Nativity of Jcfus Chri(i. In all thefe, God's Good.wi/J towards Mw is admirably Glorious, as l lhall demonfhate to you. Firfr, If you confider the Prrfon fenr; this will exalt the Go~dnejj of God towards us: And who is it ? Is he an AngeL? Truly, if he were, herein Divine Low doth infinitely advance it felf, that God fhould fpare one of his own Retinue from his Attendance on him, to giYe fuch a glorious Servant as an Angel is, for the Redemption of fuch a rebellious Worm as Man ! Buc who is l\Ot afi:onifhed? It was not an Angel, but the L 0 k D of Argch ; not a Scrvallt, but .:1 $on, is by. the Father himfelf p!uck'd from his own Bofom, and fe nt with this Meffage; Hafte, hafle ro rhc Earth for there are thoufandJ of .finful and 'lVYttchcd Crearures, firm ing thcmfeivcs to Hell, a,·d 1~ujf f~r evu fall under the ftrokes of my dr~adful ']uflic~; jlep tho~ between them and ir, rece1ve thou my Wrath thy }elf, d() thou /t:rufic rny ']ujhce, and dte thou thy [elf to fa"..e them. When God tried Abraham's Obedience, he aggravates his Command by many piercing words, that muft needs go to tile Heart of a tender Father, Gm. 22. 2 . Take no111 thy Son; thine only Sontrhom thou lovejl, and get thee int() the Land of Moriah, and offer up their for a Burnt-0./foring upon one of t~Jt A1ozmtains that Iwillfhew thee, &c. This heightned Abraham's Obcdiem;e, that notwJthftanding all thcfe Aggravations, yet he was willing to Sacrifice his beloved Son upon God's Command. Truly, in the very fame manner, God heightens and illuftrates his own Love towards us, He takes his Son , his on] y Son, th~ So': of his Eternal Love, and delights and offers him up as a Sacrifice for the Sms ot 1\!en: And this grea£ly extols the Love ()f God. That, Firjl, God lay under no _neceffity of Sa"..iltg m a.t a(l·: As nothin9 accrued to hint by our Happinefs, fa nothtng could have been dtmtntrhed from hts Ejfential Glory, by our Eternal Mifery. Secondly, But as fome affirm, God lay under no neceffity of Saviug 'u& in fo chargeable a manner, by the Death of hU Son, but that he mighL have freed us from Death by the ahfolute Prerogative of his par~oning Grace and Mercy, without fhedding of the Blood of Chrift, And do you think tn Heaven we rhould ever have complained for want of Lo\•e in God to us, though he had brought us thither at a cheaper Rate than now he doth ; but this, though it might have been fuffident for our Sttlvarion, yet was it not fufficicnt for God's DefJtn, in the manifefl:ation of the Riches and Glory qf his great Love to us; and therefore God will not go the favingeft way to work, in compaffing of our Salvarion; but that way which fha·ll be moft for the inha nt:ing Of his Love to us. . Is it not greater Love in God towards us to part with Chrift out of Heaven, to break and br t;rfc him, to make his SouL an Offering for Sin, and his BLood a Ranfom Jot Sim.t~s; thait if he had only, without any further Circumftances, beckened us up to Heave11? · Thb there-fore muft be the Method, Di"Jine Wifdom will take, becaufe Divine . Lo<t~e did:,lles it robe the mort advantageous to commend his LtY'Je to Sinners. o, the {upcnrogdting .l'f,ycy of Gud, that is not only contented to do what is barely fufficient for our Sal'J.'!t;on> but over and above adds What may be moft expreffive of - his own Lovt: and Affections to us, 'John 3· 16. God fo loved the World, &c. God fo loved the \Norld. How ? What, fo as to fave it only? No, but he fo loved it, as he gave his only begotten Son to Save it, What, thy Son, Lord, thine Qll/y Son ! Wl.y , the dc{lruClion of the whole World U not 4 thing fo confidetable, • M one Sigh, Ot'lt Groan, one Tear or one Drop of Blood from that only Son ()f thine, whom c.thougaveft to Sa.vc the J.·Vorld. But however, God is refolved notwithftanding, that notonly a Sigh, Groan, or Tear; but the Lite of hisSonalfolhall go, rather as a manife1btion of his Love to Sinuers, than for any abfolute antecedent neceffity of fuch a SJttrifice: And that is one thing wherein this Lo':le and Good-will of God to Men appears, in that he gave them his only Son out of his own Bofom for their Salvation. Secondly, Confider the Manner and Circumjlances of Chri.fl's coming into the World; and then alfo it will appear further, That there is in God an Infinite Love and Good. wili towllrds Men. And here I fhall treat of thefe two Things: I. That Chrift WM font M from the Father Fretiy. 2. And, .u to Hlmfelf, iJ,nominioujiy,. And both thefe do contribUte much to the Exalting of the Infinite Love of God towards fallen Man. FirJt, 57S
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