stand and look on him when he hung on the cross; and that love they bare to the Lord Jesus made them to sever from the rest of the multitude, and to gather themselves together and look back to him where he was hanging. For this is a sure thing; those that meet together in one faith and love in the Lord Jesus, of mere force they must meet together among themselves, and be linked together by the band of love in one body. By the contrary, those who meet not together in one faith in Jesus Christ, their hearts will never be joined in this world, they will never meet to make one body, they will never separate themselves from the multitude of this world; no, if it were all my kindred, father and mother, brother and sister, if they love not the Lord Jesus, mine heart and his shall never be linked together in this world, nor in the world to come. "He that loveth not the Lord Jesus," (as Paul says, 1 Cor. chap. xvi. 22,) "let him be anathema maran-atha," that is, cursed for evermore. But he who loves the Lord Jesus, and meets with me in him, let him be what he will, let him be in the utmost corner of the world, mine heart and his are linked together, and there is a conjunction which never shall be separated, neither in the heaven nor in the earth; it shall last for ever.

Brethren, when I consider this multitude here standing looking upon him when he hung upon the cross, I think I see an image of the whole world, for it is a world of people who are standing about him. There are Gentiles, there are Jews, and the false adulterous kirk; there are priests, Pharisees, elders, blind guides of the people, and a profane multitude, enemies of all sorts. And as there are many enemies to Christ, so there is a silly handful of godly men and women gathered together, looking upon that sad spectacle, who resembled the true kirk-militant here upon the face of the earth. And as in all this multitude, like draws to like, the wicked and the ungodly rank themselves together, the priests rank themselves together, the soldiers rank themselves together, and also the godly rank themselves together, and look upon that sad spectacle, their Lord crucified. Well, this is common to all; all are standing looking to Christ hanging on the cross upon the top

of the mount Calvary; Jew and Gentile, wicked and godly, are all looking. But in looking, there is a great difference. There are some delighting their eyes with the spectacle, there are some feeding the malice of their hearts, and drinking the blood of Jesus Christ, the priests, the Pharisees, and the elders. But the godly are looking on with sadness of their hearts; and I doubt not, but as with sadness, so also they are looking on him with joy by faith in his glorious resurrection. There are many this same hour who have their eyes fixed on Christ, both Turks and Pagans, and the true kirk and the false kirk; but one cause moves not all. Take heed, therefore, how thou lookest, either to his cross or to his glory; look that thy soul be set on him, and see, that by looking unto him, thou press to be partaker of the fruit of his death and resurrection; for if thou lookest to him for the fashion, or in malice, as the Turks do, and the Pagans, and the Papists, enemies to his cross, thou shalt perish; and better had it been to thee never to have heard of Jesus, or never to have seen him. Further, this would be well considered. We see if we have a friend whom we love well, if he be taken out to a shameful death, (there was never such a shameful death as this,) we will think shame of him, and he will think shame that his friends should see him in that estate. Who would think but that the acquaintances of Jesus should have thought shame of him, to have convoyed their friend to such an ignominious death, and to have seen him so shamefully demained ?1 So that, brethren, when I consider this matter well, I perceive that those his familiars and acquaintances have seen further into Christ than men and women do commonly. No doubt, but the friends of Christ who came to see him hanging in ignominy, saw life in that death; they saw glory in his ignominy, otherwise they had never come to see him hanging in ignominy. And, no doubt, they felt a sweet perfume flowing from that sacrifice. It was the sweetest smelling sacrifice that ever was offered. All the perfume and incense that ever was offered, passed not up with such a sweet smell

1i. e. Maltreated.

in the nostrils of the Father, as that one blessed sacrifice did. And as it smelled sweetly in the nostrils of the Father, so did it cast a sweeter smell in the nose of the godly than ever they found; and they thought it had such a fragrant odour, and such a sweet smell unto them, that they thought, ere they had been separated from him in his death, they had rather chosen to have died a thousand deaths; for, as the Lord says, "Wheresoever the carrion is, there must the eagles resort."1 Well is the man who in his death finds the sweet smell of the death of Jesus Christ. I have no more to say of this matter, but if this acquaintance of Jesus for the time took such a pleasure in his death, (being shameful,) that they could not be separated from him, it is a shame to us to draw so far back from him, not now hanging in ignominy on the cross, but most glorious in the heavens. Fy on this dull-headed and dead world that hath no sense of that glory, and is not allured by that unspeakable glory, rather to suffer a thousand deaths, albeit it were the sword, the fire, and all torments, than to be separated from this Jesus Christ!

But the women's part is more particularly to be considered. Let all women take heed. It is said, "Many women were there." More of them have followed the Lord to the cross than men, that I may speak to the glory of God and shame of men. As for men I find nothing but this general, in Luke, a company of men and women; but in Matthew and Mark, I find of women especially; they are looking on him with sadness mixed with joy. And from whence came they? It is said, that "they came out of Galilee following on him ;" they never left him; they wearied not to follow such a guide; they ministered to him on their own charge. As they were fed with that bread of life that came out of his mouth, so they spared not freely and liberally to communicate all that they had to him. And happy is the man who so finds the effect of the word of life in his heart, that he would bestow again all that he hath for the love of that word. Brethren, ye know what is in

Matth. xxiv. 28.

hand presently; many words need not, seeing this division of the town in competent congregations intended,' is to feed your souls with the word of life; spare not for goods to get that word of life.

Now, I see, beside the multitude, mention made of three women, Mary Magdalene, then Mary the mother of James the less and of Joseph, and Salome, the mother of the two sons of Zebedee. No question, these women mentioned here have borne a tender affection to the Lord. Forgets the Lord that love they bare to him in all times before, in following him from Galilee to Jerusalem, and from Jerusalem unto the ignominious death of the cross, and there staying with the Lord and not leaving him, but ministering to him; forgets the Lord this? No, but he remembers upon it. Thou shalt never do a good deed to Jesus Christ, but he shall meet thee. They love him, and he honours them; they never left him, they shamed the men, yea, his disciples, yea, even the very apostles; for we read not of any of all his apostles that any of them was there present, except John. Peter had taken him to a back side for all his stoutness before; the rest were offended in him. These women did cleave to him through the band of love; forgets the Lord this? No; as they love him beyond his apostles, so the Lord honours them above the apostles. It is no small thing to get the honour to be an eye-witness of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ; it is greater honour than all the honour in the world. No doubt, the Lord made these women, in their turning back, preachers to the apostles themselves. They told Peter, James, and Matthew, what they had seen; there is none end of honour when the Lord begins to honour; as he honours them to be witnesses of his death, and preachers of it to others, so he will have the names of some of them to be registered to the posterity. And it is the will of Jesus Christ that this day I promulgate the names of these women in

This alludes to a proposed division of Edinburgh into eight parishes. An act of common council, to this effect, was passed 1597, but was not carried into execution at that time. See Maitland's History of Edinburgh, p. 274.

your audience to their honour, after so many hundred years, and their names shall be registered perpetually to their everlasting honour, whilst Jesus Christ come again; yea, their names shall be written in the heavens everlastingly. Never one repents the gratitude done to Jesus Christ; thou shalt get two good deeds for one.

Again, the Lord will let us see, in the example of these women, that ofttimes in women there will be a more tender love to the Lord Jesus than in men, who are the stronger sex. Ye will see the weaker and simpler that the sex be, and the less worldly wit that they have, the more spiritually it is disposed, the more affectionate it is to heavenly things, the greater heavenly wisdom it hath. "If any man," says Paul, "seem to be wise in this world, let him be a fool, that he may be wise," that is truly wise, wise in God, 1 Cor. iii. 18. And as their love is great, so the Lord will honour them to the shame of men; and whereas men should preach Christ, he will make women to preach Jesus Christ to men to the shame of men and his own glory. All tends to this, that as men and women do desire to be honoured of God, so all men and women should strive continually to love and glorify God. God loves none, nor honours none, but only those who love and honour the Lord Jesus Christ. If thou lovest not the Lord Jesus Christ, thou shalt get no love nor honour of God. Yet, further, this is not to be passed by; the world wonders now that he had such an eye to these three women. There were many hundred men, but how many of their names were registered to their honour? He had such a respect to them, that he espied them out beside the rest of thousands that were there, and by his Holy Spirit caused register them. This registrating of them came not rashly, but from an ordinance of God and his especial providence. There is not a public convention, albeit it were a man hanged, where multitudes of men and women run together to hear and see, but the all-seeing eye of the Lord is upon every person in particular, man, woman, lad, or lass. Never a head there, great or small, poor or rich, noble or ignoble, but the eye of the Lord is on them; yea, it goes down to the inward