Awake, O fword, against my Shepherd, and against the man that is my Fellow, faith the Lord of hofts.

HIS text, Sirs, is a very wonderful one, as ever a poor mortal man preached upon; for in it there is a cloud, a black cloud, a cloud of divine wrath and vengeance, a bloody cloud, the cloud of Chrift's bloody paffion which we are to celebrate the memorials of this day; but, like the cloud that led Ifrael in the wilderness, though it had a black fide towards Chrift, yet it has a bright and light fide towards all the Ifrael of God; for this cloud of blood diftills in a fweet fhower of bleffings unto poor finners: there is a light in this cloud wherein we may fee God, in Chrift, reconciling the world to himself.

This verfe prefents us with a clear prediction of the fufferings of Chrift; and the difpofition of his difciples thereupon; Smite the Shepherd, and the fheep fhall be fcattered; and I will turn mine hand upon the little ones: Which our Lord exprefly applies to himfelf, and his difciples, Mat. xxvi. 31. Mark xiv. 27. So that we need not ftand to enquire, of whom the

This was an Action-fermon, preached immediately before the celebration of the Lord's fupper at Dunfermline, July 3d. 120.; and hath now undergone three impreffions. D

VOL. I.

prophet here, or rather, of whom God here speaks; for, the words of our text are the words of God the Father, giving orders and commiffion to the fword of his justice, to awake against his Son, when he had undertaken to become our Surety. More particularly, in the words you may notice these three things.

1. A folemn call and fummons given to God's vengeance, or vindictive juftice, to rendezvous its forces, and march forth in battle array, in all circumstances of terror; Awake, O fword.

2. The party against whom this dreadful battle is proclaimed, this terrible fword is brandifhed; must it not be against finners? nay, but the finner's Surety: against my Shepherd, and against the man that is my Fellow: not against the sheep, but the Shepherd; not against a Shepherd fimply, but against my Shepherd: not against mankind, but a man; not against a man fimply, a mere man, but the Man that is my Fellow; mine equal.

3. By whofe orders, or at whofe inftance this fummons to the bloody battle is given; why, it is the Lord of hosts that fays it: it is he that gives the commiffion, and orders the fword to be drawn.

Now, the fummons is very awful, Awake, O fword, against him if he will be a Surety, he must be a facrifice; if he will be a facrifice, he must be flain ; for, without fhedding of blood, there is no remiffion. It is not a charge to a rod to correct him, but to a fword to flay him; for, Meffiah, the Prince, must be cut off, though not for himself, Dan. ix. 26. It is not the fword of war to which he gives this charge, that he may die in the bed of honour; but the fword of justice, that he may die as a criminal upon an ignominious tree. This fword must awake against him; it must not reft, cannot be quiet nor fatisfied, till it be drunk in his heart's blood. It is not called upon to awake and fright him, but to awake and fmite him. Not with a lazy drowsy blow, but an awakened one; even a horrible, terrible blow.

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The

The party against whom the fword is called to awake is very glorious; the defcription of him here is very magnificent; Awake against my Shepherd, and against the man that is my Fellow: defcribed in his office, my Shepherd; in his perfon, God-man, my Fellow. Men thurst him through as a foolish fhepherd, and God thursts him through as the good Shepherd, as his own Shepherd, the Shepherd of his own flock, that he might purchase the flock of God with his own blood. As Mediator, he is God's Shepherd, who undertook to feed the flock, and to lay down his life for his sheep: and against the man that is my Fellow; or, the man my Fellow; the man who is God as well as man, who thought it no robbery to be equal with God.

Finally, The Party giving thefe orders to incenfed juftice to awake againft him is as wonderful; the Lord of hofts; that Jehovah that has all the hofts of heaven, earth, and hell at his call: the Lord of hofts; that is, Jehovah, Father, Son, and Holy Ghoft, one God, effentially confidered, giving a commiffion to infinite justice to awake against the fecond Perfon of the Godhead, confidered as Surety and Mediator, God-man.

Now, from the words thus fhortly opened, we might obferve many doctrines, but I confine myself to this one, namely;

OBSER. That by Special orders from Jehovah, the great God of hosts, the man Chrift, his Shepherd and Fellow, did fall a facrifice to the awakened fword of infinite juftice. Awake, Ŏ fword.

When nothing among the creatures could be found to deliver the foul of the finner, from going down to the pit, God himself found a ranfom; he found an atonement, Job xxxiii. 24. by fetting forth Christ to be the propitiation, through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness, that he might be just, and the justifier of him that believeth in Jefus, Rom. iii. 25, 26. We finful creatures, both minifters and people, fhould all have fallen a facrifice to the fword of God's wrath and vengeance for ever, because of our fins: but behold D 2

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he finds a ranfom; he fets forth Chrift to be the propitiation. Whenever he is fet forth, the fword falls upon him, and awakes against him who was the Shepherd, that the sheep might efcape.

I might here premise many useful particulars préfuppofed in this doctrine, namely, That it fuppofes a covenant of works broken, and so justice inraged against men: A covenant of redemption made; a counfel of peace between - Jehovah and Christ, for man's relief: and, which I reckon much the fame with the former, a covenant of grace eftablished in Chrift; he engaging to fulfil the condition of the covenant of works, which we had broken; to obey the law, which we had tranfgreffed; to fatisfy the juftice, which we had offended; to bear the wrath, which we had incurred; whereupon the sword of the Lord awakes against him, and all the fquadrons of enraged fury march forth against him, with infinite horror and terror: Awake, O fword, against my Shepherd.-But omitting all that might be fuppofed, and prefuppofed to this doctrine, I fhall endeavour to confine myself as closely as poffible to the feveral parts of the text and doctrine, by profecuting it in the following method; namely,

I. To enquire into the character of the perfon against whom this fword does awake.

II. The nature and quality of this sword that did awake against him.

III. How this fword did awake against him; by fhewing what may be imported in this expreffion, Awake, O fword.

IV. What special hand the Lord Jehovah, the Lord of hofts, had in ordering or calling of this. fword to awake against this glorious perfon. V. The reafons of the doctrine, why the Lord of hofts ordered the fword of juftice to awake against his Shepherd, and the man that is his Fellow.

VI. Draw fome inferences for the application of the whole, in a fuitableness to the work of the

day.

I. Who is this that the sword of justice must awake against? The character of the perfon is very great and glorious, in the words of our text, My Shepherd, the man that is my Fellow; that is, in fhort, Godman Mediator; for, being here defcribed in his perfon and office, I fhall touch a little at both in the following order.

1. His divine nature, as God's Fellow. 2. His human nature, the man that is my Fellow. 3. The conjunction of both thefe in one perfon, The man that is my Fellow. 4. His mediatorial office, my Shep

herd.

ift, Confider this account we have of his divine nature; MY FELLOW, faith the Lord of hofts. Let Arians and Socinians blafpheme this wonderful perfon, here is an article of our creed, that Chrift is God's Fellow, God's equal, Who being in the form of God, thought it no robbery to be equal with God: and therefore he himself fays, John x. 30. I and my Father are one. But here confider, 1. Wherein he is God's Fellow and, 2. Why, as our Redeemer, it behoved him to be God's Fellow.

1. Wherein, or in what refpect is he God's Fellow? I anfwer, He is God's Fellow, not as he is Mediator, taking upon him the form of a fervant, and becoming the Father's fervant in the work of our redemption; but he is God's Fellow in thefe fix refpects.

(1.) He is God's Fellow in point of nature and effence; Chrift is God effentially, as well as the Father, and the Holy Ghoft, though perfonally diftin&t from both; for, neither the Father nor the Holy Ghost were incarnate, or took on our nature, but Chrift the fecond perfon of the glorious Trinity: who, though perfonally distinct, yet is effentially one with the Father and Spirit, John i. 1. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the word was God: And it is fure there is but one God, Deut. vi. 4. Hear, O Ifrael, the Lord our God is ONE Lord, one JEHOVAH. I Cor. viii 4. In Chrift our Redeemer dwells all the fulness of the Godhead bodily, Col. ii. 9. There are three

that