DISCOURSE II. 571 hewas here on earth. It is very probable and almost certain, that it was a part of his divine furniture and commission from the Father, that whensoever he prayed for, and then willedor commanded any such sort ofsupernatural event, the effect should as certainly follow his volition or his command as the human limbs obey the soul when it wills to move them. The case of the apostles was not so; they had not a personal union with in- dwelling godhead ; they tried once, or perhaps oftener, to cast out devils and could not de it. But as where our soul wills, our lirúbs always move at its command, so whensoever Christ the man willed to work a miracle, the supernatural effect followed, if not by human, yet by divine agency. Observe this in a few instances. When he cleansed the leper ; Mat. viii. 3. his soul willed that leprosy should depart, and his tongue pronounced these words, I will; be thou clean ; and immediately the effect fol- lowed, the leper was healed. Whether the human soul of Christ had in that day sufficient knowledge and power given it to change the drasis of the blood, to remove the tainted atoms from the body of the man, and to place all the fibres of the diseased flesh in a proper and healthy form, this may be matter of doubt- ful enquiry : But if the divine power united to the manhood made this sovereign and healing change, and was pleased to make use of the intermediate volition of the human will, and languageof the human tongue for this purpose, still the man Christ Jesus has his share of agency in this work ; and there- fore he is said to go about working wonders and healing diseases, for God was with him ; Acts x. 38. Again, In the midst of a storm when he bid the winds be silent, and commanded thewaves to be still, it is probable that his human soul and body might not in themselves at that time have direct and proper sufficient influence on the winds and the waves, to produce such a miraculous cairn and silence ; but the divine natureor indwelling godhead, by its infinite power sup- pressed these tumultuous elementsat thewill and word of Christ, which rebuked the storm : And since the man Jesus was made the intelligent medium or instrument of this command, the winds and the seas are said to pay obedience to him ; Mark iv. 41. What manner of man is this, that the winds and seas obey himP' It was much the same thing when he cast out devils, and commanded them to depart from the bodies which they possessed: Whether it was the terror of his known character that fell upon them and frighted them, or the compulsive power of his deity drove them out, this may perhaps be doubted. But suppose the demoniacs were dispossessed by divine agency, yet the man Jesus has the honour of this miracle, as being the conscious in- I
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