[“Christ Set Up from Everlasting;” In The Works of Ebenezer Erskine, vol. 3; (Edinburgh: W. Oliphant, 1836)]
Ebenezer Erskine (1680–1754), an eminent divine of the Scottish church, stood forth in an age of spiritual declension as a champion for the purity and liberty of Christ’s gospel. Born at Chirnside, Berwickshire, the son of the venerable Rev. Henry Erskine, Ebenezer early imbibed the doctrines of the Reformation and was nurtured in the fear and admonition of the Lord. Educated at the University of Edinburgh, he applied himself diligently to the study of sacred theology and, in due course, received licensure to preach the everlasting gospel. His pastorate at Portmoak, and later at Stirling, was marked by fervent expositions of the Word, distinguished by zeal for Christ’s crown rights and the freedom of Christ’s Kirk. Confronted by the encroachments of patronage and the impositions of an Erastian establishment, Erskine, with deep conscientiousness, protested against all innovations that would fetter the liberty of the Redeemer’s cause. In 1733, along with kindred spirits, he constituted the Associate Presbytery, thereby laying the foundation of the Secession Church, which endeavoured to preserve the pure ordinances of Christ free from worldly defilement. A preacher of uncommon pathos and gravity, his sermons were replete with sound doctrine and practical application, marked by an evangelical fervour rare in his age. Ebenezer Erskine departed this life in 1754, leaving a legacy of godly zeal, uncompromising fidelity to Scripture, and a progeny who would continue in his steps, defending the faith once delivered unto the saints.
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Proverbs 8:23 — I was set up from everlasting, from the beginning, or ever the earth was.
There are such evident rays of the eternal and supreme Deity of Christ, as also of His personality and essential oneness with the Father, in this passage, as looks the Arians and Socinians, these blasphemers of the Son of God, quite out of countenance, and obliges them, though with great absurdity, to allege that what is spoken of and by Christ in this chapter, and particularly from verse 22 to verse 31, is to be understood of wisdom as one of the attributes of the divine nature. But it is beyond controversy, among all orthodox interpreters, that it is Christ, the second person of the glorious Trinity, under the notion of wisdom, that here speaks, as might be cleared from many personal properties, personal acts, and personal words that are ascribed to Him in this passage of Scripture, which, for brevity’s sake, I cannot insist upon at this time.
The penman of this book was Solomon, “But behold a greater than Solomon is here,” even Christ, “the wisdom of God, and the power of God, in whom all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hid.” As Solomon had all his wisdom out of this treasure, so being under the conduct of the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, he is led, as a type, to speak in the person of his glorious antitype, as his father David doth frequently in the book of the Psalms, particularly in Psalm 16 and Psalm 40:1-22. Christ recommends His dictates in the Word unto the children of men and shows what advantage will accrue to them by the study of the Scriptures, agreeable unto what He says, John 5:39, “Search the scriptures, for in them ye think ye have eternal life, and they are they which testify of me.” From the 22nd verse unto the 31st, in order to engage our faith and trust in Him, He elegantly describes the glory of His person, that so we, beholding as in a glass His glory, may be changed into His image. More particularly:
Where we may notice:
The divine person who is the speaker, in the pronoun “I”:
“I, the eternal Son of God, the glorious Immanuel, the faithful and true Witness. I who am God co-equal with the Father; and who sat as a constituent member of the council of peace, anent the great affair of man’s redemption, and therefore cannot but be well acquainted with what was transacted there.”
The result of that eternal transaction declared with relation to Himself, “I was set up,” i.e.:
“I was, by an act of the divine will, common to all the three persons of the glorious Trinity—Father, Son, and Holy Ghost—elected, set apart, or fore-ordained to the great service of man’s redemption.”
A word parallel unto this, and which casts a light upon the text, you have, Psalm 2:7, where Christ, speaking of Himself, says, “I will declare the decree: the Lord hath said unto me, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee.” This is called the Father’s will, Psalm 40:7-8, “Lo! I come, in the volume of the book, it is written of me, I delight to do thy will.”