God by a strict life they renounce the world spend their time in retirement abridge themselves of their delights and pleasures and live by such and such rules These and many more ways have men invented to satisfie God withal But it is a true speech of a moderate Papist Whatsoever was not God Quicquid Deus non est non potuerit sufficere was not sufficient to satisfie God All those ways that have been devised by men are too short to make satisfaction to the great God and if we summon our selves to God Tribunal and think with our selves how just and holy he is we shall soon apprehend his Justice will not be put off with such poor things as men bring to him to satisfie him withal nothing less than God can satisfie God The satisfaction of Christ is the satisfaction of that person who is God as well as man otherwise it had not been available and herein did the excellency of Christs Satisfaction appear that it was abundantly sufficient The dignity and excellency of Christs Satisfaction may yet farther appear from these considerations 1. That Christs Satisfaction was once made and but once the Sacrifice was but one and the Satisfaction made by it but one The Sacrifices under the Law were many The Sacrifices offered by the Heathen were many but Christs Sacrifice was but one and offered once for all Heb. 10.14 By one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified 1 Pet. 3.18 Christ also hath once suffered for sin the just for the unjust Heb. 10.10 By the which will we are sanctified through the offering up the body of Christ once for all once only 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Greek word hath a great force in it as Learned men observe It signifies that what was once done was so perfect and compleat that it was not necessary it should be done again nay that it was impious to repeat it Christs one Sacrifice comprehended the virtue of all other Sacrifices in it All the Sacrifices that were offered by men in all Ages both by Jews and Gentiles were a plain intimation that there was some Sacrifice by which God must be pacified and that men had an apprehension that God could be pacified no other way Now Christs Sacrifice was the true Sacrifice that which the world aimed at but could never attain was attained only by the Sacrifice of Christ that which the world would fain have been at and attained was to pacifie God now this could never be accomplished any other way but by the Sacrifice of the Son of God Christs Sacrifice was but one and yet by that one Sacrifice he hath for ever perfected them that are sanctified 2. The Satisfaction of Christ was perfect and compleat there was nothing wanting in it of what was necessary to make it compleat 1. The person who offers it was most holy and without sin Such an high Priest became us who was holy harmless undefiled separate from sinners Heb. 7.26 The Priests under the Law were to offer Sacrifices first for their own sins then for the sins of the people but Christ needed none of this for Christ had no sin therefore he that was without all sin in himself was most fit to make atonement for the sins of others 2. As the person himself that offered the Sacrifice was most perfect and compleat so the Sacrifice it self was most perfect and compleat and that appears by the effect of it Heb. 10.14 By one offering hath he perfected for ever them that are sanctified If the Offering and Sacrifice of Christ had not been most perfect in it self it could never have perfected others For this is a sure rule That the effect cannot rise higher than the cause therefore if Christs Offering had not been perfect in it self it could not have perfected others But now saith the Apostle he hath perfected and for ever perfected them that are sanctified that is Christ by his Sacrifice hath perfectly reconciled us to God There need be no more done to reconcile a person to God than what Christ hath done Now if the Sacrifice and Satisfaction of Christ hath that virtue and efficacy in it as to bring us into perfect reconciliation with God so as that there is no danger of losing it nor falling from it then it is a perfect and compleat satisfaction This shews us the dignity and excellency of Christs Satisfaction therefore we ought to have an high esteem of it and be so much the more incouraged to make use of it The end of the fourteenth Sermon SERMON XV. Joh. 15 1◠Greater love hath no man than this that a man lay down his life for his friends TO proceed a little farther to shew the dignity of Christs Satisfaction 3. Consid 3 The Satisfaction of Christ was adequate and commensurate to what the Law and Divine Justice did require All that the Law could require was the death of the sinner In the day that thou eatest thou shalt dye the death thou shalt undergo a double death death natural and death supernatural Now Christ in the work of his Satisfaction hath undergone both these deaths he hath undergone natural death and supernatural death All that Divine Justice could require was that the sinner should undergo the utmost punishment that the nature of man was capable of now the sufferings of Christ were consummate sufferings in the highest measure and degree whatever the humane nature supported by the Deity could suffer that our Saviour did undergo therefore his satisfaction was adequate and commensurate to the Law and Divine Justice 4. We may see the dignity and excellency of Christs Satisfaction in this That the Satisfaction of Christ in some respect was more than sufficient Christ in respect of some circumstances attending his satisfaction hath paid and given more than the Law required for it is well observed by a Learned man The Law did not require that God should dye the Law required that man sinning man should dye but now the person dying and satisfying for us was God as well as man God hath redeemed the Church with his own blood Act. 20.28 Neither 1 did the Law require that any person should dye but for his own proper sin The language of the Law is The soul that sins shall dye Now every soul was to bear his own iniquity Neither 2 did the Law require such a death that should be of so great efficacy that it should not be only able to abolish death but also be able to introduce life and that a life far more excellent than that terrene and earthly life which Adam lost In these respects the Satisfaction of Christ was more than sufficient and therefore one of the Ancients hath this expression Christ hath paid for us much more than we owed and so much the more was that which Christ paid by how much the vast and immense Ocean excels the least drop Let us learn then to have high thoughts of the dignity and excellency
it to his cross Col. 2.14 and he is the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world Joh. 1.29 that is he hath perfectly taken away sin as to the guilt and condemnation of it Now this could not have been if Christ had not suffered all that was to be suffered he could not have made an end of sin he could not have taken away the condemning power of it if all the punishment that was to be inflicted upon the sinner had not been inflicted upon him but now Christ by offering himself a Sacrifice for our sins hath born the whole punishment so that nothing more remains to be suffered that Divine Justice can demand This is implied in his being made a curse namely that the wrath of God was spent upon Christ to the utmost and that Divine Justice could desire no more than what was laid upon him The last Particular to clear this how Christ was made a curse is this The curse took hold on Christ so far as that Christ was exterminated and cut off by it The utmost punishment that can be inflicted upon a Malefactor amongst men is death the extermination of him from mankind cutting him off from the land of the living separating him from the society of mankind Now the curse proceeded upon Christ so far as that Christ was cut off by it Hence are those expressions of the Prophet He was cut off from the land of the living for the transgression of my people was he smitten or stricken Isa 53.8 So likewise we have the same expression in the Book of Daniel Dan. 9.26 After sixty two weeks shall Messias be cut off but not for himself Christ the true Messias was to be cut off but not for himself that is not for any sin of his own but he was cut off for us because he bare the guilt of our sins To understand this we must know that nothing satisfies the Law but the death of the sinner We know what the sentence was that God pronounced upon our first Parents In the day that thou eatest thou shalt dye the death and this is the general sentence of the Law The soul that sins shall dye and The wages of sin is death Death is part of the curse yea death is as it were the consummation of the curse Death as it is the inlet unto eternal death so it is the consummation of the curse The curse aims at the extermination and utter destruction of the sinner A man that is taken away by a corporal death he is for ever destroyed as to men though his soul survive yet he is taken from amongst men he hath no communion with mankind Death is the destruction of a person as to any fellowship and communion that he is to have with mankind any longer in this world and therefore death is the utmost consummation of punishment amongst men Thus the curse cuts off Christ and Christ dyes as bearing the curse yea the curse is consummated in the death of Christ Christ was accursed even as Adam was It is a good expression of one of the Ancients Christ descended as low as Adam did and so dissolved the curse 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Christ by descending where Adam had brought himself by his Fall dissolves the curse that Adam had brought upon himself and his posterity the curse that was upon Adam brought him to death Dust thou art and to dust thou shalt return The curse lying upon Adam subjected him to a state of mortality and brought him under the power of death Christ therefore being made a curse for us the curse subjects him to death and takes away his life Hence is that expression Heb. 2.9 That Christ tasted death for every man Death is the completion of the curse because the death of the body is the inlet to eternal death to those who are still under the power of the curse It is true Christ did not taste the pains of eternal death after his natural life was ended but Christ tasted the pains of supernatural death before the taking away of his natural life as I have shewed heretofore and here we may observe this difference in Christs sufferings and the damned's sufferings The damned suffer the pains of Hell after this life Christ suffered the pains of Hell here in this life corporal death is but the beginning of the damned's punishment but Christ at his death finished his sufferings So that in the order of suffering there is some difference between what Christ suffered and what the damned suffer The damned suffer the pains of Hell after this life Christ suffered them in this life yet Christ underwent death as a part of the curse and death as it is a part of the curse and a fruit of Gods wrath is a terrible thing yea most terrible and yet Christ that he might make satisfaction for us conflicted with this King of Terrors Christ as he was man had a natural fear of death as we have yet without sin and the reason is because Christ taking on him our nature took also upon him the infirmities of our nature Now there may be a natural fear of death without sin nature abhorring that which is contrary to it self and this was in our Saviour Christ being our Surety and seeing death coming upon him as part of the curse and as a part of the punishment due to us for our sins this made him to fear death Hence is that expression Heb. 5.7 He offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears to him that was able to save him from death and was heard in what he feared Christ feared death as he was man especially he feared it as he saw it a part of the curse that was due to us and yet though he feared it the thing that he feared came upon him It is true the Apostle saith He was heard in what he feared How was he heard Was Christ heard so as to his fear of death as to be delivered from death No certainly if Christ had not dyed we must have dyed in our sins If Christ had not dyed we must have undergone death as a part of the curse How then is it said He was heard in what he feared He was heard so as that he was supported when he dyed and he was heard in being raised from the dead the third day so that he was heard in what he feared in his supportation under his sufferings and in his Resurrection but dye he must death was part of the curse yea the completion of the curse therefore Christ our Surety cannot escape death Christus sponsor noster communi maledictione nobis debitâ feriendus erat Christ says one being our Surety was to be struck with that common curse that was due to us death was due to us the great thing threatned upon sin therefore Christ being our Surety must of necessity undergo it Hence is that of Austin Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree Why
corroborated and strengthened the humane nature in suffering so that as the Apostle saith it was Christ that was offered There was a concourse of both natures in his Satisfaction If he were not man he could not have suffered and if he were not God he could not have satisfied Christ is a Priest in our nature and as the High-Priest under the Law bare all the names of the children of Israel upon his Breast-plate so Christ bears all the names of the Elect upon him Christ sustains the persons of all the Elect Because the children were made partakers of flesh and blood he also took part of the same Christ assuming the nature of man sustains the persons of all the Elect and in their room and in their stead in a part of their nature presents himself to God and taking their guilt upon him is willing to bear the punishment due to them therefore he suffers and dyes in their nature and remains under the power of death for a time 2. Christ by his Incarnation is fitted for the work of his Intercession As it was the work of the Priest to offer Sacrifice and make atonement so to intercede and pray for the people Now Christ by taking our nature is fit for this work also Christ as to his Divine nature is equal with the Father and so is the object of prayer together with the Father but Christ according to his humane nature is inferiour to the Father and so fit to intercede And therefore it is a common saying among Divines Christ intercedes and prays as he is man and Mediator 3. Christ by assuming our nature performs the Office of a King to the Church Christ hath a natural Kingdom and he hath a dispensatory Kingdom As he is God so he hath a natural Kingdom over all creatures Thy kingdom is an everlasting kingdom and thy dominion is an everlasting dominion As he is God-man so he hath a Kingdom by way of donation and dispensation Yet have I set my King upon my holy hill of Sion Psal 2.6 The Father judgeth no man but hath committed all judgment to the Son Joh. 5.22 that is to the Son incarnate Christ as Head and King of the Church dispenseth all grace to the Church rules and governs the Church in and by the humane nature assumed Eph. 1.21 22 23. Thus have we shewn how that Christ by the work of his Incarnation lays the foundation for the work of Mediatorship in general and for the executing of those three great Offices of Prophet Priest and King in particular 16. The love of Christ in his Incarnation is seen in this In that by means of Christs Incarnation our nature which was alienated from God deprived of communion with him lay under the curse was subject to all sorts of miseries and unto death it self is now restored to communion with God again delivered from the curse set above all misery and death cloathed with immortality and possessed of perfect happiness 1. The Son of God by his Incarnation hath restored our nature unto communion with God Adam by his Fall was turned out of Paradise banished from the presence of God lost his communion with God Now the Son of God taking a part of our nature into unity of person with himself hath brought our nature near to God again our nature in Christ is admitted to the sight of God and communion with him Christi humana natura semper usque à primordio incarnationis vidit Deum Divines observe That the humane nature in Christ had the sight of God from the beginning of his Conception and Incarnation and the reason of this assertion is this Christ was full of grace he had the Spirit of God given to him not by measure Aquinas observes That Christ from the beginning of his Incarnation had more grace given to him than the Saints in Heaven Now the Saints in Heaven are admitted to a clear sight and vision of God therefore if Christ had more grace given to him from the beginning than the Saints in Heaven we must suppose Christ had a clear sight and vision of God besides the great demonstration of Christs love in his sufferings was that he was content to be deprived of the sight and comfort of his Fathers love therefore he crys out My God my God why hast thou forsaken me This argues Christ had been used and accustomed to the sight of his Fathers face and countenance otherwise why did he cry out Why hast thou forsaken me But for our sakes he was content to have his Fathers face hid from him for a time that it might not be hid from us for ever Now then Christ in his humane nature being admitted to the sight of God all the Elect in their measure shall have a share in this priviledge Scientia visionis competit Christo ut capiti electis ut membris The knowledge of vision is first given to Christ as the Head to the Elect as Members and although all the Elect be not as yet admitted to the vision of God yet it is certain they shall be as Christ now is When he shall appear we shall be like him for we shall see him as he is 1 Joh. 3.3 and in the mean time our life is hid with Christ in God Col. 3.3 hid as in the fountain root Tanquam in fonte radice principio and principle of that life Christ in his humane nature being admitted unto the sight of God and communion with him is an argument all the Elect also shall be brought to the same happiness 2. The Son of God by his Incarnation hath delivered our nature from the Curse set it above misery sorrow and death and cloathed it with immortality The sentence pronounced concerning man was That in case he sinned he should dye the death Gen. 2.17 Christ by taking our nature and dying in it hath born the substance of that curse The curse comprehended two things in it First natural death the separation of the soul from the body Secondly spiritual death the separation of the soul from God Here lay the sting of the curse Thou shalt dye the death or In dying thou shalt dye thou shalt not dye once only but dye twice as it were thy soul shall not only be separated from thy body but both body and soul shall be separated from me Now Christ under-went both parts of the curse if rightly understood First Christ in a right sense endured that part of the curse which consisted in a separation from God for although the personal Vnion was never dissolved neither was Christs humane soul ever separated in love or affection from his Father his soul clave in love and affection to his Father in the midst of all his sufferings Christ did not undergo separation from God in either of those respects yet his humane soul was separated for a time from the light and comfort of his Fathers love as was hinted before when he cryed out My God
my God why hast thou forsaken me He was deprived of the sense and comfort of his Fathers love Secondly Christ suffered natural death his humane soul was truly separated from his body Now Christ having satisfied that Law In the day that thou eatest thou shalt dye the death by suffering the penalty of that Law hath fully delivered his people from the curse Gal. 3.13 Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law being made a curse for us A Learned man observes Because according to the sentence of the Divine Judgment in that day Adam fell and sinned humane nature ought to have been punished with eternal perdition therefore the Son of God offered himself to assume humane nature and afterwards did assume it that so man might not dye the death And the same Learned man hath another expression to the same purpose Because humane nature was depraved and lost so that it became the body of sin and death therefore the Son of God in lieu thereof was pleased in the humane nature assumed to condemn sin and abolish death and in his own person restore humane nature to righteousness life and happiness Christ having dyed for sin once dyeth no more death hath no more dominion over him Rom. 6.9 10. Our nature as it is in Christ it is above death and the fear of death O let us think of these things these things are the most solid grounds of comfort Our nature in Christ is above death and the fear of death it is possessed of life and immortality and brought to perfect happiness Hence is that expression 2 Tim. 1.10 Christ who hath abolished death and hath brought life and immortality to light through the Gospel Christ hath already brought life and immortality into our nature Christ doth already stand possessed of immortality in his own person And this is the singular comfort of Believers that they may see a part of their own nature set above sorrow misery and death and brought to the greatest happiness they can wish or long for and that they may be assured they shall be possessed of the same happiness in their measure which Christ their Head is possessed of This Christ assures them of Joh. 17.22 The glory which thou hast given me I have given them Christ had glory with the Father from Eternity as he was his natural and coessential Son this he speaks of vers 5. Glorifie me with thy self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was Now besides this there is a glory which is given to him the glory which thou gavest me I have given them Christ had a glory given to him as man and Mediator Now the glory which was given to Christ as man and Head of the Church is given to the Elect so that all the Elect do participate and share in it in their measure The glory which thou hast given me I have given them Calvin observes upon that Text The Samplar or pattern of perfect happiness is so exprest and set forth in Christ that nothing is confined to Christ only but Christ was therefore inriched that he might inrich Believers the glory which thou hast given me I have given them Christ and his Members share in glory in common only reserving the difference between Head and Members Christ hath the glory of the Head Believers have glory as Members Christs glorification is the surest pledge of our glorification for how is it possible that he who is our Head and is now in glory with the Father should leave us to those miseries we are now obnoxious to whenas we are so nearly related to him we being members of his body of his flesh and of his bones Eph. 5.30 and he that is joyned to the Lord is one Spirit The Church being so nearly related to Christ and Christ being in glory how is it possible Christ should leave them under those miseries they are now subject unto 17. The greatness of Christs love in his Incarnation appears in this In that by means of the Incarnation all the Elect shall have a standing Monument before their eyes wherein they may see and behold the infiniteness and transcendency of the love of God to all Eternity And the reason of this Proposition is this Because the Hypostatical or personal Union shall not be dissolved in Heaven the humane nature shall remain and abide united to the Divinity to all Eternity As in Heaven we shall be admitted to the sight of God we shall see the Unity in Trinity and the Trinity in Unity we shall see the Unity of the Essence and the three persons Father Son and Spirit subsisting in this one Essence of God so in Heaven we shall see the great Mystery of the personal Union the Mystery of the two Natures in the person of Christ more than now we can And this will be one part of the happiness of Heaven that we shall see our nature united to the Divinity in the person of the Son of God and by this means we shall come to understand the greatness of the love of God by seeing how near our nature is taken unto God in the person of our Head The Hypostatical or personal Union is the foundation of the mystical Union viz. of our union and communion with God God hath taken a part of our nature into personal union with himself and by means of this we have union and communion with him Now in Heaven we shall have a clear sight what that glory is which Christ our Head is advanced unto by the personal union And this I take to be carried in that great Text Joh. 17.24 Father I will that they also whom thou hast given me be with me where I am that they may behold my glory which thou hast given me The happiness of Heaven will be to gaze upon the glory of Christ as a Learned Divine expresseth it That they may behold my glory as if so be this would be Heaven enough for the Elect to see the glory their Head is possessed of And what glory is this That they may behold my glory certainly the glory of his Divinity Christ had glory with the Father before the foundation of the world Joh. 17.5 He was in the form of God saith the Apostle now all the Elect shall see and behold his glory that is they shall see the glory of his Divinity and how so They shall see and behold the glory of his Divinity shining forth through his humanity The humane nature is united to the Divinity in the person of the Son now the Elect in Heaven shall see that person who hath assumed their nature to be true God and to have all the glory of the Divinity in him As the second person in Trinity is true God and hath all the glory of the Divinity in him so the Elect in Heaven shall see the humane nature united to the Divinity in the person of the Son Therefore is it added in the close of the verse For
justa As to the power of God all things are possible unto God but as to the justice of God nothing is possible but what is just Therefore God having decreed and that most justly to punish sin God could not but punish sin 6. The sixth Proposition is That God being merciful as well as just doth in his infinite Wisdom find out a way how his Justice may be salved and man not perish This is that which the Apostle declares to us Rom. 3.24 25 26. All have sinned and come short of the glory of God being justified freely by his grace through the redemption which is in Jesus Christ whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood To declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past through the forbearance of God to declare I say at this time his righteousness that he might be just and the justifier of him that believeth in Jesus The scope of the Apostle is plainly this To shew that God hath a mind to forgive sin and yet he would be just too therefore that he might be merciful and just both at once God found out a way how he might forgive sin and yet his Justice not be prejudiced Hence was it that God appointed Christ to be a ransom for us that so Christ bearing the punishment that we deserved the Justice of God might be satisfied in what Christ suffered and yet his Mercy might be glorified in remitting the punishment to us Him hath God ordained to be a propitiation through faith in his blood saith the Apostle God remits sin freely as to us and so his mercy is glorified as to us and yet he receives full satisfaction from Christ and so his Justice is glorified in him Thus mercy and truth are met together righteousness and peace have kissed each other Psal 85.10 God having found full satisfaction to his Justice in the blood of Christ there is a sweet reconciliation between those two seeming contrary Attributes the Justice and Mercy of God This is elegantly set forth by one of the Ancients after this manner There is a controversie or a strife as it were between the Justice and the Mercy of God Altercatio est inter Dei justitiam misericordiam but this strife is ended in the death of Christ because in the death of our Saviour Divine Justice is satisfied in all that it did desire Divine Justice saith If Adam dye not I am lost and Mercy on the other hand saith If Adam doth not obtain mercy one way or other I am lost now Christ interposing by his death each of these Attributes have what they do desire Learn from what hath been said the Justice Vse 1 Equity and Righteousness of God in punishing of sin Psal 98.9 With righteousness shall he judge the world and the people with equity Ezek. 18.29 Art not my ways equal are not your ways unequal The ways of God are full of equity when God punisheth sin there is the greatest equity that he should do so there is that demerit in sin and there is that Holiness and Justice in the Nature of God that calls upon him to punish sin Sin is after a sort infinitely evil not that it is simply and in it self so but sin may be said to be infinitely evil with respect to the object as it is contrary to the glory of God who is Bonum infinitum an infinite good God also who is the Governor of the World seeing how much the Sinner had violated the Law of Right and Equity judges it a just and righteous thing that Sinners should undergo punishment therefore no man hath cause to quarrel with God and to think hardly of him for inflicting punishment upon him because of sin for This is the judgment of God that they which do such things are worthy of death Rom. 1.32 This is the judgment of God as much as if it had been said God hath determined this in his infinite Understanding It is the upright and just determination of the most wise God that the Sinner is worthy of death God is not too rigorous in his judgment in this case he judges according to the equity of the cause Rom. 2.2 The judgment of God is according to truth Isa 3.11 Wo unto the wicked it shall be ill with him for the reward of his hands shall be given him The reward of his hands shall be given him O this is certain every mans condemnation will be found just at last and it will appear to him that it is most just God condemns no man but for sin and there is that desert in sin for which God may justly condemn men and I conceive that a great part of the torments of the Damned consists in this That they shall have their eyes opened and their understandings inlarged which are now shut and closed up to see that turpitude baseness unworthiness monstrousness unreasonableness that was in sin and that they are justly punished for committing that which was so contrary to the Law of their Creation and to the Principles of their own Beings as they are reasonable creatures For what is more just equal and reasonable than that the creature should honour obey and serve his Creator and take notice of his Laws and yield conformity to them And what more unjust unreasonable and unequal than the creature should cast off Gods Authority and live in contempt of his Maker and defiance of his Laws Now when men shall have their understandings opened to take in this more fully then they will see that God is just in punishing sin and that their condemnation is most just Learn from hence Vse 2 that there is no way for a guilty Soul to appear before God but by flying to the Satisfaction of Christ God is so holy that he cannot but hate sin so just that he cannot but punish sin How then can a poor guilty creature appear before the presence of the Divine Majesty laden with all his sins O it is an easie thing for a secure Sinner that knows neither what the nature of sin is nor what the nature of God is to slight sin But he that once comes to see a little of the turpitude and deformity that is in sin and will summon himself into Gods presence and consider what the Holiness Purity and Justice of Gods Nature is will soon have other thoughts of sin and of his own condition by reason of sin God is of purer eyes than to behold the least iniquity and he will by no means clear the guilty therefore he that hath but a little sight of Gods Holiness and of his infinite Justice and Righteousness will soon cry out with the Prophet I am undone Isa 6.5 And nothing can ease or quiet a poor trembling Soul in this case but flying to the Satisfaction of Christ When a man compares his impurity with Gods infinite Purity and Holiness when he compares his own sinfulness and unworthiness with Gods
more sweet and comfortable is that speech of Ambrose My mind or spirit is crucified in Christ Mens mea in Christo crucifixa est Ambr. the meaning of which I take to be That the punishment which was due to my mind or spirit is laid upon Christ and I having suffered that in my mind or spirit in Christ my Head which I deserved to suffer I hope hereby to be set free from that punishment Christ I say suffered in his Soul hence is it said that Christ was smitten of God Isa 53.4 We did esteem him stricken smitten of God and it pleased the Lord to bruise him and to put him to grief vers 10. Christ was stricken of God immediately stricken in his Soul Psal 69.26 They persecute him whom thou hast smitten Mat. 26.31 I will smite the shepherd If Christ was smitten of God how should that be but immediately in his Soul Hence is that of one of the Ancients God saith he was justly angry with us for our sins and Christ interposing himself as the middle person took off the stroke and bare the punishment that hung over us Neither may it seem strange to us that our Saviour should suffer in his Soul for as much as he was pleased to take upon him the guilt of all our sins It is a memorable passage of a late modern Divine The guilt Dickson Therapeut Sacr. saith he of all our sins wickednesses and most hainous offences which from the beginning of the world to the end of it have been committed by any of the Elect all these were imputed to one Christ altogether and all at once and although Christ by taking the guilt of all these sins upon him did not pollute or defile that holy Soul of his yet nevertheless he did burthen his Soul with them by obliging himself to suffer the punishment that was due to the sins of the Elect as if so be those very sins had in some sort been his own sins Now saith he whenas we see the most profligate and impure sinners lyars thieves adulterers and the like when we see these they cannot patiently hear themselves to be called lyars or thieves or adulterers though guilty of such enormous crimes although it is manifest that they are guilty of them neither can they bear the shame and disgrace of their own guilt that yet doth manifestly lye upon them with how great a grief and passion of mind with how great a darkening of that sanctity and glory that was in our Saviour must we suppose that Christ did take upon his shoulders this most noisom dunghil of all our sins than which nothing could be more abhorring from the purity and sanctity of nature 4. Christ suffered death it self for us hence is it said That he tasted death for everyman Heb. 2.9 Nothing less than death could satisfie the Law the sentence of the Law was That the soul that sins shall dye therefore he that will be our surety and bear the punishment due to us must undergo death it self for us Some of the Papists tell us That such was the dignity of Christs person that the least drop of his Blood the least tear the least sigh of his heart would have been sufficient to redeem us But our Divines do well answer To what purpose then were all the rest of Christs sufferings his temptations his grief his reproaches and all that which he underwent both in his life and death If one drop of Christs blood had been sufficient to redeem us then all the rest that Christ suffered must needs be supposed to be superfluous and unnecessary But we must know that notwithstanding the dignity of Christs person the Law requires death In the day that thou eatest thou shalt dye the death therefore Divine Justice demanded the same punishment to be undergone which was threatned by the Law therefore death being threatned by the Law nothing less than death would satisfie Divine Justice The Apostle tells us in the Epistle to the Hebrews That under the Law without shedding of blood there was no remission the sacrifice must be killed and slain before there could be remission of sins Christ therefore being the true Sacrifice for our sins he was to be slain and put to death before remission of sins could be obtained for us It is true there were many advantages that did accrue by the dignity of Christs person some of which are such as these which Divines mention 1. That the death of one should be sufficient for the Redemption of so many If Christs person had not been of that dignity and worth it could not have been supposed that the death and suffering of one person would have sufficed for the Redemption of so many It is well observed by one of the Ancients If Christ had not been God how could he alone have been sufficient to have been a price for our Redemption Therefore there is that advantage which ariseth from the dignity of Christs person that the excellency of his person is such he being an infinite person that he is able to make satisfaction for all 2. The dignity of Christs person made the death of Christ to be meritorious for what may we not suppose that so great a Person who was of equal Majesty and Glory with the Father should not merit at the hand of his Father 3. The dignity of Christs person was available as to this That some circumstances of punishment which were not fit for him to undergo Christ undergoing that which was equivalent might be omitted as one circumstance which Divines mention is this namely That the torments of Hell which were to be suffered and undergone by us in the next life were suffered and undergone by Christ in this life These advantages did accrue from the dignity of Christs person yet notwithstanding this dignity of Christs person he that was to be our Surety was to undergo the substance of that punishment that we were to undergo Now death being the punishment that was to be suffered by the transgressors of the Law as being threatned by the Law Christ being our Surety was to undergo and suffer death for us 5. Christ did not only undergo natural death but he also tasted of supernatural death and so by consequence suffered the pains and torments of Hell for us Christ suffered the whole curse of the Law as to the substance of it Hence is that of the Apostle Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the Law being made a curse for us Gal. 3.13 Now the Curse of the Law was In the day that thou eatest thou shalt dye the death or as it may be rendred In dying thou shalt dye that is thou shalt dye doubly thou shalt dye a twofold death thou shalt dye naturally and thou shalt dye spiritually thou shalt dye a natural death in having thy soul separated from thy body and thou shalt dye a spiritual death in having thy soul separated from me Therefore it is well observed by one
of the Ancients I think it is Ambrose's observation Therefore saith he it was said to Adam In dying thou shalt dye or as it is rendred Thou shalt dye the death and not simply Thou shalt dye because the death here spoken of concerns both soul and body Now then as Adam and we in him became subject to a double death one of the body the other of the soul So our Saviour being pleased to be our Surety subjected himself to a double death for our sakes to a natural death and to a supernatural death 1. To a natural death the separation of his humane soul from his body 2. To a supernatural and spiritual death the separation of his soul for a time from the comfort of Gods presence Hence is it that we read that our Saviour did not only suffer death in the Singular number but he underwent deaths in the Plural number as if it were intimated that there was a double death that he suffered Isa 53.9 He made his grave with the wicked and with the rich in his death in the Hebrew it is in his deaths in the Plural number and this was not without some special Mystery in it as some Learned men conceive yea there is a judicious Divine that saith expresly he is perswaded that both kind of deaths natural and supernatural are intimated by that expression when it is said He made his grave with the rich in his deaths Our Saviour underwent therefore a double death a natural death and a supernatural death That our Saviour suffered the first death a natural death a separation of his humane soul from his body that we do all know and believe Now that he tasted of the second death or supernatural death the separation of his soul from God taken in a right sense that I must speak unto To understand this we must know that the soul may be said to be separated from God two ways 1. By a voluntary aversion from God by sin this was not in our Saviour and could not be in him his will did always firmly and inseparably adhere to God even in the midst of his greatest sufferings It is true this is part of the punishment of sin in us namely that our wills are turned aside from God Adam voluntarily deserting of God this is now part of the punishment that is come upon him that he is now left to himself and thereupon there is an aversion of his will from God and this is that which we call spiritual Death when the will declines and turns from God the chief Good But this kind of death could not be in our Saviour and the reason is because he that was to bear the punishment of all other mens sins must necessarily be supposed to be without all sin himself Christ could not have been a Surety for our sins born the punishment of them if he had not been without all sin himself This aversion of the soul from God as it is the punishment of sin so it is in it self a sin Now Christ so bears the punishment of our sins as that he himself is still without all sin in a way of inhesion Christ hath the guilt of our sins laid upon him by way of imputation but he hath no sin in him by way of inhesion 2. The soul may be said to be separated from God in a way of deprivation namely when the soul is deprived of the comfort of Gods love and presence Now this our Saviour did undergo he was deprived of the comfort of his Fathers love and presence for a time as we shall shew more hereafter Psal 88.14 Lord why castest thou off my soul why hidest thou thy face from me This is spoken in the letter in the person of Heman but Learned men conceive that Christs sufferings are here represented to us under these expressions Lord why hidest thou thy face from me Gods face was hid from Christ for a time that so it might not be hid from us for ever And this was the spiritual death that our Saviour underwent not a death in sin which we are all subject to not any aversion of his will from God but desertion of God in point of comfort to be deserted and forsaken of God as our Saviour was is in some sense the spiritual death of the soul It is a good speech of one of the Ancients That is not death so properly that separates the soul from the body but that is most properly death which separates the soul from God God is life life it self he therefore that is separated from God must needs be dead as the body lives from the soul so the soul ut beatè vivat that it may live happily must live from God Hence are those expressions of Austin The life of the body is the soul but the life of the soul is God the body dyes when the soul recedes from it and the soul dyes when God recedes from it Therefore when our Saviour was so far forsaken and deserted of God for our sakes as to have no sensible taste of his love and favour for a time in this sense he underwent spiritual and supernatural death for us 6. The sixth Particular which follows upon this is That our Saviour tasting of supernatural death for us he did in so doing undergo the very pains of Hell for us Hence are those expressions Psal 116.3 The sorrows of death compassed me the pains of hell got hold of me I found trouble and sorrow So likewise My soul is heavy to the death Mat. 26.38 It is a great expression which we have 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Act. 2.24 Having loosed the pains of death or the sorrows of death The Greek word properly signifies the sorrows of a travailing woman and what were these sorrows Those which he had in the Garden when he was in his Agony and when he sweat drops of blood and those which he had upon the Cross when he cryed out My God my God why hast thou forsaken me These are called the sorrows or pains of death but indeed they were the sorrows or pains of Hell and therefore the vulgar Latin renders it the pains of hell because in these sorrows our Saviour did not only taste of the sorrows of natural death but he also tasted of the sorrows of supernatural death that is of the pains of Hell Hence is it as Learned men have observed That the sufferings of Christ and those great sorrows that he underwent are set forth in such a variety and multitude of expressions in the Scripture that sometimes they are set forth by the grave by darkness sometimes by the land of oblivion sometimes they are called wounding killing sometimes they are set forth by his being forsaken forsaken of his friends of his kindred yea of God himself sometimes they are called debts afflictions tempests solitude prison cuting off abjection treading under foot all which and many more which the Scripture is full of sets forth those most perfect
How Christ that was a person always beloved of God could yet bear the sense of his wrath And now I would make a little farther use of what hath been opened as to Christs being made a curse and then I shall proceed to the other Propositions that remain for the clearing the Doctrine of Christs Satisfaction Christ as we have heard hath been made a curse the wrath and displeasure of God hath been poured forth upon him whatever he underwent upon the Cross all that shame and pain all that grief and sorrow which he felt in soul and body was the effect of Gods wrath the punishment due to us for our sins the wrath of God was consummated upon him and he was cut off by the curse he underwent death as part of the curse Let us see what use may be made of this This may serve by way of direction to us Vse 1 to teach us what course to take when we are in distress and agony of conscience under the fear and terror of Gods wrath due to us for sin Who is there among us that some time or other may not lye under the fear of Gods wrath that may not be terrified with the apprehension of Gods wrath due to him for sin Now the proper relief in this case is to consider that Christ was made a curse If Christ hath felt what we fear if he hath suffered and undergone what we deserved what so proper a ground to relieve us as this We fear the wrath of God and Christ hath suffered that wrath This is the case of many of the children of God they do many times lye under dreadful apprehensions of Gods wrath and displeasure David in the trouble and anguish of his soul crys out Cast me not away from thy presence Psal 51.11 And that Saint we mentioned even now in Psal 88.14 Lord why castest thou off my soul Now when we begin to apprehend that God hath cast us off in displeasure when we are under trouble and anguish of soul and apprehend that God is highly incensed and his wrath is waxed hot against us what can give us relief in this case but to consider that Gods wrath was poured out to the utmost upon Christ our Head and Surety that the wrath of God spent it self and had a full vent upon him This therefore is the only course we can take when we are under the fear and apprehension of Gods wrath to lift up Christ in the arms of our faith and to interpose him between us and the wrath of an angry God If his wrath be kindled but a little blessed are all they that put their trust in Christ Psal 2.12 This Doctrine of Christ being made a curse is of marvellous and unspeakable use in the serious exercises of faith when the soul is under sore conflicts from the fear of Gods wrath If thou art burdened with the guilt of sin and the fear of Gods wrath thou mayst go to God and tell him that Christ hath suffered as much as ever thou hast deserved to suffer that there is nothing that he may justly inflict upon thee but it hath already been executed and inflicted upon Christ to the uttermost and will he punish sin twice Will he punish sin in thee and will he punish it in the person of his innocent Son who had no sin of his own but only took upon him their cause that were not able to deliver themselves from wrath From this Doctrine of Christs being made a curse Vse 2 we may learn what the true and proper Antidote is against the fear of death The proper Antidote against the fear of death is this That Christ hath suffered death as part of the curse therefore Christ having undergone death for us as a part of the curse if we be in Christ the curse of death is taken away from us It is true Believers undergo death still but here lyes the comfort to a Believer that death is no longer a curse to him Christ by undergoing death as a part of the curse yea as the completion of the curse hath taken away death as it is a curse Death is now no more a curse unto Believers but a passage unto life It is a sweet Text Hos 13.14 O death I will be thy plague O grave I will be thy destruction Christ by dying hath destroyed and overcome death and Believers are freed from death as a curse therefore is it that our Saviour saith He that believes on him shall never dye Joh. 11.26 What better news to any of the sons and daughters of men than to tell them they shall never dye Our Saviour assures us of this He that believes on him shall never dye Joh. 11.26 O but do not Believers dye as well as other men Object Yes they do Answ but they do not dye under the curse they dye not as malefactors as condemned persons 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Athanas Death is now as no death to a Believer it is only a passage unto eternal life a Believers true life is not interrupted by death Joh. 10.28 I give to them eternal life and they shall never perish If death did interrupt or take away a Believers true life then there might be a time when he might be said to perish but our Saviour speaks it with the strongest asseveration and with the greatest solemnity They shall never perish I give unto them eternal life and they shall never perish therefore there is such a life given to a Believer by Christ that shall never perish though this natural life be taken away from him yet that which is the true life eternal life shall never be taken from him his natural life may be taken from him but instead of it he shall have eternal life I give unto them eternal life I proceed now to some other Propositions for the clearing the Doctrine of Christs Satisfaction The next Proposition therefore is this The eleventh Proposition God hath charged upon Christ the guilt and punishment of the sins of his people There is an act of God in this Christ did not only suffer such things as we have heard but he hath suffered them from the hand of God laying these things upon him as our Mediator and Surety Hence is it said That God hath made him to be sin for us 2 Cor. 5.21 God hath laid upon him the iniquities of us all Isa 53.6 God hath laid upon him there is the act of God the act of Divine Justice put forth in laying upon Christ all the punishment that he underwent Hence are those expressions that are so frequent in Scripture that Christ was made sin made under the Law that he was made a curse that he was made of God to us Redemption all which expressions plainly shew that there was an act of God put forth whereby Christ is made or appointed of God to be our Surety and that God did exact that debt of obedience and punishment from Christ which we should have
the desert of our own sins is in the sufferings of Christ Whatever Christ suffered was nothing but the desert of our sins it was that which we deserved should have been laid upon us Therefore when we come to make use of the sufferings of Christ his soul-sufferings or his bodily sufferings when we consider his soul-sufferings viz. his dereliction or his being forsaken of God the sense of Gods wrath that he underwent in his soul when we consider the pain grief torment and death that he suffered in his body we ought to consider with our selves that these were the very things we deserved we were the persons that deserved to be forsaken of God to have the face of God hid from us we were they that deserved to feel the wrath of God to be made the butt of Gods wrath and displeasure we deserved that pain anguish and death it self and all as part of the Curse for Christ suffered all these things for us and was made a Curse for us So that in the sufferings of Christ as in a glass or mirroir we may see what we deserved there was nothing Christ suffered but we deserved it and our hearts ought to be deeply soakt in these considerations as ever we desire to take in the benefit of Christs satisfaction He that doth not see himself worthy to be cast off nay I may say he that doth not see himself worthy to be cut off by the wrath of an angry God for his sins will never prize the satisfaction of Christ as he ought to do Christ in the work of his satisfaction trod the wine-press of Divine wrath therefore it becomes us to be sensible deeply sensible of our desert and worthiness of his wrath as ever we desire to have benefit by Christs satisfaction Our Saviour in the sixth of John doth at several times promise to us eternal life upon eating his flesh and drinking his blood vers 54. He that eats my flesh and drinks my blood shall have eternal life Now it is a good observation of one If thou wouldst eat the flesh of Christ and drink his blood so as to have eternal life by him do thou first taste death be sensible of what thou deservest by reason of sin be sensible of the spiritual death thou art subject to namely separation from God obnoxiousness to his wrath which is the death of the soul when once thou art sensible of spiritual death what it is to be separated from God what it is to lye under his wrath then thou wilt come with spiritual hunger and thirst to the sufferings of Christ to obtain life from him The second Direction is If we would make use of the Sufferings and Satisfaction of Christ so as to draw home the benefit of it to our selves let us direct the eye of our faith unto our natures suffering in Christ It was our nature that sinned and it is in our nature that satisfaction must be made and this is the great relief unto faith to see satisfaction made in the nature of man as sin was committed in the nature of man Consider what the Apostle saith 1 Cor. 15.21 Since by man came death by man also came the resurrection from the dead The Apostle plainly intimates that this is the singular happiness and comfort of Believers that as happiness was lost at first in and by our nature so happiness is now recovered and restored in and by our nature It was the nature of man that sinned in the first Adam and it is the nature of man that hath obeyed and satisfied in Christ the second Adam It was the nature of man that was deprived of happiness and lost communion with God and was subject to death in the first Adam and it was the nature of man that was restored to happiness that was admitted unto communion with God that was raised from the dead in Christ the second Adam Therefore is it that in Rom. 5.19 we read of two men Adam and Christ As by one mans disobedience many were made sinners By one mans disobedience here is Adam the first man Now read the fifteenth verse of the same Chapter If through the offence of one many be dead much more the grace of God and the gift by grace which is by one man Jesus Christ hath abounded unto many Here we have another man the second man from Heaven as he is called 1 Cor. 15.47 also The man Christ Jesus 1 Tim. 2.5 Now the scope of the Apostle is to shew that as disobedience was acted in the nature of man by Adam the first man so obedience was performed in the nature of man by Christ who was the second man from Heaven This is a great quiet and relief to faith to find that in our nature that is adequate and commensurate to the Law Christ having satisfied the Law in our nature for us it is in Gods account as if we had satisfied it Consider that expression Rom. 8.4 That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us Some Learned men interpret that phrase in us that is in our nature Christ having fulfilled the Law for us in a part of our nature it is in Gods account as if so be we had fulfilled it This is more fully explained to us by the Author to the Hebrews Heb 2.11 c. For both he that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all of one for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren Christ is here spoken of as the Head of all the Elect. Now he is the person that sanctifieth He that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified Christ is the person sanctifying all the Elect are sanctified in him Now to sanctifie another is to make him holy and to present him holy unto God Christ doth thus sanctifie the Elect he makes them holy and presents them holy to God first in his own person and that he may do this that he may be in a capacity to do it he must participate of one and the same common nature with them whom he doth so sanctifie therefore is it that the Apostle says He that sanctifieth and they that are sanctified are of one the meaning is they are of one and the same common nature the person sanctifying and the persons sanctified are of one and the same common nature the head is true man and the members are true men This the Apostle doth farther amplifie at vers 14. For as much then as the children were made partakers of flesh and blood he also himself took part of the same Christ being the Head of the Elect and it being his office to redeem them he must come into their nature and do and suffer that in their nature which they ought to have done and suffered they were made subject to death therefore Christ tasted death for them as we have it vers 9. Christ taking upon him the same nature with his brethren did punctually fulfil for them in their nature whatever was expected from