And, as the perfons by making fuch a requeft, manifefted that they believed our Lord more than a mere man,--so by his granting their requeft, he gave full proof that he was indeed the God of Nature as well as grace, and having fovereign power even over the winds and the waves, the most unruly of all the elements. 8. But whether thefe be acknowledged to be inftances of proper prayer put up to Chrift while on earth or not, certainly that recorded (Luke xvii. 5.) must be allowed to be fuch.-Take heed, faid Jefus, to yourfelves: If thy brother trefpafs againft thee, rebuke him; and if he repent, forgive him. And if he trefpafs against thee feven times a day, and feven times in a day turn again unto thee, faying, I repent,thou fhalt forgive him. The Apostles, ftruck with the propriety and importance of this precept, and convinced of their own inability to obferve it, without more grace, and efpecially more faith, immediately fay to the Lord Jefus,-LORD, ENCREASE OUR FAITH. And the Lord, not in the leaft offended with them, nor rebuking them for addreffing fuch a prayer unto him, replied,-If ye had faith as a grain of muftard-feed, ye might fay unto this fycamine-tree, Be thou plucked up by the root, and be thou planted in the fea; and it would obey you. 9. And if his Difciples worshipped him, and called upon his name, while he was on earth, in his ftate of humilition, they did this much more after his refurrection from the dead and afcenfion into heaven, when he entered upon his ftate of exaltation. Of this we have abundant proof, both in the Acts of the Apostles, and in the Epiftles. I fhall refer to particular paffages, when I have just mentioned the inftances recorded by St. Matthew and St. Luke, which occurred between his refurrection and afcenfion.As they went (fays the former of thefe Evangelifts) Jefus met them, faying, All hail. And they came, and held him by the feet, and WORSHIPPED him. And again, When they faw him, they WORSHIPPED N 3 him. him. Ch. xxviii. 9-17. To the fame purpose, St. Luke: He led them out as far as Bethany, and lift up his hands, and bleffed them,--And it came to pass, while he bleffed them, he was parted from them, and carried up into heaven, and they, (gooxernoares avior having WORSHIPPED, Or rather) WORSHIPPING him, returned to Jerufalem with great joy, and were continually in the Temple, bleffing and praifing God. They worshipped him, therefore, after his refurrection, before, and at his ascension; and that they continued fo to do, appears beyond a doubt, from the proofs now to be produced. 10. The paffage quoted above from the ninth Chapter of the Acts, is full to this purpose.Lord, faid Ananias, I have heard by many of this man (Saul) how much evil he hath done to thy Saints at Jerufalem and here he hath authority from the chief Priefts to bind all that CALL ON THY NAMEτους επικαλουμένους το όνομα σου. And left we fould fuppofe, that it was the practice of only a part of the firft Chriftians to call on the name of the Lord Jefus, or that they did this only in fome particular places, we find this fame perfon, who had perfecuted and destroyed thofe that called on the name of Jefus, defcribing all real Chriftians every where by this title, in the beginning of his firft Epiftle to the Corinthians, and distinguishing them hereby from all other people. For he infcribes his Epiftle unto the Church of God, which is at Corinth, to them that are fanctified in Chrift Jefus, called to be Saints, with all that in every place CALL UPON THE NAME OF JESUS CHRIST OUR LORD, both theirs and ours. From these paffages, it appears plain, beyond contradiction or difpute, that in the firft and pureft ages of the Church, it was the practice of all who believed on the Lord Jefus Chrift, to call upon his name. 11. And that proper invocation or prayer is meant in these paffages, appears fo manifeftly upon the very face of them, that it would be idle to spend time in endeavouring to prove it. However, if any doubt it, let them turn to the 10th Chapter Chapter of the Epistle to the Romans, where the very fame phrafe, both in the original and in our tranflation, neceffarily fignifies invocation or prayer as proper to God. There is no difference between the Jew and the Greek, for the fame Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him, erinaλovμerový avlar-For whofoever fhall call upon the name of the Lord, fhall be faved. This last claufe, it is well known, is a quotation from the Prophecy of Joel, and there is indifputably spoken of Jehovah, the only living and true God, and yet it is here manifeftly applied to the Lord Jefus Chrift. For the words immediately preceding are, the Scripture faith (viz. Ifaiah xxviii. 16.) Whefoever believeth on him (Chrift) fhall not be afkamed. And the words following- How, then, fhall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how Shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how fhall they hear without a Preacher ? And how fhall they preach, except they be fent? As it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the Gofpel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things! But they have not all obeyed the Gofpel. For Ifaiah faith, Lord, who hath believed our report? So, then, faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. So that this paffage proves, to a demonftration, three thingsit proves, firft, That the phrase, Calling upon the kame of the Lord, means proper invocation or prayer. It proves, fecondly, That the Lord Jefus may, and must be thus called upon by all that believe in him and would not be afhamed, by all who defire and expect falvation: and if compared with Joel, it proves, thirdly, That this Lord Jefus is Jehovah, Jehovah being the word used, and Jehovah the perfon spoken of by that Prophet. 12. And as it is plain, from these paffages, that prayer was addreffed to the Lord Jefus by the primitive Chriftians in the first and pureft ages of the Church, according to the prediction of David, Pfalm lxxii. 15. Prayer shall be made unto him, and daily fhall he be praised; fo if we come to particulars, we fhall find feveral individuals, whofe example, in this inftance, we need not fear imitating, actually and repeatedly praying to him. The cafe of Stephen, recorded Acts vii. 59. is well known, and has occafioned infinite trouble to the Socinian party. They have been forced, at laft, to this ftrange and weak fubterfuge, that however Stephen might be justified in praying to the Lord Jefus when vifible at the right hand of God, we cannot be juftified in praying to him, who do not fee him, and, therefore, cannot be sure that he is present with us, or hears our prayers. 13. Accordingly, Dr. Prieftley tells us, in his Hift. of Corrup. P. 141. "It is fomething extraordinary, that the Socinians in Poland thought it their duty as Chriftians, and, indeed, effential to Christianity, to pray to Jefus Chrift, notwithftanding they believed him to be a mere man, whofe prefence with them, and whofe knowledge of their fituation, they could not therefore be affured of; and though they had no authority whatever in the Scriptures for fo doing, nor, indeed, in the practice of the primitive Church, till near the time of the Council of Nice," How far the Doctor is right in these plain and peremptory affirmations, that there is no authority WHATEVER in the Scriptures" for praying to Jefus Chrift, "nor in the practice of the primitive Church, till the time of the Council of Nice," -the teftimonies now adduced fufficiently fhew: but with regard to the Socinians in Poland, or any others, "thinking it their duty as Christians, and, indeed, effential to Chriftianity, to pray to him, notwithstanding they believed him to be a mere man, whofe prefence with them, and knowledge of their situation, they could not therefore be affured of,"it furely is, as he says, fomething extraordinary. The cafe, however, is plainly this, notwithstanding the erroneous opinion they had entertained concerning his mere humanity, and and the prejudice they therefore must have been under against addreffing prayer to him, as "not being affured," as the Doctor has it, of his prefence with them, or his knowledge of their fituation;" yet the evidence was fo ftrong from the Scriptures, and the earliest accounts we have of the primitive Church, that the Apostles, Evange ifts, and firft Chriftians, prayed to him, that they could not help thinking it their duty, as Chrif tians, to pray to him too, and that it was even effential to Chriftianity fo to do. 14. But to return. Inftead of arguing, as Dr. Priestley, Mr. Lindfey, and others of the prefent Socinian writers do, that Stephen's worshipping Christ, when he saw him, and was in immediate danger of death, or rather was actually dying by the hands of his enemies, does not authorize thofe to do it who fee him not, and are in no fuck danger I fhould incline to draw a diametrically oppofite conclufion from it; I fhould fay, If Stephen, full of the Holy Ghoft, and under the immediate, cleareft, and fulleft vifion of Christ's true character, and real state, dignity, and glory, faw it proper to pray to him, and fay, Lord Jefus, receive my fpirit; then, as we may be perfectly fure that Stephen in thefe circumftances could not be mistaken, it must be right and proper to pray to him. And if Stephen, in the most critical and dangerous fituation a mortal can be in, furrounded with enemies, visible and invisible, and in the most awful moment of his life, on the very verge of death and eternity, offered to Jesus the molt important petition that ever came from the lips of any creature, and committed even his immortal fpirit into his hands, in full assurance of his taking charge of it, then we may fafely pray to him on any occafion, and for any blefling that we want whatfoever, perfuaded there is nothing that he cannot and will not do.-And, perhaps, I may add a third obfervation :-If Stephen, being full of the Holy Ghoft, and looking stedfaftly into heaven, not only faw the heavens opened, and Jefus |