tre atment of his

the midst of the

saints there; for he is a Lamb still, even in throne of his exaltation; and he that is the shepherd of the whole flock is himself a Lamb, and goes be fore them in heaven as such. Rev. vii. 17. "For the Lamb, which is in the midst of the throne, shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters, and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes. Though in heaven every knee bows to him, and though the angels fall down before him, adoring him, yet he treats his saints with infinite condescension, mildness and endearment. And, in his acts towards the saints on earth, he still appears as a Lamb, manifesting exceeding love and tenderness, in his intercession for them, as one that has had experience of affliction and temptation : He has not forgot what these things are; nor has he forgot how to pity those that are subject to them. And he still manifests his lamblike excellencies, in his dealings with his saints on earth, in admirable forbearance, love, gentleness and compassions, instructing, supplying, supporting and comforting them, often coming to them, and manifesting himself to them by his Spirit, that he may sup with them, and they with him, admitting them to sweet communion with him, enabling them with boldness and confidence to come to him and solace their hearts in him. And in heaven Christ still appears, as it were, with the marks of his wounds upon him ; and so appears as a Lamb as it had been slain; as he was represented in vision to St. John, in the text, when he appeared to open the book sealed with seven seals, which is part of the glory of his exaltation.

V. And, lastly, This admirable conjunction of excellencies will be manifested in Christ's acts at the last judgment. He then, above all other times, will appear as the Lion of the tribe of Judah in infinite greatness and majesty, when he shall come in the glory of his Father, with all the holy angels, and the earth shall tremble before him, and the hills shall melt. This is he, spoken of Rev. xx. 11, that shall "sit on a great white throne, before whose face the earth and heaven shall flee away." He will then appear in the most dreadful and amaz

ing manner to the wicked: The devils tremble at the thoughts of that appearance; and when it shall be, the kings and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bond man, and every free man, shall hide themselves in the dens, and in the rocks of the mountains, and shall cry to the mountains and rocks to fall on them and hide them from the face and wrath of the Lamb. And none can declare or conceive of the amazing manifestations of wrath in which he will then appear towards these; or the trembling and astonishment, the shrieking and gnashing of teeth, with which they shall stand before his judgment seat, and receive the terrible sentence of his wrath.

And yet he will at the same time appear as a Lamb to his saints: He will receive them as friends and brethren, treating them with infinite mildness and love: There shall be nothing in him terrible to them; but towards them he will clothe himself wholly with sweetness and endearment. The church shall then be admitted to him as his bride: That shall be her wedding day: The saints shall all be sweetly invited to come with him to inherit the kingdom, and reign in it with him to all eternity.

APPLICATION.

I. From this doctrine we may learn one reason why Christ is called by such a variety of names, and held forth under such a variety of representations in scripture. It is the better to signify and exhibit to us that variety of excellencies that meet together, and are conjoined in him. Many appellations are mentioned together in one verse, Isa. ix. 6. "For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given, and the government shall be upon his shoulder; and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, the mighty God, the everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace." It shews a wonderful conjunction of excellencies, that the same person should be a Són, born and given, and yet be the everlasting Father, without begin

hing or end; that he should be a Child, and yet be he whose name is Counsellor, and the mighty God; and well may his hame, in whom such things are conjoined, be called Won. derful.

By reason of the same wonderful conjunction, Christ is represented by a great variety of sensible things, that are on some account excellent. Thus in some places he is called a Sun, as Mal. iv. 2, in others a Star, Numb, xxiv. 17. And he is especially represented by the Morning Star, as being that which excels all other stars in brightness, and is the forerunner of the day, Rev, xxii. 16. And, as in our text, he is compared to a lion in one verse, and a lamb in the next, so some times he is compared to a roe, or a young hart, another crea ture most diverse from a lion. So in some places he is called a rock, in others he is compared to a pearl: In some places he is called a man of war, and the Captain of our Salvation, in other places he is represented as a bridegroom. In the sec ond chapter of Canticles, the 1st verse, he is compared to a rose and lily, that are sweet and beautiful flowers; in the next verse but one, he is compared to a tree, bearing sweet fruit. In Isai. liii. 2, he is called a Root out of a dry ground; but elsewhere, instead of that, he is called the Tree of Life, that grows (not in a dry or barren ground, but)" in the midst of the paradise of God." Rev. ii. 7.

II. Let the consideration of this wonderful meeting of diverse excellencies in Christ induce you to accept him, and close with him as your Saviour. As all manner of excellen→ cies meet in him, so there are concurring in him all manner of arguments and motives, to move you to choose him for your Saviour, and every thing that tends to encourage poor sinners to come and put their trust in him. His fulness and all suf ficiency as a Saviour gloriously appear in that variety of excellencies that has been spoken of.

Fallen man is in a state of exceeding great misery, and is helpless in it; he is a poor weak creature, like an infant, cast out in its blood, in the day that it is born: But Christ is the Lion of the tribe of Judah; he is strong, though we are weak; he

hath prevailed to do that for us which no creature else could do. Fallen man is a mean, despicable creature, a contemptible worm; but Christ who has undertaken for us, is infinitely honorable and worthy. Fallen man is polluted, but Christ is infinitely holy: Fallen man is hateful, but Christ is infinitely lovely: Fallen man is the object of God's indignation, but Christ is infinitely dear to him: We have dreadfully provok ed God, but Christ has performed that righteousness that is infinitely precious in God's eyes.

And here is not only infinite strength and infinite worthi ness, but infinite condescension; and love and mercy, as great as power and dignity: If you are a poor, distressed sinner, whose heart is ready to sink for fear that God never will have mercy on you, you need not be afraid to go to Christ, for fear that he is either unable or unwilling to help you: Here is a strong foundation, and an inexhaustible treasure, to answer the necessities of your poor soul; and here is infinite grace and gentleness to invite and embolden a poor, unworthy, fearful soul to come to it. If Christ accepts you, you need not fear but that you will be safe; for he is a strong lion for your defence: And if you come, you need not fear but that you shall be accepted; for he is like a lamb to all that come to him, and receives them with infinite grace and tenderness. It is true he has awful majesty; he is the great God, and is infinitely high above you; but there is this to encourage and embolden the poor sinner, that Christ is man as well as God; he is a creature, as well as the Creator; and he is the most humble and lowly in heart of any creature in heaven or earth. This may well make the poor, unworthy creature bold in coming to him. You need not hesitate one moment; but may run to him, and cast yourself upon him; you will certainly be graciously and meekly received by him. Though he be a lion, he will only be a lion to your enemies, but he will be a lamb to you. It could not have been conceived, had it not been so in the person of Christ, that there could have been so much in any Saviour, that is inviting, and tending to encourage sinners to trust in him. Whatever your circumstances are,

you need not be afraid to come to such a Saviour as this: Be you never so wicked a creature, here is worthiness enough: Be you never so poor, and mean, and ignorant a creature, there is no danger of being despised; for though he be so much greater than you, he is also immensely more humble than you. Any one of you that is a father or mother, will not despise one of your own children that comes to you in distress; much less danger is there of Christ despising you, if you in your heart come to him.....Here let me a little expostulate with the poor, burdened, distressed soul.

1. What are you afraid of, that you dare not venture your soul upon Christ? Are you afraid that he cannot save you; that he is not strong enough to conquer the enemies of your soul? But how can you desire one stronger than the "mighty God?" as Christ is called, Isa. ix. 6. Is there need of greater than infinite strength? Are you afraid that he will not be willing to stoop so low as to take any gracious notice of you? But then, look on him, as he stood in the ring of soldiers, exposing his blessed face to be buffeted and spit upon by them! Behold him bound, with his back uncovered to those that smote him! And behold him hanging on the cross! Do you think that he that had condescension enough to stoop to these things, and that for his crucifiers, will be unwilling to accept you if you come to him? Or, are you afraid, that if he does accept you, that God the Father will not accept him for you? But consider, will God reject his own Son, in whom his infinite delight is, and has been, from all eternity, and that is so united to him, that if he should reject him, he would reject himself?

2. What is there that you can desire should be in a Saviour, that is not in Christ? Or, wherein should you desire a Saviour should be otherwise than Christ is? What excellency is there wanting? What is there that is great or good? What is there that is venerable or winning? What is there that is adorable or endearing? Or, what can you think of, that would be encourageing, that is not to be found in the person of Christ? Would you have your Saviour to be great and honorable, be