Now if the very plan of redemption appeared base, yea, the Lord himself a stumbling-block to the Jews and foolishness to the Greeks, v. 23, it cannot be otherwise but the means which he appointed to communicate his merited grace, must also appear weak and contemptible in the sight of the world, for the means must correspond with the plan of redemption. As the Saviour is, so are his means ; that is, weak and foolish in the sight of the world. There would be no harmony in the economy of grace, if the Saviour appeared weak and base, and yet his means grand and lofty. If God manifested himself in a man, covered with wounds and bruises, when he converted the wood (I mean the cross) into a means to accomplish the work of redemption, why should it be deemed inconsistent for him to bestow his grace by water, by bread and wine ? Are these more simple than wood?

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