Tis plain from the feventh Verse of St. Luke, that the Centurion did not come to Chrift in Perfon; but that all this was done by Meffengers. And tho' the thirteenth Verfe of St. Matthew's Relation feems addrefs'd to the Centurion in Perfon; yet it must be remembred, that when Abigail return'd an Anfwer to David's Meffengers, fhe fpake as if David had been perfonally prefent. For we read thus, And when the fervants of David were come to Abigail to Carmel, they spake unto her, faying, David fent 11. explain'd. Sent us unto thee to take thee to him to wife. And fhe arofe, and bowed her felf on her face to the earth, and said, Behold, let thine handmaid be a fervant to wash the feet of the fervants of my lord. 1 Sam. 25. 40, 41. Our Savior therefore told the Centurion's Friends, what Answer they fhould return in his Name; and he expreffed himself in the fame manner, as if he had spoken to the Centurion himself. And accordingly in the Holy Scriptures we often find Matters deliver❜d to Meffengers in fuch a Style, as implys, that they were to deliver the Words of their Principals after the fame manner, as if their Principals were perfonally prefent. Nay, 'tis exceedingly obfervable, that even Men have deliver'd Charges from God in fuch Words, as God himself would have us'd, had he spoken perfonally, For Inftance, we read of Mofes,that he gave Joshua the fon of Nun a charge, and faid, Be ftrong and of a good courage: for thou shalt bring the children of Ifrael into the land which I fware unto them: and I will be with thee. Deut. 31. 23. And Jeremiah is commanded to fay to the Jews (without any Preface of Thus faith the Lord, or the like) these very Words, Like as ye have forfaken me, and ferved Strange Gods in your land; fo fhall ye ferve strangers in a land that is not yours. Jer. 5. 19. Thus you fee, that in conformity to the Eaftern Cuftom, the Words utter'd by an Angel fent from God, are ufually the very fame, which God himfelf would have spoken, had he perfonally converfed with Man. In fuch Cafes, the Angel acts in the ftead of the very God, ufes his Expreffions, and perfonats his Divine Majefty. And I am perfuaded, that the Reason, why Angels are fo often call'd b, is because they fo frequently tranfacted Matters with Mankind in the Name of the very God. 2. When 2. When the Lord did thus by his Angel converfe with Man, we are fometimes told, and 'tis feveral other times imply'd, that the Lord appeared. And we find,that in the very fame Relations, Mention is indifferently and promifcuously made, fometimes of the very God, and at other times of his Angel. This is fo notorious,that I forbear to point at the particular Places of Scripture, which evince it. Now'tis certain,that the very God himself cannot be represented by any bodily Shape: but yet,when God, that is, when God by his Angel, did appear; there was ufually fome vifible Glory, Brightnefs, or Form, which was truly and properly a woępne, an Appearance of God, or that in which that Angel, who perfonated the Divine Majefty, became in fome Sense Visible. And the Angel that did thus appear in God's ftead, and converfe with Man in his Name and Words, was to that Man truly and properly, in the ftrict and natural Senfe of the Words, μop de and ἶσα θεῷ. 3. That our Lord Chrift is ftiled an Angel, even the Angel (or as our Translation readeth it, the Meffenger) of the Covenant, is allowed on all fides; nor can any Perfon doubt of it, who compares Mal. 3. 1. with Matt. 11. 10. Mark 1. 2. Luke 1. 16, and 7. 27. And therefore the Angel of God's prefence, I. 63. 9. is juftly understood to be our Savior Chrift; whom alfo, as you truly (f) affert, God meant, when he faid, Behold, I send an Angel before thee to keep thee in the way, and to bring thee into the place which I have prepared. Beware of him, and obey his voice, provoke him not, for he will not pardon your tranfgreffions: for my name is in him. But if thou shalt indeed obey his (Reply to the Bishop of Chefter, P. 246. voice, and do all that I fpeak; then I will be an enemy unto thine enemies, and an adverfary unto thine adverfaries. For mine Angel fhall go before thee, and bring thee in unto the Amorites, and the Hittites, and the Perizzites, and the Canaanites, and the Hivites, and the Jebufites: and I will cut them off, Exod. 23. 20, 21, 22, 23. For God fpake thofe very Words by that very Angel, viz. our Lord; and as you juftly (g) note, It is the fame Manner of fpeaking, as occurs in all Writers, when any one is introduced fpeaking as the Reprefentative of another, and mentioning himself (as Grammarians speak) in the third Perfon. Thus alfo we may interpret the History of the Inftitution of Circumcifion, Gen. 17. and that of the Angel's appearing to Abraham and Lot, Gen. 18. But concerning our Savior's being God's Angel, there will be no Controverfy; and therefore I need not enlarge. Thus then 'tis certain, that when the very God appear'd in the Old Teftament, fome Angel did at thofe Times perfonat the Divine Majefty, and was confequently oppỹ des and iou . Now fince our Lord Chrift is fo often ftiled God's Angel, and fo exprefly affirmed to have been ir uogender and ion de, which Phrafes are never once at tributed to any other Angel; therefore I conclude, that our Savior did, ἐν μορφή θεῖ ὑπάρχειν, and was You J, when he acted in the Appearances of the very God, and then perfonated or reprefented the Divine Majefty, which we do not find, that any other Angel ever did, tho' fo many of them have been imploy'd as the very God's Embaffadors to Men. It may now be proper, before I leave this Point, to confider one Difficulty. The Law is (g) Ibid. p. 247. ftiled ftiled the Ward Spoken by Angels, Heb. 2.2. and is upon that account opposed to the Gofpel, which was delivered by the Lord, v. 3. and the Apoftle fays, unto the Angels bath he (viz. the very God) not put in fubjection, dinin oy (that is, the Gospel State, tho' we literally render it) the world to come, which notwithstanding is fubjected to Christ. How then could Chrift be that Angel which deliver'd the Law, and did at that Time perfonat the very God? I do not mention this as an Objection which either of us can start against the other, but as a Matter which deferves to be clear'd upon this Occafion; and in the Solution of which you and I fhall agree, in oppofition to fuch as are apt to make a very ill ufe of those Paffages of Scripture, which they can't account for. I fhall not therefore plead, that our Savior is exprefly call'd b, ay, that is, an angel (tho' we tranflate it a Messenger) Mal. 3. 1. as I have already noted (for the Difficulty will ftill return) but I obferve, that TN and ye do originally fignify any Meffenger in general, even one Man fent by another Man. Thus Jacob fent DD. dis, fay the Septuagint (and we translate it Meffengers) to his brother, Gen. 32. 3. Nay, St. John Baptift is call'd bn, dye, even from God to Men, Mal. 3. 1. Matt. 11. 10. and elsewhere. From hence thofe Spiritual Beings, whom God imploys as his Meffengers and Ambaffadors to Men, are emphatically call'd Angels, by the Appropriation of a common Word to a particular Senfe. must therefore always obferve, when an or We a are mention'd in Scripture, whether the Context obliges us to interpret the Word in a large or a reftrain'd manner. Now our Savior, before his Incarnation, might juftly be call'd an Angel, upon |