himself" exalted above all blessing and praise," should become "a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief;" that he, whose nature is impassive, should agonize in the garden and bleed under the scourge; that he, "who only hath immortality," should "become obedient unto death, even the death of the cross;" that he, who is the most high and most holy, should be made an accursed thing, suffering as the vilest of malefactors, and the most infamous.of mankind :: these are mysteries, after which reason gropes in vain whilst faith assents, admires and adores. Mysteries, which to dispute were the same as to disbelieve, and to disbelieve is to be undone for "he that believeth not shall be damned.” (Mark xvi. 16.)

The arguments proposed in the foregoing dis courses, have, I trust, served to convince as ma my as have seriously weighed their force, that our state at present, by nature and practice, is des perate; that we are corrupt in our original, sinful in all our ways, incapable of helping ourselves,, concluded under the curse, the wages of sin.Wretched man, that I am," must every soul. needs cry,

cry, "Who shall deliver me from the body of this death" (Rom. vii. 24.) And the answer to this question is the highest glory of the gospel: "Christ bath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us."

you

This delightful subject, my brethren, it is always the very joy of my heart to set before It is the foundation of all my own happiness; it must be so too of yours, if you would be ever happy. It is here alone we can truly find deliv→ erance from our fears, peace from the accusations of conscience, comfort in death, and after death life everlasting. If we think we have any of these on any other grounds, the thought is at

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present delusive, and in the end will be fatal. O that God would assist me worthily to speak of the revelation of his grace in Jesus Christ, and to shew the fulness that is in him! The words read will afford these three considerations:

I. The person who hath redeemed us, Christ. II. The manner in which he redeemed us, by being made a curse for us.

III. The benefits which we receive by his redemption of us.

I. The person who hath redeemed us is Christ. The comfort and relief of the sinner depends on the all-sufficiency of the Redeemer: the all-sufficiency of the Redeemer must arise from his qual ifications for the work he undertakes. Christ is thus all-sufficient from the dignity of his divine, ⚫ and the excellence of his human nature. He is both "God and man, very God and very man and yet not two, but one Christ."*

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First, Our Redeemer is very God. This is the corner-stone of our salvation. If Christ be not very God, "our hopes are vain, we are yet in our sins." This however is opposed by many, who deny the "Lord that bought them." They blas pheme that holy Name whereby we are called: they degrade him to a dependent, some farther, to a mere human creature. They thus "live without the true God in the world;" (Eph. ii. 12.) by such denial of the faith they raze the foundations of christianity, though they pretend: to espouse it, and are worse than the open infidek.

Let us hear the word of God. There we shall find that either there is no God, or Christ is that God: for all his names, his attributes, his works and worship are ascribed to him. These are honours God cannot give unto another. The pos sessor of them must share in the essence of the

Athanasian Creed.

Idivine nature, or we must sink once more into idolatrous polytheism. This truth hath been ev idently proved at large by many zealous "conitenders for the faith once delivered unto the saints;" and therefore I shall only leave with you the scriptures which chiefly speak to the point, with a short observation or two upon them. w-That Christ is very God, the titles variously ascribed to him declare. Sometimes absolutely the is called God, (Acts xx. 28.) sometimes the Lord; (Colos. iii. 24.) distinguished too with the peculiar properties of Deity, "the Lord of Hosts and of Glory;" (James ii. 1. Isa. vi. 3.) sometimes by that incommunicable name Jehofvah. (Isai. vi. 1.) And these titles so especially his own, that he is said to be "the true God, (1 John v. 20.) the only wise God; (Jude 25.) the "God over all, (Rom. ix. 5.) blessed for rever." Could such names be attributed to any creature, we must for ever be at a loss to know ¡the peculiar name of HIM, to whom we owe our fadorations. But these are the distinguishing titles of the Deity, therefore he who possesses them is very God.

His attributes are as decisive a proof of his divinity as his names. They are the incommunicable glories of the most High. If to be "almighty, (Rev. i. 8.) heart-searching, (Acts 24.) omnipresent, (Matt. xviii. 20.) eternal, ( 1 Tim. i. 17.) incomprehensible, (Matt. xi. 27.) independent, (John x. 18.) immutable;" (Heb. 1. 12.) if this is to be very God, then Christ our Redeemer hath the most undoubted claim to it.

His works also proclaim his eternal power and godhead. If" the heavens declare the glory of the Lord, and the firmament sheweth his handywork;" (Psal. xix. 1) if on the vast creation the stamp of the Almighty appears; if the bright

sun or twinkling stars, or all the brighter suns, cherubs and seraphs, which burn before the throne of God, proclaim the hand that made them to be divine; then Christ challenges this honour: "All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. (John i. 3.) He spake and it was done." (Psal. xxxiii. 9.) And he still "upholdeth them all: (Heb. i. 3.) for his pleasure they are and were created, (Rev. iv. 11.) by whom and for whom are all things." (1 Cor. viii. 6.). And as he is the Creator, he is also the Governor and Judge of all. To him it appertaineth to exercise every act of divine power; to "forgive sins5 (Matt. ix. 2.) to quicken whom he will; (John v. 21.) to send the Spirit; (John xv. 26.) to raise the dead;" (John xi. 48.) to execute the final judgment; (Rom. xiv. 11.) to determine the eternal state of men and angels. (Matt. xxVD 31-46.) Well might we charge, as the Jews did; (Matt. ix. 3.) any the highest created Be ing with blasphemy who should presume thus to exalt himself. He that doth these things is God alone.

Worship is solely due to the one eternal God. "To him every knee must bow, every tongue must confess." (Rom. xiv. 11.) But this is paid in the highest manner to the Lord Christ; is claimed by him as his prerogative; and offered by saints on earth and angels in heaven. Jealons for the honour of his Father, so as to be incapable of suffering the least profanation in the farthest courts of his house, he yet received and vindicated the hosannas of the multitude. "in the midst of the temple." (Matt. xxi. 15.) These hymns of praise to the most High were no more than his due," who, being in the form of God, counted it na robbery to be equal with God,"

(Phil. ii. 6.) We must honour the Son as we honour the Father," (John v. 23.) He that would. not from those who regarded him as a man, Matt. xix, 17.) receive the least mark of divine honour, most willingly admits an Apostle at his feet worshipping him as his "Lord and his God,” (John xx. 28.) And they indeed are so fully assured of his eternal power and godhead, that in the deepest seasons of distress and difficulty they call upon him, and resign "their dying souls"? Acts vii, 59.) into his hands. Nor is he God on earth alone adored, the hosts of heaven bow down before his footstool. "The angels of God worship him," (Heb. i. 6.) One of the most glorious visions of the upper world was this King upon his throne, surrounded with his Seraphim; their faces veiled with reverential awe, and pouring forth their sacred homage and highest adoration: they cried one to another, and said, Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of Hosts; the whole.. earth is full of his glory," (Isa. vi. 1.—12.) And when this present scene shall be no more, this still shall be the service of eternity, when "every creature day and night shall never rest saying, Holy, holy, holy Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come. (Rev. iv. 8.) Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory, and honour, and power, and blessing!" (Rev. iv. 11.) Can higher worship be offered? If this belong to our Redeemer, surely he is very God.

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2. Christ is as truly man as he is God, Since redemption was to be obtained in and by the na ture which had sinned, "it behoved him in all things to be made like unto his brethren, sin only excepted." (Heb. ii. 17.). This must have been excepted, else he had not been "a Lamb without spot or blemish;" nor could he otherwise have taken away the sin of the world;" for had he