SOVEREIGNTY OF CHRIST. 311 the whole psalm. God bathgiven thee into the hands of his Son, and made him Lord and King of all, and commanded all men to accept him, and stibmit unto him.- Who can show such title to the sovereignty ? such right to rule thee as Christ can do ? He is thy Maker, and so is not Satan ; he dearly bought thee, and so did not the world; "Thou wast not redeemed with silver, and gold, and corruptible things ;" 1 Peter i. 18. . I make this chal- lenge here in the behalf of Christ; let any thing in the world step forth and show a better title to thee, to thy heart, and to thy life, than Christ doth show, and let them take thy heart, and take the rule. But why do I speak thus? I know thou wilt confess it; and yet wilt thou not yield him thy chiefest love and obedi- ence. Out of thy own mouth then art thou condemned, and thou proclaimest thyself a knowing and willful rebel. 2. To deny thy affections and subjection to Christ is the most barbarous unkindness that a sinner can be guilty of. Did he pity thee in thy lost estate, and take thee up when thou layest wound- ed in the way, and make thee a plaster of the blood of his heart? And is this thy requital? Did he come down from heaven to earth, to seek thee when thou wast lost, and take upon him all thy debt, and put himself into the prisonof the world and flesh ? Hath he paid for thy folly, and borne that wrath of God which thou must have suffered forever? And doth he not now deserve to be en- tertained with most affectionate respect? But with a few cold thoughts instead of hearty love ; and with a few formal words in- stead of worship ? What hurt had it been to him if thou hadst perished? What would he have lost by it if thou hadst lain in hell ? Would not justice have been glorified upon a disobedient wretch ? Might not he have said to his Father, ' What are these worms and sinners to me ? must I smart for their folly ? must I suf- fer when they have sinned? must I debase myself to become man because they would have exalted themselves to become as God ? Ifthey will needs undo themselves, what is it to me ? If theywill cast themselves into the flames of hell, must I go thither to fetch them out Thus Christ might have put offthe sufferingand the shame, and let it fall and lie where it was due ; but he did not ; his compassion would not suffer him to see us suffer; justice must be satisfied, the threat must be fulfilled; Christ seeth that we-can- not overcome it, but he can; therefore, he comes down into flesh; he lives on earth; he fasteth ; he weepeth; he is weary ; he is tempt- ed ; he hath not a place to put his head ; he is hated ; he is spit upon; he is clothed as a fool, and made a scorn ; he sweateth blood; he is crucified with thieves; he bears the burden that would have sunk all us to hell ; and must he, after all this, be neglected and forgotten, and his laws that should rule us be laid aside, and be
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