296           The Deity of Jeſus Chriſt          Sect. IV

But, as mere alluſions and accomodations
have their foundation in thoſe reſemblan-
ces, which our imagination finds between
ancient prophecies and preſent objects; it
is abſurd to ſuppoſe, that the apoſtles ground
the worſhip of Chriſt upon them. Were
this the caſe, they would act juſt like a man
who ſhould endeavour to prove, That a pri-
vate ſoldier deſerves the titles of majeſty,
and ought to be honoured as a prince and
a conqueror ; becauſe he had met with
ſome actions, or expreſſions, in the hiſtory
of Alexander the Great, which might, by
way of alluſion or accommodation, be ap-
plied to him.

Beſides, ſuch accommodations would be
impious and blaſphemous, if Jeſus Chriſt
were not of the ſame eſſence with his Fa-
ther. For if, out of regard to Chriſt, you
would not dare to accomodate to any man
living theſe words, ' Behold the Lamb of
' God, which taketh away the ſin of the
world ;' a reverence for the Supreme Being
ought ſtill more forcibly to reſtrain us, from
applying to Jeſus, a mere creature, the pe-
culiar characters of the Great Creator. Be-
cauſe the diſproportion, in the latter caſe,
is infinitely greater than that in the former :
and becauſe the character contained in the
words of the Baptiſt, is not ſo peculiar to
Jeſus, as thoſe titles are to the Great Su-
                                                         preme,