pierced hands and wounded feet, his fcourged back and epen fide, his ftreaming heart and yearning bowels to poor finners: This is he, O finner! that would rather die than thou fhouldft die, who chose thy life before his own, and now pleads his blood before his Father.

Behold and wonder at his love, that made him tread the wine-prefs alone for us, and drink the cup of the red-wine of the wrath of God; a cup whereinto all our vile and deadly fins were grated, a cup that no angel durft tafte; yea, the tafting of it made Chrift's heart to melt like wax in the midst of his bowels, Pfal xxii. 14. which was a greater matter than if the whole world had melted to nothing: Yet he drank it off, with the bittereft dregs of it, and left not fo much as one drop of it for us. Behold him taking his moft precious heart's blood, to quench hell's flames that were ready to break out on us! Was there ever love like this?

This love is unfearchably great: You may fooner find out the height of heaven, the breadth of the earth or the depth of the fea, than measure Christ's love; for it paffeth knowledge, Eph. iii." It is an unfathomable ocean, that hath neither bank nor bottom. O whither did his love carry him? Even from heaven to earth, from the throne to the manger, from the manger to the crofs, from the crofs to the grave; yea, from the glory of heaven to the torments of hell, and all this for poor creatures, that were defpicable as worms, defiled as lepers, deformed as monsters, black as Ethiopians, yea as black and ugly as hell could make us. Worfe are we than devils, if we are not affected with this love, that made the glorious Son of God leave the heaven of his Father's prefence, and wade through hell for dregs of the creation. Did Chrift fee any thing in us to make him love us? No, he saw much to lothe us, but nothing to love us: Yet the time when we were most lothfome was Christ's time of love, Ezek. xvi. We were lying polluted in our blood, and all fpread over with running ulcers and putrifying fores, when Chrift loved

us.

Our fouls were as unlovely as Lazarus's body, whofe fores the dogs licked; or Job's body, when he was full of boils, and fat in the afhes, and fcraped him

faf

felf with a potfherd: Yet all this could not cool his affection to us. The inftances of Chrift's love are inexpreffible, both in their nature and number. Wonder

at his condefcendency, in becoming not only a creature, but such a mean creature as man, for us; yea, not only a man, but in taking on him the form of a fervant for us, and being willing not only to lie in a manger, but in a cold grave for us. Wonder that the glorious Redeemer of Ifrael fhould be content to be born as a beggar, live as a fervant, and die as a flave for us. Wonder that he, who is infinitely pure, fhould be willing, not only to be numbered among finners, and to bear our fins, but also to be made fin, and likewife a curfe for us. Was it not for you and your advantage he did all this? and, will you not admire and love him? He was content to endure the poverty of the world, that you might enjoy the riches of hea ven: He lived in the form of a servant, that you might have the adoption of fons: He humbled himself to live with men, that he might exalt you to live with God: He bowed his foul to death, that he might raise you to eternal life: He was fhut up forty days with the devil, that you might not be shut up with him for ever: He was hungry, that you might be fed: He was numbered anong tranfgreflors, that you might have a room among the bleffed. O believer, he wept, that you might rejoice: Sorrow oppreffed his heart, that everlasting joy might be on your head: He was fcourged and wounded, that you by his ftripes might be healed of fin's wounds: He was crowned with thorns, that you might be crowned with glory: He was flandered and condemned be fore men, that you might be justified and acquitted before God: He bore the curfe, that you might inherit the bleffing: He drank the bitter and poifonous cup of God's wrath, that you might drink the pure river of life : He was deferted of God, that you might not be forfaken by him eternally: He bore the burden of fin and wath, that you might be freed from that burden: He hung upon our cross, to advance us to fit upon his throne He cried out in forrow upon a crofs, that we might shout joyfully in finging God's praife for ever :

He

He thirfted on the cross, that we might not thirst eternally, with Dives, for a drop of cold water to cool our tongue: He ftruggled in a bloody agony, that we might not ftrugle among devils in hell's furnace for ever: Öh, what fhall we fay of this love!" Lord Jefus, thy pity was infinite, thy love hath overflown all banks, and thy compaffion knew no bounds: Thou ftoodft before the mouth of hell that I deferved, and ftoppedft the flaming furnace of divine vengeance, that was breaking out against me: When I was, like Ifaac, bound to the altar, ready to be facrificed to juftice, thou offeredft thyself, like the ram caught in the thicket, to be facrificed in my room: When my fins had raised a terrible tempest, which threatened to drown me eternally, thou waft con tent to be thrown overboard, like Jonah, to appease the ftorm: When the fword of juftice was furbished, and ready to be sheathed into my bowels, thou interpofedft betwixt me and it, and receivedft the blow into thy heart: When I was fhipwrecked and pèrifhing, thou castedst thyself in as a plank of mercy to fave my life. Can I think on this, and my heart not burn? Can I fpeak of it, and not feek, with Jofeph, a secret place to weep in ?"

View the furpaffing nature of Chrift's love. No love like to it; yea, Chrift's love to us tranfcends his love to all other things: He loved us more than angels, for he would not put on their nature: He loved us more than heaven; for he left that to come and fave us: He loved us more than riches and honour; for he chose poverty, and became of no reputation, to redeem us: He loved us more than the comforts of life; for he parted with thefe, and became a man of forrows for our fake: He loved us more than his blood; for he willingly parted with that for us: He loved us more than his foul or body; for he gave both these to be an offering for our fins: He was more concerned for us than for himself; he rejoiced more in our welfare than in his own; he wept and prayed more for us than for himself; and, in the time of his greatest strait, when heaven, earth, and hell, were all at once rufhing upon him, we have his prayer, John xvii. Yet it is all fpent for us, except one VOL. I. verfe

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verse or two for himself. Again, Chrift loved us more than his life; and "all that a man hath will he give for his life" yet Chrift willingly parted with that for our fake: But, is there nothing that is better than life? Yes, David tells us of one thing that is better, Pfal. Ixiii. 3." Thy loving kindness is better than life." The faints and martyrs, that parted with all other things, would by no means part with that, they would rather part with a thousand lives than quit with that; yet Chrift, who had infinitely more of it than ever any faint attained to, for our fakes parted with it, and had the light of God's countenance totally eclipfed from him on the crofs, fo that he cried out, "My God, my God, why haft thou forfaken me ?"

II. If you would have the facramental graces quick ened, particularly faith, take a view of Chrift in all his fweet offices and relations: "Look unto mé and be ye faved, all the ends of the earth," Ifa. xlv. 22. O communicant, endeavour upon the morning of a communion-fabbath, to give a believing look to Chrift in all his bleffed offices and relations; and this will ftrengthen and quicken faith, and help thee to act it the more diftinctly at a communion-table.

1. Look to Chrift, as a bankrupt debtor to his furety, and fay, "Lord, I owe many thousand more than I can pay, but thou haft a sufficient ranfom to pay all my debt: I flee to thee as my furety: Lord, undertake for me, and fatisfy thy Father's juftice, that I be not seized on, and dragged to hell's prifon for ever."

2. Look to him as an able phyfician to cure thy wounds: "Say, Lord, here lies a Job full of boils, a Lazarus full of fores at thy gate; here a paralytic hand, here a blind eye, here a hard heart, here a plague, and there a wound, that have fcorned all other phyficians, and despised all other remedies; let me this day get the balm of Gilead, even the fovereign plaifter of thy blood, to my various maladies; one touch of the hem of thy garment, and I fhall be whole."

3. Look to him as a ranfomer of captives, and fay, "Lord, it was thy errand to proclaim liberty to the captives: I look to thee this day to knock off my fet

ters,

ters, loose all my bonds, and bring my foul out of prifon, that I may praise thy name."

4. Look to him as a mediator and peace-maker, to remove all enmity and quarrels betwixt God and thy foul, and fay," Lord ftand betwixt me and thy flaming fword, let thy atoning blood this day quench the fire of thy Father's anger, and bring the news of peace to my foul."

5. Look to him as an advocate to plead for thy guilty foul: Say, "Lord, my crimes are great, and my caufe is bad: But never any cause miscarried that thou took in band: Be thou mine advocate, and let every one of thy wounds this day be as fo many open mouths to plead for me; let thy blood speak, that fpeaketh better things than the blood of Abel."

6. Look to him as thy refuge-city and hiding-place, and fay," Lord, I flee to thee for my life: Fer the avenger of blood, the law and juftice of God, are at my heels pursuing me; and, if they find me affar off from thee, I am flain without mercy: The clefts of the rock are my only hiding-place: Lord, be a fafeguard to me. A heathen could fay, when a bird feared by a hawk flew into his bofom: I will not give thee up to thine enemy, feeing thou cameft to me for fanctuary: And furely thou wilt not deliver my foul, when I flee to thee for fhelter."

7. Look to Chrift as the ark, that can only fave thee from being drowned by the flood of God's wrath: Say, "Lord, there is no ark to fave me but thou alone: I am fhipwrecked in Adam, and there is no plank but Chrift to bring me to fhore: I clasp to thee by the hand of faith. Lord fave me, elfe I perifh "

8. Look to him as a reliever of burdened fouls: Say, "Lord, here is a heavy laden finner coming to thee this day for reft: O, fin is heavier than a millstone, it is weighed down with the law's curfes; and, O how many of thefe millstones are on my back! Lord, I come this day to roll them upon thee, who art the fure founda-tion that God has laid in Zion, able to bear me and all I can lay upon it: Angels cannot free me of my burden, for the burden of one fin has funk many thousands 3 S 2

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