would have put out their hand to receive Him and seing it is so O receive this Gospel give Him room while He is content to sup with you take Him in make sure your union with Him this is the end why this Report is made and Christ is laid before you even that ye may lay your selves over on Him I would follow this Use a little by way of Exhortation and Expostulation jointly seeing the Doctrine will bear both for when Christ is brought so near even to the Mouth and to the Heart it will be great ground of reproof and expostulation if He shall be rejected Be exhorted therefore to be in earnest seing 1. It is a matter of such concernment to you many Nations Kings and Kingdoms have not had Christ so near them as ye have neglect not such an opportunity do ye think that all that is said in the Gospel concerning this is for nought Is it for no use that such a Report is made and Preaching continued so long among you And if it be for any use is it not for this that ye may receive the Report and may by doing so get your souls for a Prey To what use will Preaching be if this use and end of it be missed Will your hearing the Gospel make your Peace with God if Christ be not received 2. Consider the Advantages ye may have by receiving the Gospel that others have not is it a little thing to be called to God's Feast to be married to Christ to be made Friends with God and to enjoy Him for ever the Day comes when it will be thought an Advantage and are there Motives to perswade to any thing like those that are to induce to that 3. Consider what it is that we require of you it 's no strange nor hard thing it 's but Believing and this is nothing else but that the Report concerning Christ be received yea that He be received for your own good that is it that the Gospel calls you to even to betake you to a Physician for Cure to betake you to a Cautioner for your Debt if ye could escape a Reckoning and Wrath another way it were something but when there is no other way to obtain pardon of Sin and Peace or to escape Wrath and obtain favour and friendship with God but this and when this way to speak so is made so easie that it s but to stoop down and to take up Christ at your foot as it were or to roll your selves on Him how inexcusable will ye Unbelievers be when ye shall be arraigned before His Tribunal But 4. look a little farther to what is coming If ye were to live always here it were hard enough to live at feed with God but have ye faith of a Judgement after Death if so how will ye hold up your Faces in that Day that now refuse Christ will not horrible confusion be the portion of many then and will any ground of confusion be like this the slighting of Christ when He shall be seen coming to judge Slighters of Him what horrour will then rise in Consciences when He shall appear and be avenged on them that were not obedient to this Gospel as is most clear 2 Thess 1. When our Lord Jesus shall be revealed in flaming fire with his mighty Angels from Heaven to take vengeance on all that know not God and obey not the Gospel 5. Consider that Death and Life are now in your option in your hand as it were choose or refuse I speak not nor plead here for Free-will but of your willing electing of that which ye have offered to you for one of two will be either shall ye willingly choose Life which is a fruit of Grace or refuse Life and choose Death which will be found the native fruit of your Corruption ye may have Life by receiving Christ who is laid to your Door and if ye refuse Him Death will follow it as now in Hearing this Gospel ye carry in choosing or refusing so will the Sentence pass on you at the great Day and so your Sentence in a manner is written down with your own hand as it 's said Act. 13.46 Ye judge your selves unworthy of eternal life not out of humility but maliciously Now when the matter is of such concernment beware of playing the fool if ye will continue presumptuous and secure following your Idols what will the Lord say but let it be so ye get no wrong when ye get your own choice and He but as it were ratifies the Sentence which ye have past on your selves 6. I shall add but this one word more and beseech you that ye would seriously lay this to Heart as a weighty thing considering the Certification that follows on it It 's not only Death but a horrible Death Wrath and Wrath with its aggravation from this Ground like that of Capernaum that was lifted up to Heaven in this respect having Christ brought so near them to whom this Gospel is not the savour of Life unto Life it shall be the savour of Death unto Death and think not this a common Motive though it be commonly used it will bring Wrath upon Wrath and Vengeance upon Vengeance on the Hearers of this Gospel beyond that of Sodom if ye be still Rejecters of it sure none of you would think it an easie thing to be punished as Sodom was nor digest well the Curse that came on them is there any of you but ye would think it uncouth and strange yea stupendious to enter into their Judgement and to have your Lands turned in a stinking Loch and your selves eternally tormented with them but there is more wrath and vengeance following on the sin of Unbelief and rejecting of Christ when He comes to your Door in this Guspel To close up all Consider that Christ is near you and hath been long near you and wooing you ye know not how many Days or Years ye shall have how soon this Gospel may be taken from you or ye from it how soon ye may be put in the Pit where ye will gnash your Teeth gnaw your Tongues and blaspheme God therefore be serious while Christ is in your offer and roll your selves over upon Him while ye have Him so near you welcome this Hearing or Report while it sounds in your Ears that there may be no just ground of this Complaint against you Lord who hath believed our report SERMON III. ISAIAH LIII I Who hath believed our report And to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed THe most part of Men and Women think not much of the preached Gospel yet if it were considered what is the Lord's end in it it would be the most refreshful News that ever People heard to hear the Report of a Saviour that is and should be great and glad Tydings of great Joy to all Nations and we should be so composed to hear such News from God and concerning His Will and our own well as to be
not mixed with Faith And that for making the Duty acceptable Faith is necessarily requisite we may clearly see Heb. 11.6 where it is expressly said that without Faith it is impossible to please God And how is it that Abel offers a more excellent Sacrifice than Cain it was nothing sure in Cain's Sacrifice it self that made it be casten nor any thing in Abel's that made it be received or acceptable but Faith in the Messiah to come that was found to be in the one and was a missing in the other Is there not reason then to press this Duty on you and to exhort you not to think this a common and easie thing though the most part think it to be so if we look to the benefites of it to the difficulty of it and to the rarity of it in the World there is no Duty had need more to be press'd than this even that Christ Jesus should get the Burthen of your immortal Souls cast on Him by this Saving Faith I shall therefore in the further prosecution of this First Shew what mainly ye would eshew and avoid as that whereat Folk more ordinarily stumble Secondly What it is we would press you to and on what Grounds For the first I know the deceits and mistakes in Men about the Exercise of Faith are so many that they are moe then can well or easily be reckoned up yet we shall in some generals spoken of before hint at a few of them for so long as ye continue in the same Snares they must be still pointed out to you and endeavours still used to undeceive and extract you out of them and therefore 1. Beware of resting on a Doctrinal Faith which before I called Historical We know it 's hard to convince some that they want Faith yet we would have you to consider that it is not every kind of Faith but Saving Faith that will do your turn it 's the want of that which the Prophet complains of And therefore to open this a little ye would consider That there may be really such a Faith as is an assent to the truth of the Word in a natural Man yea in a Reprobate but that Faith will never unite to Christ nor be waited with the Pardon of Sin First I do not say that every one that is in the visible Church hath this Doctrinal Faith to believe a Heaven and a Hell that the Scripture is the Word of God and that all that believe in Christ shall get Pardon of Sin and Life the carriage alace of many testifies that they have not this much whatever fleeting notions they may have of these things or whatever esteem they may seem to put on the Gospel and whatever profession they may make that they believe the truth of it yet in their deeds they deny it for if there were a fixedness in the Doctrinal Faith of the Gospel in Men they durst not for their Souls live as they do Neither yet Secondly Do we say that all they that have this Doctrinal Faith of the Gospel or somewhat of it do believe every passage in it alike but often as they please them they believe them Hence many believe what the Word speaks of Mercy and of Pardon of Sin and will not question that but what it speaks of Holiness and of the severity of God's reckoning with Men for Sin they do not so credit that part of the Word it 's true where the Faith of the one is the Faith of the other will some way be but because the one agrees better with their Corruption than the other therefore the one is not so so received as the other and it 's very frequent with such to be found diminishing from one place and adding to another of the Word of God Nor Thirdly Do we say that all Men do in a like and equal degree believe the truâ—h of the Word there is in some more Knowledge in some less in some moe Convictions in some fewer and though we preach to you all yet there are some that believe not this to be God's Ordinance albeit there are many who will not be saved that takes this Word to be the Word of God and believe what is the meaning of it because the Word it self says it is so And the reason of this is 1. Because there is nothing that is not Saving but a Natural Man may hâ—ve it now this Doctrinal Faith is not Saving and so a Natural Man may have it yea the Devils believe and tremble and James does not dispute with these to whom he writes on this account that they believe not thus but tells them that Historical Faith was not enough and we think a man in Nature may have a great perswasion of the truth of the Word of God and that what it says will come to pass and yet still continue but a Natural Man A second Reason is Because the Scripture speaks so often of many sorts of Faith that are not Saving as Exod. 14. at the close it 's said the People believed the Lord and Psal 106.12 then they believed His Word and sang His praise and John 2.23 many believed on Christ to whom He did not commit himself there was Faith in them which His Signs and Miracles extorted from them which was not Saving and Matth. 13. two or three such acts of Faith are spoken of in the Parable of the Sower that were not Saving however sound they might be in their own kind and 1 Cor. 13. we have such a Faith spoken of as a Man dare not deny the truth of the Word though he should bring his Body to be burnt by his avouching of the same A third Reason is Because as much credit may be given to the Word as is given to any other History that is creditably believed and it 's on this ground that we believe there was such Men as Cesar Pompey Wallace c. and it being certain that there may be impressions on the Consciences of Hearers that this is God's Word backed with some common work of the Spirit and that it is generally received to be the Word of God in the part of the World we live in what wonder is it that Folk believe thus and drink in this Historical or Doctrinal Faith of the Word so as they may even dare to suffer to Death for it and yet in the mean time they may want Saving Faith the Devils being as sure as any Natural Man is that God is true and that His Word will be performed and therefore they say to Christ Art thou come to torment us before the time the Paâ—gs of a Natural Conscience in Men will assure them of a Judgment coming though they tremble to think on it And therefore ere we proceed further take a word of Use from this and it may let you see the great and very general mistake of the most part of the Hearers of the Gospel in resting on this Doctrinal Faith If ye tell them that
to bruise him in whose breast to speak so bred the plot of sinners Redemption Jehovah thought it good He loved the salvation of sinners so well that He was content to seem in a manner regardlesse of His own Sons cryes and tears for a time to make way for performing the satisfaction that was due to Justice and He did this with good will and pleasantly We shall not insist more on particular Uses but is there or can there be greater ground of Consolation then this or is there any thing wanting here to compleat the Consolation Is there not an well surnished Saviour commissionate to give Life to whom He will Who hath purchased it that He may give it and a well willing loving and condescending God willing to give His Son and willing to accept of His Death for a Ransome and what would ye have more The Partie offended is willing to be in friendship with the offending Partie and to give and accept of the Satisfaction what can Tentation say or what ground is for Jealousie to vent it self here He that did not spare his own Son but willingly and freely gave him to death for us all how shall be not with him also freely give us all things As it is Rom. 8. And if we were reconcilled to God by the death of his Son when we were enemies shall we not much more be saved by his life as it is Rom. 5.10 There is a great disproportion betwixt Christ and other Gifts yea and the gift of Heaven it self and shall a poor sinner have a suffering Saviour given and may he not also expect pardon of Sin Justification Faith Repentance and Admission to the Kingdom There is here good and strong ground of Consolation to them that will build on it let the Fathers and Christs love to you be welcome in it's offers that His end in bringing many Sons to glory be not frustrated by any of you so far as you can though it cannot indeed be frustrated For the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand and he shall see the travel of his soul and be satisfied SERMON XXXVI ISAIAH LIII X Verse 10. When thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin he shall see his seed he shall prolong his dayes and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand CHrist and His Sufferings have been a most delightsome subject to be spoken and heard of before ever He suffered and they would be to us now no less but much more so even very glad tydings to hear that ever the Son of God was made an Offering for sin This Verse as we hinted the last day doth set forth Christ's Sufferings and in these three that the design of God in bruising the Innocent Lamb of God might be the better taken up 1. They are holden forth in the rise where they bred or in the fountain whence they flowed the good pleasure of God It pleased the Lord to bruise him to put him to grief Which the Prophet marks 1. To shew that all the good that comes by Christ to sinners is bred in the Lords own bosom It was concluded and contrived there and that with delight There being no constraint or necessity on the Lord to give His Son or to provide Him to be a Cautioner for dyvour sinners but is was His own good pleasure to do so 2. To show the concurrence of all the Persons of the Trinity in promoving the Work of Redemption of sinners which was executed by the Son the Mediator to shew that the Love of the Son in giving His Life is no greater then the Love of the Father in contriving and accepting of it for a Ransom there being naturally in the hearers of the Gospel this prejudice that the Father is more rigid and less loving then the Son but considering that it was the Father Son and Spirit that contrived Christs Sufferings that the Sons Sufferings were the Product and Consequent of this contrivance it removeth this corrupt imagination and prejudice and sheweth that there is no place for it It doth also contribute notably to our ingadgement to God to be throughly perswaded of the Lords good pleasure in the Sufferings of the Mediator as well as in the Willingness of the Mediator to Suffer He having performed the will of the Father in the lowest steps of His Humiliation 2. They are exprest and holden forth in their Nature and End they were to be an offering for sin and this follows well on the former verse because it might be said How could He that had no violence in his hands nor guile in his mouth be brought so low He hath answered in part by saying It pleased the Father to bruise him and to put him to grief But because that does not so fully obviat and answer the Objection He answers furder that there was a notably good end for it Though He had no sin in Himself nor are we to look on His Sufferings as for any sin in Him yet we are to look upon them as a Satisfaction to Justice for the sins of others even as the Bullocks Lambs and Rams and the Skipgoat were not slain for their own sins for they were not capable of sin yet they were some way Typical Offerings and Satisfactions for sin in the room of others for whom they were offered so our Lord Jesus is the proper Offering and Sacrifice for the sins of His Elect People and His Sufferings are so to be looked on by us and this is the Scop. But to clear the words a little more fully there are different readings of them as they are set down here in the Text and on the Margent Here it is when his soul shall make an offering for sin On the Margent it is when his soul shall make an offering for sin The reason of the diversity is because the same Word in the Original which signifies the Second Person Masculine Thou meaning the Father signifies the Third persons Foeminine his soul shall make it self but one the matter whether we apply it to the Father or to Christ both come to one thing It seems to do as well to apply it to Christ the former Words having set out God's concurrence and good pleasure to the Work these set out the Mediators Willingnesse as in the last Verse it is said that He poured out his soul unto death and properly Christ is the Priest that offered up Himself yet we say there is no difference on the matter now as to the scope the will of the Father and of the Mediator in this Work of Redemption being both one though as we said we incline to look on them as relating to Christ 2. Offering for sin in the Original signifies sin so that the Words are when thou shalt make his soul sin The Words being ordinarly used in the Old Testament and thence borrowed in the New Testament to signifie a sin offering as Exod. 29.14 and Levit. 4.5 and 16. Chapters where
own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree And when He had Offered up Himself as a Sacrifice he sat down on the right hand of majesty on high He is the alone Sacrifice that comes properly in the Room of Elect Sinners 2. As there behoved to be One to Offer the Sacrifice so Christ Jesus is the Priest that Offered up the Sacrifice of Himself He is not only the Sacrifice but the Priest And in this He differed from other Priests Heb. 7.26 Such an high Priest became us who is holy harmless seperat from sinners and made higher then the heavens and then follows who needs not dayly as these high priests to offer up sacrifices first for their own sins and then for the sins of the people for this he did once when he offered up himself There are three things ordinarly Attributed to Christ as to His Sacrifice to wit That He was the Sacrifice the Altar and the Priest 1. He was the Sacrifice in respect of His Humane Nature which we are not so to look upon as Abstracting and Dividing it from His Divine Nature For though He Suffered in the Flesh yet it was the same Person that was God that Suffered 2 He was the Altar by which His Sacrifice received a speciall Efficacy Vertue Value and Commendation As it 's said The Altar sanctifies the offering So Christ Jesus according to His God-head was the Altar which did put an special excellency on His Sufferings and made them to be of such Worth and Value Therefore Heb. 9.14 It 's said that he through the eternal spirit offered up himself without spot unto God It was the Suffering of the Person that was God that made the Sacrifice to be accepted 3. He was the Priest and that according to both His Naturs each Nature concurring and that joyntly as in one Person to the making of the Sâ—crifice Offered up to God acceptable 3. We have in Him a reall destruction but do not mistake the Word It is not so to be understood as if He were annihilated or had been utterly destroyed and undone but the meaning is this That He was Killed or put to Death and His Soul seperat from His Body in which respect He ceased to be what He was before for a time having been really Slain Dead and Buried And 4. All this was according to God's prescription and appointment in the Covenant of Redemption This commandement saith He John 10.18 have I received of my Father to wit that I should lay down my life for my sheep And most emphatically He says John 14.13 as my Father gave me commandement even so mark even so most exactly in conformity to the Commandement do I It was all as to every circumstance ordered according to the good pleasure of God who was pleased thus to bruise Him and to put Him to Grief The 1. Use of it serves To teach us how to Conceive and Consider of Christ's Death and Sufferings rightly to wit even as a Sacrifice designed by God to come in the Room of Elect Sinners and how to look upon His Death not as the ordinary Death of ordinary or meer Men who by necessity of Nature Die but to look on it as being appointed of God to be a Sacrifice properly so taken for the Sins of His People 2dly This serves to clear some Truths concerning our Lord Jesus His Sacrifice For we must consider it as satisfying to Justice and Meritoriously procuring the escaping from Wrath and Salvation of them for whom He Interposed It is from the gross Ignorance or from the wicked denyal of this ground that the damnable denyers of Christ's Satisfaction do also deny the Propriety of His Sacrifice on Earth and bound it to Heaven whereas it is bounded to His Death though by vertue of this One Offering He continues to interceed for us in Heaven 3dly It teaches Sinners what is the native Use which they should make of this Sacrifice They should look upon it as the only Sacrifice to prevent Eternal Death and the Curse of God anâ— so it demonstrats to us that either Jesâ—s Christ must be received by Faith and His Sacrifice rested on or we must resolve to meet with Wrath and the Curse of God our selves in our own Persons 4ly It serves to clear us anent the Way and Tract of Grace to wit how it came to passe that our Lord who was innocent and without Sin was so bruised and put to grief He came to be a Propitiâ—tion for the Sins of His People and sisted Himself in our Room as our Cautioner as a Sin-offering for us It would doubtlesse gnash many Questions and Doubts that arise in the Hearts of Believers if it were well understood They may say we should have been in such and such a sad condition this and that terrible thing would have come on us if He had not Interposed never enough can these words be spoken and thought of that we have 2 Cor. 5. ult He was made sin for us who knew no sin that we might be made the righteousness of God in him 5ly It serves for notable Consolation to Believers who have betaken themselves to Christ and have many Challenges for Sin to buckle with That His Death was to be properly a Sacrifice for Sin and was so accepted of God in their Room So that ye see the right uptaking of Christs Death is a matter of no little moment Christ crucified being the very Substance of the Gospel It helps much to keep alive the Impression of our Sinfulness and of the Goodness of God and gives us Direction how to escape Wrath by puting Him in our Room There is nothing wherein Folks more readily miscarry in making of their Peace with God then in not making the right use of Christ and of His Sacrifice and Death Some praying for Pardon of Sin from Him and not for Him or for His sake when they know not what they are saying as we hinted at before Some praying for strength from Him for Dutie that they may do for themselves not considering that we are Justified by His Interposing in our Room and by Faith's closing with Him under that consideration as fisting Himself at the Bar of Justice and as being content to be a Sin-offering and the Lord accepting of Him in the Room of Elect Sinners This being well considered gives to Faith much clearness how to take Him up when the Soul honestly aims to partake of the benefit of His Sufferings 2ly For clearing this a little further we would know That there are as Divines observe Four or Five wayes how the Death of Christ is to be considered or how Christ in procuring by His Death Redemption Peace and Pardon to Sinners is holden forth in Scripture 1. He purchases Redemption and Pardon of Sin Meritoriously or He Merits it by His Death this Respects the Value of Christ's Sufferings and Satisfaction So that if we consider Christ in Himself and the Elect in themselves His Death
and come to that which follows in the 11. Verse In this Verse then There are these three 1. An offer and promise made to the Mediator That if He will accept of the proposall and lay down His Life for Redeeming of the lost Elect it shall not be fruitless He shall see of the travell of his soul and shall be satisfied 2. The way how this satisfaction shall be brought about By his knowledge shall my righteous servant justifie many That is by Faith in Him His Purchase shall be applyed to all these for whom He should suffer who thereby should be justified 3. The ground of this which also shews the way how He shall justifie many For he shall bear their iniquities That is by His undertaking and paying of their Debt He should meritoriously procure their Absolution and the setting of them free In the first part we have these three things implyed 1. A supposed condition or restipulation on the Mediator's side That His Soul shall be put to travell which expresses both the Nature of His Sufferings that they shall not only be Bodily but also and mainly Soul-sufferings and Conflicts with the Wrath of God which the Elect's sins deserved as the main and principall thing Articled and that wherein the Price of their Redemption lay And the Greatness and Extremity of His Sufferings here called Travell from the similitude of a Woman in Travell and the Travell of his Soul This being the way foretold how Christ should be used He should Travell in His Sufferings to procure Life to His People 2. A Promise made to Him That He shall see the travell of his soul That is He shall not bring forth wind but shall have a large Off spring which in the 2d part of the verse is called a Justifying of many by his knowledge This is the Fruit He shall have of His Soul-travel 3. The extent of this which is His being Satisfied and quiet Which looks to two things 1. To the certain and infallible success of His Sufferings Not one of the Elect shall be amissing None that He hath bought Life to shall want it He shall get as many Justified and Saved as He conditioned for 2. To the great delight and complacencie that our Lord hath in performing the Work of Redemption and in Sinners getting the benefit of it He shall think all well bestowed when they come to get the Application thereof and by Faith in Him to be Justified From the first of these Observe That the Mediator in performing the Work of Redemption and in satisfying the Justice of God for the Debt of Elect Sinners was not only put to Externall and Bodily but also and mainly to Inward Spirituall and Soul-sufferings Or the Redeeming of lost Sinners cost our Lord Jesus much Soul-travell and Suffering we have hinted at His Sufferings often before but this place especially speaks out His Soul-sufferings and the Inward Anguish and Agony that He was brought under We shall therefore speak alittle to this it being most useful and extensive in the Fruits and Benefits of it to the People of God And shall 1. confirm it by some places in the Gospel where we have the fulfilling of this Prophesie clearly holden out to us And 2dly By a fourfold Reason Only take this for an advertisement that when we speak of the Soul-sufferings of Our Lord we do no mean of any Sufferings after Death as Papists falsly calumniat us but of these Sufferings especially that were about the time of His Passion when He got the full Cup of the Fathers Wrath put in His hand towards His approaching to the Cross and when He was upon it when He was araigned and when He was exacted upon for the Elect's Debt The first passage to confirm it is that of John 12.27 Now is my soul troubled and what shall I say Father save me from this hour Here His Soul-suffâ—rings begin clearly to shew themselves when there was no Cross nor Suffering in His Body yet He is put to such a pinch considered as Man that He is in a manner non-plussed and put to say what shall I say the horror of that which was begun and was further coming on Him being beyond all expression whereupon follows that prayer Father save me from this hour His Sinleâ—s Humane Nature scarring some way to enter on it The 2d passage is that of John 13.21 where it 's said That He began to be troubled in spirit and testified c. But let us come forward and put Matthew Mark and Luke together and we shall see what an inexpressible and unconceivable hight and heap of sorrows His Soul-trouble and travell will amount to Matthew sayes Chap. 26.37 38. That He began to be sorrowful and very heavy And in the next words my soul is exceeding sorrowfull even unto death and what made Him so sorrowfull The next words Father if it be possible let this cup passe from me shew that it was the Cup of His Fathers Wrathfull Justice put in His hand Mark sayes Chap. 14.33 Thar when He came to the Garden He began to be sore amazed and very heavy A wonderfull expression to be used of the Son of God that the Person that was God should be amazed yet being considered as Man he was so Luke sayes Chap. 22.44 That being in an agony he prayed more earnestly There is a sore Exercise and sad Soul-travell indeed when the Sword of Gods Justice awaked against the Man that was Gods fellow and when He hath the Curse that was due to all the Elect to encounter and meet with This was such a Combat the like whereof was never in the World And the effect of it is His sweat as great drops of blood falling down to the ground when there was no hand of Man stirring Him nor any Man to trouble Him by Him but God as a severe and holily rigid exactor puting Him to pay the Debt which He had undertaken to pay according to His Obligation The inward pressour of His Soul presseth great drops of Blood from His Body And if we will yet look a little forward to Math. 27.46 we will find Him brought to that extremity on the Cross that He cryes My God my God why hast thou forsaken me Which though it say that there was still Faith in the Mediator in adhering to the Father as His God yet it sets out that great horrour which He had inwardly to wrestle with when there was some restraint on the sensibly comforting influence of the God-head Now when all the Evangelists concur so massilie emphatically and significantly to express this wealing out and pitching upon such weighty Words to set it forth by We may see it to be designedly holden forth as a speciall Truth thâ—t the Faith of the People of God may be strongly confirmed therein To confirm it yet further put these four together 1. The estate that the Elect are naturally lying in for whom Christ undertakes they are naturally under Sin lyable
done to Him but Heaven to procure by their own merits for they lay down this a ground that Glory in it's full being the proper reward of merit which say they is not founded on God's Promise for that were to merit Congruously only and not Condignally nor is it founded on Christ's merit for that were to reward His merit which to them is absurd though they grant an intrinsick worth to be in both But it 's merit in strict Justice on and by which they expect Heaven and Glory and having Heaven as we say to procure by their own Merit because they cannot thus Merit it especially if Mans Nature be looked on as corrupted they invent two things or forge two divices for that 1. To deny Concupiscence to be Sin And 2. To distinguish betwixt Mortal and Venial Sins and Venial Sins they make to be consistent with Merit in which they take in a world of things as not deadly And if a Man have not Merit enough of his own they have a Treasure of Merits of many Saints who have Satisfied for more than their own Guilt amounted to and have merited more than Heaven to themselves And the Pope being by them supposed to have a right and power to dispense these Merits he gives to them that want a right to such and such a Saints Merits And when all is done they confesse that this way of Justification is not certain that it cannot give Peace that it may be lost and that being lost it cannot be recovered but by a new Grace gotten by the Sacrament of Pennance the very rehearsing of which things may let you see how unlike their Justification is to the Gospel and to the way of Justification that it layes down and what ground of thankfulness ye have to God who hath not only contrived but revealed unto you a more solid and comfortable way of Justification 1. Though their way hath much Pains Labour and Toil in it yet ye see what it amounts to and how much Uncertainty Anxiety and Horror do accompany it neither do they ever attain to Justification before God by it And this is the 2d thing we would speak a Word to even to shew that this way of Justification is inconsistent with the Gospel and that wherein a Soul can neither have solid Peace nor Comfort and we shall speak a little to this 1. In general and then 2. More particularly 1. In general their way of Justification is the very re-establishing of the Covenant of Works For it supposeth that God hath conditioned Life to none but on condition of their Works which in their value are Meritorious It is true they First allow to Christ's Merit this much that He hath thereby procured this Merit to their Works And 2. that He hath procured to them habitual Grace to work these works though as we said before they must dispose themselves for that Grace but that doth not alter the nature of a Covenant of Works seing the terms are still the same For consider Adam before the fall he was to expect Life according to the terms of that Covenant Do this and live and here the terms of the Covenant are the same though their use be different and if the Scriptures so opposes these two That if it be of grace it is no more works and contrarly then sure this way of Justification that puts a Man to the same terms of the Covenant that Adam had to expect Life by must necessarily be inconsistent with the Gospel This will be the more clear if we consider how they themselves illustrat their Meriting by 〈◊〉 Works of the Saints by Adam his Merâ—â—â—ng of Life while he stood the which Meriting flows from an intrinsick worth in the Works themselves without respect to Christ's Merits And if the Covenant of Works hath these same terms then their Justification no doubt must be a Re-establishing of that Covenant 2. The Scripture speaks of our obtaining of our Justification and Righteousnesse alwayes in this sense to wit by Gods imputing the Righteousnesse of Christ to us not only for coming at the first Grace but for attaining Heaven and Glory It 's that which Paul leans to when he comes before God Phil. 3. That I may be found in him not having mine own righteousn ss which is by the Law but the righteousness which is through the faith of Christ He layes by the one and betakes himself to the other as his only defence and that whereon he doth ground his Plea before God Now this being the Scripture way of Justification and their way being quite contrare to it for if they were asked how think ye to answer before God they behoved to say by the merits of our good Works It must needs be inconsistent with the Grace of the Gospel and that which Paul would by no means hazard his peace upon We will find nothing more frequently mentioned in Scripture for the making of our peace with God then Covenanting with God the imputation of Christ's Righteousness and Justification by Faith But all â—hese Three are here in their way of Justification shut out and excluded For they have no such thing as Covenanting they scorn the imputation of Christs Righteousnesse as but a putative and imaginary thing and they cannot endure Justification by Faith But 2dly and more particularly Behold and consider how universally it corrupts and even destroyes the Doctrine of the Gospel 1. It corrupts and destroys the nature of Grace for it hangeth it on mans free will he must dispose himself for it and it gives him liberty to choose or reject it as he pleaseth and it makes tâ—at to flow from man himself that satisfies Gods Justice as if Remission of Sins were not free And in the Second Justification and Admissâ—on to Heaven and Glory It utterly excludes Grace and takes in Merit and makes Heaven the proper rewaâ—d of Mans own Merit 2dly It enervats the Merit of Christ and His Purchase though it seem in words to acknowledge it Because it neither admits of the Merit of Christ as the Satisfaction to Justice by which the punishment is taken away nor to be that by which Life is procuâ—ed but it takes in Works Satisfaction by Pennance Whippings Pilgrimages c. And all that it leaveth to Christs Death is the procuring of a new Covenant of Works and the buying of a Stock of habitual Grace to Man to send for himself but it layes not the removing of the punishment on Christ as our Cautioner in our name satisfying the Justice of God for our Sins but it leaves it on our selves and on our keeping the Covenant of Works as that whereto the Promise is made 3dly It overturns the nature of Gods Covenant for either it makes no Covenant at all or it transforms the Covenant of Grace into a Covenant of Works putting us to expect Life through the Merits of Works For they will have no Promise of Life to be made on condition of Christs Merit
to us in mentioning reading or thinking of it but it should in reason make Sinners glad that ever there was such a subject to be spoken of and to be considered It behoved certainly to be a great businesse that brought the Son of God to die The Salvation of Sinners is a great Work though many of us think but very little of it The Sum and Scop of Christs Sufferings and Death are briefly holden forth in these Words By his knowledge shall my righteous servant justifie many Where we have 1. The great benefit that comes by His Death which is Justification or the Absolving of Sinners from the Guilt of Sin and from the Curse of God due to them for Sin by Christ's interposing Himself to become a Sin-suffering there is a way laid down how Sinners may be relieved 2. The parties made partakers of this benefit and they are called many 3. The way how it is derived to these mâ—ny it is by his knowledge That is by or through Faith in Him We have spoken somewhat of the benefit it self Justification which is the thing aimed at for the most part in preaching and in all other Ordinances That God may by the Righteousnesse of His Son in the Gospel carry on the Justification of S nners through their knowledge of Him or by causing them to rest upon His Righteousnesse by Faith in order to their Salvation It 's sad that in this point which is of so great concernment so many should go so far wrong and mistake so grosly that it is no great matter in some respect whether they be called Christians or not This being the advantage of a Christian that He hath a way to Justification and Absolution from Sin and Wrath before God revealed to Him which others have not who if he come short of this or fall in grosse Errors about it he hath little or no advantage beyond Heathens who may have more of the Fat of the Eâ—rth and of the things of the World than these who are within the visible Church have But in this in a special manner the Christian excells and goes beyond the Pagan or Heathen That he hath a way laid down to him how he may come to be reconciled to God and freed from Wrath and from His Curse due for Sin which we have shewed to be by fleeing to Christ and by Faith resting on His Righteousnesse and Satisfaction For Christ the Cautioner having payed the Debt by laying down a Price fully satisfactory to Divine Justice And this Satisfaction being offered in the Gospel upon the condition of receiving him a Sinner giving his consent to Gods offer and closing therewith may confidently expect according to that offer to be Justified and no other wayes We shew you one particular great and grosse Error wherewith these who are under the darkness of Popery are wofully carried away which we did the rather touch upon because though it be a Doctrinal Error in respect of them and disputed for by them Yet in respect of the practice of many Protestant Christians it 's very rise and ordinary that is to Mistake Error and go wrong in the way of making of their peace with God And there are Three Sorts especially who do exceedingly Mistake Err and go wrong here These of whom I mean and am now speaking are not such as are maintaining Disputing or Writing for such Errors but such as commit themselves to be sound Protestant Christians and haters of the grosse Popish Error That we spake somewhat to the last day The 1. Sort are thâ—se who to this hour never laid down any solid Reckoning how to make their Peace with God or what way to come at Absolution before Him these Persons do in practice deny what ever may be their Professions that there is any such thing as a Reckoning to be made betwixt God and them or that there is a necessity of Justification for preventing of their eternal ruine and destruction They live from their birth with a hope of coming to Heaven without looking how they may passe this great step of Justification before God they never saw nor laid to heart their need of it are their not many hearing me to day that are of this number who will needs keep up confidently their fancied hope of Heaven and yet never knew what it was to answer a challenge for Sin or a threatning of the Curse for the breach of Gods Law from Christs Righteousness nor did they ever fist and arraigne themselves before Gods Tribunal as guilty nor did they ever think seriously of their charge nor of their Summonds nor of the way of making their Peace with God by taking hold of Christs Righteousness A 2d Sort are the generality of Legal Professours I do not say that they are Legal in their Practices that is that they make it their business to keep the Law for they are as little concerned or careful in that as any but they are Legal in this respect that when it comes to the making of their peace with God they know nothing but the Law to deal with as that man spoken of Math. 25. That got the one Talent and was utterly careless to improve it yet when it comes to a Reckoning he stands and sticks to a rigor of the Law Master saith he Lo here thou hast that which is thine just so such will be ready to say we have no more Grace then God hath given us we have a good heart to God we are doing what we dow or can Here come in Prophane Men meer Civil Men and Hypocrites and more especally the meer Civil Men who do much in the duties of the Second Table of the Law and they will profess that they do mind Judgement and a Reckoning but as if they had been bred and brought up in a Popish School they foist in a Legal Righteousnesse in stead of Christ's as the ground of their Justification before the Tribunal of God ye may take in these instances of this sort of Persons which are very common and who in their Practice almost in every thing agree with the Popish Doctrine The 1. Instance is of such Persons that know nothing of the imputation of Christ's Righteousnesse yet if we speak of it they will fall out in such expressions as these we can do nothing of our selves there is no goodness in us It 's God's grace that must do our turn yet in the mean time it is not Christs Righteousness they lay down to themselves as the ground of their Justification but the good which they have done as they suppose in Christs strength and the Grace which is given them to work and do that good by which is the same thing with the Popish way of Justification as if Christ had procured an ability to us to keep the Law our selves in order to our being Justified thereby hence they will Beliâ—ve Pray Hear the Word Praise and go about other Duties and will professe that they acknowledge
And considering the nature of the Mediators death that it was a violent and cursed death that which had extream anguish and sorrow going before and alongst with it It shews that the Lord hath purposly taken that way to make it known how bitter a thing Sin is how terrible a thing His Wrath is and how holily severe His Law is and to let all know that it is a dreadful thing to come in topes with Him who did so put His own Son to it Use 1. This Doctrine though it hath been spoken to before is a soveraign Doctrine yea the Soveraign Doctrine and the corner stone of all Religion That Christ hath died for the Sins of His People It gives us accesse to preach the Gospel which is therefore called the preaching of Christ crucified know therefore and believe that the Mediator died and that it behoved Him to die For it was required as a condition of the Covenant of Redemption to be performed by Him to which He yeelded and consented O! what love is here to article such a thiâ—g before Sinners had any Being It was more then to be hungry and thirsty and weary He behoved to die and to be made a curse when Sacrifices and burnt Offerings will not do He sayes Lo I come in the volumne of the book it 's written of me I delight to do will O! my God I hearitily accept of the bargain Use 2. It speaks an sadly alarming Word to all you who are secure Athiests and care not for the Wrath of God O! what will become of you when the Wrath of God and you shall meet If Sin brought the Cautioner to death O! what Wrath shal ye come under when ye shall be put to reckon for your own Sins The smitting of the Sheperd was more then if all the Sheep had been smitten and though now ye think little of Sin yet the day comes wherein ye shall know to your cost that it is an evil and bitter thing to depart from God and that it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God Use 3. See here the necessity of making use of Christs Death either ye must do it or die and come under the Curse of God your selves there is not a midse If ye have Sin how will it be gotten put by and satisfied for not by your Prayers let be by a laughter or smile nor by your living of an honest life as ye call it Christ had infinitly more of this then any of you and yet He got not Sin so put by we may here allude to that Eccles 8.8 There is no discharge in tbat war neither shall wickedness deliver these that are given to it Death when it hath a commission and Gods Terrour backing it O! how will it handle the secure stubborn Sinner when the hand of God shall pursue him eternally Alace what are many doing that never fear the Wrath of God that suspend put of and delay the closing of their accompts and all endeavours to die to Sin and to live to Righteousnesse and either passe over their dayes as Athiests or as formal Hypocrites and such are some of you that hear me this day who never seek to be found in Christ nor to improve His death to the mortifying of Sin What will ye do in the day when ye shall be called to a reckoning ye will curse the day that ever ye heard the Gospel and that this was concluded that Christ should die it will be the savour of death to you through all eternity and will be the most Soul-searching and tormenting Word that ever ye heard and ye will wish that the Work of Redemption had never been heard of nor resolved upon Use 4. It 's a comfortable and encourraging Word to sensible Sinners such betaking themselves to Christ may be sure to get good of Him for He hath payed the Price already and hath given His Word for it That such as believe in him shall never perish but that he will raise them up at the last day Ye would not think that it will be displeasing or dissatisfying to the Father or to the Son that ye come to Him and take hold of Him for it was for that end that God sent Him and that He laid down His Life and died but He dies no more It will be no trouble to Him but satisfaction to His Soul for all the travel of it to make application of His purchase to you And seing it will not displease but be most acceptable to Him that ye believe on Him and be saved by Him and since not believing rubes shame in a manner upon Him why do ye not betake your selves unto Him by Faith for His satisfaction and your own Salvation 2dly He not only died but it 's said He poured out his soul unto death which implyes two things 1. The intensness of it it was an uncouth and strange Death not only was His Body afflicted but His Soul was poured out 2. It looks to His good will readiness and cheerfulnesse in dying Father as if He had said must I die and wilt thou have my Soul sorrowful and heavy I am content to be so thou shalt have my Life He comes not prigging to die to speak so but casts down His blessed Life at His Fathers feet and plentifully gives it out to the uttermost so that He will not as it were leave one drop of His Blood but will needs pour and yett it out in aboundance even all of it Hence Observe That our blessed Lord Jesus was most hearty in laying down His Life for Sinners was most cheerful in undertaking and most willing and cheerful in executing what He did undertake He makes not two Words of the bargain to speak so but when Sacrifice and Offering will not do it as it is Psal 40. Then sayes He Lo I come in the volumne of the book it is written of me I delight to do thy will O my God There is no standing nor disputing here on the Mediators side but a present willing and heartsome undertaking Therefore Prov. 8. He sayes Though he was continually with the father even from everlasting yet his delights were with the sons of men rejoycing in the habitable parts of the earth Ere ever the World was made ere there was a Sinner in beeing to be redeemed He rejoyced before hand thinking there would be such an opportunity to manifest His good will grace and mercy And if we look through the Gospel how often will we find this made good No man taketh my life from me but saith He I lay it down of my self and I take it up again and when they came to take Him and Peter drew his sword he said Could not I command twelve legions of Angels but all that is written of me must be fulfilled I have bargained to lay down my Life and it must be and I have a baptisme to be baptized with and how am I straitned till it be accomplished and
the treasure precious Jesus Christ lyeth most obvious and open are certainly most pleasant and beautiful And amongst these such as hold forth his sufferings and himself as crucified most evidently before mens eyes have a peculiar and passing pleasantness and beauty in them If so then sure this fifty third Chapter of the Prophesies of Isaiah cannot but be lookt at as a transcendantly pleasant beautiful sweet-smelling and fragrant piece of Divine Scripture-field wherein the Evangelick Prophet discourseth of the sufferings of Christ as particularly and fully as plainly and pathetically even to the very life as if he himself had been a spectator and eye witness of them However this sweetest Chapter from beginning to end as also the three last Verses of the fore-going be by the greatly learned Grotius most miserably perverted while he industriously diverts it from the Messiah and by stretching and curtailing thereof at his pleasure as the cruel Tyrant Maezentius did the men he laid on his bed to make them of equal length with it wholly applyes it to the Prophet Jeremiah in the first place only not denying that it hath accommodation to Christ of whom too he takes but little or no notice in all his Annotations thereon The impertinencies and wrestings of which application are convincingly holden forth by famous Doctor Owen who looks on this portion of Scripture as the sum of what is spoken in the Old Testament concerning the satisfactory death of Jesus Christ that Mell of Socinians in his Vindiciae Evangelicae against Bidle and the Râ—covian Catechism who was a burning and shining light in the Reformed Churches though now alace to their great loss lately extinguished And indeed the dealing of that very learned man professing himself to be a Christian with this most clear and to all true Christians most comfortable Scripture is the more strange and even stupendious considering 1. That several passages in it are in the New Testament expresly applyed to Christ * Matth. 8.17 Mark 15.28 Luk. 22.27 Acts 8.28 c. 1 Pet. 2.22 and 24. but not one so much as alluded to in reference to Jeremiah 2. That the ancient Jewish Doctors and the Chaldee Paraphrast as Doctor Owen in the foresaid learned and savoury Book gives an account do apply it to him 3. That a late Doctor of great note and honour among the Jews Arabinel affirmeth that in truth he sees not how one Verse of the whole several of which he toucheth on can be expounded of Jeremiah and wonders greatly that any wise man can be so foolish as to commend let be to be the Author of such an Exposition as one Rabbi Gaon had been which is saith he so utterly alien and not in the least drawn from the Scripture 4. That several Jews do profess that their Rabbins could easily have extricated themselves from all other places of the Prophets a vain and groundless boast if Isaiah in this place had but held his peace as Halsius very late if not present Hebrew-Professor at Breda declares some of them did to himself 5. That a Rabbi by his own confession was converted from a Jew to a Christian by the reading of this 53. of Isaiah as the excellent Mr. Boyl in his delicate Discourses on the stile of the Holy Scriptures informs us yea that diverse Jews have been convinced and converted to the Christian Faith by the evidence of this Prophecy as learned and laborious Mr. Pool affirms in his lately published English Annotations on this Scripture 6. That the Socinians themselves have not dared to attempt the accommodation of the things here spoken of to any other certain and particular person then the Messiah though being so much tortured thereby they have shewed good will enough to it And 7. That himself had before written a Learned Defence of the Catholick Faith concerning Christs satisfaction against Socinus wherein also he improved to notable purpose several Verses of this same Chapter But in these later Annotations being altogether silent as to any use-making of them that way he as much as he can delivers that Desperado and his Disciples from one of the sharpest Swords that lyes at the very throat of their cause for if the Chapter may be applyed to any other as he applyes it wholly to Jeremiah no solid nor cogent Argument can be drawn from it for confirming Christs satisfaction and by his never re-inforcing of that defence of his against the assaults made upon it by the Socinian Crellius though he lived twenty years thereafter he seems for his part quite to have abandoned and delivered it up into the hands of these declared enemies of Christs satisfaction yea and of his God-head By which Annotations of his as by several others on other Scriptures how much on the matter at least great Grotius hath by abusing his prodigious Wit and profound Learning subserved the cursed cause of blasphemous Socinus and further hardened the already alace much and long hardened poor Jews And what bad service he hath done to our Glorious Redeemer and to his Church satisfied-for and purchased by his blood by his sad sufferings and fore soul-travel most clearly and comfortably discoursed in this Chapter let the Lord himself and all that love him in sincerity judge I wish I could and had reason to say no worse of this admirably learned person here then that Quandoque dormitat Homerus Which very many and various very great and most grievously aggravated Sufferings were endured by him not only in his Body nor only in his Soul by vertue of the sympathy it had with his Body from the in-time and strait union betwixt them But also and mainly in his blessed humane Soul immediatly since he redeemed satisfied for and saveth his Peoples Souls as well as their Bodies and the Soul having principally sinned and being the spring and source of Sin Sinners withall deserving punishment in their Souls as well as in their Bodies and being without the benefite of his Mediation to be punished eternally both in their Souls and Bodies and mainly in their Souls there is no doubt the same cogent reason for the Mediator's suffering in both parts of the Humane Nature assumed by him that there is for that Natures suffering which sinned Which his sad complaints of the exceeding trouble of his Soul putting him to say these strange and stupendious words What shall I say Joh. 12.27 Mat. 26.38 Mark 14.33 Luk. 22.44 Heb. 5.7 and of the great Sorrow and Heaviness thereof even to Death his Amazement strong Crys and Tears with his Agony and Sweat of Blood and that before any pain was caused to his Body by men and his conditionate deprecating of that bitter Cup put beyond all reach of ranional contradiction And to think or say that only the fear of his bodily sufferings quickly approaching him did make these sad impressions upon him and draw these strange expressions from him would make him who is Lord and Master to be of far greater
to His Death what benefite redâ—unds to them from His Offices of King Priest and Prophet to the slaying of Sin and quickening to holy Duties what benefite or fruit from His Death Alace no more with most then if He had never died what profite or real influence as to any Spiritual change do any to count upon find and think ye all these things to be but words They know Him not that feel not something of the efficacy of His Death and Resurrection in themselves 3. Observe That the Report concerning Christ is the main subject and eâ—rand that has been and is and will be common to all the Ministers of the Gospel to the end of the World It 's our Report it was the Report of all the Prophets Act. 10.43 To him bear all the Prophets witness that through his Name whosoever believeth on him should have remission of sins they all agree and have a joint Testimony in these 1. In one Subject Christ and the same things concerning Him as that the pardon of Sin is to be gotten in Him and through Faith in Him and no other way c. 2. In one Commission they have all one Commission though they be not all equal all are not Apostles yet all are Ambassadours there is the same Authority for us to report and you to receive the Gospel as if Isaiah or Paul were preaching the Authority depending on the Commission and not on the persons of Men who carry it 3. In one common End which they all have and in one common Object they are sent to 4. In this that they all hold of one common Master being Gifts of one and the same Mediator Eph. 4. When he ascended on high he led captivity captive and gave gifts to men to some Apostles c. The first Use is To teach you not to think the less of the Testimony or matter testified because of these that testifie to you if Isaiah or Paul were testifying to you ye would get no other Tydings though their life and way would be of another sort and stamp then ours are alace for the most part we are warranded as well as they to make Christ known to you therefore take heed of rejecting this Testimony of this Christ that we bear witness unto it is the same Christ that the Law and the Prophets bear witness to There is not another name given under heaven whereby a sinner can be saved it 's through Him that whosoever be on Him may receive remission of sins in this ye have not onely us but the Prophets and Apostles to deall with yea Jesus Christ and God Himself and the rejecting of us will be found to be the rejecting of them it 's the same Testimony on the matter that it was in Isaiah his time and therefore tremble and fear all ye that slight the Gospel ye have not us for your Party but all the Prophets and Isaiah among the rest and our Lord Jesus Christ who hath said He that receiveth you receiveth me and he that despiseth you despiseth me there will be many aggravations of the guilt of an Unbeliever and this will be a main one even the Testimony of all the Prophets that concur in this Truth which they have rejected take heed to this all ye Atheists that know not what it is to take with Sin and all ye Hypocrites that coin and counterfeit a Religion of your own and all ye legal Persons that lean to your own righteousness what will ye say when it shall be found that ye have rejected all these Testimonies ye must either say ye counted them false Witnesses which ye will not dare to say or that ye accounted them true and yet would not receive their Testimony and the best of these will be found sad enough for if ye counted them true why did ye not believe them this will be a very pungent dilemma Use 2. For comfort to poor Believers they have good ground to receive and rest upon Jesus Christ there is never a Prophet Apostle or Preacher of the Gospel but he hath sealed this Truth concerning Christ what needs any sinner scar at Him or be fearful to close with Him will ye give credit to the Testimony of Isaiah and of Peter Acts 10.43 and of the rest of the Prophets and Apostles then receive their Report and set your selves to be among the number of Believers that their Testimony may be rested on We are perswaded there is one of two that will follow on this Doctrine either a strong encouragement to and confirmation of believing and quietly resting on Jesus Christ for pardon of sin or a great ground of aggravation of and expostulation with you for your guilt who care not whether ye receive this Report or not We shall say no more for the time but God bless this to you SERMON II. ISAIAH LIII I Who hath believed our report And to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed THE Prophet Isaiah is very solicitous about the fruit of his Preaching when he hath preached concerning Christ as indeed it is not enough for Ministers to preach and for People to hear except some fruit follow and now when he hath been much in Preaching and looketh to others that have been much in that work he sadly regrates the little fruit it had and would have among them to whom Christ was and should be spoken of a thing that in the entry should put us to be serious lest this complaint of Isaiah stand on record against us seeing he complains of the Hearers of the Gospel not only in his own time but in our time also We told you there were four things in this first part of the Verse 1. The great errand that Ministers have to a People it is to report concerning Christ and beside what we observed from this Head before looking to the Scope we shall observe further 1. The end that Ministers should have before them in preaching Christ and the Gospel is That the Hearers of it may be gained to Jesus Christ by hearing so as they may be brought to believe on Him it 's in a word to gain them to saving Faith in Christ 2. It is implyed That Jesus Christ is only to be proposed as the Object of Faith to be rested on by the Hearers of the Gospel and as the only ground of their Peace there is no name that can be mentioned for the salvation of Souls but this Name only ly and there is no other Gospel can be proposed but that which holdeth Him out to People 3. Observe which is much the same with the former Observation and to which we would speak a little more particularly That by the preaching of the Gospel Jesus Christ is laid before the Hearers of it as the Object of their Faith and proposed to be believed upon by them else there would be no ground of this complaint against them but where-ever this Gospel is preached there is Christ is laid as it were at the
foot or door of every Soul that heareth it to be believed and rested on this is the great errand of the Gospel to propose to People Jesus Christ as the Object and Ground of Faith to lay Him down to be rested on for that very end when the Apostle is speaking Rom. 10.8 of the Doctrine of Faith he saith It is not now who shall ascend into heaven nor who shall descend into the deep but the word is near thee even in thy mouth and in thy heart what word is that the word of faith which we preach now sayeth he Christ by the preaching of the Gospel is brought so near folks that He is brought even to their Hearts and to their Mouths so near that to speak so People have no more to do but to stoup and take Him up or to roll themselves over upon Him yea it bringeth Him in to their very Heart that they have no more to do but to bring up their Heart to consent to close the Bargain and with the Mouth to make confession of it and these words are the more considerable that they are borrowed from Deut. 30. where Moses is setting Death and Life before the People and bidding them choose though he would seem to speak of the Law yet if we consider the scope we will find him to be on the matter speaking of Jesus Christ holden forth to that People under Ceremonial-Ordinances and shewing them that there was Life to be had in Him that way and according to Gods intent they had Life and Death put in their choice I know there are two things necessary to the acting and exercising of Faith The 1. is objective when the Object or Ground is proposed in the preaching of the Gospel The 2. is subjective when there is an inward spiritual and powerful quickning and framing of the Heart to lay hold on and make use of the Object and offer it is true that all to whom the offer cometh are not quickened but the Doctrine saith that to all to whom the Gospel cometh Christ is proposed to be believed on by them and brought near unto them so that we may say as Christ said to His Hearers The kingdom of God is come near unto you both Christ and John brought and laid the Kingdom of Heaven near to the Jews and it is laid as near to you in the preached Gospel This is it then that Doctrine sayes 1. That the Gospel holdeth out Christ as a sufficient ground of Faith to rest upon And 2. with a sufficient warrand to these who hear it to make use of Him according to the terms on which he is offered And 3. it brings Him so pressingly home as He is laid to the Doors and Hearts of Sinners who hear the Gospel that whoever hath the offer he must necessarily either believe in and receive Christ or reject Him and cast at the report made of Him in the Gospel I shall first a little confirm this Doctrine and then secondly make use of it First I shall confirm it from these Grounds 1. From the plain offers which the Lord maketh in His Word and from the warrand he giveth His Ministers to make the same offers It 's their Commission to pray them to whom they are sent to be reconciled to tell them that God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself as it is 2 Cor. 5.19 20. and in Christ's steed to request them to embrace the offer of Reconciliation to tell them that Christ died for the Sinners that will embrace Him and that He will impute His Righteousness unto them and Chap. 6.1 We beseech you saith he that ye receive not this grace in vain which is not meant of saving Grace but of the gracious offer of Grace and Reconciliation through Him This is Ministers work to pray People not to be idle Hearers of this Gospel for saith he I have heard thee in a time accepted and in a day of salvation have I succoured thee behold now is the accepted time behold now is the day of salvation The force of the Argument is this if ye will make this Gospel welcome ye may get a Hearing for now is the day of Salvation therefore do not neglect it So Psal 81.10 11. where God maketh the offer of Himself and that very largely Open thy mouth wide and I will fill it The Offer is of Himself as the words following clear My people would not hearken to my voice and Israel would none of me for they that refuse His Word refuse Himself and hence Isa 65.1 he saith I am found of them that sought me not I said Behold me behold me unto a nation that was not called by my name and to the Jews I have stretched out my hands all day long to a rebellious people 2. We may clear and confirm it from these similitudes by which the Offer of this Gospel is as it were brought to the doors of People and there are several similitudes made use of to this purpose I shall name but four 1. It 's set down under the expression of wooing as 2 Cor. 11.2 I have espoused you as a chast virgin to Christ this is ordinary and supposeth a Marriage and a Bridegroom that is by his friends wooing and suting in Marriage so that as we shew wherever the call of the Gospel comes it 's a bespeaking of Souls to Him as Cant. 8. What shall we do for our sister in the day that she shall be spoken for 2. It 's set out under the expression of inviting to a Feast and Hearers of the Gospel are called to come to Christ as Strangers or Guests are called to come to a Wedding-feast Mat. 22.2 3 4. All things are ready come to the wedding c. Thus the Gospel calleth not to an empty House that wants meat but to a Banqueting-house where Christ is made ready as the Cheer and there wants no more but feasting on Him So it 's set out under the similitude of Eating and Drinking John 6.57 He that eats me even he shall live by me 3. It 's set out often under the expression or similitude of a Market where all the Wares are laid forth on the Stands Isa 55.1 Ho every one that thirsts come to the waters c. and least it should be said or thought that the Proclamation is only to the thirsty and to such as are so and so qualified ye may look to what followeth let him that hath no mony come yea come buy without mony and without price and to the offer that is made to those of Laodicea Rev. 3. who in appearance were a hypocritical and formal People yet to them the Counsel and Call comes forth Come buy of me eye-salve and gold tryed in the fire c. It sayes the Wares are even in their offer or even offered to them 4. It 's set out under the similitude of standing and knocking at a Door because the Gospel brings Christ a knocking and calling hard at
Command with many gracious Promises knit to it as Isa 55. Hear and your soul shall live and I will make an everlasting Covenant with you even the sure mercies of David And whenever the Command of Believing comes out it 's always with a Promise as Paul deals with the Jaylor Act. 16. Believe and thou shalt be saved and Mark 16. towards the close the Lord says They that believe shall be saved to encourage to Faith in Him 5. It presses the Offer and commands embracing of it with the Promise with a certification for the Offer is not conditional but alternative Mark 16. If ye believe not ye shal be damned so Deut. 30. Death and Life are proposed and they are bidden choose If the Gospel be not effectual in it's Commands and Promises it will be effectual in its Threatnings The Word of God will triumph one way or the other and not return to Him void as is very clear Isa 55.11 and 2 Cor. 2.15 16. It triumphs in some while they are brought by the Promise to give obedience to the command of Believing and to them it becomes the savour of life unto life and to others it triumphs as to the execution of the Threatning on them for their Unbelief and to them it becomes the savour of death unto death In a word Christ Jesus comes so near People in this Gospel that He must either be chosen and Life with Him or refused to the destruction and death of the Refuser ye have the same Christ the same Word the same Covenant the same obligation to Believe proposed to you that Believers from the beginning of the World had and another ye will not get and what more can the Gospel do to bring Christ near to you when it brings Him so near that ye have Him in your offer and the Authority of God and His Promises interposed to perswade you to accept of the Offer and Threatnings added to certifie you that if ye accept it not ye shall perish in which respect we may say as the Prophet Isaiah doeth chap. 5. What could God do more to his vineyard which he hath not done as to the holding out of the Object of Faith Jesus Christ to be rested on by you But some wiâ—l it may be object here 1. But if there come not Life and Power with the Offer it will not do the turn we cannot Believe nor receive the Offer Answ Whose fault is this that ye want ability It 's not God's fault ye have a sure ground to Believe His Woâ—d is a warrand good enough the Promises â—re free enough the Motives sweet enough the great fault is a Hâ—art of unbelief in you that ye will not believe in Christ nor open to Him when He is brought to your Door I doubt yea I put it out of doubt when all that ever heard the Gospel shâ—ll stand before the Throne that there shall be one found that shall dare to make this excuse that they were not able to receive Christ the Gospel brings Christ so near them that they must either say yea or nay it is not so much I cannot as I will not believe and that will be found a wilful and malicious refusal 2. It may be objected But how can this Gospel come to all alike seing it cannot be that these that will never get good of the Gospel hath it as near to them as these that get the saving Fruit of it Answ Not to speak of God's Purpose or what He intends to make of it not of the Power and Fruit that accompanies it to some and not to all it 's certain the Gospel and Christ in its Offer comes alike near to all that hear it It objectively reveals the same glad Tydings to all with the conditional offer of Life and with the same command and encouragement and certification in Threatnings as well as Promises In these respects Christ is brought alike near to all and when God cometh to reckon He will let Sinners know in that day that the Gospel came to their Door and was refused yea it comes and where it comes will take hold of some to pluck them out of the Snare and be ground of Faith to them and to others it will be a ground of Challenge and so the savour of death unto death for though it take not effect as to its Promises in all nor in its Threatnings to all yet as to either Death or Life it wiâ—l take effect in every one so as if Life be refused Death steps in the room of it But it may be asked Why will God have Christ in the Offer of the Gospel brought so near the Hearers of it Answ 1. Because it serves to commend the Grace and Love of God in Christ Jesus when the Invitation is so broad that iâ— is to all it speaks out the royalty of the Feast upon which ground 2 Cor. 6.1 it 's called Grace the Offer is so large and wide 2. Because it serves for warranding and confirming the Elect in the receiving of this Offer for none of the Elect could receive Him if He were not even laid to their Door It 's this which gives us warrand to receive that which God offers it 's not because we are elected or beloved of God before time or because He purposed to do us Good that we believe these are not grounds of Faith being God's secret Will but we believe because God calleth and maketh the Offer inviteth and promiseth knowing that He is faithful and we may trust Him Hence David says I will never forget thy Word and in God will I praise his Word for the Word in its Offer speaks alike to all and to none particularly Indeed when it comes to the Application of Promises for Consolation that is to be made according to the qualifications in the Persons but the Offer is to all 3. Because by this means the Lord hath the fairer access to found His Quarrel and Contraversie against Unbelievers and to make their Ditty and Doom the clearer in the day of the Lord when it s found that they never received the Offer My people would not hearken to my voice and Israel would none of me therefore I gave them up to their own hearts lusts and they walked in their own counsels and this is an approbation given to Justice here it 's well-wair'd seeing they would not receive Thee that they get worse in Thy room Use 2. Seing Christ comes near you in this Gospel and this is one of the Mercat days I intreat you while He is near receive Him call upon Him while He is near or take it in the plain words of the Apostle open to Him take Him in give Him welcome while He bodes Himself to say so on you there is not a Conscience in any Man that hears this Gospel but he will have this testimony from Him in it that He came near them was in their sight and within their reach and grips as it were if they
few 1. There are some that stumble at the Messenger some at the Message Some thought Christ a Friend of Publicans and Sinners and said He had a Devil and so they said of John Baptist There are some that can abide neither free nor fair Speaking and they think it 's not the Word but the Speaker that they offend at but Prejudices against the Carriers of the Word have never done good but much ill and ye would guard against them 2. Sometimes there is a stumbling at the Spiritual Truths of the Gospel and a sort of new-fangleness in the Hearers of it that lasts not John's Hearers rejoiced in his light for a season something of it also was in Christ's Hearers but they soon turned the Back on Him when He tells them of eating His Flesh and drinking His Blood and of the necessity of it else they could have no Life in them This say they is a hard saying and who can bear it If we would consider these things we might see convincing Causes of our little Thriving and they might also through God's Blessing be made use of for directions to Thriving and if we could once bring you to be single and serious in Hearing and spiritually Thrifty in making use of every Sermon and Sabbath for edification we had gained a great point of you SERMON XI ISAIAH LIII I Who hath believed our report And to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed IF we would soberly consider the frame of the most part of Men and Women that live under the Gospel it would be hard to know whether it were more strange that so few should receive the Report and be brought to believe for all that can be said of Jesus Christ or whether that among the generality of Hearers that do not receive the Report there are so few that will let it light but that they Believe It 's wonderful and strange to see Unbelief so rife and it 's as strange and wonderful that among these many Unbelievers there are so few that think they want Faith Ye remember the last day we proposed to answer this Doubt or Question What can be the reason that when so few Believe all almost think they Believe and then to speak a word to the last Use that rises from the Matter that formerly we have handled on these Words We shew you and we think the Scripture is very clear for it That among the generality that hear the Gospel they are very rare and thin sawen that do believe it and yet go thorow them all there will not one among many be found but will assert they Bâ—lieve and they will to speak so be crabbed and picqued to tell them that they want Faith and so the most part of Hearers live and die in this Delusion a thing that Experience clears as well as the Word of God and a thing that doleful Experience will clear at the great Day therefore some are brought in saying Luk 13.26 We have eaten and drunken in thy presence and thou hast taught in our streets to whom Christ will say I know you not depart fâ—om me which doth import this much that some will come as it were to the very Gate of Heaven having no doubt of their Faith and Interest in God or of their entry into it and will therefore in a manner plead with Christ to be in and who would never once doubt of it nor put it in question but they were Believers and in Friendship with Him Although there will be no such debate or dispute after Death or at the Day of Judgement yet it says this â—hat many Hearers of the Gospel have drunken in this opinion which goes to Death with them and no Preaching will beat them from it that they are Believers and in gâ—oâ—â—erms with God till the intimation of the Sâ—ntence of Condemnation do it and the Wrath and Curse of God meet them in the Face And O how terrible a disappointment will such meet with in that Day May it not then very reasonably and justly be enquired what can be the reason â—nd cause when this is granted so generally to be a truth that there are few Believers that yet it should be â—s true that few question or make any doubt of theiâ— Faith and how this comes to pass I shall give you some reasons of it which if ye would think upon and suffâ—r to sink down in your Hearts ye would not marvel that so many are in this Mistake and Desusion and would put many of you to have quite other thoughts of your own condition then ye have We shall only speak to such Reasons as are sinful culpable upon your part The Reasons then are these First The most part never seriously think on the matter whether they Believe or not or they never put their Faith to a tryal if the foolish Virgine light her Lamp and never look whether there be Oyl in it and take on a fair outward Profession of Religion and never look what is within it or how it is lined to speak so what wonder she go up and down with the Lamp in her hand and never know whether there be Oyl in her Vessel or not since she never considers nor puts the Matter to proof and tryal The People are expostulated with Isai 44. from ver 9. for making of Images That a Man should cut down a Tree and with one piece of it should warm himself with another piece of it should bake his Bread and of a third piece should make a god and fall down and worship it and this is given for the ground of it ver 18 19. They have not known and understood and none considereth in his heart or as the word is seeth to his heart they consider not that that cannot be a god Folks would think that natural Reason might easily discover this folly We are perswaded that some of you will think your Faith as great a Folly when there shall be as clear evidences to prove the roâ—tenneâ—s of your Faith and Hope as there were even to common Sense to prove the Image made of a piece Tree not to be God when it shall be found and â—eclâ—red that though ye were never convinced of Sin nor of your Misery and lost Condition were never humbled nor touched under the kindly sense of it never fled to Jesus Christ in earnest nor never had the exercise of Gâ—ace yet out over the want of all these ye would needs keep up a good opinion of your Faith and Hope We say the reason why ye entertain this conceit and opinion is because ye never sit down seriously and soberly before God to consider the Matter nor do ye put your selvâ—â— to Proof and Tryal Let me therefore pose your Consciences if ye who have this opinion of your Faith durst assert to Him that this Faith of yours is the result of your serious Examination and Tryal is it not rather a guessing of fanciful opinion that ye Believe
them in it occasion to know this their inability in not giving obedience to His call and this is no small advantage when by it they have occasion to know the necessity of a Mediator and to seek after another way of Justication then by their own works for so it proves a notable mean to humble Men to stop their Mouths and to make them plead guilty before God 4. It 's profitable as the Lord is pleased to make use of it to call and gather in so many as He hath ordained to Eternal Life for though in it self it be not able to convert yet having the Power of God going along with it it is the instrument of Conversion and the Lord ordinarily makes use of it to the begetting of Faith in them that Believe as it is Rom. 10.17 Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God preached and 1 Cor. 1.24 it 's called the power of God to salvation and it hath pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe for though God can work without it yet He hath thought good to make use of it to inform the Judgment and to stir up the Affections of Hearers and so it proves instrumental to the begetting of Faith in them 5. If it do not promove the Salvation of all the Hearers of it yet it promoves it in all the Elect and serves to make others the more inexcusable and in this respect it triumphs always 2 Cor. 2.15 16. In some it is the savour of life unto life in others the savour of death unto death leaving them the more inexcusable and the more obnoxious to Wrath by their rejecting of the Counsel of God against themselves I know this will be excepted against We come therefore to consider the second Question which is this How can the Call of the Gospel make Men inexcusable seing they cannot without the effectual Power of the Grace of God Believe as Christ saith John 6.44 No man can come to me that is no Man can believe in me except the Father who hath sent me draw him yea why doth God find fault with Men for their Unbelief for answer it hath been no new thing for Men to start Questions and Objections against the Grace of God and to be always striving to rub affronts and disgrace upon it see Rom. 9.13 14 c. where this same Objection is started and answered again and again for when the Apostle hath said vers 13. Jacob have I loved and Esau have I hated the Objection is moved Is there unrighteousness with God then Folks readily think that there is a sort of unrighteousness in God when He takes one and leaves another especially considering that the leaving of the other infers though it be not any culpable cause of the ruine of the Mans Soul he answers first with a God forbid as if it were an absurd thing so to assert and then endeavours to answer it from Gods Soveraignty as being Debtor to none I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy and it 's not in him that willeth nor in him that runneth but in God that shews mercy In Gods administration of Grace He is Debtor to no Man nor hath He any rule by which He proceedeth but His own Soveraign Will and if it shall yet be said if God doth walk by His own Soveraign Will in giving Grace Why doth he yet find fault or condemn for who hath resisted his will Why is God angry that Men will not Believe since none can come to Christ against the Will of God His Indignation riseth at this proud and petulant Objection and He answers But who art thou O man that repliest against God shall the thing formed say to him that formed it why hast thou made me thus hath not the potter power over the clay to make of the same lump one vessel to honour and another to dishonour By the Apostle's doubling of this answer and his not setting of himself to satisfie carnal Reason and Curiosity there is ground given to silence us here It 's the Lord He is our Potter and we the Clay it 's He in whose Hand we are who can do us no wrong and this may sufficiently serve to put a stop to all reasoning and disputing against Him Yeâ— we may add a word further seing the Apostle proceeds to another Reason Therefore 2. Consider whence it is that this inability to believe or turn to God doth come not from God sure for if He had not made Man perfect there might be some ground for the Objection but seing He did make man upright and he hath sought out many inventions who is to be blamed hath the Lord lost His right to exact His Debt because Man hath played the Bankrupt and debauched and turned Dyvour and unable to pay doth not this very objecting prove us guilty and evidence that we have lost that which God gave to us and made us with at the Beginning When God made Adam he had power to believe and give God credit as to every word revealed or to be revealed and that now after the Fall he and his Posterity want that power they have not this privation from Gods creating of them but from their Fall they by their Fall utterly incapacitating themselves for these Duties that they owe to God and for this among the rest 3. If there were no more but simple inability among them that hear this Gospel they might have some pretext or ground of excuse though it were not any real nor just excuse as hath been shewed but it never comes to this as the only or main cause of their not Believing There is always some maliciousness perversness and pravity in the Will it 's not I cannot but I will not it 's a wiful and some way deliberate rejecting of the Gospel that is the ground of Folks not Beliâ—ving and what excuse I pray can ye have who do not believe the Gospel when it shall be found that ye maliciously and deliberatly choosed to reject it To make this out consider but these few things 1. Mens neglecting of the very outward Meaâ—s that through Gods blessing prove instrumental in the begetting of Faith as of Hearing Reading Prayer Meditation Self-searching stirring up themselves to Repentance c. whereby the Lord ordinarily brings about and furthers the work of Faith 2. Consider the carnal careless and lazy manner of Mens going about these Means and Duties which to their own conviction are within the reach of that power which they have ye might hear oftener and more attentively ye might pray more frequently and more seriously then often ye do ye want even much of that moral seririousness in Hearing Prayer Reading c. that ye have in other things of less concernment ye will hear a Proclamation at the Cross with more attention then a Preaching of the Gospel ye will hear a Threatning from Man with more fear then ye will hear a Threatning from God's
best things That word which we have 2 Pet. 3.16 that there are many that wrest and pervert the Scriptures to their own destruction holds true not only of doctrinal Heresies but it holds also true in respect of Mens Practice or practical Errours for some hearing of the impotency of Nature and of the power and perfection of Grace in bringing about its designed effect are ready to think that they need to do nothing alledging that if Grace undertake the work it will be wrought and if not it will not be wrought and thus Atheism and Prophanity steal in secretly upon the Heart and the sweet Doctrine of Grace is abused and perverted by such to their own destruction There are others again who it may be will not dare so to top with God who yet have their own fainting and discouragement when they hear of this Doctrine and think it hard that they themselves can do nothing and fear that they will never win to believe because they cannot do it of themselves these also fail and make not the right use of Grace Ye remember the Question which we proposed to speak a little to on the last Doctrine to wit That seing both these branches of it are true That except Grace concur the most powerful preaching of the Gospel will not beget Faith and that wherever the work of Grace goes along with the Gospel there Faith is begotten what is called for from the Hearers of the Gospel as the Use of this Doctrine Bâ—fore we come to answer this Question more particularly we would 1. Premit this word in general That none would account the Preaching or Hearing of the Word of God to be useless or fruitless albeit that without the work of Grace Men cannot yield the Fruit which it callâ—th for from them for our blessed Lord Jesus Isaiah and Paul preached this Doctrine of Grace and the necessity of the Lords Arm to be revealed in the Conversion of Souls and yet they taught the Word in season and out of season and were gathering in some and to some this Doctrine was made the savour of life unto â—ife though to others through their enmity and corruption it became the savour of death unto death To conclude therefore the inconsistency or to deny the consistency of these two to wit Of the necessity of Preaching the Doctrine of Grace and of the pressing in Preaching the practice of holy Duties and the use of ordinary appointed Mâ—ans would reach this dreadful length even to condemn the Prophets of old yea and our blessed Lord Jesus Himself who says John 6.44 after He h d preached long No man can come to me exâ—ept the Father who hath sent me draw him and vers 65 Therefore I said unto you that no man can come to me unless it be given him of my Father And will any think that His Hearers who accounted this with some others Hard sayings and from that time went back and walked no more with him were excusable in their doing so or that His Preaching was useless needless or impertinent as having a tendency to tempt Men to abandone all use of Means because He preached this Doctrine of the impossibility of believing in Him without this pull and draught of His Fathers Arm But secondly We shall a little more particularly in answer to the Question speak First To what Uses Folk would not make of this Doctrine or what things they would abstain from as tending to a wrong use of it Secondly To some Considerations for pressing this Doctrine and removing from it the construction of hardness that we are ready to put upon it Thirdly To what is the native Use it calls for And Lastly to some Considerations to press this For the first When we say to all that hears this Gospel that there is a necessity of a powerful work of Grace ere this Word can be profitable ye would 1. Abstain from and lay aside curiosity in seeking satisfying Answers to all these Objections that are moved against it and absurdities that it 's loaded with by the Devil and Mans proud Nature and learn to stoop to and reverence the soveraign Dominion of God and His deep and unsearchable Wisdom and Knowledge in this soveraign way of His Grace as the Apostle doth Rom. 11.33 O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God how unsearchable are his judgments and his ways past finding out ye would also consider that other word Rom. 9.20 Who art thou that repliest against God or expostulateth with Him Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it why hast thou made me thus It 's good to enquire and to seek to know the use the Lord calls for of this Doctrine with sobriety but there is an enquiring to satisfie curiosity which the Lord abhorreth as we may gather from Exod. 19 21. where the Lord being to deliver His â—â—â—l saith to Moses Go down charge the people 〈◊〉 word of peremptory command left they break thorow unto the Lord to gaze and many of them perish The Lord is not displeased that His People should endeavour to behold and take Him up aright but when their end is not good but to satisfie an itch of Curiosity it displeaseth Him This may be useful in many cases and particularly in this we have in hand to teach us sobriety in seeking to know the way of God's Grace as the Lord would have His People Exod. 19. waiting for as much of His Mind as He thought fit to acquaint them with and to write on the two Tables of Stone but He would not have them breaking in over the Boundary or March which He did set to them lest He should break thorow on them and they should be made to perish So would He have Men in their studying the knowledge of His Ways and particularly of the way of His Grace to keep His Measures and to contain themselves within the limits that He pleaseth to set to them 2. Abstain from carnal freting at and expostulating with the way of God whether in the highest degree of upbraiding Grace and snarling at it that ye should not have the Stock in your own hand or in an inferior degree having a Heart inwardly discontent that ye are not more able of your selves then ye are to believe which is the thing that the Apostle opposeth Rom. 9.20 21. Should the thing formed say to him that formed it why hast thou made me thus Hath not the potter power over the clay c. especially since none can answer that question with any just reflection upon God who is to be blamed for that defect or inability or whence did that inability or defect in Mans Nature proceed God was gracious free and liberal in making Man perfect and whose Fault is it that it is otherways 3. Abstain from and beware of drawing desperate conclusions as to the giving over the use of the Means or of becoming more lazy and secure in the duties of Holiness and
so that as he himself saith Luke 24.26 O fools and slow of heart to believe all that the Prophets have spoken ought not Christ to have suffered these things and to have entered into his glory therefore he behoved to be in an Agony and to sweat great drops of Blood to be crucified and die and to be laid in the Grave 2. These things which we call accidentally due to Sin are mainly two 1. That horrible desperation of the damned in Heâ—l where they gnaw their tongues for pain and blaspheme God This we say is not properly and essentially the desert of Sin but only accidental 1. In respect of the Creatures inability to bear the wrath that Sin deserveth and hence ariseth not only a sinless horrour which is natural but a sinful desperation 2. Add to this inability of the Creature the enmity thereof whereby it cometh to thwart with and contradict the will of God hence the desperation not only ariseth but is increased Now our Lord Jesus not being simply a Creature or a Man but God and Man in one Person he was able to bear the sorrow and wrath due to the Elect for their Sin and and there being no quarrel nor ground of any quarrel betwixt God and him on his own account though he had a natural and sinless horrour at the cup of his Fathers displeasure when put to his head yet he had no sinful desperation The 2d thing accidentally due to Sin is the eternal duration of Wrath or of the Curse because the Sinner being a meer Creature cannot at one shoke meet with the infinite Wrath of God and satisfie Justice at once therefore the Lord hath in his Wisdom and Justice found out a way of supporting the Creature in its beeing and continuing it for ever under wrath because it cannot being finit satisfie infinite Justice But our Lord being God and Man being of infinite worth or value and of infinite strength was also to satisfie Justice and bear at once that which the Elâ—ct could never have born yet he had the essentials of that which sin deserved to wit death and the curse to meet with and did actually meet with them as the hiding of his Fathers face and the suspending and keeping back of that consolation that by vertue of the personal union flowed from the God-head to the Man-head And he also had the actual sense and feeling of the wrath of God the awaked Sword of the Justice of God actually smiting him so that men wondered how he could be dead so soon We shall only add a word or two of reasons for clearing and confirming the Doctrine and for proof of it these three things concur 1. That sins deserving by God's appointment is to have sorrow following on it 2 That by God's appointment according to the Covenant of Redemption the Son of God undertook that same very debt that was due by the Elect. And 3. That it was God's design not to pass one of their sins without satisfaction made to Justice but to put at the Cautioner for them all for the declaration of the riches and glory of the free grace of God when the sinner is liberat and not put to pay Anâ— for the declaration of the holy severity and justice of God when not one farthing is owing but the Cautioner must needs pay it and that both these meeting together there may be to all generations a standing and shining evidence of the unsearchable riches both of Gods Grace and of his Justice This is a sweet Doctrine and hath many massie substantial and soul refreshing uses Out of this eater comes meat and out of the strong comes sweet This being the very marrow of the Gospel holding out not only Christs sufferings but that he suffered not at randome or by guess but that he suffered the sorrows and griefs that we should have suffered and though the equivalent might have been received yet he would needs undergo the same sufferings in their essentials Which may exceedingly confirm the Faith and Hope of believers in him of their exemption and freedom from the wrath and curse of God seing he suffered the same that they should have suffered had not he interposed betwixt them and it as their Cautioner and Surety Use 1. Hereby we may know what an evil and bitter thing sin is that hath such effects Would God we could once prevail this far with you as to make you take up and believe that sin hath sorrow and grief inseparably knit to it and that the sinner is miserable and liable to death and to the curse of God and there is no difference but this that sinners are insensible how miserable they are and so in greater capacity to be made obnoxious to that misery Do ye mind this O sinners that God is angry with you every day That indignation and wrath tribulation and anguish is to every soul of man that does evil That God will by no means clear the guilty Tremble to think upon it Many of you pass as gay honest folks who will be found in this Roll And would ye know your condition and the hazard that ye run It 's of wrath and of the curse of God eternally with desperation and blasphemy And if that be misery sin is misery or brings it And the day comes when there shall be a storm from Heaven of Fire and Thunder that will melt the Elements above you and not leave a stone upon a stone of these stately buildings on earrh about you in which day sinners will be confirmed in the belief of this truth That it is an evil and bitter thing to depart from the living God To press this Use a little There are two sorts of sinners who if they would soberly let the truth of this Doctrine sink in their minds they would see their folly The 1. sort are these whoâ—ly quietly under bygone guilt unrepented of as if the sorrow were past becâ—use the Act is so but think not so will the just God avâ—nge sin on his Son and will he let it pass in you Ye that will grant ye are sinners and are under convictions of sin ye had need to take heed what is following it As ye treasure up sin ye are treasuring up wrath against the day of wrath O! wrath is a heaping up in store for you A 2. sort are these that go on in sin whatever be said to the effects of it and will confidently put their hand to it as if there were no sting in it at all and drink it over as so much sweet liquor but of these stoln drinks that seem sweet in secreet will be vomited up again with pain torment and sorrow and either it shall be grief and sorrow to you in the way of repentance or eternal grief and sorrow when the cup of Gods wrath shall be put in your hand and held to your head for evermore Use 2. By this ye may see a necessity of making use of the Mediator
Christ Jesus It 's Gods great mercy that he hath given a Mediator and that the Mediator is come and that he hath taken on our debt What had been our eternal perishing and wallowing in Hells torments with Devils to his sufferings Alwayes this Doctrine saith that there is a necessity of making use of him and receiving of him And therefore either resolve to meet with this sorrow in your own persons or betake you to him that by his interposing it may be kept off you Weigh these two that sorrow death and the curse necessarily follow sin And that Jesus Christ hâ—th died and undergone that curse for elect sinners and then ye will see a necessity of being found in him that ye may be free of the curse Which made Paul make that choise Philip. 3 8 9 I count all things dung that I may win Christ and be found in him Oft-times the allurements of the Gospel prevail not to bring sinners to Chriâ—t but if it's allurements do not prevail will not the consideration of the vengeance of God perswade you However in these two Doctrines ye have in sum this the curse of God following sin and a free and full Saviour holden out to you by whom ye may eviâ—e the curse ye are invited â—o make him welcome Choose you death and life are set before you whereby you are put to it whether ye will adventure to meet with the curse or to make him welcome Now God himself make you wise to make the right choise SERMON XX. ISAIAH LIII IV V. Vers 4. Surely he hath born our griefs and carried our sorrows yet we did esteem him stricken smitten of God and afflicted Vers 5. But he was wounded for our transgressions he was bruised for our iniquities the chastisement of our peace was upon him and with his stripes we are healed IF we had the Faith of that which the Prophet speaks here and the through conviction who it is of whom he speaks we would be in a holy transport of admiration and astonishment at the hearing of it That it 's he who is the Prince of life that was bruised and wounded and that these bruises wounds and stripes are ours were for us and the price and satisfaction for our iniquities to Divine Justice And yet that even he in the performing of all this is vilipended and despised by these whose good he is thus pursuing and seeking after O! how should it be wondered at These words as we shew hold forth these three 1. The cause or end of Christs suffering Surely he hath born our griefs and carried our sorrows which is to remove and take away the scandal that might arise from Christs Humiliation described in the foregoing words He was low indeed but there was no guilt found in his mouth It was for no quarrel that God had at himself but he undertook our debt and therefore carried our sorrows 2. The aggravation of mens enmity and desperat wickedness that yet notwithstanding of all this We esteemed him smitten of God and a flicted 3. We have the Exposition of the first part more clearly set down But he was wounded for our transgressions he was bruised for our iniquities c. Where more fully he expounds what in the beginning of the 4. vers he asserted We expounded the first part of the words and shew that these griefs and sorrows held forth the due desert of sin called ours because they are the due and particular desert of our sins and that which they procured and that Christ's bearing of them was not only meant of his taking away or removing from us of sorrows and griefs as he did diseases but of his real undergoing of that which we should have undergone even such a bearing as made others think him smitten and plagued of God and such as wounded and bruised him even such as made him become a curse for us and such as procured healing to us All which proves that it was a reâ—l undergoing of sorrow and grief We spoke to two Doctrines from this part 1. That sin hath sorrow necessarily knit to it and never wanteth sorrow following on it 2. That Christ Jesus undertook these same sorrows and really bare these same griefs that sin procured to the Elect or that by sin were due to them That we may proceed to observe somewhat more and for clearer access to the Doctrine we shall speak a word to a Question that may be moved here What is meant by these words our we and us He hath born our griefs the Lord hath laid on him the iniquities of us all by his stripes we are healed And the rather I would speak to this because throughout the Chapter we will find these Pronouns very frequent We know in Scripture our and us are sometimes extended to all mankind so we are all lost in Adam and sin hath a dominion over us all And that part of the worâ—s vers 6. All we like sheep have gone astray may well be extended to all mankind Sometimes it is to be restrictâ—d to God's Elect and so all comprehends only such and all such And in this respect our us and we and all are contradistinguished from many others in the World and take not in all men as Gal. 4.26 Jerusalem which is above is free which is the mother of us all Which is spoken in opposition to thâ— bond woman and her children spoken of before So that this our us and we are not to be extended to all individual men in the Wâ—rld as if Christ had satisfied the Justice of God for all but it is to be applied to Gods Elect separat in his purpose from others and in Gods design appointed to be redeemed and satisfied for by Christ And the words being thus expounded they lead us to this Doctrine that Jesus Christ in bearing the punishment of sin had a particular and distinct respect to some definite sinners for confirmation of it we shall not go out of the Chapâ—er the scope whereof we would clear a little And if we look thorow the Chapter we will find five grounds to clear these words are to be thus restricted For 1. We are to expound this universal with respect to Gods purpose and Covenant the contrivance of the Elects Redemption and to the death of Christ the execution of it and so these words our us we all are and must be restricted to these and in them we are to find out who they are Now who these are we find clear John 6.37 39. In the 37. v. where he saith All that the Father hath given me shall come unto me And v. 39. This is the Fathers will which hath sent me that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing It 's in a word these whom the Father hath given to Christ and as many as are given will believe And certainly these that are given to Christ to be redeemed by him are the same whose iniquities the Father makes to meet on
his purchase before Believing but when he comes to believe the obstruction is taken away that hindered his application and then he hath a new right not only to but in Christs purchase even as a Person that is Minor or mad may have a right to a great possession but by the law he is secluded from the use of it till he come to majority and have the use of reason and this distinction we have as one of the clauses of the Covenant John 6.39 40. where 1. in the 39. Verse Christ says This is the Fathers will that sent me that of all that he hath given me I should lose nothing but should raise it up again at the last day It 's the Fathers will that Eternal Life be given to as many as are given to Christ on his Satisfaction and Christ hath purchased it to them by his Satisfaction absolute as to the event and therefore they have an accessibleness to it a right to it and cannot but partake of it yet not simply but in the way that he hath laid down And therefore 2ly In the 40. Verse he saith This is the will of him that sent me that every one that seeth the Son and believeth on him may have eternal life by believing they come to the application of that to themselves which they had a legal right to before by Christs death 2. Respect must be had to the Covenant of Grace which is not quite an other thing then the Covenant of Redemption but the making offer of it and the benefits contained in it in the preached Gospel when Christ sends out his Ambassadours to woo and invite Sinners to Christ and to bring them to the application of his Purchase and it is by closing with and receiving of Christs offer that the actual Cure comes and that by Christs stripes our sores are healed Even as when a Child that was Minor becomes Major he comes to have a right to possess the same Lands or Sums of Money by the same Law that gave him a legal or simple right to them before or he comes to have a right in that which before he had a right to So elect Souls that have a right to Christs purchase before believing while they are mad in nature are under the curse and wrath threatned in the word of God for not believing but when they come to believe they come to get an extract from the same word of their right in Christs purchase because the Word says He that believes is past from death to life and shall not come into condemnation and so the same word that did condemn before believing doth now absolve upon a Sinners believing and we come at this absolution by receiving of Christs offer in the Covenant of Grace And if it be asked how comes it that the receiving of Christs free offer in the Covevant of Grace gives a right to Christs purchase we answer It is by vertue of the Covenant of Redemption wherein it is so transacted betwixt God and the Mediator so that there is the offer of the Covenant received and the Covenant it self that concur for making over and deriving a compleat Right to wretched Sinners in Christs purchase Let the 1. Use of this be for your instruction and information which is the end wherefore we have chosen in this way by this short view to give you in a very short sum the marrow of the Gospel And if ye remember these few Questions ye may be in a capacity not only to answer us but through grace to exercise Faith on Christ And we think ye will all readily grant that these who cannot at all answer them should not go to the Communion And therefore that ye may take them with you we shall shortly resume them 1. What condition is man in by nature Answer Under sin and misery and even under the curse of God Or thus every man is a sinner and hath a sinful nature or he is under transgressions and iniquities is naturally loathsome wants peace with God and hath need of healing Let this in the first place sink in your hearts 2. How is man freed from this sinfulness and misery Answer He cannot be free from it till there be a condign satisfaction made to Divine Justice wounding and bruising must be to procure pardon and stripes must be to procure healing and chastisement must be to bring about our peace That word Exod. 34. Who will by no means acquit the guilty would alwayes be remembred and Faith would look to a Saviour for satisfaction 3. Who can satisfie Answer Neither Man nor Angel can do it no penances no prayers nor performances of any meer creature will do it but He only that was wounded and bruised He who by Nature is the Son of God the express Image of the Fathers Person and who in respect of His Humane Nature was born of the Virgin Mary like to us in all things except sin It 's he that satisfies Justice and it 's by no other way that we get pardon and peace with God and Holiness 4. What way doth Christ satisfie Justice and make peace betwixt God and sinners Answer He entered himself in our room and as Cautioner undertook our debt suffered the condign punishmens that was due for our sins and payed the price that we should have payed He in a manner left Heaven and became Man had a mean life in the World drank the Cup of his Fathers Wrath was wounded bruised chastised and died a cursed death whereof his hanging on the Cross was but a sign 5. What benefites come to us by his sufferings Answer Pardon of sin Peace with God and healing The Conscience by his blood is sprinkled from dead works the person absolved reconciled to God made whole and made at last to be without spot or wrinkle or any such thing And this is not as Papists blasphemously speak a putative effect but a most real one 6. Who are made partakers of this pardon peace and healing Answer The Elect have right to it and by believing they make the application therefore it 's said here our and we And we may look upon the Prophet speaking in the name of all the Elect or in name of the believing Elect who on believing are actually healed The Elect then are healed and the way how is by faith making application of Jesus Christ 7. How in Justice can he be condemned that was free of sin and how can we be absolved that were guilty Answer He in Justice was condemned because as our Cautioner he came in our room and undertook to pay our debt And on the same ground we wretched sinners may in his way make application of his purchase because it was on these terms that he undertook the debt that we might be set free And it 's on these terms that it is offered in the Gospel that seing he hath payed for elect sinners they may upon the hearing of the offer close with it But how
and the exacting of the price according to the transaction is the ground of his expectation of the benefit of Christs purchase And there is Justice for it as the Apostle intimats Rom. 8.34 35. Who shall lay any thing to the charge of Gods elect It is God that justifieth who is he that condemneth it is Christ that died yea rather that is risen again c. And upon this follows the believing souls triumph O! but there is much need to be thorowly acquainted with the mutual relations that are betwixt Christ and believing sinners with the ground of their approaching to him and with the good they are to expect through him Use 4. This word is made use of 1 Pet. 2.21 To give us a notable and none such pattern of patience Christ also suffered for us leaving us an example that we should follow his steps He did bear all wrongs patiently and packed them up quietly to say so and opened not his mouth He could have told Pilate and Caiaphas what they were but spoke not a word save one to the High Priest notwithstanding all his provoking carriage and a very meek one too If I have spoken evil bear witness of the evil and if well why smitest thou me Among other Copies then that Christ hath casten take this for one make him a Copy and Pattern for Patience It is to be regrated that folks are so unlike to Christ in this respect they think it a disdainful thing to pack up a wrong and they will scorn and rush at it But what if Jesus Christ had been of that temper and disposition if it be fit to make such a supposition ye had been without a Redeemer and had perished for ever When he calls you to be followers of him and to suffer patiently as he did though most unjustly as to men for you to think or say that ye scorn it and that ye are not so mean spirited what is it else but to think and say on the matter that blessed Jesus in his patient and silent carriage under all the injuries that he suffered very unjustly from men shewed himself to be of a low and base spirit and that ye disdain to follow his way O! intollerably saucy and proudly blasphemous reflection The many contests the many high reâ—entments of wrongs the great grudging frettiâ—g and foaming at them that there are in Châ—istians say plainly that there is little of the meek and patient Spirit of Christ in and amongst us and that many of us know not what spirit we are of SERMON XXVIII ISAIAH LIII VIII Vers 8. He was taken from prison and from judgement and who shall declare his generation For he was cut off out of the land of the land of the living for the transgression of my people was he stricken WE need not tell you of whom the Prophet is speaking here every verse and every word almost do make it manifest that he speaks of Christ the Saviour and indeed it can be applyed to none other It 's the same verse Acts 8.34 from which Philip proceeds to preach Christ to the Eunuch The Prophet hath been largely holding forth Christ's sufferings in the former verse and we conceive he takes a turn to speak of Christ's exaltation and out gate from these sufferings It 's true as if he had said He was brought to Prison and Judgement He was indeed straitned and pinched and laid very low but Prison and Judgement did not keep him He was taken or as the word is He was lift up from both And for as despicable as he was in man's eyes yet he was not so in himself for who shall declare his generation There is a wonderfulness in him who suffered that cannot be reached but must be left with admiration And a wonderfuâ— glory whereunto he was after his humiliation exalted and there is a reason of this given for preventing of offence if any should say how then could he suffer and be brought so low in suffering if he was so glorious a persoâ— He answers it is true that he was cut off out of the land of the living but for no offence in himself but for the transgression of Gods Elect was he stricken or as the word is The stroak was upon him Yea this as we conceive is given as a reason of his exaltation Because in the lowest steps of his humiliation he condescended to fulfil his ingagement to the Father in satisfying Justice for the sins of the Elect according to that of John 10.17 Therefore doth my Father love me because I lay down my life that I might take it again Because according to his ingagement he suffered for the sins of his Elect People therefore he could not but have a comfortable and glorious outgate There are these three things in the words 1. Somewhat asserted concerning Christ Jesus He was taken from Prison and from Judgement 2. Something hinted at which cannot be expressed Who shall declare his generation 3. There is a reason given in reference to both For he was cut off c. which we shall expound when we come to it For the first He was taken from Prison and from Judgement We conceive these words look both to his humiliation and to his out-gate from it the one being clearly supposed that he was in prison or straits and brought to judgement and the other being expressed that he was brought from prison and from judgement 1. Prison here may be taken generally for any strait pinch or pressour thaâ— one may be brought unto which we conceâ—ve both the Words and the Prophets scope will clear Christ never having been properly in prison at least for any considerable time but straitned and pinched And he was taken from that being in his humiliation and in his sufferings in the room of the Elect pursued by the Law and Justice of God 2. Judgement is taken passively for Judgement past on him and it looks not only to the procedour of Pilate of the Chief Priest and of the Scribes and Pharisees but to a Judicial Process which the Justice of God led against him in which respect he answered as the words after will clear for the sins of God's people 3. The word He was eaken sometimes signifies to deliver as a Captive is delivered when he is taken from him that took him Captive as it is Isai 49.24 Shall the prey be taken from the mighty or the lawful captive delivered To which the Lord here answers It or he shall be taken So then the scope and meaning of the words is that the Prophet subjoyns a narration of Christ's Exaltation upon the back of his Humiliation as it is usual in the Scripture to put these together and in this order as namely Philip. 2.8 9. He bumhled himself and became obedient unto death even to the death of the cross Wherefore God hath highly exalted him and given him a name c. He was exceedingly straitned and pinched for the Elects sins but death had
be libelled for sin though not for his own sin and what it was to be sentenced and to meet with wrath which gives to sinners a safe and refreshful shelter under him as under the shadow of a great rock in a weary land This is the great design of the Gospel to make proffer of the benefite of these sufferings to you and to pray you in Christs stead to be reconciled to God Now God himself perswade you to it SERMON XXIX ISAIAH LIII VIII Vers 8. He was taken from prison and from judgement and who shall declare his generation For he was cut off out of the land of the living for the transgression of my people was he stricken EVery step of Christs way to sinners and every word whereby it is exprest is wonderful And therefore it is no marvel that the Prophet doth by way of admiration cast in this word And who shall declare his generation We shew you that we conceive these words to be these that express the Prophets turning of himself from Christs Humiliation to his Exaltation He hath insisted long in setting out his wonderful abasement exinanition and humiliation which these words import He was brought from prison and from judgement Which look not only to his external imprisonment to his coming to judgement bâ—fore men but also and mainly and principally to the pinches and straits that he was brought into and his arraignment before Gods Tribunal and so to the cause of his suffering to wit for the transgression of his people as the words following hold out which was not the cause of his censure before men but the procuring cause of what he met with from and before God But though he was brought to prison and to judgement to death and to the grave yet they did not they could not detain him He was taken or as the word signifies he was lift up from prison and from judgement being the same word that followeth He was cut off out of the land of the living which supposes a turn and change from his Humiliation to his Exaltation and these words Who shall declare his generation Set out the unconceivable and unexpressible glory that Christ is exalted unto so Acts 8.33 35. Where these words are cited it 's said In his humiliation his judgement was taken away That is in his lowest step of his Humiliation his judgement or that to which he was adjudged was taken from him and he was declared free However since in these words our Lords Humiliation is implyed and his Exaltation expressed as following on it we think it safest to understand them so The words put together hold out the high degree of Christs glorious exaltation so as his generation cannot be declared He was taken from prison and from judgment and gloriously exalted in another manner and to another degree of glory then either Angels or Believers are or are capable to be For he that is exalted is God whose generation cannot be declared Death having no more dominion over him and he having the keyes of hell and of death In a word we take this Who shall declare his generation most immediatly to relate to Christ's Exaltation as Mediator and to the glory wherewith he was invested and to the dominion that he hath over all creatures yet considering that the Prophets scope is to set out this as wonderful and considering that the first step of his Exaltation is his Resurrection whereby as the Apostle speaks Rom. 1.4 he was declared to be the Son of God with power His Resurrection being singular in this respect that he rose by his own power and considering that Acts 8.35 Philip began to preach to the Eunuch Jesus Christ as the object of Faith We think it reasonable to conceive that he preached Christ to be God from this Text so as the Eunuch might have a solid foundation for his faith And this subserving the scope which is to set out the wonderfulness of Christs love to Elect sinners who being God yet condescended to come thus low for saving of them We may take in his God-head mediatly from which as the former steps of his Humiliation received worth and efficacy so he was thereby sustained and born up under all these sufferings whereby his people are saved From the first and second expressions put together we shall draw three Doctrines relating to three main Articles of our Faith The 1. whereof is this That our Lord Jesus had an out-gate from and victory over the lowest and most pinching pieces of His Humiliation and suffering so that though he was at prison and judgement yet he was lift up from both and had a glorious out-gate This takes in three things which the same grounds will confirm 1. That in his lowest state and step of Humiliation he was sustained and carried thorow so that all the assaults which he was put to endure and encounter with from all his enemies wicked Men and Devils did not overcome him 2. That as he in himself was born thorow and sustained So in respect of God's bar at which he was arraigned he was absolved and set free He so came thorow by paying of the debt that he had an Absolviture as it is 1 Tim. 3. ult Great is the mystery of godliness God was manifest in the flesh justified in the spirit Our blessed Lord Jesus being sustained by the power of his God-head was carried thorow in his sufferings payed the Elects debt and received the sentence of absolution even as a person to speak with reverence in such a subject having payed the debt for which he was imprisoned is absolved and set free 3. It takes in our Lords actual delivery he not only received the sentence of absolution but was actually set free so that as he was pleased to put himself in prison and in straits for us so he was brought from every step of his humiliation from prison and from judgement from death and from the grave He nailed the hand-writing which was against us to his cross as the Apostle saith Col. 2.14 15. And having spoiled principalities and powers he made a shew of them openly triumphing over them in it And as it is 1 Cor. 15. at the close He took the sting from death disarmed it and trode upon it And there was necessity for this even such necessiâ—y that it was impossible it could be otherwayes as we have it Acts 2.24 It was not possible that he could be holden of death This will be clear if we consider these things 1. The person that suffered he was not an ordinary nay nor a meer man but God-man As is clear Acts 2.27 cited out of Psal 16. where it is said Thou wilt not leave my soul in hell neither wilt thou suffer thy Holy One to see corruption 2. The end of Christs sufferings which was to satisfie for the debt of his people there having been no reckoning on his own score or account he being still in Gods favour and his Holy One
as a reason of the former and the one part of them is a reason of the other he had said before Who can declare his generation Who can sufficiently declare and unfold how gloriously the Mediator is exalted And he gives this for the reason of it For he was cut off out of the land of the living The force of which reason is that he humbled himself therefore God hath highly exalted him as the Apostle reasons Philip. 2.9 So tha this is not added as being posterior to his Exaltation but as a reason shewing the connexion of his Exâ—ltation with his Humiliation And left it should be a stumbling to any that this glorious person suffered death he gives the reason of that also which strengthens the reason of his Exaltation For the transgression of my people was he stricken or as the word is The stroak was on him he suffered not for any wrong in himself but for the sins of his own elect people The first part clearly looks to Christs death which was a Prophesie in Isaiah his time but is now a Historical narr tion to us we having the Gospel as a Commentary on it To be cut off out of the land of the living is to have an end put to the natural life which is ordinarily done by death But cutting off here signifies to be taken away not in an ordinary but in an extraordinary way to be removed by a violent death by the stroak of Justice We may shortly take these two Observes here for the confirmation of two Articles of our Faith Looking on it 1. As a Prophesie we may Observe That our Lord Jesus behoved to suffer and die it was Prophesied of him That he should be cut off out of the land of the living And Dan. 9.26 it is plainly and clearly asserted that the Messiah shall be cut off which being compared with the History of the Gospel we have it as a truth â—ulfilled for our Lord Jesus was cut off and as he himself sayes Luke 24. It behoved him to suffer these things and to enter into his gloâ—y Aâ—d supposing the Elect to be sinners and the curse to be added to the Covenant of Works The day thou eats thou shalâ— surely die supposing also the Mediator to have ingaged and undertaken to satisfie Juâ—â—ice and undergo that curse for the Elâ—ct There was a necessity that he should die as it is Gal. 3.13 Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the Law being made a curse for us which curse was evidenâ— in his death for it is written Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree 2. Observe That our Lord Jesus behoved to die a violent death and not an ordinary natural one which this expression and that other Dan 9 clearly holds forth And consideriâ—g his sinless nature that was not lyable to death and that he had not these principles of dying in him disposing him to die that we sinful miserable mortals have is us And considering withal that the Lord Jâ—hovah was to speak so pursuing him as siâ—ners Câ—uâ—ioner at the Bar of Justice it was meet yea necâ—ssary that our blessed Lord should not die an ordinary death as men die ordinarily through weakness or sickness on their beds but a violent death Use It serves to be a confirmation of this truth that the Messiah behoved thus to die therefore we say in the Belief He suffered under Pontius Pilate was crucified dead and buried Which shews 1. The reality oâ— his satisfaction and the compleat payment that he made to Justice when he layes down that price which the sinner ought to have laid down 2. It shews the reality of our Lord's sufferings and that they were not imaginary but that as he was a real and true man so his sufferings were most real His soul was separat from his body though the union betwixt both his body and soul and the God-head continued still 3. It holds forth a proof and confirmation of our faith in this that our Lord Jesus is the Messiah that was Prophesied of and promiâ—ed in whom all the suffâ—rings in his soul and body that were spokâ—n of to go before his death were accomplished and in whom this was also accomplished that he was cut off out of the land of the living So that if we look rightly on the Scriptures our Lords sufferings will be so far from being matter of stumbling that they will rather be a clear convincing and evident proof that Jeâ—us of Nazareth is the true Messiah and that in him all th t was spoken concerning the Messiah is fulfi led and came to pass 4. It 's mâ—tter of great consolation to believers that our Lord Jesus who is now exalted died and so death is spoiled and there needs not be any great fear for them to yoke with it This land of the living is not their rest within a little they must be gone hence Our Lord was cut off from it and that by a shameful death for the behove and sake of others and not for himself and therefore his death cannot but be made forth-coming for them for whom he under-went it and their petty suffâ—rings need not much to vex them Those plainest truths that are most ordinary have in them most of spiritual sap juâ—ce and life to strengthen Faith and to furnish consolation to Believers And were they rightly understood and fed upon by Faith O how lively might they be And were there no more but these two words in thâ— Text. O how much consolation do they yield in lâ—fe and in death Our Lord is gone before Believers and they may be greatly heartned to follow him The last part of or the last thing in the words seem to have some more obscurity in it and therefore we shall insist the more in opening up of the same For the transgression of my people was he stricken These words do not look to the reason why Pilate and the Priests condemned him for they had no thoughts of the sins of Gods people Though Caiaphas stumbled as to himself by guess on a Prophesie of his dying for them but they give a reason why he was cut off out of the land of the living And look to the Court and Tribunal of God's Justice before which he was standing by which he was to be sentenced to death for the transgressions of God's people and also absolved He was thus stricken in respect of God's purpose and design For clearing of the words it may be inquired 1. What is meant here by my people 2. What is it to be stricken or smitten for them For the 1. My people it is a discriminating or differencing thing of some from others And therefore by my people here is not meant 1. All the world or all that ever lived and had a beeing We find not any where in Scripture that these are called my people or God's people but when ever my people is spoken of it is used to rid Marches betwixt his people and
the riches of the free grace of God there being a Decree of Election for saving so many and for bringing them to Glory And they being under sin there is another decree and threatning that goes forth for cursing the sinner and these two seeming to be altogether irreconciliable the Question comes in on the one hand how is it possible that a sinner under the curse can be saved And upon the other hand how is it possible that an Elect of God can be damned The wisdome of God looseth the knot Spotless Justice is satisfied by taking hold of and falling on the Cautioner Wonderful Grace and Love vent themselves in pardoning the sinner and in accepting of a ransome for him And manifold wisdome manifests it self in knitting these two together so as none of them can want its effect But all returns to the manifestation of the Glory of Grace in the up-shot It cannot be that the Elect shall be damned Yet here stands the threatning of a just God and his curse ready to be execute but here is the reconciliation The curse is execute on the Mediator whereby God shews himself to be a hater of sin and an avenger of the wrong done to his Justice And the Elect sinner is pardoned whereby God manifesteth the freedome of his grace and his wonderfully condescending love But now we come to a 9th Doctrine which is more directly held forth in the words and it hath two Branches that our Lord Jesus his death and sufferings is a proportionable price and satisfaction laid down for the sins of the Elect and for them only This is in the express words of the Prophet If the Question be asked Wherefore suffered Christ all this He answers he suffered it as a price for transgression If it be asked again for whom or for whose transgression did he suffer He answers not for all Men and Women in the World but for the transgression of my people was he stricken or the stroak was on him for their transgressions The first Branch of the Doctrine is to this purpose that Christs suffering is intended to satisfie for the transgression of Gods elected people and with respect to satisfying for their sins did he suffer And if we take these to be truths that we marked before as implyed in the words this will natively and necessarily follow If he engaged to be Cautioner and Surety for the Elects debt then his laying down his life must be on the same account and for the same end Now when we speak of Christs laying down a price to satisfie for the transgressions of the Elect we mean not only this that his sufferings and death have a value in themselves to satisfie for their sins but that they are so intended by him in undergoing of them and that they are so accepted of God according to his purpose and according to the transaction that past betwixt Jehovah and the Mediator They are not only as Socinians say to be a confirmation of the Doctrine which he preached and to be a rule and example to us of patient suffering and of giving obedience to the death as he did But it 's also and mainly to satisfie the Justice of God for our debt So then this wicked Tenet of the Socinians is exceeding derogatory to the sufferings of Christ and to the matchless love that shined in them yea and even to the whole design of Redemption For if Christs sufferings be not a satisfaction to Justice we are left without all just plea and apology for our selves at Gods Bar and if we have none then that curse looks the wakened sinner full in the face The day thou eats thou shalt surely die And however men in their security may please themselves with such dreams and think that a satisfaction to Justice is not needful yet if the conscience be once wakened it will not be quieted without one And if mens Faith give not credit to Gods threatnings they can have but little or rather no comfort at all in his promises There is therefore a necessity of a satisfaction and if Christs sufferings be not the satisfaction there is not another and so the whole work of Redemption is overturned So then though Christ in his sufferings hath left us a Copy how we should suffer yet that is not the only nor the principal end of them but it is contrived in the Covenant of Redemption and intended by the Medi tor and withall accepted by Jehovah that they should be the meritorious cause of procuring pardon to the Elect and the price of their Redemption This may be further cleared and confirmed 1. From the phrase that is ordinarily made use of in Scripture He suffered for the sins of his people And in the Text For the transgression of my people was he stricken Their sins had a peculiar influence in bringing the stroak on him And what influence I pray could they have but as they procured the stroak to him And if his stroaks were procured by our sins then the desert of them was laid on him and his sufferings behoved to be the curse that we elect sinners should have suffered So when he is called their Cautioner it tells that he undertook their debt and his laying down of his life is the performance and fulfilling of his undertaken Suretyship and Cautionry And considering that their debt was exacted of him and that he was arraigned before Gods Tribunal as their Surety in their room and that this could be for nothing else but to answer for them as being their Cautioner His sufferings behoved to be intended as a satisfaction for their sins For the Elects sins were not the cause why Pilate the people of the Jews and the Scribes and Pharisees pursued him to death but for our sins he was sisted before God's Tribunal and being our Cautioner he was called to reckon for them and they were put upon his account or score 2. It 's clear also from the names that his sufferings get in the Scripture where they are called the price of our Redemption a buying of us a propitiation for our sins that pacified God Rom. 3.25 and 1 John 2.2 A Sacrifice often and Ransome Matth. 20.28 The Son of man came to give his life a ransome for many that is for all his Elect people to relieve them from the bondage they were under which plainly shews the respâ—ct that his sufferings had to our sins that they were a propitiation for them to God 3. It 's clear if we consider that Christs death as to its object is for the transgressions of all Gods people of all the Eâ—ect that lived before he suffered whether they died in their infancy or at age and for all that lived or shall live and die after his suffering to the end of the world Now what benefite could redound to them that died ere Christ came in the flesh by his sufferings if it were as Socinians say for his death could not sure be a pattern
land of the living fâ—r the transgression of my people was he stricken THere is nothing that concerns us more than to be well acquainted with the doctrine of Christ Jesus and his Sufferings The Prophet hath therefore been much in shewing what Christ suffered in the former words and hath largely described his Humiliation to Judgment and Death for saith he he was cut off out of the land of the living In the words read he answers two important questions concerning his sufferings 1. To what end were all these sufferings he answers that they were for transgressions even to be a satisfaction to Justice for them The 2. Question is For whose sins were the sufferings of Christ to be a satisfaction It is answered expresly in the words for the transgression of my people was he stricken or the stroak was upon him it was for the sins of the Elect and of the Elect only for this is the Prophets scope who having spoken of Christs sufferings and death holds forth the meritorious and procuring cause and end thereof and this is the result design and sum of all even to be a satisfaction for Gods elect People for as we shew by Gods People are not meaned all men in the world nor the Jews only for Christ hath many sheep beside them but it 's Gods peculiar People in opposition to the multitude who are not his People The Doctrine or rather the branch of the Doctrine we left at was this and it 's exclusive that Christ's death is only intended to be a price for the sins of God's elect People and was laid down with respect to them his death and sufferings are to be looked upon and considered only as a price and satisfaction for their sins and for the sins of none other or thus Jesus Christ in his suffering and in the laying down of his life had a respect to the elect and intended the removing of the sins and transgressions of God's elect people only and of none other we know nothing that we can make of these words nor of the Prophets scope in them but this who as he hath been describing Christs sufferings in all other respects so doth he in this to wit in respect of the persons for whom he suffered and of the meritorious cause and end of his sufferings for says the Text for the transgressions of my people that is of Gods elect people was he stricken This branch of the Doctrine is of great weight and concernment in the whole strain of Grace for if this march-stone be lifted and removed Grace becomes common and as some call it universal and so to be in effect no grace at all for Grace hath a peculiar channel of its own wherein it runs towards a certain select number and not towards all I do not mean of grace taken in a large sense for so all men as they are partakers of any mercy or of common favours may be said to have grace extended to them but I mean God's special grace favour and good will which is extended only to the Elect for whose sins Christ suffered the right bounding of which Doctrine shews forth both God's soveraignty in the dispensing of grace and the freeness thereof in communicating and manifesting of it to whom he will and which thus considered is especially engaging of the hearts of them on whom he pleaseth to manifest it Ere I come to confirm this branch of the Doctrine take a word or two of advertisement in the entry 1. That Christ's death may be considered two ways 1. In respect of it self and as abstracting from the Covenant of Redemption wherein it is contrived as to all the circumstances of it in which sense as his death and sufferings are of infinite value worth so they are as Divines use to speak of value to redeem the whole world if God in his design and decree had so ordered and thought meet to extend it 2. We are to consider his sufferings and death as a price agreed upon in the Covenant or Bargain of Redemption wherein these two or three things concur 1. God's proposal 2. Christ's acceptation and design in laying down his life 3. The Fathers acquiescing therein and declaring himself well pleased therewith we speak not here of Christ's death in the first respect that is as abstracting from the Covenant for in that respect he might have laid down his life for few or moe for some or for all if it had been so intended but we speak of it in the second respect as it 's a price agreed upon in God's purpose and Christ's design and in God's acceptation and thus we say that his death is only intended as a satisfaction and recompence for the sins of the Elect and was laid down for them only 2ly We may consider Christ's sufferings and death in the fruits of it either as they respect common favours and mercies common gifts and means of grace which are not peculiar and saving but common to Believers with others being bestowed upon professors in the visible Church or as they are peculiar and saving such as Faith Justification Adoption c. Now when we say that Christ's sufferings and death are a price for the sins of his People we exclude not the Reprobate simply from temporal and common favours and mercies that come by his death they may have and actually have common gifts and works of the Spirit the means of Grace which are some way effects and fruits of the same Covenant but we say that the Reprobate partake not of saving Mercy and that Christs death is a satisfaction only for the Elect and that none others get pardon of Sin Faith Repentance c. by it but they only it was intended for none others and this we clear and confirm from and by these following grounds and arguments which we shall shortly hint at The 1. Argument is drawen from this same assertion of the Prophet thus If Christs death be only a satisfaction for the sins of Gods People then it is not a satisfaction for the sins of all but it 's a satisfaction only for the sins of Gods People therefore not for all for his People are not all men or all men are not his People but his People are a peculiar People separate from others in God's purpose and decree as we cleared before from John 17. Thine they were and thou gavest them me and the Text says expresly for the transgressions of my people was he stricken he respected the sins of God's People in accepting of the Bargain and in laying down his Life and for their sins only God accepted him yea the very mentioning of them thus here secludes all others and we must expone them exclusively as taking in none others and must look upon the things spoken of them as agreeing to no other even as it 's said Heb. 4. There remains therefore a rest to the people of God which is certainly exclusive of all others and hence when our Lord
ground Hence alace it is that many will say God is merciful and Christ died for all sinners and for me and so sleep it out in security I am perswaded that much of the security and presumption that abounds among carnal Professors is from this ground that grace is fancied to be thus broad and large We grant that as to the convey and nature of it it 's broad but in respect of the objects on whom it is bestowed it 's narrow though it cometh from large bowels 3. It exceedingly marrs and diminisheth mens thankfulness for when a mercy is judged to be common who will praise for it as he would do if it were special and peculiar That which is a great ground of thankfulness for Election Effectual Calling Justification c. is because these mercies are peculiar even so that which makes the redeemed thankful for Redemption is because they are redeemed and bought when others are left hence is that Song of the redeemed company Rev. 5.9 Thou art worthy to open the Book for thou wast stain and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kind ed and tongue and people and nation It hightens not their praise that all of every kindred and tongue and nation were redeemed but this doth it that when the Lord had the whole world before him he was graciously pleased to purchase and redeem them out of it that as it is John 11.52 He should gather together in one the children of God that were scattered abroad They therefore I say bless him and wonder when they consider that they are pitched on who are by nature the same with these that are past by were a strange thing to affirm that they who are in Hell have as great ground of praise and of saying We thank thee for thou hast redeemed as by thy blood as these that are in Heaven have 4. This making of grace so wide and large in his extent as to take in all doth leave the people of God altogether comfortless But it may be here said How is it that it is more comfort to Believers that grace is peculiar in saving and that but a few are redeemed in comparison of others that are not redeemed then if we should extend it unto and account it to be for all Or how is this more comfortless to them that grace is made universal Answer 1. Because if it were universal many whom Christ died for are now in Hell and what consolation can there be from that A man may be redeemed and yet perish and go to Hell for all that But it 's strong consolation when this comes in If when we were enemies we were reconciled by the death of his Son much more being reconciled we shall be saved by his life If he died for us when we were enemies will he not much more save us being friends 2. Suppose a person to be in black nature what comfort could he have by looking on Redemption as universal He could not expect Heaven by it for many expect Heaven on that ground who will never get it But it 's a sort of consolation even to them that are without to consider that Redemption is peculiar to some For though all get not Heaven yet they that believe get it and so upon their closing with Christ the consolation presently flows out unto them Whereas if they should lay it for a ground that Christs death were universal they could never have solid ground of consolation by flying to him 5. This errour doth quite overturn and enervat the whole Covenant of Redemption and peculiar love 1. It enervats and obscures the wisdome that shines in it if Christ may buy and purchase many by his death who shall yet notwithstanding perish 2. It enervats and obscures the love and grace that shine in it for it makes Christ to cast away the love and grace of it to reproâ—â—e and â—o to cast pearls to swine 3. Tâ— obscures the freedom of it which â—â—y tâ—â—â— in his taking of one and refusing another as it is Rom. 9.11 12. The children not being yet born and having done neither good nor 〈◊〉 that thâ— pâ—â—pose of God according to election might â—â—â—â—d 〈◊〉 of works but of 〈◊〉 that calleth it was said the elder shall serve the 〈◊〉 as it is written Jacob have I loved and Esaâ— have I hated 4. It obscures the Justice of it if he should but all and yet get but som for it being the design of God to inflict on Christ the curse that was due to sinners and to spare them if this should be the result of it that many for whom he died and took on him the curse should pâ—rish he should get but some of these whom he bought and Justice should twice exact satisfaction for one and the same debt once of the Surety and again of the Principal Debtor that perisheth Whereas when Christ becomes Surety they are set free for whom he was â—urety and it is Justice that it should be so We do the rather insist in the refutation of this errour because this is a time wherein it is one of the Devils great designs which he drives to trouble the clear Springs of the Gospel and to revive this errour amongst the rest And there is something of it in these poor fool Bodies who speak so much of a light within as if all were alike and had something which if they use well they may get life by This error alwayes leaves men to be Masters and Carvers of Gods Decree and of Christs purpose and design in the work of Redemption and suspends the benefit of his death mainly if not only on the consent of mans free-will A 2d Branch of the errour which this Doctrine refutes is that which is vented by some who are not professed enemies but in other things deserve well of the Church of Christ which therefore should be our grief to mention And it is this that though Christ hath not simply purchased Redemption from sin to all men that yet he hath taken away from all the sins of that first Covenant of Works as if there were as they say no sin for which men are now condemned but the sin of infidelity or unbelief But this is dangerous for iâ— If this be true that Christ's death is only a price for the sins of the Elect then there are no sins of others reckoned on his score 2. It halveth Christs purchase and hardly will we find Christs death divided which were to say that he hath bought a man in part or haâ—f from wrath and not wholly such a dividing of Christ and halving of his death seems not consistent with the strain of the Gospel for as there is one Sacrifice so there is one account on which it is offered 3. It seems to infer a good and safe condition to all them that die without sinning against the Gospel and so to Infants born out of the Church that never sinned against the Covenant of Grace
and it pleads much for them that never heard the Gospel yea possibly for all if they be not obliged to believe the Gospel as it 's hard to say they are who never heard of it 4. There are many in hell this day who know and feel this to be an untruth being condemned for sins against the Covenant of Works therefore he undertook not their debt nor payed for them And when the Books shall be cast open there will be many other sins sound to be reckoned for then sins against the Gospel Are not Whoremongers Adulterers Murtherers Thieves c to to reckon for these sins It 's very sad that such things should take place with men otherwayes useful but is in other things so in this hurtful â—hich we should not speak of were it not that they are spread abroad in Books wherewith many may be leavened A 3d. Branch of this errour which this Doctrine refutes is that Christ died conditionally for all hearers of the Gospel to whom he is conditionally offered and this is also vented by the same Authors who say that though he hath not bought all men absolutely nor died to procure life absolutely to them yet that he did so conditionally and upon supposition that they should afterward believe on him But there can be no conditional satisfaction intended here for 1. If respect be had only to the sins of the Elect in Christs undertaking then none is had to the sins of all 2. If the Fathers acceptation of the price be absolute then there is no conditional buying 3. If it be conditional then he suspended the effect of his death the satisfaction for his Soul-travel on mans will And if this condition could not be fulfilled by man then it is an unwise bargain and nothing of it may fall to be fulfilled and then believing is no fruit of grace Again he hath either bought Faith to them as he hath done to the Elect or not If he hath then they reject it and so grace is not efficacious If not he hath bought the end without the midses leading to it Or thus if it be conditional it 's either on a condition which they can fulfil or on a condition that they cannot fulfil If it be on a condition which they can fulfil then it hangs Grace on mens free-will and suâ—pends the Decree of Election on their receiving of Christ If it be a condition that is not in their power to fulfil then either Christ hath bought that condition to them or not to say that he hath not bought the condition of Faith it will infer a strange assertion that he hath bought life and not the condition the end and not the midses And if it be said that he hath bought it it cannot be said that he hath done so absolutely because they never get it Or if absolutely then to the Elect only in whom it must be and is in due time fulfilled And so in effect it resolves in this that Christ's purpose is to be bounded and confined to say so to the Elect only There are some difficulties and objections that will readily here be moved which we will not enter upon only for preventing of mistakes It stands in the way of some to hinder their believing as they suppose that Christ hath died for some and not for all aad they know not if they be of that small number If we were to speak to such we would say 1. God hath not elected all and so who knows if he hath elected them I And he will not save all and who knows if he will save them And so the doubt will stick still If folks will thus break in upon Gods secret will and purpose which belongs not to them 2. Christs death for you is not the formal ground not warrand of your Faith not yet of the offer of the Gospel but the Lords will warranding you to believe and calling for it from you and his commanding you to rest upon Christ for the attaining of righteousness as he is offered in the Gospel We are invited by his command and promise and we are not first called to believe that Christ died for us but we are called â—â—â—st to believe in him that is offered to us in the Gospel that is our duty And folks are not condemned because Christ died not for them but because when he offered the benefit of his death and sufferings to them they slighted and rejected it We are to look first to what Christ calleth to and not to meddle with the other to wit whom Christ minded in his death till we have done the first The Word bids all believe that they may be saved and such as neglect this command will be found disobedient 3. Though Christ hath not died for all yet all that flee unto him by Faith shall be partakers of his death and from this ye should reason and not from his intention in dying If ye come not to him ye cannot have ground to think that he died for you but if ye go to him by Faith ye may expect that he will pray for you and own you for Believers Christ casts in that word John 17. They have believed thy word as well as that other Thine they were and thou gavest them me And if we put these two together the one will be found as sure a ground of consolation as the other But it were but a poor comfort to say that Christ died for all and yet that they may all or most or many of them perish for all that The 2d Use serves to stir them up to thankfulness for whom Christ hath satisfied and who are fled for refuge to him If there be any here to whom Christ hath manifested such love that they can say he hath loved me and given himself for me O! How are ye obliged to wonder and bless him Greater love than this cannot be and it should warm your hearts with love to him the more when ye reflect on God's design upon you in particular in the Covenant of Redemption Use 3d. If Christ intended his Death and Sufferings only for behove of the Elect Then as because few come to Heaven all should be the more diligent so because Christ died not for all every one should aim in Gods own way to have it made sure to himself that Christ died for him and should be the more watchful and diligent to make his Calling and Election sure because as it s not all that are elected so it s not all that are purchased by Christs death Redemption is sure in it self and free Grace kithes conspicuously in it yet Wisdom and Soveraignity do also appear in this that it s not of all therefore study ye to make it sure by fleeing to Christ by Faith and by the study of Holineâ—s and Mortification in his Strength and through the power of his Death which will be a proof of your Interest in it This were much more suitable than to be quarreling with God's
Decrees as some are brought in Rom. 9.19 Why doth he find fault who hath resisted his will To whom the Apostle answers Who art thou that repliest against God it becomes you not to dispute with God but to seek with more Sollicitude and with holy and humble carefulness to make the matter sure to your selves we may well raise storms by our disputs but shall come to no peace by them this can only be come at by fleeing to the hope set before us SERMON XXXIII ISAIAH LIII IX Vers 9. And he made his grave with the wicked and with the rich in his death because he had done no violence neither was any deceit in his mouth EVery passage of our Lords way in prosecuting the work of Redemption hath somewhat wonderful in it we heard of several of them especially in his Humiliation how very low the blessed Cautioner condescended to come for relief of the captivity how he was put to wrestle and fight and what great Strengths or strong Holds he was put as it were to take in there is one strong Hold to speak so not spoken of as yet which must also be stormed and the fortifications of it pulled down by the Mediator and that is the Grave the Prophet tells us that as he declined not death so neither did he decline the Grave but as he was cut off out of the land of the living as a wicked man in the account of men so in the account of men he was taken down from the cross with the Thieves and buried in the Grave as one of them I shall not trouble you with diversity of interpretations but shall only hint at two things for your better understanding of the words in which the difficulty lyeth The 1. is this Whether doth this relate to his Humiliation only or to his Exaltation or to both for it cannot be reasonably thought but his being buried with the wicked is a piece of his Humiliation to make it only an evidence of his Humiliation seems not to stand with the next part of the words because he had done no violence c. which is a causal reason of that which goeth before But we answer that there may be here a respect had unto both the first words respect his Humiliation comparing them with the truth of the History as it is set down Matth. chap. 27. where it is clear that he was destinate in the account of men and by their appointment to be buried with wicked men for they thought no more of him than if he had been a wicked man The next words And with the rich in his death look to his Exaltation and the meaning of them is that however he was in the account of men buried with Thieves and laid in the grave as a Malefactor or wicked Man yet in God's account and by his appointment and over-ruling providence it was otherwayes for he put a difference betwixt him and others and gave him a honourable burial with the rich though he was designed by men to be buried with thieves yet as we have it Matth. 27.57 Joseph of Arimathea went to Pilat and begged his body and wrapped it in clean Linnen and laid it in a new tomb which in God's providence was so ordered both to shew a difference betwixt him and those thieves and also to declare that he was innocent as the reason subjoined tells Because he had done no violence neither was any deceit in his mouth and to make way for the clearing of his Resurrection he being buried in such a remarkable place where never man had been buried before So then the sum of the words is this he was â—â—â—nâ—led in coming to the grave and in mens account and destination was buried as a wicked man yet by God's Decree and Providence it was so ordered that though he was poor all his days he had a honourable Burial such as rich men use to have because he had done no violence neither was theâ—e any deceit in his mouth God will not have it going as men designed but will have him honourably buried and laid in the Grave that thereby there might be the greater evidence of his innocency and a more full clearing and confirmation of the truth of of his resurrection What is rendered death here in our Translation is deaths in the plural number in the Hebrew to shew the greatness and terribleness of the death which he underwent and the sore spiriâ—uâ—l as well as bodily exercise that he was put unto at and in his death so that it was a complication of many deaths in one and at once which he suffered 2. Where it 's said in our Translation that He made his grave In the Original it is He gave his grave with the wicked so that the Pronoun He may be meaned rather of the Father his giving or it may be understood of the Mediator himself his giving and so the meaning is that it came not to pass by guess on God's side but was by him well ordered and upon the Mediators side it sets out his willingness to go to the Grave and his having an over-ruling hand as God in his own death and burial as he saith John 10.18 No man taketh my life from me but I lay it down of my self His death and burial were determined and well-ordered as to all the circumstances of both by a divine decree and by an over rulâ—ng hand of Providence and this agrees well with the reason subjoined because he willingly conâ—escended to die God put a difference betwixt him and others as is clear in that of John 10.17 Therefore does my father love me because I lay down my life for my sheep The Verse hath two parts 1. Something foretold concerning the Messiah and that is that he shall make or give his grave with the wicked and with the rich in his death 2. There is a reason subjoined especially to the last part taken from his innocency and from the difference that was in his life betwixt him and all men in the world that therefore God put a difference betwixâ— him and them in his death and burial First then This point of Doctrine is implyed here that coming to the Grave is a thing common and certain to all men I mean that death or a state of death and to be in the grave in an ordinary way is common to all men and whoever want the priviledge of burial their condition in that respect is rather worse then better it 's supponed here that wicked men come to the grave therefore our Lord is said to make his grave with them and it is also supposed that rich men come to the grave therefore it 's said and with the rich in his death that which Solomon hath Eccles 8.8 of death may well be applyed to the grâ—ve there is no man that hath power over the spirit to retain it neiâ—her hath he power in the day of death and theâ—e is no discharge in that war neither shalâ—
as it were cry Take him up now and they seal the stone and set a watch to keep him in the grave 3. It 's for the consolation of the Believer and serves mightily to strengthen him against the fear of death and the grave So that the Believer needs not be afraid of death but may ly down quietly in the grave because it was Christs bed warmed to say so by him he was there before him and the grave is now to the Believer no part of the curse more than death is The grave will not swallow him up with a sort of dominion and right as it doth the reprobate 4. It serves to confirm the truth of the Resurrection of Christ more than if he had never been in the grave as the Apostle proves 1 Cor. 15. from the beginning to the close even till he come to that O death where is thy sting O grave where is thy victory Our Lord by dying and being buried hath delivered his people from both As neither a great Stone nor a Seal put on it could keep him in the grave but that he rose again the third day so no thing will be able for ever to keep Believers at under and as he died to disarm death so his entering in the grave was to disarm the grave and to open a door for Believers to come thorow it by his power who was dead and laid in the grave but now is risen and alive for evermore The Uses are 1. To shew the full conformity and agreeableness that is betwixt what was foretold of the Messiah and what is fulfilled and so serves to confirm our Faith in this that he is the true Messiah who was crucified dead and buried This is one of the Articles of our Faith foretold by Isaiah now fulfilled and recorded to be so in the Gospel 2. It shews the severity of Justice that when any person is made lyable to the lash of it were it but as Cautioner it will exact of him satisfaction to the uttermost Therefore when Christ enters himself our Cautionrr it not only exacts death and pursues him till he give up the Ghost but after death pursues him to the grave It will needs have that satisfaction of the Mediator and he yields to it so as to lay himself by as a dead man O what a revengful thing is Justice when a sinner must answer to it When the Mediator was so pursued by it what will it do to others who are out of him Here we may apply that word Daughters of Jerusalem weep not for me but weep for your selves and your children If it be done so to the green tree what will be done to the dry When the fire of the vengeance of God shall kindle that lake that burns with fire and brimstone and when sinners shall be cast into it as so many pieces of Wood or as so many pieces of dry sticks what will be their condition It were good in time to fear falling into the hands of the living God which is indeed a most fearful thing Heb. 10.31 3 It shews the Believers obligation to God that hath so fully provided a satisfaction for him and hath furnished him with such a ground of consolation Beside what is done for the satisfying of Justice which is the great consolation there is here ground of consolation against all crosses pain sickness death and the grave There is not a step in the way to Heaven but our Lord hath gone it before us We have not only a Mediator that died but that was buried And O! but this is much when Believers come to think on their going to the grave Will it devour them or feed upon them for ever No he hath muzled it to say so They rest in their grave as in a bed in their bodies being united to him and their dust must be counted for It s true the bodies of the reprobate must be raised up yet upon another account and not by vertue of their union with Christ and of Christs victory over death in their stead as Believers are In a word they have many advantages that have Christ and they have a miserable life a comfortless death and a hard lying in the grave that want him Therefore as the short cut to have a happy life and a comfortable death and burial and the grave sanctified to you seek to have your interest in Christ made sure then all things are yours and particularly death and the grave which will be as a Box to keep the particles of your dust till it restore them faithfuly to Christ to whom it must give an account But as for you that sl ght and misken Christ ye have a dreadful lot of it no interest in Christ living no union with him in the grave nor at the Resurrection And if ye did but seriously câ—nsider that ye will die ye would also coâ—sider that it 's good dying and being in the grave with Christ and that it 's a woful thing to be and to be in it without him 3ly Observe That all the sufferings of our Lord Jesus Christ to the least particular circumstance of them were ordered of God and before hand determined and concluded upon none of them came by guess upon him That he should suffer and die and what sort of death he should die and that he should be laid in the grave all was before concluded and determined When we read thorow the Gospel it were good to take a look of the Old Testament-Prophesies of the Covenant of Redemption and of the ancient determinations concerning him as Peter doth Acts 2.27 Him being delivered by the determinate counsel of God ye have with wicked hands crucified God's fore knowledge and determination fixed the bounds and laid down the rule to speak so to these wicked hands in the crucifying of him without all tincture or touch of culpable accession to their sin and in looking over his sufferings we would call to mind that this and this was the Lords purpose and that in these sufferings and in every part and piece of them the Mediator is telling down the price that he undertook to pay All which demonstrats the verity of our Lords being the true Messiah 4ly From comparing the two parts of the first part of the verse together He made his grave with the wicked as to the estimation of men and with the rich in his death in respect of Gods ordering it Observe That oâ—ten God hath one design and men another and that God will have his design to â—â—and and infrustrably to take effect When some would design shâ—me to his people he will have them honoured The 1. Use serves to comfort Gods people when they are in their lowest condition and when their enemies are in highest power our Lord is driving on his design and making his and their enâ—mies to fulfill it Pilate and the Chief Priests with the Scribes and Pharisees are putting Christ to death the multituâ—e arâ— crying Crucifie him
Consider these sweet words Rom. 5.10 If he died for us while we werâ— yet enemies how much more shall we be saved by his life I shall close this discourse with these two words the 1. whereof is for encouragement If there be any body here that would fain have Christs love and partake of his death Take courage seing our Lord out of the great desire he had to promove the Salvation of sinners Gave him self to death and to the grave will he not willingly make application of his purchase to them when they seek it That he was willing to undergo all this is a far greater matter then to welcome a sinner coming home to him And if he did all that he did for this very end will he stand on it when it comes to the application The 2d word is that this is and will be a ground of conviction to all who think little of our blessed Lord Jesus and of his love and who will not part with a base lust for him and who will not make choise of him but will refuse reject undervalue and despise him with all that he hath done and suffered it will exceedingly aggravat your condemnation that when he was so willing to die for the good of sinners ye were not willing to live for his satisfaction Think on it O! think seriously on it These things are the truths of God and the main truths of the Gospel that ly very near the ingaging of hearts to Christ And if such truths do you no good none other readily will God give us the Faith of them SERMON XXXIV ISAIAH LIII IX Vers 9. And he made his grave with the wicked and with the rich in his death because he had doâ—e no violence neither was any deceit in his mouth THis is a most wonderful Sujâ—ct that we have to think and sâ—eak of which concerns the â—uffâ—rings that our blessed Lord was pleased to undergo for sinnâ—rs And this makes it to be the more wonderful â—hen we consider what he was made and what his carriage was He was numbered with the transgressours and gave his grave with the wiâ—ked And yet he hath this teâ—â—imony that there was no violence in his hands nor any deceit in his mouth He was a sinless Mediator not only before men but before God These words considered in themselvâ—s hold out a little sum and short compend of an holy walk most perfectly and exactly fulfilled in the conversation of Jesus Christ He had done no violence or there wâ—s no violence in his hands that is there was no sinful deed contrary to the Law of God in all his practice and walk And there was no deceit or no guile in his mouth that is no sinful or deceiâ—ful expression Ioâ—um neither in deed nor in word was there sin in him He did wrong to none by his deeds and he deceived no body by his words This guile or deceit as it looks to the first Table of the Law imports th t there was no falshood nor corrupt Doctrine in his Ministry He did not beguile nor seâ—uce the souls of any in leading them wrong And as it looks to the second Table of â—he Law more immediatly it imports that he was sincere and upright that there was no deceit no violence or disâ—embling in his carriage so that whether we look to him â—s God's publick Servant in the Ministry or to him in his privat walk he was compleatly innocent and without all sin as the word is 1 Pet 2 22 Who did no sin neither was guile â—ound in his mouth However men accounted of him he was an innocent and sinless Saviour If we look on them as they depend on the former words they are a reason of that diffâ—rence which in his death and buriaâ— God did put betwixt him and others Though he was by wicked men put to death as a wicked person yet God in his providence so ordered the matter that he was honourably buried with the rich Why so Tâ—is is the reason of it because though they esteemed him a false Prophet and a Decâ—iver a Wine-bibber c. Yet he had done no wrong to any neither by word nor by deed and therefore God would have that respect puâ— on him after his death in his burial and so a remarkable difference to be made betwixt him and others Observe hence 1. That our Lord Jesus the High Priest of our profession that laid down his life for sinners is compleatly and perfectly holy He hath thâ—t testimony from the Prophet here that He did no violence neither was there any deceit in his mouth He hath this testimony from the Apostles from Peter 1 â—et 2.22 He did no sin neither was any guile found in his mouth From John 1. John 3 5 He was manifested to take away sin and in him is no sin And from Paul Heb. 7.27 He was holy and harmless and undefiled separate fâ—om sinners In this respect there is a difference betwixt him and all men in the world And iâ— wâ—s necessary and requisite for Believers consolation that it should be so It became us saith the Apostle to have such an High Priest 1. If we consider the excellency of his person he could not be otherwise being God and Man in one Person and having the fulness of the Godhead dwelling in him bodily 2. It was necessary if we consider the end of his Offices he being to offer up an acceptable Sacrifice to God behoved to be holy and harmless otherwise neither the Priest nor the Sacrifice could have been acceptable 3. It was necessary if we consider the dignity of his Office It behoved him to differ from the former Priests under the Law And if he had not been without sin he should not have so differed from them 4. It was necessary for the persons for whom he undertook these Offices Such a High Priest became them and another could not have done their turn All these we will find to be put together Heb. 7.26 27. Where the Apostle having said vers 25. That he is able to save to the uttermost these that come unto God through him subjoyns For such an High Priest became us who is holy harmless undefiled separate from sinners made higher then the heavens who needeth not daily as these high Priests to offer up sacrifices first for his own sins and then for the sin of the people The most holy of all the Priests had sins for which they behoved to offer Sacrifices and so had the holiest of the pople but Christ was holy and blameless and had no sin and it behoved him to be so As I said just now his sacrifice could never have been accepted for others if he had needed to offer up sacrifices for himself The Uses are these Not to speak how it vindicats our Lord Jesus Christ from all these aspersions cast upon him by wicked men who called him a Glutton a Wine-bibber a friend of Publicans and Sinners a Deceiver c. He
with you either think on the right way which is by putting Christ in in your Room and laying of Religion to the heart in sad earnest or dream not of coming to Heaven A 2d Sort are they who are not altogether so prophane as the others but will condemn them as indeed the practice of many is loathsome they will it may be Pray in their Families and will not be Drunk neither will they Swear nor Lye and they will walk blamelesly and upon these grounds they promise Heaven to themselves very confidently and yet they come not through the sense of their sinfull and cursed State by Nature to close with Christ by Faith and to make use of His Sacrifice such err on the other hand Oh! when shall we be at this not to neglect the study of Holiness and yet not to rest on it to the prejudice of this one Offering This were a a practice suitable to and worthy of Professors of the Gospel to be seriously aiming at all Duties of Holiness that are called for and yet to be building all their expectation of any good from God on the Sacrifice of Christ alone never coming to God without bring it along with them and looking through it to be accepted before Him there n eds no more and no other thing that we can bring will do our turn nor be taken off our hand if this be neglected The Lord Himself teach us this way SERMON XXXVII ISAIAH LIII X Vers 10. When thou shalt make his Soul an offering for sin He shall see his seed He shall prolong his dayes And the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand WHat ever the Men of the World think of it it is not an easie matter to get the Justice of God Satisfied for Sin and to get the Wrath and Curse that Men by Sin have drawn on themselves removed Offerings of Bullocks and Goats thousands of Rams and ten thousand Rivers of Oyl will not do it the Redemption of the Soul is so precious that it ceaseth for ever that way and by all such Means Therefore the Lord in His wisdom hath found out the Means and in His Grace and Love hath Condescended that His own dear Son His Fellow shall as a Lamb without Spot be a Sin-offering to take away the Sins of His Elect World and this is the great Consideration under which we should take up the Death of Christ as making Himself therein an Offâ—ring for Sin and interposing Himself to satisfie Divine Justice that forgiveness might be made forthcoming to us The Doctrine which we proposed to be spoken to the last day was this That Jesus Christ is the only Sin-offering by which Sin can be taken away and God so Satisfied as to forbear the Punishment of the Sinner and to admit him to Peace and Friendship with Him If we would Enumerat all things imaginable and Invent Wayes and Means without number to remove Sin or to make a Sinners Peace with God there is no other Means but this that will do it As we have it Heb. 10. Christ Jesus by his once offering up of himself perfects for ever these who are sanctified and Act. 4. There is no other name given under heaven whereby sinners can be saved but the name of Jesus The Use is To Commend and to Demonstrat to us all the necessity of the Use making of this one Offering of Christ if He be the one Offering to take away Sin and if no other will be accepted then there is a necessity that He in His Offering of Himself be made use of If all be under Sin and if by the Law Sin and Death be knit inseperably together as it is said the wages of sin is death and if Freedom from Sin and Wrath and Peace with God be necessary then there is a necessity that Sinners be serious in this matter to get a Title to and Interest in this one Offering and Sacrifice of Christ In the prosecuting of the Use we shall speak a little to these four things 1. To some Grounds or Reasons to shew the Necessity of Sinners use making of Christ's Sacrifice or Offering 2. To this what it is to make use of this Offering 3. We shall give a Word of Advertisement as to some mistakes that are about it 4. We shall give some Differencing Characters or Evidences of a Person that is making right Use of this Offering for obtaining of Pardon and for making of this Peace with God For the First That is the Reasons to evince the necessity of it The 1. of them is that which we hinted at just now If Men were not lying under Sin and obnoxious to Wrath and if there were any other Sin-offering or any other Way or Mean to escape the Curse and Wrath of God due for Sin there were no such necessity But seing that all Men are under Sin and under the Curse of God and His Wrath because of it and seing there is no other thing that can take away Sin then there is an absolute necessity seriously to make use of and to have an Interest in this Sin-offering 2. Consider that the great part of Men in the World and even of them that hears this Gospel do not indeed make use of this Offering though they be some way under the Conviction that they are Sinners and that this is the only Sin offering to take away Sin and we suppose if ye were all put to it ye could not deny but ye are Sinners and that nothing can take away Sin but Christ's Offering up of Himself as a Sacrifice to satisfie Justice Though some be that grosly ignorant that they will speak of some other thing yet generally these that own and maintain the Truth of the Gospel are under a Conviction that no other thing can take away Sin and yet even amongst these there are many that never make use of Christ and of His Sacrifice to take away their Sins to remove Wrath and make their Peace with God There were many Jews who by the dayly Sacrifices which Typed forth this one Offering of Christ were taught that there was no other way to come by Pardon and Peace with God but there use making of it and yet the most part of them in going about these Sacrifices were slighters of this one Sacrifice Therefore the Apostle sayes of them Rom. â—0â— â—3 That being ignorant of Gods righteousness they went about to establish their own righteousness and did not submit themselves unto the righteousness of God It is as certain that many that hear this Gospel and professe Christ to be the only Sin-offering will be disowned of Him on this account Therefore many are brought in saylng Luk. 13. did we not hear thee preach in our streets have we not eaten and drunken in thy presence to whom He will say depart from me I never knew you ye workers of iniquity Because as if He had said what ever ye profesied ye never made Peace with God through
to God without Him as the Word is Heb. 7.25 Them that come to God by him he comes unto God by Christ in Prayer in Praises and in every other Dutie of Worship The Apostle to this Purpose sayes Heb. 13.15 By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God The believing Soul is never right till it 's all be put in His hand Though all these be not distinct and explicit in the Persons use making of Christ's Sacrifice yet he expects that the Application of the Benefits which Christ hath purchased to him shal be made forthcoming to him by vertue of that same Purchase And that He who is the Author will also be the finisher of his faith The sum and upshot of all is to shew that as we have much Good by and in Christ if we could make use of it So He calleth us to be Cheerfull and Comforted in the use making of it and not to Minish our own Consolation when he hath condescended Graciously thus to Extend and Inlarge it with so Richly Liberal and Bountifull a Hand SERMON XL. ISAIAH LIII X Verse 10. He shall see his seed he shall prolong his dayes and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand IT may be thought and that very justly that there must be some great and glorious Design driven in the contryvance of the Work of Redemption That was executed by such a Mean as is the Suffering of the Son of God And that there must be some Noble and Notable thing following on it that moved the Father to send his Son and the Son to come for this Work This part of the Text answers and tells us what is the Design He shall see his seed he shall prolong his dayes c. He shall communicat Life to many that were Dead and shall beget a Generation that shall have Life deryved from Him as a Seed have from their Parents And so this is a third Answer for removing of that stumbling Objection proposed in the beginning of the Verse to wit How it came to passe that the Innocent Son of God who had done no violence and who had no guile in his mouth was put to such Sufferings We shew that there were three Grounds laid down in Answer to this 1. It pleased the Lord to bruise him It was the Fathers good pleasure The 2d is from the Nature of His Sufferings which were to be a Sin-offering or an Offering for Sin not for His own but for the Sins of the Elect. The 3d. Is That His Sufferings should have notable Fruits and Effects following them set down in Three Expressions which are partly Prophesies telling what should be the Effects of the Sufferings of the Mediator partly Promises made to the Mediator telling what should be His Reward and Hyre to speak so for His Sufferings 1. He shall see his seed that is many shall get good of His Sufferings 2. He shall prolong his dayes That is He shall outlive these His Troubles and Sufferings and shall have a glorious Out-gate and Reign 3. The pleasure of the Lord shal prosper in his hand That is The Work that was given Him to do and to finish shall thrive well and no part of it shall faill or miscarry In the First Promise made to Him or in the first Effect that should follow on His Sufferings in these Words He shall see his seed We have these Three 1. A Relation implyed betwixt Christ and Believers They are His seed such as in the next verse are said to be justifiea by Him It is in short many shall get Pardon of Sin and Justification by His Death In this respect it 's said Psal 45. penult verse In stead of thy fathers shall be thy children whom thou mayest make princes in all the earth 2. A Prophesie and foretelling of the event that should follow Christ's Sufferings and so it holds out this That our Lord Jesus should not only have a Seed but a numerous Seed that should be made sure to Him And it seems to be in allusion to that which is spoken of Abraham and of others in the Old Testament of whom it 's said that they should have Seed That is that many should descend of them But there is more here For whereas others while they are Living or in their Life-time beget a Seed which begetting is interrupted by Death The Death of our Lord Jesus begets His Seed or His Seed are begotten by His Death 3. Considering the Words as a Promise they hold out this That though our Lord Jesus Suffer and Die yet He sha l not only have a Seed but He shall see His Seed He shall outlive His Sufferings and Death And shall be delighted In seeing of them who shall get the good of His Sufferings As it 's said of Job that he saw his children or sâ—ed of the third and fourth generation That is he lived long and saw mâ—ny that came of him even so though our Lord came to Death and to the G ave yet He should not only have a numerous Seed many Children but He should live and see them and that not only for three or four or for ten Generations But for very many Generations And His dying should neither mar His begetting nor the seeing of them And this seeing of his Seed is opposed to such Parents as are Dead and who though their Children and Posterity be in want yet they know it not From the First of these Observe That Believers are our Lord Jesus His Seed they are come of Him whatever their Meannesse and Lownesse be in the World and though they could not clame Kindred to any of externally honest Rank and Quality yet they are His Seed To this purpose the Apostle bespeaks the believing Corinthians 1 Cor. 1.27 28. Ye see your calling brethren how that not many mighty not many wise men after the flesh not many noble are called but God hath chosen the foolish things of this world to confound the wise c. that no flesh should glorie in his presence Though ye be not of any high Rank or Quality in the World yet of him are ye in Christ Jesus who of God is made to us wisdom righteousness sanctification and redemption In this respect Christ is called the everlasting father Isa 9.6 For He is the Father of all Believers that ever had or shall have Life who are Psal 45. penult verse caled His Children To clear this a little ye shall take it in these Four or Five respects or Considerations in which believers are said to be Christs Seed or be descended of Him 1. In this respect that as Believers they have their being of Him as Children descended from off their Parents as to their Natural being So Believers as they have a Spirituall Being descend from Him and hold their Being of Him without whom they had never been Believers And in this respect they are His Seed 1. Because He Meritoriously Purchased Life to them which
now they bear the image of the heavenly Adam Not that they come up in all things to be exactly like to the Pattern but it is their aim and other things that disconform them to Him are deformed loathsome and ugly in their sight Their old Inclination is burdensome to them And is the continual ground of an inward Contest and Wrestling and in a manner they are troubled at the very heart how to keep down what is opposit to Christ And when their Corruption Over-masters them they are the more discomposed and disquieted They discern something in them that is not like to Christ and they abhor that though it be never so near and dear to them their very Self they see something also like to Christ in them And they Cherish and make much of it they would fain be at more of it and to have His Image more deeply impressed on their Spirits which they reckon their greatest yea their only Beauty The 3. Use is for Direction to Believers if ye be Christ's Seed ye must be other sort of Folks in your Designs and in your Deportment and carriage King's Children ought not to carrie as others It would be highly unsuitable yea even abominable to see them walk so trivially and lightly as every Base Ill-bred Beggers Child doth It 's no less Incongruous and Unbecoming that Believers should be taken with this and that Vanity that meer Worldlings are taken with and hunt after The 4th Use Speaks a Word of Consolation to Believers And holds forth the greatness of the Priviledge of being Christ's Seed It will be much to perswade a Poor Sinner duely sensible of Sin to believe this And that the Lord is in earnest when He speaks thus That such an one who hath betaken Himself to Christ for Life and humbly Claims Right to nothing but by Verture of Christ's Right the main thing that our Union with Him is bottomed upon who is content to be in Christ's Common for Life and goes not about to establish his own Righteousnesse but leans to His Righteousnesse for Life and Salvation should be His Seed and have all the Priviledges of Sons derived to Him And yet it is the Lord 's faithful Word Neither hath Eye seen nor Ear heard nor hath it entered into the Heart of Man to conceive what good things are laid up for such a Person and that are stuffed up in these Expressions of our Relation to Christ Jesus Use 5. It may be also a quieting and comforting Word to some Believers who are in Affliction Poverty and Straits in the World That our Lord Jesus is a Kindly Affectionat Parent more kindly and tender hearted then the tenderest Father or Mother and indeed it may sufficiently quiet them that they have such a kindly Overseer and Provisor who is also a Cordial Sympathizer with them what ever their Condition be He will not deny His Off-spring and Seed whom He laid down His Life to Purchase The 6th Use May be for Incitement and Provocation to all that would be Happy to place it here Interest in Christ Jesus by Believing on Him brings us to have Interest in the enjoying of Him and all that is His and can there be any more sought after or wished for Are there any but would think it a good Life to be here And who are they of whom He speaks so It is not of some sort of strange and uncouth Folk that were once in the World but are now all out of it And of whom there are none now in it It is not such as want Sin and derive their Life from their own Works but it is such as are 1. As considered in themselves dead in Sins and Trespasses and without Spirituall Life and Being And who know that all the pains that they can take will not acquire it And who it may be are quite Dead to their own apprehension and sense oftentimes And who have Judged themselves and have the Sentence of Death in themselves 2. It 's such as look to Him for the obtaining of Life and who acknowledge Him for any Life or Livelinesse they have And who expect it and bruike it by vertue of His Purchase which is that on which all their Plea for Life is founded Now I know that all this will not readily clear some There are so many things that look counterfit like But I am now speaking to them who have some sticklings of Spiritual Life which yet are not so Lively as they can discern them to be the Stirrings and Sticklings of Life And they have a Body of Death in them which is ready to extinguish that Life and often they think it is extinguished already They have Convictions of their own Deadness and that things are wrong in their Condition and are quite out of all Hopes of Righteousness from and by themselves or from any thing that they have done or can do And they have some confused looks to Christ but they cannot Rid their Feet in the Matter of their Faith and Duties go not so with them as they expected and would have them To such I shal speak a Word or two and close 1. I would aâ—â— whence comes that Stickling of Life or Feeling of that Bodie of Death What is the Original of it will Nature discover the Corruption of Nature and bring Folks to be out of Love with Corrupt Nature Certainly where this is it 's not like Nature but is the Life of Christ especially when it puts Folks to discern and take up their own Deadnesse to quit their own Righteousness and to be content to lay their Mouth in the Dust and to betake themselves to the Righteousnesse of Christ if they could win to be distinct in it This looks to be from Christ whose Spirit convinces the World of sin and of the sin of unbelief in particular And of righteousness as being only to be had in Christ and of judgement that is of the reasonablenesse that He should have a Dominion over them and that they should walk in Holinesse Yet notwithstanding of all this they are hanging in a kind of Suspence and hover and know not whether to look on themselves as Believers or not They wot well that it is not right with them that they are lost in themselves and that no other way will do their turn but Faith in the Righteousnesse of a Mediator The thing whereat they Stick and halt is that they know not how to through and maintain the consent that they have given and they cannot think that their Faith is true Faith because they know not how to follow forth the exercise of it though they have renunced their own Righteousnesse And laid their Reckoning to be in Christ's Debt and Common for Righte usnesse and Life if ever they come by them All their difficulty is how to through their Believing Now it is not to the founding of Life that we are here speaking but to the exercise of Life and to the finding out of
Life And we say that such an exercise suppons Life to be though it be not descernable in it's exercise to the Soul it self There are many Poor Creatures born and brought forth into the World that can neither Talk nor Walk but must be carried and keeped Tenderly and that are some way as if they were not brought out of the Womb So is it with many Believers and it were good to be in Christ's Common as for Life so for bringing Life to exercise and by diligence and waiting on Him in the use of His own appointed Means to seek to come to some Distinctnesse in Neating and Exercising of any Life that He hath given And it is no small incouragement to this That Christ shall see his seed That He must have Saints and Believers in Him which should make Poor Souls that have no Life in themselves with the more confidence to commit themselves to Him upon this very ground that the Father hath ingadged to Christ that He shall have many such for His Seed The which Promise is performed to Him in the gathering in of Poor confused and Mind-perplexed Sinners to be in His Debt for Life and to hold their Life of Him for ever It will sure be no small part of the ground of Saints praise in Heaven that He not only bought Life for them but that He made Application of Life to them And trained them on till He got them fitted to speak to His Prâ—ise Wherein the Body of Death makes many a sad stop and makes poor Believers to Stammer as it were while they are here But it 's good News that Jesus Christ hath bought Life and brought it to Light And that by this Gospel He is making Application of it and declaring that He is content to bestow it freely on all them that will be in His Common for it SERMON XLI ISAIAH LIII X. Vers 10. He shall see his seed He shall prolong his dayes And the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand IT was once a Riddle how out of the strong could come forth Meat and how out of the Eater could come forth Sweet It 's here most clearly Unridled and that in a most Wonderfull and Comfortable Manner Our Lord Jesus the strong Lyon of the Tribe of Judah it put to grief and bruised and his soul is made an offering for sin and here is the Sweet Meat that comes out of it He shall see his seed he shall prolong his days c. The substance of the Words is That by His Death many shall be brought to Life It 's the same Death that hath given us the hope we have of Life And all the ground that we have to speak of it to you which had never been had He not been bruised and put to grief We shew that here is holden forth the Lord 's great design in the Contrivance of the Work of Redemption And that these Words are a further answer to the Stumbling Objection proposed before to wit How the innocent Son of God could Suffer It pleased the Father to bruise him when he should make his soul an offering for sin c. Which Justifies God in that proceeding and serves to weep away that Reproach that might seem to stick to Him In sum it is this If we consider the notable and noble Fruits and Comfortable Effects that followed on His Sufferings and Death there is no ground to stumble at God's giving His Son or at the Sons Condescending as Mediator to Suffer to be Dispised and put to Dâ—ath And this is the first Fruit and Eff ct thereof that He shall see his seed Whereby is meaned that by His Death the Elect who are given to Him do by Faith in Him recâ—ive a new Life from Him aâ—d are taken in under a most sweet and kindly Relation to Him by their being begotten again to a lively hope through His Resurrection from the Dead We spoke to â—â—is Point That Believers are Christ's Seed which shews the great Priviledge that they are admitted to and their great Obligation to Christ on that account they are oblidged to Him for their Spiritual Life and Beeing as Children are oblidged to their Natural Parents for their Natural Life and Beeing And Infinitely more oblidged in as much as the one Life is Infinitly Preferable to the other There are three things more to be Observed from the Words And 1. Considering them as they stand in Dependence on the Former That God's Design in sending His Son into the World and the Mediators Dâ—sign in coming so low is to have a Seed begotten to the Hope of Eternall Life and to have â—oor Souls dead in themselves shareing of Life in and through Him even to have many partaking of Life through His Death 2. Considering the Words as foretelling the event of Christ's Death and Sufferings We have this Observation from them That Our Lord's Deaâ—h shall certainly procure Life to many Or thus it cannot be but His Death must have truâ—â— to the saving of Souls from Death and to the making of them partakers of Life 3. Looking on the Words as a Promise made to the Mediator We Observe from them That the Seeing of a Seed is exceeding much thought of by Jesus Christ It pleased Him wondrous will Therefore this Promisâ— of a Seed is mâ—de to Him to incourage Hâ—m to lay down His Life We shall speak a Word to each of these And shall leave the consideration of the Words as they hold out not only our Lord 's out-living his Sufferings but His seeing a Seed on the back of them to the Second Effect that follows He shall prolong his days For the First Doctrine we suppose It will be clear if we consider how the seing of his seed is Subjoyned to and Dependeth upon the former Words anent His making His soul an offering for sin which holds out this That the great Design of God and of Christ the Mediator it s His Sufferings is to beget a People to â—ternal Life And to make way that Sinners Naturall Dâ—ad in Sin may partake of Spiritual and Hâ—avenly Life and may be begotten to the Hope of Eternal Life through Him And what other Design I pray could there be then this For the Lord had nothing to procure to Himself To speak simply there could be no addition made to the Glory of God thereby Therefore it 's said John 6.39 40. This is the Fathers will that hath sent me that of all that be hath given me I should loss nothing but should raise it up at the last day And this is the will of him that sent me that every one who seeth the Son and believeth on him may have everlasting life and I will raise him up at the last day 1 Tim. 1.15 This is a faithfull saying and worthy of all acceptation and what is it That Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners and that John 10.10 I came that they might have life and that they might
have it more abundantly There are two things that we would speak a Word to for clearing of the Doctrine And then make Use of it The 1. is How this can be God's Design in Christ's Humiliation to beget many Sons to Life 2. How Christ's Death Contributs to this Design For the First When we speak of God's Design hâ—re we mean not His last and ultimat Design but His immediat Design in the Gospel which is subservient to that His last and ultimat Design to wit The Glorifâ—ing of His Grace and Justice in giving the Mediator to Satisfie Justice for Dyvour Sinners who are not able to Satisfie for themselves and He having chosen this as the Midst to that highest end we may well say that this is His immediat Design in the Gospel that thereby the Glory of His Grace and Justice might be manifested For the 2d Which is How Christ's Sufferings contribute to this end It may be soon cleared if we consider that there is a twofold Let in the way of Sinners partaking of Life which Christ's Suff rings do remove The 1. Let is a standâ—ng Quarrel betwixt God and the Elect they having Sinned and having nothing to pay their Debt This our Lord Jesus by His Death removes He payes the Debt and tears the Obligation called the hand writing that was against them nailling it to his Cross Col. 2. And in this respect His Death is called a ransome for many And in the Words before He is said to have made his Soul an offering for sin On the same account to wit That the Principal Debâ—or might be set free The 2d Let is Mans utter unfitnesse to walk with God For though the Debt were taken away yet they have no Life But Jesus Christ by His Death hath laid down a ground how a Sinner may be reconciled to God and may partake of Grace here And so be in case to walk with God even while sojourning in the World in some good measure and of the Life of Glory hereafter His Sufferings are not only a Ransome for their Debt but also a Bridge to speak so to step over the Gulf of the distance thâ—t is betwixt God and them unto Glory whither He as the Fore-runner is gone before them In this sense we have our Graces as the Fruits of Chriâ—t's Suffâ—rings the Life of Grace Faith Love Perseverance c. We have also Protection Preservation and Guiding in the way till we be brought through to Eternal Life As that Word is John 6.39 40. cited before That of all whom the Father hath given me I should loss nothing In the First respect Christ is surity for our Debt In the Second respect He is surity for our Duty In the First Respect we are admitted into Covenant with God In the Second we are entertained in it by Him who lives for ever to make Intercession for us Use 1. See here Believers what ye are in the Fathers Debt for sending His Son And what ye are in the Sons Debt for coming to die for you Ye behoved to have born the Curse your selves if He had not born it but He took it on H mself that ye might be Freed from it Thus it stood with you ye deserved to be shut out for ever from God to have the Sword of His Justice awakened against you And he gave his back to the smitters and his cheecks to them that plucked of the haire And was content that the Sword of Justice should awake against Him and smite Him that He might by His strips heal them and by His Death procure Life to them Yea it stood thus with you and it could not be otherwayes The Justice of God being provocked and the Elect being under the Curse as it is Gal. 3.10 Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things written in the Law to do them Ezek. 18.4 The soul that sins shall die Either they behoved to die or the Cautioner and our Lord was content to be a Sin-offering thereby to set Sinners free To be lifted up on the cross that he might draw all men after him to pay their D bt which all the Creatures could never have payed And therefore we would asâ— you if ye think Heaven and Glory to be of Worth and if ye think it to be a great mercy to be free from the Wrath to come and from the Damned State and Condition of Reprobat Angels and of Reprobat Men and Women in Hell And to be admitteâ— to enter with Abraham Isaac and Jacob into the Kingdome of God and into these Hâ—avenly Mansions Are ye not much in Chrisâ—'s Debt that procured this for you and at such a Rate that thereby Life might be communicate-to you who were Naturally Dead in Trespasses and Sins whatever the rest of the World think of it if any of you be Born again as you ought in a special manner to think much of it so ye will do in some measure for ye are as much in Christ's Common as all that is worth who was content that Poor Sinners should partake of Him and of the Life that is in Him to taste of Hâ—mself and who hath said Because I live ye shall live also In aâ—most wonderful way His Dâ—ath is the Price by which Life is Communicated to Us And it would become Bâ—â—â—â—vers well to be often reckoning what they are in His Debt It 's an of God's great Ends in the Work of Redemption even to have Sinners esteeming highly of and much Ravished with His Grace and with His Love brightly shinning in the way thereof yet less Conscience is made of this then of many other Duties by Believers We will send an Ear to a Practical Point of Doctrine and will some way ayme to mind it If we be bidden pray we will pray if we be commanded to Mortifie Sin we will endeavour it and so in other Duties But who minds this as a Dutie when we are called of God to Admire and Praise His Grace and Love and Humbly to Glory in Him so as seriously to set our selves to fall about it And yet this were a most Native Proper and Kindly Exercise for Believers even like the Work of those who say Salvation to our God that sits upon the throne and unto the Lamb Rev. 7.10 To him who loved us and washed us from our sins in his own blood c. Rev. 1.5 To be taken up with such sweet Soliloquies in our selves about this Subject and with such Songs of Praise to Him who hath given us so noble a Beeing and Life which is convoyed to us by His Blood is sure a suitable Use of this Point For if our Life be of much Worth He must be of Infinitly much more Worth in Himself and should be so to us who purchased it at such a Dear Price The 2d Use is to exhort you whom we suppose to be renewed as some of you now hearing me are and O! that all of you were that when ever ye
two Natures in one Person remains still He was God and Man still though as was hinted before there was a Suspension of such a Measure at least of the sensibly Comforting Influence of the Divine Nature from the Humane as had wont to be let out thereto And yet there was even then a sustaining Power flowing from the God-head that Supported Him so that He was not swallowed up of that which would have quite and for ever swallowed up all Creatures as is evident in this crying My God my God why hast thou forsaken me Which shewes that though the Union and Relation stood firm yet a comfortable Influence was much restrained 2. There was no sinfull Fretting no Impatiencie nor carnal Anxiety in our Lord all along His Sufferings for He did most willingly undergo them and hâ—d a kindly submission in them all As is evident by these Words But for this cause came I into this hour And not my will but thy will be done 3. There was not in H m any distrust of Gods Love nor any unbelief of His Approbation before God neither any the least Dâ—ffidence as to the Out-gate For in the Sadest and Sharpest of all His Conflicts He was clear about His Fathers Love to Him that the Relation stood firm and that there would be a Comfortable Out-gate as His Prayer before shews wherein He styles God Father And these hardest like Words uttered by Him on the Cross My God my God why hast thou forsaken me do also shew wherein twice over He confidently asâ—â—rts His Interest My God my God Though He was most terribly Assaulted yet the Tentation did not prevaill over Him 4. Neither are we to conceive that there was any inward Confusion Challenge or Gnawing of Conscience in Him such as is in Desperat Sinners cast under the Wrath of God Because there was no inward cause of it nor any thing that could breed it yea even in that wherein He was Cautioner He was clear that He was doing the Fathers will and finishing the Work that was committed to Him and that even under the greatest Apprehensions of Wrath Therefore all such things are to be guarded against in our Thoughts least otherwayes we reflect upon our Innocent and Spotless Mediator But 2. To speak a Word to that wherein it doth consist 1. It did consist as we hinted before in the God-head's Suspending it's Comfortable Influence for a time from the Humane Nature Though our Lord had no Culpable Anxiety yet He had a Sinlesse Fear considering Him as Man and that the infinit God was Angry and Executing Angryly the Sentence of the Law against Him Though He was not angry at Him considered as in Himself but as He stood in the room of the Elect as their Cautioner of whom He was to exact the Payment of their Debt and could not but be in a wonderfull amazment as the Word is Mark 14.33 He was sore amazed And Heb. 5.7 It 's said when he had offeâ—ed up prayers and supplications with strong cryes and tears unto him that was able to save him from death he was heard in that which he feared Which looks to His wrestling in the Garden 2. He had an inexpressible sense of grief not only from the petty outward Afflictions that He was under which may be called petty comparatively though they were very great in themselves but also from the Torrent of Wrath flowing in on His Soul That Cup behoved to have a most bitter Relish and an inconceivable Anguish with it when He was a drinking of it as appeared in His Agony O! â—s He was Pained and Pinched in His Soul The Soul being especially sensible of the Wrath of Goâ— 3 It consisted in a sort of wonderfull Horrour which no question the marching up to say so of so many mighty Squadrons of the highly provoked Wrath of God and making so Furious and Formidable an Assault on the Innocent Humane Nature of Christ that considered simply in it's self was a finit Creature behoved necessarily to be attended with Hence He prayes Father if it be possible let this cup depart from me Intimating that there was a Sinless Loathness and a holy Abhorrence to middle with it and to adventure upon it Though we have not Hearts rightly to conceive nor Tongues suitable to express those most exquisite Sufferings yet these things shew that our Lord Jesus was exceedingly put to it in His Holy Humane Soul The 2 Use Serves to stir us up to wonder at the Love of God the Father that gave His own Son and exacted the Elect's Debt of Him and made the Sword of His Justice to awake against Him And to wonder at the Love of the Son that ingadged to be surety for them And humbled Himself so Low to lift them up It was wonderfull that He should stoup to become Mâ—n and to be a poor Man and to die but more that He should come this length as to be in an Agony of Soul and to be so tossed with a Tempest of Terrible Wrath though He was not capable of Tossing as meer Creatures are This being well considered would highten exceedingly the praise of Grace in the Church and very much warm the Hearts of Sinners to Him And for pressing this Use a little and for provocking to Holy Wondering at this Love consider these Four 1. Who it was that suffered tâ—us Even He that was without guile He that was Gods delight His Fatheâ—s Fellow the express image of his person He thâ—t made all things and who will one Day be Judge of all Iâ—'s even He that thus Suffered 2. Whâ—t He Suffered even the Wrath of God and the Wrath of God in such a Degree and Measure as was equivalent to all that the Elect should have Suffered Eternally in Hâ—ll which presseth forth from Him these expressions which we hinted at before 3. For whom all this was which makes it appear to be yet more wonderfull It was for a number of lost straying sheep That were turned every one to his own way as it is verse 6. For Dyvours and debauched Bankerupts that were Enemies to and in Tops with Him Some of them Spitting in His Face some of them upon the Consultation of taking away His Life as may be gatherâ—d from Acts 2. Yea take the best of them for whom He suffered even those whom He took to the Garden with Him to be Witnesses of His Agony and we will find them sleeping when He is in the hight of it and is thereby cast into a Top Sweat of Blood and out of Case to Watch and bear Burden with Hâ—m but for an hour It had been much for Him to have Suffered for Righteous Persons but as it is Rom. 5. God commends his love to us in this that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us 5. The manner how He Suffered to wit most Willingly and Patiently though He easily could hâ—ve commanded more then twelve legions of Angels to rescue Him yet He would not but
Christ in these and that they have the Grace from Him to preform them He furnishes the Stock and they Trade with it and so for the attaining of Life they are obliged to their own Trading which is in Words to pretended Grace but really to put our own Works and Righteousnesse in the Room of Christ's Righteousnesse as the ground or meritorious cause of Justification for the Grace given to us enabling us to Work is not Christ's Righteousness but our own because given to us and working in us and so it is alwayes our selves and our own Righteousnesse not Christ and His Righteousnesse that we rest upon A 2d Instance of some Folk that speak of Christ and of attaining Life through Him yet it is not in respect of His Merit but in respect of His Strength for such will say we hope through Christs Strength to come to Heaven their meaning wherein is that He will help them so to repent and believe so to be holy and resist tentations as they shall come to Heaven thereby as the deserving cause of their coming thither It 's true there is something right here when in it's own place if whole Christ were rested upon Justification being put in the first place and His Merit rested upon for that it were good that His strength were leaned to and made use of for performing the duties of Sanctification but when His Strength is rested upon as the alone thing and when we look not to Christs Purchase and Merit as the ground of our acceptation but to Christ as enabling us to do Duties to the end that we may give God a recompence thereby at the best it is but He and we together this certainly is wrong for nothing is proposed as a Satisfaction to Gods Justice here but what is immediately our own A 3d. Sort are somewhat wiser who it may be think that any thing that is in themselves is not worth the naming but partly through Christs Merit and partly through what they have and can do themselves or by these joyned together they hope to be saved This was the Doctrinal Error of the Galatians who attributed Justification to Christ and to the Works of the Law joyntly This way ascribs to Christs Righteousnesse this much that it makes our own Righteousnesse to be accepted as the ground of our Justification before God which in some respect is worse then the Covenant of Works for the Covenant of Works sought a perfect Righteousnesse but this way offers an imperfect Righteousnesse and to mend and to eke out our imperfect Righteousness it takes in the Righteousnesse of Christ but there is no such Covenant or way of Justification in Scripture for God made but two Covenants for men to attain Life by one of Works which is now impossible The other of Grace by which only it is possible to attain Justification and Life This makes a third Covenant or Contrivance by a mixture party of some Works in us and partly of some Grace in Christ to make up what is inlaking in our Works and yet this way is very pleasing to our nature and that to which we are much inclined for Justification for men are naturally disposed to think that they give Christ enough when they allow His Righteousness to make up what is defective in their own It 's true indeed that Christs Merits do wash our Duties but our Duties come never up to be the ground of our Justification in whole oâ— in part which is evident from this that ere Christ make our Duties or Performances acceptable He makes our Persons first to be accepted and that once being then any thing performed by us in Christ's strength according to the will of God is acceptable also But now we proceed further in the Words of the Text and before we come to the causes of our Justification we shall briefly Observe two or three things that lye obviously in our way The 1. whereof is this That the Absolving of a Sinner through the imputation of Christs Righteousnesse is the proper and native result of Christs Purchase and the great intendment of it His Sufferings and Soul-travel were undergone to procure Justification to many So that if we would know what is the Fruit of Christs Soul-travel here it is By his knowledge shall many be justified Therefore Rom. 5.9 It 's attributed to his Blood Being justified by his blood we shall be saved from wrath and 2 Cor. 5. ult He was made sin for us who knew no sin that we might be made the righteousness of God through him That which I mean is this That Christs intendment in His dying was to redeem and really and actually to procure Absolution and Justification before the Throne of God to so many as should believe on Him Or we may take the Doctrine these two wayes which yet come both to the same account 1. Thus that the things which Christ intended in Hâ—s Death was not a meer possibility that Sinners might be Justified nor to lay down a conditional way of their Justification whereby â—hâ—y might come or not come to it and so to make it possible buâ— that which He intended was that their Juâ—â—ification might follow absolutly I do not mean instantly and without the interveening of a condition For here His knowledge comes in as the condition but that which I mean is that He diâ—d that their Justification might actually and certainly follow as a fruit of His Purchase In a word His Death and Sufferings were not to make Juâ—â—ification possible to all but that so many as He bargained for might be absolutely Justified or that many that is all the Elect might be actually Justified because He shaâ—l bear their iniquities therefore by His knowledge they shall be Justified We Observe it for these Ends or Uses 1. To give an answer to that question What is the native result of Christs Death to His People we say it is their absolute and actual Justification These that would extend the Grace of God and the Death of Christ so broad and wide as to leave out none say in effect that the design thereof was to lay down such a way as makes it possible to all to be Justified and yet such a way as makes it possible that none at all shall be justified for it hirgs justification on the free will of the creature so in striving to make Grace broader then God allows they come to make it none at all by leaving it on mans freewill whether it shall be effectual or not But blessed be God the Covenant of God was not on these terms for it is said here That by his knowledge he shall justifie many 2. It gives us these two practical Uses 1. It shews what should be our intendment in our Use-making of Christs Death and that is that we may be Justified and Absolved by it even to make use of it for attaining to Pardon of Sin and Peace with God If this be over-looked and neglected all
Faith comes by hearing as it is Rom. 10.17 and hearing by the word of God and in the same Chap. v. 14 15. How shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard and how shall they hear without a preacher and how shall they preach except they be sent Where the Apostle clearly and convincingly inâ—â—rt the necessity of a lawfully called Ministry for preaching of the Gospel and for carrying on the Work of Justifying and Sâ—ving Faith The reason is because if their be a necessity of Faith and if no Faith can â—e without Knowledge then there must necessarily be something to reveal it I speâ—k here of the ordinary way of Gods revealling Himself what He may do â—xtraordinarly towards Dumb and Deaff Persons to Idiots and Young Children I midle not with that but leave it to Himself as a Secret which He thinketh not fit to impart to u I call the Gospel the external mean of promoving our Justâ—fication in Four respects 1. Because it layes before us the Object of our Faith for in it as it is Rom. 1.17 is the righteousness of God revealled c. and Rom. 11.21 22. it 's said Now the righteousnesse of God without the law is manifested c. We would never know the way how a Sinner comes to be at peace with God and to be Justified without the Gospel 2. Because it not only reveals the Object of Faith but it makes offer of it and hereby a Sinner that hears the Gospel hath warrand to imbrace and make use of Jesus Christ's Righteousnesse and to rest upon it and therefore if tentation should say to the Sinner though Christ dyed what is that for thee Faith hath this to reply The Gospel calls me and that warrands me to come to Him and to make use of His Death the Promise as it is Act. 2. Is to as many as the Lord our God shall call And in this respect the Promise is our Right and Evident whereby we come to have a claim to Christ 3. Because God makes use of the Word preached for ingaging of Sinners to Christ and for making them to take hold of Him It 's true that it is not powerful of it self and without the Spirit yet it 's the ordinary mean that God maketh use of Therefore sayeth the Apostle 2 Cor. 10.4 The weapons of our warefare are not carnal though they be weak in themselves yet they are mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds And in this respect the Gospel not only offers Life but through Gods blessing as a mean begets Life and by the Spirit accompanying it Sinners are ingaged to take hold of Christ and to rest on Him for Salvation 4ly Because this Word being taken hold of and closed with contains the pronuncing of the Sinners Absolvitor of His absolving Sentence when it sayes If thou believest thou shalt be justified and saved upon supposition of believing the Sentence stands good to the Believer Thou art past from death to Life There being no condemnation to them who are in Christ Jesus The 1. Use Serves to clear that which we hinted at before in naming this for a cause of Justification though it be the external instrumental cause yet it is a Cause The 2. Use Serves to teach you to put a Pryce on the Gospel It 's the bane both of prophane secure Sinners and of a sort of vain and giddy People among us that they prize not the Preaching of the Gospel as the external instrumental Cause that concurres in the Justification of Sinners but if ever ye be absolved ye will be beholden to this preached Gospel I will not say alwayes to the Preaching but sure to the Gospel that is Preached This on the one hand reproves these who will be ready to say that they have Faith who yet never knew the Gospel to do them good and such also who seldom come to hear and who never care for preaching And upon the other hand it reproves these who when they fall a Tottering Reeling and wavering and begine to incline to error cast at the preaching of the Gospel having it may be slighted it before in their hearts whether when Satan once gets them he tosses them in a great measure as he pleases and makes them so giddy by frequent turning about that they scarcely leave to themselves a foot-broad of Scripture-ground to stand upon But as ye respect the glory of Christ the good of your Souls and your absolution before God esteem much of the Gospel For it 's the power of God to salvation And if ever ye ye come to Heaven it will be by this Gospel as the external mean These Nations that never heard it will think you to be most desperatly wicked and miserable who have had it and yet so unworthily slighted it For pressing of this Use a little Take Two or Three Directions in reference to it 1. Walk under the Convictions of the necessity of the Gospel For there is no absolution without it It is true God might have taken another way but on the supposition that He hath appointed Faith to be a mids to Justification and that Faith supposes Knowledge then certainly Knowledge doth suppose a necessity of hearing the Gospel ye will never value Preaching nor any other Ordinances of Christ if ye see not a necessity of them and know them not to be for your good 2. Study to know what is the main End and Design of and what is the advantage that is to be had by the Ordinances many come to the Preaching of the Gospel to hear and learn some Lesson for informing their Judgement some come to get Directions in refâ—rence to some particular Dutie some to get a doubt loosed none of which are to be dissallowed in themselves but rather in so far to be commended but how few come to it as to a mean to carry on and bring about their Justification and to bring them out of Black Nâ—ture into a State of Grace It 's the sum of Pauls Preaching and the end of it as the Divine Historian shews Act. 26.18 To open blind eyes to turn them from darkness to light and from the power of satan unto God that they may receive forgivenesse of sins and an inheritance among them that are sanctified by faith that is in him 3. Aim in your practice to carry on this Design even to put a close to the Treaty anent Justification betwixt God and you when ye come to the Preaching and hears us declare in the name of the Lord that a believing Sinner hath accesse to have his Sin taken away and to be Justified through the imputation of Christs Righteousnesse ye would step to hearing this Proclamation made of the pardon of Sin by one of Christs Ambassadors in His Name and accept of embrace and cordially close with it if it were just now at this very occasion 4. This would be the great design both of Preachers and Hearers Of Preachers to follow
and please Him with Duties they will ingage Him to give them pardon and in this they have to speak so an under hand Covenant of Works They will do something to please the Mediator and wherein they come short they expect that he will make it up and this is very ordinary in practice If ye ask some what hope have ye of Justification They will answer through Christs Righteousnesse and that is good in so far but ask them again how they will get it they will answer that they will do what they dow or may and they hope that He will pity them ye would look in upon your own hearts and see whether it be not secretly making something of this kind the ground of your title to Christ and of your Justification And yet all this may be and often is in them that will not stoop to the way of Grace nor submit themselves to the Righteousnesse of God They will speak of Christs Righteousness and yet they will needs give Him some compensation and so come never really to renounce their own Righteousnesse and to flee unto His and to hold it up as their defence before God Take but an impartial view of these steps and many of you who suppose that ye are believers will not be found to be so nor Justified before God because ye lay nor claim to it by Faith but as it were by the works of the Law Use 3. There is here ground for all that neglect Christ and do not by Faith take hold of Him to look for a most dreadful Sentence and ground for others who seek Righteousnesse through Faith to look for a most comfortable Sentence 1. Then is this a Truth that Justification is through Faith in Christ then many of you are not Justified And if the Lord prevent it not ye will never be Justified If so then it must be a most dreadful thing not to believe If ye would know what is your condition ye may read it John 3.18 36. He that believeth not is condemned already and he shall not see life but the wrath of God abideth on him and Gal. 3.10 As many as are of the works of the law are under the curse For it is written cursed is every one that continues not in all things written in the book of the law to do them If ye really believed this many of you would be under horror to hear what a sad condition ye are in even condemned already and having the Wrath and Curse of God abiding on you because the Word curseth and condemneth all that are not in Christ by Faith This I fear belongs to very many who are altogether secure and carelesse and yet are in reputation amongst us And is it not very sad to be professing fair to have the offer of life and to be treating with God about your peace and yet to be still in the State of enmity with Him So that if death were within twenty four hours march to you you could have nothing to expect but the ratifying of this Sentence of Gods curse upon you We are sure there is as much in this as might in reason put you by all means to study 1. To be Believers for without Faith ye are never over the borders of Gods curse which may lay a chase to you and put you to the necessity of fleeing to Christ for refuge 2. To take some pains to try whether ye be in the Faith as the Apostle exhorts 2 Cor. 13.5 Examine your selves whether ye be in the faith prove your selves know ye not your own selves how that Christ is in you except ye be reprobats His meaning is know ye not that this is a truth that ye are in a reprobat or unapproven condition except Christ be in you and Christ is in none but in the Believer If so ought ye not to try your selves if ye be in the Faith if ye be Believers There is no ordinary way to win to the sure and comfortable Knowledge of it but by tryal and if ye be not Believers is there not reason and is it not of your concernment to endeavour by tryall to come to the Knowledge of it As this is ground of terror to the unbeliever so it 's ground of notable consolation to the believer who if he were even put to the reckoning with Paul I was a blasphemer a persecuter injurious yet here is hope for him that he shall be found in Christ not having his own Righteousnesse but Christs believing in Christ will obtain Justification to such a person His Righteousnesse taken hold of and put on by Faith is as pleasing and acceptable to God as the unrighteousnesse of the Sinner is displeasing to him This was it that made David to sing sweetly Psal 32. Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven whose sin is covered blessed is the man to whom the Lord imputeth no iniquity to wit through the imputation of Christs Righteousnesse as the Apostle clears Rom. 4. As the first branch of the Use shew the necessity of Faith for Chasing Sinners to Christ so this branch is a sweet motive to draw them to Him and if there were moe sensible Sinners amongst us whose own Righteousness misgives them and who are brought to that pass that the Jaylor and Peters hearers were in crying out what shall we do to be saved This word believe in the Lord Jesus and ye shall be saved would make them come in cheerful as he did from the brink not only of Temporal but of Eternal Death It 's this Faith by which we have access to stand before God ye would therefore be earnestly intreated to betake your selves to it and to Jesus Christ by it for your pardon and peace even for your Justification before God 2dly Consider these Words as they hold out the Object of Justifying Faith which is the great thing in them even to discribe Justifying Faith as to it's Object and Effect and in it's concurring to produce this effect And here there are mistakes and errors both in the doctrinal and practical part of all these 1. The Object of it then is Him Jesus Christ the knowledge of him or the Faith of Him or Faith in Him as other Scriptures have it Or looking more nearly to the words it 's Faith in Him as Suffering as Satisfying for Sin as in Soul-travel bearing our iniquities Hence Observe That Christ Jesus His Rightnousnesse holden forth in Gods promise of free Grace is the native and proper Object that saving and justifying Faith takes hold of and rests upon or to the same purpose the saving Grace of Faith that Justifies is that Faith that does peculiarly apply and rest upon Christ Jesus holden forth in Gods promise in the Gospel as the Righteousnesse of a Sinner that believes on him hence the Prophet calleth it here Not Knowledge more generally taken but the knowledge of him and that as He is holden out in this Chapter to wit as surety for Sinners and suffering for
's said to rest or rely as it respects Christ and his Satisfaction the thing offered and received with regard to the charge to which it is lyable It 's here that it rests and to this it betakes it self as to it's defence when challenged It 's difficult to difference these two or peremptorly to say whether Christs Righteousnesse be received or rested upon yet it 's made our defence because it 's closed with and we make them two Acts of the same Faith though it 's hard to make the one of them to be the effect of the other or the one of them to be antecedent to the other in respect of time at least As a Proclamation of Pardon being made to Rebells they say this Proclamation gives a freedom from the Laws pursuit because they have embraced it and these Rebells make that the ground if ever they be challenged whereon they found their Defence they have this to lippen to and upon this they rest Though none of these Acts can well be said to be before or after the other in respect of time For clearing of this a little more consider that this resting may be looked on either Passively or Actively Passively in respect of the Believers acquiescing in Christ and assuring himself that all shall be well This is not that Act of Faith that is called for to Justification but supposes the Person to be Justified for he must be Justified ere he can rest or acquiesce in it Actively in respect of our resting on him that we may be Justified as the Apostle hath it Gal. 2.16 And this Isaiah 5.6 Is called a taking hold of Gods covenant It is an actual committing of our selves to Him that we may win to peace or a leaning on Him as suppose one were to rest upon a Staff it doth not only imply the effect his having of ease but also and firstly his leaning to or resting on it in order to ease Therefore it 's said Math. 11.28 Come unto me all ye that are weary and heavy loaden and ye shall find rest The Act that Justifies is this last and active Act the Act of coming or leaning or resting and the passive Act of acquiescing or assurance is that which follows upon it as a fruit and effect of it And therefore we humbly conceive that it is not safe to define Justifying Faith by Assurance or to say that where-ever Faith is there is Assurance It is rather a resting on Christ that we may have rest and a ground of Defence and reason to be proposed if we should be quarrelled for or charged with the Debt of Sin The Uses are 1. To remove the difficulties as namely it may be asked here is there no confidence not assurance in this Active Act of Faith which is the Essence of it we answer shortly There are Three sorts of confidence pleaded for that are far from the nature of Faith and yet Faith wants not it's own Confidence and Assurance if it be taken in a right sense The 1. is for a man to believe that Christ died for him in particular at the first hand and to think that he hath no more to do but to believe that Christ Died and Suffered for him and that thereupon he is Justified For this layeth a ground for universal Redemption against the current of the Scriptures and can never be a ground of interest in Christ's Righteousnesse It supposes that to be done already and admits not the Soul to concur by believing for coming to the application and yet this is very rise amongst People I believe that Christ died for me and shed His precious Blood for me and so long as they can maintain this presumption and not suffer themselves to admit of any debating and questioning whether they have ground and reason for it or not they think they have Faith enough but this is no Act of Faith nor of the nature of true Justifying Faith which is to take hold of Christ offered that we may come to be absolved through Him Therefore when ever the Scripture puts us to believe It commands us to take hold of Christ offered and not at first hand to believe that he died for us in particular I suppose many are carried away with this presumption that will to their cost at last find it to be otherwayes 2. Others think that all Faith consists in this to believe that God loved them from all Eternity and that they are already Justified which is the Antinomian way They believe not that they may be justified which was Pauls way Gal. 2.16 but they believe that they are Justified And this also presuppons an universal Redemption and to presse it upon you were to bid you all believe that God hath loved you and pardoned you from all Eternity which were to bid you believe a lie for we wot well from the Scriptures of Truth that God hath not loved all from Eternity and yet this is the Faith that many of you presumptuously practises we are all naturally some way Antinomians Papists and Arminians in our practice and the way of Error is more consistent and current with our nature then the way of Truth But O! presumptuous hypocrites will ye darringly and without any ground believe Gods Love to you God shall shake you out of that confidence and blow upon it and make it evanish ye cry out on them that live in Error yet ye practise these same Errors to speak so as fast as ye can we cannot by much Preaching get you brought to the Knowledge of the Truth but ye can drink in Error ere ye hear of it and it will ruin your Souls if Grace prevent not and many of you shall find that thus you have destroyed your selves A 3d. Sort of rotten confidence is that which some have who cannot say they are for the time Justified yet they have a perswasion to get Heaven and to be Justified ere they die or that at death they will be sure of it and they wote well they shall not despair This is also naughty presumption and continued in as hazardous as outer disperation and killeth moe Souls then dispair doth for such rest quietly in their hope of being fred from wrath and having their peace made with God and yet never go to Christ to have it done this is like that mans presumption that sayes tush I shall have peace though I walk in the imagination of my own heart God is gracious and merciful and I hope he will not be so severe as He is called The Lord calleth this a believing of Him for He sayes in His Word that there is no peace to the wicked and the foolish presumer sayes I shall have peace shall His Word or theirs stand they say Jer. 5.12 and 7 9. The temple of the Lord the temple of the Lord are these they make a fair shew of attendence on ordinances and yet steall murder and commit adultery and say we are delivered to do all these things
the mutualnesse of the Terms of it and that though as to our conceiving and up-taking of it there be something first and something last yet with God there is no such thing but it is one present Act. Thâ— promises made to the Mediator are in two exprâ—ssiâ—â—s with an inference in the Word Therâ—fore knitting this to what went before I will divide him a portion with the great and he shall divide the spoil with the strong In short the similitudes here used are taken from Conquerours and Victors who having been in a War and fight and having defeat and routted all their Enemies and put them off the Field have a notable Out-gate Victory and Triumph and a great Spoil as the Fâ—â—iâ— of the War And so the meaning is That the Mâ—diator by His undertaking to Sâ—tâ— fie for the Elect should have a great Fâ—ght and Combat with many Enemies but He should losse nothing by it He shou d have a notable Our gate an excellent Victory and glorious Triumph great glory and spoil So that as there was never War like Hâ—s nor Enemies like these that He had to encounter with so there should never be such Victory Triumph and Spoil as our Lord Jesus should have The word Portion is not in the Original buâ— well supplied It is only I will divide him many as the Word is often used and He shall divide the spoil with the strong That is He shall iâ— dividing the Spoil be above the strongest The Words infer and take in these Three 1. A great defeat of and Victory over all the Mediators Enemies the Devil Death and the Curse He gets a great victory over them and gives them a great defeat so that they are quite beat off the Field as dividing the spoil imports Psal 68.12 She that remained at home divided the spoil and Isa 9.3 As men rejoyce when they divide the spoil 2. The great number of Captives that our Lord in His Victory and Triumph takes and brings off that is He gets a great bootie which is that spoken of in the words before By his knowledge shall many be justified and it 's that which is exprest in that Psal 68.18 Thou hast ascended on high thou hast led captivity captive that is these that were formerly captives thou hast redeemed from their capivity and led them captive that carried others captive as the people of God pray Psal 126.4 Turn again our captivity 3. It takes in the excellent Victory the great Triumph and Glory that the Mediator should have by this means He is exalted above every name that is named that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow of thinge in heaven of things in earth and of things under the earth For further clearing of it we shall recommend to you Two or Three places in which it 's like there is an allusion to this as that Col. 2.14 15. Blotting out the hand writing of ordinances that was against us and contrary to us taking it out of the way and nailling it to his cross tearing as it were the Obligation that the Law had over the Elect by His paying of their Debt And having spoiled principalities and powers he made a shew of them openly triumphing over them in it There is His Victory and Triumph He combats with subdues and trods under foot all His and His peoples Enemies by satisfying the Justice of God for the Elects Debt and spoils them of many Souls that were led captive by them and triumphed openly over them declaring Himself to have gotten the Victory in a most Majestick manner A 2d place is Phil. 2.8 9. Being found in fashâ—on as a man he humbled himself and became obedient unto the death even to the death of the cross wherefore God hath highly exalted him and given him a name which is above eveâ—y name that at the name of Jâ—sus every knee should bow of things in heaven in earth and under the earth and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father This is His Victory Triumph and Glory such as none in Heaven or Earth ever had or shall have the like A 3d. Place is that Ephes 2.21 Hâ—â—alâ—ed him from the dead and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places far above all principalities and powers and might and dominion and every name that is named not only in this world but in that which is to come and hath put all things under his feet and given him to be head over all things to the church Whether they be Devils or good Angels or Men Sâ—ints militant or triumphant He is above them all all are made subject to Him and He is the head of His Church The expressions run in different Persons The first is in the First Person I will divide him a portion It 's a Promise of God the Father to the Mediator for His attaining the Victory as it 's said Ephes 1.20 God raised him from the dead The 2d Expression is in the 3d. Person He shall divide the spoil To shew that the Mediator God man concurred in the attaining the Victory Therefore Rom. 1.4 He is said to raise himself and in thâ—t it 's said I will divide and He shall divide It is to hold out the Mediator His attaining and possessing of what was promised and to shew that there is nothing promised to the Mediator but actually He is and shall be put in the full possession of it The last part of the Words holds out the conditions on the Mediators side in Four Expressions 1. Because he hath poured out his soul unto death That is because He willingly condescended to die He yetted or poured out His Soul to death 2. He was numbred with the transgressours He had a reproached and shameful Life and a reproached and cursed Death He was thought the worst of the World so that Barrabas a murtherer was preferred unto Him It also points out the respect that His Death had to a Satisfaction for the Sins of the Elect He was legally numbred and counted amongst transgressours though He was no Transgressour 3. He bare the sins of many which expones the former and sayes this much That noâ— only He simply died and died a shâ—meful Death but that He died for this end to bear and by His bearing to remove the Sins of the Elect for it relates to the many that in the former Words are said to be justified by his knowledge And it cannot be but these many shall be Justified because He did bear their Sins as to the Punishment and Curse due to them and whosoever Sins are born by Christ these are and shall be Justified and therefore He must be Victorious and have a glorious triumph and out-gate because He layes down His Life for His Sheep as it is John 10.17 Therefore doth my Father love me because I lay down my life and take it up again And by the way it is a strange
the Mediators performing according to His undertaking as well as there is faithfulnesse in Gods performing whatever He hath spoken of Him or promised to Him Ye shall only take two or three testimonies for this The 1. is Matth. 3.14 and 17.5 This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased He undertook to satisfie for the Elects Debt and hath accordingly performed it so that the Father is well pleased A 2d is John 17.4 Where He appeareth before the Father and useth it for an argument for His Glorifying him with the same glory he had with the father before the world was I have glorified thee on earth I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do I have gotten a task and piece of Work committed to me and now it 's performed And that other Word which He hath on the Cross is remarkable to this purpose It 's finished Now the task and work is ended and I have no more to do but presently to passe to the Victory and to the dividing of the Spoil And a 3d. Testimony is our Lord Jesus His ascension to Heaven and the glory that He will appear in at the day of Judgement when His Kingdom shall be consummat That shall be a proof and testimony that He left nothing undone that was given Him to do that He bare the Sins of many that He gave His back to the smiters and His cheeks to them that pulled of the hair and that He satisfied justice freely and ascended to Heaven as it is 1 Tim. 3.16 Great is the mystery of Godliness saith the Apostle God was manifested in the flesh justified in the spirit fully absolved as having performed all whatsoever He undertook Seen of Angels and raised up unto glory Use This is also though a general yet a very comfortable Doctrine to the People of God in as far as from it they may know that there is no more to be payed to the Justice of God for the Sins of the Elect It hath gotten full Satisfaction The Cautioner hath payed all their Debt and is now exercing His Offices for applying to them His purchase making intercession for them overseeing them proving a Tutor to them guiding them and all that concerns them and His Church even doing all things well managing the affairs of His Fathers house as a Son and He cannot but guide all well Other sheep saith He I have which are not of this fold them I must bring in and they shall hear my voice and I give them eternal life and they shall never perish A most pregnant ground of comfort to the Believer that his eternal well-being cannot but be sure and sicker because it hath the Father and the Mediator their faithfulnesse ingaged for it If Jehovah perform the Promises made to the Mediator and if the Mediator perform His ingagement to Jehovah and raise up Believers at the last day then it must follow that their Salvation is sure This is the main ground on which Believers peace is founded and here we may allude to that Heb. 6. He hath sworn by two immutable things wherein it is impossible for God to lie that the heirs of promise who are fled for refuge to lay hold on the hope set before them may have strong consolation even so here There are two immutable things to wit Gods promise to the Mediator and God will and must keep His Word to Him and the Mediators ingagement to God and He will and must keep His Word to Him And indeed we have good proof of both already For it was this ingagement that made the Father send the Son of His Love out of His bosome to be incarnat and to undergo the work of Elect Sinners Redemption and it was this ingagement that made the Mediator die of whom the Father exacted the Price till He declared Himself Satisfied and well pleased Now when these things that seemed most difficult are accomplished what can fail 1. Then there is here ground to fix our Faith upon and indeed there is need to fix it rightly The ground that our Salvation and Perseverance in the Faith is founded on is not our continuing to Pray to Believe and to Love God but this ingagement betwixt the Father and the Son and it is the cause procuring the other as an necessary and infallibly certain effect It 's mainly on this that believers shuld rest quiet and confident 2. It should make Believers humble and cheerful seeing though they be weak in themselves yet here they have a grip and hold for every hand as it were Jehovah's Word and the Mediators Word for their through bearing 3. It should much commend believing and the state of a Believer who have such ground of assurance The greatest Monarch on earth hath not such ground of assurance for his Dinner or Supper as the poor Believer hath for eternal Life For the Word spoken by Jehovah to the Mediator and the undertaking of the Mediator to Jehovah cannot fail and the Believer hath that to rest upon as the ground of his assurance More particularly The Articles on the Mediators side are as I said in these Four exprâ—ssions He hath poured out his soul unto death He was numbred with the transgressours he bare the sins of many and made intercession for the transgressours 1. He must die expressed in these Words He poured out his soul unto death Which implyes Three things 1. That it is an Article of the Covenant of Redemption and of the Mediators undertaking that he should die for Sinners And so it is a needlesse curious and unwarrantable dispute whether fallen man might have been redeemed any other way or whether a drop of His blood was not enough to redeem man because we see here it is Determined and Articled in the Covenant of Redemption that He should die Jehovah will have the Mediator dying And be possible what may to Gods Soveraignity which we would not make to clash with His Justice nor His Just ce with His Soveraignity this may bound and limit us that it 's concluded in this Covenant of Redemption that the Mediator shall lay down His Life and it being concluded It 's certain 1. That God hath given man a Law threatning him that if he should break that Law he should die 2. That all Mankind and so the Elect have broken that Law and so are lyable to the Threatning and Curse 3. That the Mediator became Cautioner and undertook to satisfie for the Elects Debt it was necessary that He should die because He undertook to pay their Debt and to satisfie for their Sin which was death by the Law to them and so the Justice of God is vindicat He cannot be called unjust nor partial nor unholy though He do not actually punish every Sinner that hath Sinned in his own Person because Gods holinesse and Justice appears conspicuously that He would rather execute what was due to the Elect on His own Son then that their Sins should go unpunished
when it came to be accomplished though He gave evidences of His power in making them fall backward who came to apprehend Him yet He raises them again and goes with them And when they mock Him and buffet Him and nod the head at Him and bring Him to the Bar and question Him and when they said If thou be the king of Israel come down from the cross and we will believe on thee which we may think He could have done though they were but tempting Him yet in all these He is silent and never opens His mouth till He come to that It is finished He never spake a repyning word It was wonderfully much to suffer and to die so cheerfully but to pour out His Soul unto Death to take His Life in His own hand and to be so holily prodigal of it as to pour it out there having never been such a precious Life and so precious Blood poured out this was much more Use It shews what esteem ye should have of Souls and every one of you of your own Souls Our Lord Jesus poured out His Soul unto Death for Souls He values Souls so much that He gave His precious Life for them Therefore it 's said 1 Pet. 1.19 We are not redeemed with corruptible things as silver and gold but with the precious blood of Christ If He esteemed so much of Soulâ— what will it be thought of when ye waste your Souls and ye know not whereon He bought Soulâ— dear and ye sel them cheap for a little Silver or Gold or for that which is worse and far lesse worth what an unsuitableness is here betwixt Christs estimation of Souls and yours betwixt His buying them at so dear a rate and your casting them away for that which is very vanity What do the most part of you get for your Souls Some a bit Land some a House some a fecklesse Pleasure some a Sport some the satisfaction of their Lust or a moments sinful mirth O! pitifully poor bargain what will become of that mirth or lust or pleasure of this house or of that land when Kings and great Men will lye crawling like so many wormes before the Lamb ye will not get your House or Land with you ye will not get leave to wear your brave cloathes ye will have no Silver nor Gold in your Purse in that day And suppose ye had it the Redemption of the Soul is precious and ceaseth for ever by any such Price It 's a wonderful thing that when Christ esteems so much of Souls that Sinners should esteem so little of them Is it not just that such Souls should go to hell when they esteemed them so little worth Use 2. It should teach you to love and heartily to welcome this Lord Jesus Christ what argument of Love and of Trust what motive to welcome Him can there be if this be not That He spared not His Life but poured it out unto death for Sinners How long shall we halt betwixt Christ and Belial We dow not endure to mortifie a Lust to want our Sport and Laughter or a bit of our credit or honour though it should cost us the want of Christ But O! ingrate fool is that a becoming requital to Him that took His innocent Soul in His hand and poured it out for Sinners and when it was some way melted like leid in the fire of Gods Wrath was content to yett it forth abundantly out of love to their Salvation Should it not rather call for love to Him for trusting and welcoming of Him and to Suffering for His sake if He call you to it Will ye skar to hazard your life for Him that poured out His Soul for Sinners It would do a Soul good to think how willingly and cheerfully He Suffered But Alace how reluctantly and unwillingly come we under Suffering for Him However let me commend these three Words to you 1. Love Him For even Publicans will love these that love them and give Christ love for love 2. Credit and Trust Him do not look for ill at His hand what ground is there to suspect Him It is His glory to do good to Sinners and He counts them His triumph and spoil and to make conquest of them He poured out His Soul unto Death or as the Word is Phil. 2. He emptied himself Which seems to look to this Word of the Prophet and is not that warrand sufficient for you to trust and credit Him and to lay the weight of what concerns you upon Him And 3. welcome Him which is a fruit of Faith and Love He is a sweet wooer He is that good shepherd that laid down his life for his sheep he gave himself for his church as it is Ephes 5. Therefore I say welcome Him This is the great thing the Gospel aims at such expressions are a great deepth and it would require time to read to ponder them and to wonder at them and we would be much in praying for a right uptaking of them 3dly From the connexion Because He hath poured out His Soul unto death Observe That our Lord Jesus His willing condescending to die is most acceptable to the Father Therefore He sayes I will give him a portion with the great and be shall divide the spoil with the strong because He hath done so and so and all the Promises made to Him confirm this That is a wonderful Word John 10.17 Therefore does my father love me because I lay down my life for the sheâ—p The only begotten and beloved Son of the Father cannot but be loved Yet He sayes Therefore or on this account does my father love me That is as I am Mediator the Fâ—tâ—ers Minister Steward or Deput in this Work of the Redemption of Sinners and because I so willingly and cheerfully lay down my self for them He hath given me this Victory and Glory So well pleasing to God is the willing and cheerful death of the Mediator that it should be admired by us and should have this weight laid on it by us that seing cheerfulness in obedience is so acceptable to God we would study it for He loves a cheerful giver and cheerfulnesse in any duty It 's much we have this word to speak of to you many Nations never heard it and ye would make some other Use of it then if ye had never heard it O! but it will be dreadful to such as have heard it and do slight it their Souls shall be poured out into Hell even squized and wrung eternally by the Wrath of God Therefore look not lightly on it do not think all this transaction of Grace to be for nought If we were serious we would wonder what it means Alace we think little or nothing to make our peace with God and yet all this business is ere the matter can be brought about It 's a great evidence of the stupidity senslessenesse and absurd unblief of many that they think nothing of Sin and Wrath and of the hazard
The word is very significant he is able to save perfectly to perfection and to perfection at the hight of perfection and what more would ye be at He can save from corruption and put without the reach of it He can save from wrath that it shall not come near you He can save from all the effects of sin and wrath He shall not leave a tear on the cheek of any of his own ere all be done and that is the ground of it For he lives for ever to make intercession for us If any should say he may save from one sin but not from another or he may bring me a piece of the way to heaven and then leave me there It 's folly sayes the Apostle to think to For he is able to save to the uttermost because he lives for ever to make intercession Although his death seem to be transient once for all perfyted yet that cannot mar the application of the benefits purchased by it For he is Intercessour and he that procured thy entring in the way will carry the on in it he that procured a saâ—tified conviction to come in will through it hâ— that procured thy justification and pardon of sin will also apply it to thy conscience and bring forth an intimation of it when he thinks fit and sanctifie thee throughly and this is indeed great consolation to a sinner that he who hath begun the work will perfyt it and he will not leave it till it be at such a hight of perfection as it can be desired to be no higher 4. The extent of this consolation is such that it reacheth to all times There it is not a Believer in any place or case that is wrestling with any difficulty that can come wrong to Christ He is ever in readinesse to be employed There is never an hour nor moment that he hath his door shu He died once but now lives for ever to die no more and he lives for ever to make Intercession he is entred into immortality to make effectual what he hath undertaken in favours of his people He is always at the Bar and when his own are but little imploying him he is minding their affairs night and day watching over them every moment See Luke 22. where the Lord sayeth Peter satan hath sought to winnow you but I have prayed for thee that thy faith fail not Satan gave in a Bill against Peter when he had no mind of it but the Lord repelled it The greatest cheat or the most subtile adversary that steals out Decreets cannot circumveen him He is still waiting on at the Ear that nothing come in against his people to their prejudice and if it do come in it's that he may crushit in the first motion O! how doth the consolation of Believers stream out here He will not cry nor lift up nor cause his voice to be heard on high a bruised reed will he not break and the smoaking flax will be not quench untill he bring forth judgement unto truth He will not contend nor say man or woman how is this that thou hast put thy self in the myre and would have me to take thee out of it that thou brings a broken Plea to me and seeks of me to right it He will not ask whether ye have money all his imployment is free nor will he put you back till the morrow nor bid you wait on till another time morning and evening and at midnight he is ready and when the Elect Sinner hath little thought He is watching over his need preventing many tentations keeping from many ill turns casting many challenges over the Bar that the Devil and the Law put in Therefore study his Offices more and this among the rest we much wrong him in not studying of them and acquainting our selves with them that we may feed upon them himself open up his name to us and to him be praise SERMON LXVII ISAIAH LIII XII Vers 12. And made intercession for the transgressours O! That Sinners were seriously considering how much they are obliged to Christ He hath in the former words Poured out his soul unto death for Sinners and was wounded for transgressours and yet that was not all though Sin was our Lords death he hath not casten out with Sinners but having gotten the Victory over all enemies and sitten down at the right hand of God He makes intercession and to make it the more full It 's said He makes intercession for transgressours All his Offices have an eye to Sin and Sinners and this part of his Office among others We began to speak of an Use of comfort that flows from this and truly if any Doctrine be comfortable this is That Sinners have an Advocat with the Father what would Sinners do when their peace is broken there is a door shut betwixt God and them and his back is turned on them and the Concisence is wakened and they cannot think on God but it's troublesome to them if they had not a friend in Court with whom the Father cannot but be well pleased This Consolation being a main part of the use of this Doctrine and the ground of Believers boldnesse with God In the following of it forth we proposed Five things to be spoken to 1. To shew the largeness and extent of the consolation that flows from this ground and of this we spake 2. The particular advantages that the Scripture attributs to Christ's Intercession and the consolation that is in them 3. The particular times when especially Believers are called to make use of this consolation 4. Some grounds warranding them to make use of it and 5. Some caveats or advertisements to them that would warrantably comfort themselves from it To proceed now and to speak to these last Four things 1. The particular advantages that the Scriptures attribut to Christs Intercession and if we look through them we will find that there is nothing that may be useful to a Believer either as to a particular or publick mercy but it 's knit to Christs Intercession 1. For privat mercies 1. Look to the beginning and growth of our spiritual life and to the pouring out of the spirit It is made the fruit of Christs Intercession John 14.16 I will pray the father and he shall send the comforter and John 16. If I go not away the comforter will not come This is the Consolation of a Believer labouring under deadnesse of spirit barrennesse and unfruitfulness That the pouring out of the spirit is a remedy of that and the pouring out of the Spirit is a fruit of Christs Intercession It 's this that procures the first conviction of the spirit to an elect lying in nature It 's this that continues there convictions and procures the spirits quickning of them John 16.8 If it should then be asked how a person lying in black nature gets any good It 's answered that it 's Christs Intercession that does the turn 2. Iâ—'s fâ—om Christs Intercâ—ssion thaâ—
every one to their own way and the Lord 's laying on him the iniquity of them all The Elect that were given to Christ being naturally at enmity with God and having run on in the course of their sinful nature to the provoking God And there being no way for them to escape the wrath which by their sin they had deserved till the Lord found out this mids to wit the second Person interposing as their Mediator and Surety and ingageing to pay their debt On which followed the imputing of all their iniquities to him according to the transaction made about them Which transaction being laid down as we have heard the Prophet proceeds to shew Christ's executing and performing of the transaction And because it might be thought that it was so great matter as could not but have much sad and sore suffering following upon it to take on all our iniquities He answers that notwithstanding of all that yet he took them on and that very willingly and chearfully Or because it might be thought that the former words look as if God had laid the punishment of our iniquity on him and that he had not taken it on himself the Prophet tells us that it is nothing so but that there was a mutual Covenant betwixt God and the Mediator and that the Mediator was as well content to bear the iniquity of the Elect as the Father was content to lay it on him And that though he was exacted upon oppressed afflicted and suffered sad stroaks yet he rewed not the bargain but went on resolutely in paying the ransom of the Elect as singly as ever a sheep went to the slaughter or as it is dumb before the shearer so he opened not his mouth to speak against it There are three things asserted here that serve to make up the scope supposing the transaction to have gone before 1. The Fathers exacting the Elects debt of the Mediator 2. The Mediators yielding and satisfying 3. The manner how he did it willingly readily and chearfully We shall first open the words a little and then speak to some Doctrines from them reserving the Uses to the close of all 1. Where it is said He was oppressed the word signifies to exact And we find it three wayes applyed in Scripture 1. To the exacting of Tribute as 2 King 23.33 Where it is said That Pharaoh Necho who put the land to a tribute of an hundred talents of silver and a talent of gold it 's the same word that is here 2. Sometimes it 's applyed to the exacting of debts As when a man is put to the Horn and Caption and Imprisonment follows upon it So Deut. 15.2 When the Lord tells his people that the creditor shall not exact of his neighbour or of his brother in the year of release 3. It 's applyed to the exacting of labour as Isai 58 3. ye exact all your labour And Exod. 1.11 The word Task masters comes from the same root This being the ordinary signification of the word it 's turned here oppressing figuratively because such Exacters and Task masters in their rigorous usage of these whom they exact upon are often oppressive And there being no Noun prefixed to the words in the Original they may stand as well thus It was exacted of him That which he was ingaged to pay he was fully exacted upon for it to the least farthing Or take the words as they stand here he was oppressed that is as we use to speak stressed or distressed for our debt He was not only ingaged but according to his ingagement was put hard to it to satisfie 2. It is said He was afflicted which is sometimes rendered to answer And these two agree very well together he was exacted upon and he answered the debt As when a Bill of Exchange for such a Sum is drawn upon a man and he answers it And this Exposition runs well and smoothly with the words following Yet he opened not his mouth He used no defence to elude or shift the debt He said not that it was not his but he answered it indeed and in a word said nothing to the contrary Or taking the words as here they stand translated He was afflicted they signifie the effect that follows on his being exacted upon Though it brake him not yet it brought him very low even to an afflicted condition The 3. thing is that though he was brought thus low and though it was not for his own but for other folks debt which usually troubles men most Yet he opened not his mouth to shew his wonderful condescendency and the great love from which it flows He payed the Elects debt with as good will and as pleasantly as if it had been his own proper and personal debt Though he was the Son of God and God equal with the Father and might have brought Legions of Angels to destroy his enemies yet as the lambs brought to the slaughter and as the sheep before the shearer is dumb so he opened not his mouth And it may be that there is not only here relation or respect had to the sheep as it is an innocent harmless simple tractable creature and not untoward and refractory as a Bull or ox useth to be But also respect had to it as it was made use of in the Sâ—crifices And so the meaning is he yielded his life willingly when none could take it from him for performing the Indentor to say so and for satisfying the transaction past betwixt Jehovah and him So having shown how it comes to pass that Christ suffered and suffered so much and was brought so low under suffering And having told that he was ingaged to pay the Elects debt and that the Father had laid their iniquities on him Lest any might think that the Father would have spared his own Son no saith the Prophet He was oppressed and not only so but afflicted and humbled And lest it should have been thought that the Lord Jehavah had better will to the bargain than the Mediator had It is added that he did satisfie the debt as willingly as the Father laid it on him as these similitudes made use of plainly hold forth Take these Observations from the words 1. That our Lord Jesus having entered himself Surety for sinners he was really put at and Justice exacted the debt of him which he had undertaken and engaged to pay Read the whole story of the Gospel and it will make out this It 's said by himself Luke 24. It behoved the Son of Man to suffer these things and then to enter into his glory He must needs go to Jerusalem and suffer And when the Cup is in his hand and his Holy Humane Nature having a sinless scaring at it makes him pray Father if it be possible let this cup pass from me Yet seing here was a necessity that either he should drink it or that the Elect should perish In the very next words he sweetly subjoyns Not my will but thy will
be done And so hotly and hardly was he pursued by Justice that he must needs come to the cursed death of the Cross and actually die And as if death had gotten a piece of dominion over the Lord of Life he is laid in the grave So Zech. 13. the Lord saith Awake O sword against my shepherd and against the man that is my fellow smite the shepherd Where we see that when the good Shepherd and great Bishop of Souls hath undertaken for the Elects debt Justice gives a Commission as it were to its own holy revenge to pursue the man that is God's fellow for that debt That which we design to confirm in the Doctrine is not only that our Lord Jesus suffered but that his suffering was by Justice it's exacting of him the debt of the Elects sin according to the engagement that he came under to the Father For the scope is to shew not only that he suffered so great things as oppressed and brought him very low But also that he was put at by Justice in these sad sufferings to pay the debt that he had taken on For confirming and clearing of this a little ye may consider 1. The Titles which he gets in Scripture he is called the Cautioner or Surety of the better Testament or Covenant Heb. 7.22 And by that Title he is shewed to be instated in our room and answerable for our debt And he is called the Lamb that takes away the debt of our sin by the sacrifice of himself He steped in into our place and kept off the stroak of the Sword of Justice that would have lighted on us had he not interposed 2. Consider the Titles which his sufferings and death gets Heb. 9.12 He is said to purchase to wit by it eternal Redemption for us And Rom. 3.24 we are said to be justified through the Redemption that is in Jesus We were slaves to the Devil subject to the curse discerned and adjudged to suffer for the wrongs that we had done to Justice And his suffering is called Redemption because as the man that redeems the Captive gives a ransom for him so he interposed and payed a ransom for us It 's also called a propitiation 1 John 2.2 He is the propitiation for our sins to wit pleasing to God and accepted of him in the room of all the Elect And this word propitiation as it supposeth God's being displeased with the Elect before Christ's satisfaction so it plainly holds forth his being well pleased with them on the account of his satisfaction 3. Consider these Scriptures that speak not only of Christ's sufferings but of their end and scope even the drawing of him down to speak so into the Elects room as v. 5. of this Chapter He was wounded for our transgressions c. He got the stroaks and we got the cure 2 Cor. 5.21 He was made sin for us who knew no sin that we might be made the righteousness of God through him We are sinners and Christ is to purchase righteousness to us And the way how he doth it is by steping in into our room and becoming our Cautioner and he ingaging as Surety the Law wins at him on that ground so Gal. 3.13 He hath redeemed us from the curse of the law by being made a curse for us we were under the Curse and lyable to be pursued by it and our Lord Jesus becomes a Curse to deliver us from it Considering then the end of Gods Covenant which is to glorify his Justice aâ—d Grace that Sinners may know it is an evil thing to sin and depart from God and that Grace is a very costly thing whereunto he hath made access through the Vail which is his Flesh and considering Christs undertaking without which they could not be set free it could not be otherways This is a truth that hath in it much of the marrow of the Gospel and tends much to humble us and is also very much for our comfort What was Justice seeking of Christ when he suffered and was in an agony if thou beest a Believer or an elect Sinner it was even exacting thy Debt of him and would it not affect an ingenuous Debtor to see his Cautioner dragged haled and hurried to Prison for his Debt Even so if we could look on Christs Sufferings as so many Summons and Pursevants arresting him for our Debt it could not but affect us with much sorrow for our sins that brought him to this and with much love to him who was content to be so dealt with for them and no doubt this is one of the reasons why he will have his death remembered till he come again even that we may see our obligation to him and be suitably affected with it 2ly Observe That the Debt of the Elects sins was severely and with holy rigidity exacted of Christ to the very full worth or value this proceeding was as to Christ by way of Justice whether we look to the purchase that he made to wit the Elects Souls he laid down as good in their room or whether we look to a Transaction or Bargain going before whatever was in the stipulation he payed and satisfied to the full nothing was remitted nor given him down or whether we look to the Curse due to the Elect that was inflicted on him and he himself was made a Curse for us looking on the Curse simply as penal and what was bitter in it which shews his condescendency in his Sufferings so much the more 3ly Observe That our Lord Jesus was brought exceeding low while the Debt of the Elect was exacted of him He was put to exceeding sore affliction much straitned and stressed by the Justice of God exacting of him the Debt due by elect Sinners We spoke to some words before which bare out this as he was wounded bruised chastified c. and now we see the effect here when Justice puts him to it After he hath taken on the Debt he is tried stripped as it were to the skin punished and distressed ere he get it payed If we consider our Lord Jesus as God he is neither less nor more punished being so considered utterly incapable of any such thing But if we look on him as Mediator God-man God much withdrawing from him the influence of his comforting presence while he hath the cup of wrath in his hand so he is brought exceeding low and sadly afflicted And these four considerations under which we may see him paying our Debt may clear it 1. That he laid aside the glory which before the World was he had with the Father for a time which therefore that it may be restored to him again he prayeth John 17.5 it having been as to the manifestation thereof in his person eclipsed interrupted and darkened for a season hence the Apostle says Philip. 2. that he emptied himself and became of no reputation as if his glory had not been discernable for a time He that is Judge of Quick and Dead is himself