we shall be apt often and attentively to consider. We should therefore revolve often in our thoughts this great mystery of godliness, God manifest in the flesh, dying on the cross, to destroy the works of the devil, 1 Tim. iii. 16. We should turn it on all sides, and consider it as the proper subject of our awe and wonder, our joy and pleasure, our gratitude and love; till we have warmed our hearts with a lively sense of the inestimable benefits conferred on us by the means of it. This the oftener we do, the better; but we cannot, without inexcusable negligence, omit doing it on such a day as this, set apart by the church on purpose to commemorate the passion of our Lord. If we fail to employ some part of this day in our closets, and in devout meditations on the cross of Christ, we are unworthy of that redemption he purchased for us. What (said our Saviour to his sleeping disciples, when he was entering on his agony) can you not watch with me one hour? Matt. xxvi. 40. Can you not shake off your drowsiness, and bear me company in my sorrows for a few moments, on so important and becoming an occasion? Can your sluggish inattention and indifference to what concerns me so nearly, consist with a true love of me, or with the character of my faithful disciples? What! can you not watch with me one hour? Watch and pray, lest ye enter into temptation. 2. A second step towards fulfilling our obligation to glory in the cross of Christ, is, if we endeavour to imitate the perfect example he hath set us, and to form in our minds some faint resemblances of those meek graces and virtues, which adorn the character of our suffering Saviour. And this step is a natural consequence of the former; for imitation will in some degree spring from attention: if we see him as he is, we shall be like him, as St. John argues, 1 John iii. 2. In vain do we boast of the cross of Christ, as that whereby the guilt of our sins is abolished, if the power of them still remains unsubdued in us. Then are his sufferings our glory, when they become a fruitful principle of holiness to us, and affect us in such a manner, as to give us resolution and strength to live above the world, and all its temptations. In hoc vince, was the inscription of the cross, in that vision, by which the first christian emperor was encouraged to give battle to his enemies. And this also is the motto by which every good soldier of Christ is to animate himself in his spiritual conflicts; this is to be written on our banners, and graven in our minds: This is the victory which overcometh the world, even our faith in a crucified Jesus, 1 John v. 5. When from him we have learnt to undervalue the false glories of this world, and to despise its terrors, to live above the gratifications of sense, to resign ourselves absolutely to God's disposal, and to make it our meat and our drink, our only study and delight, to do the will of him that sent us, John iv. 34; when we shall have emptied ourselves of all swelling thoughts, all vain conceits of our own privileges and perfections, and shall be thoroughly instructed in that great lesson of humility, which he, who was meek and lowly in heart hath taught us, Matt. xi. 29; when we shall have so considered him that endured the contradiction of sinners against himself, as not to be weary and faint in our minds, Heb. xii. 3; upon the like oppositions and trials, so, as to bear indignities and injuries decently and well, and to forgive and pray for those who do them; so as to be able to support ourselves under any of the calamities of life with equanimity and patience, with fortitude and firmness then may we be said, most truly, most effectually, to glory in the cross of Christ ourselves, and to promote the honour of his religion with others, who shall observe our progress in all divine graces and virtues, and be edified in beholding our good conversation in Christ Jesus. 3. A third instance and proof of our glorying as becomes us in the cross of Christ, is, if we frequently and worthily celebrate the memorial of his death, the blessed sacrament of his body and blood. For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew forth the Lord's death until he come, xalafyénλele, 1 Cor. xi. 26; ye do significantly express it, ye do solemnly publish and declare it. Indeed both the sacraments, that of baptism, and this of the Lord's supper, as they derive their efficacy from the cross of Christ, so do they carry in them some resemblance of his death: baptism, of his death and resurrection jointly; the eucharist, of his death only; being instituted for this very end and purpose, to imprint on our minds, by symbols of bread broken, and wine poured out, a lively image of the great sacrifice of the cross, and to inspire us by that means with such holy thoughts and affections as a good Christian would have, if he were really an eye-witness of the passion of Christ. Often, therefore, ought we to resort to this mysterious repast, even as often as we have occasion (and when have we not occasion?) to raise our gratitude, and improve our devotion, and inflame our love towards God, for the abundant mercies bestowed on us, in the sufferings and death of our Saviour. Nor can we abstain from this table of the Lord, without forgetting (indeed without so far renouncing) our relation to Christ crucified, and thereby declaring ourselves utterly unworthy of that holy name whereby we are called. Verily, verily, except we eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, we have no life in us, 1 John vi. 53. 'Twas his dying charge to us, Do this in remembrance of me, Luke xxii. 16. And surely, considering how much he has done and suffered for us, had he commanded us some hard thing, we should not have refused to comply with him: how much less should we refuse, when we are only commanded to remember him, by an action naturally pleasing and delightful to us? when he invites us only to eat and to drink at his own table? Christ, the same night that he was betrayed, took bread. At that very time, when men were laying snares for his innocence and contriving his ruin, did he appoint this great means of blessing and strengthening them: when his body was now about to be pierced, and his blood to be spilt by the hand of violence; then did he institute this mystery, by which the merits of both were to be conveyed to the whole race of mankind, even to his murderers themselves, if by faith and repentance they should lay hold of them. Must not our stupidity and ingratitude be as amazing as his love, if the very circumstances, in which he gave us this precept, do not incline us to obey it? Can we be said to glory in the cross of Christ, while we neglect and despise this great memorial of his death, which he instituted for the good of souls? ought we not rather to fear, lest, by abstaining wilfully and contemptuously from this holy table, we should involve ourselves in some degree of their guilt, whom the apostle declares to have trodden under foot the Son of God, and counted the blood of the covenant, by which they were sanctified, an unholy thing? Heb. x. 29. But finally, we may 4. In the fourth place, be said, very properly said, to glory in the cross of Christ, when we zealously assert, and vindicate the true doctrine of his satisfaction, against all the enemies and opposers of it; against the false notions of the Jews, and the false religion of the Mahometans; against the mischievous opinions of some deceived or deceiving Christians; against the vain pretences of reason and philosophy; and against the proud insults and blasphemies of atheists and infidels. But these particulars would open too large a field of matter to me at present, and may, perhaps, (God permitting,) be no improper subject for our reflections on a like occasion. In the mean time let us conclude, by rendering to the great Lover of souls the thanks that are due to him, for the redemption which he, as on this day, purchased for us. Worthy is the Lamb that was slain, to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing: for he hath redeemed us to God by |