Twenty sermons preached at Oxford before His Majesty, and elsewhere

First in respect of God's glory; and that first because, as in the work of Creation, so in the work of Redemption, God will have the praise of all his attributes: for as in the work of Creation there appeared the infinite wisdom, goodness, power, justice, mercy of God, and the like; so will he in the work of our Redemption have all these appear in their strength and brightness: and when we see and acknowledge these things to be in G•d in the highest perfection, hereby we honour him; as on the contrary, when we will not see and acknowledge the excellency of God's infinite attributes, we dishonour him: yea, and I may safely add, that the work of Redemption was a greater work than the work of Creation; for therein appeared all the treasures of Wisdom and Knowledge in the conveying of it unto the Church. Herein appeared first, infinite Wisdom, in ordering the matter so as to find out such a way for the Redemption of Mankind, as no created understanding could possibly imagine or think of. And secondly, for the Mercy of God; there could be none comparable to this, in not sparing his own Son, the Son of his Love, that so he might spare us who had so grievously provoked him. And thirdly, there could not be so much Justice seen in any thing as in sparing us not to spare his Son, in laying his Son's head (as it were) upon the block, and chopping it off: indeed the death unto which he gave his Son was not only more vile than the loss of his head, but far more painful and terrible to nature, the death on the Cross; in renting and tearing that blessed body of his; even as the Veil of the temple was rent, (which was a type of him) so was he rent, and tore, and broke for us, when he made his soul an offering for sin. This was the perfection of Justice. And thus was he just, as the Apostle speaks, and the Justifier of him him that believeth in Jesus. God would have Justice and Mercy meet and kiss each other; and that for two reasons, for the magnifying of his Justice, and for the magnifying of his Mercy.