still and if you doe not this you shall dye It was written long since that time Deut. 27. ver 26. Cursed be he that confirmeth not all the words of this Law to doe them And all the people must say Amen to it now as well as they did then But herein is the Covenant of Grace more favourable The Covenant of Works sayes thou shalt personally doe them or dye The Covenant of Grace sayes thou shalt doe it or get Christ to doe it for thee the Covenant of Workes sayes I will take no baile no surety doe it or dye Durus est hic sermo an hard saying who can heare it The Covenant of Grace saith Get me Christs Baile and I will acquit thee if thou beleevest in him Therefore saith the Apostle Gal. 3.10 11. As many as are of the workes of the Law that look to be justified by their owne workes by their owne righteousnesse in fulfilling the Law are under the curse for it is written Cursed is every one that continues not in all things which are written in the Law to doe them Look to it saith the Apostle if you look to be justified by obeying the Law in your owne persons take my word for it you have an hard taske But verse 13. Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the Law But how was that it followes in the next words Being made a curse for us ver 14. That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ Hee was to fulfill the Law Actively that he might fulfill what we through the weaknes of the flesh could not and in regard that he was to fulfill it for us it was requisite he should have our nature and as hee was to fulfill the Law Actively so in regard that his Elect by their past Transgressions had broken the Law of God Adam for himselfe and all his posterity and the body of death which he knew was to remaine after sanctification in his Elect ones would lay them open to hell He also was to fulfill the Law Passively for us therefore saith the Apostle He hath redeemed us from the curse of the Law Now he tells you how that was verse 13. by being made a curse for us as it is written Cursed is every one that hangs upon a tree Now hee could not have been in capacity of being subject to the curse of the Law by hanging upon the tree for us unlesse he had taken upon him our flesh Nay yet a Fourth Reason may be given why it was necessary that Jesus Christ should raise up his redeemed ones by the assuming their flesh viz. That he might be a mercifull High-Priest It is the Reason that the Apostle gives Hebr. 2. verse 17. Wherefore in all things it behoved him to bee made like unto his brethren that hee might bee a mercifull and faithfull High-Priest in all things pertaining to God to make reconciliation for the sinnes of the people for in that hee himselfe suffered being tempted he is able to succour them that are tempted I shall adde nothing to it Thus he raised us by Assuming of our flesh which in order to our raising it was necessary for him to doe 3. He raised us Passione by his precious death upon the Crosse his falling was our rising his life our death The chastisement of our peace was upon him and by his stripes wee are healed His owne bloud was the balme from Gilead as well as himselfe the Physitian there Now in order to the raising of his Elect ones it was requisite that he should dye 1. That he might satisfie 2. That he might conquer 1. That he might satisfie and purchase Remission He that will redeem any slave out of Captivity must pay the summe of Redemption-money required Now Death was that which could alone satisfie for the redeemed ones It was the Lords first Law In the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die temporally and eternally Now a death must be paid or justice is not satisfied therefore saith the Apostle Heb. 9.22 Without blood there is no remission he therefore dyed for our sinnes saith the Apostle he was our sacrifice 1 Cor. 4.7 And he is no sacrifice till slaine This was typified by the slaying of beasts for sacrifices in the old Law which God required of all those that would obtain pardon And in regard that man had deserved hell as well as death Christ by dying that he might raise us and and make the face of God againe to shine upon us was content to suffer the withdrawings of his Fathers love and to feele as it were the paines of hell to raise us to the joyes of heaven Secondly as it was necessary in order to our raising that Christ should dye to the intent that he should satisfie for us so it was also necessary that he should dye that he might conquer for us This the Apostle fully expresseth Heb. 2.14 15. Forasmuch as the children are partakers of flesh and bloud he also himselfe tooke part of the same that through death he might destroy him that hath the power of death even the Devill and deliver them who through feare of death were all their life-time subject to bondage Christ was to lead Captivity captive to take away deaths sting and hels victory which he could not have done without wrastling with death himselfe had he not been deaths captive he had never been deaths conquerour Hee raised us by dying for us 4. He hath raised us Resurrectione by rising againe from the dead therefore saith the Apostle Rom. 4.25 He was delivered to death for our offences and rose againe for our justification Now his Resurrection had and hath an influence upon raising his Elect ones 1. By witnessing to them Christs conquest for them and therefore the Apostle makes the worke of satisfaction for us to be proper to his death and the worke of our justification he appropriates to his Resurrection Rom. 4.25 When he dyed he went downe that he might conquer but it was his comming up out of the grave that witnessed his conquest over death and hell It was in that day that this Song was sung O death where is thy sting O hell where is thy victory When the Prisoner is freed it is a signe the debt is paid or the Gaoler beaten It was a signe of both in Christ as that the debt was paid due to his Fathers justice so also that death and hell were beaten 2. Christs Resurrection had an influence upon our raising by quickning us Col. 2.12 Buried with him in Baptisme wherein you are also risen with him through the faith of the operation of God who hath raised him from the dead And being dead in your sinnes hath he quickned together with him c. Col. 3 1. If then ye be risen with Christ seeke those things which are above and ver 2. Set your affections on things which are above c. We are risen 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 with him
were Gods people and which he loved but would Moses have done it for a Philistine yet this hath Christ done O love ye the Lord all his Saints 4. Thee that never askt it He was found of them that sought it not Alas mankind lay as well without a tongue to aske as an hand to help themselves and behold Christ pitied them and amongst them thee his love declared from Eternity towards thee had not so much cause in thee as a poore prayer would have amounted to he was not moved by thy sighs and teares but by his owne infinite love 5. Lastly thee that hast still Rebellion in thee Christ said within himselfe when he dyed upon the Crosse Now is my heart-bloud powred out for as vile wretches as any are and for those that I know will requite my bleeding wounds my dying love with new speares and thornes thus he knew that thou wouldst doe in the time of thy unregeneracie yea and after thou shouldst be called too Who lives and sinnes not Now Christian lay these things to thy heart meditate of study out this love and see if thou hast not cause to say My soule and all that is within me my tongue and all that is without me praise the Lord. But O remember I Christian Remember Burnt offering and sacrifice he doth not require but this he requires that thou shouldst doe his will O say Loe I come I am ready to do it But more particularly let me point thee out some particular duties that the Lord requires of thee in a poor answer to his rich Acts of eternall love First hath not he thought his glory too deare to lay aside for a while for thee nor his Word and Truth too dear to pawne for thee not his bloud too deare to spill for thee hath he valued nothing in comparison of thee O doe thou value nothing in an equall ballance with him be willing to deny thy selfe for him who in every thing hath denyed himselfe for thee Thy Lusts cannot be so pleasing to thee as Christs glory was to him Be content to leave them Thy Honour cannot be so great as his was which he left for thee and became ignoble in our eyes Surely when wee saw him we esteemed him despised smitten of God and afflicted Isa 53.4 But it was when hee was wounded for our Transgressions and bruised for our Iniquities when the chastisement of our peace was upon him and that by his stripes we might be healed Thy Riches cannot be greater than his yet remember him O remember the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ who though he was rich yet for your sake became poore that you through his Povertie might be made rich 2 Cor. 7. Thy life cannot be more deare than his yet he valued not his life for thee but powred out his bloud his precious bloud upon the Crosse that through his bloud thou mightest have remission purchased Learne hence Christian a lesson of self-deniall Be content to suffer for him who was content to suffer that he might raise thee value nothing in comparison of him This Lesson had Saint Paul learned Phil. 3. v. 7 8. What things were gaine to me I counted losse for Christ yea doubtlesse and I count all things but losse for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord for whom I have suffered the losse of all things and doe count them but dung that I may win Christ c. ver 10. That I may know him and the power of his Resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings being made conformable unto his death Looke upon nothing in an equall ballance with him 1 Cor. 2.2 I determined not to know any thing amongst you save Jesus Christ and him crucified Secondly hath Christ entred into a Covenant and given his word to his Father and kept his word with his Father for you O then learne of him Vow your selves to him and keep the vowes of your lips Say with David Psal 116. ver 16. Ah Lord truly we are thy servants we are thy servants and the sons of thy handmaids for thou hast loosed our bonds Say with David Psal 40. Mine eares hast thou opened and bored them Say Ah Lord we come to doe thy will Christ kept his word with his Father for you Ah keep your word with him pay him the vowes which you have made Thirdly Hath Christ to raise you taken upon him your flesh O then Take ye upon your selves his spirit He hath become for you the childe of man doe you become for him the children of God Be made partakers of the divine Nature having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust 2 Pet. 1.4 Your Nature was full of imperfection and weaknesse the divine Nature is full of perfection and glory He hath raised you be raised put off your filthy rags and put on change of Raiment Fourthly Hath Christ died that he might raise you from the death of Sinne and from the power of the Second death O then dye to sinne Col. 3.5 Mortifie therefore your members which are upon the earth fornication uncleannesse inordinate affection evill concupiscence and covetousnesse which is idolatry for which things c. The Apostle Saint Paul presseth the great duty of mortification from this very principle Likewise reckon yee also your selves to be dead to sinne but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord Rom. 6.11 and so on ver 12 13. Let not sinne therefore reigne in your mortall bodies c. Ah throw away the nailes that pierced your Christ Fifthly Did Christ rise from the dead that he might raise you from the death of sinne O then rise to newnesse of life The Apostle Saint Paul presseth this worke of Vivification also from Christs Resurrection Rom. 6. ver 4. We are buried with him by Baptisme into death that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father euen so we also should walke in newnesse of life and so all along that Chapter Sixthly Hath he ascended that he might raise us O then let us likewise ascend after him setting our affections upon things which are above not upon things which are below Christ who is our treasure is ascended Let our hearts also be where our treasure is Col. 3. ver 1. If then ye be risen with Christ secke those things which are above where Christ sitteth at the right hand of God 7. Lastly Will he yet once againe come and raise you by glorification O then Let Christ in you be the hopes of glory Looke for him he is making ready his chariot He is bowing the Heavens and comming downe He hath prepared a place for his redeemed ones and he is comming Loe he is comming to take them up into the chambers of glory that where he is there they may be also But to summe up all let me only adde 5. A fifth and last use of Consolation To all the Saints and servants of God both touching themselves
and this should quicken us and strength derived from Christs Resurrection by faith doth quicken the Saints of God to live to God as becomes the redeemed ones of the Lord. 3. It hath an influence upon our raising by being a pledge to us of our owne rising unto everlasting glorie to live with that Christ who was dead and is alive againe This the Apostle fully proves in that fifteenth Chapter of the first Epistle of St. Paul to the Corinthians from the thirteenth Verse to the five and twentieth Now I take by raising I raised thee not onely to be understoed of the work of Redemption but also all the privileges that from that worke of Redemption flow out of course to the servants of God being but as severall steps from one of which to another the Saint is raised till hee bee got to the toppe staire of glory Christ hath raised us by his owne rising from the pit of the grave 5. He hath raised us by his Ascension and sitting at the right hand of his Father Now Christs Ascension and sitting at the right hand of the Father hath an influence upon our raising these wayes 1. In going before hee provides a place for us Take this out of his owne mouth John 14.2 I goe to prepare a place for you And if I goe and prepare a place for you I will come againe and receive you unto my selfe that where I am there you may be also Christ is now preparing Mansions for his redeemed ones for in his Fathers house are many Mansions never a Saint of his shall want a seat or a roome in glory 2. In going he hath raised us in being our Way He being ascended and with the Father wee have through him a way unto the Father John 14. verse 6. I am the way hee was the way by which the Father came to us he communicated himselfe unto us in and by and through the Lord Jesus Christ and hee is our way by which wee goe to God whatsoever we aske in his Name if we believe we shall receive it we shall receive it The Saint could not pray with comfort if he did not remember that Rev. 13.8 There is an Angell that stands before the Throne to whom much Incense is given to offer up the prayers of his people unto God But knowing we have a friend in the Court we offer up our prayers with boldnes and a great confidence in his goodnesse 3. His Ascension hath an influence upon our raising in that wee know now we have an Advocate with the Father even Christ Alas with what comfort can the child of God whose conscience the Lord hath awakened to consider his daily sinnes and corruptions thinke upon God or look up unto God if he did not know Christ were with him But now that Christ is with his Father wee know 1 Joh. 2.1 That if any man sinne wee have an Advocate with the Father even Christ the righteous Hebr. 7.25 He is therefore able to save them to the utmost that come unto God through him because he ever liveth to make Intercession for them Rom. 8 27. yea and verse 34. Now Who is he that condemneth It is Christ that dyed yea rather that is risen againe who is even at the right hand who also maketh Intercession for us Observe there how the Apostle gives Christ ascension and sittting at the hand of God as the proximate cause of our Intercessor his Death and Resurrection made him not our Intercessor his Death made him our Saviour his Resurrection our Conqueror but his Ascension and sitting at the right hand of God hath ultimately made him in a capacity to bee our Advocate and Intercessor Thus he hath raised us by Ascension Yea 4. His Ascension and sitting at the right hand of the Father hath an influence upon our raising in that now from thence he giveth gifts unto men Ephes 4.8 When hee ascended up on high he led Captivity Captive and gave gifts unto men The Psalmist Psalme 68.18 from whence that passage is taken saith he received gifts for men he received them from his Father Now saith the Apostle when hee led Captivity Captive he distributed these to men As Conquerors use when they have taken the spoile to deale it out in gifts What gifts The Apostle expounds it in part ver 11. He gave some to be Apostles and some Prophets and some Evangelists In short I take to be meant by it all the gifts of Gods Spirit whether of common or speciall grace whether externall or internall gifts for the benefit of the Church and gifts for the benefit of our soules Nay the descending of the Spirit was a fruit of Christs Ascension See it Joh. 14.16 John 16.7 I tell you the truth it is expedient for you that I goe away for if I goe not away the comforter will not come unto you but if I depart I will send him unto you Now it is plaine that the internall gifts of the Spirit and workes of it are fruits of Christs Ascension as well as the more common and externall gifts given in the dayes of Pentecost from the 14. of Joh. ver 16. where Christ promiseth them that the comforter which upon his departure he would send to them should abide with them for ever And thus I have shewed you now what course the Lord Jesus Christ hath taken to raise his redeemed ones that had lost all their life and strength and comfort in Adam out of this their lost condition thus he did it meritoriously These were his acts for us But now to what purpose is all this for any soules wounds that there is Balme in Gilead that there is a Phisitian there without the Balme bee applyed to its soul 6. Lastly therefore as Christ hath meritoriously thus raised the whole number of the Elect ones so he Particularly and Actually raiseth each one of those whom hee hath purchased by his bloud by applying himselfe unto each of their soules Now for the manner of this Application the blessed Apostle describes it Rom. 8.30 Moreover whom hee did predestinate them he also called and whom hee called them he also justified and whom he justified them he also glorified under Predestination is included Redemption and Sanctification under Justification Now therfore a little to open this mysterie of our Redemption in the Application of it to the soules of them that shall be saved You have seen how there came to be Balme in Gilead and that there is a fulnesse and sufficiency in Christ Now what doth the poore Electone want that it hath lost in Adam I conceive three things 1. Life 2. Strength 3. Light 1. Life It is a damned Creature in Adam it wants a way of salvation a pardon for its sinnes a righteousnesse to appeare in the sight of God 2. Adam hath left it a weak creature not able to do any thing that is good no not so much as to think a good thought it wants a strength to Act in
so as to please God 3. Adam hath left it a comfortlesse creature without any light of Gods countenance shining upon it Now all these are purchased The first of them is necessary to give the first being to a Saint The second is necessary to preserve the Christians being The third ad bene esse for the comfortable being of all Christ is all to the Childe of of God Psalme 27. verse 1. But how doth Christ apply these to the soules of his redeemed ones 1. Saith the Apostle He calls them We say that in effectuall calling which is when God joynes the irresistable power of his Spirit with the outward preaching of the Word God doth these three things 1. Convince the soule of his elect vessell that is a child of wrath by Nature as well as others Ephes 2.3 what a condition it is in by reason of its Originall and its Actuall sinnes 2. Humble the soule for its sinnes and discover unto the soule the insufficiency of all its owne righteousnesse that it is undone in its sinnes and undone in its righteousnesse and thirdly hee sayes to the soule Yet there is hope looke up to me and live I am as the brazen Serpent onely looke up and thou shalt live And that the soule may be able to look up with a true eye Christ gives faith to the soule to behold him come unto him and to receive him by a true resting and relying upon his Merits for salvation 2. And having thus Called the soule he then justifies it He hath in his Decree justified it from eternity hee hath meritoriously justified it by his Death upon the Crosse but now hee doth actually and formally justifie it 1. By pardoning its sinnes and acquitting the soule from the obligation it till now lay under to death and forgetting the injury done to himselfe by any of its sinnes 2. By imputing the Righteousnesse of Jesus Christ to the soule by which it appeares the sinner is pardoned not without a satisfaction first given to Justice 3. By accepting graciously the soule thus justified as perfectly righteous for the Lord Jesus Christs sake as if it had never sinned And the worke of true faith in this Justification is to lay hold upon it And thus now Christ applyes the merits of his Death to the soule in conveying life and pardon to it thus hee raiseth it saying to it in its bloud live But this is not all 2. The soule is weake and is not able to live an houre of it selfe Christ therefore in the next place in order to its more perfect raising sanctifies the soule which implyeth two things 1. He gives unto the soule new principles of grace 2. He gives the soule power to act these principles for as except from him we have nothing so without him we can doe nothing Joh. 15.5 Which power being given the soule from above the soule is raised and becomes strong in the strength of Christ and sets upon works 1. Of Mortification to subdue the strong holds of Satan viz. the remainder of corruption in the soule 2. Of Vivification setting upon such Duties as God hath required of his redeemed ones being exercises of the grace which they have received from the Lord Jesus Christ he gives the soule power to live upon faith to love to desire him to delight in him to do and to suffer for him to be content with him c. Yea and thirdly In his due time he raises the soule to a comfortable life in giving it the sense of his love a perswasion of its Union with the Lord Jesus Christ peace in the inward man thining upon it with the light of his Countenance which is better to it than thousands of Gold and Silver This I say he does in his due time not to all nor continuing it constantly to any but according to his good pleasure thus making knowne to it the Redemption he hath purchased for it and the Justification of its soule which is past in heaven before 4. And lastly in his due time he will yet further raise the soule by taking it to himself and glorifying it with himselfe for ever He will come againe on purpose to raise the soules of his redeemed ones from the dust and to take them up to himself in glory that where he is there they may be also John 16. verse 3. Thus Christ hath meritoriously raised all his redeemed ones and will apply their Redemption with the fruits of it to them in his due time applying life to them by Vocation and Justification strength to them by Sanctification light and comfort to them by shining with the Light of his Countenance upon them and finally giving them Glorification hee shall then perfect his worke of raising us and wee shall live with him in the Highest Heavens for ever I have now done with the Doctrinall part so farre as to shew you 1. That it is Christ that raiseth his Elect ones 1. He is designed 2. He can doe it 3. Hee onely can 4. Hee hath done it meritoriously for all 5. Hee hath done it actually and formally for some and will doe it for the rest And so farre as to shew you the manner how he did it and doth it both in respect of his owne acts in relation to the fitting himselfe for the worke and in respect of his application of it to the soules of his servants If now you aske me the Reasons why and to what end he did it for the reasons of the particular Propositions I have given you them before Now for Reasons in the Generall I shall give you them in two words 1. The moving cause was his owne grace because he would 2. The finall cause was his own glory 1. The moving cause and reason was his owne grace and goodnesse This is the reason of all Gods acts of grace towards the Creature whether Election or Redemption or Vocation or Justification or Sanctification or Glorification the sole cause was in himselfe because he loved us and delighted in us for his owne Names sake c. Isa 43.25 Deut. 7.7 Hos 14.4 His owne will was all the reason he did it freely we buy without money or money-worth Isa 55.1 2. 2. If you aske to what end hee did it It was his own glorie that he might get himselfe glory from poore dust and ashes that little thanke him for all this mercy declared to their souls He Predestinated Redeemed and Adopted us meerely to the praise of the glorie of his grace Ephes 1. verse 6. The end which he aimed at in Calling us was his glory Rom. 9.23 24 25 26. If you aske me why God that could as well have been glorified in the damnation of poore wretches would chuse rather to be glorified in their salvation and bringing them to life I must run back again to the Fountaine againe meerly because so it pleased him because it was his will There wee must rest I shall now proceed to the Application of this mysterious
sweet and precious Doctrine and it might be applyed severall wayes But I shall onely apply the consideration of it as offering you ground and matter First of Humiliation Secondly of Instruction Thirdly of Examination Fourthly of Exhortation Fiftly of Consolation First of all for Humiliation Use 1 Harke Christians is it so that thou wert so lost and undone that none but Jesus Christ could raise thee and hee hath done it when none else could and wil raise thee higher yet and this hee could not have done without taking thy flesh dying upon the Crosse suffering the bitternesse of his Fathers wrath consider then what cause thou hast to be humbled for thy sins 1. Considering that these were they put Christ to death 2 that by these since that time thou hast crucified the Lord of life 1. Consider that thy sins were those that put Christ to death Rom. 4.25 He was delivered to death for our sinnes Me thinks every one when they heare of Christs Agony and bloudy Sweat of his Whippings Buffetings of his bitter Sufferings c. should be ready to cry out with Pilate Quid mali fecit What evill I pray hath he done Ah none Christian it was to raise thee thou wert dead lost undone he dyed to raise thee thou stolest the fruit he climbed the tree thou enjoyedst the sweetnesse of sinning and he for that was acquainted with the bitternesse of suffering He bore thy iniquity even thine and mine too if we be elected Certainly it was a great griefe of heart to David to remember that he had an hand in the bloud of Uriah that was surely the great transgression that hee complained of to be sure that heart-troubling sinne for which hee puts up that particular Petition Deliver mee from bloud-guiltinesse O God And questionlesse it was no small Trouble of Spirit to Paul afterwards to consider that he was one of them that were consenting to Stephens death Acts 7.59 60. Chap. 8. verse 1. he afterwards repeats it with shame I was a persecuter Christian here is one murdered by cruell hands not an Uriah not a Stephen but hee that is worth ten thousand of these not an Abell yet his bloud troubled Cain all his life time but one whose bloud cries for better things than the bloud of Abell did here 's the Lambe of God slaine slaine by thy hands he was bruised for thine iniquities and his soule was made an Offering for thy sinnes Is it nothing to thee O Christian when Pilate was but about to condemne him his wife came startled in and cries Have nothing to doe with that just man and when Stephen charged the Jewes Acts 7.52 for being the betrayers and murtherers of the Lord Jesus they apprehended it as a thing so hainous that they would not endure him beyond that word but were cut to the heart and gnashed upon him with their teeth verse 54. Christians there is none of you here but your sinnes were the betrayers and murtheres of the Lord Jesus that Christ that had such eternall sure and unchangeable thoughts of love to your soules Ah! how great were those sins which could not be remitted without the bloud of the immaculate Lamb of God Me thinks every one of you should sit downe and say Ah Lord that ever I should be such a wretch so farre to provoke the fire of thy wrath that nothing could quench it but the bloud of thy Sonne that I should throw my selfe so deep into Hell that nothing could raise mee but the bloud-shedding of the deare Sonne of Gods love You have had to doe with that just man Christians not to doe with condemning him but even with the vildest acts of Barbarisme were done unto him your hypocrisie was the kisse that betrayed him the sinnes of your hands and feet were the nailes that fastened his hands and feet to the Crosse the sinnes of your body were the Spears that pierced his sacred side the sinnes of your soules were they that made his soule heavy to the death that caused the with-drawings of his Fathers love from him and made him in the heavinesse of his panged soule to cry out My God my God why hast thou forsaken me O sit downe goe alone weep and weep bitterly for him whom you have pierced for those stripes by which you are healed 2. But secondly if any thing will move your soules to make your head a Fountaine of water and your eyes Rivers of teares Consider That this Christ you have crucified even since his death upon the Crosse for you When the Apostle St. Peter Acts â— had made a long Sermon of Christs love shewing the Auditors what Christ had done and what he was he summeth up all verse 36. God hath made that same Jesus whom yee have crucified both Lord and Christ Now saith the Text verse 37. When they heard this viz. that they had crucified this Christ they were pricked at the heart This Christ my beloved whom you have crucified by your youth sinnes and life sins this was he that was crucified for you O be pricked at the hearts at this saying Was it not enough that he once was pierced scoffed wounded crucified for you but must you againe crucifie him and which of you doe it not daily Causinus tels us a story of Clodoveyus one of the Kings of France that when he was converted from Paganisme to Christianity while Remigius the Bishop was reading in the Gospell concerning the Passion of our Saviour and the abuses he suffered from Judas and the rest of the Jewes he brake out into these words If I had been there with my Frenchmen I would have cut all their throats In the meane time not considering that by his daily sins he did as much as they had done Which of us is not condemning the crucifiers of Christ for their cruelty and in the meane time we condemne not our selves who by our daily sinnes make him to bleed againe afresh Ah let us judge our selves and sit downe and mourne we are they that have added to Christs bonds that have increased his wounds and the pangs of his grieved soule which is now glorified with our renewing lusts and corruptions I shall conclude this use with a prayer that God would fulfill to all our soules that gracious promise Zach. 12.10 That he would poure out the spirit of grace and of supplications upon us and make us to look upon him whom we have pierced and doe pierce daily and mourn as a man mournes for his only Son And be in bitternesse for him as one that is in bitternes for his first-borne I passe on to a second way of Application viz. by way of Instruction Hath Christ and Christ alone raised us 1. Let us hence be instructed Instruction How much the Lord Jesus Christ loved us And here let my soule be drowned in sweetnesse and in sinking cry out O the depth of unfadomable love What tongue what Saint what Angell can speake out this unspeakable love Pray