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ful tree be thus rooted up and destroyed, how much more shall the barren and decayed? If GOD in his holy providence, thinks fit to suffer the righteous and meritorious to be thus cut off, what have the ungodly and the sinner to expect, but the severest of the divine judgments, which are ready to fall upon this impemitent nation* ?

Being then arrived at Golgotha, the usual place for the execution of criminals, the soldiers, in the spirit of mockery, gave him vinegar to drink, mingled with gall, and when he had tasted thereof, he would not drink. But others, friends probably who followed him with a holy zeal, gave him to drink wine mingled with myrrh, to comfort his afflicted and drooping spirits, but he received it not. Nailed at length to the cross between. the two malefactors, and thus fulfilling, the scriptures, which said, And he was numbered with the transgressors, in the midst of inexpressible tortures, which racked his body, he uttered no bitter invectives against his murderers, but in his usual spirit of meekness and forbearance, breathed forth that compassionate prayer, Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.

* Mann.

Presently after this we are led to the completion of another prophecy, which saith, They parted my raiment among them, and for my vesture they did cast lots. For the soldiers, when they had crucified JESUSs, took his garments, and made four parts, to every soldier a part; casting lots upon them, what every man should take; and also his coat: now the coat was without seam, woven from the top throughout. They said therefore among themselves, Let us not rent it, but cast lots for it, whose it shall be. These things then the soldiers did, and after that sat down and watched him. Pilate had ordered an inscription to be written in letters of Hebrew, Greek, and Latin, as was usual, to signify the crime for which the malefactor suffered, and put it on the cross over the head of JESUS; which many of the Jews read, for the place where JESUS was crucified was nigh to the city. The inscription was, THIS IS JESUS OF NAZARETH, THE KING OF THE JEWS. This title so much offended the chief priests, that they desired him to alter it, and to say, This is he who said, I am the King of the Jews: But Pilate, displeased at their request, answered, What I have written, I have written; nor would he be prevailed

upon, notwithstanding the objection the chief priests made to it, to make any al

teration.

As Pilate refused to alter the superscription, the people who stood by, and those who passed along, together with the chief priests and rulers, began to ridicule the title, by bidding JESUS come down from the cross, and they would believe him--by calling on him, if he were really the King of the Jews, to exert his power and save himself: and to let them see that he was the Son of GOD by being instantly delivered from the cross. The soldiers also joined in the ridicule, and in derision offered him vinegar. The malefactors too, who were crucified with him, both of them probably at first, reviled him, and called on JESUS to prove himself to he the CHRIST, by exerting his power to save both himself and them; but one of them, as they were hanging, struck with the meekness and patience of the suffering JESUS, and particularly by that compassionate prayer which he poured forth for his crucifiers, when they were in the very act of fastening him to the cross, rebuked his companion for his blasphemy, confessed that the punishment which they suffered, was just; but that JESUS had done nothing amiss; and

at the same time acknowledged his divinity, although he was dying on the cross; and from a heart, softened and convinced, poured forth a most fervent prayer, Lord, remember me, when thou comest into thy kingdom. To this prayer the ears of JESUS were open; he answered the repenting sinner, Verily, I say unto thee, this day shalt thou be with me in paradise. A gracious promise! a reviving cordial to a repenting sinner almost in the agonies of death!

But, my Christian Brethren, take heed lest you misapply this your Saviour's mercy shown to the penitent thief ;—lest it tempt you to continue in your sins, through a vain hope, that, as that sinner was pardoned on the cross, you also shall be forgiven on your death-bed, when in your last moments you may cry out, LORD, forgive my sins, and remember me in thy kingdom. What mercy GoD will shew to a death-bed repentance, the scriptures give us no authority to say, farther than that a sincere repentance will at any time be accepted: but as no proof can be given of the sincerity of such late repentance, great must be the uncertainty of it. This, however, we may truly say, that the circumstances of the penitent thief dying on the cross, are so different from those

of a Christian on his death-bed, that the case of the one cannot become the case of the other. This was probably the first opportunity offered to the thief of becoming acquainted with the character and claims of CHRIST, of being convinced and converted. To him, therefore, the mercy of GOD was shown. But with regard to the professed Christian, the invitation of CHRIST is continually repeated. in his ears during his life; and he who will refuse to listen to it till the hour of death, has less reason to flatter himself with a hope of the mercy, than to shrink with terror from the justice, of GOD.Take heed, therefore, I repeat, O Christians, that you do not misapply this case: for by so doing you will find yourselves miserably mistaken.

But to return to a most tender and affecting scene, which is next presented to our view, and in which is exhibited to future generations a striking example of filial piety. The mother of JESUS with some other women had not been deterred from following her persecuted Son to the cross; who seeing her and the disciple standing by, whom he loved, recommended them to the affectionate regard of each other and addressing first his mother by a title, frequently applied in ancient

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