things did he fuffer from men and devils; but his afflictions and bruifes from the immediate hand of God, taking vengeance for the elect's fins, were far more heavy. His foul fufferings were the moft afflicting of all others. Let every communicant behold, fee, and confider these with suitable affections.

Behold not only the buffetings, fcourgings, woundings, and cruel mockings your lovely Jefus endured from men, the inftruments of God's juftice; but especially what he fuffered in his foul by the defertion or dereliction of God the Father, whereby the gracicus influences and comforts from the divine to the human nature of Chrift were fufpended for a time, and a black cloud of wrath overwhelmed him, so that no light ap peared to him; which made him cry out, My God, my God, why haft thou farfaken me?'-Nay, at this time he had a torrent of wrath flowing in upon his foul, and the most dreadful impreffions of his Father's anger, and the law's curfe, which fell upon him for man's fin, when he was made a curfe for us, which caft him into a fit of fore amazement, confternation, and terrible agony, and into a fweat of blood. The fire of wrath raging in his foul affected his body fo, that it dried up his ftrength and moisture as a potsherd, and made his tongue cleave to his jaws. He held his peace under all his fufferings from men, and opened not his mouth; but when God's immediate wrath fell heavily on him, then he cried out. It is faid, He put up prayers and fupplications, with ftrong crying and tears,' Heb. v. 7. Yet God would not spare him, nor abate him one stripe or farthing of the debt; let him cry never fo loud, justice was inexorable; he muft fatisfy to the full.

O can you see the great Emmanuel fubftitute in your room or ftead; God acting against him as an inexorable Judge; Jehovah running upon him as a giant, not only withdrawing his countenance, and all feeling of his loving kindness from him, but making him the butt of his envenomed arrows, and not be filled with admiration at Chrift's love, and forrow for your fins, which brought fuch a storm of, wrath upon him!--O how fad were N

the bruifes! How deep were the wounds! How wide the gafhes! and how heavy the blows he got from the fword of juftice for our fins? The fword was not dull or fleepy, but furbished and awakened by Juftice to the execution.Ohow heavy were the blows our furety got from this awakened fword in the garden of Gethfemane, which made his foul exceeding forrowful,' and put him in a dreadful agony and bloody fweat!————— Behold and fee how patiently he drank the bitter cup of God's wrath for you, the poifon whereof drank up his fpirits, and made his blood to boil in his veins, and burst through his body, clothes and all! He swate without any outward fire and heat, and bled without any external wound!Behold his garments dyed red, and the ground and grafs where he lay all bedewed with his precious blood! Behold him broken with breach upon breach, till all the fea billows of divine vengeance went over him, so that he fell to the ground, was covered with blood, and overwhelmed with wrath! Behold and fee, if there be any forrow like his forrows!

It is faid, Mark xiv. 33. He began to be fore amazed and very heavy! Which fhows what a load and preffure of wrath his foul lay under, that put him in an agony that ftill increafed more and more, like the waters in Ezekiel's vifion, ftill deeper and deeper, from the ancles to the knees, till they became waters to fwim in, yea, fwelled into an ocean that would have overwhelmed the whole elect world. Into this ocean our bleffed Jonah was willing to be thrown for our fake, and in it he continued to fwim until he brought every elect foul fafe afhore. It is recorded of Abraham when offering his facrifice, Gen. xv. 12 That in the evening lo an horror cf great darknefs fell upon him.' This was verified much more of Chrift in the evening before his paffion in the garden: There a terrible horror of great darkness fell upon Chrift's foul, which made him exceeding heavy and fore amazed, at the prospect of the fea of wrath that was coming rolling upon him, while the Father was hiding his face from him. O how great was the anguish of Chrift's mind at this time,

when he found himself preffed and bruifed betwixt the milftone of God's juftice and our fins? Which preffure made him fweat without heat, and bleed without wound! Ah! the fire, the heat, the wounds were inward, even in his foul! O communicants behold and fee Chrift's forrows for you, nothing can be more acceptable to Chrift than often to meditate thereon with admiration and love. If any of you had loft a hand, or even a finger, in defending or refcuing your friend from an enemy, you would expect he would be ever mindful of the favour, and never forget you. But O what is that to the fufferings of the Son of God for you? He hath loft not an hand, but his heart blood, yea, the favour and countenance of God for you for a time. He left his glorious throne in heaven, and ftooped to become a man, a poor man, a man of forrows, a deserted man, and a dead man for you. Nay, he was willing to be made a curfe for you, and to take on a dreadful load of wrath upon his innocent foul, yea infinitely more than any damned foul in hell can bear; and to fwim long in a fea of wrath to fave you from perishing in it. Let the furprising love of Chrift fill your foul with wonder, and kindle a flame of love in your foulto him.

Again, meditate on Chrift's forrows, with deep forrow for fin, the cause thereof. Believe that amazing word, Ifa. liii. 6. He was wounded for our tranfgreffion, he was bruifed for our iniquities.' Let the found of it never go out of thy cars; fay, Oh! my fins were the thorns which pierced his head, the nails which pierced his hands, and the fpear which pierced his side. My curfed fins put the Lord of life to a cruel death, they wounded him more than all his other enemies. When my dear Lord was in the garden, no Judas, no Pilate, no Jew nor Gentile was there, to caufe his ama zing horror of foul, and his fearful fweat of blood; but, Oh! my unbelief, my pride, my carnality, my hypocrify, and other fins were there, and with their weight preffed him to the ground, and brought that agony and

fweat upon him. Oh, that my head were waters, that I might weep a flood of tears for my fins.

Laftly, Abhor fin as the greatest evil, and never have flight thoughts of it any more; can you behold your agonizing Saviour under a burden of wrath, and hear him complaining of the burning heat and thirst which the fire of juftice created within him! Can you see the great drops of blood standing above his garments! Can you hear his cries and roarings under the bruifes and anguish of his foul, and not be convinced of the evil and demerit of fin! Can that fit light upon your foul which fat fo heavy upon Chrift's foul? O what defperate malignity mult there be in that, which could not be expiated without fuch a coftly facrifice! Look on them as fools who make a sport at fin, which cost the Son of God fo much foul travail and inward horror: Never yield any more to the temptations of fin, which cost so dear before it could be forgiven.

They were exceeding forrowful, and began every one to fay, Lord, is it 12

I

T was a commendable exercife of Christ's difciples, before partaking of the holy fupper, to be fearching themfelves, and looking inward with a holy fufpicion upon their own hearts, efpecially when Chrift had told them, there was a traitor among them, and at the fame time looking up to him that is emaifcient, to aflift them in the fearch, faying, Lord, is it I? Am I the traitor? Will I betray my dear Lord and Saviour? Ah! every one of us have within us traiterous hearts to Jefus Christ, and have reafon to fufpect ourselves as they did, and acknowledge we have many enemies of Chrift lodged in our bofoms, such as, unbelief, hypocrify, pride, malice, envy, ambition, worldineis, atheifm, wandering; from God, backwardnefs to duty, &c. by which we have betrayed Jefus Chrift. And as the difciples, when fearching themfelyes, were exceeding forrowful; fo ought we before we partake: and good reafon have we

for it, when we reflect upon our former guilt and treacherous dealing with God, and when we confider the prefent deceitfulness, and defperate wickedness of our hearts, and that they are as ready to betray Chrift as ever; yea, that there is hypocrify and treachery in our hearts against Chrift which we have not yet difcovered. Upon all which accounts, we have ground with the difciples to be exceeding forrowful,

Now is the time, O communicants, to fearch and examine yourselves, and to be exceeding forrowful for the many traiterous wounds you have given Christ by breaking both tables of the law, and every command thereof, by finning against light and confcience, againft mercies and judgments, warnings and reproofs, confef. fions and prayers. By unthankfulness for redeeming love, neglecting gofpel-offers, not loving and refting upon a crucified Jefus, not accounting all things lofs and dung for him; not delighting in attending his or dinances, and in remembering his love in the holy fupper. O how treacherous have your hearts been to Chrift! how blood thirsty hare your fins been against him, in prefling him down in the garden, in nailing him to the curfed tree! How are you able to look to Gethsemane or Golgotha, with unconcerned hearts or dry eyes! Were not your fins the principal actors in that horrid tragedy? Thefe, to be fure, were the traítors, which by the hands of Judas, dilevered up Jefus to be crucified: What were Pilate, the Jews, or Romans, but the executioners of your fins? Who put the fword in justice' hands? Who raised the tempeft of wrath against your furety? Oh! it was your fins. Blame none fo much as them; they were the Judas that betrayed him, the Herod that mocked him, the Pilate that condemned him, and the foldier that pierced him;, will you not then be exceeding forrowful for your traiterous hearts and bloody fins? Could they ever be guil ty of a more horrid crime than murdering the Lord of Glory? O fhall the rocks about Jerufalem rend alunder, the earth tremble and shake, the fun veilits face, and the whole heavens put on a mourning habit, when Chrift