`That all men should honour the Son, EVEN as they honour the Father. He that honoureth not the Son honoureth

not the Father which hath sent Him'.

If we misuse the word `person', if we insist that the Trinity is `essence' and do not perceive that it is `economical'

or `dispensational', we shall reap the consequences that come from attempting the impossible.

`Canst thou by searching find out God? canst thou find out the Almighty unto perfection?' (Job 11:7).

To us the mystery of God is resolved in the face of Jesus Christ, and the mystery of godliness is that God was

manifest in the flesh, and Ezekiel in the overwhelming and complicated imagery of his opening vision sees at length

the resolution of the mystery, saying :

`Upon the likeness of the throne was the likeness as the appearance of a MAN above upon it' (Ezek. 1:26).

Not only does dispensational truth discover the callings of the redeemed, their several spheres of inheritance, the

differing ages and their goals; it illuminates the very assumptions of the Invisible God, Who for the purposes of

Creation is revealed as Elohim, for the carrying out of the purpose of the ages, is revealed as Jehovah; for the

purpose of Redemption is revealed as the Son. Sabellius, Arius and other `heretics' were desperately wrong in their

ultimate conclusions, but how far those other `heretics' who are now accepted as champions of orthodoxy were

responsible, in their wordy battles for pushing others to such extremes, only the Judgment Seat will reveal. Zeal is

good, zeal without knowledge is deadly, zeal that becomes a persecuting flame is self-destructive.

`I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth' (The Apostle's Creed, Book of Common

`There is but one living and true God, everlasting, without body, parts or passions, of infinite power, wisdom and

goodness, the Maker and Preserver of all things both visible and invisible. And in unity of this Godhead there be

three Persons, of one substance, power and eternity; The Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost' (Article I of the

XXXIX articles, Book of Common Prayer).

The word `Creator' occurs but three times in the Old Testament (Eccles. 12:1; Isa. 40:28; 43:15) and but twice in

the New Testament (Rom. 1:25; 1 Pet. 4:19). Isaiah names the Creator as `The everlasting God, the Lord', which

Dr. Young translates literally, `The God of the Age, Jehovah'.

Jesus Christ, God manifest in the flesh, is the Jehovah of the Old Testament, Isaiah 40:28 points not to God the

Father, but to the Son as the Creator. Isaiah 43:15 is part of a statement. The speaker is `the Lord your Redeemer'.

Now the word `Redeemer' is the `Kinsman Redeemer' (Heb. gaal), so fully set out in the book of Ruth. The

selfsame word that is used in Isaiah 43:14 is translated `near kinsman' in Ruth 3:9, and is the one Job believed

should stand upon the earth in the latter day. Isaiah, who not only wrote by inspiration of God, but was jealous of

the glory of the God he served, had no compunction in linking together the name Jehovah, next of kin, Creator and

King, every one of which titles belong to the Son of God, and one of them, next of kin, belonging to Him alone. It

can never be said that `God the Father' is our near kinsman, but it is the glory of the gospel that this is the peculiar

glory of the Saviour. Romans 1:25 speaks of the coming in of idolatry, saying that those who so grievously sinned :

`Changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, Who is

blessed for ever Amen'.

Did this passage stand alone, we could not use it to indicate whether the Father or the Son was in the writer's mind,

but if we read on we come to Romans 9, where the Apostle speaking of the privileges of being an Israelite, says:

`Of Whom as concerning the flesh Christ came, Who is over all, God blessed for ever. Amen' (Rom. 9:5).

The Creator is `blessed for ever. Amen'. The Son of God is `over all, God blessed for ever. Amen'.

Again the reader is turned, not to the Father, but to the Son. The reference in 1 Peter 4:19 links `the faithful

Creator' with `God' and so leaves the question of the Father and the Son untouched. Turning to the New Testament