a Tree of life which bears no other fruit than that of knowledge and eternal happiness his agonies are our triumphs and his bloody sweat the most Soveraign Balsam to cure our wounds the Spear that pierc't our Saviours side open'd there a Fountain for sin and for uncleanness he liv'd and died with thieves and robbers and was numbred among transgressors only that we might live with Saints and sing forth his praises with Myriads of Angels thus did every part of this Tragedy relate wholly to our benefit and advancement and so much may suffice for the first thing propounded to be spoken to the Second is to shew that all this was done by the determinate counsel and fore-knowledge of God which truth beside the express words of the Text is as fully set forth Acts 4.27 28. Of a truth against the Holy Child Jesus whom thou hast anointed both Herod and Pontius Pilate with the Gentiles and people of Israel were gathered together to do whatsoever thy hand and thy Counsel determin'd before to be done for the clearing and evincing whereof we must know First that there was from all eternity a certain covenant and agreement between the Father and the Son concerning what and how he should suffer for Almighty God foreseeing the Apostacy and fall of mankind did from eternity at least for some of them decree a ransom and redemption to effect which because justice demanded satisfaction for the violation of that positive Law that was to be given to them the Son as a surety interpos'd and promis'd satisfaction whereupon it was determin'd and agreed between them what should be the manner and measure of his sufferings in order to the procuring pardon and redemption for them of this Covenant on God the Fathers part we read Isai 53.10 If he shall make his soul an Offering for sin he shall see his seed and prolong his dayes Of the Sons acceptation and undertaking hereof we read Psal 40.7 8. Then said I loe I come in the volume of thy Book it is written of me to do thy will O God and hence is our Saviour said to be the Lamb slain before the Foundations of the World Revel 13.8 viz. in Gods eternal decree and determination which makes it evident that every circumstance of Christs Passion was done by the counsel and fore-knowledge of God which will yet further appear if we consider Secondly That as these things were from eternity transacted and resolved upon between the Father and the Son so likewise were they by the Spirit of God reveal'd unto the Prophets and by them delivered unto the World long before the incarnation of Jesus Christ Hence St. Paul in the defence of this doctrine told Agrippa that he said none other things then those which Moses and the Prophets did say should come that Christ should suffer Act. 26.22 23. yea if we compare the Prophecies of the Old Testament with the History of the New we shall find that exact correspondence of the event with the predictions and the punctual accomplishment of every circumstance even in that way and manner as it was fore-told will make it clearly to appear that all this was done by the determinate Counsel and fore-knowledge of God which will be yet more plain if we consider Thirdly that these things were not only punctually fore-told by the Prophets but likewise prefigur'd in Types and in a previous manner acted over in the sacrifices long before our Saviours coming in the flesh the slaying of the Paschal Lamb in the Passeover clearly represents the slaughter of this Lamb of God who was to take away the sins of the world the lifting up of the brazen Serpent in the wilderness betoken'd and is accordingly by the Apostle apply'd to the lifting up of the Messias upon the Cross yea all the Sacrifices under the Law which were offer'd and purg'd with blood are but so many Types and Representations of the death of the Messias signifying to us that only through his blood we must look for the remission of sins and through the vail of his flesh alone hope for the admission into the Holy of Holies all which without having recourse to the infinity of his wisdom knownledge make it more particularly and unquestionably certain that our Saviours Passiâ—on as to all the Modes and Circumstances of it was done by the determinate counsel and fore-knowledge of God The practical inferences by way of Application our last particular now follow and First of all from the several steps of our Saviours Passion together with the infamy and severity of them all we may learn the hainous and pernicious nature of sin which could be no otherwise expiated then by the blood of the Son of God the sins of lost man cry'd so loud in the ears ' of Heaven that Jesus Christ must descend thence er'e he could stop the clamour and when he came down nothing could silence it but the sweeter voice of that blood that speaketh better things than that of Abel If any can be so dangerously mistaken as to think sin but a slight matter let him enter into the High Priests Palace the Judgment Hall and Mount Calvary and there see what it cost our Saviour to do it away let him take a walk in the Garden of Gethsemane and then give his sins a prospect of what they drew upon a bleeding and Crucified Christ there maist thou see what a dismall night of affliction thou hast made him to suffer by thy luxury and night-revellings there maist thou behold those sad wounds and bruises which thy sins have made upon his body and how he groans under that at which thou dost but sport thy self call upon thy deep draughts and riotous excess to see what a cup of wrath and trembling they have made him to drink off for their sake shew thy drunkenness the Gall and Worm-wood which he was forc't to swallow for its atonement call hither thy lewd embraces and sinfull dalliances shew them a naked Christ all over bath'd in tears and blood to wash off their impurities bid thy oaths and cursing look yonder and see the blood and wounds which they have so often plaid withal view those bitter pangs throws and Agonies which sin hath made him to labour under and then see whether it be so light and inconsiderable a matter as thou wouldst fain perswade thy self it is certainly if there be any pressure in that which crackt the very heart-strings of Nature and made the whole Creation groan if there be any weight in that which sank the Lord of Heaven and Earth into the Grave then is sin one of the heaviest and most intolerable burdens in the World Secondly this discourse of our Saviours Passion bids us to conform unto his death by dying unto sin and crucifying the the flesh with the affections and lusts this is the use which the Apostle makes of it Rom. 6.4 that as Christ dyed and rose again so should we dye unto sin and live unto
sting of this punishment made use of these four circumstances toward those on whom it was inflicted all which were improv'd to the very highest degree of cruelty in our Saviour's Crucifixion First those that were condemn'd to this punishment were made to bear their Cross upon their shoulders to the place of execution which was ever without the City So Plutarch tells us expresly Plutar. de his qui sero puniuatu◠〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. malefactors when they are led forth to execution each one bears his own cross and Artemidorus Artem. lib. 2. cap. 42. is as plain 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i.e. the Cross resembles death and he that was to be crucified did first bear it in complyance with which custom the barbarous Jews leading forth our Saviour forc't him to bear his own Cross as we read John 19.17 as if it were not enough to be thus shamefully executed unless he bare the unhappy instrument of his shame or because the Cross was shortly to bear him therefore he should be constrain'd to bear it It is indeed said that Simon the Cyrenian was compelled to bear his Cross Mat. 27.32 but that was onely when our Saviour through weariness had almost fainted under the burden else had his strength held out he had found none to have eas'd him of that reproachful weight Now this act of bearing his Cross was represented to us in the Old Testament by Isaack's bearing the wood for Sacrifice of which we read Gen. 22. in allusion and imitation hereof it was that our Saviour told his followers that if they would be his Disciples they must take up their Cross and follow him in the patient bearing of distress and infamy Secondly Those who were to undergoe this punishment were commanded to be stript of their clothes and to suffer naked for so Artemidorus assures us 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 they that were to be crucified were stript naked Sutable whereunto we read concerning our Saviour Mat. 27.28 that they stript him of his clothes he who was cloth'd with Light as with a garment and invested with the glorious robes of immortality was pleas'd for a while to lay these aside and put on the rags of humane flesh together with those outward coverings that were ordain'd to conceal our shame but of these too did unthankful mortalls unworthily strip him and as if he had aspir'd too high when he parted with his glory for these inconsiderable ornaments he was wholly depriv'd of them and expos'd naked to all their scoffs and revilings and having thus stript him They parted his Garments among them and upon his Vesture did they cast lots Mat. 27.35 Thirdly Those who among the Romans were condemn'd to this punishment were first of all to be whipt and scourged So St. Jerome informs us Sciendum est legibus Romanis sancitum esse â—t qui crucifigitur prius flagellis verberetur i. e. It was decreed by the Laws of the Romans that they who were to be crucified should be first scourg'd accordingly Valerius tells us of one qui servam suum verberibus multatum ad supplicium egisset and Artemidorus of another 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. who being ty'd to a Pillar receivâ—d many stripes this circumstance of Barbarity too was exercised towards our Saviour Mat. 27.26 When they had scourged Jesus they delivered him up to be crucified Having stript him naked they lash and scourge him on every side the bitterness whereof was encreas'd by that reproachful taunt us'd at every blow now prophesy who it is that strikes thee of this did the Evangelical Prophet Isaias plainly foretell in Isai 53.5 The Chastisement of our peace was upon him and by his stripes we are healed Fourthly Those who were wont to be fasten'd to the Cross had the cause of their punishment writen over them in Capital Letters that so the equity of it might the better appear to the World Hence Diâ— tells us of a servant hanging on the Cross 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 with letters declaring the cause of his death this piece of pretended justice too was not omitted towards our Saviour for having hail'd his body to the Cross all besmear'd in blood and gore which the nails and scourges drew from him they set over his head this accusation written THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS Mat. 27.37 Which that it might be the more generally known and understood by all St. Luke tells us it was written in three Languages viz. in Latine Greek and Hebrew Luke 23.38 Thus did the malicious Jews improve this Romane punishment to the height of cruelty upon our Saviour crucifying him between two thieves as if he had been the Arch-malefactor where after he had hung on the Cross from the sixth to the ninth hour upon the tenderwounds of his hands and feet he gave up the Ghost which was the last act of this dolefull Tragedy and leads us to the third step or degree of his Passion mention'd in the Text to wit his death or being slain Him ye have taken and with wicked hands have crucified and slain As we shewed before that the taking of any prisoner doth not necessarily suppose any farther censure much less crucifixion so neither doth crucifixion necessarily import death for they on whom it is inflicted being fasten'd to the Cross not by any vital part die so leasurely that being taken from thence may easily be suppos'd to live but neither did the malice of the Jews nor our Saviours sufferings end here but proceeded to the very extremity of this punishment and fulfill'd the utmost intention of Crucifixion hence St. Paul tells us Philip. 2.3 That he became obedient unto death even the death of the Cross which of all the Romane ways of excution was the most painful and the most ignominious First of all I say his death was exceeding painful and dolorous for he was nail'd to the Cross not by those parts that might have inferr'd sudden death and so quickly have dispatch't his pain but by his hands and feet which are of all other the most nervous and consequently the most sensible parts by which means they made him as Nero afterward did the Christians sentire se mori feel himself dying and endur'd the racking torments of a lingring death their cruel scourges in the mean while fetching blood and making long furrows upon his back the Souldiers pierc't his side with spears and his Soul with scoffs and mockings more sharp then they the multitude came about him hanging on the Cross not to pity but deride him and as if he had been the vilest miscreant upon earth they spit in his face and in the midst of all his pain and anguish pour'd on him not tears but scorn and contempt In his bitter Agonies they deny'd him a drop of water a courtesie never denied any but the damned in hell and instead thereof filled him a spunge of Vinegar and Gall on purpose to encrease the bitterness of his Passion In the Garden
of Gethsemane his Soul felt greater tortures than his body on the Cross there it was that he drunk that bitter Cup which set him in an Agony and caus'd him to sweat great drops of blood which made him pray three times most eathestly Father if it be possible let this Cup pass from me then did he appear forsaken of his friends and in his apprehension deserted of God too which made him in the anguish of his Soul to cry out My God My God why hast thou forsaken me and sure if we consider these things we must needs say that there was no death like unto his nor any sorrow like unto his sorrow But Secondly as his death was thus painful so was it no less shameful and ignominious too Our Saviour having humbled himself to the form of a servant was condemn'd to be crucified which Tacitus calls Servile supplicium a punishment inflicted onely on servants or slaves never on any freeman or cirizen but before he underwent this infamous and slavish death they kept him a while to sport themselves in his misery to that end they stript him of his clothes and in derision put on him a scarlet robe the true emblem of their crimson sins and having accus'd him as one aspiring to be King of the Jews they platted for him a Crown of Thorns setting it on his head because he should not want a Scepter they put a reed into his right hand after which they in mockery bow their head to him saying Hail King of the Jews and when they had spotted their fill with him they carried him away to be crucified where as he hung on the Cross they reproached him with all his former Miracles and Prophesies saying he saved others himself he cannot save if he be the Son of God let him now come down from the Cross and wagging their heads at him they said thou that destroyest the Temple and buildest it in three dayes save thy self Mat. 27. After all which he laid down his life and drank up this bitter Cup even to the very dregs And now one would think that these bloody instruments of his death should feel within them some sting of Conscience and conceive some remorse after so black and tragical an enterprize but these alas as if they were what was said of Tiberius 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. but so many clods of earth kneaded and cemented with blood remain as senceless unrelenting after all this as the Tree on which he hung or the Grave-stone that covered him they think of nothing but casting him into the earth and securing his Grave with a Band of Souldiers however since these remorsless Jews could conceive neither sorrow nor repentance the whole Creation seem'd concern'd to lament the fall of so great a Person the Sun drew in its Light as unwilling to behold so sad a spectacle the earth trembled and quak'd as impatient of bearing up those persons that occasion'd it the heavens were all overcast and cloath'd in black as the chief mourners at his Funeral the Vail of the Temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom the hard Rocks clave the Graves opened and all things but these unrelenting Jews were appall'd and confounded at the Passion of our Lord. And thus have we gone through the several acts or scenes of this direful Tragedy having seen him taken and by wicked hands crucified and slain which every one that hath heard will be ready to inquire into the cause for which he suffer'd all this For answer whereunto we must know First of all that sin is the sole meritorious cause of all sorrows and sufferings which appears not only because before sin entred into the world these things were altogether unknown and strangers to humane Nature but likewise because ever since its entrance they have ever gone hand in hand together to this purpose is that of St. Paul Rom. 5.12 As by one man sin entered into the World and death by sin even so death passed upon all men for that all have sinned But Secondly to prevent an Objection Heb. 7.26 that may be taken from the High Holy and harmless Nature of Christ separated from sinners and made higher than the Heavens who though he assum'd our Nature Heb. 4.15 Yet was sin and all kind of irregularities excepted I say to prevent this we must know that though the immaculate Son of God had no sins of his own to be laid to his charge and consequently was not liable to punishment or the displeasure of Heaven upon his own score yet when he graciously undertook to be our surety or Saviour the whole burden of our sins lay upon his shoulders and he became answerable to the justice of God for the transgressions of mankind and hence was that harsh saying of Luther who styl'd our Saviour peccatorum maximus the greatest of sinners viz. not by any actual guilt of his own but only by imputation Now since the wages of sin is death Rom. 6.23 And without shedding of blood there is no remission Heb. 9.22 Therefore our Saviour must and accordingly was content to die that he might become our sufficient ransom and atonement And if one sin were enough to turn Adam out of Paradise and to set up a flaming sword to prevent his return if one sin whatever it were were sufficient to throw the laps'd Angels out of Heaven and to reserve them in Chains of darkness to the judgment of the great day as we read in the Epistle of St. Jude what an unsupportable weight think we must be the concurrent guilt of all mankind's transgressions a pressure sure that must sink the stoutest Atlas and disorder the whole frame of Nature So that we may cease our wonder at the severity of Christ's sufferings when we reflect on that complicated guilt which was the cause of them 'T were our debts for which Jesus Christ was arrested and imprisoned by the Souldiers and which by his consequent sufferings he paid to the utmost farthing our sin was the Spear that pierc't his side and the nails that fasten'd him to the Cross which leads us to the Last thing to be spoken to concerning our Saviours Passion namely the end or design of his undergoing all this which was the expiation of sin and the restoring us again to the lost love and favour of God he wore a Crown of Thorns only that we might wear a Crown of Gold and those drops of blood which his enemies drew from him are turn'd into so many pearls to bestud and adorn ours that scarlet Robe which the Jews put on him dy'd as it were in his own blood serves to hide our shame and to cover for us a multitude of sins that bitter Cup which he drunk off to the very dregs is our Nectar and a glorious Potion of immortality the Vinegar and Gall which made him to faint is become our most reviving Cordial his Cross the cursed instrument of his death is to us
God and verse second how shall we that are dead in sin live any longer therein was Christ bruised and wounded for our iniquities and shall we act over the same Tragedy upon him again by our repeated transgressions had he not sorrow and sufferings enough of old but by renewed offences will we tear open his wounds afresh and Crucifie him again shall we think it much to shed a few penitential tears for that which made him sweat great drops of blood when Satan or thy own corrupt heart tempt thee to the commission of any sin imagine thou sawest thy Crucified Saviour coming towards thee shewing thee his Cross and beseeching thee by all his wounds that thou wouldest not pierce his side again or drive any more nails into him yea fancy all his wounds to be so many mouths gaping for pity and begging thee not to renew their smart by any fresh acts of cruelty would not this disswade any that had but the bowels of a man from such unreasonable attempts imagine that he shewed thee his cheeks swoln with buffetings his face defil'd with spitting on his head gor'd with Thorns and his back torn with scourges and would not this be a spectacle sad enough to move compassion Sure unless we are become transform'd into wild Beasts we can never delight in the blood of our dearest friend yea we must be more savage than they if we prey upon our Keeper and wound that hand that doth but reach us our itâ— assistance let us not then any longer hug that Viper in our bosom which not only stung our Saviour to death but likewise gnaws upon our own Conscience and leaves theâ— Worm to torture us that never dies let us bury our sins in our Saviouts grave or like the Egyptians of old let them be all drowned in the Red Sea of his blood Thirdly in this story of our Saviours Passion we may read the transcendent and unexpressible love of Christ unto mankind in undergoing all this misery and torment for their sakes the greatest expression of love that ever was or could be manifested towards the Sons of men was the sending of a Saviour into the World for when all mankind lay in a forlorn undone condition unable either to bear or remove the great burden of those miseries which sin had brought upon them then to feel the gentle hand of a Redeemer taking off the weight and administring to them ease and deliverance to find their chains exchang'd for a Crown and their mourning turn'd into Jubilees and songs of Triumph this is a mercy to be exprest only with wonder and eternity it self is too little sufficiently to celebrate and admire it especially considering that the lapsed Angels those nobler and far more glorious Creatures were totally past by and neglected whilst the worthless sons of Adam became the select objects of divine love and compassion this is so high and eminent a testimony of Gods love that Saint John is at a loss how to describe it Chap. 3. verse 16. God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son c. and St. Paul like one astonisht at the consideration of it cryes out O the depth and height the length and breadth of this love of God that passeth knowledge Eph. 3.18 Should any generous Monarch take some forlorn wretch from the dunghill in all his running sores and Ulcers and not only receive him into his Palace but adopt him for his son and pronounce him his heir this though it were a kindness truly great and noble is yet but a faint resemblance of the great love of God towards us Yea farther should any compassionate Prince expose his own Darling Child to the most barbarous and bloody death only to save the life of 〈◊〉 Traytor who had oftentimes forfeited it by many acts of Treaâ—on and Rebellion this though it come somewhat nearer doth yet come infinitely short of this unimitable instance of Gods love and goodness if we would work our hearts to some sence of it let us First meditate a while on the surpassing greatness and eminence of the person who suffer'd all this for us it being no other than the eternal and only begotten Son of God yea onâ— that was God blessed for evermore and might have been for over glorious though the whole World still continued miserable Secondly let us consider a little what kind of death it waâ— that he underwent a death heighten'd with all the ingredienâ—â— of pain and anguish that the most ingenious and intaged malicâ— could invent or execute a death wherein the wrath of God and the spite of men and the rage of all the power of darkness most fatally conspir'd Thirdly let us consider likewise the great worthlesness oâ— the persons for whom all this was done persons that were nâ—â— only strangers but the greatest Enemies and Rebels to hiâ—… persons that never did any thing but what did 〈◊〉 highly disoblige and provoke him The serious consideratio 〈…〉 these things may help us to some small glimpses of this unpâ—â—… lel'd mercy though the just dimensions of it can by no mâ—â—â—â— be comprehended and is therefore left to be the Object of 〈◊〉 eternal praises and admiration Fourthly from our Saviours Passion we may learn patien 〈…〉 bear all the afflictions and crosses that may befall us in this 〈…〉 we may not expect better usage in the World than our 〈…〉 met with the Disciple is not above his Lord as he hath 〈…〉 before us in this hard and rugged way so hath he left 〈…〉 him a fair copy of humility and patience for us to write 〈…〉 the 〈◊〉 that can happen to us of these calamities are nothing 〈…〉 with his Agonies and bitter pâ—ssion and shall â— actions that bear no proportion at all 〈…〉 the heavy burden of his sufferings at that 〈…〉 ing excessive weight of glory which he 〈…〉