Semi. XXXI. in the Incarnation ofÇhrij. 223 out of this fad and deplorable Cafe. It is a kindnefs infinitely greater, than to re- deem us from the moft wretched Slavery, or to refcue us from. the molt dreadful and cruel Temporal Death ; and yet we fhould value this as a Favour and Benefit, that could never be fufficiently acknowledg'd : But God hath fent his Son to deli- ver us from a worfe Bondage, and a more dreadful kind of Death } fo that well might the Apoftle afcribe this great Deliverance of Mankind from the flavery of our Lulls, and the Death of Sin, to the boundlefs Mercy and Love of God to us. God who is rich in mercy, for thegreat love wherewith he loved us, bath quickned us together withChri/1, even when wewere dead in Sins ; when our Cafe was as defperate as could well be imagined ; then was God pleafed to undertake this great Cure, and to provide fuch a Remedy, as cannot fail to be effe&ual for our Recove- ry, if we will but make ufe of it. 2. We were likewife judicially Dead, Dead in Law, being Condemned by the juft Sentence of it. So foon as ever we finned, Eternal Death was by the Sen- tence of God's Law become our due Portion and Reward; and this beingour Cafe, God in tender Commiferationand Pity to Mankind, was pleafed to fend his Son into the World, to interpofe between the Juftice of God and the Demerits ofMen ; and by reverfing the Sentence that was gone out againft us, and procuring a Par- don for us, to refcue us from the Mifery of Eternal Death ; and not only fo, but upon the condition of Faith and Repentance, of Obedience and a Holy Life, to beftow Eternal Lifeupon us; and by this means to reftore us to a better Conditi- on than that from which we were fallen,' and to advance us to a Happinefs greater than that of Innocency. And was not this great Love, to defign and provide fo great a Benefit and Blef- fing for us, to fendbis Son Jefus to blefs us, in turning away every one ofus from our Iniquities ? Our Bleffed Saviour, who came from the bofom of his Father, and knew his tender Affe&ion and Compaffion to Mankind, fpeaks of thisas a moft wonderful and unparallell'd Expreffion of his Love to us, john 3. t6. Godfo lo- ved the world, that he gave bis only begotten Son. Godfo loved the world, fo greatly, fo ftrangely, fo beyond our biggeft hopes, nay, fo contrary to all reafo- nable expe&ations, as to fend his only-begotten Son, tofeek and to fave the finfúl Sons of Men. If it had only in general been declared to us, that God was about to fend his Son into the World upon fome great Defign, and been left to us to conje&ure, what his Errand and Bufinefs fhould be ; how would this have alarmed the guilty Confciences of finful Men, and fill'd them with infinite Jealoufies and Sufpicion, with fearful Expe&ations of Wrath and fiery Indignation to confume them 1 For eonfrdering the great Wickednefs and Degeneracy of Mankind, what could we have thought, but that furely God was fending his Son upon aDefign of vengeance to ehaftife a Sinful World, to vindicate the Honour of his defpifed Laws, and to revenge the multiplyed Affronts which had been offered to the higheft Majefty of Heaven, by his Pitiful and Ungrateful Creatures ? Our own Guilt would have been very apt to have fill'd us with fuch Imaginations as thefe, that in all likeli- hood the Son of God was coming to Judgment, to call the wicked World to an Account, to proceed againft his Father's Rebels, to pafs Sentence upon them, and to execute the Vengeance which they had deferved. This we might jufily- have dreaded; and, indeed confidering our Cafe, how ill we have deferved at God's Hands, and how highlywe have provoked him ; what other weighty Matter could we hope for ? But the Goodnefs of God bath ftrangely out-done our Hopes, and deceived our Expe&ation ; fo it follows in the next Words, Godfeat not his Soninto the world, to condemn the world, ( intimating that this we might juftly have imagin'd and feared) but upon a quite contrary Defign, that through him the world might be fared. What a furprize of Kindnefs is here ! that inftead of fending his Son to condemn us, he fhouldfend him into theworld to fave ses ; to refcue us from the Jaws of Death and Hell, from thatEternal and Intolerable Mifery which we had incurred and deferved! And
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