the wrath of God, and by my mediation thou shalt be in perfect security. Art thou afraid of being hewn down as a dry and barren tree, and therefore dreadest the axe of God's wrath? know that I have suffered its stroke in thy stead. I have permitted myself to be rooted out of the land of the living, that thou mightest be spared. My merit shall protect thy penitent soul against it, and my Spirit, which I sltali pour upon thee, shall make thee green and flourishing; so that thou shalt be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth its fruit in its season. The name of my Father shall be glorified in thy wonderful fertility, and, after standing thy due time in the garden of my church on earth, I will transplant thee to my heavenly paradise, and place thee by the crystal stream which issues from my throne: There shalt thou flourish in everlasting bloom and verdure, and thy leaf shall never fade." THE PRAYER. Now, O faithful Saviour, thanks be to thee for this thy last penitential sermon, and for thy grace which thou hast now given us in the consideration of it. Impress it deeply on our hearts by thy Holy Spirit; and grant that when we reflect on thy sufferings, we may say, If this be done in a green tree, what shall be done in a dry? May all sleeping consciences be roused by this consideration, and be filled with the salutary dread of the wrath of God, that they may be awakened to a sincere repentance. Spare, we beseech thee, those barren trees which thou still findest among us, and by thy vital power make them fruitful in good works. As for those whom thou hast already fertilized, give them to abound more and more in the fruits of faith and love, that the name of thy Father may be glorified in them. Amen. CONSIDERATION III. THE CRUCIFIXION OF THE LORD JESUS. 'AND they bring him unto a place, called in the Hebrew, Golgotha, which is, being interpreted, the place of a skull. And they gave him to drink vinegar Tor sour wine] mingled with myrrh and gall: And when he had tasted thereof, he would not drink; and he received it not. And they crucified him there, and two other malefactors with him; one on the right hand, and the other on the left, and Jesus in the midst. And the scripture was fulfilled, which saith, And he was numbered with the transgressors. Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do,' (Matt. xxvii. 33, 34, 38. Mark xv. 22, 23, 27, 28. Luke xxiii. 33, 34. John xix. 17, 18.) In these words we have an account of the crucifixion of the Lord Jesus; concerning which the following particulars are here mentioned: First, The place where it was performed. Fourthly, Christ's intercession for his enemies during his crucifixion. I. First, As to the place where Jesus was crucified, we are told in general, that it was on Mount Golgotha; and we are further particularly informed, that he was crucified in the middle between two malefactors. Mount Golgotha, or the Place of a Skull, derived that name either from the roundness of its summit, which resembled a human skull, or from the skulls of those who had been beheaded there; for, according to all appearance, Pilate had made this hill the theatre of several executions. Possibly it was the usual place where criminals were beheaded, or put to death some other way. Places appropriated for the s that are continua", ON MOUNT GOLGOTHA. 203 execution of malefactors, among the ancients, were generally on eminences; that the greater number of spectators might be able to see the execution, and be deterred from committing the like crimes. How must the spotless soul of the Son of God been affected, as he ascended this mountain, which was covered with crowds of spectators rejoicing at his ignominious death! What a contrast was there between this ascent to Golgotha, and his former descent on Mount Sinai, when he was attended by hosts of adoring angels, and displayed his glory to the whole people of Israel. But the place, where our blessed Lord was crucified, is more particularly specified by all the four Evangelists, who observe that two malefactors were crucified with him, one on his right hand, and the other on his left, and Jesus in the midst. Probably, the Jewish rulers had persuaded the Roman soldiers to crucify Jesus in the midst between the two malefactors. By this, their design was to bring the greater contempt on our blessed Saviour, and to make the people imagine, that he was not only guilty of the same crimes with those malefactors, but was their chief, and the ringleader of all those rebels and seditious banditti, with which the whole land of Judea was overrun at that time. Let us admire the wisdom of God in the choice of this place for the crucifixion of Christ, and observe what doctrines may be deduced from this circumstance of our Saviour's passion. First, We may observe that the place of Christ's crucifixion was not fortuitously chosen, according to the pleasure of his enemies; but was particularly appointed before by the Divine wisdom. 1. It was a place without the walls of Jerusalem. This happened not only because it was the custom of the Romans and Jews, to execute all capital sentences without the city, and the latter even in the wilderness led blasphemers and sabbath-brakers out of the camp. and stoned them, (Lev. xxiv. 14. Numb. xv. 35, 36.) but because it was fixed by the secret decree of the Divine wisdom. Jerusalem was then accounted the metropolis of the people of God where the Deity in a peculiar manner resided. Now Jesus was led out of the city to the place of malefactors, to shew that he was excluded from the presence of God, and the fellowship of his people; and ranked with those, who from the cross descended into hell. Thus Christ was to bear our curse, and, by his being cast out of the earthly Jerusalem, was to make us free denizens of the heavenly Jerusalem, the city of the living God. Besides, it did not seem congruous, that the great sacrafice of atonement for the sins of the world should be offered up within the walls of the Jewish metropolis, like a Levitical offering. An open place, which was not confined within any walls, better suited an universal sacrifice. 2. It was an unclean place, polluted with the blood of malefactors; a place, where death, as it were, had set up his standard. Here the Prince of life was to attack and overcome death in this own camp and dominion, and to swallow him up in victory. In 3. This Mount Golgotha was a part of Mount Moriah, on which Isaac, that glorious type of Christ, was to have been sacrificed, and where Abraham received a singular demonstration of the Divine favour. this very place the great antitype, the true Isaac, the seed of Abraham in whom all the nations of the earth are blessed, was to be slain; and by this circumstance, an illustrious pledge of God's watchful care over his people was given to the whole church, 4. It was a high place; and by this was fulfilled our blessed Lord's prediction, that the son of man should be lifted up (John iii. 14. viii. 28. xii. 32, 33.) As Moses and Aaron both died on a high mountain ; so here, the true High Priest of the New Covenant, and the supreme Lawgiver, was to dye on an eminence. By this he likewise intimates, that by his Gos pel he was set up as an ensign to all nations, and that the Gentiles should enquire after him. But our blessed Saviour was likewise crucified between two malefactors, that these words of Isaiah, he was numbered with the transgressors,' (Isaiah liii. 12.) as St. Mark observes, might receive their literal accomplishment. So dearly has it cost the son of God to obtain for us a place among the Saints in light. That we, who are evil doers, might be numbered among the just, the just and holy one of God was to suffer himself to be numbered among the transgres. sors. Thus we see, that the providence of God appointed the place where our blessed Saviour was to be crucified. Secondly, the choice of this place for the crucifiixion of our Lord Christ, reminds us of many duties which the Christian religion énjoins. That the place of the crucifixion was without the walls of Jerusalem, and that Jesus was to go up to it out of the city, is mentioned by St. Paul, who observes in the Epistle to the Hebrews, that Jesus has thereby fulfilled the type of the sin-offering instituted in the Old Testament. (Heb. xiii. 11, 12.) The bodies of those beasts, says the Apostle, whose blood is brought into the sanctuary by the High Priest for sin, are burnt without the camp.' Hence he draws this conclusion: 'wherefore Jesus, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered without the gate.' As the blood of the sacrifices on the great day of atonement was brought into the sanctuary, and their bodies were burned without the city; so Jesus, who also suffered without Jerusalem, is the true sacrifices of atonement; and his blood was carried into the heavenly sanctuary for the atonement of the sins of the whole world. But from this circumstance the Apostle further draws this inference; 'Let us go forth therefore unto him without the camp, bearing his reproach,' (verse 13.) By this going forth without the camp, St. Paul, indeed, chiefly denotes a departing |