with corruptible things as Silver and Gold but with the precious Blood of Christ as of a Lamb without blemish and without spot And by his knowledg shall my righteous Servant justifie many 4. 'T was requisite the Mediator should be God and Man He must assume the nature of Man that he might be put in his stead in order to make satisfaction for him He was to be our representative therefore such a conjunction between us must be that God might esteem all his People to suffer in him By the Law of Israel the right of Redemption belonged to him that was next in blood Now Christ took the Seed of Abraham the original element of our nature that having a right of Propriety in us as God He might have a right of Propinquity as Man He was allied to all Men as Men that His sufferings might be universally beneficial And He must be God 't is not his Innocency onely or Deputation but the Dignity of His Person that qualifies Him to be an all-sufficient Sacrifice for Sin so that God may dispense pardon in a way that is honourable to Justice For Justice requires a proportion between the Punishment and the Crime and that receives its quality from the dignity of the person offended Now since the Majesty of God is infinite against whom sin is committed the guilt of it can never be expiated but by an infinite Satisfaction There is no name under Heaven nor in Heaven that could save us but the Son of God who being equal to Him in greatness became Man If there had been such compassion in the Angels as to have inclined them to interpose between Justice and us they had not been qualified for that Work not only upon the account of their different nature so that by substitution they could not satisfie for us nor that being immaterial substances they are exempted from the dominion of death which was the punishment denounc'd against the sinner and to which his Surety must be subjected but principally that being finite Creatures they are incapable to atone an incensed God Who among all their glorious Orders durst appear before so consuming a fire who could have been an Altar whereon to sanctifie a Sacrifice to Divine Justice no meer Creature how worthy so ever could propitiate the supreme Majesty when justly provoked Our Redeemer was to be the Lord of Angels The Apostle tells us that it pleased the Father that in him all fulness should dwell This respects not his original Nature but his Office and the reason of it is to reconcile by the blood of the Cross things in Heaven and in the Earth From the greatness of the Work we may infer the quality of the means and from the quality of the means the Nature of the Person that is to perform it Peace with God who was provoked by our Rebellion could only be made by an infinite Sacrifice Now in Christ the Deity it self not its influences and the fulness of it not any particular perfection only dwelt really and substantially God was present in the Ark in a shadow and representation He is present in nature by his sustaining Power and in his Saints by special favour and the eminent effects the Graces and Comforts that proceed from it but he is present in Christ in a singular and transcendent manner The Humanity is related to the Word not only as a Creature to the Author of its being for in this regard it hath an equal respect to all the persons but by a peculiar conjunction for 't is actuated by the same subsistence as the Divine Essence is in the Son but with this difference the one is voluntary the other necessary the one is espoused by Love the other received by Nature Now from this intimate Union there is a communication of the special qualities of both natures to the Person of Christ Man is exalted to be the Son of God and the Word abased to be the Son of Man As by reason of the vital Union between the Soul and Body the essential parts of Man 't is truly said that he is rational in respect of his soul and mortal in respect of his body This Union derives an infinite merit to the obedience of Christ. For the humane nature having its complement from the Divine Person 't is not the nature simply considered but the person that is the fountain of actions To illustrate this by an instance the civil Law determines that a tree transplanted from one soile to another and taking root there it belongs to the owner of that ground in regard that receiving nourishment from a new earth it becomes as it were another tree though there be the same individual root the same body and the same soul of vegetation as before Thus the humane nature taken from the common mass of Mankind and transplanted by personal Union into the Divine is to be reckoned as intirely belonging to the Divine and the actions proceeding from it are not meerly humane but are raised above their natural worth and become meritorious One hour of Christs Life glorified God more than an everlasting duration spent by Angels and Men in the praises of him For the most perfect creatures are limited and finite and their services cannot fully correspond with the Majesty of God but when the Word was made Flesh and entered into a new state of subjection he glorified God in a Divine manner and most worthy of him He that comes from above is above all The all sufficiency of his Satisfaction arises from hence He that was in the form of God and thought it no robbery to be equal with God that is in the truth of the Divine Nature He was equal with the Father and without sacriledge or usurpation possest Divine Honour he became obedient to the Death of the Cross. The Lord of Glory was Crucified We are purchased by the Blood of God And the Blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all Sin The Divine Nature gives it an infinite and everlasting efficacy And 't is observable that the Socinians the declared enemies of his Eternity consentaneously to their first impious error deny his Satisfaction For if Jesus Christ were but a titular God his Sufferings how deep soever had been insufficient to expiate our offence in His Death He had been only a Martyr not a Mediator For no Satisfaction can be made to Divine Justice but by suffering that which is equivalent to the guilt of sin which as 't is infinite such must the Satisfaction be CHAP. XIII Divine Justice is declared and glorified in the Death of Christ. The threefold account the Scripture gives of it As a Punishment inflicted for Sin as a Price to redeem us from Hell as a Sacrifice to reconcile us to God Man was Capitally guilty Christ with the allowance of God interposes as his Surety His Death was inflicted on him by the Supreme Judg. The impulsive Cause of it was Sin
His Sufferings were equivalent to the Sentence of the Law The Effect of them is our Freedom An Answer to the Objection That 't is a violation of Justice to transfer the Punishment from the guilty to the innocent The Death of Christ is the Price that redeems from Hell This singular effect of his Death distinguishes it from the death of the Martyrs An Answer to the Objections How could God receive this Price since he gave his Son to that Death which redeems us And how our Redeemer supposing him God can make Satisfaction to Himself The Death of Christ represented as a Sacrifice The Expiatory Sacrifices under the Law were substituted in the place of guilty Men. The Effects of them answerable to their threefold respect to God Sin and Men The Atonement of Anger the Expiation of Sin and Freedom from Punishment All sorts of Placatory Sacrifices are referr'd to Christ and the effects of them in a sublime and perfect manner No prejudice to the Freeness and Greatness of God's Love that Christ by his Death reconciled Him to men HAving premised these things I shall now prove that the Divine Justice is really declar'd and glorified in the obedient Sufferings of Christ. For the opening this point 't is necessary to consider the account the Scripture gives of his Death which is threefold 1. 'T is represented under the relation of a Punishment inflicted on him for Sin and the effect of it is Satisfaction to the Law 2. As a Price to redeem us from Hell 3. Under the notion of a Sacrifice to reconcile God to Sinners First As a Punishment inflicted on him for Sin This will appear by considering 1. That Man by his Rebellion against God was capitally guilty He stood sentenced by the Law to Death 2. Christ with the allowance of the Supreme Judg interposed as our Surety and in that relation was made liable to Punishment Sins are by resemblance called Debts As a Debt obliges the Debtor to payment so Sin doth the Sinner to Punishment And as the Creditor hath a right to exact the Payment from the Debtor so God hath a right to inflict Punishment on the guilty But with this difference the Creditor by the meer signification of his will may discharge the Debtor for he hath an absolute power over his estate whereas publick Justice is concern'd in the Punishment of the guilty This is evident by many instances For 't is not sufficient that a Criminal satisfie his Adversary unless the Prince who is the Guardian of the Laws give him Pardon The interest of a private Person who hath received an injury is so distinct from that of the State that sometimes the injured party solicites the Pardon of the offender without success Which shews that principally 't is not to satisfie the particular person that the Crime is punish'd but to satisfie the Law and prevent future Disorders Now our Debt was not pecuniary but penal And as in civil Cases where one becomes Surety for another he is obliged to pay the Debt for in the estimate of the Law they are but one person So the Lord Jesus Christ entring into this relation He sustained the person of Sinners and became judicially one with them and according to the order of Justice was liable to their punishment The displeasure of God was primarily and directly against the Sinner but the effects of it fell upon Christ who undertook for him The Apostle tells us That when the Fulness of time came God sent his Son made under the Law that he might redeem them that were under the Law He took our Nature Condition He was made under the Law Moral and Ceremonial The directive part of the Moral Law He fulfilled by the Innocency of his Life the penalty he satisfied as our Surety being under an Obligation to save us And he appeared as a Sinner in his subjection to the Law of Moses That Hand-writing was against us He therefore enter'd into the Bond that we had forfeited In his Circumcision He signed it with those drops of Blood which were an earnest of his shedding the rest on the Cross. For whosoever was Circumcised became a Debtor to the whole Law And we may observe 't is said That as Moses lifted up the brazen Serpent so the Law of which Moses was a type and Minister lifted up the Messiah on the Cross. 3. The Scripture is very clear and express in setting down the part that God had in the Sufferings of Christ as Supreme Judg the impulsive cause that moved Him their proportion to the punishment of the Law and the effect of them for our Deliverance He was delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledg of God All the various and vicious actions of men were over-ruled by his Providence The falsness of Judas the fearfulness of Pilate and the malice of the Jews were subservient to Gods eternal design And as He wills not the Death of a Sinner much less of his Son but for most weighty Reasons these are declared by the Prophet All we like sheep have gone astray and turned every one to his own waies Our Errours were different but the issue was the same that is Eternal Death And the Lord laid on him the iniquity of us all that is the Punishment of our Iniquities His Sufferings had such a respect to Sin as included the imputation of it 'T was an act of Sovereignty in God to appoint Christ as Man to be our Surety but an act of Justice to inflict the punishment when Christ had undertaken for us 'T is said He hath born our griefs and carried our sorrows The expressions are comprehensive of all the Miseries of his Life especially his last Sufferings The Hebrew words Nasa and Sabal signifie such a taking away as is by laying upon one who bears it from us And thus it is interpreted by St. Peter He himself bare our sins in his own Body on the tree This necessarily implies the derivation of our guilt to him and the consequent of it the transferring of our punishment Those words are full and pregnant to the same purpose He was wounded for our transgressions he was bruised for our Iniquities the chastisement of our peace was on him and with his stripes we are healed Where the meritorious cause of his Sufferings is set down as appears by the connexion of the words with the former The Jews thought him stricken smitten of God and afflicted that is justly punisht for Blasphemy and usurping Divine Honour In opposition to this conceit 't is added But he was wounded for our transgressions This the Apostle expresly telleth us when he declares that Christ died for our Sins This will appear more fully by considering what the desert of Sin is By our Rebellion we made the forfeiture of Soul Body to Divine Justice Death both the first and the second was the Sentence of the Law Now the Sufferings of Christ were answerable
perplexities how we may be justified is to deny the value of his Righteousness and the truth of his Ascension And say not who shall descend into the deep to bear the Torments of Hell and expiate Sin this is to deny the vertue of his Death whereby he appeased God and redeemed us from the wrath to come In the Law the condemning Righteousness of God is made visible in the Gospel his justifying Righteousness is revealed from Faith to Faith And this is an infallible proof of its divine descent For whereas all other Religions either stupifie Conscience and harden it in carnal Security or terrifie it by continual Alarms of Vengeance the Gospel alone hath discovered how God may shew Mercy to repenting Sinners without injury to his Justice The Heathens robb'd one Attribute to enrich another either they conceived God to be indulgent to their Sins and easie to pardon to the prejudice of his Justice or cruel and revengful to the dishonour of his Goodness But Christians are instructed how these are wonderfully reconciled and magnified in our Redemption From hence there is a divine calm in the Conscience and that Peace which passeth Understanding The Soul is not only freed from the Fear of Gods anger but hath a lively Hope of his Favour and Love This is exprest by the Apostle when he reckons among the Priviledges of Believers That they are come to God the Judg of all and to Jesus the Mediator of the New-Covenant and to the Blood of sprinkling that speaks better things than the blood of Abel The apprehension of God as the Judg of the world strikes the guilty with fear and terrour but as He is sweetned by the Mediator we may approach to Him with confidence For what Sins are there which so entire a Satisfaction doth not expiate What Torments can they deserve which his wounds and stripes have not removed God is Just as well as Merciful in justifying those who believe in Jesus 'T is not the quality of Sins but of Sinners that excepts them from Pardon Christ is the golden Altar in Heaven for penitent Believers to flie to from whence God will never pluck any one to destroy him 5. From hence we may learn how absolute a necessity there is for our coming to Christ for Justification There are but two waies of appearing before the Righteous and Supreme Judg. 1. In Innocence and sinless Obedience or by the Righteousness of Christ The one is by the Law the other by Grace And these two can never be compounded for he that pleads Innocence in that disclaims Favour and he that sues for Favour acknowledges Guilt Now the first cannot be performed by us For entire Obedience to the Law supposes the integrity of our natures there being a Moral impossibility that the Faculties once corrupted should act regularly But Man is stain'd with Original Sin from his Conception And the form of the Law runs universally Cursed is every one that obeys not in all things which are written in the Book of the Law to do them In these Scales one evil work preponderates a thousand good If a Man were guilty but of one single Error his entire Obedience afterwards could not save him for that being alwaies due to the Law the payment of it cannot discount for the former Debt So that we cannot in any degree be justified by the Law for there is no middle between transgressing and not transgressing it He that breaks one Article in a Covenant cuts off his claim to any benefit by it Briefly the Law Justifies only the Perfect and condemns without distinction all that are Guilty So that to pretend Justification by the works of it is as unreasonable as for a man to produce in Court the Bond which obliges him to his Creditor in testimony that he ows him nothing Whoever presumes to appear before God's Judgment-Seat in his own righteousness shall be covered with confusion 2. By the Righteousness of Christ. This alone absolves from the Guilt of sin saves from Hell and can endure the trial of God's Tribunal This the Apostle prized as his unvaluable treasure in comparison of which all other things are but dross and dung that I may be found in him not having mine own Righteousness which is of the Law but that which is through the Faith of Christ the Righteousness which is of God by Faith That which he ordained and rewarded in the Person of our Redeemer he cannot but accept Now this Righteousness is meritoriously imputed only to Believers For depending solely upon the Will of God as to its being and effects it cannot possibly be reckoned to any for their benefit and advantage but in that way which he hath appointed The Lord Christ who made Satisfaction tells us that the benefit of it is communicated only through our Believing God so loved the World that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believes on him should not perish As all sins are mortal in respect of their guilt but death is not actually inflicted for them upon the account of the Grace of the New Covenant so all sins are venial in respect of the Satisfaction made by Christ but they are not actually pardoned till the performing of the condition to which pardon is annext Faith transfers the guilt from the Sinner to the Sacrifice And this is not an act restrained to the understanding but principally respects the will by which we accept or refuse Salvation The nature of it is best exprest by the Scripture-phrase the receiving Christ which respects the terms upon which God offers him in the Gospel to be our Prince and Saviour The state of favour begins upon our consent to the New Covenant And how reasonable is the condition it requires how impossible is it to be otherwise God is reconcileable by the Death of Christ so that he may exercise Mercy without injury to his Justice and Holiness He is willing and desirous to be upon terms of amity with Men but cannot be actually reconciled till they accept of them for reconcilement is between two Though God upon the account of Christ is made placable to the humane nature which he is not to the Angelical in its lapsed state and hath condescended so far as to offer conditions of peace to Men yet they are reconciled at once That Christ becomes an effectual Mediator there must be the consent of both parties As God hath declared his by laying the punishment of our sins on Christ so Man gives his by submitting to the Law of Faith And the great end of Preaching the Gospel is to overcome the obstinacy of Men and reconcile them to God and their happiness We are Ambassadours for Christ and pray you in Christs stead to be reconciled to God With this difference Christ furnisht the means they only bring the message of reconciliation Now Men are with difficulty wrought on to comply with the conditions of Pardon by Christ. 1. Upon
this inflames rather than allays the Distemper For as things are more clearly known so more sensibly felt by comparison He that is tormented with the Gout cannot relieve his misery by remembring the pleasant Wine he drank before his fit 4. The Stoicks Universal Cure of afflictions was to change their opinion of them and esteem them not real evils Thus Posidonius so much commended by Tully who for many years was under torturing Diseases and survived a contiunal Death being visited by Pompey at Rhodes he entertained him with a Philosophical Discourse and when his pains were most acute he said Nihil agis dolor quanquam sis molestus nunquam teâ— esse confitebor malum In vain dost thou assault me pain though thou art troublesome thou shalt never force me to confess thou art evil But the folly of this boasting is visible for though he might appear with a chearful countenance in the Paroxism of his Disease to commend his Philosophy like a Mountebank that swallows poison to put off his Druggs yet the reality of his grief was evident his Sense was overcome though his Tongue remained a Stoick If words could charm the Sense not to feel pains or compose the mind not to resent afflictions 't were material to give molifying Titles to them But since 't is not Fancy that makes them stinging but their contrariety to Nature 't is no relief to represent them otherwise than they are 5. Others compos'd themselves by considering the benefit of patience Discontent puts an edge on troubles to kick against the pricks exasperates the pain to be restless and turmoiling increases the Feaver But this is not properly a consolation for although a calm and quiet submission prevents those new degrees of trouble which by fretting and vexing we bring upon our selves yet it doth not remove the evil which may be very afflicting and grievous in its own nature so that without other considerations to support the mind it will sink under it And as these so many other Arguments they used to fortifie the Spirit against Sufferings are like a hedg which at a distance seems to be a safe retreat from Gunshot but those who retire to it find it a weak Defence This appears by the carriage of the best instructed Heathens in their calamities Professing themselves to be wise in their Speculations they became fools in practice and were confounded with all their Philosophy when they should have made use of it Some kill'd themselves for the apprehension of sufferings their death was not the effect of courage but cowardise the remedy of their fear Others impatient of disappointment in their great designs refused to live I will instance in two of the most eminent among them Cato and Brutus they were both Philosophers of the manly sect and Vertue never appeared with a brighter lustre among the Heathens than when joyned with a Stoical resolution And they were not imperfect Proficients but Masters in Philosophy Seneca employs all the ornaments of his Eloquence to make Catoes Elogy He represents him as the consummate exemplar of Wisdom as one that realized the sublime Idea of Virtue described in their Writings And Brutus was esteemed equal to Cato Yet these with all the power of their Philosophy were not able to bear the shock of Adversity Like raw Fencers one thrust put them into such disorder that they forgot all their instructions in the place of trial For being unsuccesful in their endeavours to restore Rome to its liberty overcome with discontent and dispair they laid violent hands upon themselves Cato being prevented in his first attempt afterwards tore open his Wounds with fierceness and rage And Brutus ready to plunge the Sword into his Breast complained that Vertue was but a vain name so insufficient are the best Precepts of meer natural Reason to relieve us in distress As Torrents that are dryed up in the heat of Summer when there is the most need of them so all comforts fail in extremity that are not derived from the Fountain of Life I will only add how ineffectual Philosophy is to support us in a dying hour The fear of Death is a Passion so strong that by it Men are kept in bondage all their days 'T is an Enemy that threatens none whom it doth not strike and there is none but it threatens Certainly that Spectre which Caesar had not courage to look in the face is very affrighting Alexander himself that so often despised it in the Field when passion that transported him cast a Vail over his Eyes yet when he was struck with a mortal Disease in Babylon and had Death in his view his Palace was filled with Priests and Diviners and no superstition was so sottish but he used to preserve himself And although the Philosophers seem'd to contemn Death yet the great preparations they made to encounter it argue a secret fear in their Breasts Many Discourses Reasonings and Arguments are employed to sweeten that cruel necessity of it but they are all ineffectual 1. That 't is the condition of our nature to be a Man and immortal are inconsistent But this consolation afflicts to extremity If there were any means to escape the soul might take courage He is doubly miserable whose misery is without remedy 2. That it puts a period to all temporal evils But as this is of no force with those who are prosperous and never felt those miseries which make Life intolerable so it cannot rationally relieve any that have not good hopes of felicity after death The Heathens discovered not the sting of Death as 't is the wages of sin and consigns the guilty to eternal Death so that they built upon a false foundation as if it were the cure of all evils 3. They encouraged themselves from their ignorance of the consequences of death whether it only changed their place or extinguish'd their persons Socrates who dyed with a seeming indifference gave this account of it That he did not know whether death was good or evil But this is not fortitude but folly as Aristotle observes That a readiness to encounter dangers arising from ignorance is not true valour but a brutish boldness What madness is it then for one that enters upon an eternal state not knowing whether it shall be Happy or Miserable to be uneffected with that dreadful uncertainty But now the Gospel furnishes us with real remedies against all the evils of our present state 'T is the true Paradise wherein the Tree of Life is planted whose Leaves are for the healing of the Nations We are assured that God disposes all things with the Wisdom and Love of a Father and that his Providence is most admirable and worthy of praise in those things wherein they who are only led by sence doubt whether it be at all For as 't is the first point of prudence to keep off evils so the second and more excellent is to make them beneficial Christians
ye his Servants and there was aâ— it were the voice of mighty thundrings saying Hallelujah for the Lord God Omnipotent reigns They are now the most eminent examples of revenging wrath Their present misery is insupportable and they expect worse When our Saviour cast some of them out of the possest persons they cried out Art thou come to torment us before our time Miserimum est timere cum sâ—eres nihil 't is the height of misery to have nothing to Hope and something to Fear Their guilt is attended with despair they are in everlasting Chains He that carries the Keys of Hell and Death will never open their Prisoâ— If the sentence did admit a Revocation after a million of years their torment would be nothing in comparison of what it is for the longest measure of time bears no proportion to Eternity and hope would allay the sense of the present sufferings with the prospect of future ease But their Judgment is irreversible they are under the blackness of darkness for ever There is not the least glimps of hope to allay their sorrows no Star-light to sweeten the horrours of their Eternal night They are serâ—i poenae that can never be redeemed It were a kind of pardon to them to be capable of Death but God will never be so far reconciled as to annihilate them His Anger shall be accomplished and his Fury rest upon them Immortality the priviledge of their nature infinitly increases their torment for when the Understanding by a strong and active apprehension hath a terrible and unbounded prospect of the continuance of their Sufferings that what is intolerable must be Eternal this inexpressibly exasperates their Misery There wants a word beyond Death to set it forth This is the condition of the sinning Angels and God might have dealt in as strict Justice with rebellious Man 'T is true there are many Reasons may be assigned why the Wisdom of God made no provision for their Recovery 1. It was most decent that the first Breach of the Divine Law should be punisht to secure Obedience for the future Prudent Lawgivers are severe against the first Transgressors the Leaders in Disobedience He that first presumed to break the Sabbath was by Godâ—s command put to Death And Solomon the King of Peace punisht the first attempt upon his Royalty with Death though in the person of his Brother 2. The Malignity of their Sin was in the highest degree For such was the clearness of the Angelical Understanding that there was nothing of Ignorance and Deceit to lessen the voluntariness of their Sin 't was no mistake but Malice They fell in the light of Heaven and rendered themselves incapable of Mercy As under the Law those who sinned with a high hand that is not out of Ignorance or Imbecillity to please their Passions but knowingly and proudly despised the Command their Presupmtion was inexpiable no Sacrifice was appointed for it And the Gospel though the Declaration of Mercy yet excepts those who sin the great Transgression against the Holy Ghost Now of such a nature was the Sin of the Rebellious Angels it being a contemptuous violation of Gods Majesty and therefore unpardonable Besides they are wholly spiritual Beings without any allay of flesh and so fell to the utmost in evil there being nothing to suspend the intireness of their Will whereas the Humane Spirit is more slow by its union with the Body And that which extremely aggravates their sin is that it was committed in the state of perfect Happiness They despised the full fruition of God 't was therefore congruous to the Divine Wisdom that their final Sentence should depend upon their first Election whereas Mans Rebellion though inconceivably great was against a lower Light and less Grace dispensed to him 3. They finn'd without a Tempter and were not in the same capacity with Man to be restor'd by a Saviour The Devil is an original Proprietor in Sin 't is of his own Man was beguiled by the Serpents subtilty as he fell by anothers Malice so he is recovered by anothers Merit 4. The Angelical Nature was not entirely lost Myriads of blessed Spirits still continue in the place of their Innocency and Glory and for ever ascribe to the Great Creator that incommunicable Honour which is due to Him and perfectly do his Commandments But all Mankind was lost in Adam and no Religion was left in the lower world Now although in these and other respects it was most consistent with the Wisdom and Justice of God to conclude them under an irrevocable Doom yet the principal cause that enclin'd him to save Man was meer and perfect Grace The Law madâ— no distinction but awarded the same Punishment Mercy alone made the difference and the reason of that is in Himself Millions of them fell Sacrifices to Justice and guilty Man was spared 'T is not for the excellency of our Natures for Man in his Creation was lower than the Angels nor upon the account of Service for they having more eminent Endowments of Wisdom and Power might have brought greater honour to God nor for our Innocence for though not equally yet we had highly offended Him But it must be resolved into that Love which passeth Knowledg 'T was the unaccountable Pleasure of God that preferr'd babes before the wise and prudent and herein Grace is most glorious He in no wise took the nature of Angels though immortal Spirits He did not put forth his hand to help them and break the force of their Fall He did nothing for their relief they are under unallayed wrath but He took the Seâ—d of Abraham and plants a new Colony of those who sprung from the Earth in the Heavenly Country to fill up the vacant places of those Apostate Spirits This is just matter of our highest admiration why the milder Attribute is exercised towards Man and the severer on them Why the vessels of clay are chosen and the vessels of Gold neglected How can we reflect upon it without the warmest Affections to our Redeemer We shall never fully understand the Riches of distinguishing Grace till our Saviour shall be their Judg and receive us into the Kingdom of Joy and Glory and condemn them to an Eternal Separation from his Presence CHAP. IX The Greatness of Redeeming Love discovered by considering the Evils from which we are freed The Servitude of Sin the Tyranny of Satan the Bondage of the Law the Empire of Death The measure of Love is proportionable to the degrees of our Misery No possible Remedy for us in Nature Our Deliverance is compleat The Divine Love is magnified in the Means by which our Redeemer is accomplishâ—d They are the Incarnation and Sufferings of the Son of God Love is manifested in the Incarnation upon the account of the essential Condition of the Nature assumed and its Servile state Christ took our Nature after it had lost its Innocency The most evident Proof
David with respect to Solomon If he commit Iniquity I will chasten him with the rod of men and with the stripes of the childaen of men that is Chastise him moderately For in the stile of the Scripture as things are magnified by the Epithet Divine or of God as the Cedars of God that is very tall And Nineve is called The City of God that is very great So to signifie things that are in a mediocrity the Scripture uses the Epithet humane or of Men And according to the Rule of Opposition the Rod of God is an extraordinary Affliction which destroys the Sinner 't is such a Punishment as a man can neither inflict nor endure But the Rod of Men is a moderate Correction that doth not exceed the strength of the Patient But every purely vindictive Punishment which the Law pronounces is in proportion to the nature of the Crime not the strength of the Criminal 3. They are distinguisht by the intention and end of God in inflicting them 1. In Chastisements God primarily designs the Profit of his People That they may be partakers of his Holiness When they are secure and carnal He awakens Conscience by the sharp voice of the Rod to reflect upon Sin to make them observant for the future to render their Affections more indifferent to the World and stronger towards Heaven The Apostle expresses the nature of Chastisements When we are judged we are instructed by the Lord They are more lively Lessons than those which are by the Word alone and make a deeper impression upon the heart David acknowledges Before he was afflicted he went astray but now have I kept thy words Corrupt Nature makes Gods Favours pernicious but his Grace makes our Punishments profitable Briefly They are not satisfactions for what is past but admonitions for the time to come But purely vindictive Judgments are not inflicted for the reformation of an Offender but to preserve the honour of the Sovereign and Publick Order and to make compensation for the breach of the Law If any advantage accrue to the Offender 't is accidental and besides the intention of the Judg. 2. The end of chastisements upon Believers is to prevent their final destruction When we are Judged we are Chastened of the Lord that we may not be condemned with the World And this sweetens and allays all their Sufferings As the Psalmist declares Let the Righteous smite me and it shall be a kindness let him reprove me it shall be an excellent oile which shall not break my head But the Vindictive Punishment of a Malefactor is not to prevent his condemnation for Death is sometimes the Sentence In this respect the temporal evils that befal the Wicked and the Godly though materially the same yet legally differ For to the Wicked they are as so many earnests of the compleat payment they shall make to Justice in another World the beginnings of Eternal Sorrows but to the Godly they are in order to their Salvation They are as the Red-Sea through which the Israelites past to the Land of Promise but the Egyptians were drowned in it Briefly their Sufferings differ as much in their issue as the Kingdoms of Heaven and of Hell 2. That Death remains to Believers doth not lessen the perfection of Christs Satisfaction 'T is true considered absolutely 't is the revenge of the Law for sin and the greatest temporal evil so that it may seem strange that those who are Redeemed by an Alsufficient ransom should pay this Tribute to the King of Terrors But the nature of it is changed 't is a Curse to the wicked inflicted for Satisfaction to Justice but a Priviledge to Believers As God appointing the Rainbow to be the Sign of his Covenant that he would drown the World no more ordain'd the same Waters to be the token of his Mercy which were the instrument of his Justice Blessed are the dead that die in the Lord. And the Psalmist tells us that precious in the sight of the Lord is the Death of his Saints Christ hath taken away what is truly destructive in it 'T is continued for their advantage 1. Corruption hath so depraved the sensitive appetite that during our natural state we are not intirely freed from it but Death that destroyes the natural frame of the Body puts an end to sin And in this respect there is a great difference between the Death of Christ and of Believers the end of his was to remove the guilt of sin of theirs to extinguish the reliques of it 2. 'T is a delivery from Temporal evils and an entrance into Glory Death and Despair seize on the Wicked at once but the Righteous hath hope in his Death 3. The Grave shall give up its spoils at the last It retains the Body for a time not to destroy but purifie it Our Saviour tells us that whoever believes on him shall not see death for he will raise them up at the last day He that dies a Man shall revive an Angel cloathed with Light and Immortality I will conclude this argument with the words of St. Austin Ablato criminis nexu relicta est mors Nunc vero majore mirabiliore gratia Salvatoris in usus justitiae peccati poena est conversa tum enim dictum est Homini morieris si peccaveris nunc dictum est Martyri morere ne pecces Et sic per ineffabilem Dei misericordiam ipsa poena vitiorum transit in arma virtutis fit justi meritum etiam supplicium peccatoris Although the Guilt of Sin is removed yet death remains But by the admirable Grace of the Redeemer the punishment of sin is made an advantage to Holiness The Law threatned Man with Death if he sinned the Gospel commands a Martyr to die that he may not sin And thus by the unspeakable Mercy of God the punishment of Vice becomes the security of Virtue and that which was revenged upon the sinner gives to the Righteous a title to a glorious reward CHAP. XV. Inferences In the Death of Christ there is the clearest discovery of the evil of sin The strictness of divine Justice is most visible in it The consideration of the ends of Christs Death takes off the scandal of the Cross and changes the offence into admiration The Satisfaction of Justice by Christs Sufferings affords the strongest assurance that God is ready to pardon sinners The absolute necessity of complying with the terms of the Gospel for Justification There are but two wayes of appearing before the supreme Judge either in Innocence or by the Righteousness of Christ The Causes why men reject Christ are a legal temper that is natural to them and the predominant love of sin The unavoidable misery of all that will not submit to our Saviour 1. FRom hence we may discover most clearly the evil of Sin which no Sacrifice could expiate but the Blood of the Son of God 'T is true the
the account of a legal Temper that universally inclines them to seek for Justification by their own Works This is most suitable to the Law light of nature for the tenour of the first Covenant was Do and live So that the way of Gospel-Justification as 't is supernatural in its discovery so in its contrariety to Mans Principles Besides as Pride at first aspir'd to make Man as God so it tempts him to usurp the honour of Christ to be his own Saviour He is unwilling to stoop that he may drink of the Waters of Life Till the Heart by the weight of its guilt is broken in pieces and looses its former fashion and figure it will not humbly comply with the offer of Salvation for the Merits of another And 't is very remarkable that upon the first opening of the Gospel no Evangelical Doctrine was more disrelisht by the Jews than Justification by imputed Righteousness The Apostle gives this account of their opposition that being ignorant of God's Righteousness and going about to establish their own Righteousness they submitted not to the Righteousness of God They were prepossest with this Principle that Life was to be obtained by their works because the express condition of the Law was so And mistaking the end of its Institution by Moses they set the Law against the Promises For since the Fall the Law was given not absolutely to be a Covenant of Life but with a design to prepare Men for the Gospel that upon the sight of their Guilt and the Curse they might have recourse to the Redeemer and by Faith embrace that Satisfaction he hath made for them Christ is the end of the Law for Righteousness to every one that believeth From the example of the Jews we may see how Men are naturally affected And 't is worthy of observation that the reformation of Religion took its rise by the same controversie with the Papists by which the Gospel was first introduced into the World For besides innumerable abuses crept into the Church the People were perswaded that by purchasing Indulgences they should be saved from the Wrath of God And when this darkness covered the face of the Earth the zeal of the first Reformers broke forth who to undeceive the world clearly demonstrated from Scriptures that Justification is alone obtained by a lively and purifying Faith in the Blood of Christ. A strong proof that the same Gospel which was first revealed by the Apostles was revived by those excellent Men and the same Church which was first built by the Apostles was raised out of its ruines by them Now the Gospel to eradicate this disposition which is so natural and strong in faln Man is in nothing more clear and express than in declaring that by the deeds of the Law there shall no flesh be justified in Gods sight The Apostle asserts without distinction that by the Works of the Law Justification cannot be obtained whether they proceed from the power of Nature or the Grace of the Spirit For he argues against the merit of Works to Justification not against the principle from whence they proceed And where he most affectionately declares his esteem of Christ and his Righteousness as the sole meritorious cause of his Justification he expresly rejects his own Righteousness which is of the Law By his own Righteousness he comprehends all the works of the renewed as well as natural state for they are performed by Man and are acts of Obedience to the Law which commands perfect Love to God These are withering leaves that cannot conceal our shame when we appear before God in Judgment Not but that good works are most pleasing to him but not for this end to expiate Sin We must distinguish between their substance and the quality that errour giveth them The opinion of merit changes their nature and turns Gold into Dross And if our real Righteousness how exact soever cannot absolve us from the least guilt much less can the performance of some external actions though specious in appearance yet not commanded by God and that have no moral value All the Disciplines and Severities whereby men think to make Satisfaction to the Law are like a Crown of Straw that dishonours the Head instead of adorning it But that Righteousness which was acquired by the Meritorious Sufferings of Christ and is embraced by Faith is alsufficient for our Justification This is as pure as Innocence to all the effects of Pardon and Reconciliation this alone secures us from the charge of the Law and the chalenge of Justice Being clothed with this we may enter Heaven and converse with the pure society of Angels without blushing The Saints who now reign in Glory were not Men who lived in the perfection of Holiness here below but Repenting Believing Sinners who are washed white in the Blood of the Lamb. 2. The most universal hinderance of Mens complying with the conditions of Pardon by Christ is the predominant love of some Lust. Although Men would entertain him as a Saviour to redeem them from Hell yet they reject him as their Lord. Those in the Parable who said We will not have this Man to reign over us exprest the inward sense and silent thoughts of all carnal Men. Many would depend on his Sacrifice yet will not submit to his Scepter they would have Christ to pacifie their Consciences and the world to please their Affections Thus they divide between the Offices of Christ his Priestly and his Regal They would have Christ to die for them but not to live in them They divide the acts of the same Office they lean on his Cross to support them from falling to Hell but Crucifie not one Lust on it They are desirous he should reconcile them to God by his Sacrifice but not to bless them in turning them from their Iniquities And thus in effect they absolutely refuse him and render his Death unavailable For the receiving of Christ as Mediator in all his Offices is the Condition indispensably requisite to partake of the Benefits of his Sufferings The Resigning up of our selves to him as our Prince is as necessary an act of justifying Faith as the Apprehending the Crucified Saviour So that in every real Christian Faith is the Principle of Obedience and Peace and is as inseparable from Holiness as from Salvation To conclude this Argument From hence we may see How desperate the state is of impenitent Unbelievers They are cut off from any claim to the Benefits of Christs Death The Law of Faith like that of the Medes and Persians is unalterable He that believeth not the Son shall not see life Christ died not to expiate final Infidelity This is the mortal Sin that actually damns It charges all their guilt upon Sinners It renders the Sufferings of Christ fruitless and ineffectual to them For 't is not the Preparation of a Sovereign Remedy that cures the Disease but the applying it As our Sins
devoted themselves to Death The Spirit of Holiness who formes the powerful and lasting habits of true Vertue in the Soul that effectually enclines from the Love of God and with an intention for his Glory to obey his Will as it was purchas'd by Jesus Christ so it is peculiar to the Dispensation of the Gospel that reveals Him The Doctrine of it is not delivered with so much Pomp but with infinite more efficacy than the most eloquent Instructions of Philosophers One plain Sermon that represents Christ as Crucified before our eyes to obtain Pardon of Sin for us inflames the Soul with a more ardent Love to God and vehement hatred of Sin than all their elegant and sublime Discourses There is the same difference between their Morals and the Evangelical Institution as between two Nurses The one is adorned and looks lovely to the eye but wants Milk to nourish the Infant in her Arms the other is not so amiable in appearance but hath a living spring of Milk to nourish her Child Philosophy hath the advantage of artificial beauty but cannot supply the nourishment that is necessary to maintain the spiritual Life But the Gospel affords the sincere rational milk to the Soul that it may grow thereby 'T is therefore call'd the Word of Life a title that distinguishes it from the Law and all humane Institutions 4. Jesus Christ hath presented the strongest inducements and motives to perswade us to Holiness The way which he takes to save us is not by a meer act of Power to raise us above our selves but he deals with us conveniently to our frame in making use of our Affections to bring us to himself And whereas there are three Affections that have a mighty power over the reasonable Nature and are the inward springs of humane actions viz. Fear Hope and Love He hath propounded such Objects to them which being duely considered are infinitely more efficacious than any thing that may divert us from our duty The great temptations to sin are from the terrors or delights of Sense and to overcome these he hath brought to our assistance the Powers of the World to come that is hath revealed the dreadful preparations for the Punishment of the Wicked and the Glorious Rewards that attend the Godly in their future State Now to discover the efficacy of those Objects for the perswading Men to be Holy I will consider 1. Their Greatness as 't is described in the Gospel 2. Their Truth and Reality of which our Saviour hath given us convincing evidence and assurance 1. To excite our Fear he threatens Torments extreme and eternal These are set forth by such representations as may impress the quickest sense of them upon Men. For the Imagination depends on sensible experience and is strongly affected with those things that are terrible to our outward faculties Now Hell is described by a Worm gnawing the most tender parts that are most capable of pain to signify the furious reflections of the guilty Soul the sting of the inraged Conscience the torment of those perfect Passions that continually vex the Damned And 't is set forth by Fire and Brimstone that is most fierce to sense the serious consideration of which is enough to cause terror and amazement in all that are liable to it And if the sole apprehension be intolerable how much more will the dwelling with devouring Fire and everlasting burning 'T is called the blackness of darkness to signifie the compleat horrour of that state The Fire hath only force to burn not to give any light to mitigate the obscurity 'T is called the second Death in comparison of which that of the body is but the shadow of Death Nothing of Life remains but the sense of Misery and that will be as strong for ever as at the first entrance into it This infinitely increases the Torment that it shall never end The suffering Soul knows it shall be Eternal and as such it is felt and afflicts The Fire that devours shall never say 't is enough that sad Night shall never have a Morning that horrible Tempest never any Calm The Damned have no breathing of Rest in their extreme pains no shadow of Hope to refresh them in their intolerable heat but are under torment day and night for ever and ever Now what can be more powerful to restrain Men from sin than the terrours of the Lord if the desires of carnal and momentaâ—y pleasures are impetuous and urgent what can be more effectual to give check to them than the consideration that they are attended with a painful Eternity that within a little while nothing will remain of the most pleasant lusts but the Worm and the Fire Thus one extreme is cured by another Or if the fear of Men who can inflict but outward evils and Death on the Body at any time resists the performance of our Duty what is more proper to lessen the impression than to remember how dreadful a thing it is to fall into the revenging hands of the living God who lives for ever and can punish for ever Thus our Saviour fortified his Disciples against Persecution I say unto you my Friends Be not afraid of them that kill the body and after that have no more they can do but I will forwarn you whom you shall fear fear him which after he hath killed hath power to cast into Hell yea I say unto you fear him Eternal Damnation is infinitely more fearful than Temporal Death As the Rod of Moses devoured the Rods of the Magicians So the fear of Hell overcomes the fear of Death and all the Torments which end with this Life I shall add further to shew how fit an Argument this is to work on mankind That usually the Fear of evil more deeply affects than the Hope of good When the Imagination is violently struck with an object it hath a mighty force to turn the Mind and Will it self Therefore Laws are secured by Punishments not by Rewards Indeed the fear of Hell at first disposes us for the love of Heaven to escape the one we fly to the other As the virtue of the Loadstone is increast by arming it with Iron which although it hath no attractive power in it self yet by conjunction it makes the others more forcible So the promise of Heaven makes a stronger impression upon us by the threatning of Hell to all that despise it Were it not for the Torments of Hell which are more easily conceived by us whilst we are cloathed with flesh than Celestial Joys and therefore more strongly affect us Heaven would be neglected and be as empty of Saints as 't is full of Glory To awaken us out of the deep Lethargy of sensual Lusts the most pleasant Musick is ineffectual nothing less is requisite than cutting and scarifying And not only those that begin and first enter in the ways of Godliness but those who are advanc'd in Christianity have need of this Bridle For there are
Christ so that without a sensible demonstration that that was the way wherein He would be served their prejudices had been invincible 2. The Gospel propounds Threatnings and Promises that regard a future state where no living Eye can see their effects so that without an extraordinary confirmation it was not likely that men should yield a firm assent to them If it be said Our Saviour did his Miracles only in Judea where very few of the Gentiles saw his Person or Works I answer His Miracles were primarily design'd for the conviction of the Jews and in a secondary intention to disarm Infidelity among the Gentiles Therefore the Testimony of them was conveyed by those who were Eye-witnesses and most worthy of credit and who did many great wonders in the Name of Christ to verifie the report of his famous Miracles and declare his Power and Divinity Of this more afterwards Now I will briefly consider the Miracles wrought by Christ that were the certain Signs of Gods favouring of him and made his Commission authentick Before his coming the hand of the Synagogue was dried up and impotent to produce Miracles The Holy Spirit was withdrawn and for the space of four hundred years no Prophet nor Worker of Wonders appeared John the Baptist though the Angel deputed to signifie the coming of Christ yet did no Miracles But our Saviour was invested with Power from above and performed many Their quality and number is considerable 1. They were not mere Signs as the conversion of Moses Rod into a Serpent nor destructive and punishing as the Wonders in Egypt but advantageous and beneficial to men the equal demonstrations of his Mercy and Power He cured Diseases that were absolutely desperate by the mere signification of his Will As the Son of the Nobleman who was sick at Capernaum when Himself was at Cana in Galilee or by such visible means that the Spectators might be fully convinced that it was not the external application but his sole Vertue Divine Power that produced the effect Thus by anointing with Clay and Spittle the Eyes of him that was born blind who never had any natural possibility of seeing he wrought an unparalleld Cure It was never yet heard that any man opened the eyes of one that was born blind Therefore he that was healed inferr'd from that as a most pregnant proof that our Saviour was from God He rais'd the dead This effect exceeds the power not only of Men but of the Angels 'T is true That one Angel destroy'd in a night an hundred fourscore and five thousand of the Assyrian Army but 't is as true that all the Angels together cannot raise from the dead one Man 'T is wholly the work of the Lord of Nature who holds the Keys of Life and Death in his hands 'T is only his Light can dispel the darkness his Voice can break the silence of the Grave And 't is observable that our Saviour who sometimes conceal'd his miraculous works and forbid the publishing of them yet perform'd this kind before many Witnesses that they might publish and verifie it as being most conclusive of his mission from God He raised to life the Rulers Daughter to the astonishment of all that were present to attend her Funeral The Widows Son of Naim was carried without the Gates of the City to his Grave Jesus stops the sad train and restores life to the young Man and to his Mother something more dear than her life And the more signally to triumph over Death he pursued it to its fort the obscurity of the Grave Lazarus was buried four dayes his Carcase was corrupted Jesus calls him from the bottom of his Tomb with that powerful voice that created the World The Dead answers and comes forth to the amazement of all that saw the Glory of God so clearly manifested The Evangelist reports that the People afterward were as desirous to see Lazarus as Jesus Add to these his casting out of Devils Before the Fall the unclean Spirit was incorporated with the Serpent but now with Man himself He seizes on the External Organs and Internal Faculties and rules him at his pleasure In the time of Christ great numbers were possest for the Devil perceiving the ruine of his Kingdom approaching he would extend the limits of it here and by the perfect possessing of sinners begin their torment which is one act of his principality The case of those persons was most compassionable For in that close fight the soul was disarmed of its defensive weapons being hindered in a great measure of the free use of its faculties Whereas in other Temptations he works by outward object at a distance here he makes a violent assault on both parts 'T is the true anticipation of Hell for the possest person is not exempted from Suffering the priviledge of Death nor enjoys the free power of doing the effect of Life Now the ejecting of this Enemy was above the force of any humane means no material applications had power over immaterial Spirits But our Saviour by a Word commanded them forth of their Garrisons And the Evangelists observe that the sight of it affected the People in an extraordinary manner above what his other Miracles did 'T is said they were all amazed insomuch that they question'd among themselves saying what thing is this what new Doctrine is this For with Authority commandeth he even the unclean Spirits and they obey him His Empire over evil Spirits was more admired than over Diseases or Death it self Those who were insensible of his former Miracles received impression from this They were astonish'd at the mighty Power of God confessing that it was never so seen in Israel And another time they said is not this the Son of David i. e. the Messiah The Pharisees his obstinate enemies were more troubled about this than any other action and to elude the present conviction that He came from God ascribed it to a secret compact with Beelzebub as if there were a collusion between the evil Spirits a lesser Devil retir'd that the Prince might reign But so great was the Evidence of the Spirit of God in that act of Jurisdiction over the Devils that our Saviour charges them with unpardonable Guilt for their wilful denying it The number of his Miracles was so great that St. John saith If all were written the world could not contain the Books We may in part conjecture how numerous they were by taking notice how many he perform'd in one day He dined with Matthew at Capernaum whiles He was there Jairus entreats Him to go to his Daughter newly dead as He went the Woman with the bloody Issue toucht the hem of his garment and was healed He raised the dead Maid in his returning He cured two blind men and immediately after cast out the Devil from one that was dumb And in all these miraculous Operations the glory of Gods Power was clearly manifested 4. The Divine