sufferings without this we have no life in us Let us therefore take heed how we have slight thoughts of the sufferings of Christ this is to slight them when we do not study the virtue of these sufferings when we do not see our need of them and do not apply our selves to them that we may be saved by them 4. Then are the sufferings of Christ contemned when we come unworthily to the Lords Table The Sacrament of the Supper it is the Sacrament of the body and blood of Christ when therefore we rush upon the Sacrament in a rude manner we do in an eminent way contemn the sufferings of Christ The Supper of the Lord is called a shewing forth the Lords death 1 Cor. 11.26 As often as ye eat this bread and drink this cup ye do shew the Lords death till he come This phrase of shewing forth the Lords death implies three things in it 1. It implies the inward assent of the mind that we do indeed with our hearts and minds believe that Christ did dye and suffer such things for us as we read of in the Gospel 2. This phrase of shewing forth the Lords death implies the profession and confession of our faith before the world 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that we owne it and profess it before the world that we believe such and such things concerning Christ 3. It implies our faith in our our reliance upon the death and sufferings of Christ for salvation that is our expectation of salvation by the death of Christ and by that means only All this I take to be implied in this phrase of shewing forth the death of Christ the Sacrament therefore being a shewing forth of Christs death when we come to the Sacrament we have to do with the death and sufferings of Christ in a peculiar manner if therefore we rush upon that Ordinance in a rude or unworthy manner we must of necessity contemn the sufferings of Christ because the Sacrament is the special and peculiar Ordinance that is appointed to represent to us the death and sufferings of the Lord Jesus and that this is one way of contemning Christs sufferings the Apostle is exceeding clear and plain 1 Cor. 11.27 Whosoever shall eat and drink this cup of the Lord unworthily shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. As much as if he should say Every unworthy Communicant every unworthy receiver at the Lords Table is guilty of no small sin he is guilty of the very body and blood of Christ that is he is as one that hath imbrued his hands in Christs blood he is guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. The Ancients expound it to this sense Every unworthy receiver and Communicant that comes in a rude manner to the Lords Supper is like Judas that betrayed Christ like the Jews that buffeted and spit upon him like to Pilate that condemned him and like the Souldiers that crucified him these dealt unworthily with the body of Christ and so doth every unworthy Communicant deal unworthily with the body of Christ The others indeed abused and dealt unworthily with his natural body but every unworthy Communicant deals unworthily with his sacramental body and the sin of the one is so much the greater than the sin of the other because many of them that had a hand in the crucifixion of the body of our Saviour looked upon him as an ordinary man they did not look upon him as the Son of God Hence doth the Apostle say If they had known it they would not have crucified the Lord of glory 1 Cor. 2.8 But now rude Christians who rush irreverently upon this Ordinance do profess they believe him to be the Son of God the Saviour of the world and yet offer indignity to him They therefore that come unworthily to the Lords Table do in an eminent manner contemn the sufferings of Christ But here it may be useful for us to inquire What is it to come unworthily Who are they that come unworthily Whosoever shall eat this bread 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and drink this cup of the Lord unworthily 1 Cor. 11.29 The Greek word as Peter Martyr observes Indecenter parùm congruè minùs apposité signifies in this place as much as indecently not congruously not in that fit manner as he ought to do he eats and drinks unworthily that comes in an indecent manner without due preparation to this Ordinance I shall more particularly shew what this unworthy receiving is in two or three things 1. Then do we come unworthily to the Sacrament when we have not a due reverence of those great and sublime Mysteries that are set before us in the Sacrament Whoever shall drink this cup of the Lord saith the Apostle this Cup of the Lord here is an accent that it is the Lords bread the Lords cup the bread that we partake of in the Sacrament is the Lords bread and the cup that we drink of in the Sacrament is the Lords cup. Some may say so is all our bread the bread that we live upon daily is the Lords bread and the cup we drink of daily is the Lords cup it is he that spreads our tables for us and causeth our cups to run over But we must consider that the bread here spoken of the sacramental Bread and the sacramental Cup are called the Lords bread and the Lords cup in a peculiar manner it is that bread that is instituted to signifie and represent the Lords body and it is that cup that is instituted to represent the Lords blood therefore when we look upon the sacramental bread as common ordinary bread when we drink of the sacramental wine as common ordinary wine this is a prophanation of this Ordinance We ought to be sensible of the Mystery that is in this Ordinance namely that the Lords body and his blood are represented to us by the outward signs The ancient Church were wont to call the Mysteries represented to us in the Sacrament tremendous Mysteries O here are tremendous Mysteries indeed 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 if we rightly consider what they are that are set before us in the Sacrament to see the incorporeal God assuming a humane body to see God personally inhabit in that flesh that suffered and offering that very body of his in which he was crucified dyed rose again and ascended into Heaven to be the food of our souls these are wonderful Mysteries indeed and yet these are the Mysteries that are represented to us in the Sacrament in the Sacrament we see the Son of God and God to have assumed a part of our flesh and then offering himself up in that flesh a Sacrifice for our sins and as we see the Son of God first giving himself for us upon the Cross so in the Sacrament we see him giving himself to us Here lyes the mystery of the Sacrament In the Sacrament we do not only see Christ giving himself for us but we also see
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
will for the most part depend one upon another and the former Proposition will be introductory and leading to them that do succeed Before I come to lay down those Propositions that do immediately concern the Doctrine of Christs Satisfaction it self there are some Propositions to be laid down that are preliminary and necessary to make way thereupon 1. The first Proposition then is this Man was created under a Law of service and obedience to his Maker Man when first he came out of the hands of God must needs see himself in a state of inferiority unto God he saw that God was above him and that he had received his being from God and that receiving his Being from God he must necessarily be in a state of inferiority and subjection to him Man also saw that having received his Being from God he was under a vast obligation of gratitude love and service into God who had given him Being and such an excellent Being man also saw that receiving his Being from another and not having it from himself it was most just and reasonable that he should be under the will of him who gave him his Being and not under the conduct and government of his own will These deductions do naturally flow from the principles of right reason which we must suppose to be in man in his primitive estate 2. The second Proposition is this That man was every way fitted and qualified to give obedience to the Law of his Creation Man we know at first was created after the image of God in Righteousness and true Holiness and man being cloathed with the image of God was every way fitted to give to God that obedience which the Law of his Creation required from him Mans mind or understanding was filled with light and knowledge whereby he clearly understood what the will of God and what his own duty was Mans will also as it was first created had no obliquity in it but was inclined to good his affections were all regular God made man upright as the Scripture speaks Eccles 7.29 Every thing was upright most upright in man in his first Creation there was nothing out of order in him the will of man was then upright It is true although the will of man was made upright and good at first yet it was not made immutably good but that it was possible for man to decline from good to evil otherwise it had not been possible for man to have fallen and sinned but sin and fall he did and that we know by our own sad experience But yet though man was not created at first in an impeccable estate but that it was possible for him to sin yet he was created in so perfect a state that it was possible for him not to have sinned Tale erat adjuâ—orium quod desereret cùm vellet in quo permaneret si vellet non quo fieret ut vellet Aug. Hence is that of Austin Adam had that help and assistance given to him at first which he might desert when he would and in which he might have abode and continued in case he would but he had not that help and assistance whereby he should so will 3. The third Proposition is this God to lay a further ingagement upon man to persevere in the course of his obedience entred into a Covenant or stipulation with man promising him life in case of obedience and threatning him with death in case of disobedience This we have expressed in that known Text Gen. 2.16 17. And the Lord God commanded the man saying Of every tree of the garden thou mayst freely eat But of the tree of knowledge of good and evil thou shalt not eat of it for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt dye the death Here we have a positive Law supperadded unto the natural Law the Law of mans creation and there is a threatning annexed to deter man from breaking this Law in which threatning also there is a promise supposed to be included in case man did not break it for if God threatned man in case he did eat that he shall dye this is to be supposed if he did not eat nor transgress this command he should not dye else the threatning had been in vain Now we must know that man by virtue of the natural Law the Law of his creation was bound to observe this positive Law of God And the reason is because man being a creature must necessarily be under the will and at the dispose of him that makes him and therefore must necessarily be obliged to observe his Creators will in all things that he shall declare to be his will therefore it pleasing God to give out this positive Law concerning the not eating of the Tree of knowledge of good and evil as a tryal of mans obedience man by virtue of the natural Law the Law of his creation is bound to give obedience to God in this positive Law of his For man as he is a creature is bound to give obedience to the Law and Will of his Creator in that way God requires and expects it of him and God having manifested this to be his Will the Law of his creation obligeth him to testifie his respect and obedience to God according as he hath discovered his mind to him 4. The fourth Proposition is this That man sinning God is highly offended with him by reason of sin Sin is most displeasing to God upon several accounts 1. Because sin is most contrary to the Nature and Will of God 1. Sin is contrary to the Nature of God Psal 5.4 Thou art not a God that hath pleasure in wickedness neither shall evil dwell with thee Hab. 1.13 Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil and canst not look on iniquity 1 Joh. 1.5 God is light and in him is no darkness at all God is perfection and sin is imperfection God is purity and Holiness it self and sin is a defect of that purity therefore the nature of God is most diametrically opposite to sin 2. Sin is contrary to the Will of God The Will of God is expressed and declared in his Law Now the Law of God commands rectitude nothing but rectitude The commandment is holy just and good Rom. 7.12 Thy righteousness is an everlasting righteousness and thy law is truth Psal 119.142 Now sin is a deviation from that rectitude which the Law requires sin is a perfect contradiction to the will of God revealed in his Law 2. Sin is most displeasing unto God because it is a casting off of Gods Authority This we must necessarily suppose that God being infinitely superiour unto man and the Author of mans Being must needs have the most perfect and absolute authority over man Now man when he sins when he takes upon him to sin acts according to his own will and takes no notice of the Divine Law and so consequently casts off Gods Authority Man when he sins acts after that manner as if so
shalt thou return Gen. 3.19 was the Curse pronounced upon man for sin Terra es in terram reverteris Earth thou art and unto earth shalt thou return By this expression Divines both ancient and modern understand a state of mortality that should come upon man by reason of sin Earth thou art and to earth shalt thou return that is thou shalt become mortal Terra es ostendit hominem in deterius commutatum Aug. Austin observes that expression Thou art earth it shews that the whole man was changed for the worse Man that had been immortal had it not been for sin is now become mortal by means of sin there is nothing that men fear more than death The Apostle tells us That men through fear of death are all their life-time subject to bondage Heb. 2. When man by sin was brought into a mortal state he was always in fear and expectation of death A man that is condemned doth not dye presently but he is in a dying condition and he is always in expectation of death and a man that is infected with the plague doth not it may be dye presently but he carries his deaths wound about him so man having sinned he had the matter of death in him he had that in him which would certainly and infallibly bring him unto death man having sinned brought himself into a mortal state therefore the Lord Jesus Christ our Surety that he might deliver us from this part of the Curse put himself into a state of mortality makes himself liable to death Hence is that of the Apostle Phil. 2. He took upon him the form of a servant and became obedient to the death even the death of the cross that is he took our nature and made himself mortal in it Had the Divinity in Christ exerted it self in its full power and strength it could have prevented suffering and death in Christ but it being a part of the Curse that we sâ—â—uld be subject to suffering and death the Divinity did so far suspend it self that Christ might become passible and mortal therefore Christ who was immortal in himself made himself mortal for our sakes In Rom. 8.2 we read of the Law of sin and of death The Law of sin is as Austin observes that whosoever sins shall dye Lex peccati ut quicunque peccârit moriatur August the soul that sins shall dye The Law of death is Dust thou art and to dust thou shalt return Therefore man being subjected to a state of mortality by the Curse Christ underwent this Curse for us Heb. 2.14 That through death he might destroy him that had the power of death that is the devil That through death he might destroy him c. The end why the Son of God assumed our nature was that he might suffer and dye in it he so assumed our nature as that being in our nature he might become passible and mortal in it Ought not Christ to have suffered these things Luk. 24. He that would be our Surety and pay our debt must suffer and dye for us and therefore that Christ might fully discharge our debt he was pleased to put himself into a state of suffering and death Learn from hence Vse 1 in the first place the infinite love of Christ that Christ who was free would become our Surety and bring himself under bonds for us and make himself liable to the Law and to the penalty of it for our sakes yea not only so that Christ who was most free would take upon him the payment of our debt but that he who in some respect was the Creditor and had the debt owing to him should yet in another respect and in a wonderful way of dispensation become the Surety and pay the debt for us Consider Christ as God sin was an offence against him as well as against the other Persons of the Trinity and Christ might have demanded and exacted punishment from men but yet Christ in a wonderful way of dispensation by assuming our nature and bearing the punishment due to us in it would become our Surety and pay the debt that was owing to himself Have we not reason here with the Apostle to cry out O the depth O the heights and depths and lengths and breadths of the love of Christ that when Christ might have demanded satisfaction from us he was pleased to take our nature and make satisfaction for us This shews us the great happiness and the singular priviledge of Believers Vse 2 who have an interest in Christ The priviledge of Believers lies in this That Christ who is their Surety hath undertaken to satisfie and discharge their debt for them Now if the debt of punishment which we owe to Divine Justice be already satisfied if the punishment which we owe to Gods Justice be already undergone Divine Justice can demand no more this consideration may be of unspeakable use and comfort to us when we come to be under agonies and terrors of conscience Those that truly belong to God may sometimes have such thoughts as these are What if I should be put to lye under the wrath of God What if the torments of the Damned should be inflicted upon me Holy Souls themselves have had some sips and tastes of Divine wrath Now that which may be of unspeakable comfort in such a case is this If thou be a true Believer if thou hast closed with Christ by faith thou hast already suffered punishment in Christ thy Head thou hast after a sort satisfied Divine Justice and born the torments of Hell in Christ thy Head Paul said I am crucified with Christ Gal. 2.20 I am crucified together with Christ concrucified When Christ was crucified 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 we were crucified together with him Christ suffering the punishment in our nature which was due to us it is in Gods account as if we had suffered Hence it is said He was made sin for us 2 Cor. 5.21 and we are made the righteousness of God in him Now thou that art a true sincere Believer who lovest Christ and prizest him above all the world if thou hast already suffered the wrath of God and the torments of Hell in Christ thy Head it is to be hoped thou shalt not be put to suffer it in thy own person Who shall condemn saith the Apostle it is Christ that hath dyed Rom. 8.33 If Christ hath dyed thou shalt not dye and if Christ hath been condemned thou shalt not be condemned This shews the unspeakable misery of such who have no interest in Christ Vse 3 and no part in his Satisfaction Their misery appears in this That they are liable to bear the punishment of their own sins As this is the singular priviledge of Believers that they are exempted from punishment because Christ their Head and Surety hath born it for them so this is the unspeakable misery of all Unbelievers of all such as lye out of Christ that they are liable to bear
of the Ancients I think it is Ambrose's observation Therefore saith he it was said to Adam In dying thou shalt dye or as it is rendred Thou shalt dye the death and not simply Thou shalt dye because the death here spoken of concerns both soul and body Now then as Adam and we in him became subject to a double death one of the body the other of the soul So our Saviour being pleased to be our Surety subjected himself to a double death for our sakes to a natural death and to a supernatural death 1. To a natural death the separation of his humane soul from his body 2. To a supernatural and spiritual death the separation of his soul for a time from the comfort of Gods presence Hence is it that we read that our Saviour did not only suffer death in the Singular number but he underwent deaths in the Plural number as if it were intimated that there was a double death that he suffered Isa 53.9 He made his grave with the wicked and with the rich in his death in the Hebrew it is in his deaths in the Plural number and this was not without some special Mystery in it as some Learned men conceive yea there is a judicious Divine that saith expresly he is perswaded that both kind of deaths natural and supernatural are intimated by that expression when it is said He made his grave with the rich in his deaths Our Saviour underwent therefore a double death a natural death and a supernatural death That our Saviour suffered the first death a natural death a separation of his humane soul from his body that we do all know and believe Now that he tasted of the second death or supernatural death the separation of his soul from God taken in a right sense that I must speak unto To understand this we must know that the soul may be said to be separated from God two ways 1. By a voluntary aversion from God by sin this was not in our Saviour and could not be in him his will did always firmly and inseparably adhere to God even in the midst of his greatest sufferings It is true this is part of the punishment of sin in us namely that our wills are turned aside from God Adam voluntarily deserting of God this is now part of the punishment that is come upon him that he is now left to himself and thereupon there is an aversion of his will from God and this is that which we call spiritual Death when the will declines and turns from God the chief Good But this kind of death could not be in our Saviour and the reason is because he that was to bear the punishment of all other mens sins must necessarily be supposed to be without all sin himself Christ could not have been a Surety for our sins born the punishment of them if he had not been without all sin himself This aversion of the soul from God as it is the punishment of sin so it is in it self a sin Now Christ so bears the punishment of our sins as that he himself is still without all sin in a way of inhesion Christ hath the guilt of our sins laid upon him by way of imputation but he hath no sin in him by way of inhesion 2. The soul may be said to be separated from God in a way of deprivation namely when the soul is deprived of the comfort of Gods love and presence Now this our Saviour did undergo he was deprived of the comfort of his Fathers love and presence for a time as we shall shew more hereafter Psal 88.14 Lord why castest thou off my soul why hidest thou thy face from me This is spoken in the letter in the person of Heman but Learned men conceive that Christs sufferings are here represented to us under these expressions Lord why hidest thou thy face from me Gods face was hid from Christ for a time that so it might not be hid from us for ever And this was the spiritual death that our Saviour underwent not a death in sin which we are all subject to not any aversion of his will from God but desertion of God in point of comfort to be deserted and forsaken of God as our Saviour was is in some sense the spiritual death of the soul It is a good speech of one of the Ancients That is not death so properly that separates the soul from the body but that is most properly death which separates the soul from God God is life life it self he therefore that is separated from God must needs be dead as the body lives from the soul so the soul ut beatè vivat that it may live happily must live from God Hence are those expressions of Austin The life of the body is the soul but the life of the soul is God the body dyes when the soul recedes from it and the soul dyes when God recedes from it Therefore when our Saviour was so far forsaken and deserted of God for our sakes as to have no sensible taste of his love and favour for a time in this sense he underwent spiritual and supernatural death for us 6. The sixth Particular which follows upon this is That our Saviour tasting of supernatural death for us he did in so doing undergo the very pains of Hell for us Hence are those expressions Psal 116.3 The sorrows of death compassed me the pains of hell got hold of me I found trouble and sorrow So likewise My soul is heavy to the death Mat. 26.38 It is a great expression which we have 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Act. 2.24 Having loosed the pains of death or the sorrows of death The Greek word properly signifies the sorrows of a travailing woman and what were these sorrows Those which he had in the Garden when he was in his Agony and when he sweat drops of blood and those which he had upon the Cross when he cryed out My God my God why hast thou forsaken me These are called the sorrows or pains of death but indeed they were the sorrows or pains of Hell and therefore the vulgar Latin renders it the pains of hell because in these sorrows our Saviour did not only taste of the sorrows of natural death but he also tasted of the sorrows of supernatural death that is of the pains of Hell Hence is it as Learned men have observed That the sufferings of Christ and those great sorrows that he underwent are set forth in such a variety and multitude of expressions in the Scripture that sometimes they are set forth by the grave by darkness sometimes by the land of oblivion sometimes they are called wounding killing sometimes they are set forth by his being forsaken forsaken of his friends of his kindred yea of God himself sometimes they are called debts afflictions tempests solitude prison cuting off abjection treading under foot all which and many more which the Scripture is full of sets forth those most perfect
a plain sign and token that he was looked upon and dealt with as a person accursed of God Maledicti symbolum crux Crux signum maledictae mortu The Cross was a Symbol of the Curse the Cross was a sign of an accursed death Now it is well observed by a Learned man The death of the Cross simply and in it self considered was no more accursed than any other kind of death but therefore was the death of the Cross an accursed death because the person that was to undergo it was an accursed person Transgressio pendentis maledictionem contrabit The transgression of him that was hanged upon the tree was that which did contract the curse If a person had committed a sin worthy of that death he was an accursed person If Christ had not taken upon him the guilt of our sins the death of the Cross could not have rendred him accursed Maledictum cones peccati The Curse is that which accompanies sin and follows upon it therefore it is an elegant passage of one of the Ancients Non ideo maledictus quia pendet sed ideo pendet quia maledictus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Maledictio Dei upensus A person is not therefore accursed because he hangs upon the tree but he is therefore hanged upon the tree because he is accursed The Text from whence the Apostle takes this is Deut. 21.23 He that is hanged is cursed of God so we render it and so the Septuagint renders it Cursed of God Arius Montanus renders it A person that is hanged is the curse of God He is the curse of God that is the curse of God is upon such a person and because the curse of God is upon him therefore doth he suffer that punishment The Chaldee Paraphrase therefore renders it well For as much as he hath sinned against the Lord therefore he is hanged upon the tree Sin preceding brings the curse and the curse of God being upon such a person that kind of punishment was to be inflicted Our Saviour therefore being carried to the Cross and crucified saw plainly that the punishment of our sins was laid upon him our sins were imputed to him as our Surety and he being by this means led to the Cross saw plainly that he suffered the punishment that was due to us The Cross was a sign and Symbol of Christs being made a curse for us And Learned men have this apprehension that in this place in Deuteronomy the Lord did before-hand in his infinite Wisdom point out that kind of death hanging upon the tree as an accursed death because he intended that the death and sufferings of Christ should be signified thereby and that Christ dying in this manner his death should be the expiatory Sacrifice to expiate and take away the Curse that lay upon the whole world By way of admonition Vse 1 Let us be admonished to take heed of being offended at the Cross of Christ Flesh and blood carnal reason are apt to be offended at the Cross of Christ the wisdom of this world is apt to be offended at Christs sufferings carnal reason cannot bear that he that is the Saviour of the world should be exposed to so much shame and contempt Christ crucified saith the Apostle was to the Jews a stumbling-block and to the Greeks foolishness 1 Cor. 1. The Jews in derision call Christ He that was hanged up Talui suspensus But we may say with the Apostle God forbid that we should glory in any thing save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ He that is ashamed of the cross and sufferings of Christ let him be ashamed of his own Salvation Christ suffering what he did was the cause of our Salvation if ever we saved We may speak to such as are offended at Christs cross and at the shamefulness of his sufferings in the words of Tertullian Parce unicae spei totius orbis quodcunque Deo indignum est mihi expedits Tertul. Be contented to spare the only hope of the whole world thou that destroyest so necessary a pillar of faith whatsoever it is that may seem unworthy of God that was most necessary and expedient for man This is plain and evident if Christ had not been crucified and born the curse of the Law the curse of the Law had still lain upon us and remained to be born by us The Law saith expresly Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things that are written therein to do them and as many as are of the works of the Law are under the curse Therefore if we are under the curse as certainly we are if Christ hath not born the curse for us we must have been still left to bear it Therefore we have reason to be so far from being offended at the sufferings of Christ and at the ignominiousness of his death that we have infinite reason to be so much the more thankful Quantò major est injuria tantò major debetur gratia by how much the greater injury and indignity Christ underwent for us by so much the more thanks we owe to him for suffering so much for us for what relief or comfort could we have had against the pains of Hell and that curse which we deserved if Christ had not suffered the pains of Hell and been made a curse for us Therefore take heed of being offended at the Cross of Christ Vse 2 This shews us how sad and deplorable our condition by nature is Hath Christ been made a curse for us then we by nature are all under the curse Christ that was most blessed in himself was made a curse for us Christ was not born for himself nor lived for himself nor suffered nor dyed for himself but all that Christ did and suffered was for us If therefore Christ was made a curse for us it is a certain sign we are all by nature under the curse and O what a sad and deplorable thing is it to be under the curse of God! The curse is the comprehension of all evil it is the Epitome of all misery the curse comprehends in it all the miseries in this life and eternal damnation in the next The Apostle opens the nature of the Curse to us at large when he saith Rom. 2.8 9. Indignatin and wrath tribulation and anguish upon every soul of man that doth evil This is but a Paraphrase on the Curse and this is the curse that all of us by nature are subject to Indignation wrath tribulation anguish who can bear the thoughts of these things Who of us can think of remaining and abiding under the wrath of God at present and of suffering eternal damnation hereafter Of how much concernment then is it to every one to see that he come out from being under the curse For this is certain we are all by nature under the curse and what will it be to lye under the power of the curse and under the power of the
great thing for God to become man but it was a greater thing for that person who was God to put himself into the nature of man to dye for man Joh. 6.51 I am the living bread which came down from heaven and the bread which I will give is my flesh which I will give for the life of the world Christ is said to come down from Heaven by his Incarnation when the Son of God took our nature into unity of person with himself this was his coming down from Heaven Now that the Word as he is called Joh. 1.1 In the beginning was the Word that the Word the second Person in Trinity should not only assume flesh but give that flesh for the life of the world this was the highest demonstration of love Hence is that expression of the Apostle 1 Joh. 3.16 Hereby preceive we the love of God that he lay down his life for us As if he should say This is the most illustrious and glorious manifestation of the love of God to us that that Person who was God laid down his life for us He that was God by nature took up the humanity in a voluntary way of condescension and having voluntarily taken up our nature voluntarily laid down the life of his humanity for us It was not possible for him to lay down the life of his Divinity but that Person who was God took up the humane nature and in that nature laid down the life of his humanity for us This is that which sets forth the greatness of Christs love that he should lay down his life for us What more contrary or unsuitable to the Nature of God than sin suffering and death and yet Christ who was God as well as man God and man in one person although he had no sin of his own no sin inherent in him yet was he content to be accounted a sinner He was numbered among the transgressors as the Prophet speaks Isa 53. yea He was made sin for us that we might be made the righteousness of God in him 2 Cor. 5.21 Christ also who was above suffering and death exposed himself to suffering and death for us He tasted death for every man Heb. 2.9 Thus was the Son of God pleased out of the greatness of his love to us to put himself as it were out of Heaven into Hell and to descend from the height and top of happiness to the lowest degree of misery and abasement He humbled himself saith the Apostle and became obedient to the death even the death of the cross This Doctrine of the Cross is the greatest stumbling-block and offence to carnal reason to hear of a crucified God to hear that he that was to be the Saviour of the world should suffer and dye this is that which carnal reason cannot away with 1 Cor. 1.23 We preach Christ crucified to the Jews a stumbling-block and to the Greeks foolishness A crucified Saviour was the great stumbling-block to the world and yet that which was accounted foolishness by the men of the world was the Wisdom of God to save the world by it This I say was the lowest degree of Christs humiliation or exinanition that the Lord of glory should expose himself to suffering and death for our sakes this is commonly expressed in that Article of our Faith That Christ descended into Hell When we say that Christ descended into Hell we are not to understand any local descension as if Christ did descend into the place of the Damned thus indeed Bellarmine and some others have understood that Article of a local descension but by Christs descending into Hell we are to understand the lowest degree of his humiliation his descending into a state of mortality and death first being content to put himself into a passible and mortal state who himself had been impassible and immortal and then actually undergoing suffering and death for us Eph. 4.9 That he ascended what is it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth What are those lower parts of the earth into which Christ descended Compare it with Acts 2.27 Thou shalt not leave my soul in hell that is thou shalt not leave it in the grave So that Christs descending into the lowest parts of the earth is his descending into the grave Christ indeed suffered the pains of Hell but we do not read he descended into Hell locally and Christ suffered the pains of Hell in this life as I had occasion to shew heretofore But his soul did not locally descend into Hell no his soul was taken into Paradise This day saith Christ to the repenting Thief shalt thou be with me in Paradise Thou shalt be with me that is as a Learned man understands it thy humane soul shall be with my humane soul in Paradise Christ as to the presence of his Divinity is every where therefore when he speaks of his being in Paradise this is most properly to be understood of his humane soul that his humane soul was to be in Paradise Christs descending into Hell therefore notes his descending into the state of the dead which was the completion of all his sufferings and the lowest state of his humiliation 2. The love of Christ in his sufferings and in the work of his Satisfaction appears in this That we were the offending persons and Christ a person most innocent It was we that had done the wrong and injury unto God and yet Christ who had not committed the least offence was content to suffer for us Isa 53.6 All we like sheep have gone astray and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all So in vers 9 10. He had done no violence neither was any deceit in his mouth yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him Hence also is that of the Apostle Peter 1 Pet. 3.18 Christ suffered for sin the just for the unjust Christ who was a just and an innocent person gave himself to suffer for us who were the unjust and nocent persons yea which is much more admirable Christ who was one of the persons offended unto whom the wrong and injury was done he comes to suffer and bear the punishment for them that had committed the offence The injured person is content to bear the punishment for them who had done him the wrong and injury Sin is an offence against all the Persons of the Trinity for as all the Persons of the Trinity have but one Essence one Majesty one and the same Will so sin strikes at all the Persons and is an offence against all because it is one and the same common Divinity that is offended in all and yet the Son of God who is one of the Persons of the Trinity and had received wrong and injury from men by reason of their sins was pleased to take upon him the nature of man and to bear the punishment which man had deserved for his offence against himself as well as against the other Persons Hence is it said
flow from persons It was therefore the person of the Word that made satisfaction for our sins Now that a person of that infinite worth and excellency as the Son of God the second Person in Trinity should come to subsist in our nature and being in our nature should be the person satisfying for our sins this was great condescension and abasement Thus the Son who was yet equal with the Father in respect of his Divine nature by his Incarnation and sufferings doth not only make himself inferiour to the Father but to himself also The Son though he was one of the persons offended yet he comes to make the satisfaction and considered as Mediator as God-man doth not only make satisfaction to the Father but to himself considered as God simply The fourth Consideration is this That whole Christ or the whole person of the Mediator was the price of our Redemption 1 Joh. 2.1 If any man sin we have an Advocate with the Father Jesus Christ the righteous and he is the propitiation for our sins It is Christ then that is the propitiation for our sins Now Christ is the name of the person subsisting in both natures When we speak of Christ Christus est nomen personae in duabus subsistentis naturis we understand that person who subsists in both natures in the nature of God and in the nature of man Christ doth not signifie one of the natures simply but Christ is the name of the person subsisting in both natures Now this is he who is the propitiation for our sins that person who is God and man he is the propitiation for our sins Persona Christi sive Christus satisfecit pro peccatis tanquamquod It was the person of Christ or Christ that did satisfie for our sins as the Principle making satisfaction To understand this we must consider that which was before hinted That Christ is our Mediator according to both natures he is not our Mediator as to one of his natures only but according to both natures and as he is Mediator according to both natures so he gives himself for us according to both his natures For though it were the humane nature only that suffered yet it was the Divine nature that sanctified the sufferings of the humane nature and gave virtue to them therefore is it said Himself bare our sins in his own body on the tree and that by himself he hath purged our sins Heb. 1.3 It is not said By his humane nature meerly though it is true it was the humane nature only that was capable of suffering but it is not so expressed but by himself Christ himself is the Sacrifice for our sins Gal. 2. He loved me and gave himself for me and Christ was once offered up Heb. 9. And that expression of the Apostle Peter is very emphatical 2 Pet. 2.24 Who his own self bare our sins in his body on the tree 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Christ himself who was God-man made satisfaction for sins and laid down the price of our Redemption yea he himself was the price of our Redemption God hath redeemed the Church with his own blood To understand this two things are to be considered in the Satisfaction of Christ as Alvarez hath observed 1. One is that species or kind of humane actions by which Christ did satisfie and this proceeded from the humane nature as the formal principle of them Thus the Son of God obeyed suffered dyed in the humane nature 2. There is another thing to be considered in Christs Satisfaction and that is the infinite value and worth that was found in it Now the infinite value and worth that was in the Satisfaction of Christ proceeded from the person satisfying that is from the Divine Word or the person of the Son of God subsisting in the humane nature the actions and sufferings of the humane nature are the matter of his Satisfaction but that which gives the virtue and value to them is the Divinity Hence are those expressions of the Ancients If he had not been true God he had not brought a remedy for us Si non esset verus Deus non afferret remedium Quia ille qui moriebatur erat Deus Another observes That therefore did the death of Christ bring salvation to the world because the person who dyed was God And another hath a passage to this purpose Death saith he becoming as it were the death of God hath demolished death for the person that dyed was God and man both the sufferings of Christ being made the sufferings of that person who was God received their virtue from the Divinity As much as if he had said By virtue of the Divine person which suffered in the humane nature those sufferings received their virtue to save us and to make satisfaction for our sins This is another thing that discovers the humiliation of Christs person That he who was God and in his Divine nature simply considered was the person offended yet as God man was pleased to become a ransom for us 1 Tim. 2.6 He gave himself a ransom for all That person who gave himself a ransom for all is the Mediator and who is the Mediator but God-man 1 Joh. 1.7 The blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin There is a great Emphasis upon those words Jesus Christ his Son It is the blood of that person who was no other than the Son of God and God which cleanseth us from all sin It is a memorable speech of Luther He gave saith he not silver not gold neither was it a meer man that he gave neither did he give all the Angels but it was himself that he gave as the price of our Redemption than which nothing was greater neither had he any thing greater to give Consider this price aright and we shall find it infinitely greater than the whole Creation 5. In the sufferings of Christ we may see the humiliation of his person from hence namely that in the death of Christ the glory of his Divinity seemed to be most obscured and darkened and suffered the greatest Eclipse What more unworthy of God than suffering and death What more absurd and incongruous in the eye of carnal reason than a crucified God Now herein did Christ commend the greatness of his love to us That he permitted the glory of his Divinity by means of his death and suffering to be eclipsed for our sakes That he who was the immortal God should expose himself to suffering and death for our sakes as if he had been no more than a passible and mortal man for though he were really and indeed the Son of God and God the Lord of Glory yet by reason of his death and sufferings he was by the generality of men thought to be but as an ordinary man This is that which the Apostle intimates 1 Cor. 2.8 Whom none of the Princes of this world knew for had they known it they would not