;3 , co I M M A:_ N U E L. only the Blood and Righteoufnefs ofMan, but the Blood of GOD * and the Righteoufnefs of GOD.t ThisName was given to Chrift as aSign; and there is fo much Grace in it, fuch an inconceivable Fund ofGood- nefs and L,ove, that it remains a Sign to this Day. Many will not believe it ; becaufe they think it is too much to be true : But, as Unbelief is never inactive, what they cannot conceive, they imagine they have aRight to op- pofe. This was the Cafe, when the Name was firft re- vealed. Many chofe to rejoice in Rezin, and the Son of Remaliah,t rather than in the Sign or Revelation, which GOD afforded them of an Almighty Saviour. It continued to be the Cafe, when this Saviour was made manifeft in the Flefh. Good old Simeon fays of him, Behold, this Child is feefor the Fall and Riling again of many in Ifrael, and for a Sign which(ball be. SPOKEN AGAINST.§§ The fame- Obfervation holds good unto this Day. It is become the Fafhion to fpeak againft Chrift, and to bear thofe down, who profefs to believe in him, by all the Artillery of human Wit, ifnot of hu- man Enmity. Some have been fo bold as to try the Truthof his divine Million, by the Teft of idle Ridicule as though any thing, which Impudence and Sophiftry can drefs up in a ludicrous Garb, and which a giddy Multitude may laugh at, muff therefore be untrue. It feems, rather, a fallacious Mode of getting rid of tome Arguments, which they have not either Truth enough or Senfe enough to anfwer. A Fool's Cap, placed upon a wife Man's Head by aKnave, however it might excite the Mirth of a Croud, would be no aétual Difgrace, nor Impeachment of his Underftanding. So, with refpeét to the Things ofGOD, the Malice of Man, whether covered by a Laugh or open in its Violence, is rather an Argument of their Truth than of their Falfity. To the natural Man they were to feem even Foolifhnefs it- felf; and is itany Wonder then, that they Ihould meet * Ms xx. z8. Heb. ix. rq. t r Cor. i. 30. 2 Cor. v: ai. Ifaiah viii. 14. § Luke ii. 3¢ with.
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy OTcyMjk=