully they illustrate, what it was one great object of

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St John in his Gospel to prove, the divinity of the Person and character of our Saviour and the more attentively we peruse them with this view, the more conclusively will they appear to establish this great truth, in the highest sense of the expression,-that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God'. Our Saviour's declarations with regard to his Person and character,-though they are not made with the same fulness and clearness with which the doctrine was afterwards expounded by the Apostles and Evangelists, after they were enlightened by the Holy Spirit from on high,— embrace everything which was said by them afterwards, when they spoke without restraint; and they were enabled fully to comprehend the divine character of Jesus Christ, and the whole bearing of his Divinity and Incarnation on all that he had done and suffered for the salvation of man. And, although our blessed Lord, as in all things connected with our Redemption, so especially also with reference to his own Person and character, was compelled, in compliance with the ignorance and prejudices of his followers, to express himself with much reserve; yet, the more attentively we consider the discourses of our Saviour, as they are recorded by St John, the more close shall we find the agreement to be with those more open revelations, which are contained in the subsequent writings of the Apostles of the Lord. In these respects, the testimony, which we derive from the discourses of our Saviour which are recorded by

1 John xx. 31.

St John, is of a very valuable and conclusive description; and the attentive study of them is calculated, perhaps beyond that of any other of the Evangelical narratives, to lead us to a better knowledge of that great scheme of redemption, of which our Lord Jesus Christ, regarded in all the evidences and attributes of his Divinity, is the chief corner-stone.

CHAPTER XIII.

CONCLUSION.

IN considering the evidence, which is derived from the preceding review of the discourses of our Saviour, to the Divinity of his Person and character, it must be acknowledged to be of a very striking and convincing description: and the weight, which it carries with it, is not diminished by the consideration, that it was not consistent with the purposes of the divine wisdom, nor indeed was it possible, that this evidence should be more fully revealed, till our blessed Saviour had accomplished our redemption; and, having died for us on the cross, had risen from the grave and ascended up to heaven to the right hand of God. For imperfectly as our Lord was able, during the period of his earthly ministry, to reveal these things to his disciples, he has given repeated and distinct intimations of his Divinity; and he has also given, by implication, many more convincing proofs of it, in the comprehensive view which he has exhibited, of the whole system and scheme of our redemption; in the prophecies, in which he has recorded its great and important destinies to the end of all things; in the manner in which he has

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