a breach between God and you as the whole Creation cannot make up But now there is one thing and but one that can make God amends and full amends for sin yea for all manner of sins and for never so many and never so great sins and that is this Blood of Christ 1 Joh. 1. 7. and 2. 1 2. Tho thou hast been never so vile and ungodly yet if thou can'st but get this Blood sprinkled upon thee through Faith in it it will make God himself to say deliver him for I have found a Ransom this will make amends for thy Swearing and for thy Drunkenness and for thy Uncleanness and for all the wicked Abominations of thy heart and life Oh what a precious Blood is this then And take but one thing more for it which is 4. The dreadful Vengeance which God doth take upon men wherever the Guilt of this Blood of Christ lies If he doth but come once to avenge the blood of a man he doth that severely if any one hath committed wilful murder upon his Neighbour God is resoved that that man shall be surely put to death for it Numb 34. 31. but when he comes to take vengeance for the Blood of his Son here the Vengeance is dreadful beyond all others You have divers Instances that I might give you of it in Scripture How terribly did God deal with Judas for the betraying of this innocent Blood he filled him with that horror of conscience that he must be his own Executioner Matth. 27. 5. and in the hanging of himself he fell headlong and burst asunder in the midst and all his bowels gushed out Acts 1. 18. And after all this he sent him to his own place and that was a sad one vers 25. So the people of the Jews that brought upon themselves the Guilt of Christs Blood Matth. 27. 25. they have been under the Curse of God for this these Sixteen hundred years And such as are guilty of the Body and Blood of the Lord by eating and drinking unworthily in the Sacrament you see what Vengeance God saith he will take of them 1 Cor. 11. 27 29. And if any Professor shall prophane this Blood by sinning wilfully after he hath received the knowledg of the truth you may see what a dreadful doom God denounceth against him in Heb. 10. v. 26. There remains no more sacrifice for sins but a certain fearful looking for of judgment c. to the end of v. 31. Well now beloved this blood which is the great seal of the Covenant of Grace and without which no service or duty ever was or ever shall be accepted from the hands of any man and which is the blood of Atonement for all manner of sins and the guilt of which God will so dreadfully avenge wherever it shall be found to lye I say this blood was the price wherewith the Lord Jesus Christ purchased this Freedom And therefore your selves being Judges Was it not an excellent price and hereupon is not this Freedom an excellent Freedom since Christ may well say of it as the chief Captain did to Paul Acts 22. 28. With a great sum attained I this freedom Now I will end this with but Two Considerations briefly 1. Consider from hence this for your instruction you that are Believers Be often thinking What shall I do for this Christ that hath done so much for me Obj. But it may be you 'l say What doth Jesus Christ look for a requital Alas then we are undone on t'other side I answer No Whatever you do for Christ you must be sure you do nothing upon the account of requiting of him as who should say you are greatly in his debt and you 'l do what you can to come out of it 'T is not a recompence that I call upon you for you are never able to do that but the manifestation of your gratitude to him by an obediential fruitfulness Do but live as those that are his and that 's all he desires Why now shall he that hath paid this great price for you require any duty at your hands and will you not do it or call you to any difficulty for his sake and will you stick at it Remember Christ observes how you walk after such great things as he hath done for you and don 't give him cause to say to you by your unfaithfulness to him as Absalom said to Hushai concerning David Is this thy kindness to thy friend Why wentest thou not with thy friend 2 Sam. 16. 17. Oh! keep with your friend 2. Consider this from hence for your consolation This Jesus Christ who hath bought you will never sell you You know men many times after they have bought a Purchase and made it their own they sell it again Something or other is in it that they do not like and so they 'l part with it But I am sure and be you sure that Christ will never deal thus with you Obj. But you 'l say We have such great sins that we fear he will Ans Yea but you know that after a Man hath married a Wife unless she offend him so by Adultery as utterly to break the bond of Wedlock which Christ will never suffer true Believers to do tho she hath a great many faults yet he resolves he won't put her away The Law of the Land won't let him nor which is more the Law of his Love won't let him He thinks when he looks upon her with all her failings Ay but she is mine I have made her mine tho So is it here See 1 Sam. 12. 20 22. And Samuel said unto the people Fear not ye have done all all this wickedness yet turn not aside from following the Lord but serve the Lord with all your heart For the Lord will not forsake his people for his great name sake because it hath pleased the Lord to make you his people CHAP. VIII Concerning the excellent properties belonging to this Freedom AND now in the Fourth place I am to demonstrate that this is an excellent Freedom by the excellent Properties belonging to it That you may plainly understand what I mean by these Properties it is as much as this That I am now to speak that of this Freedom which is peculiar or proper to it self and that cannot be said of any other Freedom Tho you read of other Freedoms in the Scripture as that of the children of Israel out of Egypt and afterwards out of Babylon which indeed were very great and glorious deliverances yet they will not reach to this Never was there the like to this As the Book of Canticles is called the Song of Songs for the excellency of it so I may call this Fredom the Freedom of Freedoms because there is none to be compared with it And therefore this may be the 1st Property That you may take of it That it is an incomparable Freedom It hath not any fellow nor any match That which was done in this Freedom
done him no good unless he had been interested in Christ himself Psal 116. 16. 6. No religious or godly Education that you have had It may be you have been brought up in the Families where there hath been much of God and Goodness set up yea perhaps you have spent all your days in the company and communion of the Saints and yet at last you must have your eternal abode and portion with Sinners if you have not a part in this Freedom Ishmael was brought up in a good Family in the Family of Abraham of whom God said I know him that he will command his children and his houshold after him Gen. 18. 19. And yet for want of this Freedom he was rejected and so was Esau 7. No moral Virtues that you have lived in It may be thou hast been a civil Person an honest Person a chast Person a sober Person perhaps never wronged any Body by unjust Dealing never told a Lie never swore an Oath never disguisedst thy self by Drunkenness never defiledst thy Body with Uncleanness it won't do thee a jot of good for the saving of thee from Hell if thou hast no part in this Freedom Matth. 5. 20. Thou must have a righteousness that exceeds this even the righteousness of Christ by Faith or else Heavens door will be shut against thee 8. No profession that you have made of the Gospel of Christ tho to a very high degree Tho thou hast outwardly seemed to be a very zealous and forward Disciple of his hast worn his Livery and hast been baptized in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost tho thou hast often in the Sacrament eaten of that Bread that signifies his Body and drank of that Wine that signifies his Blood yet if thou hast not this Freedom 't is nothing 1 Joh. 5. 12. He that hath not the Son of God hath not life let him profess what he will of him 9. No good thoughts that the People of God have had of you It may be thou hast been taken for a true Child of God no body suspects thee of Hypocrisie thou art current Gold by their Weights yea but if thou hast not a part in this Freedom when thou comest to be weighed in Gods Ballance thou wilt be found wanting 10. No sufferings that you have met with for Conscience-sake Tho thou hast thus suffered yet thou must suffer again and that for ever if thy Conscience be not purged from dead works by the Blood of Christ as Paul saith 1 Cor. 13. 1. that tho he gave his body to be burned if he had not charity it profited him nothing No more would it thee if thou hast not Christ 11. Again No bitter cries or earnest intreaties that you shall at last make to God for the escaping of his wrath Oh! when Christ is just ready to pronounce the Sentence against thee what a lamentable ado wilt thou make that it might not be past but if thou hast not a part in this Freedom all thy wringing of hands and falling upon thy knees will be in vain 12. Once again Not all the mercy that is in God Tho God hath an infinite Ocean of mercy yet it won't be for thee if thou dost not look after this Freedom Luk. 19. 27. As there is no misery to the Saints so there is no mercy to the wicked beyond this life Vse 1. This then sharply reproves the great slothfulness of the World in the matters of their Souls 'T is every ones duty to look after a share in this Freedom and yet almost every body is idle the whole earth is quiet and at rest Oh how little stirring is there for an Interest in Christ What Pharaoh said of the Israelites in their Bondage I am sure may be said of Sinners in this Bondage Exod. 4. 17. Ye are idle ye are idle Oh! what cause is there now that I should preach with tears to bewail the lamentable carelessness of people about their everlasting Concernments The good Lord of his infinite mercy be in the midst of us at this time by the power of his Spirit to convince you that are out of Christ of this great sin and to humble you for it I offer my self now in Gods Name to plead with you about your woful negligence in not looking after this Freedom which you have heard is every ones duty to look after and therefore 't is yours There is Freedom to be had by Christ but pray now you that are in your sins what have you done to get it Oh! what would many of you do to get the World How would you ride and run and rise early and go late to bed for a gainful Bargain or great Estate You are so forward and eager some of you for the things of this World that you are like a high-metall'd Horse you can hardly be held in Christ is fain as it were to call from Heaven to bid you stop Isa 55. 2. Wherefore do ye spend your money for that which is not bread and your labour for that which satisfieth not You 'll try all ways and turn every stone to see what may be done for a part in these uncertain Riches though it may be you shall never get them when you have done your utmost and if you do you may leave them as soon as you have them Why but Sirs is there not another life and are there not better things and have you not precious Souls to look after and is it not high time for some of you by course of nature to think of removing to Eternity and of being in a fitness for Death and Judgment And yet ah Lord you live as to spiritual things as if you had nothing to do Upon these accounts the Scripture sets you forth as persons that are standing still Why stand you here all the day idle Matth. 20. 6. and as persons that have their hands in their bosoms Prov. 19. 24. and as persons that are asleep upon their beds Prov. 6. 9. The children of God if there be any of them that live about you or among you they are as 't were all of a trembling for fear they should fall short of Heaven and fail of the Grace of GOD tho they are not like you to let all run at random Phil. 2. 12. But you tho your Sins be unpardoned and your Souls unconverted and nothing is set at rights between God and you yet you set neither your Hand nor your Heart to any good thing Why now is this the way to do well Dare you think that you are going to happiness under all this remissness Do you believe that strait is the gate and narrow is the way that leadeth to life and few there be that find it What have you no talent to trade with for the glory of God and the good of your own Souls If you have not five nay if you have not two have you not one Sure thou hast one Talent
Why I will cast it up for you and the whole sum amounts to this You have got that that you must lose all this getting 't is in order to losing you have it but you cannot hold it when you have got the World you have got Vanity you have got vexation of spirit Eccl. 1. 2. and will you spend your whole time and thoughts for this I will throw some Scripture-Water upon the Fire of this Love to the World to see if it will put it out Consider seriously these three Text 1 Joh. 2. 15. Jam. 4. 4. Luk. 12. 20 21. Again this imforms us 3. That this Freedom by Christ is highly worth the pains that any Soul which hath it hath taken to obtain it or that any Soul is now taking to get it oh it will quit the cost and bear the charges for 't is excellent Freedom It is a great encouragement to a man to lay out his labour upon a thing when he is sure he shall not lose his labour convince him that he shall be a gainer and a great gainer and you have done enough to set him a work If you had but told him of a probability and a hope of advantage you should have seen him stir but if he can be sure that it will be a profitable business he thinks long ere he is at it Now I assure you from the sure word of God That take what pains you will to get this Freedom it shall be like that seed that was sown in the ground it will be encreased thirty sixty yea an hundredfold you 'l find it the best employment that ever you were about there never was any Child of God that wished Would I had not medled with this Freedom by Christ nor ever will Christ scorns that any that trade with him should be losers As they shall not want for work so they shall not want for wages 'T is true he doth expect that they who will have his Freedom should take great pains for it but he will graciously reward their great pains with great gains If they will fell all that they have to get the Pearl they shall find that the Pearl when they have it is a Pearl of great price I would put you in mind here of some Verses in the 2. and 3. chapters of Rev. which I would allude to read cap. 2. 7. To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life which is in the midst of the paradice of God Vers 11. He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death Vers 17. To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hiden manna and will give him a white-stone and in the stone a new name written which no man knoweth saving be that receiveth it And chap. 3. v. 5. He that overcometh the same shall be cloathed in white raiment and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life but I will confess his name before my Father and before his angels Vers 12. Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God and he shall go no more out and I will write upon him the name of God and the name of the city of my God which is new Jerusalem which cometh down out of heaven from my God and I will write upon him my new name Vers 21. To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne even as I also overcame and am set down with my Father in his throne That which I say to you from hence is this There are difficulties and great difficulties in the way of obtaining this Freedom but will you not be daunted at them but labour so as to overcome will you resolve through the help of God let there be what pain there will I 'll overcome them Why then you see how every verse that I have read to you carries its gains with it Again this informs us 4. That the people of God are an excellent people they must needs be so for they are gotten into this excellent Freedom This is the company that no company in the World can compare with I know that the people of God don't desire to commend or speak honourably of themselves But beloved I have here a very fair occasion to commend them to you very like some of you may have low and mean thoughts of them and the rather because you see them so contemptible in their outward appearance it may be some of your cloathes are better than theirs and some of your estates are greater than theirs and some of your food is finer than theirs and some of your kindred may be richer than theirs Well I grant this may be true one way but I am sure if you be out of Christ 't is false another way Be you what you will in wordly respects upon the account of the condition that this excellent Freedom hath brought them into you that are out of Christ never wore such cloathes as they do for they have put on the new man the Lord Jesus Christ and they go every day of the week in robes see Rev. 7. 9 13 14 15. And for Estate that which you have in the World is nothing to what they have in Christ for they are heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ Rom. 8. 17. and the Promises are theirs and the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs and all things are theirs and for food you never in all your lives tasted any thing so sweet as that which they feed upon they eat of the bread which came down from God they eat the flesh and drink the blood of the Son of man whose flesh is meat indeed and whose blood is drink indeed and for hindred why all your carnal Relations are no better than beggars in comparison of them that they are a kin to Christ is not ashamed to call them brethren Heb. 2. 11. And God is not ashamed to be called their God cap. 11. 16. Obj. Why then sure if they have all this excellency by their Freedom their Freedom will make them proud Ans No beloved for all this they were never so humble and never had such mean thoughts of themselves as since they got into this Freedom they never loathed themselves till now they were more lifted up in their misery than now they are in their excellency Now they desire to give God all the Glory and to take nothing to themselves but shame tho God hath made them great yet they do not count themselves good Rom. 7. 18. Vse 2. Of Admiration That ever such an excellent Freedom should be bestowed upon the Sons of men There are two things in this that may raise our Admiration 1. That ever it should be given to men that the Lord should pass by Angels with a purpose never to recover them when they were fallen and that we should be those to whom he would send redemption He might have let us all alone Angels to perish and
and help them to Heaven He hath given them Gifts and graces for it and a Scripture call to the Work and he hath put a willingness in their hearts to do good to souls and he hath and doth give success and blessing to the word of his grace by them and by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe 1 Cor. 1. 21. So that Christ is here still by his Embassadors But 2. Which is more than this He is here by his Spirit and as long as that is here there is no fear but Freedom may be gotten This is the great Successor to Jesus Christ in that work of doing good to souls Joh. 16. 7 8 9 c. I beseech you consider that the Spirit doth attend the preaching of the Gospel and therefore 't is called the Ministration of the Spirit and what that can do in our preaching you may see 2 Cor. 3. 6. the Spirit giveth life And were it not for the presence of this Spirit of Christ in his Ordinances both our preaching and your hearing would be in vain But now because Christ hath sent his Embassadors and sends his Spirit also with them I tell you Beloved you are under a glorious Ministration 2 Cor. 3. 7 8 9 c. because whatever veil is upon peoples hearts and whatever bondage they are in this Spirit can take it away and bring them into liberty vers 16 17. But I must hasten The 3d Inquiry is Vpon what account Christ doth offer this freedom in respect of himself I will give you an answer to this in three things 1. Upon the account of his Purchase he hath purchased Freedom and therefore he may offer it 't is his own to dispose of as a thing that a man hath bought is his own the Lord Jesus was willing to buy Freedom for you that he might give it to you And here it may be you may desire to be resolved in two Questions Qu. 1. Of whom did Christ buy it Qu. 2. And what did Christ pay for it Ans to the 1. He bought this Freedom at the hand of his Fathers Justice for by sin we were all fallen into the hand of Justice and out of that hand we could not be taken but by Christs making full Satisfaction to it therefore he had to deal with a just and an angry God in this business This is the meaning of that in Gal. 4. 4 5. God sent forth his son made of a woman made under the law To redeem them that were under the law that we might receive the adoption of sons Mark here how 't was with us and how it must be with Christ that he might redeem us We were under the Law i. e. we lay liable to all that the Law could threaten to us or inflict upon us And therefore Christ he must be and he was made under the Law i. e. in what he was to do for our Deliverance he must give the Law or the Justice of God its full demand and he must not expect to have any thing abated of it by any such thing as mercy for he had not at all to deal with that in this work he was not made under Mercy but under the Law Now from hence we may quickly give an answer to the 2d Question What did Christ pay for this Freedom Ans Why to be sure some great price since he had to do with the offended and inraged Justice of God For you must know and believe that for our sins the wrath of God was dreadfully kindled against us and if Christ would put himself in our place and be our Redeemer all this wrath must dreadfully burn against him he must suffer so as that he must be made a curse for us and he must be so bruised and broken and marred by the heavy weight of Punishment that lay upon him that people might even be astonished to see him and so as to make him that he could not even be known who he was he looked so ghastly See Isa 52. 14. and therefore his precious Life and Blood must go for it Body Soul and all must be filled with the tokens of God's displeasure And therefore you shall find the Lord as it were stirring up of his Justice as if that it self were too slow against him when his sufferings are spoken of Zech. 13. 7. Awake O sword against my shepherd and against the man that is my fellow Oh Beloved the great worth that there is in one drop of Christs Blood but in this Work he must pour it out like water See Psal 22. 14 15. And therefore I pray observe this that generally when you have this Redemption of Christ spoken of his Blood is mentioned with it to shew what an inestimable price he paid for it See Zech. 9. 11. As for thee also by the blood of thy covenant Eph. 1. 7. In whom we have redemption through his blood Heb. 9. 11 12. By his own bloud 1 Pet. 1. 18 19. Ye were not redeemed with corruptible things but with the precious blood of Christ 2. Upon the account of his Pity The Pity and tender Compassion that was in the heart of Christ towards poor sinners as he saw them lie in their lost condition he saw they needed Deliverance and he could not pass him by as this and that man did the man that lay among thieves but as the good Samaritan he would go to them to pour in Wine and Oil into their Wounds and bind them up Do you think Beloved that ever Christ would have indured that such cruelty from his Enemies and such severity from his Fathers Justice should have been exercised upon him if he had not had his heart full of pity towards poor sinners as it could hold Certainly 't was his mercy that made him undergo all that misery See Heb. 5. 1 2. Tit. 3. 4. Beloved Jesus Christ saw that we were pitiful creatures by sin and by reason of what was due to us for sin and he did pity us Isa 63. 9. In his pity he redeemed them Yea and he doth pity us still and he hath compassion for poor sinful creatures still Heb. 4. 15. We have not an high Priest that cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities Therefore his pity to you makes him that he cannot but offer this Liberty to you 3. Upon the account of his Power He offers this Freedom to sinners because he can set them free how fast soever they are bound he can loose them Hence 't is said Psal 89. 19. I have laid help upon one that is mighty As the Lord when he came to redeem Israel out of their Bondage in Egypt he came with a mighty hand and with a stretched out arm So doth Christ when he comes to redeem a soul let him meet with what as wâ—ll in his way he carries all before him where he will deliver he will deliver 〈◊〉 goes all that stands against him The sinner at first and Satan with him
of God which is another Relation than that we are now speaking of yea and a far more inferior one than this of the Son of God If a Servant of God was to bring this Freedom how can it be by the Son of God You shall find the places in Isa 53. 11. Zech. 3. 8. and elsewhere Ans This is none other than the Son of God who is here spoken of only he is called by this name in reference to the great Work that he was to do and in reference to the mean and low condition in which he was to do it he took upon himself the form of a servant and in respect to his faithfulness in all that he undertook as the Scripture saith he was faithful to him that appointed him 2. This Freedom was to come by one that was to be God and Man together in one person He was to be such a wonderful One that the like was not to be found again either in Heaven or Earth In Heaven there was one that was God yea but he was not man and upon Earth there were many that were men yea but they were not God But here the two Natures the Divine and the Humane they must meet together in him that was to be the Redeemer and there was great reason for it the procuring of this Freedom did require both these to concur and each of them to lend their helping hand Now thus it was with Christ he was God for he saith I and my Father are one and he was man too for he saith The Father is greater than I. And therefore Christ was the wonderfullest Sight that ever was beheld upon Earth to see a person that was true God and true Man at once what a rare Sight was that Oh! What an astonishing thing is the Incarnation of Christ that God should take upon him humane Flesh and that humane Flesh should be united to the Godhead Yea this will make a considerable part of the Glory that shall be in Heaven to behold the Son of God in our Nature What an everlasting joy will it be to the Saints to see Christ in their Nature sitting down at the right hand of God! Well therefore surely Freedom comes by Christ since 't is he that is both God and man in one Person for ever 3. This Freedom was to come by one that was to be all his days upon Earth without sin he must lead as pure a spotless Life as the perfect Law did call for he must not do as we do the best of us perform Duties that have a great many flaws and fail in this and that and then repent no he must fulfill all righteousness to a tittle Why so did Christ and therefore Freedom comes by him 1 Pet. 2. 22. Who did no sin neither was guile found in his mouth There was not a Transgression in the whole Life of Christ he was without blemish and without spot tho he spake much yet be never spake amiss tho he thought on many things yet he never thought amiss tho he did many things yet he never did any thing amiss he had not only sincerity but he had perfection not only holiness but all the degrees of it The People of God tho they have Grace yet they have need of grains of Allowance they don't so their Duty but that they stand in need of mercy tho God be glorified by that they do yet they don't look to be justified by what they do But now Christ he lived so as that he was justified by works yea so as to justifie all that believe in him by his works Rom. 5. 19. He lived so exactly as that we need not fear to follow his Example we are commanded to follow the Example of the Saints yea but we must take heed that we don't follow them in every thing for fear we should follow them in sin tho the general course of a child of Gods walking is holy and good yet he hath his particular miscarriages and there we must leave him but Christ's walking 't was all obedience and all conformity to the Will of God therefore he is a fit and a full Pattern for us in what is our Duty 4. This Freedom was to come by one who could make full satisfaction to the Justice of God for sin for so God was resolved that he that would be the Purchaser of it should without any abatement bring in such a Ransom as was able to recompence all the wrong that he had received And therefore he had need to be some mighty Vndertaker that should appear in this Work since he was to offer up a Sacrifice of such Value as might make an All-sufficient Expiation and Atonement to the highest Demands that could be propounded in a way of Satisfaction Now if all the Beasts of the Forest and all the Cattle upon a thousand Hills should have been gathered together and given in Sacrifice to God yea if all the lives of Men and Angels should have gone for it this would not have quieted the Justice of God The guilt of sin is another manner of thing than that it can be bought off or purged away by such means as these no there must one be found who could bring a more excellent Sacrifice than all Creatures or any mere Man could amount to Now this full Satisfaction Jesus Christ did make and therefore Freedom comes by him And that he did so appears in three things which you find in that Epistle to the Hebrews 1. In that after Christ had offered up himself all other Sacrifices ceased it abolished all the ceremonial Worship of the Old Testament then there was no more blood of bulls and of goats required to be shed nor the ashes of an heifer to sprinkle the unclean See Heb. 10. 5 6 7 8 9. Those Ministrations and Services were pleasing to God before as they did type out his Son that was to come but when he was come and had offered up that great Offering of Himself then mark the expression God hath no pleasure in them thou wouldst not have them saith ver 5. He had no pleasure in them saith ver 6. He takes them away saith ver 9. q. d. Away with them what should I do with these now He looks upon his Son in the flesh the Body that he had prepared the second sacrifice as 't is here called that is of another kind and nature than the first Sacrifices under the Law were and that is it that he is for and that he will now establish Now if Christ had not made full Satisfaction then these former Sacrifices should not have ceased there must have been the Old Testament Worship still But there is no need of that now nay it would be an abomination to God now to bring him such kind of things as these it would be as you read in another case Isa 66. 3. He that killeth an ox would be as if he slew a man he that sacrificeth a lamb as if he cut off
a dogs neck be that burneth incense as if he blessed an idol 2. It appears that Christ hath made full Satisfaction by this that he doth not continue his own offering up of himself he was to purchase this Freedom by the offering up of himself Now if he had no laid down a full Price why then he must have gone to his Sufferings again he must have died often as the Sacrifices under the Law because they were not full and could not make the comers to them perfect therefore they must be renewed but Christ offered up himself but once and there was enough See Heb. 9. 25 26. God never said to Christ Son you must die again this is such a great Debt that you have not paid enough 3. It will be further manifest that he cleared all the score by this That when he had offered up himself and rose again from the dead he was received up into glory Now he could never have come thither himself nor have brought any else thither if his Satisfaction had not been full See Heb. 10. 12. But this man after he had offered one sacrifice for sin for ever sat down at the right hand of God that is in token that he had made the comers to him perfect for so you have it in ver 14. If he had not 't is certain that he would have been in the Grave still 5. This Freedom was to come by one that was to die but not for himself if he had died for himself he had not been fit to die for others His Death must be altogether for the excusing and delivering of those who for their own Transgressions had deserved that the wrath of God should have fallen upon themselves He must be a Surety for others and one that could say I am bound for such and such persons Debts and being so I do acknowledge they are mine and I take them upon my self and here I come to discharge them Why thus it was with Christ and therefore Freedom comes by him he laid down his Life but he tells you 't was for his sheep Joh. 10. 15. He was not indebted a farthing token to God upon his own account Law and Justice had nothing to say to him nor nothing to do with him but only as he stood in our stead 2 Cor. 8. 9. He was rich yet for your sakes he became poor Mark for your sakes What had he done to offend God or to suffer such a cruel and painful and cursed death as he did Let all his Life be scanned to the utmost he would have been found innocent holy harmless undefiled separate from sinners And had it not been for others in whose behalf he indured all that Agony and bloody Sweat which he underwent it had nor consisted with the Justice of God to lay such things upon him But since he would put himself in our place out of his great love to poor lost sinners therefore 't was fit that God should deal thus severely with him as he did and 't was well for us that he laid on soundly upon Christ and did not spare him at all See that Scripture Isa 53. 5. 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 Mark here how Justice laid it on upon Christ q. d. What are you stept in to bear these blows that sinners have deserved should fall upon them Well I 'll not spare you a jot the more because you are my Son and then he falls to it in such a manner as that he wounded him and bruised him he crushed him as it were between the milstones of his wrath for our iniquities that he made him the saddest Spectacle to look upon that ever was And I say 't was well for us that Justice lashed Christ in this dreadful manner for with these stripes we are healed they were wounding stripes to Christ but they are healing stripes to us that Blood that this sin-revenging Hand fetch'd from Christ turns to be a precious Salve for our grievous Sore Hence 't is clear that Christ is the very Redeemer because 't was not for himself that all this was done to him See Dan. 9. 26. cut off but not for himself 6. This Freedom was to come by one who was witnessed to by all the Prophets under the Old Testament and to whom all things were to agree which they foretold Now thus it was with Christ and therefore Freedom comes by him See Act. 10. 43. To him gave all the Prophets witness c. And therefore you do often meet with this in the Story of Christ's Life and Death recorded in the Gospel this and that was done that the saying of such and such a Prophet might be fulfilled and that such a Scripture might be fulfilled all was fulfilled in Christ The Prophecies of the Old Testament they foretold out of what Nation he that was to be the Redeemer should arise viz. from among the Jews So did Christ saith the New Testament The Prophecies of the Old Testament foretold that he must be of the house of David and of the tribe of Judah So was Christ saith the New Testament That he was to be born of a Virgin So was Christ saith the New Testament That the place where he must be born must be Bethlehem and there the New Testament tells us Christ was born I cannot stand to quote Places about these and many other things of this sort study the Word for this compare Scriptures of the Old and New Testament together you 'll see how all doth exactly agree to Christ And therefore he is the true Redeemer and this Jesus whom I preach unto you is Christ But I shall go no further in this There are other Arguments that do more remotely prove that Freedom comes by Christ I will but hint at four 1. If it doth not why then observe upon how many things this would cast a lie It would cast a lie upon all the Ministry that preach the Gospel They tell you that Freedom comes by Christ and are or should be earnest with you to stir you up to come to him for Salvation What do you think they are all Deceivers Have they all conspired together throughout the World to put a cheat upon People Why how can this be They never met all together nor possibly could to plot such a business It casts a lie upon all the Apostles upon all the Prophets It would cast a lie upon all the Ordinances of Christ for they all lead to him It would cast a lie upon the Scriptures for they speak of him It would cast a lie upon the Angels in Heaven for they sang at his Birth Glory to God in the highest c. It would cast a lie upon Christ for he told the World that he was the Redeemer I am the light of the world and I am that bread of life and I am the resurrection and the life
There were Two great Attributes amongst all the rest which God did intend to glorifie and that is his Mercy and his Justice His Mercy would have been pleased well enough if sinners had been set free without the purchasing of their Freedom But then his Justice would have been offended still How should that have been quieted and satisfied Therefore this must be so done as that mercy and truth might meet together and that righteousness and peace might kiss one another Justice would have made a loud cry that Heaven would have rung of it again if all should have been swallowed up in mercy and in giving away all without any consideration had to it For Law and Justice could say We have a curse against these sinners and they are as legally condemned as ever were any Traitors And therefore pray let us be heard for they shall not nor cannot go free if the Debt be not paid And therefore if they be not able to redeem themselves where 's the Surety that must do it for them that we may come upon him for all This now makes it necessary that Christ must purchase this Freedom Acts 17. 3. He must needs have suffered Why needs Because here was Justice to be glorified as well as Mercy Quest 3. But if we are thus purchased by Christ may believers say Then it may seem that God the Father hath quitted his interest in us for so 't is in the manner of purchasing amongst men he that sells to the purchaser quits all his right and title to that which is bought and we are very sorry for that we would be Christs but we would be the Fathers too Ans And so you are for all this See John 17. and compare ver 6. and 10. together In ver 6. saith Christ Thine they were and thou gavest them me This looks now as if the Father had quitted all his interest in them But 't is not so for in ver 10. and all mine are thine Still they are thine and thine are mine too saith he As if he should say We have a mutual interest in them their being mine doth not hinder them from being thine as well as their being thine doth not hinder them from being mine God had an interest in you upon the account of Creation and that he keeps still and which is more upon the account of Election or of everlasting love to you and that he keeps still and Christ he hath a right to you upon the account of Redemption And tho that doth enter you into a new relation to him yet it doth not break off your former relation to God the Father He loves you and delights in you as much as ever he did and your happiness by Christs buying of you is no way diminished but increased For both have an interest in you and both love you John 14. 21. Now for the Second thing That this Freedom was purchased with an excellent price Here I shall do Two things 1. I shall labour to make the truth of this appear to you That 't was an excellent most excellent price that Christ paid for it 2. I shall draw some profitable Considerations from it First For the truth of it Beloved Jesus Christ paidwell for this Freedom God did not deal with Christ in this case as you read Ephron the Hittite would have dealt with Abraham if he would have let him when he would purchase his Field and the Cave that was in it for a Burying-place Gen. 23. he would have given it him ver 11. He tells him indeed the Land was so much worth Four hundred Shekels of Silver if it should be sold to the full value of it but saith he what is that botwixt me and thee bury therefore thy dead ver 15. And thus he would even have forced it upon him for nothing But Abraham notwithstanding he stood upon it that if he had it he would lay down as much money as it was worth ver 9. and so he did in ver 16. Nor did the Father say to Christ as Ornan the Jebusite did to David when he would purchase the place of his Threshing-floor that he might there build an Altar to the Lord that the Plague might be stayed Take it to thee says he I give thee all 1 Chron. 21. 22 23. tho David would not accept of it So ver 24. Nay verily I will buy it for the full price So he did ver 25. But God stood upon his price his full price with Jesus Christ He held him up without any abatement of what this Freedom was worth He paid to the worth of it 'T is true 't is a worthy precious Freedom but yet I may safely say Christ gave enough and enough for it Oh the price that he paid for it He did not buy of his Father as we may buy of him without price Isa 55. 1. but he came as I may say to a dear Market when he came to make his purchase Quest Well then you will say pray what was the Price which Christ paid for this Freedom Ans Here I shall speak that which may make you wonder and that is this Truly beloved he did not pay one farthing for it there did not go a penny out of his Purse Now it may be that which will be next in you thoughts will be this truly then 't was even cheap enough of conscience here 's a Price indeed we expected that you would have named some vast sum of Silver and Gold that would have been so great as to have beggar'd any man in the World to give it No I have not one such word to speak to you but this I have to speak to you about it that Christ had been as good to have brought a company of Pebblestones to his Father for this Freedom as all the Gold and Silver in the World and one would have done as much as the other but he and his Son must drive another manner of trade than this to make poor sinners Free there must be anotherghess Price Why what was it Oh that which was infinitely beyond all the treasures of this World If these would have served Christ by his power could have rained them down from Heaven for a thousand years together But beloved there must be as I may so express it another rain it must rain Blood and Blood from the side and heart of Jesus Christ i. e. he must come down from Heaven and shed his Blood to make a Ransome for us see Acts 20. 28. Feed the Church of God which he hath purchased with his own blood there 's the Price that he paid Now mark a little while I shew you in a few things that this was a Price indeed an excellent Price The Blood of Christ to be sure is precious as you find it called in 1 Pet. 1. 19. For this weigh but these four things well and you 'l say 't is precious Blood 1. This Blood of Christ is the great Seal of the Covenant of
Service blessed be his Name but should you not do him more You bring forth some fruit but should you not bring forth more 'T is not enough for you to be gracious but you should be zealous Christ as I may so speak hoped you would when he gave you this Freedom see Tit. 2. 14. Who gave himself for us that he might redeem us from all iniquity and purifie unto himself a peculiar people zealous of good works 3. That so many are gone to Hell for refusing this excellent Freedom Oh what a sad thing 't is to think how many Souls have perished for want of closing with Christ 'T is true they had other sins but whatever other sins they had they would have been forgiven if they had not neglected this great Salvation that made them that they could not escape As the receiving of this Freedom by Faith hath been the Salvation of many so the refusing of it by unbelief hath been the Damnation of more tho poor wretches they are not here to be told of it because they are now gone to their own place Oh! the price that they had once in their hands but now they have lost it for ever and it may be some of these might be your Friends and Relations the Wives of your own bosoms and the Children of your own bodies Well if they were they are perished without hope there 's no fetching them back again you may perhaps mourn to think what is become of them but now they are past recovery your prayers can do them no good and your tears can do them no good and now you must labour to rest satisfied with this that the Will of the Lord is done and that he is glorified tho it be in their eternal destruction 4. That so many sinners tho they are yet on Earth will shortly be in Hell too for the same sin For alas how many be there of those who are yet alive that are making light of Christ and of this excellent Freedom and many of them will go on to do so to their dying day and so come to the same pass to which the unrepenting sinners before them have brought themselves The generations of Christ refusers is not all gone they that were in the ages that are past are swept and snatch away but there are others that stand up in their room there 's a succession of these ungodly hard-hearted sinners that tho we offer Christ and Salvation to them and beseech them as for our lives to be reconciled to God yet they go on and 't is to be feared will go on in the broad way that leadeth to Destruction 'T was a sad word that Christ spake to them in Joh. 5. 40. Ye will not come to me that ye might have life Mark he doth not say you do not come but he delivers it in a kind of hopeless expression you will not come As if he should say I see some of you are of that temper that as you are you will be you are in your sins and you will be in your sins let them that hear me mark it concerning you if you do not dye out of me I pray God it be not so with some of you that are here Really Sirs 't is matter of mourning to see how some of you trifle in the things of your Souls would it not grieve ones heart to think that some of you that have attended upon all this that hath been preached upon this Text should yet look after a Christ no more than you do I am this day to finish this work and I am afraid of divers of you that this Text will leave you as dead as it found you Well the Lord be witness between you and me whether I have not set Life and Death before you and whether if you perish it be for want of being sufficiently told of the misery of your Bondage of sin or of the excellency of the Freedom by Christ Beloved 't will be a sad thing when such a Text as this is done to leave any of you undone Vse 4. Of Examination You have heard much of this excellent Freedom put this question home to your selves every one of you Am I got out of prison yet How shall I know that you 'l say Ans Take it in three things 1. If a man be got out of Prison he hath made his peace with those that cast him in suppose it be for debt that one hath been laid up and you see him afterwards out of prison and you ask him why you were a prisoner how got you out Why saies he I have compounded with my Creditors I have made my peace or I have got an able surety to be bound for me So Sirs have you made your peace with God for your great debt of sin Have you got Jesus Christ to stand bound for you Why then you are no longer Prisoners but if you have not peace with God through Christ you are in Prison still for the condition of your Souls see Zech. 9. 11. As for thee also by the blood of thy covenant I have set forth thy prisoners out of the pit wherein is no water God sends forth none out of Prison but by the Blood of that Conant which Christ hath made with God on the behalf of the Prisoner that he will pay the debt for him 2. Another sign that a man is got out of Prison is That he bears a great love to him that freed him If one comes and sees him lye there in a sad condition and hath compassion upon him Well saith he I 'll procure your Freedom for you I 'll undertake it he will have a great respect for that person to be sure when he hath done it Oh! saith he if it had not been for this Friend I had perished I have reason to make much of him Sirs if you don't prize Christ you are in Prison still you have not his Freedom if he hath not your best Love Col. 1. 13. Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son Mark how those words his dear Son are brought in with the mention of this Freedom and I look upon them as to be understood not only in reference to his Father but also those who are freed by him As if he should say Dear to his Father and dear to us too 3. If a man be got out of Prison or Bondage he is afraid to go thither again he thinks what a sad condition he had when he was there and he desires he may not come there again so do you fear and watch lest any sin bring you into Bondage again Is there no lust that you would be any longer a servant to Do you dread the thoughts of holding secret correspodence with any false way Why then you are made free You may say as 't is in Psal 124. 7. Our soul is escaped as a bird out of the snare of the fowler the