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SERM.

VI.

II.

PHIL. II. 9, 10, 11.

Wherefore God also hath highly exalted
him, and given him a Name which is
above every Name:

That at the Name of Jefus every Knee
Thould bow, of Things in Heaven, and
Things in Earth, and Things under
the Earth;

And that every Tongue fhould confess, that
Jefus Chrift is Lord, to the Glory of
God the Father.

TH

HE Principal Objection which the Jews had against our Saviour, and upon which they mainly relied, to justify

their obftinate Infidelity, was the low and fuffering Condition in which he chofe to appear during his Abode upon Earth. Hence they argued, that he did not answer the glorious Characters and Defcriptions which the antient Prophets had given of the Meffiah; and that therefore he was to be rejected, and treated as an Impoftor.

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VI.

AND indeed it is undeniable, that there was promised to the People of God a Meffiah, Upon whofe Shoulder the Go- If. ix. 6, vernment should be; and whofe Name 7. fhould be called Wonderful, Counfeller, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Of the Increase of whofe Government and Peace there Should be no End, upon the Throne of David and upon his Kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with Judgment and with Fuftice for ever. The Rod of whofe Pf. cx. 26 Power Should be sent out of Sion, and who should be Ruler in the midst of his Enemies. Unto whom should be given Dan. vii.

Dominion and Glory and a Kingdom, that 14.

all

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VI.

all People, Nations and Languages Bould ferve him; Whofe Dominion fhould be an everlasting Dominion, which fhould not pass away, and his Kingdom that which fhould not be deftroy'd. Thefe and other Paffages in the Prophets to the like Purpofe, mifunderftood, had rais'd in the Jews an Expectation of a mighty temporal Prince, who should break the Roman Yoke from off their Neck, extend his Conquefts to the utmoft Corners of the Earth, and reduce all Nations to be Servants and Tributaries to him. It was doubtlefs the Byass of their own carnal and worldly Minds, an eager Defire of Riches and Honours that carried them to embrace this Interpretation; fince it was utterly inconsistent with the plain Meaning of other Texts in the Prophets (too many and too long to be here recited,) which clearly foretold that the Messiah fhould be a Perfon of obscure and mean Condition in the World; that he should meet with very contemptuous and defpiteful Usage, with many Troubles and

Sore

Sorrows; to all which at length a Period should be put by an unnatural and painful Death.

To reconcile this Contradiction fome learned Jews fancied that there fhould be two Meffiahs; one that fhould be defpis'd, perfecuted and flain; and another, that should reign and triumph. Whereas it is manifeft from the whole Tenor of the Prophecies, diligently confidered and compar'd together, and particularly from the Lid Chapter of Isaiah, That the fame Perfon was to fuffer and to triumph; That he was firft to fuffer, and afterwards, in Confideration of his Sufferings, to be rais'd to high Honours, and all his Enterprizes to be crown'd with Succefs and Victory.

BUT the Generality of the Jews, and among them our Lord's own Disciples, quite overlook'd thofe Predictions which related to the Sufferings of their Messiah. The bright Side of the Prophecies, which, as they imagined, gave them a Prospect of rifing to very honourable and profi table Preferments, and of domineering

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VI.

SERM.

VI.

Luke ix. 46.

over the reft of the World, had fo dazzled their Eyes, that the black and dark Side of the Predictions was not vifible to them.

THIS fame Leaven of Pride and Am bition, fet on working by the fame groundless Expectation of the temporal Grandeur and Power of the Meffiah, had fo fwelled and blowed up the Apoftles themselves, that, as despicable a Figure as their Mafter and they then made, they quarrell'd among themselves which of them should be greateft. And the two Sons of Zebedee in particular petitioned their Lord, That they might fit, the one on his right Hand, and the other on his left, in his Kingdom: At which the Ten were moved with Indignation. And tho' our Lord, on purpose to discountenance and beat down this afpiring Spirit in his Difciples, and to root out of their Minds that Opinion which nourish'd and fomented it, had told them over and over in as plain and exprefs Terms as a Man could use, That be fhould be delivered unto the Gentiles,

.

and

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