and they beheld His glory, the glory of the only begotten of the Father. Be it observed, that the Son is God, and that He is the only begotten of the Father, equal with God, for He was God, and was with God. In this sense there can be no other Son of God, and is no other Son of God, and never will be any other Son of God. But the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth. This was the express image of the invisible God, but this was not the glory which was beheld by the first believers-that glory was the brightness of glory-that glory was the glory as of the only begotten of the Father; it was the glory of the Father -the glory of the holy angels: an invisible glory, because a spiritual glory; a glory which no man hath seen or can see with the eye of the body. The human nature of Christ was the cloud which concealed this glory; for it is verily true, it is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation, that in the man Christ Jesus, the son of Mary, the child born at Bethlehem, the crucified, the Nazarene-in Him dwelt all the fulness of the Godhead bodily. In that mysterious person who went about continually doing good, there was not merely the fulness of God who filleth all things, but there was God; the living and true God dwelt in the man Christ Jesus, just as He has from eternity, and will to eternity, fill all things. In Jesus of Nazareth the Creator of the ends of the earth was manifest. God was not only in Him, and with Him, but He was with God, and He was God. Nevertheless, it was but His image which we saw, not Himself. All that could be seen of the Son of God, all that can ever be seen of the Son of God, all that will ever be seen of the Son of God with the bodily eye, is a man full of grace and truth. The perfection of the

Redeemer of mankind was the perfection of Jehovah. What was seen of Him was but His image. Still He was the brightness of glory, which is invisible. The Word of God made flesh is only the image of the Life of God, not the Life of God Himself. So men are predestinated to be conformed to the image of His Son, that is the Word of God; but not predestinated to be made each the Son of God Himself. Just as the man Christ Jesus was not the invisible God, but was the manifestation of the invisible God in the flesh. So men are not made gods as God, but are predestinated to manifest in the flesh the Life of the Son of God. In other words, in the man Christ Jesus dwelt Jehovah, in all the fulness and perfection of His attributes and nature, even the very nature of the Eternal God. His eyes were as a flame of fire, denoting His omniscience. He walketh in the midst of the golden candlesticks, denoting His omnipresence. He hath power over the tree of life, denoting His self-existence, and also His being the fountain of all life. He has the sharp sword with two edges-that word which endureth for ever-the eternal counsel and purpose. He hath the seven spirits and the seven stars; the Eternal Spirit is His own, and all spirits are His. He hath the key of David. His glory is peculiarly the glory of a redeemed world. He is the faithful and the true witness, the beginning of the creation of God. In all other men there is but the image of the Son of God. He is the Creator, they are creatures. He is independent, they are dependent. He is all within Himself, they have only what they have received. He had neither beginning of days nor end of life, but that Eternal Life is His own. They have neither beginning of days nor end of life, but their eternal life is His gift. Neverthe

less, all who are in Christ are like the Son of God, and are gods, for being joined under the Lord they are one Spirit. The Spirit of Christ is the spirit of a christian. The Will of God is the will of all who believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that seek Him diligently. The Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. The waters denote life, but this life is covered with darkness. In this state of darkness the perfect freedom of the will or spirit of every created intelligence is testified. There also is witness borne to the existence of the supreme Will of God-the Holy Spirit-overruling all, but interfering with the freedom of not one. Self-will is not the lawful exercise of a free-will, but self-will is, when exercised, the incontrovertible evidence of a free-will. So that the blackness of darkness reserved for unbelievers will be an eternal manifestation of the existence of God's Holy Spirit the resistless, because almighty, Will of Jehovah: while at the same time it will be an eternal testimony of the wisdom of Jehovah, who has so wonderfully contrived, that He has done His own will in every thing, and yet left the innumerable myriads of His intelligent offspring, to do their own will in every thing; the existence of a state resulting from self-will being a needful but a sufficient testimony to all God's creatures in regard to their Creator.

When God created man, there was in existence innumerable fallen angels, self-willed. Now, they are immaterial essences, and one act of such a nature, contrary to the will of its Creator, necessarily destroys His image in them. Angels are like the Life of God, immaterial and invisible, capable of highest conceivable created enjoyment, so long as they retain the image of the Life

of God; but reserved unto destruction, from the glory of the Lord, which is His Son; and the presence of His power, which is His Will, His Spirit, when they by their own act destroy the image of His Life within them. Angels are like unto the Life of God; they that do His will among them honour the Spirit of God, because the doing of His will is His own glory; and when angels do that will they declare that glory. But when angels chose their own will in opposition to the will of God, they not only set themselves in array against God, but they refused to Jehovah what He had given to them—a freedom of will. They made themselves not only the equals of their Creator, but they exalted themselves above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; for it was the Son they were commanded to worship; and we know He came into the world, not to do His own will, but the will of Him that sent Him. These selfwilled angels introduced a chaos of confusion into the moral world: their sin was disobedience to God's will, and was the blasphemy against the Holy Spirit: their nature being different from the nature of man, whenever they were called into being their wills came into operation. They had worshipped and served the Father of their spirits before their fall; they had tasted the good gift of God; they had eaten of the tree of life in the midst of the paradise of God-for they were stars when they fell; they had shown their willingness and their power to serve Jehovah, so that when they sinned it was impossible to renew them again unto repentance, for they were once enlightened, and had tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost; therefore their conduct was inexcusable, it was unpardonable; for they assailed the Life of God, dis

honoured the Word of God, and blasphemed the Spirit of God; so that there remaineth nothing for them but a fearful looking for of judgment, and fiery indignation, which shall consume the adversary. These self-willed spirits were left free, and have been personally unrestrained for nearly twelve thousand years. During all that time they have had their own will, and they have exercised it freely in opposition to God's will. They have never abated one iota of their enmity and hostility to Jehovah. They have been to appearance most successful in all their plans, and have had every thing their own way, corrupting and destroying all before them, giving evidence of their malignity, their cruelty, and their wickedness that baffles all description. They ruined the human race. When God created man in His own image, their great leader succeeded in giving him his spirit of disobedience; and not content with ruining what God had made, he himself increased the number of mankind by sowing his own wicked seed. When created in holiness, God gave him great power; all of which has been put into full operation by him against his God. He has filled the earth with violence. He has made it a graveyard. He has cut down the infant of days, and the man of mature age at pleasure. He has founded kingdoms which, when cast down to gratify his own love of wickedness, he has supplanted by others. He has blinded men's minds, lest the light of the glorious gospel should shine unto them. He has without intermission, from beginning to end of his career, followed by his angels, done his utmost to frustrate the purpose of God, and overthrow His counsel. Surely such manifold wickedness, of which we have such manifold evidence, is worthy of the condemnation that awaits it. Who will