ship before Thee; for Thy judgments are made manifest," Rev. xv. 4. "And the four and twenty elders, and the four beasts fell down and worshipped God that sat on the throne, saying, Amen; Alleluia," Rev. xix. 4. "And I fell at his feet to worship him. And he said unto me, See thou do it not I am thy fellow-servant, and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus: worship God, for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy," Rev. xix. 10; also xxii. 9.

There is another Greek verb to which our attention is particularly directed, éπikaλéoμai, to call upon; but after what has been said, I think it will be evident to the reader in what sense the term was employed in reference to Christ, just as the occasions on which it was employed with reference to God, shew in what sense, or rather senses, it was used in regard to Him. As Professor Norton observes, "the word does not properly and directly denote religious invocation. Its primary meaning is to call, or to call upon any one; in a secondary meaning to call on one for help." It is scarcely necessary to add, that the word rendered name is not unfrequently pleonastic. "Billroth, a critic highly esteemed for his orthodoxy, and honored with a place in the Biblical Cabinet (Edin., 1837, vol. i., p. 36), pronounces the following decision, which is in accordance with the judgment of Hammond and a host of the most celebrated commentators: Επικαλεῖσθαι τὸ ὄνομα τοῦ Kupiov, to call on the name of the Lord, is a form of expression borrowed from the Hebrew, and is used to denote, not an individual act of calling upon God, but in general, a life of reverence to God, or of true religiou; and so the words, which originally referred

merely to the external act, are used both in the Jewish, and still more decidedly in the Christian Scriptures."*

Mr. Bickersteth says that Christ inculcated prayer to himself. Our Lord's words to the woman of Samaria are quoted. "If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee give me to drink, thou wouldst have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water," John iv. 10. And, "Come unto me all ye that labor," etc., Matt. xi. 28. But does not every Christian go to Christ for rest in weariness of spirit, and for the water of life? Surely, however, this is not equivalent to giving him, in the Book of Common Prayer, an equal place with the Supreme God, the Father.

The two benedictions next referred to, 1 Thess. iii. 11, and 2 Thess. ii. 16, express " a devout wish for the aid and direction of God and Jesus, but guard against the supposition of their equality, by giving to one of them only that title which belongs to the supreme Deity alone, God the Father." Again, St. Paul writes that "at (or rather in év) the name of Jesus every knee should bow, and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord." May God hasten the day when this blessed promise shall be fulfilled; but it is not to be forgotten that we are to bow in the name of Jesus because, as the apostle expressly states, God hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name; and, moreover, let us not forget that, in the Apostle's own words, "every tongue

*Yates's Vindication, 4th edition, p. 230.

should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father," Phil. ii. 9, 11. Would, then, the impression be conveyed that Christ and the Father are coëqually God? In like manner in the grand description in the Apocalypse of the glory and honor ascribed to God and to Jesus-to every word of which I hope my Trinitarian brethren will believe that I respond with my whole soul-the distinction between the two is marked; one is God "who sitteth upon the Throne," the other is "the Lamb who stands between the Throne and the elders ;* and he came and took the book out of the right hand of Him that sat upon the Throne." In one passage, indeed, the throne of God and of the Lamb is mentioned (xxii. 3), but in chap. iii. 21 we read, "To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in His throne.”

But I beg the reader to endeavour to picture to himself the whole grand scene represented in Rev. v.: The Lord God Almighty is sitting on the throne, and in His right hand has a book, sealed with seven seals, The question is asked in a loud voice by an angel, "Who is worthy to open the Book?" No man in

*"In the midst of the throne, etc. :" the Seer beholds Christ in the midst of the throne, with the four beasts and in the midst of the elders. The form of expression is Hebraistic; see Ewald's Gr., ? 217, 9. The meaning is, that Christ stood in the space between the throne (with the four beasts) and the elders. "In the innermost part of the circle," remarks Bengel, was the throne with the holy creatures (inseparable from it), and in a wider circle were the elders. But the Lamb was between, as the Mediator between God and man. The elders are a selection, and represent in a sense the whole of mankind;" more properly the whole church. Hengstenberg on the Book of Revelation, vol. i., p. 233, 234.

Heaven nor in earth, nor under the earth, is able either to open it or look on it. But the Lamb comes forward, and takes the book out of the right hand of Him that sits upon the throne. The four beasts and the twenty-four elders fall down before the Lamb, and with their harps and golden vials sing a new song, the burden of which is, that he is worthy to take the Book and to open the seals, as having by his blood redeemed men to God, and made them unto God kings and priests. Then great glory is ascribed to the Lamb, and blessing and honor, and glory and praise are ascribed to Him that sitteth on the throne, and unto the Lamb. Last of all, the four-andtwenty elders fall down and worship Him that liveth for ever and ever. Now would it be supposed from all these circumstances, taken together, that the Lamb who was worthy to take the Book was himself coëqual, and coëqually to be adored with Him who sat upon the throne?

With regard to the instance of Stephen, remember that he had a vision of Christ, as standing at the right hand of God. Thus beholding him for whom he was offering up his life, how natural the exclamation "Lord Jesus receive my spirit;" then the martyr knelt down and, we believe, prayed to Him who sat on the throne, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. In the language used, the latter word translated Lord would probably correspond to Jehovah. Coleridge says that "Christ was visually present to Stephen ; his invocation, therefore, was not perforce an act of religious adoration, an acknowledgment of Christ's Deity." Not only might any Unitarian use Stephen's

very words in similar circumstances, but we have it on record that Michael Servetus, a martyr for his belief that Jesus was not the Supreme God, often exclaimed on his way to the stake, "O God, save my soul! O Jesus, Son of the eternal God, have mercy upon me!"

Thus, the instances adduced of prayer to Christ are not of a kind to shew that he was regarded as the object of supreme worship, or that he was worshipped in the regular religious services of the church. No, where do we find such language as this, "Come let us go to the house of Jesus, to worship in his sanctuary,” "Neglect not the assembling of yourselves together, to pray to God the Father and to God the Son;" but we find such petitions and ejaculations as the following, "Lord save us, or we perish!" "Come, lay thy hand upon her and she shall live;" "Thou Son of David, have mercy upon me;" "Even so, come, Lord Jesus."

And this leads me to remark that there is in the Greek another word, λarpeúw I serve, used frequently in the sense of religious services, such as those in which we engage in places of worship on the Lord's day. Two or three examples will suffice, "Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve Him day and night in His temple," Rev. vii. 15. "Which (the tabernacle) was a figure for the time then present, in which were offered both gifts and sacrifices that could not make him that did the service perfect as pertaining to the conscience," Heb. ix. 9. "After the way which they call heresy, so worship I the God of my Fathers," Acts xxiv. 14. "Thou shalt worship the