exposeth us to Divine wrathhence is it said That by nature we are children of wrath Eph. 2.3 And the sentence of the Law is Indignation and wrath tribulation and anguish upon every soul of man that doth evil Rom. 2.8 9. Wrath is due to us as we are sinners now Christ by the work of his Satisfaction turns away this wrath from us He it is that trod the wine-press of divine wrath Isa 63.3 And Christ bearing the wrath of God for us delivers us from that wrath Hence it is said We are saved from wrath through him Rom. 5.9 And that We are delivered from wrath to come by him 1 Thess 1. ult Jesus that delivereth us from the wrath to come 2. The second effect of Christs Satisfaction is the procuring of pardon of sin for us Thus in those known words of the Institution of the Lords Supper our Saviour tells us This is the new Testament in my blood that was shed for the remission of sins The blood of Christ was shed on purpose to procure the pardon of sin and it doth procure pardon of sin for us Eph. 1.7 In whom we have redemption through his blood the forgiveness of sins One great fruit of Christs Satisfaction and our Redemption by Christ is that by means of that Satisfaction and Redemption of his we should have forgiveness of sins therefore in the Text mentioned before it is said Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins Rom. 3.25 The meaning I take to be this That God having received satisfaction through the death and sufferings of Christ thereupon he gives forth pardon and remission of sins to us 3. The third effect of Christs Satisfaction is eternal life Christ by his Satisfaction procures eternal life for us hence is it that we read of the promise of an eternal inheritance through the death of Christ Heb. 9.15 Christs sufferings are not only satisfactory but they are also meritorious Christs sufferings did not only turn away the evil of punishment from us but they procured the good of eternal life for us Hence it is said That grace reigns through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord Rom. 5. ult The obedience of Christ active and passive is operative to bring us to eternal life 1. Vse 1 See what infinite reason there is that we should seek after a part and interest in Christs Satisfaction For 1. Without an interest in Christs Satisfaction we are liable to answer to Divine Justice in our own persons Divine Justice will be satisfied one way or other for God himself hath pronounced it That he will by no means clear the guilty Exod. 34.7 God is just and the justifier of them that believe in Jesus Rom. 3.26 Therefore if we do not get an interest in Christ that he may fatisfie for us we are liable to be cast into prison by the hand of Divine Justice and we shall not come forth thence till we have paid the uttermost farthing 2. Without an interest in Christs Satisfaction Divine wrath still hangs over us It is Christ only that by his Satisfaction pacifies and turns away Gods wrath therefore unless we have a part in Christs Satisfaction infinite and unsupportable wrath hangs over our heads every moment and will assuredly fall upon us and we know not how soon it may do so He that believes not on the Son hath not life but the wrath of God abides upon him Joh. 3. ult 3. Without an interest in Christs Satisfaction we cannot have the pardon of sin for it is by the Satisfaction of Christ as we have heard that pardon of sin is procured We are liable to answer to Gods Justice for all our sins and all our sins will certainly come in against us to condemn us unless we have a part in Christs Satisfaction 4. Without an interest in Christs Satisfaction we can make out no title to eternal life Heaven is called the purchased inheritance Vntil the redemption of the purchased possession Eph. 1.14 Heaven is the purchase of the death and sufferings of Christ therefore unless we have an interest in the virtue of Christs sufferings we can have no title to the heavenly inheritance Here it may be said But what shall we do that we may have a part in Christs Satisfaction 1. Let us labour to see our infinite need of Christ and his Satisfaction we never see the worth of Christs Satisfaction till first we see our selves to be condemned persons O let us be more deeply sensible what the Law and Divine Justice have against us As we are sinners we are condemned persons in Law The wages of sin is death The soul that sins shall dye This is the sentence of the Law O let us labour to be deeply sensible of this and then we shall see the need of Christs Satisfaction 2. If we would have an interest in Christs Satisfaction let us labour to know Christ and him crucified Paul saith That he determined to know nothing but Jesus Christ and him crucified 1 Cor. 2.2 You will say Why is the knowledge of a crucified Christ so necessary to Salvation The reason is because the death and sufferings of Christ is the only means of atonement and to bring us unto reconciliation with God Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood Rom. 3.25 Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation There is no pacifying of an angry God but by the Blood of Jesus Christ and it is Faith in his Blood that gives us an interest in the atonement Him hath God set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood We must therefore close with a crucified Christ by faith cast an aspect of faith upon the Son of God in our nature offering himself up to God as a Sacrifice for our sins It is faith in this Sacrifice of Christ that must procure reconciliation for us Joh. 3.14 15. As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness even so must the Son of man be lifted up that whosoever believeth on him should not perish but have eternal life Christ is lifted up as the brazen Serpent was lifted up It was their looking on the brazen Serpent that brought healing to them that were stung by the fiery Serpents and it is our looking upon a crucified Christ by an eye of faith casting an aspect of faith upon Christ as crucified and the virtue of his sufferings that must bring Salvation to us who are sinners and who deserve to perish as we are such The end of the third Sermon SERMON IV. Joh. 15.13 Greater love hath no man than this that a man lay down his life for his friends I Now proceed to the second thing which is to lay down several distinct and particular Propositions for the clearing of this great Doctrine the Doctrine of Christs Satisfaction And here the Propositions that I shall lay down
death of Christ is a certain Sacrament or pledge which certifies us that our death is nothing at all For if death hath executed all its power and strength upon Christ if death hath poured out all its venom and malignity upon Christ then there is nothing that remains in death to hurt us Death had nothing at all to do with Christ but only as he put himself under the power of death for our sakes Now the Son of God who was above death freely subjecting himself to death for our sakes and death having done all that it could against Christ it hath nothing more to do against a poor Believer It is true Believers dye still but yet their death is not part of the Curse the death of the Saints is only a passage unto life and it is that which prepares the way for a more blessed Resurrection Whatever was truly formidable or terrible in death is taken away by the death of Christ That which was most formidable in death was this that it was a part of the Curse that it was the effect of Divine wrath Now Christ having suffered the whole of Gods wrath for us death is not inflicted upon Believers as the effect of Gods wrath nay it is so far from being sent to a Believer in wrath that it is sent in mercy to him and death is an introduction unto a Believers happiness All things are yours things present things to come life is yours and death is yours 1 Cor. 3.21 22. Blessed are the dead that dye in the Lord Rev. 14. Death is an introduction to the Saints unto their perfect and compleat happiness the Saints happiness is inchoate and begun in this life when they are first brought into the Kingdom of Grace and their happiness is compleat and consummate in the next life when they are by death ushered into the Kingdom of Glory Consid 11 The love of Christ in his sufferings appears in this That he came into our nature and became man on purpose that he might suffer for us One of the principal ends of the Incarnation of the Son of God was that he might suffer and dye for men This is intimated by the Apostle Heb. 2.14 For as much as the children are made partakers of flesh and blood he also himself took part of the same that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death that is the devil It is as much as if he had said Had he not partaken of our nature he could not have suffered for us as he was the Son of God and possessed of the Divine nature so he was not capable of suffering but therefore did he take on him our nature and became the Son of man that he might be in a capacity to suffer for men O what overcoming love was this that the Son of God did therefore take upon him our nature that he might be in a capacity to suffer for men had he always abode in the form of God only it had not been possible for him to suffer but therefore would he take upon him part of our passible and mortal flesh that so he might be in a capacity to suffer and dye for us Consid 12 The love of Christ in his suffering may be seen in this Because so great benefits accrue and come to us by the sufferings of Christ Christ by the merit of his sufferings hath purchased and procured the greatest blessings for us To instance in a few briefly 1. Christ by his sufferings hath purchased for us the forgiveness of sins Eph. 1.14 In whom we have redemption through his blood even the forgiveness of sins 2. Christ by his sufferings hath purchased for us peace and reconciliation with God Eph. 2.16 That he might reconcile us to God by the cross Col. 1.21 You that were sometimes alienated and enemies in your minds by wicked works yet now hath he reconciled in the body of his flesh through death 3. Eternal life it self is the purchase of Christs sufferings Rom. 6. ult The wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord that is through the merit of Jesus Christ our Lord so that eternal life is the merit of Christs death We have another clear Text to confirm this Heb. 9.15 For this cause he is the Mediator of the new Testament that by means of death for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first Testament they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance The eternal inheritance the inheritance which all the Elect are brought unto in Heaven is purchased by the death of Christ for so the Apostle expresseth it That by means of death those that are called might have the promise of eternal inheritance Hence is it that Heaven is called a purchased possession Eph. 1.14 Vntil the redemption of the purchased possession the Glory of Heaven is called a purchased possession Now in every purchase there must be a price there can be no purchase without a price the price therefore that was laid down for us that we might obtain eternal life was the price of Christs blood the death of Christ as appears from the former Scriptures 4. The Spirit of God and all that grace whereby we are inabled to believe and obey and in general whatever blessings are comprehended in the Covenant of Grace these are all the purchase of the death of Christ This is apparent from those words of our Saviour in the institution of the Supper This cup is the new Testament in my blood as much as if he should say All the mercies all the blessings of the new Covenant are the purchase of my blood and the Covenant it self is ratified and confirmed by my blood Now in the Covenant of Grace there are many great things promised in it the Lord promiseth to forgive the sins of his people he promiseth that he will put his Law in their minds and write it in their hearts he promiseth that he will give his Spirit to them and the like all these blessings are purchased and procured by the death of Christ great therefore must the love of Christ be in giving himself to suffer and dye for his people since by the death of Christ such great and admirable priviledges are purchased for them The Covenant of Grace is the greatest Charter of all our spiritual Priviledges whatever Priviledges belong to a Believer they are contained within the compass of the Covenant Now the Covenant it self is founded in the blood of the Mediator of the Covenant How precious then is that blood that purchased such great things for us And how great was the love of Christ that shed his blood to obtain such things for us Vse If the love of Christ be so great in his sufferings let us be exhorted from hence to meditate much on the sufferings of Christ O it were well for us if we could take many a turn at the Cross of Christ and
these to the terrours of natural death and to the terrours of supernatural death O let us not think it an indifferent thing whether we get a part in Christ yea or no certainly God did not put his innocent Son to suffer all these things we have heard of in vain and certainly if the Gospel be true Christ hath suffered all these things and if Christ hath suffered all these things then all of us did stand in need of them and if we need them it concerns us deeply to make sure our part and interest in them The end of the sixth Sermon SERMON VII Joh. 15.13 Greater love hath no man than this that a man lay down his life for his friends I Come now to speak particularly of that which was formerly mentioned in the general and here we shall shew 1. How it was that our Saviour suffered fear and what the fear was that he underwent 2. I shall shew how it was that he suffered grief because these are the two things which the Evangelist insists upon in the Text formerly mentioned Mark 14.33 1. Our Saviour was afflicted with sore fear yea he was even overwhelmed and oppressed by fear yet without sin hence is that expression of the Apostle Heb. 5.7 He was heard in that he feared But here it may be said Object What was that fear that our Saviour was struck with when he is said to be amazed with fear or astonished with fear I answer Answ It was the fear or horror of Divine wrath due to us for our sins Certainly it was not a corporal death that our Saviour feared so much many of the Martyrs by the Grace they had received were much carried above the fear of a corporal death much more may we suppose that the perfect and consummate Grace that was in the heart of our Saviour would have carried him above the fear of a natural death but it was the fear of Divine wrath that he was struck with therefore is it that he crys out Father if it be possible let this cup pass from me What was this cup Certainly the cup of Divine wrath as I may shew you more hereafter this then was that which our Saviour feared the wrath of God Fear says a Learned man was cast into the humane nature of our Saviour which being a creature fear might possess it lest it should be swallowed up of an angry God who did exact as much as rigid justice ought or could require from so great a person who was the Surety or Vndertaker Our Saviour knew right-well that he was to bear not the guilt of one or two or a few sins not the guilt of some lesser sins only but the guilt of the greatest sins he knew that he was to bear the guilt not of the sins of some of the Elect only but the guilt of all the sins of all the Elect what a torrent then or sea rather of wrath must our Saviour needs see coming on his most holy Soul when the wrath of God which was due for the sins of all the Elect was like to come upon him at once Well therefore might he be afraid If it be possible for Satan to aggravate and blow up the guilt of a little sin as we would account it in the eye of a mans conscience so as it shall seem the greatest sin in all the world as certainly he can and those that have to do with troubled consciences know how often he doth it and such a sin is ready to make a soul to despair unless Divine Grace do step in and help it into what a consternation then may we well suppose the humane soul of our Saviour to be cast when the sins of all the Elect the most great horrid and hainous sins as well as the least were bound upon him by the omnipotent hand of God his Father and he knew he was to answer for them all well might our Saviour fear in this case Neither is it to be wondred at that our Saviour should be thus struck with fear and astonishment if we consider that Christ did not only take our nature but he took the infirmities of our nature namely such as were inculpable and without sin and he also assumed our natural affections as grief sorrow and the like It is natural to the creature to fear and tremble at the sight and presence of an angry God thus we read how the rocks clave in sunder and the mountains have trembled when God hath shewn forth the terribleness of his Majesty and it is natural to men when any terrible object presents it self and some evil approaches although it be not as yet inflicted especially when some such evil approches as is greater than a mans strength to fear and be astonished therefore our Saviour having the verity and truth of our nature in him and having the verity and truth of humane passions in him yet without sin having the most terrible object that ever was set before him and that which would have been too great for him to bear had he been but meer man and that is the wrath of the great God due to the sins of all the Elect well might he be astonished and fear 2. Our Saviour was oppressed with grief and sorrow as well as fear Fear is such a passion as ariseth from some imminent or impending evil grief is a passion that ariseth from some present or inflicted evil Fear is the expectation of some suture evil grief is that which ariseth from the sense of some present evil Now our Saviour had not only fear but grief he felt that in his most holy Soul which was cause of greatest grief and sorrow to him This is set forth by the Evangelist Matthew Mat. 26.37 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 He began to be sorrowful and very heavy He began to be grieved and very heavy The Greek word is a full and a significant word The Criticks in the Greek Tongue render it by other words which signifie to be in an agony to be very much grieved Our Saviour was in an agony of sorrow oppressed and overwhelmed with sorrow and therefore it follows in the next words He began to be grieved and very heavy and he said to them that is to his Disciples My soul is exceeding sorrowful So great was our Saviours sorrow that he could not contain himself he must needs vent his sorrow by telling it to his Disciples I say our Saviour seeks a vent for his sorrow by acquainting his Disciples how great his sorrow was he saith to them My soul is exceeding sorrowful There are many holy Souls that will bear great sorrows and undergo many burdens and temptations and yet declare them unto none Certainly had our Saviours sorrows been but common and ordinary he would not have complained of them to his Disciples but so great was his sorrow that he is fain to seek for a little ease by venting himself to his Disciples And what is it that he
obedience had not been perfect and compleat it had not been such an obedience as the Law requires and accepts for the Law accepts of nothing but perfect obedience and that consummate to the end of a mans life Cursed is he that continueth not in all things that are written in the book of the Law to do them There must not be the doing of some things only which the Law requires but there must be the doing of all things and that to the end of a mans life if a man gives that obedience which the Law will accept and therefore we must suppose that there was not the least interruption in any one act of obedience in our Saviour no he was obedient unto the death as the Apostle expresses it Phil. 2.8 He was obedient unto the death even the death of the cross his obedience ran throughout his whole life and it extended it self to the very end and last period of his life He was obedient unto the death 3. It was not desertion in point of support Christ was not so deserted in his sufferings as not to be supported under them Hence is that of one of the Ancients Derilictus fuit non per miseriam â—ed per misericordiam nec amissione auxilii sed definitione moriendi Leo. Christ was forsaken not in respect of misery as to himself but out of mercy towards us Christ was forsaken not by the loss of Divine help but in his being left to dye unto which he was determined by the forcknowledge of God Christ had supportation in his sufferings otherwise he had sunk under them It is true our Saviour was not so sensible of that support which he had many of the Saints are supported under great tryals sore afflictions and temptations that they meet with and yet they are not always so sensible of that support that is given to them So was it with our Saviour he had support and yet he was not so sensible of his support and therefore is it that he complains Psal 22.1 My God my God why hast thou forsaken me and mark what follows Why art thou so far from helping me He was holpen of God but yet he had little sense of help the sense of support was much taken from him Why art thou so far from helping me and from the words of my roaring I cry in the day time and thou hearest not Though our Saviour had indeed support yet he complains as one that had no sense and feeling of it there may be support under great tryals and afflictions and yet there may be little feeling of that support and therefore is it that some of the Saints have complained of being overwhelmed Consider the title of Psal 102. A prayer of the afflicted when he is overwhelmed the Saints may be overwhelmed Then is a person said to be overwhelmed when he is under great sorrows and sufferings and hath little or no sense of comfort and support given in to him Thus hath it been with the Saints and thus was it with the Head of the Saints the Lord Jesus he had support but yet he had little sense of support the support he had for it was the Divinity that strengthened and corroborated him to bear all his sufferings therefore is it said That by the eternal Spirit he offered himself without spot to God Heb. 9.14 It was by the power of the Deity that he was corroborated to suffer what he did suffer and yet he complains of the want of the sense of support in the place formerly mentioned Thus we have seen what this dereliction was not It was not a dissolution of the Vnion of the two Natures not a desertion in point of grace not desertion in point of support What then was it I answer It was desertion in point of comfort dereliction in point of manifestation To understand this we must know That in the death of Christs body when his body dyed the soul was separated from the body but how not personally Non 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but in respect of place only the humane soul of Christ and his body were separated one from the other but yet neither the soul nor the body were separated from his person Divines have an apt similitude to illustrate this A man that hath his sword in his scabbard holds it in his hand for a time then draws his sword out of his scabbard the sword and the sheath are separated one from the other but neither is separated from the man the man holds both in his hands In like manner in the death of Christ Christs humane soul was separated from his body but neither was separated from the Divinity the Divinity held both so that in the death of Christs body the soul was separated from the body not personally but in respect of place So in this of his dereliction which was as it were the supernatural death of his soul the Deity was separated from Christs soul but how not personally the personal Vnion remained still how then was it separated only in respect of operation there was not that operation of the Divinity in the humane soul of our Saviour in a way of comfort in a way of manifestation as before the separation was in point of comfort and manifestation Quaedam ibi derelictio suit ubi nulla suit in tanta necessitate virtutis exhibitio nulla majestatis ostensio Bern. not otherwise This is elegantly expressed by one of the Ancients after this manner Christ saith he was after a sort forsaken when there was no visible tendring of help to him in so great necessity when there was no beaming forth of the Majesty of God upon him but the face of God and his favour was turned away from him because of the wrath of God that was due to us because of our sins This then was that dereliction that our Saviour underwent the beams of the Divinity contained themselves as it were from shining forth upon the humane soul of our Saviour the Divinity that was wont to shine upon his humane soul before withdrew its rays The Ancients and some other modern Learned men have many elegant expressions to set forth this dereliction of our Saviour Some of the Ancients call the sufferings of Christ the Sleep as it were of the Divinity had the Divinity or Godhead exerted it self in Christ as it might have done it could easily have prevented all suffering and death therefore the Divinity suspending its operations is said by the Ancients to sleep and rest as it were that so the humane nature might be capable of suffering Passio Christi fuit dulcis Divinitatis somnus Aug. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Compressissa se Deitatem Subduxit se ad tempus Divinitas Sequestratâ delectatione Divinitatis aeternae Hence is that expression of Austin The Passion of our Saviour was as it were a sweet sleep of the Divinity Other of the Ancients have this expression That the Divinity did rest that is
had any influence as to the satisfying of Gods Justice Now the whole Doctrine of Christs Satisfaction that hath been opened doth oppugn this assertion of theirs for it hath been proved at large that Christ hath suffered the substance of what we ought to have suffered and that what Christ did suffer was with this intention 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Vnus exolvit quod ab omnibus debebatur Ambros to make satisfaction for us Mat. 20.28 The Son of man came not to be ministred unto but to minister and to give his life a ransom for many It is a speech of one of the Ancients One hath paid that which was due from all If the death of Christ were only a kind of Martyrdom and to confirm the truth which he had taught and were only for an example and for no other ends but these then the death of Christ would be very little different from the deaths of other of the Saints for other of the Saints have laid down their lives to confirm the truths they have professed and the sufferings of other of the Saints are given to us for an example We have an express Scripture for this Jam. 5.10 Take my brethren the Prophets who have spoken in the name of the Lord for an example of suffering affliction and of patience Here we see the Prophets sufferings are given for an example to us but certainly the sufferings of Christ are far of another nature than the sufferings of the Prophets or of any of the Saints whatsoever It is an excellent speech of one of the Ancients Although saith he the death of many of the Saints hath been precious in the sight of God yet notwithstanding the death of no innocent person besides Christ himself was the propitiation for the world It is the expression which the Apostle John useth 1 Joh. 2.2 where he tells us That Christ is the propitiation for the sins of the whole world Though the deaths of the Martyrs were precious yet none of their deaths was the propitiation for the sins of the world and then our Author goes on Acceperunt justi non dederunt coronas exempla nata sunt patientiae non dona justitiae Those just persons who have been martyred for the truth have received not given Crowns and from the courage and fortitude of the Martyrs in their sufferings we have examples of patience afforded to us not any gifts of merit Theirs were but single deaths that were undergone by them neither doth one pay anothers debt there was only one Lord Jesus Christ found among the sons of men in whom all were crucified all have dyed all have risen again They who deny and take away the Doctrine of Christs Satisfaction endeavour to take from us a principal part of the Gospel and to remove from us the principal pillar of all our comfort and support for one of the great Truths which the Gospel reveals is the Righteousness of Christ for the justification of a sinner So the Apostle tells us Rom. 1.16 17. I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ for therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith The Apostle here gives us an account of the Gospel what it is that the Gospel reveals it reveals to us the Righteousness of God the great and fundamental Truth revealed in the Gospel is that righteousness whereby men may be justified in the sight of God What this righteousness is the Apostle doth more fully make known to us in another place of this Epistle Rom. 3.25 26. Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past through the forbearance of God to declare I say at this time his righteousness So that the righteousness which the Gospel reveals is That God is willing to pardon sinners and to accept them as righteous upon the account of the death and sufferings of his Son and upon the account of the satisfaction which he hath made So that they who go about to subvert the Satisfaction and Righteousness of Christ do in effect undermine the whole Gospel and do as much as lyes in them disannul it For if the scope of the Gospel be to reveal the Righteousness of Christ which is the result of his death and sufferings the result of his obedience active and passive then they that would take away this would take away a main part of the Gospel from us So likewise as the denying of Christs Satisfaction is the overthrow of a principal part of the Gospel so it is that which takes away the main pillar of our comfort For if Christ hath not satisfied for us we are still liable to satisfie the Justice of God in our own persons for God is a just and righteous God He hath said That he will by no means clear the guilty and the sentence of the Law remains firm upon us That the soul that sins shall dye and Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things that are written in the book of the Law to do them Therefore unless Christ hath made satisfaction for us all these things must of necessity stand firm against us unless there be a ransom found for us we are still liable to answer to Divine Justice It is a great Scripture to confirm this Job 33.23 24. If there be a messenger with him an interpreter one of a thousand to shew unto man his uprightness then is he gracious to him and saith Deliver him I have found a ransom for him To shew unto man his uprightness The uprightness here spoken of is conceived by Learned men not the uprightness of man himself but the uprightness of God To shew unto man his uprightness that is the uprightness of God What is this uprightness of God It is Gods uprightness in dealing with man according to the tenour of Gospel-grace Compare this with Rom. 3.22 Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption which is in Jesus Christ Here we have a description of the tenour of Gospel grace the grace of the Gospel consists in this That we are justified freely by Gods grace through the redemption which is in Jesus Christ Now this is the uprightness of God Gods dealing with men according to the tenour of his grace promulgated in the Gospel God having discovered this to be his mind that he will pardon mens sins upon the account of the death and sufferings of his Son when this uprightness of God is thus discovered to men and they by faith lay hold of the grace of God thus promulgated and made known to them then God hath found a ransom Now when God hath found a ransom for men then he saith Deliver them then is he gracious and saith Deliver him from going down into the pit for I have found a ransom for him Had there not been a ransom found for us there had been no deliverance from the pit of destruction here
That Christ hath given himself for us that he might redeem us from all iniquity and purifie unto himself a peculiar people zealous of good works Tit. 2.14 Observe that expression That he might purifie unto himself Christ did not give himself that he might purifie to the Father only a peculiar people but also that he might purifie to himself a peculiar people So Eph. 5.25 Christ gave himself for his Church that he might sanctifie and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word that he might present it to himself a glorious Church Here it is said That he might present it to himself a glorious Church As Christ by his death and sufferings reconciled us to God the Father so he reconciled us to himself also It is true the Scripture when it speaks of the work of reconciliation doth in a peculiar manner attribute it to the Father as the Person to whom we are reconciled and it speaks of our reconciliation to God by Christ 2 Cor. 5.18 All things are of Godâ— who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ Col. 1.20 By him to reconcile all things to himself By him that is by Christ To reconcile all things to himself that is to the Father by Christ then we are reconciled to the Father But we must understand this aright When it is said We are reconciled to the Father by Christ we must not suppose that the other Persons are excluded We are not only reconciled to the Father but we are reconciled to the whole Trinity and Christ considered as Mediator as God-man reconciles us to himself considered as God simply And here lies the Mystery of Divine wisdom and goodness that God is in Christ reconciling the world to himself God is the person offended and yet in and by his Son it is he that offers reconciliation to the world 3. The greatness of Christs love in laying down his life for us appears in this That there was no merit in us to move Christ to lay down his life for us It is well observed by Austin It was our sins not our merits that drew Christ from Heaven to earth As we could not merit Christs Incarnation so neither could we merit his death and sufferings for us For what is it that we can suppose that should merit Christs death and sufferings for us Was it our fore-seen faith or our fore-seen obedience This is all that can be supposed Now these were the effects of Christs death and sufferings therefore they could not be the cause of them It is observed by Alvarez That Christs fore-seen Merits were the cause of all that grace that was bestowed upon man in the state of lapsed nature Joh. 1.17 Grace and truth came by Jesus Christ All the grace that we receive in lapsed nature is by Jesus Christ Eph. 1.4 God hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in Christ Christs Merits are the foundation of our faith and obedience Whatever faith and obedience is found in us is wrought by the Spirit of Christ in us Now the Spirit it self that works all grace in us is the purchase and fruit of the death of Christ Tit. 3.4 After that the kindness and love of God our Saviour towards man appeared not by works of righteousness which we have done but according to his mercy he saved us by the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour The Holy Ghost is shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour that is through the Merit of Jesus Christ our Saviour Now it is by this Spirit that faith it self and all other effects of grace are wrought in us therefore it is said By grace are ye saved through faith and that not of your selves it is the gift of God Eph. 2.8 4. We were so far from having any merit to oblige Christ to suffer and dye for us that we were full of demerit full of evil merits We were sinners enemies rebels against God and herein God commended his love to us that while we were yet sinners Christ dyed for us Rom. 5.8 The greatest love amongst men is when one friend will dye for another Greater love hath no man than this that a man lay down his life for his friend But where was it known that ever any man laid down his life for his enemy Yet Christ hath commended his love to us in that while we were enemies he dyed for us Col. 1.21 You that were sometimes alienated and enemies in your minds by wicked works yet now hath he reconciled in the body of his flesh through death It is commonly said That sin is a kind of God-murther Peccatum est Deicidium the sinner would dethrone God and take away the life and Being of God if it lay in his power Now herein the admirable and transcendent love of God to man appeared That when man by sin would dethrone God and take away the life and Being of God if it were in his power that God would lay down his life for them that would take away his life and Being God redeemed the Church with his own blood and Hereby perceive we the love of God that he laid down his life for us Learn to study much the greatness of Christs love in his sufferings Vse 1 and in the work of his Satisfaction Let us often have recourse to the Cross of Christ and by the eye of faith behold the Son of God in our nature giving himself a Sacrifice for our sins The more we study the love of Christ in his sufferings and in the work of his Satisfaction we shall find two notable effects of it 1. Hereby we shall be strengthened and confirmed in our belief of Christs love to us 2. This will be a means to beget greater measures of love in our hearts to Christ 1. The more we contemplate the love of Christ to us in his sufferings and satisfaction the more shall we be strengthened and confirmed in our belief of Christs love to us 1 Joh. 4.16 We have known and believed the love that God hath towards us for God is love How come we to know and believe the love that God hath towards us Compare this with the former verses and they will shew us vers 8 9 10. God is love In this was manifested the love of God to us that he sent his only begotten Son that we might live through him Herein was love not that we loved God but that God loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins When by faith we can apprehend and believe that God hath sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins this will confirm us in the certain belief and perswasion of the love of God to us Who hath reason to doubt of Gods love when he is certainly perswaded and doth firmly believe that God hath sent his Son from Heaven to earth to take our nature and being in our
for you That very body of Christ in which he suffered dyed rose again is offered to us in the Sacrament to be looked upon by faith The Sacrament is as the Ancients call it Verbum visibile a visible Word The Sacrament declares by visible signs and representations that which the Word doth in another way Now as it is a great sin to contemn Christ when he is made known to us in the way of the Word so it is a great sin to contemn Christ when he is revealed to us by his own signs and symbols which are of his own institution instituted on purpose by himself to make himself known to us 2. The Sacrament is appointed to confirm our union and communion with Christ The bread which we break is it not the communion of the body of Christ The cup of blessing which we bless is it not the communion of the blood of Christ 1 Cor. 10. The ancient Church called the Sacrament of the Lords Supper Sacramentum unionis the Sacrament of Vnion because it is that special Ordinance by which our union and communion with Christ is strengthened and confirmed And our Saviour in effect tells us as much when he saith He that eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood dwelleth in me and I in him Job 6.56 When we eat Christs flesh and drink his blood Christ dwells in us and we in him Now when we profess the nearest union and communion with the person of Christ and with the death and sufferings of Christ and we slight both his person and his sufferings this must needs be a great sin Thus have we heard now how Christ and his sufferings may be contemned there is another thing that may be added and that is 5. That Apostates such as fall from deny and renounce the faith of Christ they once presessed they do in an eminent manner pour contempt upon the sufferings of Christ Of these the Apostle speaks in a peculiar manner Heb. 10. and of these he saith That they account the blood of the Covenant by which they are sanctified an unholy thing He that apostatizes from the Christian Profession what doth he do but make a mock of Christ and his sufferings as if all that he had formerly professed concerning Christ and his sufferings were but a meer sable Now it concerns us greatly to see that we be not found in the number of such who are contemners of Christs person or of his sufferings and the reason is because great punishment is denounced on such Heb. 10.29 Of how much sorer punishment shall he be thought worthy who hath trodden under foot the Son of God and hath counted the blood of the Covenant wherewith he was sanctified an unholy thing and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace There is a sorer punishment shall be inflicted upon such who despise the person of Christ and contemn his sufferings and I verily believe this is one main cause of the Judgments which God hath already executed and will yet further execute upon the unthankful world because his Son hath been revealed to the world in this last Century of years more than in former Ages by that clear and great light that hath broken forth and yet men make no reckoning of Christ and of his grace but are grown worse and worse more profane and atheistical under the light of the Gospel that hath shone upon them As Idolatry was the great sin that God did avenge under the Old Testament upon the Jews that were then his professing people so the contempt of the Gospel wherein there hath been a plain and manifest revelation of the Son of God and of that grace and salvation which is brought by his death and sufferings seems to be the great sin that God is avenging upon professing Christians The end of the nineteenth Sermon SERMON XX. Joh. 15.13 Greater love hath no man than this that a man lay down his life for his friends I Proceed now to another Consideration to shew the greatness of Christs Love in his Sufferings Consid 7 The love of Christ in his sufferings appears in this That the Son of God so great a person should suffer such things as he did suffer for us The love of Christ doth not only appear from the consideration of the excellency of the person suffering but also from the consideration of the things themselves that he suffered for us that so great a person should suffer so much shame such reproach such indignity as he did for us this is that which commends Christs love to us Heb. 12.2 He endured the cross and despised the shame Isa 50.6 I gave my back to the smiters and my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair I hid not my face from shame and spitting That the Son of God should suffer such things for us poor men that he should suffer such pains and torments in soul and body for us this commends his love to us The sufferings of Christ did far exceed the sufferings of any other man yea if the sufferings of all men were put together they are not to be compared with the sufferings of Christ and the reason is because Christ did suffer the very pains of Hell for us as we have heard Christ did not only suffer from men but he suffered from the hands of his Father it pleased the Father to bruise him he put him to grief Isa 53. Christ did not only suffer in his body but he suffered in his soul yea his soul-sufferings were the greatest sufferings there it was that he suffered dereliction there it was that he suffered the sense of Gods wrath no sorrows were ever like to Christs sorrows and yet these sorrows Christ did voluntarily and electively undergo for our sakes Our Saviour knew before-hand what his sufferings were like to be and yet he freely underwent them Christ did not rush upon his sufferings unawares but he knew what his sufferings would be and yet he was content to undergo them for our sakes Luk. 12.50 I have a baptism to be baptized with he speaks of the Baptism of his sufferings The Lord Jesus knew that he was to undergo such sore and grievous sufferings and yet he voluntarily underwent them he did not rum ignorantly upon them but he knew before-hand what he was to suffer and yet he chose voluntarily to suffer that which he knew would be so bitter and grievous to him It is a great alleviation of a mans sufferings not to know what he hath to suffer the contemplation of a mans sufferings before-hand is sometimes almost as great a suffering as the suffering it self that he is to undergo but yet the Son of God had the contemplation and foresight in his mind of the sufferings that he was to undergo for us yet he was content notwithstanding to under go them Mat. 16.21 From that time forth began Jesus to shew to his Disciples how he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things of the