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v.1
THE WRATH
OF
THE LAME;
421
the
kind aspect, ,and
the gentle language
of
a
Lamb,
for
ever
?
To
this
I
answer,
that
the various
glories and
offices
of
-our
blessed
Lord require a variety
of
human metaphors
and
emblems to
represent
them.
He
was
a
Lamb, full
of
gentleness,
meekness, and compassion, to invite
and
encourage sinful perishing
creatures
to
accept
of divine
mercy
:
But
he has now
to deal
with
obstinate and
rebel-
lious criminals,
who
renounce
his
Father's
mercy,
and
resist
all
the
gentle methods
of
his
own
grace and salva-
tion,:
And
he
is
sent
by
the
Father
to
punish
those
rebel-
lions,
but
he
is
named
the
Lamb
of God
still, to
put the
'rebels
in mind,
what gentleness
and
compassions they
have affronted and abused, and
to
make it appear,
that
their
guilt
is
utterly
inexcusable.
Let
us
remember, Christ
is
now a
Lamb raised
to
the
throne
in
heaven, and
furnished and armed,
"
with
seven
eyes
and
seven
horns," Rev.
v
5,
6.
with
perfect
know-
ledge and perfect power, to govern the
world,
to
vindi-
caté
his own
honour, and
to avenge
himself
upon
his
impenitent
and
obstinate
enemies.
Here
the Lamb
will
assume
the
name
of
"the
lion
of
the tribe
of
Judah,"
also,
and
she
must
act
in
different characters, according
to the persons
he
has
to
deal
with.
.
The
second general question,
which
we
are
to consi-
der,
is,
"
How comes the
wrath of
that
great day
to
be
so
terrible
?"
I
answer,
in
general, because it
is
not
only
the
wrath
of
God, but
of
the Lamb
:
It
is
the
wrath
that
is
mani-
fested for the affronts
of
divine
authority, and the abuse
of
divine
mercy:
It
is
wrath
that
is
awakened
by
the
contempt of
the
laws
of
God, written in
the
books
of
nature
and
scripture,
and
for
the
contempt
of
his
loves
revealed
in
the gospel
by
Jesus
Christ.
It
is
proper
to observe here,
that
the wrath
of
God,
and
the wrath
of
the
Lamb,
are not
to
be
conceived as
exactly the
same,
for
it
is
the
wrath
of
the
Son
of
God;
in
his
human
nature
exalted,
as well
as the
displeasure
of God
the Father:,
It
is
the righteous and
holy
resent-
ment of
the man
Jesus, awakened
and
let
loose-against
rebellious creatures,
that
have
broken
all
the rules
of
his
Father's
government, and have refused all
the
propo-
sals
of
his
Father's
grace
:
It
is
the
wrath
of
the highest,
2E3