1 Cor. ii. 8. Had they known it, they vmuld not have crucified the Lord of Glory.
IT has been supposed, that there is such a tran- scendent excellence in virtue, that if it were em- bodied upon earth, it would be universally revered
and honoured. But virtue has been embodied in the person of God's only dear Son ; and yet, instead of receiving from man all the homage which might have been expected, it has been treated with all possible indignity, even to the extinction of the person in whom it ^vas found. But in the assumption that all men would honour it, it is taken for granted that all would be able to appreciate its excellence : whereas men, with jaundiced eyes, see every thing with an imfavourable tint upon it ; and, consequently err exceedingly in their judgment respecting it. Through this unhappy bias, men " put evil for good, and good for evil ; darkness for light, and light for darkness ; bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter." No wonder, therefore, if their aversion to what is really excellent rises in proportion to its exalted qualities, and their opposition to it be found to correspond with their judgment. We have the authority of an Apostle for saying that this was the real cause of the indignities offered to our incarnate God. Had men been able to form a correct estimate of his character, they could not have treated them as they did : had they fully understood the errand of love on which he came, and the purposes of grace which he was destined to accomplish, they could not have raised their hands against him : it would have been impossible for persons comprehending the great mystery which he came to consummate, so to act : no ; " if they had known it, they w^ould not have crucified the Lord of Glory."
In speaking of the ignorance of mankind, and especially their ignorance of true religion, I will en- deavour to shew,
I. Its extensive prevalence —
It prevailed to an awful degree in the apostolic age—
[Respecting the way which God had devised for the sal- vation of a ruined world, the wisest philosophei's had not the slightest notion. Nor had the governors of the Jewish people any just conceptions respecting it. Though they had the Scripture in their hands, and the great mystery of godliness