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"believer that he may be deserted, but deserts him

that he may not be deserted; and he appears to for"sake, because he is unwilling to forsake him." 3. They have to do with an enemy, over whom Christ hath already triumphed. Nor can the conflict fail to be glorious, and one from which they shall come forth more than conquerors."a Light shall arise after darkness. This violent tempest shall be succeeded by a calm serenity, delightful in proportion to the severity with which the thunders and the storm may have raged. 4. The very bitterness, in fine, of that condition, will impart a double sweetness to the succeeding joys, as well of grace as of glory. "Security is pleasant "to all, but particularly to, him who has been in fear. Light is joyful to all, but more than commonly joy"ful to one who escapes from the power of darkness. "To have passed from death to life, gives a double re"lish to the blessing of life."*

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XLV. Learn, in the last place, in what manner you ought to conduct yourself, when visited with such sorrows. 1. Beware of an immoderate fondness for places of retirement, favourable to a sorrow, which gradually becomes a kind of mischievous pleasure to the unhappy mind. After you have poured forth your complaints in secret into the bosom of God, return at intervals to the society of your acquaintances and friends. 2. Be unwearied in prayer. Some forms of prayer suited to your condition, are contained in the seventy-seventh, eighty-eighth, hundred and second, and several other Psalms. A form of the same sort, peculiarly adapted to the troubled soul, and uncommonly pathetic, you

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will also find in a valuable little book composed by Thomas Goodwin, entitled, The child of light walking in darkness.* 3. Lay aside all murmuring; and renouncing the reasoning of the flesh, and the inclination of your own will, commit yourself entirely to God, and always subject your own wishes to his sovereign, most wise, and most excellent will: Having protested that, while you desire that, if it be possible, the cup may pass from you, you do not refuse, if necessary, to drink up to the bottom, if it be conducive to the glory of God, and to your own ultimate advantage. 4. In fine, wait in patience and faith, till he who at last heard the prayers of Christ, and delivered him from fear,₤29 both affording him strength to sustain his sorrows, and making him victorious over all adversities, shall also manifest his sympathy for you under your distresses, and refresh you with the fulness of his consolations.g He who now seems to. stand at a distance from you, will doubtless return. Sooner or later he will return; and-to adopt very nearly the expressions of Augustine-" interrupting you possibly in the midst of your prayers, will impart himself speedily to the longing soul; and being covered with the dew of celestial sweetness, and anointed with fragrant ointments, "will refresh the weary, satisfy the hungry, and enrich "the indigent soul, and, by his liberal communications, "restore it to health and vigour."t

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DISSERTATION XIX.

ON THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST.

1. FROM the remotest ages of antiquity, "the Spi"rit of Christ which was in the prophets, testified be"forehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that "should follow."a The Messiah's twofold state of humiliation and exaltation, which is in some degree delineated in obscure predictions, and in the symbolical enigmas of the types, is elsewhere described more clearly and explicitly. At one time the prophet says; "He shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor "comeliness, &c.b But we hear him saying also: Behold, my servant shall deal prudently; he shall "be exalted and extolled, and be very high." In one passage, the Messiah is represented to us as "a ser"vant of rulers, whom man despiseth, and whom the "nation abhorreth." But he is also described ás

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given for a light to the Gentiles, and to be God's "salvation unto the end of the earth; whom kings "shall see and arise, princes also shall worship."d

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II. The modern Hebrew Doctors, absurdly wishing to disjoin these different states, pretend that there are two Messiahs. The one, they tell us, is the Son of Joseph by Ephraim, who, after having appeared and exerted himself for a little while in the work of salvation, is to terminate an afflicted life, and, as they express it," the sorrows of the Messiah,"* by a bloody death. The other is then to succeed, to wit, the Son of David, a more fortunate Messiah, who is to subdue his enemies on every side, to restore the Israelites to the land of their fathers, to revive the golden age;

O'er the wide world his peaceful sceptre sway,
And all his Father's virtues still display.†

III. The true faith, on the contrary, whilst it knows only one God, recognises, also, only "one Mediator be"tween God and men."e But to that one Mediator it ascribes two states; the one a state of abasement and suffering, in which he procured our salvation; and the other, of advancement and glory, in which he powerfully applies the salvation he has purchased. It is said of the same person: "Thou hast made him a little lower "than the angels," that by the grace of God he might taste death for every man; and,-" Thou hast crown"ed him with glory and honour." It is one King of Zion, "just and having salvation," who first comes to her, "meek and lowly;" but whose "dominion shall subsequently extend from sea to sea, and from the river even to the ends of the earth."s Both are united in that Jesus whom we confess, who "made himself

חבלי משיה

+ Pacatumque reget, patriis virtutibus, orbem.

1 Tim. ii. 5.

Zech. ix, 9, 10.

f Ps. viii. 5. Heb. ii. 7, 8, 9.

“of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a "servant," and "whom God, in consequence, hath "highly exalted."h

IV. We have reason to contemplate each of these states with great pleasure and delight. As in the state of humiliation, we behold the incredible philanthropy of Christ, descending of his own accord to the lowest abyss of suffering; so the state of exaltation, gives a representation of Christ, in which we may at once exceedingly rejoice with him from a principle of gratitude, and greatly exult on our own account. To whom ought it not to afford the sincerest pleasure, to think of the joyful rest and triumphant glory of so dear a Brother, Husband, and Head, who lately sustained so arduous a conflict with so vast an accumulation of evils? A glory which he has received from the Father, not for himself only, but that he might share it with his brethren, his spouse, his members; who are, therefore, said to be "raised up together with Christ, and made "to sit together in heavenly places." i

v. The subject of the exaltation, properly so called, is Christ according to the human nature only. As the true God, he is adorned with the title of " the High66 est;" on account of his immutable blessedness and his unparalleled and boundless perfection; and it is utterly impossible for him, in the form of God, to be literally exalted, or made higher. It is the human nature only, that receives an accession of glory. Yet, since a mere man cannot be the recipient of a highness so great as that which appertains to our exalted Saviour, the term exaltation denotes also the illustrious mani

Philip. ii. 7, 9.
Jy Ps. lxxxix. 27. xcvii. 9.

i Ephes. ii. 6.

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