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We find Tully, of old, representing his friend Atticus observing the pleasing and indescribable effects of scenes of this kind.*

Every feeling, however, recoils at the idea of making the man who was beloved and admired while he lived, and whose memory is blest, the subject of fulsome panegyric. Those, indeed, who did not know him, may suppose that too much has been said; but his familiar friends will think very differently. I have only to add, that the illustration of the riches of divine grace, by which he was what he was, and the benefit which others may derive from so shining an example of piety and diligence, is the chief design of this delineation: Truth being most attracting when it appears in the lives of men. The fulness of grace, that was the ornament and strength of our fathers, dwells still in Jesus, and is able to make the lowest and vilest of sinners leave the ways of death, and tread in the steps of them who through faith and patience are now inheriting the promises-whose faith may we all follow, considering the end of their conversation.

JEDBURGH, 16th July, 1805.

R. YOUNG.

*Movemur enim nescio quo pacto locis ipsis in quibus eorum quos diligimus, aut admiramus adsunt vestigia,

c. c

SERMONS

ON

SACRAMENTAL OCCASIONS, &c.

SERMON I.

THE AGONY OF THE SON OF GOD.

LUKE Xxii. 44.

And, being in an agony, he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground.

«IT is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living "God." "God is jealous, and the Lord revengeth: the "Lord revengeth, and is furious." "Who can stand before "his indignation? who can abide in the fierceness of his "anger?" "Thou, even thou art to be feared; and who "may stand in thy sight when once thou art angry?" To assertions of the power of his anger scripture adds descriptions; and heightens, and inflames these descriptions, with imagery terrible to the senses of men. The trembling of the earth, the melting of the hills, the falling of rocks, and the flaming of devouring fire, are terrible images, under which the power of the wrath of God is frequently described.

But no images in the description, nor any facts in the history of wrath, exhibit its power in such terror as the object that appears in our text. Behold the Son of God, fal

ling beneath the throne of his righteous Father, uttering words which language is in pain to express, and enduring anguish which no speaker can describe. Who is able to stand when he fell, or who can abide the heat of that devouring fire before which his strength dried up like a potsherd, and his heart melted like wax in the midst of his bowels?

At the institution of the ordinance which is to be observed amongst us this day, the Son of God said, "Do this in "remembrance of me." Preservation of the memory of his person, offices, and actions, and of his sufferings, death, and love, is the object of this holy institution; and the observance of it, in the manner and form appointed by himself, is a means of fellowship with him in his benefits, and an expression of gratitude for the kindness of his love. In order to prepare ourselves for doing honour to his memory, in his own manner, we have taken out of his history a theme of discourse, in these words: "And, being in an a"gony, he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it "were great drops of blood falling down to the ground."

We shall begin with observations concerning the sufferer; next proceed to his agony; then speak of his praying; and finally describe the effect of the agony on his body.--May the Spirit of glory and of God rest upon us; and by the doctrine of his word and the aid of our senses, strengthen our faith and love; and fill us with joy and peace, in speaking, hearing, and believing.

I. WE begin with observations concerning the sufferer, of whose history our text is a part. Scripture is the witness or testimony of God, which he hath testified of his Son. In his ministry our Lord acknowledges this, and directs to the holy writings Jews who demanded proofs of his mission and claim: "Search the scriptures; for in them "ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which "testify of me." In these records all that is necessary to be known and believed concerning him is found, and particularly the divinity of his person, the line of his ancestry, the mystery of his incarnation, the lustre of his actions, and the glory of his offices.

First, In the witness which God hath testified of his So, the divinity of his person shines forth in the clearest light. Before his appearance in our nature prophets dis

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played it, when he appeared he himself laid claim to it, and after his ascension into heaven apostles preached it to the world, and in their writings left behind them many proofs of zeal for this part of the faith delivered to the saints. By prophets, we have these acknowledgements of his person and godhead: "Thou art my Son; this day "have I begotten thee." "Thy throne, O God, is for ever and "ever." "Of old thou hast laid the foundation of the earth, "and the heavens are the work of thy hand." "His name "shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, "The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.' "The "Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his tem"ple."-By himself these declarations are made: "Before "Abraham was I am." "I am the Son of God." "I and "my Father are one." "He that hath seen me, hath "seen the Father." "I am in the Father, and the Father "is in me." "As the Father raiseth up the dead, and quick"eneth, even so the Son quickeneth whom he will.""The Father hath committed all judgment unto the Son, "that all men should honour the Son even as they honour "the Father."--By apostles these testimonies are given and recorded: "In the beginning was the Word, and "the Word was with God, and the Word was God." "Be"ing in the form of God, he thought it not robbery to be "equal with God." "In him dwelleth all the fulness of "the godhead bodily." "By him were all things created, "that are in heaven, and that are on earth, visible and in"visible." "The brightness of the glory, and the express "image of the person of the Father, upholding all things "by the word of his power."-The testimony of God to the person and glory of his Son stands before the world in the valley of vision, like a shining monument, whose foundation is deeper than hell, and its height higher than heaven. The characters of his divinity, engraven upon it, are not the officious perversions of scribblers under the reign of ignorance, but the genuine engravings of that hand who inspired the wisdom and understanding of the engravers in the tribes of Judah and Dan.

Secondly, In the witness which God hath testified of his Son, the line of his ancestry, according to the flesh, is laid before the world in full length. From Paradise, where he revealed his purpose of bruising the head of the serpent, to Bethlehem, where he appeared in the likeness of men,

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