place, the presence of a potter, the circumstance of his having a field of the precise value to sell, with various other circum- stances, were all, as we should call them, accidental : but God foresaw all, and fore-ordained to accomplish his own will by means of all. And this shews us how God's decrees respect- ing the salvation of his people are accomplished. Men are not at all the less free because of his decrees ; nor are the decrees of God the less certain because of man's free agency. There are ten thousand minute and accidental circumstances, as we should call them, necessary, as Jinks in the chain of God's pur- poses ; but not one shall be wanting ; not one shall fail ; nor shall one jot or tittle of God's word ever pass away. The responsibility of man will be precisely the same as if God had made no decrees : and the termination of events will be the same, as if God himself had produced them without the agency of man. With respect to man, all is uncertain : but with respect to God, all is as fixed, as if it were already done: " His counsel shall stand : and he will do all his will." Deep as these truths are, they are not at all inconsistent with each other : and if men will only mark in what way the prophecies have been fulfilled, they will have a key to all the difficulties which have embarrassed, and incensed against each other, the whole Christian world.]
But the transaction in our text must be yet further viewed,
II. As an emblematic act —
It was foretold by Isaiah, that the Messiah should be " despised and rejected of menV But was it by the men of one generation only that he was to be so treated ? No ; but by men of every nation, and of every age. It is indeed humiliating to think that the prophecy in our text has been fulfilled in us : but it is not more humiliating than true. Consider,
1. What we have done to obtain an interest in Christ—
[After the things of this world we have burned with most intense desire : pleasure, riches, honour, have been in such request, that no measure of attainment of them could ever satisfy us : but after the knowledge of Christ we have felt no such longings : a small measure would satisfy us at any time : and we could be quite content to leave it in doubt whether he were our friend or not. Anxieties and disappointments in abundance we have felt in relation to earthly things ; but not
k Isai. liii. 2, 3.