416 The true Remedy agaznfl vol. II. ever was, lived in the inoft afflided condition; and the greateft fufferer that ever was, or can be, was the dearly beloved Son of God. 3. In the vitlorioas Sufferingsof theSon of God, we fee the World conquered to our hand, all the terrors and temptations of it difarmed, and all its force baffled and broken. Thisconfideration our Saviour makes ufe of to fupport the faint Spi- rits of his Difciples, under the melancholy apprehenfions which they had of fuf- ferings, John i6. 33. In the worldyefhall have tribulation: but be ofgood cheer; I have overcome the world. The great work is done to our hands ; affli&ion and death are vanquifh'd and overcomeby him. That conqúeft which the Captain cf our Salvation bath already madeof all thePowers of Darknefs, renders our viftory over them cheap and eafie. 4. The temptations and fufferings of our Lord were greater than ours are or can be : for he bore the heavy and infupportable load of all the fins of all mankind, and of the wrath and vengeance due to them. The Lord hash laid on him, faith the Prophet, Ifa. 53. 6, y. TheLord bath laid on him the iniquity of us all ; he was oppre/fed andafitled And' well might he be oppreffed with afüi&ion, who had fuels an intolerable burthen as the fins of all Mankind to prefs him down. That paffage iscommonly apply'd to him, and well might he cry out in that manner, Is it nothing to you, all ye that pafs by? Behold and fee if there be any forrow like unto my farrow, wherewith the Lord bath afflidedme in the day of hisfierce anger. Such were the Sufferings of our Lord, fo great and fo grievous, as none of us are in any degree able to undergo. That weight under which he crouched, would crufh us ; that which he was hardly able to fuftain, would certainly fink us: and do we complain andfaint in our minds, when but a very little part of the punifh- ment due to us only for our own fins is infli &edupon us? The confederation ofthe heavy and unknown fuffèrings of the Son of God, fhould make all our aillidions not only tolerable, but light. g. And yet we have in effe& the fain Support that he had. We are apt to be very much difheartned and difcouraged at the apprehenfion of fufferings, from the Confideration of our own weaknefs and frailty: but the fpirit of Chrifl dwells in us, and the fame glorious power that raifed up 7efss from the dead, works mightily in them that believe. St. Paul ufeth very high expreffions in this matter, Ephef. 1. 19, 20. That ye may know, fays he, fpeaking in general of all Chriftians, what is the exceeding greatnefs of his power to usward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power, which he wrought in Chri/l, when he raifed him from the dead, and fat him on his own right band. So that every fincere Chriftian is endowed with a kind of Omnipotency, being able, as St. Paul fays of himfelf, todo all things through Chr 1 firengthning him. We are of our feives very weak, and the temptations and terrors of the world are very power- ful : but there is a Principle refiding in every true Chriftian, that is able to bear us up againft the World and the power of all its Temptations. Whatfoever is born of God, fays St. john, overcometh the World: for greater is he that is in you than he that is in the World. The Holy Spirit ofGod which dwells in all true Chriftians, is a more powerful Principle of Refolution and Courage and Patience, under the {harpeft Trials and Sufferings, than that evil Spirit which rules in the World is to flir up and fet on the malice and rage of theWorld againft us. Te are ofGod, and have overcome the World; becaufe greater is be that is in you, than he that is in the World. 6. Let us confider farther, for whom and for what our bleffed Lord fuffered. Not for himfelf; but for our fake : not for any fault of his own ; for be hadno fin; but for our fins. He was perfe&ly innocent : but we are great and grievous offenders. We fuffer upon our own account:. buthe only for our fakes, andfor our falvation. So that the Example of our Lord's Sufferings bath an irrefiftible force and virtue in it, to argue us into patience and fubmiffion. Did he bear the load of our fins fo willingly ? did he whohad no fin fuffer fo patiently, to free us from eternal fufferings? And fhall we whó are guilty think much to bear a fmall, part of that burden which he fo chearfully underwent for us, and which falls fo 5 much.
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