then that he swear great Lumps of Bloud Luk. 22.44 and well might he cry out in the great Bitterness of his Soul God having also withdrawn the Beams of his gracious Presence for a time Eli Eli c. Upon which Jeremiah prophetically complain'd that there was never any Sorrow either of Men or Martyrs like unto his Sorrow But because 't is impossible to recount the Number and express the Quality of those Torments which he suffer'd both in Body and Soul We will conclude this Point with that rapturous Petition inserted into the Litany of the Greek Church 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 By thine unknown Sorrows and Tortures felt by thee but imperceptible to us have mercy upon us and save us O Lord our God Hitherto of the real Sacrifice which our faithful and most merciful High-priest offer'd up for our Sins and of the Means and Methods which he us'd both by his active and passive Obedience to perfect the great Work and Business of our Redemption We shall consider in the next Place the Benefits resulting from this great Propitiation and then deduce some Inferences from it by way of Application And 1 Christ our High-priest Benefits of this Propitiation by the infinite Merits of his Obedience and sufferings has purchas'd the Remission of our Sins the Sanctification of our Nature the Justification of our Persons and upon the tolerable and easie Conditions of Faith and Repentance we shall be restor'd to that Holiness and Freedom which we lost by the Fall and Defection of our first Parents But then we must be careful to perform the Conditions on our Part ere we can expect the Benefits of Christ's Mediatorship And if we seriously consider the sad Effects and mischievous Consequences of our original Apostacy we shall be more truly apprehensive of the Benefit and Necessity of a Redeemer and use all possible Endeavours to be Sharers in that Pardon and Peace which he has purchas'd for us as we 've seen at so dear a Price 2 By the infinite Merits of his Obedience and Sufferings he has raz'd out the Hand-writing and deliver'd us from the Curse and Condemnation of the Law We cannot be insensible of our manifold Transgressions both original and actual and that we have been guilty of the Breach of God's holy just and reasonable Commands in many thousand Instances both by Thought Word and Deed For all which 't is impossible that we should make our Atonement either by satisfying of Gods Justice for the Offences of our Lives past or by our perfect and unsinning Obedience to his Laws for the future And therefore 't would be but just with God to inflict the severest Punishments upon us and judge us according to those Laws which we have so wickedly and wilfully violated But our gracious God was pleas'd in great Mercy and Compassion to undone Sinners to send his own Son as we 've seen in the fulness of time Gal. 4. ◠to satisfie the Law for us and has thereby purchas'd Indemnity and Impunity for the Transgressors of it And we are hereby deliver'd not only from the burdensome Yoke of all the Mosaic Performances by nailing 'em to his Cross but he has so mitigated the Penalties and limited the Obligations of the moral Law that tho' we fail in our Duties and Obedience to it yet if we do not wilfully continue in a State of Impenitency but be truly sensible of and heartily sorrowful for the Offences of our Lives past if we exercise a true Faith in Christ our Redeemer and be watchful over our selves in the more pious and prudent Conduct of our Lives for the future Then I say upon our sincere Endeavours and hearty Compliance with these Conditions he will make up all our Defects and by his imputative Righteousness satisfie the Law for us For there 's now no Condemnation to those which are in Christ Jesus Rom. 8.1 who walk not after the Flesh but after the Spirit 3 By the efficacious Merits of Christ's Obedience and Sufferings we are deliver'd from the Sting and Terrours of Death Now Death is the Stipend and Wages of Sin which is due to every Man since the Fall of the first Adam and he that labours the whole day diligently and painfully in his Calling has not a more just Title to his Wages then the wilful and impenitent Sinner hath to temporal and eternal Death But the second Adam has conquer'd the Grave pull'd out the Sting of Death and given us a certain Title to a blissful Immortality So that tho' the Dissolution of our Bodies may be above all terrible Things most dreadful to Flesh and Bloud yet thro' the Merits of Christ's Death 't will be sanctified and made easie to us And the worst Office that Death can do to a sincere Believer is only to send his Body to the Grave a Place of Ease and Silence and his Soul to eternal Bliss Besides all its Harbingers and Concomitants as Afflictions Infirmities Diseases c. will not only prove tolerable and easie for a good man to bear but will turn to Advantage and become Matter of our greatest Triumph and Exaltation 4 Christ our High-priest has conquer'd the Devil and all his infernal Powers by the wonderful Efficacy of his Obedience and Sufferings This politic potent and malicious Enemy was such from the beginning and all the Sons and Daughters of Adam must expect the same Measures from him to the end of the World He knows that Christ the Seed of the Woman shall pronounce and execute that dreadful Sentence against him and therefore so many of his Friends and Relatives as come within his Clutches shall smart for it But the Son of God and High-priest of our Profession tho' he has not absolutely destroy'd yet very much limited his Power and Authority Those idolatrous Religions which he so much gloried in heretofore are since his Coming crept into some private Corners of the World His Oracles are silenc't and he seldom possesses the Bodies of Men or appears in their Shapes as formerly But seeing he is not yet bound up in those Chains of Darkness which shall eternally confine him he will lose no Opportunity in setting all his Engins and Instruments on Work to entrap and ensnare poor Sinners that he may make us if possible as unhappy and miserable as himself But this is our Comfort and Happiness that tho' the Devil may now and then tempt us to Sin yet our blessed Lord's so exceeding tender of our Welfare that he will cither countermine his Stratagems if we be good Christians or furnish us with a Sufficiency of Grace and Power to resist and repel them We have indeed some Instances in Sacred History of those who 've been yielded a Prey to him for a time yet for that very End and Purpose that their Victories over him might become more illustrious And their Examples are left us on Record as in the Case of holy Job c. that they might be
Justification without Sanctification For he gave himself for us Tit. 2.14 not only to redeem us from all Iniquity but to purifie unto himself a peculiar People zealous of Good-works Heb. 14.14 16. Seeing then we have a great High-priest that is passed into the Heavens for us Jesus the Son of God let us hold fast and adorn our Profession by our strictest compliances with the Conditions and our uniform Obedience to all the reasonable Commands and Constitutions of the Gospel And therefore 2 We have sufficient Motives and Encouragements to perswade us to be vigorous and active in the prudent Conduct of our Lives in the ways of Religion if we look back to the Premisses But besides to enforce those Obligations we have a Friend and Favorite in Heaven who being sensible of our Infirmities is able and willing to present and recommend Mat. 21.2 Mat. 7.72 8. and if they be seasonably offer'd he will prevail for the comfortable Success of all our pious Endeavours And what can be more argumentative to perswade us to be faithful and diligent in our most devout Attendance on all the Duties of Religion then such a well grounded Assurance of the Success of our Performances and the Acceptance of our Persons before God 3 what returns of Love and Gratitude do such wonderful Instances of Mercy and Bounty require from us These are the last Overtures and Tenders of Grace and Mercy which shall ever be made to the Sons of Men and therefore to be embrac't with the highest Regard most endeared Expressions of Love Joy and Thankfulness But if we reject and trample upon Heb. 1.2 and 2.1 2 3 4. Heb. 10.26 27. or neglect and undervalue these glad Tidings of our Peace our other Sins will receive a mighty Aggravation and our Guilt will be hugely increased Insomuch that it had been comparatively well for us if we had been born in India amongst Pagans who never heard of Christ nor his Religion rather than in England where the Gospel has been publickly and purely preacht for many years And it shall be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah at the Day of Judgement Mat. 10.15 then for the dissolute and debaucht Christian Thus we 've seen at large that when the whole World was involv'd in the sad Catastrophe of Adam's Sin and Guilt and laid under the dreadful Decree Condemnation to eternal Misery and Death And when all the legal Sacrifices could not satisfie for the least Offence nor procure a Minute's Reprieve from God's justly incensed Wrath and Vengeance 'T was in this great Strait that mercy interpos'd and God was pleas'd to provide a Sacrifice worthy of his own Acceptance A Sacrifice so pure and excellent in its own Nature and so precious in its Value as becomes every way satisfactory to God's Justice and a sufficient Ransom for the Sins of the whole World We 've seen likewise the highest Proposals of Grace and Mercy which could be offer'd to the Sons of Men in that the eternal Son of God is pleas'd to intercede so effectually for our Pardon and Peace and has put us into such a feasible Way of obtaining them that nothing but our wilful Stubbornness can make us miserable What remains now but that we proceed by the Assistance of God's Grace to the last Branch of Christ's Mediatorship In which we have the assured Confidence that he will preserve us in the Enjoyment of Peace protect us from all the Enemies of our Welfare and establish and confirm us in the Enjoyment of those temporal and spiritual Blessings which he has purchas'd and prepar'd for us CHAP. VIII Of Christ's Kingly Office THat Christ Jesus the righteous is invested with an absolute and irresistable Power to govern the whole World in General and his Church and People in Particular was the last thing I propounded to be discourst of in this Treatise Now that I may the better inform the Judgements and affect the Hearts of my Reader with the saving Knowledge of this necessary Point of Doctrine I shall for Methods sake offer these four things to your serious and impartial Consideration 1st We shall present you with some unquestionable Evidences of Christ's Kingly Power and Authority which has been fully manifested to the World and herein we shall consider from whence this Right of Government is deriv'd 2dly We shall treat distinctly of the Administration of this Government and enquire particularly how over whom and in what Instances he exerciseth his Dominion and Authority 3dly We shall give you a Specimen of the several Benefits resulting from his supreme Power and Jurisdiction which he does thus impartially administer for the Comfort and Happiness of his Subjects 4thly We shall consider what Influence this excellent Doctrine should have upon the Lives and Practices of all Christians Of all these severally and in Order And the 1st Imports that Christ is an absolute King and the supreme Monarch of all the Kingdoms of the World Testimonies of Christ's Kingly Power Ps 2.6 8. Which may be fully evidenc't 1 From Scripture Testimony The Psalmist is very express to this purpose I will set my King saith he upon my holy Hill of Sion and I will give him the Heathen for his Inheritance and the utmost parts of the Earth for his Possession Consonant to which is that of the Evangelical Prophet Isaiah Isai 9.6 7. Vnto us a Child is born unto us a Son is given the Government shall be upon his shoulder and his Name shall be called Wonderful Counsellor the Mighty God the everlasting Father the Prince of Peace of the encrease of his Government and Peace there shall be no end to sit upon the Throne of David and upon his Kingdom to order it and to establish it with with Judgement and Righteousness from henceforth even for ever and ever Ps 45.7 6. Thy Throne O God saith the Kingly Prophet is for ever and ever the Sceptre of thy Kingdom is a Right Scepter thou hast loved Righteousness and hated Iniquity therefore God even thy God hath anointed thee with the Oyl of gladness above thy Fellows And so he goes on through the whole Psalm to exalt and magnifie the Grace and Majesty of Christ's Kingdom And that all the Prophesies concerning his Kingdom are to be thus interpreted is evident from the Writings of the Evangelists and Apostles Zech. 9.9 comp Mat. 2.45 Tell the Daughter of Zion behold thy King cometh unto the meek c. which is the complement of that of the Prophet Zechariah with many other parallel Passages to the same purpose which would be needless to repeat But besides all the Works of Creation and Providence are ascribed to him as before and God the Father has given him all Rule and Authority Mat. 28.18 Phil. 2.8 1 Pet. 3.22 For which end he rais'd him from the Dead and set him at his own right hand far above all Principalities and Powers Heb. 2.9 Eph. 1 20 21.
us for the Diversion and Reparation of our weary Thoughts as well as the Support and Comfort of our Bodies Religion is no Enemy to moderate Pleasures nor does it infringe the Priviledges of humane Nature in the Use of innocent Divertisementt But then we are oblig'd to observe such Measures in our Recreations as not to make our Sports our Business We should use them as we do Sawces to our Meat to set an edge upon our Faculties and revive our Spirits that we may be the more vigorous and active in all the Works and Duties both of our Callings and Religion Again Covetousness should be no Ingredient in our Pastimes And we must also see to 'em that they be not evil in themselves or if lawful that they become not otherwise by the undue Circumstances of Time and Place as on the Lord's Day on Days of Humiliation c. All Violence Passion Anger Fury Quarreling Cursing and Swearing must be utterly abandon'd in all our Sports and Divertisements For these Irregularities instead of refreshing will discompose us and become vexatious both to our selves and others Lastly our Recreations should be short so that they encroach not on our necessary Business or Religion in a fruitless Expence of that Time which might be imploy'd to better Purposes For indeed no prudent Man has so much Time lying upon his hands but he knows better how to imploy it then to spend it vainly about Trifles Thus all our Merriments should be bounded with the necessary Rules of Reason and Sobriety and if we keep our selves within these Bounds Religion does not only connive at our Mirth but commends and approves of it 2dly Chastity or Abstinence from bodily Pleasut csâ— This Virtue of Sobriety as it relates to the Body consists in the Moderation of the Lusts and Appetites of the Flesh which properly speaking is Chastity or Abstinence from bodily Pleasures The Laws of Nature and Christianity do expresly forbid all sorts of Vncleanness as Adultery Fornication Self-pollution and all the other kinds and degrees of Effeminacy and do put an absolute Restraint upon all the concurrent Motions Affections Desires lustful Appetites both of the Soul and Body For if any of these be indulg'd and complied with they will set on fire the whole Course of Nature and sud dainly plunge the whole Man into unavoidable and irreparable Mischiefs We should therefore rather flie from this Sin then dispute against it And to this End 't will be necessary to consider 1 That all sorts of Venery and Vnclenness The Dangers attending this Sin Hos 4.11 do not only suppress and stifle all the divine and spiritual Operations of the Soul but do effectually draw them away from God and his Worship This was notoriously remarkable in the Case of Solomon 1 Kings 11 12. who tho' otherwise a Prince of unparallel'd Wisdom and Prudence yet he tells us from his own miserable Experience that when inconsiderate Men have plung'd themselves into the Pit of Filthiness 't is very difficult for them to retreat For they are led saith he by the contrivances of their wanton Prostitutes as an Ox to the slaughter Prov. 7.22 23. or as a Thief to the Correction of the Stocks 'till a Dart strike through their Livers or as a Bird hasteth to the Snare and knoweth not that it is for his Life Pro. 23.27 And a Whore is a deep Ditch and a strange Woman is a narrow Pit All which imply the unavoidable dangers and Mischiefs which lustful Persons run upon who give way to and indulge their sensual and bruitish Appetites and Passions 2 The Sins of Vncleanness are usually attended with Poverty and an infirm Constitution Prov. 6.6 This has been too remarkable in the decay'd Bodies and shatter'd Estates of too many sad and miserable Instances especially of late years in this sinful Nation to the great scandal of our pure and undefiled Religion and has been no small Disparagement to the excellent Constitutions of our Government both in Church and State But tho' perhaps a vicious Libertine may which is very rare escape these temporal Punishments yet the just Vengeance of God will certainly overtake him in another World For 't is express from Scripture that God will judge Whoremongers and Adulterers and whosoever shall live and die under the Power and Prevalence of these sins unrepented of unsubdued shall never enter into the Kingdom of God 3 These Deeds of darkness cannot be hid from God's all-seeing Eye For whither can we go from his Spirit or whither shall we flie from his Presence Psa 139.7 He beheld David's Adultery as before tho' committed with the greatest Secrecy 1 Sam. 12.12 and our blessed Saviour knew the practice of the adulterous Woman of Samaria Joh. 4.18 It must needs then be a great Falacy and Cheat which Whoremongers and Adulterers put upon themselves whilst they endeavour to conceal those Works of Darkness from the Eye of the World For the infinitely wise God registers all these Offences in the black Book of his eternal Memoirs and will bring them all to a sad Account at the Day of Judgement unless they be sincerely repented of to the unspeakable Shame and Horrour of those that commit them Give no way then to your Lusts and hold no Parley with your sensual Appetites for if you do you are in great danger of being overcome Solomon tho' the wisest of Men did prostitute his Wit Learning Honour Experience and all to gratifie a lustful and wanton Appetite It stands us in hand therefore to be always upon our Guard and the best way to be so is to be watchful over our Thoughts to make a Covenant with our Eyes and to keep our Hearts with all diligence Matth. 23.26 Prov. 14.23 from whence all these Abominations flow and derive their Original For if we keep the Fountain incorrupt the Streams will be so too and if the Fear of God and the serious Apprehension of Death and Judgement dwell in our Hearts like a strong Porter they will keep the Door against and dislodge all vain and sensual Desires This was Joseph's Security against all the lustful Dalliances of his wanton and importunate Mistris And this will effectually guard all the Ports and Avenues of the Soul against the incursion of carnal Temptations so that if they should creep in by surprize or unawares such Apprehensions as these will not suffer 'em to fix there but either cast them out or kill ' em Again set a strict watch over all your Senses lest they be charm'd and allur'd by the delicate and soft Embraces of forbidden Objects Have no Communieation with lustful Persons of either Sex Alexander the great would not see the Wife of Darius lest by the Charms of her admirable Beauty he might be tempted and overcome And certainly he that dares not look on a beautiful Woman to please his eye cannot come within the danger of Wantonness and Folly And
in the handling of this Point that I may inform and affect my Reader with the saving Truths and important Duties contain'd in it In order whereunto I shall observe this Method And 1st Titles Synonimous to his Priestly Office Heb. 5.10 Heb. 2.17 Heb. 9.11 1 John 2.2 1 Tim. 2.6 Rev. 13.8 1 Cor. 5.7 Rom. 3.29 Eph .2.14 We shall consider the several Titles ascribd to our blessed Saviour in holy Scripture which are synonimous and correspondent to his Priest-hood wherein he is said to be the great High-Priest the merciful and faithful High-Priest the High-Priest of good things to come the High-Priest over the House of God our Advocate with the Father the Price of our Redemption the Lamb slain from the beginning of the World Christ our Passover and the Propitiation for our Sins All which Passages and Compellations do necessarily imply that Christ our High-Priest assum'd our Nature that he might perform absolute unsinning Obedience to the whole Will of God and thereby fulfill the Conditions of the first Covenant which we had wilfully violated in Adam and yet being faultless to undergo and that voluntarily a shameful and painful Death for us upon the Cross to make our Atonement Who having seal'd this new Covenant of our Redemption in his Blood is now ascended into the Heavens where he sits at the right hand of God Heb. 7.25 as we noted before pleading his own Merits and Interceding powerfully for our Reconciliation We pass on 2dly From his Titles to his Office And this great Mystery of our Saviour's Priesthood will I hope be fully stated and consider'd by treating plainly and distinctly of these two Particulars 1 Of the Satisfaction which he made for us on Earth 2 Of his powerful Intercession for us in Heaven The former of these is purchaâ—â— by his Merits the latter is applied by his Mediation He satisfied for our Sins upon the Altar of the Cross and so became a Priest and Sacrifice for us according to the Order of Aaron he applies that Satisfaction and intercedes for us at the right hand of God where he becomes a Priest for ever by the Laws of an unchangeable Priesthood according to the Order of Melchisedec Heb. â— 6 Both these do plainly refer to and directly point at our blessed Jesus the true Priest of the New Covenant Heb. 7.3 〈◊〉 10.1 tho the Order of Melchisedec is far more excellent and honourable than that of Aaron both in respect of the Person and Office But to return I begin First With the Satisfaction which he made for us on Earth Of Christ's Satisfaction on Earth In the handling whereof and for the better understanding of this necessary Point of Faith we shall do these two Things 1 We shall prove that God's Justice is fully Satisfied for Mans Sin and Disobedience and we thereby restor'd to God's Grace and Favour 2 We shall consider by what Methods this great Business was brought to pass For the 1 Christ breathed forth his Soul God's Justice fully satisfied and offer'd up his dearest Life in Satisfaction to God's Justice for the Sins and Transgressions of lost Mankind For all the Projects and Contrivances of Men and Angels were insufficient for this Purpose and all those imaginary Sacrifices of Bulls and Goats c. under the Law tho of God's immediate Institution and Appointment were of little Significancy Heb. 10. For being only Types and Adumbrations of that real Sacrifice of Christ they could not purge the Conscience from Sin much less were they able to satisfie God's Justicie or make our Atonement But the Merits of Christ's Death were every way commensurate to those Ends as will most evidently appear if we consider 1. The Dignity of the Person by whom the Atonement was wrought being no other then God's most dearly beloved Son Who as we have fully prov'd is God co-essential co-equal and co-eternal with the Father 2. This Truth will be fully made out from the Consideration of those grievous Punishments and Indignities which he suffer'd for us from his Cradle to his Cross his whole Life being an entire Series of Miseries and Persecutions Of which more particularly hereafter 3. That God's Justice is fully satisfied by the Propitiation of Christs Merits is most obvious from his own Acknowledgement and Approbation of 'em who has declar'd himself well pleas'd both with the Excellency of his Person and the Sufficiency of his Obedience and Sufferings Consult at your leisure these several Scripture Arguments which are very apposite to our Purpose Viz. Rom. 6.9 Heb. 9.12 25. Heb. 10.10 14. 1 Pet. 3.10 And to inforce the Belief of this necessary Point of Faith See John 1.29 Isa cap. 53. 1 Cor. 15.22 1 Tim. 2.6 and 1 Tim. 4.10 1 John 1.7 and 1 John 2.22 To which may be added the Energy of the Vnion of his Active and Passive Obedience All which being put together are a clear Demonstration of that full and undeniable Satisfaction which Jesus Christ the righteous has made to God's Justice for the Pardon of our Sins and for the Purchase of our Peace and Reconciliation This important Truth being so firmly grounded must obtain and challenge our Belief and practical Assent to it notwithstanding the Cavils of some and the unreasonable Objections of others which have been fram'd against it for if Christ has not made a plenary Satisfaction for the sins of all Mankind then 't would follow that the Priviledges of the Gospel are not extensive to all and if this Hypothesis should be granted then the Guilt of Adam's Sin is of a larger Extent then Christ's Merits which is such a blasphemous Conceit as can never enter into the Thoughts of a sober Christian Again it would be Injustice to damn the Wicked for their Unbelief if Christ have done and suffer'd nothing for them which would also be dangerous to affirm But to put the matter out of Dispute 't is evident from holy Scripture that Christ died even for those that perish Rom. 14. â—â— Heb. 6.4 5 6. 2 Petâ— 2. â—â— And St. Peter complains that there were Hereticks in his time who denied the Lord that bought them Therefore whosoever shall appropriate these Texts of Scripture to believing Christians only must be guilty of great Mistakes in perverting the genuine Sense and Meaning of em for the defence and mentainance of their own erroneous and heterodox Opinions Thus much may suffice for the Confirmation of this Point namely that our blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ has fully satisfied God's Justice for the Sins of all Men indefinitely without exception and has put all Mankind in an undoubted Capacity of being sav'd 2 We shall enquire by what Methods and after what Manner this Atonement and Propitiation was wrought By what Means this great Propitiation is wrought that we may the more seasonably apply it for the Comfort and Benefit of our Souls And this could not be accomplish'd as we have hinted before by
him to Herod who was then Tetrarch of Galilee another Province in Judea This was very acceptable to the Jews for Herod being a fierce and bloudy Man they suppos'd that Innocency it self would be as little Security to him as 't was to his Harbinger John the Baptist Being conven'd before Herod who had desir'd of a long Time to see him he was question'd about many things and answer'd all their Interrogatories for he expected no Justice there with a profound Silence Then Herod and the Soldiers set him at naught clad him in a gorgeous Coat and when they had expos'd him to all the Obloquy and Contempt they could invent he was remanded to Pilate This egregious Polititian is now put to all his Shifts for he was fully convinc'd in his Conscience of our Saviour's Innocency and the Injustice of their Proceedings against him He was afraid of the Jews Displeasure and yet desires to save the Life of the Prisoner and therefore he must endeavour to find out an Expedient if possible to satisfie their Importunities and indemnifie himself from the Guilt of innocent Bloud Now having fully consider'd these things and to extricate himself out of this Mass of Contradictions he makes use of this politic tho' severe Project For he commanded him first to be stript naked Hierom. and then to be whipt saith my Author by six merciless and cruel Ruffians who beat him with at least three hundred Stripes till there was scarce any Skin left on his Body and having thus inhumanely scourg'd him they platted a phantastical Crown of Thorns and put it on his Head 't was a Crown to deride him and made of Thorns on purpose to torment him For the Bloud gusht out where the Pricks went in and now stream'd as fast down his Face in the Palace as it did down his back and shoulders at the Pillar But yet for all this neither the piteous Sight of this miserably distressed Object nor Pilat's Shifts nor Arguments nor Importunities could prevail with these desperately wicked and malicious Sons of Belial still die he must nor could any Engines of Cruelty satisfie their Revenge till they saw him breath out his last They would by no means remit the Punishment nor commute for his Life Crucifie him crucifie him was their constant Cry He is guilty of Blasphemy against God and Sedition against the King and therefore he that goes about to save his Life is no Friend to Cesar And to enforce their Plea beyond all Contradiction they would take the Guilt on themselves if the Sentence were unjust and they and their Posterity would answer it at the Peril of the Prisoner's Vengeance if he should really prove what he pretended to be and his Bloud be upon them and their Children Pilate was no longer able to resist the Dint of their Arguments and hereupon resolv'd that he would rather crucifie a thousand Christs than disoblige one Cesar Now we come to the Catastrophe of his dismal and Bloudy Crucifixion The eternal Son of God and Saviour of the World O horrendum nefas was for our sakes sentenc'd to die an accursed shameful and painful Death upon the Cross And that cruel inhumane Method which these vile Wretches proceeded in against that meek and innocent Person was this viz. In his way to Calvary they took off his purple Garment put on him in Scorn before and cloathed him with his own Then they loaded him with a heavy Tree and forc'd him to undergo the Burden till he could bear it no longer and when they perceiv'd that he was ready to faint and fall under it they commanded one Simon a Cyrenian a Gentile to assist him in the bearing of it till he came to Golgotha the Place appointed for his Execution Which must needs be a stinking and dreadful Place where the Skuls of dead Men and the putrified and rotten Limbs of Malefactors were dismal to the Eye and nauseous to the Smell Here it was that the Cross being a tranverse Piece of Wood was erected and the Son of God the saddest Spectacle that ever mortal Eye beheld nail'd unto it Thus I have given my Reader a Specimen of the Manner tho' we cannot comprehend the Measure of our Saviour's Sufferings in his Life and at his Death All which he patiently underwent for our sakes by a submissive Condescension to his Father's Will and the satisfying of his Justice for our manifold Transgressions and therefore as those Pains and Pressures must needs be terrible and afflictive to him so they should be a Monument of the greatest Sorrow and Compunction to us Especially in these two Respects 1st Because for our sakes he underwent a shameful and accursed Death Gal. 3.13 which was ordain'd for Slaves and Malefactors only and unworthy of any free Man tho the greatest Criminal And now the People who before were the greatest Admiters of his Person Doctrine Example and Miracles were scandaliz'd at his infamous Death so that tho' the most of them could not look on him but with Pity yet also with Scorn and Contempt This Shame then and Scandal of the Cross must needs add to the Bitterness of the Cup and the Loathsomness of the Affliction And yet for all this he considering the Glory of God the happiness of all Mankind which was so eminently concern'd in his Death and that future Crown of rejoycing which he should shortly enter upon He I say upon all these Considerations patiently submitted to the Torment and cheerfully underwent the Ignominy of that accursed Death for us that we might recover that Life Liberty Honour and Happiness which we had forfeited and lost by our enormous Sins and Transgressions But 2dly As he suffer'd a most cursed and shameful so a most bitter and painful Death For his Limbs being stretched out like Cloath upon the Tenters and his Hands and Feet the very Centers where all the Sinews met being pierced through with massy Nails must needs make the Tortures more exquisite and cruel Besides he did hang there three long Hours and because he could not die of Hunger in that time the Bloud must distill Drop by Drop 'till it was all drain'd out of his Body And to render his Death still more bitter and painful he not only suffer'd by all these Engins of Cruelty in his Body but by a worse and more afflictive Agony in his Soul For as those sensible Tortures which he felt in his Body were most pungent to him because 't was of all other Bodies the most tender being form'd only out of the Substance of his Mother without any commixture of the Male Nature So his Soul being proportionably delicate and his Spirit more apprehensive the Impressions of Pain and Sorrow must be so much the more severe and intolerable Again he was to grapple with and undergo the Fierceness of God's Wrath Psa 76.7 and 18.7 15. and the heavy Burden of our Sins which must needs press him down with almost insupportable Anguish No wonder
us How should these Considerations then affect our Souls with a deep Compunction and a hearty Contrition for our by-past Offences And how should we hate and aband on even the very Appearances of all Sin and Wickedness for the future More especially if we consider that If God did so signalize the severe Rensentments of his Wrath in the Punishment of his own most dearly beloved Son what then shall be the Doom of the impenitent and contumacious Offender What dreadful Impressions should this great Exemplar of God's Justice and Vengeance make upon our Lives How should we study and endeavour to mortifie our Flesh â— Pet. 4.1 2. and crucifie our Lusts which have been the immediate Causes of all those barbarous Cruelties and merciless Persecutions which he suffer'd How should we renounce all the superficial and extravagant Fooleries of this World according to the Example of Christ and his Followers Col. 3.3 5. Rom. 6.5 6. And indeed unless we thus crucifie the old Man and become conformable to Christ in trampling upon all the sinful Delights of this vain and transitory Life we have no real Title to the Blessings and Priviledges of this great Propitiation For if we Sin wilfully under the Gospel we crucifie the Son of God afresh Heb. 6.6 and react that dreadful Tragedy which we lately heard of This would be to despise and reject all his charitable and merciful Endeavours for our Peace and Welfare and if we continue in any one wilful Act of Sin and Disobedience unrepented of 't will render all his bitter Sufferings for our sakes not only vain and fruitless but destructive and pernicious Let us therefore flie from all Sin as the most deadly Contagion and when by a thro' Mortification of our Lusts and Appetites we have made our Peace with God we should dread the Danger Shame and Scandal of returning with the Dog to the Vomit or with the Sow that is washed 2 Pet. 2.22 to her wallowing in the Mire 4 We are strictly oblig'd by the Laws of Gratitude Interest and Duty to conform our Lives so far as we are able to the Doctrine and Pattern of Christ And our Respect and Reverence to the eternal Son of God our faithful High-priest should be attested with a sincere Obedience to all his holy Institutions He submitted to his Fathers Will in bearing the heavy Yoke Phil. 2.8 and drinking the bitter Cup for our Sakes How should we then study to imitate his holy and innocent Life alwayes looking unto Jesus the Author and Finisher of our Faith c. Heb. 12.2 For our pious Conformity hereto will not only recommend us to the Regard and Admiration of future Ages but will effectually dispose and qualifie us for all the blessed Priviledges and Advantages of his Grace and Glory In a word the Life and Death of Christ are an Inforcement and Recommendation of Patience Mat. 11. Math. 5.10 and Perseverance in well doing and suffering for his sake to the Glory of God and the Interest of Religion We should devote our selves therefore intirely to his Service and become most active Instruments in the promoting of his Glory and then 't will be impossible that we should fail of the Comfort and Benefit of our holy and vertuous Endeavours 5 And lastly Christ's infinite Love to us in all those Instances which I have mention'd should be a powerful Motive and Argument to perswade us to be kind and charitable to Others 1 Joh. 4.11 Did the eternal Son of God set such an infinite value on our Souls as to lay down his Life for them How then should we love those lively Images of his for whom he has paid so dear a Ransom and do always bear the Signature and visible Characters of his Grace and Favour Has he done and suffer'd so many things for us and cannot we prevail with our selves Rom. 15.1 Eph. 5.2 1 Joh. 3.16 to dispense with a petty Neglect bear some small Injuries from and Infirmities in our Brethren for his sake who has pardon'd us a Debt of more than ten thousand Talents Let all these things be duely consider'd and applyed that we may behold our Lord by the Eye of Faith standing upon the Cross not only as a resolute Sufferer but a glorious Conqueror to the infinite and unspeakable Joy and Comfort of our Souls in this and their infinite eternal Happiness in another World I have done with the first Part of our Saviour's Priestly Office namely the Satisfaction which he made and the Ransom which he has paid for the Purchase of our Redemption here on Earth which brings me to the 2d Branch of it viz. his meritorious Intercession for us in Heaven Christ our High-priest intercedes for us in Heaven Jesus Christ our most merciful Lord and Saviour is now entred into the Heavens where he is executing and administring his Melchisedekian Office for the Interest and Benefit of his Church and People here on Earth most especially in these two remarkable Instances 1 By interceding for us 2 In Blessing of us And 1st Christ our faithful High-priest For the supply of all our Wants Intercedes powerfully with the Father for the supply of all our temporal and spiritual Wants that we may live comfortaby here and be glorified with him eternally hereafter And to this End he is now presenting the Merits of his Bloud and Obedience to his Father's Acceptance representing all the Wounds Marks of his Sufferings and pleading 'em in full Satisfaction For the pardon of our Sins Heb. 12.24 1 Pet. 1.2 for all the Sins and Offences which his Votaries have committed The Bloud of Christ supplicates in Heaven for Mercy and Compassion for us And the sprinkling of it now is as necessary for the Sanctification of Believers as the shedding it upon the Cross was for the Salvation of them For altho' one Drop of it might be sufficient to save ten thousand Worlds yet it becomes efficacious only to those on whom 't is sprinkled This is that precious Bloud which speaks better things to us then that of Abel and it has such a rinsing and cleansing Property in it For sanctisying Grace as to purifie the Souls and Bodies of those who truly believe and apply it from all the Contagion Filthiness both of the Flesh and of the Spirit This only can render our Persons and Performances Sacrifices and Services acceptable to God So that when he beholds the Wounds and Sufferings of Christ he will think nothing too dear for us More particularly That our Hearts may be truly affected with a real Sense of the Comforts and Benefits of his meritorious and powerful Intercession 't will be of necessary and important Use to consider these following Instances of it For 1 He offers up his own Prayers to God the Father for us He offers up his own Prayers to the Father for us and stands like Aaron being truly sensible of our Wants
Guidance and Protection of so great a Lord who bears to us the Bowels of a Man and the tenderest Compassions of a Brother We 've inforc't all these Obligations to Holiness of Life and newness of Obedience by our Vows and Covenant in Baptism we repeat them frequently in the Lord's Supper and do oblige our selves still more and more by our renewed Choices and Promises in every Duty of Religion And we have in all these and many other Instances devoted our Selves our Souls and Bodies entirely to his Service How should we then in Conformity with the Design of this Treatise make it the Scope and Aim of all our Desires and Endeavours to be where Christ our great Prophet Priest and King is And since he is gone to Heaven to prepare a Place for us Ioh. 14 3â— let us make it the Endeavour and Business of our whole Lives Phil. 3 2â— according to the Rules laid down in this Book to dispose and qualifie our selves for that Place By which means we may not only live comfortably here and solace our selves with the Peace of a good Conscience in doing the Duties of our Christian Calling But after this painful Life ended we shall have the most perfect Consummation of Grace in the possession of the Rewards of eternal Glory and Bliss Which God of his infinite Mercy grant unto us for our blessed Saviour's sake To whom with the Father and the Holy Ghost be ascrib'd by us and all the World Blessing and Glory and Honour and Power and Thanksgiving for ever and ever Amen A Morning Prayer for Families O Most Glorious and Eternal Lord God the Father of Mercies and the God of all Consolations thou art greatly to be fear'd in the Assembly of the Saints and to be had in reverence of all that draw nigh unto thee We thy unworthy Servants desire with all Humility to acknowledge our immediate Dependance upon thee for by thy Power we were made by thy Wisdom we are govern'd by thy Goodness we are provided for under thy Dominion we live and we owe unto thee all that we have in this World or hope for in the next And yet alas we have made very unsutable returns unto thy Bounty For we have violated all thy just reasonable Commands not only by our mistakes and indiscretions by our sudden secret and unobserved Sins but we have set at naught and trampled upon thy sovereign Power and Authority by our open voluntary deliberate and actual Transgressions to the dishonour of thy glorious Name the scandal of our holy Profession and the great encrease of our shame and sorrow Besides such is the ignorance of our Minds the stubborness of our Wills and the unruliness of our Affections that we have been either wholly negligent about or careless and trifling in the performance of those incomparably pleasant Duties of our holy and excellent Religion Whereby much of our precious Time has been wickedly mis-spent either in sinful Recreations or Idleness and Vanity And to increase and aggravate our Guilt and Punishment we have sinned against many Judgements and Mercies Vows and Resolutions the Light of thy holy Spirit and the many checks and convictions of our own Consciences by all which we have made and judged our selves unworthy of eternal Life Wherefore holy Father we might justly expect the severest Resentments of thy Wrath and Vengeance in the most due and deserved Punishment of all our Sins But thou art a God of Mercy and with thee is plenteous Redemption thy Promises are full in Christ Jesus to truly humble and penitent Sinners We come with boldness therefore to the Throne of thy heavenly Grace most humbly begging the Aids of thy holy Spirit that with a deep Sorrow and hearty Contrition we may stedfastly bewail all the Sins and Offences of our past-lives Increase our sorrow and detestation of 'em still more and more Remove far from us all Security and Presumption Impenitence and unbelief and all the sad Remains of Apostacy and Disobedience and if it be thy gracious Pleasure deliver us from temporal Punishments however from eternal Death But since there 's no hope of Mercy and Forgiveness whilst we continue in the Ways of Sin and Irreligion which lead to Hell and Damnation let the sense of our Vileness prevail with us to forsake and abandon all our Sins so that we may never return to them again with any consent delight or approbation Forgive we pray thee whatever we have done spoke or thought amiss bury all our Iniquities in the bottomless Ocean of thy own Mercy and Forgetfulness and our Saviour's Bloud and for the sake of his infinite Merits deliver us from the Guilt and Pollution the Dominion and Punishment of all our Offences Lift up our Hearts we pray thee above all the little and empty yet alluring Trifles of this vain and transitory World Affect our Souls with a true and lively sense of our Duty and Dependance upon thee Restore and renew in us that Health and Comfort Joy and Peace Freedom and Strength Knowledge and Integrity by the Righteousness of the second Adam which we forfeited and lost by the Fall and Disobedience of our first Parents Improve and cherish still more and more those holy Resolutions of Growth and Perseverance in all Wisdom and Goodness that neither Life nor Death good Report nor bad Report may obstruct our Obedience nor separate us from thy Love Conduct us safely thro' all the Changes and Varieties of this troublesome Life in Peace and safety and dispose and qualifie us with such a holy and innocent Frame and Temper of Mind and Spirit that we may live with and enjoy thee for ever Send forth thy Light and thy Truth and enlighten we beseech thee all the dark Corners of the Earth with the bright Beams of thy glorious Gospel Bless more especially all Estates and Conditions of Men in the Communion of thy holy Catholic Church But we intreat thee more particularly for the increase of true Wisdom and Godliness in the Churches of these Kingdoms We confess O Lord thou mightest justly remove thy Candlestick from us and give it to a People more deserving than we but as thou hast been pleas'd to magnifie thy Mercy hitherto in the wonderful Defence of our Persons Religion and Government notwithstanding the malicious Designs and wicked Contrivances of those fierce fiery and politic Spirits who have ill will at our Sion So continue we beseech thee the present Establishment in Church and State with a Blessing upon both to us and our Posterity for ever Remember not against us our manifold Provocations neither suffer the Plagues of Atheism and Apostacy Heresie and Schism Sedition and Rebellion to shake the Foundation or interrupt the Public Peace and Tranquility of this excellent Government But unite us all to thy Self in the Bonds of true Faith and Hope and in brotherly Love and Charity one to another To this End we intreat thee for the Health and
lasting Monuments of God's Grace and Power and of their Patience and Magnanimity to all succeeding Generations Let no sincere Christian then be discourag'd tho he be now and then obnoxious to Satans Temptations For if he hold out vigorously the Power and Malice of the Devil shall not only be much abated by the Opposition of good Angels who are much more able and active to preserve and protect us then Devils and wicked Men can be to mischieve and hurt us But the Spirit of God is also greater in us 1 Joh. 4.4 then he that is in the World and he who is God over all has prescrib'd such Bounds to our Enemies of all sorts that they are now confin'd like those turbulent and otherwise uncontrolable Waves of the Sea Job 1 1â— that they can only move so far and no further then he pleases But this is to be understood of Believers only For the sinful and disobedient Eph. 2.2 3. the unbelieving and impenient are led captive by him become his absolute Slaves and Vassals and are forward to commit all those Villanies which he doth perswade and tempt 'em to tho never so dishonourable to God or mischievous to themselves and others But here I must note to you Absolute Conquest over Sin not attâ—â—able in this Life that we cannot expect an absolute Conquest over Sin and Satan in this Life by the Sacrifice of Christ's Death And therefore we had need to stand continually upon our Guard and pray incessantly for the Assistances of God's Grace and Spirit to help our Infirmities and enable us to resist them yet this we are certain of which may encourage us in the Conflict that when we come within the Fortifications of the new Hierusalem we shall reap the blessed Fruits of this great Expiation and have a total Exemption from all Temptation Sin and Suffering whatsoever Then shall our Bodies shine as the Brightness of the Sun Beams and as the Stars for ever and ever and our Souls shall be cloath'd with an immaculate and spotless Dei-formity Then shall all those Laws which are now so difficult to be perform'd be either cancell'd and repeal'd or our merciful High-priest will furnish us with a Sufficiency of Will and Power to obey them Then will all our Desires Inclinations and Affections cheerfully concur without any by-respects to our private Interests or Passions in the promoting of God's Glory and the mutual Joy and Happiness of the whole Community of holy and beatified Spirits Then shall all Labour and Travel Sorrow and Sickness be at an end and Death it self which is now so terrible to Flesh and Blood shall be swallow'd up in absolute and perfect Victory Then shall the Devil our most malicious and inveterate Enemy and all his Agents be cast into the Lake of Fire and Brimstone and shall be confin'd eternally to those Flames and Tortures which are prepar'd for him and his Angels There are several other Benefits resulting from this great Propitiation More particular Benefits which I have toucht already and therefore shall only name them here as the Conquest which Christ has obtain'd over the World with all its vain Pomps 1 Joh. 5. â— Honours Beauties Pleasures c. which the Apostle did so much glory in and rejoice at Eph. 2.15 16. He has put away the Enmity between God and Man between one Man and another and between every good man and his own Conscience He has ratified and confirm'd the new Covenant between God and us Heb. 10.29 in his own Bloud repair'd God's Honour which had been so much obscur'd and violated by our Disobedience and Rebellion against him and has restor'd us to all those just Rights and Priviledges which we thereby forfeited and lost He has rais'd and advanc'd us to the Honour and Happiness of God's own Sons thus mystically uniting us to himself and elevating us above the World In a Word he has fully satisfied God's Justice which had been so often affronted by our Iniquities and perfectly made up the Breach between God and Man as we have prov'd before to the advancement of his own Glory and the unspeakable Comfort and Happiness of all true Believers Thus our most faithful and compassionate High-Priest has made our perfect and plenary Atonement with God by that infinite Sacrifice and unsinning Obedience which he perform'd in his Life and has perfected at his Death Which Propitiation of his is fully correspondent to God's determinate Counsel and all the Prophesies and Types in holy Scripture concerning him We have seen likewise what a happy State and Condition Mankind is in by his Assumption of our Nature and what Blessings and Priviledges he has purchas'd for us and will certainly bestow on us if we endeavour to make our Lives the Transcript of his Doctrine and Example We shall Apply this Point by considering what practical Inferences may be drawn from it And 1 The serious and impartial Consideration of this great Mystery The Influence which this Doctrine should have upon Practice should affect our Souls with the highest Transports and oblige us to make the most affectionate Returns of Love and Duty towards him No Imagination could devise any thing beyond this That the Lord of eternal Life should stoop from the Top of Heaven and under the Vail of our Flesh endure the Pain and Infamy of an accursed Cross not only to rescue his Enemies from Death but to exalt them to eternal Life What infinite Obligations are these and how unworthy should we be of those Favours if the effects in our Hearts and Lives do not bear some considerable Proportion to those wonderful Emanations of his Love and Bounty And how should we Love him above all things who has thus loved us 2 This is a most solid Foundation for our Faith Rom. 8.32 our Hope and Confidence to rest upon amongst all the distracting Cares and Sorrows of a miserable World That we live under the Providence and Protection of an all-powerful and merciful God and have the Plea of Christ's infinite Merits to secure and confirm to us our present and eternal Peace upon such reasonable easie Conditions as are propounded in the Gospel If these things were duely weigh'd and consider'd they would prove the best and most absolute Catholicon to cure all the melancholly Suggestions of Distrust and Infidelity 3 Our serious Reflexions upon that black and tragical Scene of Christ's Sorrows and Sufferings for our Sins may give us a true Representation of the damnable Nature heinous Aggravations and dreadful Consequences of 'em and inspire us with the greatest Dread against Detestation of those Enemies which are so dishonourable to God and mischievous to our selves For our Sins alas have been the Betrayers and Slanderers of the most innocent Son of God our best Friend and most compassionate Redeemer and the immediate Authors too of that painful and infamous Death and all the precedent Cruelties which he suffer'd for