Bates - BT775 B274 1675

tog:m*111%f ,é1 an' 3 ebn püíon. in the leaft guilty of. Betides, when his Father ap- Chap. Ix. pear'd an enemy againft him, at that time He was in- t mçj fitelypleafed in his Obedience. But with thefe ex- ceptions our Blefecl Lord fuffered whatever was due to us. The Sorrows of his forfaken ftate were inexpreflibly great; for according to the degree and fenfe we have. ofHappinefs, fuch in proportion is our grief for the lofs of it. Now Chrift had the fulleft enjoyment, and the higheft valuationofGods favour.His enjoyment was rais'd above what the molt glorious Spirits are capable of: All his Faculties were pure and vigorous, never blunted with Sin, and intimately united to the Deity. How cutting then was it to his Soul, to be fufpended from the perfe& vition of God ? To be divorc'd as it were from himfelf, and to lofe that Paradife He al- waies had within Him ? Ifall the Angels ofLight were at once depriv'd of their Glory, the lofs were not e- qual to this dreadful eclipfe of the Sun of Righteouf- nefs: As ifall the Stars wereextinguifht, the darknefs would not be fo terrible, as if the sun the fountain of light were putout. Whatever his Sufferingswere inkind, yet in degree they were anfwerable to the full and juft defert of Sin, and furpaft the power of theHumane or Angelical Nature to endure. In Ihort, His Sorrows were only equalled bythat Love which procured them. And as the sufferings infli&ed by the hand ofGod, fo the Evils He endured frommen, declare the infinite- nefs ofour Redeemers Love to us. For the firther difcoveryofit, 'tis neceffary to refleCt upon his Death, which is fet down by the Apofile as the towel degree of his Humiliation, in which the fucceffion of all his Bodily sufferings is included, it being the comple- ment of all. And if we confider the qualityof it, the Goodnefs of ourRedeemer will be more viable in his Y 2 volun- YK3

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