IVIII. 14—lo.
647.
3. How astonishing was the compassion of our Lord Jesus Christ, when he undertook to redeem a ruined world !
[He well kne sthe surety and substitute of siniie: s .
he must bear all that the violated law would have inflicted upon them- And. if to us. who are by nature alienated froni God, it s .ich a dreadful thing to endure the hidings of hi? face uid the terrors of his wrath, what must it be to that immaculate Lamb of God, who from all eternity •'•' lay in the bosom of his .:er," and ' :iwas daily his delight* ! " Yet behold, having under- taken for us, he suffered all that was due to us. •' He the just, for us the unjus: '. From his youth up was he " a man of sorrows. and acquainted with grief : " and, especially at the close of his life, he drank to the very dregs the cup of bitterness that must other vi-r have been put into our hands. Trulv "he was made a curse for us :" and so grievously did he suffer under the united assaults of men and devils, and from a sense also of his Father's wrath, that he sweat great drops of blood, and, in the midst of his ac grades, had yet further to bewail the hidings of
his Father"; lace; '" Mj God, my God ! why hast thou forsaken Let us learn to estimate as we ought this stupendous mystery, of "'•' God manifest in the flesh " to expiate by his own sufferings the sins of his rebellious creatures. 0 let us con- template this mystery, till we are altogether lost in wonder, love, and pra>
4. H: -v awful will be the state of all who die
without an interest in Chris: !
[This which Hem an so bitterly bewails as his portion in this world, will, in an infinitely higher degree, be the portion of all who shall perish in their sins. They will indeed be " cast out from God's sight," as objects of his everlasting abhorrence. Never to all eternity will they have one look from him, but will behold "'his face turned away" from them, and '•'his fierce wrath"' \ :ed upon them. Verily, •'•' whilst they suffer his terrors, they will be distracted." "Who can conceive the dis- traction of their minds at the overwhelming thought of etern: Oh ! what " weeping, and wailing, and gnashing of f i vill
re be amongst that wretched assembly, whose agonies ar insupportable, and whose prospects so interminable ! But thus it must be, if we will not flee to that Saviour, who has laid down his life for us. Shall we not then awake from our slumbe. ^nall we not cry unto our God, now that his ear
is open to our petitions ? Shall we stay till we come into that place of torment, and have an impassable gulf fixed between him and us ? O let us ■'•' seek the Lord whilst he may be found,
n John L 18. and Prov. viiL .