ed for us, because we deferved to be deprived of all earthly accommodations and comforts, and to be banifhed from God and heaven for ever.

He was ftricken by the rod of poverty, and pinching ftraits. Though he was the King of the universe, and poffeffed all the riches of it, yet for our fakes he became poor, that we through his poverty might become rich, 2 Cor. viii. 5. He was not born of a rich emprefs, but of a poor virgin; not in his own house, but in another man's: He had no house nor foot of ground of his own to live or lodge in: Though the foxes had holes, and the birds nefts, yet he that created them had not where to lay his head. His diet was oft a feeking, and commonly very mean, barely bread and fmall fifhes. He had no money to pay his tax, but muft borrow it of a fifh of the fea. He travelled ftill on foot, except once he rode to Jerufalem to fulfil a prophecy; and then he had neither horfe nor afs of his own, but muft borrow another man's afs. He had no fine mounting, but the clothes of them that followed him. He had no burial place of his own, but was laid in another man's; and all this he fubmitted to for our fakes. He was alfo ftricken by the rod of fore labour and toil, by working at a mechanic trade, till he was thirty years of age; therefore they faid, Mark vi. 3. Is not this the carpenter? Man having eaten the forbidden fruit, was doomed to fore labour, that he fhould eat his bread with the sweat of his brow, Gen. iii. 19. and to this doom our furety fubmitted for us. Man broke God's covenant by eating of the tree, therefore his furety muft die on the tree. Man idolized a tree, and preferred its fruit to God's favour, therefore his furety must labour in cutting and hewing trees moft of his time. Man lived a life of finning, and therefore Christ must live a life of labour and forrow; he even became a man of forrows, Ifa. liii. 3. that we might obtain everlafting joy and confolation.

He was ftricken by men's reproachful tongues, fcoffs, and mockeries, being called a glutton, wine-bibber, de

⚫ceiver, Samaritan, blafphemer, a deviì; and one in compact with Beelzebub, the prince of devils. They derided him in all his offices; as a prophet, by bidding him prophefy who fmote him; as a priest, bidding him fave himself, fince he pretended to fave others; as a king, by putting on him a purple robe, a crown of thorns, and giving him a mock fceptre. Yea, he en *dured the most cruel mockings, and, that in the midst of his fharpeft fufferings and foul-agonies, when he cried out on the bloody crofs, Eli, Eli, &c. O, fay they, this man calls for Elias, playing on the word Eli. It was not out of ignorance or mistake they said so, but out of malice and derifion; for they understood the Hebrew language well enough, and knew he called on God, and that Eli fignified my God. But, in their fpite, they would represent him as an idolater; and, when dying, that he prayed not to God but to faints for help. He was ftricken by the moft open affronts and indignities from men, by fpitting in his face, condemning him to die for blafphemy against God, and treafon against Cæfar: By preferring Barabbas, a murderer, before him, and pofting him between two thieves. Thus the King of Glory was defpifed and rejected of man for us, Ifa liii. 3.

He was ftricken by the fcourges of plaited cords on his back, and with the thorns they drove into his head: That thorny crown was defigned for torture, as well as derifion; for, if it had been only to mock him, a crown of straw would have ferved the purpose as well as one of thorns. He was ftricken by the pincers that plucked the hair off his cheeks; and by the heavy crofs tree laid on his bleeding shoulders, which he must carry to Calvary. He was ftricken with four big iron nails through his hands and feet, on which his whole weight muft hang. He was ftricken with a burning heat and thirst, which the wrath of God for our fins created in him, and dried him up like a potfherd: This made him cry out, I thirst, yet no wine, no fountain, no creature that he made muft relieve him at this time.

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He was ftricken by a fpear thruft into his fide to let out his heart blood, to be fure that no life remained. Well, (faid our dying lamb) let my dearest blood, my heart-blood, go for thefe loft finners, that their fouls may live and fing for ever.

He was ftricken by the ungrateful behaviour of his own difciples to him: By Judas his betraying and felling him for a small fum, the price of a flave: By Peter's denying him, and fwearing he knew him not, at the temptation of a poor damfel: By all of them forfaking him, and leaving him in the midst of his enemies. Befides all this, he was ftricken in his foul, by the terrible glittering fword of juftice, by the curfes of the law, by desertion from God, by the vials of his wrath poured out on him, which made fearful bruifes, deep wounds, and wide gafhes in his foul. Oh, our dear furety was ftricken till he fell to the ground; was overwhelmed with wrath, and covered with blood. With these strokes our mighty Redeemer was thrown down, and broken with breach upon breach, till all the fea-billows of divine vengeance went over him. Oh, never was there any forrow like my dear Saviour's forrow, which he fuffered when ftricken for my fins!

Lord, I am afhamed of the hardnefs and unconcernedness of my heart at this moving spectacle! O did the dead earth tremble, the hard rocks rend, the graves open, the heavens turn black at the fight of a dying Jefus, ftricken by the fword of juftice? And fhall not my rocky heart tremble and quake, rend and melt for my fins, that were the caufe of it? Shall the hiftory of Jofeph in the pit move me more than that of Chrift upon the cross? Shall the news of the tragical death of a friend, or the sufferings of an acquaintance among the Turks, move me more than the death and fufferings of the innocent Son of God on my account? Alas, my heart of tone will neither break nor melt, till Christ turn and look on me as he did on backsliding Peter. Lord, one look from thee can turn the rock into fanding water. One blink of the Sun of Righteouf

nefs can melt the moft frozen and icy heart in the world.

O how lovely is my ftricken and bleeding Jefus : Even when bleeding and mangled by my fins, I fee him to be white and ruddy, and the chiefeft among ten thousand. Every wound and stroke he got doth ftill beautify him the more to me, and make my foul to cry, O my lov ing and lovely Jefus! O how can I fee him fubftituting. himfelf in my room, and making himfelf the butt of the envenomed arrows of juftice, and not be ravished with his love to me, and with the warmest affection to him! And at the fame time filled with forrow for my fins, which brought on all his ftrokes and wounds! Oh my fins were the thorns that pierced his head, the nails which pierced his hands, and the fpear that pierced his heart. My fins preffed him down, and made him fweat blood in the garden. My foul being exceeding finful, made his foul exceeding forrowful. May I always hate fin, and forrow for it.

MEDITATION XXV.

From GAL. ii. 20. I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loted me, and gave himself for me.

O how defirable an attainment is the exercife of true faith upon the great Saviour Jefus Chrift, with an appropriating perfuafion, or fpecial application to a man himself, fo as to fay, "I believe and admire his love to "the elect in general, and to me in particular; I trust "him with my foul, and my eternal falvation; I em"brace him, and put my whole confidence in him, who "loved me, and gave himself for me!" Surely this is the faith, that every one that defires to obey that great commandment, 1 John iii. 23. fhould aim at, and prefs for, as a thing of the last moment and confequence: 0 Lord, I believe, help thou my unbelief.

Lord, I will not reft in a general belief and perfua

fion of the mercy of God in Chrift, and of Chrift's ability and willingness to fave all that come unto him; but I will apply his blood and righteoufnefs to myself in particular, and reft on him as one that loved me, and gave himself for me. This appropriating faith is neceffary to my juftification; for every juftified perfon applies Chrift's righteoufnefs to himfelf, faying, as in Ifa. xlv. 24. Surely in the Lord have I righteoufnefs. As the church in general calls him the Lord our righteousness; fo I, in particular, call him the Lord my righteoufnefs. I make it my daily practice to wrap up my naked foul in this robe, and live by faith upon it. I make perfonal and particular application of the remedy to my foul's maladies, and draw virtue from it. This particular appropriation in the actings of faith, is moft needful for clearing up a believer's evidences, and for filling the foul with joy and peace in believing; for overcoming the fears of death, and giving comfort at a dying hour. And particularly, it contributes greatly to the foul's comfortable approach to the holy table of the Lord, when it can fay, "I receive a crucified Chrift as my Saviour; "I go to him as one who loved me, and gave himfelf "for me; I take the fymbols, and feed upon his body "as broken for me, and on his blood as fhed for me; "and I accept of these as an earnest and pledge of my "living and feafting with my Saviour for ever."

A crucified Chrift, with all his purchase, is offered to all the hearers of the gofpel: For Chrift in the word, and by his minifters in the gofpel-offer, fpeaks to all and every one of them; yea, fpeaks to every finner, man and woman in particular, as though he called them by name and furname. And every man is bound to take the call and offer home to himfelf, as if he were fo named, and believe that Chrift ftands at his door and knocks, faying, if you or any man will open to me, I will come in. The promife is to you, and to all that are afar off even to all the ends of the earth, and to the ftout-hearted; to all the fons of men, to every creature, to them that have no money, to the poor, maimed,

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