love me.' He proceeded to point out that their hatred of Him proved that they were spiritually children of the devil ¹ and not of God. Elsewhere, as we have seen, He declared that His disciples' belief in His own divine origin, and their love for Him, made them acceptable and beloved in the sight of God.² On the other hand, He says: 'He ³ that hateth me hateth my Father also.' All this points out the close relationship between Him and God. We notice also that here, and in fact habitually, He asserts His divine sonship by speaking of God as His Father.

(9) But He does this still more clearly in other ways also. Among other things He not only asserts His pre-existence, but states that He existed with His Father before the creation of the universe. He even uses of Himself a term which cannot be truly used regarding any created being. To prove the correctness of these statements it is necessary merely to quote a few passages from the Gospel (الانجيل). The Lord Jesus Christ said to the Jews: 'Your ⁴ father Abraham rejoiced to see my day; and he saw it, and was glad.' The Jews were astonished at this statement, not recognizing the fact that the Lord Jesus meant that He was the Messiah promised ⁵ to Abraham, and that with

the eye of faith Abraham, the friend of God,¹ had beheld His coming. Hence they said scoffingly, 'Thou ² art not yet fifty years old, and hast thou seen Abraham?' In reply to this, the Lord Jesus Christ made a statement full of meaning, and one to which it is impossible to pay too much attention. He said: 'Verily,³ verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I AM.' The verb used ⁴ with reference to Abraham strictly means 'came into existence', whereas of Himself the Lord Jesus Christ employs a term which distinctly states that He eternally ⁵ exists in an unchanging and unceasing present. This is clear from the very words He uses, 'I am', not 'I was', nor 'I came into existence'. But it is all the more clear when we remember that these very words were God's chosen name for Himself. For in the Taurat it is written ⁶ that, when God Most High appeared in a flame of fire in a bush to Moses in the wilderness and commanded him to go into Egypt to Pharaoh and to bring out thence the children of Israel, Moses asked God to tell him His name. In reply to this question, God said unto Moses: 'I AM THAT I AM ⁷:-and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.' Now with