knew the full extent of those miseries, which he was abont to endure. What but the most unbounded love could carry him forward under such a load as this?

-To the eye of sense indeed, this unparelleled "acquaintance with grief" would appear strange and unac. countable: but to the view of faith, it marked him as the chosen of God, the Redeemer of the world.

This subject will be yet more fully illustrated by considering

II. The reception he met with.

One would scarcely suppose it possible, that such a person as our Lord should sojurn upon earth, and not be universally respected. His exemplary piety, his diffusive benevolence, his instructive discourses, and his blameless conduct, one would think, must conciliate the esteem of all; and that gratitude at least must bind to him many thousands, whose maladies he had healed, or whose friends he had relieved. But, to the shame of human nature be it spoken, all, whom he had benefited, seemed to have forgotten their obligations, and to vie with each other in rendering evil for good: so far from honouring him, they despised and rejected him, and even" hid their faces from him," as not designing to acknowledge him. There was no name so opprobrious, but they thought him deserving of it: they called him a glutton and a wine-bibber, a deceiver and dæmoniac. Before the high-priest they accused him of blasphemy; and before the Roman governor they charged him with treason; that so they might secure his condemnation, and have license to treat him as an enemy both of God and man. The indignities offered him in the last hours of his life were altogether unparelleled: it was indeed the hour of satan's reign, and all the powers of darkness seemed to be let loose upon him. It appeared as if nothing could satiate their malice: not content to wait the issue of a legal process, they loaded him with all manner of insults and reproaches: they dragged him from one tribunal to another; they plowed up his back with scourges, and compelled his judge to pass sentence upon him contrary to the convictions of his own conscience;, they forced him, faint and macerated as he was, to bear his cross, till he even sunk under the weight; and, to

complete the whole, they crucified him between two thieves; and continued their impious derision till the very instant of his dissolution. Nay, they were not even then satisfied; even after he was dead, they could not refrain .from shewing their hatred of him: one of the soldiers, expressing doubtless the feelings of others as well as his own, officiously thrust his spear into his side: and all the chief priests and Pharisees made application to Pilate, that he would set a guard to watch that deceiver, as they called him, lest his disciples should come by night and steal him away, and report that he he had risen from the dead." Thus did the whole nation "despise and reject him." Every other part of the creation gave testimony to him: the wild beasts in the wilderness stood in awe of him; the fishes of the sea confessed his power; the winds and the waves obeyed his voice; the holy angels ministered unto him; the very devils acknowledged his divine mission: but men, the men too of his own nation, the very men whom he came to redeem, rejected him; "He came unto his own, and his own received him not."

Happy would it have been if their contempt of Christ had terminated here: but, alas! it continued unextinguished and unabated, even after he had proved his divine mission by his resurrection from the dead, and had sent down the Holy Ghost to attest his word. They could indeed no longer vent their spleen against his person, because he was far above out of their reach; but they beat his messengers, reviled his doctrines, and opposed to the uttermost the success of his gospel. No means were left untried: they used every species of persecution, that they might deter men from embracing his religion: they excommunicated, imprisoned, and murdered his followers: and, though God was pleased to convert a remnant of them, the bulk of the nation contradicted and blasphemed the gospel, till they had filled up the measure of their iniquities.

But must we confine this accusation to the people of that age and nation? Alas! where is the nation that has not poured contempt on Christ? The apostles and other disciples of our Lord went to every quarter of the known world, and preached Jesus as the Saviour of men: but in every place did the glad tidings meet with the same

reception. Even where the word was most successful, the great majority rejected it with disdain.. And how has it been received amongst us? Blessed be God! we are not left wholly without witness; but the geneality despise and reject Christ, as much as ever the Jews did in the days of his flesh. He is not indeed exposed to their outrage; they cannot scourge and buffet him as once they did; but there are many other ways, wherein they no less virulently express their contempt of him. With what pertinacity do many controvert the divinity of his person, the reality of his atonement, and the efficacy of his grace! And what is this, but to deny the Lord that bought them? Again, what is more common than for persons to rely upon their own repentance and reformation for acceptance with God, instead of trusting simply in his blood and righteousness? and what is this, but to rob him of his glory, and exclude him from the office, which he came to execute? Can any thing be more contemptu. ous than this? Again, he has given us commandments, in obeying which we are to testify our regard to him, and to honour him in the world. But who yields to his authority? Who brings his thoughts and actions into captivity to his will? Is not the language of the generality at least, "We will not have this man to reign over us?" To what purpose is it to say, Lord, Lord, if we do not the things which he says? it is only to act over again the part of those, who bowed the knee to him, and yet smote him on the face. Indeed, all despise him, who do not value him as they ought. If we viewed him in his real character, we should see a beauty in him for which he is to be desired; we should "behold his glory, as the glory of the only begotten of the Father;" he would appear to us "fairer than ten thousand, and altogether lovely;" and the language of our hearts would be, "Whom have I in heaven but thee? and there is none upon earth that I desire besides thee." But how few are there who thus "count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ!" Yet they, who do not thus regard him, have no just sense of his worth and excellence, and therefore in reality undervalue and despise him.

We cannot better improve this subject than by observing, First, What enmity there is in the heart of man against God!

The apostle of the Gentiles has told us, that "the carnal and unrenewed mind is enmity against God." This indeed is an hard saying: but we have abundant proof of the truth of it in the subject we have been considering. We have evidence enough of it in the general forgetfulness of God, and the opposition to his will which prevails in the world. But, in the instance before us, an experiment has been made; an experiment which removes all doubt, and proves indisputably, how men would treat God, if they had him in their power. God has, for the accomplishment of his own gracious purposes, condescended to clothe himself in human flesh, and to sojourn among men. He assumed nothing of the pomp and splendour of this world, that the attachment or aversion of men might the more evidently appear to arise from their discovery of his true character. He dazzled not their eyes by a full display of his Deity, but suffered the rays of it occasionally to appear, as their organs of vision were able to bear it. He admitted them so close to him, that they might easily contemplate his proper character, and form a rational judgment of his excellencies and perfections. By this he gave them an opportunity of testifying what were the dispositions of their minds towards him. And what was the result of the experiment? Did they love him, admire him, and adore him as God? Behold, they could see no form nor comeliness in him." On the contrary, they hated him, despised him, and crucified him as a malefactor. Nor was this owing to the violence of a few: the whole nation rose up against him, and put him to death. Now this shews us in the clearest light, what human nature is, and what enmity there is in the heart of man against God. And oh! what an humiliating thought is it, that we should be even capable of such atrocious wickedness! If any one object, that this was done by the Jews; and that, if God were to come down amongst us, he would meet with a more suitable reception; we reply, That in whatever place he should appear, he would assuredly be treated in the same way: for indeed he does

come; he comes to us in the preaching of his gospel: he is truly, though not visibly, amongst us; for he has said, "Lo! I am with you alway even to the end of the world:" yet, so far from admiring his beauty, and adoring his goodness, we scarcely bestow a thought upon him; yea, instead of seeking our happiness in him, and devoting ourselves wholly to his service, there is no possession so contemptible, but we prefer it, before him, nor any lust so base, but we choose the indulgence of, it rather than his favour.

Let this melancholy truth sink down into our hearts, and cause us to loathe ourselves in dust and ashes. Nor let us ever rest, till our enmity be slain, and our aversion to him be turned into reverence and love.

In contrast with this, let us next observe, What love there is in the heart of God towards man!

Had God foreseen that his creatures would have instantly and universally adored him, we must have for ever marvelled at the love that induced him to become incarnate. But how transcendent does that love appear, when we consider that he foresaw the treatment he should meet with, and that, as he died for his very murderers, so he now invites to mercy the most contemptuous of his enemies! Let heaven and earth stand amazed! and let all flesh give thanks unto his holy name for ever and ever.

CLXXXVII. THE TRUE CAUSE OF OUR LORD'S

SUFFERINGS.

Isai. liii. 4, 5. Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities : the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and by his stripes we are healed.

WHATEVER difficulty there may be in ascertaining the precise import of some passages of scripture, the fundamental doctrines of our religion are all so plainly revealed, that he who runs may read them. There is not