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of the innocence of Jesus, saying, Certainly this was a righteous man; yea, notwithstanding all the vile reproaches which have been cast upon him, truly this man was what He declared himself to be-even the Son of God himself. And the soldiers also who attended the centurion, even they that were with him guarding Jesus on the cross, seeing the earthquake and those other things which were now done, feared greatly, saying in like manner, Truly this Jesus of Nazareth, whom we have thus been insulting and murdering, was the Son of God; and his heavenly Father will certainly avenge his quarrel very terribly on us, and on the whole nation of the Jews, who have delivered him to us.

"And all the multitude* that were come together on this remarkable occasion to see this doleful spectacle, even some of those who but a little before had been insulting him in his dying agonies, when they saw the things that were done, returned beating their breasts for sorrow and remorse, in terrible expectation that some sad calamity would speedily befal them and their country, for the indignities and cruelties they had offered to a person for whom God had expressed so high a regard, even in his greatest distress;" and whom He had so publicly acknowledged as his beloved Son, by the most stupen

* "The conviction produced by these prodigies undoubtedly made way for the conversion of multitudes by the preaching of the apostles on the descent of the spirit, which was but seven weeks after, when these things were fresh in their memories. (Acts ii. 41.)"

dous miracle. "And surely we, when we return from such a view of it as this, have reason to smite upon our breasts too, and to be most deeply affected with what we have heard and seen in this lively description. Let us set ourselves, as with the mother of Jesus and the beloved disciple, at the foot of the cross, and see whether there be any sorrow like unto his sorrow, Well might the sun grow pale at the sight-well might the earth tremble to support it! How obdurate must the hearts of those sinners be, who could make a mock of all his anguish, and sport themselves with his dying groans! But surely the blessed angels who were now, though in an invisible crowd, surrounding the accursed tree, beheld him with other sentiments-admiring and adoring the various virtues which He expressed in every circumstance of his behaviour, and which, while the sun of righteousness was setting, gilded and adorned all the horizon. Let us likewise pay our homage to them, and observe with admiration his tenderness to his aged mother; his meekness under all these injuries and provocations; his steady faith in God, in an hour of the utmost distress; and his concern to accomplish all the purposes of his life before He yielded to the stroke of death.

"Yet with what amazement must the holy angels hear that cry from the Son of God, from the darling of heaven, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? (These were the things they bent down with such fervent desire to look into and fully comprehend.) Let not any of the children of God, therefore, wonder if their heavenly Father sometimes withdraws from them

the sensible and supporting manifestations of his presence, when Christ himself was thus exercised; and let them remember that faith never appears with greater glory than when in language like this it bursts through a thick cloud, and owns the God of Israel, and his Almighty Son, even while He is a God that hideth himself from us. (Isa. xlv. 15.) May we in our combat with the king of terrors find him enervated by the death of our dear Lord, who thus conquered even when He fell; may we thus breathe out our willing and composed spirits into our Saviour's hands,* with a language and faith like his, as knowing whom we believed, and being persuaded that He is able to keep what we commit to him until that day. (2 Tim. i. 12.)

"With pleasure may we survey the awful tokens by which God owned his dying Son, and wiped away the infamy of his cross. The veil is now rent by the death of Jesus: let us be encouraged to come boldly to the throne of grace, and to draw near to the holiest of all, into which He has entered with his own blood. (Heb. iv. 16; ix. 12.) May God render the knowledge of the cross of Christ the blessed means of shaking the consciences of men with powerful convictions, and of raising them from the death of sin to a life of holiness! And may we be so planted together in the likeness of his death, that we may at length also be planted in the likeness of his resurrection. (Rom. vi. 5.)” And on the final consummation of that great

* Christ commended his spirit into his Father's hands; but the dying martyrs commended theirs into their Saviour's hands.

event, the general resurrection, when those who have died in the Lord will rise transformed into the glorious image of the Son of God, (1 Cor. xv. 49,) and be equal unto the angels; when those who have been sowed in corruption, have been raised in incorruption; those who have been sowed in dishonour, have been raised in glory; those who have been sown in weakness, have been raised in power; those who have been sown a natural body, have been raised a spiritual body: then will they be conducted by their adored and muchloving Lord into his glorious Father's presence, into those resplendent mansions which He has prepared within the veil, even within the holiest of holies, there to enjoy, throughout the boundless ages of a blessed eternity, the bright inheritance their blessed Lord has purchased with his most precious blood; and there to live with him. in bliss and glory, for ever and for ever!

Towards the attainment of this glorious glory, let us examine our hearts, and see whether they harbour any of those malignant passions that crucified our Lord: whether envy, cruelty, and selfishness have been rooted out of them; whether they contain a willingness to relieve the oppressed, and to suffer worldly loss, rather than, like Pilate, consign an innocent person into the hands of barbarous enemies; whether they could be capable of insulting or deriding an afflicted fellow-creature? For if such dispositions are not extirpated, we have not as yet crucified the old and natural man within us; we have not as yet been gifted by receiving the Holy Ghost. Let us then dili

gently examine ourselves on these points, particularly when preparing for the reception of the blessed sacrament of Christ's body and blood; fervently imploring our heavenly Father to send his Holy Spirit into our hearts, and cleanse them from such pollutions; and by a frequent attendance on this renovating ordinance, by applying to this sovereign means of grace, we shall be cleansed from all corruption; we shall receive the Holy Ghost.

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