Page:God Manifest.djvu/203

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GOD APPEARING.
193

together in My name, there am I in the midst of thiem."[1] Consider that declaration,—how comprehehsive it is! Let there be a company of Christians gathered together in worship of the Lord, in India, another company in England, a third in America, a fourth in Australia—yea, myriads of such companies in all the different parts of the globe, at the same hour and moment, hymning the praises of their glorified Redeemer, and addressing to Him their prayers,—He is with them all—in the midst of them all—His spirit enlightening their minds, purifying their hearts, and preparing them for heaven! Who but God can do this? Would it not be untrue, would it not be blasphemy, for any less than God, to declare such a thing of Himself? Jesus, the good and the lovely, did declare it: He, who was the Truth[2] itself, must have spoken the truth: then it follows that He must have been God. He was God speaking to men: He was God appearing to men.

But, in the third place, not only is Jesus declared to have been Omniscient and Omnipresent, but also Omnipotent—an attribute, which though not indeed more truly Divine than the others, is yet perhaps more strikingly so. "All power," said He, "is given unto Me in heaven and in earth."[3] "All power" is Omnipotence: here, then, Jesus declares Himself possessed of Omnipotence. Who but God has all power in heaven and earth? It follows, that in these words, Jesus declares Himself to be God. But here it might be asked, why is it said "given unto me?"—does not this expression convey the idea of a secondary being receiving from a primary, and consequently that the thing

  1. Matt. xviii. 20.
  2. John xiv. 6.
  3. Matt. xxviii. 18.