a command and call him to lay it down and therefore they who are self-murderers and would take away their own lives do violate the Law of their Creation they put that in their own power which God alone hath a power over they take upon them to dispose of their own lives which God alone who is their Creator and Soveraign Lord hath power to dispose of for none but he that gave us our lives hath a power and right to dispose of them But now Christ was God as well as Man and therefore Christ had a right to dispose of his own life I have power saith he to lay it down and I have power to take it again Christ as he was God being the Author Conserver and Maintainer of his own life as he was Man had power to dispose of that life and this was his love to us that he laid down his life for us which he had power to dispose of We come now to the second thing and that is to shew you how it was that Christ laid down his life for us This I shall open to you in several Particulars 1. Christ is said to lay down his life for us in that he was ready to do it He did not refuse to part with his life for us but was most ready to give it up for our sakes Greater love than this hath no man that he lay down his life for his friends that is greater love than this hath no man that he is ready to lay down his life for his friends he is certainly the best friend who is ready to venture and hazard his life for his friend Such a friend was Christ he was ready to offer and give up his life for our sakes As Paul said He counted not his life dear to him so he might finish his course with joy and the ministry which he had received of the Lord Jesus Act. 20.24 And in another place he saith He was ready not to be bound only but also to dye at Jerusalem for the Name of our Lord Jesus Act. 21.13 So this was much more true of Christ he counted not his life dear to him but was ready to offer it up for our sakes I am the good shepherd 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the good shepherd giveth his life for his sheep Joh. 10.11 Here is the same Phrase as in the Text. Grotius observes upon the former Text 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 mortem non defugere that the Phrase to lay down a mans life signifies not to decline death not to shun death Christ is the good Shepherd he doth not refuse to dye for the preservation of his sheep It is said of Paul and Barnabas that they were men that had hazarded their lives for the Name of the Lord Jesus Act. 15.25 They had hazarded their lives The words in the Original are They had delivered up their souls 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is their lives their lives were not actually taken from them but the meaning is they carried their lives in their hands they were ready to give them up they often put their lives in hazard they were ready to have parted with them so Christ was ready to expose and give up his life for the good of his people This is one thing but the least thing 2. The second Particular for clearing of it is this Christ did freely and of his own accord give up his life and subject himself to death when there was no necessity of nature nor violence from men that could have compelled him thereunto To understand this we must know That all other men besides Christ being found sinners were under a Law of death by reason of sin For by one man sin entred into the world and death by sin Rom. 5.12 And the wages of sin is death Rom. 6. ult But now it was otherwise with Christ Christ being not a Sinner and his Humanity being united to the second Person in Trinity he was exempt from the power of death and all manner of sufferings any further than he in a way of voluntary condescension was pleased to subject himself to death and sufferings This our Saviour plainly declares to us Joh. 10.15 I lay down my life for my sheep and more fully vers 18. No man taketh it from me but I lay it down of my self The Divinity in Christ could if it had pleased have preserved the humane nature from death and all manner of suffering but saith our Saviour I lay it down of my self when no man could have taken away my life without my permission yet I did freely and of my own accord give up my life It is possible that one man may venture his life and expose himself to death for another but then he that doth so venture his life for another must otherwise first or last have dyed according to the course of Nature But now it was not thus with Christ there was no necessity of Nature compelling Christ to dye but only upon supposition of his own free condescension It is true Christ was born a mortal man subject to suffering and death as we are but that was only his own voluntary submission and condescension Voluntar submissio Calvin For look upon the flesh of Christ as it was personally united to the Word the second Person in Trinity so that flesh of his setting aside the consideration of his own voluntary subjecting of it to death and suffering I say that flesh of his by means of its union with the Word the second Person in Trinity had been immortal and impassible and by reason of that union immortality was due to it but it was for our sakes and the sheeps sake which he dyed for that he made himself passible and mortal I say it was for the sheeps sake that he that was impassible and immortal made himself passible and mortal Hence is that expression of one of the Ancients Impassibilis Deus non dedignatus est esse homo passibilis immortalis mortis legibus subjacere Leo. The impassible God did not disdain to become a passible man and he that was immortal to subject himself to the Laws of death Christ in the time of his death and suffering did so far suspend the virtue of his Divinity as that the glory and virtue of his Divinity did not extend it self so far to his flesh as to keep him from suffering and dying It is true the power of the Divinity supported Christ in dying therefore is it said that By the power of the Eternal Spirit he offered himself without spot to God Heb. 9.14 but it did not hinder him from dying If the glory and virtue of the Divinity had exerted it self fully in Christ it would have kept him from death and all manner of suffering But such was the love of Christ to us that the Divinity in Christ suspended its virtue so far that Christ might be in a capacity to suffer and dye for us And if you
exposeth us to Divine wrathhence is it said That by nature we are children of wrath Eph. 2.3 And the sentence of the Law is Indignation and wrath tribulation and anguish upon every soul of man that doth evil Rom. 2.8 9. Wrath is due to us as we are sinners now Christ by the work of his Satisfaction turns away this wrath from us He it is that trod the wine-press of divine wrath Isa 63.3 And Christ bearing the wrath of God for us delivers us from that wrath Hence it is said We are saved from wrath through him Rom. 5.9 And that We are delivered from wrath to come by him 1 Thess 1. ult Jesus that delivereth us from the wrath to come 2. The second effect of Christs Satisfaction is the procuring of pardon of sin for us Thus in those known words of the Institution of the Lords Supper our Saviour tells us This is the new Testament in my blood that was shed for the remission of sins The blood of Christ was shed on purpose to procure the pardon of sin and it doth procure pardon of sin for us Eph. 1.7 In whom we have redemption through his blood the forgiveness of sins One great fruit of Christs Satisfaction and our Redemption by Christ is that by means of that Satisfaction and Redemption of his we should have forgiveness of sins therefore in the Text mentioned before it is said Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins Rom. 3.25 The meaning I take to be this That God having received satisfaction through the death and sufferings of Christ thereupon he gives forth pardon and remission of sins to us 3. The third effect of Christs Satisfaction is eternal life Christ by his Satisfaction procures eternal life for us hence is it that we read of the promise of an eternal inheritance through the death of Christ Heb. 9.15 Christs sufferings are not only satisfactory but they are also meritorious Christs sufferings did not only turn away the evil of punishment from us but they procured the good of eternal life for us Hence it is said That grace reigns through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord Rom. 5. ult The obedience of Christ active and passive is operative to bring us to eternal life 1. Vse 1 See what infinite reason there is that we should seek after a part and interest in Christs Satisfaction For 1. Without an interest in Christs Satisfaction we are liable to answer to Divine Justice in our own persons Divine Justice will be satisfied one way or other for God himself hath pronounced it That he will by no means clear the guilty Exod. 34.7 God is just and the justifier of them that believe in Jesus Rom. 3.26 Therefore if we do not get an interest in Christ that he may fatisfie for us we are liable to be cast into prison by the hand of Divine Justice and we shall not come forth thence till we have paid the uttermost farthing 2. Without an interest in Christs Satisfaction Divine wrath still hangs over us It is Christ only that by his Satisfaction pacifies and turns away Gods wrath therefore unless we have a part in Christs Satisfaction infinite and unsupportable wrath hangs over our heads every moment and will assuredly fall upon us and we know not how soon it may do so He that believes not on the Son hath not life but the wrath of God abides upon him Joh. 3. ult 3. Without an interest in Christs Satisfaction we cannot have the pardon of sin for it is by the Satisfaction of Christ as we have heard that pardon of sin is procured We are liable to answer to Gods Justice for all our sins and all our sins will certainly come in against us to condemn us unless we have a part in Christs Satisfaction 4. Without an interest in Christs Satisfaction we can make out no title to eternal life Heaven is called the purchased inheritance Vntil the redemption of the purchased possession Eph. 1.14 Heaven is the purchase of the death and sufferings of Christ therefore unless we have an interest in the virtue of Christs sufferings we can have no title to the heavenly inheritance Here it may be said But what shall we do that we may have a part in Christs Satisfaction 1. Let us labour to see our infinite need of Christ and his Satisfaction we never see the worth of Christs Satisfaction till first we see our selves to be condemned persons O let us be more deeply sensible what the Law and Divine Justice have against us As we are sinners we are condemned persons in Law The wages of sin is death The soul that sins shall dye This is the sentence of the Law O let us labour to be deeply sensible of this and then we shall see the need of Christs Satisfaction 2. If we would have an interest in Christs Satisfaction let us labour to know Christ and him crucified Paul saith That he determined to know nothing but Jesus Christ and him crucified 1 Cor. 2.2 You will say Why is the knowledge of a crucified Christ so necessary to Salvation The reason is because the death and sufferings of Christ is the only means of atonement and to bring us unto reconciliation with God Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood Rom. 3.25 Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation There is no pacifying of an angry God but by the Blood of Jesus Christ and it is Faith in his Blood that gives us an interest in the atonement Him hath God set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood We must therefore close with a crucified Christ by faith cast an aspect of faith upon the Son of God in our nature offering himself up to God as a Sacrifice for our sins It is faith in this Sacrifice of Christ that must procure reconciliation for us Joh. 3.14 15. As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness even so must the Son of man be lifted up that whosoever believeth on him should not perish but have eternal life Christ is lifted up as the brazen Serpent was lifted up It was their looking on the brazen Serpent that brought healing to them that were stung by the fiery Serpents and it is our looking upon a crucified Christ by an eye of faith casting an aspect of faith upon Christ as crucified and the virtue of his sufferings that must bring Salvation to us who are sinners and who deserve to perish as we are such The end of the third Sermon SERMON IV. Joh. 15.13 Greater love hath no man than this that a man lay down his life for his friends I Now proceed to the second thing which is to lay down several distinct and particular Propositions for the clearing of this great Doctrine the Doctrine of Christs Satisfaction And here the Propositions that I shall lay down
death of Christ is a certain Sacrament or pledge which certifies us that our death is nothing at all For if death hath executed all its power and strength upon Christ if death hath poured out all its venom and malignity upon Christ then there is nothing that remains in death to hurt us Death had nothing at all to do with Christ but only as he put himself under the power of death for our sakes Now the Son of God who was above death freely subjecting himself to death for our sakes and death having done all that it could against Christ it hath nothing more to do against a poor Believer It is true Believers dye still but yet their death is not part of the Curse the death of the Saints is only a passage unto life and it is that which prepares the way for a more blessed Resurrection Whatever was truly formidable or terrible in death is taken away by the death of Christ That which was most formidable in death was this that it was a part of the Curse that it was the effect of Divine wrath Now Christ having suffered the whole of Gods wrath for us death is not inflicted upon Believers as the effect of Gods wrath nay it is so far from being sent to a Believer in wrath that it is sent in mercy to him and death is an introduction unto a Believers happiness All things are yours things present things to come life is yours and death is yours 1 Cor. 3.21 22. Blessed are the dead that dye in the Lord Rev. 14. Death is an introduction to the Saints unto their perfect and compleat happiness the Saints happiness is inchoate and begun in this life when they are first brought into the Kingdom of Grace and their happiness is compleat and consummate in the next life when they are by death ushered into the Kingdom of Glory Consid 11 The love of Christ in his sufferings appears in this That he came into our nature and became man on purpose that he might suffer for us One of the principal ends of the Incarnation of the Son of God was that he might suffer and dye for men This is intimated by the Apostle Heb. 2.14 For as much as the children are made partakers of flesh and blood he also himself took part of the same that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death that is the devil It is as much as if he had said Had he not partaken of our nature he could not have suffered for us as he was the Son of God and possessed of the Divine nature so he was not capable of suffering but therefore did he take on him our nature and became the Son of man that he might be in a capacity to suffer for men O what overcoming love was this that the Son of God did therefore take upon him our nature that he might be in a capacity to suffer for men had he always abode in the form of God only it had not been possible for him to suffer but therefore would he take upon him part of our passible and mortal flesh that so he might be in a capacity to suffer and dye for us Consid 12 The love of Christ in his suffering may be seen in this Because so great benefits accrue and come to us by the sufferings of Christ Christ by the merit of his sufferings hath purchased and procured the greatest blessings for us To instance in a few briefly 1. Christ by his sufferings hath purchased for us the forgiveness of sins Eph. 1.14 In whom we have redemption through his blood even the forgiveness of sins 2. Christ by his sufferings hath purchased for us peace and reconciliation with God Eph. 2.16 That he might reconcile us to God by the cross Col. 1.21 You that were sometimes alienated and enemies in your minds by wicked works yet now hath he reconciled in the body of his flesh through death 3. Eternal life it self is the purchase of Christs sufferings Rom. 6. ult The wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord that is through the merit of Jesus Christ our Lord so that eternal life is the merit of Christs death We have another clear Text to confirm this Heb. 9.15 For this cause he is the Mediator of the new Testament that by means of death for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first Testament they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance The eternal inheritance the inheritance which all the Elect are brought unto in Heaven is purchased by the death of Christ for so the Apostle expresseth it That by means of death those that are called might have the promise of eternal inheritance Hence is it that Heaven is called a purchased possession Eph. 1.14 Vntil the redemption of the purchased possession the Glory of Heaven is called a purchased possession Now in every purchase there must be a price there can be no purchase without a price the price therefore that was laid down for us that we might obtain eternal life was the price of Christs blood the death of Christ as appears from the former Scriptures 4. The Spirit of God and all that grace whereby we are inabled to believe and obey and in general whatever blessings are comprehended in the Covenant of Grace these are all the purchase of the death of Christ This is apparent from those words of our Saviour in the institution of the Supper This cup is the new Testament in my blood as much as if he should say All the mercies all the blessings of the new Covenant are the purchase of my blood and the Covenant it self is ratified and confirmed by my blood Now in the Covenant of Grace there are many great things promised in it the Lord promiseth to forgive the sins of his people he promiseth that he will put his Law in their minds and write it in their hearts he promiseth that he will give his Spirit to them and the like all these blessings are purchased and procured by the death of Christ great therefore must the love of Christ be in giving himself to suffer and dye for his people since by the death of Christ such great and admirable priviledges are purchased for them The Covenant of Grace is the greatest Charter of all our spiritual Priviledges whatever Priviledges belong to a Believer they are contained within the compass of the Covenant Now the Covenant it self is founded in the blood of the Mediator of the Covenant How precious then is that blood that purchased such great things for us And how great was the love of Christ that shed his blood to obtain such things for us Vse If the love of Christ be so great in his sufferings let us be exhorted from hence to meditate much on the sufferings of Christ O it were well for us if we could take many a turn at the Cross of Christ and
us indeed that Christ dyed to confirm the Truth which he had preached and also that his dying and rising again and taking possession of eternal life was to give us an assurance of eternal life and that we shall come thither in due time also they tell us that he dyed for an example but they will not admit that Christ dyed by way of satisfaction or that his death was by way of price and ransom but the Scripture is most express and full as to this and I shall have occasion to speak more fully to it hereafter only at present I shall hint a few Scriptures Mat. 20.28 The Son of man came not to be ministred unto but to minister and to give his life a ransom for many So likewise 1 Tim. 2.6 Who gave himself a ransom for all Here we have two words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Criticks in the Greek Tongue tell us that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 were gifts that were given for the ransom of Prisoners such gifts as were given for the setting free and releasing of persons taken Captive in War We were held captive by Sin and Satan we were Prisoners in the hands of Divine Justice Now Christ gave his life as a price to set us free that is the proper signification of the Greek word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 it signifies the price of redemption but the compound word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is more full and pregnant that signifies a price or ransom laid down for or instead of another Christ gave his life for our lives as the life of the beast sacrificed went for the life of the man so Christ gave his life for our lives Hence is it said that we are redeemed by Christ 1 Pet. 1.18 Ye were not redeemed with corruptible things as silver and gold from your vain conversation received by tradition from our fathers but with the precious blood of Christ as of a Lamb without blemish and without spot 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Ye were redeemed by price or ransom so the word signifies the Blood of Christ was the Price that was laid down for our Redemption What can be more full and express to this purpose than what our Saviour declareth to us when he saith that he gives his flesh for the life of the world Joh. 6.51 The bread which I will give is my flesh which I will give for the life of the world The Son of God assumed our nature and offered it up this he calls his flesh and this he gives for the life of the world that is to purchase and procure life for the world The world lay dead before dead in sin dead in respect of condemnation the world was obnoxious to Divine wrath Now Christ gives his flesh for the life of the world that is he gives his flesh to deliver the world from that state of condemnation in which it was and to bring it into reconciliation with God Joh. 3.17 God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world but that the world through him might be saved A word for Application Hath Christ laid down his life for his sheep Behold here as in a Mirroir the greatness of Christs Love Vse 1 The Son of God would not only take our nature but being in our nature he would lay down his life for us 1 Joh. 3.16 Hereby perceive we the love of God because he laid down his life for us That person who was God and man both laid down his life as man for us he laid down the life of his humanity for us But this I may have occasion to speak to more hereafter This is matter of infinite comfort and support to poor doubting Christians Vse 2 unto such who have fled for refuge to the hope that is set before them and yet have many remaining doubts within them concerning their Salvation whether they shall be saved in the conclusion yea or no. That which is matter of comfort to them is this 1. That Christ hath laid down his life for them Now this is certain Christ hath not dyed in vain Rom. 8.33 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 dyed If thou shouldst be condemned for thy sins the guilt of which thou fearest whenas thou art a poor Believer and hast fled to Christ for refuge then hath Christ dyed in vain because the end of Christs dying was that those who believe on him might not perish So our Saviour himself tells us Joh. 3.16 God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believeth on him should not perish If therefore thou who hast fled to Christ for refuge to save thee from the stroke of Divine wrath and from the condemning power of the Law if thou shouldst perish Christ hath dyed in vain If Christ hath laid down his life to purchase eternal life and Salvation for thee and thou shouldst go without it who art a poor Believer and runnest to him for Salvation then Christ hath dyed in vain Consider what the Apostle saith Gal. 2.20 If righteousness come by the Law then is Christ dead in vain If God should put thee to work out a righteousness for thy self and there were no possibility of Salvation but by perfect keeping the Law then there had been no necessity of Christs death but Christs death was not in vain Christ dyed to satisfie Gods Justice for them who could not fulfil the Law for themselves and therefore there is ground of hope that such who have fled to Christ for refuge shall not be disappointed of Salvation 2. A second thing to comfort doubting Christians is that Christ who hath the power to dispose of eternal life to whom he pleases hath invested poor Believers with a Right and Title to eternal life 1. Christ as he is Man and Mediator hath a power given to him to give eternal life to whom he pleaseth Joh. 17.2 As thou hast given him power over all flesh that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him 2. Christ having this power given to him hath invested Believers with a Right and Title to eternal life It is a great Text to comfort such who are concerned about their Salvation more than any thing else Joh. 10.29 Christ speaking of his sheep saith I give unto them eternal life and they shall never perish If Christ hath given them eternal life how shall they be deprived of it If Christ hath given them eternal life who shall take it from them What Christ hath once given he never takes back again For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance Christ therefore having made over a Right and Title to eternal life unto those that are his sheep to all that obey and follow him they must of necessity have it These things may be of use to support poor
it to his cross Col. 2.14 and he is the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world Joh. 1.29 that is he hath perfectly taken away sin as to the guilt and condemnation of it Now this could not have been if Christ had not suffered all that was to be suffered he could not have made an end of sin he could not have taken away the condemning power of it if all the punishment that was to be inflicted upon the sinner had not been inflicted upon him but now Christ by offering himself a Sacrifice for our sins hath born the whole punishment so that nothing more remains to be suffered that Divine Justice can demand This is implied in his being made a curse namely that the wrath of God was spent upon Christ to the utmost and that Divine Justice could desire no more than what was laid upon him The last Particular to clear this how Christ was made a curse is this The curse took hold on Christ so far as that Christ was exterminated and cut off by it The utmost punishment that can be inflicted upon a Malefactor amongst men is death the extermination of him from mankind cutting him off from the land of the living separating him from the society of mankind Now the curse proceeded upon Christ so far as that Christ was cut off by it Hence are those expressions of the Prophet He was cut off from the land of the living for the transgression of my people was he smitten or stricken Isa 53.8 So likewise we have the same expression in the Book of Daniel Dan. 9.26 After sixty two weeks shall Messias be cut off but not for himself Christ the true Messias was to be cut off but not for himself that is not for any sin of his own but he was cut off for us because he bare the guilt of our sins To understand this we must know that nothing satisfies the Law but the death of the sinner We know what the sentence was that God pronounced upon our first Parents In the day that thou eatest thou shalt dye the death and this is the general sentence of the Law The soul that sins shall dye and The wages of sin is death Death is part of the curse yea death is as it were the consummation of the curse Death as it is the inlet unto eternal death so it is the consummation of the curse The curse aims at the extermination and utter destruction of the sinner A man that is taken away by a corporal death he is for ever destroyed as to men though his soul survive yet he is taken from amongst men he hath no communion with mankind Death is the destruction of a person as to any fellowship and communion that he is to have with mankind any longer in this world and therefore death is the utmost consummation of punishment amongst men Thus the curse cuts off Christ and Christ dyes as bearing the curse yea the curse is consummated in the death of Christ Christ was accursed even as Adam was It is a good expression of one of the Ancients Christ descended as low as Adam did and so dissolved the curse 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Christ by descending where Adam had brought himself by his Fall dissolves the curse that Adam had brought upon himself and his posterity the curse that was upon Adam brought him to death Dust thou art and to dust thou shalt return The curse lying upon Adam subjected him to a state of mortality and brought him under the power of death Christ therefore being made a curse for us the curse subjects him to death and takes away his life Hence is that expression Heb. 2.9 That Christ tasted death for every man Death is the completion of the curse because the death of the body is the inlet to eternal death to those who are still under the power of the curse It is true Christ did not taste the pains of eternal death after his natural life was ended but Christ tasted the pains of supernatural death before the taking away of his natural life as I have shewed heretofore and here we may observe this difference in Christs sufferings and the damned's sufferings The damned suffer the pains of Hell after this life Christ suffered the pains of Hell here in this life corporal death is but the beginning of the damned's punishment but Christ at his death finished his sufferings So that in the order of suffering there is some difference between what Christ suffered and what the damned suffer The damned suffer the pains of Hell after this life Christ suffered them in this life yet Christ underwent death as a part of the curse and death as it is a part of the curse and a fruit of Gods wrath is a terrible thing yea most terrible and yet Christ that he might make satisfaction for us conflicted with this King of Terrors Christ as he was man had a natural fear of death as we have yet without sin and the reason is because Christ taking on him our nature took also upon him the infirmities of our nature Now there may be a natural fear of death without sin nature abhorring that which is contrary to it self and this was in our Saviour Christ being our Surety and seeing death coming upon him as part of the curse and as a part of the punishment due to us for our sins this made him to fear death Hence is that expression Heb. 5.7 He offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears to him that was able to save him from death and was heard in what he feared Christ feared death as he was man especially he feared it as he saw it a part of the curse that was due to us and yet though he feared it the thing that he feared came upon him It is true the Apostle saith He was heard in what he feared How was he heard Was Christ heard so as to his fear of death as to be delivered from death No certainly if Christ had not dyed we must have dyed in our sins If Christ had not dyed we must have undergone death as a part of the curse How then is it said He was heard in what he feared He was heard so as that he was supported when he dyed and he was heard in being raised from the dead the third day so that he was heard in what he feared in his supportation under his sufferings and in his Resurrection but dye he must death was part of the curse yea the completion of the curse therefore Christ our Surety cannot escape death Christus sponsor noster communi maledictione nobis debitâ feriendus erat Christ says one being our Surety was to be struck with that common curse that was due to us death was due to us the great thing threatned upon sin therefore Christ being our Surety must of necessity undergo it Hence is that of Austin Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree Why
How Christ that was a person always beloved of God could yet bear the sense of his wrath And now I would make a little farther use of what hath been opened as to Christs being made a curse and then I shall proceed to the other Propositions that remain for the clearing the Doctrine of Christs Satisfaction Christ as we have heard hath been made a curse the wrath and displeasure of God hath been poured forth upon him whatever he underwent upon the Cross all that shame and pain all that grief and sorrow which he felt in soul and body was the effect of Gods wrath the punishment due to us for our sins the wrath of God was consummated upon him and he was cut off by the curse he underwent death as part of the curse Let us see what use may be made of this This may serve by way of direction to us Vse 1 to teach us what course to take when we are in distress and agony of conscience under the fear and terror of Gods wrath due to us for sin Who is there among us that some time or other may not lye under the fear of Gods wrath that may not be terrified with the apprehension of Gods wrath due to him for sin Now the proper relief in this case is to consider that Christ was made a curse If Christ hath felt what we fear if he hath suffered and undergone what we deserved what so proper a ground to relieve us as this We fear the wrath of God and Christ hath suffered that wrath This is the case of many of the children of God they do many times lye under dreadful apprehensions of Gods wrath and displeasure David in the trouble and anguish of his soul crys out Cast me not away from thy presence Psal 51.11 And that Saint we mentioned even now in Psal 88.14 Lord why castest thou off my soul Now when we begin to apprehend that God hath cast us off in displeasure when we are under trouble and anguish of soul and apprehend that God is highly incensed and his wrath is waxed hot against us what can give us relief in this case but to consider that Gods wrath was poured out to the utmost upon Christ our Head and Surety that the wrath of God spent it self and had a full vent upon him This therefore is the only course we can take when we are under the fear and apprehension of Gods wrath to lift up Christ in the arms of our faith and to interpose him between us and the wrath of an angry God If his wrath be kindled but a little blessed are all they that put their trust in Christ Psal 2.12 This Doctrine of Christ being made a curse is of marvellous and unspeakable use in the serious exercises of faith when the soul is under sore conflicts from the fear of Gods wrath If thou art burdened with the guilt of sin and the fear of Gods wrath thou mayst go to God and tell him that Christ hath suffered as much as ever thou hast deserved to suffer that there is nothing that he may justly inflict upon thee but it hath already been executed and inflicted upon Christ to the uttermost and will he punish sin twice Will he punish sin in thee and will he punish it in the person of his innocent Son who had no sin of his own but only took upon him their cause that were not able to deliver themselves from wrath From this Doctrine of Christs being made a curse Vse 2 we may learn what the true and proper Antidote is against the fear of death The proper Antidote against the fear of death is this That Christ hath suffered death as part of the curse therefore Christ having undergone death for us as a part of the curse if we be in Christ the curse of death is taken away from us It is true Believers undergo death still but here lyes the comfort to a Believer that death is no longer a curse to him Christ by undergoing death as a part of the curse yea as the completion of the curse hath taken away death as it is a curse Death is now no more a curse unto Believers but a passage unto life It is a sweet Text Hos 13.14 O death I will be thy plague O grave I will be thy destruction Christ by dying hath destroyed and overcome death and Believers are freed from death as a curse therefore is it that our Saviour saith He that believes on him shall never dye Joh. 11.26 What better news to any of the sons and daughters of men than to tell them they shall never dye Our Saviour assures us of this He that believes on him shall never dye Joh. 11.26 O but do not Believers dye as well as other men Object Yes they do Answ but they do not dye under the curse they dye not as malefactors as condemned persons 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Athanas Death is now as no death to a Believer it is only a passage unto eternal life a Believers true life is not interrupted by death Joh. 10.28 I give to them eternal life and they shall never perish If death did interrupt or take away a Believers true life then there might be a time when he might be said to perish but our Saviour speaks it with the strongest asseveration and with the greatest solemnity They shall never perish I give unto them eternal life and they shall never perish therefore there is such a life given to a Believer by Christ that shall never perish though this natural life be taken away from him yet that which is the true life eternal life shall never be taken from him his natural life may be taken from him but instead of it he shall have eternal life I give unto them eternal life I proceed now to some other Propositions for the clearing the Doctrine of Christs Satisfaction The next Proposition therefore is this The eleventh Proposition God hath charged upon Christ the guilt and punishment of the sins of his people There is an act of God in this Christ did not only suffer such things as we have heard but he hath suffered them from the hand of God laying these things upon him as our Mediator and Surety Hence is it said That God hath made him to be sin for us 2 Cor. 5.21 God hath laid upon him the iniquities of us all Isa 53.6 God hath laid upon him there is the act of God the act of Divine Justice put forth in laying upon Christ all the punishment that he underwent Hence are those expressions that are so frequent in Scripture that Christ was made sin made under the Law that he was made a curse that he was made of God to us Redemption all which expressions plainly shew that there was an act of God put forth whereby Christ is made or appointed of God to be our Surety and that God did exact that debt of obedience and punishment from Christ which we should have
the desert of our own sins is in the sufferings of Christ Whatever Christ suffered was nothing but the desert of our sins it was that which we deserved should have been laid upon us Therefore when we come to make use of the sufferings of Christ his soul-sufferings or his bodily sufferings when we consider his soul-sufferings viz. his dereliction or his being forsaken of God the sense of Gods wrath that he underwent in his soul when we consider the pain grief torment and death that he suffered in his body we ought to consider with our selves that these were the very things we deserved we were the persons that deserved to be forsaken of God to have the face of God hid from us we were they that deserved to feel the wrath of God to be made the butt of Gods wrath and displeasure we deserved that pain anguish and death it self and all as part of the Curse for Christ suffered all these things for us and was made a Curse for us So that in the sufferings of Christ as in a glass or mirroir we may see what we deserved there was nothing Christ suffered but we deserved it and our hearts ought to be deeply soakt in these considerations as ever we desire to take in the benefit of Christs satisfaction He that doth not see himself worthy to be cast off nay I may say he that doth not see himself worthy to be cut off by the wrath of an angry God for his sins will never prize the satisfaction of Christ as he ought to do Christ in the work of his satisfaction trod the wine-press of Divine wrath therefore it becomes us to be sensible deeply sensible of our desert and worthiness of his wrath as ever we desire to have benefit by Christs satisfaction Our Saviour in the sixth of John doth at several times promise to us eternal life upon eating his flesh and drinking his blood vers 54. He that eats my flesh and drinks my blood shall have eternal life Now it is a good observation of one If thou wouldst eat the flesh of Christ and drink his blood so as to have eternal life by him do thou first taste death be sensible of what thou deservest by reason of sin be sensible of the spiritual death thou art subject to namely separation from God obnoxiousness to his wrath which is the death of the soul when once thou art sensible of spiritual death what it is to be separated from God what it is to lye under his wrath then thou wilt come with spiritual hunger and thirst to the sufferings of Christ to obtain life from him The second Direction is If we would make use of the Sufferings and Satisfaction of Christ so as to draw home the benefit of it to our selves let us direct the eye of our faith unto our natures suffering in Christ It was our nature that sinned and it is in our nature that satisfaction must be made and this is the great relief unto faith to see satisfaction made in the nature of man as sin was committed in the nature of man Consider what the Apostle saith 1 Cor. 15.21 Since by man came death by man also came the resurrection from the dead The Apostle plainly intimates that this is the singular happiness and comfort of Believers that as happiness was lost at first in and by our nature so happiness is now recovered and restored in and by our nature It was the nature of man that sinned in the first Adam and it is the nature of man that hath obeyed and satisfied in Christ the second Adam It was the nature of man that was deprived of happiness and lost communion with God and was subject to death in the first Adam and it was the nature of man that was restored to happiness that was admitted unto communion with God that was raised from the dead in Christ the second Adam Therefore is it that in Rom. 5.19 we read of two men Adam and Christ As by one mans disobedience many were made sinners By one mans disobedience here is Adam the first man Now read the fifteenth verse of the same Chapter If through the offence of one many be dead much more the grace of God and the gift by grace which is by one man Jesus Christ hath abounded unto many Here we have another man the second man from Heaven as he is called 1 Cor. 15.47 also The man Christ Jesus 1 Tim. 2.5 Now the scope of the Apostle is to shew that as disobedience was acted in the nature of man by Adam the first man so obedience was performed in the nature of man by Christ who was the second man from Heaven This is a great quiet and relief to faith to find that in our nature that is adequate and commensurate to the Law Christ having satisfied the Law in our nature for us it is in Gods account as if we had satisfied it Consider that expression Rom. 8.4 That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us Some Learned men interpret that phrase in us that is in our nature Christ having fulfilled the Law for us in a part of our nature it is in Gods account as if so be we had fulfilled it This is more fully explained to us by the Author to the Hebrews Heb 2.11 c. For both he that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all of one for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren Christ is here spoken of as the Head of all the Elect. Now he is the person that sanctifieth He that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified Christ is the person sanctifying all the Elect are sanctified in him Now to sanctifie another is to make him holy and to present him holy unto God Christ doth thus sanctifie the Elect he makes them holy and presents them holy to God first in his own person and that he may do this that he may be in a capacity to do it he must participate of one and the same common nature with them whom he doth so sanctifie therefore is it that the Apostle says He that sanctifieth and they that are sanctified are of one the meaning is they are of one and the same common nature the person sanctifying and the persons sanctified are of one and the same common nature the head is true man and the members are true men This the Apostle doth farther amplifie at vers 14. For as much then as the children were made partakers of flesh and blood he also himself took part of the same Christ being the Head of the Elect and it being his office to redeem them he must come into their nature and do and suffer that in their nature which they ought to have done and suffered they were made subject to death therefore Christ tasted death for them as we have it vers 9. Christ taking upon him the same nature with his brethren did punctually fulfil for them in their nature whatever was expected from
the love of God because he laid down his life for us Still we see when the Scripture speaks of the love of Christ it expresseth it by what he suffered for us Now the greatness of Christs love the heights and depths and lengths and breadths of Christs love in his sufferings and in the work of his Satisfaction may be illustrated by several Particulars And I shall propound several things for the clearing up of this truth 1. That the sufferings of Christ were the lowest degree of his humiliation The Scripture speaks of Christs Exinanition or emptying himself Phil. 2.7 He made himself of no reputation so we translate it the word in the Original is he emptyed himself out of all 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Ex omni seipsum ad nihilum redegit exhausit Tertul. he reduced himself to nothing One of the Ancients renders the expression he exhausted himself Now this Exinanition or emptying of the Son of God was his own voluntary laying aside of his own glory as to manifestation and also his subjecting himself to the lowest abasement for our sakes The Son of God did not could not divest himself of his essential glory he did not cease to be the Son of God and God in the lowest state of his humiliation but he did strip and divest himself of his manifestative glory he was content not to appear to be what indeed he was and he submitted-himself to the lowest abasement for our sakes Now there were two parts of Christs Exinanition or emptying of himself The first was his Incarnation his assumption of our nature The second was his suffering death for us and the Apostle speaks of both these in this place The first part of Christs Exinanition was his Incarnation He made himself of no reputation or emptied himself How so He took upon him the form of a servant he was in the form of God saith the Apostle and made himself of no reputation and took upon him the form of a servant That he who was in the form of God should take upon him the form of a servant this was emptying himself indeed That the eternal God should become a mortal man this was great humiliation indeed He was in the form of God saith the Apostle and yet he was made in the likeness of men and was found in fashion as a man These expressions must cautiously be understood we must not understand them as some ancient Hereticks did that Christ only had a fantastical body that is the shew and appearance of a body because it is said here the likeness of men and that he was found in fashion as a man I say we must not understand them as if Christ only had a fantastical body not a true and a real body for the Scripture tells us plainly That Christ was made of the seed of David and he was in all things made like unto us sin only excepted And it is a true expression that of the Ancients 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That which was not assumed was not healed If the Son of God had not had the verity of humane nature in him humane nature could never have been restored If he had not assumed a true humane soul and a true humane body our fouls and bodies which were tainted with original sin could never have been recovered therefore when it is said He was made in the likeness of men and found in fashion as a man we must not understand it as if Christ had the likeness of a humane body and not a true humane body but these expressions Made in the likeness of men and found in fashion as a man not only set forth the greatness of his humiliation and condescension that he that was God blessed for ever that he who was so far above men did yet take to himself the common nature of men He was made in the likeness of men and found in fashion as a man The plain meaning seems to be That the Son of God taking our nature appeared among men as to his external visage and appearance as another man as one like the rest of men It is true spiritual eyes could behold the beams of the Divinity breaking through the veil of his flesh Joh. 1.14 The Word was made flesh and dwelt among us and we beheld his glory as the glory of the only begotten of the Father full of grace and truth The Apostles and other Believers who saw Christ in the days of his flesh with spiritual eyes and hearts that were given to them could see the beams of the Divinity breaking through his Humanity they could see something more than a man in him But look upon him as to his external form and habit and so he appeared to the generality of men like one of the rest of men he was wrapt up in swadling cloaths laid in a Manger he was subject to his Parents he did hunger and thirst and eat and drink and he was subject to the same common infirmities with other men and therefore doth the Apostle say He was made in the likeness of men and found in fashionas a man that is as to his external form and habit he seemed to be like to the common sort of men Hence are those expressions of the Prophet He was as a root out of a dry ground He hath no form nor comeliness and when we shall see him there is no beauty that we should desire him Isa 53.2 This is the first part of Christs humiliation Creator ac Dominus omnium rerum unus voluit esse mortalium that he who was in the form of God should yet take to himself the form of a servant He that was the Creator and Lord of all things as Leo expresseth it would yet become one of mortal men and he that abiding in the form of God did also make man himself the very same person taking on him the form of a servant himself is made man The second part of Christs Exinanition or emptying himself was his subjecting himself to death for us This is that which the Apostle takes particular notice of in the Text Phil. 2.8 He humbled himself and how did he humble himself He humbled himself and became obedient to the death even the death of the cross It is observable that when the Apostle had spoken of Christs Incarnation or his taking our nature he calls that his emptying himself so likewise when he comes to speak of Christs sufferings he calls that his humbling himself He humbled himself and became obedient to the death This was great humiliation indeed that the Lord of glory should be crucified that the Prince of life should be killed and hung upon a tree Impassibilis Deus non dedignatus est esse homo passibilis immortalis mortis legibus subjacere Leo. He that was God impassible did not yet refuse to become a passible man and he that was immortal did not refuse to subject himself to the laws of death It was a
themselves cannot be supposed to be infinite for the habits cannot exceed the capacity of the subject if the humane soul of Christ be but a created thing then the habits of grace which are in it are not simply infinite yet notwithstanding this the love which is to be found in Christs humane nature is exceeding great and a love surpassing the love of men or Angels and the reason is the humane soul of Christ hath the Divinity inhabiting in it now as the Son receives all the Father hath in the eternal Generation the whole substance of the Father is communicated to the Son in the eternal Generation there is no perfection that is in the Father but it is to be found in the Son therefore by consequence it follows that the love of the Father must necessarily be communicated to the Son and doth reside in the Son and there is but one and the same Divine love both in the Father and in the Son Now the Son the second person in Trinity taking our nature both the love of the Father and the Son for as an Holy man observes Sweet is this contemplation doth in some sort abide and reside in our nature therefore the humane Soul of Christ being inflamed and set on fire with the fire of Divine love which is so near it which inhabits and dwells in it must needs be fuller of love than any creatures heart ever was The humane nature of Christ by means of its Union and Conjunction with the Divinity takes in the influence of the Divinity and the Divinity thus personally united to the Humanity must needs fill his soul with that love that no creature was ever filled with therefore we must necessarily suppose there was the greatest love imaginable in Christs humane soul the greatest as was possible there could be in any created nature The Godhead dwelling in Christ bodily that infinite love of God must be supposed in some sense to dwell in the heart of Christ Man How loving how tender how affectionate must that heart be that hath all the love of the Father and the Son poured out into it For consider it the Son receives all from the Father by eternal Generation the Son takes up our nature and dwells in it the humane nature united to the Son takes in the influence of the Fathers and the Sons love by means of its personal Union with the Son And thus the humane nature is not only warmed but wholly set on fire by the Divinity inhabiting in it Therefore it is well observed by one of the Ancients There is some warmth some heat that comes from Christ the eternal Word into all the Saints hearts In hac anima ipse ignis divinus substantialiter requievisse credendus est Orig. but in Christs humane Soul the very fire of Divine love dwells substantially there it rested substantially for in him the fulness of the Goahead dwells bodily Col. 2.9 Therefore there is the greatest love imaginable to be found even in the humane Soul of Christ More particularly the love that was in the humane Soul of Jesus Christ may be described and set forth under three considerations 1. The heart of Christ-Man was filled with the most sweet tender merciful compassionate dispositions that ever any heart was filled with Hence is it that we have those expressions that he is a merciful and a faithful High Priest Heb. 2.17 that he is touched with the feeling of our infirmities Heb. 3.15 We read also of the bowels of Christ the meekness the gentleness of Christ 2 Cor. 10.1 Never were there such words of love and sweetness spoken by any man as by him never was there such a loving and tender heart as the heart-of Jesus Christ Grace was poured into his lips Psal 45.3 Certainly never were there such words of love sweetness and tenderness spoken here upon this earth as those last words of his which were uttered a little before his Suffering and are recorded in the 13 14 15 16 17 Chapters of John Read over all the Books of love and friendship that were ever written by any of the sons of men they do all come far short of those melting strains of love that are there expressed So sweet and amiable was the conversation of Jesus Christ that it is reported of the Apostle Peter in the Ecclesiastical History that after Christs Ascension he wept so abundantly that he Quoties recordaretur illius suavissimae conversationis Christi was always seen wiping his face from the tears and being asked why he wept so he answered He could not chuse but weep as often as he thought of that most sweet conversation of Jesus Christ 2. The love of Christ as Man or which was in his humane nature may be seen in the compliance of his humane will with the Divine will in point of suffering It is true it was the Divine will that gave up the humane nature to suffer Joh. 6.51 The bread which I will give is my flesh which I will give for the life of the world It was the Divine will that gave up the humanity to suffer yet his humane will complied with the Divine will Father not as I will but as thou wilt There is a will and a will in Christ a Divine will and a humane will and the humane will complies with the Divine will Father save me from this hour nevertheless for this cause came I to this hour Joh. 12.27 Hence is it that the Apostle tells us he was obedient unto the death Phil. 2.8 The Lord Jesus knew right-well how great a burden the weight and pressure of his Fathers wrath was and yet he was content to undergo this burden for our sakes The cup which my Father hath given me to drink shall not I drink of it Joh. 18.11 I have a baptism to be baptized with and how am I straitned till it be accomplished Luk. 12.50 It is true had he not been God he could never have stood under such a burden as the burden of Divine wrath and had not his love been more than a created love had his love been the love of a meer creature he would never have undertaken such a work But being supported by the Godhead he was inabled to undergo his Sufferings and also his humane will influenced by the Deity was made willing to suffer therefore it is said For their sakes I sanctifie my self Joh. 17.19 There was a concurrence of his Divine and humane will in his suffering the Divine will in the person of the Son sanctifies and sets apart the humane nature to suffer the humane will concurs with the Divine and is made willing to suffer Joh. 10.17 18. Therefore doth my Father love me because I lay down my life The person that lays down his life is the Son of God incarnate the life which he lays down is the life of his Humanity for the life of his Divinity could never be laid down Now the Divine person had the
standing in such near relation to Christ as to be his body a part of himself this is the reason that Christ hath preserved it and will preserve it to the end of the world Mat. 18. I will build my Church See here he calls it his Church he challengeth a peculiar interest in it Feed the Church of God which he hath redeemed with his own blood Act. 20.28 Therefore the Church standing so nearly related to Christ no wonder Christ takes such care of it Learn from hence to whom to attribute all the deliverances of the Church it is our faithful omnipotent sympathizing compassionate Head that hath been the Author of all the preservations and deliverances we have seen and upon him we must depend for the time to come Lastly Vse 5 This may serve as a ground to confirm our faith touching the certian glorification of the Saints A part of our nature is already in the Head of the Church Christ man who is the Head of the Church is exalted to the highest state of glory God hath highly exalted him c. Phil. 2.9 Now though it be true Christ must be allowed his preheminence the head hath a preheminence above the members yet the members shall follow the head they shall have their measure of glory though not the same degree of glory In Heb. 6. ult we read how Christ is entred into heaven as our fore-runner If Christ be in Heaven the Saints who are members of his body shall certainly follow after It is the last passage in that last prayer of our Saviour That the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them and I in them Joh. 17. ult It is the inestimable priviledge of the Saints saith Calvin upon this Text that Christ was beloved of the Father for our sakes that we might be partakers of the same love If the Father hath glorified Christ he will certainly glorifie us if we be his members Only we must consider what is spoken in the last clause of all and I in them As we expect to be comprehended in that love with which our Head is embraced we must be sure to be in him We must see that we be in Christ and Christ in us we must have true and real union with him and if we be thus united to him then the love wherewith the Father hath loved him shall be communicated to us therefore let us endeavour to make sure of our Union with Christ and in-being in him and then as the Father hath commended his love to him the Head of the Church in glorifying him he will also commend his love to us in glorifying us in like manner The end of the fifth Sermon SERMON VI. Eph. 3. vers 17 18 19. That Christ may dwell in your hearts by saith that ye being rooted and grounded in love May be able to comprehend with all Saints what is the breadth and length and depth and height And to know the love of Christ which passeth knowledge 7. THE seventh Particular to demonstrate the greatness of the Love of Christ in the work of his Incarnation is this The love of Christ in his Incarnation appears in this In that by means of the Incarnation of the Son of God our nature as it is in the Head of the Church is restored to its ancient purity integrity and perfection It is a good observation of one of the Ancients Filius Dei naturam nostram sibi conjunxit ut eam in se primò per seipsum ad pristinam pulchritudinem restitueret Cyril The Son of God hath joyned our nature to himself that first of all he might repair our nature in himself and by himself restore our nature to its ancient beauty To understand this we must know that Adam had lost original Righteousness infected and corrupted mans nature with the contagion and taint of Original sin Now the Son of God by his Incarnation hath repaired our nature and restored it to its primitive beauty and perfection The first Adam by his Fall left our nature under the contagion of Original sin the Son of God in his Incarnation took up our nature without sin and as the second Adam represents our nature in himself pure and spotless Such an High-Priest became us who is holy harmless undefiled separate from sinners Heb. 9.26 So that this is the singular priviledge of Believers although they be poor sinful creatures in themselves groaning under the body of sin and death yet they have this to glory in that their Head the Lord Jesus is without sin and presents their nature pure and spotless before the Throne of God In him is no sin 1 Joh. 3.5 He doth not say In him was no sin that is true indeed for in him was no sin neither was there any guile found in his mouth But the Apostle saith here In him is no sin It is as much as if he should say As Christ was without sin here on Earth so he is without sin in Heaven he presents our nature pure and spotless before the Throne of God This is the singular priviledge of Believers that they may glory in Christ their Head when they have nothing to glory in of their own Hence is it that which the Apostle faith We glory in Christ Jesus or we boast in Christ Jesus c. Phil. 3.3 as much as to say We do not boast in our selves we do not glory in our own righteousness but we glory in the Righteousness of Christ we glory and boast in this that we have that righteousness and perfection in our Head which we have not in our selves 8. The love of Christ in his Incarnation appears in this In that by means of the Incarnation of the Son of God there is a foundation laid for our acceptance with God This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased Mat. 3. ult This is spoken of the Son incarnate after he was made man God the Father delights in the Son when incarnate To understand this we must know as he was the eternal Son the express image of the Fathers person proceeding from the Father by eternal Generation so he was eternally his delight This is clear from Prov. 8.30 I was daily his delight Now that which we are farther to consider is As the Father delights in the Son as his eternal Son so he delights in the Son when incarnate when made man he delights in the Son when cloathed with our nature the eternal Son being the object of his Fathers delight and complacency and the Son taking our nature into personal Union with himself the love delight and complacency of the Father redounds and overflows if I may so express it unto the humane nature assumed Joh. 3.35 The Father loveth the Son And how doth he love him Not only as the Son simply considered but he loves him as the Son incarnate he loves him as the Son come into our nature he loves him as he is Mediator To open this a little
my God why hast thou forsaken me He was deprived of the sense and comfort of his Fathers love Secondly Christ suffered natural death his humane soul was truly separated from his body Now Christ having satisfied that Law In the day that thou eatest thou shalt dye the death by suffering the penalty of that Law hath fully delivered his people from the curse Gal. 3.13 Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law being made a curse for us A Learned man observes Because according to the sentence of the Divine Judgment in that day Adam fell and sinned humane nature ought to have been punished with eternal perdition therefore the Son of God offered himself to assume humane nature and afterwards did assume it that so man might not dye the death And the same Learned man hath another expression to the same purpose Because humane nature was depraved and lost so that it became the body of sin and death therefore the Son of God in lieu thereof was pleased in the humane nature assumed to condemn sin and abolish death and in his own person restore humane nature to righteousness life and happiness Christ having dyed for sin once dyeth no more death hath no more dominion over him Rom. 6.9 10. Our nature as it is in Christ it is above death and the fear of death O let us think of these things these things are the most solid grounds of comfort Our nature in Christ is above death and the fear of death it is possessed of life and immortality and brought to perfect happiness Hence is that expression 2 Tim. 1.10 Christ who hath abolished death and hath brought life and immortality to light through the Gospel Christ hath already brought life and immortality into our nature Christ doth already stand possessed of immortality in his own person And this is the singular comfort of Believers that they may see a part of their own nature set above sorrow misery and death and brought to the greatest happiness they can wish or long for and that they may be assured they shall be possessed of the same happiness in their measure which Christ their Head is possessed of This Christ assures them of Joh. 17.22 The glory which thou hast given me I have given them Christ had glory with the Father from Eternity as he was his natural and coessential Son this he speaks of vers 5. Glorifie me with thy self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was Now besides this there is a glory which is given to him the glory which thou gavest me I have given them Christ had a glory given to him as man and Mediator Now the glory which was given to Christ as man and Head of the Church is given to the Elect so that all the Elect do participate and share in it in their measure The glory which thou hast given me I have given them Calvin observes upon that Text The Samplar or pattern of perfect happiness is so exprest and set forth in Christ that nothing is confined to Christ only but Christ was therefore inriched that he might inrich Believers the glory which thou hast given me I have given them Christ and his Members share in glory in common only reserving the difference between Head and Members Christ hath the glory of the Head Believers have glory as Members Christs glorification is the surest pledge of our glorification for how is it possible that he who is our Head and is now in glory with the Father should leave us to those miseries we are now obnoxious to whenas we are so nearly related to him we being members of his body of his flesh and of his bones Eph. 5.30 and he that is joyned to the Lord is one Spirit The Church being so nearly related to Christ and Christ being in glory how is it possible Christ should leave them under those miseries they are now subject unto 17. The greatness of Christs love in his Incarnation appears in this In that by means of the Incarnation all the Elect shall have a standing Monument before their eyes wherein they may see and behold the infiniteness and transcendency of the love of God to all Eternity And the reason of this Proposition is this Because the Hypostatical or personal Union shall not be dissolved in Heaven the humane nature shall remain and abide united to the Divinity to all Eternity As in Heaven we shall be admitted to the sight of God we shall see the Unity in Trinity and the Trinity in Unity we shall see the Unity of the Essence and the three persons Father Son and Spirit subsisting in this one Essence of God so in Heaven we shall see the great Mystery of the personal Union the Mystery of the two Natures in the person of Christ more than now we can And this will be one part of the happiness of Heaven that we shall see our nature united to the Divinity in the person of the Son of God and by this means we shall come to understand the greatness of the love of God by seeing how near our nature is taken unto God in the person of our Head The Hypostatical or personal Union is the foundation of the mystical Union viz. of our union and communion with God God hath taken a part of our nature into personal union with himself and by means of this we have union and communion with him Now in Heaven we shall have a clear sight what that glory is which Christ our Head is advanced unto by the personal union And this I take to be carried in that great Text Joh. 17.24 Father I will that they also whom thou hast given me be with me where I am that they may behold my glory which thou hast given me The happiness of Heaven will be to gaze upon the glory of Christ as a Learned Divine expresseth it That they may behold my glory as if so be this would be Heaven enough for the Elect to see the glory their Head is possessed of And what glory is this That they may behold my glory certainly the glory of his Divinity Christ had glory with the Father before the foundation of the world Joh. 17.5 He was in the form of God saith the Apostle now all the Elect shall see and behold his glory that is they shall see the glory of his Divinity and how so They shall see and behold the glory of his Divinity shining forth through his humanity The humane nature is united to the Divinity in the person of the Son now the Elect in Heaven shall see that person who hath assumed their nature to be true God and to have all the glory of the Divinity in him As the second person in Trinity is true God and hath all the glory of the Divinity in him so the Elect in Heaven shall see the humane nature united to the Divinity in the person of the Son Therefore is it added in the close of the verse For
will for the most part depend one upon another and the former Proposition will be introductory and leading to them that do succeed Before I come to lay down those Propositions that do immediately concern the Doctrine of Christs Satisfaction it self there are some Propositions to be laid down that are preliminary and necessary to make way thereupon 1. The first Proposition then is this Man was created under a Law of service and obedience to his Maker Man when first he came out of the hands of God must needs see himself in a state of inferiority unto God he saw that God was above him and that he had received his being from God and that receiving his Being from God he must necessarily be in a state of inferiority and subjection to him Man also saw that having received his Being from God he was under a vast obligation of gratitude love and service into God who had given him Being and such an excellent Being man also saw that receiving his Being from another and not having it from himself it was most just and reasonable that he should be under the will of him who gave him his Being and not under the conduct and government of his own will These deductions do naturally flow from the principles of right reason which we must suppose to be in man in his primitive estate 2. The second Proposition is this That man was every way fitted and qualified to give obedience to the Law of his Creation Man we know at first was created after the image of God in Righteousness and true Holiness and man being cloathed with the image of God was every way fitted to give to God that obedience which the Law of his Creation required from him Mans mind or understanding was filled with light and knowledge whereby he clearly understood what the will of God and what his own duty was Mans will also as it was first created had no obliquity in it but was inclined to good his affections were all regular God made man upright as the Scripture speaks Eccles 7.29 Every thing was upright most upright in man in his first Creation there was nothing out of order in him the will of man was then upright It is true although the will of man was made upright and good at first yet it was not made immutably good but that it was possible for man to decline from good to evil otherwise it had not been possible for man to have fallen and sinned but sin and fall he did and that we know by our own sad experience But yet though man was not created at first in an impeccable estate but that it was possible for him to sin yet he was created in so perfect a state that it was possible for him not to have sinned Tale erat adjuâ—orium quod desereret cùm vellet in quo permaneret si vellet non quo fieret ut vellet Aug. Hence is that of Austin Adam had that help and assistance given to him at first which he might desert when he would and in which he might have abode and continued in case he would but he had not that help and assistance whereby he should so will 3. The third Proposition is this God to lay a further ingagement upon man to persevere in the course of his obedience entred into a Covenant or stipulation with man promising him life in case of obedience and threatning him with death in case of disobedience This we have expressed in that known Text Gen. 2.16 17. And the Lord God commanded the man saying Of every tree of the garden thou mayst freely eat But of the tree of knowledge of good and evil thou shalt not eat of it for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt dye the death Here we have a positive Law supperadded unto the natural Law the Law of mans creation and there is a threatning annexed to deter man from breaking this Law in which threatning also there is a promise supposed to be included in case man did not break it for if God threatned man in case he did eat that he shall dye this is to be supposed if he did not eat nor transgress this command he should not dye else the threatning had been in vain Now we must know that man by virtue of the natural Law the Law of his creation was bound to observe this positive Law of God And the reason is because man being a creature must necessarily be under the will and at the dispose of him that makes him and therefore must necessarily be obliged to observe his Creators will in all things that he shall declare to be his will therefore it pleasing God to give out this positive Law concerning the not eating of the Tree of knowledge of good and evil as a tryal of mans obedience man by virtue of the natural Law the Law of his creation is bound to give obedience to God in this positive Law of his For man as he is a creature is bound to give obedience to the Law and Will of his Creator in that way God requires and expects it of him and God having manifested this to be his Will the Law of his creation obligeth him to testifie his respect and obedience to God according as he hath discovered his mind to him 4. The fourth Proposition is this That man sinning God is highly offended with him by reason of sin Sin is most displeasing to God upon several accounts 1. Because sin is most contrary to the Nature and Will of God 1. Sin is contrary to the Nature of God Psal 5.4 Thou art not a God that hath pleasure in wickedness neither shall evil dwell with thee Hab. 1.13 Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil and canst not look on iniquity 1 Joh. 1.5 God is light and in him is no darkness at all God is perfection and sin is imperfection God is purity and Holiness it self and sin is a defect of that purity therefore the nature of God is most diametrically opposite to sin 2. Sin is contrary to the Will of God The Will of God is expressed and declared in his Law Now the Law of God commands rectitude nothing but rectitude The commandment is holy just and good Rom. 7.12 Thy righteousness is an everlasting righteousness and thy law is truth Psal 119.142 Now sin is a deviation from that rectitude which the Law requires sin is a perfect contradiction to the will of God revealed in his Law 2. Sin is most displeasing unto God because it is a casting off of Gods Authority This we must necessarily suppose that God being infinitely superiour unto man and the Author of mans Being must needs have the most perfect and absolute authority over man Now man when he sins when he takes upon him to sin acts according to his own will and takes no notice of the Divine Law and so consequently casts off Gods Authority Man when he sins acts after that manner as if so
shalt thou return Gen. 3.19 was the Curse pronounced upon man for sin Terra es in terram reverteris Earth thou art and unto earth shalt thou return By this expression Divines both ancient and modern understand a state of mortality that should come upon man by reason of sin Earth thou art and to earth shalt thou return that is thou shalt become mortal Terra es ostendit hominem in deterius commutatum Aug. Austin observes that expression Thou art earth it shews that the whole man was changed for the worse Man that had been immortal had it not been for sin is now become mortal by means of sin there is nothing that men fear more than death The Apostle tells us That men through fear of death are all their life-time subject to bondage Heb. 2. When man by sin was brought into a mortal state he was always in fear and expectation of death A man that is condemned doth not dye presently but he is in a dying condition and he is always in expectation of death and a man that is infected with the plague doth not it may be dye presently but he carries his deaths wound about him so man having sinned he had the matter of death in him he had that in him which would certainly and infallibly bring him unto death man having sinned brought himself into a mortal state therefore the Lord Jesus Christ our Surety that he might deliver us from this part of the Curse put himself into a state of mortality makes himself liable to death Hence is that of the Apostle Phil. 2. He took upon him the form of a servant and became obedient to the death even the death of the cross that is he took our nature and made himself mortal in it Had the Divinity in Christ exerted it self in its full power and strength it could have prevented suffering and death in Christ but it being a part of the Curse that we sâ—â—uld be subject to suffering and death the Divinity did so far suspend it self that Christ might become passible and mortal therefore Christ who was immortal in himself made himself mortal for our sakes In Rom. 8.2 we read of the Law of sin and of death The Law of sin is as Austin observes that whosoever sins shall dye Lex peccati ut quicunque peccârit moriatur August the soul that sins shall dye The Law of death is Dust thou art and to dust thou shalt return Therefore man being subjected to a state of mortality by the Curse Christ underwent this Curse for us Heb. 2.14 That through death he might destroy him that had the power of death that is the devil That through death he might destroy him c. The end why the Son of God assumed our nature was that he might suffer and dye in it he so assumed our nature as that being in our nature he might become passible and mortal in it Ought not Christ to have suffered these things Luk. 24. He that would be our Surety and pay our debt must suffer and dye for us and therefore that Christ might fully discharge our debt he was pleased to put himself into a state of suffering and death Learn from hence Vse 1 in the first place the infinite love of Christ that Christ who was free would become our Surety and bring himself under bonds for us and make himself liable to the Law and to the penalty of it for our sakes yea not only so that Christ who was most free would take upon him the payment of our debt but that he who in some respect was the Creditor and had the debt owing to him should yet in another respect and in a wonderful way of dispensation become the Surety and pay the debt for us Consider Christ as God sin was an offence against him as well as against the other Persons of the Trinity and Christ might have demanded and exacted punishment from men but yet Christ in a wonderful way of dispensation by assuming our nature and bearing the punishment due to us in it would become our Surety and pay the debt that was owing to himself Have we not reason here with the Apostle to cry out O the depth O the heights and depths and lengths and breadths of the love of Christ that when Christ might have demanded satisfaction from us he was pleased to take our nature and make satisfaction for us This shews us the great happiness and the singular priviledge of Believers Vse 2 who have an interest in Christ The priviledge of Believers lies in this That Christ who is their Surety hath undertaken to satisfie and discharge their debt for them Now if the debt of punishment which we owe to Divine Justice be already satisfied if the punishment which we owe to Gods Justice be already undergone Divine Justice can demand no more this consideration may be of unspeakable use and comfort to us when we come to be under agonies and terrors of conscience Those that truly belong to God may sometimes have such thoughts as these are What if I should be put to lye under the wrath of God What if the torments of the Damned should be inflicted upon me Holy Souls themselves have had some sips and tastes of Divine wrath Now that which may be of unspeakable comfort in such a case is this If thou be a true Believer if thou hast closed with Christ by faith thou hast already suffered punishment in Christ thy Head thou hast after a sort satisfied Divine Justice and born the torments of Hell in Christ thy Head Paul said I am crucified with Christ Gal. 2.20 I am crucified together with Christ concrucified When Christ was crucified 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 we were crucified together with him Christ suffering the punishment in our nature which was due to us it is in Gods account as if we had suffered Hence it is said He was made sin for us 2 Cor. 5.21 and we are made the righteousness of God in him Now thou that art a true sincere Believer who lovest Christ and prizest him above all the world if thou hast already suffered the wrath of God and the torments of Hell in Christ thy Head it is to be hoped thou shalt not be put to suffer it in thy own person Who shall condemn saith the Apostle it is Christ that hath dyed Rom. 8.33 If Christ hath dyed thou shalt not dye and if Christ hath been condemned thou shalt not be condemned This shews the unspeakable misery of such who have no interest in Christ Vse 3 and no part in his Satisfaction Their misery appears in this That they are liable to bear the punishment of their own sins As this is the singular priviledge of Believers that they are exempted from punishment because Christ their Head and Surety hath born it for them so this is the unspeakable misery of all Unbelievers of all such as lye out of Christ that they are liable to bear
the punishment of their own sins because they have no interest in that person that should take off this punishment from them The misery of all Unbelievers and such as lye out of Christ appears from these two considerations 1. Because the Sentence of the Law stands in full force against them that Law that says The soul that sins shall dye The wages of sin is death That Law is still in force against them and if they have not a Surety to bear this penalty of the Law for them they are liable to it themselves The Law exacts death from the sinner therefore thou must either dye in thy own person or in a Surety for the sentence of the Law cannot be reverst that saith The soul that sins shall dye 2. Divine Justice calls for punishment The Nature of God as he is a holy and just God inclines and obligeth him to punish sinners therefore if Divine Justice do not find out some other way to be satisfied in it will satisfie it self upon the Sinner himself In how sad a case is every person that is found out of Christ he is already condemned by the Law and is in danger of being arrested and seized upon by Divine Justice every moment O how doth it concern us all to secure our interest in Christ to get a part in his Satisfaction for as much as unless we can obtain an interest in Christ as our Surety to satisfie the Law and Divine Justice for us we are liable to bear the punishment which our sins deserve and to make satisfaction in our own persons The end of the fifth Sermon SERMON VI. Joh. 15.13 Greater love hath no man than this that a man lay down his life for his friends I Now proceed to that which remains The second Particular therefore is this That Christ did not only make himself passible and mortal for us but Christ did actually undergo suffering and death for us This I shall open in several Particulars 1. Our Lord Jesus Christ that he might bear the punishment of our sins underwent all manner of sufferings in his body for us he suffered hunger thirst weariness pain grief and the like Isa 53.4 He hath born our grief and carried our sorrows and vers 7. He was oppressed and he was afflicted Whatever pressures and loads of afflictions we may feel Christ felt the same yea he hath felt them in a far greater measure than we do It was part of the Curse pronounced upon â—lam after his Fall Cursed is the ground for thy sake in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee Gen. 3.17 18. By these expressions Learned men observe That all the miseries and calamities of this life are set forth this was part of the Curse that man should be subject to all the miseries of this life the miseries that we all feel and experiment such as hunger weariness pain and the like Now that being part of the Curse that we should be subject to all these miseries Christ underwent the miseries that we are subject unto 2. Christ was exposed unto and suffered shame ignominy contempt and reproach for our sakes Hence was it that he was arraigned and condemned as a Malefactor by an earthly Judge hence it came to pass that he was buffeted reviled spit upon crowned with thorns mocked derided crucified between two thieves all which circumstances were matter of great reproach and contempt and all this our Saviour bare as the punishment of our sins and we cannot have a just and due contemplation of the sufferings of Christ what they are in themselves nor make the right use of them as to our selves unless we apprehend that whatever Christ suffered he suffered it as the punishment for our sins We read in the History of the Gospel what shame and contempt was poured on our Saviour in his being buffeted spit upon derided mocked and crowned with thorns but I fear there are too few that consider that he bare these things as the just punishment of our sins We read this as a History and that is all but if we look upon this with a spiritual eye we ought to consider that our Saviour bare all this as the just punishment of our sins for shame and contempt is one part of the punishment due to sin Hence is it that when the punishment of the wicked is described at the last Day it is described by this Some shall rise to shame and everlasting contempt Dan. 12.2 so that shame and everlasting contempt is part of the punishment that is due to sin Now then our Saviour bearing the whole punishment of our sins hath born that shame and contempt that we deserve Hence are those expressions Isa 50.6 That he gave his back to the smiters and his cheeks to them that plucked off the hair he hid not his face from shame and spitting 3. Christ suffered in his Soul as well as in his body for us yea our Saviours sufferings in his Soul were his greatest sufferings Though the sufferings of his body were great yet the sufferings of his Soul were by far the greatest sufferings Joh. 12.27 Now is my soul troubled Mat. 26.28 My soul is exceeding sorrowful The Papists and some others will not admit these sufferings of our Saviour in his Soul they make the main of Christs sufferings to be in his body But the Scripture is clear in this That Christ suffered in his Soul as well as in his body and it was most necessary that Christ who was our Surety should suffer in his Soul as well as in his body and the reason is because Adam did primarily and principally sin in his soul sin first began in the soul and therefore it was meet that Christ should primarily and principally suffer in his Soul that punishment that was due to us for our sins It is the observation of a Learned man Christ saith he is to be considered under the notion of a Surety or Vndertaker for us Thence saith he it follows that his body was constituted and appointed as a Surety for our body his Soul was constituted a Surety for our souls so that Christ was to suffer that punishment in his Soul that we were to suffer in our souls and Christ was to undergo that punishment in his body that we were to suffer in our bodies and if we should suppose that our Saviour had not suffered that in his Soul which we should have suffered but only hath suffered such grief as belongs to the sensitive part then it would follow that the Soul or Spirit that is in us is not yet redeemed for what Christ hath not born for us doth remain still for us to suffer and to be undergone If therefore Christ suffered nothing in his Soul of what the Law of God and Divine Justice would inflict upon our spirits and souls as the punishment of sin it remains still to be undergone by us But much
wrath of God for ever O it is of infinite concernment to us to make haste to him and to embrace him that was made a curse for us that we might be delivered from the curse Christ was made a curse for us that he might deliver them from the curse who flee for refuge to the hope set before them Nothing can pacifie the sin-revenging Justice of God but holding up Christ in the arms of our faith who was made a curse and upon whom the curse hath spent all its venom all its force and strength He that believes on the Son is not condemned Joh. 3.18 Oh let the Doctrine of the Curse which hath been opened make Christ more and more precious to us let us embrace him with both the arms of our faith If we can hide our selves in the Righteousness and Satisfaction of Christ the curse which we have deserved shall never overtake us The end of the ninth Sermon SERMON X. Joh. 15.13 Greater love hath no man than this that a man lay down his life for his friends I Come to a third Particular to shew you how it was that Christ was made a curse for us The third Particular is this In Christs being made a curse the wrath of God was consummated upon him Christ in being made a curse for us bare the whole punishment that was due to us It was not part of the punishment only but the whole punishment which was due to us that Christ underwent All the curses of the Law did as it were meet upon him and there was nothing wanting which the Law would inflict upon sinners as sinners but the curse brought upon Christ as our Surety The curse notes the utmost execution of evil upon the sinner It is in the nature of the curse to imprecate the greatest evil upon a person and to bring the utmost evil upon him that it can Therefore Christ being made a curse for us he bare all the punishment that the Law could inflict Maledictio Christi continet omnem poenam nostram Christs being made a curse says a Learned man contains in it all our punishment Whatever punishment was due to us was contained in this That Christ was made a curse And another Judicious Divine hath a passage to this purpose In Christs being made a curse the fulness of Gods wrath and the dregs of that horrible cup was wholly poured out upon that sacred head of his when together and at once Heaven and Earth and Hell seemed to conspire together to exact from our Surety that punishment that was due to our sins in that cursed kind of death which was a sign or Symbol of the Divine curse that lay upon him The whole punishment that was due to us for our sins was laid upon Christ in his being made a curse Hence is that expression Isa 53.6 10. The Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all or as it is in the Margent He hath made the iniquity of us all to meet upon him The sins of all the Elect did meet on Christ that is God did charge all the sins of the Elect upon Christ Christ was reckoned a sinner by imputation as it is in the last verse of that Chapter He was numbred with the transgressors and he bare the sins of â—â—ny He was numbred with the transgressors Christ though he was no sinner in himself yet he was reckoned a sinner 1 Cor. 6.20 He made him to be sin that knew no sin Now as all the sins of the Elect were charged upon Christ in a way of imputation so the punishment of their sins was laid upon him Hence is that expression The chastisement of our peace was upon him Isa 53.3 that is the whole punishment due to us was laid upon Christ and this is called the chastisement of our peace because Christs undergoing of this punishment was that which was necessary to make our peace the Justice of God required satisfaction and unless the punishment which the Law threatens were some way born and undergone God would not be at peace with us therefore saith the Prophet The chastisement of our peace was upon him that is the punishment that was due to us was inflicted and laid upon our Surety that so we that were at variance with God before might now be brought into peace with him Therefore it follows in the same place By his stripes we are healed the chastisement of our people was upon him and by his stripes we are healed Christ bearing that which we should have born he undergoing our punishment this is the means to make our peace with God Hence also is that expression of the Apostle Peter 1 Pet. 2.24 Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree Christ our Surety bare all our sins he hath born the guilt and punishment of all the sins of the Elect and that wholly and fully whatever the Law and Divine Justice would inflict upon us as sinners that Christ our Surety hath born for us Hence is it that our Saviour immediately before his death uttered these words It is finished Joh. 19.30 It is finished 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Acta transacta omnia Beza consummated or perfected all things were done and transacted by Christ that were necessary to be done by him Christ did not make an end of his sufferings until he had suffered all that he was to suffer It is finished that is as another expounds that expression Christ fulfilled all the Scripture-prophecies the subst ance of the Types were fulfilled in him and he fulfilled all that which God determined to be paid for the expiation of sin Christ finished the whole work of our Redemption he left nothing undone and unsuffered that was to be done and suffered in order to the accomplishment of our Salvation It is finished as much as if it had been said Nothing remains more to be suffered but the very act of dying and giving up his life which he was now just about to do all that the Law and Justice could inflict upon him was inflicted upon him and therefore he said It was finished Hence are those expressions we have in the Book of Daniel Dan. 9.24 Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city to finish the transgression and to make an end of sin and to make reconciliation for iniquity Consider those expressions to make an end of sin and to make reconciliation for iniquity That expression which we translate to make an end of sin it is in the Originai to seal up sin Christ hath sealed up sin in respect of the guilt of it as to condemnation Christ by his death hath so sealed up sin that sin hath no more power to condemn those who believe on him he hath perfectly taken away the condemning power of it Hence is it said That Christ hath rased out the hand-writing of ordinances that was against us which was contrary to us and took it out of the way nailing
had any influence as to the satisfying of Gods Justice Now the whole Doctrine of Christs Satisfaction that hath been opened doth oppugn this assertion of theirs for it hath been proved at large that Christ hath suffered the substance of what we ought to have suffered and that what Christ did suffer was with this intention 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Vnus exolvit quod ab omnibus debebatur Ambros to make satisfaction for us Mat. 20.28 The Son of man came not to be ministred unto but to minister and to give his life a ransom for many It is a speech of one of the Ancients One hath paid that which was due from all If the death of Christ were only a kind of Martyrdom and to confirm the truth which he had taught and were only for an example and for no other ends but these then the death of Christ would be very little different from the deaths of other of the Saints for other of the Saints have laid down their lives to confirm the truths they have professed and the sufferings of other of the Saints are given to us for an example We have an express Scripture for this Jam. 5.10 Take my brethren the Prophets who have spoken in the name of the Lord for an example of suffering affliction and of patience Here we see the Prophets sufferings are given for an example to us but certainly the sufferings of Christ are far of another nature than the sufferings of the Prophets or of any of the Saints whatsoever It is an excellent speech of one of the Ancients Although saith he the death of many of the Saints hath been precious in the sight of God yet notwithstanding the death of no innocent person besides Christ himself was the propitiation for the world It is the expression which the Apostle John useth 1 Joh. 2.2 where he tells us That Christ is the propitiation for the sins of the whole world Though the deaths of the Martyrs were precious yet none of their deaths was the propitiation for the sins of the world and then our Author goes on Acceperunt justi non dederunt coronas exempla nata sunt patientiae non dona justitiae Those just persons who have been martyred for the truth have received not given Crowns and from the courage and fortitude of the Martyrs in their sufferings we have examples of patience afforded to us not any gifts of merit Theirs were but single deaths that were undergone by them neither doth one pay anothers debt there was only one Lord Jesus Christ found among the sons of men in whom all were crucified all have dyed all have risen again They who deny and take away the Doctrine of Christs Satisfaction endeavour to take from us a principal part of the Gospel and to remove from us the principal pillar of all our comfort and support for one of the great Truths which the Gospel reveals is the Righteousness of Christ for the justification of a sinner So the Apostle tells us Rom. 1.16 17. I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ for therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith The Apostle here gives us an account of the Gospel what it is that the Gospel reveals it reveals to us the Righteousness of God the great and fundamental Truth revealed in the Gospel is that righteousness whereby men may be justified in the sight of God What this righteousness is the Apostle doth more fully make known to us in another place of this Epistle Rom. 3.25 26. Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past through the forbearance of God to declare I say at this time his righteousness So that the righteousness which the Gospel reveals is That God is willing to pardon sinners and to accept them as righteous upon the account of the death and sufferings of his Son and upon the account of the satisfaction which he hath made So that they who go about to subvert the Satisfaction and Righteousness of Christ do in effect undermine the whole Gospel and do as much as lyes in them disannul it For if the scope of the Gospel be to reveal the Righteousness of Christ which is the result of his death and sufferings the result of his obedience active and passive then they that would take away this would take away a main part of the Gospel from us So likewise as the denying of Christs Satisfaction is the overthrow of a principal part of the Gospel so it is that which takes away the main pillar of our comfort For if Christ hath not satisfied for us we are still liable to satisfie the Justice of God in our own persons for God is a just and righteous God He hath said That he will by no means clear the guilty and the sentence of the Law remains firm upon us That the soul that sins shall dye and Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things that are written in the book of the Law to do them Therefore unless Christ hath made satisfaction for us all these things must of necessity stand firm against us unless there be a ransom found for us we are still liable to answer to Divine Justice It is a great Scripture to confirm this Job 33.23 24. If there be a messenger with him an interpreter one of a thousand to shew unto man his uprightness then is he gracious to him and saith Deliver him I have found a ransom for him To shew unto man his uprightness The uprightness here spoken of is conceived by Learned men not the uprightness of man himself but the uprightness of God To shew unto man his uprightness that is the uprightness of God What is this uprightness of God It is Gods uprightness in dealing with man according to the tenour of Gospel-grace Compare this with Rom. 3.22 Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption which is in Jesus Christ Here we have a description of the tenour of Gospel grace the grace of the Gospel consists in this That we are justified freely by Gods grace through the redemption which is in Jesus Christ Now this is the uprightness of God Gods dealing with men according to the tenour of his grace promulgated in the Gospel God having discovered this to be his mind that he will pardon mens sins upon the account of the death and sufferings of his Son when this uprightness of God is thus discovered to men and they by faith lay hold of the grace of God thus promulgated and made known to them then God hath found a ransom Now when God hath found a ransom for men then he saith Deliver them then is he gracious and saith Deliver him from going down into the pit for I have found a ransom for him Had there not been a ransom found for us there had been no deliverance from the pit of destruction here
till we are brought to eternal life therefore the Satisfaction of Christ is of constant Use to us The end of the twelfth Sermon SERMON XIII Joh. 15.13 Greater love hath no man than this that a man lay down his life for his friends THat which we were last upon was Why we ought to live by faith upon the Sacrifice and Satisfaction of Christ Two Considerations have already been offered 1. Consid 1 Because the Satisfaction of Christ is the only means of our reconciliation with God 2. Consid 2 Christs Sufferings and Satisfaction are the food and nourishment of our souls the means to continue us in the favour of God as well as to bring us into it at first I shall only add a third and then proceed 3. Consid 3 God hath ordained and appointed the death of Christ as the means of reconciliation and offers it to us for that end That the death of Christ is the means of our reconciliation with God hath been shewn at large heretofore that it is so by Divine ordination and appointment and that God propounds and offers it to us to be received by faith on our part is that which I am now to speak of and for this we must have recourse unto that Text Rom. 3.25 Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Quem proposuit Deus Whom God hath set forth or propounded as a propitiation This expression Whom God hath set forth may have relation to two things 1. It may have relation to the Eternal Decree of God namely that God from Eternity hath decreed Christ to be our propitiation and decreed his death to be the means of our propitiation 1 Pet. 1.18 Ye were not redeemed with corruptible things as silver and gold but with the precious blood of Christ as of a lamb without blemish and without spot who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world Consider that expression Who verily was foreordained 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Christ was foreordained before the foundation of the world to be a slain Lamb his death was decreed and foreordained to be the means and only means of our reconciliation with God 2. This expression Whom God hath set forth may have reference and respect to the revelation and tender that is made of Christ in the Gospel Whom God hath propounded or set forth that is God hath propounded Christ and his death in the Gospel as the means of reconciliation The Apostle speaking of the Gospel saith That therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith Rom. 1.17 God hath revealed the righteousness of his Son in the Gospel as the great object of our faith Now Christs righteousness is nothing else but the result of his obedience active and passive as it is commonly called Christ giving that obedience to the Law which the Law requires Christ suffering and undergoing the punishment which the Law exacts from us for the breach of it this is the righteousness of Christ and this is that which the Gospel tenders to us as the object of our faith to be embraced and received by us Therein saith the Apostle is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith as much as if he should say The Gospel reveals the righteousness of Christ to be embraced and entertained of us by faith on our part Now if God do propound the righteousness of Christ whereof the sufferings and satisfaction of Christ are a principal part as the great object of our faith it concerns us then to have a constant recourse to this and to make use of it and therefore that expression is very observable in the Text before mentioned The righteousness of God is revealed in the Gospel from faith to faith Why from faith to faith The meaning I take to be that our faith ought to take a firm and fast hold of the righteousness of Christ and to take a deeper rooting in it from day to day We should not be content with some general apprehensions of this righteousness and that we have known a little of it but we should grow from faith to faith our faith should take deeper and firmer rooting in it continually I now come to the second thing propounded and that was to shew how we ought to make use of the Sacrifice and Satisfaction of Christ so as to draw down the virtue and benefit of it unto our own souls I take this to be an inquiry of great moment because much of the life of faith consists in the right understanding and practice of it I shall therefore propound several things by way of direction to shew how we ought to make use of the satisfaction of Christ so as to draw down the benefit and virtue of it unto our own souls 1. If we would make use of the Satisfaction of Christ let us look upon our selves as guilty persons most worthy of Divine wrath and condemnation as considered in our selves Satisfaction supposeth guilt an innocent person need not to have any satisfaction made for him an innocent person hath done no wrong and therefore nothing need to be tendered for him by way of compensation If therefore we would have the benefit of Christs satisfaction we must first see that we are guilty and condemned persons in our selves This was shadowed forth in the Levitical Ordinances he that brought his offering to the Priest was to lay his hand on the head of the Sacrifice Levit. 1.4 And he shall put his hand upon the head of the burnt-offering and it shall be accepted for him to make atonement This Rite of laying the hand on the head of the Sacrifice or Offering by him that brought it did carry in it a tacit or secret confession of the persons guiltiness he did hereby confess that he was worthy to be put to death for his sin He that brought the Sacrifice by laying his hand on the head of the Sacrifice did hereby profess that the beast suffered what he deserved That the beast being slain was an argument and token that he deserved to be so dealt with himself that he deserved to be destroyed for his sins therefore when we come to make use of the Satisfaction of Christ and his Sacrifice we ought to be sensible of our own guiltiness and worthiness of condemnation consider what the Apostle saith 1 Cor. 11.31 If we judge our selves we shall not be judged of the Lord. If we would have benefit from Christs satisfaction we must first judge our selves worthy of condemnation Christs righteousness and satisfaction is sweet to none but a self-condemned person Come unto me all ye that are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest saith our Saviour Mat. 11.28 We must be weary and heavy laden with the sense of our own guiltiness before we can prize the satisfaction of Christ We ought therefore when ever we come to make use of the satiffaction of Christ to see what
flow from persons It was therefore the person of the Word that made satisfaction for our sins Now that a person of that infinite worth and excellency as the Son of God the second Person in Trinity should come to subsist in our nature and being in our nature should be the person satisfying for our sins this was great condescension and abasement Thus the Son who was yet equal with the Father in respect of his Divine nature by his Incarnation and sufferings doth not only make himself inferiour to the Father but to himself also The Son though he was one of the persons offended yet he comes to make the satisfaction and considered as Mediator as God-man doth not only make satisfaction to the Father but to himself considered as God simply The fourth Consideration is this That whole Christ or the whole person of the Mediator was the price of our Redemption 1 Joh. 2.1 If any man sin we have an Advocate with the Father Jesus Christ the righteous and he is the propitiation for our sins It is Christ then that is the propitiation for our sins Now Christ is the name of the person subsisting in both natures When we speak of Christ Christus est nomen personae in duabus subsistentis naturis we understand that person who subsists in both natures in the nature of God and in the nature of man Christ doth not signifie one of the natures simply but Christ is the name of the person subsisting in both natures Now this is he who is the propitiation for our sins that person who is God and man he is the propitiation for our sins Persona Christi sive Christus satisfecit pro peccatis tanquamquod It was the person of Christ or Christ that did satisfie for our sins as the Principle making satisfaction To understand this we must consider that which was before hinted That Christ is our Mediator according to both natures he is not our Mediator as to one of his natures only but according to both natures and as he is Mediator according to both natures so he gives himself for us according to both his natures For though it were the humane nature only that suffered yet it was the Divine nature that sanctified the sufferings of the humane nature and gave virtue to them therefore is it said Himself bare our sins in his own body on the tree and that by himself he hath purged our sins Heb. 1.3 It is not said By his humane nature meerly though it is true it was the humane nature only that was capable of suffering but it is not so expressed but by himself Christ himself is the Sacrifice for our sins Gal. 2. He loved me and gave himself for me and Christ was once offered up Heb. 9. And that expression of the Apostle Peter is very emphatical 2 Pet. 2.24 Who his own self bare our sins in his body on the tree 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Christ himself who was God-man made satisfaction for sins and laid down the price of our Redemption yea he himself was the price of our Redemption God hath redeemed the Church with his own blood To understand this two things are to be considered in the Satisfaction of Christ as Alvarez hath observed 1. One is that species or kind of humane actions by which Christ did satisfie and this proceeded from the humane nature as the formal principle of them Thus the Son of God obeyed suffered dyed in the humane nature 2. There is another thing to be considered in Christs Satisfaction and that is the infinite value and worth that was found in it Now the infinite value and worth that was in the Satisfaction of Christ proceeded from the person satisfying that is from the Divine Word or the person of the Son of God subsisting in the humane nature the actions and sufferings of the humane nature are the matter of his Satisfaction but that which gives the virtue and value to them is the Divinity Hence are those expressions of the Ancients If he had not been true God he had not brought a remedy for us Si non esset verus Deus non afferret remedium Quia ille qui moriebatur erat Deus Another observes That therefore did the death of Christ bring salvation to the world because the person who dyed was God And another hath a passage to this purpose Death saith he becoming as it were the death of God hath demolished death for the person that dyed was God and man both the sufferings of Christ being made the sufferings of that person who was God received their virtue from the Divinity As much as if he had said By virtue of the Divine person which suffered in the humane nature those sufferings received their virtue to save us and to make satisfaction for our sins This is another thing that discovers the humiliation of Christs person That he who was God and in his Divine nature simply considered was the person offended yet as God man was pleased to become a ransom for us 1 Tim. 2.6 He gave himself a ransom for all That person who gave himself a ransom for all is the Mediator and who is the Mediator but God-man 1 Joh. 1.7 The blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin There is a great Emphasis upon those words Jesus Christ his Son It is the blood of that person who was no other than the Son of God and God which cleanseth us from all sin It is a memorable speech of Luther He gave saith he not silver not gold neither was it a meer man that he gave neither did he give all the Angels but it was himself that he gave as the price of our Redemption than which nothing was greater neither had he any thing greater to give Consider this price aright and we shall find it infinitely greater than the whole Creation 5. In the sufferings of Christ we may see the humiliation of his person from hence namely that in the death of Christ the glory of his Divinity seemed to be most obscured and darkened and suffered the greatest Eclipse What more unworthy of God than suffering and death What more absurd and incongruous in the eye of carnal reason than a crucified God Now herein did Christ commend the greatness of his love to us That he permitted the glory of his Divinity by means of his death and suffering to be eclipsed for our sakes That he who was the immortal God should expose himself to suffering and death for our sakes as if he had been no more than a passible and mortal man for though he were really and indeed the Son of God and God the Lord of Glory yet by reason of his death and sufferings he was by the generality of men thought to be but as an ordinary man This is that which the Apostle intimates 1 Cor. 2.8 Whom none of the Princes of this world knew for had they known it they would not
sufferings without this we have no life in us Let us therefore take heed how we have slight thoughts of the sufferings of Christ this is to slight them when we do not study the virtue of these sufferings when we do not see our need of them and do not apply our selves to them that we may be saved by them 4. Then are the sufferings of Christ contemned when we come unworthily to the Lords Table The Sacrament of the Supper it is the Sacrament of the body and blood of Christ when therefore we rush upon the Sacrament in a rude manner we do in an eminent way contemn the sufferings of Christ The Supper of the Lord is called a shewing forth the Lords death 1 Cor. 11.26 As often as ye eat this bread and drink this cup ye do shew the Lords death till he come This phrase of shewing forth the Lords death implies three things in it 1. It implies the inward assent of the mind that we do indeed with our hearts and minds believe that Christ did dye and suffer such things for us as we read of in the Gospel 2. This phrase of shewing forth the Lords death implies the profession and confession of our faith before the world 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that we owne it and profess it before the world that we believe such and such things concerning Christ 3. It implies our faith in our our reliance upon the death and sufferings of Christ for salvation that is our expectation of salvation by the death of Christ and by that means only All this I take to be implied in this phrase of shewing forth the death of Christ the Sacrament therefore being a shewing forth of Christs death when we come to the Sacrament we have to do with the death and sufferings of Christ in a peculiar manner if therefore we rush upon that Ordinance in a rude or unworthy manner we must of necessity contemn the sufferings of Christ because the Sacrament is the special and peculiar Ordinance that is appointed to represent to us the death and sufferings of the Lord Jesus and that this is one way of contemning Christs sufferings the Apostle is exceeding clear and plain 1 Cor. 11.27 Whosoever shall eat and drink this cup of the Lord unworthily shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. As much as if he should say Every unworthy Communicant every unworthy receiver at the Lords Table is guilty of no small sin he is guilty of the very body and blood of Christ that is he is as one that hath imbrued his hands in Christs blood he is guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. The Ancients expound it to this sense Every unworthy receiver and Communicant that comes in a rude manner to the Lords Supper is like Judas that betrayed Christ like the Jews that buffeted and spit upon him like to Pilate that condemned him and like the Souldiers that crucified him these dealt unworthily with the body of Christ and so doth every unworthy Communicant deal unworthily with the body of Christ The others indeed abused and dealt unworthily with his natural body but every unworthy Communicant deals unworthily with his sacramental body and the sin of the one is so much the greater than the sin of the other because many of them that had a hand in the crucifixion of the body of our Saviour looked upon him as an ordinary man they did not look upon him as the Son of God Hence doth the Apostle say If they had known it they would not have crucified the Lord of glory 1 Cor. 2.8 But now rude Christians who rush irreverently upon this Ordinance do profess they believe him to be the Son of God the Saviour of the world and yet offer indignity to him They therefore that come unworthily to the Lords Table do in an eminent manner contemn the sufferings of Christ But here it may be useful for us to inquire What is it to come unworthily Who are they that come unworthily Whosoever shall eat this bread 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and drink this cup of the Lord unworthily 1 Cor. 11.29 The Greek word as Peter Martyr observes Indecenter parùm congruè minùs apposité signifies in this place as much as indecently not congruously not in that fit manner as he ought to do he eats and drinks unworthily that comes in an indecent manner without due preparation to this Ordinance I shall more particularly shew what this unworthy receiving is in two or three things 1. Then do we come unworthily to the Sacrament when we have not a due reverence of those great and sublime Mysteries that are set before us in the Sacrament Whoever shall drink this cup of the Lord saith the Apostle this Cup of the Lord here is an accent that it is the Lords bread the Lords cup the bread that we partake of in the Sacrament is the Lords bread and the cup that we drink of in the Sacrament is the Lords cup. Some may say so is all our bread the bread that we live upon daily is the Lords bread and the cup we drink of daily is the Lords cup it is he that spreads our tables for us and causeth our cups to run over But we must consider that the bread here spoken of the sacramental Bread and the sacramental Cup are called the Lords bread and the Lords cup in a peculiar manner it is that bread that is instituted to signifie and represent the Lords body and it is that cup that is instituted to represent the Lords blood therefore when we look upon the sacramental bread as common ordinary bread when we drink of the sacramental wine as common ordinary wine this is a prophanation of this Ordinance We ought to be sensible of the Mystery that is in this Ordinance namely that the Lords body and his blood are represented to us by the outward signs The ancient Church were wont to call the Mysteries represented to us in the Sacrament tremendous Mysteries O here are tremendous Mysteries indeed 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 if we rightly consider what they are that are set before us in the Sacrament to see the incorporeal God assuming a humane body to see God personally inhabit in that flesh that suffered and offering that very body of his in which he was crucified dyed rose again and ascended into Heaven to be the food of our souls these are wonderful Mysteries indeed and yet these are the Mysteries that are represented to us in the Sacrament in the Sacrament we see the Son of God and God to have assumed a part of our flesh and then offering himself up in that flesh a Sacrifice for our sins and as we see the Son of God first giving himself for us upon the Cross so in the Sacrament we see him giving himself to us Here lyes the mystery of the Sacrament In the Sacrament we do not only see Christ giving himself for us but we also see
Elders and chief Priests and Scribes and be killed and be raised again the third day Our Saviour was not ignorant of his own sufferings but had a perfect contemplation of them in his mind before-hand he knew how great and bitter and sore they would be and yet he was content to undergo them for our sakes Consid 8 The love of Christ in his sufferings appears in this That so great a person should give himself to suffer such things to expiate so vile a thing as sin which yet he hated so much and had power to punish that the life of the best person should go to expiate the worst thing this is admirable Sin is the worst of evils the vilest thing in the world Now that the life of the most excellent person the life of the Son of God should be given to expiate so vile a thing as sin this is admirable indeed The Lord hath caused to meet on him the iniquity or perversness of us all Isa 53. Sin is the perversness of the creature it is the crookedness or depravation of a mans actions sin is a defection or turning aside from a right path and yet the Son of God gave himself to expiate so vile a thing as sin is Dedit tam inaestimabile pretium pro tam despecta odioque dignissima re Luther It is a speech of Luther He gave so inestimable a price for our sins for a thing so vile so despicable so worthy to be hated What more abominable what more odious in the sight of God than sin and yet the Son of God gave himself to expiate our sins Sin is most hareful to Christ Heb. 1.9 Thou hast loved righteousness and hated iniquity it is spoken of Christ and yet though Christ hated sin so much he gave himself for our sins Gal. 1.4 Who gave himself for our sins and as Christ hated sin so had he power to punish and to be avenged for it and yet rather than we should undergo the punishment that was due to us he himself who had power to inflict the punishment and might justly have done it was content to suffer the punishment for us Well may we cry out with Luther O the condescension and love of God to wards man God was the person offended and yet God came to suffer the punishment that man deserved Consid 9 The love of Christ in his sufferings appears in this That Christ had all the Elect before him at once and suffered for all the Elect. It was not for one or a few of the Elect only that he suffered or for some or a few of their sins that he suffered but it was for all the sins of all the Elect Eph. 5.25 Husbands love your wives as Christ loved the Church and gave himself for it It was the Church that Christ gave himself for Christ knew all his sheep by name and he laid down his life for his sheep Paul could say He hath loved me and given himself for me and every true Believer may say He hath loved me and given himself for me Why now what an insinite Sea and Ocean of love must there needs be in the heart of Christ when as Christ out of the greatness of his love gave himself as a Sacrifice to expiate the guilt of all the sins of all the Elect that ever had been committed or should be committed to the end of the world This is set forth by the Apostle 1 Joh. 2.2 He is the propitiation for our sins and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world that is Christ is not only the propitiation for ours sins who do now live and believe on him but he is also the propitiation for the sins of all others who shall live after us and believe on him even to the end of the world The virtue of Christs death and the efficacy of his sufferings to the Elect of all Ages Consid 10 The love of Christ in his sufferings appears in this That Christ by his death and sufferings hath delivered us from that which was the greatest matter of fear to us The great thing which all the sons of men have feared hath been death and the consequence of death The great thing threatned for sin was death In the day that thou eatest thou shalt dye the death Death was the great punishment threatned for sin hence it comes to pass that all mankind ever since the Fall have been under a slavish fear of death and the consequence of death The great things which we do naturally dread are death and what follows death Hell and the wrath of God Now Christ by laying down his life hath taken away the fear of death and the consequences of death This is fully expressed by the Apostle Heb. 2.14 That through death he might destroy him that had the power of death and deliver them who through fear of death were all their life-time subject to bondage There are two things which the Apostle intimates are the great things that do keep men in bondage all their days the one is the fear of death and the other is the power that the Devil had over men That he might destroy him that had the power of death that is the Devil The Devil hath not the power of death simply and absolutely but he is said to have the power of death as he is the Executioner of Gods wrath and drags men to the torments of Hell Now Christ by his death delivers us from both these he delivers us from the fear of death and from the power of the Devil 1. Christ by death delivers us from death the strength and venom of death is spent in the death of Christ Christ underwent death as it was the Curse that was denounced upon us for sin Now death is no more a part of the Curse to a Believer because Christ hath undergone it as a curse for us 2. Christ hath also undergone the pains and torments of Hell as formerly hath been shewed and therefore he hath enervated 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 made void or frustrated the power of the Devil as the word signifies Christ by his death hath taken away Satans power The Devil after a sort as he was the Executioner of Gods wrath might be said to have the power of death that is of eternal death after a sort and in a sense he hath power over those torments which the damned feel But now Christ having born those pains and torments for his people the Devil hath nothing to do with them he hath no power over them Could we contemplate death as we ought to do in the death of Christ we might see death to have lost all its strength all its venom in the death of Christ It is the observation of Luther Could we believe so firmly as we ought to do that Christ dyed for our sins and rose again for our justification there would remain nothing of fear or terrour in us for saith he the
have crucified the Lord of glory The Apostle here speaks of Christ crucified as the Wisdom of God this the Princes of the world knew not The Rabbies among the Jews the Philosophers among the Heathen knew not this Wisdom of God they were not acquainted with it they little knew the Lord of Glory was in that body that was crucified pierced and that hung upon the Cross they were ignorant of the Divinity of Christs person the Son of God containing and keeping in the rays of his Divinity and permitting his flesh his humane nature to suffer they thought him to be but as another man Hence was it that the spectators mockt him with those words If thou be the Son of God come down from the cross they took it for granted that he that was the Son of God and God would not have suffered in that manner Now this was the great the wonderful and stupendious humiliation of this great Person that the Divinity in Christ hid it self and withdrew its lustre as it were in the time of Christs suffering that so the Humanity might suffer It is true there were some rays of his Divinity let forth in the time of his suffering that the veil of the Temple was rent from the top to the bottom that the rocks clave in sunder that the Sun was darkened and the graves were opened and the bodies of the dead Saints arose Such prodigious things as these were manifest tokens that the person that suffered was more than an ordinary person therefore the Centurion and those that were with him said Truly this was the Son of God But yet these things had not such an influence upon the generality of men but that the Cross of Christ was to the Jews a stumbling-block and to the Greeks foolishness the world hath not been able to bear the Doctrine of a crucified Saviour and as Luther hath observed There is no Doctrine of Faith that the world is so offended at as this That whereas the wisdom and love of God hath been laid out to the uttermost in this way namely to save men by the death of his Son this hath been the greatest offence to the world Such is the pride and ignorance of men that they cannot think of being saved by one that was crucified But what doth the Apostle say The foolishness of God is wiser than men and the weakness of God is stronger than men Christ crucified is the power of God and the wisdom of God 1 Cor. 1.20 24. Whatever the world thinks of it this is the way of God and the wisdom of God to save men by the death of his own Son And herein did the greatness of Christs love to us appear That he who was so great a Person would suffer the glory of his Divinity to be obscured and darkened by his death and sufferings whenas he knew what he did and suffered for man would expose him to the disesteem of men and minister an occasion to them to think the more contemptuously of him than ever they would have done had he not stooped so low to do and suffer such things as he did for their sakes Behold Vse how great the price of our Redemption was the Word the second Person in Trinity was united to the flesh that suffered as we have heard God incarnate is the price of mans Redemption God hath redeemed the Church with his own blood Act. 20. This is notably set forth by the Apostle Peter We were redeemed not with corruptible things as gold and silver from our vain conversation but with the precious blood of Christ 1 Pet. 1.18 Precious blood indeed which was the blood of that person that was God as well as man It is well observed by Cyril It was not the blood of Peter or Paul or some other particular Saint that was but a meer man that we were redeemed by but it was by the blood of Christ God-man whose name is Emmanuel God with us Tanta medicina salus requiritur Divinitas incarnata sanguis ipse Filii Dei Luther This should teach us to have high thoughts of the work of our Redemption and of the price that was laid down for it O that the work of our Redemption should cost the death of so excellent a person as the Son of God! So great aremedy so great salvation says Luther was required that Divinity it self must be incarnate and the very blood of the Son of God must be shed for us O let us labour to get our hearts more deeply affected with these things The end of the eighteenth Sermon SERMON XIX Joh. 15.13 Greater love hath no man than this that a man lay down his life for his friends THE second Use is this Vse 2 Learn from what hath been opened how great a sin the contempt of Christs person and of his sufferings is If so excellent a person as the Son of God and God was the person that suffered for us and wrought out redemption for us how great a sin then must it be to contemn this person and his sufferings The Apostle joyns both these together Heb. 10.29 Of how much sorer punishment shall he be thought worthy who hath trodden under foot the Son of God and hath counted the blood of the Covenant by which he was sanctified an unholy thing The Apostle here speaks 1. Of the contempt of Christs person Who hath trodden under foot the Son of God 2. Of the contempt of his sufferings And counted the blood of the Covenant an unholy thing So that to be guilty of the contempt of Christs person and of his sufferings must needs be the most hainous sin 1. As for the contempt of Christs person the Apostle calls it a treading under foot the Son of God 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Treading upon a thing is an argument of contempt and scorn we tread upon nothing but what is vile and of no esteem we tread upon a worm as upon a poor abject thing a thing of no account yea sometimes treading upon a thing is an argument of hatred thus we tread upon spiders and other venemous creatures Now that so excellent a person as the Son of God one and the same God with the Father that he should be contemned and looked upon as a vile person what an indignity is this which is offered to so excellent a person 2. The contempt of Christs sufferings is set forth in that other expression And hath counted the blood of the Covenant wherewith he is sanctified an unholy thing We may render it thus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Who hath counted the blood of the Covenant a common thing To count the blood of the Covenant the blood of Christ as common blood to count the sufferings of Christ but as the sufferings of a common ordinary man this is great contempt The blood of Christ is the blood of that person who is God as well as man and therefore to reckon his sufferings but as the sufferings