is a matter of justice not to condemn a person for whom satisfaction hath been made and it is matter of mercy to acquit him through another's sufferings who stood condemned for his own offences or if we judge as fit we should that neither the justice or mercy of God will permit he should be condemned for whom Christ died a Sacrifice we can conclude no less from such a death than the absolution future acquittance of a Believer whose Sacrifice Christ died who hereby hath as Isa 43.4 born our griefs and carried our sorrows i. e. the punishment due to our sins for the which he hath suffered and made satisfaction Say the Generva Notes in loc yet what follows ver 5. is fuller Vt integrae essent res nostrae nobis bene esset c. placuit c. verbera plagas quas nos commeriti eramus filius susciperet c. Castigatione verberibus filii reconciliati sumus Patri efferbuit ira Patris Fozerius in loc He was wounded for our transgressions the chastisement of our peace was upon him and by his stripes we are healed The strokes and blows which we deserved the Son took upon him to the end that our affairs being restor'd it might be well with us c. by the chastisement and stripes of the Son we are reconciled to the Father and the anger of the Father hath asswayed and ceas'd towards us Whoso can look with the eye of faith on Christ thus dying Chrîstus Dominus pro peccatis nostris dolore affectus est ergo peccata nostra deleta ergo ira Dei remisit conseditque ergo reconciliatus enim nobis ergo pax integritas salus omne bonum in nos dimanavit Fozerius may in the words of the late mentioned Commentatour triumph Christ the Lord was grieved for our sins therefore our sins are blotted out the wrath of God is appeased and ceaseth God is reconciled to us therefore peace restitution salvation and every good thing hath flowed in to us But one thing possibly may be suspected viz. Albeit such an atonement and reconciliation be made now yet may not wrath at last break forth in fury to the utter condemnation of the soul which now hath its pardon To this I shall answer by subjoyning 4. That Christ Died a Sacrifice which he himself offered through the Eternal Spirit to the end that he might purge our conscience from dead works that we might serve the Living God as Heb. 9.14 By which one offering he hath perfected forever them that are sanctified Heb. 10.14 Which great Truth the Apostle confirmeth by an Argument drawn from the very letter of that Covenant which is confirmed in this Sacrifice according to which Covenant God promiseth remission of sins so ver 17. Their sins and iniquities will I remember no more Now where remission of these is there is no more offering for sin ver 18. The ground whereof is the perfect Reconciliation wrought for those to whom God doth grant remission of sin so that hence I may justifiably argue from the real expiation made at first to the perpetual continuation of it by the blood of this most perfect Sacrifice Let our Faith therefore be directed to fetch our absolution from guilt and condemnation let us ensure this to our selves through Christ dying our Sacrifice and take that comfort to our selves he hath by one offering for ever perfected them that are sanctified And he is able to save to the uttermost all that come unto God by him Heb. 7.25 Sect. 2. 2. The second Disquiet of the soul I mentioned was a fear lest it should lose the refreshing apprehensions and sweet enjoyments of the Divine Favour how much this would disturb the peace of the soul I am not here to discourse having said all I intended already on it But now it is my business to shew that Christ's Death as our Sacrifice is sufficient to prevent this fear or to secure unto the soul an enjoyment of the Divine Favour which I now attempt to shew 1. In that this Sacrifice duly apprehended by us doth very much abate of the ground of our fears of the withdrawing the Divine Favour from us Now the apprehension of the dread and terrour of spiritual desertions ariseth from our doubts that they are but precursory to a final and eternal displeasure that they are but the Primordia dolorum the beginnings of sorrows that the full measures will be at last for everlasting poured out upon the soul Oh this afflicts This Will God be gracious no more is the sword which wounds to the heart and whilst this fear abides on the soul it can take no rest Now see Christ our Sacrifice hath atoned vindictive displeasure reconciled us to God delivered us from wrath to come so that undoubtedly these present seasons of darkness are but seasons These sorrows may endure for a night but joy cometh in the morning Christ in the merit of his blood doth ever appear for me with God though God appear not to me now as of old yet I shall enjoy him 2. Christ Dying a Sacrifice for us hath now changed the nature of all our afflictions and turned them into wholsom corrections and into necessary exercises of our graces not onely our outward afflictions are so changed that there remaineth not any deadly poyson in them but our spiritual troubles among which this I speak of is to be accounted chief these are much more altered in their nature as indeed it was expedient they should for as they sink deeper into the soul and do more speedily seize the spirit and have an immediate influence on the soul so they would be of more dangerous consequence if they retained an unrebated poyson in them These would undo the soul whereas outward afflictions can approach to the soul but intermediately and being kept still about the outworks can only disquiet alarm cannot kill the soul nor its comforts Now we are beholden to the excellency of this Sacrifice for this By this sacrifice our afflictions are rendered only corrections whatever is vindictive and which the soul cannot beare is derived upon our Sacrifice being hereby secured from wrath For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son much more being reconciled we shall be saved by his life Rom. 5.10 The Apostle argueth from our reconciliation once effected unto our salvation in due time to be accomplisht And happy they who have Christ once dying a Sacrifice to make their peace but ever living a merciful and a faithful High Priest to maintain their peace with God Such he is to all for whom he is a Sacrifice 3. In midst of spiritual desertions Christ our Sacrifice preserveth inviolate the state of our peace though we have not the sense and sweetness of that peace The Covenant of peace between God and the soul standeth unaltered still and this in the vertue of this blood of Christ our
or of merit but with a fitness of preparedness and of meetness 2 Thes 1.5 with Col. 1.11 12. 4. It is very acceptable to God 1. Pet. 2.19 20. 21. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 It is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 it ingratiateth with God 5. It is a Scripture evidence of Grace and future Glory Phil. 1.29 Rom. 8.17 whoso suffer for Christ shall in like manner be glorified with Christ 6. And lastly it is a condition ordinarily priviledged with great consolations in the inward man and with an high degree of Heroick grace in the heart expressed by the spirit of Glory and of God resting on the sufferer 1 Pet. 4.13 14. Though many other compensations of our sufferings might be mentioned as preponderating and outweighing our Sufferings yet because no one of these mentioned can be reasonably doubted or denied to be more than sufficient present reward for our Sufferings I judge it reason to add no more Think then as the Love of thy Saviour and Friend should make thee resolute in Suffering so the present advantage and reward will warrant thee to desire opportunity of Suffering for him if he shall see good so to try thee Read then the promises made to sufferers for Christ the Elogies given to them the fruits of such sufferings and then debate the case with thy self going to the Sacrament or receiving it There are present benefits annexed to sufferings for that Lord whose Death I celebrate these benefits are made over to such as I am by his last Will what then should make me unwilling unresolved or afraid to suffer for him each particular blessing bequeathed surpasseth all the sufferings I need expect or fear Seal therefore Lord thy blessings to me in the Sacrament and help me to seal thy cause and truth if need be with my blood 3. A third inducement to Resolution in suffering for Christ our Lord Dying a Testator deducible from his Last Will is That the greater these sufferings are the greater the compensation shall be Our Lord Dying hath so disposed his rich gifts that he shall have greatest share in them who is greatest sufferer for him By a Christianlike bearing the Afflictions of the Lord and the Gospel thou mayest increase the Crown of Glory which Christ hath promised thee if so be we suffer with him that we may also be glorified with him Rom. 8.17 God allowes us to intend and aime at obtaining Glory with Christ as the end why we suffer with him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and for him It is a very full expression of this which we meet with 2 Cor. 4.17 This Momentany and light affliction worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of Glory Note the words Affliction worketh for us it effecteth perfectly worketh or as it is rendered Phil. 2.12 Worketh out or in a good sense causeth as the word is rendred 2 Cor. 9.11 The Temptation of afflictions doth as well increase the future Glory as the present grace of the Saints James 1.2 And they are blessed who endure such Temptations James 1.12 For when they are tryed they shall receive the Crown of life Gold and silver are purified and get a greater measure of perfection by the refining fire The Glorified Saints shine with greatest lustre who came out of the fires of persecution Those that were clothed with white robes and had Palms in their hands and stood before the throne Revel 7.9 Were the persons who came out of great tribulation ver 14. Therefore are they before the Throne ver 15. In a word Christ hath prepared Thrones on which they who did continue with him in his Temptations do sit and whereon they shall sit hereafter judging the tribes of Israel to these sufferers he hath disposed the Kingdome Luke 22.28.29 No man shall ever be loser by suffering for Christ Mark well the answer given to Peter's Question Matth. 19.27 28. 29. We have forsaken all c. What shall we have therefore Ye saith Christ shall sit upon Thrones ye shall receive an Hundred fold ver 29. Judge therefore with thy self whether the renewed Remembrance of such a Will and Testament in which the Testator gives most to him that doth suffer most for him be not a very fit means to perswade thee to and confirm thee in resolutions of patient suffering for Christ In a Sacrament thou dost or mightest see such encouragements to sufferings sealed to thee and wilt thou not endure wilt thou not bear and suffer for such Hopes are our sufferings not worthy to be compared with that Glory which shall be revealed Rom. 8.18 And is it not too much weakness which dares not suffer will you thus render your selves unworthy to expect such Glory 4. And Lastly Christ Dying a Testator liveth and beholdeth what thou sufferest and with what frame of mind thou dost endure thy sufferings And this thou doest tacitely confess in the use of the Sacrament for under what Notion soever thou dost remember thy Lord in the Sacrament as it is complex of thy Lord his Death so of his future coming likewise Thou declarest that though he died once yet Death hath not Dominion over him for he liveth and knoweth what is designed against him by his enemies what is laid upon his Friends and followers for his sake He will be Judge of thy sufferings and of thy reward also Revel 2.2 He that walketh in the midst of the Golden Candlesticks knoweth the patience as well as the Labour of the Church Now who knows the patience must needs know the sufferings which exercise the patience of the Church He knoweth the tribulation of the Church Revel 2.9 Christ is the great overseer and Judge of the combates which his Church maintaineth with his enemies who afflict and trouble the Church for Christ's sake He assigneth the reward and Crown to every one that overcometh Revel 2.7 17 23 26. with other places Well then so often as thou goest to the Sacrament thou renewest the memory of thy Lord whose Love deserveth thou shouldest patiently bear whose reward when least will surpass thy sufferings when they are greatest who will measure out to thee a reward proportioned to thy sufferings who lives to see and observe all thou sufferest thy Captain Generals Eye is upon thee and will not this perswade to resolutions of bearing and constant patience in bearing for Christ these among other inducements to a Christian fortitude in suffering for Christ may be drawn from the consideration of his Dying a Testator and a larger improvement of them I commend to your private meditations I proceed to what remaineth CAP. V. Sect. 10. Sorrow for unserviceableness to Christ Improved on Christ's Dying a Testator 10. THE tenth Sacramental grace I mentioned as befitting us at the Lords Supper was Sorrow for doing so little for him with grief that we have done so much against him This temper of mind is highly improveable by pondering what Christ hath as a Testator done
giving them rich Legacies At a Sacrament we may and should view Jesus Christ the Blessed One nailed to the Cross loaded with a Curse and dying an accursed Death that we might escape it Thus we owe our Peace to his Sacrifice our spiritual treasure to his will and testament our blessed hope and life to his accursed Death and by particular reflections on these we should awaken exercise and improve our graces The facilitating this work and the attaining this effect is the design of the following Discourse which doth first endeavour to promote grace by a particular improvement of Christ's Dying a Sacrifice for us let us then the other two having their due place begin with this great truth Our Lord Died a Sacrifice for us and under this notion ought we to commemorate his Death and in meditating thereon we may make an improvement of grace That I may proceed distinctly I resolve the whole subject into these following particulars 1. The general proof and confirmation of his DYing as a Sacrifice or Victim for us Cap. 1. 2. How this could be that a man should be a Sacrifice for us Cap. 2. 3. What particularly is contained in this being made a Sacrifice and so dying Cap. 3. 4. That these are fit foundation to lay for Sacramental graces and how our graces may be increased awakened confirmed and acted in due meditation on Christ our Sacrifice Cap. 4. seq CAP. I. Christ died a Sacrifice for us prefigured THE Holy Scriptures do abundantly testifie to us that Christ our Lord died our Sacrifice and Victim and so do the writings of all Christians who have treated of our Redemption and Salvation by Christ if you would have forein testimonies you require what is not needful and should we attempt to seek them we should lose our time and labour for no other Pen maketh mention of this but the Scriptures and the Pens which write after this Copy Now among other arguments the Scripture affordeth us these five for proof of Christ's Dying a Sacrifice 1. The Type 2. Prophecies 3. Promises 4. Historical declaration of it 5. Assuming it as a matter unquestionably true and certain of all which briefly in their order Sect. 1. This manner of Christ's Death viz. as a Sacrifice was prefigured and foreshewn in the Type thereof The very enemies of this Doctrine do not quite deny this though they doubt Socin lib. 2. c. 8. de Servatore or deny some particular places to refer hereto Let us however look to some few places of Scriptures where we may find Christ our Sacrifice in his Death typified out to us 1 Cor. 5.7 Christ our Passover is slain for us The allusion used by the Apostle proves that the old Paschal Lamb was a type of Christ and that Christ was the Antitype of the Paschal Lamb. Again Joh. 1.24 The Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world whether in reference to the Lamb daily offered or whether to the Paschal Lamb it altereth not the case It is a Lamb and a Lamb that must be slain in Sacrifice yea in an Expiatory Sacrifice to take away the sin of the world We are assured Heb. 9.22 that without sheding of blood there is no remission and we are sure 't is not every sheding of blood but it is the sheding of the blood of a Sacrifice which procureth remission of sins and this blood-sheding was not by opening and breathing a vein but by dying to take away sin The Baptist then applying unto Christ that antient and lively type telleth us that Christ was prefigured in his state life and death by it And that Heb. 9.23 24. tells us of patterns of things in the Heavens v. 23. and of figures of the True v. 24. yea v. 8 9. the whole Tabernacle and the service of it were a figure for the time then present Among other services that of Sacrifices is specified as a figure serving for the present until Christ should come and enter into the Holy Place without blood of Bulls and Goats but by his own blood v. 11 12 14. In a word the whole of Mosaical positive instituted service was a figure and type This part of the Law had the shadow of good things to come Heb. 10. v. 1. In Sacrificiis id manifestissimum quae Sacrificium expiationem Messiae praesignificabant Joh. Hoornbeek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 de convertend Judaeis lib. 7. c. 1. pag. 452. This very thing is most manifest in the Sacrifices which did presignifie the Sacrifice and Expiation of the Messiah as the Learned Hoornbeek hath rightly observed to our hands from all which I do not ill to conclude that he died a Sacrifice to take away sin who was praesignified by the Dying Expiatory Sacrifices under the Law Sect. 2. Secondly It was foretold and by the Prophetick impulses of the infallible Spirit of God revealed to the Church of old that the Messiah should die and particularly that he should die a Sacrifice to expiate sin in this cause we have among others the testimonies of the Prophet Isaiah Isa 53.7 cap. 53.7 He is brought as a Lamb to the slaughter where possible may be more than a general symbolizing between the Innocency Humility and Sufferings of the Lamb slain and Christ typified thereby like enough there is a particular symbolizing between them both as they were Sacrifices the footsteps whereof I might trace out somewhat in 1. the word slaughter which Prov. 9.2 seemeth to be determined to the slaying of a Sacrifice And 2. in the word he is brought which Isa 18.7 expresseth the bringing of a present to the Lord. But much more in the word 3. Lamb 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 used Lev. 5.7 12.8 22.28 Deut. 18.3 which is the very word that expresseth the Paschal Lamb Exod. 12.3 5. which was a Lamb to be sacrificed Deut. 16.6 And 4. from the place which parallel to this Act. 8.32 He was led as a Lamb to the slaughter 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 what kind of slaying this was A pecudum mactatione 72. alio nomine 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 vocarunt Amos 5. v. 25. Cloppenb Schol. Sacrif pag. 3. let Rev. 13.8 determine where it is the Lamb of God slain from the foundation of the world Isa 53.10 If this be not full enough to our purpose yet the 10th verse affordeth a plain and express Prophecy of the Messiah's dying a Sacrifice Thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin Indeed the Hebrews read it conditionally if or when but then adds a promise what shall be the fruit and effect of his Dying a Sacrifice Now we do see the promise fulfilled in the numerous seed of Christ therefore with reason we conclude the condition performed 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Si posuerit hostiam pro peccato reatu 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 proprie est dâ—lictum per Metonymiam significat oblationem pro delicto
thee impute thy sin to Christ justice will impute it unto thy own self View these these things and weigh them impartially possibly they may prevail to the convincing of the heart of its sinful state and of the certainty of a future imputation of sin unless it be prevented by repentance And lest thou shouldst flatter thy self that there is little or no danger in appearing before God under imputed sin I advise thee to consider Sect. 3. The greatness of thy danger as it will appear in thy Sacrifice See if thou mayest not descry 1. Death as certainly following thy Sacrifice as imputation of sin did follow the substitution of a Sacrifice He must die who took thy sin upon him he cannot escape who is thy Sacrifice If Christ taking thy sin on him could not have the Cup pass from him thinkest thou there can be any thing but death awaiting thee under thy sin is not here danger is not here great danger I know not what may be accounted danger if death be not I know not what is greatest danger if death under imputed sin be not 2. Was not the Death of Christ thy Sacrifice full of sorrows and grief he was a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief Isa 53.3 and if his life were spent in sorrows I am sure his death was full of them Look on him his in agony in the garden explain me the meaning of those unparalleld drops of blood tell me the story of his enemies cruelly buffetting spitting crowning him with thorns and forcing those into his tender temples his blessed head These were preparatory griefs was ever grief like this this thy sin deserved this thou must if Christ had not suffered thou must have been the scorn and triumph of Devils who forever would torment and wrack thee What then judgest thou of death thus aggravated what thinkest thou of the grief and pain of his soul when hands and feet were nailed to the Cross when he hanged there under the sharp pains of a lingriug death what grief was that breath'd out it self in that My God My God why hast thou forsaken me I speak not of the acuteness of his pains which the School-men speak of Let me obtain thy sober thoughts of the sorrows of our Dying Saviour and Sacrifice and then say whether there is danger and how great the danger of thy sin is then say canst thou think of thy danger without fear and astonishment what will become of sinners under the burthen of sorrows which their sins deserve and God will heap upon them 3. View the person who thus suffered view him I say in all his Interresse in the Father's love in all the Priviledges of his nature person and office in all the perfection and excellency of his obedience and see whether any one or all these could exempt him from or defend him against that flame thy sins had kindled and which his blood alone must quench or it will burn for ever and when thou hast thought of this then tell me thy danger 4. Was not his power and strength the power and the strength of a God united to the Humane Nature to support it and yet for all this his Fears Dangers Sorrows were enough to try all his power and albeit he conquered yet not without a bitter conflict How then couldest thou have escaped or born these dangers Thus make an unconvinced heart look on sin in it's Sacrifice make a self flattering secure fearless heart look on the certainty and greatness of it's own danger in the sorrows and grief which fell upon Christ our Sacrifice when thou hast proceeded thus far in this Matter bring thy self to determine these two things 1. whether thou canst bear all the misery which sin deserved and all the sorrows this Sacrifice did sustain Canst thou bear the displeasure of the Almighty if thou think'st thou canst I pity and mourn for thee if thou thinkest thou canst not then 2. say canst thou find out a way for thine escape if the infinit wise God hath not found out any expedient beside this dost thou think thou canst find it out well then if it be intollerable and thou canst not bear it if unavoidable and thou canst not fly from it what remaineth but being shut up under sin as the Scripture speaketh thou shouldst also be shut up in Prison reserved for the day of Execution without any hope in thy self for thou readest thy guilt in the Imputation of sin to thy sacrifice thou readest thy death and danger in the death of thy sacrifice thou readest despair in the unsupportableness of the misery and in the unavoidableness of it's approaches thou art undone and miserable in thy self which cannot but end in consternation of mind and amazement and likely may break out into such enquiries who can dwell with devouring Fire with everlasting Burnings who shall deliver us from wrath to come how shall I escape such great misery what shall I do to be saved Is there not yet Balm in Gilead is there not a Physician there may not this wound be healed dost thou begin thus to fear and enquire I send thee to this Sacrifice for hope and help Sect. 4. 4. Although the death of thy Sacrifice did preach thy danger and thy helpless state in thy self yet doth it also preach help for thee in another it proclaimeth hope of escape for here is a Sacrifice for sin and where a Sacrifice is admitted the offence may possibly be remitted and the offender may be reconciled They that sought out and prescribed their own sacrifices for their Gods maintained their false hopes by this mean And the carnal Jew mistaking the nature of his sacrifices kept up his presumptuous hopes by the same means concluding his peace was made because the sacrifice is offered But he among the Jews who understood the Institution Nature End and Use of the Propitiatory Sacrifices did obtain at first and did maintain unto the last a sound peace between his God and his soul Where there is an appointed sacrifice there is an open and plain declaration of our apprehensions that 1. Our sins are expiable 2. That sacrifice is the way of expiation And 3. That this sacrifice is believed by us fit to expiate our offence These are the common if not universal suppositions of all sacrificing offenders Now beside these common inducements of our hopes let me acquaint my Reader with two things 1. That God hath admitted this sacrifice whose Death we commemorate in the Sacrament Albeit he checked the formal Jew and rejected the Idolatrous Heathen and their sacrifices witha Who hath required this at your hands yet he never will discourage any one who tenders to him by a hand of faith this Propitiatory Sacrifice He will admit this if thou canst present it to him by faith Lift up therefore the feeble hands the drooping head the fainting heart there is hope nay assurance that sins may be expiated For 2. This Sacrifice is of God's own
vast estate of which he had the absolute disposal He was Lord of Heaven and Earth and could give what ever he pleased of the one or other unto his peculiar people It is true he acquired a new title and right by his death but it is as true that he had an unquestionable title and right to all both the Glory of Heaven with the grace that prepares and fits for it and to the goods of the Earth with power to give to best pleased him He did veil his glory and in the daies of his flesh forewent the exercise of that glorious royalty which was his due equally with his Father but he never did disseize or dispossess himself of that inheritance which by the right of eternal generation from the Father and which by the right of creation jointly with the Father he was and will be still seized and possessed of thus the Heavens were his the Earth also Heb. 1.2 He was heir of all things Now could it be likely or indeed imaginable that so great an heir seized of such an estate should die and not dipose of it had it not been wisedom to dispose of it to some or other if he had had no dependances that needed it the worth of the estate would have advised this if the indigency and want of the kindred had not perswaded to it But Indeed Sect. 2. 2. This great heir had a very great kindred and alliance Psal 2.8 who were even poor enough for the greatness of his kindred they were scattered over all the earth Rom. 15.11 Psal 110.3 Rev. 7.9 Heb. 11.12 he hath some of all Nations they were as the dew from the womb of the morning an innumerable company which no man could number as the sand on the sea shore so was his kindred to be And as they were many Rev. 3.17 so likewise were they exceeding poor they wanted much for they had by prodigality spent all they had wasted their goods God gave them a good portion did set them up bravely furnished but all was gone unless a little which the mercy of their Creditor spared to them to live upon There was a Judgment taken out only mercy forbore the Execution Now could such a mulof poor needy kindred be forgotten and neglected think you by such a Dying Friend and how should he have shewed himself of the kindred but by giving them legacies at his death If their unworthy deportment was such as would disengage any other yet it could not disengage him who would do what best became his affection not what best suited with their deserts Take therefore this farther into consideration Sect. 3. 3. That this great Heir had a most hearty and unparallel'd affection of pity and love for all his poor kindred He loved them with a love greater than the love of women he did bear the love of a friend a father of a husband his love to his was so great none could have greater for it was that caused him to die for them Now having thus loved his own he loved them to the end and love hath a good memory it will not easily forget I am sure Christ did neither abate of his love nor forget them he loved which perswadeth me to conclude that this great Heir so dearly loving his poor kindred would certainly provide for them and leave a Will or Testament behind him which they should all be the better for which I the rather incline to believe he would do because Sect. 4. 4. His poor kindred needed some such due lawful and valid Act or Deed to convey his estate unto them For Christ knew and he hath given us to know that we were not his Heirs at Law nor could we have claimed or recovered any part of it by the Law we had lost all our right made forfeiture of all we once were possessed of and God the great Governour and Lord of all had as we know Kings sometimes do given all the estate of the condemned Traitors to his Son and by especial gift had estated him in it Ask of me Psal 2. and I will give thee the Heathen for thine inheritance and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession And we are blessed with all spiritual blessings in him Our sin was our death and cut off all our claim and title to every desirable good Peccatum abolevit Naturalem eam communionem quae Creaturam cum Creatore consociabat Thes Salm. de trib Foeder sect 33. Sin abolished that Natural Communion which joined the Creature in friendship with the Creatour as the Learned Professors of Saumur observe And God hath set forth this emblematically in the dispossessing and ejecting Adam out of Paradise Whatever God bestow's now he bestow's it in and through Christ with him he giveth all things also This being the case of Christ's poor friends what more likely way of befriending them than by Will what surer way than by ordaining his last Will and Testament since they had no title by Law preceding his gift nor could they have any title any other way He gave it therefore by Will that it might be sure to come to them Sect. 5. 5. This great Heir died in perfect memory and with wisedom that excelled the measures of the wisest men who set and keep their houses in order he died not as some men do of a disease that should disable him to ordain his last Testament but was his own man unto the last he manifested this in his care of his mother his charity towards the sinful murtherers for whom he prayed c. I would add more proofs but that it would wrong your Christianity and call that into question He is not worthy the name of a Christian that is so much a stranger to the Death of Christ In a word he as well knew his friends needed he should give to them as he knew his enemies needed he should forgive them as he did in pity pray for the one so he did in love and care provide for the other And dying friends usually do provide in their last Will or Testament especially if they have what Christ had Sect. 6. 6. Time enough to dispose of his estate Some wise men leave their friends whom they dearly loved ill provided because the surprize and suddenness of death preventeth them But our Lord this great Heir of all things could not be surprized he knew when his hour was how it approached he knew all that concerned others he knew what was in Man and therefore could not but know all that concerned himself and his Death Out of all which circumstances I do adventure to conclude That Christ did before his Death ordain his last Will and Testament and in it provide for his poor kindred out of that vast estate which he was seized of which he possessed and inherited in the right of his infinitely Excellent Nature his Primogeniture his Powerful Creation and the Donation of his Father when Man
thou prayest to be delivered and what kinds of death are these are they not those wherein God's hand would most immediately and most publickly and with most displeasure appear against thee wouldst thou not account it worse than death to be long dying with such a tormenting lingring and loathsom disease as Sylla the Roman or as Maximinus the bloody persecutor or as Herod the great whose story is better known to thee eaten up of worms Would not others be ready to say of thee That God had indeed set his hand against thee that God judged thee unfit to live among common men and unworthy so good a death as the death of common men how would this trouble thee This was the thing wherewith Job's friends did most aggrieve him that they would conclude God's hand against him as against an enemy But now let me tell thee The afflictions of Job nor the woful death of a Sylla or a Herod have no such evidences of God his displeasure and wrath in them as the easiest death of an accursed sinner hath in it For other deaths may and usually are inflicted by other means this is inflicted by the immediate hand of God alone and can thy heart endure or thy hands be strong when God shall do this is not his wrath as he is He alone can bless and he alone can curse and this shall be known to the sinner in the day wherein God will appear against him think then whether sin deserve so well that thou shouldst not only die but die a Curse for it whether there be any thing in sin to fortifie thy spirit against the terrours of God's immediate furious rebukes and slaying of thee Who dieth a Curse dieth under the revenging strokes of an infinite God Look then how much there is in infinite Power and Justice more than can be in finite so much indeed is there in dying a Curse for sin more than in naked single dying For 3. Thirdly Let me ask thee one question more Doth not Death a cursed Death reach the soul and kill this no other disease but is in the body and is the disease of the body and kills the body and so vanisheth But who dieth a Curse dieth in his soul that is his soul is separated and disjoyned from that sweet communion and fellowship with God which is the true life of souls and Angels When God slayeth these wretches and makes them sacrifices to his offended Justice he slays them with this Depart from me ye cursed Matth. 25.41 Now is it not more dreadful to die thus a Curse than barely to die or if thou couldst die and be willing to lose the life of thy body for sin sake canst thou also be willing to lose the life of thy soul for sin's sake This is another arrow in this quiver and which woundeth deeper than any other The soul dieth when the man dieth a Curse for sin and let me tell thee albeit foolish and inconsiderate slaves of sin will cast away their souls for sin the wise and considerate Believer judgeth his soul and the life of it infinitely too good to be so spent and wasted The death of the soul is so much more dreadful than the death of the body as the soul is more worth than the body thou mayest not then continue in cursed sins for they will bring down upon thy soul a death of all most dreadful cease therefore to sin that thou be not a curse for thy sin Fourthly Let it be considered after all this if this do not convince enough whether thou couldst be willing to die more than once for thy sin Would not a thousand deaths one after another be too much to undergo for sin He that dieth a Curse for his sins shall die more than ten thousand times for them he shall be ever ever dying as many daies nay hours nay moments as are in eternity so many times shall the miserable deplorable cursed sinner die in the acute fresh and renewed pangs of soul every lash of conscience every dolorous remembrance of what he suffereth for shall be a death unto him This makes it death indeed and if thou canst not love thy self so little as to chuse to be ever dying thou must not love thy sins so much as to be ever serving them Say then if thou canst not but fear endless dying I must fear and fly endless sining who dieth a Curse for his sin is as long dying as his soul is living and that is for ever and ever Fifthly and lastly Can any thing sweeten the thoughts or allay the bitterness of such a Death Can there be any thing wherewith others may or thou mayest bless thy self after God shall have so cursed thee Consider what a loss it is which is so great that nothing can lessen it say then though possibly thou couldst endure somewhat for sin's sake yet I can never endure a Curse for it which is more than to die it is to die under the immediate avenging hand of God it is to kill my soul That is to be as often dying as are moments in eternity and all this without any recompence and sweetning allay I cannot chuse so to die therefore saith the considerate Believer the renewed thoughts of my Lord 's dying a Curse renew my apprehensions of the danger of sinning any longer this renews my dislike of sin and I must needs reolve to leave it FINIS ERRATA'S PAge 44. l. 24. for woad r. word p. 70. l. 28. r. hither to p. 73. l. 21. r. Imperfections p. 104. in the margent r. communionis r. christianorum p. 112. l. 9. r. provision p. 123. l. 21. for his r. this p. 143. l. 13. r. imbitter l. 14. dele i before alwaies p. 189. l. 3. r. another p. 221. l. ult r. no. Part 3. p. 22. l. 34. r. easily p. 27. l. 28. for in r. and p. 36. l. 34. for 1. r. in p. 39. l. 3. r. might p. 58. l. 5. r. peace p. 61. l. 7. r. virtue p. 77. l. 17. r. account p. 78. l. 3 1. r. thou Books Printed for and are to be sold by Tho. Parkhurst at the Bible and Three Crowns in Cheapside IN the Press a hundred Select Sermons by Dr. Tho. Horton Sermons on the whole Epistle of St. Paul to the Colossians br M. J. Daille translated into English by F. S. with Dr. Tho. Goodwin's and Dr. J. Owen's Epistles Recommendatory An Exposition of Christ's Temptation on Matth. 4. and Peter's Sermon to Cornelius and Circumspect Walking by Dr. Tho. Taylor A practical Exposition on the 3d Chap. of the 1 Epistle of St. Paul to the Corinthians with the Godly Man's Choice on Psa 4.6 7 8. by Anthony Burgesse An Exposition on four select Psalms viz. The fourth Psalm in eight Sermons The forty second Psalm in ten Sermons The fifty first Psalm in twenty Sermons The sixty third Psalm in seven Sermons Forty six Sermons upon the whole eighth Chapter of the Epistle of the Apostle