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SER M. them, though not fo neceffary for mankind VIII. to have them recorded. But without the

records of thofe particular providences which were vouchfafed in that line, and among thofe people from whom he was to defcend, this great deliverer could never have been pointed out to the world fo plainly, nor could he have appeared in the world with such invincible proof and evidence of his divine miffion and doctrine; no, nor could we have understood thofe divine revelations when he came, nor could the world have known how to think or speak of them; therefore it was abfolutely neceffary the records of that family should have been preferved and conveyed down to pofterity for thofe great and neceffary purposes. And for the fame reason it was by a particular providence that the defcent of Abraham from Adam was preferved; and that afterwards an exact account of the genealogies of their families was fo religiously obferved, and in fo great requeft among his pofterity, which ferved to manifeft to the world the completion of all the prophecies relating to Chrift, and particularly to fhew how he was the feed of that very woman to whom the first promise of him was made. The whole intent and defign of that fort of knowledge ended with his birth, it became infignificant and loft its ufe, and therefore the continuation of it is condemned by St. Paul, Titus iii. 9. but avoid foolish questions and genealogics, and this in the fame fentence wherein he forbids con

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tentions and strivings about the law, and SER M. both for the fame reason, because both of VIII. them have loft their use, they are unprofitable and vain.

There is yet a farther account to be given of this wondrous difpenfation, which I have not time to pursue; and therefore I shall only obferve here, that if the timing of our Saviour's coming into the world appears thus reafonable, even to the eye of an human understanding, what must be the weight of those reasons which are yet unveiled in the fecret councils of God? What we fee is a fufficient argument of a profound humility and submisfion to his revelations, and efpecially to this great mystery of the falvation of man by the incarnation and fufferings of the fon of God, though we are not able to account for all the difficulties that may be ftarted with relation to it; and particularly for the times and the feafons which the father hath put in his own power. The time will come when these fecret things of God will be disclosed, and then we fhall be convinced that Chrift came into the world at that juncture, when it was most for the benefit and advantage of mankind that he fhould do fo. In the mean time with all refignation let us cry out with St. Paul, O! the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unfearchable are his judgments, and his ways paft finding out!

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SER M.

IX.

SERMON IX

On the agony of Christ.

MATTH. xxvi. 38.

Then faith he unto them, my foul is exceeding forrowful, even unto death.

IN

N the great and complicated mystery of our redemption by a crucified Saviour, no part is more mysterious than the true nature and extent of his fufferings; and the want of confidering them as a mystery, and allowing that we are able neither to conceive nor exprefs them, hath been the occafion of undue apprehenfions concerning the fufferings of Chrift. Notions of these in the minds of men that are too fcanty and limited have raised fome of the ftrongeft prejudices against Christianity; and have given Socinians and Infidels fuch advantages against us, as they think we are not able to get over. What it is for a man to be treated ignominiously, to be the fcorn and derifion of men, and then

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to undergo the pains of fcourging and cruci-S E R M. fixion is eafy to apprehend; and when we IX. reflect upon the fufferings of our Saviour, we are apt to think of him as we would of ourfelves, or any one elfe under the like external circumstances. It is very natural for the thoughts of men to stop here, because these are the things that fall within our sphere of fuffering, and for which our nature hath the greatest abhorrence; the fense of these things touches us moft feelingly, and it is no wonder we are not fo much affected with what we have no capacities either to know or feel. It is true, the confideration and belief of these only have been, and are fufficient to answer all the ends of a christian faith, and practical holiness: But fince the holy fcriptures have I plain indications of greater degrees of sufferings, and left room and encouragement for a farther contemplation of them; and fince the objections and prejudices againft Chrift himfelf, and the fatisfaction of his fufferings, have in a great degree made it neceffary, I fhali endeavour to enlarge our minds upon this fubject; that we may be fenfible that as he fuffered all that man could fuffer under the like treatment, fo likewife he fuffered beyond this, both in nature and degree, what no meer man could fuffer; that we may have a full conviction that the fufferings of Chrift were not only very great, but much greater than any one elfe could fuffer; and not only fo but

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SER M. that in truth and reality they were much IX. greater than we are able to comprehend or Wimagine.

But before I fpeak particularly to that part of Chrift's fufferings which is mysterious, I fhall confider that of them which we best comprehend; and they are these two, the fense of pain in his body, and of shame in his mind.

1. As to the pains of his body, they were all that man could feel or undergo in the like condition; for as he received a human body, fo he made himself liable and yielded to all its natural infirmities; the ftrokes of the fcourges, the piercing of the nails through his hands and feet, caufed moft acute and pungent pains; the iron entred into his foul, and he laboured under the pangs and agonies of death Thus far he fuffered in his body all that the thieves underwent that were crucified with him; and it is an argument of infinite love that he endured it.

But if we confider a little farther, we may probably find it very agreeable to reason, that there was fomething even in this part of our Saviour's fufferings peculiar to him, and which no one else was capable of. He had no fin in him either original or actual, and was at the time of his death in a ftate of perfect innocence; fo that though he had a feeling of our infirmities, yet we cannot well think that he had thofe infirmities that were the natural refult of moral corruptions. The frame

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