DISCOURSE Ill. 03I. his Father's proposal of this most surprising abasement and bloody agonies, it gives us an example of such profound humility, such absolute obedience to God, his Father, and such unspeak- able love to sinful men, as far surpasses the greatest instances that he ever gave, or ever was capable of giving while he was here upon earth, if we suppose, according to the common opinion, that he was merely born, and trained up for this service without his own previous cousent. This idea of the love of Christ answers those sublime characters which the apostle gives of it : Eph. iii. 18, 19. It is a love that has lengths and breadths in it, that has heights anddepths: it is a love that passes knowledge. 'You will reply perhaps, " That most part of this repre- sentation is true in some sense, if you only suppose the divine nature of our Lord Jesus Christ existent before his incarnation, and consenting that his human nature should suffer all this." I answer, Many of these things, by the help of tropes and figures, may be said concerning the deity of Christ, or God manifest its flesh ; but if we leave out the figure of communication of pro- perties, and speak in such plain and natural terms as scripture seems to use generally on this occasion, it signifiesonly " God's will that the man Christ should suffer these sorrows, and thatthe man Jesus passively consented to suffer them when it was re-. vealed to him that he was born and made for this purpose." But the divine nature itself could really suffer nothing of all this ; the utmost condescension of the godhead was, that it stood related to the man who endured these sufferings : And infinite condes= tension it was indeed, for God manifest in the flesh to be thus dishonoured and unglorified. But the godhead itself is impas- sible still; and cannot really suffer pain or loss ; nor undergo pro- per sensible humiliation, shame or sorrow. Whereas by aggrandizing the human nature of Christ, by this doctrine of his pre-existent state, we see that very same glorious Being itself who suffered all this, actually leaving the bosom or beatifying presence of his Father, really divesting him- self of his primeval glories and joys in the literal sense, and without a figure, and freely devoting his very self to all these calamitous 'circumstances : We see that very same Spirit des- cending from heaven to take a body upon him that lie might be capable of all these various stages of misery; and of sustaining these scenes of sorrow, anguish and death, persevering in his resolutions till thedreadful work was all finished. Now where . we can explain the language of scripture in a literal and proper sense, where we can also by this literal sense do unspeakable honourto God the Fatherand his love in sending such a Sou, to Jesus the Saviour, and Isis grace in coming down from Jheage
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