OUR Saviour's Passion: Delivered in a SERMON, Preached in the Cathedral Church of Saint PETER in EXON.  
On Good Friday, the First of April, 1670.  
BY Matthew Hole, Master of Arts, and Fellow of Exeter College, OXON.  
LONDON, Printed for Richard Royston, and are to be sold by Abisha Brocas Bookseller in Exon. 1670.   

To the Right Worshipful William Morton Knight, one of the Honourable Justices of the King's Bench.  
Honoured Sir,  
THE satisfaction that was expressed at the hearing of this Sermon, and the Candid entertainment it hath found since, have induced me to gratify the requests of some, in making it more public; which I the rather complied with, because it gave me an opportunity to publish to your Honour, and the World, my grateful resentment of your great and unmerited favours. I am not so vain as to imagine that any thing therein delivered should be thought able to present your Honour with any instruction, or make the least addition to the ample stock of your present knowledge; if it may prove only a remembrancer, or upon any other account may be esteemed worthy your Honour's perusal or acceptance, the Author hath attained his end, and will rest satisfied in the success   

daea, and all ye that dwell at Jerusalem, be this known unto you, and hearken unto my words, for these men (whom you thus wickedly traduce) are not drunk with Wine, seeing it is but the third hour of the Day; and those sudden inspirations which you have heard and seen, are not, as you profanely imagine, the effects of Enthusiasm or intemperance, but the gifts of the Holy Ghost, and in them is accomplished that gracious promise of the plentiful effusion of knowledge that should come to pass in the last days; but we need not wonder (as he goes on) at this your carriage towards them, (v. 22.) since Jesus Christ himself, who was a man approved of God among you by miracles, signs and wonders, which God did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know, yet even him, not without the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain.  
So that the words are part of that excellent and successful Sermon of St. Peter preached unto the Jews, wherein he sharply rebuked them for their barbarous and inhuman carriage towards him who abundantly proved himself to be the true Messiah; and from them I shall treat,  
1. First of all, concerning our Saviour's Passion, in the three stpes or degrees of it, mentioned here in the Text, viz. That he was taken, and by wicked hands crucified, and slain; to which I shall add a word or two touching the cause and the design of his undergoing all this.  
2. Secondly, I shall show, that this his Passion was not without the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God.  
3. And, lastly, conclude with some practical inferences from the whole.  
I begin with the History of our Saviour's Passion, and there with the first step of it, which is his apprehension or being taken, him ye have taken; this we know is the first degree of punishment that is wont to be exercised towards Malefactors, who are first apprehended & arraigned, before they are condemned or executed▪ Suitable hereunto, the Sons of violence laid hands on our Saviour to take him; which act of pretended justice was not done by any private or single person, but by the counsel, or rather the conspiracy of the chief Priests and Elders; for we read, in Mat. 26. v. 4. That they held a consultation, how they might take Jesus by subtlety, and carry him away; though his daily presence at Jerusalem seemed to give them fair opportunities of effecting their design, yet the reputation he had with the people made them not so forward to embrace them, and therefore they dealt underhand with one of his own Disciples, corrupting him with the promise of a reward, to betray him with the greater secrecy into their hands. The Scribes and Pharisees, Herod and Pilate, though bitter enemies to each other, and scarce agreeing in any thing else, yet did conspire together in the apprehending and taking our Saviour; so true was that prediction of the Psalmist, in the second Psalm, v. 2. The Kings of the Earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together against the Lord, and against his anointed. The place where they apprehended him was in the Garden, where, after the treachery of Judas in betraying him, a band of Soldiers seized on his Person, hall'd him away before Pilate, and from thence into prison, where he met with no better company than an infamous Robber named Barrabbas, who yet, by a custom of releasing one at the Feast, was dismissed at the request of the people, whilst our Saviour was sacrificed to the clamours and crucifige's of the multitude. The manner of his apprehension St. Luke informs, in the 22. Chap. v. 52. They came out against him, as against a thief, with Swords and Staves. He who was the very pattern, and great exemplar, of lowliness, of meekness, was yet thus roughly handled by the merciless Soldiers; and though Peter, out of a high resentment hereof, offered to make resistance by drawing his sword, and cutting off the ear of one of the High Priest's servants, yet our Saviour sharply checked his inconsiderate zeal and rashness; partly, because they did all by the authority and command of the Magistrate, against whom he would by no means suffer or encourage the least resistance; & partly because it behoved him to suffer, and to be thus handled, for the completing the work of our redemption.  
But the jealous malice and violence of the Soldiers thought him not yet sufficiently secured before they had cast their cords on him, and carried him away bound unto Pilate, as we read, Mat. 27.2 Having seized on his Person, they secure him in Bonds, and make all haste to dispatch him away, to prevent his escape, or rescue; which circumstance of their malice was prefigured in the Old Testament, by tying the Sacrifices with Cords, and dragging them bound to the Altar, as also his being apprehended and taken was not obscurely presignified in Joseph's being taken and carried prisoner into Egypt, of which we read in Gen. 39 And so much, briefly, for the first step or degree of our Saviour's Passion, namely his being taken.  
2. The second degree of it mentioned here in the Text, is his being crucified; we know a man may be apprehended, and yet afterward dismissed without any farther censure or infliction; but the malice of the Jews towards our Saviour rested not so, but proceeded further, to his crucifixion. Him ye have taken, and by wicked hands crucified. This assixing of Criminals unto a Cross was a Roman punishment, inflicted only on thiefs and robbers, or other very notorious offenders; till Constantine the first Christian Emperor, out of a Pious honour and respect to Christ's death, forbade any farther use of it; but for the better understanding hereof, we must know that the Romans, to increase the shame and sting of this punishment, made use of these four circumstances toward those on whom it was inflicted; all which were improved to the very highest degree of cruelty in our Saviour's Crucifixion.  
First, those that were condemned to this punishment were made to bear their Cross upon their shoulders to the place of execution, which was ever without the City. So Plutarch tells us expressly, [Plutar. de his qui sero puniuatu●.] 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, i. e. malefactors when they are led forth to execution, each one bears his own cross: and Artemidorus [Artem. lib. 2. cap. 42.] is as plain, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, i.e. the Cross resembles death, and he that was to be crucified did first bear it; in compliance with which custom, the barbarous Jews leading forth our Saviour, forced him to bear his own Cross, as we read, John 19.17. as if it were not enough to be thus shamefully executed, unless he bore the unhappy instrument of his shame; or because the Cross was shortly to bear him, therefore he should be constrained to bear it. It is indeed said, that Simon the Cyrenian was compelled to bear his Cross, Mat. 27.32. but that was only when our Saviour through weariness had almost fainted under the burden; else, had his strength held out, he had found none to have eased him of that reproachful weight. Now this act of bearing his Cross was represented to us in the Old Testament, by Isaack's bearing the wood for Sacrifice, of which we read, Gen. 22. in allusion and imitation hereof it was, that our Saviour told his followers, that if they would be his Disciples, they must take up their Cross and follow him, in the patiented bearing of distress and infamy.  
Secondly, Those who were to undergo this punishment were commanded to be stripped of their clothes and to suffer naked, for so Artemidorus assures us, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, they that were to be crucified were stripped naked. Suitable whereunto we read, concerning our Saviour, Mat. 27.28. that they stripped him of his clothes; he who was clothed with Light, as with a garment, and invested with the glorious robes of immortality, was pleased for a while to lay these aside, and put on the rags of humane flesh, together with those outward cover that were ordained to conceal our shame; but of these too did unthankful mortals unworthily strip him; and, as if he had aspired too high, when he parted with his glory for these inconsiderable ornaments, he was wholly deprived of them, and exposed naked to all their scoffs and revile; and having thus stripped him, They parted his Garments among them, and upon his Vesture did they cast lots, Mat. 27.35.  
Thirdly, Those who, among the Romans, were condemned to this punishment were first of all to be whipped and scourged. So St. Jerome informs us; Sciendum est, legibus Romanis sancitum esse, ●t qui crucifigitur prius flagellis verberetur, i. e. It was decreed by the Laws of the Romans, that they who were to be crucified should be first scourged; accordingly Valerius tells us of one, qui servam suum verberibus multatum ad supplicium egisset; and Artemidorus of another, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, i. e. who being tied to a Pillar receiv●d many stripes; this circumstance of Barbarity too was exercised towards our Saviour, Mat. 27.26. When they had scourged Jesus they delivered him up to be crucified. Having stripped him naked they lash and scourge him on every side; the bitterness whereof was increased by that reproachful taunt used at every blow, now prophecy who it is that strikes thee; of this did the Evangelical Prophet Isaias plainly foretell, in Isai. 53.5. The Chastisement of our peace was upon him, and by his stripes we are healed.  
Fourthly, Those who were wont to be fastened to the Cross had the cause of their punishment written over them in Capital Letters, that so the equity of it might the better appear to the World. Hence Di● tells us of a servant hanging on the Cross 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, with letters declaring the cause of his death; this piece of pretended justice too was not omitted towards our Saviour; for having hailed his body to the Cross all besmeared in blood and gore, which the nails and scourges drew from him, they set over his head this accusation written, THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS, Mat. 27.37. Which that it might be the more generally known and understood by all, St. Luke tells us it was written in three Languages, viz. in Latin, Greek, and Hebrew, Luke 23.38. Thus did the malicious Jews improve this Roman punishment to the height of cruelty upon our Saviour; crucifying him between two thiefs, as if he had been the Arch-malefactor; where after he had hung on the Cross from the sixth to the ninth hour, upon the tenderwounds of his hands and feet, he gave up the Ghost, which was the last act of this doleful Tragedy, and leads us to the third step or degree of his Passion, mentioned in the Text; to wit, his death, or being slain, Him ye have taken, and with wicked hands have crucified and slain. As we shown before, that the taking of any prisoner doth not necessarily suppose any farther censure, much less crucifixion; so neither doth crucifixion necessarily import death; for they on whom it is inflicted, being fastened to the Cross not by any vital part, die so leisurely, that being taken from thence, may easily be supposed to live: but neither did the malice of the Jews nor our Saviour's sufferings end here, but proceeded to the very extremity of this punishment, and fulfilled the utmost intention of Crucifixion; hence St. Paul tells us, Philip. 2.3. That he became obedient unto death, even the death of the Cross, which of all the Roman ways of execution was the most painful, and the most ignominious.  
First of all, I say, his death was exceeding painful and dolorous; for he was nailed to the Cross, not by those parts that might have inferred sudden death, and so quickly have dispatched his pain, but by his hands and feet, which are of all other the most nervous, and consequently the most sensible parts; by which means they made him (as Nero afterward did the Christians) sentire se mori, feel himself dying, and endured the racking torments of a lingering death; their cruel scourges in the mean while fetching blood, and making long furrows upon his back; the Soldiers pierced his side with spears, and his Soul with scoffs and mockings more sharp than they; the multitude came about him hanging on the Cross, not to pity but deride him; and as if he had been the vilest miscreant upon earth, they spit in his face, and in the midst of all his pain and anguish poured on him, not tears, but scorn and contempt. In his bitter Agonies they denied him a drop of water, a courtesy never denied any but the damned in hell, and instead thereof filled him a sponge of Vinegar and Gall, on purpose to increase the bitterness of his Passion. In the Garden of Gethsemane his Soul felt greater tortures, than his body on the Cross; there it was, that he drunk that bitter Cup, which set him in an Agony, and caused him to sweat great drops of blood, which made him pray three times most eathestly, Father, if it be possible, let this Cup pass from me; then did he appear forsaken of his friends, and in his apprehension deserted of God too; which made him in the anguish of his Soul to cry out, My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken me? and sure, if we consider these things, we must needs say, that there was no death like unto his, nor any sorrow like unto his sorrow. But,  
Secondly, as his death was thus painful, so was it no less shameful and ignominious too; Our Saviour having humbled himself to the form of a servant was condemned to be crucified, which Tacitus calls Servile supplicium, a punishment inflicted only on servants or slaves, never on any freeman or cirizen; but before he underwent this infamous and slavish death, they kept him a while to sport themselves in his misery; to that end they stripped him of his clothes; and in derision put on him a scarlet robe, the true emblem of their crimson sins; and having accused him as one aspiring to be King of the Jews, they plaited for him a Crown of Thorns, setting it on his head; & because he should not want a Sceptre, they put a reed into his right hand, after which they in mockery bow their head to him, saying, Hail King of the Jews; and when they had spotted their fill with him, they carried him away to be crucified; where, as he hung on the Cross, they reproached him with all his former Miracles and Prophecies, saying he saved others, himself he cannot save; if he be the Son of God let him now come down from the Cross; and wagging their heads at him, they said, thou that destroyest the Temple, and buildest it in three days, save thyself, Mat. 27. After all which, he laid down his life, and drank up this bitter Cup,, even to the very dregs.  
And now, one would think that these bloody instruments of his death should feel within them some sting of Conscience, and conceive some remorse after so black and tragical an enterprise; but these, alas, as if they were (what was said of Tiberius, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, etc. but so many clods of earth kneaded and cemented with blood, remain as senseless & unrelenting after all this, as the Tree on which he hung, or the Grave-stone that covered him; they think of nothing but casting him into the earth, and securing his Grave with a Band of Soldiers; however, since these remorseless Jews could conceive neither sorrow, nor repentance, the whole Creation seemed concerned to lament the fall of so great a Person; the Sun drew in its Light, as unwilling to behold so sad a spectacle; the earth trembled and quaked, as impatient of bearing up those persons that occasioned it; the heavens were all overcast and clothed in black, as the chief mourners at his Funeral; the Veil of the Temple was rend in twain from the top to the bottom; the hard Rocks clavae; the Graves opened, and all things but these unrelenting Jews were appalled and confounded at the Passion of our Lord. And thus have we gone through the several acts or scenes of this direful Tragedy; having seen him taken, and by wicked hands crucified and slain; which every one that hath heard will be ready to inquire into the cause for which he suffered all this.  
For answer whereunto, we must know,  
First of all, that sin is the sole meritorious cause of all sorrows and sufferings; which appears, not only, because before sin entered into the world, these things were altogether unknown, and strangers to humane Nature; but likewise, because ever since its entrance, they have ever gone hand in hand together; to this purpose is that of St. Paul, Rom. 5.12. As by one man sin entered into the World, and death by sin, even so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned. But  
Secondly, to prevent an Objection, (Heb. 7.26.) that may be taken from the High, Holy, and harmless Nature of Christ, separated from sinners, and made higher than the Heavens, who though he assumed our Nature, Heb. 4.15. Yet was sin and all kind of irregularities excepted; I say, to prevent this, we must know, that though the immaculate Son of God had no sins of his own to be laid to his charge, and consequently was not liable to punishment, or the displeasure of Heaven, upon his own score, yet when he graciously undertook to be our surety or Saviour, the whole burden of our sins lay upon his shoulders, and he became answerable to the justice of God for the transgressions of mankind; and hence was that harsh saying of Luther, who styled our Saviour peccatorum maximus, the greatest of sinners; viz. not by any actual guilt of his own, but only by imputation: Now, since the wages of sin is death, Rom. 6.23. And without shedding of blood there is no remission, Heb. 9.22. Therefore our Saviour must, and accordingly was content to die, that he might become our sufficient ransom and atonement. And if one sin were enough to turn Adam out of Paradise, and to set up a flaming sword to prevent his return; if one sin (whatever it were) were sufficient to throw the lapsed Angels out of Heaven, and to reserve them in Chains of darkness to the judgement of the great day, as we read in the Epistle of St. Judas; what an unsupportable weight (think we) must be the concurrent guilt of all mankind's transgressions; a pressure sure that must sink the stoutest Atlas, and disorder the whole frame of Nature: So that we may cease our wonder at the severity of Christ's sufferings, when we reflect on that complicated guilt which was the cause of them. 'Twere our debts for which Jesus Christ was arrested and imprisoned by the Soldiers, and which by his consequent sufferings he paid to the utmost farthing; our sin was the Spear that pierced his side, and the nails that fastened him to the Cross: which leads us to the  
Last thing to be spoken to concerning our Saviour's Passion; namely, the end or design of his undergoing all this, which was the expiation of sin, and the restoring us again to the lost love and favour of God: he wore a Crown of Thorns, only that we might wear a Crown of Gold; and those drops of blood which his enemies drew from him, are turned into so many pearls to bestud and adorn ours; that scarlet Robe which the Jews put on him, died as it were in his own blood, serves to hid our shame, and to cover for us a multitude of sins; that bitter Cup, which he drunk off to the very dregs, is our Nectar, and a glorious Potion of immortality; the Vinegar and Gall, which made him to faint, is become our most reviving Cordial; his Cross, the cursed instrument of his death, is to us a Tree of life, which bears no other fruit than that of knowledge and eternal happiness; his agonies are our triumphs, and his bloody sweat the most Sovereign Balsam to cure our wounds; the Spear that pierced our Saviour's side opened there a Fountain for sin and for uncleanness; he lived and died with thiefs and robbers, and was numbered among transgressors, only that we might live with Saints, and sing forth his praises with Myriad of Angels; thus did every part of this Tragedy relate wholly to our benefit and advancement; and so much may suffice for the first thing propounded to be spoken to; the  
Second, is to show that all this was done by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God: which truth, beside the express words of the Text, is as fully set forth, Acts 4.27, 28. Of a truth against the Holy Child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and people of Israel, were gathered together, to do whatsoever thy hand and thy Counsel determined before to be done: for the clearing and evincing whereof, we must know,  
First, that there was from all eternity a certain covenant and agreement between the Father and the Son, concerning what and how he should suffer; for Almighty God foreseeing the Apostasy and fall of mankind, did from eternity, at least for some of them, decree a ransom and redemption; to effect which, because justice demanded satisfaction for the violation of that positive Law that was to be given to them; the Son, as a surety, interposed and promised satisfaction; whereupon it was determined and agreed between them, what should be the manner and measure of his sufferings, in order to the procuring pardon and redemption for them: of this Covenant, on God the Father's part, we read, Isai. 53.10. If he shall make his soul an Offering for sin he shall see his seed, and prolong his days: Of the Son's acceptation and undertaking hereof we read, Psal. 40.7, 8. Then said I, lo, I come, in the volume of thy Book it is written of me, to do thy will, O God; and hence is our Saviour said to be the Lamb slain before the Foundations of the World, Revel. 13.8. viz. in Gods eternal decree and determination, which makes it evident, that every circumstance of Christ's Passion was done by the counsel and foreknowledge of God; which will yet further appear, if we consider,  
Secondly, That as these things were from eternity transacted and resolved upon, between the Father and the Son, so likewise were they by the Spirit of God revealed unto the Prophets, and by them delivered unto the World, long before the incarnation of Jesus Christ. Hence St. Paul, in the defence of this doctrine, told Agrippa, that he said none other things than those which Moses and the Prophets did say should come, that Christ should suffer, Act. 26.22, 23. yea, if we compare the Prophecies of the Old Testament with the History of the New, we shall find that exact correspondence of the event with the predictions, and the punctual accomplishment of every circumstance, even in that way and manner as it was foretell, will make it clearly to appear, that all this was done by the determinate Counsel and foreknowledge of God; which will be yet more plain, if we consider,  
Thirdly, that these things were not only punctually foretell by the Prophets, but likewise prefigured in Types, and in a previous manner acted over in the sacrifices; long before our Saviour's coming in the flesh, the slaying of the Paschal Lamb in the Passeover, clearly represents the slaughter of this Lamb of God; who was to take away the sins of the world: the lifting up of the brazen Serpent in the wilderness betokened, and is accordingly by the Apostle applied to the lifting up of the Messiah upon the Cross: yea all the Sacrifices under the Law, which were offered and purged with blood, are but so many Types and Representations of the death of the Messiah; signifying to us, that only through his blood we must look for the remission of sins, and through the vail of his flesh alone hope for the admission into the Holy of Holies; all which (without having recourse to the infinity of his wisdom & knownledge) make it more particularly and unquestionably certain, that our Saviour's Passi●on, as to all the Modes and Circumstances of it, was done by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God.  
The practical inferences, by way of Application, (our last particular) now follow; and  
First of all, from the several steps of our Saviour's Passion, together with the infamy and severity of them all, we may learn the heinous and pernicious nature of sin, which could be no otherwise expiated, then by the blood of the Son of God; the sins of lost man cried so loud in the ears ' of Heaven, that Jesus Christ must descend thence, ere he could stop the clamour; and when he came down, nothing could silence it, but the sweeter voice of that blood that speaketh better things than that of Abel: If any can be so dangerously mistaken, as to think sin but a slight matter, let him enter into the High Priests Palace, the Judgement Hall, and Mount Calvary, and there see what it cost our Saviour to do it away; let him take a walk in the Garden of Gethsemane, and then give his sins a prospect, of what they drew upon a bleeding and Crucified Christ; there mayst thou see what a dismal night of affliction thou hast made him to suffer by thy luxury and night-revelling; there mayst thou behold those sad wounds and bruises which thy sins have made upon his body; and how he groans under that, at which thou dost but sport thyself; call upon thy deep draughts and riotous excess, to see what a cup of wrath and trembling they have made him to drink off for their sake; show thy drunkenness the Gall and Wormwood which he was forced to swallow for its atonement; call hither thy lewd embraces, and sinful dalliances, show them a naked Christ, all over bathed in tears and blood, to wash off their impurities; bid thy oaths and cursing look yonder, and see the blood and wounds which they have so often played withal; view those bitter pangs, throws, and Agonies, which sin hath made him to labour under, and then see whether it be so light and inconsiderable a matter, as thou wouldst fain persuade thyself it is: certainly, if there be any pressure in that which cracked the very heartstrings of Nature, and made the whole Creation groan; if there be any weight in that which sank the Lord of Heaven and Earth into the Grave, then is sin one of the heaviest and most intolerable burdens in the World.  
Secondly, this discourse of our Saviour's Passion bids us to conform unto his death, by dying unto sin, and crucifying the the flesh with the affections and lusts; this is the use which the Apostle makes of it, Rom. 6.4. that as Christ died and risen again, so should we die unto sin and live unto God; and verse second, how shall we that are dead in sin live any longer therein? was Christ bruised and wounded for our iniquities, and shall we act over the same Tragedy upon him again by our repeated transgressions? had he not sorrow and sufferings enough of old, but by renewed offences will we tear open his wounds afresh, and Crucify him again? shall we think it much to shed a few penitential tears for that which made him sweat great drops of blood? when Satan, or thy own corrupt heart tempt thee to the commission of any sin; imagine thou sawest thy Crucified Saviour coming towards thee, showing thee his Cross, and beseeching thee by all his wounds, that thou wouldst not pierce his side again, or drive any more nails into him; yea, fancy all his wounds to be so many mouths, gaping for pity, and begging thee not to renew their smart by any fresh acts of cruelty; would not this dissuade any that had but the bowels of a man from such unreasonable attempts? imagine that he shown thee his cheeks swollen with buffet, his face defiled with spitting on, his head gored with Thorns, and his back torn with scourges; and would not this be a spectacle sad enough to move compassion? Sure, unless we are become transformed into wild Beasts, we can never delight in the blood of our dearest friend; yea, we must be more savage than they, if we pray upon our Keeper, and wound that hand that doth but reach us our it● assistance; let us not then any longer hug that Viper in our bosom, which not only stung our Saviour to death, but likewise gnaws upon our own Conscience, and leaves the● Worm to torture us, that never dies; let us bury our sins in our Saviouts grave; or, like the Egyptians of old, let them be all drowned in the Red Sea of his blood.  
Thirdly, in this story of our Saviour's Passion, we may read the transcendent and unexpressible love of Christ unto mankind, in undergoing all this misery and torment for their sakes; the greatest expression of love that ever was, or could be manifested towards the Sons of men, was the sending of a Saviour into the World; for when all mankind lay in a forlorn, undone condition, unable either to bear or remove the great burden of those miseries which sin had brought upon them; then to feel the gentle hand of a Redeemer taking off the weight, and administering to them ease and deliverance, to find their chains exchanged for a Crown, and their mourning turned into Jubilees, and songs of Triumph; this is a mercy to be expressed only with wonder, and eternity itself is too little sufficiently to celebrate and admire it: especially, considering that the lapsed Angels, those nobler and far more glorious Creatures, were totally passed by and neglected, whilst the worthless sons of Adam became the select objects of divine love and compassion; this is so high and eminent a testimony of God's love, that Saint John is at a loss, how to describe it, Chap. 3. verse 16. God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, etc. and St. Paul, like one astonished at the consideration of it, cries out, O the depth and height, the length and breadth of this love of God, that passeth knowledge! Eph. 3.18. Should any generous Monarch take some forlorn wretch from the dunghill, in all his running sores and Ulcers, and not only receive him into his Palace, but adopt him for his son, and pronounce him his heir; this, though it were a kindness truly great and noble, is yet but a faint resemblance of the great love of God towards us. Yea, farther, should any compassionate Prince expose his own Darling Child to the most barbarous and bloody death, only to save the life of 〈◊〉 Traitor, who had oftentimes forfeited it by many acts of Treason and Rebellion; this, though it come somewhat nearer, doth yet come infinitely short of this unimitable instance of God's love and goodness; if we would work our hearts to some sense of it, let us  
First, meditate a while on the surpassing greatness and eminence of the person who suffered all this for us; it being no other than the eternal and only begotten Son of God; yea, on● that was God blessed for evermore, and might have been for over glorious, though the whole World still continued miserable.  
Secondly, let us consider a little, what kind of death it wa● that he underwent, a death heightened with all the ingredien●● of pain and anguish, that the most ingenious and intaged malic● could invent or execute; a death, wherein the wrath of God and the spite of men, and the rage of all the power of darkness most fatally conspired.  
Thirdly, let us consider likewise the great worthlesness o● the persons for whom all this was done; persons that were n●● only strangers, but the greatest Enemies and Rebels to hi●… persons, that never did any thing, but what did 〈◊〉 highly disoblige and provoke him. The serious consideratio 〈…〉 these things may help us to some small glimpses of this unp●●… leled mercy, though the just dimensions of it can by no m●●●● be comprehended, and is therefore left to be the Object of 〈◊〉 eternal praises and admiration.  
Fourthly, from our Saviour's Passion, we may learn patien 〈…〉 bear all the afflictions and crosses that may befall us in this 〈…〉 we may not expect better usage in the World than our 〈…〉 met with, the Disciple is not above his Lord; as he hath 〈…〉 before us in this hard and rugged way, so hath he left 〈…〉 him a fair copy of humility and patience for us to write 〈…〉 the 〈◊〉 that can happen to us of these calamities, are nothing 〈…〉 with his Agonies, and bitter passion; and shall ● actions, that bear no proportion at all 〈…〉 the heavy burden of his sufferings at that 〈…〉ing excessive weight of glory, which he 〈…〉