not as a philosopher or a moralist: "but he took ંદ upon him the form of a servant," and " "life a ransom for many."

gave his We should, however, especially contemplate the variety and intenseness of his sufferings in the closing scene of his humiliation: the excruciating pain he endured from the scourge, the thorns, and the nails, and when hanging on the accursed tree; with the anguish of mind he felt when agonizing in the garden, and when on the cross he exclaimed, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me ?” It is very important for us to reflect on what the Redeemer suffered from men; from the base treachery of Judas, the unfaithfulness of Peter, the cowardice of the disciples; the cruel injustice of Caiaphas, the scribes, priests, council, and even their servants; from the contempt and indignity put upon him by Herod and his men of war; the cruelty and scorn of Pilate's soldiers; the lingering tortures of the cross, the ingratitude of the insulting multitude, and the revilings even of the malefactors.-We should recollect likewise that this was the hour and power of darkness: and, what gloomy imaginations and detested thoughts might be presented to the mind of Christ, by the subtle and energetic influence of evil spirits, may be best conceived by those 66 who are not ignorant of their devices." "suffered, being tempted, that he might be able to "succour them that are tempted:" and the assaults of Satan in the desert may convince us that he would do his utmost, when permitted, to bruise the heel of Him who came to crush his head and destroy his works.

"He

But we are also taught, that "it pleased the

"Lord to bruise him, and to put him to grief; and "to make his soul an offering for sin." "Awake, "O sword, against my Shepherd, and against the man that is my Fellow, saith the Lord of Hosts; smite the Shepherd." "He spared not his own "Son, but delivered him up for us all." And, when we compare our Lord's agony in the garden, and his exclamation on the cross, with the conduct of his own disciples under the severest tortures; we must be convinced that his cup was embittered inconceivably more than their's, and that consolations and supports were vouchsafed to them, of which he was wholly left destitute. We cannot explain this subject. We may be certain that remorse of conscience, despair, and the prevalence of hateful passions, which will eternally increase the misery of condemned sinners, could have no place in the mind of the holy Jesus: but whatever pain, shame, wrath, curse, agony, or misery, he could possibly endure; whatever the justice of God, the honour of the law, and the instruction of the universe in the evil and the desert of sin, required; all this the Redeemer suffered, till he could say with his expiring breath, "It is finished.”

It should likewise be remembered that our Lord most willingly submitted to all these sufferings, from love to our souls and regard to the glory of God. "No man had power to take away his life:" the prince of this world had no part in him; no personal transgression exposed him to the sentence of death; but "love, that passeth knowledge," moved him to give himself a propitiatory sacrifice

Zech. xiii. 7.

for our sins! The meekness, patience, and persevering fortitude, with which our Lord suffered, should not pass unnoticed. "He was led as a "lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before his "shearers is dumb, so he opened not his mouth." "Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example "that ye should follow his steps: who when he "was reviled reviled not again; when he suffered "he threatened not." 1

The circumstances attending his crucifixion also form a proper subject of meditation. The sun was miraculously darkened, as a token of the divine displeasure, and an emblem of the gloom which overspread "the Sun of righteousness." Yet, in this deep humiliation of the Lord of glory, he rescued one perishing sinner from the jaws of destruction, and took him with him to paradise. When he expired," the veil of the temple was rent," the rocks were torn by an earthquake, the graves were opened, and the preparation made for the resurrection of those saints who were appointed to grace the triumph of the rising and ascending Saviour. For the event of his sufferings in his personal exaltation, and in the complete salvation in body and soul, of all the unnumbered myriads, which ever did or ever shall believe in him, is the last particular to which our present meditations should be directed.-But it is time for us to proceed,

IV. To consider the peculiar instructions to be derived from these contemplations.

The worth of our immortal souls is most empha

'1 Pet. ii. 21-23.

tically taught us by the cross of Christ. "What "is a man profited if he gain the whole world and "lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in "exchange for his soul?" Could any one literally gain the whole universe, as the price of iniquity, and keep it with every imaginable advantage during the term of human life; it could neither preserve his body from the grave, nor his soul from eternal misery. "It costs more to redeem the soul: that "must be let alone for ever." View the Saviour agonizing in Gethsemane, and expiring on the cross! Did he endure these unknown sufferings to preserve men from temporal poverty, pain, or death? By no means: but to deliver them from "the wrath to come:" where "their worm dieth "not, and the fire is not quenched." Who can doubt then that an immortal soul is man's principal treasure? It is possessed by the meanest, and it infinitely exceeds in value all the distinctions of the mightiest. He who made the soul knows its worth and he deemed it so valuable, that he ransomed our souls from ruin at the price of his own blood. Shall we not then deem the salvation of them our grand concern, and regard all interfering objects as unworthy our notice in the comparison? If we should never succeed in any one thing all our lives, except in this chief concern; our felicity will be congratulated by angels to eternity: if we should prosper in all other respects, and fail here; our folly and misery will be lamented and execrated for ever.

Our children also have immortal souls. Does then our love of them induce us to use every means of providing for their comfort in this world; and

shall it not influence us to proportionable earnestness in seeking their salvation? O cruel and infatuated parents, who take excessive care about the bodies of your children, and leave their precious souls to perish everlastingly for want of diligent instruction or perhaps even help to murder them, by indulging their sinful dispositions, and setting them a bad example!-Nay, let us further learn to consider that our relatives, neighbours, and enemies, have immortal souls. Because they are so valuable," he that winneth souls is wise;" let us then think nothing too much to expend or attempt, in promoting that grand object for which the Son of God shed his precious blood.

But, viewed in this glass, how vain do the world and all things in it appear! " God forbid that I "should glory save in the cross of our Lord Jesus "Christ; by whom the world is crucified to me, "and I unto the world." What are empires, or the loss of them? what renown, or infamy? what affluence or poverty? what the most exquisite pleasure or torturing pain, when put in competition with eternal happiness or misery? or when viewed in connexion with the cross of Christ? Had he not so loved us, all possible prosperity could not have prevented our everlasting misery: if we believe in him; all possible adversity cannot prevent our everlasting happiness. Let us not then envy the wealthy and successful, but pity and pray for them let us not covet worldly things, repine for want of them, or lament the loss of them: let us not join in the vain mirth of condemned sinners, or be satisfied with any thing short of the joy of God's salvation.