356 H U S B A N D . As it was neceffary for him to receive the human Na= Pure, that he might be the affectionate and proper Huf- band of his People ; fo it was equally neceffary for them, that he fhould be divine and everlafling, finte the Mercies requifite for their Salvation and Comfort muff, if Mercies, be everlafling and divine. It would give them but fmall Pleafure to hear of a Saviour for a Day : And to hear of a mere human Saviour, would take that Pleafure, fmall as it is . utterly away. In the very Rea- fon of things (to which we may hear a frequent Appeal upon other Occafions), ifCHRIST be the Hufband of his Church; if that Church has been maintained in all Ages and Countries ; if it now fubfift in Thoufands of gracious Souls, fcattered far and wide ; and if all thefe have, at all times, and do, every Moment, receive the Instances of his tender Regard, Influence and Protec- tion, and (hall receive them without Interruption and Without End ; can any Man in his Senfes think and 'lpeak of fuch a Saviour and fuch a Hufband, but as one infinite, everlafling, and divine ? Could a Crea- ture, be that Creature who he may, attend to fo many Wants, fupply fo many Defires, yield Millions of Gifts and Graces, and maintain them all in Glory ; and all this, at one and the fame Time, in Myriads of his efpoufed People, fcattered over the Earth, or received up into Heaven ? A Perlon, who can believe this to be the Tafk and Operation of created Might, might next believe, that he is able to do it himfelf. The utmoft Difference between theRank`ofone Creature and another; between the firft Archangel in Heaven, and the minuteft Animalcule upon Earth is not more than as the two xtremes of an Inch upon the Scale of infinite Space : Nay, the firft Archangel in Heaven or higheft created Being in Glory, is the mefeft Animalcule, and almoft a Nothing, when compared with GOD. Glory be to fovereign Grace; we are not left, how- ever, to thefe Deduaions of our own Minds, cogent and convincing as they undoubtedly are, for the Bars of our Hope in Chri as the Hufband and Guardian of our
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