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

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HIS text, Sirs, is a very wonderful one, as ever a poor mortal man preached upon;

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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 Christ, yet it has a bright and light fide towards all the Ifrael of God; for this cloud of blood distills in a sweet shower of blessings unto poor finners: there is a light in this cloud wherein we may see God, in Christ, reconciling the world to himself.

This verse presents us with a clear prediction of the fufferings of Christ; and the disposition of his difciples thereupon; Smite the Shepherd, and the sheep Shall be scattered; 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 stand to enquire, of whom the

+ This was an Action-sermon, preached immediately before the celebration of the Lord's supper at Dunfermline, July 3d. 1720.; and hath now undergone three impressions.

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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 commission to the sword 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 summons given to God's vengeance, or vindictive justice, 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 sword is brandished; must it not be against sinners? 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 simply, 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 whose orders, or at whose instance this fummons to the bloody battle is given; why, it is the Lord of hosts that says it: it is he that gives the commiffion, and orders the fword to be drawn.

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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 remission. is not a charge to a rod to correct him, but to a fword to flay him; for, Meffiab, 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 sword of justice, that he may die as a criminal upon an ignominious tree. This sword must awake against him; it must not rest, 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 smite him. Not with a lazy, drowsy blow, but an awakened one; even a horrible, terrible blow.

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The party against whom the sword 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: described in his office, my Shepherd; in his person, God-man, my Fellow. Men thurst him through as a foolish shepherd, 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 these orders to incenfed justice to awake against him is as wonderful; the Lord of hosts; that Jehovah that has all the hosts of heaven, earth, and hell at his call: the Lord of hosts; that is, Jehovah, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, one God, essentially confidered, giving a commission to infinite justice to awake against the second Perfon of the Godhead, confidered as Surety and Mediator, God-man.

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

OBSER. That by special orders from Jehovah, the great God of hosts, the man Christ, his Shepherd and Fellow, did fall a facrifice to the awakened fword of infinite justice. Awake, O 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 ransom; he found an atonement, Job xxxiii. 24. by setting 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, should all have fallen a facrifice to the fword of God's wrath and vengeance for ever, because of our fins: but behold he

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he finds a ransom; he fets forth Christ 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 escape.

I might here premise many useful particulars présupposed in this doctrine, namely, That it supposes a covenant of works broken, and so justice inraged againft men: A covenant of redemption made; a counsel of peace between-Jehovah and Christ, for man's relief: and, which I reckon much the fame with the former, a covenant of grace established in Christ; he engaging to fulfil the condition of the covenant of works, which we had broken; to obey the law, which we had tranfgressed; to fatisfy the justice, which we had offended; to bear the wrath, which we had incurred; whereupon the fword 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 presupposed to this doctrine, I shall endeavour to confine myself as closely as possible to the several 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 sword does awake.

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

III. How this sword did awake against him; by shewing what may be imported in this expression, Awake, O frword.

IV. What special hand the Lord Jehovah, the Lord of hofts, had in ordering or calling of this fword to awake against this glorious person.

V. The reasons of the doctrine, why the Lord of hosts ordered the fword of justice to awake against his Shepherd, and the man that is his Fellow.

VI. Draw some 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 short, Godman Mediator; for, being here defcribed in his perfon and office, I shall 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 these in one person, The man that is my Fellow. 4. His mediatorial office, my Shepherd.

1st, Confider this account we have of his divine nature; MY FELLOW, faith the Lord of hosts. Let Arians and Socinians blafpheme this wonderful perfon, here is an article of our creed, that Christ 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 says, 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 respect is he God's Fellow? I answer, He is God's Fellow, not as he is Mediator, taking upon him the form of a feruant, and becoming the Father's fervant in the work of our redemption; but he is God's Fellow in these fix respects.

(1.) He is God's Fellow in point of nature and effence; Christ is God essentially, as well as the Father, and the Holy Ghost, though perfonally distinct from both; for, neither the Father nor the Holy Ghost were incarnate, or took on our nature, but Christ the second person of the glorious Trinity: who, though perfonally distinct, yet is essentially 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 sure there is but one God, Deut. vi. 4. Hear, O Ifrael, the Lord our God is ONE Lord, one JEHOVAH. Cor. viii 4. In Christ our Redeemer dwells all the fulness of the Godhead bodily, Col. ii. 9. There are three that

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