MAKING LIGHT OFD CHRIST. 801 snaking light of thee and thy happiness,that he came down intothe flesh, and lived a life of suffering, and offered himself a sacrifice to thejusticewhich thou Midstprovoked ; that thy miserable soul might have a remedy. Itis no less than miracles of love and mercy, that he bath showed to us ; and yet shall we slight them after all ? Angels admire them, whom they less Concern, (1 Pet.'i. 12.) and shall redeemed sinners make light of them ? What barbarous, yea, devilish, yea, worse than 'devilish, ingratitude is this ! The devils never had a Savior offered them, but thou hast; and dost thou yet make light of him ? 2. Consider, the work of man's salvation by Jesus Christ is the masterpiece of all the works of God, wherein he would have his love and mercy to be magnified. As-the creation declareth his goodness and power, so doth redemption his goodness and mercy: he hath contrived the very frame of his worship, so that it shall much consist in the magnifyingof this work ; and after all this, will you make light of it? "His name is wonderful;" Isa. ix. 6. "He did the work that none could do ; " John xv. 24. " Great- er love could none show than his;" John xv. 13. -How great was the evil and misery that he delivered us from ! The good procured for us ! All are wonders, from his birth to his ascension, from our new birth to our glorification, all are wonders of matchless mercy ; and yet do you make light of them ? 3. You make light of matters of greatest excellency and mo- ment in theworld. You know not what it is that you slight. Had you well known, you could not have done it. As Christ said to the woman of Samaria, (John iv. 10.) Hadst thou known who it is that speaketh to thee, thouwouldst have askedof him the waters of life. Had they known, theywould not have crucified theLord of glory ; 1 Cor. ii. S. So, had you known what Christ is, you would not have made light of him; had you been one day in heaven, and but seen what they possess, and seen also what mis- erable souls must endure that are shut out, you would never, sure, have made so light of Christ again. O, sirs, it is no trifles or jesting matters that the gospel speaks of. I must needs profess to you, that when I have the most seri- ous thoughts of these things myself, I am ready to marvel that such amazing matters de not overwhelm the souls of men ; that the greatness of the subjectdoth not so overmatch our understand- ings and affections, as even to drive men beside themselves, but that God hath always somewhat allayed it by the distance; much more that men shouldbe so blockish as to make light of them. OLord, that men did but know what everlasting glory and ever- lasting torments are! Would they then hear us as they do? Would they read and think of these things as theydo ? I profess I voL. I. 76
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