eye. Is not the coalition of these contrary qualities, strength and weakness, wonderful? Under the shade of the one the perfection of the other appears, and exerts itself gloriously. The new creation are highly entertained with these wonders. In the mystery of godliness, they find food which strengthens at the same time that it ravishes the soul. As it was with him, so it is with them. Power reigned and exerted itself mightily in him when he was "Crucified through weakness;" and as to them, when they are weak, then are they strong.

Thirdly, In the crucifixion, sin and holiness met together. No principles are more distant in their nature and operation than these, and yet you observe them both in his body on the tree. He knew no sin, and yet he was made sin. The Holy and Just One was laden with iniquity. "Upon him the Lord laid the iniquity of us all." With this load he was not however defiled. He bare it in his own body on the tree, without polluting himself. "Such an "high-priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, "and separated from sinners." Can you behold sin and holiness in his body, on the tree, without wondering at their meeting together? Each retained its own nature. Sin was not sanctified by holiness, nor holiness defiled by sin. But the conflict of these contending principles in the body of the holy child Jesus, when bearing our iniquity, is inconceivable. Loathing and abhorring themselves on account of sin, are painful and gracious affections, of which holy believers are conscious, in proportion to their eminency in sanctification. But in the Holy One of God, where holiness shined forth in the perfection of beauty, the presence of our iniquities occasioned, doubtless, anguish exceeding our consciousness of these affections.

Fourthly, In the crucifixion, love and hatred met together. The love of the man Christ Jesus, whom they crucified, passeth knowledge and comprehension; and the hatred of the crucifiers, is cruelty venomed with the essence and bitterness of malignity. They hated him without cause: they hated him for his love. Contrast with his love the hatred of his betrayers and murderers, and abhor its cursed malignity. Contrast with their hatred his love, and magnify its excellent greatness. The height of it cannot be taken; the depth of it cannot be sounded; the length of it cannot be measured; the breadth of it cannot be described. K

O the depth! O the height! O the length! O the breadth "of the love of Christ which passeth knowledge!"

Fifthly, In the crucifixion, honour and dishonour met together. By his Father, the fountain of honour, the Man Christ Jesus was honored. The night before they crucified him, these sublime expressions proceeded out of his mouth: "Now is the son of man glorified, and God "is glorified in him." Dying on the cross was ignominious. On that tree every affront was offered to his person and office, while he whom they nailed to it counted it an honor to be dishonored for the manifestation of the glory of the Father in the salvation of men. "Let this mind be in you," saith Paul to the Philippians, "which was also in Christ "Jesus." The apostles entered into his mind. His sentiments in suffering in their stead, and their sentiments in suffering for his sake, were the same. For the glory of the Father, in their salvation, he esteemed it honorable to be dishonored. And this high sentiment was soon exemplified in them: They departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were honored to be dishonored for his name.

Sixthly, Death and victory met together in the crucifixion. In ordinary conflicts, it is death or victory; but in the crucifixion of the Man Christ Jesus, it is death and victory. The death of the cross is not a defeat, but a victory and a triumph. Nor is it merely the occasion, or the mean of victory and triumph. Scripture sets it forth as the victory itself, and the triumph itself: "Having spoiled "principalities and powers, he made a shew of them open"ly, triumphing over them in it." In actions of contending armies, the victory is frequently doubtful. Both sides claim it, nor is it easy, all circumstances considered, to say

which side has the best claim. But when we consider the action on the cross in all its circumstances the victory of the man Christ Jesus, in his death, appears decisive, and his claim to the honor of a triumph indisputable The forces of the adversary were broken and scattered, the head of their chief was bruised, his power dissolved, and his works destroyed.

Finally, In the crucifixion, the blessing and the curse met together. We cannot look on the Man Christ Jesus nailed to the tree, without beholding the operation of the curse. He who is over all God blessed for ever, was made a curse, and cursed by the ungodly on every side.

These reviled the Holy Sufferer; and wagging the head, and shooting out the lip, cried, in profane derision, "If thou "be the Son of God, save thyself, and come down from the "cross." But here the blessing is beheld at the same time: "The blessing from the Lord, even righteousness from "the God of our salvation," comes, and is received through the cross. He whom they hanged on the tree is blessed in his person, and made a blessing in his office. In him millions of accursed transgressors are made righteous, and by his God and Father blessed with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places.

Now, HEARERS, after addressing to the understanding these lively principles concerning the man Christ Jesus, whom they crucified, it is proper, before proceeding to the action which celebrates his death and love, to recollect the several particulars of the general method; and, by addressing to the heart some inferences, observations, and conclusions, help your faith and joy in the Lord. Remembering his death at a table, covered and served according to his appointment, is more than an effort of memory, bringing before us a fact which stands recorded in his history. It is also an operation of a lively and strengthening principle, which exerts itself through the whole course of our obedience.

The First Particular in the method of discourse, you will recollect, related to the crucifiers. Concerning them, observe the time when, the place where, and the instru mentality by which they crucified the Lord of glory. The time is frequently defined by himself, his Hour. Near the beginning of his ministry, he said, "Mine hour is "not yet come;" and, at the end of it, "Father the hour is "come." This hour is the most momentous period in the division of time. Since time began to run, or days to be numbered, there is not an hour of such momentous importance as that in which the Son of the Highest was nailed to a tree under our iniquity, and under the wrath and curse of God! Dost thou think of this astonishing period without abhorring thine iniquity, and praising his love who bare it in his own body on the tree? The place where they crucified him is defined with equal precision: "With"out the Camp," "Without the Gate," "Golgotha," "Cal"vary," "Place of Skulls," are terms by which it seemed

good to the Holy Ghost to draw the thoughts of the world upon the place. If reconciliation for iniquity be made effectually, the where may appear to us as a circumstance of little moment. But God, in every part of whose administration wisdom and prudence are conspicuous, appointed it to be made at Jerusalem rather than at Rome, without rather than within the gate of Jerusalem, and in the Place of Skulls rather than in any other suburb of that city. The Instrumentality by which they crucified him, is characterised with the most marked particularity, and constantly represented to have been wicked and unjust. Who is like God? In holiness, God is glorious; in praises, he is fearful; and in all his ways past finding out. By the vilest of the ungodly he often works, without defiling his work with iniquity. The wrath of the crucifiers praised the Lord, and by it he executed the determination of his secret counsel.

The Second Particular, you will recollect, related to the man Christ Jesus, the singular person whom they crucified. In his person and office, titles infinitely high and inconceivably low meet together, and prove him to be both God and man. "Son of God," "Only Begotten of "the Father," "God over all blessed for ever," are titles infinitely ign, and prove him by whom they are claimed, and to whom they are ascribed, to be God. "Seed of the "woman," "Seed of Abraham," "Seed of David," "Son "of Mary," are titles inconceivably low in a person of his dignity, and prove him by whom they are claimed, and to whom they are ascribed, to be Messiah. Titles so high and so low meeting together in his person and office, are sources of pleasure to his people, and objects of their adoration and wonder. By these singular titles it appears, that in every consideration he is equal to the arduous work which he undertook to perform, and the only person by whom it could be done. "All the fulness of the Godhead "dwells" in his person; and in his office, "it pleased the "Father that all fulness should dwell." In all his titles, whether personal or official, fitness and sufficiency for his undertaking appear; and in his fulness, every blessing which we need is to be found. "Of God Christ Jesus is "made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctifica"ion, and redemption." Believers, ye have felt the vigour and liveliness of the motives in these considerations

of him, to rejoice in his name, to remember his love, to shew his death, and to keep all his commandments: And O that you may this day feel again their vigour and liveliness at his table!

The Third Particular, you remember, respected the crucifying of the Man Christ Jesus. This unparalleled deed is set in various lights by the prophets and apostles, and by the Lord Jesus Christ himself; and all these are means of enlightening our understandings, strengthening our faith, purifying our hearts, and increasing our esteem of the richness and extent of the benefits flowing from it to our souls. After a descriptive prophecy of the suitableness, sufficiency, and excellency of our Redeemer, and of the benefits flowing from his death and love, under the dispensation of the New Testament, Isaiah says, "They "shall feed in the ways, and their pastures shall be in all "high places. They shall not hunger nor thirst, neither "shall the heat nor sun smite them; for he that hath mer"cy on them shall lead them, even by the springs of water "shall he guide them." In summer and in winter, these ways and mountains of God are green, and covered with the richest and sweetest herbage for the sheep of his hand. Under the dispensation of the law, a wall of partition, or a covenant of peculiarity, kept Gentiles from ascending and feeding on them. But under the dispensation of the gospel the wall is broken down, the peculiarity in the covenant dissolved, and the gates of these sacred inclosures opened to the ends of the earth. For the sheep, the good shepherd shed his blood, and laid down his life; for their sins he made reconciliation, and for their redemption gave his life a ransom. But of a special ransom and reconciliation, the gospel, according to the testimony of the prophets, the declaration of the apostles, and the witness of Jesus Christ himself, makes an universal exhibition, which calls the guilty, the perishing, and the lost, to come from north, south, east, and west, into these green pastures, and feed themselves on all that is in God.

The Last Particular of the General Method related to the wonders which break forth in the crucifixion. The crucifying of the Man Christ Jesus is a deed unparalleled in the records of time, and the association of discordant principles which appear in it, is a glorious display of the