The saints treasury being sundry sermons preached in London /

We are therefore now to enquire why God should rather take this strange way, then go any other way? and indeed it is a wonderful way, if we rightly consider it: there is nothing in the world that works so much upon a mans heart to adore and admire God in the mystery of the Gospel, as the understanding of this, that God should have a peculiar way of communicating himself to man, different from Angels, and from all other creatures; that it must be through the second person in the Trinity; and he must take mans nature upon him, and suffer, and dye, and all the mercy we have must be through him: this is a wonderful mystery of godliness; and should take up our serious thoughts in the consideration of it.

We are therefore now to enquire why God should rather take this strange way, then goe any other way? and indeed it is a wonderfull way, if we rightly consider it: there is nothing in the world that works so much upon a mans heart to adore and admire God in the mystery of the Gospell, as the understanding of this, that God should have a peculiar way of communicating himself to man, different from Angels, and from all other creatures; that it must be through the second person in the Trinity; and he must take mans nature upon him, and suffer, and dye, and all the mercy we have must be through him: this is a wonderfull mystery of godlinesse; and should take up our serious thoughts in the consideration of it.

Now if you would know the reason of it; the first is this, That hereby God might manifest to all the children of men, what a dreadful breach their sins had made between God and them: we cannot imagine any way how the breach between God and man could have been so clearly set out, as by this means; when we understand that such was our condition by nature, and such our apostasy from God, that there was no way of communication of any good from God to us, but by this strange and wonderful way of a mediator between God and man: that he should obey and suffer, and dye for us, we must needs apprehend now, that certainly there was some mighty difference between God and us: and that mans estate was very low, and his condition very desperate, that must have such a remedy as this is. And this is that which God would have men to know, even what that breach is between him and their souls: and tis such a breach that few think a right of it. If I should open the law to you, with all its curses, and set the torments of hell before you, all this could not set out the dreadfulness of the breach between God and you, so as this point doth, when I tell you that it was such as requires so strange and wonderful a way of Gods being reconciled and pacified towards you.